Marking Time (40 page)

“What does it matter, baby? Buddy and Taylor love you, and you’re in good hands with them.”

Incredulous, she stared at him. “You really don’t get it, do you?”

“I guess I don’t. You wanted a career in the big time, and you’re going to have that.”

“But I’ll never know if I could’ve gotten there on my own. You took that away from me, and there’s no getting it back.”

“I ran into Buddy when I was in Knoxville. We got talking. I didn’t seek him out, it just came up.”

“When I called you to tell you they were at Mabel’s, you knew they were coming, didn’t you? You told them I’d be there that night.”

Taking a sudden interest in his feet, he nodded.

“Does he know the rest? Does Buddy know about us?”

He nodded again.

Kate shook off his attempts to touch her. “It doesn’t matter, because there is no more ‘us.’ We’re done.” She picked up the bag of clothes and her guitar.

“I don’t want you to go. We can get past this—you love me, and you know I love you.”

Her tears were gone. The love was gone. All that remained was the anger. “I’ll never forgive you for this. I destroyed my relationship with the most important person in my life for you, and you weren’t even worth it.”

He grimaced in unabashed pain.

“You know what the most ironic thing is? Everyone disapproved of us because you were supposedly too old for me. Funny how
I
ended up being the adult in this relationship.” She turned and left the room.

He followed her downstairs. “Kate. I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

“So was I.”

Kate spent two days alone in her townhouse, ignoring the constant ringing of her home and cell phones. She checked the caller ID to make sure her family wasn’t trying to reach her and discovered that most of the calls were from Reid. The rest were from Buddy.

She stayed in her pajamas and watched one episode after another of “Behind the Music” on VH-1 as bitterness roiled through her. She’d been so close to having everything she wanted, but it was all built on lies.

The doorbell rang late on the second day. Worried that Reid might’ve brought his campaign to her doorstep, she peeked out the window to find a young man in a courier’s uniform holding a large envelope. She went down the stairs to answer the door.

“Kate Harrington? Sign here.”

Kate signed for the envelope and took it back upstairs. Inside was a handwritten letter from Buddy on Long Road Records stationery, along with another smaller envelope.

Dear Kate,

Taylor and I are real sorry for what happened the other day. (If it makes you feel any better, she’s furious with me…) Anyway, we’ve come to think of you as our friend, so we hope you’ll forgive us for our role in all of this.

I know this won’t sound very friendly, but I’m going to do you the biggest favor anyone will ever do for you by threatening legal action if you don’t comply with the terms of our agreement. You’re a talented girl with a big future ahead of you, and you’d be a total fool to walk away from it. So I’m not going to let you. You have forty-eight hours to lick your wounds, and then I want you back in the studio rehearsing. Otherwise, you’ll be hearing from my attorneys.

Enclosed is your first paycheck. Pay your taxes (so you don’t end up like Willie Nelson), pay your rent, and get your life in order, because things are about to get crazy for you.

I know you’re hurting, darlin’, but in our business broken hearts lead to number-one records. Now, get your ass back to work.

Sincerely,

(Your Friend)

Buddy Longstreet

President & CEO

Long Road Records

Kate smiled and wiped away tears as she reread Buddy’s letter. She opened the smaller envelope to find a check for two hundred thousand dollars.

C
lare marked the one-year anniversary of her recovery in late April by spending a quiet morning at home in Rhode Island. All things considered, it had been an interesting year—she’d gone from being bedridden to reclaiming her life. She had been married, divorced, and then almost engaged.

She hurt whenever she thought of Aidan and what might’ve been. Her brother was thrilled with the work Aidan had done to the Stowe house. He’d moved on to other clients, but not a day had gone by in the two months since she last saw him that she hadn’t thought of him and their time together. In truth, she longed for him. But because they wanted different things out of life, Clare believed they’d done the right thing by breaking up. Every so often, though, she’d catch a whiff of sawdust or experience vivid memories of making love with him. In those moments, she knew her heart was truly broken.

