Wait for Me

Chapter Six

Midmorning sunlight glinted off the bay, the tall spires of the Golden Gate Bridge rising against a dense, green backdrop of trees and hills. Salt and the ripe stench of fish wafted on the air as Kate sat on a park bench, digging her fingers into the seat. Around her, seagulls swooped, their cries echoing through her mind, jangling her already overstressed nerves.

What she needed was a good kick in the pants to get off her duff and get back to work finding out what had happened to her. What she was doing was waiting for Ryan Harrison.

After three days of biting her fingernails to the quick, languishing over news from Simone about the blood test results, she’d finally given in and called him. She didn’t know why she felt compelled to talk with him, and couldn’t explain why his reaction to her affected her so much. All she knew for sure was that guilt had consumed her every minute of every day since their meeting. And if she didn’t do something to fix it, it was going to eat away at her and prevent her from finding the answers she desperately needed.

She knew what it was like to lose someone you loved. And because of that, she tried to put herself in Ryan’s position, to imagine what she’d do if Jake suddenly returned from the grave.

Her fingers dug deeper into the seat as anger coursed through her. The first thing she’d do is handcuff him to a chair until she got the answers she was looking for. Then she’d sandblast him for putting her through this nightmare.

On a deep breath, she forcibly released her grip and ran her hands over her hair. Jake wasn’t going to rise from the dead. And she was stuck without a past.

She spotted Ryan walking along the waterfront path before he spotted her. That odd sense of déjà vu she’d felt in the street outside his house rushed through her as she watched him. His hands were tucked in the front pockets of his slacks, and he wore dark sunglasses over his eyes, but she didn’t miss the scowl on his face. Or the rigid shoulders and stiff back that screamed of his unease at the current situation.

He stopped a few feet away. Clenched his jaw. When she stood to meet him, her stomach pitched, a reaction she wasn’t prepared for.

“Thanks for coming,” she managed.

“I’m not entirely sure why I did.” There was an icy tone to his voice she didn’t like. Did he use it in his business dealings to intimidate and influence? If so, it was effective.

“I appreciate it, all the same.” She shifted her weight, not sure what she wanted to say now that he was standing in front of her. An awkward silence spread between them like a vast ocean.

“I doubt you know anything yet, so why this little meeting?” he asked.

For some reason, she wanted to reach out and bridge the gap between them. To comfort him. Which was an unexpected reaction. “No, I don’t. Simone said it would take probably a week for the test results. Which, by the way, I wanted to thank you for agreeing to.”

He didn’t respond, just rocked back on his heels and watched her. A whiff of his scent drifted on the air, and a shiver of awareness swept over her when she drew it in, that musky spice oddly familiar.

Not familiarity, she told herself. Awareness. He was an attractive and powerful man, and underneath it all, she was still a woman. Even before any of this had happened, she’d thought he was handsome. The tabloids and magazines, though, didn’t do him justice. His nose was straight, his jaw square and clean shaven, his features chiseled and so very masculine. And his mouth…

Her gaze traveled to his lips. Full. Smooth. Tempting. She wondered what it would feel like to brush her thumb across that bottom lip, to trace the faint scar down the right side of his chin. The man had a sensual mouth that at one time she’d probably kissed and tasted and claimed as her own.

Whoa.

Where the heck had that come from? She forced her gaze away from that tantalizing mouth and back up to his eyes—or his sunglasses, to be more precise.

And because she couldn’t see those eyes, she was having an increasingly difficult time reading him. It only added to her unease.

“Okay, look,” she said, straightening her back, putting the hormonal thoughts out of her mind. “I just wanted to apologize for all of this. I know you’re not very happy with me. And I want you to know that I’m really sorry. I just want to know the truth. You have no idea what this is like for me.”

“For you?” His blond brow raised behind dark glasses. “I don’t know what this is like for you? Try being in my place for ten seconds.”

A sigh escaped her lips. “I have. I know this isn’t easy for you, for any of you. I didn’t intentionally wake up one morning and say, ‘Hey, I think I’ll find Ryan Harrison and screw up his life.’ I’m not like that.”

“Oh really? Because that’s just what you did.” He started to walk away, stopped, and turned back to her. “Do you have any idea how many freaks are out there trying to mess up my life? My personal life is my business, no one else’s. Dammit! If the press gets one whiff of you, they’re going to gather like flies on shit. Did you even stop to think about the consequences, even for a minute? My daughter is going to get sucked into this. The press will have a field day with her, and I’ve spent the last five years making sure she’s been shielded from them. It would be one thing if you came looking for us because you cared, but just to show up on our doorstep because you’re curious? It’s crap!”

There was more anger in him than she’d realized. She tried to keep her voice even and calm. “It’s not like that.”

“It is like that. We mean nothing to you. I can read it on your face. I saw it the day you stood in front of my house. You look at us and see nothing. And we look at you and see everything. And it doesn’t matter one damn bit.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair, irritation radiating from his strong, muscular body.

