Coming Home (27 page)

“Thanks,” he said many passionate minutes later.

“Mmm,” she said, taking one more taste. “Definitely my pleasure.”

“Can I get back to you and your pleasure at bedtime?”

“It’s a date. Do you want me to stay while you talk to her?”

“You don’t have to.”

“I do need to make sure Robby finished his math homework.”

“His name is
Rob
.”

“Right. Keep reminding me.” She left him with one last kiss. “Good luck, love.”

“Thanks.”

Chapter 12

The arriving storm woke Kate from a nap late that afternoon to wonder when Reid would be back. She hadn’t expected him to be gone this long and suspected he’d been delayed by the storm.

She tried to call him, but his phone went right to voice mail.
 

Wind whipped through the trees and shook the windows as she thought about the stretch of water between the two islands. What if he couldn’t get back to her? What if something happened to him?

That thought drove her out of bed and down the stairs, where she found Bertha in the kitchen, enjoying a cup of coffee and a magazine. “Oh, Ms. Kate,” she said, jumping up when Kate came into the room. “I was just taking a short break.”

“Please don’t let me interrupt.”

“Is there something I can get for you?”

“I was wondering whether Mr. Matthews will be able to get back because of the storm.”

“I’m told he’s on his way.”

“Oh. I tried to call him, but he didn’t answer.”

“Probably can’t hear the phone in the wind.”

“That’s true.”

“I sent one of the cars down to meet him. They should be back any time now.”

“Thank you,” Kate said, relieved to know he was fine. Just running late. “Please enjoy your break. I have no doubt you’ve earned it.”

Bertha’s smile lit up her face as she sat. “I like to think so.” She paused before she said, “If you don’t mind my asking, what’s it like to perform on a stage in front of all those people?” She stopped herself. “I’m sorry. You’re on a break yourself. That’s probably the last thing you want to talk about.”

“I don’t mind talking about it.” As she slid into a chair across from Bertha, Kate said, “It can be scary, especially when you’re new to it. But after a while, you get used to it and it becomes more routine.”

“I can’t imagine how that ever becomes routine.”

“Two hundred nights a year. That’s how.”

“That many?”

“On a slow year.”

Bertha laughed. “My lord. No wonder you’re in need of some rest and relaxation. How long did it take you to get used to it?”

Settling into the conversation, Kate thought about that. “I was terrified for a full year, and now… Now it’s a thrill. The highest of highs. An adrenaline rush. All those things.” And she was giving it all up because she was ready for thrills of a different sort, the simpler kind.

“Your voice is simply magnificent.”

“That’s kind of you to say.”

“My favorite song of yours is ‘I Thought I Knew.’”

Kate smiled. She heard that often from her fans. “Want to know a secret?”

Bertha propped her chin on her upturned fist and leaned in. “Lay it on me.”

“That song was written for Reid, ten years ago when we were first together.”

Bertha’s eyes widened. “The same Mr. Matthews who’s staying with you now?”

“One and the same. We were together for a short time ten years ago. I wrote the song then. It’s still my biggest hit.”

“If you don’t mind my asking…” Bertha seemed to think better of the question and stopped herself. “I’m sorry. It’s none of my business.”

Cocooned in the cozy kitchen while the storm howled outside and rain beat against the windows, Kate tried to keep her mind off where Reid might be and whether he was safe. Talking to Bertha helped. “Please, feel free to ask whatever you want.”

“I just wondered how your mama feels about your relationship with an older man.” Bertha blushed and let out an unsteady laugh. “See what I mean? None of my business.”

Kate laughed along with her. “My
mama
is a lot more understanding than my
papa
.”

“Ah,” Bertha said, her eyes dancing with mirth. “I suppose that’s to be expected.”

“He and Reid were friends in college. When I moved to Nashville, he asked Reid to keep an eye on me. We became good friends, and one thing led to another. I was very much in love with him. There was quite an uproar when my dad found out about our relationship.”

“I imagine so.”

“We spent ten years apart, wishing every day we were together. We only recently found out that we both felt the same way.” Kate placed her hands over her face, which was suddenly heated.
 

“That’s a very sweet story. Love is so hard to find, and lasting love… Well, that’s something most of us only dream about. I’ve certainly never found it.” Bertha frowned as she said the words but rebounded quickly. “But, I have lovely children and grandchildren who absolutely adore your music. Wait until I tell them I met you. They’ll be so jealous.”

“Are they here? On Nevis?”

“My whole family is here.”

“If you’d like to invite the kids over, I’d be happy to meet them.”

Bertha’s eyes bugged. “You don’t have to do that!”

“I’d really love to, if they don’t mind venturing into the storm.”

“Are you kidding? Those kids will absolutely drag their parents over here. Do you mind if I call them?”

“Go right ahead.”

Bertha scurried into the kitchen, and Kate chuckled when she heard the older woman’s excited conversation. She returned wearing a huge smile.

“They insisted on bringing dinner, and the kids are beside themselves. Thank you so much, Miss Kate.”

“Please, just call me Kate.”

Bertha beamed at her. “They say a lot of mean things about you in the paper. I’ve never believed any of them.”

“That’s nice of you to say.” Kate wondered if Bertha had heard about the video, or worse yet, seen it. Ugh, she couldn’t think about that. “We’ll do a little jam session, and the kids can sing with me.”

“That’s so very kind of you. I can’t thank you enough.”

