The Girl from Summer Hill (27 page)

“You're sure?” Jack asked Tate. “No doubts about her? None at all?” They were in the back of the car and being driven from the airport to Tattwell.

“Absolutely,” Tate said. “I'm tired of the life I live. It's too empty for me.”

“That's not a problem. It's just
who
you choose to share it with. You've known this girl for a very short time.” Jack was tapping out a message on his phone.

“And who are you texting?”

Jack laughed. “The girl I've known only a very short time.” He put his phone back in his pocket. “It's been twenty-four hours since I heard from her. What about you? You get through to Casey?”

“I sent her forty-one texts and emails while I was away, but she never replied. I was pretty worried, but this morning I got a notice that none of them had been sent. I had to go into settings and say, yes, I do want to send all those messages. They all went out at once.”

“And?”

“Nothing, but if Casey was in the kitchen she might not have heard the phone.” He smiled. “She'll be surprised at the deluge.”

“I think something is wrong,” Jack said. “Gizzy answered everything I sent her, but I've heard nothing in the last day.”

Tate didn't say anything. The photo of Gizzy kissing the fireman still bothered him. Jack had dismissed it, but Tate hadn't. He'd wondered what was in Gizzy's mind. Sometimes it seemed that the only thing she cared about in Jack was his ability to keep up with her wild escapades. Walking along the cliffs, tiptoeing across the roofs, climbing trees. She wanted to do all of that—and maybe not much else. For his taste, Gizzy was too remote, too cool, too reserved. How could someone know what she was thinking or feeling?

She was the opposite of Casey, Tate thought, with her temper and her demands to be treated well. He always knew where he stood with her.

While he'd been gone, he'd thought of nothing but her and what they had together. He'd missed her horribly. Her jokes, her laughter, her eagerness to participate in life, had all become part of him.

Until he went away, it hadn't hit him how much she really meant to him.

In his weeks in Summer Hill, he'd nearly forgotten how the outside world saw him. He was met at the L.A. airport by a couple of fawning studio reps. “May I carry that for you, Mr. Landers?” “Are you comfortable, Mr. Landers?” “If you need anything, Mr. Landers, just tell me and I'll get it for you.” The last was said by a pretty girl with a lot of eyelash-batting.

Over the years he'd grown so used to such treatment that he'd come to pay little attention to it. But his time in Summer Hill had been like being at home with Nina and Emmie, with people who saw him as a person, not as a commodity that had to be pampered because it sold well.

Every minute he was away, he'd wished that Casey were with him. Or that he had her to go home to. At night, alone in his hotel room in faraway Romania, he thought about their time together. Their
life
.

Food and sex, he thought. Casey had given him the best of both. The best food he'd ever eaten and the greatest sex he'd ever had. He'd said that about the food to Nina on the phone just before he flew to Romania.

“Sounds like love,” she said. “You don't really believe that the hamburgers you and Emmie grill in the backyard are the best in the whole wide world, do you? They're great because you and my daughter put so much love in them. I bet you like sex with Casey too.”

“That's not something I will discuss with my sister.”

“When I first knew Devlin and thought I was madly in love with him, the sex was so good that I'd cry. But after I found out what he was really like, I was repulsed by his touch. The only thing that had changed was love.”

“You should go on one of those women's talk shows and tell that.”

“I don't have to since every woman who's ever lived knows it. It's only men who are dumb.”

Tate laughed. “That sounds like something Casey would say. And do
not
give me some platitude about that. Damn! They're here to pick me up. Will you and Emmie come to Tattwell when I get back?”

“Your niece says she needs two more of the eight pink suitcases you bought her, but yes, we'll be there five minutes after you land. Call me as soon as you're back.”

“I will. I promise. I love you both. Bye.”

All the time he'd been away, he'd thought about Casey and their possible life together. He went over everything in his mind. Where they'd live. If Casey didn't like his house, he'd sell it and they'd buy something cozy. With a great kitchen, of course.

If she wanted to continue catering or open her own restaurant, whatever she wanted, he'd help her do it.

The bad part would be
his
life. Cameras and red carpets and women saying lewd things to him would take getting used to. Over the years, he'd grown nearly immune to it all. But how would Casey react to a hundred cameras in her face and being asked what it was like to go to bed with Tate Landers?

He'd have to protect her. That was going to take some work, but he'd do it!