Kate dropped to the bench, all the fight suddenly gone. “It does matter. If it didn’t, I wouldn’t be here. It’s not just about knowing. It’s more than that. If I turn out to be Annie Harrison, then that means Julia is my daughter. And I can’t turn away from that. I never would have left my daughter on purpose. And I wouldn’t want her growing up thinking I did. If I didn’t do something to set this right, I’d never be able to live with myself.”

She swallowed hard at the implications of what she’d just said. If she turned out to be Annie Harrison, and Julia really was her daughter, then there was a strong chance Reed was Ryan’s son. Not Jake’s as she’d been led to believe. Reed looked so much like Ryan—even she could see that—was she fooling herself thinking she wasn’t Annie Harrison?

She forced back the fear. No matter what, she had to know. One way or the other, she had to know the truth.

She glanced up, wished desperately that he’d take off those damn glasses. “I don’t want to screw things up for Julia. I don’t, please believe that. And I wouldn’t want to put her in harm’s way. But…but if she’s my daughter then I have to know.”

For a minute, she was sure he was going to turn and walk away, but then he eased onto the bench next to her, slid off his sunglasses, and rested his head in his hands. A man defeated. One who was hurting, just like her. “Don’t you think I’ve thought of that? Christ, that’s all I’ve thought about for the past three days. Julia’s my whole world. And she’s pissed about this. She doesn’t understand it. She’s a very grown-up nine-year-old, but she doesn’t understand any of this. I don’t, either, for that matter.”

“That makes three of us.”

He looked out over the water. “I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out how this could even be possible. What happened to you between the time I dropped you off at the airport and that plane took off without you on it? They said you were on that flight. I identified your purse and laptop from the wreckage afterwards. Whatever happened to you had to have occurred in the time-span of less than an hour. For the life of me, I can’t figure it out.”

“If I knew the answer to that question, this wouldn’t be so hard to take.”

He shook his head, looked down. “No. Nothing could make this easier.”

His words settled between them, his heartache over the situation hanging in the air. When he finally looked over at her she saw honesty and truth in those brilliant blue eyes. And a jolt ran through her, one she wasn’t prepared for.

“If I had known you weren’t on that plane, I swear to God I would have been looking for you.”

The determination in his voice shook her right to her core. Those fierce, unwavering eyes seemed to be looking all the way into her soul, and no matter what she did, she couldn’t break away from his gaze. It drew her, tugged at something that felt like it was awakening inside her. “I believe you,” she whispered.

He closed his eyes, then looked back over the water, breaking the spell pulling her under. “So, what do we do now?”

“I…I don’t know. Wait, I guess.”

“We already know the answer. I know it. You know it too, or else you wouldn’t be sitting here with me right now.”

A lump clogged in her throat, the realization hitting her that he was right. She shook her head. “I need to know for sure. Julia’s not going to want to have anything to do with me until we can prove it one way or the other.”

“She’s probably not going to want to have anything to do with you regardless of the outcome. She’s been through hell and back.”

A dull ache settled in her chest. She didn’t want that. She only wanted to make things better. For all of them. “I don’t want to hurt her, or you.”

“No matter what you do, it’s going to hurt us.” He stood and slipped his sunglasses back on. The glint of gold caught her attention as he moved, and for the first time, she noticed the ring on his left hand.

“We’ll deal with it when we know for sure.” His voice was no longer soft but hard and cold. “Until then, don’t try to go see her. She needs time to get used to this whole thing. Your hanging around would just confuse her more.”

Kate nodded, unable to make sense of the changes that came over him. She’d never experienced anything like it. One moment his voice was tugging on her heartstrings, and the next it was slicing through her, straight to the bone, sending chills up and down her spine. “Okay. I can understand that. Are you going to be okay?”

“Me? Yeah, I’m pretty much used to hell. I’ll get by.”

She watched as he walked away. But she didn’t feel any better than she had before. If anything, she felt worse. Talking with him had only proved he’d loved his wife a great deal more than she’d anticipated.

No file found.

Kate glared at the computer screen, the blinking cursor only accentuating the tension headache behind her eyes. Waves crashed outside on the beach. A gray drizzle slapped at the second-floor window outside her home office.

She should be keying in edits on an article that was supposed to be finished two days ago. Instead, she was running another search on Ryan Harrison.

So far, she’d found pictures of him cozied up to a black-haired vixen at some charity function. Another hit showed him with a blonde on his arm at a baseball game. And the National Star had a whole file of pictures of him with that voluptuous, redheaded model.

The man obviously got around.

“Mama?”

“Hmm?”

Why did she care? Just because he may have been her husband? That was stupid. She’d been married to Jake, after all. It wasn’t like she had a reason to be jealous.

