It feels strange to be back in Orlando, especially living out of a hotel instead of a house. I mean, it’s a nice hotel, the best I’ve ever stayed in. Spa treatments, a private restaurant, indoor and outdoor pool. But it feels like a vacation, or being on the run. Not living.
Happily ever after. For a second there, I thought that might be on my horizon. Yeah, earth to Kitty, time to wake up and smell the nitroglycerin.
I glance down at my chest, at the tattoo that glares back at me asking what the hell I thought I was doing.
Truth, I thought I was in love. Well, I was. But I thought it went both ways.
“We have another week,” Mom says as she puts down the room phone, tucking her credit card back in her purse. I half expected the front desk to tell her the card had been declined, since Hoover could cancel it anytime he liked. I’m surprised he hasn’t. “We’re going to have to decide where we go from here.”
“I love you,” I tell her, and she gives me a thin smile. We both wish it hadn’t taken all this to make us realize how much we need each other.
Turns out, Mom had no clue that Martin was her stepson. None. Hoover kept that little detail a secret from both of us.
And she was pissed.
She couldn’t believe Hoover sent me to Saint Margarets on false pretenses, to a brother I didn’t know I had. One with a reputation. When she found out I’d been seduced and deflowered, she blew up, told me she would meet me at the airport and we were getting away. Marriage over, no more Hoover, stuck in a hotel until we figure out our next move.
I’ve never known her to be so defensive of me. If I had any doubts that she does love me, deep down, they’re well and truly dispelled.
So why don’t I feel like my life is getting better right now? Why do I feel lost, cast adrift in a wide ocean with still no clue how to swim?
“I love you too, sweetheart, and it will all work out. You’ll see. My eyes are open. I should have been better to your father.”
“Mom—”
“No, it needs to be said, Kitty. I always wanted more. Not just for myself but,” she sighs, shaking her head, “mostly for myself. Blue collar wasn’t so bad. We were happy, all of us. I guess it’s true what they say, you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.”
“Dad’s dead, Mom. I wish he wasn’t but he is. And it wasn’t all sunshine and blueberry pancakes, either. I know your marriage wasn’t perfect.”
“No, it wasn’t. But I shouldn’t have let you see that. So, from now on, it’s me and you against the world.” She draws a deep breath like she’s psyching herself up for what comes next. “I can get a good settlement from Hoover. Any judge is going to see that what he did to you was unforgivable. We’ll start over. New house, new life. You can go to community college. It’s not med school, but it’s something. We’ll be okay.”
“Yes we will.”
“Yes we will,” she agrees. “Right. That’s settled. We have a week in this hotel, so I’ll start speaking to some lawyers, get the ball rolling on a divorce. But not today, because today I’m getting one of those hot stone treatment things, and I’m going right now. You want to come?”
“No. I’m… I need some time alone. Is that okay?”
“Still missing Baby?” I nod, and she puts a hand on my shoulder. “You stay here then, but if you need me you know where I am. Yes?”
She kisses the top of my head, then heads for the door and is gone. And I pick up my phone and bring up a photo of Baby.
Martin has texted. A lot. Like, my phone was starting to slow down because of it until I blocked his number.
Does he care about me, or is he just desperate for me not to report our relationship to the church and ruin his career? Not that I’d ever do that. I’m not vindictive. He lied to me, a lot. All that stuff about trust and then it turns out he was keeping the truth from me right from the start. But I don’t hate him, and I would hate myself if I did something I couldn’t take back, just because I’m hurt.
No, he can live his life. I’ll have to find a way to live mine.
A knock at the door. I roll my eyes at the hundredth time Mom’s forgotten to take her keycard with her in the few days we’ve been at this hotel, and stand from the bed, crossing to the door.
“Did you forget your—”
I fall silent as I swing the door wide, and stare up into eyes that hold me captive like I’ve just been pinned to the wall.
“What are you doing here?” I breathe, shaking my head. “Father Martin—”
“Just Martin,” he says. “We need to talk, Kitty. Please let me in.”
For a moment I hesitate. My mind is saying no, tell him to leave you alone, but my heart… My heart wins, even if it hurts.
I step back and move my arm, letting him come past. “How did you find me?” I ask, then gasp as he walks in through the door. Carrying a cat carrier. “Oh my God. Please, please tell me that’s who I think it is—”
“Someone is excited to see you,” he says as he turns, holding the carrier out to me. “I had to smuggle her past security.”
Everything else is forgotten. My head feels light as I take the carrier, hurrying over to the bed, barely willing to let myself even hope that this is actually happening. I fumble the catch on the door twice, my fingers feeling stumpy and uncoordinated all of a sudden as I hear a meow that I recognize. I really do. It’s distinct and it’s us and—
“Baby!” I cry, choking back a sob as she comes out into the room, nuzzles against my face, takes one look around and then curls up on the bed. I giggle, running my fingers through her fur over and over as she falls asleep, accepting that she’s back with me without a second thought. “How did you find her? Where was she? Is she okay? Is she really back—”
Martin reaches forward, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “She’s fine. She’s back. She was never in any danger, I promise you. Hoover…” I glance up, meeting his eyes as they go a shade darker. “My dad hadn’t taken her to the shelter. He left her with a kind old lady we used to live next door to. She loves cats, she knew it was only temporary fostering. I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
I nod. I’m grinning. None of that really matters, because I have her back. My hand is still tangled into her fur as Martin continues.
