I See...Love (A Different Road Book 1) (16 page)

I glance at the beach one last time, then walk out his front door. I lock the door, get in my van and head to my next client’s house. I haven’t seen Mrs. Davis in two weeks and I miss her crazy stories. I feel guilty for not stopping in town and picking up her favorite tea, but deep down, I just can’t bring myself to go near Mason Group.

“We should get going,” Josh says, standing in my doorway.

Today we make the two hour drive to pick up Kate. I’m not sure what to expect this time. This is the first time she’s done serious treatment. This is also the first time she’s coming to live with me again since we were kids.

Kate was always my dad’s favorite. She was only five when they died, but in those five years, she managed to wrap herself around my dad’s little finger. In his eyes, she could do no wrong. Kate was daddy’s little girl and Stephen was his pride and joy. Stephen was always the first word out of my father’s mouth when he talked about family to his clients at our house. Stephen was the starting quarterback, Stephen was in all the advanced classes, Stephen, was on the path to go to an Ivy League college. Stephen was his golden child. Even through all that, Stephen hated my father. We both did. Kate didn’t understand yet to hate him like we did. The only thing Stephen and I had in common was that we hated our father. I still don’t understand why I was the one groomed to take over the business and not Stephen. Oh, Stephen has his role, which he can’t seem to do, but it was me who was molded to become the picture perfect clone of my father.

I get in the passenger seat and try to push out the unwanted memories. If Kate doesn’t agree to move in with me, I’m prepared to play hardball with her. I had Sebastien draw up conservatorship paperwork. If she doesn’t agree on her own, she’ll have no choice. Because of her history, it wasn’t difficult to get a judge to sign the papers. All I have to do is file them with the court and Kate will have no other choice. All her decisions will be made by me. I was serious when I said I wasn’t going to lose another family member.

Since she went in six months ago, we’ve been having weekly phone conversations. In the beginning, they were difficult. She usually didn’t say more than two sentences to me. She’s never discussed anything that went on during her treatment. I made the trip once to see her on family day, but after that, she said it was too hard on her and she asked me not to come again. That hurt, and I still wonder if I should have let her have her way. Maybe it would have made moving in with me easier if I had played a bigger part in her recovery.

I’ll never forget the day I got the call from her roommate saying that Kate was lying on the floor unresponsive in their apartment in a pool of vomit. Josh broke every speeding law the short drive to her apartment. I’ll never forget the smell of vomit when I walked in. But what I never expected to smell again was the smell of death. I smelled it when I was ten and it was there in that room ready to consume Kate. I desperately yelled out her name, but she didn’t respond because she was unconscious on the floor. I fell to the floor when I slid in her vomit in my rush to get to her. I crawled on my hands and knees and frantically felt my way to her lifeless body on the floor. Josh called for an ambulance as I scooped her frail body up and held her tight. I’m not sure she even knew I was there, or that I held her hand the entire ambulance ride to the hospital, but I was. I didn’t know what she had done or what she had taken, but I sure as hell wasn’t ready to bury another family member.

After they stabilized Kate, Josh drove me home numb and covered in dried vomit. I knew it was time for some tough love. It was time to do what was needed before I found myself in a funeral home picking out yet another coffin, but this one for my baby sister.

The car slows down as Josh turns into the parking lot of the rehab facility. We park the car and start to make the short walk to the front door.

“She’s waiting outside by the door,” Josh whispers, as we walk up the walkway.

“How does she look?” I ask.

The last time I saw my sister with my own eyes was right before I passed out. After seeing my mother’s dead eyes, I needed to see if Kate was all right. I fought the urge to pass out as hard as I could. I needed to know if Kate was dead, too. I looked into my five-year-old sister’s terrified eyes, and saw with relief that she had only a small cut above her left eyebrow. Only then did I allow myself to give in and pass out like my body demanded. But, I never again got to see my sister with my own eyes. I’ve never seen the woman that she’s grown up to become.

“She looks really well,” he replies.

“River,” she squeals, as she throws her arms around my neck and gives me a hug.

It’s a pleasant surprise and I’m beyond relieved.