But what did surprise her was that from all her research, his life had apparently changed after his wife had died. Before, he’d been vice president of a small pharmaceutical company. After, he’d branched out on his own, expanded, and made a killing in the field. Was it just a stronger work ethic since becoming single? Or had he used his wife’s life insurance money to expand his company?

Either way, he’d benefited immensely from Annie Harrison’s death.

Kate typed in AmCorp Pharmaceuticals and came up with their home page. She scanned the technical information. Mostly cancer drugs. Specialized cancer drugs that often were pushed through the FDA because of need and a promise of significant benefit.

“Mama,” Reed said from her feet where he lay on his belly on the floor next to her, playing with his Power Rangers, “I asked you something.”

She tore her eyes from the computer. “What, baby?”

“Where do you go when you die?”

Her fingers paused on the keyboard. Reed hadn’t once asked about death in the weeks since Jake’s passing. “To heaven.”

He rammed a red motorcycle into a black one, his gaze intent on the destruction he was causing. “You don’t come back?”

Oh, man. Of all the topics to bring up, he had to go for this one. Easing off her chair, she settled onto the rug next to him. “Who said you come back?”

“Michael at preschool says when starfish die, they come back to life.”

A smile tugged at her mouth. “Starfish can reproduce by something called regeneration. When an arm is cut off, a whole new starfish can grow out of it. It doesn’t mean they die, though, and then come back to life. Once a starfish dies, it’s gone for good.”

His sapphire eyes lifted to meet hers. Eyes, she realized, that were just like the eyes she’d seen on that computer screen. “To starfish heaven?”

A laugh escaped her lips. “Yeah, baby. To starfish heaven.”

He went back to his toys. “But you died and came back.”

Kate drew in a breath. How did he know that? Had Jake told him? “That was different. Reed, look at me.” His gaze lifted. So innocent and adorable. Her only link to her past life. The only thing she really had left. “Mommy’s heart stopped because of an…accident. The doctors started it again. It’s different from someone dying. When you die, you don’t come back.”

“Not ever?” Tears swam in his eyes.

An ache filled Kate’s chest. She knew he was thinking of Jake. A four-year-old shouldn’t be asking questions about death and dying. He shouldn’t have to go through losing a parent. But here he was, growing up much too fast, having to deal with things no preschooler should have to face.

She rubbed a hand across her chest. Surprisingly, the pain wasn’t for Jake like she expected. This time, it was for a family she didn’t know. For a man and his daughter who’d lost someone they loved deeper than she’d expected. All her research didn’t change that fact. She’d seen the heartache on their faces. Was Julia asking these questions? Wondering why her mother was back from the dead and what it all meant in the long run?

Shouldn’t Kate be the one answering them for her, trying to set some of this right?

“Mama?”

Reed’s voice drew her attention. Smiling, she ran a hand over his blond hair. If the tests came back positive, she’d have to tell Ryan about him. Dread coursed through her at the thought. What would he say when he found out he’d missed out on four years of his son’s life? That Reed thought of another man as his father? It would only make things worse.

She didn’t have answers to the questions swirling in her mind. And at the moment, she didn’t want to think of them. She just wanted to focus on her sweet son’s face and remember why she was here, why she was digging for information that she may never find.

“Yes, baby?”

“I love you.”

Her face softened, and she drew him into her arms and onto her lap. “I love you, sweetheart. More than you will ever know.”

Chapter Seven

“See that?” Mitch pointed across the ravine to a fan-shaped deposit of sediments marking a dried riverbed. “It’s an alluvial fan.”

“What causes that?” Julia asked with sincere interest.

Ryan fought the urge to roll his eyes. He’d taken the day off, unable to concentrate on much of anything besides the turmoil inside him, and headed up to the mountains at Mitch’s insistence. How the hell he’d let Mitch talk him into this, he didn’t know.

“Generally, a stream drags the sediments with it, depositing them at the bottom,” Mitch explained. “Sometimes a landslide can do it.”

“Give it a rest, Mathews.” Ryan used the back of his forearm to wipe the sweat from his brow.

“The kid likes it,” Mitch said, grinning at Julia.

“Does she?”

Julia smiled his way. “The kid does.”

“I don’t know what the hell’s in the Mathews’s gene pool, but whatever it is got passed down to her.” Ryan slapped a mosquito that landed on his arm. “Son of a bitch, I’m getting eaten alive out here.”

Mitch elbowed Julia. “He’s such a city slicker.”

They both laughed.

“Enough playing in the dirt today,” Ryan announced. “I’m filthy and tired. Let’s head back.”

“Dad, you’re such a party pooper.” Julia caught up with him and grabbed his hand. He slung an arm over her shoulder as they headed down the path. Behind them, Mitch continued to shout out geologic markers they passed.

“See what you started?” Ryan mumbled.

Julia giggled. “Imagine what he’s like on a date.”

“That’s why he doesn’t date much.”

