Before Sunrise (16 page)

“
Do you really think Kennedy
would turn her against you?”

“
I don’t know what to think.
Can’t you see how fucked up this whole thing is? Try going off for
five years and your family belonging to another man. Tell me how
you’d deal with that shit?”

“
I understand. I get it, I
really do. But I think once you see Kennedy, you will see not much
has changed. You just got to see her for yourself. She loves you,
man…you have to believe that.”

“
We’ll see,” he said
bitterly.

Liam again noticed they traveled south. He
frowned. “Where are we going?”

“
To her office.”

“
What?” Liam snapped. “Kay?
No.”

“
You just saw Mac. Do you
think Ms. Christopher will keep that a secret? Do you want to take
the chance of having anyone tell her? Plans change. We need to get
you to her now.”

“
I said no, bro. I won’t go
to her office, man. That’s not how we do this. If I screwed up,
okay, call her. Let’s just arrange for her to meet us
now.”

Vasquez nodded. He dialed and Liam listened
to him ask for her directly. He saw his friend’s brow furrow with
concern as he asked a few more questions, then end the call.

“
Well?”

“
Court. The assistant said
she won’t be expected back to the office.”

Liam sighed. “Well, there you have it. We
just need to ride it out.”

Vasquez gave a worried look but nodded in
agreement. Liam returned his gaze to the window and his thoughts
immediately focused again on the small beauty that had his kid
sister’s smile. Her name was Mac, and he was in love.

***

Kennedy walked to the car, holding the hand
of Mackenzie, who tried hard not to step on a crack. Nothing today
had gone as planned. It started with an early call from Phil that
he wouldn’t be able to pick up his stepdaughter, and ended with her
rushing out in the middle of a deposition that had gone over the
scheduled time, in order to get to her daughter’s school on time.
She hoped Mac couldn’t hear the shouting coming through her
Bluetooth wireless earpiece. Milton, her boss, was livid.
Admittedly, she had been distracted lately with thoughts of Liam,
which the approaching holiday always provoked. She needed to get
her head together.

“
Mommy?” Mackenzie
whined.

“
What do you mean Judge
Thomas has denied the motion? I don’t understand what I missed. I’m
sorry I left, Milton, but everything was in order.”

“
Mommy?”

Kennedy looked down at Mackenzie. “In a
minute, baby.”

Mackenzie pouted as Kennedy opened the back
door, tossed her book bag inside and helped her daughter into her
booster seat. Kennedy did see Ms. Christopher waving at her. For a
minute she thought the teacher had done so to stop her. But another
parent approached Ms. Christopher and the teacher turned away.
Milton’s shrieking in her ear nearly pierced her eardrum. “I can
get on it as soon as I get home. Just e-mail what precedents you
need. I’ll work through the night. I apologize, Milton. This won’t
happen again.” She slammed the car door, then hurried to her side
and slipped in behind the wheel.

The engine turned over and she shriveled a
bit with humiliation over the demands of her boss echoing in her
ear. She tried to contain her anger. After all, the client’s future
was in jeopardy because of her mistake. Maybe she’d talk to Phil
and get his help.

“
Mommy!” Mackenzie shouted
from the back seat.

Kennedy looked at her daughter in the
rearview mirror. Mackenzie had tears in her eyes. “I have it, sir.
Can I call you tonight, once I’m home? Okay, thank you.” She ended
the call with a heavy sigh of guilt. “Mommy is so sorry, Mac. What
is it, baby?”

Mackenzie blinked away her tears. She smiled
brightly to have her mother’s undivided attention. “I got a
secret!”

Kennedy smiled. She knew this game. “A
secret?”

“
Yep, Daddy told me a
secret.”

“
Well when we get home I
will tell daddy not to tell you secrets that momma can’t know,” she
said.

“
Not that daddy. Daddy from
heaven told me a secret today at school.”

Kennedy turned the corner. Her gaze went up
to the rearview mirror. “What?”

“
Daddy. He come to school
and said don’t tell nobody.”

“
Your daddy from heaven came
to your school today?”

