9. Chapter Nine
While it had been nice to have Megan, Taylor, and Harper here last night, Ethan was glad today had been more laid back for Katie’s sake. She seemed more relaxed than she had since he’d first seen her standing in the church parking lot yesterday morning. Her smile surfaced more quickly tonight as they gathered in the living room with mugs of coffee after a leisurely supper. Sandwiched between Mom and Becca on the couch, she flipped through one of the old family photo albums open in her lap. Ethan contentedly observed from a chair near the fireplace opposite Dad as they talked and laughed over memories.
The hour grew late despite how he would have liked it to last. Dad headed to bed first, being the early-to-bed, early-to-rise man he always was. Not long after that, Ethan caught Katie stifling a yawn. After the fifth or sixth one, she closed the current album.
“This has been really fun, but I don’t think I can stay awake much longer.”
Mom took the album and set it on the end table. “You go get some sleep. I’m sure you have plenty to make up for.”
Amidst a chorus of goodnights, Katie disappeared upstairs, and Mom rose from the couch next.
“I think I’ll turn in too. Becca, if you plan to be up for a bit, would you mind making sure the fire has burned down?”
“Sure.”
They bid her goodnight, and then only Ethan and Becca remained. He gestured to the fireplace. “I can stay up and watch the fire.”
She shook her head. “I wasn’t planning to go to bed just yet.”
She, Mom, and Megan had always been the family’s night owls. Mom would undoubtedly be in bed reading for the next hour before she actually went to sleep.
Ethan pushed up from the armchair he’d occupied for the last few hours and stepped over a sleeping Rosie to sit with Becca. They sat silently for a moment as the remnants of the last log Dad had put in the fireplace glowed and occasionally snapped.
“It’s nice having Katie back.”
Ethan glanced at Becca, a smile tugging the corners of his mouth. “It is.” Tonight had been one of the most enjoyable nights they’d had in a long time. Katie always fit in so well with the family. It was as if she filled a hole that had existed for so many years.
“Will you be all right when she has to leave?”
Now Ethan’s brows drew together, and the heaviness of the impending goodbye descended. He’d tried to avoid thinking about Katie leaving. Would she head back down to Elling as soon as she finished with Grandma Ruby’s attorney on Monday morning? Saying goodbye would be harder than he wanted to admit, but he had to believe it wouldn’t be like last time.
“Hopefully, we’ll stay in touch now that we’ve reconnected.” The alternative hurt too much to consider. He couldn’t watch her disappear from his life again.
“I hope so.” Becca looked over at him. “How was it, spending time with her again today?”
Ethan’s smile returned, perhaps a little too quickly. “Like she never left. I thought it might take some time to get reacquainted, but honestly, I feel like I still know her as well as I did then. There’s a lot to talk about after fifteen years, of course. We talked about Grant.”
“That must have been difficult.”
The unwelcome burn deep in his chest flared. “It’s hard not to feel all that old hatred I carried for so long. Back then, I let it turn me into someone I’m not proud of, so I know I must let it go. But it’s hard knowing more about what he did to her and how much it still affects her. The man should be in prison.”
“I agree.”
“I just hope she’ll be all right with Grandma Ruby gone. Her life has revolved around her for the last four years. I’m worried she’ll have a hard time with her absence once it all sinks in.”
“I guess we’ll have to do whatever it takes to make sure she’s okay. The way you’ve all done for me.”
Ethan leaned over to put his arm around her shoulders. “Are you okay?”
She nodded against his arm. “Yeah…most of the time.”
“Well, we’re always here for you. I’m just a short walk away any time you need to talk.”
She smiled at him. “I know.”
No pattering rain greeted Ethan this morning. Clouds still blanketed the sky, but he expected the sun to appear this afternoon. After showering, he changed into a nice pair of jeans and a button-up shirt for church. While he usually stayed at the cabin and ate breakfast alone on Sunday mornings, Mom and Dad wouldn’t mind if he showed up early today. So he grabbed his Bible and headed over there.
Rosie nosed around one of Mom’s flower gardens and walked lazily toward him as he neared the porch, where Dad stood in his sweatshirt and flannel pajama pants.
“Coffee just got done.” He brought a steaming mug to his lips for a sip.
Ethan thanked him and entered the house to pour himself a cup. No one else appeared to be up yet, so he rejoined his dad on the porch. They both enjoyed their coffee in silence for a few minutes, taking in the spring morning. Though the air still held a chill, it was warmer than yesterday.
