A Winter’s Tale by Carrie Elks (19)

Kitty didn’t want to leave. She was lying in the circle of Adam’s arms, feeling his breath fanning against her back. His body was curled against hers, his chest to her spine, his legs tucked behind her. She felt warm, protected, and a little bit horny, which was crazy after everything they’d done that morning. Every muscle in her body ached.

From the kitchen, she could hear the gentle snoring of the puppy. Strange how her world had taken a one-eighty turn, all while the dog stayed asleep.

The feeling of Adam cradling her, his body moving into hers, had been overwhelming. Every touch of his skin against Kitty’s was like a song playing inside her. He’d filled her up, physically and emotionally, until it felt as though she couldn’t take any more. Being with him had felt like a strange combination of newness and coming home. As though she’d slotted right into place.

The clock beside the bed told her it was almost nine thirty. Everyone at the big house would be up by now. Jonas would be scooping cereal into his mouth, Mia would be drinking mug after mug of steaming black coffee. Everett would be holed up in the library, avoiding everybody. Kitty really should be up there too, doing what she was paid to do.

‘I need to go.’ She tried to wriggle out of Adam’s arms.

‘Not yet.’ He tightened his hold, pulling her closer still. His voice was heavy with sleep. ‘Stay with me.’

From her spot on the bed Kitty could see soft snowflakes falling past the bedroom window. It felt as though the two of them were bubbled up inside a snow globe. Untouchable. Beautiful. Fragile.

‘I can’t stay for long.’

‘We haven’t had a chance to talk yet,’ Adam pointed out.

She bit down a smile. ‘We were too busy.’

‘Well we’re not busy now. Not for the next five minutes, at least.’

She twisted in his arms, turning to look at him. ‘What do you want to talk about?’

He pressed his lips against her shoulder. ‘Tell me about England.’

Kitty frowned. ‘Well, it’s a country across the Atlantic —’

His laughter cut through the air. ‘Not about the country. Tell me about you. What were you like as a little girl?’

This wasn’t the usual post one-night stand conversation. Not that this was the usual one-night stand, either. It happened in the morning for a start. Kitty closed her eyes, savouring the sensation of Adam’s body pressed to hers. She really needed to stop overthinking this.

She turned to him, a quizzical look on her face. ‘Why do you want to know?’

He looked almost childlike in his embarrassment. ‘I made a list of the things I wanted to ask you.’ He coughed hard. ‘My therapist suggested it.’

She tried to swallow down the laugh that tried to escape from her chest. ‘He did? Why?’

‘I told him I liked you. He suggested I try to be your friend. As you can see, that’s working out really well right now.’

This time her laughter exploded, and he joined in, pulling her against him to feel his chuckles. ‘Jesus, what a mess,’ he said, finally getting back under control.

‘But a beautiful mess, though.’ She ran her palm over his jaw, as if to emphasise the point. ‘OK, let’s start again. What do you want to know?’

‘Let’s start with your family. Tell me about them.’

For a moment he reminded her of the man he was on the big screen. The documentary maker, not the sexy guy lying in bed with her. His interest was genuine, his scrutiny warm.

‘I’m the youngest of four sisters. We were brought up in a big house near Hampstead Heath – that’s in the north-west of London. At first it was the six of us, my mum, my dad and my sisters, but when I was ten my mum died in an accident.’

Adam kissed her shoulder again, his hand stroking softly on her stomach. ‘I’m sorry.’

She swallowed hard. ‘I really think it’s possible to miss somebody you can’t remember that well. I know I missed her dreadfully as a teenager, or the concept of her at least. My sisters were wonderful, they did all they could, but there’s no love like a mother’s.’

Her mouth felt dry from the words. Memories of that day fourteen years ago were still just below the surface – the merest rummage and they flew back up again. She’d been at a friend’s house when the accident happened, could still remember her mother’s best friend, Hugh, coming to pick her up, his face solemn. She hadn’t realised her world was about to fall apart when he took her hand and led her down the steps. That her life would be divided into two – before and after Mum. She’d gone from being the much-loved baby of the family, to a loose thread, even if her sisters did their best to take care of her.

