Page 7 of Dreaming Without Heartache

Kara jumps back, falling down on her rear end. “You scared the crap out of me!” she huffs out.

“What are you doing up at this hour?” I stop at the end of the island to stand over her.

“What does it look like,” she says sarcastically.

“Four o’clock in the morning is for sleeping. You should have eaten dinner.”

“I wasn’t hungry then.” Kara stands, slamming the cabinets.

I step closer to her. We’re almost the same height now. She took after her dad on that. Annie was only five foot three. “Then you’ll have to start waiting until breakfast to eat again.” Kara stares me in the eyes. She’s so different now. It hurts to see her this way.

“Whatever!” she says, breathing into my face as she pushes past me.

A distinct whiff of cigarettes hits me. I reach for her arm, pulling her to a stop. “Are you smoking?” I already know the answer, but I want to see if she lies.

“No.” Her mouth exaggerates the word. She looks down at my hand holding her arm.

“What did I just tell you about earning my trust?”

She snatches her arm from my grip. “I don’t care.”

“Add another week onto that grounding. And if I catch you smoking again, there will be more consequences than that.”

She grunts under her breath as she storms up the stairs to her room, slamming her bedroom door.

“Aunt Allie?” Maisie appears, rubbing her eyes.

“Hey, honey.” I pick her up. She rests her head on my shoulder. “Let’s get you back to bed.”

I lay Maisie in bed and pull the covers up. She yawns. “Are you getting in bed too?”

I’m not tired anymore, but I can tell she needs me. “Yep. Scooch over.”

Maisie slides to the middle of the bed. I turn off the lamp, climb under the covers, and snuggle up to her.

“Are you mad at Kara?” Maisie asks. She must have heard us.

“I’m not mad at her, but she hurts my heart sometimes.”

“I think she misses Mommy and Daddy real bad.”

“I know, honey. We all miss them terribly. Do you remember what I told you?”

Maisie lightly nods her head. “They live in my heart, and they’re always with me wherever I go.”

“That’s right, sweetheart.” I kiss the top of her head.

“I love you, Aunt Allie.” Maisie’s little voice warms my heart.

“I love you too, sweet girl.”

As I lie with Maisie in my arms, I think of my sister, her beautiful soul, and her loving heart. I miss her so much. My only lifeline to her are these two girls. I’ll give them my all to make sure they are taken care of. My sister trusted me to do that. I won’t let her down. I close my eyes and send out a silent prayer for help.

Chapter Four

The last two days have been tough, but thankfully it’s finally the weekend. Kara isn’t talking to me at the moment. Nothing new in that aspect. However, she’s been making more of an effort to spend time with Maisie. I’m sure not having a phone or computer has helped.

“Does this piece go here?” Maisie asks Kara. They decided to put together a puzzle at the kitchen table. I’ve been working on dinner since school let out, and I’ve enjoyed listening to them. Maisie begged Kara, though it didn’t take much convincing. When Annie was alive, they would put together puzzles all the time. Bill worked a lot of late hours, so they would do things like this together until he got home.