“Seriously, Dad?”
“If that girl gets you pregnant, I’m going to be really angry at you.”
“Yes sir,” I said, and I grinned all the way to my room. I took a condom out of the box and pressed it into my wallet. You know, just in case.
13
Jake
After dinner, Pop announces that I am going to do the dishes, and then he goes back to the little table on the porch and picks up the deck of cards. He motions for Katie’s oldest daughter to join him. She grins, shaking her head as she goes. “I’m going to get his wallet next,” she says.
I sincerely hope she does.
“Can I borrow your phone, Jake?” Katie asks me very quietly as we stack the dishes beside the sink.
“Sure.” I pull it out of my pocket and hold it out to her.
“Thanks.” She takes it and steps into the bedroom, closing the door gently behind her.
I fill the sink with water and bubbles, and wash the few forks and knives that we got dirty, and I clean a few glasses.
The soft sound of Katie’s voice reaches me in quiet lulls, and I think I hear her giggle. I shut off the water and tiptoe toward the bedroom door. I shouldn’t. I know I shouldn’t. But I can’t help it.
“Yeah, I love you too. I’ll check in with you in a few days. I promise.” My heart jerks in my chest. Despite the size of her very pregnant belly and the three children she has with her, my heart still can’t rationalize the fact that Katie has a husband somewhere. I don’t know what that says about me.
I dash back to the sink when I hear Katie’s footsteps walking toward the door.
She hands my phone back to me and wipes her nose. “Are you all right?” I ask.
“I’m fine,” she says.
“Was that your husband?” I’m nosy. I can’t help it. I’m a cop.
She snorts. “I wish.” She wipes the back of her hand beneath her nose. “That was my dad and Uncle Adam.”
“How are they doing?” I have such fond memories of them from my childhood. Nights when we played Sorry together or rainy afternoons spent shouting over a game of Monopoly are some of my best memories of all time.
“They’re fine. They’re very relieved I’m here.” She looks up at me.
“Why?”
“Why what?” she asks, as she starts to dry the glasses.
“Why are they relieved you’re here?”
“It’s safe here,” she says quietly.
“What does that mean, Katie?”
She shakes her head. “It means I’m really happy to see you, Jake,” she says. “Dad and Uncle Adam said hi.”
I smile. “Next time you talk to them, tell them I said hello, will you? I’d love to see them.”
“I asked them not to come. Not yet.”
“What’s going on with you, Katie?” I rush to ask, because she’s really starting to scare me.
She heaves a sigh. “I just needed a safe place to land, Jake. That’s all.”