Chapter Twenty-Eight

Kendall

I give a silent prayer for success and forgiveness as I dial my phone. It rings once. Twice…

“Nigel Cowie’s office,” a woman with a sharp British accent says.

Please let this work.

“Hello, this is Laney Albright. I’m so sorry to bother you, but I forgot where Nigel and I are having lunch today?” I deliver the words in my best Laney impersonation. I’ve drawn out my vowels, dropped my Rs and pronounced Ds instead of Ts.

“I don’t have you on his calendar.”

“It was last minute. I’m…heading out of town this afternoon, so he told me to swing by and join him, but I forgot the name of the restaurant.”

“Did you try his cell?”

“He didn’t pick up.” Please, please, please just give it up, lady. I sound exactly like Laney, if I do say so myself.

“Lunch today is at Tesse Restaurant.”

“Right. Tesse,” I repeat just to be sure I understood her. She hmms her agreement. I thank her, hang up, and quickly Google the restaurant. It’s on Sunset, not too far away. Yes!

This may be considered stalking, but it’s purely selfless, so that has to wipe out any inappropriateness. At least that’s what I tell myself as I drive to the restaurant. When I get there, I take a peek inside. Mr. Cowie is seated at a table with two other men.

Rather than bother them—I do have some scruples about this—I wait outside on the sidewalk. There’s no shade, so within minutes, sweat trickles down my sides and I wipe at my forehead. Lift my arm to shield my face from the bright sun. I hope my perspiration isn’t visible through my yellow sundress.

It feels like forever, but is probably more like twenty minutes, when the three businessmen exit the restaurant and step under the umbrella for the valet.

“Mr. Cowie?” I say on my approach. When his attention turns to me, I continue. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I was hoping you had a minute?”

“Kendall, is it?”

“Yes.” I’m relieved he remembers me. Or maybe I should be mortified because of all the recent media attention. Either way, I’ve got some things to say to him.

“Excuse me, gents,” he says to his companions.

“Thank you so much,” I tell him, grateful when he gestures for me to follow him back into the restaurant. I’m really doing this.

We’re immediately seated at a table for two. Nigel makes a motion with his hand to indicate we shouldn’t be bothered. “I expect you’ve got something on your mind,” he says.

“I think you made a mistake.”

“In regards to?”

“Vaughn Shaughnessy should be the next host of America Rocks. As you may remember, I’m a huge fan of the show and have watched it since the beginning. When Vaughn told me”—Nigel’s thick brows reach his hairline—“confidentially that he was being considered for the new host, I couldn’t have imagined anyone better. I don’t know if you saw his interview…” I trail off, hoping to collect some intel before I keep going.

“I didn’t see it live, but have since received and viewed a copy from his publicist. I’m bloody sorry, by the way. For your loss.”

“Thank you.” I look away for a moment in order to keep my composure. “I need to tell you Vaughn wasn’t completely honest in that interview.”

Nigel’s eyebrows rise again. “Is that so?”

I nod. “He blamed an ‘unknown person’ for driving his car that night.”

“Yeah, the old ‘unknown person’ culprit. Unfortunately, that’s not terribly convincing, given there’s nobody else in the vehicle. What’s shown is you taking his keys and leading him away. If you’re here to tell me it was him after all—”

“It wasn’t him,” I interject. “That’s not what he lied about. He lied when he said he didn’t know the driver. I can’t say why he chose to keep her name out of it, but a woman named Rebecca Bismark took his car without his permission, and after nearly running us down in the driveway, she laughed like it was a big joke and walked away scot-free. I’d lay odds she’s the source of the video, but that part I didn’t witness firsthand.”

Nigel regards me with an unreadable expression. Am I making any headway? I’m not sure, but I’ve got to keep trying.

“What I do know is Vaughn isn’t a risk or a liability. He’s one of the strongest, most reliable people I’ve ever met. The person who released that video wanted to portray him in a false light to hurt him, and if you don’t give him back the job, then she wins. I don’t want her to win, Mr. Cowie. She’s not a nice person.”

He holds his jaw in his hand. “No, I reckon she isn’t.”

“She’s rubbish.”

That earns me a grin. He reaches his arm across the table to shake my hand. “I’m delighted you came to see me, Kendall.”

“Thank you for hearing me out.”

“The pleasure was mine.”

“I, uh, need to tell you I called your office and pretended to be Laney Albright so I could trick your secretary into telling me where you were having lunch today.”

