The Best Man (9 page)

Kate blinked and stared at Joel as if she had never seen him before. His lips curled back from his teeth in a snarl. Light burned from his eyes. If she hadn’t been afraid someone would lock her up, she would swear she saw horns sticking out the sides of his head.

Her reaction to that thought made her shoulders shudder. Giggles escaped past her lips as his horned image flared in her head.

Luke fell back in his chair and sent her a look of concern. Joel’s lips pulled back, baring his gums like a snarling dog. Another rush of giggles escaped.

“That is so rich.” She gurgled past laughter. “You have me declared dead. Give away all my clothes. Take a new bride to live in our house. And then say something nasty about the friend who offers me a place to stay.” Kate shook her head. All signs of amusement left her face with each word she spoke. Reality returned. Her breath expelled in a resigned sigh. “So, this is the real Joel. It’s too bad I didn’t see through your act before I married you.”

“Now, wait a minute.” Joel pointed a finger at her. “I’m not the one who deserted our marriage for a year-and–a-half.”

Kate almost crumbled under the stabbing pain. But memory of her long days of mourning for Joel’s loss flashed in her head and gave her strength. “No, Joel, you’re the one that deserted his wife after three days, without searching to see if she was alive.”

Joel sputtered. “I was traumatized.” His glance darted to Luke. “Tell her, Luke. Tell her how awful that time was.”

Luke stared at Joel silently as his fingers formed a steeple in front of his face.

Joel’s face flushed with deeper color.

Kate watched both men. She didn’t doubt Joel had suffered. He’d lived through a nightmare. Of course he had undergone some emotional reactions. But she had no doubt his trauma had resulted from his experience, not for her disappearance.

She understood his reaction to the tsunami. But she couldn’t understand how any husband could leave the scene of a disaster without searching for his wife. That one question haunted her

“Luke doesn’t need to tell me anything.” Kate watched color drained from Joel’s face, leaving his pasty colored skin the same as his hair and eyes. And once again, she wondered how she had ever found him attractive. “I know what you went through that day.”

“Well…good…at least someone understands.” Joel cut his eyes in Luke’s direction, his returning temper. “It hasn’t been easy, you know.”

Kate rejected his comment as if it were an annoying insect buzzing her head. “What you need to know…what I came to the church to tell you…is that as soon as my memory returned…I searched everywhere for you!” Her lips clamped back a sob. Luke sent her a look of concern.

But she couldn’t let her emotional reaction show. She couldn’t back down now. Lifting her chin, she faced Joel with a determination earned by her struggle to survive the ordeal she had experienced.

She was here because she had struggled through one day at a time. She wasn’t about to let Joel steamroll over the rest of her life.

“I l-looked at bodies lined up like fish on the beach. I searched under tarps for any remains that looked similar to y-your clothing or body build.” Her voice quivered. “I went from one secluded beach to the other, until I couldn’t look in the face of one more dead body. W-when I finally gave up, I was so exhausted I didn’t have the strength to find my way home. I lived like a zombie, helping the villagers who had saved my life to rebuild the shacks they called homes to deaden my pain.”

She took a deep breath. Sobs were about to escape her as she studied him. She forced another deep calming breath. Her glance darted around the room. This office was all of her father that she had ever known, and Joel had claimed it as his. She swallowed the bile filling the back of her throat and gained new resolve.

“I finished mourning for you months ago.” Her breath hitched. Her heart pounded in her chest. “Our life together is over. That’s what I came to tell you. I want to reclaim my life, not ruin yours.”

Kate stood on trembling legs. Silence shrouded the room echoing with her words, and she heard a gasp and turned toward the door.

Laurel stood there, her face white, her eyes reflecting tormented emotions. “T-there’s a reporter on the phone.” Then she turned and staggered away.

Kate felt a moment of pain. She’d lost a husband and a friend. But it was time to move forward. She had a life to live, thanks to the courage of poor villagers living half-way around the world.

At the door, she glanced over her shoulder. Joel’s look of utter confusion pulled at her sympathy, until she remembered this was how he won his battles. This was the look he had perfected, the one he used on jurors when he was in court.

Now she recalled, this was the look he turned on her when he insisted they should wait before having babies. 

Kate took a deep breath to calm her jittery insides. Chalk up five wins for Joel…Oops, no, make that six. He had squirmed out of having babies, and he managed to have her declared dead after only three days.

He was resilient, she would hand him that.

But so was she. The new Kate, the survivor, could face down this man she had called husband.

“I’m back, Joel. I’m taking my rightful place in this firm.” She watched his throat work. It didn’t seem possible that he could turn any paler, but he managed. “And…” she paused, wishing she’d had time to get Luke’s backing on this, then she gave an unladylike snort. What the heck! She was through with asking permission. “And…I want you out of this office…today.”

Joel sputtered and turned an unbecoming shade of red. He stared from Kate to Luke and snarled. “You planned this together.”

Luke looked at him coolly. “Actually, we didn’t—”

“T-then tell her that isn’t going to happen. This is my office and I’m staying.”

“…it didn’t even come up.” Luke continued as if Joel hadn’t interrupted. “But I agree with Kate. It’s time you moved back to your old office.” He turned toward the door. “And don’t forget to file those petitions today as we discussed.”

***

Luke spared a glance at the sick look on Laurel’s face as he strode after Kate. He couldn’t find it in him to spend a moment of sympathy on her. In the weeks before that ill-fated trip, he suspected Joel was interested in Laurel. That would explain all the late hours they had worked.

He blamed himself for all that had happened to Kate.

If he had shared his suspicions, she wouldn’t have agreed to that second honeymoon with Joel. She wouldn’t have suffered the past eighteen months.

