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“Well, of course we are. Gavin’s finally coming out of his funk, and it doesn’t take a genius to see why. We’re hopeful.”
“Sure. But this is pretty new. Relationships come and go. This one may not last forever.”
“Gavin’s not like you.”
Cooper scowled at Avery.
“That didn’t come out right. I only meant Gavin tends to have long-term relationships.”
“Well, he got married when he was twelve so...”
“Twenty-six is not that young.”
“Fine, but he was young when they started dating.” Gavin had gotten Laurel pregnant, and they married soon after in a small ceremony at Riverbend Community Church. Her parents, long-time residents, weren’t happy about the order of events, but they came around eventually.
Of course, all of that had changed when Jesse died in a car accident two years ago while Gavin was at the wheel.
As they worked Cooper and Avery talked about the campaign, the clinic, and the family. When the boxes were unpacked, Avery went over the financials with him. There were a lot of rules about campaign funding, and she was fastidious about knowing and following them. He was grateful as spreadsheets weren’t his cup of tea.
The sun had set by the time they were finished. On their way out the door, Avery grabbed a box of buttons and shoved it at him. “Run these by the church office on your way home. Mrs. Doolittle said she’d have her husband pass them out at the Better Business Bureau meeting. That’ll be good exposure to other parts of the county.”
“Sure.” He didn’t have anything better going on anyway. Avery was right. He was used to dating on the weekends when work allowed. But this was his second weekend without a date, and he didn’t have to think too hard to figure out why.
He locked up the building, said good-bye to Avery at her Jeep, and continued down the sidewalk toward the church.
As he passed the darkened hardware store, a text buzzed in. It was Amber, the hairstylist he’d gone out with twice. They’d textedon and off since their last date a couple weeks ago—the night before Kate’s accident. Cooper hadn’t decided if he wanted a third date with her. He should do that soon so as not to string her along, but his feelings about Katelyn were clouding his thought process.
Feelings.He didn’t like the way that sounded. Could he really have feelings for someone he’d known only two weeks? For his brother’s girl?
He rejected the idea, slowing to text Amber back. She was a nice woman. Avery’s words lingered in the back of his mind along with Kate’s, regarding his reputation. He did date around a lot. Maybe he moved on too quickly. Maybe he didn’t open up enough. The thought of being that vulnerable scared him. What if he went all in with someone only to let her down? There were probably reasons he worried about that, but he didn’t want to unpack them right now.
He tapped in a response to Amber’s text. He needed some time to get his head on straight. Then he’d ask her out again.
***
After berating herself all week for chickening out at the AA meeting, Katie showed up at the next meeting with fresh determination. It was going basically the same way it had last week, just with a few new faces and stories.
She was still nervous about encountering her mother, but this time she also felt a pang of guilt. She was intruding on other people’s pain for her own selfish reasons. She didn’t belong here. This would be her last meeting. She would find another way to get to know her mother.
But she’d nearly made it through the whole meeting, and there was no point in giving up now. Her mom sat in the front row again. Katie studied the graceful curve of her neck, so much like her own.Her heart pounded. She would hang around after the meeting. Maybe even get up the courage to greet her mother.
When the meeting finally ended Katie took her time gathering her purse and standing. Her legs quaked beneath her. Several people had darted out the door right away, but others stayed in their seats and chatted with their neighbors.
A few people, her mother included, approached a table containing a coffee urn and cookies, lined up like soldiers on cafeteria trays. Katie made her way over to the coffee. She filled a Styrofoam cup and added a heaping teaspoon of powdered creamer, which hardly even lightened the brew.
She lifted the cup to her lips.
“Careful, that stuff is hot as a tin roof.”
Katie glanced up to her mother’s face, catching on eyes the same shade of blue as her own. Up close she saw lines at the corners of the woman’s eyes and on her upper lip.
Would Beth Wallace recognize the daughter she’d basically abandoned?
Over the years Katie had thought of all kinds of things she wanted to say to the woman. All the questions she wanted to ask. But the words were lost to her now. She’d waited too long to respond. The silence had turned awkward. She hoped her nerves would be attributed to the AA situation.
“The taste isn’t so great either,” the woman offered kindly. “But at least it’s caffeinated.”
Get it together, Katie. She cleared her throat. “That’s all that really matters, I guess.”
