Chapter Eleven

Kate

Gavin didn't get home until after ten last night. I didn't say anything to him about it, not wanting to argue, but I did pull away from him when we got into bed. I didn't even know I'd done it until he reached over and pulled me closer.

After that I couldn't sleep. I kept worrying that we're already growing apart because of this. It's not just the campaign work itself, but the feeling that he's not being honest with me. Like maybe he really does want to make politics his career but won't tell me because he knows it's not what I want to hear.

This morning he was gone before I got up. He left me a note saying he loves me and to have a good day. It was a sweet gesture and reminded me that no matter what, we can get through this. We love each other and love can get you through most anything.

"Hey." I smile as I answer the phone. It's late afternoon and I plan to go home soon and make a romantic dinner for Gavin and me. We usually go out for Friday date night but I wanted to stay in. "Are you catching the next train?"

"Um, no. Something came up and I can't leave."

"So you'll get the next one?"

"No. That's why I'm calling."

There's that knot in my stomach again, and this time it's accompanied by a surge of anger.

"What's going on?"

"There's a party tonight and I have to go. It's not optional."

"What kind of party?"

"A staff party. I just found out about it. I tried to get out of it. I swear, I tried everything, but Jett wouldn't take no for an answer. He said everyone has to be there."

"Are guests allowed?" I ask, figuring it would be good to meet the people he'll be working with. Maybe if I met them, I'd feel better about Gavin's new job. Because right now, I'm really feeling angry.

"We can't bring guests. They want us to get to know each other and they don't think that'll happen if we have guests. We're doing some kind of team building games, so trust me, you wouldn't want to be there even if I could bring you."

"So what time will you be home?"

"I don't know. It could go pretty late. There's a cocktail party and then dinner, then the games, which are happening at some warehouse in Brooklyn, and then we're all going to a bar."

"And you have to stay for all of that?"

"Yeah. I know, it sucks. I'm really sorry about this. Maybe you could go out with your mom tonight. Have a girls' night."

Girls' night. That's not what I wanted. I already have plans to spend Saturday afternoon with my mom. Tonight was supposed to be just Gavin and me. I wanted time with him. Time to reconnect after what turned out to be a really stressful week, and not because of the restaurant but because of this new job of his.

"Kate, I know you're mad but this isn't going to happen again. It's a one-time thing. And to make it up to you, I'll take you wherever you want tomorrow. We can come here to the city. Or take a drive somewhere. Whatever you want to do."

"I just want time with you, Gavin. I feel like I haven't seen you in days."

"It's only been a couple late nights. And tomorrow's the weekend so we'll have two whole days together."

"I'm spending tomorrow with my mom and Sunday I have to work at the restaurant, getting ready for the staff training on Monday."

"We'll still see each other at night."

"Yeah." I sigh. "Okay, well, have fun."

"Kate, don't be mad."

"I'm not—" I stop myself, because saying I'm not mad isn't true. Of course I'm mad. My boyfriend's spending Friday night at work, going to bars with his co-workers instead of spending time with me.

"I'm sorry," he says. "I really am."

"I'll see you when you get home. Bye, Gavin."

I end the call before he has a chance to say goodbye. Maybe that's childish but I was too angry to spend another second on the phone with him. Did he really just find out about this party, or did he wait until the last minute to tell me so there was no chance he could get out of it? I don't like thinking he'd do that but maybe he would, especially if he really did want to go to the party.

"Leaving soon?" Henry asks as he comes into the kitchen. "I still have some work to do. I can lock up after the crew heads out."

"I think I'll stay a little longer."

"I thought you were making dinner." He smiles. "Isn't tonight your romantic dinner with Gavin?"

"It's not happening now." I go to the sink and scrub the skillets I had soaking in there. I normally hate scrubbing pans but right now it's a good distraction so I don't start crying. I shouldn't be sad, but I keep feeling like Gavin and I are drifting apart and it scares me.

"Why aren't you making dinner?" Henry asks, coming to stand beside me.

"Because Gavin has a work thing. Some kind of kick-off party for the campaign. It's in the city and he can't bring a guest so I'm single for the night." I let out a laugh, trying to hide how much I'm hurting.

"Kate." Henry holds my arm, stopping my frantic scrubbing. "This doesn't mean anything. It's just a work function. In whatever job Gavin has, he'll have work functions from time to time and he won't always be able to bring you."

"I know. It's just he didn't give me any notice and I already had tonight planned. It was going to be a surprise."