As we enter the building, she threads her fingers through mine. The black heart that I have softens a fraction of a millimeter. Josh squeezes my elbow before he lets go and lets Kate guide me. Since I was the one who admitted her, there is discharge paperwork that I need to fill out. As I sit in the administrator’s office listening to her go over Kate’s release instructions, I’m floored. She’s on a special diet consisting of natural, healthy, organic foods that mirror the guidelines I practice for myself. I wish I hadn’t sent Josh out to stock up the refrigerator and the cupboards with all of Kate’s comfort foods. I thought it would help make the transition into my home a little easier for her. There is also a strict exercise regimen and mandatory counseling sessions with a private psychologist, along with weekly home inspections.

“Now the only thing that remains is, I need to know where home is so I can set up the inspections and recommend a psychologist near you,” she says.

“Kate will be living with me in Malibu,” I tell her, and then I prepare for Kate’s outburst.

I hear Kate’s long hair swish in the air as her face quickly turns to me. I stay stoic and look straight ahead. She needs to know that I’m taking this very seriously. Kate’s warm hand gently comes to mine and she gives it a squeeze. I can’t help the small tug of a smile on my face.

On the ride home, I start to second-guess myself, and that’s another thing I don’t do. I wish I hadn’t had Josh send Nina and Joss an email canceling their service. If anything, I would have needed to up my order to accommodate for Kate. Now I’ll have to have Josh look for a new personal chef as soon as possible.

Kate is quiet the entire two hour drive home. I wonder if I should have sat in the back seat with her.

“Home sweet home,” Josh says, as he pulls into the driveway.

Josh takes Kate’s one bag out of the trunk, and then we enter the house. Kate takes only one step into the house when I hear her take in a cleansing breath through her nose, and then exhale it through her mouth.

“I’ve always loved your home, River,” she says.

“Josh has you all set up in the pool house. If that doesn’t work out with you, I can always have you and Josh switch living accommodations,” I tell her.

“No, that’s fine. River, I want to thank you for everything you’re doing,” she says, and threads her fingers in mine again.

That’s something she’s always done to me since I can remember. After the accident when she was little and couldn’t fall asleep at night, she’d crawl into bed with me and thread her fingers in mine, and within a few minutes she’d fall asleep. She hasn’t done it in years and until today, I hadn’t realized how much I missed it.

“Josh can take your bag to the pool house, tell him everything you need and he’ll get it for you,” I tell her. “I have a few things I need to take care of, and then I’ll head back and come see that you’re settled in,” I continue.

“Is there anything you need help with River?” Josh asks.

“I just need you to do one thing before you help Kate,” I tell him. “Go ahead Kate, Josh will be there in a few minutes,” I continue.

Kate leans in and places a soft kiss on my cheek, then walks through the house to the back wall of doors.

“What do you need?” Josh asks.

“Empty the cupboards and the refrigerator of all the junk food I told you to go get,” I tell him.

Josh immediately goes to work. I hear him take a trash bag from under the sink, and then he empties the cupboards. He opens the refrigerator, but I don’t hear anything else.

“Why aren’t you doing what I asked?” I demand.

Then it hits me. I was so wrapped up in all things Kate that the smell in the house didn’t register. Now it consumes my senses. Joss has been here. She cooked this morning, even after their employment was terminated.

“Didn’t you send them the email I asked you to this morning?” I ask Josh.

“I did send it,” he confirms. “Do you want me to toss it all?” he continues.

Damn it! I specifically fired them and Joss came anyway. God, that woman knows how to challenge me. I’m not sure how this will work out having her work for me still after we slept together, but out of convenience, it’s just easier to keep them than to hire another personal chef.

“No, keep it. Send them another email reinstating their contract. Also, indicate that I’ll be doubling my order,” I tell him.

She obviously still has a key, and she’s been in my house more than once unsupervised now. There’s no reason I need to be here in the mornings while she’s here anymore.

Josh gets back to work putting items in the trash bag, and then he takes it outside. We both head back to the pool house to get Kate settled in.

It’s been a really long day. And today has totally kicked my ass. I just want to get home and crawl into bed and sleep until tomorrow morning. Seeing Mrs. Davis was definitely the highlight of my day, though.

As I pull into the garage, Maddy’s van is already parked in its spot. I unload my bags and plop them on the counter. Nina comes out of her office and looks at me with a look I’m not sure how to read.

“What is it?” I ask.

Great, did River complain about my food? Oh shit, did he fire us? I was totally willing to let the whole sleeping-together-then-acting-like-a-prick go, too. I can be professional, and I sure as hell know River can be professional. So, what’s the problem?

“He fired us didn’t he?” I continue, before she can answer my first question.