Stuck On You (21 page)

“The experience was great.” KT glanced over Tony’s shoulder to where she hovered and smiled as he caught her stare.

Tony nodded. “Would you like to use the credit card you provided at check-in for all your expenses?” He double-clicked and stared hard at the computer screen.

“Yep, that’s fine.” KT pursed his lips and rolled his eyes. Laura bit back a laugh.

Tony nodded once sharply and cut his eyes at Laura before reaching down to pull a printout off the printer. He folded it in precise thirds and slid it into an envelope. He handed it across to KT and said, “Have a nice trip home.”

KT smiled as he dropped the envelope in the ever-present folder in his right hand. “Thanks.” His voice was dry, like Death Valley dry.

Tony nodded.

KT scratched his forehead. “I know it’s her first day and all.” He looked around the empty lobby. “But since you aren’t too busy, could I talk to Laura for just a minute? I’ve got to hit the road but I’d like to . . .”

Tony held up a hand to stop him and looked over his shoulder at her. Laura nodded once before she walked around the desk. “Sure. Just for a minute.”

KT pointed to two chairs near the front doors. They had to step over Misty and hunch under the lush foliage of the Rock’n’Rolla’s lobby but at least it was private.

When he pulled a box out of his pocket, Laura had no idea what to think. “What’s this?”

He shrugged. “I wanted to get you a bonus, something to thank you for your help with Mike. And catching me up. And let’s not forget the graph.”

She turned the box over in her hand. She shouldn’t take it. She had no idea what it was but for the amount of work she’d done for him, he’d already paid her. Yes, she’d done a good job but a million other people could have done the same.

The look on his face convinced her to at least open the wrapping. He looked excited, like a little boy who’d found the perfect gift and couldn’t wait to give it. He also looked a little nervous. And she thought he seemed sad too, but she was afraid that was just wishful thinking. He was headed home to sunshine and the next adventure.

She carefully peeled the end up and then slid her finger under the tape. “I would never have guessed you for a good wrapper.” She slowly opened the edge, hoping to savor every second.

He snorted. “You’d have been right. It took me the better part of the night and at least three tries to get it this far.”

Laura laughed. “Wow. That’s real dedication.” She pulled the box out of the paper and opened it to see a phone, a nice phone. She picked it up and frowned. “You got me a phone?” That seemed too personal and not personal at all, all at once.

“You should have one.” He licked his lips. “I prepaid the monthly plan too. I just . . . I guess I wanted to give you a little more security. I don’t like the idea of you without one.”

She turned it on and saw Holly’s sweet face. “I shouldn’t take it. This is too much.” Or not enough or something, but taking it just didn’t feel right.

“I guess I can’t make you use it, but . . .” He glanced around the lobby. “I just . . . I want to know that I can call you. I can talk to you when I need you.”

The tears that she’d gotten a handle on sprang up and it was all she could do not to sob out loud. When she could control her breathing again, she cleared her throat. “God, KT. I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

He nodded. “I know what you mean. But it’s the only way I can get on a plane today, the only way I can leave Memphis. I need you to have this phone. I need to know you are there. For now. Maybe not forever, but today, I need to believe you aren’t that far away.”

She traced her thumb over Holly’s picture. “Well, I guess . . . I understand. I’ll keep it.”

He smiled. “I’m glad.”

“I can’t believe you put Holly’s face here, though. I would have thought it would be yours, up front and center.”

He winked. “Oh, my face is in there too. I left you some surprises and I definitely plugged in my contact info so that you could call me. If you ever need me, you can get me. Holly has my e-mail address too. So . . .” His voice trailed off and Laura could tell he had so much more to say but that none of it would change a thing.

She smiled and leaned over to kiss his lips softly. “Thank you for the phone. Thank you for . . . everything. I’m going to miss you.”

He pulled her closer and they were quiet for a minute. When the lobby doors slid open, KT leaned back.

Laura smiled. “I hope you’ll be careful, Mr. Masters. I’m not sure my heart can take reading headlines about KT Master’s latest stunt. If you’re ever faced with the opportunity to base jump the Empire State Building or vaccinate lions on the Serengeti, just stop and ask yourself what I would do in the same situation and go with that, okay?”

