Chapter 6
Ronan
I nuzzle Kate’s neck as she gets ready for work, happy we have at least a few minutes together. These past few weeks have been insanely busy for both of us, and this afternoon, I’ll hand over the reigns of the foundation to Marius until she and I get back from our honeymoon.
Against her skin, I whisper, “I have to be in the city this afternoon. How about we grab dinner together?”
Kate smiles at my reflection in the mirror but shakes her head.
“I wish I could, but remember how I told you I’ve been carpooling with my friend Kara?
I’ve been keeping a secret from you. It’s because her boyfriend—well, ex-boyfriend now—he’s been giving her a hard time, so she likes to have people with her for the ride to and from school. ”
“Are you sure that’s safe? I don’t like the idea of some guy being a problem and you acting like a barrier for her.”
“Oh, it’s not like that. He’s more of a sad sack, to be honest. He doesn’t do anything bad. He just pesters her and begs her to come back to him. I’m in no danger. Honest.”
I still don’t like the idea of Kate being some kind of buffer to this pathetic ex of her friend, no matter how nice she makes it sound, but I guess I can live with it. “Is she the one with the long black hair? That’s Kara, right?”
Nodding, Kate says, “That’s her. Everyone remembers Kara with the gorgeous black hair.” She turns around and adds, “If you want, we can grab dinner after I get back here. Sound good?”
“Sounds great! I’ll be back by five, so we can leave then.”
She stands up and kisses me. “I’ll pencil you in. See you at five! I better get going now. I have to get over to Kara’s by seven.”
“She can’t pick you up?” I ask, wondering what kind of friend this Kara person really is. Kate seems to be doing all the heavy lifting in that relationship.
A look of confusion crosses Kate’s face before it disappears a few seconds later. “Oh, well, she doesn’t want to take the chance of her ex-boyfriend knowing where I live. You know, because he follows her a lot. So I meet her at the park.”
“I thought you said you had to get to Kara’s.”
Kate hurries across the room to get her bag she always carries to work. “Yeah. I meant the park where I meet her. I have to go, or I’m going to be late. I love you! See you tonight!”
The thought of following her to make sure Kara’s ex doesn’t show up to bother them at the park floats through my mind, but I dismiss that. Kate would let me know if she needed help. If she says she’s fine, then that’s good enough for me.
I need to get ready for my day anyway. I’ve got a nine o’clock meeting with Marius and Anderson Jarrett, a friend of our father’s who wants to help the foundation, so I need to get myself dressed in my best suit.
Marius slaps me on the back and laughs as we walk out of the King Industries building. Matthias let us have a full floor for our work, which was a godsend since the last thing either one of us wanted to do was have to look for office space for the foundation.
“What do you say we grab something to eat to celebrate our success with Jarrett?” he suggests as we stop a few feet from the door.
I check my watch and see it’s nearly three-thirty.
“I told Kate we’d have dinner tonight. We haven’t seen much of each other in the past couple weeks.
Between work for both of us, wedding planning, and everything else I’m trying to wrap up so I don’t have to worry about anything but having a good time on the honeymoon, it’s been crazy. ”
He grins like I’ve said something funny. “I don’t know why you worry. You and Kate are going to have a great time in Aruba. Forget about everything else and just focus on her. You’ll be fine.”
“I know, but I didn’t want to leave any loose ends for you to have to deal with.”
Just then, I see Kate’s friend Kara. I point her out to Marius and say, “That’s one of Kate’s co-workers. She and Kate have been carpooling into work. I’d know her anywhere from her black hair.”
My brother looks over in her direction and nods. “It reminds me of Eden’s. Hers is a little longer, if that’s possible. I swear I don’t understand how these women handle hair that long. I’d get it caught in something and end up shaving my head out of rage.”
I look over at him and laugh. “I can’t imagine you with long hair. It wouldn’t look right.”
He jokes about something while I wave to Kara and start to walk toward her. She seems to be in a hurry, so I won’t keep her long. I just want to make sure that ex of hers isn’t a bigger problem than Kate thinks.
“Hey, Kara, how are things going?”
She gives me a smile, but I would swear it’s not a happy one. That ex must really be giving her a hard time. Jackass.
“Uh, okay, I guess. How are you?” Her words come off as stiff, which is odd since she’s never been anything but nice to me.
Maybe I’m interrupting something? Then it dawns on me. She’s probably meeting someone, perhaps a new guy, and I’m cramping her style. Kate has told me on more than one occasion that I’m sometimes a bit dense when it comes to social interactions.
I’ll just say what I wanted to say and be on my way.
“I’m great. I just wanted to say I hope things are better now that you and Kate are carpooling to and from work every day. If you ever decide you don’t feel like dealing with driving into the city here, I hope you’ll join Kate in using the car service I have for her. It would be my pleasure.”
Kara’s odd smile disappears, and she stares up at me in what looks to be complete confusion. Did I say something wrong?
Marius joins us just as Kara shakes her head, opening her mouth and then closing it a couple times before finally answering, “Ronan, I’m not sure we’re understanding things the same way.”
“What do you mean?” I ask and then look over at my brother for some help, but he’s got nothing and merely shrugs.
Still looking utterly baffled, Kara says, “Kate and I haven’t been carpooling.
I haven’t seen her since she resigned from her position at school.
She told me you convinced her she didn’t need to work, and with the wedding and your honeymoon coming up, it just made sense.
