For His Forever (7 page)

“Okay, I’ll see if I can talk Red into it. And is it okay if I bring along a friend?”

“Sure. Anyone I know?”

“I don’t think so. Just this nice girl I met at the beach the other day.”

“Bring her along! Just promise me you won’t back out.”

So she tried to promise, not sure if Red would be into it, and then she went downstairs and found him texting with Kane.

He glanced up at her. “This guy is such a dick.”

“You’re practically BFF now, who are you kidding?”

Red laughed. The truth was, after Red extended the olive branch and invited Danielle and Kane to their wedding ceremony, Kane seemed to have been truly moved by the gesture and completely changed his attitude. As part of his “wedding gift” to the two of them, Kane had forbidden The Rag to report on Red and Nicole’s relationship. Later, he’d even invited Red out with some high-powered celebrity friends for a night on the town.

Since then, they seemed to have forged a grudging respect for one another.

Stranger things had happened, Nicole supposed, but she couldn’t think of many things that were more surreal than watching Red make plans with Kane Wright via text.

“You up for a party tonight?” Red asked her.

“I think it would be fun for Kallie.”

“Kallie? You want to bring her?” he asked, doubtful.

“And I’m going to tell her she’s invited to stay for a few more days if she likes.”

Red sighed. “I don’t see this ending well.”

“Why not?”

“Just a feeling.”

Nicole laughed him off, going upstairs to the guest room to see if Kallie wanted to come to the party with them.

As she was going upstairs, she felt a little surge of lightheadedness again and then when she reached the second floor, a rapid heartbeat and shortness of breath. She stopped before the closed door to Kallie’s room and tried to regain her equilibrium.

The moment passed and she was sweating but feeling normal again—probably just a surge of hormones (this was her standard excuse for any strange feelings or symptoms experienced while pregnant).

Nicole knocked and Kallie invited her in. “Hey,” Nicole said, coming inside.

Kallie was lying on her bed, reading a magazine.

“How’s it going?”

“Good.” Kallie sat up. “I guess I should call my folks and ask them to book me a flight home, but I’ve been delaying the inevitable. Sorry. It’s just so nice and cozy here.”

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that,” Nicole said. “I’d like to offer you this room to stay in for a bit, while you figure things out.”

Kallie’s eyes widened. “Really? Stay here?”

“Red and I talked and we thought that it would be unfair for you to have to give up your dreams and plans just because you got unlucky with one job. So I’d like to help you get back on your feet again, by providing you with a place to stay and some time to make your calls and figure out if you can keep living in New York.”

“Wow, I don’t know what to say.” Kallie shook her head. “That’s, like, one of the nicest things anyone’s ever done for me.”

Nicole smiled. “I know what it’s like to feel as if your back’s against the wall in New York City. It happened to me once, not long ago.”

“All of my stuff is still at the Danvers’s house,” Kallie said, “and I’ve been too afraid to call my agency to tell them what happened. I know that Trina and Brad will be busy smearing my name to anyone who’ll listen, and nobody’s going to believe me over them.”

“Red and I can help with that,” Nicole said. “On another note, a good friend of mine is having a casual party tonight at her home. We’d like you to come with us—it could be fun to meet some people and forget your troubles for a night.”

Kallie grinned. “Why not?” Then she looked down at her clothes. “Only thing is, I don’t have anything to wear.”

“We can remedy that,” Nicole told her. “So it’s settled then?”

Kallie nodded. “It’s settled.”

“Good.” Nicole turned and started leave the room. Just as she was exiting the bedroom, she was hit by a pounding headache that came out of nowhere. It actually stopped her, once again, in her tracks.

“Nicole?” Kallie called out.

Nicole stood and gathered herself. The pounding grew to the point where she thought she might cry out from the pain. And then it slowly receded to a dull throbbing in her temples and she took a shaky inhalation. “I just had a moment,” she said. “It happens sometimes.”

“You sure you’re okay?” Kallie got off the bed.

“I’m sure.” Nicole turned and smiled.

“You look pale.”

“Thanks.” She grinned wanly.

“Sorry, it’s just—you don’t look well.”

