them. “Are you all packed?”
“About that… Could I talk to you for a minute?”
“Of course.” To the others, Sarah said, “I’ll be right back.”
Charlie, who’d been holding Sarah’s hand, kissed the back of it before he released her.
The warm smile her mother gave him sparked a pang of yearning inside Katie. What would it be like, she wondered, to share that sort of connection with a man? The question had her thinking of Shane, as if it were normal for her to yearn or to think about a man when neither of those things was in any way normal for her.
Sarah hooked her arm through Katie’s and escorted her through the lobby to the rockers on the front porch. “Why do you look troubled?”
“Do I?”
“You do indeed. What’s wrong, honey?”
Though it was her way to keep her troubles to herself, she rarely had a moment alone with her mother and found herself spilling the story of Doctor Strangelove’s near attack and how she’d quit her job in Texas.
“Good Lord, Katie! The man should be in jail!”
“Which is where he’ll end up if he doesn’t change his ways, but I’m not putting him there. After everything with the general, I don’t have it in me to go after him. I just don’t.” The Lawry children had long ago stopped referring to Mark Lawry as anything other than “the general” or “the sperm donor.”
“I understand. Better than you might think. When I arrived here last fall, beaten to within an inch of my life, I just wanted it all to go away. The last thing I wanted was to prosecute him.”
“What made you change your mind?”
“The doctor who saw to me is a mandatory reporter, meaning he had to report my injuries to the police. David, the doctor, and Blaine, the police chief, along with Owen and Laura, convinced me to go forward with charges this time. I’m glad now that I did. I don’t think I would’ve been able to move forward with my life if I hadn’t done it.”
“It’s different in my case. He never actually touched me, and truth be told, he’s probably got a bigger case against me after what I did to him. I quit my job, so he’s out of my life.”
“True.”
“The reason I really wanted to talk to you, though, is I’m thinking about staying here for a while—until I figure out my next move. I thought I’d take advantage of the time off to take a vacation, if it’s okay with you and Laura, of course.”
“I know I speak for Laura when I tell you my room is all yours for as long as you need it.”
“Where will you go?”
Before her eyes, Sarah Lawry blushed like a schoolgirl.
Katie laughed. “Oh, stupid question. You’ll be with Charlie.”
“He’s asked me to move in with him, and I’m going to do it.”
“I’m happy for you, Mom. We all are. But are you sure it’s not moving too fast?”
She didn’t expect her mother to laugh at her question. “Charlie would tell you it’s moved slower than molasses. It took me almost a year to kiss the poor guy. Nothing about this has been fast, honey.”
“I guess it’s old habit to worry about you.”
“And I’m sorry you had to for so long, but I promise you there’s nothing at all to worry about where Charlie is concerned. He treats me like a queen.”
“You certainly deserve that.” Katie stared out at the ferry landing where the boats came and went just about every hour all day long in the summer. “Where do you get the moxie to take a chance on another guy after what you went through?”
“It’s not so much taking a chance on just any guy. It’s about taking a chance with Charlie . He showed me night after night, week after week, month after month that I had nothing to fear from him. And for all that time he didn’t know why I flinched every time he moved too quickly or why I shied away from the most innocent of touches. He never asked, and I never told him, yet he kept coming back.”
Katie found herself riveted by her mother’s words as well as the strength and
“About that… Could I talk to you for a minute?”
“Of course.” To the others, Sarah said, “I’ll be right back.”
Charlie, who’d been holding Sarah’s hand, kissed the back of it before he released her.
The warm smile her mother gave him sparked a pang of yearning inside Katie. What would it be like, she wondered, to share that sort of connection with a man? The question had her thinking of Shane, as if it were normal for her to yearn or to think about a man when neither of those things was in any way normal for her.
Sarah hooked her arm through Katie’s and escorted her through the lobby to the rockers on the front porch. “Why do you look troubled?”
“Do I?”
“You do indeed. What’s wrong, honey?”
Though it was her way to keep her troubles to herself, she rarely had a moment alone with her mother and found herself spilling the story of Doctor Strangelove’s near attack and how she’d quit her job in Texas.
“Good Lord, Katie! The man should be in jail!”
“Which is where he’ll end up if he doesn’t change his ways, but I’m not putting him there. After everything with the general, I don’t have it in me to go after him. I just don’t.” The Lawry children had long ago stopped referring to Mark Lawry as anything other than “the general” or “the sperm donor.”
“I understand. Better than you might think. When I arrived here last fall, beaten to within an inch of my life, I just wanted it all to go away. The last thing I wanted was to prosecute him.”
“What made you change your mind?”
“The doctor who saw to me is a mandatory reporter, meaning he had to report my injuries to the police. David, the doctor, and Blaine, the police chief, along with Owen and Laura, convinced me to go forward with charges this time. I’m glad now that I did. I don’t think I would’ve been able to move forward with my life if I hadn’t done it.”
“It’s different in my case. He never actually touched me, and truth be told, he’s probably got a bigger case against me after what I did to him. I quit my job, so he’s out of my life.”
“True.”
“The reason I really wanted to talk to you, though, is I’m thinking about staying here for a while—until I figure out my next move. I thought I’d take advantage of the time off to take a vacation, if it’s okay with you and Laura, of course.”
“I know I speak for Laura when I tell you my room is all yours for as long as you need it.”
“Where will you go?”
Before her eyes, Sarah Lawry blushed like a schoolgirl.
Katie laughed. “Oh, stupid question. You’ll be with Charlie.”
“He’s asked me to move in with him, and I’m going to do it.”
“I’m happy for you, Mom. We all are. But are you sure it’s not moving too fast?”
She didn’t expect her mother to laugh at her question. “Charlie would tell you it’s moved slower than molasses. It took me almost a year to kiss the poor guy. Nothing about this has been fast, honey.”
“I guess it’s old habit to worry about you.”
“And I’m sorry you had to for so long, but I promise you there’s nothing at all to worry about where Charlie is concerned. He treats me like a queen.”
“You certainly deserve that.” Katie stared out at the ferry landing where the boats came and went just about every hour all day long in the summer. “Where do you get the moxie to take a chance on another guy after what you went through?”
“It’s not so much taking a chance on just any guy. It’s about taking a chance with Charlie . He showed me night after night, week after week, month after month that I had nothing to fear from him. And for all that time he didn’t know why I flinched every time he moved too quickly or why I shied away from the most innocent of touches. He never asked, and I never told him, yet he kept coming back.”
Katie found herself riveted by her mother’s words as well as the strength and
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