Chapter Four #2
“I miss Mom,” she finally said after a long pause. “It’s only been a week but I really, really miss her. She’s my best friend, you know? We talk about everything. Don’t get me wrong. Holly is great and everything and I really love little Lydia but it’s not the same as being with my own mom.”
“It’s not,” he agreed. “Do you know that I was exactly your age when my own mom died? Thirteen.”
Kim and Audrey could both have been hurt far worse in that accident. What if Audrey had permanently lost her mother, like Ryan had at her age? The loss would have haunted her the rest of her life.
She hadn’t, though. Kim was alive and on the road to recovery. In a few short weeks, she would be back with her daughter, hopefully in a much better place.
Audrey’s features, so much like her mother’s, softened with sadness. “Mom was fifteen, right? She talks about Grandma Caldwell a lot. She said she was the kindest person she ever knew. I wish I’d had the chance to meet her.”
“So do I. She would have loved being a grandma. She would have spoiled you rotten.”
She grinned briefly before her mouth drooped with sadness again.
“Mom still really misses her. A few months ago, I was doing homework in my room while she was in here washing dishes. I came in for a drink of water and found her crying at the sink. She told me it was her mom’s birthday and she always misses her extra hard on that day.”
Laura Caldwell had been the glue holding his family together.
Kind, giving, funny, she had seemed the exact opposite of their father.
Wherever Doug’s military career had taken him across the world, Laura had worked hard to make their home a warm and welcoming space for her children and their friends.
Her softness provided a counterpoint to Doug’s dogged ambition.
Despite their differences, they seemed to have had a happy marriage, though Ryan had only been a kid. What did he know?
Regardless, Laura should have had decades more to bring light to the world instead of being taken far too early.
“I’m not sure you ever stop missing your parents when they’re gone, no matter how old you are.”
“I don’t really miss my dad,” Audrey said, almost as if she were confessing a guilty secret.
He wanted to tell her that Zachary Barnes was not someone who deserved to be missed but somehow he managed to restrain himself.
Kim’s ex-husband had been an enlisted man on base who had taken advantage of a grieving, lonely teenage girl rebelling against her father.
Zachary Barnes had dragged Kim into a life of partying and hard drugs. After she became pregnant, he had married her reluctantly and had been dishonorably discharged a year later for selling drugs to others on base.
In the three short years of their marriage, he had walked out on her several times and been arrested several more before he was ultimately killed in jail by another inmate while awaiting trial on drug charges.
Still, one amazing thing had come out of his sister’s short-lived relationship and he was looking at her.
“You were little when he died. You probably don’t remember much about him.” He could only hope.
“Not much. Mom hardly ever mentions him.” She paused. “Do you remember much about him? “
He absolutely didn’t want to talk about Zachary Barnes. “I was at military school for much of their marriage and she was living in the Las Vegas area so I didn’t have much chance to spend time with him.”
“I don’t really miss him , you know, though I do miss having a dad,” she admitted.
“But Grandpa is really good about doing all the dad kind of stuff with me now that we live closer to him and Diane. He even let me practice driving his car. We only went around an empty parking lot a few times but it was still cool.”
Funny. He couldn’t remember his father taking him to practice driving when he was a kid, even as he was preparing to take his own driver’s test. One of his friends’ fathers had done it.
“It’s good that you have him close by,” he said, hoping his voice didn’t sound as stiff as he felt.
“And Diane is really great, too. It’s kind of fun to have a grandma.”
“Right. Well, remember that if you need to talk, I’m here. I might not be as good as your mom or Diane but I’ll do my best.”
“Thanks.”
“Did you say you have homework?”
“Only a quick math worksheet. It won’t take me long. I have all weekend, anyway. I can do it Sunday afternoon.”
Right. He had forgotten it was Friday.
Audrey yawned suddenly. “I should probably head to bed. I need to work tomorrow at Evergreen and Ivy to help with Lydia since Holly has that wedding in the afternoon.”
She looked around the house, which had at least started to heat up thanks to the fireplace and the furnace.
“Do you think we could put up some Christmas decorations? Mom and I were going to do it last weekend after Thanksgiving but obviously we didn’t get the chance.”
He knew less about decorating a house for Christmas than he did about teenagers. He had never seen the point in bothering much about the holidays while living in base housing.
Still, he had promised to be here for his niece during the holidays. If that meant decking the freaking halls, he would do his best.
“Sure thing. Why don’t we plan on doing that this weekend? Maybe we could take care of it Sunday afternoon.”
“That would be great, Uncle Ryan.” To his surprise, she hugged him. “I’m really glad you’re here,” she said.
“So am I,” he said, suddenly grateful he had been able to arrange his life to free up time for his niece.
She needed him, whether she wanted to admit it or not.