The Daddy Gamble Page 11

  As if sensing her turmoil, Rob looked up and smiled. “I think this is going to be a fabulous move for both of you. Do you know what you should do now?”

  She shook her head.

  “Celebrate. How ’bout I take you two lovely ladies to lunch? Romantique is closed on Mondays, so you don’t have any excuse not to go.”

  Jo coughed into her hand. She seemed to struggle to catch her breath. Kate had seen this happen all too often lately, but Jo insisted it was just a touch of bronchitis.

  “I’d love to, son, but you’ve been such a nag about seeing the doctor for this stupid cough, I set up an appointment for today.”

  Rob sat back in surprise. “You’re kidding. I thought I was going to have to hog-tie you to get you into the clinic.”

  Jo crinkled her nose. “So I hate doctors. I’m not alone, you know. But Yetta gave me the name of the lady doctor she sees. So I agreed to give her a try.”

  “That’s great, Mom. I’m really glad,” he said. Then he looked at Kate. “So, are you free for lunch?”

  Surprisingly, she was free for the rest of the day. The three- and four-year-old students at the Dancing Hippo were on a field trip, and Yetta had offered to take Maya, Gemilla and another friend out to dinner for Gemilla’s birthday. Afterward, the girls would enjoy a marathon movie night and sleep in Maya’s room. Kate hadn’t been invited, but that was okay. Maya had been particularly clingy lately and this seemed like a positive change.

  “I have a better idea,” Jo said. She produced her saddlebag-shaped purse and started digging in it. “I’ve got just the thing. And it’s free.”

  Rob grinned. His mother loved a bargain. And she looked better than she had in days. Weeks. Maybe she had been suffering from a lingering cold. Or maybe being part owner of a restaurant was just the shot in the arm she needed to feel good about her life.

  As they waited for Jo to find whatever it was she was looking for, Rob glanced at Kate. Gorgeous. And surprisingly relaxed.

  “Here it is. An overnight spa escape for two. To Mesquite.”

  He shook his head. “Mesquite? Where’s that?”

  “About an hour east of here,” Kate said. Her smile looked indulgent, not put off.

  Jo handed her the trifold flyer. “I bid on this at some fund-raiser they were having at my apartment complex. It has to be used this month. You could both benefit from a massage and a nice dinner, right? You take it.”

  Kate passed him the brochure without comment. Rob studied the glossy photos. Green golf courses. Purplish mountains in the background. Aqua blue swimming pools surrounded by palms. The spa package included two massages, and the choice of either a mud bath or a pedicure. Plus, dinner at the hotel’s restaurant and a night in one of the luxurious suites. “It looks great, Mom, but you should use it.”

  “He’s right, Jo. You could head over there after your appointment. I’d be happy to cover lunch tomorrow.”

  Jo shook her head and stood up. “I’m a partner now. I don’t plan on starting out by going on vacation. Nope. If you don’t use it, that means I wasted my hard-earned money on nothing. Shame. Shame. Now, I have to run to make my appointment. Call me from Mesquite and tell me how the food is.” And she left.

  Kate sat back in her chair looking slightly stunned. “Wow. I had no idea. She’s even pushier than my mother when it comes to matchmaking.”

  She sounded amused, which gave Rob hope. Now was a horrible time to leave the office. But he would. For a chance to be with Kate. Plus, it would give him time to mull over his personnel dilemma.

  “You aren’t by any chance interested in taking her up on the offer, are you?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. Are you?”

  He straightened the papers in the file and locked them in his desk, then stood up. “Yes.”

  She looked around. “Can you do that? Just walk away?”

  No. There would be all kinds of hell to pay, but…“I’m pretty sure I feel a cold coming on.” He pretended to cough. “Mom gave it to me.” He faked a sneeze. “Wouldn’t want to give it to my colleagues or clients, right?”

  He walked around the desk and held out his hand. “They say prevention is the best medicine, so let’s go get healthy.”

  Kate hesitated just a second, then she laughed and stood up. “A massage sounds like heaven. But the mud bath? I don’t know about that.”

