“Yes.” Their mother sighed, and Katie saw the worry that she had put there. Guilt settled more heavily on her shoulders. “And I sound angry, Katie, because I am, but that anger has come about through worry and fear for you.”
“I know and I’m sorry,” Katie said again, and it sounded just as empty this time.
She’d been the golden girl, once. The one voted most likely to… well just about everything. Athletic, smart, and not bad to look at, she’d had friends and pretty much everything she’d wanted, except for a certain sheriff, but Katie wasn’t going there. But none of it had been earned, and that was why she’d left, because she’d needed to find the real Katie McBride.
“Can I look at your wrist, Katie?”
Her dad was walking her to the table, where Jake and her mom were taking seats.
“It’s okay, Mom, really.”
“Sure it is,” Jake said, resting his hand briefly on his mother’s. “But as we’re both doctors, we need to check it for ourselves, just to ensure those fancy big-city doctors did right by our girl.”
She let her eyes circle the room. Katie had always loved Jake’s home; it was so much a part of him. Big and solid, but welcoming. Branna had put her touches about, splashes of color that just made the rustic setting homelier. This was their nest, a place to raise Rose and whoever else came along. Katie doubted she’d ever have that, doubted she’d ever want it like she once had.
“You guys do your doctoring and I’ll go poke Rose to see if she’ll wake up and meet her aunty.” Branna brushed a kiss over her husband’s head, making him smile, before
leaving the room.
Jake had been broken once, just like Katie, his head a mess after what he had witnessed in Iraq. But Branna had healed him, just as he’d healed her.
“I can’t wait to meet her,” Katie said, looking at her big brother. “I-I’m sorry,” she said again, the word sounding inadequate.
“No more apologies,” her father said, taking her good hand. “We move forward from here.” He looked around the table at each of them.
“Yes, you’re right, and I’m sorry for jumping on you, Katie. But when we heard what happened, knew how you were suffering, we felt so helpless.”
“I know, Mom.”
“No,” she shook her head, “you don’t, love, and you won’t until you have a child of your own. When you and Jake came into our lives, your father and I fell in love all over again with the both of you. You are a part of us, Katie; when you hurt we hurt, and knowing that you could have been taken from us was terrifying for your father and me.”
Katie looked down at the table. She’d had no right to do what she’d done. She’d become selfish, used to making decisions for herself. Who was she fooling? The real reason she hadn’t told anyone was because she didn’t want them to see her as a failure.
“You both went through so much with Jake.” Katie shot her brother a look, but his face was calm, eyes focused on her. “I didn’t want to put you through that again, and I truly believed I could handle this myself.”
“But you couldn’t, because of the images flashing through your head,” Jake said, and Katie knew he was remembering his flashbacks.
“Yes, but it’s not as bad as what you went through, Jake, and I’ll be okay, I just need time.”
“Will you tell us what happened, Katie, that day?” Jake asked her.
Could she talk about it again? Looking around at the people who loved her unconditionally, she thought she owed it to them.
“Come and meet Aunty Katie, Rose.”
Branna walked in with her niece in her arms. She reached Katie and then handed her the precious bundle. Looking down into the sweet little face, Katie felt the tears fall again. The baby had a perfect little nose, small dark eyes, and her lips were soft and pouty.
“Sh-she looks like you, Jake.”
“Yes, and screams like him too,” Branna said, moving to stand behind Jake, wrapping her arms around his neck as she rested her head on his.
“Hello, Rose,” Katie whispered, kissing a soft cheek. She hadn’t had much to do with children, but this was her blood and she was already in love with the little girl.
“My colleagues and I had done a lot of work to nail down when this big drug shipment was coming into a warehouse. We’d been networking and investigating for months. It was a big deal, across several states, and we had it all planned, and were to intercept it before they distributed it. We got word they were transferring the shipment, so we had to move fast. We knew the layout and what men would be stationed where.” Katie told them what she remembered of the day that had changed her life.
“Everything went to plan, we got in, arrested the men, but then they came from nowhere, almost like we were set up. They opened fire. J-Jessie, my friend, she went down beside me, then the others fell too. I dropped and crawled behind some shelves.” Katie could feel the adrenaline rushing through her body as it had done that day. “Backup arrived, but it was too late.”
“Jesus,” Jake whispered, looking shattered.
