Obsessed With You (4 page)

Six and a half hours later, Cathy
turned off of the interstate, onto the road that ran parallel to the
beach in the Florida panhandle. Normally, the aqua water would have
been beautiful to her. Today, she only had one goal. Get to Monmarte
Bay. Finally, she turned off the beach highway and headed to the
little bay town that had become her home after her father died. The
town that was her mother’s hometown.

A few miles later, she drove
through the town, barely noticing the quaint storefronts and fall
flowers spilling out of their pots. She kept driving until she turned
into her grandfather’s sandy driveway, then drove all the way up to
his blue Victorian house with the cottage a few hundred yards away.

Grandpa was sitting on the
expansive porch of his Victorian. He got up when Cathy pulled in and
walked over to her car. He gave her a hug when she stepped out of her
car.

“
Grandpa, I’m sorry to put
you out like this,” Cathy said. She was feeling tearful with all of
the emotions of the last twenty-four hours and a tear or two escaped
her eyes.

“
This is always your home,”
Grandpa said. “You could never put me out.”

He put his arm around her and
walked with her into the house.

Cathy went through the front
door, into the foyer. The familiar chandelier was above her,
sparkling. The hardwood floors beneath her feet felt firm and
welcoming. She glanced toward the kitchen area and thought about her
grandmother stirring biscuit dough in her blue bowl. Grandma had been
gone for fourteen years, but Cathy had brought her blue bowl home.

She dropped her purse and sank
into the couch.

“
I’ll be right back,”
Grandpa said.

Cathy looked around the room that
was so familiar to her. Grandpa had never changed a thing after
Grandma died. There was the country armoire against the wall that
used to hold the TV and stereo equipment. Now it only held the stereo
stuff; a huge flat-screen TV sat on a table. It was on a golf
tournament with the sound turned off. That made Cathy think of Aaron
and his all-important golf date that morning. That had been the straw
that broke the camel’s back in a situation that was already hanging
by a thread.

Grandpa returned carrying a glass
of scotch in one hand and a glass of wine in the other. He handed her
the chilled white wine.

“
Did you talk to Aaron last
night?” Grandpa asked.

“
Yes, I did. He got home very
late and I really have no clue where he was all that time.”

“
Business, right?” Grandpa
asked. He was a businessman himself. Even though he was seventy-five
years old, he continued to dominate the real estate market on
Monmarte Bay.

“
That’s what he said,”
Cathy said sarcastically.

“
What did he say about the
phone call and the photo?” Grandpa asked.

“
He said someone’s trying to
ruin his life. But that’s just not ringing true for me.”

“
He’s a powerful man. He
could have enemies,” Grandpa said.

“
I guess so,” Cathy said
taking a sip of the cool wine. “But then he left early this morning
for a golf date with a potential client. And that was it for me.”

“
What do you mean?”

“
He put his business above our
relationship,” Cathy said. “He made it the priority when we were
facing a difficult situation. And I realized it would always be that
way. I don’t want that.”

“
I see what you mean,”
Grandpa said.

Cathy sat up straight on the
couch and looked at her grandfather.

“
I’ve got to make a lot of
phone calls tomorrow to people attending the wedding. I’ve got to
cancel all of the arrangements.”

“
I’ll get Eileen and her
girls on it,” Grandpa said. Eileen was Grandpa’s girlfriend who
ran a bed and breakfast in town.

“
That would be great, Grandpa,”
Cathy said. “It’s so embarrassing to have to let people know the
wedding is called off. But I’ll need to let Heather and Michelle
know personally.”

“
Of course,” Grandpa said.

“
I just need to not do anything
for a little while,” Cathy said.

“
Eileen came over after you
called and fixed up the spare room upstairs. I figured you’d want
to stay here for tonight. I’m afraid the cottage has been empty
this season. I’m not sure what kind of shape it’s in, but it’s
yours if you want it.”

Cathy went out to her car for her
suitcase that held her toiletries and a few clothing items. She
picked up her laptop and went back in the house, up the wooden
staircase, and into the spare bedroom. She dropped everything on the
bed before she picked up her phone.

Aaron had called her twelve
times, leaving five voice messages pleading for her to call him. He
had sent three texts. The first one said, “Be home soon. I love
you.” He must have sent that while he was still on the golf course,
having no idea he would be returning to an empty house.

The other two text messages just
asked her to call him right away. She did that now.

“
Cat, you’ve got to come back
home,” Aaron said before she could say anything.

“
I can’t,” she said. “I’m
already gone.”

“
No. You can’t do that. We’re
getting married in a week.”

“
Not anymore,” she said.
“Having a strange woman call me about having an affair with you and
talking about your private birthmark has been hard enough to take.
Seeing that photo with your tie in it was more than enough. But you
leaving this morning to keep your golf date was the final nail in the
coffin.”

Silence. She kept talking.

“
It made me realize that you
would always put your business first. It would always be your
priority over me and our children. Our life. And I don’t want
that.”

“
Cat, you’ve got to believe
me that someone is trying to hurt me. You’ve got to trust me on
this.”

“
I don’t know what’s going
on with that,” she said. “But that doesn’t change the fact that
you left me this morning, when I was upset, so that you could go play
golf. I’m just not going to put up with that kind of behavior from
my husband. So there’s no point in getting married, even if I could
get over my suspicions.”

“
I shouldn’t have done that,”
Aaron said. “I should have realized that I needed to stay with
you.”

“
You sure should have,” Cathy
said.

“
Where are you, Cat?”

