Ties That Bind (4 page)

Kate just found him, she wasn’t ready to
share. She was just now coming to accept that he was her father.
She wondered off-handedly what Tara would think if she knew who
Kate really was. Would it shatter Tara’s fairy tale? Probably. That
realization made Kate feel a little dirty. She didn’t want to be
the person to ruin someone else’s happily-ever-after.

Kate made the decision right then to keep her
mouth shut until after the wedding. Better yet, until after the
honeymoon. Besides, how could she be sure Jack was her father?
Maybe the fact that he was a moss-green eyed boy from her mother’s
past who’d haunted her for more than 30 years was just a
coincidence. Sure, that had to be it.

“You okay today?” The pretty blonde eyed Kate
for a minute after they’d parked the car.

“Yeah. Just a little tired.” Well, it was
sort of true anyway.

“Are you ready for this?” Tara’s eyes lit up.
“These caterers are amazing!”

“Lead the way,” Kate climbed out of the
little blue BMW and stretched.

It didn’t take her long to agree with Tara’s
assessment. These caterers were amazing. With the wedding menu
settled, Tara offered to spend the rest of the morning introducing
Kate to some of her favorite caterers. Tara had impeccable taste.
Kate found herself not hating her quite so much as the morning wore
on. What would have taken days on her own was accomplished in
hours, and Kate felt her spirits lifting. In fact, her heart felt
almost light as they made their way back to the office.

She was in such a good mood, she promised
herself not to allow Gavin to get the better of her. He would not
determine the tenor of her story. Eventually his effect would wear
off and they could become friends. She just had to outlast her
hormones. It could be done. She wasn’t a teenager, after all.

He was lounging in her chair, chatting easily
with Liz and Jessica when Kate walked back into her office. His
feet were propped on her desk. Kate glowered. Something about those
feet propped on her spotless, orderly desk caused little red dots
to dance in front of her vision. She knocked them to the side with
a disdainful look.

“Your foot rest is over there,” she pointed
to his already-messy desk. “This is where I do something called
work.”

Liz and Jessica exchanged meaningful looks
and Gavin just chuckled.

“Where are we going for lunch?” he reminded
her.

“I’m not hungry,” she deleted an email with
more force than necessary.

“Nonsense, we have to take Gavin to lunch on
his first day,” Jack declared as he entered the office at precisely
the wrong time.

“Silly me, what was I thinking?” Kate smiled
prettily at Jack, clamping down firmly on her annoyance.

“Who wants vegetarian?” Jessica offered
brightly.

“Not me – is there anywhere to get a burger
in this town?” Gavin’s stomach growled as if to emphasize his
point. Kate thought wistfully about the good old days – back before
she turned thirty and her metabolism shut down – when she could eat
things like burgers. At that moment, she could have easily hated
Gavin for his lanky form that seemed untouched by the fact that he
still got to eat things like bacon cheeseburgers. Wherever they
went, she knew she’d be ordering a salad. Oh, she’d tried to fight
it, to ignore the fact that her diet needed to change. At first
anyway. Then she’d packed on twenty pounds that had been
excruciating to take back off. So now she ordered salads and
dreamed of burgers. When had she become that girl?

She was careful to sit across from Gavin. It
made it harder to ignore his eyes never leaving her, but easier to
ignore his scent and the jitters caused by his close proximity.

“So the question is,” Jack began around a
mouthful of bacon cheeseburger. “What angle are we taking with this
first issue?”

“What about working the launch party in?” Liz
suggested.

“The launch party that won’t be happening
until after the magazine is written?” Jack teased.

“What about the preparation process, though?”
Liz persisted.

“Yeah, we could write about Kate tasting the
flavor of the town to plan the party,” Jessica added excitedly.

“Oh I don’t know…,” Kate didn’t like the
direction things were heading.

“No, I like this,” Jack chewed
thoughtfully.

“You know, I think it’s great. I can follow
her around to get the photos,” Gavin offered helpfully. “I’ll never
leave her side.”

“I don’t think that’s…,” Kate’s protest was
cut off.

“I really like it. We could carry this
through several issues – San Francisco firsts and all that.”