“What the hell are you two talking about up there?” Mitch hollered.

“Nothing,” Ryan shot back.

“Just the native dating rituals.” Julia giggled again.

“Or lack thereof,” Ryan added under his breath.

“You two are a bunch of comedians,” Mitch said. “Just so happens I’ve got a hot date tonight.” He winked at Julia as they climbed into his dusty Land Rover. “It’s more than I can say for your dear old pop here.”

Ryan eyed him across the console. “Who the hell would go out with you?”

“Okay, it’s not so much a date as a meeting. But if she’s as hot as you say, it could turn into a date.”

The rig bounced down the gravel road. Ryan had a sickening feeling as to where this was headed. “Please tell me you aren’t seeing Simone Conners.”

Mitch glanced in the rearview mirror. “Why not? You yourself said she was my type.”

Ryan rested his elbow on the window ledge and massaged his aching forehead. “I lied. She’s got a kid. You don’t date women with kids, remember?”

“I like kids. Look at Julia.”

“Julia’s an anomaly. Normal kids don’t give a rip about geology. Besides, I thought you were seeing some archaeologist. Redhead, looked like a model?”

Mitch shrugged. “I was. She took off on a dig. Didn’t work out.”

“Does it ever with you?”

“Hey, now. Don’t get all pissy with me just because you’re in a bad mood. Maybe Simone Conners is ‘the one’.”

Ryan let out a smug huff. “There is no ‘one’ with you, Mitch.”

“There could be. Did it ever occur to you that maybe I’m tired of chasing skirts?”

“Yeah, right. And the moon is made of cheese.”

“Hey, I have a soft side. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to cuddle now and then. It’s not always about sex.”

“If you even think about uttering the words love and marriage right now, I’ll puke.”

Mitch frowned. “Look, if it makes you feel any better, I’m sure, hot or not, she won’t go out with me. Not now, at least.”

Something in his tone and the way he checked the rearview mirror again made Ryan glance back at Julia. Her eyes were already closed, her head resting against the window.

“She’s representing Kate,” Mitch finished quietly.

Ryan’s head snapped around. “What do you mean, representing?”

“As in, Simone is Kate’s lawyer.”

“For what reason?”

“I’m not sure.” They pulled onto the highway. “Right now, it sounds like she’s the one handling the DNA testing. Once that’s done, there could be…other…legal issues.”

“Goddammit. We don’t even know anything yet, and she’s already hired herself a fucking lawyer?”

“Don’t get all worked up. Yet. You and I both think she’s Annie. If she is, there’ll be some legal things to decide.”

“You mean custody issues.” Ryan swore under his breath and looked out the window.

“She’s not gonna make a move for Julia when she doesn’t even know her.”

“Yet,” Ryan murmured. Dammit, if she was Annie, he wanted her to get to know Julia. He’d never try to block that. But he wouldn’t put up with her forcing her way in, either. “She’s not gonna waltz in here and fuck up my life. How long have you known this little bit of info?”

Mitch grimaced, keeping his eyes on the road. “A few days. Look, I’m with you on this one. I don’t think she should get custody, but Ryan, if she’s Julia’s mother, she has a right to get to know her.”

“Do you think I’d get in the way of that?”

“No, I don’t. But she doesn’t know that. If her story’s straight, then she doesn’t know a thing about us. She doesn’t know what we will or won’t do. As much as I hate it too, she was smart to get a lawyer.”

Ryan glared out the window. “I don’t want you meeting with Simone Conners.”

“That’s my call, not yours.”

Ryan felt that short leash on his emotions unraveling. “She was my wife.”

“And she was my sister. I have as much right to find out what’s going on as you do.”

“Don’t pull the I knew her longer than you did card on me, Mitch. It’s not the same, and you know it.”

“I do know it,” Mitch snapped. “But I loved her too, you son of a bitch, and I’m hurting right alone with you. And if meeting with Simone Conners can give me any hint as to what’s happening and when we’ll know more, then I’ll do it.”

Ryan clenched his jaw, looked out at the hills rushing by his window. He wasn’t pissed at Mitch. He was pissed at the whole situation. And his inability to deal with it all when everyone else seemed to be coping just fine. “Dammit, this isn’t the way it’s supposed to be.”

“I know.” Mitch softened his tone. “Nothing’s happening yet. I just wanted you to be prepared for it, if it does.”

Ryan nodded, though what he wanted to do more was put his fist through the window. None of this was what he’d expected. Every time he thought about the whole fucked-up situation, something new hit him. And now all he could focus on was a possible custody battle down the road.

He wasn’t losing Julia too. She was all he had left. He’d fight to the end to keep her with him, whether Kate Alexander was his wife or not.

Simone pulled up in front of Chaser’s, the sports bar where she’d agree to meet Mitch Mathews. Nerves bounced around in her stomach as she checked her lipstick in the rearview mirror. It wasn’t unethical for her to meet with the man. After all, she’d known his sister. They had a mutual acquaintance. And until they knew for sure that Kate really was Annie, Simone wasn’t crossing any attorney-client lines.

