Page 10 of Katherine's Last Hope
Beth offered a small wave then quieted the baby before returning her focus to Mrs. Collins.
“He’s been very excited for you guys to get here,” Elsie said. “How are you this morning?”
The low timber of her voice told Katherine the gossip mill had been on full blast this morning. She groaned, wishing that for once, her small town wouldn’t use everyone’s trauma as breakfast conversation.
“How did you know?” she asked.
“I watched Amelia for Tommy and Sadie. He wasn’t supposed to go in until this morning, but once he heard what happened, he called and asked if he could drop Amelia at my place. Sadie was already working a night shift. He gave me a quick rundown, mostly because he was so flustered and upset. He didn’t mean to gossip.”
Sighing, Katherine settled on the backless stool at the side of the counter. “That was nice of you to watch Amelia,” she said, wanting a few minutes to figure out a response to her original question.
Elsie shrugged. “It’s what we do.”
The simplicity of her statement touched Katherine, because she’d found out the hard way this year how true those words were. Time and time again the men and women she’d met through the shelter had stepped up for her and Ollie. Determined to help in any way they could.
Something she hoped Beth and her daughter discovered during their stay, no matter how long that was.
“So you’re okay?” Elsie asked. “You don’t have to talk about it. You’ve just been through a lot lately, and it sucks this happened. I’m here if you need me, and if you want to talk. Or not. Maybe it’d be better to just drink.” She hoisted her glass of water in the air and wiggled her eyebrows.
Katherine laughed, something a few short hours ago she wasn’t sure was possible. “As long as it’s water, I’ll drink with you. Anything stronger might knock me on my ass. A place I can’t afford to be.”
Elsie grinned. “I understand that.”
Katherine glanced at Ollie to make sure he wasn’t listening. Since Theo’s death, he tended to tune into her conversations more than he had before. As if he wanted constant reassurance that nothing else would happen to wreck his world. She hadn’t told him about the attack last night, and she didn’t plan to.
Once she was confident his focus was strictly on Jimmy and the book in his lap, she considered the best way to express the myriad of emotions ping-ponging inside of her. “I’m rattled. I laid in bed all night and replayed the moment that man’s arm went around my neck over and over. I was raised to be aware of my surroundings, yet I was completely caught off guard. That scares the crap out of me. In an instant, Ollie could have been an orphan.” The last word wedged in her throat and made it hard to breathe. Unshed tears hovered above her lashes, and she blinked to keep them from falling.
Elsie reached for her hand and squeezed. “Oh, honey. I’m so sorry. I can’t say I know exactly how you feel, but I understand being scared and at the mercy of someone else’s twisted games. Hopefully whoever this guy is will be caught soon and you won’t have to worry that he’ll come back to hurt you.”
A shudder ripped down her spine, shaking her shoulders. “I don’t think I’ll ever stop worrying.”
Elsie gave her hand another squeeze. “You’re a mom. Moms aren’t allowed to stop worrying.”
Katherine let out a humorless laugh and cast another glance toward Ollie. “Isn’t that the truth.”
Elsie removed her palm and found a microfiber rag beneath the counter to wipe down the glass top. “Thank God for Cody. Who’d think he would be your knight in shining armor?”
Warmth clashed against Katherine’s cheeks. She and Elsie had grown up in Water’s Edge, both aware of the Hogan family and the trouble that often followed them. She’d steered clear of Cody, even though he’d never stepped out of line as far as she knew, but the idea he was the man who’d saved her sent a thrill to her heart that confused the heck out of her.
“Yeah, who’d have thought?” she asked, eager to change the subject to anything else.
Because the thought of any man besides Theo as her knight in shining armor terrified her.
Especially if that man was Cody Hogan.
Grains of sandclawed at Cody’s eyes as he stared at the computer screen. He’d managed to get a couple hours of shut eye, more than enough to push him through the rest of the day. He wasn’t due back to the sheriff’s station until later, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t get some work done while home. Besides, he much preferred the comfortable leather chair in his office than the hard one at his desk at the station. Not to mention the coffee was better and he could enjoy the spring breeze floating in through the open window.
Bailey, his oversized Bernedoodle, rested her head on his lap and whined.
“What is it, girl?”
He’d inherited the fluffy dufus dog when his dear old dad was sent to prison again—this time hopefully for good. As far as he was concerned, Bailey was the best thing he’d ever gottenfrom his father. Even if the mutt was too mouthy for her own good, always interrupting with a bark or a whine to get what she wanted.
Bailey ran in a tight circle then made a beeline for the door.
Needing a break anyway, he stood and followed her into the attached living room. A pair of French doors in the kitchen led outside.
Bailey jumped up and down in front of the door, her vertical leap enough to impress an NBA player.
