Hmmmm....she thought to herself as she drifted away, the last thought she had before she lost herself completely to slumber...maybe Kit Kat isn't such a bad nickname after all.
The next morning, Katie awoke to the delicious, smoky aroma of sizzling bacon.
She sat up and extended her arms above her head, feeling like a graceful cat as she stretched her muscles out as far as they would go.
“Jason?” she called, but got no response.
She looked around the room, and then spied a note sitting on the pillow he had used, with a rose stretched across it.
She grabbed it and smiled as she unfolded it.
It read, “Katie, I had to go downstairs early and take care of checking out the block of reserved rooms, the incidentals, etc. I ordered room service for you, bacon and eggs just like you like them. Enjoy your breakfast, take your time getting showered (sing as loud as you want...yes, I know that, too) and dressed. I'll see you downstairs, love. XO, Jason”
She laughed and then immediately went to tuck the note into a safe pocket in her suitcase where it wouldn't get wrinkled. She was definitely keeping it. Forever.
Katie luxuriated in every single bite of her breakfast, and her shower concert featured sappy titles such as, “Reunited (And It Feels So Good)” and “Love Lift Us Up Where We Belong.”
After she got dressed, she headed downstairs, pulling her suitcase behind her and smiling a special little secret smile because only she knew what it contained – her note from Jason.
The first two people she saw when she disembar
ked from the elevator were her mom and Aunt Wendy. She hugged them both hard and did her best to put out of her mind the fact that she would be saying goodbye to them both today.
When she pulled away from the two women who were her entire family, she saw that the little group had been joined by Grandpa J, Grace and Mike. Katie smiled. So, maybe she should revise that – they might be her only blood relations, but they were far from her only family.
As the group chatted, largely about what an amazing job Wendy had done (which her aunt was lapping up, Katie thought with amusement), Grace pulled Katie aside to have a private conversation.
Oh, no. Katie thought. The hateful words that had spewed from Lisa and Tiffany the night before echoed in her mind. “They probably totally hate her now.”
Please don't let that be true!
“Katie, honey, I wanted to talk to you about Jason,” Grace said carefully.
Katie's heart filled even further with dread.
“I know it must feel strange for you, what with Jason and Nick having been so close. Especially here, with Nick's family all around.”
Katie nodded, it was all she could do – her throat was too closed up to speak.
“Yeah. We could see it in your manner. Like you were looking over your shoulder. But, Katie, you have to know that Mike and I...we just want you to be happy, honey. If Jason makes you happy, that's a really good thing.”
Katie's eyes filled, and she said hoarsely, “But...Nick...”
Grace shook her head determinedly, her eyes filling, as well, “Nick would want that, too, Katie. He thought the sun rose and set on you, honey. He would never want to see you unhappy, and especially not because of him. He'd want you to move on.”
The tears spilled down Katie's cheeks unchecked, as they did down Grace's.
“You have to know, Grace...you have to know, no matter what, a part of me will always love him. He'll always have a special place in my heart.”
Grace pulled Katie to her, holding her tightly.
“Thank you for that, Katie, sweetie,” she said thickly.
The two women stood silently together, holding each other, their hearts communicating something too deep for mere words to express...until Katie heard a shrill cry coming from Aunt Wendy.
“Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit," Aunt Wendy exclaimed, "I think Jason's gonna STRANGLE that man!”
--- ~ ---
The whole group ran outside as fast as their feet would carry them, running to the place where Wendy had frantically been pointing to.
Jason had the guy that she had been mentally referring to as Motorcycle Man pinned up against the wall, his forearm in at his throat. Motorcycle Man was grunting and trying to squirm away.
“Why are you stalking Katie Lawson?!” Jason demanded harshly.
Katie could tell that the guy was trying to deny Jason's accusations, but Jason wasn't letting him get a word in edgewise. She could see Jason getting more and more agitated the more he yelled, and the kid just looked more and more terrified with each word that flew out of Jason's mouth.
“You've been following her around town, you let the air out of her tires, and now you're gonna deal with me!” Jason snarled as he reared back to punch the kid.
Grandpa J stepped up and put a hand on Jason's shoulder to stop him, saying sharply, “Stand down, son.”
Grandpa J never talked in that sharp, militaristic tone to any of the kids, but they all respected him so much that it didn't take but once to be effective. Everyone standing around – Jason included – calmed down and stood at attention.
“Now, I don't know if this boy's been following young Katie around town or not. But I know for a fact that he didn't let the air out of her tires.”
Katie exclaimed, “How? Were you looking out the window? Did you see who did it?”
“I didn't need to be looking out the window to see one doggone thing. I let the air out of your tires, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.”
Katie's jaw dropped, and the rest of the crowd looked at Grandpa J with wide, shocked eyes.
Grandpa J, for his part, just shrugged unconcernedly and said, “What? I thought you and the boy needed a little catch up time.”
“Are you kidding me?” Katie asked, disbelieving, and Jason let out a bark of incredulous laughter.
Grandpa J waved them both off and turned his attention back to Motorcycle Man. He asked, “What’s your name son?”
His voice came out sounding strained because Jason still had him pinned up against the wall with a forearm across his throat, pressing against his windpipe. He made a valiant effort and croaked out, “CJ…CJ Lawson.”
Jason dropped his arm from the kid's neck, but still held him by his shirt, pressed up against the wall.
Alex stepped up, reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He flipped it open and then shook his head before holding it out and showing it around to everyone, reading the name out loud, “Craig Allen Lawson Jr.”
“Wait...” Katie said uncertainly, still feeling as if this whole encounter might be a dream and wishing she could make sense of what was going on, “That’s my dad’s name.”