KT pretended to think. “Lions? I’ve already done something like that, but base jumping the Empire State Building? That could be fun.” He stood and slung the strap of his duffel over his shoulder. “God, I’m going to miss you.”

She waved the phone. “Thanks for this.”

He smiled. “Holly helped me. She’s pretty excited about it. I’m sure she can show you every feature you never knew you always wanted.” The smile slowly disappeared. “I think she might be as smart as her mother.”

Laura tried to catch her breath. “Smarter, I’m afraid.”

He rubbed his forehead. “I wasn’t going to say this because it’s a waste of breath and I know you won’t but . . . if you ever need me, I hope you’ll call. Or want me. Or need to know what time it is. Or maybe you just need to ask someone, anyone, if their refrigerator’s running. I hope you’ll call me.”

Laura smiled but had no idea what to say.

KT waved and then turned to head out the doors into the sunshine. Laura collapsed back against the chair and laughed a watery laugh as Misty plodded up to rest her head on the black pants Laura wore as part of her new uniform.

“What do you think, Misty? You look like you’ve survived some heartbreak. How long will it take for me to feel better?”

Misty tilted her head, the small green bows on her ears fluttering in the breeze. At a loss for words, she just issued a grumbly whine and licked Laura’s hand. Sometimes there were no words. This was one of those times.

She wanted to sit here, to be miserable with Misty who might not have the right words but who totally had the right expression. Instead, she needed to get back to work. She was glad to have the distraction. When the phone started to vibrate and play “Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear,” she laughed and sniffed. KT’s face, frozen mid-Elvis lip twitch, lit up the display.

“You nut.”

She could hear him slam the door. “I wanted to make you laugh just one more time before I left the Rock’n’Rolla. Did it work?”

She sighed. “Yes, and I’m going to miss you. So much.”

“Me too.”

They were quiet for a second before she said, “Have a safe flight” and ended the call.

KT
SUCCESSFULLY NAVIGATED
the Memphis airport and sighed as he settled into his seat for the short flight to Dallas. He had a tight connection but he was glad he’d be home early today. More than anything, he wanted to have a minute to catch his breath, catch up with Gram. He rolled his head as he realized what he really wanted to do was spill his problems to her like he always had. She had a way of cutting through it all to the nitty-gritty. He wasn’t sure what he was hoping for. Maybe she’d see an easy way to work all this out with Laura, to find some way to get them the time they needed and the easy solution. Moving Laura to Hollywood was the easiest thing, of course. He had plenty of space and plenty of money. If she wanted, she could look for work, maybe find something other than waitressing.

Maybe if there were no Holly that would work.

KT hated the thought. Maybe he hadn’t grown as much as he’d been telling himself he had.

He had Contraband Days in Louisiana and Headless Chicken Days in Colorado to make it through. After all that was over, maybe he’d go back to Memphis for a visit, just to see if this was a crazy, one weekend kind of thing of if they had something to explore.

The idea that KT Masters was even thinking of maybe someday exploring what would turn into a full-blown, ring-on-her-finger, sitting-in-a-tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, and a baby carriage was hilarious. And scary as hell.

When he’d scheduled the pirate festival in Louisiana, he’d been amused and intrigued by the idea of a town that celebrated pirates by dressing up, walking the plank, and playing music. Now he just wondered how Laura might look in a sexy pirate costume. And the whole headless chicken festival in Colorado? There was no way she’d be onboard to celebrate headless Mike, but it was just the kind of thing that roped him in. Maybe that was the problem right there, succinctly captured in one town’s celebration of an unfortunate chicken.

“Can I get you anything, Mr. Masters?” The pretty flight attendant looked very interested and helpful. But she had no tiny turquoise top hat. He wasn’t interested. “No, thanks.”

She smiled and moved on to the other passengers in the first class cabin.

He pulled out his phone to turn it off for the flight and smiled when he saw the photo he’d had Marcy take of the four of them around the table at Viva Las Vegas. Maybe leaving Memphis wouldn’t be as easy as he thought. The hotel was like a family. Laura had done a great job of finding a home. In Hollywood, other than Gram, he had acquaintances. Very few reached friend status and there was no one he’d call family.

