The Best Man (6 page)

Kate blinked, determined not to react to the unknown quality in his voice. Her goal to reclaim her life had run into problems. How was she supposed to support herself if she pulled out of the firm and insisted on starting over? What was she going to do if she didn’t practice law? As long as she could remember, since she was ten and learned her father was an attorney, she had wanted to practice law. Years of study and hard work had not changed her mind.

Lowering her glance to the scraps of color still in the bag, she felt heat rise to her cheeks. Reaching into the plastic bag, she pulled out a handful of bikini panties and waved them in front of her face to cool the heat pooling there. “You thought of everything I see.”

Luke pretended to frown. “You think a bachelor doesn’t know his way around women’s clothing?”

They laughed, but tension hung in the air as their eyes met and clung for long seconds. The moment brought back memory of the fun she and Luke had shared before Joel appeared in their lives.

Kate hugged the clothes to her chest. “Thanks, Luke.” She meant the words to cover more than the scraps of clothing, but she wasn’t sure she could explain what she was feeling without revealing her innermost thoughts to him.

Everything had happened so fast. It was too soon to start something new.

She had just learned she was...almost...a divorced woman. Admitting to herself that her love for her husband had slowly disappeared before the disaster, was easy. Returning home, facing public opinion was proving harder than she expected. The guests at the church reacted as if she’d made a choice to remain on the island. Their speculative glances implied she had somehow wounded Joel, not the other way around.

But she had to let it go. Had to forget Joel had left her for dead. Had never loved her. If she didn’t, anger would eat her alive. She’d returned for the dead once, but she wasn’t sure she had the strength to live through that again. She settled for an attempted grin. “Thanks for the clothes. You’re a good friend, Luke.”

“It was my pleasure.” Luke heard the words echo around the room and fought to pull his emotions back in control. If he didn’t, he would end up telling Kate how much he’d missed her. That would be a mistake. Grabbing the empty food containers to keep from reaching for Kate, he nodded toward the hall. “Guest room is on the right. Make yourself at home.”

He took his time clearing away the evidence of their meal then approached the guestroom door. When he heard the distant sound of the shower running, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and headed back to the kitchen.

***

Kate stood under the spray of hot water pouring over her head and sighed at the luxury of the shower. Of all the modern conveniences she had missed, the shower topped the list.

She was home now and safe. Readjusting should be easy after months away. But everything about her life had changed. Joel deserted her, had her declared dead, and tried to divorce her. Her father died, leaving her his share of the law firm. She stared at the soap bubbles in her hands, recalling her conversation with Luke.

Joel wanted to sell her father’s law firm.

Odd that the idea left her feeling so unsettled, since leaving the firm had been part of her plan to starting over. Cutting all connections to her father’s rejection and Joel’s, had made sense when she’d been on an island half-way around the world.

But Luke’s comment about trying to protect her inheritance had caught her attention.

All this time she’d looked at the firm as the thing that detracted her father’s attention from his family. But she was wiser, now. After all the soul searching she’d done on the island while she waited for transportation home, she realized the law firm wasn’t to blame. Her father could have spent time with her during her childhood, if he had cared.

If he had cared.

That one thought held her emotions in a grip.

Luke cared. He’d tried to save her inheritance. Tried to protect what her father worked hard to build. Oh sure, Luke had invested time in the firm, too, but with his experience, he could work for any law firm in the city. Any firm in the state, for that matter, even her father had respected Luke’s accomplishments in the courtroom.

Could she walk away, allowing Luke’s efforts to go for nothing, just because she wanted to get away from Joel? Was the need to start over worth throwing away time and effort Luke and her father had invested in the firm?

Then the truth hit her.

Selling the law firm wouldn’t bring her relief. Destroying the efforts made to build the firm’s success would prove her unworthy, just as her father’s lack of interest had made her feel undeserving.

The only way to prove him wrong, to make her feel worthy, was to stay and make a success of the firm, despite her father’s death.

***

Luke stopped punching in the number and stared down at the phone. Torn by the confusion clouding Kate’s brown eyes as they had talked, Luke’s first instinct was to turn away. He’d survived by protecting himself from emotional entanglement.

But this was Kate. The Kate he’d never expected to see again. Not just a new partner in the law firm, either. Kate was the woman holding his heart in her hands, even if she didn’t know it. Anything that happened to Kate, affected him. He felt connected to her.

Besides, he had never run from anything his entire life. Running was easy. Facing his father’s disapproval had taken strength.

Luke called on that force inside him now. Kate needed him, not her father or Joel, but Luke. He was the only one who could help her with issues at the firm. Having her back in his life, and alive, meant her needs came first, before his career, before his emotional safety.

Kate
!

Her safe return was all that he had wished and prayed for, but now their troubles really began. While she had been missing, he’d made allowances for Joel because he’d thought Kate cared for the man she married. But now that she back home, she seemed relieved at their parting, and Luke intended to take action.

Reaching the kitchen, he punched the in the last number and got an answer on the first ring.

“Where did you take her?” Joel demanded.

Luke ignored the question. “We have to talk.”

“Where are you? Where’s Kate?”

Luke tightened his grip on the phone. “That doesn’t matter. You need to get moving and make sure your actions haven’t put any kinks in Kate’s life.”

“Are you crazy? You don’t know what it’s like over here—”

Luke clenched his fingers around the phone. “I don’t care what you’re dealing with, get to work. You need to file all legal documents by first thing Monday morning.”

“But Laurel—”

“Joel! You’re not listening. Laurel won’t have a life. You won’t have a life, and neither will Kate, until you straighten out the mess you created.”

