What it Takes (8 page)

Veronica studied her nails, Grayson bounced with laughter, and Kelsey rolled her eyes. She studied the coffee in her hand and wondered about it. She’d thought it was a peace offering, but now considered it might have been bought for her for other reasons . . . none of them good.

“I wonder how often that’s happened to him,” Grayson said lowly as Veronica giggled.

Kelsey shook her head as she stood and walked to the table, grumbling, “It probably wouldn’t happen at all if he were more careful about whom he took home.” She set her coffee down as if it had burned her. She’d been so stupid, believing Patrick wasn’t as bad as she’d thought.

He was worse.

Grayson laughed directly behind her and Kelsey spun to glare at him as he said, “He didn’t take any of them home.”

She pursed her lips in disbelief then glanced over his shoulder. The girls were pleading their case, casting sly looks at Patrick. Andy was gesturing wildly at the gate, his neck, head, and face still red. Patrick stood calmly by his side, hands up placatingly, head shaking. From this distance, he appeared to be the only voice of reason. Guards flanked Andy and Patrick.

“Just stop, Grayson.” Kelsey turned her eyes to him. “I don’t want to hear it anymore. The stories are obviously true and worse than I thought.”

“So what?” he snapped. “So what if they are, Kelsey? He’s only human. I seriously doubt you’re as perfect as you pretend to be.”

Her mouth fell open and she quickly closed it as she looked away.

“We all have our naughty little habits or dark secrets.” He gripped her arm and turned her face to him. He stared deeply into her eyes. “But whatever you think his are, I can tell you for a fact that he didn’t take any of those girls back to his room.”

She grabbed his wrist and yanked his hand down. “How do you know that?” she asked defiantly, surprised by how much she hoped he would give her a solid bit of proof. She glanced at the group arguing outside again and recalled the jealousy she’d felt watching Patrick dance with those brats. Why had she been so stubborn in her refusal? It was just a dance after all.

“They were talking to the guards fifteen minutes after Patrick left. Ten minutes later, they were gone.”

Kelsey’s heart skipped a beat and she silently cursed it. She couldn’t take her eyes off of Patrick. He was gesturing calmly, trying to soothe the rising tempers. Why did she care so much who this man slept with? And why was she so relieved to hear it hadn’t been any of those women?

“He doesn’t sleep with fans; it’s one of his rules. It can cause too much trouble, especially when they’re that young.” Grayson’s serious tone drew her attention to him.

“Yes, but—”

“Kelsey, there are no ‘but’s,” Grayson sighed. Patrick and Andy were heading back to the tent. The women were being herded off of the set, still looking back at Patrick longingly. “He didn’t do that.” She heard the certainty in Grayson’s voice and realized how serious this conversation had been. Grayson was rarely serious.

Kelsey nodded as she picked up her coffee. Her eyes met Patrick’s as he walked back into the tent and she could see the irritation clearly written there, driving Grayson’s honesty home. She walked back to her seat, a crease in her brow as she took a sip of coffee with a renewed appreciation for it.

Four

“A
bout time,” Janelle teased her sister over the speakerphone later that afternoon.

Kelsey leaned against the arm of the couch and stretched her legs in front of her. She closed her eyes, simply enjoying the sound of her sister’s voice. “Sorry, I’ve been a little busy,” she replied and slowly opened her eyes. They made small talk for a few minutes until Kelsey couldn’t wait any longer. “How’s school going for Zach?”

Janelle laughed. “He’s been waiting for you to call so he could tell you all about it. Let me get him.” She covered the mouthpiece and called him.

Kelsey heard his muffled steps and felt giddy.

“Hi, Aunt Kelsey.”

The excitement quickly became a lump in her throat at the sound of his sweet drawl. “Hey, buddy,” she said, sounding calmer than she felt. Being away from her family was still one of the hardest parts of her job. She hadn’t realized how much she missed him. “How’re you doing?”

A knock on her door had Kelsey turning her head to see Patrick poking his head in. Kelsey waved him in and he sat in the chair across from her.

“I’m good,” Zach said. “I miss you.”

“Oh, sweetie, I miss you too,” she replied with a wobbly smile as her own twang slipped back into her voice. “Do you like school?”

“Yes,” he answered quietly.

“Do you have a girlfriend yet?”

“Kelsey!” Janelle reprimanded.

“No,” Zach said with a giggle.

Kelsey stifled a laugh of her own and turned to Patrick. His eyes danced with amusement. “No?” she asked. “Why not?”

“Because.” Zach giggled again. “You’re silly.”

“Silly? Why is that silly?”

“I’m only five.” He had a tone of exasperation.

“Oh, okay,” she said with a resigned sigh.

“We made jack o’ lanterns with Grandpa,” he said.

“Aw, how fun.” Kelsey wistfully remembered how she’d always loved watching her father carve pumpkins before Halloween. “Are they scary?”

“No, Zoe didn’t want scary,” he stated.

Kelsey nodded. She could understand how her two-and-a-half-year-old niece wouldn’t like a frightening jack o’ lantern.

“Are you gonna come home to see them?” Zack asked, his small voice full of hope.

“No, honey, I can’t do that,” Kelsey said regretfully. “I have to work. Take lots of pictures and have your momma send ’em to me.”

“Okay.”

His sad tone made Kelsey’s heart ache. “But I will come home before Thanksgiving.” Zach squealed with delight. “And I won’t leave again until January. How does that sound?”

Patrick’s brows came together and he looked at his lap. Kelsey wondered about that for only a moment.

“Good,” Zach answered and she could hear the excitement in his voice.

Kelsey’s grin returned. “What’s Zoe doing? Does she want to talk to me?”