  “And I’m sure the restaurant won’t be as good as Romantique,” he said, his heart starting to race.

  She pulled back on his hand before they reached the door. “What about the room? I’m not sure…”

  He shrugged, keeping his tone casual. “If we decide to stay over—for whatever reason, we can get another room. Okay?”

  Her grin returned. “Okay.”

  Chapter 10

  Kate took her time strolling through the lush landscaping of the Casablanca’s pool area. The massive cascading waterfall looked inviting. Maybe she’d go for a swim after her massage.

  No. Wait. After my pedicure.

  She and Rob had argued the pros and cons of mud bath versus pedicure and he’d almost convinced her to try the former. But when they arrived at the hotel and tried to book their appointments, they were told that only one slot at the mud bath was open. Kate generously took the pedicure option and sent him off with an attendant.

  The thought made her smile. She’d already had one of the best days of recent memory. The drive to Mesquite had flown by. She’d learned a lot about Rob—his compassion for the people he was being told to fire, his love of the law and the reason he felt so strongly about teaching kids to swim.

  “My best friend in junior high lost a sibling to an accidental drowning. It was one of those moments in your life when you suddenly realize what death means. It was senseless. Excruciating. I signed up for the Red Cross classes and eventually started teaching water safety courses. For Kyle. And his family.”

  Kate had been touched. And while she wasn’t ready to admit it to him, that story had been the little nudge that put her over the edge. She was well past like and very close to love.

  But she still wasn’t ready to act on her feelings. She’d agreed to check into the single room that went with Jo’s gift certificate because it gave them a place to change clothes and freshen up before dinner. Did that mean she wanted to spend the night with him? No. Well, maybe.

  She looked at her watch. Ten minutes until her appointment. Impulsively, she plopped down in a chaise lounge and pulled out her phone to call Grace.

  “A mud bath?” her sister exclaimed after being told about Kate and Rob’s spur-of-the-moment trip. “Doesn’t that require a person to sit still? In a tub of mud? That doesn’t sound like Rob. And you! A massage and a pedicure? Are you on drugs?”

  “Maybe I’m turning over a new leaf. From now on, I’m going to be a calmer, more relaxed Kate.”

  After Grace stopped giggling, she said, “Okay. ’Fess up. This radical change of attitude can only mean one thing—you’re in love.”

  Kate knew that lying to Grace was usually futile.

  “Am I crazy? The timing couldn’t be worse. Ian is making noise about us getting back—”

  Grace let out a howl. “No way. Katherine Parlier, if you even hint about hooking up with Ian again, I’m getting on the next plane to Vegas to knock some sense into you.”

  “Don’t worry,” Kate said firmly. “I only mentioned that because Ian has made it clear he isn’t going away anytime soon. Who wants to start a relationship with that kind of craziness hanging over your head?”

  “Remember how Dad used to take us hiking in Red Rocks when we had something big on our minds?” Grace asked.

  “The only time Dad and I spent together was at a craps table.”

  “Oh. Well, then that’s where you should go. Shoot a little craps tonight and see if Dad shows up. He always had Ian’s number. Maybe he’ll help you get some perspective on what you should do. But if you want my advice, go for it. Rob seems like a great guy.”


  “So did Ian when I first married him.”

  Grace let out a little gasp. “You realize, don’t you, that this plays right into Mom’s prediction for you?”

  Kate stood up. “No. Stop right there. Mom endorsed Ian, remember? She urged me to marry him. That just proves that Mom and I have never been on the same wavelength.”

  Kate and Grace had had this conversation before. “If a person can predict the future, shouldn’t that person do everything in her power to help the people she loves avoid heartbreak?”

  “Oh, sis, that’s not how this fortune-telling thing works. I used to feel the same way. I resented Mom for not giving us any warning about Dad’s stroke, but now that I’ve experienced a bit of…well, second sight, I can understand how Mom might have got it wrong. You should talk to her, Kate. Tell her how you feel.”

  Kate quickly ended the conversation, citing her need to make her massage appointment. Her sister was a natural-born peacemaker, and Grace was passionate about their Romani heritage. Kate wasn’t.

