“I’d be much obliged.” Her father gave her his lopsided smile and she knew she was looking at her brother in years to come. Still handsome, Patrick McBride had more gray than black hair now, and his face bore the lines of age and wisdom well.
“Here we go.”
Gliding into the room, Nancy handed over three glasses filled with juice, then flitted out and returned with a platter of nibbles.
“You staying with Jake again tonight?”
She thought about the key sitting in her back pocket. She wanted her privacy, needed to sort through the mess that was her head, but had no wish to hurt her family further by choosing solitude over them.
“Talk to us, Katie.”
“I’m trying, Dad,” Katie said, opting for honesty. “But I’ve changed, and now with the shooting I have all this stuff in my head and I’m not the sociable girl I was. I haven’t had a lot of practice over the last few years at sharing myself.”
She felt her mother’s lips in her hair.
“That’s okay, sweetheart, we talk enough for everyone.”
Her laugh was small, but a laugh nonetheless.
“Macy gave me the key to her dad’s houseboat, Mom, and I don’t want to upset anyone, but I’d like to stay there.”
She braced herself for the denials, the horror that she’d not want to stay here with her family.
“Sounds like a plan,” her father said calmly. “But you go there on two conditions.”
Nobody had put conditions on what Katie did for years; it felt kind of nice.
“If you find yourself struggling to cope with what happened, losing your friends and the shooting, then you tell us.”
“Okay, that’s fair enough. What’s the second condition?”
“If I find out you’re drinking, I come and get you, and you’ll stay here with your mother and me until you’ve stopped, or we’ve got you help.”
“Oh, but I don’t need help be—”
“If you look me in the eye and tell me you’ve stopped, then I’ll believe you.”
“Who told you I had started?” Katie couldn’t believe her father thought she had a problem. First Cubby and Jake, now her parents.
“Jake said that Cubby found you in a bar, halfway down a bottle of bourbon, and if it’s just a onetime thing then okay, but if it’s not, then you need to know that stuff can grab hold of you and never let you go.”
“I can help you, Katie,” her mother said. Her fingers tucked a strand of hair behind Katie’s ear and felt soft and warm on Katie’s skin, bringing back memories of a happier time in her life. A time when she had no worries or problems.
“I’m okay, really. Yes, I did drink for a few weeks, but I can handle it now.”
“All right, but I’ll be checking,” Patrick McBride said, and the look in his eyes reminded Katie that he was no pushover. Like Jake, he was loved by everyone because he was just an all-round nice guy, but when he wanted you to stand up and take notice of him, you did just that.
“All right, but I’m fine.”
“I’m not sure Macy still has linen there, but I’ve got plenty, so we can get you all sorted,” Nancy said.
Katie looked from her mother to her father. “You’re really okay with me doing this?”
“Of course.” Her mother shrugged. “We know you need your space after being away from us for so long.”
“I’m probably not going to be back that long—”
“Jake told us about the Alessis, Katie. You’ll be staying here until that threat is no longer hanging over your head.”