Her nerves told her otherwise. They all thought she was Annie. Meeting with him was only going to cause trouble down the line. But for some reason, when he’d called and asked, she’d found herself saying yes. Maybe because she’d heard the desperation in his words and knew what it was like to lose someone you loved. Maybe because she was hopeful this family could find a happiness she’d never get. Maybe because for years, she’d been wondering about Annie’s single, geologist brother, and when he’d called, his sexy voice had overridden mere common sense.

Yeah, it was the last. Simone frowned as she climbed out of her BMW and locked the door. She’d gone too long without a man in her life if one sexy voice and a little mystery had lured her here.

One drink. She’d have one drink, make small talk, then be on her way. Tomorrow, they’d hopefully have the test results. If things went as Simone expected, she’d be representing Kate in legal proceedings, which would make any contact with Mitch Mathews and his brother-in-law, Ryan Harrison, unethical outside of work.

She moved into the dimly lit establishment, scanned the area. A long wooden bar ran the length of the back walls. Huge, flat-screen TVs seemed to occupy every inch of wall space. Baseball games flickered on screens, but luckily the sound was muted so she heard only the normal rustle of any bar—glasses clinking on tables, patrons chatting, the sizzle and pop from the kitchen.

She looked across the tables and booths for Mitch. Spotted him instantly. In the back corner, a man with curly, sandy brown hair and an athlete’s body pushed out of a booth. A man with a face that could only be related to Annie Harrison.

Those nerves jumped a notch, but she straightened her shoulders and pushed them down as she wove between tables toward him. When she reached him, he held out a hand. “Simone Conners?”

“Mitch Mathews?” Damn, but his hand was warm, the palm rough from physical work, so unlike Steve’s smooth attorney hands had been.

“The one and only,” he said with a lopsided grin. “Have a seat.”

“Thank you.” She slid into the circular booth, set her purse between them. Before she could ask why he’d called her and requested this meeting, a server approached.

“What’ll you have?” Mitch asked her. A dent creased his face as his lip curled in a half smile.

Dimples. The man had dimples in addition to the sexiest voice she’d ever heard. Oh, hell, she was in trouble.

“Um…” She glanced at her menu as words jumbled in her brain. Vodka, straight up, with a twist. Make it a double. “The house chardonnay is fine.”

Mitch tapped his near-empty beer. “I’ll have another.”

The waiter left, and silence settled over them. Simone watched a pretty blonde get up and move toward the bathroom. Wondered if Mitch noticed. But when she glanced his direction, he was staring only at her.

Her stomach tightened. She cleared her throat. “So…”

“So,” he said, still looking at her, those green eyes of his throwing her completely for a loop. “Ryan tells me you were a friend of Annie’s. Before.”

Small talk. She could do small talk. “Yes, I was.”

“How well did you know her?”

“Really well, actually, probably better than a lot of her local friends. We met through a mutual friend when Annie was in DC for a conference one time, hit it off. My daughter, Shannon, is the same age as Julia.”

“How long have you lived in San Francisco?”

“Only about two years. I moved here from Baltimore after my husband passed away.”

“I’m sorry.”

She didn’t want to talk about Steve. Not tonight. “Thank you.”

The waiter arrived just in time, set her wine in front of her. She took a big drink.

“Why did you call Ryan recently?”

She thought about how to answer as she fingered her wineglass. It was always hard for her when someone wanted to talk about Steve, but it hurt more when people who’d known them both acted like he’d never existed.

“Honestly?” she said, “I’ve thought about calling him several times. Annie brought Julia out to see us one time and the girls hit it off. I’m sure they’d love to get together for a playdate. But you know how life is. Things come up. You get distracted. And then that crash happened here recently, and I knew how hard it had to be for him. I just wanted him to know I was thinking of him.”

When Mitch only nodded, she felt the urge to explain, though why, she wasn’t sure. “I’ve only run into Ryan a handful of times since I’ve been here, and I got the impression he wasn’t too thrilled to see me those few times.”

“It’s not personal,” Mitch said, setting his glass on the table. “Ryan doesn’t keep in contact with any of his old friends, especially any of Annie’s old friends. He wasn’t planning on calling you back, and he’s pretty pissed at me for meeting with you tonight. Things have been…rough for him.”

She could only imagine. But her concern was Kate right now, not Ryan Harrison. She took another sip of wine. “So, Mr. Mathews, why did you want to see me?”

He leaned forward, stared into his beer, seemed to contemplate his words. “Annie was my sister, and I loved her. If there’s a chance this woman, Kate Alexander, is her…well, I just wanted to get your take on it all. You knew Annie before, and you’ve spent more time with Kate than we have.”

