The Weekday Brides 04 - Single by Saturday (30 page)

“I’m sorry, Michael.”

“Why do you keep apologizing? I doubt you set out to have the hots for my brother.” As they spoke, some of the earlier tension eased. His friendship with this woman was too important. Besides, he loved his brother, and Michael couldn’t think of a better person for Karen than Zach.

She choked on her one-word answer. “No.”

“I still wanna kick his ass.” He was playing with her now, and hoped it made her smile. The thought of her crying over him left a heaviness in his chest he didn’t like. His thoughts quickly twisted to the paparazzi and the press.
Oh, damn
…
this is going to get ugly
.
“Just be careful, Karen. The media would have a field day with this…with you.”

She paused before saying, “I don’t have to act on anything with Zach.”

Not act on it?
He heard the guilt in her voice and needed to remind Karen of their honesty commitment to each other. “No. Karen…we wouldn’t be having this conversation if you were in complete control here. My brother’s a good guy. The fact you’re both holding back means you give a shit about my feelings. He’s still a complete dick for hitting on my wife…but how can I blame him? You’re hot.”

She laughed.

He kept talking. “And if you and I were happily married I doubt you’d be giving out the vibe of availability. Goes to show we needed to work on ending this charade before now.” Yet selfishly he liked having Karen around. No one drove away the loneliness like her; no one knew him better…and loved him despite all his faults.

The reality that they were splitting up hit him.

“I’ve loved being your fake wife, Michael.”

He felt moisture behind his eyes. “I’ve loved being your fake husband.” He swallowed, hard, and said the only thing he could. “I’ll file when I get home.”

She started crying again, making it damn hard to avoid joining her. “I can move out when I get back.”

“No need…not right away. I’m going to be up here for a while.” He cleared his throat and looked around his lonely trailer. “Are you crying?” He wanted to dry her tears.

She hiccupped. “Yeah. Stupid huh?”

He swallowed the knot in his throat. “Naw…liberating. I’d cry but people might think I’m gay. Gotta go get pissing drunk and beat on someone. Wanna fly my brother up here to help a guy out?”

Her laughter caused the knot to untie and he leaned against his seat. Then she sobbed again. “OK, you have to stop the waterworks. The piece of paper is going to be ripped up. That’s it. I still love ya. And I’ll always have your back. Us Gardners are loyal that way.”
Zach will be, too.

Karen sucked in a deep breath he heard all the way in Canada. “So how is the producer? Asshat or hottie?”

“That’s my girl.” He ignored the moisture in his eyes and kept talking…kept laughing. “He’s hot, but a complete asshat.”

She laughed, and Michael felt it deep inside his heart.

“Isn’t your leading lady Angie McMillian?”

“Yeah. Anorexic and just this side of a bitch.”

“Really? She always seemed so sweet on TV.”

They talked as they always had for a little while, and Michael knew they were going to be fine.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Zach drove Nolan down to St. George, and followed his GPS to the hotel where Karen said she and Becky were staying. The last time he’d been in St. George had been with Tracey to visit her family. Nolan had been a beaming ray of sunshine ever since the picture of his kid ended up on Zach’s cell phone. He went from a nervous, unsure kid to a proud daddy before Zach’s eyes. The transition was so unexpected he couldn’t help but stare. He actually felt sorry for Becky’s parents if Nolan ever had a moment alone with them…or if they tried to stand in their way of being together.

Zach found himself admiring the young man as he pulled off the freeway an hour later and zigzagged through the crowded streets of the larger Utah city.

“I could have driven myself,” Nolan said as they pulled into the hotel parking lot.

“Your car will lead the authorities to Becky.”

“I don’t think anyone is looking for us here.”

Zach pulled into a parking space. “Let’s not take any chances right now. You have the weekend off, and Karen and I will figure something out over the next few days.”

They walked to the outside balcony of the hotel room.

Nolan knocked on Becky’s door. She opened it only after Nolan whispered that it was him. The teenager slipped into the room and Zach moved on to Karen’s door.

She looked as if she’d just stepped from the shower, something he and Nolan had taken care of back at his house before he shoved an overnight bag in his truck in case he ended up stuck in the city. Then they hit the road to St. George.

“Hey?”

Karen opened the door wider and he stepped inside.

Her skin smelled like flowers, and her hair was a cloud around the edges of her face. She was so damn beautiful. He shoved his hands in his pockets, even though he wanted to touch her.

“Hey.”

“I dropped Nolan off with Becky. He wanted to stay here with her.”

Karen smiled and the room lost oxygen. “They probably want to stare at the ultrasound picture all night.”

Zach grinned. “Yeah. That was something.”

“Makes it real. It’s not just a blue line on a pregnancy test anymore.”

He couldn’t imagine everything Nolan was going through. One thing he did know, the kid was in for the long haul.

Zach nodded toward the door. “Wanna go grab a bite to eat? Bring them back some takeout?”

“That would be great.”

They told the kids they were leaving, and Zach led Karen to his truck and opened the door for her to get in.

They found a quiet Italian restaurant and Karen insisted on ordering a bottle of wine. The wine was surprisingly good but the company was what kept him smiling.

“I talked to Gwen. She had a suggestion that I think we should consider.”

“What’s that?”

Karen was ripping through a bread stick and washing it down with the cabernet.

“Talking to Becky’s parents. Let them know we’re aware of their abuse. Tell them that Becky will go to the authorities if they don’t let her walk away.”

“Isn’t that an empty threat at this point? Becky didn’t seem interested in pressing charges.”

“I think if she felt threatened, that would change.”

“To protect the baby?”

“Or Nolan. She’s scared, but with each passing day, she’s getting stronger. They’re going to be OK. We’ll get them over this hurdle.”

