Authors: Kelly Favor
Nicole was still tired much of the time, and after going to the doctor’s for some blood work, it appeared that she was also slightly anemic now. The doctor stressed that Nicole still had to get plenty of rest and maintain a good diet, take the supplements they were providing her, and keep on top of her blood pressure.
Kallie was able to keep her mind focused on doing a good job around the house and supporting Nicole and Red. When she got a text one afternoon from Hunter that told her to come to his house at 7:15 pm, she immediately deleted it.
And then she went and deleted his number from her cellphone entirely.
Maybe I’ll just go ahead and change my number too, she thought. But she couldn’t quite bring herself to take that step. Kallie reasoned that is was simply because it would be too impractical and annoying to change her number and then inform everyone.
But deep down, she sensed that perhaps she wasn’t ready to sever all possibility of communication with Hunter.
Apparently whatever she’d chosen to do in regards to her number didn’t matter, however, because later that same day, he showed up at the house.
Kallie was actually taking a slow walk through the grounds with Nicole when she saw a car driving up the private road. And she recognized it instantly.
“Shit, he’s here!” she cried.
“Who?” Nicole asked, startled. She put a hand to her chest.
“Hunter.” She ran a hand through her hair. “I’m sorry if I scared you.”
“I can just have Red send him away.”
“Maybe he’s just here to finish up their interview.”
“Kallie, I don’t think so,” Nicole told her. “You don’t have to go back to the house. We can just keep walking.”
“I’m okay. I feel strong.” Kallie started back.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m one hundred percent sure.”
Nicole fell into step beside her, and even though Kallie’s heart was beating fast, she kept composed.
Hunter and Red were talking and laughing outside when Kallie and Nicole arrived.
And then Hunter saw Kallie and his smile faded. “Hey, Kallie.”
“Hi.”
Red glanced from Hunter to Kallie, and then to Nicole. “Should we get some food on the table?” he asked. “We weren’t expecting a guest, but that’s not a problem.”
Nicole shook her head. “I think we should just go inside.”
Hunter smiled. “If I could have a moment with Kallie, that would be great.”
Red’s eyes narrowed. “Is everything okay? Kallie, you okay?”
Kallie nodded, took a deep breath. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll be in soon.”
“Let us know if you need us.” He gave Hunter a mistrusting look, and it made Kallie smile a little, because it reminded her of something her brother Sean might do if he’d been here.
Once Nicole and Red had gone inside, Hunter’s shoulders relaxed a little and he turned his attention completely to her. “We need to talk,” he said.
“I don’t think we have much to say,” she replied, not able to look at him directly.
He was dressed in his typical outfit—blue jeans, a casual t-shirt that showed off his amazing body. His hair was styled and he was clean-shaven. And he was staring at her as if he wanted to throw her down in the driveway and strip her naked, take her right there and not care who saw him do it.
“I think we have plenty to discuss,” he told her. “Why are you ignoring my phone calls and texts?”
She held up a finger. “One phone call and one text.”
“Regardless, you ignored them both.”
“Hunter, what do you want from me?” She wiped the hair from her eyes and glanced at him.
He looked back at her. “You know what I want.” His eyes implied even more than his words.
Kallie hated that she still wanted him physically, despite his secrets and his refusal to let her into his life. But a physical need could be resisted, just like quitting smoking. Not that she’d ever quit smoking—but people did.
And she knew she could quit Hunter after what she’d seen at his house and they way he’d treated her.
“I can’t do this anymore.”
“You can. And you will.” His voice was low and commanding.
Her heart sped up. That was the voice he used in the bedroom. The same voice he’d used when commanding her to strip, or to hold still down in the basement as he’d tied her to one of his machines.
“I could do it, you’re right,” she told him. Finally she met his steady gaze. “But I don’t want to anymore.”
He flinched a little, as if her words had actually stung him—wounded him physically. “Kallie, this is unacceptable. We have a contract—“
“I don’t care.”
Now it was as if she’d slapped him. His cheeks were red, and she’d never seen Hunter with so much color in his cheeks. His eyes were wide with disbelief. “You don’t care? What about our agreement? What about the time we’ve spent together?”
