Clear as Day (22 page)

She shook a cigarette from the pack, paused, and slid it back. “I do need to make some phone calls. My cell’s not getting a signal here.”

Dave shoved his chair back, his face impassive. “Yeah, cell service’s impossible at this area of the lake. No towers. Who needs coffee while I’m up?” He’d been acting strangely distant all through breakfast. Actually, as Nate considered his friend’s behavior further, Dave hadn’t shaken his odd mood of the past few days, and he still brushed off any questions about his hand.

Olivia set her cigarettes aside with deliberation and tipped her coffee cup. “More coffee would be lovely, thank you.”

Talk paused while Dave made the rounds with the coffee pot.

Lloyd nodded. “We’ll get you to the marina. Nate and I will take you. Go see what’s what, while you make your calls.”

“Whatever you need, just ask,” JoAnn added.

“If he’s there, I don’t want to talk to him. See him. Or—” Olivia’s face clouded with tears, and her voice cracked. She took a sip of coffee, but her effort to steady herself failed and her tears flowed.

Kay whispered in JoAnn’s ear and glanced at Nate, eyes haunted.

Nate clenched his fist. “We’ll make sure. We’ll handle it.”

Olivia slipped from her chair. “I’ll wash up, change. Pull myself together and then we can go, whenever is convenient for you.”

JoAnn caught Olivia’s hand before she could dash off. “Kay and I will go with you, Livie, moral support and all that. We can take a break from the heat and have lunch in the café. And to be perfectly selfish, I need an ice cream sundae. Sometimes—” She patted Olivia’s hand, a ghost of pain filled her blue eyes, and her voice tightened, “Sometimes, you just need to stop and have ice cream.”

Olivia’s composure had returned when they set off in Lloyd’s boat two hours later. The wind had died and the lake was free of chop, but Lloyd took the trip far slower than usual.

JoAnn shifted impatiently. “Lloyd, hon, we could go a little faster. Heck, Kay’s Duckling moves faster than this.”

“This is fast enough for you today.” Lloyd’s face was stony.

“Lloyd, hon, I’m not fragile. It will be supper before we get there.”

“Hell, Jo, let me drive the damn boat the way I want, will you? So I don’t have to worry about you, all right?”

“I’m fine,” JoAnn snapped.

“That’s why you tossed your cookies this morning. You’re just fine. Oh, right. Bullshit.”

“You know it was the smell of the eggs cooking. I am totally fine. The baby is totally fine. You’re totally being an ass.”

Lloyd snorted.

Olivia was staring off beyond the horizon, hand white-knuckled on the railing, the broad, pale strip of skin where her rings had sat yesterday glaring against her tan.

Kay was quiet, wincing at JoAnn and Lloyd’s snapping, her mouth pinched, her eyes hidden behind her sunglasses focused somewhere on the decking.

At the marina, it didn’t take long to scope out the R.J. situation and learn he’d turned in the rental boat and the car was missing from the lot.

That left Lloyd fuming and muttering, but Olivia was holding together pretty well.

“Don’t worry. I’m just mostly mad and tired and pretty numb at the moment. I’ll hit the freaking-out stage later. You folks have been so great. You all have helped. You have no idea how much. Really.”

Lloyd cleared his throat. “I’ll go with you to the office and we’ll see what they can help us with. You can make all the calls you need. The charge on my cell is good if you need.”

JoAnn needed to use the restroom.

“We can get a table to wait,” Kay offered. “I want to check my truck and grab the maps.”

Olivia shrugged shyly. “I’m fine. Go on and get a head start on that ice cream, JoAnn.”

“Sounds good, got to run, got to pee. See you there.” JoAnn grinned and took off at a fast walk. Kay headed off to the parking lot.

Olivia caught Nate watching her and gave him a twisted smile. “Nate, honestly, you might as well go hang with JoAnn and Kay at the café. Lloyd and I won’t be long. I appreciate the support, but no sense everyone wasting their time.”

“No problem. See you in a bit.” Kay wanting the maps cheered him. They could start planning the drive.

