Rumor Has It (21 page)

“Why are you so set on forcing me into going?” she asked. “Are you planning to get some sadistic kick out of watching Nick and me suffer through the evening? Don't you think he has enough to worry about without having to see me there?”

Without a word Ry went to Katie's dresser and lifted her invitation to Nick's special pre- grand-opening dinner.

“So he invited me,” she said defensively. “That doesn't mean he expects me to show up. In fact, I'm sure he doesn't.”

He dropped the invitation back to its place next to a bottle of French perfume and an old framed photograph of their father. He dipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans and drawled, “Yeah, I guess he probably doesn't. You've been dodging him for nearly two weeks. Why should he expect you to come out of hiding tonight?”

Katie glared at her brother. “I haven't been hiding.”

He snorted derisively and uttered a raw two-syllable opinion.

“I've been avoiding him,” Katie continued, undaunted by Ry's rough language, “because I think it's best. The sooner he realizes I'm not going to change my mind, the sooner he can get on with his life.”

“How noble,” he said with a sneer. “And convenient too.”

“I don't need your sarcasm, Rylan.”

“Well, you sure as hell need something,” he said angrily. “You're throwing away happiness with both hands. What the hell's the matter with you, Kathryn?”

She gave him a long, level look. “Do you want the entire list?”

“Don't play the martyr with me, Katie. Self-pity doesn't become you.”

It stung, but she imagined she deserved the remark at least as much as she deserved to feel the way she was feeling. “I think I have a right to feel a little sorry for myself. I had to let the man I love go—”

“And whose fault is that?”

“I did what was best for Nick.”

“Oh, really? Care to explain to me then why the guy is so miserable it makes me hurt just to
look at him? I've seen things lying dead along the road that look better than he does.”

She didn't enjoy hearing that Nick was in pain, that he was suffering because of her. Nevertheless, she scarcely met anyone in town these days who didn't tell her so. While only Maggie and Ry knew all the details, all of Briarwood knew of the breakup; and rumors were running rampant. The general consensus was that Katie had discovered the truth about Nick's background as a spy/thief/ mercenary, and she had broken up with him because of it. Sympathy, however, was running in Nick's direction, because he had become very popular around town.

Turning away from her brother, Katie stared at the floor, trying to ignore the pang of doubt. She didn't like to see Nick suffer either, but she had let him go to save him from even bigger hurt, she told herself yet again.

“He'll get over it,” she said in a low, hoarse voice. “In the long run he'll see I did him a favor.”

“No, Katie,” Ry insisted. “I'll tell you what he sees. He sees the same thing I do. He sees you taking a walk out of his life for no reason other than you're afraid.”

Why couldn't anyone understand? She wasn't the villain. She was only trying to do what was right. She was only trying to give Nick a chance to have everything he deserved. A wave of emotional exhaustion swept over her, carrying her closer to tears than she wanted to be.

“Tell me this,” Ry said. “If things were different, would you marry him?”

“He hasn't asked me to marry him.”

“Would you?” he asked impatiently.

Katie sighed and shook her head. “Yes. But things aren't different. I can't give him what he needs, Ry. You tell me why he should settle for less.”

“Because he loves you,” he said simply.

And she loved Nick. She loved him so much she ached with it. She hadn't imagined anything could hurt the way missing him did. “I couldn't live with forcing him to accept less than he deserves. I can accept my own limitations, but—”

Ry expressed his disbelief with a barnyard curse. “If you had accepted your limitations, we wouldn't be having this conversation.”

Katie stepped back from him, the word betrayal written all over her face. Ry knew how
hard she had fought her way back from her accident. How could he say such a hurtful thing to her? “You, of all people, should know—”

“I do know, honey,” he interrupted, his harsh scowl softening along with the tone of his voice. “I know I practically had to keep you prisoner at the farm after your accident, or you would have run away from that loss too. Anyone who'd care to look can see you've built up a nice, safe little world where you don't have to face the things you think you can never have.”

