Chapter 2
Chapter
Two
The anniversary party was more like a high school reunion. Everyone in Tate’s friend group had somehow managed to show up, even those who had moved out of the area. The wedding had been much the same ten years ago, and most of the faces here tonight were familiar.
Of course, Josh and Rachel Cassidy had invited many other people to the event - family, family friends, and such. Josh’s parents were involved in Winslow Heights, and were good friends with Tate’s father.
He tried not to hold that against them.
The fact that Joel Andrew Winslow and his new wife Kimberly—Tate’s aunt—would also be attending this party was the only reason he’d hesitated to respond positively to the invitation. He wanted to see his father about as much as he wanted to drive railroad spikes into his head repeatedly.
But Josh and Rachel were good friends, and not showing up tonight wasn’t truly an option. Perhaps he could try and avoid his father and new stepmother? Everyone in town knew there was no love lost between father and son. Maybe that’s why they’d attend? To see Tate tell off his dad?
And then, of course, there was the whole Cat thing.
He’d heard from more than one person that she would be here tonight.
Now that she was back in town, avoiding her would be impossible, so he wasn’t planning to try.
He’d be friendly and polite when he saw her.
The past was firmly in the rearview mirror.
It wasn’t her fault that she’d wanted her modeling career more than she’d wanted him.
It had hurt that she’d never reached out when his mother had disappeared. He couldn’t deny that. He’d thought their friendship had gone deeper than that.
He’d been wrong.
“You came!”
Tate was immediately wrapped up in a warm hug from Rachel while Josh slapped him on the back.
They were grinning from ear to ear as Rachel squealed in happiness and hugged him again.
Tate chuckled at their unbridled joy and enthusiasm.
They’d always been like that, grabbing at life with both hands.
It was one of the things he admired most about them.
“Of course, I came. Wouldn’t miss this for the world. You’ve only been planning it for about twenty years,” Tate joked.
“And we’re still having issues,” Rachel groaned. “The caterer messed up, and the food isn’t exactly what we ordered.”
“But it’s fine,” Josh assured him. “It’s all delicious, just not exactly what Rachel wanted. Everything else has gone great so far.”
“The florist is so creative,” Rachel gushed. “I feel like I’m in an English garden.”
The happy couple had always been eye-catching, both far above average in looks, and tonight was no exception. With their blond hair and gold tans from a recent vacation to the Caribbean, they could have been Malibu Ken and Barbie.
Even in high school, they’d been the dream couple.
Homecoming king and queen, prom king and queen, football player and cheerleader.
And they’d had the bonus of being genuinely nice people, too.
There had never been any of that snobby bullshit or mean girl stuff.
They’d been true friends. The kind you call in the middle of the night for shovels to bury a body.
The only sad thing in their life was their inability to have children. They’d always wanted two or three, but fate had gone in another direction. The couple had rallied by adopting several down-on-their-luck canines who were spoiled and adored.
“Where are the pooches?” Tate asked.
“At a doggy hotel for the night. Don’t worry about them. They’re getting baths and a doggy massage, and they even have a king-sized bed and a big-screen television in their room. They’re living the life, man,” Josh laughed. “We should all be so lucky.”
Josh’s cheeks were slightly pink, and Tate didn’t know if it was from the chilly weather on the back patio or the double whiskey in the highball glass that was currently in Josh’s hand. Josh was a known partier, but he always kept it in control.
“Listen,” Josh said, leaning closer to Tate so his voice couldn’t be overheard. “Your old man called and said that he and Kim wouldn’t make it tonight, but she’s here.”
It was a relief that Joel had decided to be a no-show. There would be no angry confrontations about private investigators or ungrateful children.
“It’s fine,” Tate assured his friend. “It’s not a big deal, and I don’t want to make it one. It’s been over a decade at this point since she left. We’ve all moved on.”
“We just wanted to make sure,” Josh replied. “We didn’t want to make this awkward, and there really wasn’t a way to tell her she wasn’t invited.”
“No reason to. I have no doubt we can be in the same room and be fine about it.”
Josh looked like he wanted to say more, but his business partner, Leo, had appeared, looking none too happy.
Tate stepped back, not wanting to be in the way if they needed to talk.
Josh and Leo owned two local restaurants, along with a few other small businesses in the county, and were an extremely successful team.
