Authors: Kelly Favor
“I don’t think so.” Nicole opened her eyes and looked at him. “I’m pretty sure she said she’s from Ohio.”
Red shook his head. “I guess we’ll have to help her get a flight back tomorrow.”
Nicole sat up straighter. She put the glass of cold water to her cheek. “Let’s just wait and see.”
“Wait and see what?”
“I don’t know. I don’t want to just kick her out, toss her on a plane and make her go home to Ohio. What if she doesn’t want to leave New York?”
“New York doesn’t seem like it’s been a very fun experience for her,” he said.
“She ran into a couple of jerks. But that doesn’t mean she should just run away from being a nanny and experiencing New York City.”
Red nodded, allowing that she had a point. “Still,” he said, his fingers expertly rubbing the sole of her foot. “It’s not our job to help this girl get back on her feet. You picked her up, we can let her stay the night—but then she needs to figure out a plan for herself.”
“We can help her figure out a plan.”
“As long as it involves going somewhere else. She can’t stay in our house, Nicole.”
For some reason Nicole didn’t like what he was telling her, even though she knew it made perfect sense. The truth was, she didn’t know Kallie at all. Kallie might not even be her real name—she might be a liar and a thief—or worse.
“I’m just saying, let’s take it one step at a time,” Nicole replied.
“She’s not a stray puppy.”
“Never said she was.”
He gazed intently at her. “You’re acting like she is.”
“No, I’m not. I’m simply being human and empathetic to her situation. You’re a man, you can’t understand what she’s been through.”
His eyes narrowed. “You’re pregnant and that’s the most important thing in my mind. I’m not putting you or the baby at risk by having some strange person in our house indefinitely.”
“Nobody’s at risk. She’s a perfectly sweet girl.”
He shook his head. “You’re being naïve.”
“Well I like her. And that’s enough for me, for now. We’ll discuss it again tomorrow, Red.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Whatever you say, Nicole.” And then he picked up her feet and began rubbing them again.
She laid her head back and smiled. “Your hands are magic, I swear,” she said.
***
Kallie luxuriated in the thirty-minute hot shower she took after Nicole left the room. By the end, the chill that had gotten deep into her bones from standing out in that cold rainstorm was long gone, and replaced by a feeling of loose muscles and warm, glowing skin.
She dried off and changed into the large, but very comfortable clothing she’d been provided by her thoughtful host.
Afterwards, Kallie walked out onto the balcony and took a deep breath of the salty air. The waves in the nearby ocean were large and crashing from the storm earlier.
Although the downpour had stopped, the sky was still cloudy and the air smelled of rain.
She went back inside, shut the sliding door and exhaled. At least for now, she felt safe and warm and sure of what the night would bring. Tomorrow she could deal with the uncertainty of what to do next.
Kallie went downstairs and found Nicole and Red making an early dinner together. Nicole was prepping the salad at the enormous granite counter, and he had a fancy grill up and was heating it, tongs at the ready.
They both looked up when Kallie entered the kitchen. Nicole got a big smile on her face, but Red wasn’t nearly as pleased to see her, and for a moment she felt a thrill of anxiety shoot through her.
After what had happened with Brad, the last thing Kallie wanted was another man having some kind of issue with her.
“Hi,” Kallie waved nervously.
“You look like a new person,” Nicole said. “Feel better?”
“I do.”
Red threw three cuts of meat on the grill where they sizzled and popped. “How do you like your steak?” he said.
“Medium, I guess?”
He nodded. “You got it.”
Red and Nicole were so right together—Kallie was instantly inspired and in awe, but also jealous. They had what everyone wanted, didn’t they? A person who would love you no matter what—someone who would stand by your side to the bitter end.
Kallie didn’t even know how or why she could tell this about them, but she just could. They must have been the polar opposite of Brad and Trina Danvers, and after breathing in the toxic air of the Danvers’s lives for the last six-months, this was a refreshing change of pace.
She relaxed and watched Red and Nicole talk and joke and play with one another as they made the meal. Everything Red did was so caring, so protective. She saw the way he watched Nicole, the kindness in his eyes. Had any man ever looked at Kallie that way?