He throws his head back and laughs before getting to his feet. I stand as well. “Brilliant strategy,” he says.

“I’m glad you’re not mad.”

We walk toward the front of the restaurant. He opens the door for me. “As long as no one is hurt, the things we do for love should never be criticized.”

I look down at the sidewalk in an attempt to hide my blush.

“Valet ticket?” he asks me.

“I’m around the corner.”

“Until we meet again, then.”

What does that mean? I hope it’s that he’s changed his mind about Vaughn. “Okay. Enjoy the rest of your day.” I spin, put one foot in front of the other. When I round the block, I let out a breath so big it could probably knock someone over. Thankfully, no one is close enough.

I’m not sure my Hail Mary plan has worked, but I’m pretty positive it didn’t do any further damage.

Rather than head straight home, I drive to Art in Progress to tell Candace I’d like to accept her job offer.

“I’m thrilled,” she says, giving me a hug.

“Me, too. I was worried with all the recent attention that you may have changed your mind.”

“I put very little stock in crap like that. What matters to me is the person who looks me in the eye and is brave enough to tell me her truths. Our students are going to learn a great deal from you.”

“Yes, they will.” I can’t wait to learn from them as well.

“We’ll talk job specifics tomorrow morning. Be here at ten sharp.”

“I can’t wait. Thank you.”

My stomach grumbles as I leave the gallery, so I stop at Pink’s Hot Dogs. The line is a dozen or so people deep, but a hot dog smothered in onions and relish sounds too good to pass up. I eat it in the car with the air conditioning blasting.

I return home midafternoon, noting with a mix of nervousness and joy that Vaughn’s car is parked in his driveway. I hurry into the house to brush my teeth—no girl in her right mind should profess her love to the guy of her dreams with onion breath—and change into my gray V-neck T-shirt dress and washed denim chucks. The outfit says cute but not trying too hard.

“Hey!” Amber catches me before I rush out the front door. She’s wearing a bathing suit. Her sunglasses sit on top of her head. Snowflake rushes past her to say hello.

Darn it. So much for a stealthy enter and exit while my sisters and Snow were out in the backyard. Not that this is a secret. It’s just I can’t wait another minute to see Vaughn.

“How’d it go?” she asks. “Did you get to speak to the producer guy?”

I bend to pet Snow. “I did. I think it went well.” Rising, I thumb over my shoulder. “I’m going next door to talk to Vaughn. Catch up with you later?”

“Yes. And good luck.”

“Thanks.”

Snow tries to leave with me. “Not right now,” I tell her, gently nudging her away from the door with my foot. She doesn’t take the hint. “Amber! Will you call for Snowflake?”

“Snowflake! Come get a treat!” she shouts from the kitchen.

At the word “treat” Snow darts off so fast she practically leaves her little pink hair bow floating in the air behind her. I disappear just as quickly, striding toward Vaughn’s house. I slow to a walk as I start up his driveway. Goose bumps pop up on my arms in anticipation of seeing him. I think about all the things I want to say. But then an engine turns over, taillights blaze bright red then white, and his car starts to move.

For a split second I’m transported back to the first night we met. The memory is short-lived, though, because this time the car is carefully backing out, and when I wave my arms in the air and shout, “Hey!” the Rover immediately stops. The engine clicks off. The driver’s side door opens. And the hottest guy I’ve ever seen climbs out. His come-closer-if-you-dare eyes latch onto mine as we slowly walk toward each other.

I dare. From this moment on, I will always dare with him. “Hi.”

“Hi,” he says. “I heard you were back.” His gaze touches on every part of me, lighting a fire in the pit of my stomach.

“I’m glad I caught you, but do you need to be somewhere? I can come back—”

“Now’s good.” The gap between us shrinks further. “I was just going to the florist.”

“The florist?”

“To buy you flowers before I walked over to see you.”

We’re maybe five feet apart now. Four feet…three feet…two. We stop, arms at our sides, and stare at each other. The way he looks at me steals my breath.

“You wanted to see me?” I manage to ask. The little speech I had planned drifts right out of my head. I try to hang on to the threads, but it’s hard to think straight when Vaughn takes my hand in his. I glance down at our entwined fingers. His hand is so much bigger than mine, yet we fit like we were molded for each other.

He leads me to the grassy slope beside his driveway and plants us under a palm tree. We sit side by side, not quite touching.

“I just got off the phone with Nigel.”

“Oh?”

“He had an interesting meeting today.”

“Really?”

