The Husband Hunt - Kat's Season (The Bachelor Series) Read online

  The Husband Hunt – Kat’s Season

  A Novella Inspired by the hit TV reality show THE BACHELOR

  The Husband Hunt 1 http://amzn.com/B00BN1YNS0

  (Although it’s not necessary to read the first in the series, it might be more fun if you do. They are sequential.)

  Kat’s Season

  Kat Houston put the finishing touches to her makeup, checked herself in the mirror one last time, and left the small Polynesian-style bathroom with two cameramen following. They’d recorded every move she’d made in the last two hours. Last three months. A producer, a production assistant, and David Cranely, the host of the hit reality show, The Husband Hunt, waited outside Tahitian hut’s open door. Kat smiled at Crane and left the stilted cottage that appeared to be suspended over the turquoise ocean. The long dock to the beach, where her future husband waited, would be challenging in heels but Kat was ready.

  “Let’s go.” Crane said, holding out his arm.

  She was about to be proposed to by the love of her life, the man she’d waited twenty-six years to meet, to love, to start a life with. Liam Bolton, a former quarterback with the Miami Dolphins, was now semi-retired from sports and on his way to being an NFL sportscaster on national TV. And she’d fallen for the handsome hunk over the last three months on the reality show. The feelings were mutual, and now that they’d found each other, Kat never wanted to look back.

  On the seemingly endless walk to the beach, Kat recalled last night’s conversation about their future life. “I want kids in the next few years,” he’d said.

  “Me too.” They wanted all the same things from life-- three to four children, a house in California, sports, adventure vacations, and a dog. They agreed on everything, right down to what cars they wanted to drive. Liam was the perfect complement to her. Thank goodness this stint on the show hadn’t been for nothing because her parents had not believed in the process of finding your soul mate on a reality show. No, and they’d been very clear about that when Liam came to her hometown and had dinner with her family. Luckily, he told her that it didn’t matter. “They’ll love me eventually.”

  But it worked, and Kat couldn’t believe her good luck. Although Liam wasn’t allowed to say the word “love” yet, she’d professed her feelings and had seen him struggling to hold back the words. They’d been on a date on Kauai only two weeks earlier, when she’d looked deep into his eyes and told him that she was falling hard for him. At that moment, she hadn’t yet pictured herself standing at the alter, but believed that by the time it got down to the last two women, each vying for Liam, she’d be crazy mad in love and ready to commit.

  And now here they were, the final episode of the show, and it would only be a matter of minutes until they were officially engaged. Kat beamed at the sight of Liam in a black tuxedo, standing on a beautifully decorated stage overtop the white sand of Tahiti. The wind blew her carefully tended blonde curls around her face into her lipstick but she didn’t care.

  As she got closer to the beach, she noticed a limo, beside the beach path. Her heart jumped into her throat. If Melanie, the other contestant, the one Liam was not going to choose to be his wife, had already come and gone, why did a limo wait? Kat had watched years of The Husband Hunt and knew the procedure. The woman who would go home without the Husband, arrived first. She’d be let down gently and he’d walk her to the waiting limo where a cameraman and producer waited to capture her very private moment of anguish on camera for the nation to see.

  Why was there a second limo waiting? Melanie would’ve come and gone by now. She couldn’t be first. He’d all but told her on their final date, that Melanie wouldn’t make a good mother. Kat knew her to be irresponsible in the mansion and the girl who none of them liked. At every turn Melanie was bitchy, ignored their offers of friendship and had even faked falling down the stairs to get Liam’s attention. The other girls who’d tried to warn Liam about her opposing personalities--one for him that was engaging and sweet, and one for the girls in the house that was catty and rude-- had been sent home by now and were licking their wounds back home, no doubt wondering why Liam couldn’t see Melanie’s fake exterior.

  The limo must be there for Kat and Liam. That had to be it. Crane helped her up the stairs to the platform festooned with palm trees, hanging flower garlands and the proverbial X drawn on the floor to indicate where they were to stand for the proposal. Kat couldn’t help but smile at Liam and she approached. He looked so handsome and she was the happiest girl in the world.

