Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
K ate
Jessie stares back at me from my phone as I wait to hear her opinion on my new dress. As soon as I left the King estate yesterday, I went shopping and found the cutest yellow and blue sundress. Not usually a huge fan of the color yellow, I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it hanging on the rack.
“Well? What am I missing?” I ask before twirling one more time to show her the whole look.
She hums like she’s considering what would make my outfit outstanding and then claps her hands. “Lip gloss!”
I stare at her in disbelief. “Lip gloss? Seriously? I’m desperate here, Jess! I need to make the best impression possible. Lip gloss is not going to help me.”
“Why? You want your lips to be kissable, don’t you? Then you need to draw attention to them.”
“First of all, I haven’t worn lip gloss in like five years. Probably more. Why would having sticky lips make them appealing? Now come on. I need to know if I should do anything else. Take another look, okay?”
She nods, and I watch her eyes move from my face down the full length of my body. She stops at my white sandals I’ve had for years and then looks me in the eyes.
“I don’t see anything, Kate. You look fantastic. If he doesn’t agree, then he’s a damn fool. I can’t understand men’s reactions to us anyway, so I might not be the right person to ask.”
“I’ll take the fantastic, and we can leave the discussion of what men might think of women for a later date. I need to be there by one, and I want to be a few minutes early, so I need to get going. Wish me luck!”
She smiles, and her entire face lights up. “You don’t need luck! Now go get ‘em, tiger, and remember I want to hear every juicy detail when we talk later, so no trying to give me that same old ‘it was okay’ bullshit. Got it?”
I love Jessie like a sister, but she really has no idea of privacy. She’s an open book with every part of her life, so she assumes everyone else is. Since I tend to prefer keeping things to myself, especially when it comes to my love life, I find her demand for details awkward.
Then again, I haven’t had many details to share with her in the past year or two, so she might just want me to remember it’s normal to be with a guy. I don’t need to be reminded of that. I simply didn’t have any interest in any.
Until I saw Ronan again.
“Yeah, yeah. Details. I want to remind you we aren’t girls here. Maybe it’s time for us to not share all the details of every encounter we have with men?” I suggest, knowing what her answer will be.
“Not share details? Are you kidding me? I’m living vicariously through you right now, Kate. All I have are the usual nights with guys, but you have a second chance with the love of your life. Since that will never happen for me, I need to enjoy this through you, so don’t go getting stingy with the details, lady. Now go have a wonderful time. Oh, and remember, don’t forget the lip gloss!”
Shaking my head, I end the call as I try to understand what her fascination with lip gloss suddenly is. I don’t even own a tube of that stuff. I haven’t for years. She hasn’t either, so what’s with this constant drumbeat for lip gloss? She probably read some article in a magazine that said it’s the must-have beauty product for the summer.
I take a deep breath and check out my look one last time in the mirror. I love how this dress hangs on me. Never someone who could say she has nice breasts, I have to say this dress highlights what I do have quite nicely.
Then again, Ronan never seemed to care about that part of me not being like any of the models, so maybe it’s not important. I just want to look as good as possible today.
“Okay, it’s show time,” I say to my reflection before heading out.
After a short drive from my apartment to the King estate, I park just outside the kitchen and begin to walk toward the house when Ava comes rushing out and stops me. Instantly, I wonder if something’s happened.
“Hi, Ava! I’m supposed to have lunch with Ronan today,” I explain, my disappointment preemptively building in case she’s about to tell me it’s not going to happen.
But thankfully, she gives me a big smile and says, “He asked me to tell you he’s down at the carriage house waiting for you. He’s around back on the patio there.”
Confused, I look down the road toward the smaller white house on the estate grounds and then back at Ava. “Oh, okay. I guess I’ll head down there now then.”
“Great! Have a wonderful time!”
As I walk slowly down the driveway to get to the road, I silently curse my choice of shoes for this lunch. Then again, I didn’t know I’d be walking what looks to be about half a mile in sandals that have three inch heels. I could have worn flip flops, but I don’t own actual nice shoes that aren’t heels since I always feel like dresses look best when my legs look longer.
And I’m so short at just over five and a half feet compared to Ronan’s six foot four height.
Even as I’m eager to reach the carriage house to see why he chose that spot for our lunch together, I walk slowly because my feet are already hurting less than halfway there. He appears on the front porch and waits for me, but I make one wrong step on a rock, and a second later, I tumble to the ground.