She had to laugh at that. “Don’t be silly.”
His eyes hardened and his jaw set. “I don’t find it silly at all. In fact, I’m disgusted that you’d treat it all so casually. I put my trust in you.”
“No you didn’t, Hunter. You refused to trust me with anything. Not even the slightest detail. And I’m sick of it.”
“When we started this thing, I explained to you how it worked. And you agreed.
You gave your world, Kallie. That should count for something.”
“Who is she?” Kallie asked, her voice rising for the first time.
“What are you talking about?”
“You know who I’m talking about. Who did I see in your house when I came the other day?”
Hunter’s mouth closed. He didn’t say anything for a long moment.
“Exactly,” Kallie laughed. “Go home, Hunter.” She turned to go inside.
“Wait.”
His voice stopped her. She didn’t look at him though. “What?”
“I understand that you’re upset about what happened the other day. And I’m sorry for the way I handled it.”
“Who is she? It’s a simple question.”
“She’s someone who’s staying with me for awhile. She’s a friend.”
Kallie looked at him. “A friend you have sex with?”
He shook his head no. “We’re not romantically involved.”
“So who is she?”
“I can’t discuss it further. It’s private—it’s between her and me.”
Kallie laughed again. “So that’s all I get? That’s your big explanation?”
He put his hands on his hips. “You push and push. Somehow what we agreed to isn’t enough.”
“No, it’s not enough. I want someone who enjoys having me in his life. I want someone who treats me with respect, as an equal partner. I don’t want to have to beg for your table scraps anymore, Hunter. I’m done.”
She started to walk away and he moved to grab her arm. “Don’t go, Kallie.”
She spun and glared at him. “You said all I need to do is make a verbal declaration, right?”
That seemed to stop him. “That’s right,” he said softly.
“Well here it is, then. I’m dissolving this agreement,” she told him. “I declare the contract between us null and void, and I wish to be left alone. Please go away, and don’t ever call me or come to my house again. Is that clear enough for you?”
He nodded. His face had lost its color and was now ashen, almost gray. “Yes.
Yes, it is,” he mumbled. And then he walked briskly to his car, got inside and drove off.
As he sped away, Kallie watched him go and it was as though she was seeing a part of herself fleeing. An emptiness opened up inside, deep in the pit of her stomach, and it seemed endless. She held her stomach, wanting to be sick, wanting to scream and cry, but there was nothing to do now.
So she didn’t do anything but walk back inside and pretend that nothing had happened.
***
Baby Riley was finally home.
As upset as Red and Nicole had been about the incident with the DVD that Erica Jameson had sent, they were just as elated now that their daughter was able to leave the hospital.
Kallie found her own eyes filling with tears as she watched Nicole holding Riley and walking through the house, telling her that she was home. “You’re going to love it here, Riley. This is home. Do you want to go up and see your room, honey?”
Red walked alongside Nicole as she took the baby up to the nursery.
Kallie followed behind them, watching as Nicole pointed out all of the little touches that Red had made to the room for his girl. “Can I hold her?” Red asked, after a bit.
“Of course you can,” Nicole said. “Daddy wants to hold you now, sweetie,”
Nicole cooed, as Riley squealed and gurgled happily.
Red took the baby in his arms and Kallie was in awe of how naturally he was holding her. Riley seemed to instantly settle into a blissful state, and Nicole and Red exchanged grins over her.
“I think she’s tired,” Red whispered.
“She needs to be put down for a nap in her basinet,” Nicole said.
Red nodded, his face still beaming. He leaned forward, making sure not to jostle the baby, and kissed Nicole on the lips.
Nicole kissed him back. “I love you so much,” she said, staring into his eyes.
Kallie felt a small flutter of jealousy but then it was gone as quickly as it came.
They walked out of the nursery and toward the master bedroom. Kallie told Nicole that she’d see her downstairs, but to let her know if they needed any help at all.
Once downstairs, she went and began reorganizing the fridge. It wouldn’t take very long, as they’d been keeping everything very neat since they knew the baby was coming home.