She saw the heartache in his eyes, felt the pain. This had to be killing him inside. “You two were close, weren’t you?”

“Very. Oh, she wanted to pummel me on a regular basis when we were growing up, just like any good sister, but yeah, we were tight. I miss her.”

Simone didn’t have any siblings, but she knew all about loss. “And you and Ryan? You’re close too, I take it?”

“The closest. We’ve been friends for years, ever since college. Almost had to kick his ass when I found out he was sleeping with my baby sister.”

Simone laughed, feeling oddly at ease with this man she’d just met. “I bet that made for interesting times.”

“It did. Ryan and I played baseball together in college. We were seniors the year Annie started school. One spring day we’ve got a home game, and I’m out at shortstop, and I glance in the stands between innings and see Annie there. She’s smiling and waving, and I’m like, ‘Cool, she came to a game.’ Then I realize, she’s not smiling and waving at me. She’s making moon eyes at Ryan over on second base. Took me all of like ten seconds to realize what was going on.”

Simone smiled. “Then what happened?”

Mitch frowned, leaned back against the booth. “There wasn’t much I could do during the game except get worked up. I stayed away from Ryan in the dugout so I didn’t lose it. Then ended up getting ejected when I threw one measly little bat at the umpire.”

“You didn’t.”

He cringed. “I did. But in all fairness, the man needed glasses. No way those pitches were strikes.”

She lifted her wine, sipped, felt herself relax for the first time in days. “What happened after, with Ryan?”

“Well, I had plenty of time to get good and pissed. I showered, changed, left, then went back to confront him after the game. Stupid move. I should have done it off campus. When I got back, I saw him and Annie outside the ballpark together. He was kissing her and…I lost it. He needed stitches. And I’m pretty sure the black eye lasted a good week.”

“Nice.”

“Then Coach came out and suspended us both for fighting.”

“Oh, even better,” Simone said, still smiling. “What did Annie say?”

“Annie didn’t speak to me for a month.” He looked into his beer, and the humor faded from his voice when he said, “Thing is, Ryan had a reputation in school for being a player. We both did. When I found out he was seeing her, I was sure he was just using her. I was wrong. In fact, he never looked at another girl after that. He still doesn’t.”

“I’ve seen Ryan at functions. He’s not lacking for female companionship.”

“No, he’s not. But the truth is they come on to him because he’s got money and power now. And I’m pretty sure the only reason he dates is because it takes his mind off the fact he’s alone. In five years there’s never been anyone who’s meant anything to him. I know for a fact he’d gladly give it all up just to have Annie back. That’s why this is killing him. The not knowing, especially.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Mr. Mathews—”

“Mitch.”

The spark in his eyes sent her stomach free floating. “Mitch,” she said slowly, wondering why the hell he was having this effect on her. She was never interested in a client. Or the relative of a client. Clearing her throat, she looked back at her glass and traced the condensation on the stem. “We’ll know more when the tests come back.”

“I know we will. What I’m curious about is your gut reaction.”

Her gut reaction wasn’t always right. She hadn’t trusted her gut since Steve had passed away. She’d been so sure he would beat the cancer, but he hadn’t. “It’s not my job to speculate. It’s my job to deal in facts. And the facts are simple. There’s a very strong chance that Kate is Annie.”

He seemed to ingest that. “Ryan will fight a custody suit. He’s got power behind him.”

And here was the meat of the meeting. Simone’s back tightened. “Well, you can reassure Mr. Harrison that if it comes to that, Kate has power behind her too.”

A slow smile spread across his face. And that damn dimple winked at her. “I like you, Counselor.”

He liked baseball. He was sexy as hell. And she’d gone way too long without. She shouldn’t care what Mitch Mathews thought of her, but she did. Dammit, she really did.

He leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table, his hand so close to hers, if he moved just a fraction of an inch, they’d be touching. But she didn’t need to touch him to feel the heat rolling off him in waves. The same heat was rolling off her. “I’d like to take you out to dinner. In a real restaurant.”

For a split second, she was tempted to say yes. Then reality settled in. “I don’t think that’s a wise idea.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m you sis—” She stopped herself just in time, but she saw the way his brows lifted in optimism.

“Kate’s attorney,” she corrected, hating that a part of her now hoped Kate turned out not to be Annie. It would make this…what was happening between them…a whole lot easier. “It would be unethical to have a personal relationship with you.”

“Is that what we’re doing here, Counselor? Starting a personal relationship?”

Big red warning flags went off in her mind. The way he was watching her, the sinister smile, those sexy eyes. If she wasn’t careful, she’d get herself disbarred.

“I think it’s time for me to go, Mr. Mathews.”

He didn’t try to stop her as she reached for her purse. And she was thankful the lust was gone from his voice when he asked, “So you think we’ll find out tomorrow?”

