Page 26 of And They Had a Great Fall

Cindy must have seen his face, because she took her glasses off and looked into the camera. “Jake, I know you think I’m a bitch, but I’m the one who needs to think this way. This is good for you. If he was alive, you become a home wrecker, and she’s a slut sleeping around with a much younger man. But since he’s dead, you both become a sympathetic couple. Love after loss. I can see the headlines, and they’re all positive for you.”

“Well, let’s not let it come to headlines,” he growled, pissed at the court of public opinion, unfair and unforgiving.

“I have to level with you, Jake. This could have more legs than I thoughtifanything happens andifsomeone picks up on it. Not that we can’t manage it. We can. This is just juicier than I imagined. I expected her to be a twenty-one-year-old influencer slash model-of-the-day.” Cindy winked at him. “This is much more interesting.”

She paused. “Have you ever considered doing anything proactively? Like an announcement or even just a well-timed Instagram? Just get it out there? We’re trying to get people to take you more seriously, and this could be good for your image. Helping a young widow move on with her life gives you a much more woke and sensitive image than, f-boy actor on the rise.”

He winced at her characterization of how he was perceived. He probably deserved it, given his shenanigans over the past year, but he certainly thought he deserved more consideration for his acting abilities. But it seemed his personal life would always overshadow everything.

“No!” Jake said sharply. “We can’t. Not right now. Kat is worried about having complete strangers take an interest in Becca. I think that’s a fair concern, given some of the boundaries people cross without a second thought.” He paused and waited for Cindy to acknowledge his statement. “Also, sheishere for work and it’s not good optics to look like she’s here to hang out with me. So,we need to keep her as anonymous as we can. At least for the next seven days.”

Cindy sighed. “And then later? Is she prepared to announce something in the future? We can only keep this a secret for so long.” Jake knew she was right, but he didn’t even know if Kat wanted a relationship past this week. He certainly hoped so, but her hesitation gave him pause.

“I don’t know,” he said honestly. “We’re still figuring things out. Like, between us. And I don’t want to try to figure it out with millions of people watching.” He stopped to take a breath and finally said, “I just want time, Cindy. We need time. Can you get us some time to be a secret a little bit longer?”

Cindy put up both hands in a show of surrender. “Okay, this is what we are going to do. This is the story if we need it: she’s a longtime friend of your parents, and she’s your neighbor back home. She’s practically family. She’s working on a project here in Copenhagen. This was a perfect opportunity to be neighbors again. Purely platonic. Great friends.”

Jake nodded into the camera. “That’s right. But only if needed. Nothing proactive.” He liked it because it was true. True enough.

“It’ll be fine,” Cindy said, “and I do want to say, I’m happy for you, Jake.” It was just about the kindest thing she had ever said to him. She wasn’t done. “Word of advice,” she said. “Just don’t go making out on the street.”

“When are you going to forgive me for that?” Jake murmured. She managed to weave it into every conversation.

“Never. Bye, Jake,” she said, and signed off.

chapter eleven

Kat opened her eyes as Jake ran his hand up and down her arm to wake her up. She smiled at him and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

“Hey. How long was I out?” she asked.

Jake handed her a cup of coffee he had set on her nightstand. “Kat, it’s 5:45 in the morning. You slept all night.”

“What?” she asked, looking around and taking in the unmistakable gray of early morning light. “I can’t believe I slept that long. Why didn’t you wake me?”

Jake shrugged. “You needed it,” he said as he pushed a strand of hair out of her face and behind her ear. “You need a break, Kat. You looked so peaceful. I wasn’t going to wake you.”

She smiled and took a sip of coffee. She did the math: she’d slept for over twelve hours. She couldn’t remember the last time she had gotten that much sleep. “I’m going to get in the shower,” she said and glanced at the nightstand. “Where’s my phone?”

Jake jumped up. “I’ll find it.”

Kat stretched her arms and got out of bed. She was still in her sweats from the night before. She’d fallen asleep on top of the covers, and it looked like she hadn’t moved all night. The jet lag—plus a few late nights and early mornings—had finally caught up to her. She felt rested and no longer had the sluggish feeling she relied on coffee to mask.

“It’s on the kitchen table,” Jake called from the kitchen. “Dead. I’ll put it on the charger in here.”

“Okay,” she called. She would check her phone after her shower. It was Monday morning in Copenhagen, which meant it was still the middle of the night in the US. She had to admit, not only did it feel good physically to get that much sleep, but it was also nice to ease into the morning without the normal onslaught of emails from work.

After a hot shower and extended time getting ready, Kat walked into the kitchen. She was in her self-imposed work uniform of dark jeans and black suit jacket. Her hair was pulled into a low knot at the base of her neck. She looked professional, but approachable and appropriate for a tech company where the wardrobe tipped more to hoodies and sneakers.

As she grabbed her laptop off the table and unplugged its charger, it hit her how excited she was to finally go inside the PathMobile Copenhagen offices. She’d taken a photo outside the office during her and Ben’s honeymoon visit. She felt as giddy now as she did back then. She’d come a long way from the newly graduated MBA student, paying her dues in the PathMobile finance department. Being new to the company, she hadn’t gone in but had sent her boss the picture. She’d been proud to see the birthplace of the company where she wanted to build her career. Today, she would finally walk through those doors.

Jake was busy working, his laptop open, notes around him, and theZero Codenovel fanned upside down in front of him. It looked like he had found a lot of material that was inspiring him. She even saw some sketches spread out on the table. She leaned down and gave him a small kiss. She couldn’t stop smiling. After the last few days with Jake, topped off with an actual full night’s sleep, she felt better than she had in a long time. She was going to ask him to catch her up with theZero Codenovel when sheglanced at her phone on the counter. It was a sea of green text bubbles and missed calls.

Her heart dropped and panic set in as she grabbed it and unlocked her device. She scanned the names to make sure it wasn’t about Becca. Finding a smidge of relief that nothing had happened to her, Kat refocused her brain to the messages.

“Shit,” she said as her heart raced.

“What?” Jake asked, looking up from his laptop.

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