He nodded once. The silence between them wasn’t empty—it was full of everything he couldn’t say. She refilled his coffee and told him about the orange kitten that sits on the back porch every morning. She made him laugh, just a little. Benson let himself believe—just for a moment—that maybe home with a kitten was enough.
“Della, order me kitten food, a cat bed, and a litter box. I’m going to adopt him.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I hope he doesn’t tear up the house, but he sounds like he needs to be adopted and kept inside so we can love him.”
“What are we going to call him?”
“Rusty.”
“You’re always so kind to animals.”
“I like to take care of people and things, especially when they need my attention. Like you.”
“You’re the best uncle.” She paused. “Please tell me how you met the California guy?”
“He’s a New Yorker. I rented a big, bright red truck in New York through an agency for the orphans. Once I got there, I had to make phone calls to group homes and shelters on my route to California. They gave me a list of the kids and what was needed for Christmas and ordered them. After all that, I had to wrap them and write on the name tags. That took me over a week.”
“You were gone for so long—two weeks. So what about the New Yorker guy?”
“Kyle was hitchhiking in the snow. I picked him up on the side of a highway out of the city. We hit it off. We stayed together until California.”
“Wow! Tell me more about him.”
“Well, he’s your age, twenty-two. He was a dancer in the city. But the important thing is he was raised in group homes and shelters.” He pulled out his phone and rifled through his pictures and showed Della his picture.
“He’s so cute. I can see why you liked him.”
“I more than like him. Keep that to yourself.”
“Why was he hitchhiking in the snow?”
“He got fired from his job because his boss wanted him to do things after work which he didn’t feel comfortable with. So, he just started hitchhiking with California as his destination.”
“I bet you didn’t want to come back.”
“It’s beautiful in California, but my life is here. I was hoping he’d move in, but he wasn’t ready for that big move, or maybe me.”
“I’m so sorry he didn’t come back with you. Grandpa and Grandma didn’t think you were going to return.”
“Why is that?”
“My father said you were pissed about raising rents, and he said you threw things at him in the office.”
“I did. You know we don’t get along at all.” He shared the same dislike of her father, Logan. That was one of the reasons he took her in, offering her a home. She wanted to live in her own place, so he had the bungalow in the back area of his home renovated for her. He allowed her to decorate it, he footed the bill.
“He said he hoped you didn’t come back, but Grandpa had a huge fight with him and Grandma was crying over it, so he made my dad give you what you wanted.”
Benson grinned, knowing how his family dealt with the two of them always going at it. “What time is dinner?”
“Seven. You have enough time to shower and change, and then we need to go.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Benson
Petoskey, Michigan, December 25th
