Page 88 of Keeping Kaitlyn

You’ve faced her once. You can do it again.

Now that she has my attention, Astrid gives me a slow appraising look, taking in my designer dress and expensive shoes. “When Wentworth told me he was seeing someone, I dared to hope she’d be someone I’d find… appropriate.” Sheflicks another look at my shoes, the corner of her mouth curling in a slight, cruel smile before she lifts it to my face. “But that boy has always loved a charity case."

Heart hammering in my chest, I call on my inner Henley again, giving her a cool, appraising smile of my own before turning off the water. “It’s nice to see you again, Ms. Hawthorne.” Pulling my own towel from the neatly folded stack, I use it to dry my hands. “But I’ve been away from our table for far too long.” Dropping my damp towel in the receptacle under the sink, I make a show of fixing my hair in the mirror before making my way to the exit. “Went will come looking for me if I?—”

Astrid shoots to her feet, angling herself in front of the door before I can use it to get away from her. “You never learn, do you?” she hisses at me, her cruel smile tinged with disgust. “My son is a Hawthorne, whether he cares to acknowledge that fact or not. It’s a privilege he enjoys when it suits him but he refuses to accept that withthatprivilege comes certain responsibilities—responsibilities he absolutely delights in ignoring.” A slim, expertly drawn brow arches over her slightly narrowed gaze. “The least of them not being to marry someone worthy of our name.”

“You married a chef,” I remind her, my tone just as frigid as hers. “Twice.”

When I say it, her mouth snarls as much as the Botox will allow before she slaps me across the face hard enough to send me stumbling back while she screeches at me. “If you thinkfor one secondthat I’m going to let a disgusting little slut like you get her hooks into my son again, you have?—”

Cheek throbbing, I push my way past her. Managing to wrestle the door open, I leave Went’s screeching mother behind to step into the hall.

And run right into him.

FORTY-NINE

WENTWORTH

Even though I’dlike nothing more than to chase after her, I let Kait go. Telling myself she needs time to process her father’s impending death without me getting in her face,

I force myself to sit back in my seat before looking up at my father. “Hello, Dad.”

Smile faltering slightly at my tone, he bobs his head. “She seems lovely,” he says, indicating the space Kait just vacated while ignoring the fact that we were obviously arguing before he interrupted.

Lovelydoesn’t even begin to describe Kait but instead of saying it, I just nod. “She is.”

Bolstered by my answer, my father’s smile strengthens. “Have you known her long.”

“Awhile,” I say, doing my best to evade the question. “She’s a nurse. She works at Patrick Gilroy’s veteran center.” When I mention him, my father’s face lights up. Probably because Conner’s cousin is the son my father wishes he had. I’m used to it so it shouldn’t annoy me.

But it does.

“He and Cari were here for dinner last week,” he tells me, still smiling. “He?—”

“I don’t want to talk about Patrick Gilroy, Dad” I tell him, with an angry head shake. “And I don’t want to talk about my dinner date.”

His smile winks out like I just slapped him in the face. “I’m trying here, Went.”

“Trying towhat?” I glare at him, suddenly more angry than annoyed. Coming here was a mistake. “Trying to be my father? I hate to break it to you, but I don’t need one. Ineverneeded one.”

Jaw set at an angle almost as tight and unyielding as mine, my father nods his head. “When are you going to forgive me for what happened between me and your mother?”

“You think I’m angry at you for the shit that happened between you and Astrid?” I laugh out loud. Can’t help it because it’s that fucking funny. “As far as I’m concerned the two of you deserve every-fucking-thing you did to each other.”

“Then what?” He sounds genuinely confused. “If this isn’t about your mother, then why?—”

“It’s abouther.” Jabbing a finger at the door Kait just escaped through, it takes every ounce of self-control I possess to stop myself from lunging out of my seat to throw him through it. “I’ve been in love with her since the moment we met but I can’t tell her that because every time I try, I become convinced that saying it out loud will make me into a selfish, fickle prick who doesn’treallylove anyone but himself.”

For a second, neither of us say anything. Standing there, staring at me, face slack and pale, my father finally shakes his head. “Went?—”

Before he can say whatever it is he’s about to say, the dining room doors fly open. I look up, expecting to see Kait standing in the doorway but it isn’t Kait. It’s Silver.

“Your mother followed your date into the bathroom,” she tells me in a quiet rush, wide gaze bouncing between me and our father, making it obvious that she heard everything I said. “She forced the attendant out?—”

I’m out of my seat and pushing my way past them both before she can finish. Weaving my way through the crowded dining room, I’m well aware that everyone has stopped eating to watch my progress. I’m a six and a half foot tall, tattooed giant in a custom Armani suit. People are gonna stare.

Ignoring all of them, I cross the room. Vaguely aware that Silver is practically jogging along behind me, I head for the hallway that houses the bathrooms. Stopping in front of the closed door, I can hear my mother screeching?—

---