Adam squeezed her hand gently, as though he was giving her strength. He didn’t seem to mind that she was baring her soul to him – maybe because he was used to it. Not that he usually filmed documentaries in bed, did he?

For a moment she wondered who else he’d had in his bed, but the thought made her stomach lurch.

She took a deep breath, shaking off her melancholy. ‘But we were lucky. Before she died we had the perfect life. We laughed, we lived, we did a lot as children. We skated and we played and we argued a lot.’

‘You said there were four of you?’

‘That’s right. I’m the youngest.’

‘Four sisters. Wow, I can’t even imagine…’

‘My poor dad never really knew what to do with us. Sometimes we’d be shouting at each other and he’d open his study door, peer around then scurry back inside. We wouldn’t see him for the rest of the day. I don’t think he ever imagined he’d be bringing us all up without a wife by his side. Plus he was as upset at her absence as the rest of us.’

‘He loved her.’

‘He did,’ Kitty agreed. ‘Theirs was a true romance. He was a stuffy professor; she was an actress who caught his eye. The two of them were like chalk and cheese and yet somehow they worked. They brought out the best in each other.’ Her sister had written a play about it, casting their parents as star-crossed lovers. Except the crossed star in this case happened to be an old uninsured white van, that her mum’s car ploughed into.

She wasn’t sure whether he wanted to hear all this, but she was telling him anyway. It felt good to talk about her family for a change. In LA nobody seemed interested in where you came from – it was where you were going to that counted. Nostalgia was for wimps.

‘Are your sisters still in London?’

‘Cesca is for some of the time. She’s the second youngest. But she travels a lot with her boyfriend, he’s in the business too.’

She didn’t need to clarify what business. Anybody who worked in Hollywood knew what she was talking about.

‘What about the others?’

‘Well Lucy, that’s the eldest, she lives in Scotland. And Juliet lives in Maryland.’

‘She lives over here?’ Adam asked. ‘Maryland’s not that far away.’

Kitty frowned. She hadn’t really thought about how close Cutler’s Gap was to her sister. She was so used to living on different coasts that it didn’t even seem as though they were in the same country sometimes. The fact was, Juliet was almost as close in miles to England as she was to California. America really was that big.

‘It’s not exactly walking distance.’ A 600-mile round-trip was hardly a hop, skip and jump. ‘Anyway, she’s busy with her own family. She has a little girl.’

‘She’s got a kid? How old is she?’ Adam sounded surprised.

‘A few years older than me. But she got married young. Poppy’s five now.’

‘That’s a pretty name.’

Kitty smiled. Poppy’s birth had been the best thing that happened to the family for years. Though they were scattered around the globe, somehow the tiny baby had brought them back together.

Adam’s palm was still pressed against her stomach. ‘You must miss them.’

‘I guess I do. But we try to get together when we can, even if it’s only on Skype. We’re planning to all talk on Christmas Day if we can agree a time.’ She placed her hand over his. ‘It’s a weird thing being sisters. We can go for months without speaking, and then it’s as if we’ve never been apart. When the four of us – five now, I guess, if you include my niece, Poppy – are in the same room it can be pretty overwhelming.’

‘I bet it can.’ She felt him smiling against her shoulder. ‘It explains how you’re able to manage my family, though. We must seem almost normal to you.’

She squeezed his hand. ‘No, you’re all totally crazy. There’s no hope for any of you.’

Adam growled loudly, flipping her over onto her back, hooking his leg over hers. She could feel him grow hard against her thigh as he ran his fingers down her side, nuzzling his head into her breasts.

‘You think there’s no hope?’ His teeth grazed her nipple. ‘I guess we’ll just have to go out in a blaze of glory then.’