“
Yes!”

Kennedy struggled to separate reality from
fantasy. She shook her head. Apparently her daughter was confused.
“When was this, Mac?”

Mackenzie kicked her feet out and reached
for her book bag. “At playtime, him and Uncle Tony came to give me
a secret.”

“
Uncle Anthony was at your
school?” Kennedy foot eased on the brake. A car honked its horn.
She accelerated again.

“
Yes,” her daughter
answered. She pulled out her drawing. “Look what I drew, Mommy.
It’s my fishie.”

“
Wait a minute, darling,
momma’s driving,” Kennedy swallowed the lump in her throat and her
chest tightened. Mackenzie wasn’t making any sense but her baby
never lied to her. Reaching for her wireless phone, she pressed the
number three button to call Angelina.

***

Liam rose from the sofa. He listened
quietly. He’d been killing time since they’d left Mackenzie’s
school, and it drove him crazy. He’d already lost enough of his
life. He’d been looking for a target to go off on when the phone
had rung, just seconds ago.

Both Liam and Vasquez fixed intense gazes on
Angelina as she answered and instantly went pale. “Hey, girl.
Wh-where are you? Been calling you all day.”

Vasquez crossed the den to stand next to his
wife. She turned her back to him and clutched the phone tight.
“They—um—he came in last night.”

“
Yeah, he’s right here.”
Angelina looked at Liam and his heart dropped to the deck. She
handed the phone to Anthony.

“
Kennedy?” Vasquez stepped
away from Angelina, seemingly worried she’d grab the phone back
from him. “Yeah, it’s good to be back. Everything okay?” Then he
laughed, but a wave of sadness washed over his face. “Yeah, yeah it
is. Can you hang on a sec?”

Vasquez covered the
mouthpiece and held the phone out to Liam. He held his hands up and
shook his head.
No way
. When he and Kay had it out, it would be in person. Liam
needed to see her eyes. Vasquez pressed his lips together and
returned the phone to his ear.

“
I’m back.” Vasquez laughed
nervously at something Kennedy said. “Umm…Mac thinks any blue-eyed
soldier is her daddy.” He swung an accusatory glance over Liam’s
way.

“
I’ll be ashore for awhile.
How about you come over? I, um, there’s something I need to, so we
can, um, catch up.” Vasquez nodded repeatedly. “Sure, I understand.
Are you headed home? Will you be alone?” Vasquez asked. “Maybe I
can bring the boys over now to play with Mac. Is that
okay?”

Liam held his breath until his chest
burned.

“
They’re dying to see her,
too. See you soon.”

Listening to Vasquez end the call, Liam felt
sick to his stomach. He forced a brave smile.

“
Guess my little one forgot
what the definition of a secret was.”

Vasquez shook his head. “Your wife is pretty
sharp, man.”

Liam nodded. “Yeah, but she’s not my wife
anymore.”

“
Look, she’s saying she
can’t come over now—something about work. But she said Phil has to
work late, so we can just go over there. He won’t be
home.”

“
I think Kennedy should come
here.” Angelina spoke up. “Let me call her back.”

“
No. I can handle it. Seeing
her, I mean. I don’t want to wait any longer.”

“
No.” Angelina shook her
head. “Do it here. We’ll give you privacy. Trust me, you will want
it. Anthony and I can take the kids for burgers or
something.”

“
Thanks, but I’d rather see
her there.”

Angelina frowned. “You want to ambush
her?”

Liam couldn’t disguise his anger over her
remarrying. No one made this easy for him. Why should he make it
easy for her? “You heard Ant. Phil’s not there. And let’s face it,
seeing me again is an ambush no matter where it goes down. I want
to see her, now.”

They both looked at him doubtfully.

“
Let’s go. I’m ready.” Liam
said.

Angelina grabbed his wrist, stopping him.
“Listen to me. She will be shocked and confused, but I promise you
she is in love with you. Please believe me when I say that. She
loves you, Liam. Keep a cool head, okay?”

Liam kissed her cheek. “I’ll be cool.”

