Forever Together (9 page)

Kate glanced at her watch and did a quick
calculation. “Did I get you out of bed?”

“Goodness, no,” her mom said. “It’s too
beautiful a day to be stuck inside. Listen to this…”

Kate heard the
sound
of waves tumbling onto the shore and knew her mom
must be on the beach.

“It’s nearly winter and sixty-eight degrees
at seven o’clock in the morning. Can you believe it? I should have
moved to Australia years ago. When are you coming to visit?”

Her mom must have started walking. Her voice
was slightly breathless, fading in and out as her legs carried her
across the sand.

“Mom, I need to ask you a question and I
don’t have much time.”

“If you need money I can transfer some
straight away. I sold seven paintings at the exhibition last
week.”

“That’s great, but I’m okay for
money
.”

“How’s your dad?”

“He’s fine.” Kate hadn’t told her mom the
real reason she’d come to Montana. She’d said she wanted to see her
father and his family. She didn’t tell her that Kaylee had HLH or
about the bone marrow transplant.

“Mom, did you tell dad about Lily?” Her mom
didn’t say anything. The silence was deafening, more powerful than
the waves pounding on the beach. Without saying a word, her mom
gave her the answer she’d been dreading.

Kate leaned against the counter, releasing
the tight grip she had on her cell phone. If it splintered into
pieces
she’d never hear the
truth.

“Why didn’t you tell him?” Kate asked. “Did
he know you were pregnant?”

She heard her mom sigh, then the rustle of
movement. “I don’t want to talk about it. Your dad left fifteen
years ago, Kate. Let it be.”

“We never talk about what happened. Every
time I want to talk about dad or Lily you shut me out. I need
answers. It’s important.”

“It won’t do any good,” her mom insisted.
“We’ve moved on, taken control of our lives.”

Kate doubted either of them had ever been in
control of their lives. Her mom hadn’t stayed still long enough to
control anything and Lily’s death had left Kate with scars that had
never healed.

“Please, mom. Just this once,
tell
me the truth.”

Her mom was silent. If it
weren’t
for the sound of the ocean in the
background, Kate would have sworn her mom had ended the call.
“Before I say anything you’ve got to promise you won’t hate me for
what I did. I tried my best, Kate. I really did. I thought I was
doing the right thing.”

Kate could only imagine what was coming next.
“I couldn’t hate you. You’re my mom.” The truth of those words rang
in Kate’s ears. She loved her mom.

They’d tried to find common ground, but
between a mother with chronic depression and a daughter who didn’t
know how to express the anger and grief consuming her life, it
hadn’t been easy. They’d fought their battles differently and
neither of them had won.

“What happened?” Kate waited.

“I was nearly three months pregnant when Tom
left. If I’d told him I was going to have a
baby,
he wouldn’t have gone back to Montana. We were
suffocating each other. He needed to be on his family’s ranch, not
moving from one city to the next. After Lily was
born,
I still couldn’t tell him. He wrote to
you. He was excited and happy for the first time in years. I
couldn’t take that away from him.”

“What about when Lily got sick?” Kate
asked.

“I didn’t know how to tell him, and then Lily
got so sick that it didn’t seem to matter. We had each other, Kate.
We didn’t need your dad.”

Her mom said that as if it was the most
important thing in the world. But when Lily died neither of them
had been able to cope with what was happening. Her mom had
disappeared behind bottles of prescription drugs and Kate had found
comfort with the wrong people.

“I kept all of his letters. I left them in
San Diego in the box of photos in your apartment.”

Kate imagined her mom sitting in the sand,
trying to find something positive in the mess they’d made of their
lives. She didn’t know what to say.

“Are you still there?”

“I’m here, mom.” The bell over the front door
of The Beauty Box tinkled. Kate looked at her watch. “I’ve got to
go. A client’s arrived for her appointment.”

“You must think I’m a bad person for not
telling your dad about Lily. But it was for the best. What
difference would it have made?”

It would have made a huge difference to Kate,
to her dad, and to the long wait Kaylee had to endure before the
right diagnosis had been made. Fifteen years ago her mom hadn’t
been able to see the impact of the decisions she’d made. Nothing
Kate said would make her see it now, so she did what she’d always
done. She said goodbye and carried on.