By the time he got on the plane to return to the U.S., he was full of resolutions—and joy. This was what he wanted, and there was a way to work it out. As Nina said, it just took love.

As soon as the driver stopped in front of the Big House, Tate flung open the door and started running. He covered the distance to the guesthouse in record time, but when he got there, he halted.

It was growing dark and Casey had the lights on in her pretty kitchen, so it was almost as if she were standing on a stage. She was at her island, a big bowl in her arm and scooping a dark-blue mixture into a pie shell.

To him, it looked like a beautiful painting, an Old Master where the subject was highlighted and the artist made you feel what he had to say.

Right now he was feeling that he was home. This woman was what he'd thought about, had wanted, and now that he was here, he was absolutely sure that she was his future.

She put the bowl down and swirled the spoon around, then glanced up and saw Tate standing outside. For a second, such joy ran across her face that Tate nearly leaped through the screen. He flung the door open and pulled her into his arms.

He started to kiss her mouth, but she turned her head away and he kissed her face. Her arms were at her side, pinned there by him.

“I've thought about you endlessly. I missed you every minute.” He punctuated his words with kisses. “I want you to stay with me always. I know my life isn't cute and cozy, as you're used to here, and you probably won't like my house, but we can get another one. I was thinking about it, and maybe you should keep the story of your donor siblings private. The tabloids will make an ugly mess of that, and I don't want anyone to be hurt. And I know you'll worry about the public appearances, but there are people at the studio who can do hair and makeup. I don't want you to worry about anything. I'll take care of it all.”

She pushed away from him, then she stood there staring at him.

“I'm sorry,” he said. “This is too much too fast. I know that, but I've spent days thinking about everything. Come on, let's go in the living room and talk.” He reached out to take her hand, but Casey stepped away.

“It sounds like you've decided that you want me, so you've planned my life. Where you live for your job is where I must go. And my real life is a great embarrassment, so it's best to keep it secret. Poof! Dad and siblings gone. And, oh, yes, with professional hair and makeup I might be presentable enough to appear beside a beauty like you.”

Tate was stunned. “That's not what I meant.”

“I just heard you say that you want me to walk away from my own life to become your arm candy—after I have a full makeover, that is. Is this why you tried to get me to work out with you? So I'd look good beside glorious you? For
publicity
?”

“No.” Tate's body stiffened. “I've never considered publicity.”

Casey's face changed to a sneer. “You think I'm naïve enough to believe that? Did you think I'd never find out what you did with that little boy? I was told you had him tied on to the roof, but I didn't see any harness. Did you leave that child out there without a safety strap?”

“I have no idea what you're talking about.”

“The publicity stunt you pulled at the estate sale, that's what. I know you set up that whole thing. You endangered that child's
life
just to get pictures of yourself looking like an actual hero.”

Understanding was coming to Tate. “You think I'd do something like that?” he asked softly. “That I'm that kind of person?”

“I didn't think that—until I saw the photos, then I believed it.”

“Might I ask who showed you those pictures? No, wait. Let me guess. Devlin Haines. I should have warned you that he would—”

“
He
didn't tell me!” Casey said loudly. “One of your many girlfriends, Rachael Wells, came here to deliver the pictures to
you
.”

“Rachael Wells? From the TV show? My girlfriend, is she?” Tate stepped back. His face was an unreadable mask. “I can see that whatever I say won't be believed. You have made up your mind about me. I'm sorry to have bothered you. Please forgive my presumption.” Turning, he left the house.

Casey went into the living room and collapsed onto the couch. She had certainly told
him
! His arrogance, his assumption about what she'd do with
her
life, was despicable. A makeover! Did he think she was so ugly that she needed to be remade? But then, as Rachael said, she was the “fat one.”

Casey dropped her head back against the couch. Of all the mean, hateful things that had ever been said or done to her, this was by far the worst.

But then, as she stared at the ceiling, it went through her mind that if she did, by some impossible chance, go to some movie event, she might, well, actually need a little help with hair and makeup and choosing a dress.

She sat up straight and shook her head. She had to stop thinking like that! What Tate Landers had done to his former brother-in-law, to all the women in his life, and to that dear little boy strapped onto a roof edge was more than she could bear.

She went back to the kitchen to finish cooking. Tonight, she'd go to bed early. Alone. She made herself stop that train of thought. She'd done the right thing and she should be happy about it. She was sure the feeling of misery would soon pass.