Until Next Time (The Shooting Stars Series) (21 page)

Katherine watched TV until late and then climbed into bed; the quiet around her was oppressive. When she had first moved into her apartment she had relished the quiet after the noise of dorm life. Now she missed the camaraderie that had flowed so easily between her and her hall mates. She tossed and turned, her thoughts chasing themselves and her stomach growling. Thunder rumbled and rain began to slap against her window. What was Adam doing tonight she wondered?

***

Adam stood at his bedroom window and stared down at the softly lit pool in his back yard as he absentmindedly sipped the drink in his hand. He had left for Hollywood so certain that if he could make the music that ran through his head he would be happy. Instead he was miserable, chasing after happiness like greyhound after a mechanical rabbit and equally as frustrated in his pursuit. He had sold millions of records, had more cars than he could drive, a large state of the art home and a model for a girlfriend. A traitor for a girlfriend, he winced and threw back the remains of his glass; the contents burned a path to his stomach. A miscarriage they had told the press. Adam glanced back at the bed where Mia lay asleep and felt his anger kindle again. She claimed to love him and then killed their child, all without ever asking his opinion on the matter. She was a beautiful woman but cold and hard; it hadn’t taken him long to learn that, so why had her actions surprised him? He turned back to the window, his empty glass dangling from his fingers.

He heard Mia stir behind him as she climbed from the bed and he tensed.

“Ace, are you okay?” she asked in her softly accented voice as she laid a hand on his shoulder.

“No,” he shrugged her hand off.

“You’re still angry,” she sighed. “Ace, I was about to lose my contract! It wasn’t even a baby yet, not really. We can have children later when our careers slow down,” she tried to reason with him.

Adam, his insides churning, continued to stare out the window. At one time he likely would have shared her opinion, before Kaitlyn came into his life. He could still her voice talking about how amazing babies were while she held her cousin’s baby, could still recall the weight of the sweet infant in his arms when Kaitlyn had insisted he hold her. Kaitlyn: just the thought of her hurt.

“Why are you with me, Mia?”

“Why do you think I’m with you? I love you! We can have a baby later,” Mia tried again.

“I don’t want a child with you, Mia,” he informed her.

“What?” Mia demanded.

“I want you to leave; you can wait until tomorrow but we’re through,” he kept his back to her.

“You’re thinking about
her
again aren’t you? I can always tell when you are because you shut me out. Why are you with me, Ace? Huh?” she demanded as she pounded on the tattoo on his shoulder. “You’re in love with a memory! I don’t see her here having your child,” Mia flung at him.

Adam spun and sent his glass crashing against the wall before he grabbed her by the arms.

“You leave her out of this!” he yelled before he released her and stormed from the room. He heard the door lock behind him; that suited him just fine. He wanted nothing more to do with Mia.

***

Katherine sat at her mother’s table, her hands wrapped around a mug of apple cider. Christmas had been a day earlier and she was enjoying a visit with her parents; she was traveling home the next day. She and Derrick had spent Christmas Eve with his family and Christmas Day with hers. He had left this morning to catch a flight to Tokyo.

“How are you doing, Kattie?” Julia asked as she bustled around the kitchen and tidied up from dinner.

“I’ve been busy, but I am doing well. Derrick is out of town a lot; I hadn’t counted on that,” she admitted.

“You better decide now if that bothers you, Kattie; it’s not likely to change after you marry,” Julia warned, she wasn’t so certain that she cared for Derrick but she had not told her daughter that.

“Derrick confided in me that he is planning on branching out on his own after we marry,” she shared.

“And you think that means things will slow down? Kattie, they’ll only get busier. How are you going to help him run a company, help with the youth, and fill a home with children as you want?” her mother joined her at the table.

“Mom, please don’t worry. Once we start our own business I’ll pass helping with the youth on to someone else and as for children, Derrick and I have agreed that one is all we’ll have,” she assured her mother.

“As much as you love children?” Julia frowned at her.

“Mom, you know the kind of advantages you can give an only child,” Katherine reminded her mother.

“Kattie…dear,” her mother sighed, her eyes dark. “Please, please, I beg of you, think long and hard before you marry this man? He seems nice enough but I worry that he’s going to run you over.”

“What?” Katherine frowned at her mother. Why did everyone think Derrick was out to control her? Just because she respected his life experience and wisdom, that didn’t mean she was handing over her life to him.

“He is a very strong personality, Kattie and I fear he’ll run you over.”

“Mom! Adam was a strong personality too; I know how to deal with it.”

“Do you, Kattie? Adam never asked you to be anyone but yourself.”

“What are you talking about? Mom, I am myself!” Katherine said in irritation.

“Really? Have you lost weight? You barely ate yesterday, even of your favorite foods. And since when do you want one child? Last summer you were still talking about filling a historic home with little ones,” Julie finally gave voice to her concerns.

“Mom, I’m growing up and learning to be more realistic. Weren’t you the one who accused me of living in a dream world when I was younger?”

“Kattie, that wasn’t the context in which I made that statement. I’m not trying to anger you or hurt you but I have to tell you that I’m concerned, sweetheart; I do,” her mother insisted.

“I love you, Mom, and I’m glad you shared your concerns with me but I assure you that I am okay,” she promised.

“Good,” her mother smiled. “Do you ever hear from Adam these days?”

Katherine was quiet a moment; she didn’t want to talk about Adam. She finally nodded.

“I get post cards from various places but that’s about it.”

“Who is this Mia he was seeing? They’re saying they broke up after she had a miscarriage.”

“That didn’t take long,” Katherine noted. “She’s a super gorgeous lingerie model.”

