Chapter 11 Sharp Enough To Cut #2
“You know that momma of yours took over, so I don’t know what it is I can do,” Aunt Mae said before Kayden could say a word.
The older gentleman, her husband Lana surmised, had gone into the kitchen, and pots and pans could be heard banging around.
“You could deny her the project, Aunt Mae. My mother claims she wants me to grow up and take responsibility for my life, and when I do, she finds a way to make me dependent on her.”
“Kayden, now I’ve known you since you were a baby, before your parents became what they are. I know your heart, and I know you’re a good person. Your momma is heartbroken, son. That’s all it boils down to.”
Her husband returned with a tray of steaming mugs, and Kayden jumped up to help him.
“Sit on down, boy, I got this,” he said.
And he was right. He may have appeared fragile and weak, but he held the tray with four mugs in one hand and his cane in the other like it was nothing. Kayden sat back down and smiled at him sheepishly.
“This is my husband, Joseph, by the way,” Aunt Mae said to Lana.
“Nice to meet you, Joseph.”
He took a seat in another recliner next to Aunt Mae and nodded to Lana.
“Nice to meet you, too, young lady. Kayden, good to see you.”
“Same here, Mr. Smith. So what should I do then?” Kayden turned his attention to Aunt Mae, who started handing out the mugs of steaming hot chocolate. Lana took a sip, and it was rich, smooth, and creamy.
“I’ll do my part and help you all I can. Of course, not much can happen yet until this snow goes away, so you have until it melts to get your affairs in order, I’d suppose.” She winked at him, and Mr. Smith looked at Aunt Mae.
“Hey now, no flirting in my house,” he said, laughing to himself. Aunt Mae whacked him lightly on his shoulder.
Lana watched them all as they continued to laugh and talk about the old times, then about how KDN Properties would file the injunction and begin work on the diner.
There really was a lot of love between them all, and Hamby started feeling a lot more like home, and the idea of leaving Florida behind felt a lot easier.
AFTER BEING FED by Aunt Mae and her charming husband, Kayden and Lana made the long snowmobile ride back up to the house on the hill.
She couldn’t wait to get there to take a nap since she was exhausted from the trek.
The last few days had also felt more like work than a vacation, and it was beginning to wear on her.
As they passed the diner and turned into the roundabout, Lana made another mental reminder to call Paula and fill her in on what was happening.
It would be after her nap, though, since she could barely keep her eyes open as she held onto Kayden.
PERHAPS SHE SHOULD’VE warned Lana that her house was full of cameras and audio equipment.
Paula was in a private cabana at a resort in Hawaii, looking over footage on her laptop.
It wasn’t to spy on Lana, but rather to make sure her friend was safe up there all alone.
She didn’t think Kayden would still go up to her house after their last conversation had gone downhill, so naturally, she didn’t think to brief Lana.
But yet there he was, chopping wood in her backyard.
When he called to ask what type of wine Lana liked, she warned him to leave her friend alone.
Lana didn’t need the kind of attention Kayden usually gave women, which was just enough for one night, never to be seen or heard from again—Lana deserved better than that.
After Lana disappeared off camera in the video, Paula sighed and closed her laptop down.
Paula was always considered a knockout with her long dark hair, tanned, slim body, and hazel-colored eyes.
They were currently hidden behind a pair of Gucci shades, and Garret, her husband, a film producer, sat down on the side of her lounge chair.
He grabbed the tanning oil and began to pour some into his hand.
“Everything ok?” He asked, smiling, dripping wet from the pool. He looked more like he should be in front of the camera with his equally tanned, muscular frame, blonde hair, and chocolate eyes.
“Yeah, I guess. Neither one has called me, so everything must be OK,” she replied, rolling over on her stomach.
The sun was bright and the wind was cool as Garret lathered her back in the coconut-scented oil. Paula was grateful to be there rather than in six feet of snow. It was seventy-eight degrees there, and she was enjoying every bit of sun she got.
