Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
Iwas supposed to be gathering information, not falling under his spell. I’d made zero effort. I’d been too enamored with Colin to investigate anything.
We all resumed eating, though I doubted Kaitlin and Grant’s food settled very well with the tense glances they continued to give each other.
When we finished, Colin and I stood up. He helped me over the bench and set his hand on my lower back. I happened to glimpse Grant’s reaction, which was to stare daggers at Colin’s hand, the muscles in his neck visibly twitching.
Kaitlin put her hand on Grant’s shoulder and said, “Let’s go check out the band, Grant!”
“Have fun, guys!” I called back to them as Colin’s hand on my waist pulled me toward the open field behind the food trucks.
When I turned back to check if they’d heard me, I spotted Grant glaring at us. Kaitlin was twirling her hair, focused on drinking her soda.
“Grant was being extra weird,” I told Colin as we headed toward a set of bleachers.
“He’s in love with you,” he said matter-of-factly.
I almost tripped over my own feet.
“You’ve said that before,” I said, “but I don’t agree. I told you how that date played out.”
“I’d bet anything he deeply regrets how he treated you that evening.”
I reflected on this for a minute but shook my head.
“No, he’s always teasing and bothering me.”
“He’s flirting.”
We sat next to each other on the bleachers, and he stared off into the distance.
“Are you upset?” I asked, thrown by how much his mood had shifted.
“Do you have feelings for him?” he asked me.
“Feelings for Grant? No! No way.”
But the tiniest whisper of doubt had me shaking my head at myself.
It would be ridiculous! Why is he trying to plant that idea in my mind? Suddenly, I was deeply annoyed that Grant had inserted himself on my date and now in my muddled thoughts.
His eyes softened, and the carefree Colin was back with me. I blushed, feeling so undeserving of having such an impact on his mood. Was it possible he really liked me that much?
The sound of an electric guitar reached us.
Grins spread over our faces as we both stood up and rushed down the bleachers, whizzing hand in hand toward the stage, where a large crowd had gathered and joined in singing.
We mixed into the crowd, Colin keeping a hand on my waist or his arm around my shoulder at all times, making sure we didn’t get separated.
I sang my heart out on a few of the cover songs. Colin’s singing wasn’t audible, but his mouth moved along with the lyrics. We moved and jumped and swayed together along with the rest of the festivalgoers.
“I’m not much of a dancer, but this is fun!” He had to yell above the music.
I was so entranced by the music, the very presence of Colin next to me, and the collective experience of jumping around with the strangers around us, that I didn’t notice Grant and Kaitlin making their way toward us.
Colin held my hand as we leapt into the air at the crescendo of the music and the subsequent crash of drums and bass.
“Hey!” Grant shouted at us. My stomach dropped.
I was surprised to see them again, and I’m sure my forced smile showed that. I’d been hoping that they would’ve kept their distance the rest of the evening, but here was Kaitlin, arms crossed and pouting. Grant, however, tried to keep up with the crowd and Colin and me.
I never thought I’d feel bad for Kaitlin, but watching as she stared up at the stage, side-eyeing Grant…
I almost wanted to pull Grant aside and smack him.
There was real hurt in her eyes, buried under the attitude.
Nowhere in our plans did we say that he should ignore Kaitlin.
It probably wouldn’t accomplish what we wanted anyway, which was to gather intel.
Not that I’d succeeded on that front either.
Grant was inching closer and closer to me. Was he drunk? He swayed a bit into my personal space. We both laughed it off, but then he leaned into me to say something in my ear.
“You should have come with me,” he said. Before I could react with my usual dismissal of his advances, Grant stumbled, crashed into me, and sent both of us tumbling into Colin.
I was certain we’d all go down, but after a couple of awkward moments of unsteadiness, Colin straightened us all out and motioned for us all to follow him.
As I tried to let the embarrassment of the near-fall not take over me, we all slipped through the crowd and out toward the fringes where we might have some space and hear each other talk.