I thought she loved teaching, especially since she was so enthusiastic about it and the kids loved her, but she said she was okay with quitting. ”
A car horn blows just as she finishes, and then every sound of the city surrounding me goes silent, leaving only my heartbeat pounding in my ears as her words filter through my brain. Kate lied to me? She quit her job? How long has she been pretending to leave for work each day?
“When? When did she leave her job?” I ask, hating how clueless I sound but needing to know.
Now Kara’s expression is pure pity as she answers, “Two weeks ago. I’m sorry, Ronan. I’m sure there’s a good explanation for all of this. I’m sorry. I have to run. Have a good day!”
She hurries away, leaving me reeling as my reality feels like it’s collapsing around me.
The woman I love has been lying to me for weeks, and suddenly I don’t even know if I’m going to be married in a matter of days.
What has she been doing every day when she made me believe she was at work? Why would she lie to me?
I don’t want to think the worst, but I can’t help it. Marius says something next to me, but I have no idea what he’s talking about.
“Maybe we should go. I’m sure this is all a misunderstanding, Ronan. You know Kate. I’m sure she has a good reason for leaving her job.”
“Or it’s exactly what you and Kellen told me would happen. Why else would she lie to me and spend all day away from our apartment?”
Marius stares at me like he can’t believe I’ve come to that conclusion. “Why? What would make you think Kate would be unfaithful? You two are getting married in a couple weeks.”
I can’t answer him because I feel like I’m going to be sick right there on that street corner. They told me this would happen, and I always thought they were full of it. How could she do this, though?
And why now?
My brother continues to defend Kate and argue she couldn’t be cheating as we walk to the car, but what other answer is there for her lying for weeks? Where does she go each day? Who is she with, and what are they doing?
By the time we start on our way back to the apartment, all I can think of is how she looked that day in our first year apart in college when I told her I went with that girl.
I knew I’d hurt her, but I never expected her to break up with me that day in the park.
Now I’m the person on the other end of that terrible news, and I get it. I finally get it.
Marius drives like a madman through mid-afternoon traffic that’s thankfully lighter than usual while I try to come up with answers. Then an idea occurs to me. Her sister Kelly knows. I’d bet a million dollars on that. She knows. I need to call her and find out what the hell is going on with Kate.
“I wish you’d let Kate clear things up before you go nuts about this, Ronan,” my brother says as we make it out of the city, finally, and he speeds up on the open highway.
“Her sister will know what’s going on. I’m going to call her.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Marius grimace. “Kelly? I doubt she’d tell you anything. That one isn’t exactly sweet and kind like her sister.”
I quickly dial her number but remember on the third ring that she’s probably in school right now. I guess I can cross Kelly off my list of people Kate is spending her days with lately.
Then her sister surprises me by answering my call, and I instantly hear guilt in her voice. “Hey, Ronan. What’s up? I didn’t expect you to be calling me today.”
Without wasting a second, I ask, “Where’s Kate?”
She chuckles, but I sense she’s uncomfortable when she jokes, “I don’t know. It wasn’t my turn to watch her. Did you lose her?”
I want to snap at her, but I keep my calm and repeat my question. “Seriously, Kelly. Where’s Kate?”
The silence she gives me is my answer. My chest hurts as I wait to hear her say something. Anything. Finally, she answers, “I don’t think I should get in the middle of you two. Suffice to say, I can tell you she’s safe.”
“That’s not good enough. Tell me where she is. I want to know.”
“To be honest, I don’t know precisely where she is. I promise if she calls me, I’ll tell her to call you as soon as possible. I need to get to class, Ronan. Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be okay.”
She ends the call, leaving me with no answers and more questions than when I called her. I slam my hand into the dashboard in frustration as my mind fills with images of Kate and another man.
“Dude, why are you surprised?” Marius asks as he glides into the right lane to avoid a truck going far too slow to be in the passing lane. “I told you her sister wouldn’t help.”
All I can do is shake my head. My life is a mess suddenly. The woman I love and plan to marry in ten days has been hiding an entirely secret life from me, and all I can think about is how I’ve already lost her.
Then, for some reason, I wonder why Marius is so negative about Kelly and remember she’s never liked him. Desperate to distract myself, even if only for a few minutes, I look over at him and ask, “What is your problem with my future sister-in-law?”
Again, he grimaces. “I don’t know what you mean. I don’t have a problem with her.”
“Sounds like you do. You’ve never had a nice thing to say about Kelly, and you warned me she wouldn’t help a few minutes ago. Why?”
He glances over at me and shrugs. “I wasn’t wrong. She didn’t tell you anything useful. I can’t help it that I’m good at reading people.”
Jesus, he sounds as defensive as she did when I asked her where Kate is. Can nobody in my goddamned life give me a straight answer?
“Still seems like you have an issue with her. You better not act stupid around her at the wedding. She’s the maid of honor and you’re the best man, so you’re going to be near one another a lot.”
Since he’s my brother, he, of course, has to be an asshole and ask, “So there’s still going to be a wedding?”
I pinch the bridge of my nose and hope my head stops hurting soon. “Of course there’s going to be a wedding! Why would you say that?”
He weaves through traffic that doesn’t seem to understand the speed limit as he answers, “Because I thought you were thinking Kate is cheating on you, which, for the record, I don’t.
If you were planning on marrying that sister of hers, then I’d say definitely, but Kate?
No way. She’s been crazy about you for a decade.
Whatever’s going on, she’s not cheating. Nope. I refuse to believe that.”
His defense of Kate doesn’t make me feel any better and only makes me wonder even more why he’s so negative when it comes to Kelly. It does distract me for a few seconds, but then I’m back to feeling miserable and sure Kate has been spending her days with another man.
I just don’t understand why.