Kitty lay back, submitting her body to his touch, enjoying the sensations created by his lips and his fingers.

‘A blaze of glory sounds good.’ Her voice was strained. He must know he was setting her on fire every time he touched her.

Not that she cared – she planned to enjoy every single moment of it.

 

It was late when Kitty walked back into the kitchen, pulling off her boots and placing them on the drying mat. The room was empty save for Annie, who was folding laundry and putting it into piles on the kitchen table.

‘Everything OK down there?’ Was that a twinkle in Annie’s eye? Kitty tried to ignore it, feigning an air of nonchalance.

‘The puppy’s still alive, if that’s what you meant.’

Annie’s smirk was totally out of place. Kitty’s eyes narrowed as she stared at her.

‘I didn’t mean anything at all,’ Annie said. ‘Unless there’s something you think I meant?’

A change of subject was probably for the best, thought Kitty. ‘Where is everybody?’

‘Everett and Mr Montgomery are in the library. Mr Klein is sitting with Mary. And Mia and Jonas have gone sledging.’

Kitty stopped dead. ‘Sledging? Where?’

She didn’t know what to think about first: the fact that Mia was actually paying her son some attention, or whether Kitty could actually trust her with Jonas’s safety.

Oh God, listen to her. Mia was Jonas’s mother; of course she had his best interests at heart. There’s no way she would put him in danger. Kitty walked over to help Annie with the folding, trying to ignore the nagging feeling in her stomach.

Adam’s cabin! That’s where the best sled run was. Had she passed Mia and Jonas on her way and not noticed? She’d been so deep in thought she probably could have passed half the population of Cutler’s Gap and not even bothered to look up.

‘They only left a few minutes ago. I’m not sure where they were headed.’

It was hard not to worry about Jonas, even though Kitty knew it wasn’t her place to fret. If Mia wanted to spend some time with her son what concern was it of Kitty’s? After all, Kitty had only been looking after him for a little while, he’d been Mia’s son for seven years. And she was his mother.

Not to mention the fact Jonas was desperate for her attention, bless him.

‘Maybe I should go after them…’ Kitty mused. ‘In case they need something. It’s always good to have two adults around.’

Annie looked up. ‘You’re becoming attached to that boy, aren’t you?’

Her question made Kitty’s throat tighten. ‘He’s a good kid. It’s hard not to.’

‘That’s true,’ Annie said. ‘I’ve been tied to the Kleins for these past forty years. Good years they’ve been, too. I’ve seen those boys grow up into young men, and watched Mary and Francis become grandparents. It’s been a joy to behold.’ She looked up. ‘But they’re not my family, are they? I love them and I care for them, but at the end of the day I get paid to do that. And if I needed to, I could walk away. That’s the difference between a job and a family.’

Kitty wasn’t sure what Annie was trying to say.

‘I know there’s a difference.’

‘Your head knows that. Your heart can’t always be so logical. You care about that boy, and I know you’d do anything for him. But he has his own family.’

For a moment Kitty wondered if it was really Jonas they were talking about. The same words could apply to Adam. But Annie didn’t know what they’d been up to at the cabin, not unless she had some kind of CCTV.

No, she was definitely talking about Jonas.

‘It’s true I’m only the nanny for a few weeks,’ Kitty said, her voice hoarse. ‘But I worry about him and it’s my job to make sure he’s safe. That’s all I’m trying to do.’

She wasn’t sure why Annie’s words were making her feel so raw. Maybe it was the effects of her morning, or perhaps they’d really hit a nerve. Either way, Kitty couldn’t stop thinking about them as she helped Annie tidy up the kitchen.

They weren’t her family. But they could end up breaking her heart anyway.

 

Adam was still half asleep when he heard the rap at the door. Jumping out of bed, he ran to the entranceway, pulling the door open for Kitty. A smile formed on his mouth.

