Chapter 27
Twenty-Seven
Rory woke before dawn, and Kate wasn’t in bed with him. He frowned. It would be good to get back to Connecticut. It was fun to sneak around, up to a point.
He rolled out of bed, hit the restroom, and walked into Kate’s room with every intention of crawling into her bed and staying there until it was time to leave. Except Kate wasn’t in her bed.
“Come on,” he grumbled. He made it halfway down the stairs when he realized he wasn’t dressed to run into Kate’s parents if they were up.
He returned to the guest room and pulled on a pair of jeans and t-shirt. It worked out since they were at the breakfast table, having coffee.
“You’re up. Thought you might sleep in, given the amount you drank,” Kate’s dad said with an indulgent smile.
“I’ll get you some coffee,” Kate’s mom said.
“Where is she?”
“Kate?” Simon asked.
Rory nodded.
“Out back, feeding the ducks.”
Rory walked to the bay window and looked out.
He could see the pond, but not his girl.
He walked to the hall and shoved his feet in his boots.
Then he went out the back door and walked onto the grass.
He spotted Kate who was tossing bread at a cluster of ducks.
His eyes scanned the area. All quiet, sun starting to rise.
He re-entered the house, dropped his boots back in the front closet, and got his coffee from Kate’s mom. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”
She smiled and excused herself, heading down the hall to the bedroom.
“You keep a sharp eye on Kate,” Simon said.
“Yeah. Habit. I grew up in a rough neighborhood. My dad died young, so I kept an eye out for my younger brothers and sisters.”
“This isn’t a bad neighborhood.”
“Bad things happen even in good ones.” Rory stretched, fighting the urge to go back out and call for her to come in. It wasn’t that he thought she was in danger. He just wanted her nearby. “Besides, seeing her feed some ducks at sunrise isn’t a bad start to the morning.” He took a swig of coffee.
“I think she’s out there to distract herself. She went up the stairs four times to see if you were awake yet.”
Rory smiled into his mug. They were always looking for each other, even when they were in the same house.
Her dad’s tone was even, but Rory sensed there was a question in there. Like were they too obsessed with each other? Rory was tempted to tell him, yeah, probably. Instead, he shrugged.
“I have my concerns that she’ll get so distracted that she’ll fall behind in school,” her dad said, taking up again where he’d left off the day before.
Rory knew the guy’s concerns weren’t unfounded. Kate’s grades had dropped. And she had been unable to function while he was away. Bottom line, the relationship was a distraction for her.
“I’m on it,” Rory said.
“Meaning you’ll use your influence to convince her to stay in school and on track?”
Rory nodded.
Simon leaned back, seeming to relax. “Good. I appreciate that.”
He wondered if Simon wanted to tell him to leave her alone instead.
It was obvious theirs was a quiet, immaculately clean, and perfectly-ordered household.
The way she’d grown up explained why she kept her sweaters neatly folded and stacked like they were on tables in a retail store and why she cleaned every surface that got a water spot.
It also might explain why she was anxious and unsettled by her own chaotic urges and by life’s chaos in general.
Growing up, she’d been a girl in an ivory tower.
That certainly wasn’t the life she had with him.
“Your opinion matters to her, too,” Rory said. “I get that I’m not who you want for her, but your putting pressure on her to break up with me stresses her out.”
“It’s nothing against you personally. It’s just that she’s worked her whole life for this, and Yale is a stepping stone to a bright future for her.”
“Understood.”
“But if you’re committed to seeing her succeed in school, then I’m satisfied.
I’d already planned to stop trying to talk to her about the downside of serious relationships for a girl in college.
It was clearly having the opposite effect than I’d intended.
I’m not a fool, Rory. I see how things are. ”
Rory doubted that. “You’re a pretty good psychologist to be able to be objective.” Rory tapped his thumb on the mug. He didn’t really feel like talking, but doing what he could to ease her dad’s concerns about him was something he would keep working on for Kate’s sake.
“Kate said you haven’t been together very long, but observing you, I would never have guessed that,” Simon said.
“Couples, the best ones, develop a rhythm in the way they interact… A sense of how to—I don’t want to say handle each other, but of what the other will want or need in times of stress and crisis, or even in the everyday.
You two seem to have that. I say that because Kate’s never at ease at big gatherings.
And last night I saw her smile more than I’ve ever seen her smile at an event.
There must be something instinctive in your chemistry that allows you to interact that way after such a short time. That impresses me, Rory.”
Rory nodded. “When Kate gets worried and tangled up, I untangle her.”
“Your success at that makes you unique among her boyfriends,” Simon said with a chuckle. Then he sobered. “On and off, that can be a lot of work. Don’t hesitate to ask for a hand if you find yourself getting worn out, son.”
Rory’s brows rose. This was not at all where he thought the conversation was going. And no man had called him son for a very long time. He didn’t need it, but deep down, he liked that Kate’s dad had done it.
“I appreciate that, but it doesn’t wear me out to take care of her. The opposite actually.”
“Oh?”
Rory glanced at the door, still waiting. “She trusts me. That brings us closer together. I trust her, too. She never takes what I do or say the wrong way, when anyone else would. I don’t know about soulmates or believe in a lot of new age bullshit, but there’s something to us. We fit.”
He glanced at his watch, and then at the sliding door. His baby oughta be done with the ducks by now. Rory set his cup down, stood and walked over to the glass. She wasn’t out back anymore. His muscles tensed reflexively, and he went straight outside.
It was a cool misty morning. He circled the house and glanced down the road to the row of mailboxes.
The light was just strong enough for him to spot Kate and see she wasn’t by herself.