“The brakes went out in the car today. I’m sorry, honey. I’ll have to use all of the money I started saving for our trip.” She broke into another sob, wiping at her eyes with her sleeve.
That was it? Oh, thank goodness. I let out a breath of relief and let my head fall back.
In my peripheral vision I saw movement in the corridor and remembered I hadn’t shut the door, but when I stood to close it, Kaidan was standing in the doorway, rubbing the back of his neck. Oh, crap. Crap, crap, crap! I didn’t expect him to follow me! I moved to shut the door before Patti noticed, but it was too late. She was already looking at him. Then she looked at me.
“Anna?” Patti and I stared at each other with large eyes before she said, “That’s him, isn’t it?”
“Patti... I’m sorry.”
She looked at Kaidan as if expecting him to do something threatening, but he only switched his stance from one foot to the other. He looked like he might turn and bolt. Patti stood from the couch and went to the door.
“Well, you may as well come on in,” she said with attitude. He stepped in and she closed the door, then put her hands on her hips and surveyed him.
He appeared almost as nervous in front of Patti as I’d been in front of his father. It made him seem younger. What did he think she might force him to do—sing hymns with us? The absurdity of it, plus the knowledge that I was in deep trouble, made the corners of my mouth turn up, a nervous reaction. Patti narrowed her eyes at me, and I pressed my lips together. The silence stretched on and I needed to fill it.
“Patti, this is Kaidan. Kaidan, Patti.”
They regarded each other with uncertainty, and then to my surprise she stuck out her hand and he shook it.
“You must be a pretty special young man if Anna is willing to break a promise to see you.”
He glanced at me, and I looked down.
Patti turned her full scrutiny on me now. She wore a funny expression as she eyed me.
I remembered Kaidan’s red shirt hanging on my frame and my ears got hot. I began babbling an excuse.
“Oh, this!” I said. “This is just nothing. My shirt got torn accidentally, so Kaidan loaned me one of his. I know it looks bad, but it’s the truth—I promise.” My heart sank as I realized my promises would never again carry the weight they once had. Patti cleared her throat and crossed her arms.
“Can I talk to you alone for a second?” I asked her.
“You can have a seat,” she said to Kaidan, voice tight. “Can I get you something to drink?” Of course her Southern hospitality would kick in, even at a time like this.
“No, thank you, ma’am.” Kaidan sat in the middle of the couch. He looked out of place in our living room. I glared at him as we turned toward the hall, pointing to my ear and shaking my head. He’d better not listen. Yeah, right.
We went into Patti’s room, and before the door had a chance to close, my eyes were welling up.
“Patti, please, please forgive me. I feel awful inside. I’ve never been dishonest with you before, and I’m so mad at myself right now. I mean, I just... I knew he could answer my questions, and I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. But I didn’t know how to make you believe that.”
I avoided looking at her guardian angel, feeling guilty enough as it was. I wanted to tell Patti she’d been right. I should never have sought him out. The information I’d learned only made me ill, and I was now in serious danger. But I couldn’t tell her that. Ever. She would flip out.
Patti’s aura shuffled back and forth between pastel pink love and light gray nervousness, landing last on pink. My tears spilled over and Patti pulled me to her. I wrapped my arms around her, needing to soak in every ounce of love and softness she offered.
“I know this is hard on you, Anna, but you can’t lose your head. You can’t lose who you are in here.” She pulled back and tapped a finger over my heart. “Because that’s what’s important.”
I dabbed my eyes with the sleeve of Kaidan’s shirt.
“I don’t want you to worry about the money, okay?” I told her. “Everything happens for a reason, right? Just fix your car. We’ll make the trip as soon as we can.”
She nodded and paused, thinking.
“Part of the reason I’m so upset right now is because when they shuttled me home today from the shop, the first thing I did was look up the number to the convent. I’ve had a bad feeling, and I hate to say it, but I was right. Sister Ruth keeps slipping in and out of consciousness. For goodness’ sake, the woman has to be nearly a hundred and twenty years old by now!”
Her eyes locked with mine. “We have to find a way to get you there soon. I’ll contact every paper and magazine I know and beg for extra work. If it’s not this summer, then you may have to miss a little school in the fall.”
“I’ll see if I can get more hours at the ice-cream shop, too. We’ll make it work. We’ll get there in time.”
And if we didn’t? What would happen if Sister Ruth took the information about me to the grave?