Don't you dare walk away from me! Wait!
He didn't wait, which was almost a relief, since she had no idea what to say next.
Riley called over his shoulder, Leave your contact information with your dad so my lawyer can find you.
Kat's arms collapsed at her sides. She went numb for an instant, just before the anger rushed in, hot and bitter and spreading its familiar vigor through her mind. She could not allow Riley to turn his back on her today, just like he'd done when she was sixteen. Twenty years ago, in the span of a single afternoon, she learned she was pregnant, got tossed out of school, kicked to the curb by her boyfriend, and sent away by her parents. Every minute since had been tough as hell, but she'd clawed and fought and survived so that one day/today/she could blow into town and get satisfaction. She deserved it. Riley Bohland owed it to her. Her parents owed it to her. The whole stinking, stupid, nothing town of Persuasion, West Virginia, owed it to her! /And this is all I get?/ Nola returned to her side and patted her shoulder. I think he really dug your outfit, she said.
Madeline Bowman may have put on a few pounds since tenth grade, but Kat decided she looked a hundred times better without the freakishly big high school hair she once had. Madeline chatted away while escorting her two guests to their rooms at the Cherry Hill B and B, which, she wanted them to know, had been under her proprietorship for the last six years.
Madeline was so pleasant that she even told Kat not to worry about the clumps of mud she was depositing on the polished oak staircase.
I almost died when you walked in the front door, Kat! Oh my God! I had no idea that was you making the reservations on the phone! I suppose you're using your married name these days? Madeline unlocked the door to Nola's room, got her settled in first, then escorted Kat down the hall to her suite. She lowered her voice to a whisper. I have to admit that I'm just /dying/ to know what happened to you! We always expected to see Kat Cavanaugh's face on a milk carton, or on /America's Most Wanted/.
But obviously She scanned the splattered velvet of Kat's pencil skirt.
You were off to the big city, having some sort of amazing life that no one back here knew a thing about! You were always such a brain in school. I bet you went to Harvard and made a million dollars or something! She opened the door. I'm sure this isn't as glamorous as you're used to, but it's the nicest accommodations in town, by far. It's our honeymoon suite!
Kat let Madeline's entire hyperactive soliloquy go without comment, including the obvious question of who in their right mind would want to honeymoon in Persuasion. She looked around the room. A cozy sitting area was done in a mix of overstuffed modern pieces and Victorian tables, all arranged around an ornately carved mahogany fireplace, which Madeline was quick to point out had been upgraded to gas. Next, Madeline demonstrated the convenience of the small kitchenette with its coffeemaker, refrigerator/freezer, and microwave. The bedroom was next on the tour, and Madeline opened a set of double doors to reveal an antique four-poster bed so high off the ground that it required its own step stool. Kat made a mental note not to attempt to scale that sucker after a couple glasses of wine. Then came the generous bathroom, with a double sink, a shower, and a deep antique claw-foot tub with brass faucet.
Kat smiled to herself. This room ran just shy of two hundred a night and it didn't even faze her. She'd been stinking rich for only three months, but as it turned out, she was a natural at it. Who knew?
Thank you, Madeline. It's really nice.
So, you're married?
The woman was obviously on a mission. No. I've never been married.
Madeline didn't bother to hide her confusion. So what did you dochange your name?
Something like that.
Is that your Jaguar out in the parking lot?
Yes.
So you live in New York City?
Nope.
But it has New York temporary tags from a dealership in Manhattan. /Good God!/ Yes, it does.
Madeline's brown eyes flashed; then she looked at her feet, embarrassed for her shameless curiosity. Kat knew it had to be mind-blowing for a missing person to suddenly pop up, twenty years after her disappearance, rich and fabulously dressed and driving a brand-new Jag. At least she prayed it was, since that was the whole point.
I can't wait to relax in this fabulous bathtub, Madeline. Is there a dry cleaner in town where I might be able to take my clothes?
Madeline perked right up. Oh! Just leave everything outside your door and I'll take care of it. I can even get your boots cleaned, if you'd like.
Kat glanced down at the recently acquired burnt caramel suede designer boots, now coated in sludge the color of dried blood. I'd appreciate that.
We got a lot of rain the last couple days.
So it seems.
Madeline smiled slightly, turned to go, then changed her mind. There's towels in the cabinet. She began shifting her weight from foot to foot and cleared her throat. Look, I'm sorry for being nosy. It's just thatwellit was always a mystery why you and Riley never got together again. I mean, you were so totally in love! Everyone knew it! Your leaving just about killed him. He ditched so much school he flunked out, but I guess that's old news to you. We all figured you'd come back for him one day, and here you are! That's why you're here, right? You've come back for Riley?
Kat wasn't sure she'd heard correctly. Her leaving just about killed /him/? She had trouble seeing that, since Riley had chosen such a sensitive way to break up with her. /Go away, Kat. It's over/. She never got to share the news about the baby.
Kat prepared to answer Madeline. She raised her chin, straightened her back, and reminded herself to tuck away the old hurt. She was an expert at it. Seriously, Madeline. I hardly think it's my fault that Riley Bohland never bothered to finish high school.
Madeline screwed up her face in bewilderment, then exploded with laughter, her eyes sparkling. When she regained her composure, she said, Of course he finished, silly. He just had to repeat that one year.
Well. I'm glad for him. She really was. At least maybe when Riley was too old and stiff for life on the construction crew, he could go to community college, like Kat had, and put his perfectly good brain to use. Riley was always able to coast by on charm alone, but he'd also been blessed with a relentless mind. Even when he was a kid, that mind would spin and twist until it grabbed on to something and made sense of it. Kat had always admired that in him, and she'd been pleased to see the same keen intellect at work in her son.
Well, Riley's son, too.
Madeline stared at Kat, deep in concentration. She jangled the master key ring in her hand. So you were out at the construction site today? Is that how you ruined your beautiful clothes?
Yes, unfortunately.
So you've already tracked him down?
Kat noticed the strangest combination of worry and glee on Madeline's face, and she racked her brain for the specifics of how the tenth-grade food chain had once been structured. Kat herself was just a nerdy tomboy, preferring books and old movies over mascara and mousse. But Madeline Bowman had been a pom-pom princess and the queen of the Sadie Hawkins dance, the kind of girl Kat steered clear of whenever possible.
People change, of course, but Kat figured it was best to keep the details of her visit from her graciously nosy hostess.
Riley and I spoke briefly. The owner of the Sunoco told me he worked out there on Saturdays.
Madeline's eyebrows arched high on her forehead and she continued to stare. Eventually she cleared her throat. Uh, so you haven't even gone back to Virgil's house yet?