It seemed once Katherine gave herself to me, to us, she’d done so with the acceptance of what Max really was. That first night we were together, I’d told her exactly what I thought of the man, whose identity had been unknown until today.

When she left Bear Claw, I asked Leo to watch the place then went next door to Coastal Ink.

Frodo saw me and noticed the struggle. It was a struggle he’d known and faced through the years. Luckily, he was reading, Zack chattering away while he tattooed a man’s sleeve.

“Friend,” Frodo said, with his rich blue eyes staring at me. “I heard there’s been unrest in your kingdom.”

“Yeah,” I chuckled, but the sound was an angry one. “You could say that.”

“The past has shown itself.”

“In Technicolor,” I spat. “I have to get out of here before I tear the place apart. Would you mind checking on Leo?”

“No worries, Holst. May I give you some advice?” he asked.

I nodded.

“Take it out on anything else but her.”

My chest tightened at his warning, but he was absolutely right in giving it.

“Yeah.” I nodded. “I’ll be back.”

I left Coastal Ink and was face to face with Katherine’s father.

“I’d like to speak to you,” he demanded.

“You know, my dad wasn’t a good man either. He knocked my mom around just like you do to your wife. Still, I know he loved me. But you…”

“You think you know me?”

“Nope,” I replied. “But that doesn’t change the fact, at this particular moment, I want to beat the shit out of you.”

“She secured a loan with my apartments.”

I stepped closer to him, not heeding my internal warning that I should get as far away from him as possible.

“They’re hers now.”

“She’s living in a million dollar property she did nothing to earn.”

I stepped even closer and warned quietly, “She did earn it.”

“Get out of my face,” he countered, just as quietly.

“She earned it!”

With an arrogant confidence that made me hate him all the more, he said, “Get the hell out of my face.”

I ignored his words. “She should’ve been your first priority.”

His reply was to laugh, and, feeling a tumult of anger well up inside me, it was only a matter of time before I released my rage onto him with my fists.

“You’re not a part of her life now, and unless she wants it, you won’t be a part of her future either.”

With a small feeling of accomplishment that I didn’t physically harm or threaten him, I brushed past her father and left.

He wasn’t worth it.

If he’d tried to say anything further to me as I walked away, I didn’t hear it.

***

I had yet to rent my apartment to anyone, not because I thought things would go badly between myself and Katherine; I just hadn’t bothered yet. I kept my favorite longboard there and went through the motions of grabbing a wetsuit and securing the board to the car. Then I made my way to a spot I’d been going to for years.

When my relationship with Chelle began to grow more and more difficult, I came here. I loved that I could see the people on the train, the Amtrak Oceanliner. On my board, out in the Pacific Ocean, I was part of their California scenery.

I paddled out, letting my arms dip into the cold water, my chest flat against the board as a wave crashed over me.

Then I was there.

That calm spot where you wait. To my left were three other surfers, waiting for the next set to roll in, and I replayed the entire scene with Katherine in my head.

That’s when it hit me, I should’ve waited. I should’ve ignored my rage and waited for her.

There was history and heartache all wrapped up with Max, her mother, and her father, but as I turned and took the first wave that came my way, more became clear to me. Most importantly, she was going to be my wife, my future, she just needed to say goodbye to her past.

I rode one last wave in, the positive release of adrenaline renewing me and then, I wanted nothing more than to be with her. Right then and there I knew, I would never leave her alone like I had that afternoon. Today was an exception, because if there was one thing I should’ve remembered about battle…

Never leave your partner behind.

***

I showered quickly and dressed in whatever I could since most of my clothes were now at Katherine’s place. Then I made my way back to Bear Claw.

I hadn’t been gone long, forty-five minutes, an hour at most. I checked my phone and saw several missed calls from Katherine, but when I tried to call back, she didn’t answer. I walked in and was first greeted by Leo, who’d given me the play-by-play of what had happened between Katherine and her father.

“Fuck,” I bit out, murmuring that, if I ever saw that man again, I would break his neck with my bare hands.

A woman who had been there for a while approached me and asked, “Are you Holst?”

“I am,” I replied, not really wanting to have a conversation at the moment, but not wanting to be rude to my customers either. It was almost closing, half-past three, and Christmas Eve at that.

“I’m Lynn, and that’s Rue. We’re friends with Gloria.”

“Nice to meet you,” I returned with as much polite enthusiasm as I could muster in the moment.

“A couple of things. My friend and I saw the whole show. Apparently, we missed round one with the ex-boyfriend and all that. But we saw round two, and, of course, Gloria has kept us all abreast of the goings-on of your little soap-opera world here.” She leaned in to whisper, “We know all about Frodo and that lovely girl, Dee. And that poor girl, Ruby,” she pursed her lips and gave me a sad expression as she hemmed, “Well, I think something will happen with that carpenter.”

I smiled at her. This fifty-something woman was very well-informed.

“I need to find Katherine,” I told her.

“I know you do.” She winked. “One more thing. We actually came in because we have a book club that meets every Friday night. We need somewhere that has good coffee and won’t mind us drinking an excessive amount of wine. We’re happy to make it worth your while…and him. We want him.” She nodded toward Leo. “Eye candy, you understand.” She winked.

I gave her a genuine smile. “I think we can accommodate you, Lynn.”

“Wonderful.” She clapped. “I’ll be back in a few days to get the scoop on what happened with ‘Your Katherine.’ Everyone loves a happy ending.”

I turned my attention back to Leo. “Any idea where I can find her?”

“I’d ask her friend, Tori,” he suggested. “But she told me to take care of the place and give Gloria some more hours. If I ran into any problems, ask Frodo.” Then he looked out the window and back to me. “He grabbed her on the sidewalk.”

“Who?”

“Frodo. Not rough, not like that. Just talking to her. Then she screamed at him, came in and had the showdown with her dad, and left.”

I hoped this would be my biggest fuck-up in our relationship—leaving so I wouldn’t beat her father or that Max asshole to death. I should’ve taken a walk, not a surf.

I ran my hands down my face. “There are way too many people in my relationship right now.”

Leo commented with monosyllabic effectiveness. “Word.”

“Thanks, Leo.”

“No worries.”

I went to Victoria first, but Cameron answered the door with his chest puffed out, his eyes burning, and asked, “Did you make my wife cry today?”

“Absolutely not,” I replied.

“Crying makes her throw-up. Throwing up makes her cry. So unless you have something nice to say to her, get the fuck off my porch and go fuck yourself.”

I took a deep breath because I understood his protectiveness of Victoria. Then I glanced inside their home. It was Christmas…everywhere. Not overly done, but beautifully done. You could see the light touches of a woman with an eye for detail who knew when enough was enough. A fresh tree stood in their living room to the right, and if I hadn’t been so caught up in my thoughts, I would’ve seen it through the front window. Even their garden gnome that Katherine had given them with pride had a matching Santa hat. A nice touch I thought.