I Hear...Love (A Different Road #2) (21 page)

“That mutt isn’t on my Italian leather sofa, is it?” River quickly asks. “Is it?” he asks again, then everyone starts laughing.

Sadie lifts her head and barks at River, then Kate wraps her arms around her head and pulls her into her chest, squeezing her head. Everyone starts to laugh again, then River sighs.

“Good girl, Sadie,” Kate says, then kisses her on top of her head.

Everyone sits down, and River sits right next to Sadie’s leg. She looks at River, then gently removes her paw from the side of River’s leg. River looks at his thigh, then snarls his lip in Sadie’s direction. I sit on the floor in front of Kate, not wanting to be too far from her.

Maddy and Stephen walk into the family room, carrying plates and pass them out.

“French toast center, bacon three, fruit nine,” Joss calls to River, then she happily digs into her own food.

I turn to look at Kate to make sure she’s eating, then I eat my own. A minute later her hand rests on the top of my head, then she threads her fingers in my hair. I close my eyes as my heart jumps in my chest.

I almost lost this. I almost lost Kate. I almost lost the woman I love. I turn to look at Kate again, then out of the corner of my eye, I see River take a piece of bacon off his plate and hold it out for Sadie, behind my back. She gently takes it from his fingers, then he pats her on the head.

After everyone’s done eating, Joss and Nina take a few empty plates, then head into the kitchen.

“Kate, I think we need to talk,” River says, as she takes the last bite of her bacon.

“Can it wait until Kate is feeling a little better?” I say, stand up, and take the seat where Joss was sitting.

“It’s alright, Cooper,” Kate says, then places her empty plate on the end table next to her.

“This won’t take long, I promise, then we’ll all get out of your hair and you can rest. Boss’s orders. I just need to get something out of the office first,” he says.

He stands, then walks down the hall and disappears into his office. I look at Cooper and shrug my shoulders, which I immediately regret and realize is a huge mistake. My shoulder is still extremely sore.

River walks back to the couch, runs his leg against the edge of the seat cushion, then sits down and places a folder on his lap.

“First, I want to say, I’m sorry for not believing in you and for the way I behaved . . .” he starts.

“River, it’s okay,” I butt in.

“No. No, it’s not.”

“River, please don’t think that I . . . I didn’t try to . . .” I start to say.

“I know you didn’t, and I don’t know why I didn’t see it, but I now clearly see that you’re not the same person anymore. You’ve changed and I failed to see it. I was so scared of losing you that I never stopped to feel the changes you’ve made. I do believe in you Kate, and I’ll never doubt that again. I know sometimes you think I’m an asshole, and you think I treat you like I’m your dad. The truth is, the day we lost our dad, I felt like I needed to fill those shoes. I felt like I needed to fill all of his shoes. Since that day, I’ve never left your side. When you hurt, I hurt. When someone hurt you, I wanted to hurt them. I couldn’t, no matter how hard I tried, understand the feelings you were feeling and the thoughts running through your head. It was this giant, black, ominous thing that I couldn’t touch or demand to go away. I was powerless against it because it was bigger than both of us. I felt it surrounding you all the time and I felt weak against it. Weak was something I swore I would never be and, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t fix it for you. When I stepped foot in your apartment, I smelled it. Not the pungent smell of your vomit, but death itself. I smelled it all around you, consuming you. I couldn’t lose you. I wouldn’t let it take someone I love away from me ever again. I’ve been hard on you since then, too hard. I wanted to keep you as close as I could and control everything around you, so death could never touch you again. I was being selfish and I didn’t take your feelings into consideration. For that, I’m truly sorry. About Dad . . .” he starts.

“River,” I try to stop him.

He holds up his hand to stop me, swallows, takes a deep breath, then continues.

“Most of my life, I was so very angry at just about everything. I hated our father for how he treated us, and I dwelled on everything negative. Slowly, over the years, I let it take over and I became the person I hated most, or, at least, the person I thought I hated. I was so hell bent on hanging on to that anger that I pushed out everything good. When I met Joss, there were things, memories resurfacing, that I didn’t understand. I didn’t know if they were real or if I had made them up. Quickly, I found myself letting go of the anger and for the first time, I saw love. When you started seeing Cooper, I don’t know, something switched like a light and I was so quick to dredge back up all those memories. Kate, I’m so sorry and you’re right, dad did love us. He wasn’t perfect, but he had his own way of showing us his love, and he loved you so very much. I know how much you want to make him proud, so there’s this,” he finishes, then extends the folder to me.

