Page 17 of Katherine's Last Hope
He waited for her to make her way up the stairs before turning into the living room at his side. Light poured in from a wall of windows that looked out into the backyard. An oversized gray sectional covered with decorative pillows faced a fireplace, a large television mounted above it. Framed photos of Katherine, Ollie, and Theo littered the walls and decorated the wooden stands placed beside the furniture.
A picture of the three smiling with the ocean behind them hung on the wall and drew him across the room. Theo threw Ollie in the air while Katherine tilted her head toward the sky in obvious laughter. Pure joy oozed from the photo and tied his insides in a knot.
A happy, thriving family had lived here. A good father and husband ripped away. It wasn’t fair.
“What are you looking at?”
The sudden sound of Katherine’s voice spun him around. He winced, as though caught doing something he shouldn’t. “Sorry.”
A sad smile touched her lips and she joined him, her shoulder brushing against his. “That was our last vacation. We took Ollie to Mexico. He loved the beach.”
Emotion squeezed his throat. “I’m glad you have that memory. You all look so happy.”
She brushed a finger along the front of the frame and sighed. “We were.”
“He was a good man.”
She faced him, eyes wide. “You knew him?”
He lifted a shoulder. “Not well. I mean, we all went to school together, remember?”
She winced. “Yeah. I guess I forget that sometimes. It was a lifetime ago.”
“It was, but I remember it all too well. Theo,” he said, dipping his head toward the grinning man. “Was always nice to me. Even when most people in this town treated me like a criminal, he never judged me based on the actions of my family. Never looked down his nose at me because I lived on the wrong side of town or sometimes wore the same shirt three times a week because I didn’t have anything else to put on. Our paths didn’t cross much in recent years, but when they did, he always had a kind word. I liked him.”
Unshed tears glimmered in her eyes. “That sounds like Theo. Such a good man. Thank you for sharing that.”
Seeing the emotion twisting her beautiful face gutted him. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
She dashed away the tears. “No, they aren’t sad tears. It’s just…it’s hard to explain. Talking about Theo always brings a rush of feelings, but it’s also nice. Like he’s not forgotten. Ollie and I talk about him all the time, but that’s mostly me reliving memories so Ollie won’t forget his dad. But other people, they walk around me on eggshells when his name comes up. As though they’ll accidently remind me that I miss him. That pain never goes away, but discussing him with others helps me to focus on the positive things he left behind.”
A moment of silence passed between them before Katherine rested a hand on his arm. “Sorry I wasn’t more like him.”
His skin tingled from her touch. He frowned down at her. “What do you mean?”
“I kept my distance from you. I judged you because of your family when I shouldn’t have. You’re a good man, and I’m sure you were probably just as great of a teenager. I didn’t give you a chance. That was pretty shitty of me.”
Her words constricted his throat, but he kept his expression as passive as possible. He didn’t want her to know how much it meant that she recognized she’d placed a label on him he’d fought his entire life to rip off. “Teenage girls aren’t exactly known for their kindness.”
She snorted out a laugh. “True, but I could have been better. I will be better.”
Narrowing his eyes, he glanced down at her upturned nose and the tight set of her pretty pink lips. God, he’d do anything to taste her, to find out what her mouth felt like on his.
No, he had to erase that thought from his mind right now. She might have acknowledged she hadn’t treated him the best in high school but that didn’t mean she wanted anything beyond friendship as adults. Hell, even friendship might be more than she intended. She was a victim who needed protecting, not a woman for him to pine after.
He’d finish double checking her security then drop her at her grandfather’s. Then he’d find the asshole after her so she could get on with her life and he could forget that a simple touch from Katherine Milton had set his entire body on fire.
7
Katherine lifted a hand to knock on her grandfather’s door then stopped, facing Cody. There really was no reason for Cody to walk her to the house, but a thrill had shot through her when he’d hurried around to open her car door.
Plus, she didn’t want him to leave. Spending time with him today was unexpected, but there was something about him that soothed her—settled her in a way that made her forget her world had been turned upside down again.
“I should warn you about my grandfather,” she said. “He’s a little grumpy.”
Scrunching his nose, Cody scratched the back of his neck. “I grew up with a criminal for a father and world’s biggest bully for a brother. I think I can handle your grandpa.”
“All right, I tried to warn you.” She pounded her fist on the door, pasted a smile on her face, and waited for the show to start.