CHAPTER FIVE

Dan adjusted his tie for the hundredth time and ran
his hand through his hair. He wasn’t used to wearing a tux, but
Anna had insisted he rent one for tonight’s fashion show. The
thought of watching models parade around in the latest designs for
two hours didn’t inspire him at all.

He could have kissed Emily when she’d given
him a job, and would have if her
fiancé
hadn't
been standing a few feet away. It didn't pay to mess
with a
three-time
World Bull
Riding Champion, and Emily's
fiancé
just
happened to be one.

A low wolf whistle filled the hospital
corridor. “Don’t you look nice?”

Dan felt a blush hit his face. He’d known
Julie Gilbert for years. They’d gone to school together, dated a
few times, then went their separate ways. She’d ended up marrying
the captain of their high school football team, raising four kids
and working as a nurse in pediatrics.

“You know I hate it when you make me go red,”
he grumbled.

“And you know how much I enjoy it.” Julie
laughed.

He kept walking, worried that someone would
poke their head out of a room to see what all the fuss was about.
He’d promised Kaylee he’d stop by after he’d changed into his tux.
As long as he stayed clear of Julie, he’d be able to make a quick
getaway before anyone else saw him.

He frowned at the half-closed curtains around
Kaylee’s bed. Usually at this time of the afternoon she liked
everything wide open. That way she could talk to the people
visiting other kids in the ward.

A shriek of laughter from her bed had him
moving quickly. He grabbed hold of the edge of the curtain and
would have yanked it back if he hadn’t heard Kate’s voice.

“Don’t eat it. You’ll get me in trouble with
Doctor T.”

Two different giggles drifted beyond the
curtains. He took a step sideways and kept listening.

“It smells kind of salty,” a little boy
said.

“That’s because it’s from the beach,” Kaylee
said with awe. “Real sand, Toby. I bet your mom and dad would like
to see it.”

“Can I take some back to my room?” Toby
asked. “I promise I’ll be careful.”

“That’s why I brought two containers. One for
you and one for Kaylee.”

Dan quietly pulled the curtain back. Kaylee
was sitting in the middle of her bed with Kate on one side and Toby
on the other. The two kids had been inseparable since they’d met.
They’d found a friendship that went beyond their years and Dan
could only be grateful for the distraction they made in each
other’s lives. Especially when things got bad.

“Uncle Dan,” Kaylee shrieked. “Look what Kate
brought. It’s sand. Real sand from her beach.”

A big bowl of sand had been placed in front
of Kaylee and someone had made a small sandcastle. He glanced at
both kids’ catheters and tubes, hoping like hell nothing made it
into their lines.

“It’s okay,” Kate said. “Nurse Julie gave us
the all clear before we started.”

“She taped us up good,” Toby said.

“And we’ve got an extra blanket on the bed to
stop any spills from giving me a rash,” Kaylee said in a
matter-of-fact tone. “Nurse Julie said it would be worse than bed
bugs.”

“It’s good you listened to Nurse Julie.” Dan
nearly smiled at the two solemn faces nodding back at him. He felt
Kate’s gaze wander over his suit and settle on the bow tie at his
neck.

“I like your tuxedo.”

Her softly spoken words heated him from the
inside out. He pulled at his tie as three pairs of eyes cruised
over his body. “It’s for the fashion show. Kaylee and Anna chose
everything from the store’s website.”

“We got a red bow tie because mom said Uncle
Dan wouldn’t wear pink.” Kaylee leaned across to Toby. “Pink is my
favorite color.”

Toby squinted at Dan. “Where’s your
badge.”

Dan liked the way Toby thought. He pulled his
wallet out of his jacket and flipped the front cover open. “Here it
is. I brought you both something.”

He stuck his wallet in his pocket and passed
Kaylee one of the plastic bags he’d been carrying.

She squealed with delight. “They’re
beautiful. Look, Toby.” She held the two dolls outfits up for Toby
to see.

One dress was pale pink, with a frilly skirt
and lots of gold stitching. The other was blue with sparkles. The
lady in the toy store said they’d fit Kaylee’s Cinderella doll, so
he’d taken her word and bought both.

“I thought you could have your own fashion
show in the hospital with your dolls.”

