~*~*~*~ Couldn't we sit in the twilight,
Couldn't we walk on the shore
With only a pleasant friendship
To bind us, and nothing more?
-Ella Wheeler Wilcox~*~*~*~
Katherine
"Hello?" I answered the phone as I moved around the kitchen, preparing picadillo.
"So…" my twin brother said in a cheery voice. "Feel free to gush about how much you adore me."
"I'm a little busy fixing picadillo, Kol," I said with a roll of my eyes. Concentrating, I began to chop the bell pepper. "Speaking of Latin dishes, how is Madrid?"
"Not as exciting as New York," he said in perfect Spanish and then switched back to English. "How's everything in the world of investment banking?"
"Like you haven't been keeping up with the stock market." Kol worked as the CFO for a tech company based in Madrid, but I knew that he kept up with American stocks. As kids, our father had quizzed us about the stock market every morning over breakfast. It was a habit now.
"Okay, fine, you caught me. I've been keeping up with the stock market. You know… you have a degree in economics and finance. You could change your career in an instant."
Ah, of course. I added the pepper to the meat mixture and began to stir. "I assume that Alec put you up to that." Our older brother had never been too happy about my career choice. He believed that all Taylors should have math careers.
"Yes," Kol admitted with a sigh. "But I don't know, Kat… I kind of agree. We're Taylors. Taylors are math people. It's… weird that you became a lawyer."
"I understand that my decision was kind of sudden and shocking," I allowed. "But come on, Kol. I'm happy."
There was a pause and when he spoke again, I knew that he was smiling. "Then I'm happy for you, twin. And I admire you for blazing your own path in life. But if you ever change your mind…"
"Yeah, yeah." I checked on the rice. "You'll be the first to know. Hey, are you planning a New York visit anytime soon?"
"Nothing for sure," he said. "I know I'll be back for Christmas. Father wants everyone back for the holidays, you know."
"Yeah, I know." Our mother had died two years earlier and since then, our father had been all about the family time. He had dinner with me at least once a week and called several times a week. Holidays had become as important for him as they had used to be for our mother. "You can come before then, you know. You're welcome to my spare bedroom anytime."
"Speaking of your spare bedroom," he said, and I already knew what he was going to say. "Why don't you upgrade on your apartment? You can afford a lot more than that little two bedroom that you have now. You should be in a penthouse somewhere."
Again, I rolled my eyes. I seemed to do a lot of that whenever I was on the phone with Kol. "I like my apartment, okay? It's not far from work and it has all of the modern appliances. My neighbors are nice, and I've never had any problem with it."
He muttered something under his breath about my stubbornness. "Fine. Fine. You said you were making picadillo. Is Father coming over for dinner?"
"No. I've just been trying to cut back on the fast food." I was approaching my thirties, and I had decided that I needed to cut back on the fat intake. I was naturally skinny and had a high metabolism, but I knew that could change at any moment. I wanted to be ready.
"Send that mentality my way. I've eaten out every single night this week."
"Tacos and enchiladas," I teased him. "Yum."
"You know I have issues with enchiladas," he said sternly. "Ever since that time in Mexico…." I could practically feel him shudder. "Gross. Never again."
"What are the odds of that happening again?" I asked him.
"Factoring in location and specific-"
"Not really, Kol," I said, though I was also beginning to calculate in my head. We were Taylors; it's just how we operated.
"You can't say stuff like that and expect me not to answer." He said something to someone in the background and then said, "So, no plans for the night?"
"Not really," I answered. "Sounds like you do, though."
"A few of the guys from work and I are going to a club tonight." I could hear the grin in his voice.
I could only imagine what my twin brother would get up to at the club. He was a good guy, but he also liked to have a good time and could get a little crazy. "Be careful, Kol."
He chuckled. "Yes, ma'am. Try to have more fun, sis."
"Whatever. You know that I-" But I cut off abruptly because the door to my apartment opened and Ted strolled in, still in his suit from work, copper hair disheveled. Frowning at him, I continued to stir the picadillo and speak to Ted. "I'm not that kind of person."
Ted raised his eyebrows at me and I pointed to the Bluetooth headpiece in my ear to explain that I was on the phone. He nodded and strolled towards my wine rack, checking out the bottles.
"You should work on it. Try not to be so boring all the time. There's more to life than books and contracts. Remember that."
"The words of wisdom of Kol Taylor," I said. "Have a safe night."
He laughed. "Have a fun night."
"I'll think about it. Bye, Kol."
"Night, Kat." He hung up.