“Sometimes I get a little dizzy or achy but it always passes,” Nicole told her. The other woman nodded uncertainly, and then Nicole continued on her path. “I’ll swing by your room with a change of clothes later on!” she called back.

And then she went to her own bedroom and lay down on the bed, her chest rising and falling rapidly. She was, in truth, a little bit scared by how she was feeling. But Nicole told herself it wasn’t anything—just a spell. The doctor had even said that strange sensations might come and go, and as someone who’d experienced a miscarriage, she would likely overreact to these minor incidents.

Just a minor incident, she told herself, hand sliding to her belly and waiting to feel the baby stir inside her stomach. She didn’t feel any kicks, but she did feel a low ache that made her simultaneously nauseous and frightened. After a few minutes, the ache faded.

When Red came up to the room a few minutes later, she was still lying there.

“Why are you laying down?” he said.

“I just got really tired all of a sudden.” She decided that was a good encapsulation of what had happened, if not entirely accurate.

“You okay?” He came and sat down next to her and stroked her hair.

She smiled at him. She was feeling better now that he was with her. “Yeah,” she nodded. “I think I’m just kind of worn out from everything. Meeting with your mother—“

“Oh, god,” he said, shaking his head.

“Did I tell you that she figured out a way to go shopping for baby clothes and then made me pay for them at the end?”

“No, you didn’t.”

With the dark look in his eyes, Nicole decided she wouldn’t say anything else about the odd meeting—especially not the comments his mother had made about Red’s proclivities for young, beautiful women.

“It’s been a hectic day.”

Red looked down at her, concern written all over his face. “I think we should cancel this party,” he said.

“No,” she shook her head. “I mean, I think I should stay home and rest, but I want you to go with Kallie.”

“What? That’s so not happening.”

“Please, Red. Danielle and Kane will be so disappointed if you don’t show up at all, and Kallie needs some fun in her life right now.”

He looked exasperated. “Why are you so caught up in what Kallie needs? She’s an adult, Nicole.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“She’s not your little sister—in fact, she’s almost the same age as you.”

“I know, Red.”

“Then what’s going on? Why do you care so much?”

Nicole just shook her head. “I don’t know—maybe it’s my maternal instinct kicking in. Please, just bring her to the party. For me.”

“Sounds like a blast,” he muttered. Then he sighed, as if accepting her request and allowing for the possibility that it might not be so bad. But when he looked at her again, the worry came back to his eyes. “I don’t think I should leave you here alone if you’re feeling badly.”

“I’m not feeling badly,” she laughed, telling herself that it was true—she’d had a
moment
, but overall she felt just fine.

“You’re sure.”

“I’m one hundred percent sure.”

***

The drive over to the party was a little bit awkward for Kallie.

She was in a car alone with Nicole’s husband, and Kallie felt like he hated her.

“Thanks for giving me these clothes to wear,” she said.

He glanced at her, and she saw a flash of annoyance in his expression, as if he’d thought his wife had been sitting beside him and then someone had switched in an imposter. “It’s no problem. Nicole’s very generous.”

Nicole’s generous
. That little statement seemed to imply a lot about how Red felt, having a strange girl in his home.

Kallie had been given a beautiful black cocktail dress that fit her almost perfectly, and it turned out that she and Nicole wore the exact same shoe size. So Nicole offered her an array of shoe choices, and Kallie had picked a pair of black pumps that probably were worth more than everything she owned put together.

“We’ll probably only stay for an hour or two,” Red told her now.

“Sure. I’m fine if we leave after five minutes—whatever you want.”

He nodded. Then he seemed to relax a little, his shoulders came down about an inch. “I apologize if I’m being rude, but I’m a little worried about Nicole at the moment.”

“Oh, I understand.”

He glanced at her. “Do you?”

The way he said it made Kallie think that she didn’t understand anything. “I just figured, you know—first time parents and all. It can be nerve wracking.”

“Yeah.” He nodded again. “Yeah, it can be.”

They were silent again and he elected to put on some music, rather than talk to her, which Kallie thought was just fine. She was starting to think that she liked Red Jameson about as much as he liked her. Which apparently, wasn’t very much.