“I’m here for you, Kitty. I’m not leaving without you.”
“You lied to me.” I glare at him. “You lied right from the very beginning.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” He crouches in front of me, pulling my free hand away from my side and kissing the knuckles. “Kitty, I never expected any of this. When Hoover told me to take you on and told me not to tell you who I was, I didn’t care. But I care about you. I love you. I should have told you the truth as soon as I met you, and I had a thousand opportunities to come clean—”
“So why didn’t you?”
“Because I was scared. I was scared that if I told you who I was you’d freak out and run a mile. I didn’t want to lose you. These last few days have been hell. I’ve been walking through a living nightmare, getting things ready for both of us without any idea if you’d ever speak to me again. You wouldn’t take my calls, you wouldn’t answer my texts.”
I glance at my phone. Baby is purring loudly as she falls asleep without a care in the world. “Hold on, back up, what do you mean ‘getting things ready for both of us’?”
“Giving up my job with the church, getting us a place to live—”
“You’ve given up the priesthood?” My eyes go wide as I try to process what he’s telling me. “Wait, what will you do for money? You didn’t have to do that, not for me…”
“I’ll do anything for you, Kitty. I’ll spend the rest of my life making up for my mistakes. And I have money. A trust fund from my mom, I can access any time I like. I was going to use it to buy the church building once my grandmother persuaded the church to sell it to me, but I don’t care about that anymore. All I wanted was to be alone, now all I want is to be with you. Anything you want, I’ll give it to you, Kitty. Anything. Name it and it’s yours. You want a swimming pool so I can teach you to swim? A home laboratory with all the specialist equipment? Med school? A library with one of those sliding ladders?”
“Yes,” I nod, and his eyes meet mine. Then he starts to grin.
“Which one?”
“All of them,” I tell him. “And a dozen bodyguards for Baby so nobody can ever take her away from me again. And a gold cat bowl. And my mom has to be able to come live with us because she’s left Hoover and I—”
“Fine. No problem. Make a list. Just please tell me you’ll have me back. I’m dying here.”
“On one condition.”
He nods, kissing my knuckles again. “The bodyguards, I get it. First thing tomorrow—”
“No.”
“Okay, right after we leave here. I’ll make some calls.”
“No, I mean, that’s not the condition.” I lick my lips. This is the most important moment of my life and I have to stay strong. I have to make him say it. “Promise you’ll never lie to me again. Promise me that.”
He stares into my eyes, and his are filled with tears. And I realize as I blink and he turns into a kaleidoscope, so are mine. But he nods.
“I promise,” he says. “No more lies. Never. From now on, we always tell each other everything.”
“Even if it’s scary.”
“Even if it’s scary,” he agrees. “So we’re good?”
I grin. “We’re good, daddy.”
And right at that moment, my mom walks in through the door.
“No way. I’m not having those hot rock things! Do you know how much they charge? I’ll just get a massage later and—” She stops, staring at Martin. Then at Baby. “What… Who are you?”
“Mom, meet your stepson,” I tell her, hiding a chuckle.
“You’re Martin?” She glares. “You’ve got a lot of nerve showing up here. After what you did to my daughter I should—”
“Mom, we’ve figured everything out,” I say on a laugh, unable to hold it back. “It’s all good. I’ve made him promise not to lie again.”
Martin stands from where he’s kneeling in front of me, gives my hand one last kiss, then turns and looks at my mom. She still looks suspicious, like he might be about to break my heart again, but when she glances across to me I nod and her shoulders fall, the fight draining out of her.
“In the spirit of all this honesty,” Martin says, “I should tell you my father is downstairs.”
“Ugh, what’s he doing here?” Mom asks as she crosses to the bed. She hesitates for a moment, then smooths a hand over Baby’s fur. “I hate to say it, but I kind of missed this little ball of fluff.”
“He told me where you were,” Martin continues. “He had credit card charges from this hotel. I let him come along for the ride, but made him wait downstairs, drowning his sorrows at the bar with a whiskey glass and his own tears for company. What you do is up to you. See him or don’t see him. But for what it’s worth I think he is truly sorry.”
He wraps his arm around me, and mom looks from one of us to the other. Then she nods, turns and heads back out into the corridor.
“So, where exactly is this house of ours?” I ask.
He pulls me in close beside him, kisses the top of my head, then reaches into his pocket and drops a bunch of keys into my hand. “You want to see it? I’ll get you a pen and some paper on our way out, and you can start making that list.”