Embarrassment fills me as Ronan rushes up the road, and he reaches me just as I get back up on my feet. I look down and see a tiny trickle of blood near my right ankle courtesy of that same rock cutting me.
“Are you okay?”
I brush myself off and try to pretend that I’m not mortified that I just tripped over a tiny rock. “I’m fine. Just a little busted up. Should we go back up to the house, or are there Band-Aids down at the carriage house?”
Ronan thinks for a moment and then places his left hand on my lower back to guide me. “I don’t know, so let’s go up to the house to get one, and then we’ll head back down the carriage house for lunch. I had Eleanor make a meal I think you’re going to love.”
The way he beams when he says that makes me wish I hadn’t fallen like an idiot so I could see what this lunch she made is right now. He and I walk up to the house, and when we walk in, Ava and Eleanor turn to look at us with nothing but worry on their faces.
I quickly move to explain why we’re there. Pointing at my shin, I sheepishly say, “I fell, and we weren’t sure there were any Band-Aids down at the other house, so we’re here to steal one.”
Eleanor hurries to where I stand, takes a brief look for a second at my leg like she wants to judge the size bandage I need, and rushes out of the kitchen. “Don’t move! I’ll be right back.”
Ava too studies the cut that’s dripping blood down over my ankle. “Let me guess. You stepped in the grass on the side of the road. I’ve always hated how it dips just enough to make you fall. I can’t tell you how many times I went feet over head because of that.”
I look at Ronan and see his attention is fixed on my very minor injury. “Actually, I stepped on a rock. Leave it to me. I should have worn flip flops. At least in those, I know I can walk right.”
My attempt at being self-effacing succeeds, and Ava directs our attention at her feet in black flip flops. “I wear them as long as I can during the year, and then when my feet get too cold, I move to slippers. I can’t wear heels anymore.”
Eleanor returns with the Band-Aid and seems to be intent on putting it on me, which only serves to make me feel like a bigger fool. She rips the paper off, but Ronan takes it from her and pulls one of the chairs out from the table for me.
“Here, let me get that.”
I sit and watch in awe as he manipulates the plastic coverings on each end by using his teeth. Then he crouches down and sweetly lifts my leg to place the bandage on my skin. When he puts the first half of it on, I press my finger to it so he can easily affix the second half.
Looking up at me when he finishes, he smiles. “All better now? Ready for lunch?”
Ava and Eleanor watch with utter pride at the scene in front of them, and I stand, eager to get down to the carriage house. “I’m ready!”
We don’t make it more than a couple steps toward the door before Sabrina appears from the hallway. “What’s all the excitement?” she asks with a chuckle.
Eleanor answers before Ava can, and in a voice full of joy, she says, “Kate tripped outside and got cut, so she and Ronan came in for a Band-Aid, which he put on her.”
She sounds like a proud mama bragging about a child doing something for the first time, and although I sense Ronan feels uncomfortable with her comment, I think it’s charming. Sabrina, however, doesn’t seem to care much for what the housekeeper has to say and ignores her in favor of paying attention to Ronan.
“You must be better at that whole Band-Aid thing than you were the other day,” she says to him, smiling like it’s a private joke between the two of them.
Turning to the three of us who don’t understand the reference, she explains, “Ronan cut himself on glass the other day, so I had to help him with the Band-Aid. Then I shaved all that terrible beard off so he looks like he does today.”
Every fiber of my being senses red flags with this woman. Why did she bring up that story other than to take credit for helping him when he couldn’t do something himself?
Ronan doesn’t say anything and quickly escorts me out of the kitchen toward the door. “Thanks, Eleanor. Time for us to head down to lunch.”
I notice Sabrina’s expression falls when she hears we’re leaving to have our meal in private somewhere else and not here in the kitchen. What is this person’s interest in where Ronan and I spend our time together?
Even as I wonder that as we walk outside, I suspect I know the answer. She likes him. And to her, I’m an inconvenience she’d rather would disappear, the sooner the better.
Once we’re alone and walking down to the carriage house, I say, “That was really nice of her to help you with shaving.”
