Thanks for your reviews. I know, James is a jerk, but of course, Jack would never hit him. Not in front of Kate, anyway. They may come to blows later though. Especially after what happens in chapter 6. I was on a roll, so here are three new chapters for you. In chapter 7, you'll learn pretty much everything you ever wanted to know about Kate (and probably some things you didn't), including why she's so angry at Jack, and why she never wrote back.

Enjoy, and review. I've learned how to read the stats, so I know there's more than 13 people reading (less even since a few of you guys have reviewed more than once). So please, please, let me know what you think, even if it's just a few words! I won't improve as a writer otherwise.

Chapter 5. Only For One Night

Once he left the diner, Jack found himself in limbo. Barring the execution of his father's will, there was nothing tying him there except his conscience, which, up until that morning, had been relatively clear.

Kate had made it pretty clear that she wasn't looking for a white knight, even in the shape of an old friend. So why did he still feel responsible for her? Why couldn't he just stick to his original plan, when he had a mother, and patients, who really did need him, and weren't afraid to admit it, waiting for him at home in L.A.?

Jack really thought he'd left Kate in the past, with his father, and all of the other things he'd tried to forget over the years, but here she was, haunting his present, stirring up feelings he didn't even know he had anymore. It had been so long; why was a tiny part of him still in love with her? A frighteningly large part, actually. He didn't even know her as an adult; all he had to go on were the hazy childhood memories he'd cherished for the past twenty years, and he didn't even know how real they were anymore.

Maybe it was because he'd never really dealt with them, the feelings he still held towards her, the ones that had remained long after all contact between them had ceased. He'd moved on, boxing those memories up with the rest of his childhood possessions, but he'd never really let go of her, which was why he was trying to do it now.

The only thing Jack knew for certain was that he couldn't leave things like this. He'd try to talk to her again before he left, tomorrow when they'd both had a chance to cool down. He doubted she'd listen to him if he mentioned James again, but he could at least clear the air between them by apologising for interfering in something that really wasn't his business anyway.

But right now, he needed to finish putting his father's affairs in order. That part of the moving on process, at least, he could control.

He wandered the streets for another hour or so, not really seeing anything, except where it reminded him of Kate, until he was sure that anyone with a life, or a business, would have headed back to work. Then he made his way over to his father's lawyer's office, to sort out what remained of Christian's will.

They'd already discussed the contents; there were no surprises there. As his father's sole child and heir (barring the illegitimate offspring Christian was too ashamed to name, and from what his mother had told him only recently, there was at least one), almost everything had been passed on to him, though there wasn't any legacy of Christian's that he really wanted. All Jack had ever really wanted from his father was an explanation, about why he'd always been so hard on him, why he'd only ever been interested in his failures, and Christian had taken that with him to the grave.

The divorce settlement, and the maintenance they'd received, had been enough that he wasn't in any debt, even from medical school. Materially, at least, his father had always taken care of him.

Let his other child have it all, Jack thought, the one he wasn't supposed to know about, the one who'd broken up his family. She hadn't even had the benefit of a figurehead for a father; she deserved the compensation more than him.

Once he'd signed his name so many times it had lost all meaning, Jack left the lawyer to deal with the rest of Christian's estate, picking his car up from his father's house, and driving to the motel he'd told Kate he would be staying at. He doubted she'd show up, but he wanted her to be able to find him if she reconsidered his offer of help.

Sure enough, the Sunset Motor Inn had almost a dozen vacancies, so Jack chose a room with a semi-decent view of the surrounding farmland, changing out of his suit, ordering take-out, and doing his best to settle in to his temporary home.

It's only for one night, he told himself, by way of consolation, trying to ignore the niggling doubt at the back of his mind. As soon as he'd fixed things with Kate, he could go back to L.A., and try to forget this place for good.