No matter how long it took, he would make amends to Kate. Sacrificing his career to a firm that had struggled since her father died seemed a small price to pay. He could have prevented Kate from her near death experience. But he’d said nothing and put her life at risk. He couldn’t forgive himself for that. Throw in the fact that he had feelings for her, and his reluctance to take action was unforgivable.

He’d live with his regret, but he intended to turn this firm around. That was the least he could do for Kate. And like it or not, Laurel was still employed by the firm. Jaw rigid, he paused and stared at her. “Anything interesting in all those calls?”

The secretary’s eyes widened as if she had expected something far different in his response. Relief flashed over her tear-stained features. “It’s reporters. They won’t stop calling.”

“Take their numbers,” he said as Kate’s office door closed. He wanted to talk to her, but she needed time to herself. He turned down the hall, shutting the door to his office behind him.

He’d lived with the guilt of withholding knowledge of Joel and Laurel’s actions for two years. While they were planning their wedding, he’d blamed himself.

He could have left the firm and escaped his guilt, but that meant giving up all he’d worked for over the past ten years. Still, he’d been temped. It would almost have been worth the move to see Joel forced to work for once.

What kept him from leaving, and kept him from telling Joel what he thought about his desertion of Kate, was hope. All the time Kate had been gone, he harbored hopes that
maybe
she was alive. No matter how slim the chances were, he never stopped hoping.

That sliver of hope, that she might have survived, kept him rooted in the firm.

If by some miracle she had survived, she would contact Joel. Would return to her father’s office. And despite the difficulty of facing Joel every day, he couldn’t leave his only connection to Kate.

If Joel received any information from authorities and the latest updates of survivors, he wanted to be there. He couldn’t turn his back on Kate. He owed it to her…to her father’s memory, to work for the firm until she returned. If he’d found comfort in the four walls where she had spent most of her days, he was the only one who knew.

He watched as Joel assumed command of the office. He cooperated on cases and worked to keep the firm afloat. All while blaming himself for Kate’s disappearance.

Now, a miracle had happened. Kate had returned. Luke had a second chance. This time he intended to make sure Kate knew his intentions. But he couldn’t rush her. She had been through too much turmoil. After she had time to adjust, to absorb all that had happened, then he would tell her what she meant to him.

Meanwhile, he wanted to sooth her path, make her return to the practice easy for her. She struggled for survival in the past months. He didn’t want her to feel pressured now that she was home.

Grabbing the phone on his desk, Luke punched in the number for the bank. After a few minutes, he arranged for a new checking account and credit card in Kate’s name. The card and checks would arrive within the hour. He could do that much at least.

Playing racket-ball with one of the bank officers gave him leverage, and deep pockets added clout. So did the mention of the woman’s name in all the news headlines. Kate would balk at his actions without consulting her, but she needed funds and he had the means.

Luke settled back in his chair and sighed. She had to face the media. Nothing would be the same after that. Wait.

Who was he kidding. Nothing had been the same since Joel had called from Thailand to say Kate was missing. Luke shuddered as he relived those moments. He’d been at home, sitting on his sofa, enjoying the quiet while he soaked up the beauty of his latest art acquisition, when the phone rang.

When Joel’s frantic sounding voice said, “Kate’s missing. She was washed away by the tsunami.” Luke’s world had stopped spinning.

For long hours, he stared at the new painting on the wall, willing Kate to be alive. And trying to think of ways to break the news to her father. When morning rolled around, he had zoomed into action, called every connection he could think of in his effort to find a way to locate Kate.

Once he reached her father’s house and broke the news to him, the senior partner had done the same with his contacts. Tension and fear formed a bond between the two men like never before. Luke saw pain and regret on Roger’s face. At long last, he realized in his own way, this man cared for his daughter. And he knew, with the certainty of a kindred spirit, Kate would be thrilled.

Except, he couldn’t see her, couldn’t share the news with her. And the long nightmare of praying for her survival began.

Then Joel returned home three days after Kate was lost.

Three measly days. She could still be clinging to a life raft. She could be floating at sea, waiting for rescue. Or washed up on a beach, needing medical attention. But Joel, selfish bastard that he was, returned home...alone.

Luke revolted against his partner's uncaring attitude, instantly taking vacation leave from the firm. Kate’s father approved, though only the dark clouds in his eyes spoke of his worry.

Joel badgered Luke to stay and take up the slack left by Kate’s absence. He knew there was some truth to Joel’s claims that he wasn’t ready to accept a full load at work, yet. Joel’s personal experience during the tsunami left him feeling over-whelmed.

Luke accepted his claims of needing time to recover. But each day Luke delayed his search for Kate was a day she might be suffering and needing help.

He ignored Joel’s pleas for him to wait and had taken his vacation time to go search for Kate. He’d flown straight to the disaster area and started his own search, despite the emergency relief teams flooding to the area. Three weeks later, after more dead bodies that he ever wanted to see again, he had reluctantly admitted defeat and returned home.

But nothing was the same.

And to this day, things were still different. 

Hell! Nothing had been same since he’d stood beside Joel as he married Kate.

Then, two days ago, when he turned and saw Kate walking down the aisle, his prayers had been answered. Kate was alive. Even in her hand-me-down dress and ragged hair, she had never looked more beautiful to him.

A knock sounded on his office door.

Luke shook his head to clear the memories and called, “Come in!”

Kate poked her head around the edge of the door. “Do you have a minute?”

The sight of her face, framed by becoming strands of short hair, made his heart pound in his chest. He nodded and managed to squeeze one hoarse sounding word out of his mouth. “Sure.”