Jealousy hangs off each word, and even though I can’t control how I feel, I do hope he can’t hear it. I don’t want to be petty about this Sabrina thing. It’s just that she seems to be incredibly interested in the man I care for, and I need to know how he feels about her before I let myself get my hopes up about us.
He shrugs, like it meant next to nothing for her to do that for him, and says, “It was. I would have gotten the hang of it after a while. It’s just a matter of getting used to working with only my left hand. To be honest, I could have shaved on my own. I needed her help with the scissors to trim my beard first, though.”
Everything in the way he says that tells me he doesn’t think anything of her. Relieved, I sigh and say, “Well, you look great.”
“Thanks,” he says with a smile.
We walk the rest of the way down to the carriage house in silence, but I notice right before we reach the front gate that he isn’t attempting to hide his right arm today. That’s something new and a great improvement. I wonder if I should mention it, but I think twice about that and decide not to.
Whatever the reason he feels more comfortable around me today, I don’t want to ruin it by drawing attention to anything that might make him feel awkward. If he wants to tell me about why he feels better about that, he will.
Like the gentleman he’s always been, he opens the gate for me, and I walk through. In all the times I’ve been to the estate, I’ve never been down here to the carriage house. It’s so much cuter up close.
“This is a really sweet looking house,” I say as we climb the stairs to the front porch. “I was just thinking that in as many times as I’ve been here at the house with you, I’ve never come down here.”
“That’s probably because when we were together, Ava, her brother, and her father lived here,” he says as he opens the front door. “Now Matthias uses it as an art studio since she lives up at the main house and her father moved down to one of the Carolinas, I think.”
I walk inside and see Matthias definitely has set the place up as a studio. “She mentioned her brother lives in Florida, I think,” I say as Ronan guides me through the house toward the back where the kitchen is located.
“Yeah, I think so. She said something about hurricanes one day. Okay, now out the back door. Sorry, about the half-assed tour of the house. I can show you the rest of it after we eat, if you want. I just don’t want the food to get cold.”
I nod and walk out onto the back porch before seeing what he’s done to the patio below. A round table with a white tablecloth sits waiting for us, complete with food in covered containers, a pitcher of iced tea, plates, and silverware. I’m touched he went to such an effort just for lunch with me.
“This is lovely!” I step off the last step and look at him behind me smiling. “You didn’t have to go to all of this trouble. Thank you, though.”
He always did know how to show someone he cares. I love that he hasn’t lost that with everything that’s happened to him.
“No need for thanks. I wanted us to enjoy ourselves. It was Eleanor who suggested I ask my brother to use this house for today.”
Pulling out one of the chairs, he waits for me to sit and leans down next to my ear. “I’m glad you’re here, Kate.”
I’m charmed and lightheaded at the same time. It’s been so long since Ronan and I have been together in any way that I want to believe this is the beginning of our second chance.
He sits down across from me and proudly lifts the cover off the platter in the center of the table to reveal shrimp kabobs with green peppers, onions, and mushrooms surrounded by white rice. It looks delicious and smells divine.
“Is that something sweet drizzled over the kabobs?” I say after I inhale a deep breath of that incredible scent coming off them.
Ronan leans forward and breathes it in. A smile lights up his entire face when he answers, “Yeah, I think Eleanor must have made that sauce I said I liked a while back.”
“This looks so good. I can’t wait to eat it.” I look at the white container next to that one and ask, “What’s in there?”
“It’s a surprise, but we can’t have it until after these. Let’s dig in so we don’t have to wait long to see what it is!” he says with such sweetness that I want to climb over this table and kiss him like I’ve been dying to since I first saw him again after so many years.
The two of us take a shrimp kabob and begin to eat, and the meal tastes even better than it looks and smells. The sweetness we recognized has to be honey, but there’s something else mixed in too. I don’t know what it is, but shrimp has never tasted so good.
Ronan lifts the pitcher to pour me some iced tea, but as he begins to fill the glass, it wobbles. I quickly reach over to steady it as a frown settles into his expression.
“I got it. No worries.”
He looks across the table at me and smiles. “Thanks. I thought I was going to ruin our entire lunch there for a second.”
“It wouldn’t have ruined it. This food is too good to stop for a little iced tea spill. You’d just be giving the ants a little treat, and what’s an outdoor lunch without ants?”
In his eyes, I see how thankful he is that I don’t care if he spills iced tea. He doesn’t have to worry. I don’t mind a little mess in life if I can have him too.
