I Ran So Far Away - Complete

Chapter 32

"Ana? I hope you don't mind but Mom is here? She dropped over before unexpected," Kate said, opening the door to Teddy, McIntyre, Sawyer and me.

"I don't mind," I replied, stepping into the apartment that Kate and I never got around to sharing. It was similar to the way it looked back when I'd lived there, but now had more of a masculine atmosphere thanks to Ethan. For a moment as I walked through the door, I had a flashback to walking in after Leila had destroyed all my stuff, but I quickly pushed that errant idea away.

"Hello Mrs. Kavanagh," I greeted, gesturing McIntyre to where he should set up the bassinet. A folding contraption on a wheeled base, it was fabulous when visiting.

"Ana – it's Melinda, please. How about I take that little bundle of joy while you get set up?"

It was with relief I passed Teddy to Melinda. He was fascinated with a shiny diamond pendant she was wearing, and I couldn't help wonder whether it was one of Eamon's apology pieces. I quickly set up the sound and motion monitor, getting all of Teddy's sleep equipment ready. McIntyre double checked all was working before passing me the monitor.

"We'll go wait outside," Sawyer said with a tight smile.

"If you have stuff to do, feel free. Teddy's due to sleep any minute, so I'll be here a few hours as long as that suits you, Kate?"

"Sure," she replied with a smile.

"So? Back here around two-thirty?" I suggested. "If I need you back earlier, I'll call."

"Sure thing Ana," Sawyer replied with a grin, much more casual with me than McIntyre. I overheard them bickering about where to first as the door closed.

"Katherine? Have you considered Henry's offer?" Melinda asked, Teddy cradled in her arms like a pro.

I gave Kate a questioning expression.

"Mom's brother Uncle Henry lives in the UK. He runs a PR and advertising firm with branches in London, Birmingham and Manchester. With everything that's gone on, he's offered me a position there for a few months."

"You want to go away?" I gasped in surprise. While Kate had suggested leaving Seattle, I hadn't taken her seriously.

"I'm considering it," Kate admitted. "I don't want to go back to The Seattle Times. Not just because everyone knows what happened, but also I'm not enjoying the work. Mia picked up my stuff from Elliot's apartment, and I get I'm welcome to crash here, but long-term I don't want to cramp Ethan's style. I have always dreamed about doing a year in Europe, and since the wedding's off, the timing is right..."

"You don't want to try to work things out with Elliot?" I asked, wondering about Melinda's stance on that. "He's made it clear he's sorry, and that he still loves you."

"I'm not sure I can."

"Even if you knew for sure he was too drunk to consent to what happened?"

Kate stared at me. "What do you know?" she demanded.

"Christian had his security team contact the dancers direct. They each provided a statement." I looked at Melinda sympathetically.

"Don't stop on my account. I'd like to hear this..." she declared.

"The dancers were questioned separately. They both confirmed Elliot was not aware of the arrangements and passed out before anything other than a lap dance happened." I handed the typed statements to Kate who sat reading them. Teddy almost zonked out in Melinda's arms, I took him from her, sinking onto the other end of the sofa from Kate and opening my blouse to feed.