  Maybe I’m a natural-born skeptic.

  As she walked past the in-ground jetted spa with its very own miniature waterfall, Kate thought about the talk she and her mother had had just before Kate left home for the Culinary Institute of America.

  “This is the right choice for me, isn’t it, Mom?” Kate had asked. Her sisters had chosen conventional colleges to attend. Kate had always gotten passing grades in school, but she didn’t love it. What she loved was cooking.

  “I’ve already told you your prophecy, dear, but that involves what I guess you’d call the big picture. You’re asking about this specific path you’re taking, right?”

  Kate had nodded, a little embarrassed to admit her qualms—especially since she felt ambivalent about her mother’s predictions. One part of her believed that chance and circumstance played a huge part in what choices were available to a person. Another part wanted to believe there was a master plan that mapped out her future. But she’d always been disappointed in her prophecy. It was so…bland.

  “You can’t escape your destiny—nor avoid the past, when the two intersect,” her mother had told her. What did that mean to a young woman poised to conquer the culinary world? Destiny and the past? The words were just rhetoric to a girl starting out on her own path.

  “I wish I could tell you that going to cooking school will bring you fame, fortune and the man of your dreams, but I can’t,” her mother had said bluntly.

  “Why not? Dad says you can see the future. You have the gift. He doesn’t do anything without talking to you first.”

  Her mother had frowned then. “I wish that were true,” she’d murmured in a tone that had made Kate realize there was much about her parents’ relationship that she didn’t know.

  “What I see are glimmers. Possibilities, for sure. Probabilities? Maybe. But I don’t need a crystal ball to know that you will make a wonderful life for yourself, Katherine. You’re strong, ambitious and you’ve always achieved any goal you set for yourself. This road you’ve chosen won’t be easy, but it’s the right path for you. I’m sure of that.”

  The right path.

  She paused at the intersection of sidewalks. To her right was a shortcut to her room. Rob was probably done with his mud bath by now. She could go up to their suite and start something her libido would vote for, hands down. Or she could get a massage.

  She tossed up her hands and gave a low chuckle. Maybe an hour of pure relaxation would add clarity to her jumbled emotions. She dashed the last few steps to the building that housed the spa. “I’m here for my massage,” she said, opening the door.

  Rob walked to his room—the room he and Kate had checked into two hours earlier. He felt slightly woozy. His senses tingled—as if he’d sloughed off a layer of body armor in the gooey heated mud. The massage that had followed was both soothing and revitalizing. He felt alive, ready to embrace life—if he could find his footing.

  And Kate.

  “Kate?” he called, opening the door.

  They’d left their quickly packed overnight bags open on the bed after hanging up the things they planned to wear to dinner. Kate’s cosmetic bag was sitting on the dresser. He could smell her presence, even though his mind said that wasn’t possible.

  He glanced at the clock and realized she was still getting her massage. Restless, he strolled to the window to see if he could spot the golf course he’d overheard the concierge talking about. The window faced southwest. The highway was visible, as were the mountains and a green swath that marked the course of some river.

  Kate had pointed out several spots of interest on their drive, including Valley of Fire State Park. Seen through her eyes, Rob was beginning to appreciate the stark, haunting beauty of the desert.

  But it’s not the ocean. It wasn’t home. And even if he bought a house—like the one he and Kate had toured—that didn’t mean he was ever going to feel settled here. Right?

  Pacing to the bed, he sat down and picked up the remote. His fingers itched. The list-making part of his brain was already starting to click and fidget. If he had a legal pad in front of him, Rob knew he’d have two columns started: Vegas and SF.

  He could picture the lopsided nature of the list. There was no comparison between the two cities. But Vegas had something San Francisco didn’t—Kate.

  Kate.

  How had she managed to insinuate herself so completely into his conscious and unconscious thought? He’d catch himself thinking about her a dozen or more times a day. He’d wonder how Maya was doing in preschool. If she’d met with her father again. If she was confused and anxious. If her mother got home safely after work. What if the car broke down again? This time on a dark street at two o’clock in the morning?

