Page 136 of Running Home to You
“Thank you.” Kate gulped through the weight of the day. Of reuniting. Of taking in the new pieces against the old. She didn’t know if how far they’d come and how much they’d changed left her pining for the past or relieved of it. “You seem really happy.”
“I think I am,” Abby said. Her eyes, glowing with a purity Kate was still getting used to, flashed into hers. “What about you? Are you happy?”
Kate nodded. “Yeah,” she said, unable to put her full voice behind it.
“Okay, okay!” Mick skipped up the bleacher steps. “I’ve heard no crying, no thrown drinks, not even a raised voice?”
“On our best behavior.” Abby chuckled.
“Well, let’s get out of here and eat,” Mick said. “Haley’s waiting.”
Kate, while intrigued by the years and feelings yet to be explored, happily accepted the distraction. She used catching up with Mick on the drive from the field as a chance to regain her breath, though her friend didn’t hide her mischievous twinkle. “Cruz looks good, huh?”
“Yeah.” She shrugged nonchalantly but then peered in the rearview mirror for a glimpse of Abby’s car trailing behind theirs as if scared it might disappear.
Mick and Haley lived on the ridge in a two-bedroom house plopped on a few acres, with their five children: two German shepherds, a senile Labrador, a snipping Chihuahua that led the pack, and an angry cat that kept the Chihuahua’s power in check. Mick had big plans to start a fruit orchard, much like the other properties in the vicinity, and Haley maintained an overflowing garden with sunflowers and roses in every color, bright tomatoes pulling down their vines. Each breath arrived thick with wildflowers in the dry heat. Large birds circled and chattered overhead, but all other motion ceased. Even the road and river waned like an afterthought.
After dropping her bags in the guest room and washing up, Kate found Abby in the kitchen, chopping alongside Haley.
“You cook now?” she asked.
“When I can,” Abby said.
“She’s being modest,” Haley said as she poured Kate a glass of wine. Kate froze, glancing from the glass back to Abby.
“It’s fine. Really,” Abby muttered to her with a smile as Haley prattled on.
“When she stayed with us, I was in heaven. Cooked every night. I dream of that carbonara.” Haley threw her head back. “Oh my God, and the eggplant dish. What was that?”
“Melanzane alla parmigiana,” Abby said in perfect Italian.
Kate had to keep herself from staring too long, and while secondsago she wasn’t sure if she should drink in front of her, she gulped wine to subdue the jitters.
“I had to kick her out after that one.” Mick entered with the pack of dogs behind her. “No one is allowed to make my wife moan except me.” She wrapped her arms around Haley and kissed her neck.
“You’ve come a long way from ramen and hot sauce,” Kate said with a smirk.
Abby grinned back. “Oh, there’s still plenty of that when you’re living out of hotels.”
“Well, uh, do you need any help?” Kate asked.
Abby shook her head as she wiped her hands on a towel. “No, I think me and Hales got it.”
And while Abby likely meant no offense, and while Kate definitely shouldn’t have cared, her shoulders drooped. She didn’t think Abby withholding or distant, but there was indeed something unfamiliar now. A steadiness in her presence. In her cooking, in her way of moving and speaking, in her smile, and, of course, those eyes. Eyes that never veered from Kate’s as they ate dinner across from each other, the twinkling outdoor lights mirroring the stars above. They blushed when their feet touched and then darted away. And despite how long they’d known each other, Kate felt the intrigue of eating dinner with a stranger.
“Okay, so here’s the thing,” Mick said after dishes and dessert. “We only have one guest room.”
Kate rolled her eyes and Abby shook her head.
“Don’t do this to them.” Haley smacked Mick’s butt. “The couch pulls out—”
“I can take that,” Kate said.
“No. I already snagged a hotel,” Abby said.
Mick sighed. “You’re no fun.”
“And you’re delusional. You really think the one-bed thing is going to work? What are you, twelve?”
