Taking chances, p.26
Taking Chances, page 26
“I need to check on the place, Bet. I don’t have the security you have—the punks in the neighborhood could be cleaning me out as we speak.”
“Well, if you’d just be reasonable and move into my apartment…” Elizabeth said, rolling her eyes heavenward.
“Don’t start,” Cat said, narrowing her eyes.
“It makes sense, Catalina,” Elizabeth said entreatingly.
“Three thousand a month doesn’t make sense to anyone, Elizabeth,” Cat said, giving her a firm look.
“I’m paying it either way.”
“And spending all your time at my place.”
“My point exactly.”
“Mine too,” Cat said, grinning. “Give up your apartment and move into mine.”
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. “Give up yours and move into mine.”
“Not at 3K a month, babe—not for you or anyone.”
“I’ll pay the rent!” Elizabeth exclaimed, exasperated.
Cat gave her a quelling look. “How many times do I have to remind you that you don’t have to pay me to stay with you?”
“I’m not paying you to stay with me,” Elizabeth said stridently. “I just want us to have a nice place to live.”
“You’re saying my apartment isn’t nice?” Cat replied, raising an eyebrow.
“Oh Lord!” Elizabeth said, rolling her eyes. “I’m saying that my apartment has three bedrooms, yours has one.”
“How many do we need?” Cat replied mildly.
Deborah smiled in the back seat. Cat certainly wasn’t interested in the fact that Elizabeth was a multi-million-dollar heiress. She found it quite refreshing that Elizabeth had finally found someone that couldn’t be bought. Maybe that’s what her daughter had needed all along.
Deborah realized that Elizabeth was looking to her for assistance. She shook her head. “Time to compromise, love.”
Elizabeth scowled, and noted that Cat was grinning. “Quit that!” she exclaimed, grinning herself.
The apartment issue had been ongoing. Cat refused to allow Elizabeth to pay her rent, so she wouldn’t move into Elizabeth’s apartment and let Elizabeth pay. She also refused to live in an apartment that cost as much as a house. Elizabeth had even suggested that she could buy them a house. Cat had resoundingly turned down that idea.
“Alright,” Elizabeth said, looking stubborn. “How would we compromise on this?”
“You move into my apartment.”
“Catalina!” Elizabeth said, scowling.
Cat laughed. “What?”
“Be reasonable.”
“Fine,” Cat said, nodding. “Find something decent for 2K a month—that I can afford.”
“Oh, you’re not paying our rent.”
“Neither are you.”
“We’ll split it then.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
“Can you find something for that amount?” Cat asked.
“I think there are smaller apartments in my complex for something around there…”
“Not around, babe—no more than 2K a month.”
Elizabeth grinned. “I know, I know.”
Cat narrowed her eyes. “And no making a deal with the manager to skim part of the rent either.”
Elizabeth made a face.
“Keep doing that, and your face will stick like that,” Cat said with a grin.
“It hasn’t yet,” Elizabeth replied pertly.
“Yet,” Cat replied, reaching over and touching Elizabeth’s hand, taking it and giving it a gentle squeeze. It was her way of telling her that everything was okay between them.
Deborah had never seen a more brilliant smile on her daughter’s face. It was definitely going to be an adjustment, her daughter being gay, but Deborah knew that she owed Elizabeth her support, most of all. Elizabeth had been the troublesome child growing up. Wilson, Elizabeth’s father, had absolutely no patience for what he considered impertinence. His response to it was to become even colder and more distant.
Deborah had known that Elizabeth was trying to get through to her father by being unruly. She had never known how to explain to her daughter that nothing would work to get through to Wilson. Nothing Deborah herself had done over the years had ever done it; there was no way a mere child was going to affect his busy schedule.
Deborah had never really had a chance to be a mother, even though her own mother had always been loving and kind. Living with Wilson had made Deborah cold and distant, just like him. She’d never realized how much Wilson’s attitude had affected hers until she’d divorced him a few years before. By then it had been far too late to reach her wild daughter. Elizabeth had been beyond a simple hug. Deborah had been at a loss as to how to handle her, so she’d concentrated on getting closer to Susan.