“How are you doing, buddy?” Colin asked first. He put his arm around my waist, holding me close to him.
Grant looked at Colin without saying a word. I couldn’t read his expression, and I chalked that up to his being inebriated. It was probably the most uncomfortable thirty seconds of my life when he looked around at all of us silently.
Kaitlin, probably having had enough of their “date,” jumped in. “He’s probably not feeling too well. Ready to go?”
Grant scoffed and told her, “I’m fine. I’m not ready to go yet.”
Less than half a second passed before she looked at her phone, perked up, and announced, “I’m going home, everyone! My Uber should be here in a few minutes.” She waved her phone at us and stalked off.
Sure, Kaitlin was probably annoyed at Grant giving me attention, and he was drunk, but her immediate departure must have meant that something else had gone on between them from when we’d been at the picnic table to when we met again in front of the stage.
I stepped out of Colin’s hold and took a step toward Grant.
“You should go after her,” I said.
“Pfft. Why? We both know I couldn’t care less about Kaitlin,” he said.
My eyes widened as I tried to communicate nonverbally how much of an asshole he was being. I’d gotten used to it at work. Ignored it. Put up with it. Dismissed it. Attributed it to all the shit he’d let slip through the years about what he’d gone through as a teenager after both his parents died.
Light bulb moment.
That’s what had kept me from discarding Grant altogether—how amazing he was at listening and comforting me whenever I had a down day. The shared experience of losing a parent was something that seemed to bond us in a way I couldn’t with anyone else.
“Why did you come out with her if you ‘couldn’t care less’ about her?” Colin asked from behind me. I closed my eyes and bit my lower lip…hard.
I opened them after two seconds to see Grant watching me.
“It’s not a love match,” Grant muttered, his gaze wavering between me and Colin. I breathed a little easier. He still sounded like a jerk, but at least he wasn’t drunk enough to reveal our investigation.
“It happens,” Colin said. “Can we give you a ride home?”
I looked back at him, surprised and impressed by his offer. I gave Colin a smile, appreciating that he was as thoughtful as I’d come to believe. Whatever he was hiding, either he had a good reason, or he really was the most skilled conman.
“You guys go on ahead with your night,” he said with a sigh, looking down every so often toward the crowd. “I’ll be fine.”
I looked at him, worried. “You’re staying?”
“Yeah,” he said. “There’s good music.”
Colin must have noticed my apprehension at leaving Grant in this state, and our attention was called back to how drunk he was when again he tripped over his own feet and this time landed on his ass.
“Grant! Are you okay?” I rushed over to help him up. As I struggled with the weight, Colin swooped in and helped him up, steadying him for the second time that night.
“Come on, buddy. Let me drive you home. Kate here will be worried if we don’t get you home safely.” Colin’s hand was still on Grant’s arm, his fingers white with the force of his grip.
Grant gave me a quick glance, and then his head hung down for a second. He brushed his fingers through his hair and said, “Yeah. Okay.”
Colin released him, and Grant wobbled along with us toward the exit.
He remained silent as he stumbled into the back seat, and even when I turned in my seat to look back at him as Colin drove us out of the parking lot.
Grant stared through the window until suddenly, sharply, he looked at me.
I gave him a small smile, but his face was expressionless.
I turned to face forward again and took a deep breath, relieved that Grant let us take him home but more confused about everything than ever.
If I quit, all of my problems would disappear. I’d never have to deal with either of these men again. I wouldn’t give Maggie, her disappearance and reappearance, and her connection with Colin any more space in my head for as long as I lived.
Poof. Like magic.
I’d move to the beach closer to my mother and join her and her friends for the poolside luaus. I’d get a golf cart and a job at a hotel.
Why not?
We dropped Grant off, making sure he closed his front door behind him.
Colin said little on our way back to my place.
I, however, filled the silence with unending chatter about the festival.
