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I simply lift my eyebrows. I don’t have a problem leaving. I don’t have a ton of money, but the Wolfes give me several months of living expenses. I can afford a cheap hotel.
“He’ll have to stay outside,” my mother says.
“You don’t have to worry about him at all. I plan to stay in the guesthouse.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible. It hasn’t been cleaned in ages.”
“Then I’ll clean it. Jed and I will stay in the guesthouse, and you won’t have to be bothered with him or his shedding hair or him knocking over your imitation Ming Dynasty vases.”
My mother drops her jaw.
She’s not used to me talking to her like this.
“Katelyn,” she says, “I’m so sorry about everything you’ve been through.”
“You’ve said that to me already, Mom. I don’t need to hear it anymore. What happened to me was not your fault.”
“I never thought it was.”
Again, classic Farrah.
“Very well, then,” she says. “I’ll have Casey take your bag and that…kennel…to the guesthouse.”
“Thank you.” I kneel to pet Jed. “You hear that, baby? We’re going to have our own house out back. The guesthouse. Where you can run around all you want.”
“He can’t just have his run of the property,” Mom says.
“I know that, Mother. But the yard is fenced, isn’t it?”
“Of course.”
“Then he’ll be absolutely fine. And don’t worry. I will scoop up all his poop, and you will never even know he’s there.”
“Good.” She wrinkles her nose.
“Well, your grandma is just not being nice to you, is she?” I say to my puppy. “She will learn to love you just as I do.”
“Don’t hold your breath,” Mom murmurs.
“Yes, she doesn’t think we heard that, but we did, didn’t we?”
“For God’s sake, Katelyn, you’re making me sick talking baby talk to that animal.”
“Well then, Grandma will be sick for a while, because I don’t plan to stop.” I give Jed a kiss on his forehead.
Casey, my parents’ butler, enters and clears his throat. “Hello, Miss Katelyn.”
My mother and father don’t have a lot of help. A butler and housekeeper. Casey does the cooking. Then of course the pool guy, but he’s not full time. And the gardener.
“Hello, Casey. I’ll be staying in the guesthouse.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He picks up my suitcase and the dog’s kennel. “I’ll just take these things out for you.”
An hour later, Jed and I are settled in the guesthouse. It’s a lovely little bungalow, two bedrooms, two baths, and a two-car garage. I don’t have a car, of course, but Mom left one for my use. The big yard is perfect for Jed.
“Well, Jed,” I say, “I guess we clean this place. But first I need to go see my father in the hospital. You’re going to have to be good. No chewing up all kinds of stuff while I’m gone.”
I scratch him behind the ears and then drive to the hospital.
My father is asleep when I get there.
“Daddy?”
His eyes flutter open. “Katelyn. I’m so glad you made it.”
“How are you feeling?”
“All right. Groggy. That stuff they gave me yesterday for the biopsy threw me for a loop.”
“I know. You scared us.”
“No reason to be scared. Not yet anyway.”
“So the results are expected back tomorrow?”
“Later today or tomorrow, yes.”
“I’ll sit here with you for a while. Go back to sleep. You need your rest.”
“No. I want to talk to you.” But he closes his eyes.
My father and I have never had a lot to say to each other. “We’ll talk later,” I say. “You sleep.”
He doesn’t fight me this time. I pull out my phone.
Now, to find Luke. Of course there are no less than a million Luke Johnsons in the LA area. I may be exaggerating, but only a little. How am I going to find him?
I’ve already texted him, telling him I’m here.
And as usual, no response.
He loves me. I have to believe he loves me. He promised to call as soon as he can.
Which means only one thing.
He’s not responding because he can’t.
Chills skitter up my spine.
What can I do? It’s not like I can scour every part of LA and find him. That would be impossible. I don’t have enough money to hire a private investigator.
But my mother and father do.
I can’t ask them—not when my father’s waiting for biopsy results.
I should be more worried about my dad than I am. I’m concerned, yes, but I can’t forget the fact that my mother told me cancer is unlikely—the reason I chose not to come in the first place.
When he didn’t wake up from the anesthesia yesterday, I was scared, but would I have run out here if Luke weren’t here?
Probably not. Probably not because the Wolfes are depending on me.
I’m totally letting them down.
I feel like crap about it, but I’m here now. I’ll miss group with Macy, a private session that I set up, more coffee with Aspen. My new job, which, even though I don’t know what I’m doing, proved to be pretty enjoyable the first day.
