She picked up her phone and sent Gizzy a text. MEET ME AT MY HOUSE IN AN HOUR. IMPORTANT NEWS TO TELL YOU.
As Devlin drove them back to Summer Hill, they were all silent. Rachael seemed to be too angry to speak, and Casey didn’t want to. When Devlin stopped at a hotel to let Rachael out, she turned to Casey.
“I am really sorry about all this. I didn’t understand what was going on. I think I should tell you that—”
“You’ve said enough for one day,” Devlin said sternly.
“You bastard!” Rachael got out of the car and slammed the door, but she looked back. “Casey, I—”
She didn’t hear any more, because Devlin sped away.
At Tattwell, he had to go through a guard at the gate, then he drove Casey to her house. He got out and opened the door for her. “I can’t apologize enough for what Rachael told you. But then, it’s been very hard for me to stand by and see what my ex-brother-in-law has been doing to you.”
“I can’t take any more. I’ve reached my limit.”
“I know,” he said gently. “But don’t worry. I’ll take care of you. I’ll make you a drink or two and we can sit and talk and—”
Casey stepped away from him. “No. My sister will be here soon and no offense, but I may never want to see a man again.” She went into her house and shut the door firmly behind her.
—
Devlin stood there for a moment staring at it. Damn Rachael! She overdid it. She was supposed to make Casey turn to Devlin in tears. But then, what had he expected? She always was a bad actress. Now that he thought about it, she was probably the main reason his show failed.
But at least Casey wouldn’t welcome Landers back with open arms. That had been achieved. And he’d done it all by himself, without any help from anyone. If Rachael thought she was going to be paid for this screw-up, she was mistaken.
He took out his phone and called the PI.
“I was just going to call you,” the man said. “You’re not going to believe what I found out about this Christopher Montgomery and the former Miss Olivia Paget. This time, you’ve hit the jackpot.”
“It better be good. I’ve had a rotten day. Why can’t people ever do what they’re supposed to?”
“You’re going to be happy after you hear what I found out.”
Twenty minutes later, Devlin Haines was smiling broadly. He felt so good he thought he’d go to Rachael’s hotel, let her yell at him some, then get her clothes off. If she was really, really good to him, he might be persuaded to pay her half of what he’d said he would. She should be grateful, since she didn’t deserve any of it.
By the time he got to his car, he was laughing. Before long he’d have that Jaguar Landers had refused to buy for him. No! With this news, he wanted a Maybach.
“You’re sure?” Jack asked Tate. “No doubts about her? None at all?” They were in the back of the car and being driven from the airport to Tattwell.
“Absolutely,” Tate said. “I’m tired of the life I live. It’s too empty for me.”
“That’s not a problem. It’s just who you choose to share it with. You’ve known this girl for a very short time.” Jack was tapping out a message on his phone.
“And who are you texting?”
Jack laughed. “The girl I’ve known only a very short time.” He put his phone back in his pocket. “It’s been twenty-four hours since I heard from her. What about you? You get through to Casey?”
“I sent her forty-one texts and emails while I was away, but she never replied. I was pretty worried, but this morning I got a notice that none of them had been sent. I had to go into settings and say, yes, I do want to send all those messages. They all went out at once.”
“And?”
“Nothing, but if Casey was in the kitchen she might not have heard the phone.” He smiled. “She’ll be surprised at the deluge.”
“I think something is wrong,” Jack said. “Gizzy answered everything I sent her, but I’ve heard nothing in the last day.”
Tate didn’t say anything. The photo of Gizzy kissing the fireman still bothered him. Jack had dismissed it, but Tate hadn’t. He’d wondered what was in Gizzy’s mind. Sometimes it seemed that the only thing she cared about in Jack was his ability to keep up with her wild escapades. Walking along the cliffs, tiptoeing across the roofs, climbing trees. She wanted to do all of that—and maybe not much else. For his taste, Gizzy was too remote, too cool, too reserved. How could someone know what she was thinking or feeling?
She was the opposite of Casey, Tate thought, with her temper and her demands to be treated well. He always knew where he stood with her.
While he’d been gone, he’d thought of nothing but her and what they had together. He’d missed her horribly. Her jokes, her laughter, her eagerness to participate in life, had all become part of him.
Until he went away, it hadn’t hit him how much she really meant to him.
In his weeks in Summer Hill, he’d nearly forgotten how the outside world saw him. He was met at the L.A. airport by a couple of fawning studio reps. “May I carry that for you, Mr. Landers?” “Are you comfortable, Mr. Landers?” “If you need anything, Mr. Landers, just tell me and I’ll get it for you.” The last was said by a pretty girl with a lot of eyelash-batting.
Over the years he’d grown so used to such treatment that he’d come to pay little attention to it. But his time in Summer Hill had been like being at home with Nina and Emmie, with people who saw him as a person, not as a commodity that had to be pampered because it sold well.
Every minute he was away, he’d wished that Casey were with him. Or that he had her to go home to. At night, alone in his hotel room in faraway Romania, he thought about their time together. Their life.
