Kate's Vow (Vows) by Sherryl Woods Page A

Hollywood circles had seen the irony in the famed divorce lawyer being caught up in what had nearly become a highly publicized palimony scandal with the creep suing her. Knowing Kate as well as he had, however, had led Ryan Manning to settle out of court and slink off to prey on other unsuspecting women.
    As a result of all that thoroughly dissected past history, had she been with David alone, everyone would have guessed him to be an exceptionally handsome colleague or a client and gone back to their dinners.
    Davey’s presence changed all that. Kate rarely entertained children, other than her nieces. She wasn’t regarded as the maternal type, probably because of her cutthroat courtroom reputation. To see her here with father and son, especially this particular father and son, was clearly cause for fascination.
    All during dinner people found excuses to drop by the table, angling for introductions, hoping to pinpoint the exact nature of the relationship. Some, she knew, genuinely hoped that she’d found a new, satisfying romance. Others had recognized David and no doubt knew the details of his tragic loss. They clearly wondered if his days of mourning were past.
    Kate guessed there would be no fewer than half a dozen calls by Monday morning, at least one of them from a gossip columnist from one of the film industry trade papers. She could barely wait for the meal to end, so she could escape the unspoken speculation.
    Davey, however, insisted on dessert. And David wanted coffee. Kate wanted to scream with impatience, but didn’t dare. Then she would have to explain exactly why she was suddenly so uncomfortable.
    “Kate? Coffee?” David asked as the waiter jotted down the order.
    “Please,” she said, though she couldn’t think of anything she wanted less. But if she had to sit here, she wanted something to do.
    “You can have some of my dessert,” Davey offered generously. “I probably won’t eat it all.”
    “Right,” his father said skeptically. “You never leave me so much as a crumb.”
    “Because you always say you don’t want any and then you start sneaking in with your fork, and before I know it, it’s all gone. Then you call me a pig.”
    Kate relaxed slightly as she chuckled at Davey’s indignation. Watching him, she felt a powerful, deep emotion that was entirely new to her. His usually neat hair was windblown. His cheeks and arms were tinted pink from too much sun. He had a scrape on one elbow from falling on the sand during a volleyball game. He had a streak of ketchup on his chin. He was so exhausted he could hardly keep his eyes open, but he looked the happiest she’d ever seen him. He looked like a kid again. The messy, energy-draining kind. The kind she’d always sworn she wanted no part of.
    So why did she feel so contented? Why did she look at Davey and feel this gut-wrenching tug of tenderness stealing through her? True, Davey was a pretty extraordinary boy. He was bright, funny and compassionate. He was certainly bold beyond his years. In short, he had a lot of the same traits she’d had at the same age. Her niece, Penny, was similarly precocious. Kate wondered if her own kids would have turned out to be nearly as interesting. Maybe she ought to be grateful she knew kids like Penny and Davey and not even consider testing her own luck with the gene pool.
    A rational plan, one she’d embraced long ago, when work had been a demanding, satisfying lover. Tonight, however, Kate wasn’t feeling rational. She looked at Davey and his father and wished with all her heart that her life had taken a different track. She sighed at the realization that it was rapidly getting too late to change directions, especially now that she’d been on this lonely course for so long.
    “You look as if you’re a million miles away,” David said, interrupting her disturbing thoughts. “And wherever you are doesn’t look like a very happy place.”
    Kate was startled that he could read her so easily. She