Chapter 18 #2
“I’m not exactly surprised.” I went over and kissed Cat on top of the head. “It was pretty bad.”
Mom leaned towards me as she whispered, “She didn’t tell us everything, but it sounded just awful.”
“Oh, it was.” Cat had already heard everything that happened, so I didn’t bother whispering as I told Mom, “She just kept going on and on about Trevor. I get that she was hurt over losing him, I really do, but she had to know that coming here wasn’t the right thing to do ... especially knowing Cat would be here.”
“The woman has always been delusional,” Mom continued to whisper. “Thank God Thatch was here, so you didn’t have to deal with her alone.”
“They shouldn’t have had to deal with her at all.” My father sounded both troubled and irate as he shook his head and grumbled, “I don’t care what happened with Trevor. That woman had no business walking into the house like that.”
“No, she didn’t.” I glanced over at Thatch. “But I’m getting the locks taken care of today, so at least that won’t be an issue again.”
“Thank goodness for that,” my dad grumbled.
The room fell quiet for a moment, and Thatch used it as his opportunity to say, “As much as I’ve enjoyed getting to meet you both, I’ve really gotta be going.”
“So soon?” my mother pouted.
“Afraid so. I have a few things I need to tend to, but I look forward to seeing you both again sometime soon.”
“That would be wonderful.” Unable to stop herself, Mom pushed, “Maybe you and Becca could bring Cat over for dinner sometime?”
“Yeah, I’m sure we could work something out.” He walked over and kissed me on the cheek, then whispered, “I’ll call you later.”
“I’ll walk you out.”
After he grabbed his cut from the coat rack, I followed him out the kitchen door and down the back steps to his motorcycle. As he reached for his helmet, he told me, “Enjoyed meeting your folks.”
“You’re sweet to say that.” I smiled. “I wish I’d had more time to prepare you.”
“No need for all that.” He chuckled. “They honestly were great.”
“I’m glad you think so.” I stepped closer as I slipped my hands around his waist. “Any idea when I’ll get to see you again?”
“When do you want to see me?”
“Soon.”
“You know, you could see me any time you want if you’d move in with me.”
“Mm-hmm. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“You do that.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine in a heart-throbbing, possessive kiss; then, he gave me one of his sexy smirks. “Try to stay out of trouble until I get back.”
“I’ll try, but I can’t make you any promises.”
He put on his helmet, then slowly backed out of my driveway and sped off down the street.
I knew chaos would ensue the second I stepped back inside that house, so I stood there for a moment, relishing the feeling of the sun against my face and the quiet whisper of the wind as it whipped through the trees.
After my crazy morning, I needed a second to compose myself before going inside to face my parents. When I finally walked in, my mother was smiling from ear to ear as she said, “I like him.”
“Oh, really?”
I was shocked that she not only liked him, but she actually admitted so.
She nodded, then turned to my father. “Didn’t he seem like a nice man, George?”
“Yeah, he seemed all right.” Dad motioned his head over at Cat as he said, “Little Bit likes him, so as far as I’m concerned, that’s good enough for me.”
“I really do hope you’ll bring him to dinner soon.”
“Enough about Thatch, Mom.” I walked over to Cat and picked up her now empty plate as I asked, “Are you ready for your skating party?”
“Mm-hmm.” She nodded excitedly.
“Then run upstairs and get dressed. We need to head out in ten minutes.”
“Okay, Momma.”
While Cat rushed up the steps to get changed, I cleaned up the kitchen and started gathering all the party favors. Mom and Dad helped me get everything loaded into the car, and once Cat was all dolled up in her party outfit, we were ready to go.
As soon as we made it to the skating rink, Mom and I got busy taping up the decorations while Dad made sure all the fees were covered. Cat was chomping at the bit as she waited for her friends to arrive, but thankfully, she didn’t have to wait long before they started streaming in.
They all put on their skates, and with Cat right in the center, began skating and talking and laughing. It did my heart good to see Cat having such a wonderful time, especially after the way her morning started out.
I knew there was a decent chance that all of this would come back and haunt her in the future, but right now, she wasn’t thinking about her father.
She wasn’t thinking about the night he tried to kill us or the day Joyce took her to the prison to see him.
At this very moment, she was enjoying her party with her friends.
Cat was happy, and that was the only thing that mattered.
The girls skated for hours, then ate cupcakes and Cat opened presents. By the time they were done, we were all exhausted. Mom and Dad helped me get things cleaned up, and then Cat and I headed back to the house.
When we got home, we both took a bath and got in our pajamas, then piled up on the sofa to watch a movie. We were just about to start one of her favorite Disney movies when I turned to her and asked, “Did you have fun today?”
“Oh yeah, it was so much fun.” Her eyes lit up as she said, “Maddie told Livy that I was her best friend, and that I always have the coolest parties.”
“Is that right?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Well, what about you? Did you think it was a cool party?”
“Yeah, I thought it was awesome.” She gave me a little shrug. “I kind of wish Thatch could’ve been there.”
“Really?” I giggled. “Thatch at a skating party? That would’ve been a sight to see.”
“I think he would’ve had fun.”
“So, you really like Thatch.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“I like him, too.”
“I know.” A big smile crossed her face as she turned towards me and said, “You act funny when he’s around.”
“I do?”
“Mm-hmm.” She nodded. “Your face gets red, and you stare at him a lot. And your voice gets all weird, too.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“Yeah, it does,” she argued. “It gets all soft and sweet ... Kind of like when you’re tired.”
“No way.”
She giggled. “He talks funny to you, too.”
“He does not.”
“Does so.” She stopped giggling, and her smile faded. “I think he does it because he really likes you.”
“You think so?”
“Mm-hmm.” She nodded.
I was still a little worried it was too soon, but I was curious to see how she’d react when I told her, “You know, he asked us to move in with him.”
“At his house?”
“Yeah, at his house.”
“But I like our house,” she complained. “And I like my room.”
“You didn’t like his house?”
“No, I liked it.” She raked her teeth across her bottom lip as she thought silently to herself. After a moment, she gave me a funny look and asked, “Wait ... Do you think I could have that big bedroom upstairs with the tub in the bathroom?”
“I don’t know. You’d have to ask him.”
“Well, he does have a really cool house.”
“Yes, he does.”
“And he lives right on the lake.”
“This is true.”
“And we’d be safe there.”
“We would.” I gave her a moment to consider everything, then asked, “So, what do you think?”
“I think we should do it.”
“Are you sure?”