“It’ll be fun.” And it would be, she decided.
 

The slam of a car door had Kate scurrying from the kitchen to the front door. When she saw Reid running through the rain, she went out to meet him. Until she saw him, she hadn’t realized just how fearful she’d been of something happening to him in the storm.

She bolted down the stairs and met him halfway, leaping into his arms.
 

He caught her, lifting her right off her feet. “You’re going to get all wet, darlin’.”

“I don’t care,” she said, kissing his face and then his lips. “I was worried about you.”

“I’m fine.” He tipped his face to kiss her again, more seriously this time.

With her arms tight around his neck, Kate thrust her tongue into his mouth while his hands gripped her bottom.
 

As the rain beat down on them, she couldn’t stop kissing him. “Missed you,” she said when they came up for air many minutes later.

“So I see,” he said with a chuckle. “Should we go in?”

“I kinda like kissing in the rain.” She nuzzled his nose. “I don’t think I’ve ever done that before.”

“I like it, too.”

They spent another ten minutes outside before Kate began to shiver from the chill. She whimpered when he broke their kiss to walk them to the porch.

“You’re not relapsing on my watch,” he said sternly as he took the stairs.

“You ruin all my fun.”

“Is that so?”

She nuzzled her cold nose against his neck. “Uh-huh.”

Inside, he went straight up the stairs to their room and headed for the shower. He moved very quickly to strip them of their wet clothes and guided her into the steaming water.

“Ah, that feels good,” Kate said as the heat drove the chill from her bones.

He held her from behind, his hands traveling from her breasts to her belly and below.

“That feels good, too,” she said, already weak in the knees.

“Put your hands on the wall.” His voice was gruff and sexy.

Kate did as directed and waited to see what he would do. Her legs quivered as anticipation mixed with desire.

He kneaded her shoulders and back, working his way down to give her bottom special treatment.

She pressed back against his arousal, drawing a groan from him.

When his arm encircled her hips and lifted her, a surprised squeak slipped from between her lips that quickly became a moan when he entered her from behind. “Oh God,” she muttered.
 

“You like it?”

He expected her to talk right now when she could barely form a thought, let alone words? “Yeah.” Her mind raced as her body reacted to the new experience of being taken from behind.

Letting her feet slide back to the floor, Reid urged her to bend forward. His fingers dug into her hips as he slammed into her, making her come once and then again when he reached around to stroke her to another shattering climax.

He pushed hard into her one last time, coming himself with a groan that echoed in the shower.

Kate’s legs felt like rubber as he withdrew from her. She turned into his embrace, reeling from the shockingly erotic interlude.

“Are you okay, darlin’?”
 

Pressed against his chest, she nodded as the warm water rained down upon them. He tended to her with almost religious reverence, washing her hair and body as if she were made of porcelain. When he was done, he toweled her off and carried her to bed.

He slid in next to her and reached for her.

Kate turned into his embrace, resting her face on his chest.
 

“Did I hurt you?”

“No, of course not.”

“You’re so quiet.”

“I’ve never done that before.”

“We did that.”

“No, we didn’t.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” she said, laughing. “I’m positive.”

“Was it too much?”

“I loved it.”

He hugged her tightly. “So did I.”

“Is there other stuff we haven’t done?”

“Lots of other stuff.”

“Can we do all of it?”

Laughing, he said, “We can certainly try.”

“I’ll look forward to that,” she said kissing his chest. “How did everything go on St. Kitts?”

“Fine.” After a beat of silence, he said, “That’s not true, actually. It wasn’t fine. I wasn’t going to tell you because I didn’t want to upset you, but I got into trouble before by not being honest with you, and I don’t want to make that mistake again.”

Alarmed, Kate propped her chin on his chest so she could see his face, which was troubled. “What happened?”

“Mari trashed our place. Everything was smashed and destroyed.”

Kate gasped. “Oh my God. Are you sure it was her?”

He nodded.
 

“Did you call the police?”

“They were already there when I arrived. I guess the neighbors called. There was a neighborhood dinner in town last night, so Mari would’ve known everyone was out. I wasn’t going to give them her name until…”

“Until what?”

“She ripped up one of Ashton’s baby pictures. I saw that, and I didn’t care about protecting her anymore.”

“I don’t blame you,” Kate said, furious on his behalf. “She has to know what he means to you after all the time you spent with her.”

“Which is why she did it. She wanted to hurt me the way I hurt her.” He combed his fingers through Kate’s hair. “As much as I hate to say it, I have a feeling we’re going to find that she was somehow behind the video, too. She knows I would’ve sent you to Desi’s place if you asked me where you should stay. It wouldn’t have taken much for her to confirm you were there, especially if she followed me the other night.”

“I’m so sorry I caused you all this trouble.”

“It’s not your fault, darlin’. You did me a big favor by showing up when you did. I had no idea she was capable of such malice. What she did to my house… It was… It was bad.”

“Was everything of yours ruined?”

“Pretty much. I was able to salvage some pictures, and luckily my computer is backed up. Not to worry, though. They’re just things. They can be replaced.”

“That’s an awful last memory of a place you loved.”

“Yes, it was.”

“Thank you for telling me. I don’t want you to protect me by keeping upsetting things from me. I want to help you through them.”

“You did help,” he said, reaching for her.

She snuggled into his embrace and smiled when his lips touched her forehead.

“Did you talk to your folks?”