Chapter 2 #2
She recalled the way he would show her around his ranch, giving her little demonstrations of how things worked.
For Kat, the fun part was always the animals, and she often ignored her uncle’s presentations in favor of petting and playing with the livestock.
Her uncle found it hilarious and often teased her about how soft she was.
Now, as an adult, she understood the affection inherent in that teasing.
“Honey!” Her mom moved through the slowly growing crowd toward her. “You’re here.” She threw her arms around her daughter and hugged her tight. “Thank you so much for coming.”
“Of course, Mom,” Kat said, squeezing her mom back. “A promise is a promise.”
Her mom let her go and smoothed her daughter’s dress. “It’s been so busy I’ve barely had time to cry,” she said with an exhausted laugh, but Kat could see by the red tint around her eyes that wasn’t entirely true.
Her mom had always been the type of woman to pretend she was fine even when she wasn’t. It was the armor she wore, so Kat didn’t dare call her out on it. We all have our coping mechanisms, she thought. “Where are Judd and Travis?” Kat asked.
“Oh, they’re around here somewhere.” Her mom glanced around the sanctuary as though she could barely believe her own words. “If they aren’t here, they’re probably helping to set up the reception. Oh, you are staying for the reception, aren’t you?”
“I am,” Kat said with a warm smile.
Her mom sighed, obviously relieved. “Thank goodness. I thought you’d take off before I got to really talk to you. I miss you so much, honey. We all do.”
“Thanks, Mom. I’ve missed you guys, too.”
“Oh!” Her mom perked up as though she’d just thought of something.
“I’ll be right back.” Kat knew she probably wouldn’t be, but that was all right.
Things were clearly crazy right now, and Kat had never expected to be the center of anyone’s attention.
In fact, her whole job was making sure someone else was the center of everyone’s attention. It didn’t bother her at all.
As expected, before her mom found her way back around to Kat, the ceremony had already begun.
Kat spied her brothers across the sanctuary.
Judd gave her a playful secret wave, and Kat shook her head.
He had always been the uncontrollable one.
Travis was more reserved and sat dutifully beside their mother, holding tight to her hand.
Their Uncle Roy was their father’s brother, and while they weren’t super close anymore, Kat assumed they all had fond memories of him.
Losing family was never easy, but at least they could come together like this to get each other through.
She was grateful for that, and she couldn’t believe she’d almost missed it for work.
She really did have to get a handle on her work-life balance.
After the funeral, everyone moved to another building on the property, where food and drink had been laid out over long tables for the family to gather around.
As receptions went, this one was not even a little bit formal.
Uncle Roy had hated formality anyway. In keeping with the tradition of Uncle Roy’s preferences, Kat’s brothers had some choice things to say about the way she was dressed.
“Are you off to force the sale of a struggling mom-and-pop business in favor of an evil corporation after this?” Judd asked with a wink and a chuckle.
It was exactly like him, and under any other circumstances, Kat would have laughed even harder than him at his jokes.
In all likelihood, he was only trying to cheer her up the way he always had.
But right now, all he’d succeeded in doing was making her feel more out of place than ever.
She tried to smile and then deadpanned, “I work in advertising.”
Travis grinned at his brother’s failed attempt.
Then he apparently decided to try his own hand.
“Yeah, Judd. She works in advertising, which means she’s going to a meeting to make commercials for the evil corporation that wants to force the sale of the struggling mom-and-pop business.
” He nudged his sister on the elbow. “Right, Kat?”
She shook her head and nudged him back. As much as their words were niggling at her current insecurities, it was obvious that they were only using their old techniques to get her smiling again, and she really did appreciate it.
After an hour or so, she was laughing with them, but she still didn’t feel like she belonged. Her mother asked her, “You’re coming to the will reading, right? It’s tomorrow. I’d love it if you could come home for the night.”
She looked so hopeful that Kat almost gave in and said yes, but the thought of spending the night in that house, feeling as alien as she did now and having to pretend she didn’t, made her stomach start to twist into knots.
She needed to process everything that had happened in the last couple days, and she needed to do it alone, without the pressure that came with family reunions.
“I booked another night at the B&B,” she said with an apologetic tone.
“I didn’t want to put you out or anything. ”
“Oh, you’re never putting me out, honey,” her mother said. “We love having you visit.”
Kat sighed. “I know that. I do, but I don’t want to waste the room or insult the owner. She’s been so welcoming.”
“Oh, it’s just Mandy,” her mother said, and Kat cringed. She’d forgotten that everyone knew everyone in this town. “I’ll explain to her that you don’t mean anything by it.”
“No, don’t.” Kat leaned across the table and laid a hand over her mother’s arm. “Thank you, but please don’t. I’ll see you tomorrow. I promise. We can do lunch after the reading, OK?”
Her mom narrowed her eyes and finally shook her head in surrender. “All right. Just… don’t be a stranger.”
“Next time I visit, I’ll stay at yours,” Kat said, hoping to soften the blow. “It’ll be a visit just for fun, too, just to see you with no other baggage.”
Her mother seemed satisfied with that, even though Kat felt she probably shouldn’t be.
Kat felt bad about letting her mother down, but visiting while she felt as alienated as she did would only make things awkward, and that was the last thing everyone needed right now.
So, when Kat left the funeral, she went straight back to the B&B, spent the evening editing the follow-up emails she intended to send the next day, and finally went to bed early for the first time in days.