Night and Day (Stevens Book 11)

Chapter 9

Katherine's mother died on a Saturday, six weeks later.

Despite her father's insistence that she remain until things were settled, as soon as the funeral was over, Katherine was on the first flight back to New York. There was nothing left for her in Charleston, and neither her father not her sisters needed her.

Upon her return, Katherine's first phone call was to Laura Stevens, her agent. The sooner she got back on the modeling circuit, the better. Thankfully Laura had something for her in Milan, Italy, the following week.

It was a challenging week. She had lost some weight which the designers loved. The consensus was the thinner the model, the better the clothes were featured. The work was just what she needed to forget about her mother and Alistair for a while.

Katherine had spent the last ten years running away from home and all that it represented, and that had defined her. Now that she didn't need to run, she wasn't sure about anything. She had lost her mother, who was her past, and she had lost Alistair, who had been her present, but what was her future?

Was it Alistair? Was it her career? Was it a one-bedroom walk-up with twenty cats?

After Milan, she headed to London to attend a production meeting for the show she hosted. It was a ghost hunter show. It featured a group of ghost hunters who traveled all over England investigating haunted houses and buildings. Katherine played the skeptic and was always ready with an eye roll when they found something. The viewers seemed to love it.

The only issue that crept up from time to time was the crew's desire to investigate the Earl of Pennington's estate in Kent, which belonged to Alistair Stevens and his family. It had almost been a go eight years earlier, but a family emergency had canceled the investigation, and it had never seemed to be an option after that.

"What about Hardd House in Kent? Do you think the Earl of Pennington would be up for it?" Robert Gore, the head investigator, asked as if reading Katherine's mind.

"It's worth a shot. Katherine, what are your thoughts?" KiKi Mann, the head of production, turned to her.

Katherine shrugged. "We can ask, but they've always put us off in the past, insisting that the house isn't haunted."

"That's just the reason we should investigate there. Can you imagine if we caught something!" Robert insisted, practically drooling.

"I'd like to catch the young earl, if you get what I mean," Susie Baker smiled at the thought.

"We get what you mean," J.D, the cameraman, shook his head. Susie was the youngest at twenty-three, and she was always looking for Mr. Perfect.

"You can talk to your agent. She's the aunt of the young earl, isn't she?" J.D. questioned Katherine.

"No, I cannot," Katherine shook her head. "If you want permission, you need to make an official ask through the proper channels. The Stevens are very particular about such things." They were sticklers for a contract, and she didn't want it to come across as if she was taking advantage of a friendship.

"You're no help!" Robert pouted as he leaned back in his seat.

"If you want it, schedule it first, then the others around it. Having a wide-open schedule will help. The family is very busy and travels quite a bit. If you allow them to name the date, it might go better than it has in the past." Katherine was unsure of why she was giving advice on the matter. It was the last thing she wanted to do. Wasn't it? She had to admit she would love to see the house.

They discussed it for a few minutes more, but Katherine remained silent, knowing she shouldn't have said anything in the first place. The meeting lasted another hour then she was off to the airport to fly back to New York.