Kaylee smiled at him and Dan knew it had been
the right thing to buy. He was looking forward to seeing what Toby
thought of his present.

“Here you go, Toby.” Dan handed him his
bag.

Toby didn’t rush like Kaylee had. He opened
the bag slowly, glancing up at Dan before looking inside.
Excitement and something more shone from his eyes. “A police wallet
and handcuffs. Wait till I show dad.”

Dan watched Toby’s face as he opened the
wallet.

“It’s a badge, just like yours.” Toby’s mouth
dropped open. “And it’s got my name on it.”

The smile on the little guy’s face left a
lump in Dan’s throat. Both kids had been through so much that it
was a wonder either of them could smile about anything.

He looked across at Kate. It wasn’t the
wisest thing he’d ever done. She had tears in her eyes and a smile
on her lips. Spending time with Kaylee and Toby could do that to
you. Some days he came away from pediatrics so full of emotion that
he didn’t know what to do with himself.

Kate kissed the side of Kaylee’s face and
stood up. “I’ve got to go now. All of the models will be arriving
soon to get their hair and makeup done.”

“Thank you for the sand,” Toby said.

“That’s okay. Just be sure and tell the nurse
when you want to play with it.”

Toby nodded and went back to admiring his
badge.

Kate stood up and walked around the bed. “You
did good, Uncle Dan. I’ll see you at the fashion show.”

Then she kissed him. On the cheek, in front
of Kaylee and Toby. His heart rate hammered and his blood pressure
went berserk. The slow smile on her face burned through to his soul
and he knew he was in trouble.

He watched her leave the ward and wondered if
he’d gone crazy.

“Uncle Dan…” Kaylee’s voice snuck through the
fog clouding his brain. “Can you take a photo of Toby and me?”

Dan nodded and reached for his phone. Right
now he needed any distraction he could find. Nothing was going to
happen between him and Kate. And as long as he remembered that,
everything would be fine.

***

Kate dipped her brush into a container of
bright blue glitter and quickly applied it to a model’s face. She
glanced at the photo on her laptop and gave the butterfly design
one last inspection before flicking to the next image on her
screen.

Kate knew how fickle some fashion designers
could be, so she’d asked Molly to photograph each model’s face at
the dress rehearsal. Last
night
she’d put together a folder of each model’s makeup, in the order
they’d appear on stage, and given a copy to each of the
stylists.

“You’re done, Celeste.” With her fantasy
makeup complete, Celeste rushed off to the side of the stage. Ten
girls stood in line, waiting for the music that would cue their
arrival onto the runway.

Another teenage girl sat in the empty chair.
“I’m Casey. Number fourteen.”

“Hello, Casey. Number fourteen.” Kate smiled
at the young girl and found her photo on the laptop. Without
wasting any time, she picked up a tub of white powder and began
another transformation. The teenager quickly turned into a Marie
Antoinette lookalike, complete with a dark beauty spot and bright
red lips.

Kate darted across to a table and grabbed a
big white beehive wig. With more speed than finesse she jammed it
on the model’s head and smiled. “You look amazing. You’re all
ready.”

As the teenager hurried across the room, Kate
took a moment to enjoy the billowing
peach
skirts and ribboned corset of her dress. The
fantasy section was her favorite part of the show. With woodland
nymphs, Egyptian goddesses, and hobbits standing alongside
butterflies and
eighteenth-century
noblewomen, it was a beautician’s dream come true. Especially for
Kate.

She turned to the woman sitting in the chair
in front of her and smiled. “Are you ready to become a
fairy
princess?”

Tess rolled her eyes. “I’m six foot tall in
stockings. I should have been a tree trunk, not a fairy.”

“A very pretty tree trunk.” Kate laughed as
she added extra color to Tess’ face. “I saw you in the rehearsal.
If you ever want to change
careers,
you could be a professional model.”

Tess’
cheeks
turned pink. “Chief cookie cutter and waitress turned model? I
don’t think so.”

“Try successful business woman and
entrepreneur. Anna told me Angel Wings Café is a big success.” Kate
added black eyeliner and a dusting of glitter
to
Tess’ face. With her high cheekbones,
porcelain skin, and beautiful almond shaped eyes, she was
stunning.