“I’m hopeful, yes. But it might be as late as next week.” As she pushed out of the booth, he was right there, reaching for her arm, helping her up. Tingles rushed over her skin where they touched, and she looked up into mesmerizing green eyes. Eyes any woman could get lost in without much effort.

“So maybe tomorrow I’ll be calling you for that dinner.”

Heat slid through her veins, warming her from the inside out. She fought it though, working for that professionalism she’d perfected over the years. She held out her hand. “Perhaps. Thank you for the drink, Mr. Mathews.”

“Mitch,” he said with that damn sexy, lopsided grin, caressing her hand in both of his, giving her just a taste of what it would feel like to be caressed elsewhere by those big, masculine fingers.

“Mitch,” she heard herself repeat.

She swallowed hard as she let go and exited the restaurant, telling herself the whole time no matter what happened tomorrow, Mitch Mathews was a man who wouldn’t take no for an answer. The question was, what would her answer be next time?

Kate sat at her desk Tuesday afternoon, trying to edit a piece about geoscientists working in conjunction with the Peace Corp. Easing back in her chair, she glanced out the window toward the bay. The article wasn’t enough to hold her interest.

Not today.

With a huff, she tossed the article on her desk, unable to read anymore. It was more sociological and political fluff than out-and-out science.

Not that she’d be able to read it even if it was the most compelling article on the planet. She scrubbed her hands over her face and tried to calm her frazzled nerves. She was sitting on pins and needles waiting for word from Simone, wondering what Ryan Harrison was doing and thinking.

Her pounding head signaled a need for caffeine.

She rose, headed to the lounge where she poured herself a thick mug of black goo, then took a big drink. It tasted awful, but if it would help her headache, she didn’t care.

She slipped into her office without looking up and closed the door softly behind her. When she turned, she was surprised to see Simone standing behind her desk, looking out across the bay.

“Nice view,” Simone said.

“Hi. I didn’t expect to see you today.”

“I know. We need to chat.”

Oh, man. Something in her gut signaled this wasn’t good. On a deep breath that did nothing for her now frantic nerves, Kate wove around her desk and sat.

Simone sat across from her. “Okay, first of all, I need to share something with you. I had drinks last night with Mitch Mathews.”

Kate’s brow lifted. “Really?”

“Yes, really.” Simone straightened. “It wasn’t personal. I mean, okay, it could be personal. He called, I think, to talk about you, but there was a spark there. Nothing happened but…I’m only telling you this because I’m your attorney, and I want you to know you come first. I told him flat out that I wasn’t going to see him again unless the test results came back negative. And I won’t.”

Kate didn’t know what to make of that news. “Wow. You believe in being blunt.”

“It’s the only way to get the point across. I like Mitch, but he’s not the first man I’ve met that I like. I just didn’t want you to hear this from him later or for it to come up out of context.”

“I like Mitch too,” Kate said. “What I know of him so far. He seems like a nice man. If you’d told me you had drinks with Ryan, well, I think I’d have a problem with that. He hates my guts.”

“He doesn’t hate you, Kate. He’s confused. There’s a big difference.”

“Doesn’t seem like a big difference to me.” She studied Simone. “You’re allowed to have your own personal life, Counselor.”

Simone’s brow wrinkled, and Kate sensed she wanted to say something but didn’t.

“So is that why you came by today?” Kate asked.

“No.” Simone extracted a folder from her briefcase and drew in a long breath. “I got the DNA report back. I wanted to talk to you about it first. I called Ryan earlier. He’s meeting me at my office this afternoon.”

Kate swallowed the lump in her throat. Here we go. “Okay, let’s have it.”

Simone passed her the file, waited and watched as Kate scanned the page. “It’s a preliminary report, Kate. But it’s a pretty good match. They’ll want to take samples from Mr. and Mrs. Mathews to match parentage. I’m told they live in Seattle. I don’t believe they’ve been informed of your possible identity yet.”

Kate set the file on her desk. Rising, she walked on shaky legs to the window and crossed her arms over her chest where she blew out a calming breath. Then another that did little to slow her racing pulse.

It was true. She was Annie Harrison. Ryan was her husband. Julia was her daughter. The reality of the moment cut right through her, grabbed on to her heart and squeezed tight. She’d lost five years of a life she didn’t even know. And now she was left with…what? A family she couldn’t remember and a future that didn’t look any brighter than it had five minutes ago. If anything, that future looked a thousand times more confusing.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she forced herself to speak. “I had a feeling it was going to work out this way.”

“I think everyone did. If it’s any consolation, I think they already know. I got that sense from Mitch last night. Maybe that’ll make it easier.”

“I expected it, but it doesn’t make it easier.” Wiping the tears from her face, she turned. So many thoughts, scenarios, questions swam in her mind, but she couldn’t focus on those yet. Pain lanced through her chest at what would inevitably come, but she tried to breathe through it. Knew she just had to get it out there. “Okay, Counselor. Time to earn your retainer. I have a son.”