  “Hi,” he said, taking her hands and squeezing. “You look pretty.”

  Kat took a deep breath. The aqua chiffon dress blew around her in the tropical breeze and created an ethereal effect to the moment. “Hi, you.”

  They stood facing each other, hands clasped between them, as Liam touted her virtues, her spunk, her humor, how much he cared for her and what a great wife and mother she’d be. “You have such a fun spirit and I love that about you, Kat.”

  Then he looked down and paused. Too long. Kat’s heart sank. Still the pause. This was the kiss off. She’d be going home, without Liam. Kat’s smile faded, a thing of the past as Liam looked up with pain in his eyes. “But, you’ll be someone else’s wife, Kat. He looked like someone had stabbed him in the gut and suddenly, she almost wished they had. “My feelings for Melanie have grown so deep, so powerful, I can’t say goodbye to her. I have to say good bye to you.”

  She nodded as if she understood, but she didn’t. She and Liam had picked out baby names, for crying out loud.

  Liam looked sorry but Kat’s main thought now was to get off the show without losing her dignity. He didn’t choose her. Liam would propose to Melanie. Had he even bought Kat a ring the other day when the jeweler flew in, or did he know then? “I’m sorry, Kat.”

  “Me too.” Hot tears filled her eyes and spilled onto her cheeks.

  He tried to hug her, but she backed up. This traitor was definitely not allowed to touch her again, this lying football player. She was stunned. Totally unprepared. It was like someone else inhabited her sweet Liam’s body. The man offering to walk her out to the waiting limo was not the man she thought he was. Not the man she expected to be the father of her three children, not the man who’d make love to her every Thursday for the next forty years and take the garbage out to the curb. This man was an imposter, and as they maneuvered down the pebble path to the limo, Kat tried to remember that.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  What a ridiculous question. “I’ll be okay. I’m in shock right now.” She looked into his lying eyes and held her gaze, making him pay for every time he told her she was the girl for him. “Forever,” he’d said last night as they made love in her hut overlooking the black ocean. They’d made love, for God’s sake. She’d given herself to him with everything she had, thinking…no… knowing they’d be engaged the following day. All her protestations in the fantasy suite about waiting until a promise of marriage had gone flying out the window on the Tahitian breeze as they’d fallen into bed.

  But, now, the cameras were still rolling, catching everything. She had to be careful. After all, her parents would watch this, her younger brother, and maybe even the parents of the art students she’d taught over the last 3 years with Mary Oak Elementary. Kat needed to make a graceful exit with her head held high.

  When they reached the limo’s open door, Liam searched her face for absolution but she couldn’t dull his guilt. If he was going to be engaged to Melanie, he needed to toughen up quickly. “I’m sorry I misread your interest,” she said. Her eyes were hard. “I misread your interest in me and
I’m sorry I misjudged you. I thought we were on our way to being a married couple, and eventually parents.” She almost smiled. “I’ll always wonder at what point you knew that wasn’t going to happen.” Kat held up her hand. “I won’t ask you to answer that. Number one, it won’t be answered honestly and number two, it will make you look like a dishonest person, and I don’t want that for you.” Kat turned, stepped into the limo, seated herself, and wiped the last of her tears from her cheeks and jawline. Even as the cameraman crawled in beside the producer in the limo, Kat knew she wouldn’t give anyone the true version of how broken her heart felt. Liam stuck his head in the window and with puppy dog eyes, said, “I’m so sorry, Kat. I did have feelings for you, just not like Melanie.”

  With that, Kat Houston hit the switch and almost caught Liam’s head in the closing window.