Food and sex, he thought. Casey had given him the best of both. The best food he’d ever eaten and the greatest sex he’d ever had. He’d said that about the food to Nina on the phone just before he flew to Romania.
“Sounds like love,” she said. “You don’t really believe that the hamburgers you and Emmie grill in the backyard are the best in the whole wide world, do you? They’re great because you and my daughter put so much love in them. I bet you like sex with Casey too.”
“That’s not something I will discuss with my sister.”
“When I first knew Devlin and thought I was madly in love with him, the sex was so good that I’d cry. But after I found out what he was really like, I was repulsed by his touch. The only thing that had changed was love.”
“You should go on one of those women’s talk shows and tell that.”
“I don’t have to since every woman who’s ever lived knows it. It’s only men who are dumb.”
Tate laughed. “That sounds like something Casey would say. And do not give me some platitude about that. Damn! They’re here to pick me up. Will you and Emmie come to Tattwell when I get back?”
“Your niece says she needs two more of the eight pink suitcases you bought her, but yes, we’ll be there five minutes after you land. Call me as soon as you’re back.”
“I will. I promise. I love you both. Bye.”
All the time he’d been away, he’d thought about Casey and their possible life together. He went over everything in his mind. Where they’d live. If Casey didn’t like his house, he’d sell it and they’d buy something cozy. With a great kitchen, of course.
If she wanted to continue catering or open her own restaurant, whatever she wanted, he’d help her do it.
The bad part would be his life. Cameras and red carpets and women saying lewd things to him would take getting used to. Over the years, he’d grown nearly immune to it all. But how would Casey react to a hundred cameras in her face and being asked what it was like to go to bed with Tate Landers?
He’d have to protect her. That was going to take some work, but he’d do it!
By the time he got on the plane to return to the U.S., he was full of resolutions—and joy. This was what he wanted, and there was a way to work it out. A
s Nina said, it just took love.
As soon as the driver stopped in front of the Big House, Tate flung open the door and started running. He covered the distance to the guesthouse in record time, but when he got there, he halted.
It was growing dark and Casey had the lights on in her pretty kitchen, so it was almost as if she were standing on a stage. She was at her island, a big bowl in her arm and scooping a dark-blue mixture into a pie shell.
To him, it looked like a beautiful painting, an Old Master where the subject was highlighted and the artist made you feel what he had to say.
Right now he was feeling that he was home. This woman was what he’d thought about, had wanted, and now that he was here, he was absolutely sure that she was his future.
She put the bowl down and swirled the spoon around, then glanced up and saw Tate standing outside. For a second, such joy ran across her face that Tate nearly leaped through the screen. He flung the door open and pulled her into his arms.
He started to kiss her mouth, but she turned her head away and he kissed her face. Her arms were at her side, pinned there by him.
“I’ve thought about you endlessly. I missed you every minute.” He punctuated his words with kisses. “I want you to stay with me always. I know my life isn’t cute and cozy, as you’re used to here, and you probably won’t like my house, but we can get another one. I was thinking about it, and maybe you should keep the story of your donor siblings private. The tabloids will make an ugly mess of that, and I don’t want anyone to be hurt. And I know you’ll worry about the public appearances, but there are people at the studio who can do hair and makeup. I don’t want you to worry about anything. I’ll take care of it all.”
She pushed away from him, then she stood there staring at him.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “This is too much too fast. I know that, but I’ve spent days thinking about everything. Come on, let’s go in the living room and talk.” He reached out to take her hand, but Casey stepped away.
“It sounds like you’ve decided that you want me, so you’ve planned my life. Where you live for your job is where I must go. And my real life is a great embarrassment, so it’s best to keep it secret. Poof! Dad and siblings gone. And, oh, yes, with professional hair and makeup I might be presentable enough to appear beside a beauty like you.”
Tate was stunned. “That’s not what I meant.”
“I just heard you say that you want me to walk away from my own life to become your arm candy—after I have a full makeover, that is. Is this why you tried to get me to work out with you? So I’d look good beside glorious you? For publicity?”
“No.” Tate’s body stiffened. “I’ve never considered publicity.”
Casey’s face changed to a sneer. “You think I’m naïve enough to believe that? Did you think I’d never find out what you did with that little boy? I was told you had him tied on to the roof, but I didn’t see any harness. Did you leave that child out there without a safety strap?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“The publicity stunt you pulled at the estate sale, that’s what. I know you set up that whole thing. You endangered that child’s life just to get pictures of yourself looking like an actual hero.”
Understanding was coming to Tate. “You think I’d do something like that?” he asked softly. “That I’m that kind of person?”
“I didn’t think that—until I saw the photos, then I believed it.”
“Might I ask who showed you those pictures? No, wait. Let me guess. Devlin Haines. I should have warned you that he would—”
“He didn’t tell me!” Casey said loudly. “One of your many girlfriends, Rachael Wells, came here to deliver the pictures to you.”
“Rachael Wells? From the TV show? My girlfriend, is she?” Tate stepped back. His face was an unreadable mask. “I can see that whatever I say won’t be believed. You have made up your mind about me. I’m sorry to have bothered you. Please forgive my presumption.” Turning, he left the house.