“How late were you guys up last night?” Dad broke the silence.
“Not too late. Katie was tired. I sat up with Becca while the fire burned down.”
“Does Katie know you’ll be at the attorney’s office tomorrow?”
“Yeah, we talked about it yesterday.”
“Good. Hopefully, knowing she won’t be alone will help.” Dad turned to face Ethan. “If things go how I think they will, you’ll need to keep a close eye on Grant.”
“Oh, I will.” He wouldn’t let the man intimidate Katie or, heaven forbid, lay a finger on her.
“Just keep a cool head while you’re doing it.”
Ethan nodded solemnly at the quiet admonition. As much as Grant deserved retribution, no good would come of Ethan even entertaining the thought of dispensing it himself. Not that such dark thoughts hadn’t entered his mind on occasion.
“I just wish he could be out of her life for good.”
“Maybe, after this, he will be. Ruby was the only real thing connecting Katie and Leah. With that connection gone, they may all go their separate ways.”
“I hope so.”
Within an hour, Mom bustled around the kitchen, setting out fruit, cereal, and bagels for breakfast and preparing chicken and vegetables to go into the oven as soon as they got home from church. Ethan helped where he could and then fixed himself breakfast.
He was slathering cream cheese on an everything bagel when voices came from the living room. He glanced up as Becca and Katie walked into the kitchen. His eyes snagged on Katie. She must have decided to go to church with them because she wore one of Becca’s black cardigans and a red skirt with black polka dots. The style and the colors suited her. She’d put her hair up like it had been the day of the funeral, dark tendrils framing her face. She caught his gaze and smiled the contented smile he would have done almost anything to ensure remained in place. He returned it and only then remembered his half-finished bagel. His attention snapped back to it.
They leisurely shared breakfast at the table, and then the women dispersed to finish their makeup. Shortly before ten o’clock, they all headed outside to Mom and Dad’s four-door truck.
“Want me to sit in the middle?” Becca asked Katie along the way.
“That’s all right. I’m the smallest. That’s usually how it works.”
Ethan opened the door for her while Becca walked around to the other side. Katie climbed into the spacious backseat, and Ethan slid in after her. He reached for his seatbelt and pulled it down, bumping hands with Katie as they both went to buckle in at the same time.
She laughed. “Oops.”
He pulled back. “Sorry, you first.”
She clicked hers in, and then he did.
Becca reached for her seatbelt. “This is just like old times when the three of us used to cram into the backseat of the old van while Joel and Megan got the two middle seats.”
Ethan remembered those days. Good times. He tapped Mom’s shoulder. “Why was it always us three who got shoved in the back?”
She turned to glance at them. “Because you were the closest and least likely to fight.”
“Fair point.”
Katie smiled and traded parting words with a little old lady, who she didn’t recognize but had known Grandma well, judging by the fond memories she shared. Several others had stopped to talk after the service, including a couple of women Katie remembered attending Sunday school with as kids. She might have found it overwhelming if Ethan had not remained near to help with the conversation. Still, the care and genuine interest she received reminded her of how much she’d missed this sort of close-knit community over the years. She enjoyed going to church with Drew, but with nearly four hundred people in attendance—more than double what she saw here—she often felt lost in the crowd.
With no one else nearby, Katie followed Ethan’s lead to where his family had gathered. Here, she properly met Joel’s wife, Naomi. They’d barely had time to talk at the funeral, but Naomi’s sweet disposition matched Joel well.
The kids were running here and there with friends, so Katie only got to meet Joel’s youngest, eight-month-old Jackson. He had luscious brown curls like his mom and wore an adorable plaid shirt and a newsboy-style hat. His blue eyes regarded her rather gravely as he sucked on his pacifier, perfectly content to watch her from his mom’s arms. Joel promised he’d get the rest of the kids to stand still long enough for introductions once they all gathered for dinner.
After fellowshipping for a bit longer, they headed back to the lake house. Katie changed into something comfortable and helped Evelyn and Becca in the kitchen with dinner. Before long, the front door opened, letting in voices, commotion, and children’s laughter. It all came spilling into the kitchen as Joel, Megan, and their families entered.
Amongst the flurry of greetings, Joel called the kids to the front. The three of them—a boy and two girls—lined up in age order, which Katie guessed to be about ten, eight, and five.
“Kids, this is Katie. She was our good friend when we were your age.”
