Chapter 3

You like her, don’t you?”

Luke tried not to grit his teeth. “Yes.”

“But she doesn’t like you, does she?”

“Katherine…” Of all the things he needed to discuss with his fifteen-year-old niece, his love life, or lack thereof, wasn’t on the list.

Kat’s eyes widened then began to go glassy and her lower lip quivered.

Luke’s stomach dropped to the bottom of his shoes. His mind raced for something to say, except he didn’t know what he’d done wrong.

Tears rolled down Kat’s cheeks, and her breath came in short gasps. She swiped her arm across her eyes and turned her face to the car window.

“Kat…I’m sorry…I…” He let his voice trail off. He was the first to admit he didn’t know much about women, much less pre-adult women, but one thing he did know was that saying sorry first usually was the key to finding out what he was supposed to be sorry for.

“Please don’t be mad at me.” She gulped. “I didn’t mean it.”

He gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. He didn’t know whether to keep going and play it casual or pull off to the side and give her a hug. Then Kat moved her body closer to the door, which told him that she wouldn’t welcome a hug right now.

He kept driving but thought maybe he’d go the long way to the coffee shop so they would have more time to talk.

“I’m not mad at you. Why do you think I’m mad?”

She gulped in a deep breath, and her voice cracked as she spoke in gasping breaths. “Mom used to call me Katherine—when she was mad at me—and that last night she called me Katherine—and I went out without talking to her—and then I went straight to bed when I got home—and then Mom and Dad were in that car accident in the morning—and I never got to say I was sorry—and now she’s gone and I’ll never see her again—and I never told her I loved her—and my last words were that I hated her—and I can’t take it back.” She covered her face with her hands and began to sob.

Luke pulled off the road and turned off the car. He unbuckled his seat belt and Kat’s and gently rested his hands on her shoulders. She didn’t resist, so he pulled her in for a hug.

He hadn’t known that the last time she’d seen her mother they’d had a fight. He couldn’t imagine anything worse for a last memory. “Don’t let the sun go down on your anger.” Words he would never forget, especially now.

He held Kat while she cried, gently stroking her back, not quite knowing her loss. He’d been devastated by the loss of his brother and sister-in-law, but she’d lost her mother and father, and she was still a child. “She knew you loved her,” he said, feeling his own voice start to crack as memories of that day came crashing down on him, of getting the call telling him that both Andrew and Susie had been killed in a car accident on their way to work. He’d never forget the numbness that enveloped him, going to his brother’s house to be with Kat, knowing they were gone.

When Kat finished crying herself out, she pulled away and swiped at her face, for all the good it did. Even in the muted light from the streetlamps, he could see her eyes were red, her face blotchy, and her nose shiny.

He gave her a weak smile. “I think we can forgo the coffee shop tonight and just go home.” Aside from Kat being a wreck, he didn’t feel very sociable either.

Kat shook her head. “But Cindy is expecting you, and I know she only went because of me. I’m so sorry.”

He didn’t want her to be sorry. He especially didn’t want her to start crying again. After the waterfall of emotions, he wasn’t far from a few tears himself. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll see her tomorrow and explain.”

Kat sniffled then pushed away from him. “Call her now. Then we can go home.”

“I don’t have her phone number.”

“Are you serious?”

“It’s true. I see her nearly every day. Even if I don’t go in, we wave at each other across the parking lot. I’ve never needed to phone her.”

Kat sniffed again. “Then maybe we should go. I know you like her.”

Luke picked up one hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “That’s not important right now. What’s important is to get you home. Maybe we’ll make hot chocolate and watch a silly movie, and we’ll both go to bed real late and be tired in the morning together.”

She pushed his hands away and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “I don’t want her to worry when we don’t show up. How about if you go in to buy a couple of hot chocolates while I wait in the car, and then we go home?”

Luke fastened his seat belt and started the car. “Deal. Buckle up and let’s go.”

Cindy checked her watch then took another sip of her coffee.

It was nearly cold, half-gone, and Luke still wasn’t there.

Just in case, she checked her cell phone. There were no missed calls.

As she flipped open the phone to search for Luke’s number, she realized she only had his business listing. Kat was too new to the group to be in the group’s directory, but Cindy hoped the girl would join. Not only was the group good for her, but for a little thing, Kat was pretty good with a hockey stick. Because she was small, most of the boys on the other team treated her like she might break—which was their mistake and her team’s gain.

While she tried not to worry, Cindy repositioned her chair to avoid being obvious about looking toward the door every time it opened, even though she should have been paying attention to the conversation at her table, which was about the postgame social activities the parent volunteer group was planning.

She’d nearly given up hoping they were going to come when Luke walked through the door.

Alone.

Luke stepped to the side of the entrance and slowed, glancing around the room until they locked eye contact. He paused, ran one hand through his hair, and approached her.

Cindy stood and guided him away for a private conversation. “Where’s Kat?”

He ran his hand through his hair again. “She’s feeling a little out of sorts right now so I’m just going to pick up a couple of hot chocolates and go home.”

Cindy turned to look outside at Luke’s car parked beside the building. Kat was sitting in the front passenger seat, blowing her nose.

It was probably none of her business and probably not smart to get involved, but she had to ask. “What’s wrong?”

“Kat needs some downtime, I think.”

She waited for him to say more but he didn’t.

“Is she going to be okay?” The second the words left her mouth, she knew the answer. Cindy didn’t know the whole story, but she’d figured out enough to make a good guess. The girl had lost both her parents, and now Luke was trying to pick up the pieces.

Cindy had been younger than Kat was now when her mother had died, but she still felt the loss and the heartache every day. Living with Melissa and her two daughters made Cindy miss her mother even more.

One day Kat would be okay, but that wouldn’t be for a long time. No matter how good Luke could be, he would never replace her mother.

Cindy wanted to help but didn’t know how much to get involved.

“I should get the hot chocolates and get going. Kat didn’t want you to worry, so I came in instead of using the drive-through. I guess I’ll see you at work tomorrow—if you’ve got time to squeeze in a couple of oil changes.”

“Uh…sure…”

Before she could come up with something more intelligent, Luke turned and headed for the counter.

While he was being served, Cindy sank back into her chair and watched Kat. She didn’t spend a lot of time with teenagers—she had only agreed to help the youth group short-term because of the hockey tournament. She did know that when left alone, most teenage girls went into texting frenzy, catching up on the precious minutes they’d been out of contact with their friends.

Kat sat still, staring out the window at nothing on the dark side of the parking lot, every once in a while swiping her arm across her face. She wasn’t texting—just staring out the window. The girl probably hadn’t seen any of her friends since she moved in with Luke.

The girl needed more than just a cup of hot chocolate.

But Cindy had needs, too. And one thing that she didn’t need was to get involved in someone else’s family troubles when she was drowning in her own.

She watched as Luke got into the car and handed Kat one of the cups. The girl nodded then continued to stare out the window.

Cindy stood. “I have to go home; sorry I can’t stay. I’m sure whatever you decide will be fine.” She tossed her cup and half-eaten muffin into the garbage can and headed for her truck, hoping once she got home she would be able to just sneak in quietly and go to bed. Whether sleep would come would be another issue.