“So what have you been up to? I think you mentioned that you were traveling around Europe. Or maybe Ava told me?” he asks as we continue to eat.
“I was. It was so much fun. My friend Jessie and I went together, and I had the greatest time.”
He listens like I’m saying the most important words he’s ever heard and then asks, “Did you spend any time in Italy?”
“Yes!” I know I’m probably overly excited about my trip, but Italy was one of my favorite parts of it. “We went to Venice, which I loved, and then travelled to Rome and toured the Colosseum, the Forum, and all of the city. Then we went down to Pompeii to see the ruins. I bet we could have spent another two weeks in Italy.”
The whole time I’m gushing about how wonderful the trip was, Ronan gives me his undivided attention. It’s been so long since any man listened to my stories like this, but he always cared about everything I wanted to talk about.
I got spoiled with him as my first real boyfriend. I didn’t realize until after I started dating other men that most of them aren’t like him.
“A few years ago, I had to go to Italy to see the house my father left me when he died. It’s in Rome, so if you ever want to go back, you have somewhere to stay instead of a hotel. It’s a nice place. I haven’t been there in a while, but I think you’d like it.”
“Oh, that would be great!” I want to ask if he’d like to ever go there with me sometime, but travelling to Rome isn’t like asking someone if they ever want to grab lunch together.
As we finish the meal, he reaches over and lifts the cover off the container to show me a chocolate cake for dessert. I feel my eyes grow big at how wonderful it looks.
Ronan remembered my favorite foods and asked Eleanor to make them for our lunch together. He’s the same thoughtful person he’s always been.
Tears fill my eyes, but I’m embarrassed, so I turn away to look at a honeysuckle bush nearby. “I love honeysuckle. It’s such a pretty plant with the soft yellow flowers, and I love how it smells so sweet all around it.”
He doesn’t answer, but I can’t turn back to face him yet because I can’t stop my eyes from filling with tears. Nobody has ever been so sweet to me, and I’m not even sure he knows how much I appreciate all he’s done for our lunch today.
“Kate, what’s wrong? Don’t you like the cake? You don’t have to eat it. I just thought you loved chocolate,” he says, his words full of confusion.
I shake my head and finally turn to look at him. “Nothing’s wrong. This is wonderful. All of it. You asked her to make my favorite foods. I can’t believe you even remembered, but no, that’s not true. I know you, Ronan. Of course, you remembered. That’s just the kind of person you are.”
“So you’re happy?”
Sniffling, I dry under my eyes and smile. “I am. I’d forgotten how incredible it feels to be with someone so thoughtful.”
That makes him smile like he’s the happiest man on earth, and he cuts a slice of chocolate cake for me. “Eleanor said it had something special in it, but I can’t for the life of me remember what it is. It’s good, I’m sure, though.”
I take the plate from him and cut a tiny piece of the cake with my fork. It melts in my mouth like the best chocolate should.
“Oh, my God. This is straight from heaven.”
Then I remember Ronan doesn’t like chocolate. Never did the entire time we were together. Ever since Theo and Marius let him eat too much Halloween candy when he was very young and he spent the entire night throwing up, he’s avoided chocolate like the plague.
“What are you going to have? Unless you’ve overcome your hatred for chocolate?” I ask, suddenly unsure I know that fact about him anymore.
He shakes his head and puts back the lid on the cake container. “Nope. Still hate it. But I never failed to enjoy watching you eat chocolate because you love it so much. Go ahead. Enjoy! Have a second piece. Eleanor will be heartbroken if I bring back this entire cake with only one slice gone.”
I take another bite of her wonderful creation and the second one is even better than the first. “Well, I don’t want her to feel bad, so I guess I’ll have to take another piece.”
Ronan watches me eat, and I swear he may be enjoying this cake as much as I am. “That’s one thing I always loved about you, Kate. You were never the kind of girl who worried about eating too much cake or anything like that.”
I see his expression change as soon as he finishes talking. He switches from being happy to looking uncomfortable, but why?
“Do I have chocolate all over my face? Is that why you look like that?” I ask as I look for my napkin to wipe my mouth.
He shakes his head. “No. You look perfect. Just like always.”
But even as he says that, he doesn’t look like he’s happy. Why?