“See you later, guys!” Ang waved goodbye to Krista and AJ as they walked out of the house. They all took notice of the wind picking up as a storm was brewing in the distance. “I’ll talk to you later. Thanks for coming.”
Krista waved, grinning. “Bye! Congratulations again!”
“Thanks!” Ang called, before closing the door and walking back in the living room where Kevin and Brian were standing.
Brian turned around when she walked back into the room. “Ang, I’m gonna take Kev home. He came with Adrienne and since she’s gone, he’s got no ride.”
“No problem,” Ang replied, smiling. “I’m just going to clean up around here.” She followed the two of them to the front door, calling goodbye to Kevin as she watched he and Brian get into Brian’s car. Just as she was about to close the door, she saw an envelope sticking out from under the mat. She picked it up and walked back inside, closing the door behind her. Tearing into the envelope, her eyes widened in fear as she read it.
Angela,
Thought that if you went to the police that this would just stop? I already warned AJ. Don’t think he would want anything to happen to his beloved Krista. Don’t try to run. I’ve got you now.
Ang dropped the envelope, her immediate reaction being to run towards the phone sitting on the kitchen counter. She picked it up, getting ready to dial Brian’s cell phone number. Listening for a second, her breath caught in her throat as she realized there was no dial tone. Shaking, she began to search the rooms of the house, praying desperately that it only meant that a phone was off the hook somewhere. Just as she reached the top of the steps, the lights went out.
“Shit,” she whispered, her entire body trembling in fear. She blindly walked back towards her room, in search of her cell phone. She paused, hearing a noise behind her. In the faint light from the moon streaming in through the guest room window and out into the hallway, she couldn’t make out anything behind her. Turning back around, she ran into her room towards where her cell phone was charging. As soon as she reached her cell phone, she heard her bedroom door slam shut.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
“Did you have fun?” AJ asked, walking Krista up to her apartment.
She smiled, nodding her head. “Yeah, I did. I’m so happy for them.”
“Me too,” AJ commented. “I can’t wait to have that one day.” Krista nodded again, but remained quiet. She hoped one day she could have that too. With AJ hopefully. She thought that they had it three years ago. But Krista firmly believed that everything happened for a reason and that this was their chance. This was finally their chance to make it work.
They reached Krista’s apartment and she took out her key to unlock the door. “You want to come in?” She asked, opening the door.
AJ was thoughtful for a minute. “Nah. I think I should go home.”
Krista’s face visibly fell. “Oh. Okay.”
AJ chuckled. “We’re taking it slow, remember?”
Krista nodded. “Well, if I came inside, it would just be defeating the purpose. I’m sure I’ll have a hard time keeping things slow.”
She laughed, softly. “Okay. Well, goodnight then.”
He leaned in slowly and gave her a soft kiss. “Bye.” Pulling away, he smiled at her. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Bye,” she replied, quietly, closing the door behind her.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Nick helped Aidan change into his pajamas almost as soon as they walked in the door. Aidan was exhausted, being up way past his bedtime. The house was so quiet. Almost too quiet. Nick didn’t like it one bit. He missed Katelin. He missed her mere presence in the house. He couldn’t believe she had just walked out like that earlier tonight. She didn’t stay long after their conversation in Brian’s kitchen. Adrienne had taken one look at her, known something was wrong, and offered to take her home. Katelin didn’t even hesitate once the opportunity to get out of there had arisen. He knew it was his fault. If he had just told her that, yes, Lanie would’ve been out of his life, maybe his heart wouldn’t hurt like this. If he had just….But he couldn’t. He loved Katelin. That much was true. But if Lanie hadn’t been the one to tell the social worker all of that stuff, he would’ve stayed with her. Because no matter how much he loved Katelin, Lanie was safe. Lanie was safe and Nick was scared.
“Daddy?” Aidan asked, sleepily.
“Yeah bud,” Nick replied.
“I miss mommy,” the little boy whimpered.
“I do too, honey,” Nick whispered, his throat constricting with tears. “I do too.”
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
“You alright, Kate?” Adrienne asked, quietly, as they walked into their condo in Tampa.
Katelin shrugged. “I guess.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Adrienne threw her keys down on the counter as Katelin collapsed down into a chair at the kitchen table.
Katelin shook her head. “Not so much.” She saw Adrienne rummaging through the cabinets. “What are you doing?”
Adrienne was quiet for a second, obviously looking for something. “Ah…found it.” She pulled a bottle of White Zinfandel out of the cabinet and set it down on the counter. She then got two glasses out and opened the bottle of wine. “Perfect.”
“You are the best.” Katelin watched as Adrienne sat a glass down in front of her before settling into a chair, herself. “What’s the wine for?”
“I think we need some quality, step-mother, step-daughter bonding time, huh?” Adrienne smiled.
“Definitely,” Kate replied. “But I have one rule.”
Adrienne took a small sip of wine. “What’s that?”
“No talking about Nick,” Katelin answered.
Adrienne laughed. “Okay. No talking about Nick. I got it.”
“So,” Katelin began, a small smile creeping on to her face. “What’s going on with Kevin?”
“Nothing.” Adrienne grinned.
“Oh whatever!” Katelin cried, a grin spreading across her face. “You’re such a liar! It’s written all over your face.”
“Seriously,” Adrienne replied, a thoughtful look gracing her features. “He’s a great guy and we have a lot of fun together. But, neither one of us are ready for a relationship. His fiancee just broke it off with him.”
“But what about you?” Katelin questioned.
Adrienne shrugged. “I really like him. But, Kate, I was in love with your father for almost four years. He hasn’t even been gone for six months. Those feelings just don’t go away.”
“You need to be happy, A,” Katelin told her, seriously. “I loved my father but I also love you. All he would want and all I want is for you to be happy.”
Adrienne blinked back the tears that had sprung to her eyes. “Thanks, Kate.” She wiped at her eyes. “I’m glad we’ve gotten to be such good friends.”
“Me too,” Katelin replied. They were both quiet for a minute. “I miss him,” Katelin finally whispered. “I mean, he did some really awful things to me. And the people I love. But he wasn’t a bad man. He was my daddy. The only family I had for so long.”
“I know, Kate,” Adrienne said, tearfully. “I miss him too. And you have to believe that he loved you. He had weird ways of showing it sometimes. But he loved you so much. You were his world.”
“I’m glad you married him, Adrienne,” Katelin admitted, honestly. “I know I was horrible to you at first. Maybe I was jealous of you. I don’t know. I had been the only one in his life for so long. But you have turned out to be so good to me. And I love you for that.”
Adrienne reached over and pulled the younger girl into a hug. “I love you too, Kate. I really do.”
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
“Can you hand me my cell phone?” Brian asked Kevin. Brian was nervous to take his hands off of the wheel. The storm was fast approaching and the rain had just started to come down in sheets.
Kevin handed his cousin the little phone. Brian shook his head. “Can you do it? Call my house. I need to ask Ang a question.”
As Brian maneuvered his way through the streets of Orlando in the storm, Kevin dialed the number. He listened for a second before his face crumpled in confusion. “It’s busy.”
“Why the hell would it be busy?” Brian asked. “We have call-waiting.”
Kevin shrugged. “Maybe it’s your cell. We’ll try when we get to my house.”
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Ang froze in a panic. She knew someone was standing behind her. She could sense their presence. “Brian?” she whispered, hopefully, turning around. The room was too dark to tell who it was but she could definitely make out a shadow. And that shadow was definitely not Brian.