  He sprang out of bed and started to pace. “What is wrong with me?”

  The answer was there. A shimmering, undeniable revelation that had crystallized in his mind while he was flat on his face on the massage table. He was in love with Kate. And Maya, too. But what to do about the fact wasn’t simple.

  He paused at the closet. A dress, a robe and a short-sleeve blouse hung at eye level. Two pair of shoes—slip-on deck shoes and sling-back pumps—rested neatly on the floor.

  The shoulder of the dress had slipped partway off the hanger so he straightened it. The fabric was silky. In the dark closet it looked black but he’d seen Kate take it out of her suitcase and knew it was a rich, deep plum color. He couldn’t wait to see her in it. He wanted more than anything to be able to help take it off her. To spend the night wrapped in each others’ arms making hot, passionate love.

  He’d barely managed to push the thought from his mind when he heard a sound at the outer door. The instant he saw her he recognized the bemused, slightly foggy look on her face. Pure and utter relaxation.

  He backed up to give her space. “You enjoyed your massage. I can tell.”

  She smiled and nodded. “It was heavenly. I think I had an out-of-body experience and when I came back, I was in somebody else’s body. Someone with pink toenails. Look.” She sat down on the end of the bed and lifted one leg so Rob could see her pretty, shiny toes. “Nice, huh?”

  She reminded him so much of Maya at that moment, he couldn’t help but laugh.

  She looked up. Her eyes were such a deep, dark brown he could almost taste melted chocolate. “How was the mud bath experience? Gritty?” she asked.

  “Cleansing. You sink into hot mud, which is actually rather heavy when it’s caked on your chest, and then you have a mineral bath and a sweat and a shower. It was great.”

  “You do look pretty relaxed. Maybe we should call Jo and tell her this was a brilliant idea.”

  “Maybe,” Rob said, stepping closer to where she was sitting. Kate, whose hair was twisted up off her shoulders in a way he’d never seen her wear it before, looked up. “Or we could do what our mothers probably had in mind from the moment we met.”

  Her eyes sparked with a mischievous glint. “And what would that be? Sex? I d
on’t think so. Maybe Jo is different, but I guarantee you Yetta has never once said, ‘Run off to Mesquite and make mad passionate love with a man you’re not married to.’”

  This kind of frankness from a woman who rarely shared her most private thoughts left him struggling to keep up. “But—”

  She looked at him expectantly. When nothing came out of his mouth, she smiled and said, “You’re usually more articulate.”

  “And you’re usually not this open.”

  “Ah…well, that’s because you’ve never been around me after a massage and pedicure. You haven’t complimented me on my toes. Aren’t they pretty?”

  She placed her foot solidly against his belly, stopping him from getting any closer. “The girl tried to talk me into a French nail. I said, ‘Nope.’ Hot pink or nothing.”

  His gaze went from her toes to her face. “They’re dazzling. You’re dazzling.”

  She flopped back, her gaze fixed on the ceiling. “No. I just wanted a change. I’m tired of being mad all the time. While I was facedown on the table, I decided the only way to be happy again is if I forgive Ian.” She paused, then went on. “We both made mistakes, and poor Maya got caught in the middle.”

  Rob pulled over the desk chair and scooted close enough to see her face. “Divorces are never pleasant. So much blame and finger-pointing. Most people don’t like admitting they shared some of the fault.”

  “During my massage, I was thinking about my dad. His first stroke came as such a shock to everyone—he was our rock—we all felt so vulnerable. My family needed me. Maya was still nursing. Grace and I were negotiating the lease on our building.” She tossed her hands up. “I think by not paying enough attention to my husband and our marriage, I gave Ian just enough rope to hang himself.”

  When Rob failed to say anything, Kate pushed up onto her elbows to look at him. The expression on his face made her add, “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying the embezzlement was my fault. Ian blew it. He gambled and lost. And it’s not like he didn’t know the risk he was taking. I made it very clear the importance I put on trust when he asked me to marry him.”