When he parked in my driveway, I’d just finished going over the benefits of the way the festival organizers had arranged the parking lot.
I hadn’t known how many ways my fingers could twist together in agonizing tension, but I’m sure I tried every permutation during that drive. How was I supposed to carry out my mission? Would I really bring up Maggie? How was the night going to end?
I was still racking my brain with these thoughts as he opened the car door and helped me out, holding my hand all the way to my front door.
The night air was cool, and I shivered as I faced Colin, ready to make an attempt at gathering information.
But his next gesture stopped me. He dropped my hand and ran both his palms up and down my arms.
“Cold?” he asked, his hands resting warmly near my shoulders. I searched his eyes for deceit. For malice. Manipulation. I couldn’t find anything like that.
As I was about to ask him anyway, he kissed me.
It was as if a black hole swallowed me, pulling every thought straight out of my head. I forgot who I was, what I was doing, and what I’d intended to do. If it weren’t for him holding me still by my arms, I’d have fallen straight down and melted into a little Katelynn puddle.
I can’t say how long the kiss lasted. It may have been an hour or a second. Time didn’t make sense. But when he pulled his lips from mine, I took a breath in as if it was my life returning to me.
His eyes seemed to sparkle and dance, and I reveled in the notion that he’d enjoyed kissing me. Disappointment hit when his hands went back to his sides, meaning the kissing was truly over.
I was speechless. I felt ridiculous just staring up at him, but it was really all I could do. The surprise of the kiss, the magic of it, the want of more… it filled me so completely that it left my mind blank of anything else.
“I have something to ask, and I’m afraid it might be way too early to bring up something like this between us, but I’d rather do it than not. My brother is getting married next weekend, and I’d love it if you would accompany me as my plus one.”
Between the kiss and the unexpectedness of the question, my mind was a blur.
“What—Where are we going?” I asked
Colin’s face lit up. “I’m so glad you’ll come.”
He hugged me, and I realized my mistake. Instead of asking him to repeat his request, I’d asked where we were going, as if I’d agreed to go and wanted to know where it was.
When he released me from the hug, he said, “It’s at Brightwater Island, at our family’s summer home.”
Panic seeped in. The smile I’d plastered on my face must have scared him because his own smile disappeared and his forehead wrinkled.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing,” I said with a small laugh. I swallowed and said, “I’m a little nervous to meet your family.”
This was absolutely true. His father, the CEO! His siblings! I’d been trying to get accustomed to hanging around one rich person, but spending a weekend surrounded by many?
“A little quick for us, but it’s when he’s getting married.
It shouldn’t be a big deal. You’re my plus one.
It’s not as if I’d be introducing you as my girlfriend or something of that nature?
” The way he ended that as a hopeful question made me realize he might wish to introduce me as his girlfriend (or something of that nature).
I stopped breathing and fiddled with my key to open the door. It took a good half-minute for my body to remind me I needed oxygen, and I sucked in a large breath as I finally got the front door open.
“You don’t have to worry about a thing. Have your bag ready to go Friday after work, and I’ll have a helicopter waiting for us. No need to bother with a long drive and traffic.”
Every new thing he said brought up fresh horrors. Me in a helicopter?!
“I’ve never been in one,” I said. My armpits were already sweating.
“It’s quick and easy. You’ll love it. You’ll see.
” His phone rang then. He looked at it, silenced it, and leaned in.
“That’s someone from the board. I’ve got to go call them back.
I expect it will take a while, so I’m going to go.
If I don’t see you throughout the week, I’ll meet you on Friday at the building lobby.
Five o’clock!” He said all of this with a kiss on my cheek and as he walked backwards off my front porch and all the way to his car.
Suddenly, I was alone, my front door still half open. I walked inside, threw my purse on the nearest chair, and wandered into the bedroom where I launched myself onto the bed to go over everything that had happened that evening.
“What the fuck?!” I yelled out loud.