Page 62 of Serenity Harbor

Katrina probably deserved the credit. She had done a good job of introducing his brother around, which would certainly help pave Milo’s way in the future.

Haven Point was a nice place. Bowie was gradually coming to see exactly how nice. What would it have been like to grow up in a community like this, somewhere caring and decent andnormal?

“Are you about finished?” he asked Milo a short time later. The boy had a trail of chocolate frosting from his mouth nearly to his ear. Bowie picked up a napkin and dabbed at it. “There. Much better. Let’s go give our best wishes to the bride and groom again and then head home.”

“Kat?” Milo asked.

It was rapidly becoming his brother’s favorite word. Bowie didn’t want to think about how it was becoming his own, too.

“We can say goodbye to her, too.”

That task was made easier when he found Katrina in a small group that included the bride and groom and her mother and stepfather/uncle.

“Thank you for a lovely evening,” Bowie said. “Milo, what do you say?”

His brother did the ASL sign forthank you, tapping his flat hand to his chin and moving it straight down—something Katrina had taught him.

She gave a soft laugh and made the sign in return, which she had informed Bowie was one way of also sayingyou’re welcome.

“You’re leaving?” Charlene Bailey exclaimed in a disappointed voice. “It seems like you only arrived.”

“Yes. We only planned to stop for a moment, but we ended up having so much fun, we stayed longer than we intended to enjoy the dancing.”

“Thanks so much for coming, Bowie.” Wynona Bailey—now Emmett, he remembered—gave him a broad smile.

“You’re welcome. Congratulations again to both of you. Thank you for inviting us.”

“You’re welcome. Good night.”

His wave encompassed all of them—though he didn’t miss the way Katrina seemed to be avoiding his gaze.

His brother reached for Katrina’s hand and started tugging, pulling her along with them.

“I’m not going with you right now,” she said with a laugh. “I have to stay at the party for a while longer. But I’ll be there in the morning. I promise.”

“Kat,” Milo said in a loud voice.

“Let go, kiddo,” Bowie said, which only made his brother tug harder.

“Kat!” he said, louder still.

Panic welled up in Bowie as he recognized all the signs that Milo was rapidly heading for a tantrum. The boy wanted Katrina with them and couldn’t understand why they had to leave her behind.

“Katrina is staying here with her family.” He tried to guide his brother toward the break in the fence that led to the front yard, but Milo was really good at planting his feet, making himself immovable.

“Why don’t I walk you to your car?” Katrina suggested, and Bo was a little embarrassed at the depth of his gratitude.

“I don’t want to drag you away from the reception, but that would be helpful,” he admitted. At the very least, it would take Milo away from the crowd in the event his brother launched into one of his full-scale nuclear meltdowns.

“No problem.”

She walked with them through the lovely backyard and down Riverbend Road to where he had parked. At the vehicle, she went so far as to get Milo strapped into his booster seat before she shut the door.

“Thank you. Again,” Bowie said. “What did we ever do before you came? And how will we ever get along without you?”

Muted strains of music from the reception drifted to them here as she gazed up at him for a long moment, her lovely face in shadows, illuminated only by the moonlight and the glow of a streetlight down the street.

“You have to figure that out,” she finally said briskly. “Sooner rather than later. I have a little more than a week here in Haven Point, and then I need to go back to Colombia.”

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