Simone looked up sharply.

Kate’s lungs felt three sizes too small, but she forced herself to go on. “He’s four and a half. When I woke up from that coma, he was almost three years old. I didn’t bring it up before because I had to be sure before I pulled him into this.”

Kate closed her eyes to block the tears. “When I asked you for legal advice, should I turn out to be Annie Harrison, it was with Reed in mind. I think it’s probably a safe bet he’s Ryan’s son. He looks a lot like him. I’ll want to have him tested as well, just to be sure.”

“Of course.”

“And I want to tell Ryan about him. I’d appreciate it if you’d not say anything today.”

“Of course not.” Simone jotted a few notes on her legal pad.

Kate massaged the scar on her head, thoughts of Ryan circling in her mind. Of Julia’s reaction to her. Of what they would both say and do when they found out about Reed. “He’s going to want to get to know Reed, in the same way I’m going to want to get to know Julia. It could get sticky with visitation issues, etc. He already doesn’t like me. I don’t see this making things any better.”

“We’ll work it out. Don’t worry about that. Ryan is a fair and honest man. Regardless of what the press says, regardless of how he’s feeling right now, he’ll cooperate.”

“I’m not so sure.” Kate ran her hands through her hair as tears filled her eyes. Why did this hurt so bad? She should be happy. Ecstatic that she had her answer. She finally knew who she was. Why wasn’t that enough?

Simone skirted the desk between them and wrapped her arms around Kate. “Just breathe. We’ll get you through this. I promise.”

Kate closed her eyes. Focused on the push and pull of air in her lungs. Centered herself on that one small thing she could do now. Everything else…everything else would work itself out. She had to give it time. Her head knew that even if her heart didn’t totally understand.

She pulled back and wiped her eyes. “Thank you. I…I appreciate everything you’re doing for me. I appreciate your help and friendship. I didn’t realize how much I missed having a friend around until now.”

Simone smiled. “I liked Annie a great deal. We were good friends. But I like you a lot, too. I’d be your friend whether I’d known her or not.”

“I appreciate that too,” Kate whispered. She dried her face and looked at Simone again, this time knowing she could get through the emotional fallout from this so long as she stayed focused on her goal. “There’s one more thing I’d like to discuss.”

“Okay, shoot.”

“I’ve been doing some research, trying to find answers. It was only speculation before, but now that we know for sure… I don’t know if it will make a difference in the long run, but I need to know what happened to me. Jake knew something. He had to. There has to be a reason he lied to me. Was I living a double life? Did someone intentionally try to hurt me only something went wrong? Did I run away from my family? I can’t go through life not knowing the truth.”

Simone leaned back against Kate’s desk. “Go on.”

Kate paced in front of the window. “Well, from what I can deduce from the crash records, my body was never recovered, obviously,” she added sarcastically. “But there was a body in my seat.”

“Correct.” Simone went back to her briefcase, flipped through her file on the crash. She’d obviously done some research herself. “The manifest shows you checked in on the flight, which means the stewardess did a head count and your seat was accounted for after the bulkhead doors closed. You’d made it through security with your boarding pass and ID. And your personal belongings were recovered after the crash—your suitcase, but also your purse, specifically, found wedged under a seat. Ryan identified it.”

“Do you think he still has it?”

“I don’t know. I could ask. What’s on your mind?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I’m just hoping seeing it might bring back a memory. I’ve had no luck at that nursing home. They won’t even let me through the door anymore. But I really feel like that’s a starting place.”

“They haven’t returned my calls, and I don’t have enough here to get a court order to go through their files.”

“I know.” Kate pinched her throbbing forehead. “If I could just get in their record room myself.”

Simone reached back for her file and opened it on her lap. “Where is it? San Mateo?” She skimmed the information she’d jotted down. “You know, I think I’ve got a friend whose mother is in this home.” She bit her lip as if pondering their choices. “I might be able to get inside, go in to see her.”

Kate’s brow lifted. “You wouldn’t be suggesting something illegal now, would you, Counselor?”

Simone frowned. “Why do you call me that?”

“What?”

“Counselor.”

Kate shrugged. “I don’t know. You are one, aren’t you? Does it bother you?”

“Yeah, I am one. And no, it doesn’t bother me. It’s just weird that you and Mitch use the same word.”

“Not so weird. Not anymore.”

Simone stood and tried to smile. “No. I guess not anymore. Tell you what. I’ll make a call, talk to my friend and find out if her mother’s really there. If she is, I’ll let you know, and we’ll decide what to do from there.”

“Okay.”

Simone gathered her things. “I’m going to meet with Ryan. You take some time and figure out what you’re going to tell him. If you want me to be there, we can set it up in the office. However you want to handle it.”

“Thanks, but I think I need to do that on my own.”

“Okay.” Simone shot her a quick smile. “I’ll call you after I speak with him today.”