“Oh!” Julia’s brows went up.

“Yeah, needless to say he has certainly moved on to women much more beautiful than myself,” she said dryly.

“No, Kattie; you are very beautiful, sweetie.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Katherine smiled at her mother. She didn’t feel very beautiful at the moment.

“I have trouble matching him to what I hear in the news,” Julia admitted. “He was always so thoughtful and considerate when he was here.”

“Yeah, well, he was plenty mixed up inside by his mom’s drinking and his dad’s abandonment,” Katherine admitted.

“So I gathered from the lyrics to his music,” Julia nodded.

“You’ve heard his music?” Katherine asked in amusement.

“He’s everywhere! But, actually, I confiscated it from a student who was listening to it during class. He didn’t come back for it at the end of the day so I brought home and listened to it before I gave it to him the next day. There were plenty of angry lyrics. One song, though, stood out from the others,” Julia shared.

“Oh?” Katherine waited for her mother to come to the point.

“I think the name of it was
Goodbye
,” Julia mused.

“Yeah, that one isn’t angry,” Katherine played dumb.

“No, I should say not, more sad. Kattie, I did the math, like I even needed to,” Julia told her.

“I knew as soon as I heard it, Mom.”

“Liner notes were interesting as well,” Julia commented.

“Yes, they were,” Katherine agreed.

The two sat quietly for a moment, Julia tapping her fingers on the table.

“What?” Katherine finally demanded.

“I know you were and are an adult and it is none of my business, I mean I suspected, but that all but confirmed it…”

“Are you asking if I slept with him?” Katherine finally got tired of her mother beating around the bush.

Julia colored but nodded.

“And I thought you had already figured it out when we spoke that morning,” Katherine shook her head.

“I suspected and I’m guessing that’s your way of confirming it,” Julia returned.

“Yes, Mom, I slept with Adam, he was the first and to date the last and it was that one night. Now is your curiosity satisfied or would you like to know more?” Katherine queried.

“Don’t get smart with me,” her mother warned.

“Sorry, Mom, it’s just not something I’m in the habit of discussing with people,” she admitted.

“Does Derrick know this? I don’t know what your relationship is with him in terms of…that but I would think that you two should discuss your pasts so nothing unpleasant comes up later.”

“No, he doesn’t know and to date we aren’t having sex. He kisses me and sometimes I think he’s going to take things there but then he pulls back,” Katherine shrugged.

“It’s good that he respects you. You need to talk to him about Adam, Kattie. That’s not something you want coming up at an inopportune moment.”

“I plan to tell him, Mom.”

“When; on your wedding night?”

“No! Before then,” Katherine assured her mom.

“You need to.”

“I will!”

“Good.”

“I thought you don’t want me to marry him!”

“I don’t want you hurt is what I don’t want. I love you Kattie; what I want is for you to be happy.”

“That’s what I want too, Mom; to be happy,” Katherine admitted. She couldn’t explain why she felt like crying.

***

Katherine struggled to keep a hold on her luggage as she checked her mailbox on her way into her apartment building. She frowned at a large parcel notice; she wasn’t expecting any packages. She managed to make it into her apartment without losing any of her things and then hurried to the post office for her package. Curiosity ate at her all the way home but she made herself wait until she had finished unpacking to open the box. There was no return address, she noted curiously. She grabbed her scissors and cut down the center of the tape. As she opened the top all she could see were packing noodles; then her eyes landed on an envelope taped to the inside of the flap.
Kaitlyn
, it read in Adam’s familiar script; Katherine’s heart leapt. She removed the envelope with shaking hands and opened it. The front of the enclosed card had a picture of a small town residential street lined with old houses all covered in snow and decorated for Christmas. The inside inscription read ‘
Wishing you an old time Christmas.’
Below it was a hand written message from Adam.

Kaitlyn,

Hope you had a good Christmas. I found myself remembering Christmas with your family and wishing I was there. I miss you like crazy. I saw these at am art exhibit recently and couldn’t decide which suited you more since you seemed to change your mind every other day as to which style you liked best. I hope you like them and they arrive unharmed. Merry Christmas,

Love you,

         Adam

Katherine smiled as she set the card aside and began digging through the peanuts before coming across a replica of a Queen Anne Victorian first, followed by a replica of an antebellum home. She smiled; they were beautiful and perfect. The detail used was truly amazing; she could almost imagine opening the door and walking right in. She wondered how Adam was; his message didn’t indicate a very happy Christmas. The thought disturbed her and she sighed. She placed the two houses on her entertainment center before calling her mom; she knew she would be waiting to hear that she had made it home safely.

“Hi, Mom,” she greeted when her mother answered.

“I was starting to wonder about you,” her mother admitted.

“Sorry, I got home and I had a large parcel notice in my mail box; I had to go pick it up.”

“What was it?”

“A Christmas present, two actually: a perfect replica of a Queen Anne Victorian and hand-made plantation house with fluted columns. They’re beautiful!”

“Some one knows you well,” her mother laughed. “Were they a late present from Derrick?”

“No,” Katherine admitted. “They’re from Adam.”

“Adam?”

“Yeah, I haven’t even had a post card from him in a few weeks and then these arrived. I was a little surprised, myself.”

“Oh my gosh! Kattie, I’m running late to meet Carla; I’ve got to go,” her mother referred to her best friend. “Love you.”

“Love you too,” Katherine returned.

She placed the phone back on the charger and moved to study the houses again. They truly were beautiful.

Two days later when Derrick arrived back from Tokyo he moved to her entertainment center and studied them with a frown.