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20
HANNAH
I hug Kat warmly. “I’ve missed you, girlie pop.”
“I’ve missed you, too,” Kat replies with a tight squeeze. “The only good thing about that stupid job was getting to see my Hannah Banana Montana Milliken every day.”
We’re having lunch at our usual spot for the first time since Kat so spectacularly quit three weeks ago. Now, what used to be an almost daily occurrence for us is a scheduled, special occasion on our busy calendars.
We place our food orders at the counter and head to a corner table.
“How’s Colby doing?” I ask as we get settled into our seats. Two weeks ago, Kat’s oldest brother, Colby, a Seattle firefighter, had a horrific accident after charging into a burning building to save a baby. From what I understand from both Kat and various news reports, Colby’s broken bones and internal injuries were severe enough to land him in the ICU and on a respirator for a full week. In every single media report, they’ve called Colby a hero, and I couldn’t agree more.
“He’s doing okay,” Kat says with a grimace. “Physically, anyway. Mentally, he’s really struggling.”
“I can only imagine.”
“He’s out of the hospital now, thankfully. Staying at my parents’ house during his recovery. I’ve been visiting him every day. That’s the upside of being unemployed. I’ve got plenty of time to drive him to his various appointments—also, to hang out with him and walk his dog. I’m doing everything I can think of to try to cheer him up.” Kat thanks me for the flower bouquets I sent, one to Kat and another to her parents’ house, and we talk for a bit about the long road ahead for poor Colby.
“The good news,” Kat says, “is that the doctors said Colby will fully recover, eventually.” She grins. “And lucky for him, he’ll get to spend lots of time with his pretty physical therapist along the way.” Kat makes an expression I know well—her patented “matchmaker” face. “Something tells me Colby Morgan’s got a big, fat crush.”
“Ooh. Tell me more.”
A worker appears with our food and takes the plastic number off our table, and we dig in while Kat tells me what she’s observed so far about the palpable attraction between Colby and his physical therapist. Kat and I are both suckers for romance in any form, whether in books, movies, or real life, so of course, we’re both enthusiastic participants in the discussion.
When that topic has run its course, I ask about the rest of Kat’s big family. It’s something I always do, because Kat’s stories about her four brothers and parents are always exceedingly entertaining.
“Everyone is doing great,” she says, “now that we know our beloved Cheese ‘n’ Macaroni is on the mend. At first, when we didn’t know if he’d survive or not, we were a collective ball of pure agony.”
“I can only imagine.”
She tells me some of the details of her family’s panic and despair in the first days of Colby’s horrific accident, and the story brings tears to my eyes.
“But like I said, everyone is doing great now,” Kat says. “Oh! Dax and his bandmates just finished making that demo album, and it’s freaking fantastic.”
I ask her about it for a bit, and then ask, “Do you think Josh might be willing to send it to Reed Rivers?”
Kat winks. “That’s already my gameplan, sister. I just have to figure out the right time to ask Josh. He’s already done so much for me. I don’t want him thinking I’m only with him for all the perks.”
“He’d never think that.” I understand why Kat is being cautious, though. From a few of our recent text exchanges, I know Kat and Josh had a rough week after karaoke night, due to Josh’s failure to mention his imminent move to Seattle. Josh didn’t wind up meeting Kat’s family the following night, as originally planned, and Kat basically wound up ghosting him for the better part of a week. Luckily, everything seems to be back on track between the pair. In fact, from what Kat’s told me, it’s now better than ever.
“How are the rest of your brothers?”
“All good.” Kat fills me in about her older brother, Ryan, whom the family has nicknamed “Captain” and “Rum Cake.” She says Ryan has been working hard as a commercial broker and saving money to open his own bar one day. “The bad news is Ryan’s got a crazy girlfriend, apparently,” Kat says with a snort. “Olivia. Colby met her before his accident, and he said she’s a real humdinger of a bunny boiler.”
I laugh. “A bunny boiler?”
Kat says it’s a reference to Fatal Attraction. “In a fit of jealous rage,” Kat explains, “the scorned woman boils her ex-lover’s kid’s pet bunny in a pot.” When I grimace, Kat laughs. “After my brothers saw that movie, they adopted the term for any woman who gives off psycho vibes, basically.”