Not even remotely, she realized, with a surge of melancholy.
Soon the food was ready, and Nicole and Red served her like she was an old friend of the family.
As they ate, the three of them stayed away from serious topics and discussed things like movies and music, and Red and Nicole asked her about her family and college in Ohio.
Red was surprised and intrigued when she told him she came from a family that had five boys and just one girl.
“What was that like—being the only girl?” he said.
“Interesting. Dating wasn’t easy,” she laughed.
“I bet.”
Nicole smiled as she cut a piece of steak. “Were they protective of you?”
“You could say that. The first boy who asked me on a date ended up backing out at the last minute because he heard my oldest brother was going to follow behind us the whole time.”
“Was your brother really going to do that?” Nicole said.
Kallie chuckled. “No, but I’m sure someone would have put a scare into him before he got me out of the house that night.”
“What does your family think of you coming to New York City all by yourself?”
Red asked.
She paused and took a bite of salad. The food was delicious and she savored the tangy vinaigrette for a few seconds before answering. “They don’t exactly approve. My parents like having all of the kids around. My brothers all live within an hour of where we grew up. I’m the only one who’s gone far away.”
Nicole nodded understandingly. “That must be hard sometimes.”
“Yeah. And I think maybe I made a mistake. I think they were right,” Kallie said, choking back some emotion.
Nicole exchanged a glance with her husband.
They changed topics and finished the meal with laughter and easy silences, while everyone enjoyed their food.
When it was done, Kallie tried to help clean up, but Nicole wouldn’t hear of it.
“You go relax. Watch some TV or something.”
Kallie thought of the book she’d left at the Danvers’s house—actually, she’d left everything she owned at the house—and felt a pang of loss.
“Please, let me help clean up, Nicole. I feel like I’m being a sponge.”
“You’ve had a rough day. Red and I can take care of this.”
Red nodded. “Go hang out. You can take a walk outside or you can turn on the TV. There’s a whole library of books in the TV room, too.”
“Thanks. I know I keep saying that word, but I really, really mean it.”
“We know you do,” Nicole told her. She was carrying dishes and silverware to the sink and Red was starting to run the water.
Kallie felt guilty and yet taken care of in a way that hadn’t happened since she was back home at her parents’ house. She went to the TV room, which was the size of a football field, and surrounded on all sides by bookshelves filled with books.
With so many books, she held out hope that maybe—just maybe—they’d have a copy of Blue Horizon on the shelves. But after twenty minutes of scouring every title, she came up empty.
***
Nicole was shocked when she woke up the next morning to the smell of bacon frying. At first she thought it was Red’s doing, but he was nowhere to be found. It was just Kallie in the kitchen, humming and smiling as she finished plating some of the strips.
“Hey!” Nicole laughed, holding her stomach. She was hungry. The baby kicked a few times, as if to tell her that she was also quite hungry. “You didn’t have to make a whole production for us.”
“I wanted to thank you guys for letting me stay last night,” Kallie said, as Red came up behind Nicole and kissed her neck, putting his arms around her middle.
“Where did you get off to this morning?” Nicole asked him.
“Me? I had some trouble sleeping—woke up early so I went to the office and answered some emails.” He kissed her again and then straightened up. “Wow, that smells amazing.”
“How do you two like your eggs?” she asked them, holding up a spatula.
They told her and she went to work like a short order cook, making their food fast and efficiently and it tasted amazing.
She was still wearing the clothes Nicole had given her last night, and Nicole knew they’d have to do something about that soon. “How’d you sleep, Kallie?”
Kallie finally sat down with her own plate—a small portion of scrambled eggs and a couple strips of bacon. “I slept amazing. I feel completely refreshed and yesterday seems like a bad dream.”
“Good,” Red told her. “Have you thought at all about where you want to go next?”
Nicole gave him a little jab under the table. She didn’t want to make Kallie feel unwanted, but he just ignored her.
Kallie broke a piece of bacon in half and wiped a strand of honey blond hair from her face. “I guess maybe I should go back to Ohio.”