  For three months Kat’s life had been on hold, waiting while The Husband Hunt aired every Monday night. She’d been keeping the secret of who Liam proposed to, still wondering if he and Melanie were surviving as a couple. There were twelve episodes in total, and for the first few weeks, Kat TVo’ed the shows, not willing to watch the horror of what would eventually be her embarrassingly unsuccessful road to love. She hadn’t told anyone about getting to the end and being jilted in the final show. Under contract to keep quiet, Kat had taken solace in knowing that David Crane’s new girlfriend and Kat’s best friend in the house, Jaxie Hart, knew the outcome of the show and was sympathetic. Jaxie and Crane had met during the show when she was a contestant. When she’d discovered feelings for the host instead of Liam, she’d bowed out of the contest. “That was the easiest decision I ever made,” Jaxie said to Kat, and weeks later, when The Husband Hunt moved to Hawaii and then Tahiti, Jaxie secretly accompanied Crane. As the host and producer of the show, Crane did not want to leave Jaxie back in Los Angeles with the other eliminated contestants. The night Kat was dumped Jaxie had consoled her jilted friend and offered to accompany her back to Los Angeles. “Don’t you want to fly back with Crane?” Kat asked.

  “He and I have a whole lifetime together. Besides, he’s not coming for another two days. They have to tie up production. ” Kat knew that Jaxie had made a fierce bond with Crane’s little girls Molly and Lila, and hoped that was part of her friend flying back early.

  Back in L.A., Jaxie headed to Crane’s house in Malibu and Kat went back to the apartment in Studio City that the show had provided. Then, one night at Crane and Jaxie’s for dinner, near the end of the run of Liam’s Season, an opportunity arose.

  They’d been seated around the big patio table in Crane’s backyard, staring out at the ocean, drinking wine, when Crane returned from saying goodnight to his daughters and popped the question. “How about you be the next Bachelorette, Kat?”

  She laughed. “Only to get to the end and have nobody want me.”

  Jaxie stared at her, not laughing.

  Crane too. “I’m serious.”

  “Oh, I don’t believe that for a second.” Kat knew they were looking for a woman to do the next show but never thought she’d make a good Bachelorette. She wasn’t glamorous, exciting. Kat was simply a struggling artist and children’s art teacher who was out of work.

  “I’m not kidding.” Crane sat forward, grinning like the cat who ate the canary. “You’re a huge fan favorite on Facebook, twitter, and in interviews. The audience is going to be devastated when they find out Liam doesn’t pick you.” He looked around like there might be paparazzi coming over the fence. “We’d like you to consider being the next Bachelorette on The Husband Hunt.”

  Kat almost dropped her glass of Cupcake Chardonnay, her mouth, hanging open. “Really?!”

  A week later Kat was wardrobe shopping with the stylist of the show for gowns. “I still can’t believe this is happening to me. I get another crack at this love thing so soon.”

  Jenny, the stylist, laughed. “Well don’t get too excited just yet. We don’t want the media to see that shit-eating grin on your face and guess who the next Bachelorette is.”

  The national airing of the finale was the next day even though they were shooting the wrap up show that night. The studio audience would get a sneak peek at the finale, then they’d tape the wrap up, called After the Final Rose. Kat wasn’t even sure if she’d have the guts to watch the final episode. Kat’s parents were flying in from San Francisco any minute, to either to celebrate and meet their daughter’s boyfriend, or to catch her when she fell from being dumped on national TV.

  But she wouldn’t fall for several reasons. Her broken heart had mended surprisingly well over the last twelve weeks. Kat had taken her sadness in stages, until three weeks ago, she crossed some sort of let’s-get-on-with-my-life bridge and was now itching to date again. Which was good because she’d soon be dating twenty-five men, then twelve, then nine, and finally choosing one to spend the rest of her life with. They’d decided on some dates and now she needed eye catching clothes.

  Kat showed Jenny a pair of cutoffs and a Free People hoody. “I know we’re supposed to be dress shopping but wouldn’t this look cute when we go to Maui?” Kat knew that was one of the destinations for the dates.

  Jenny playfully surveyed Kat’s body and nodded. “And we’re going to put that drop dead gorgeous size four body into some fine looking clothes. Let’s buy the cutoffs and shirt for Maui, but concentrate today on gowns.”

