“I thought of you. I drew pictures of you and wrote you letters that I never sent. I hooked up with other soldiers, but they weren’t anything spectacular. To be honest, I stayed busy most of the time. It wasn’t until I was in bed thinking of you that it got hard.”
“It broke my heart when you left. I felt like I was being punished.”
“My brother fooled us both. Don’t let it get to you. We’re together now, Kat.”
“Please be patient with me, Brooks. I know I said I couldn’t move forward, but I also can’t lose you. I just feel like I ended his life. I feel responsible and I’ve got to work that out on my own. You understand, don’t you?”
“You hurt me earlier. I keep letting myself fall harder for you each time. The thing is, when I do that and you push me away, it hurts worse. All I can tell you is that no matter how many times I’ve tried to not love you, it’s never happened. So you can push me away. You can tell me you don’t want to be with me, but I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stalk you if I have to.”
Kat giggled. “I told you where I hide the house key. You’ve been invited in.”
“Good because I was planning on having a copy made in the morning.”
“Promise?”
I peered down at her with a smile on my face. “Yes, I promise.”
The next morning I awoke to find Kat still on top of me. I tried to scoot her off without waking her, but it was impossible. Her eyes flew open. “I need to go to work.”
She grabbed my hand when I tried to step away. “Will you be back later?”
“You’ve got a hard day ahead of you. Are you sure that’s what you want?”
She nodded.
“Woman, you’re so confusing.”
“Please?”
I leaned over and kissed her. “I’ll see you later. I love you. Give B a kiss and tell her I’ll be here after work.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without you in my life. No matter what happens, you’re always there to protect me. Sometimes I think my parents made you that way, like they somehow connected us so I’d never be alone.”
“I hate to break it to you, but I loved you way before they died and I promise that they didn’t put any spells on me. It happened because I wanted it to. There’s no other reason that I want to be there for you. No one makes me do it. I do it because it makes me happy. It makes me feel close to you, even when you’re not paying attention.”
I winked at her before stepping out of the room.
When I left for work, I felt better than I had the night before. We were going to get through this, no matter how many obstacles stood in the way.
Chapter 55
Since I knew Kat was spending her whole day making arrangements for Bobby’s funeral and getting in touch with their mutual friends, I took it upon myself to work on my own little project.
With the help of my mom, who was left at the house still watching B, I was able to get the measurements for curtains, bedding, and even replacement area rugs. On my lunch hour, I went to the stores that my mother suggested and picked up replacements of all the things Bobby had ruined during his rampage.
It felt so good to pick out things for Kat. I wanted to give her the world, and this was just the beginning of it.
When I got back to base, I made a few more calls ordering a new bed. It was a special kind that I figured Kat would enjoy. I knew I certainly would.
After gathering a couple of my buddies, we headed over to the store to pick up everything else I needed, including the new mattress. Then, before we arrived, I called home to check on her.
“Hello?”
“You’re crying? What’s wrong?” I didn’t like that she was having a hard time and hadn’t reached out to me.
“I just got off the phone with Sarah.”
“That bad?”
“Well, they all loved him. They could never believe the things that I said he did, and of course, I got blamed for everything that happened, including him coming to D.C. and losing his life. She even said that the whole town was going to hate me and I needed to prepare myself for it.”
“Kat, listen to me. You’ve got to calm down.”
“Sorry.”
I wished I knew a better way to console her. “We’re going to get through these next couple of days. Mom and I will be by your side the whole time. I don’t give a shit what those people think of you. I know the real Katy; the one that cares about other people and leaves her life and everything behind because she’s disappointed them. I know the girl that lost her parents and somehow grew up to be an amazing mother. And last but never least, I know the woman that loves someone with her whole heart, no matter how far away they might be. Please, try to calm down. I’ll be there around four. I’ve got to stop and do something first.”