CHAPTER FOUR
Cat finished up the email and pushed away from the work station in her apartment. Rain, a deluge of it, made it impossible to see through her fourth-floor windows. The edges of Hurricane Veronica were doing their best to remind New York City that no one messed with Mother Nature. She couldn’t imagine what a direct hit would look like.
The TV screen mounted on the wall flickered, catching her attention. She picked up the remote and turned the volume up.
“Hurricane Veronica has made landfall over Long Island and continues to head for the Connecticut coast.”
Cat squinted at the screen, stepped closer. “Crap,” she muttered. Right between New Haven and New London, directly in the path of the tropical bitch, was Merry.
She grabbed her phone and scrolled through her contacts until she found Kathy Hai.
“Kathy?” Cat said, as soon as she heard the woman’s voice.
“Cat? I can’t hear you very well. Reception’s spotty.”
“Are you guys okay? I just saw on the news that you’re in for some rain.”
Kathy’s laugh was forced. “Oh, just a little sprinkle. Nothing to worry about.”
Cat heard static, and then Kathy’s voice came through clearer. “Sorry. I had to come upstairs. I didn’t want April to hear me freak out over the phone.”
“Oh, geez. Are you guys okay?”
“Michael and I are debating whether or not we should go to the shelter.”
“Kathy, you live eye-level to a river that’s about to be raging. Get the hell out of there.”
“I know, but I’ll be worried about the house the whole time.”
“You can rebuild a house,” Cat reminded her.
“Yeah, but not as nice as you can,” Kathy gave a sad laugh. “This place is our home, and you made it that way for us.”
“I’ll be up with my tools and my brother if need be,” Cat promised.
“You’re a good person, Cat King,” Kathy told her.
“Yeah, well let’s just make sure you’re a safe, dry person. I’ll call you guys tomorrow and make sure you weren’t total idiots who decided to stay home.”
Kathy’s reply was cut off by static, and the line went dead.
Cat looked back at her computer, at the pile of work waiting for her, and then at the TV screen. The Hai family was one of her favorites from the show. A few years back, their car had been hit by a drunk driver. A hit and run. Between the medical bills and not working, the Hais had come within weeks of losing their home. Kings of Construction had swooped in, not only renovating the home but paying off the mortgage, and the town had chipped in with a generous donation to help with the family’s remaining medical bills. Since then, the Hais were back on their feet, and Cat stayed in touch with the family, even managing to get together once a year or so.
The town of Merry itself was postcard adorable. No box stores graced the town limits. The downtown was all mom and pop shops, kids walking home from school, and waving neighbors. Merry’s fame came from its Christmas Festival. The entire town decked its halls to the nines and hosted late shopper nights. Every year, they transformed the park into a winter wonderland with three acres of Christmas lights viewed from the country club’s borrowed fleet of golf carts.
There were hot chocolate and kettle corn stands, handmade crafts, and an entire Santa’s village. On Christmas Eve, the town could rival the North Pole in festivity. If you lived within one hundred miles of Merry, you went there for Christmas Eve. It was part of thousands of families’ Christmas traditions.
Where would they go this year? Cat wondered.
She picked up her phone again, dialed.
“Hey!” Her sister-in-law’s cheery greeting was undercut by Gabby’s squeal of delight or frustration. The one-year-old certainly had gotten the volume from the King side of the family.
“Hey, Paige. I just talked to Kathy Hai,” Cat said, cutting to the chase.
“Oh! How is she? How’s April?” Paige asked. Cat’s sister-in-law had an uncanny memory for the families they’d featured on all four seasons of Kings of Construction.
“It was hard to hear her over the hurricane bearing down on her.”
“Oh, no! I haven’t caught up on the news. Are they going to be okay?”
Cat blew out a frustrated sigh. “I don’t know. I mean it’s a direct hit.”
“And their house is across from the park,” Paige said, getting the gist.
“And the river.”
“If they need anything at all, you know you can count on Gannon and me.”
“Thanks. I think I just want someone else to worry about them with me.”
“Consider me your partner in concern,” Paige promised. “How’s Operation School Days coming?”
Cat flopped down on her overstuffed sofa and turned off the TV. “I’m not on speaker phone, am I?”
“No.”
“Good. Because I’m so fucking pumped about it. I think I just found my ideal facilities manager, and I’ve got a few lines on some other VIP staff. And I’m dying to talk about it. But until I have a location, what am I going to say?”
“That you’re an amazing woman who is going to train other amazing women to work in trades and run their own businesses?” Paige suggested.
“Awh. You’re pretty amazeballs yourself, Paigey. How’s my beautiful niece?”
“Big, bad, and beautiful. Just like her daddy and her aunt.”
“What’s next on your busy filmmaker schedule?” Paige had gotten her start behind the camera in reality television. She’d worked her way up to director and had started her own production studio that developed documentaries. Her first documentary, on women in the television industry, had opened eyes across the country to double standards and inequalities. The Reno and Realty Network—probably fearful that Paige would take aim at them specifically—had started a program to advance women behind the camera and put in place an equal pay policy.
Paige filled Cat in on the particulars of her latest project. “But listen, when this school thing pans out, I’d be interested in documenting it.”
“Really?” Cat kicked her legs up over the arm of the couch. “Like a day in the life?”
“I’m thinking following the first class to graduation and then beyond.”
“You must have a lot of faith in me.”
“In the words of Gannon King, ‘I’d be a fucking moron not to.’”
“Yeah, that sounds about right. Is my uglier, older half around?” Gannon and Cat were twins born two minutes apart. Neither of them was hard on the eyes, and their sincere brotherly-sisterly angst had won the hearts of viewers everywhere. The reality TV world was still mourning the fact that Gannon had gone back to managing their grandfather’s construction business.
“He’s putting Gabby down, but he’ll want to know about the Hais.”
“I’ll call him tomorrow once I know how they fared.”
“Okay. If they need anything at all, let us know. I’m serious. I’ve got some time between now and the end of the year. And I know Gannon will juggle things to make time.”
“Will do, sis. Thanks.”
They ended the call, and Cat listened to the unceasing rain while staring up at her ceiling. She’d been in this space for five years now. Everything in the two-bedroom Brooklyn apartment was exactly the way she wanted it. The teal textured walls of the master bedroom. The refinished hardwood. The kitchen had taken her eight weeks of her own labor to get just perfect. Everything in it was just perfect right down to the custom-sized clawfoot tub in the bathroom.
It made her antsy.
Cat would never consider herself a settler-downer. Sure, Gannon made it look appealing with his smart-ass, beautiful wife and their gush-worthy baby girl in their gorgeous brownstone six blocks away. But that wasn’t for Cat. The idea of walking in the same door every day to the same man? It gave her the heebie-jeebies. Life was too big and bright for that. Maybe later. Maybe when she hit her mid-forties she’d change her mind. But for now, she loved her life just the way it is. Traveling light and not having to consider anyone else’s feelings or opinions on decisions. She went where she wanted when she wanted, slept with men without strings or guilt, and designed her space to exactly suit her tastes.
Maybe it was time to move on and find a new real estate project to satisfy her wanderlust?
She thought of the Hais and felt a stab of guilt. Here she was mentally whining to herself about living in the same perfect property for too long, and her friends were in danger of losing their home. It’s not like the network would swoop in a second time to rebuild their home—
Cat’s feet hit the floor as she propelled herself into a seated position.
Maybe they would…