Nate checked his voice mail messages as he headed toward the café. Wow. Fifteen missed calls? Mom. Dad. Callie. His real estate agent. His brother Danny. Eight calls from Bev?

What was up with that? He’d chatted online with Bev a couple weeks ago. She was a longtime friend from college and his landlady for his apartment on Oahu. She should be in London by now, being run ragged by Kincaid and the last-minute prepping for their expedition.

Bev’s husky Texan voice drawled over the phone. “I know, I know. You warned me there’s no cell service, but this is ridiculous. Do you ever check your voice mail? Be a darling, check your e-mail, call me ASAP, do something and put me out of my misery, will you? I know you’re entitled to vacation and busy with the new house—congratulations by the way—but really! Just call me. Big news.”

****

All was well with her truck and trailer, as Kay knew it would be, and she retrieved the maps she wanted. She really needed to stop letting that old scratchy record of Mother’s fussing rile up more anxiety than she already had. Relieved all the same, Kay walked into the chilly comfort of the busy café.

JoAnn waved happily from her seat on the bench by the door, but her eyes still held shadows of the old haunted look of her pre-Lloyd life. R.J. had stirred more unhappy memories around than just Kay’s.

Lloyd was pacing edgily to the incongruous accompaniment of “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” piping through the speakers. “I got us the corner booth. Hostess said just a minute to clear it.”

“Great. Where’s Olivia? And Nate? And how are you feeling, JoAnn?”

After a lingering look at her grim-faced husband, JoAnn smiled sweetly, the ghosts clearing from her eyes. “I’m just fine. You know I love camping rough, but there are a few inventions that truly perk a girl up—indoor toilets and air-conditioning. I’m in heaven.”

Lloyd halted, fists jammed against his hips, his face flushed and hard. “R.J. left Olivia high and dry. What kind of ass-wipe does that to his wife? Leaves her flat in the middle of the Mojave Desert! Nate? I don’t know. He said he was headed here.”

“She’s not alone. She’s got friends. Us, hon.” JoAnn caught his arm, stilling his pacing.

“The bastard didn’t even think—She’s making her calls.” He looked over his shoulder toward the marina office. “She didn’t want me to wait with her.”

“She needs some space to do that, hon. Livie knows where to find us and that we’re here for her.”

Lloyd huffed a deep, hard breath. “Right.” He folded his arms over his chest. “Shithead can kiss any hope of the contract good-bye.”

Olivia rejoined them first. She’d been crying again, the signs unsuccessfully hidden behind her sunglasses, but she held her chin high. “I was able to rearrange my tickets. I’ll spend a few days in Vegas after we leave here. I spoke to my lawyer. He’s putting things into motion. I hate to impose, but he wants me to call back tomorrow.”

Lloyd nodded. “No problem. We’ll get you back here tomorrow and whenever and as often as you need.”

They passed the time waiting for Nate drinking sodas and perusing the menu. JoAnn ordered the ice cream sundae she was craving. She fed Lloyd the maraschino cherry, and took a bite of the whipped cream and fudge-covered strawberry ice cream. Her eyes closed and her face relaxed in bliss as she let out a happy moan. “Ah, baby is happy.”

Nate finally arrived, wearing a broad, dazed smile and his cell phone clenched in his hand.

“I’ve got news.” He dropped the phone on the table and slid into the seat beside Kay. “They want me! My head is spinning. Holy shit.” Cupping her cheeks in his hands, he kissed her joyously.

When he finally released her, Kay blinked, hot and bothered and blushing wildly. “Want what?” He’d left her head spinning with that kiss.

“Kincaid wants me on his expedition. Picked me over three other excellent photographers, because of Bev pushing and he knew my work.” He kissed her hard again. “Unbelievable. I got the message from Bev. Harry Bishop broke his leg mountain biking. So Kincaid wants me for the still work. I can finally do my book!”

Expedition? But he’d promised he was done traveling. He promised…

She swallowed dryly. “On what?” She’d heard him mention the name Kincaid over the years. Which book? Nate had so many places he wanted to travel, so many projects he’d love to do. Where would he be off to now? Afghanistan? Timbuktu?