“You’re an incredible woman, Karen.”

She sipped her wine and shook her head. “No. Just a sucker.”

Their food came and she dug in with an appetite that rivaled his.

“I think Nolan is being watched. The police drove by the site three times that I saw.”

Karen paused midbite. “Did they follow you here?”

“No. And Nolan’s car is still in the garage. The sheriff goes to church with Becky’s parents. Knows them really well according to Nolan.”

“That can complicate things. She can always petition the court to emancipate her, but she has to prove she can care for herself and prove to the court that her parents aren’t fit.”

“To do that she’d have to reveal their abuse.”

Karen sat lost in her own thoughts for a minute. He reached out and touched her hand.

“That’s hard to do. So many people don’t believe the victims.” She shook her head. “We’ll figure it out. I suppose it’s time for me to investigate all the legalities of helping out runaways.”

“You keep saying that. What exactly do you envision when you think of helping out kids like Becky and Nolan?”

Karen sat back and the shadows of her past drifted from her face when she spoke.

“I always saw a big house…you know, one of those colonial, or maybe even Victorian jobs with lots of bedrooms. Like those used in bed-and-breakfasts?”

“Yeah.”

“It would have to be remodeled for extra bathrooms of course…and probably a larger kitchen than those old houses normally have. But I want something that feels like a home. I’d have it on some kind of registry for runaway safe houses. There would be rules of course. No drugs, no violence…that kind of thing. No bullying. And the kids would have to work part-time, be in some kind of continuation school, or be studying for the GED. If they’re really young, and this is the part where I’d need legal guidance, they’d be registered in school.”

“It sounds like you’ve thought a lot about it. Why hadn’t you put your plan in motion before now?”

Her blue eyes left his. “Timing. But that’s changing.”

“You know what you’re talking about is a full-time job, right?”

“I’m not afraid of hard work. And I’ve made some crazy rich contacts over the last few years. Plenty of them have expressed interest in helping me fund-raise and pilot my idea.”

Zach could see her rallying an entire village on behalf of disadvantaged kids.

“You won’t be able to save them all.”

“But I can save a few…even one is worth it.”

Zach’s eyes fell on their clasped hands. He stroked the inside of her wrist, that’s when he noticed she’d taken off her wedding ring. He bit his lip to keep from asking why. Maybe the timing she spoke of was her pending divorce. With the pressures of being Michael Wolfe’s wife behind her, she could concentrate on what made her
happy. Though he didn’t see his brother standing in the way of anything she wanted.

The waiter stopped by and refilled their wineglasses. Karen ordered a couple of pasta dishes to go for the kids and pushed her plate aside.

“I don’t think we’re going to find out what we need to do for Nolan and Becky this weekend. But we’re going to have to consider where they’ll live.”

“They can’t stay in hotels forever,” Zach said.

“Exactly.”

“Nolan talked about finding a place here in St. George and commuting.”

“Sounds stressful.”

“Lots of people commute. And the cost of living here isn’t as high as California.” Which, if Zach had to guess, Karen would suggest they move to so she could help them.

“An hour commute in LA is standard operating procedure.”

Zach laughed. “We can look into affordable apartments here. I’d be happy to cosign and advance Nolan some money.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I want to.” He turned his hand around hers and laced their fingers together. A small smile played on her pink lips and she squeezed his hand.

“I-I talked to Michael today.”

The mention of his brother’s name made him pause and look away. “Oh.”

“Zach?”

God he loved hearing his name come from her lips. He looked up to find her still smiling.

“I told him…about us. About our attraction.”

He waited for the boom.

“What did he say?”

Her smile was weak. “He asked me to fly you to Canada so he could kick your ass.”

She was still smiling and he couldn’t really tell if Mike’s words were a joke.

“He was shocked. I think. I had to tell him.”

Zach brought her fingers to his lips and kissed their tips. “It’s the right thing to do.”

“We’ve always been honest with each other.”

“How did he really take it?”

She glanced at the ceiling as if it held the answer. “Gracefully. But he thinks the world of you and we already knew about our divorce. So it isn’t as if there’s a wedge between him and me because of you.”

He kissed the place on her finger where his brother’s ring once stood. “You took off the ring.”

“It didn’t feel right wearing it.”

He sat there for several minutes just watching the color of her eyes and the sparkle from the dim lights reflect within them. He wanted to kiss her, hold her…make sure she was OK after what had to have been a difficult conversation.

The waiter dropped off their check. Zach quickly tossed a few bills on the table and led her out to his truck.

The parking lot was dark, and before he tucked her into the passenger seat, he took a moment and gathered her into his arms. She went willingly and tilted her head and lips toward his.

Her arms slid up and over his shoulders as he kissed her. She tasted like wine and smelled like passion fruit and flowers. Exotic flowers that made him think of vast beaches and warm sunshine. Her tongue sought his and he pressed her against the side of the truck. They were breathless when he pulled away. “I want to make love to you,” he whispered.

She shivered and clawed at his back. “I have my own room at the hotel.”

He chuckled against her temple. “Then why are we necking in a parking lot like kids?”

“Because it’s fun?”

Laughing, he pulled her away from the truck long enough to open the door for her. The trip back to the hotel steamed up as she slid across the bench seat of his truck and tucked next to him, her hand resting on his thigh and keeping his cock on high alert.

They said very little as she led the way to her room. She stopped at Becky’s door, knocked, and then handed them the food she’d ordered. The kids thanked both of them and shut the door.

Karen’s hand shook as she slid the key card through the slot.

As soon as she closed the door behind her, Zach set the deadbolt, pressed her back to the door, and kissed her with an urgency he’d never felt before.