Josh always said that Leo had the head for numbers and that he had the head for sales.
Glen Whitaker, another old friend from high school, sidled up next to Tate, who had retreated several feet from Josh and Leo.
“You need a drink.”
Glen was now an emergency room nurse at the hospital. His wife, Winnie, was also in real estate with Rachel.
“I do need a drink,” Tate agreed. “I think we need to leave them alone.”
In only a few seconds, Leo and Josh appeared to be going at each other pretty good. Leo was waving his finger in Josh’s angry red face, while Leo’s wife, Shelly, had also started berating Rachel.
It wasn’t clear what the beef was between them.
Tate heard a few words here and there, such as “underhanded” and “liar,” but there wasn’t enough to put together a complete argument.
At one point, Leo told Josh that he would be sorry, but he didn’t say what it would be about.
It was clear, however, that the two couples weren’t happy with one another.
Rachel also looked puzzled, as if she didn’t know what was going on either.
Accepting a whiskey from Glen, Tate tried to tune out the discord around him. It wasn’t the first time Leo and Josh had disagreed about something, although usually Shelly didn’t join in.
“He deserves it, you know,” Diane said, another friend from high school. She and her husband, Larry, ran a popular daycare that always had a long waiting list. “It was far past due.”
Diane was sipping at a martini, her gaze on Josh and Leo. Larry walked up next to her and placed an arm around her shoulders.
“You don’t know that for sure,” Larry said to his wife, taking a sip from his beer bottle. “Besides, Leo and Josh work better together when there is some friction. They make better decisions.”
“Says Josh,” Diane shot back. “Has anyone asked Leo about that?”
“Leo is Leo,” Winnie sighed. “He’ll never change. You know how he gets. He takes everything so personally.”
“Maybe it is personal,” Diane argued. “And we all know how Josh is. He’s perfected the art of procrastination. He’ll put off the tiniest, easiest, and most mundane task, hoping someone else will take care of it.”
That did sound like Josh. They’d kidded him in the past that he was going to become a procrastinator, but that he’d put it off for a while. Somehow, he still managed to get things done. Usually, when it couldn’t be delayed another second longer.
“Leo told me that Josh isn’t pulling his weight at the business,” Diane explained. “He’s been flaking out on Leo all the time.”
“Then what’s he doing?” Winnie asked. “Rachel says that Josh works almost constantly. She has to convince him to take any time off.”
“I don’t know what Josh is doing, but he needs to pull it together. As for Rachel, this isn’t the first time she hasn’t had a clue what’s going on with him. Remember the appendicitis incident?”
Josh had been having pains in his side for weeks, but hadn’t told anyone - including his wife. He’d ended up having emergency surgery one Saturday morning after he collapsed at the local farmer’s market while buying tomatoes.
“That wasn’t Rachel’s fault,” Marnie said, joining their conversation. She was a reporter at the local television station, doing mostly fun and light features. Marnie called it happy news . “She didn’t know anything about it.”
Now the whole friend group had gathered close together - all familiar faces to Tate.
“Maybe she should have known,” Lindsay shot back. She owned a dog grooming salon in the downtown area. “She’s his wife, after all.”
“Maybe assigning blame isn’t a good idea,” Tracy said. She was a second-grade teacher, and her husband, Keith, was a mechanic who specialized in working on classic cars. Keith hadn’t grown up with all of them. “We don’t know what we don’t know.”
“Since he’s our friend, maybe we should just cut him some damn slack,” a deep voice said from over Tate’s shoulder. “Gossip is an ugly thing.”
Tyler Eckerd. Friend, prankster, high school wide receiver, and an all-around good guy.
He’d moved to Seattle after graduating from law school.
Tyler was now a hugely successful mergers and acquisitions attorney living in Seattle who came home several times a year to visit his parents.
When he did, he’d always stop into Tate’s Tavern for a catch-up.
They’d split a pizza and have a few beers, chatting about life.
Tyler had long ago decided to stay single and childless, declaring love too much trouble, and kids to be too loud and sticky.
“We’re not gossiping,” Diane sputtered. “I’m just explaining why they’re arguing.”
“You don’t really know what they’re arguing about, do you?” challenged Tyler. “So maybe we should cut the crap and stop passing around stories. You’re not doing anyone any favors here.”