Rustling through the shelves, she tried to make everything straight, moved some of the smaller items down to the shelves where they fit better.
I’m just doing busywork, she thought, as she shifted some Greek yogurt down to the bottom shelf on the right. This isn’t even necessary—the fridge is already organized!
Kallie felt restless. There simply wasn’t enough to do around the place lately.
Maybe now that Riley was finally here, she’d have more work to do. It was hard, because they’d made her feel so welcome in the house, but Nicole still tried to do most everything herself.
Sometimes Kallie wondered if they truly needed a nanny—especially a live-in nanny, when both Red and Nicole wanted to be involved in every moment of Riley’s life.
It was wonderful, but it made Kallie feel sort of useless in the scheme of things.
If she didn’t stay busy, at times she would be overwhelmed with loneliness and have moments where she just wanted to go home to Ohio.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
Nicole’s voice jarred Kallie from her reverie. She’d been standing there with the refrigerator door open, staring into space.
“Oh, sorry.” Kallie shut the door to the refrigerator and moved away from it casually, as if she hadn’t just been mulling over her status in the house. “So, Riley’s asleep?”
“Yeah,” Nicole nodded. “Red’s sitting up there with her, doing some paperwork.”
“She’s going to be such a daddy’s girl,” Kallie laughed.
Nicole agreed. “I swear, she already makes so many expressions that remind me of him.”
Kallie smiled, but her heart wasn’t completely in it. Nicole seemed to sense that something was amiss.
“Everything okay, Kallie?”
“Why, am I doing something weird?”
Nicole shook her head but her expression was puzzled. “You’re not doing anything weird, but lately I’ve just gotten this feeling…I don’t know. I want to make sure you’re happy here.”
Kallie forced a smile. “Of course, Nicole. You guys have been so amazing to me.” Why not just tell her the truth? Kallie wondered. But she didn’t want to have that kind of conversation with Nicole when she was celebrating Riley’s homecoming.
“Maybe you should take the afternoon and evening off, Kallie.”
“No, please, I want to help out.”
Nicole laughed. “You work too hard. Besides, Red and I are both home and we’re going to be doing everything for Riley right now. You’ll be bored stiff. Why don’t you go do something fun?”
Kallie didn’t want to admit that she had absolutely nothing to do, so she just agreed, as if it were a wonderful favor Nicole was doing for her, even though she was actually dreading the void she now had to fill.
“Thanks, Nicole,” she said, grinning like this was the best news she’d heard all day. “I really appreciate it.”
What am I supposed to do with all this time off? She thought, and a ripple of fear went through her body.
“You can take the car if you want,” Nicole told her.
And then, like a flash, Kallie had an idea. She’d been meaning to return the necklace that Hunter had given her as a symbol of their relationship. After all, it might be expensive and she certainly didn’t need the thing anymore. Besides, she hated having it so close by all the time.
It was currently sitting in the top dresser drawer, and sometimes at night she thought about putting it on again, feeling the weight of it against her chest.
It was time to give the necklace back. And with all this time to kill, she figured it might do her good to drive the necklace to the castle and leave it in his mailbox.
What if he sees you coming? He has a view of the entire hillside.
She told herself that in all likelihood, Hunter wasn’t even home right now. He was a busy guy with film projects and all kinds of other stuff. He could be working in his office, writing his book.
Or he could be in his basement with that woman.
Whatever the case, it wasn’t likely he’d happen to be watching the road to his house, and so she’d have plenty of time to simply stop and drop the necklace in his mailbox.
It would be cathartic. Maybe it would knock her out of this funk she seemed to be in the last few days.
Decided on her course of action, Kallie experienced a surge of energy and optimism. She went to her bedroom and grabbed the necklace from her dresser. Just holding it in her hand—the smoothness and coolness of it against her skin—was somehow comforting.
The thought of leaving it at Hunter’s house was momentarily disconcerting. She realized that she had some kind of attachment to the necklace still.
That’s why I need to do this now. I need to make a statement, get closure, and
move on.
Kallie left the house a few minutes later, not bothering to do her hair or makeup.