Chapter 8 Price Of The Past
price of the past
Kayden woke, his face pointed toward the huge window in the darkened room as the sun was setting in the sky.
He rolled over to an empty bed—Lana was gone.
He sat up and rubbed his eyes. How long have I been asleep, he thought as he removed the comforter from his naked body.
He searched the floor for his boxers and didn’t see them.
Standing from the bed, he stretched out the sore muscles from earlier and looked around the room.
He saw them folded along with the rest of his clothes on the recliner next to the closet.
Picking them up, he slipped the boxer briefs on and walked out of the room and down the hall.
Music was coming from downstairs, and he hurried down to see what she was up to.
He stood on the landing and leaned against the wall, smiling as he watched her dancing around the kitchen.
She was cooking something that smelled heavenly and looked so sexy in his shirt, which was too big yet short enough that it barely covered her perfect thighs.
Her hair was an insane mess of curls, but it was gorgeous, much like herself, bouncing around to the beat of the music.
She swayed and spun her hips, turning around, and caught him admiring her, and smiled.
Kayden walked down the last step and into the kitchen, then grabbed her around the waist, then slid his hands down her back and cupped handfuls of each of her cheeks.
He lowered his head as she stood on her tiptoes and shared a passionate, lingering kiss.
“What are you making?” he asked her between kisses and walked her toward the stove. Lana still had the cooking spoon in her hand, and the thick, white sauce oozed down her arm.
“Chicken Alfredo. You hungry?” she asked in between his never-ending kisses. He reached for the spoon and put it down on the counter, then held her arm up and licked the sauce off. She couldn’t help her fit of giggles as he tickled her with his mouth.
“Stop it,” she protested in between fits of laughter.
He pulled her close and pressed his forehead to hers, rubbing his nose lightly on hers.
“That was yummy,” he said, licking his lips.
“Thank you, I wanted to cook for you for a change.”
“No, not the food,” he replied, that wicked grin returning along with his signature sexy wink.
“Oh,” she whispered, blushing, then planted a sweet kiss on his mouth, “you were quite yummy yourself.”
He released his hold on her, and she turned to the stove and flipped the switch off. He eyed the creamy Alfredo in the simmering pot, and his stomach growled, audibly famished. Kayden sat down at the granite countertop and watched her, admiring how she moved in the kitchen.
“I have something to tell you,” he said.
Lana turned to him and smiled quickly, then returned her attention to the stove. The smile disappeared slowly, remembering that she too had something to tell him—something that was going to break his heart.
“Oh yeah, what is it?” she asked, reaching into the cabinet for the plates.
He got up and walked over to her.
“Well, I’ve decided to start my own company, and the first order of business is to restore the diner, free of charge.”
She stopped plating and smiled. He took the spoon from her hand and continued plating the dinner.
“That’s amazing, Kayden!” she exclaimed, hardly believing her ears.
“I’m so excited, it’s going to be amazing. I was also wondering, since I know you love Aunt Mae’s, if you would like to be part of helping me with the redesign?”
He handed her the plate of pasta and looked down at her sweetly and eagerly. She wanted to die inside, thinking of wiping that look from his face with her news about Rachel.
“I don’t know what to say. I’d love to,” she replied, and he beamed that beautiful smile again.
“I was praying you’d say that.”
He took both their plates over to the counter and set them down, and she followed behind him.
“I think this is what I need to get my life on track finally,” he said, wrapping his arms around her tightly again.
Lana was genuinely happy for him, but as happy as she was, she couldn’t help feeling guilty.
How the hell was she supposed to tell him that awful news now?
She couldn't find a way to deliver the blow without shattering him completely, unraveling the fragile bond they'd only just discovered.
It could wait another night, she thought once they finally sat down, ate dinner, and talked about his plans for the diner.
AFTER DINNER, KAYDEN loaded the dishwasher, and Lana went upstairs to take a bath.
He stood in the living room and watched as the snowfall drenched the mountains of Hamby.
For the first time in a long time, he felt like he was truly home, and he didn’t want to leave it behind again.
He also felt like he was falling in love with Lana.
He hoped she could feel it too and feel the same way.
Finally, he thought, things were headed in the right direction, and I vowed not to fuck it up this time.
Maybe the accident was a blessing in disguise, and this was what he needed to snap him out of his cycle of self-destruction.
He walked up the stairs, intent on joining Lana, when he heard his cell phone ringing in the next room.