"Maybe if he knew what you were planning, he would've been able to get out of it."

"He said he can't. It's mandatory."

"So then blame his boss, not Gavin. You don't want to argue about this. It's not worth it. You're young and I know right now everything seems important, but when you get older you realize things like this aren't worth fighting about. It harms your relationship and makes you grow apart."

"That's the thing. I feel like we're already growing apart. This is the second night Gavin's had to work late and when he got home last night, he was too tired to even talk."

"Two nights apart isn't going to harm what you two have together unless you let it. If this is really bothering you, you need to talk to him before things get out of hand. Small things tend to become larger when you let them fester."

"I know. It's just that I'm trying to be supportive and I don't feel like I'm supporting him if I complain about him working late."

"You're not complaining. You're just stating how you feel. You have a right to feel however you want about this, but you have to let Gavin know. You can't leave him guessing."

I nod, but I still don't know if I want to bring this up to Gavin. If it really is just two late nights then it's not worth talking about.

"How about you and I go out tonight?" He smiles. "We'll go to dinner. Maybe catch a show. I've been told I'm a very entertaining date."

I smile back. "You're asking me on a date?"

"Well, not my typical kind of date. More of a night out so we're not both sitting at home on a Friday night."

"Aren't you driving back to your place tonight?"

"Wasn't planning on it. I thought I'd keep staying at Celeste's house. Drive her crazy a few more days."

"It'll be longer than that. Did you tell her you're working here next week too?"

"We haven't spoken much since I moved in. That house is so big, I rarely even see her. And she goes out a lot. She hasn't been home much."

"Do you know where she goes?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"I just want to make sure she's not going to a bar or finding someplace private to drink."

"In the few times I've seen her at the house, she seemed sober. I don't think she's drinking again. So what do you say? Should we hit the town? Live it up tonight?"

"I'm up for it. Would you care if I invited my mom? I don't know if she'll agree to it but I at least want to invite her."

"The more the merrier. I'm going to go finish up the trim in the dining room."

"Okay. Thanks for the talk."

He nods as he walks off. "Anytime. Oh, and tonight's on me."

I roll my eyes. "No, it's not. After all the work you've done, I'm paying for dinner."

"I can't allow a lady to pay for dinner. That's something I taught Gavin. He better never have made you pay."

"He hasn't."

"Good. Now go call your mother. Tell her tonight isn't optional. It's Friday night. She needs to get out of that apartment."

I assume she'll say no because she lives an hour way but when I ask, she agrees to it so we decide to meet halfway. Now I'm kind of excited about tonight. It'll be fun to hang out with my mom and Henry.

The three of us go to a restaurant Henry picked. It's an upscale restaurant so it surprised me that Henry picked it. He's more of a sports bar type of guy, but he said he wanted to go someplace nice since he's taking out two beautiful women. His words, not mine. He's such a ladies' man, always giving out compliments. It explains why he always seems to have a girlfriend.

"That was wonderful," my mom says as she places her napkin on the table. We just finished dessert. "Thank you for dinner, Henry."

"It was my pleasure." He slips some cash in the holder that contains the check. "It isn't every night I get to take two beautiful women to dinner."

My mom smiles. "That's so kind of you to say."

I hope she doesn't think he's flirting with her. He tells every woman she's beautiful. I'm not saying my mom's not beautiful. I'm just saying he's not flirting with her. He's just being nice.

My mom doesn't like being alone so she's already considering dating again. I think it's too soon, but if she wants to date, she won't listen to me. But she's not dating Henry. He's too old for her and he has no interest in a committed relationship. He had that when he was married. Now he's playing the field. I swear he has a different girlfriend every week.

"What should we do now?" Henry asks after the waiter takes the money. "Dancing? Karaoke bar?"

My mom laughs. "I think I'm done for the night."

"Me too," I say. "It's been a long week." I reach behind me for my sweater which is hung over the back of the chair. I brought it in case the restaurant was cold. As I turn back, I do a double take when I see my dad. He's four tables down, talking to someone, but I can't see who. I scoot my chair back and look again. "No way," I mutter.

"What is it, Kate?" I hear my mom say.

"You dropped your sweater." I feel Henry nudging my hand and look up and see him holding my sweater out to me.

"Thanks." I quickly turn back to the table. "We should get going. It's late."

I stand up, trying to block my dad from my mom's view. Even though they've been divorced forever, it's still hard to see your ex with someone else. And it's even worse when that someone else is the mother of my boyfriend!