“Are you sure that’s what you want?” Nicole said.
Kallie sighed. “I’m not sure. But I can’t really see any other option. I have some money, but not enough to last more than a month or two. And I’m pretty certain I won’t be able to work for my agency anymore. I still need to call them and let them know what happened yesterday.” She shook her head. “What a disaster.”
Nicole put a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Don’t think about that just yet. I’m going to talk to Red about a few things and then we’ll all put our heads together and figure this out, okay?”
Kallie smiled. “You don’t have to do anything more than you’ve already done. I mean, you don’t really know me and I’ve been a huge imposition on your family.”
“It’s no big deal. And besides, you evened the score with this breakfast. I think you might have been a chef in your past life.”
They finished eating and Kallie insisted on cleaning up this time—a role reversal of the previous evening’s activities. Nicole took an opportunity to pull Red upstairs to the master bedroom so they could talk in private.
She closed the door and lowered her voice so Kallie definitely wouldn’t be able to hear their conversation. “I think we should invite her to stay for a few days or a week,”
Nicole told him.
Red sat down on the edge of the bed and sighed deeply. “What’s that going to accomplish?”
Nicole stood in the center of the bedroom with her hand on her stomach. “Right now she sees no options. But I think if she’s able to get her bearings, talk to her agency and maybe make a few calls to friends in New York, she might be able to figure out a way to stay.”
“Are you sure you’re not projecting your own stuff onto this girl?”
Nicole shook her head. “In what way?”
Red smiled at her and held out his hand. Nicole took it and he pulled her closer.
“You’re identifying with her so much. A young girl, naïve, comes to the big city and feels confused and taken advantage of by a rich, older man.”
“The difference is, in Kallie’s case she really was taken advantage of. You seduced me fair and square.”
“But you think she’s like you and she’s not. Kallie is a totally different person and she said she wanted to go back to Ohio.”
Nicole held up a finger. “No. What she said was that she didn’t think she’d have the money to stay in New York anymore. I know what that feels like. I want to help her.”
“Where does it end?”
“Let’s give her a few days to get back on her feet and figure things out. I can tell she’s a good kid, Red. You’re not going to convince me that she’s actually a serial killer.”
Red nodded. “I know. I had my guys do a thorough background check on her this morning.”
“You what?”
“I couldn’t let some potential psycho stay at our house without having her vetted.
Everything came back cleaner than clean. She’s a girl scout.”
Nicole smiled and rolled her eyes. “You really are nuts, Red Jameson.”
“Crazy in love.” He pulled her even closer. “Come here.” His voice lowered and he got a look in his eyes that instantly made her warm all over.
And then the damn cell phone was ringing, at the worst possible time.
It was Danielle. “Shit. I’ll call her back,” Nicole said.
“It’s fine, take it,” Red laughed, moving away from her. “I need to jump in the shower anyhow.”
Nicole shook her head, sad for the missed opportunity. Once again, she had that fleeting sensation that things had changed between them—but maybe she really was just overreacting.
She answered the phone, trying to sound as chipper as an expecting mother should sound. “Hey there, stranger.”
“Okay, so we’ve decided to have a party and we want you guys to come!”
Danielle said, obviously excited beyond reason.
“A party, when?”
“Tonight. I know it’s super short notice but Kane is so impulsive sometimes…”
Nicole sighed. She wasn’t really feeling like getting dolled up (almost an impossibility in her current state), but she hadn’t seen Danielle nearly as much as she’d expected to lately. After all, Danielle and Kane also had gotten a place in the Hamptons (Red claimed that Kane was copying him as usual), but the two couples couldn’t ever seem to manage to make their schedules jive.
“I’m not sure about tonight,” Nicole told her, as Danielle groaned dramatically into the phone. “I’ll run it by Red.”
“Kane’s texting him right now, so he knows. Please, please, please. It’s going to be super casual and the weather’s improving.”
Then Nicole considered their impromptu houseguest, and suddenly the prospect of going wasn’t so unreasonable. After all, Kallie deserved to get out and have some fun after what she’d been through. Why not bring the girl along?