Treading Water: Coming Home Part 25

"Uh-huh. Nice and easy, until you forced me back to work."

"Sorry again. I didn't exactly plan to get caught having s.e.x. Have you heard from Buddy?"

"Not directly, but I did talk to Ashton. He says Buddy isn't happy, and Ashton shared a few ideas about how to get out in front of the story. That's what I want to talk to you about when you get home. I've set up some interviews for you-"

"I'm not doing any interviews, Jill."

"Hear me out-"

"Jill... No interviews."

The comment was met with stony silence from her sister.

"I'm sorry. I know you went to a lot of trouble to set them up, but I'm going in a different direction."

"Well, do feel free to share your new direction with your manager and attorney at your earliest convenience."

"I want to talk to you in person."

"Fine."

"You're p.i.s.sed."

"I don't know what I am! I'm trying to do my job, but you're not making it easy."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing. We'll talk when you get home."

"I appreciate all you do for me."

"I know that. You don't have to say it."

"Yes, I do. I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'll be here. Call your parents."

"Doing that now. See you."

Jill ended the call without another word.

"That went well," Kate muttered, finding her mother's number on her list of favorites before she lost her nerve.

Chapter 11.

While Jill was talking to Kate, Ashton placed a big, warm hand on her belly.

Annoyed, aggravated and concerned after the conversation with her sister, Jill tried to squirm out of his embrace, but he pulled her in tight against him so he was tucked up to her back. "Stay. Talk to me. What did she say?"

"You heard enough to put two and two together."

"So they're engaged."

"Yes." All at once, Jill stopped thinking about herself and turned to gauge how he was feeling. His expression was completely blank. "I'm sorry you had to hear it that way."

He shrugged. "I figured they'd probably head in that direction this time around."

"Are you okay?"

"Don't worry about me." He brought her hand to his lips and pressed kisses to the inside of her wrist that short-circuited all her brain cells, making her briefly forget her dismay over Kate's refusal to do the interviews. "What else did she say?"

"She won't do the interviews," Jill said with a sigh as she reluctantly withdrew her hand. She couldn't think when he was doing that.

"I thought she might say that."

Surprised, Jill looked over at him. "Yet you advised me to set them up?"

"You did your job. What she does next is up to her." He paused and then looked up to meet her gaze. "I noticed you didn't tell her you're with me."

"I didn't think it was the time."

"It's not because you're afraid she's going to blow a gasket over us, is it?"

"No, of course not," Jill said with less conviction than she felt.

"You're sure of that?"

"Mostly."

He smiled, but it wasn't the full-face event his smiles usually were.

"Are you hurt that I didn't tell her?"

"Not really. I haven't told my dad or anyone else about us, so why should you?"

"I will tell her. When she gets back. I'll tell her then."

"And when will that be?"

Jill turned back onto her side, and Ashton cuddled in close behind her. There was something about having his strong arms around her that made her feel safer and more secure than she'd felt with any other man. "I guess they were going to leave today, but the weather isn't great, so they're aiming for tomorrow."

He nudged her hair out of the way so he could get to her neck. "Looks to me like you have another day off."

"Looks that way."

"However will you spend all that time?"

"I'll probably go shopping or something," she said with a teasing grin he couldn't see. "I could use a couple of new suits."

He let out a growl as he slid his hand straight down the front of her to cup her s.e.x. "That's not what you need."

Jill pushed her bottom against his erection, drawing a groan from him. "No?"

"Nope."

"What do I need?"

"This," he whispered in her ear as his fingers delved between her legs. "Me. You need me."

"Do I?"

"Mmmm."

As he set out to show her just how much she needed him, Jill's worries over her sister's career faded into the background.

"Thank goodness you finally called me back," Clare said when she answered Kate's call.

Kate winced at the worry she heard in her mother's voice. "It's been a rough couple of days."

"I can imagine."

"I'm sorry for causing you embarra.s.sment."

"Forget that, Kate. I want to know how you are."

"s.e.x tapes aside, I'm very, very happy-happier than I've been in ten years. I know you don't approve-"

"Don't put words in my mouth, Katherine."

The use of her full name startled her, since her mother rarely pulled out the big guns anymore. "Sorry," she muttered. "I should've told you where I was going-and why."

"I would've liked to have known, but you're not under any obligation to report in to me about your every move."

"Still, I wish you'd heard the news from me."

"So, tell me... Tell me your news."

"We're back together. For good this time. Among other things."

"What other things?"

"I... We're... We're getting married."

"Oh, Kate... Wow. That's... Wow."

Her eyes flooded, and her throat closed tight around a wedge of emotion. "I know I don't need it, but I so want your approval."

"Oh, honey, you have it. Of course you do. You're a grown woman, free to make your own choices, and if this man is the one you want-"

"He is. He's always been the one I wanted. I never got over him."

"I often wondered if that was the case."

"You did?"

"You couldn't seem to make it stick with anyone else. It wasn't hard to put two and two together."

"Dad won't understand."

"Maybe not at first, but he'll come around."

"He can't stand Reid."

"He can't stand what Reid did ten years ago. Before that, he thought of him as a friend."

"Still..."

"The advice I'd give a friend in this situation is to follow your heart and hope for the best where everyone else is concerned."

"That's very generous advice to give a daughter who just told you she's going to marry a man nearly thirty years older than her."

"I'd like to think my daughter is also my friend."

"I am," Kate said, blinking back tears. "Of course I am."

"Does he love you, sweetheart? Honestly and truly love you?"

"Yes. He never stopped loving me."

"Then what more could any mother want for her daughter?"

"I didn't expect you to be so understanding."

"You know how I love to be unpredictable."

Kate smiled as a million memories of her mom siphoned through her mind, stopping at the fateful moment in which a car had struck her in a parking lot, changing all their lives forever. For the ten-millionth time since her mom recovered from the long coma, Kate was thankful to have her back in her life. "Mom?"

"Yes?"

"Will you bring Aidan and the boys and Grandma Anna and Grammy O'Malley and any of Aidan's family who want to come to Nashville for Christmas? I want the whole family there. Maggie's already said she'll come. I've got plenty of room for everyone." She didn't, really, but they'd make do. Somehow.