Kat didn’t say anything, but she leaned over, wrapping her arms around me. I stiffened out of surprise. She didn’t seem to notice, because she squeezed me tight, and then she let go, pulling away.
I stared at her, shocked to my very core. After the things I said to her a handful of minutes ago, she did this? Hugged me?
She lowered her gaze to her hands. “I miss my dad, too. It doesn’t get any easier.”
The breath I let out was harsh. “Dee said he was sick but not what was wrong with him. I’m sorry…for your loss. Sickness isn’t something we’re accustomed to. What was it?”
“It was brain cancer. It started off with just headaches. You know? He’d get these terrible headaches and then he started having vision problems. When that happened, he went in for testing and he had cancer.” She glanced up at the sky, her brows knitting together. “It seemed like it happened so fast after that, but I guess, in a way it hadn’t been. I got time with him before he…”
“Before what?” I watched her, unable to do anything but that.
Her smile was sad. “He changed toward the end. The tumor affected things. That…that was hard, you know?” Shaking her head, she lowered her chin. “But I have all the memories of the good times, like when we worked out in the garden together or went to the bookstore. Every Saturday morning we did the garden thing. And then every Sunday afternoon, since I could remember, we went to the bookstore.”
I was beginning to see why she loved gardening and reading so much. It kept her close to her father. We’d both suffered so much loss. “Dawson and I…we used to go hiking together all the time. Dee’s really never been big on that.”
She grinned a little. “I can’t really picture her climbing a mountain.”
I chuckled at that. “Agreed.”
As daylight turned to dusk, and stars started to fill the sky, we…we just talked. I told her about the first time Dawson morphed into someone else and got stuck. She talked to me about how her friendships fell apart after her father got sick. I found it interesting that she took the blame for that. We talked until the air took on a chill, and it was time for us to head back.
Truth be told, I really didn’t want to return to reality. I enjoyed this. Kat. Me. Talking. Never thought I would, but I did. I really did.
Comfortable silence surrounded us as we walked back to our houses. There was a light on in the living room of Kat’s house, so her voice was low when she turned to me. “What happens now?”
I didn’t answer.
I had no idea what happened now.
I spent most of Sunday listening to Dee and Kat talk about books and how book boyfriends were universally better than real boyfriends while they sat in the living room. And since I was a guy, maybe not human, I really wanted to disagree with that statement, but once they started listing the attributes of some of these dudes in the books Kat carried around with her, there was no way anyone could compete with that.
I felt like I needed to warn Adam or something.
Matthew was having a cookout on Labor Day, which Kat had found hilarious that aliens were celebrating Labor Day…up until Dee was leaving. For a multitude of obvious reasons, Kat couldn’t go with Dee. She tried not to show it, but the smile she wore while she sat on our front porch didn’t reach her gray eyes.
“I don’t have to go over there,” Dee said, sensing what I did. “I can stay—”
Kat opened her mouth, but I jumped in. “You’ve gone every year. You have to go this year or it’s going to look strange.”
She worried on her lower lip as she glanced at Kat. “Are you going to be okay here?”
“Why wouldn’t she be?” I demanded, folding my arms.
Kat shot me a glare.
“Her mom has to work today, so she’s spending the day alone,” Dee answered before Kat could reply.
I cocked a brow. “How is that different from any other day?”
Kat’s lips pursed.
“Don’t be a jerk.” Dee’s eyes narrowed. “It’s different, because today is a holiday.”
Kat opened her mouth again.
“It’s Labor Day,” I pointed out drily. “It’s not like it’s Thanksgiving or Christmas. I’m not even sure it’s a real holiday.”
“Oh, it’s real. It’s on calendars and stuff,” Dee insisted. “It’s a holiday.”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s a stupid holiday. Kat is—”
“Is right here, in case you all forgot that.” Kat stood, dusting off the back of her jeans. She shot me a baleful glare before turning to Dee. “I’ll be okay. Daemon, and God knows I hate saying this, is right. It’s just Labor Day. It’s no big deal. Adam is going to be there, right?”
Dee nodded while I eyed Kat.
She smiled again. “Go have fun with him.”
By the time my sister finally got her butt in her car and left, I had been prepared to Hail Mary throw her all the way to Matthew’s house. I wasn’t sure I’d make it, but I was willing to try.
As Dee’s tires crunched over the gravel, Kat moseyed on past me, and my gaze tracked her, riveted by the way her hips swayed. Did she realize how she walked? Jesus.