—
Casey went into the living room and collapsed onto the couch. She had certainly told him! His arrogance, his assumption about what she’d do with her life, was despicable. A makeover! Did he think she was so ugly that she needed to be remade? But then, as Rachael said, she was the “fat one.”
Casey dropped her head back against the couch. Of all the mean, hateful things that had ever been said or done to her, this was by far the worst.
But then, as she stared at the ceiling, it went through her mind that if she did, by some impossible chance, go to some movie event, she might, well, actually need a little help with hair and makeup and choosing a dress.
She sat up straight and shook her head. She had to stop thinking like that! What Tate Landers had done to his former brother-in-law, to all the women in his life, and to that dear little boy strapped onto a roof edge was more than she could bear.
She went back to the kitchen to finish cooking. Tonight, she’d go to bed early. Alone. She made herself stop that train of thought. She’d done the right thing and she should be happy about it. She was sure the feeling of misery would soon pass.
As Tate was walking back to his house, his cellphone rang. He didn’t answer it. He was too numb, too much in a state of shock, to talk to anyone. How had he been so wrong? How had he misjudged someone and a situation so completely?
When his phone wouldn’t stop, he pulled it out of his pocket. It was Nina. It would be better not to let her know anything was wrong. “Hi, baby sister,” he said with enthusiastic cheerfulness.
“Oh, no! What happened?”
“Nothing,” Tate said. “I’m glad to be back and the play is going well and—”
“Don’t you dare use your actor voice on me. You’re a mess and I want to hear every word of what happened to you.”
“Your ex-husband—”
Nina groaned. “I want you to get to a computer and put it on Skype. You’re going to tell me all of it, and I want to see your face as you do it.”
—
It was an hour and a half later that Nina closed her computer, and for a moment she gave herself over to quick tears. She well knew the treachery her ex-husband was capable of. His lies, his plots, his manipulations, could destroy lives.
When she was married to Devlin, she’d known he was having affairs, but the truth was that toward the end she was glad for anything that kept him away from her and Emmie. When he was with them, all he did was complain. No one ever gave him enough, did enough for him. She never understood his extreme sense of entitlement, but over the years she’d learned not to confront him. Confrontation made him go into rages that could last for days. Nina could stand it, but a baby didn’t deserve it. She’d learned to tiptoe, to be quiet, to agree with him, and especially to constantly, endlessly, without relief, build his ego. Yes, he was magnificent; yes, everyone in the world was too stupid to see what a glorious being he was. Whatever it took to keep his rages under control, she did.
When Tate came home after finishing his fifth movie in a row, he was appalled to see what had happened to his sister. When she was near her husband, every other sentence she spoke was about what a great man he was and how everything he did was better than anything anyone else did.
But Tate saw a man who did no work at all. He didn’t support his family, didn’t take care of the house Tate had given them, paid no attention to his wife and daughter. Nina was exhausted from housework, childcare, and doing every menial task her husband could think of.
When Tate tried to talk to her, Nina repeated what Devlin told her. Without a good job, he couldn’t feel like a man. So Tate had pulled strings, spent money, and made promises to get Devlin a starring role in a TV series. But he’d messed it up. When confronted, Devlin had blamed Nina for the show’s failure. He couldn’t be expected to succeed when he had a wife who never supported him, who never said a good word to him or about him.
In the end, Tate turned down a movie so he’d have
time to oversee the divorce.
But now it looked as if her dear brother was on the receiving end of Devlin’s lies. Nina could tell that Tate really liked this young woman, Casey, and she was sure her ex-husband had seen it too.
Nina went to Emmie’s room. Her daughter was painting at her easel. “How’d you like to spend the night at Alicia’s house?”
“Did she invite me?”
“No,” Nina said, “but I’m going to ask her mom if you can stay. It might be for two nights. I have to do something for Uncle Tate, so I have to go to L.A.”
Emmie looked at her mother hard. “You’re going to save him, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I am. When I get back, you and I are going to Summer Hill, and we’re going to fix all of Uncle Tate’s problems. How does that sound?”
“Great!” Emmie said. “Do you think they sell riding boots in Virginia?”
“Are you kidding? They may have invented them in that state. Meanwhile, think about what you want to eat. Tate’s girlfriend can cook anything, and I want her to be very busy with the Landers family.”
“Uncle Tate says the best food in the world is peacock and dumplings.”
Nina laughed. “My brother is…” She stopped. “Deserving of the best,” she said. “Now pack, and you’re allowed to take only two suitcases to Alicia’s house.”
“Mom!”
Nina started to leave the room. “Two and that’s all,” she called over her shoulder.
Smiling, Emmie pulled four pink cases from under the bed.
“I am in the right,” Casey said aloud. It was what she’d been telling herself for days, but she still felt awful.
After the picnic, Gizzy had shown up and Casey told her everything.
“They did it all for publicity?” Gizzy said, aghast. “How frightened that little boy was!”
Casey had made them drinks and snacks and they’d spent hours sharing—or Gizzy did. She told of every date she and Jack had been on, of the intimacy, the laughter, the adventures they’d had. Casey’s eyes widened when she heard of all the things the two of them had done together.