‘You didn’t make it very far…’ His words trailed off as he realised his mistake. Mia Klein stood in the doorway, her eyes wide as she took in his unkempt state. Adam hadn’t bothered getting dressed when Kitty left – heck, he hadn’t even stepped into the shower. He was too busy enjoying the after-effects of a morning with Kitty Shakespeare to worry about anything as mundane as personal hygiene.

If he was truly honest, he was enjoying having her aroma still on him. A reminder of everything they’d done together. He wasn’t sure he wanted to shower it away.

He was certain he wanted to now, though. Mia’s nose wrinkled as she took him in, her eyes scanning him from head to toe. He was under no illusions she was sizing him up, he was so not her type for that. She liked her men suave, sophisticated with a bank full of dollars. Though he could fulfil her final requirement a few times over, the rest made him a big fail.

‘What do you want?’ It was impossible to keep the contempt from his voice.

When she stepped to the left he saw Jonas standing behind her. Adam immediately regretted his harsh tone. It was one thing to disrespect the mother, but he didn’t want his nephew to see it.

Damn, he really was an asshole at heart.

‘Can I come in? I need to talk to you.’ She peered over his shoulder.

‘What about?’ Adam folded his arms across his chest.

She glanced beside her, looking down at Jonas. ‘It’s adult talk,’ she said. ‘Probably best if I come inside.’ She reached out, stroking Jonas’s face with her gloved hand. ‘Can you wait out here for a minute, honey?’

From the corner of his eye Adam could see the puppy stretching in his basket. Any minute now and he’d be padding over to sit next to Adam’s feet – his favourite spot to be. He was seconds away from Jonas discovering the big secret.

‘Jonas, you stay on the porch, OK?’ Adam nodded at the wooden deck that circled the cabin. ‘You’d better come in,’ he said to Mia, stepping aside so she could squeeze past him.

Jonas shrugged and started walking down the side of the porch, running his hand along the rail to collect up snow.

‘Hey, Jonas,’ Adam called out. ‘We can go sledding afterwards if you like.’

Jonas turned around, his expression suddenly bright. ‘Really?’ His eyes slid to his mother. ‘Can we, Mom?’

‘Yes, of course, darling.’

Five minutes later Adam was pulling on some clothes, having taken a cursory shower, enough to wash off the evidence of that morning’s liaison. When he walked back into the living area, Mia was sitting on a chair by the fire, scooted as far forward as she could, as if afraid she might catch something.

‘You want a coffee?’

She shot a glance at the kitchen, where the breakfast dishes were neatly piled next to the sink. ‘I’m fine, thank you.’

Adam poured himself out a cup, adding some milk before joining her over by the fire. What was it about Mia and Everett that always put him on edge? Maybe it had something to do with the fact they were always walking in when he was half naked. That was enough to put anybody off.

Remembering the reason for his dishevelment, a surreptitious grin split his face. Mia glanced over at him, a question shaping her features.

‘What are you so happy about?’

Her question made him want to laugh out loud. Adam imagined telling her exactly why he was smiling. That he’d spent most of the last two hours making love to her nanny. But that little slice of heaven wasn’t something he wanted to share, and he planned to do whatever it took to protect it.

‘I was just wondering why you’re here.’ He tried to bite down his amusement.

‘You don’t waste any time on the niceties, do you?’ She sighed, leaning back on the chair. ‘I just wanted to talk to you about Everett.’

‘What about him?’ Adam asked, uneasy. If there was one thing he liked less than talking to Everett, it was talking about him. Especially with his wife.

‘He’s having a hard time,’ she told him. ‘After everything that happened with the two of you. Can’t you just make up with him? It’s eating away at him, and making everybody’s lives a misery.’

He took a big mouthful of the coffee. It scalded his tongue before slipping down his throat. ‘I don’t know what you mean. What happened between Everett and me has nothing to do with anybody else. How does it affect you?’