“The book I’ve always wanted to do.” Sheer delight shone in his face.

“Antarctica.” Kay’s voice faded in shock. He’d gotten his dream. He’d worked so hard for this. She should be doing cartwheels for him. She ignored her sharp dismay and firmed her smile.

“Yep. Photo essay and journal. I’ve had it planned forever. The way I want. No settling. Like the Down Under book, only better. This is the one!”

“Wow, Nate, that’s wonderful news.” She was delighted for him. Stunned for herself. He wanted her to marry him, move to a strange place with him, and then he was going to leave her there by herself while he gallivanted over the globe for his photography? He never did do short work. Always in-depth. How long would he be gone this time?

Lloyd grabbed Nate’s hand as he slapped him on the shoulder. “Awesome. We’ll celebrate tonight!”

“Fantastic, Nate!” JoAnn blew him a kiss. “Congratulations!”

“This means I have to cut vacation short. I have to leave on Sunday…”

Sunday? Her mind stuttered and she lost track of his words. Sunday? The day after tomorrow? He was supposed to stay another week. They were supposed to drive to Idaho together. She was supposed to meet his parents.

She was supposed to have more time to sort out her heart and mind.

He’d
promised
…

JoAnn, Lloyd, and Olivia pumped Nate for details as they ordered and ate lunch. Kay was thankful her friends were used to her not saying much, because she was too off-balance to know what to say. She joined in the whirlwind party planning, but couldn’t have recalled a single thing Olivia jotted down on the shopping list.

She poked at a cold French fry on her plate, annoyed with her dismay.

She should be happy for him.

Why can’t you just be happy for me? I worked hard for this promotion.

Because we have to move again now. You get your dream job, but what about me?

Why can’t you just be happy for me? Why can’t you just be happy…

Kay shook off the shrill echo of her parents’ voices. Be happy. She was happy for him. Truly. Now she needed to be happy for herself.

“Nate?”

He turned, still talking.

She kissed him. “I’m so happy for you.”

Nate stared in surprise, as if he was seeing someone else. The others stared, too.

Was a voluntary display of public affection from her such a weird thing?

Then he beamed like a kid at Christmas, hugged his arm around her, and kissed her back, his joy flooding the kiss. “Thanks.”

The hot-cold rush of joy and dread churned through her again.

Kay’s cell phone rang. Too distracted, she answered without checking the caller.

A major mistake, as her mother’s impatient voice answered her hello. “Why haven’t you returned my calls? I’ve been calling you all morning.”

Oh, she didn’t need this. Kay sank into her chair and hunched away from Nate and the others. Maybe she should walk outside. “There’s no cell service where I’ve been camping. I’ve told you that before. What’s wrong?”

“Then why are you on the phone now?” Mother’s sharp tone rang with the accusation,
liar.

Kay sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m at the marina for lunch. There’s service here.”

“You need to stop tramping around the country and settle down. Why can’t you ever go somewhere civilized? But no, you have to be like your father.”

“Mother, we’ve talked about this.” Tried to, anyway. Actual talking would have involved listening on Mother’s part.
It’s my career. It’s my choice.

And I’m not like my father. Never.

“You’re talented enough you do not need to be wandering around painting pictures of rocks. Alone all the time. It’s ridiculous. I’ve told you time and again, someone could steal all your equipment. Assault you. And that nothing little school. You need to stop wasting your talents. You should have focused on your portrait work. But no, what do you waste your time on? Rocks. Dreary, dusty rocks all the time. It’s amazing you make a dime. If you had only taken that job in Boston—”

Oh, yeah, big mistake in attempting to be sisterly and talk to Claire about anything. Everything became ammunition. Hadn’t she learned this by now? Kay swallowed her anger and cut in on the repetitious acid rain of criticisms. “Mother, is there a reason you’ve been trying to call me today? Is Claire okay?”

“Claire’s fine, which you would know if you ever called your sister. Anthony is just under stress from his job, and you need to stop being so critical. I wanted to tell you I got married on Saturday.”