  Just the day before Kat had had her already blonde hair highlighted and it looked sun-kissed and gorgeous. Jenny had advised she do something a little different to up her game as The Bachelorette, and she’d also had bangs cut. Her hair looked good and even though she was about to be rejected by a man on national TV, Kat was feeling good about herself.

  Her phone rang just as she slipped into a bright red slinky dress in the dressing room at Stella McCartney’s store. Seeing her mother’s number, she picked it up. “Hi Mom. Are you here?”

  “We just landed. We’re getting our bags, then we’ll catch a cab and meet you at the hotel at three.”

  Jenny zipped her up and nodded.

  Kat liked the dress too and danced around.

  “We just want to be here to support you, Sweetie.” Kat knew they were feeling badly for grilling Liam a little too hard when they’d all had dinner in Napa on her hometown, but Kat had tried afterwards to reassure them that her Dad’s behavior was perfectly fine. Jim and Grace Houston lived in Napa, where they owned a vineyard in their semi-retirement. Her father had not warmed up to Liam at the dinner and it was embarrassing for everyone.

  Even though she hadn’t told her mother that she’d come home from Tahiti without a fiance, Grace Houston knew. As she slipped off the red dress, Kat could hear her mother holding back the emotions of concern. “I’m okay, Mom.” This quick bounce back, made Kat wonder if she’d ever been truly in love with the quarterback or just caught up in the magic of the show’s romantic locations, and unreal situations.

  Deciding on five gorgeous party dresses and shoes to match, Kat told Jenny she was done for the day and would resume shopping tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. Looking great on T.V. was absolutely essential for the Bachelorette and because of that Kat had upped her game. Not only was she running every day but she’d been working out, doing Barre 3 for the last few months and her 5’ 7” trim body was perfectly slim for TV. And Jenny had said that outfits to flatter that figure were almost as important as choosing handsome men, when it came to enticing viewers to watch. The producers hadn’t told Kat that she had to keep the handsome ones in the show, but she understood how it worked. Ratings were everything. Regardless, she’d promised herself to go with her gut feelings, not get caught up in trying to please the producers.

  The garment bags were carried out to the limo where the driver carefully hung the dresses in the back. “I hate to say such a superficial thing but I’m actually excited to wear these clothes, almost as excited as meeting the men.”

  Jenny smiled at Kat. “That’s only because you haven’t met the men.
” Her eyebrow arched in a dastardly way and the two women laughed.

  The final episode ended, and the crowd went wild to hear that Kat was the new Bachelorette.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen, our next Bachelorette, Kat Houston.” Crane welcomed her to the stage and she sat down across from him in the hot seat. The same love seat where minutes before, Liam and Melanie had just professed their devotion to each other.

  Crane smiled and gave a little wink. “What does it feel like knowing that America loves you enough to want you to be the Bachelorette?”

  “It feels wonderful. Thank you!” Kat looked out to the sea of mostly women in the studio audience and nodded. “I’m thrilled.” She located her parents in the group and smiled at them, having already informed them before the show that she hadn’t been chosen, and was taking another stab at love by signing on to be the Bachelorette.

  “You just watched Liam and Melanie out here. Can you tell us what was going through your mind, hearing that they’re engaged and happy, especially after the shock of not being proposed to in Tahiti?”

  She shifted in her chair. “It was three months ago that I was in Tahiti, and a lot has happened in three months.” She smirked at Crane. “When Liam walked me to the limo, I kind of switched off that night. I have a very strong survival instinct and even though I was looking forward to an incredible life with him, once I knew that was never going to happen, I didn’t look back. Almost like he never existed.”

  Crane continued. “You were so in love, and then it seemed like you weren’t.” His questioning look and words had been anticipated.

  “I know it looked like that.” She laughed. “Don’t get me wrong. I wanted that relationship, but when it was obvious that Liam was choosing Melanie, it was like I realized in that moment that Liam wasn’t the person I thought he was. I started grieving for the relationship I’d anticipated. Does that make sense?”