Page 73 of Traces of Kara

“Mimi.” He wouldn’t let her feel guilty.

Mimi turned toward him.

“Life happens, Mimi. People try to help, and sometimes they get hurt.” He thought of his own heart, restrained by strings no one knew existed. “That’s the risk we take for those we care about.”

Mimi held his gaze.

Mitch pulled his eyes away, looking in the direction of the nurse’s station. “Well, I’d better get back to Sergeant Agnew. I hear he’s giving the nurses hell.”

Mimi reached for his arm as he turned to walk away. Her touch sent a zing of heat through his chest.

“Mitch.” Something deep hung in her eyes. “Thank you,” she said.

Chapter Fifty-Four

“Kara, it’s Mom. I…I guess you know that. I miss you, honey. Please call me.” She listened to the silence of the voice mail system. “I’m sorry.” She hung up the phone, feeling just as empty and deflated as she had after each of the last four messages she’d left.

Mimi had known it wouldn’t be easy for Kara to accept that she’d hidden Roland, and her past, from her, but she hadn’t expected thirty days of the silent treatment, which is what Kara had handed her. When Kara had awoken in the hospital, she’d set her jaw like a rebellious teen while Mimi had tried to repair their fractured relationship. Everything she did or said pushed Kara further away. Her efforts to protect her daughter had made her the enemy.

Ted came into the living room and sat next to Mimi on the couch. He’d lost so much weight, his shirt hung from his chest. His sunken cheeks perked up when he saw Mimi. “How ya’ doin’? You okay?”

Mimi nodded, her insides twisted and frayed. She hadn’t noticed until after the incident how Ted always asked after her, how sincerely interested he was in how she was doing. How could she have been afraid to trust him with the truth of her past for so long?

Ted looked at the phone in her hand. He took it from her palm and placed it on the coffee table. He took her delicate hands into his own. “Mim, she’ll come around. She’s been through a lot.”

Mimi’s lower lip trembled. “She has seizures. Something could happen.”

“She’s a big girl. She’s sorting through everything that happened in her own way, at her own pace.” He dropped his eyes. “She’s just…confused.”

Something in Ted’s voice changed. “Ted?”

Ted looked away.

“What is it? Have you talked to her?”

Ted let go of her hands. He cracked his knuckles.

“Ted, look at me. What’s going on?” she pleaded.

“I was worried. I’ve been taking her to her doctor appointments.”

“Wha—”

He lifted his eyes to meet hers. “She didn’t want me to, at first, but I convinced her.”

“She’ll talk to you? Let you drive her?” The hurt in Mimi’s voice was palpable.

Ted nodded.

A tear slid down Mimi’s cheek.

“Mimi, she loves you. She just feels like she’s been duped.”

“Duped?” Mimi stood up, her voice escalated. “Duped? I was protecting her. Who knows what he would have done all those years ago.” She folded her arms across her chest and turned her back to Ted.

“Mimi,” Ted urged.

Mimi shook her head. Her daughter had chosen Ted over her. Ted. Mimi’s shoulders shook. How would she ever repair the damage she’d done? “What has she told you?” she asked.