Page 18 of Katherine's Last Hope
The door swung open, and her sister-in-law Marie appeared on the other side. Her eyes widened in surprise. “Hey! Wasn’t expecting you. Come on in.”
“Your grandpa looks downright terrifying,” Cody said on a laugh.
Marie chuckled and smoothed a piece of dark, curly hair away from her face. “You don’t know the half of it.” She waited for the two to enter before locking up and following them into the house.
Katherine glanced over her shoulder. “Is he in the kitchen?”
A low grumble from the other room answered her question, and she led the way through the family room to the kitchen.
Pappy stood with his hands fisted on his hips in front of a giggling toddler in a highchair.
Nora, Marie and Owen’s daughter, slapped a plastic spoon against the tray of her seat and splattered some kind of green goo all around.
“I told your mother you don’t like those damn avocados, but she won’t listen to me,” Pappy huffed under his breath. “No one ever does.”
“Language, Pappy,” Katherine said before placing a kiss on his shrunken cheek. “Owen won’t be thrilled to hear his little princess speaking like that. Isn’t that right, Nora?” She swiped a napkin from the table and wiped the goo from Nora’s cheeks before kissing her as well.
“Oh, pish posh. Ain’t no one cares how this little one talks as long as she’s saying something.” Pappy waved a hand in the air then sank down in one of the four chairs at the table, his back facing the wall. He aimed his gaze at Cody and crossed his arms over his chest. “Who the hell are you?”
“Cody Hogan, sir. Just bringing Katherine by.”
“Cody, this is my grandfather, Lewis Sinclair,” Katherine said.
Pappy ignored the introduction. “And why can’t she bring herself? She’s a grown-ass woman. Don’t need the likes of you hanging out and driving her around town. Dammit girl, you know I don’t like strangers. Bad enough I have to put up with family.”
Marie chuckled and brought Pappy a cup of coffee. She smoothed the thin gray hairs on the top of his mostly bald head. “We all know that bark is all you’ve got, and you love us as much as we love you. Now be nice.”
“Umph. Being told what to do in my own house. It’s a damn shame.”
Grinning, Katherine rolled her eyes. “Cody brought me by because I’m having issues with my car and need to borrow the old truck you keep in the garage. Is that okay?”
Straightening, Marie frowned but she didn’t say anything. She didn’t have to. Concern poured off her in waves. Clearly Owen had let his wife know what had happened.
As if sensing the tension, Pappy tapped the top of his finger against the tabletop. “What happened to your car?”
Katherine sighed. As much as she didn’t want to get into the details, lying wasn’t an option. Pappy would find out soon enough, and he’d be even pissier if she hid the truth. “I was in an accident.”
All the color leeched from Pappy’s face, but he kept his expression a hard mask. “You at fault for this accident?”
“No.”
A vein ticked at Pappy’s temple. “Hit and run?”
The question broke her heart. Her mother had been killed in a hit and run accident years ago, upturning Pappy’s—and everyone’s—life. He was never the same after losing his only child. Even though justice had finally been served, it still didn’t lessen the pain of losing her mother.
“Kind of,” she said, then uttered a silent prayer he’d leave it at that.
“What the hell does that mean?”
Prayer unanswered.
“Someone hit the back of Katherine’s SUV, sending her off the side of the road and into a guardrail,” Cody said.“Her vehicle’s totaled. Deputies are searching for the man responsible.”
Pappy worked his jaw back and forth then took a sip of coffee. He kept his gaze fixed on Cody, as if trying to read every thought in his head. “You’re a deputy. Why aren’t you looking for this guy? Seems an important thing to keep a jackass like that off the road.”
The side of Cody’s mouth lifted. “Agreed. But Katherine needed a ride. Hated to leave her stranded on the side of the road, waiting for a tow truck.”
“Can’t say I can blame you for that,” Pappy said. “Go ahead, girl. Grab the keys from the drawer. That old thing might need some gas, maybe an oil change. Been a while since anyone’s driven it.”