“She’s eating crayons,” Zach replied.

“Zoe!” Janelle yelled in the background.

Patrick chuckled and Kelsey smirked at him.

“Mommy got the crayons away from Zoe,” Zach said, giggling.

Kelsey’s amusement dissipated. “I’ll talk to you next time then, buddy. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

Kelsey heard the phone change hands. “If you fed her more often, she wouldn’t have to eat crayons,” she teased her sister when she was sure Janelle had the phone.

“Ha ha, very funny.”

Kelsey laughed and glanced at Patrick. He was sitting with an ankle on his knee, his elbow propped on the arm of the chair. His chin rested on his knuckles and his eyes caught hers and penetrated deeply into her, almost making her forget the phone call.

“Kelsey?” Janelle’s voice brought her back to the present.

“What?”

“I asked you how it was going.”

“Not too bad,” Kelsey replied then her stomach knotted before she asked, “How are things there?”

There were so many things that could be wrong.

Six months ago, Janelle and her husband, Richard, had an argument that left bruises on Janelle’s face. Kelsey immediately opened her home to her sister and the children. Zoe had just turned two and Zach was four and a half. Since Kelsey split her time between her apartment in Los Angeles and her home in Virginia, it was a comforting and cozy feeling, having them to come home to.

Richard drank heavily and gambled constantly, and his behavior had become increasingly unpredictable. Every other weekend he had visitation with the kids, but he showed up later and later, then dropped them off earlier and earlier. If he was sober, which was rare, he would beg Janelle to come home and promise her things would be better. More often than not though, he’d been drinking and would fight with Janelle. During Kelsey’s trip home over the summer, he’d come by Kelsey’s house several times, threatened Kelsey with violence, and refused to leave when asked. Kelsey had nearly called the police on more than one occasion.

“Everything’s fine,” Janelle said. Kelsey exhaled slowly and listened carefully as her sister talked about Zoe’s new milestones, Zach’s good school reports, and the students she was tutoring. After a few minutes, Janelle sighed heavily, then said, “He came by today.”

Kelsey quickly took the call off speaker phone and glanced at Patrick. He was watching her intently. Their eyes met and she quickly looked away.

“In the middle of the day,” Janelle added.

“At lunch time?” Kelsey was a bit confused.

Richard Wagoner worked for one of the largest companies in the area. His office was forty-five minutes from Kelsey’s house, not a trip he could easily make during a normal lunch break.

“No. Zoe was just getting up from her nap, so it was around two.” She paused. “He asked about you.”

Kelsey’s stomach knotted and her eyes grew large. She sat up and pulled her knee closer to her chin. “What was he asking?” she whispered, sounding calmer than she felt. She glanced at Patrick who was now sitting with his fingers steepled at his lips. Instead of adding to her anxiety, the feeling she always associated with Richard, she found Patrick’s presence soothing. The knot in her stomach relaxed and her heart rate slowed. She closed her eyes and let her mind absorb her sister’s words.

“He wanted to know how you’re doing and where you are,” Janelle answered.

“What did you tell him?”

“Nothing, of course.” Janelle exhaled and Kelsey could picture her frown. “I expected him to get angry, but he just smiled and said ‘okay.’”

“That’s odd,” Kelsey murmured.

They’d been silent for a moment or two when Janelle said, “I need to get started on dinner.”

Kelsey glanced at her watch. “Yeah, I guess you do. I’ll talk to you later.”

The sisters said their good-byes and Kelsey hung up the phone and rested her chin on her knee. She looked out the window, wondering why Richard would be asking about her. She’d never known him to show an interest in her work before. His interest now made her uneasy. She had a feeling he was up to something.

And that was never a good thing.

Patrick sat up in his chair, trying to see her face. Kelsey’s eyes were always very expressive and it bothered him that he couldn’t see them. She was absentmindedly picking at the fabric on her jeans and seemed lost in thought. The urge to help was strong, but he was at a loss as to what to do. After a few more minutes of uncomfortable silence, he cleared his throat. She slowly turned and looked as if she’d forgotten he was there.

He shook off his disappointment. “Your sister?” he asked and she nodded. “What does she do?”

“She’s a stay-at-home mom and tutors middle school students after school.”

“And her husband?” Patrick cautiously asked. He’d heard a reference to a man just before Kelsey went pale and wasn’t sure whether he was the man in question.

Her reaction said it all. She stiffened and lifted her chin slightly. “He works in finance.” Kelsey squeezed her eyes together and inhaled deeply. When she looked at Patrick again, she gave him a dimpled grin. “Thanks for the coffee this morning.”

Her change of subject couldn’t have been more obvious, and it left him wondering. Was her sister’s troubled marriage the reason for Kelsey’s avoidance of him? Or was it something in her own past? Perhaps it was a combination of the two? Whatever it was, he wasn’t going to ask. If she wanted to tell him, she’d do it in her own time.

“You’re welcome,” he finally said. “I’d meant it as a peace offering of sorts. I said some pretty cruel things last night and for that I’m sorry.”

Kelsey shook her head. “I wasn’t exactly pleasant,” she answered, all hints of her sweet southern drawl disappearing. “Apology accepted. How did you know that was my favorite?”

“I pay attention.” His dimples deepened and her cheeks turned delightfully pink. She studied his face and he sat quietly, waiting for her to say something else. When she didn’t, he asked, “What’re you doing tonight?”

“Script.” She waved to hers, lying on the dining table.

He’d hoped she would say that. “Would you like to work on it together?” he asked. “I could bring dinner.” He’d come to her trailer thinking to invite her to read lines with him that evening, but as the words fell from his mouth, he realized there was a hint of desperation in his voice. He hoped she hadn’t noticed.