***

Phil walked in and stepped up behind
Kennedy, who washed dishes at the sink. He planted a kiss on her
cheek. She turned on him, startled.

“
You’re home early,” she
gasped. “You said you couldn’t pick up Mac? That you had to work
late.”

“
I missed you,” he murmured,
nuzzling her neck. Slowly, he brought the bouquet of flowers he’d
shielded behind his back.

“
They’re beautiful, Phil.
But you should have called me if you were going to be home early.”
She said, her voice tight with frustration. She’d been running
around the house like crazy since she’d walked through the door.
The only reason she started the breakfast dishes was because she
needed to get dinner done early. She’d be up all night
working.

“
What’s wrong?”

She set the flowers on the counter. “I’m
sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. It’s been a day.”

“
Well, I did call but you
didn’t answer your phone. Did you get my message?”

Kennedy shook her head. “Been in court all
day. Haven’t checked my messages. I just…sometimes I feel so
overwhelmed.”

He lifted her chin and forced her to look in
his eyes. “Work?”

“
Yeah, I screwed up. I’ll
need your legal brain. Milton’s deposition went south and I think
it’s my fault.”

“
Babe, you know I’ll help.
Okay? Now smile for me. Been missing you, honey.”

Kennedy forced the tightness around her
mouth to relax and gave him a smile. Phil moved in on her, crowding
her against the sink. His lips met hers in a soft, sweet kiss that
relaxed her immediately. She pushed back on his chest when she felt
their embrace growing too passionate. “Thanks. I feel better.”

He slipped his other arm around her waist
and pressed into her. Phil gave her another quick kiss, then
released her. He left the kitchen, headed for the stairs to change.
Kennedy touched her mouth. She sighed. When she turned she noticed
the flowers again. Phil had been extra romantic lately. Did he pick
up on the strain she felt between them since this baby thing had
become an issue? They were technically newlyweds and her anxiety
hadn’t lessened. If anything, it seemed to increase with the
passing months. She closed her eyes and tried to calm herself. She
wouldn’t go back on anti-depressants. She had moved on to a better
place. Phil was a good husband. Wasn’t he? Mackenzie couldn’t be
happier. She had a job she loved on most days. She just needed to
be grateful for that much.

Last night she’d dreamed of Liam. The dream
swept her sweetly through memories of their first meeting, her
first time making love with him, and the many times after where
passion ruled her life. She’d never known love like she had with
Liam. Maybe the cliché was true. That type of love happened only
once in a lifetime.

“
I finished,
Mommy!”

Kennedy turned and Mackenzie bounced in
front of her, having changed from her school clothes to a pair of
green shorts and a top.

“
Are the twins
coming?”

“
Yes, sweetie.” She’d
forgotten she told Vasquez to bring the boys over. She really
wasn’t in the mood for a visit but she hadn’t seen him in months.
Maybe Phil could entertain Vasquez while she excused herself.
Kennedy went to the refrigerator and retrieved a package of frozen
steaks.

Suddenly, Mackenzie who’d taken up coloring
in her book of bears in the living room, straightened up. She got
to her feet and went to the picture window at the front of the
house. Kennedy registered Mac’s odd expression as she headed for
the pantry to find some pasta. Standing there, staring at boxes of
cereal and canned goods, a shiver went through her.

“
Mommy! Daddy’s here!
Daddy’s here!” Mackenzie screamed, her voice almost buoyant with
the sounds of her jumping up and down.

Kennedy’s heart raced. Her head turned. She
looked back into the kitchen, confused by the excitement. Phil’s
hurried steps could be heard as he came down from their room.
Kennedy was sure he had already greeted Mackenzie when he arrived,
as he did every day he came home from work.

“
Mac, wait!” She heard Phil
yell.

“
What’s going
on?”

***

Mackenzie gave her stepfather a wide grin.
She disobeyed him for the first time in her young life, turning the
lock she could now reach and with both of her tiny hands she pulled
the door open. It was then Phil’s world shattered. Alexa had told
him he had a few more days. He wasn’t ready. He knew time was
running out, but he wasn’t ready.