“Don’t you think people would get tired of
seeing my face?” Kate suggested miserably.

“I don’t think that’s possible,” Gavin
responded quietly.

“Well, I think it’s settled, then,” Jack
added happily.

“This should be good,” Liz couldn’t help the
glimmer that had come to her eye.

“Just great,” Kate agreed miserably.

The nights were always the worst; they
stretched achingly before her. No amount of organization could make
them move any faster. Never one to waste time on television, Kate
tried to watch an old movie but lost patience with it halfway
through.

She wound up sorting through the menus she’d
gotten from the caterer over her own meal of Chinese takeout,
consoling herself with the knowledge that Jack would be pleased
with her progress. She took the batteries out of the clock on the
wall – its incessant ticking was slowly driving her crazy. That
helped. A little.

And then blessedly, it was morning. She’d
been in too sour a mood the day before to give the purple pumps a
proper inaugural run. Today, she determined, would be different.
She donned her new charcoal slacks, violet silk cami and the
matching deep gray fitted jacket with piping. Almost reverently,
she slid the heels on, taking a moment to admire them before
heading out the door.

Her contentment at being in her cozy little
office surrounded by a steady hum of activity dissipated briefly
when Gavin ambled in. He greeted her with a wink. She greeted him
with a stiff nod.

“You know, you could stand to loosen up,”
Gavin cocked his head to the side and sized Kate up.

“You could stand to tighten up,” she
retorted.

“How so?” His eyes widened innocently.

“Your hair looks like you just rolled out of
bed,” Kate blurted out the first thing she could think of.

“Yours looks like it should be covered by a
habit,” he countered. Her hand flew instinctively to her neat
ponytail before she could stop herself.

“I haven’t had much time to do anything with
it lately,” she offered feebly.

“Me either. Completely swamped.”

“You know, you’ve gotten a lot done for the
launch party,” Liz began innocently. Kate froze, her eyes locked
with Jessica’s in a silent plea for help. Jessica’s head dipped to
hide a grin. “You two could totally take some time this morning and
go together to get haircuts.”

“That’s not funny,” Kate shook her head. “In
fact, it’s absurd.”

“I’ll do it if you will,” Gavin challenged
defiantly.

“Really, Gavin, this isn’t third grade.”

“You know, I think she gets kind of mean when
she’s cornered,” he whispered noisily to Liz and Jessica.

“He’ll just keep teasing you until you do
it,” Jessica told her.

Kate hesitated. Jessica did have a point. And
hadn’t Kate debated a haircut just two days ago? Why make this more
painful than it had to be? “Fine,” she finally caved in. “We’ll go
after the morning meeting.”

“So do I get to choose your hairstyle?” Gavin
could barely contain his anticipation.

“Do I get to choose yours?” Kate arched an
eyebrow and waited for a response.

“Sure,” he leaned back abruptly. “Why
not?”

“Alrighty then. Why not?” Dang. She hadn’t
counted on that.

For the second day in a row, she had a hard
time concentrating during the morning meeting. She had been right;
Jack was pleased with her progress on the launch party. It was
already taking shape and there was no excuse to not begin her San
Francisco excursions with Gavin.

After the meeting she drug her feet through
checking messages and returning emails, only to have Jessica remind
her that she could always do that later. With one last look at the
traitors who were barely suppressing their giggles, she followed
Gavin out of their office. Defeated, her shoulders slumped as she
trudged out the door, every bit the lamb being led to
slaughter.

“So, what exactly do you have in mind?” She
was almost afraid to ask.

“Haven’t decided yet.”

“Would you tell me if you had?”

“Nope.”

“Figures,” Kate sighed heavily. Come to think
of it, what would she do to Gavin? She toyed briefly with the idea
of having them give him a mullet, but quickly tossed the idea aside
for two reasons. Retaliation was one, and more importantly, she
couldn’t bear to ruin her own view like that. Not that she was
about to admit that second reason to anyone.

The idea of retaliation made her realize that
there was a certain amount of strategy to be employed here. If she
let him off the hook too soon, then he might not be encumbered by
anything as noble as fair play. He might be free to give her
hot-pink spikes. Well, spikes at least. She hadn’t agreed to have
her hair colored.

