Chapter 19

Kate carried her iced coffee out onto the back deck, more than ready for her break. She put on her shades as she found a free picnic table and sat down. In the summer, she'd spent so many hours at this sports bar that even her boss joked she should just move in. But compared to her previous waitressing jobs in New York, this place was a breeze. Her manager was laid-back and fun, and the atmosphere was relaxed even on busy nights. Kate counted herself lucky to have this job, especially since it allowed her to continue working while pursuing her degree.

Kate sipped her iced coffee. Why did she ever leave California? Next week was Thanksgiving, and it was a sunny seventy-two degrees. She pulled out her phone to check what the weather was like in New York. Snow flurries. While she might miss the atmosphere of the city during the holidays, she did not miss the bitterly cold days and slushy streets.

When she started college, she had to give up her morning shifts at the coffee shop, but she knew she had to keep this job. She needed the money. Things had been oddly falling into place for her in the last few months. College was turning out to be fun, and just as Lexi had predicted, all of her professors were excellent. She just kept her distance from Professor Clarke. Even if Lexi hadn't told her what happened to her, Kate would have figured it out. Within the first month, she'd already seen him getting a little too close to a few female students, and Kate wanted nothing to do with him. She went to all his classes and turned in her papers, hoping to fly under the radar.

And before that, in June, just when Kate started looking for a room in someone else's apartment, Isabella announced that she was moving in with her girlfriend, so Kate took her room. The timing was perfect. Even though Lexi would never kick her out, two months on someone's couch was overstaying her welcome.

Every day was busy, but in a good way, and around October, Kate finally started to feel like herself again. She'd had some low points in the summer when she realized that Hollis was never going to contact her. In May, she told herself it had only been a month. Hollis might have been busy with work, with lawyers. When two months had gone by, Kate was still quick to pick up her phone anytime it chimed, wishing an unknown number would appear on her screen. In July, when Lexi had gone to San Diego to meet up with the bartender from that weekend, Kate was alone on the 4th. She'd worked through the fireworks, stepping out onto the deck to watch them, but when she'd gotten home that night, exhausted and feeling more alone than she ever had, she'd caved to an idea that had been at the back of her mind for a few weeks at that point.

When she couldn't sleep, she reached for her phone, finally giving in and searching for an interior designer named Hollis in Pasadena. Not only was she lonely, but she was starting to forget what Hollis looked like, all of the images in her head from that night beginning to fade as the months went by. And there was Hollis's gorgeous face staring back at her. The first search result brought her to Hollis's website. Kate stared at the image of Hollis sitting elegantly in an arm chair with her legs crossed, her hair perfectly styled in waves. She radiated confidence. Hollis looked every bit the successful businesswoman in that photo, and Kate locked the screen, her heart racing.

Kate closed her eyes, blindly leaving her phone on the nightstand, tears threatening to fall. The whole thing was so frustrating. Her decision to leave that hotel room without Hollis's number still haunted Kate seven months later. It was ridiculous. It was irrational. Why had she been so sure that Hollis would get in touch with her? How had she been that arrogant?

And while things were better now, and that night had served as some sort of a turning point, here she was, spending her break thinking about Hollis. When would it end?