‘Because he’s biting all our heads off. He’s upsetting Jonas, he’s barely spending any time with your parents, and, well, he’s not exactly being nice to me, either.’ She wrinkled her nose up. ‘Maybe if the two of you made up, he’d be a bit easier to live with.’

‘Seriously?’ Adam asked. ‘You want me to make up with Everett because it’s inconveniencing you?’ He wanted to laugh at her gall.

‘I want you to forgive each other because you’re ruining Christmas. There’s an atmosphere in that house so thick I could cut it with a knife. He’s angry and bitter, and he’s being hateful to everybody.’ She lowered her voice. ‘Even your mom’s noticed.’

‘Maybe he should have thought of that before he called the police.’

She looked down, suddenly entranced by her fingers. ‘Yeah, about that. He didn’t call them, I did.’

Adam frowned. ‘You did? Why?’

Finally she looked up. ‘Because you were a madman. You destroyed his office, and I was scared you were going to hurt him. Did you see that black eye you gave him?’

‘No.’ Adam shook his head. ‘Because by the time it came up, I was on a plane to DC.’ He sighed, running his hand through his hair. ‘Look, I don’t know what you want me to do here. I did everything that was asked of me. I moved back here, I complied with the agreement we all made. You’re the ones who decided to come and stay here. It’s not my fault if it’s causing problems with you and Everett.’

‘We didn’t ask you to live in this shack.’ She glared at him with disapproval. ‘Why on earth aren’t you staying at the big house? You’re behaving like a madman, some kind of hermit. You’re not living, you’re making a point.’

He dug his nails into his palm to stop him from blowing up at her. ‘This is my home. I’d like you to show it some respect.’

‘You know, I’m not about to tell you how to live your life. I simply wanted to tell you that Everett is having a hard time. He’s tried to apologise to you, and you threw it back in his face.’

‘There’s nothing else to say.’

Mia threw her hands up with frustration. ‘It was just business. Why should he apologise for doing what he does? You’re making this all so difficult for us. Why can’t you just get over it?’

Adam wanted to laugh – but not out of humour. No, it was bitterness that made his chest hitch up and his tongue start to rise. Just get over it. Was she being serious? After everything that happened, he was supposed to just forgive and move on.

He kept his voice low and even when he replied. ‘That’s not going to happen.’

‘So what are you going to do? Stay here for ever? Waste away in this godforsaken hut while your brother beats himself up?’ She shook her head, her nose wrinkling up. ‘Is that it? Have you just given up?’

‘Do you care?’

‘Not about you. But I care about my husband, and you’re making his life miserable. He’s your big brother, he cares about you. People keep asking us questions. Where’s Adam? What’s happening to his documentary? When’s Adam coming back to LA? How do you think it makes us feel when we have to shake our heads and say we don’t know?’

‘I’m devastated for you.’ He threw another log on the fire. ‘Now is that it?’

Outside, Jonas was making patterns in the snow with his gloved fingers. He looked bored as hell out there. Poor kid.

‘Can you let bygones be bygones for just one day?’ she asked him. ‘Join us for Christmas lunch at least. Your parents would be happy, and so would Jonas.’

‘What about you and Everett?’

She licked her painted red lips. ‘We can live with it if you can.’

He hadn’t thought about Christmas Day, or the fact that if he wanted to avoid his brother he’d be spending it all alone in the cabin. For a moment, he imagined having Kitty here, the two of them lying naked in a blanket in front of the fire, holding a glass of wine as they toasted the season. Now that would have been a hell of a way to celebrate the day.

And it was never going to happen. She’d be up there with the rest of them.

‘I’ll think about it.’

Mia looked shocked at his response. ‘You will?’

He shrugged. ‘It’s only for one day, isn’t it? It doesn’t mean anything. And as you said, it will make the old folks happy.’ He stood up, making it obvious it was time for her to leave. ‘Now there’s a kid out there that wants to go sledding. I suggest we don’t leave him standing alone in the cold any longer.’