“She’s the one from the pictures,” the middle girl piped up.
“That’s right.” Joel put his hand on the boy’s shoulder first. His wavy hair was a bit long, perhaps taking after his uncle. “This is Marshall.”
The boy stuck his hand out, and Katie shook it. “Nice to meet you, Marshall.”
Attention then shifted to the middle girl. Long, unruly curls fell around her shoulders, and adventure sparked in her eyes. Judging by her sporty tee shirt and jeans that had a rip in one knee, she was the tomboy of the family.
“This is Charlotte.”
She thrust her hand out enthusiastically. “You can call me Charlie.”
Joel sighed, exchanging an exasperated look with Naomi, who simply smiled. “We said when she was born no nicknames. You can see how well that turned out.”
Katie laughed and shook Charlie’s hand. Definitely a tomboy.
Finally, they reached the youngest girl. A riot of freckles dotted her cheeks. Though she wore a pair of cute denim overalls, embroidered flowers adorned the material. The bright pink shirt underneath gave a more girly impression than Charlie’s outfit.
“And this is Emma.”
“Hi!” she exclaimed, sticking out her arm.
Katie grinned, taking her hand, which was a little sticky. “Hello!”
“Can we go play now?” Marshall asked.
Joel sent Katie a quick look of apology over his son’s impatience and nodded. “Yes, we’ll call you when the food is ready.”
With a hoot, the kids scrambled off to the living room. Only Charlie lingered behind long enough to take her little cousin by the hand. “Come on, Harper, let’s go play.”
While the kids played, the adults visited in the kitchen and around the table until dinner. They bumped and squeezed past each other to find seats once it was ready—the kids seated at a smaller table Ethan and Joel had set up. Katie loved every moment of it. She’d craved these big family dinners growing up. Even now, she would have happily made this a weekly event. She regularly had Sunday dinner with Drew and his parents, but it was never like this. They had always been very kind to her and welcomed her with open arms despite her coming from a significantly lower class bracket, but she couldn’t say she’d ever fit in. Not like here, where arms crisscrossed and elbows bumped as food passed around, and everyone laughed and talked and enjoyed each other’s company.
Once the delicious meal concluded, everyone pitched in with clean up before filtering into the living room. Charlie caught Katie’s eye, sitting at the old upright piano that had belonged to Ethan’s great-grandmother. She slowly pressed different keys with one finger. Smiling, Katie walked over and sat on the bench beside her.
“Can you play?”
Charlie shrugged. “A little. Nana is teaching me.”
“You know, she taught me to play when I was little.”
Charlie’s eyes widened. “Really?”
Katie nodded and sensed someone behind them. She looked up to find Ethan.
“I’d love to hear you play again. You were always really good at it.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t have a piano, so I’m out of practice.” She’d played a couple of times on a piano at the nursing home when she’d first started visiting Grandma, but the old thing was so out of tune she hadn’t continued. Though the nursing home director always promised to get it fixed, it had never happened in the four years Grandma lived there.
“What about if Ethan plays with you?”
Katie’s attention shifted to Becca, who handed him what Katie recognized as his dad’s guitar. Tom had been trying to teach him when Katie had left, but he had put little effort into it.
Her gaze shifted back up to him. “You finally learned to play that thing?”
“I did.”
Katie didn’t have a good excuse not to play now. “I suppose we can try it.”
Charlie hopped off the bench, and Katie resituated herself. Ethan pulled a stool around to sit behind her, where he could see the music, just as his dad had always done when he and Evelyn played together. It had always been Katie’s hope to play with Ethan back then.
She flipped through the book of hymns Evelyn had sitting on the piano until she found an old favorite.
“How about this one?” She pointed to The Power of the Cross.
He nodded. “Perfect.”
In the background, Joel shushed the kids, and everything grew quiet except for some babbling from Harper. Nerves tickled Katie’s stomach to play in front of an audience, but she pushed them out of her mind and reacquainted herself with the piano keys. Finally, she glanced over her shoulder at Ethan.
He smiled. “Ready when you are.”
Drawing a deep breath, she touched the keys and began. She was a little rusty at first but gained confidence as she got caught up in the music, the sound of the guitar syncing perfectly with the piano.
Once the song concluded, she took another long breath, this time in satisfaction. She’d forgotten how much she enjoyed playing a well-tuned piano. Applause sounded behind her. She turned, her gaze catching with Ethan’s, and they shared a smile that showed he had enjoyed it as much as she had.