Somewhere Only We Know (11 page)

*********

“I think my brother is very taken with you,” Sara said as she and Kate put away the dishes later on that evening. Kate blushed, but didn’t reply. “I know you like him too, but there is something in the way for you.”

Kate put the dishes into the press then turned to Sara and didn’t speak for a moment. She was trying to find the right words.

“Sara, my life is so messed up and complicated,” Kate finally said. “I like Finn, he is a very sweet guy, and if I am giving him the wrong impression, I am so sorry. It really wasn’t my intentions.”

“Oh, I know that,” Sara quickly replied. “Finn told me you made it very clear, you were only looking for a friend.”

“I see,” Kate replied, feeling relieved.

“Look, all I am saying is,” Sara said
, as she picked up the last of the cups and put them away. “My brother likes you, and you seem to like him too. Maybe it’s time to let go of whatever it is you are running from and let yourself be happy. You deserve that much.”

Before Kate could reply
Finn walked into the kitchen and stared at both the girls.

“What did I miss?” he asked with a big grin and Kate couldn’t help but smile back.

It was almost 9 pm before Kate said her goodbyes. Sara and Dan thanked Kate yet again for what she did for DJ. Kate promised Sara that she would meet up with her very soon for a coffee.

Once again, Jack insisted Finn escort Kate home and as he
had been drinking, he went in Kate’s car, insisting the ten minute walk to his house from Kate’s would do him good.

When they reached Kate’s house, they pulled into the driveway and switched off the engine. Neither of the
m spoke for a few moments.

“I had a lovely time today,” Kate said, finally allowing
her eyes to meet Finn’s. “Thank you for inviting me.”

“It was truly our pleasure,” Finn replied never letting his eyes break from Kate’s. “I think it’s official,
my whole family loves you. Especially after what you did for DJ.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Kate shrugged and looked down at her hands as her face burned with embarrassment.

Finn reached over, gently took Kate by the chin and slowly tilted her face back up to face his.

“What ha
s happened to you,” he asked, his face barely inches from hers. “Why is it so hard for you to let yourself be happy, or to take a simple compliment?”

“Finn
, you don’t want to hear about all my crap,” Kate said allowing her eyes to meet his once again. “You don’t want to know the mess I am, you should forget about me. I am not the girl you want…”

“You are exactly the girl I want,” Finn interrupted her
, and before she could protest, he pressed his lips to hers softly. For a second Kate didn’t return his kiss, but slowly, surely, she could resist him no longer and allowed him to pull her into his arms, returning his tender kiss.

“I should
be going in,” Kate whispered against her lips.

“Okay,” Finn said as he reluctantly release
d Kate from his embrace. He leaned in and quickly kissed her once more before he opened the car door. “I will walk you to your door.”

Kate climbed out of the car and walked to where Finn was waiting at the front of the car
for her. When she reached him, he took her by the hand and led her to her front door.

“Can I call you tomorrow?” Finn said when they reached
her door. He still held her hand and turned her to face him, slipping his arms around her and pulling him closer to him, their bodies almost becoming one.

“I would like that,” Kate replied shyly.

He leaned in and brushed his lips against hers softly.

“Till tomorrow,” he whispered, pressing his forehead to hers and looked into her eyes. “Sweet Dream
s, Kate.”

Slowly r
eleasing her from his embrace, he smiled once more before he turned and walked down the pathway, and out into the darkness.

Kate turned and opened her front door. She hurried inside, closed the door behind her and flopped against the door.

“Oh Katie,” she sighed as she sunk to the floor. “What the fuck are you doing?”

Callum sat in the car and gripped the steering wheel
, as a mixture of anger and overwhelming grief swept over his body. His heart hammered rapidly in his chest, as the sound of blood rushing through his ears almost deafened him. His stomach heaved while he sat there in the darkness of his car, staring at the house.

He watched as the light switched on in the hallway and then another lit up the garden at the side of the house. Then the hallway light went out, followed about five minutes later, by the
other light going out also. He knew she had gone to bed.

He had arrived at the address he was given for Kate
the day before, several hours earlier. Each time a car drove towards him, his heart raced. He was desperate to see her now, having backed out of coming the day before. He had talked himself in and back out of coming but now he was here, he couldn’t leave till he saw her.

It had been
over three weeks since she had walked out of their home and he missed her more than he would have ever thought possible. He had wondered where she could have been at that time of night. She knew nobody here in Redmond. He had just about given up hope, deciding this Felix guy must have gotten the wrong address, when he saw her car come round the corner and drive towards him.

