Don’t expect your man to change. If you want something different, find it elsewhere.
—Excerpt from Finding Mr. Right-for-You by Dr. Kate
The phone on Kate’s desk rang. She saved her column before answering.
“How’s my favorite author?” Pam, Kate’s publicist, greeted her.
“Pam! How are you?”
“Good, good. I wanted to update you on a few interviews I’ve scheduled. I e-mailed them to you a minute ago, but I have a last-minute opportunity, so I wanted to see if you were available. My contact from Live with Lisa called a few minutes ago, and they want to interview you tomorrow morning. They probably had a cancellation, and it’s a fabulous opportunity for exposure on cable TV.”
An interview on the popular program would be a boon. “That’s great. Let me check my schedule.” Kate pulled out her calendar. There were a couple appointments, but nothing that couldn’t be rescheduled. She was almost finished with her column and her Glamour piece.
“I can do it.”
“They intimated that Lucas would be welcome if he’d like to take part,” Pam said.
Kate doubted he would but said she’d mention it to him and get back to Pam.
The discussion turned to the other radio interviews scheduled for several weeks out.
“Is Mr. Right doing okay saleswise?” Kate asked. Rosewood had hoped it would make the New York Times list, but so far it had only appeared deep on the USA Today list. She was afraid they were disappointed with sales, and this far out from the release, it wasn’t likely to improve much, although an appearance on Live with Lisa wouldn’t hurt.
“The book’s fine. I know Chloe is eager for a new proposal.”
“I’m working on an idea. Once I have it nailed down, I’ll send it.”
After Kate hung up, she closed her document and gathered her things. She had to get home and pack because her flight would leave that evening. Unless Lucas agreed to participate, they’d be apart another night, but what would it matter? It seemed as if they were on two different planets since their confrontation in her office nearly a month earlier.
“You didn’t have to take me, you know.” She almost wished he hadn’t, since he’d dawdled around for fifteen minutes—after she’d rushed to pack and stowed her suitcase in the car. Now she was arriving later than she’d planned.
Kate grabbed for her suitcase handle, but Lucas reached it first. They walked toward the airport.
“I don’t mind.”
Her heels clicked against the pavement. After hurrying with the packing, Kate felt as if she’d forgotten something. She mentally checked off the necessary items to assure herself.
After she’d gotten off the phone with Pam, she’d gone to Lucas’s shop and told him about the interview.
“They’d like to have us both on, if you’d like to participate,” Kate said.
He’d lowered a tool, his eyes widening. The cliché of deer in headlights came to mind.
“Don’t think so,” he said before picking up a rag and wiping down a chest of drawers with a honey-colored stain.
“Why not? It might be fun.” And good for the public to see them together.
He gave the bureau one last swipe and stood back, looking it over. “Talking’s not my thing.” He set the cloth on the plywood table. “Words don’t come easy to me, like they do you.”
The more she thought about it, the more she wanted him there with her. Maybe getting off the island, away from the grind of life, would break the stalemate they’d had between them the past month. Ironically, she’d thought she’d wanted distance between them. But now that she had it, she was lonely.
“I’ll fill in the gaps,” Kate said. “You wouldn’t have a thing to worry about.”
“I can’t.”
Did he have work that couldn’t be put off? Or maybe he just wanted a break from her.
“Look, something happened when I was a kid. I was supposed to give a speech in front of my school. In a school assembly.” He picked up the rag and twisted it in his stained fingers. “I froze. Forgot everything I was going to say.” He wiped the top of the bureau again. “I haven’t talked in front of an audience since.”
Now, as he walked her to security, she imagined Lucas as a frightened little boy, paralyzed in front of his peers. He seemed so far removed from that little boy, so strong and capable. But she remembered his one request when he agreed to marry her: “No interviews.” It must’ve been hard enough for him to be in the spotlight as he had. But he’d done it for her.
And his parents, she reminded herself.
As they approached the security officer, Kate remembered the first time he’d brought her here. Dahlia Stevens had been in line, and he’d kissed her good-bye. Today no one waited in security, and Kate noted the edge of disappointment that pricked her heart.
What was wrong with her?
What’s wrong? I want him to go with me. Want him to kiss me. That’s what’s wrong.
Lucas handed Kate the overnight case before they reached the balding security officer. “Kate . . .”
She checked her watch before meeting his gaze.
He shifted his weight. “When you get back, we need to talk.”
Something hardened in her stomach, gelling into a thick lump. She hated when people did that. Now, the whole time she was gone, she’d wonder what he wanted. The sudden fear that he wanted to end their arrangement left her speechless. What if he was tired of pretending? Tired of the awkward silence between them these last few weeks? She wanted to say she was sorry, but sorry for what?
“Is something wrong?” she asked instead.
