LITMIR.BIZ

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      He remembered that about Susan. Any time he and Kat had had a disagreement, big sister had been the mediator trying to get them back together. She must have been bewildered in those last months when Kat and Seth drifted apart, too broken to repair.

      “Then there’s the history between you and Kat. Suzie’s a romantic.”

      A shudder of dread ran down Seth’s spine. He sat up straighter. “Spare me that.”

      “You’re both single. Why not?”

      None of your business, he wanted to say, but this was life in a small town. Everyone stuck his nose in everyone else’s business.

      “As you said, we have history. Friends, yes. Anything else, uh-uh.” His lousy track record spoke for itself. “I’m sure Kat would say the same.”

      The woman in question chose that moment to come out of the kitchen. “Dinner is on. You guys wash up.”

      Susan stepped up beside Kat. Seth couldn’t help noticing the differences in the two women were more than physical. An ever-present joy shone from Susan’s blue eyes while Kat looked tense and a little sad.

      Susan yelled up the staircase, “Kids! Supper. Sadie, put that cat outside.” She pulled a face at Seth. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to break your eardrums.”

      Seth grinned back. Susan was as likable as her husband.

      After a trip to the sink, Seth joined the Renfros at the big family-style table. A feast was laid out before them.

      “Seth, you sit here.” Susan said, indicating a place beside the only boy child, Jon. Kat was already seated on the other side of the table with Shelby at one elbow and an empty space at the other. “I hope you like pork tenderloin and mushroom gravy.”

      He slid the napkin into his lap. “A man alone likes anything he doesn’t have to cook or buy at a restaurant, but this looks and smells amazing.”

      Little Sadie climbed into the chair beside her aunt. Kat scooted the child closer to the table and, with an indulgent smile, handed her a napkin.

      “Bow your heads, kids,” Danny said and waited until the room was quiet before giving thanks.

      Though glad for the food and the friendship, Seth ached with a renewed sense of loss. His own family, though much smaller, had once shared this same routine.

      He opened his eyes to take in the picture of what a Christian family was meant to be. Kat sat, eyes open, staring down at her plate. She must have felt his stare because she looked up.

      The old Kat would have winked or made a face. This one gave a cynical twist of her lips that made him sad.

      After the prayer, an abundance of food moved in an orderly fashion around the table. Fresh radishes and wilted leaf lettuce from Susan’s garden. Fluffy mashed potatoes and buttery hot rolls.

      Conversation flowed around the table with the food, easy and comfortable. Talk of the lake, the town, the high school baseball team. Seth relaxed and joined in, as did Kat. The evening was turning out better than he’d expected.

      In fact, he found himself waiting for the times when Kat would comment and listening for the things that made her laugh. Kat didn’t laugh as much as she used to, but when she did, the sound was rich and throaty and came from her heart.

      Kat had a big heart.

      Or she once did. What did he know of her now?

      And why couldn’t he stop thinking about her, stop watching her, stop waiting for those times when their gazes collided? Susan and her innuendoes had gotten to him.

      Eventually, the conversation turned to the break-ins, something he could sink his teeth into. Anything to stop thinking about the woman who’d jilted him.

      “Any news on that front, Seth?” Danny asked.

      Seth shook his head. The episodes were troubling but not violent. Still, he wanted to see an end to them. “I sent the fingerprints from the Millers’ house to the state lab, but there was no record found.”

      “Figures,” Kat said. “If kids are responsible, their prints wouldn’t be recorded in the state files.”

      “I think our vandals are weekenders,” Susan added as she passed Seth another roll. “The trouble always happens on weekends.”

      Seth didn’t bother to point out that kids had more free time on weekends, too, even though he tended to agree with her assessment that someone other than locals was responsible. Anyway, he hoped so.

      “Jeremy Fisher’s dad said he’ll shoot anyone who tries to break in to the bait shop,” young Jon said. “He bought a new pistol up in Henderson.”

      Seth glanced down at the boy with a look of concern. They didn’t need a citizenry up in arms. Most folks in this part of the country owned at least one gun, mostly for hunting, but a lethal weapon nonetheless.

      “I hope you’ll discourage that kind of talk,” he said to Danny. “It’s dangerous.”

      Danny nodded. “I certainly will, but you have to know lots of folks are talking, not just Ken Fisher.”

      Seth knew all right, and the talk worried him.

      He picked up a knife to butter his roll and said, “I was hoping to have this thing solved before Alicia arrives. Looks like that’s not going to happen.”

      His daughter’s visit was an amazing turn of events, considering the fact that he’d had to fight Rita for every visitation in the past. Now she was letting Alicia come to Wilson’s Cove for the entire summer.

      “Alicia?” Susan asked, a forkful of potatoes halfway to her mouth.

      He nodded. “My daughter. She lives in Houston with her mother.”

      “And she’s coming here?” The teenage Shelby’s eyes lit up. “How old is she?”

      “Fourteen.”

      “Cool,” Shelby said, her braces flashing. “Way, way cool. I’m fourteen, too. Maybe we can hang out and I’ll show her around.”

      The offer warmed him. Shelby was a nice kid. With her as a friend, Alicia would meet the right kids. “I’d appreciate that. Thanks.”

      “No problem. New people keep summer from being so boring.”

      Both her parents laughed. Seth grinned. He’d heard the “boredom” complaint from Alicia.

      “I don’t think anyone ever mentioned that you have a daughter,” Susan was saying.

      “What?” He pretended shock. “The ladies at the Quick Mart missed out on a piece of information? I thought they knew everything about everyone.”

      The table chuckled again and conversation moved to the two sisters, Donna and Sharon who collected information in the same way other women collected recipes. If you wanted to know about sickness or funerals or new babies or romances, Sharon or Donna had the scoop.

      Amused by the topic, Seth glanced across the table at Kat. Eyes down, she pushed her lettuce from one side of the plate to the other. She must have felt his gaze because she looked up. What Seth saw in her expression both puzzled and concerned him.

      A few minutes ago, she’d been laughing. Now she looked stunned.

      “Kat?” he said quietly. The others, in a friendly argument over the last hot roll didn’t seem to notice.

      She shook her head and forced a smile. But he was trained to read body language. He saw.

      Something had disturbed her.

      Was it him? Had his casually tossed comments about Alicia come as a surprise?

      Hadn’t she known he had a child?

      He held her gaze as realization dawned.

      She

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