He sat for a moment, steadying his breath
ing before he found the courage to climb out of the car. Finally, he reached for the handle and opened the door. He stepped out of the car and froze the moment he saw the guy climbing out of the passenger seat of Kate’s car parked in the driveway in front of him. He just stood there in the darkness, watching in disbelief, as the stranger took Kate by the hand and led her to the front door.

He clench
ed his hands at his sides, the desire to run over to him and knock this asshole into next week was overwhelming. Then the thought occurred to Callum, what right did he have to do that? He was the one that had destroyed their marriage, he was the one who cheated. They may be still legally married, but Kate told him it was over. She walked out and now, clearly she had moved on.

Callum stood there and watched as this guy pulled Kate, his Kate, into his arms and kissed her softly.
He instantly took another couple of steps closer and opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. It was in that moment, it became clear to him, he had lost her. His beautiful Kate. Without saying a word he turned and made his way back to the car. He slipped the keys into the ignition and was just about to start the engine, when he saw the guy walking down the path. He looked up at Kate and saw her standing at the front door of the house, and she was smiling. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen her smile like that. He had almost forgotten how truly beautiful she was when she smiled.

Then the realization hit him. She was smiling like that because of t
his guy. This stranger had been able to do something Callum himself hadn’t in such a long time. The guy made Kate happy.

He watch
ed this seemingly, ordinary guy, walk down the street, without a care in the world and he wondered why this guy could make his wife happy, when he clearly couldn’t.

He turned back towards Kate a
nd his heart ached as he saw the smile on her face fade, and the look of utter sadness, the look he knew all too well, filled her beautiful face, once again.

Callum considered getting back out of the car and going to her, but his body refused to move. Instead, he watched as she turned and disappear
ed into the house.

He sat in the car, staring at the house long after the lights had go
ne out, with no clue what he should do now. In his head he had imagined this big, wonderful reunion. The reality was, she had left him. He had broken Kate’s, already shattered heart, even further and she had enough.

Callum closed his eyes and pictured Kate. He could see her beautiful eyes and her breath-taking smile. He remembered her
on the night they first met. The moment he saw her, he wanted her. She was possibly the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. He remembered how Kate tore into him for skipping her at the bar that night. She was full of spirit. It was the thing he loved the most about her. Her energy and strong mind. When she felt something was wrong or unfair, she called it out. She was fearless.

Well, she was until the crash.

Callum thought back to that day. They had been in the backyard with Emily, and Callum had made some stupid comment about Kate giving up work when they had the second baby. Kate laughed at first but then got angry when Callum made a remark about her being a part-time mom.

They had a stupid argument and Kate said she needed some space. As she walked into the house
from the back garden, Emily ran after her crying, she wanted to go with her mommy. Kate hadn’t wanted to take her, but after Callum’s stupid comment about her being a part-time mom, Kate let Emily go with her.

When the doorbell rang a couple of hours later, Callum assumed it was Kate and she had forgotten her house keys. However, when he opened the door and found two police officers standing there, his world
instantly fell apart.

They took him to the hospital
that Kate had been taken to, but when he asked about Emily, they said they had no news about any child being in the car but that they would check.

By the time they reached the hospital
, the call had come through, that the body of a young girl had been found in the car.

Callum heard them say the words, but it took a while for the words to register with him. Before they
could, a doctor came to speak to Callum and told him, Kate had received a serious blow to the head, and though she had been conscious briefly, at the scene, she had since slipped into unconsciousness, as her condition deteriorated. She had been taken to surgery to try and relieve the pressure from her brain.

So, while his beloved Katie was in surgery, fighting for her life, he had to go and formally identify his beautiful little Emily, the whole time praying it was just a bad dream and he would wake up at any minute.
None of it seemed real. It was like, he was standing outside his own body watching this nightmare unfold before him. It just didn’t seem real, but sadly, it was all very real.

He sat by Kate
’s bed for days while she lay there in a medically induced coma, trying to give her brain a chance to heal. As he sat there watching Kate breath in time with the machines, he just kept asking himself, how the hell was he ever going to tell Kate, that Emily was gone?

It was f
ive days after the crash, the day after Emily’s funeral, when they finally brought Kate out of the coma and she woke up. When she saw Callum, she smiled for a moment but then as she noticed her surroundings, she began to panic.

“Where am I?” she asked as her eyes
darted around the room. “Why am I here?”

“Katie, baby,” Callum said as the tears of grief pooled in his eyes. He brushed her tangled hair back from her face and tried to smile, but his heart was breaking. “Kate, there was an accident.”

“Emily, where is Emily?” she asked, trying to pull herself up in the bed.

“Kate,” Callum said in a whispered sob. “When the car was hit, it went out of control. I
t went into the water. Do you remember that?”

