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“You know me. I said I’d do it. He loved the idea.Seriouslyloved it. He said his spring and summer lines are based on floral prints. You can understand where this would be a huge fit.”
She let out another scream and then covered her mouth. “Oops. Sorry. The neighbors might think I’m getting murdered. That wasn’t nice of me.”
“You have every right to be excited. But you know, things can happen. I believe in Mateo. We’ve had a good relationship for years. He’s got a daughter that modeled with me and we got along well.”
“Kate, I can’t thank you enough. Even if nothing comes of it, it’s still getting their name out there.”
“I think something is going to come of it,” Kate said earnestly. “Tell Poppy that I’ll touch base with Mateo next week after the holidays. I’m not letting it slide. Then I’ll put him right in contact with her directly.”
“You’re the best,” she said. “I meanthe best. Champagne on me at Christmas.”
“You’ve got a deal. Is your man coming with you for Christmas?”
“Yes,” she said. “I know he’s a little out of sorts about it, but we’re staying in a hotel. He won’t stay at my parents’ or Nonna’s.”
Not that Knox didn’t want to go, but he didn’t want to stay in the same bed with her under her parents’ roof.
“I don’t blame him. That could be awkward. When are you driving in?”
“I think we are going to go after work on Monday. I’ll get out early. I’ve got Tuesday and Wednesday off. I took Thursday so we could come home that day. I don’t want to drive back on Christmas Day, but with Christmas being in the middle of the week it’s kind of a pain.”
“It will be great,” Kate said. “Just like when we were kids and spent all of Christmas Eve at Nonna’s. Well, I didn’t spend the whole day there. My parents made me come home in the afternoon.”
That was when Kate lived by her parents. Sage’s nonna wasn’t that far away and would take Kate with them. She really was part of the family.
When Kate was older and out of school, she and her parents didn’t talk as much and holidays were always spent with the Mancinis if Kate’s grandparents weren’t around.
“I’m not sure how Knox is going to be with it an all-day thing, but he’ll warm up.”
She’d seen the change in Blaze and Knox last weekend when the guys got to spend so much time together with nowhere to go.
There wasn’t a lot of talk about their mother or their past. It was more about the present. Current events, sports, video games. Future plans.
She had to admit there were looks back and forth when Blaze might have made comments and then stopped and she wondered what it was all about but wouldn’t ask.
Something about Knox’s business getting a boost. Then another about their mother still bitter over the money.
Things got quiet then.
She just assumed it was life insurance policies that were left to Knox that maybe Karla Bradford thought she should have gotten.
It wasn’t her business either.
“He’ll be fine,” Kate said. “He was at Thanksgiving. This isn’t much different.”
“It totally is different,” she said. “It’s two full days with Nonna. Not just a few hours.”
Kate laughed. “Nonna loved Knox. That is one huge obstacle right there and you know it.”
Her head went back and forth. “She did. But I just hope Nonna doesn’t bring up Henry. She gets on a roll and who knows what comes out of her mouth. She thinks she’s helping.”
“Why doesn’t Knox know about Henry? You shouldn’t be ashamed of any of that.”
“He does know that I dated Henry and we worked together and that Henry didn’t stand by me. Nothing more than that. But I am embarrassed,” she said. “That is exactly what I’m feeling. I was the other woman. That goes beyond everything I stand for and believe in. I hate cheaters and liars and here I was in a serious relationship with one. He was living a double life and no one knew. How stupid could I have been? He had someone he was dating for a year long distance and me for like eight months. I never thought anything of the weekends he went out of town with friends or his work travel.”
She’d never be that stupid again. Ever.
But she was trying not to let those thoughts creep into her mind, those feelings that maybe Knox was keeping something from her.