“You may want to call them yourself. You know how Kayden can be,” Garret continued, as he rubbed.
Paula turned her head towards the sea. She knew he was right, and she didn’t want to lose someone else in her life because of her emotionally immature brother.
“I’ll call tomorrow,” she said, closing her eyes as the smell of the sea and the massage relaxed her.
KIM SAT AT her hotel room desk with her laptop open, while she sipped on a glass of wine.
The last couple of days were pretty uneventful as far as her reunion with Kayden, but she wasn’t a quitter.
Not when it came to getting what she wanted.
She looked down at the clock in the corner of her computer screen, the time being five o’clock in the evening.
She moved her mouse over her web browser’s bookmark tabs and clicked on the tab for Bergdorf’s.
It opened to a Bridal Services web page, which listed all the services offered for brides and grooms. There was also a bridal salon service she intended to call the next day to book as early as possible.
As she scribbled down all the numbers listed for the various options available, she received an Instagram notification in the lower right corner of her screen.
It was Kayden, and he’d just posted. She quickly clicked it, but no page popped up.
Blocked again, she thought to herself as he often did this to her.
She closed the Instagram window and clicked on a program on her desktop, which began running a string of code.
A little gift she received from an MIT friend of hers, which could unblock her access, and it always came in handy.
Kayden was smart. He not only blocked her but also her IP address, so simply creating a burner account wasn’t an option.
Plus, his profile was private. If he didn’t know you, you weren’t let in. The process would take about twelve hours, but that was fine by her. She needed to keep an eye on what he was up to in order to know if the plan she and Maureen cooked up had worked.
If she were being honest with herself, she knew it was a little intrusive.
Still, her philosophy was that you never got anything you wanted in life by being passive about it, and she applied that as fiercely as she could in every situation.
Kim downed the last of the Chardonnay in her glass and refilled it from the bottle that sat next to her computer.
She reopened her web browser and clicked on another saved tab.
It was a Florida state board of nursing page, and Kim smiled to herself as she scrolled the page and sipped her wine in silence.
AFTER FINISHING A dinner of shrimp skewers and risotto, Kayden was back on the phone with Taylor and Associates discussing their course of action for the injunction.
It was nearly nine o’clock, and Lana didn’t want to disturb him, so she went upstairs to grab some laundry to throw in the wash to keep herself busy.
In her old room, she grabbed her jeans from the hamper and heard her cell phone vibrate.
She hadn’t checked it since her last text conversation with Carmen, and she really didn’t feel like getting any updates about Sam.
It could also be her mother, and she didn’t want to worry her as she hadn’t called to check in for a while either.
Digging the touchscreen device from her pants pocket, she saw three missed calls. One from the Nursing Agency she worked for, and two unknown numbers. Who would’ve been calling me from a two-one-two number, she thought?
She slid her finger across the screen and listened to the first voicemail.
It was the charge nurse from the E.R. asking her to call about returning early, but she hit the number “7” and deleted it.
They knew her better than that, and she would never leave an out-of-town vacation to return to work early.
Who would do that anyway, she asked herself as she listened on.
The following message was from Maureen. She wanted Lana to call her about an urgent matter and would wait to hear from her.
That was from yesterday. Keep waiting, lady, Lana thought as she pressed “seven” and deleted it.
The third message was from Maureen again, and this time she said it was regarding the state pressing charges on Kayden.
“If you care for my son like you claim you do. Call me immediately,” her message said in its regular, demanding tones.
Now Lana was worried. Was Maureen really about to use her son’s freedom as leverage to get her own way? The message was from earlier that morning when they were out visiting Aunt Mae.
Lana was pissed, and she had some choice words for Maureen, but didn’t want Kayden to hear the conversation either. Easing the door of the room closed, she pressed “CALL BACK” on the phone; it rang once before she picked up, and Lana held her breath as she waited for Maureen to speak.
“I’ll be making one last stop at the house, Ms. McKenzie. I’ve decided what I have to say needs to be in person.”