She had seen in this short week with Elizabeth that it had hurt her younger daughter immeasurably that Susan had always seemed like the favorite. Deborah also comprehended easily why Elizabeth responded so well to Catalina. Catalina was in essence the loving but firm presence Elizabeth had craved for years.
A month later, Midnight Chevalier won the race for California Attorney General. The reception for her victory party was held at Elizabeth’s new restaurant, Catalina’s, the night before it opened officially to the public. Everyone was quite impressed with the combination of elegant and hip. As usual, Elizabeth’s taste was exquisite, but her sense of style was evident everywhere. The food, made by the best chefs from Paris, Rome, and Switzerland, was fantastic, as was the service. The serving people were the best in the business, all dressed in perfectly tailored pants and crisp, white-collared shirts.
“Good job, babe,” Cat said, standing just behind Elizabeth, her hands gentle on Elizabeth’s waist.
“You think so?” Elizabeth asked, her eyes shining brightly as she turned to look at her.
“Definitely.”
Elizabeth bit her lip, thrilled that everyone, especially Cat, thought the restaurant was nice. Reaching into the pocket of her jacket, Elizabeth pulled out a small box, handing it to Cat.
“What’s this?” Cat asked, raising an eyebrow.
“It’s a thank you.”
“Bet…”
“Catalina, if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be here tonight, celebrating the opening of my restaurant. Who knows where I’d be—maybe dead, maybe in some drug house,” Elizabeth said sincerely as she stared back into Cat’s eyes. “You’re the reason I’m here, and I want to thank you for that. Please?” she said, her tone beseeching on the last. She knew how Cat felt about her buying her things. Cat’s attitude was that she didn’t need to buy her love, and she didn’t want Elizabeth to ever try.
“Okay, babe, okay,” Cat said soothingly, feeling bad that Elizabeth was so apprehensive about displeasing her.
She opened the small box, and nestled inside was a ring. The design was something she’d never seen before. It was a swirl, starting at the left edge of the ring with a black diamond baguette, graduating into a deep violet amethyst, to a deep, rich sapphire, a blue topaz, an emerald, a golden topaz, a surprisingly orange-colored stone, and lastly a rich red ruby baguette. The colors of the ring swirled around to culminate in the final stone, a perfectly cut round diamond. It was beautiful, and Cat was speechless.
“Bet…” she breathed, shaking her head as she looked at the ring, then grinned as it clicked in her head. “It’s a rainbow,” she said, identifying the internationally known symbol for the gay community.
Elizabeth bit her lip, nodding, her eyes shining. She pointed to the black diamond. “A transition from the dark,” she said, moving her finger over the swirl of stones up to the diamond, “into the light.”
Cat shook her head, smiling. “I don’t know that that’s how a lot of people would see it, but okay, honey,” she said, leaning in to kiss Elizabeth softly. “Thank you. It’s beautiful.”
Elizabeth kissed her back. “You’re very welcome.”
Cat took the ring out of the box and put it on her right ring finger, reaching up to touch Elizabeth on the cheek again, smiling as she looked into her eyes. Then she looked back at the ring in amazement.
“What’s the orange stone?” she asked. It was the only one she couldn’t identify.
“It’s a carnelian agate.”
“Got me there,” Cat said, winking.
Elizabeth laughed softly, feeling very happy.
“And what’s going on here?” Kana asked, walking up with Palani next to her.
“Hi, Kana,” Elizabeth said, turning to her with a smile. Cat said nothing, only glancing over at Kana.
They never had talked about all that had happened, and there was still a slight undercurrent between them that was easily felt.
“Palani,” Kana said, glancing down at her girlfriend, “this is Elizabeth Endicott. Liz, this is Palani Ryker.”
“Lovely to meet you,” Elizabeth said. “Officially.”
Kana looked mystified for a moment.
“I saw Palani at the hospital, Kana,” Elizabeth explained.
“Oh,” Kana said, nodding slowly, then looked at Cat. “And I understand you and Palani have already met,” she said amiably.