Jason stepped away from CJ and put a protective arm around Katie's shoulders.
“It’s
our
dad’s name,” CJ said nervously, clearing his throat a little.
“You’re my brother?” Katie asked, incredulous, as she took a step towards him.
Jason stepped between them, clearly not quite as eager to accept this explanation as a valid reason for the events of the past few days. He asked, a hostile tone tingeing his voice, “Why have you been following her?”
CJ continued to speak straight to Katie, and he sounded apologetic as he explained, “I only found out about you a few months ago. I didn’t know exactly what to do when I first heard about you. I hired a private investigator, and they found you in San Francisco. I was planning on flying out there but the PI that was following you said that you boarded a plane headed to Chicago, which meant that you were probably headed home.
“I don't know what else to say. I took a chance, got on my bike and headed to Harper's Crossing. Once I got there, though, I wasn’t sure how to approach you. I didn’t know if you knew anything about us.”
“Us?” Katie asked, eyebrows raised, “Are there more of you?”
CJ smiled a crooked smile and, for the first time, Katie started to notice a resemblance between herself and this stranger standing in front of her.
“There are four of us in total. I…um…
we
have two younger brothers, Caden and Corey who are twins. And a little sister, Carrie.” CJ shook his head a little, “My mom liked ‘C’ names.”
Katie, still feeling a little shell-shocked, attempted to clarify, “So you’re saying...I have three brothers and a sister?”
CJ nodded his head.
Katie looked around the crowd frantically until sh
e caught her mother's eye. Her mom looked pale, but resolute, and she stepped forward when she saw that Katie was looking for her. Katie said, “Did you know about this, Mom?”
Pam shook her head in the negative, but added, “It doesn't entirely surprise me, though.”
CJ was looking increasingly uncomfortable to be the center of the laser-focused attention of the gathered crowd. Inclining his head to indicate the small café across the main street that the hotel sat on, he asked Katie, “Do you think we can go get a coffee and talk more about this?”
“Of course,” Katie nodded, still reeling from the revelation. She needed to gather her thoughts, and she had about a zillion questions for her…brother. That was definitely going to take some getting used to.
As she began to move to the crosswalk, she felt Jason walking along beside her. She turned to him and laid her hand on his chest. “I’m fine, Jas, really. You go ahead and stay here.”
“We need to get headed back soon,” Jason said. He was speaking to Katie, but his eyes were on CJ, and they still held a healthy measure of suspicion.
Katie smiled indulgently, “Jas, you can go ahead and get going, seriously. I'm gonna catch a ride back with Mom or Aunt Wendy.”
“Katie,” Jason said. It was just one word, but the way Jason spoke it communicated volumes. He was asking her if she was OK. He was letting her know he wasn’t happy about letting her go, even just across the street, with CJ, who was a virtual stranger. He was saying that he wanted to be there for her if she needed him. He was basically just being Jason.
She shook off the feelings that the simple act of him saying her name stirred up inside of her and decided that was better left for another time. Right now she needed to deal with CJ.
So she looked up into Jason’s sexy brown eyes, eyes that she could lose herself in, and smiled, “I’m fine, Jas. Really. Just go, I’ll see you back in town.”
Katie then squared her shoulders and turned to CJ, saying with a smile, “Coffee sounds great. Let’s go.”
Jason watched as Katie stared silently out the passenger-side window at the scenery flashing by. They had left Whisper Lake over an hour ago, and she had barely said two words to Jason in the intervening time. Actually...she had only said one single, solitary word to him.
Jason had watched her in the cafe from across the street in the hotel lobby. At first, Katie’s body language was tense and he could see that she was firing questions one right after another at CJ. For a moment, he had almost felt sorry for the guy. He definitely knew what it felt like to be on the receiving end of Katie's rapid-fire questioning.
But after about ten minutes, she relaxed. Her posture changed, and she even laughed at a few of the things CJ said. He watched as he pulled out his phone and flipped through it, showing her pictures of their siblings, Jason assumed.
When she had come back to the lobby after saying goodbye to her brother, she had looked around, scanning
the lobby for (he assumed) her mom or aunt.
Jason had walked up to her and said, “It’s just me Kit Kat, everyone else headed back.”
She tilted her head, pursed her lips, and then shook her head with irritation and said, “Seriously?!”
Jason just smiled as she turned and stomped to his truck, got in, and slammed the door.
It had been the silent treatment since then.
He had known that she would be pissed when he sent everyone ahead so that she would have no choice but to ride back to Harper's Crossing with him. And she had every right to be. No one liked to have their choices taken away.
He also recognized how selfish it was of him to co-opt the opportunity to have a long, unbroken conversation with her when he knew how badly she must want (and need) to talk with her mom and her aunt.
He also knew that this wasn't the right time to have the “Define The Relationship” talk. DTRs were stressful enough under normal circumstances, and 'immediately af
ter having found out that your dad that abandoned you went on to have a family with 4 kids that he DID stick around for and take care of' was far from being normal circumstances.
He knew all of that. Logically, anyway. Unfortunately, no one had sent his heart the memo. He was sure, somehow, that if he didn’t get another chance to talk to her before she got
on that plane to head back to California, the walls she would put up once she was back in her comfort zone would mean a life-sentence of heartbreak for him.
Well, he figured, I better get the ball rolling. Every mile that passes is one less minute we have together.
“I don’t know what I like better, you pretending to be asleep like you did on the drive up here, or you sitting there pouting like you are now,” he teased lightly. He glanced over to her to gauge her reaction and saw her jawline flinch.