“
Callum,” Kate said as the tears trickled down her face. “Where is Emily?”

“Katie,” Callum sobbed, no longer able to hold the grief back. “By the time they reach
ed Em, it was too late.”

“NO!” Kate cried, as
she tried to get out of the bed. Callum tried to push her back down but she fought him. “I need to go find Emily. She will be scared. She will be looking for me. I need to go find her.”

The machines started to beep and alarms filled the room as Kate
collapsed back onto the bed and began to shake, violently. Suddenly they were surrounded by doctors and Callum was being escorted out of the room.

Kate was rushed back into surgery again that night and once again was placed into a coma.

Callum shivered as he remembered the weeks and months that followed. He had tried everything to reach Kate, but if he was honest, his Katie died with Emily in the car that day.

He looked back over at the house
and thought of his beautiful wife. He loved her more than he loved another living soul in this world. He knew she loved him too but he also knew he was a daily reminder of everything they had lost.

He wondered, as he had so many times before, did she blame him for what happened. The argument was his fault.
She took Emily with her that day, because of him. He had always regretted the things he said to her on that day. This was all his fault.

He slipped the key into the ignition and started the car. Then, after one final glance at the house, he drove away.

By the time he reached his hotel room, he was emotionally and physically exhausted. He didn’t even bother stripping, instead he just climbed on the bed and past out.

*******
**

Callum sprung up in bed as the sound of his mobile phone ringing echo
ed through the room. He frantically searched for it, having no memory of where he had left it the night before.

He finally found it on the floor
, at the foot of the bed but it had stopped ringing. A minute later, it began to ring again.

“Hello,” Callum said, answering it quickly.

“Callum,” James’ voice sounded relieved at the far end. “I called and called last night, where the hell were you?”

“I got back late and just passed out,” Callum replied still half asleep. “What time is it anyway?”

“It’s almost midday,” James told him. “So, how did it go? Did you find her?”

“Yes,” Callum sighed, as he wiped the sleep from his eyes.

“And?” James asked.

“And nothing,” Callum replied abruptly
, as the events of the night before came screaming into his head. “It’s over, I wasted my time coming here. And your time too. I should have left well enough alone.”

“Did she actually say that?” James replied, his heart breaking for his younger brother. He knew how much Callum had to be hurting because he knew how much he adored Kate
.

“I didn’t talk to her,” Callum said as the image of th
e guy kissing Kate the night before filled his head.

“I don’t understand,” James replied, completely confused by what his brother had said. “Did you
actually see her?”

“James, I am grateful for all your help,” Callum snapped unwilling to discuss this with his brother any longer. “It is what it is. Kate and I are over. I really don’t want to discuss this any longer.”

“Callum, wait,” James quickly replied. “I don’t understand. You’re just going to give up. I thought you loved her? I thought you wanted her back?”

“I DO LOVE HER!” Callum shouted angrily and instantly regretted it. “James, I don’t expect you to understand. I don’t really understand it myself. All I know is I have hurt her. I let her down so badly, and I don’
t just mean because I cheated. I mean in every way possible. Yes, I do love her. I love more than words can even explain, but I love her enough to let her go, so she can be happy again.”

“Okay,” James sighed but then added. “If you want to take the cowards way out, who am I to stand in your way? You think this will make her happy and so it will make you happy, but you are so wrong.
You love her and she loves you. You have both been through hell and you are both very broken, but this will pass and you will be miserable without her and she will be miserable without you.”

“James, I wish that w
ere true,” Callum said sadly. “But she doesn’t want me. She has already moved on, and all I am to her is a reminder of everything we have lost.”

“Just think about it,” James asked, hoping he might be able to make his brother see sense. “
Don’t do anything stupid. Cal. She is the love of your life, are you really ready to walk away?”

Callum didn’t reply.

“I will call you later this evening,” James said, knowing Callum was thinking about what he had just said. “Hopefully by then, you will feel a little better and we can see where we go from here.”

“Okay,” Callum replied. “I will speak to you then.”

He hung up and flopped back into the bed. He thought about what James had just said. Callum knew his brother was right. Kate was the love of his life. He just couldn’t imagine his life without her. Could he really just walk away from her? Leave without even trying.

He closed his eyes and he could see her standing there on the front step
the night before. He remembered her smile, but then he remembered the sadness that crept back onto her face. Maybe not all was lost. Maybe he could still fight for her. Fight for them both.

He cl
imbed up off the bed and headed to the mini bar. He took out a tiny bottle of whiskey and poured it into a glass.

Sitt
ing back down on the edge of the bed, he thought about the guy kissing Kate, once again. Could he really win his wife back? He honestly wasn’t so sure.