He hesitated about whether to go in and check it, but it might have been Taylor, his lawyer, calling about the diner.
He rushed into the room and picked up the phone from the bedside table.
When he looked at the screen, however, “MOM” was flashing across it, and he let out an exasperated sigh.
He was not in the mood. Kayden hit “Ignore” and pressed the power button, not wanting any more distractions for the rest of the night.
Not today, mother, you’re not going to ruin this today, he thought and walked out of the room and down the hall to Lana.
MAUREEN AND KIM were standing in the elevator of Spence Hotel on Patterson Court across from the farmer’s market.
They weren’t far from Paula’s house, but the lack of transportation insisted they check in anyway, against Maureen’s will.
She couldn't convince anyone to drive through the snowstorm to get her up on the hill, so she and Kim would have to make do with the hotel during their limited stay. The establishment wasn’t up to her regular Four Season’s standards, and she didn’t intend on spending a moment longer there than she needed to.
The elevator chimed, and they both stepped off and headed to their respective rooms.
As she stepped into the room, it was neat and tidy with antique furniture and a dainty comforter adorned in floral prints.
It smelled stale, but the hotel wasn’t regularly packed, so that was to be expected.
It wasn’t luxury accommodations in any form, she thought.
Placing her bag down on the floor by the bed, she sat and took her cell phone out of her purse.
She had called Kayden earlier, knowing she could convince him to fetch her, but he didn’t answer, and there were no missed calls to indicate he’d tried to call her back.
Perhaps the signal was bad up on the hill, or he more likely ignored the call.
Either way, they had some serious business to discuss.
First, she needed to tell him that his restoration project was dead in the water.
She’d already called Taylor and Associates from New York and killed the contracts.
She understood it would piss him off, but he’d get over it when he realized what was at stake.
Kim was in a room down the hall, and Maureen was relieved to have some space from her finally.
She kicked her Chanel pumps off and rubbed her toes into the light blue shag carpet.
Kim would be the perfect complementary wife for Kayden.
She was beautiful and envied by other women, so it made men envious of him, and that would gain him respect among the titans of their field.
“People have to want what you’ve got, to buy what you’re selling,” was her motto.
Kim wasn’t a businesswoman or particularly smart, but she was loyal and cared for her son.
She also had full knowledge about what this life entailed and could guide Kayden in a better understanding of the social logistics of it.
Maureen hit redial again, put the phone to her ear, but only got his recorded voice.
A bit of worry flashed through her mind as she wondered if he'd heard about that Rachel woman and done anything drastic? Of course not, she thought. He hadn’t visited for the last few days, so he couldn’t know.
She ensured that anyone who wasn’t family wasn’t given any information.
Another task she checked off her to-do list before she left New York.
The only person who visited Rachel was some nurse who stepped in during the crash, and she wasn’t family at all.
Maureen had everything under control, and she intended to keep it that way. Come morning, she would get Captain Jackson to take her up to the house, straighten out her son once and for all, and get out of this frozen hell and back to New York, where her comforts awaited her.
KIMBERLY LAY UNDER the blankets on the bed in her room, quite content with herself.
She was with her guy’s mom, whom she adored, and she was just hours away from seeing him again.
Kayden was her first love and the hottest guy in their circle of friends, and everyone envied them when they were together.
Flipping through her worn bridal magazine, she circled a dress by Vivian Westward.
It was perfect! She planned to wear Swarovski crystals in her hair that matched his eye color and had even picked out her engagement ring.
The wedding was going to be fabulous! Although they hadn’t been together or even seen each other for a while, she wasn’t worried about him fighting the marriage.
Kayden did what his mom wanted anyway, even though she admittedly didn’t always like the way Maureen treated him at times.
This time, though, it benefited them all.
Their family dynamic had been strained since Joel and his dad died, and Kayden still wasn’t handling it well at all.
He partied way too much, and not the fun stuff either, just drinking and street racing at every hole in the wall he could find.
It’s like he wanted something bad to happen.
It didn’t matter because all that was going to be behind him, and pretty soon they’d be the new royalty of real estate.
Kim understood he loved restoring old, stinky buildings.
Still, she would help usher him into the twenty-first century and design high-rise condominiums and hotels like Maureen wanted—it was going to be fantastic!
I’m so lucky, she thought as she circled another dress by Gucci in the book.
Their wedding would be in every magazine and every talk show —just fabulous!
Kim rolled over on her back on the bed with a massive smile on her face as she clutched the magazine to her chest.