Lucas waved her off. “Nothing to worry about.” He looked at her as if studying her features. She’d only be gone one night. What’s going on?
He reached out and rubbed her chin with his thumb.
Kate stilled at his touch, feeling the roughness of his thumb all the way to her toes.
“You had a little something right there,” he said.
She remembered the globby grape jelly on toast she’d scarfed down on the way out the door and ran her finger over the spot, rubbing away the feeling his touch had left behind.
He scanned the area around them. Was he remembering Dahlia and wishing for an audience? The airport was quiet as a sepulchre tonight. Where’s the media when you need them?
Kate wanted to run her fingers along the rough surface of his stubbly jaw. What would he think of that? Would he kiss her then, if she took the first step?
Lucas caught her staring. She was loath to leave him for a night. How had she gotten so accustomed to his company? She remembered how he’d irritated her when he was just her superintendent. How had he found a way through the cracks in her heart? How had she come to expect his presence, depend on it?
He cleared his throat and pocketed his hands. “Well. Have a safe trip.”
Kate blinked and looked away, hiking the weighty bag on her shoulder. “Thanks.”
When he walked away, Kate realized her feelings for Lucas were rising dangerously high, like floodwaters on the banks of an unprotected shore.
Three cups of coffee and Kate was finally awake. She sat opposite the interviewer, Lisa Evans. A mike had been placed inconspicuously on the collar of her red Donna Karan blazer. The makeup people had done a good job, but the foundation was heavy and felt like it was melting under the hot lights.
The producer gave last-minute instructions, but Kate had heard most of it before. She settled back in the chair and waited while they opened the show with news on the other side of the studio. A copy of Mr. Right was propped on the glass cube between them.
Lisa, in a robin’s-egg blue suit, reviewed her notes, making no conversation. That was typical. Interviewers liked to save it for the show.
When it was time for their segment, they were cued, and Lisa straightened, smiling toward the camera.
“This morning we have syndicated dating-advice columnist and noted author Dr. Kate. Welcome.”
Kate smiled. “Thank you for having me.”
“I have to say I read your recent release, Finding Mr. Right-for-You and was riveted.” Lisa’s eyebrows inched up into her blond bangs.
“Thanks, Lisa. There’s a lot of interest lately in compatibility in dating and marriage.”
“Which begs the question,” Lisa said. “There are numerous websites and books on the subject. What makes yours different?”
“Good question. In my counseling with couples, I’ve found the key ingredient to a lasting relationship to be compatibility. So many times we women get our hearts way ahead of the game. In the book, I teach women to put their hearts on hold long enough to establish compatibility.”
“Is that what you did with your Mr. Right?” Lisa tilted her head.
The personal question caught Kate off guard. “Of course. You really can’t make a rational decision about someone’s suitability when your emotions are clouding your judgment.”
Lisa nodded. “We know how emotions can affect good judgment.” Lisa asked several more questions about the book; then they opened the line for callers.
“Stephanie from Boston, you’re on the air.” Lisa said.
“I have a question for Dr. Kate,” the caller said.
“Go ahead.” Lisa smiled, her berry lip gloss shimmering under the lights.
“I’d like to know why she married someone else when her real fiancé dumped her on their wedding day.”
What? The malicious tone, the ugly words, sent a wave of fear through Kate. She smiled through it. What was the caller’s name? Had Lisa said Stephanie?
“Dr. Kate?” Lisa asked, clearly confused. “I’m not sure what the caller’s referring to.”
“I’m not sure either . . .” Hang up. Disconnect the caller. Her eyes pleaded with Lisa.
“Her real fiancé was Bryan Montgomery,” the voice on the line continued. “And he dumped her the morning of the wedding. I’m not sure where Dr. Kate found her fake groom, but the wedding was phony, and so is she.”
This isn’t happening. Kate’s thoughts seized in a paralyzing spasm. She fought to control her expression. The camera was on her. What could she say? Her mind was a numb void. Help me, Jesus!
“Dr. Kate?”
Her head buzzed with electrical activity, all of it sparking nothing. No clever turn of phrase. No smooth transition of subject. The seconds stretched out like a long empty runway.
“My marriage is not fake.” She forced a calm tone. “It’s legal in every way.” Change the subject! “The advice in my book comes from years of extensive counseling and research. I have a passion for helping women find suitable partners, and that’s what this book is about.”
The producer was cuing a commercial. Sure, just as soon as Kate had found her tongue.
But Lisa was ending the segment. When they were off the air, she reached over and placed her hand on Kate’s. “I’m so sorry about that, Kate. I assure you it was as unexpected for me as it was for you.”
Kate stood on shaking legs as someone disengaged her mike and battery pack. She had to get out of there. She wanted to run someplace far away and hide.