I'm tempted to look again just to make sure my eyes weren't fooling me, but I'm positive it was her. My dad is having dinner with Celeste! On a Friday night, which everyone knows is date night.

Why is my dad having dinner with Gavin's mom on a Friday night? Are they dating? They can't be. Those two are nothing alike. My dad can't stand rich socialites. He makes a living off them, but he isn't friends with them.

"What the..." I hear Henry mutter as he stands up from the table. He saw them too and is just as shocked as I am.

Glancing at him, I give him a look not to say anything to my mom.

"Shall we go?" Henry offers my mom his arm and she smiles. She thinks he's flirting again when he's really just trying to steer her out of the restaurant a different way to avoid walking past my dad.

"Kate, are you coming?" My mom turns to me as she says it, then freezes when her eyes land on what I'm guessing is my dad and Celeste. She drops her arm from Henry's and turns around. "Your dad's here," she says, her eyes still on his table.

"Is he?" I look back and see him laughing at something Celeste said. The woman is never funny. Why is he laughing? "He must be out with a client."

"That's Gavin's mother," she says. "I saw her being interviewed on the news after her husband died."

I look back again. "Oh, yeah. I guess it is her. I didn't recognize her at first."

"We should really get going," Henry says to my mom. "It's getting late."

"I have to at least go say hello." My mom takes off toward my dad's table. I sigh and follow her over there, with Henry right behind me.

"Craig." My mom stands next to his table and smiles at him.

"Angie." My dad rears back, a look of shock on his face. He moves his chair back and stands up. "What are you doing here?"

"It's good to see you too," she kids, laughing a little.

"Sorry. I didn't mean it that way. I'm just surprised to see you."

"Didn't Kate tell you I was coming to town?"

"She did. I'm just surprised to see you here at this restaurant. It's a bit of a drive from your apartment."

She cocks her head. "You know where I'm staying?"

I never told him but he probably used his investigation skills to find out. Even after they divorced, he was very protective of her and went so far as to do background checks on the guys she dated. He never told her that but I found the folders one time when I was at his house. When I asked him about it, he said he did it for my safety, to make sure those guys were safe for me to be around. But I know he also did it for my mom. He was worried about her and obviously still is if he tracked down where she lives.

He doesn't answer her question but instead says, "This is Celeste." He motions to her. "She's Gavin's mother."

"Nice to meet you." My mom shakes Celeste's bony hand.

"And you as well." Celeste has a smirk on her face. She's loving the fact that my mom saw her having dinner with my dad. I don't know why she cares. My mom isn't trying to get my dad back, but she's definitely uncomfortable seeing him with another woman.

"Would you like to join us?" my dad says, stumbling on his chair as he steps back. "I could ask the waiter to move us to a larger table."

"We just ate." My mom glances at Celeste. "And I'm sure you two want to be alone."

My dad's eyes flick from Celeste back to my mom. "Oh, um, no. Celeste and I are having a meeting. A business meeting."

"You're discussing business on a Friday night?" Henry mutters.

He's right. Business meetings don't happen on a Friday night at a fancy restaurant. And the two of them are dressed like they're on a date. My dad has on black pants, a button-up shirt, and a tie. And Celeste has on a black dress with a plunging neckline, accented with diamond earrings and a diamond necklace.

Celeste turns to Henry. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be driving home by now?"

"I'm not going home, at least not my home."

She huffs. "You're not staying with ME. You said a week. One week. That's it."

"Did I?" He rubs his beard. "If so, I was mistaken. When you get old, you tend to get confused. Anyway, I'll be staying with you until the restaurant opens. Kate needs my help and I couldn't turn her down."

My mom watches the scene, confused as to what's going on. I haven't told her much about Celeste, including how much she hates Henry. I don't really talk to her about Gavin's family, mainly because I'm worried I'll slip and tell her about Niles.

As Henry and Celeste continue to bicker about their living arrangements, I glance at my dad, who's still standing next to my mom. He's staring at her, and I almost drop my sweater again when I see the look on his face. That unmistakable look of longing that says you want the person back. I've seen him have that look over the years when he came to pick me up for our visits and saw my mom. But back then, I didn't know what it meant. I didn't understand love and what it can do to a person and how sometimes you love someone so much that you can't hide how you're feeling.

Now that I'm older, I know that look. I know what it means. My dad still loves my mom. How is that possible? He hasn't seen her in years, and he knows she's not interested. She's never once tried to get back together with him since the divorce. And yet here he is, with that look that says he loves her.

But if he loves her, what is he doing here with Celeste?