The words stung despite their delivery. Anger welled up inside her, making her wish she were big enough and strong enough to throw him out of her house. Unable to lash out physically, she did the next worst thing. “How dare you preach to me about hiding? How many years have you spent hiding out on the farm like some kind of hermit?”

Ry took it on the chin, but Katie caught the brief flicker of hurt in his eyes, and instantly was sorry. Ry had endured more than his share of loss and disappointment. Pressing her fingertips to her temples she hung her head and sighed. “I'm sorry.”

Ry brushed her hair back from her face with his big, callous hands and pulled his sister into his arms.

“No. You're right,” he murmured. “I've made mistakes. I just don't want to see you make this one, princess. Nick loves you. You love him. You're not doing him or yourself any favor by breaking it off. Don't be afraid to try for happiness with him just because you've had other things you wanted snatched away from you, Katie.”

He gave her a hug that barely hinted at his strength but still managed to force the breath out of her lungs. “I'll pick you up at seven. You'd damn well better be dressed, or I'll take you there in your underwear.”

Katie managed an absent smile at his final threat, but she didn't turn to watch him leave her room. When she heard the front door close, she sank down on her bed and stared across the room at her reflection in the cheval glass. The woman who stared back at her was pale, with dark smudges under her eyes and a wide mouth that turned down too easily. The last two weeks had been worse than anything she'd had to endure in
five years. The strain was showing physically and emotionally.

For four days after the picnic she'd heard nothing from Nick. A part of her had been glad, had hoped he'd simply accepted her decision. A part of her had mourned both his silence and the loss of him. On the fifth day he had launched his campaign.

Gifts had begun arriving—two and three a day. Katie had sent each back to him unopened. Not that she had needed to open them to know what was in each prettily wrapped box. Everyone in town knew what Nick was up to. He even had been asking people for gift suggestions. His battle to get her back had become the hottest topic in Briarwood, far out doing speculation as to who and what Nick Leone was or had been.

He had begun phoning her. She had refused to take his calls at the store and had unplugged her phone at home. Several times he had come into Primarily Paper to try to talk to her. She had forced herself to be coldly polite, even though it tore her up inside to treat Nick that way.

One evening he'd come to her house and tried to talk to her through the doors and windows, because
she wouldn't let him in. Peter Ramsey had shown up and told him he had to leave or get hauled in for disturbing the peace.

She hadn't heard from Nick since then—two nights ago. She couldn't help but wonder if he thought she'd called Peter herself. It probably was just as well he did think so. The sooner he gave up on her the better off he'd be.

It would have been best for her to stay away from Nick's special dinner, but she would go. Katie knew she didn't have the corner on the stubborn market in the Quaid family. If Rylan believed she should be at the dinner, he would indeed carry her to it kicking and screaming.

Reluctantly she pushed herself off the bed and went to her closet to pick out a dress. She deliberately tried to empty her mind of Ry's argument, but the memory proved as stubborn as the man himself.

Ry thought she had ended the relationship because of her own fears. That wasn't true… was it? No. A sliver of uncertainty wedged itself into her mind. She tried to ignore it. If Ry was right, then she'd been fooling herself for a very long time. He was saying she was the one thing she had
always fought not to be—a coward. She couldn't believe him. She had made her decision for Nick's sake… hadn't she? Yes.

Then why was it she suddenly felt as if a final layer had been peeled back from her soul and the real truth revealed?

Nick tried once again to tie a decent knot in his necktie. He stared at his reflection in the little mirror on the wall in his office and wondered if it was possible for fingers to develop dyslexia.

“Turn around and let me do that,” his waitress, Mavis Davies, ordered. “I've tied more neckties than you'll ever see. Of course, you might be able to see the one you're wearing a little better if you'd wear your glasses.” Knotting the dark green tie with sure hands, she clucked and muttered half under her breath, “You must have given your poor mama fits.”

“I was a model child,” he said, trying to lighten his own mood. “I was an altar boy at St. Vincent's.”