A few minutes later, they arrived at their destination, and Nicole actually let out a gasp.

Red chuckled. “Nice, isn’t it?”

First there was a huge expanse of lawn, and then rising up at them as if they were approaching one of the Seven Wonders of the World, was the biggest house she’d ever seen.

“It feels like we’re going to the White House for a party.” She clutched the little purse that Nicole had lent her. Inside, she had nothing but her cell phone and some cash Nicole had given her, for emergencies. She’d tried to say no but Nicole had insisted, and truth be told, it did ease her mind a little to know she had some money if she needed it.

They were stopped at a large wrought iron gate by a big, black man in a suit.

“Name, please?” he demanded.

“Red Jameson and…guest.”

The large man peered inside the car at her and then checked his clipboard.

“Welcome to Kane and Danielle Wright’s house, Mister Jameson. Feel free to park out front and go right inside.” The large man hauled himself over and opened the gate, slowly swinging it open.

“Huh,” Red smiled. “Kane can’t even afford an electric gate.”

Kallie glanced at him to see if he was joking, and Red laughed. Still, she had to admit, he was a bit of a snob.

They continued on and parked near about two-dozen other vehicles in the enormous lot to the side of the mansion. Other people were also entering the house at the same time, and Red seemed to know a few of them.

He made small talk, introducing Kallie to one or two people whose names she promptly forgot, as they seemed totally disinterested in her. Mostly, they asked him about Nicole and her pregnancy.

Once they entered the mansion, Kallie almost had the breath knocked out of her by the sheer size and beauty of the place. It was like a palace or something, opening up onto an expansive hall with a double staircase leading up to the second floor, and a domed ceiling covered by stained glass at the top. An enormous chandelier hung down from the center of the dome.

Kallie gawked up at it like a child at an amusement park.

“You get used to it,” Red quipped, and she promptly closed her mouth and tried to look more composed.

They followed the throng down the hall and past room after opulent room, which she only glimpsed as she passed by.

Finally, they reached a door that took them out to a huge back deck with pillars that felt like something out of Roman times. Just off the deck was an enormous pool lit by dozens of floodlights, and plenty of people were in it, swimming.

There were trays of hot food and salad and veggies along the outside edge of the deck, and servers carrying around smaller trays of hors d'oeuvres to the guests.

There was a full bar on the left, staffed by two bartenders—and Kallie noticed that all the booze appeared to be free.

The party was buzzing, and the partygoers were all well-dressed, attractive people. She felt very much out of place and was starting to regret coming with Red Jameson, who clearly didn’t even want to bring her in the first place.

Trying to be inconspicuous, she went and grabbed a plate and got some food.

There were stuffed mushrooms, pigs in blankets and delicious tiny lamb chops. She stood off to the side and ate while Red talked to various people he knew. When he looked over at Kallie, she just waved and smiled, letting him know he didn’t have to babysit her.

This mingling (or lack thereof, on her part) went on for some time.

Finally, Red circled back around to where Kallie was standing. “You having any fun?”

“Yeah, this is great,” she lied.

He smiled, seeming to know she wasn’t having a good time. “We can leave pretty soon,” he said.

A woman came suddenly bounding up to Red, shrieking with happiness. “You’re here!” She threw her arms around him, and Red, looking uncomfortable, hugged her back.

“Where’s Nicole?” she asked, seeing Kallie standing nearby, and becoming confused.

“Nicole was feeling tired and she decided to stay home,” Red told her.

“Oh, I really wanted to see her.”

He turned and gestured to Kallie, who smiled uncomfortably. “This is a friend of Nicole’s. Her name is Kallie,” he said.

“Hi, I’m Danielle,” the woman said, and offered her hand. Kallie shook her hand and smiled again, wider.

Just then, a tall, well-built older man in a dashing suit came up and slapped Red on the back. “You made it, eh?”

“And this, is Danielle’s even lovelier husband, Kane Wright,” Red explained. He turned to Kane. “You really need to get that gate fixed, buddy. The guy swings it open and closed, open and closed all night. You never heard of electricity?”