Diane immediately stomped away, followed by her husband Larry, who had rolled his eyes at his furious spouse. Winnie and Glen also excused themselves, disappearing into the kitchen to freshen their drinks.
“I’m going to get a drink,” Marnie announced. “Who’s with me?”
“Me,” Keith and Lindsay said in unison.
“I guess I’ll go along,” Tracy laughed. “Tyler, it’s so wonderful to see you. How are your parents?”
“Have the time of their lives renovating the house,” he replied. “I never realized that paint swatches and carpet samples were so fun for my mom, but they are. She’s having a ball.”
“You shouldn’t be such a stranger,” Lindsay said. “Come home a bit more.”
“I’m coming home as often as I can, but work is insane,” Tyler said, shaking his head in regret. “I do call my parents twice a week.”
“You’re a good son,” Tracy said. “It’s lucky that modern technology makes keeping in touch easier than in the past.”
The group drifted away, leaving Tate alone with Tyler.
“Diane is such a bitch,” Tyler said with a wry smile on his face and no malice in his tone. “Only Larry would have the patience to be married to her. He’s a fucking saint. But let’s get to the important part…how the hell are you, man? It’s great to see you.”
“It’s good to see you, too. Hell, I didn’t know you were flying in for the party.”
They hugged, slapping each other on the back like they used to do in high school.
“Like I had a choice,” Tyler scoffed. “Josh and Rachel were relentless about attending. Josh threatened to come get me and drag me here. I didn’t want him doing time for a kidnapping charge, so here I am.
He’s too pretty for prison. I flew in this afternoon.
Stopped to see my parents briefly, but I’ll be in tomorrow for sure.
Can’t wait for a large order of your hottest wings and one of your double cheese pizzas.
I’ll bring Josh with me. I’m actually staying here for the weekend.
My parents are redoing the floors in the house, and my room is piled to the ceiling with furniture and boxes. ”
“Staying here? That sounds dangerous.”
“It is,” Tyler agreed. “When Josh and I get together… Thankfully, Rachel is an understanding woman with an excellent sense of humor.”
“Maybe you could lay off the pranks for one weekend,” Tate suggested.
“I guess I could,” Tyler laughed. “The older I get, the more work they seem. To be honest, I don’t have any pranks in mind for the weekend, but Josh seems almost disappointed that I don’t have anything wild planned.”
“He’ll get over it,” Tate assured him. “He?—”
Tate didn’t finish whatever he’d been about to say. The crowd in the living room had parted…
And there she was. Cat Townsend, looking absolutely gorgeous.
She was still just as beautiful but clearly far more sophisticated and worldly than she had been fourteen years ago. There was a veneer of glamour that hadn’t been there before. She’d been fresher-faced and naive back then. They’d both been young and optimistic, full of dreams for the future.
Tonight, she was wearing a simple green silk sheath that shimmered under the soft lights and made her porcelain skin glow. Her long blonde hair was pulled back from her face with some sort of fancy clip covered in bright rhinestones, showing off her absolutely perfect bone structure.
Photographers all over the world had drooled over Cat Townsend’s high cheekbones, almond-shaped blue eyes, perfect white teeth, and lustrous locks that fell into waves down to her waist.
Seeing her was like a gut-punch straight to the heart.
He hadn’t expected to react this strongly to her mere presence, and the fact that he had didn’t make him happy in the least. He wanted to be immune to her, not reliving moments from their past. He’d wanted to show her that she couldn’t affect him at all.
“I heard she was going to be here,” Tyler said, his gaze following Tate’s. “Are you going to talk to her?”
No.
Despite preparing for this moment, Tate found himself wanting to avoid the entire situation. That first moment that he’d seen her, he’d felt all the former good feelings rushing through him. They had so many good memories together.
He’d thought she was the woman he would grow old with, have kids with, and love for the rest of his life. She’d been the sun, the moon, and the stars.
But then he felt something else. Anger.
He was mad that she hadn’t reached out when his mother had disappeared. He was angry that she’d basically ghosted him all those years ago, leaving him to drown in his sorrow.
He wasn’t looking to lose his temper tonight. This party wasn’t about him or Cat. It was for Josh and Rachel. If Cat had moved back to town, there would be other opportunities to talk and hash out the past.
If she even wanted to, which Tate wasn’t sure. She might be content to pretend that he didn’t exist.
That was just fine with him.