“Then you'd better have St. Vincent pray for you, because I've never seen anyone so nervous.”

Nervous didn't begin to cover it, Nick thought
as he took one last look in the mirror. In all his years of dancing he'd never had a case of stage fright that even came close to what he was feeling now.

Mavis gave him a motherly look from the doorway of the office. “Everything is going to go fine. The food smells wonderful, and your staff is top-notch. What is there to worry about?”

What was there to worry about? Whether or not Katie would show up. If she did show up, how would she react to the little surprises he had planned for her? He was going way out on a limb, considering she hadn't accepted any of the gifts he'd sent her, hadn't accepted any of his phone calls. He still wasn't so sure she hadn't called the cops on him the night he'd gone to see her at her house.

He had his spies though. He knew she was hurting just as much as he was. He knew she had doubts about the decision she'd made on his behalf. He knew she loved him.

What he didn't know was whether or not she was ready to give in, to give up her stubborn resolve to set him free. He had to hope she was, because he was ready to play his ace. More than
once he had berated Katie for thinking in terms of all or nothing. Tonight that was exactly what he was going for—all or nothing.

Before he stepped out of his office and into the kitchen, Nick cast his gaze heavenward. “Hey, St. Vincent, put in a good word for me, will you?”

Nick's Restaurant looked exactly as Katie had pictured it, exactly as she had sketched it way back when Nick had first asked her to do the interior design. The dining room was simple but elegant with its white walls and long hunter- green drapes. The walls were lined with the old hats and walking sticks and store displays Nick had discovered in the attic. They created a wonderful, dapper, masculine atmosphere. It was perfect.

She felt her heart swell with pride for Nick. He'd worked so hard. She could remember how the place had looked the day Maggie had goaded her into checking out the mysterious new man in town.

Katie felt every eye in the room on her as she entered. She knew everyone present. Nick had planned the evening as the run- through for the
staff, a trial run before the restaurant officially opened. He had invited all his new friends, who were also friends of hers. Like everyone else in Briarwood, they were well aware of the change in circumstances between her and Nick.

As she followed Ry and Maggie to the table where the Baylors sat, Katie wondered how she was ever going to be able to eat a bite of food. What was Nick going to think when he saw her? Would he be able to see how much she still loved him? Would he see the second thoughts she was having about her decision to give him up? Or had he decided by now to finally give up on her? Her friends chatted around her while she sat staring at her silverware.

The kitchen door swung open, and Katie looked up into Nick's face as he crossed the room. She felt as if her heart and her stomach were all wound up into one big knot. Nick's gaze never wavered from her face. He looked wonderful. And terrible—tired and thinner but so handsome in pleated black trousers and a crisp white shirt. She wondered if he knew the tie he was wearing was dark green.

“Katie,” he said softly, handing her a menu. He
set a small basket of dinner rolls near her plate. It was all he could do to keep from scooping her up into his arms. She looked so small and vulnerable. “I wasn't sure you'd come.”

She offered him a hesitant smile. “I hear the food here is pretty good.”

A hint of his crooked grin moved his lips, and Katie felt her heart roll over.

He had a feeling—and wanted to believe—food wasn't the only reason she'd shown up. He'd find out one way or the other soon enough, he told himself as he forced his legs to carry him back to the kitchen, knowing Katie's gaze followed him every step of the way.

“I'll have one of everything,” Ry said, perusing his menu.

Maggie frowned at him.

“Everything sounds delicious,” Zoe said. “What would you recommend, Katie?”

Katie opened her menu. The list included all of Nick's specialties—
petto di pollo al champagne, arrosto di vitello,
fresh brook trout
sauté meu-niere.
Before she could make a recommendation, however, an evening special caught her eye. It was
carefully printed on a separate card and attached to her menu with a paper clip.

Katie's eyes brimmed with tears. She knew people were staring at her, but she was beyond caring. The flood of emotions and questions and fears swirled around in her head until she felt dizzy. She needed a minute alone to catch her suddenly scarce breath and to try to calm her sudden sense of panic.