“What is it?” I ask, then take the folder.

I open the folder and see several papers inside. I read the first paper and in large words at the top, it says ‘Termination of employment as a receptionist at Mason Group.’

“But, River . . .” I start as tears fill my eyes.

This isn’t what I want at all.

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about your employment at Mason Group, and I’ve decided to make some changes,” he says.

“This isn’t what I want at all,” I say.

“River,” Cooper warns.

“I’m terminating your employment as the receptionist, to hire you in a pilot employee enrichment program. We employ many people at Mason Group and the job is extremely stressful. I’ve purchased the building two doors down from Mason Group and I’m . . . we’re opening Kate Mason Yoga. It will be an extension of Mason Group, made available by the company, for all employees to use for free. You’ll find an attached contract with Mason Group, that I think you’ll find extremely generous as compensation for your service. Of course, it will be open to the general public as well, and completely under your control. You will still keep your third of Mason Group, but be solely responsible for Kate Mason Yoga,” he says.

“How?” I start to ask.

“I heard from a little birdie that you’d love nothing more than to open your own studio. So, I put two-and-two together and came up with a selfish reason to open one,” he says with a cheesy smile.

I look at Cooper and smile. He’s the only person in the world I told that to.

“But, when did you have time to do all of this?” I ask in shock.

“When I want something, I don’t waste time. There’s more in the folder,” River says.

I flip to the next paper, and I see the contract between Kate Mason Yoga and Mason Group, to pay for my services and if I wasn’t so anxious to see what else is in here, I’d scream with excitement from the very generous numbers. I don’t think there’s anything better than finally making one of my dreams come true. The next paper I come to is the original petition to terminate River’s conservatorship, signed by the judge.

“River,” I whisper, as a tear falls down my cheek.

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m still going to be an asshole and watch you like a hawk. There’s one contingency. You must live in the pool house for the next year,” he says.

I don’t even hesitate to counter.

“Nine months,” I say.

“Ten months,” River counters.

I open my mouth to accept, but before I can say anything, Cooper says, “Six months.”

I quickly clamp my lips closed and whip my head toward Cooper.

“Who says you get a say in this?” River blasts in Cooper’s direction.

I cover my mouth and giggle. River sighs, then agrees, “Fine, six months. There’s one more piece of paper in there.”

I flip to the last page. I can’t imagine what else there could possibly be. River’s given me everything that’s been on my heart. I read the top of the last paper, it says ‘United States Dog Registry.’ Underneath that it says, ‘Emotional Support Dog Application.’ I don’t know what to say. More tears flow down my cheeks and my nose starts to run.

“The building requires this certificate to bring that mutt . . . I mean Sadie, with you to work every day,” River says.

Sadie lifts her head and barks a happy bark at River, then she looks at me and puts her paw on my leg, with her tongue hanging out of her mouth.

“Did you hear that, girl? You get to come with me to work,” I say, patting her on the head.

“We can negotiate Sadie’s salary later,” Cooper teases.

“When you’re feeling up to it, we can get started on setting up your new studio,” River says.

“We can start Monday,” I tell him.

“I’d argue with you and tell you that you need more time to heal, but something tells me I’d lose that fight, too,” he says, then gets up.

His hand feels the couch in my direction. He runs it over Sadie’s head and gives her a pat, then he touches the side of my knee. His hand comes to the side of my face and he smiles at me.

“I love you, Kate,” he says.

I place my hand over his and press it to my cheek.

“I love you, too, River,” I tell him.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to talk to Joss,” he says, then leaves the room.

Cooper taps Sadie on the rump and says, “Move it. It’s my turn.”

Sadie groans, gets up, jumps off the couch, then lays on my feet on the floor.

Cooper sits down next to me, then he wraps his arm around me, and I place my head on his chest. I reach for my headphones by instinct, grab them, but stop and listen. I think about it for a second, then realize the only sound I hear is Cooper’s heart beating in his chest. I set them back down, then place my hand over his chest. Within minutes, I’m asleep.

I relax back into the couch, as my beautiful Kate sleeps peacefully in my arms, and my brave, fearless Sadie sleeps at her feet. She’s been sleeping for about an hour when Maddy walks up to me.

“Do either of you need anything? I’m going to head out for a little bit,” she says.