She checked her watch. The social worker from Child Services was due any minute. This was it. She would find out today if she’d been approved to adopt, and her heart skipped with excitement when she thought about finally meeting the child they had in mind for her. He was a biracial two-year-old with a drug-addicted mother who’d signed away her rights to him. As soon as Clare cleared all the hurdles with the state, he would be hers. She had fantasized about bringing him home for weeks and had a bedroom all ready for him. The girls had been supportive of her decision to adopt but were puzzled about what’d happened between her and Aidan. However, they respected her wishes by not pushing her to talk about it.

The doorbell rang. Clare took a deep breath to calm her nerves and went to open the door to Janice Nunes.

She followed Clare into the family room.

Janice’s usual smile was missing today, and Clare felt a sinking sensation. “It’s not good, is it?”

“I’m so sorry, Clare. I’ve fought so many battles over this application, I’ll be surprised if I still have a job when it’s done.”

“Why did they say no?” Determined not to cry, Clare bit her lip.

Janice sighed. “Well, I warned you at the outset that your medical history would be an issue.”

“But you have my file from Dr. Langston and Dr. Baker. They told you I’m fine now.”

“Yes, and I went over my boss’s head to take it to the director, but neither of them can get past your history. It’d be different if you were married. We’d be able to make a case that should you fall ill again, the child would have another custodial parent.”

“We covered that,” Clare said with mounting desperation. “My sister and her husband are willing to be appointed his legal guardians, if need be.”

“I know, and I think it’s a perfect solution, but unfortunately it’s not my decision. I get so many applications from people who’re borderline cases. Half the time, I wonder if they aren’t in it for the tiny bit of state aid they get when they adopt a child out of foster care. Then I have one like you—educated with a beautiful home, plenty of money, impeccable references, and lots of love to give a child, yet you get turned down.”

“It’s not fair.”

“You’re right. It’s not fair, but the system is there to protect the children, and flawed or not, it’s the only system we have.”

“Does he have so many better options?”

Janice shook her head. “He’s in foster care with little hope for adoption because he’s biracial and no longer an infant.”

“Maybe I’d have better luck with a private adoption.”

“It’s likely you’d encounter many of the same obstacles.”

Clare had already lost Aidan, and now there would be no child, either.

“I’m so sorry, Clare,” Janice said when Clare walked her to the door. “If anything changes, be sure to let me know.”

“Thanks for all you did.”

“I wish it could’ve been more.”

Crushed, Clare closed the door and leaned against it. Now what?

Clare spent a week in Nashville with Kate, who was in final preparations for her tour with Buddy and Taylor. They were all riding high on the success of Kate’s first single, “I Thought I Knew,” which debuted at number five on the country charts and sailed straight to number one, where it remained three weeks later. Clare and Kate had dinner one night with the two superstars, and once she got over being star struck, Clare found them to be down to earth and fun. She was relieved that such good people were guiding Kate’s career.

During her week with Kate, there’d been no mention of Reid. Clare didn’t ask, and Kate didn’t offer, so Clare was cautiously optimistic that something had happened between them. Recalling Aidan’s advice to play it cool, she held her tongue on the subject.

Once she returned home, though, Clare had to admit she was adrift. Ever since the state denied her petition to adopt a month ago, she’d been trying to figure out what to do next and was thinking about getting a job to pass the long, empty days when the girls weren’t around.

She’d been home from Nashville for a week when she received a frantic call from Jack, telling her Maggie had been hurt in an accident.

“What happened?” Clare cried.

“She fell off the ladder to the attic, and she’s unconscious,” he said, his voice tight with fear. “Andi found her. They’re taking her to Newport Hospital. Can you meet me there?”

“I’m leaving right now.”

“Hurry, Clare. Andi said it looks bad.”

With her heart in her throat, Clare raced to Newport Hospital. Jack arrived at the same time, and they ran into the emergency room together.

Andi was in tears as she waited for them with her son, Eric, Maggie’s special pal. The twins were asleep in a stroller.

“What happened?” Clare asked, her mouth dry with fear and her hands shaking.

