Not Quite Mine (Not Quite #2)(25)
Author: Catherine Bybee

“I didn’t think she’d last a week. Of course her real work won’t come until the hotel is nearly finished…right?”

Dean twisted the top off his beer and shook his head. “She’s taken great pride in pointing out design issues in the construction phase. Niches that need electrical and framing. Separate meeting areas outside of conference halls for kids and adults. She even snuck behind my back to talk with my plumber about one of those fancy fountains that shoot water out of the ground for kids to play in.”

“What does all that have to do with sofas and wall color?”

“Nothing. I’m gonna grill Jack when he gets back.”

“You think he knew how involved she wanted to be?” Mike brushed a fly off his arm as he spoke.

“I think Jack was too busy doing all that sappy married crap before he left to pay Katie much attention. Katie is all kinds of resourceful. Probably snuck in a limited amount of details and had him saying yes without realizing what he was doing.” Dean could picture the conversation easily. Chances were Katie cornered Jack with Jessie across the room. C’mon, Jack. You know I’m a born decorator. No need to hire someone to do the job.

That’s all that would have needed to be said to land the position. And it wasn’t as if she was getting paid. How could Jack say no?

“She’s busting your budget I’ll bet.”

“That’s just it, she’s not.”

“What?” Mike sounded as surprised as Dean felt.

“I gave her a budget, a low one thinking she’d balk at it, and so far she’s staying within it. I even heard her haggling with a vendor over paint prices.”

“No shit?”

“No shit!” Dean took a pull off his beer.

“So Jack was right. Katie isn’t acting herself.”

Dean shrugged. “Not completely. The work thing is new. I keep expecting her to burn out. I’ve called the hotel a few times but it doesn’t seem she spends a lot of time there.” And that was classic Katie behavior.

“Is there a guy?”

Dean thought of that Ben guy and ignored the twist in his gut. “Probably.”

“That’s good.” Mike relaxed with that information.

“Why is that good?” Dean didn’t think so. Ben was too old for Katie.

“Think about it, Dean. If Katie cut away from her normal life of partying, traveling, and appearing in the tabloids every other week so she could work full-time and stay at the hotel at night watching movies, then we’d all know something wasn’t right. So she started to work, find meaning in her life. I get that. Even actors work on occasion. No one gives up everything in their life without a reason. It’s like when you gave up camping and riding your bike.”

Mike had him up until he started talking about camping. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Don’t get defensive. You know what I’m talking about.”

“No. I don’t.”

“When you were with Maggie, you cut out the things that make you tick. I couldn’t get you to go camping all last year. And it wasn’t until after Maggie skipped out that you found your bike again. Maggie was your reason for strange behavior.”

“Sometimes we do things for the people in our lives.”

Mikey sat forward and met Dean’s eyes. “If falling in love and getting married means I have to give up everything I like doin’, then count me out.”

“I didn’t give up everything.”

Mike snorted.

“I didn’t.” Dean winced, knowing he sounded like a five-year-old. “OK, maybe I did. I was messed up back then.”

“That’s my point, buddy. If Katie wasn’t acting at all normal, we’d know she was messed up. That something had gone down that none of us knew about. And as much as we might hate it sometimes, we all like to keep tabs on each other. Be there for each other.”

Mike was right.

They changed the subject to a local baseball team and grilled a couple of steaks. Katie was never far from Dean’s mind. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was missing something…something big.

Dean wasn’t sure why Katelyn insisted on showing up to the job site before him, but for the fourth time in a week he pulled alongside her rental car and shook his head.

The top of the convertible was down and he glanced in the backseat. A bright pink pacifier stuck out like a bald man in a hair salon. He reached in and picked it up. Maybe the pacifier was hidden under the seat, and the person who rented it before Katie had lost it.

Still, the presence of the infant toy sparked a moment of recognition much like déjá vu, and didn’t let go.

He cupped the plastic binky into his palm and made his way inside.

Jo greeted him and gave him his messages. The light in the conference room was on, and he could hear Katelyn talking on the phone. After the conversation with Mike the day before, and his own nagging feeling that something wasn’t quite right, Dean had decided to poke a little more into Katie’s mind.

“Mornin’, Katelyn,” he called from across the room when he heard her say good-bye on the phone.

“Hey, Dean.”

Without bothering to enter the conference room, he asked, “Would you mind coming in here for a few minutes?” Dean walked into his office and waited for Katie to follow.

The space in the trailer was tight; barely enough space for the three rooms.

He sat behind his desk and looked over his messages.

“What do you need?”

Dean looked up, somewhat startled. The sound of high heels, which usually accompanied Katie wherever she went, wasn’t there. When he glanced over her frame, a pair of designer jeans hugged her slim hips and sneakers adorned her feet.

He didn’t know she owned a pair of sneakers.

“Come in, sit down.”

She cocked her head to the side. “Am I in trouble, boss?”

When it came to Katie, Dean never felt like the boss. “Should you be?”

She stepped forward and closed the door.

The snarky smile on his face fell. “You’re limping.” And attempting not to show it by walking slowly and with calculated ease.

When she sat in the chair across from him, she huffed out a breath. “Stubbed my toe,” she told him.

He was out of his chair and at her side in an instant. “Liar. You’re wearing running shoes.” And from what he could tell, only a little bit of that black stuff women wear on their eyes and lip gloss. Mike’s words hung in the air. If Katie wasn’t acting at all normal, we’d know she was messed up.