Vaughn takes my chin between his thumb and finger and turns my face to his. “The flowers were going to be a thank-you. You went to bat for me.”

“It was nothing.”

“It was everything.”

“You’ve done so much for me, Vaughn, and I haven’t thanked you nearly enough. You’ve fought for me from the start, and it was time I fought for you. When I heard you’d gotten the job and then lost it, I had to do something. You’re selfless, you speak from your heart, you’re perceptive, and America Rocks needs you as their host.”

“Nigel agrees.”

There’s a moment where everything stands still as those words sink in. A second later, I tackle hug the next host of America Rocks and knock him flat on his back. “Yay! That’s fantastic. Congratulations!” I kiss him all over his face, capturing his smile against my lips, swallowing his laughter with my own.

He rolls us over, careful to cushion my landing with his palm spread across my back. Looking up at him is better than looking at a double rainbow. Better than gazing at a sunrise. Better than a sky full of the brightest stars in the galaxy.

“Thank you,” he says.

“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”

“Really?” He’s half teasing, half asking. I get it. He needs confirmation of where I stand.

I’m about to answer when Snowflake comes barreling across the lawn, yapping away like we’re hiding her favorite bone and she’s bound and determined to retrieve it.

Vaughn scoops her up and returns to a sitting position beside me with Snow in his lap. “Hey, girl. Your timing sucks.”

I sit up. “How did she get out?”

“It’s not the first time. I think I know where she escapes from. Come on. I’ll help you close it up.” He moves to stand.

I stop him with a hand to his arm. “Wait.”

This moment right here is one I will never forget: our eyes locked, the air still, the only sound our beating hearts. “There’s nothing I want more than to be there for you. I’m sorry I got scared. I’m sorry I let you walk away like I did.” I take his hand in mine. “I love you. I love you so much I can’t imagine my life without you in it.”

Vaughn smiles. It’s big, bright. Mine. It rearranges my molecules. Makes me feel safe. Cherished. “Are you putting the ball back in my court, Kendall? Because I’ll warn you now, I’m keeping it.”

I smile in return. “That’s exactly what I’m doing. What you said on national tele—”

He kisses me. It’s lips and tongues, love and passion. I feel it everywhere, but most of all, in my heart. He pulls away way too soon. “You’re staying in L.A.?”

“Yes. This might sound weird, but I’ve found myself in the things that matter most,” I say. “Art in Progress. My sisters. You.”

Another full-watt smile lifts his mouth, lights his face, and renders me momentarily speechless. He puts Snow on the grass, gets to his feet, and lifts me up, spinning me around with my feet flying behind me.

“Vaaaauuuughn! Put me down!”

“No way. I’m not letting you go ever again.”

“Okay,” I say as he slows and eventually lowers me so my feet touch the ground. True to his word he doesn’t release me.

“I love you, Kendall. For the girl you were, and the woman you are.”

“Thanks for being patient with me.”

“Always.”

“Thanks for being mine.”

“Easiest thing I’ve ever done. And”—he kisses me—“something I will never take for granted.”

I smile. “I feel the same.”

“What do you say we take this mutual admiration society to my bedroom?”

“I say that sounds great.”

Snowflake barks. Vaughn and I laugh.

“How about my bedroom?” I ask.

“I don’t care where we go as long as I’ve got you to myself for the rest of the day.”

“That can be arranged.” We hold hands and lead Snow home.

“My life is about to get a lot more frenetic,” he says. “But no matter what, my priority is you. I can’t promise to shield you from everything, but we can keep our private life private. We don’t have to—”

“Hey, let’s take it one day at a time. I don’t need to hide anymore, even though I do like the idea of keeping things private.”

“We will then.”

“I have no doubt. You’re my someone, Vaughn. The person I want to share everything with. The person I want to treasure and protect and who will treasure and protect me in return. I wasn’t ready before, but I am now. As it turns out, I’ve had someone at my back this whole time.”

He stops our strides and cups my cheeks. “Always.” He kisses me softly on the mouth. “You had me at ‘Look out!’ you know. I kept looking at you and thinking this girl. She’s your soul mate. Don’t fuck it up. Promise me you’ll always be mine.”

“I promise.”

We kiss again, then tucked under his arm, we make our way up the driveway and toward something…more. We’re walking toward our future. No holding back. No shying away. I’m no longer stuck in my past. I’m no longer distracting myself from living life to the fullest. I’m in love. With Vaughn. And more importantly, with myself again.

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