“I came home about half an hour after she got home from school.” Andi’s eyes were red from crying. “I went upstairs and found her lying in the hall under the ladder to the attic. The paramedics said she broke both her arms, one of them badly, and she wouldn’t wake up.”

Jack slipped an arm around his wife. “Has the doctor been out yet?”

“No, the nurse said they’re trying to get her stabilized.”

“Oh, God,” Clare said.

Jack put his other arm around her, and the three of them sat to wait.

“We should call the girls,” Clare said.

“Let’s see what the doctor says first,” Jack said, his face devoid of color as a tearful Eric crawled into his lap.

They waited a long time before a doctor came to find them.

“Mr. and Mrs. Harrington?”

They all jumped up.

“We’ve got her stabilized, but she’s not out of the woods. We’re concerned about the head injury, so we’re sending her upstairs for a CT scan right now. She broke a rib, and it punctured a lung, but we’ve got that under control.”

Andi gasped and sat back down when her legs seemed to fail her.

Clare clutched Jack’s hand. “What about her arms?”

“The right arm was a clean break, but the left one was messy. She’ll need surgery and pins. The next twenty-four hours will be critical. I’ll keep you informed.”

“Thank you,” Clare whispered.

After the doctor walked away, Jack turned to Clare. “We should call Jill and Kate.”

Kate was rehearsing at the studio when one of the technicians came in with her cell phone.

“It’s been ringing like crazy,” he said, handing it to her.

“Thanks, Kenny.” Her mother’s cell phone number appeared repeatedly on the caller ID. Kate called her back. “Hey, Mom, what’s up?”

“Oh, Kate, thank God you called. Honey, Maggie’s been badly hurt in an accident. You need to come home.”

Shocked, Kate grabbed her purse and ran for the elevator. “What happened?”

Clare filled her in quickly. “Can you get a flight today?”

“I’ll call right now.”

“Let me know when you’re coming. Someone will meet you.”

Kate’s voice caught as she ran off the elevator. “Mom? Is she going to die?”

“I don’t know, honey. I really don’t know.”

Sprinting to her car, Kate could hear the tears in her mother’s voice. “I’m coming. Don’t let her die.” While battling the downtown Nashville traffic, Kate grew more frantic when she called every airline that flew into Providence only to learn nothing was available for the rest of the day. Without a moment’s hesitation, she called Reid’s cell phone.

“Kate?” He sounded shocked to hear from her.

She was having trouble seeing through her tears to drive.

“Honey, what’s wrong?”

“Are you in town?”

“I’m at my office.”

“I need help. My sister’s hurt, and the airlines are booked.” She choked on a sob. “Can you fly me home?”

“Go to my house. I’m on my way.”

“Thank you.”

Thirty minutes later, he came tearing down the dirt road in the Mercedes, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake. He got out of the car and rushed over to hug her. “Are you okay?”

Tears slid down her cheeks as she looked up at him. “It’s bad. We need to hurry.”

He opened the hangar doors and got the plane ready. “We’ve got to stop for fuel at Nashville International, but I called ahead. They’re expecting us. Let’s go.”

Forty-five endless minutes later, they were cleared for takeoff from Nashville International.

“There’s an airport in Newport,” Kate said. “Can we go there?”

“No, I checked. It’s too small for the plane. How far is it to Newport from the airport in Providence?”

“About forty minutes.”

“My office is arranging for a car to meet you.”

“Thank you,” she said softly.

“What happened to your sister?”

Kate told him what she knew. “I should call my mother to let her know I’m on my way. How long will it take?”

“About two and a half hours.”

She whimpered.

He reached for her hand and linked their fingers. “Hang in there, baby. I’ll get you there as fast as I can.”

After flying through some rough weather that slowed them down, Reid and Kate landed at T. F. Green Airport almost three hours later. The latest report from her mother was that Maggie still hadn’t regained consciousness. Hearing that, Kate was in tears again as Reid taxied the plane in from the runway.

“The car’s meeting you at the hangar. Just a few more minutes.”

“Will you come with me to Newport?”