I stirred the picadillo one last time, turned off the burner, and moved the pan over. Checking the rice, I turned off that burner, too, and then faced Ted, who had chosen a bottle of white wine and was pouring himself a glass.
When he saw me watching him, he asked, "Chablis?"
"No, thanks." I headed for the fridge and pulled out a root beer. "Picadillo?"
"Sure." Ted got himself a plate and piled some rice on it before spreading the meat mixture over the top. I did the same and then we retreated to the small table in the dining area.
We sat and began to eat in silence, but I could tell that something was wrong. He wasn't smiling, for one, and he seemed to be a bit tense. But I assumed that he would tell me about whatever it was when he was good and ready, so I just ate my food.
When I was halfway done with my plate, he said, "It's Kaylie."
Of course. "Usually is." Kaylie Jones, model extraordinaire, had been his girlfriend for about a year now. She was extremely pretty, but she caused him all kinds of stress with her temper tantrums and her pettiness.
He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Seems that way."
I waited, but he said nothing else about it. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"
"She…" He groaned and put his fork down on his empty plate, reaching for his wine. "She's pregnant."
My own fork clattered onto the table and then the floor. I just stared at him in shock, not caring that I probably looked like an idiot with my mouth hanging open. "What did you say?"
His smile was humorless. "Pregnant. Kaylie is pregnant."
My stomach was one big knot. With a heavy heart, I pushed my plate away, catching Ted's frown as I did. "So, what happens now?" Ted was an honorable man, and if he behaved the way that I thought he would…
"I have to marry her, Kat." He raked his hands through his hair. "I have to take care of her and my child."
Of course he would think that. "Are you ready for marriage, Ted?" I asked him, trying to be gentle. I knew that it had been a shock for him, but it was also a shock for me. My thought process was all jumbled and I felt a bit like I was going to throw up. "I thought you said two weeks ago that you weren't sure if Kaylie was marriage material."
"Well, she's carrying my child now," he said and downed the rest of his wine. "I think that kind of makes her marriage material. I can't… I don't…"
I stood and walked around the table to sit beside him. "Ted, don't do this, okay? Don't marry her just because you feel like you need to in order to be honorable." As his friend, I had to make sure that he'd thought everything through.
"She's having my baby!" he roared and stood up from the table, his chair shooting out from beneath him. In his frustration, he began to pace, gripping at his hair. "Jesus, Kat, she's having my baby! I'm not prepared for this at all! We've been so careful and I don't know how…"
Something clicked in my head and I frowned, wheels turning. "How did she tell you that she was pregnant, Ted?"
He stopped pacing and looked at me as if I had lost my mind. "She just told me over dinner. She went to her personal doctor last week in Paris when she was there for a shoot. Why?"
I put my suspicions on the backburner and asked him, "How did you react?"
"I was freaked out!" He gripped his hair again and resumed pacing. "I told her that I needed a little time to think and I sent her home with Marcus. Then I caught a cab and came here. I needed… I needed someone to talk to. Somewhere to get away for a while."
"You know you're always welcome here, Ted." I knew that he would have done the same thing for me if I had needed it. That's what best friends did for each other. "If you need to crash here, that's fine."
He stopped pacing again and looked at me closely. As my friend, he could see things that others wouldn't. "You have something running through your head. What is it?"
I stood and gathered up our dinner plates. "Nothing, Ted. It's nothing. This is all just… a big surprise."
"No kidding," he grumbled and continued to pace. Ted was a pacer when he was frustrated whereas I was more inclined to just sit in silence and think it through.
I went into the kitchen and focused on cleaning up the dinner dishes, trying to calm my mind. I needed some time to myself to think, but I knew that I just needed to be there for Ted for right now. I would have time later to just sit and think things through. Until then, I came in second to him.
When I was through cleaning up, I went into the living room and found Ted sitting on the couch, his head in his hands, elbows resting on his knees. He had discarded his suit jacket and removed his tie, and his hair was sticking up in the oddest places. He looked so forlorn, so distraught, that I felt my heart breaking for him.
"Hey," I said gently and sat beside him, placing my arm around his shoulders. "Ted, everything's going to be okay, all right? I'm right here; anything you need, anytime, okay?"
He nodded and then leaned over to put his head on my shoulder, putting his arms around my waist. I hugged him to me, reminded of a night similar to this one, after my mother had died and I'd gone over to Ted's. He'd held me just like I was holding him then, and he had made a similar promise to me. I'm right here, Kat. I'll always be right here. It's going to be okay.
Instinctively, I began to sing to him, just like my mother had always done for me when I was upset.
And Ted only snuggled further into my side.