“Careful,” he cautioned, humor tinting his
voice. Kate was dismayed to realize that she had been so intently
debating her strategy she had nearly smacked into the glass door he
was now opening for her.

“Thanks,” she nearly winced at the harshness
of her own voice. Since when had she become such a shrew? He didn’t
seem to notice, he was busy sweet-talking the receptionist, trying
to garner them an appointment. Kate held her breath, hopeful that
he wouldn’t succeed. When he sauntered back towards her, his smile
was much too triumphant for her liking.

“They can get us in at six o’clock,” he
proudly informed her.

“That’s almost eight hours from now,” she
looked at him as if he were insane.

“It usually takes weeks to get in,” he
grabbed her hand lightly and tugged her out the door. “Besides,
this is perfect. I have a few ideas for how to spend the day.”

“Is that so?” She narrowed her eyes, unsure
if she trusted his ideas.

“Come on, you’re going to love it.”

“Somehow I doubt that.”

“Spoil sport.”

“Flip nut.”

“What?” He paused, unsure if he’d heard her
correctly.

“Flip nut?” She repeated.

“I’m telling myself that’s an American term
of endearment.”

“That’s exactly what it is,” she patted his
shoulder patronizingly.

“We’re here,” he stopped abruptly as the road
ended.

“Why are we at the pier?” She eyed him
nervously.

“Well, I know we were supposed to start with
things having to do with the launch party, but you’ve come so far
on that already. It wouldn’t hurt to get started on the next
issue…”

“What are you talking about?”

“Okay, okay, you caught me. This just looks
fun.”

“What looks fun?”

“Kayaking,” he dazzled her with his smile.
“Come on. But you have to promise not to tip; I have my camera with
me.”

“No way.” Kate dug her heels in and shook her
head firmly. “Absolutely not.”

“Are you scared?”

“This isn’t third grade,” she reminded him
for a second time that morning.

“Seriously, I understand if this kind of
thing is just way too spontaneous for you. I get it.”

“What do you get?”

“You don’t brush your teeth without
scheduling it on your Blackberry, do you? What about showers?”

“I am perfectly capable of tending to
personal hygiene without the assistance of my handheld.”

“So, where’s the line?”

“What line?”

“We’ve established you can be spontaneously
hygienic… but you won’t get on a boat without proper notice…even if
it’s part of your job. I’m just wondering where the line is.”

“This isn’t for work.”

“Sure it is,” he’d moved even closer to Kate;
his nearness was driving her to distraction.

“No it’s not. It’s for your own sadistic
enjoyment. Nice try,” Kate could feel her face heating up.

“You’re right; should we call Jack and ask
his opinion?” The look he gave her was pure innocence. The one she
bathed him with was something else entirely – more like loathing.
She toyed with the mental image of using one of her heels as a
weapon.

“That’s fighting dirty,” she muttered.

“True,” he agreed, pulling his phone out of
his pocket.

“Really dirty,” she folded her arms across
her chest.

“Yep.” He began to dial the phone.

“Fine,” she heaved a sigh and stalked passed
him. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Daddy’s little girl,” he triumphantly
pocketed his phone.

“Excuse me?” She stopped dead in her tracks
and turned to face him.

“Oh come on, it’s pretty obvious you want to
please Daddy. I get it with the last names – don’t want to show
nepotism and all that.” He strolled towards the door.

“What makes you think Jack Cooper is my
father?” She moved to catch up with him. “Please tell me you
haven’t told anyone that.”

“Sorry,” he seemed taken aback by her
distress. “The mannerisms, the eyes…. I just assumed it was common
knowledge everyone pretended they didn’t have.”

Kate sank onto a nearby bench, leaning
forward and sucking in great big gulps of air. So this is what a
panic attack felt like. Did Jack know? Jessica? Liz? Were they all
playing her stupid little game out of kindness? Tara? Tara couldn’t
know.

Gavin stood in front of her, unsure how best
to proceed. He finally settled on sitting quietly next to her and
rubbing her back gently. The light touch was enough to reignite the
electric currents in her veins. Maybe not his intended response,
but it diverted her mind from its crazy ramblings nonetheless.