“Yeah?” Cat asked, her look wry.
Kana nodded, narrowing her eyes slightly, sensing Cat’s sarcasm and ignoring it—she wasn’t about to argue with her. Cat had every right to be pissed at her, and Kana was going to allow her any jabs she felt the need to get in at that point.
“Elizabeth,” Palani said, stepping into the silence that followed. “Why don’t you and I go get a drink?” She took Elizabeth’s hand and led her away.
Kana watched the two go, a grin tugging at her lips. Palani wanted Kana to talk to Cat; she felt that it was something that needed to be done. Kana didn’t think now was the time, but obviously Palani did. Kana looked back at Cat, taking a deep breath and expelling it slowly, waiting.
Cat stared back at Kana, refusing to be the first to speak. After a long few minutes, Kana nodded slowly, accepting that she was going to have to make the first move.
“Cat,” she began quietly, “I know I need to apologize, but I honestly can’t think of a way to right now.”
Cat’s look was considering as she leaned back against the railing she stood next to. She looked fantastic, wearing a classic black jersey-style dress that clung to her body seductively and exposed a fair amount of beautifully shaped legs clad in sheer black silk. She wore metallic lizard high-heeled sandals with elegant little straps that crisscrossed her feet and circled her ankles. Her makeup, as usual, was perfect, with a rich auburn tint to her lips and just the right touches to make her bright blue eyes glow. She was a beautiful woman—there had never been any denying that.
“I’m not looking for any apologies, K,” Cat said with a shrug.
Kana narrowed her eyes, then shook her head. “No, you wouldn’t, would you?”
Cat said nothing, only looking back at Kana. After a few moments, she blew her breath out in a sigh and shook her head. “Look, it worked out in the end, right? You’re with Palani again, I’m with Elizabeth. I understand you arranged that.”
“I didn’t arrange anything, Cat. I only told her that you needed her. The rest was all her doing.”
“Okay,” Cat said, a grin tugging at her lips. “And that’s about all I did with Palani too, so we’re even, right?”
Kana nodded, not looking even close to convinced. She knew it had cost Cat a lot more emotionally than she was letting on, but Cat wasn’t the kind of woman that would bring that up. She was definitely an astounding woman, there was no doubt about that.
Later in the evening, Kana walked by Elizabeth, who was talking to Susan and Dave.
“Hope you realize what you’ve got,” Kana said to her quietly when Dave and Susan moved off to talk to Erin and Kevin.
Elizabeth turned to look up at Kana, narrowing her eyes. “With?” she asked, already sure she knew what the big Samoan woman was referring to.
“Cat.”
“I’m fully aware of what I’ve got,” Elizabeth said. “And I’ll do anything it takes to hold on to her.”
Kana nodded. “Nice ring she’s wearing,” she said, nodding toward Cat, who was talking to Allison Debenshire. “From you?”
Elizabeth nodded. “If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be here.”
“So long as you realize that.”
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes, pursing her lips, considering whether or not she wanted to comment on the fact that Kana herself was responsible for blatantly hurting Cat repeatedly. Kana grinned, sensing easily exactly what Elizabeth was thinking. She leaned down, her lips right next to Elizabeth’s ear.
“I know it’s tempting,” Kana said, “but resist the urge, little girl.” She pulled back and winked at Elizabeth, who was staring up at her openmouthed. Kana walked away chuckling to herself.
“What did you do?” Palani asked, putting her arm through Kana’s.
“Nothing,” Kana replied, almost managing to sound innocent.
Palani narrowed her eyes, then scowled up at Kana. “You better stop picking on Midnight’s niece, Kana, or you might get yourself into some trouble.”
“Midnight loves me—she wouldn’t bust me,” Kana said, laughing.
“I what?” Midnight asked, walking by at that point.
“Love me,” Kana repeated with a grin.
“Well, yeah, I do,” Midnight said with a wink. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t bust ya. What were you doing now?”
“Harassing your niece,” Kana replied with a shrug.
“Which one?”
“The one dating my ex.”