He was glad for the short, bumpy flight and the short, bumpy run through the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. He glanced at his watch as he rode the train from one terminal to the next. He was cutting it close and it took every bit of star power he had to convince the gate attendant to hold the door for him. He was out of breath as he flopped into his seat but he knew if he’d had five minutes to spare he’d have probably called her again. Just because. He wanted to hear her voice. He wanted to pretend this separation was temporary. He wanted a damn drink.

This time when he got the “coffee, tea or me” vibe, he dutifully requested a Coke. That wasn’t the kind of drink he wanted but it would have to do. KT leaned his head back against the back of the seat, pulled out ear phones, pulled up the Elvis playlist he’d hastily downloaded outside the gate in Memphis, and spent the next three hours wishing he was headed east instead of west.

W
HEN HIS TAXI
pulled up and parked in front of the four-car garage behind his house, some of the tension eased out of his shoulders. Most people relax when they make it home after a trip, but the old KT had loved a good hotel, new restaurants, and strangers. He was energized by the novelty. The only attraction coming home had was his Gram. If he could talk her into hitting the road with him, he might never stop moving. But he couldn’t. She liked routine and familiar surroundings. When he thought about how she never missed
Jeopardy
or
The View
, he had a hard time imagining how hard it had been for her to pack up, leave home, and move to a place she didn’t know. Hollywood must have seemed like another planet after a lifetime in Mississippi.

He left his luggage on the driveway and walked out to the backyard, around the pool, to knock on the door of her cottage. “Gram? You here? I’m home.”

When there was no answer, he walked around the side of the house. Her car was gone too. He looked at his watch and tried to remember her schedule but he couldn’t come up with what happened on Tuesday at three.

He heaved a sigh and went to stretch out on a shaded lounger by the pool. He crossed his arms over his stomach and did his best to fight the urge to pick up his phone. He wasn’t going to call Laura again. He wasn’t. He had the urge to call her to find out how her first day had gone. Maybe she hated it. Maybe she desperately longed to do something else. Maybe Tony had made her cry. He shook his head. He knew better. She’d loved it. She’d used her talents, learned everything there was to know, and had probably revolutionized hotel management. All in the first day. She was in her element. He wouldn’t call her to find out. That would destroy his hopes and plans for giving her the life she never wanted here. With him. No. This time he would just flip through the photos. That was all. Really.

He was just reaching for his phone when he heard Gram’s Buick lurch to a stop. He heard the thuds of her running shoes and turned to wave. She froze with the electronic cigarette halfway to her mouth. Her short white hair normally looked like she’d had the scare of her life, but today the ends were droopy and she wore a hot pink T-shirt that said “I love my attitude problem.”

“Let me guess . . . Zumba?” He rolled off the lounger and bent to kiss her cheek. Now that she’d stopped smoking, she smelled like lavender and detergent. And today, maybe a little bit of Zumba.

She nodded. “You made it on time. That’s a miracle, am I right?”

She dropped the fake cigarette in her purse and sat down in his spot. “Tell me all about Memphis.” She closed her eyes and relaxed against the cushion but he had a feeling she was doing all the complicated calculations behind those eyelids to hit him with some kind of shocking guess about . . .

“Tell me about the girl that’s got you all shaken up.”

KT propped his hands on his hips and stared up at the cloudless sky.

“How do you do that, Gram?”

She snorted. “I’m good with people. You, I know like the back of my hand. You left looking one way. You came back another and there’s probably only one thing that can cause that change.” She opened an eye. “Is she pretty? Is she normal? Is she inside?”

KT inched down to sit on the side of the lounger. “Yes. Yes. No.”

“Ah, and that’s the problem. Did you leave her in Memphis then?” Gram pulled out her funny cigarette and puffed on it while she watched his face.

“How’s the smoking going?”

She shrugged. “You gave up alcohol. I quit smoking. Sort of. It’s going about like you’d expect. I’m trying to quit these too, but sometimes . . . it’s not easy. Now, don’t think you can buffalo me, Kevin Theodore Masters.”

He nodded. “Yes, she’s in Memphis. With her daughter.”