“I can’t—”

“Forget it, Joel. It’s time you stepped up and did the right thing for once.”

“You son-of-a—”

“Calling me names won’t help. This is your mess. Clean it up. Laurel will thank you for not dragging this out when she calms down.”

“Easy for you to say, you don’t have a hysterical female on your hands. Her wedding ceremony was ruined, you know.” Joel huffed.

“Commitment ceremony!”

“What?” Joel snarled. “Yeah, right. How is Kate, anyway?”

Luke crushed the phone against his ear. “What did you do with her clothes?”

“I gave them to the Salvation Army, what do you think I did with them?” Joel shouted. “And for God’s sake, get her something decent to wear before the media catches sight of her. She looked awful wearing that rag.”

Luke’s fingers dug into the hard plastic case of the phone. “You’re really something, Joel, you know that? You created this mess. Left your wife for dead, then complain when she reappears and isn’t dressed to suit you.”

“Appearance is everything in this business and you know it. We’ve got a law firm to protect” Joel’s voice dropped. “Come on, buddy, help me out here. It won’t do for the media to catch sight of Kate dressed like a bag lady.”

“Does this mean you’ve changed your mind about selling?”

“Hell, no. If we spin this right, we can get free publicity, and attract more buyers. But that won’t happen if one of the partners looks like she’s been dumpster diving.”

Luke gritted his teeth. When Joel returned home alone after the tsunami eighteen months ago, Luke excused his actions because of the shock of what he’d been through. In the days and weeks that followed, he learned better. But he’d given his partner the benefit of the doubt. Now, he wanted to punch Joel’s lights out. But he had to think of Kate.

“I’ll look after this end. Make sure you get those papers filed Monday morning.”

After long moments of silence, Joel said. “So where did you take Kate, anyway?”

Luke held the phone away from his ear and stared incredulously at the object as if Joel could see his face. Then, heat burning in his face and gut, he snapped the phone shut. Joel’s curiosity about Kate had come too late.

Once things were settled, he intended slicing Joel out of his life as efficiently as a surgeon removing a cancerous tumor, but in the mean time, he had to get Kate settled.

He put on a pot of coffee and wandered back to the living room to stand in front of the long glass window as he had many times before when his deepest thoughts wouldn’t let go images of Kate. Staring at the beauty of Raleigh’s nightlights eased some of his pain. Twinkling lights on trees lining the downtown streets reminded him of Thailand.

The ink black skies over the beaches had filled with stars. He’d never seen as many stars as he had during his time in that country. He’d never stayed awake that many nights in a row, either. Through the long exhausting days and sleepless nights of his search for Kate, he’d prayed she was alive, and looking at the same stars in the sky.

“You were right.”

The sound of her voice just feet away, jarred him out of memories that replayed in his mind like a nightmare. Hearing her voice, seeing her image reflected in the dark glass, sent blood racing through his body. Barely in control of his emotions, he turned toward her.

Standing in the doorway, her skin dewy and pink for the shower, Kate looked healthier already. Her hair was damp from her bath, and feathered out to frame her face making her eyes look larger. But she was all skin and bones in the slim cut mid-calf pants and bright green tee.

“Right about what?” Luke forced the words past the obstruction in his chest. How many times would the sight of Kate, alive and close enough to touch, cause him to choke-up?

“I feel better after a bath. Thanks for picking up the clothes.” Kate flung herself down in the corner of the sofa and pulled her knees up to tuck her feet under her rear. “Now, I have to decide what to do.”

Luke forced air in his lungs. He wouldn’t be any good to Kate or himself, if he didn’t get control of his emotions.

“What did you have in mind? Do you want me to get you out of town until the media ruckus dies down?” He settled on the chair facing her. “I have a friend with a cabin out on Jordan Lake. You could rest there for a while.”

Kate dropped her eyes as she ran her fingernail along the seam in her pants. “Thanks, but I think I’d better stay.” She lifted bruised eyes to meet his, chasing away all thoughts except taking care of her from his head. “I’ve been away from work too long, already.”

“Staying in town means you’ll have to face the media.”

Kate tilted her chin. “I want my life back, I can’t hide. I have to take charge.”

“There’s nothing wrong with taking time to adjust. Let me handle the reporters for a while.” Luke stopped as she held up her hand. He reminded himself that he couldn’t take over her life and protect her, as much as he wanted to do just that.

For one thing, Kate would never allow it. For another, he would be cheating her. Now that she was back, she wanted to find her own solutions, and do things her way. He held up both hands in surrender. “Sorry, just a suggestion.”

Air whooshed out her lungs, revealing her tension. “I know.” She traced a fingernail along the line of the cushion at the back of the sofa. From the intent look on her face, she was working things out in her mind. “I just want to get back to normal. Does that make sense?”

“Of course it does.” That’s what he wanted her to do, right? He wanted her to get her life back on track, to reclaim all she had lost. But…he wanted to keep her safe, too. “What are your plans?”

“I don’t have a plan.” She gave him an intent look, then stared past his head and looked at the wall. “I can’t imagine what happened to make you lose interest in your art collection.”

If he told her the truth, she would run scared. Worse, she would hold him at arm’s length, and might never let him in her life again. He couldn’t risk putting distance between them after losing her for dead for the past eighteen months.

He settled back in the armchair. “Stuff happens.”

“It was a woman, right?” Kate leaned toward him. Her eyes sparkled, reminding him how she’d looked when he first met her. “She broke your heart, didn’t she?”

Luke sent her a level look, and gave a curt nod. “You always were quick to pick up hints.” His mouth lifted at one corner. “It was a woman. For a while, I thought I couldn’t go on…but that passed.”