“Ah,” Midnight said, nodding. “That one, huh?”
“Yup. How’s Rick taking it?”
Midnight rolled her eyes. “I think he’s convinced it’s a phase.”
Kana laughed, shaking her head. “He check the ring Cat’s sporting, courtesy of his niece?”
“A ring?” Midnight asked, her look pointed.
“Uh-huh…” Kana said, grinning. “And there’s a diamond involved.”
“Oh boy,” Midnight said, both in answer to what Kana and said and the fact that she’d just located Cat—and who should be standing in front of Cat, talking to her, but Rick. “I better go.”
Cat had been talking to Allison Debenshire. Allison was surprisingly down to earth and seemed truly thrilled that Elizabeth had apparently found love. It was obvious Allison wasn’t used to the idea that Elizabeth was in love with another woman, but she was doing her best to hide that. It had an endearing quality to it, so much so that Cat couldn’t bring herself to be the blunt person she usually was when it came to her sexuality.
“So, did you know that Elizabeth was going to name the restaurant after you?” Allison asked, fidgeting nervously.
Cat nodded. “She talked to me about it. I wasn’t really for the idea, but she was pretty determined.”
“Why didn’t you like the idea?” Allison asked, canting her head to the side. Her eyes, exactly the same shade as Elizabeth’s, reflected honest curiosity.
“I just think she should have named it after herself. I mean, it’s her restaurant, not mine…” Cat trailed off as she saw Rick Debenshire headed toward her, his look intent.
“But she said she would never have started the restaurant without your support,” Allison said.
“I think she would have eventually,” Cat said, dragging her attention back to Allison, even as she sensed Rick drawing closer.
Rick Debenshire had a presence you couldn’t deny. He had a very intense way about him. His manner was direct, even if it was tempered with a generally gregarious personality. When Richard Joshua Debenshire wanted to be noticed, there was no ignoring him. Cat could feel him behind her even before he spoke. He had a rich, English-accented voice with the same hint of sophistication as Elizabeth’s.
“Do you honestly believe that?” Rick asked.
Cat turned, searching his face, trying to determine what he was really asking. Finally she nodded.
“I think it was something she wanted for a long time, she just never took the time to try it.”
Rick narrowed his eyes in thought, then shook his head. “I don’t think she would have undertaken something of this magnitude,” he said, gesturing around at the elegant interior of the restaurant. “Not without someone supporting her.”
Cat shrugged slightly. “So maybe she would have turned to her family,” she said, gesturing to Rick and then Allison.
“And we would have laughed our arses off,” Rick replied, allowing a little of his own self-disgust to show.
Cat didn’t reply, sensing that Rick was exercising a bit of his own guilt over ignoring Elizabeth’s drug problem. She had no intention of contributing to it. Cat knew that he knew that denigrating any aspiration Elizabeth had brought to them would have destroyed her once and for all. She knew she didn’t have to say it to him.
Rick was looking at her then—really looking at her, his eyes searching her face, his expression intently serious. “We all owe you a great deal, Catalina. You saw what none of us did.”
Cat had no words to reply to him. She had no idea what to say. She was further shocked when Rick stepped closer, extending his hand. She took it, searching his eyes. She was absolutely stunned when he pulled her forward and hugged her. Glancing over his shoulder, she saw Midnight Chevalier-Debenshire standing just behind them, looking shocked as well. Then, as Rick stepped back, his look intent, Midnight walked up, grinning.
“And here I thought I needed to come rescue Cat,” she said, putting her arm through Rick’s and glancing up at him.
“What from? Me?” Rick asked, looking down at his wife, his grin showing very white teeth.
“Who else?”
Rick looked at Cat, then back at his wife. “Cat’s part of the family now, love. I’m forbidden to do any evil.”
“Like that’s ever stopped you,” Joe said from behind him.
“My thoughts exactly!” Midnight said, laughing as she glanced back at Joe, happy to note Randy was with him.
“Actually,” Rick said, grinning at Cat mischievously, “being a member of this family tends to attract evil.” He nodded at Joe. “Case in point.”