“
I’m at my grandfather’s
house,” she said. “And I don’t want you to come here.”

“
I’m going to find out who’s
doing this,” he said.

“
Are you going to let your
family and friends know the wedding is off?” Cathy asked, ignoring
his comment.

“
I’ll let them know,” Aaron
said. He sounded resigned.

“
Then we’re through talking,”
Cathy said. “I’m sorry things have turned out this way. Very
sorry. Goodbye.”

“
Bye, Cat,” he said sadly.

Chapter
Five

“
Here’s the list of all of
the attendees with their phone numbers,” Cathy said to her
grandfather the next morning.

“
I’ll get Eileen on it right
away,” he said.

“
What’s she going to tell
people?” Cathy asked.

“
She and her girls are going to
say that due to unforeseen circumstances, the wedding has been called
off. They won’t answer any questions because they don’t know any
answers.”

“
Thanks, Grandpa.”

“
I’m going over to the B and
B to give Eileen the list. Try not to stress too much.”

“
I’ll try,” she said giving
her grandfather a hug. “I’ve got a few calls to make myself.”

After her grandfather left, Cathy
picked up her cell phone and called Heather.

“
Hey,” she said when Heather
answered. “I’ve got some news about the wedding and I’d like to
get Michelle on the phone, too, if possible. Okay?”

“
Of course,” Heather said.
“What’s going on?”

“
Let me get Michelle first,”
Cathy said.

She called Michelle and prayed
she would answer. She didn’t want to have to explain everything
twice. Michelle answered on the third ring.

“
I’m sorry to tell y’all
that I’ve called off the wedding,” Cathy said. She was trying not
to cry, but she drew in a big shaky breath after she told them.

“
Why?” Heather said.

“
What happened?” Michelle
asked.

“
I just realized that I didn’t
want to live the lifestyle, that it wouldn’t be best for me and our
future together,” Cathy said. It was lame. She hoped it would fly.

It didn’t.

“
What the hell do you mean?”
Heather asked. “He’s rich, Cathy. Rich! Why are you giving up a
secure future, and with a gorgeous man, I might add.”

“
What are you talking about,
Cathy?” Michelle asked. “I think there’s a lot more to this
story.”

Cathy broke down and told her
best friends what had happened. She couldn’t keep anything from
them.

“
But he does always put his
business first,” she said. “And all of this just makes me realize
that I don’t want to play second fiddle all the time.”

They talked for an hour about the
situation. Neither friend held back on her opinion. In the end, they
both respected Cathy for what she had done and said they would
support her.

“
I’m sorry about the
bridesmaid dresses,” Cathy said as they were ending the
conversation. “I do hope you can wear them sometime.”

All three laughed then, before
saying goodbye.

Next, Cathy called the florist
and cancelled. The woman that answered the phone said the flowers had
already been paid for.

“
Then I’m requesting that you
take them to a cemetery and distribute them among the graves,”
Cathy said.

Then she called the gardens where
the wedding was going to be held. She cancelled the package that
included the caterer, the venue, and the photographer.

“
You’ll lose your deposit,”
the man in charge of events that day said.

“
Okay,” Cathy said.

And then it was over. Everything
was canceled. Eileen and her girls were calling everyone else.
Nothing more to take care of. Cathy went upstairs and threw herself
on the bed crying. In one week’s time, her world had been turned
upside down and now she faced an uncertain future. Alone.

She was staring at the TV when
her grandfather came back a couple of hours later.

“
I did it,” she said. “I
canceled everything.”

“
I’m sorry, honey,” he
said. “I know this is rough on you. I wish I could take your pain
away.”

“
I don’t know what to do
now,” Cathy said. “I had planned my whole life around marrying
Aaron and now. . . .”

“
Just take your time. You’ve
got a place to stay as long as you need one, and that means forever.”

Grandpa was really the only man
that Cathy could ever trust. Her own father had died on her when she
was eleven. She had been angry with him for that, for a little while.

“
I know you don’t want to
stay in this big ole house with your grampa,” Grandpa said. “I
thought you might like to move into the cottage—whenever you’re
ready. It could use some fixing up and it might take your mind off
all this.”

“
I haven’t been in there
since Mom died,” Cathy said. “I guess I need to face it.”

“
You don’t have to. It was
just a suggestion,” Grandpa said.

“
It’s a good suggestion,”
Cathy said. “I’ll go over there today. In fact, I’ll go over
there right now.”

Grandpa set off on the sandy path
connecting the two properties with Cathy following him. A minute
later, they emerged onto the cottage property, resplendent with oak
trees and hydrangea bushes with dried flower heads, well past their
blue bloom. Cathy spotted the pier beyond the house. She had spent
many hours on that pier, fishing when she was younger, sunbathing
when she became a teenager.

Grandpa opened the front door.
The house smelled musty as Cathy stepped inside.

“
No one’s been here for a
while,” Grandpa said. “I guess almost a year.”

Cathy walked around the rooms.
They were all in desperate need of a paint job. The kitchen still had
its original features that were now vintage. Cathy had always liked
that about the kitchen.

“
Do you think you want to stay
here?” Grandpa asked. “It feels a little dreary.”

“
It just needs some TLC,”
Cathy said. She was grateful that her mother had not killed herself
in the cottage. She had done that in Grandpa’s house, with a
handful of pills and a bottle of vodka, leaving him to find her in
her childhood bedroom that had since been closed off. Grandpa put a
lock on the door so that no one would ever enter the room again.