Page 4 of Safe With You

“Katie, I’m very sorry for your tragic loss.”

His smooth voice scraped her ears and lit a spark in her chest. She wanted none of his fake sympathy, but what could she say? She couldn’t cause a scene here—not today—but she wouldn’t play his games either. She’d pasted on painful smiles and a cheerful attitude her entire childhood. She would not do that anymore.

Ethan’s shoulder brushed hers as he came alongside her. He even took half a step more as if to stand between her and them.

“Mrs. Randolph.” He spoke politely, if a bit flat, as he addressed her mother. Then came a subtle shift—a cool undertone. “Grant.”

Something frosty crackled in the air between them. Grant stiffened, and Katie’s arms prickled. The noticeable lack of respect in Ethan using his first name would dig deep under Grant’s skin. His jaw tightened, his carefully maintained mask wavering.

“Ethan.”

The icy edge to his voice chilled Katie more than his fake politeness. Why such tension existed was a mystery. She couldn’t recall a time they had ever interacted. Grant hardly ever came out to Grandma’s cottage, and Katie had never seen him and Ethan in the same vicinity while at church.

The hostility growing between them sucked the oxygen out of the air, but then Ethan’s attention shifted back to her mom.

“I’m sorry for your loss. Your mother was well-loved.” Before she could respond, he turned to Katie. “I think Megan is here. She would love to see you.”

Katie didn’t hesitate to grab the lifeline he offered. With one last glance at Mom, she turned to follow him.

Chapter Three

Thankfully, Katie’s mom, Grant, and Christopher kept their distance after whatever strange test of wills had transpired between Ethan and Grant. Ethan remained at her side, offering a sense of security she had not experienced in years. She found added comfort in learning that Pastor Donovan still pastored the church and would conduct the service today. Like the Harts, he’d always been kind to her when she was a child. She’d never forget how he had taken the time to teach her the proper way to throw a baseball at one of the church picnics she and Grandma had attended. He took the same time today to seek her out to pray with her and offer her encouragement.

Others offered their own condolences. Some Katie recognized from her time in church, and each had a special memory to share about Grandma. Though it brought tears, she loved hearing firsthand how much Grandma had meant to each of them.

Once the service started, Ethan guided Katie to a row with the rest of the family. She thanked God she did not have to sit up front, alone, with Mom and Grant right across the aisle. More tears flowed, and she quickly worked through the extra tissues she had snagged from the foyer.

At the end of the service, Katie pulled her shawl tighter around herself and followed Ethan’s parents outside into the cool air. A heavy dampness chilled the breeze now. Dark clouds threatened, though she hoped the rain would hold off. It didn’t help the ache working through her sinuses and up into her head from crying so much.

Ethan slowed and gestured toward her car as if he sensed her discomfort. “Would you like me to drive you? I came with my parents, so I don’t have a vehicle here.”

Katie hesitated. He’d already done so much for her, and yet it had been so good to have someone to lean on. “If you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.”

He followed her toward her car, and she dug in her purse for her keys. After unlocking the doors, she handed them to him. Inside, Katie settled into the passenger seat and buckled the seatbelt. Ethan slid in on the other side, a bit scrunched. He looked over at her.

“You don’t mind if I adjust the seat, do you?”

“No, that’s fine.”

On the rare occasions Drew drove her car, he couldn’t even get in without adjusting it first, but he was a lot taller than Ethan. Taller than most people, actually.

Neither said anything as he backed out of the parking spot and pulled the car around to join the funeral procession. Once they had left the church and turned toward the cemetery, he glanced at her again.

“How are you holding up?”

Katie took a long breath and weighed that question. “Better than I thought I would in some ways.” Mainly thanks to him and his family. “But it’s still really hard.”

Even now, just the thought of never seeing Grandma knocked the breath from her lungs.

Not too far from the church, they pulled up to a large cemetery dotted with tall pines and winding gravel paths. Ethan parked and got out, and Katie paused to make sure she had tissues in her purse. By the time she finished, Ethan had rounded the vehicle and opened her door for her. She stepped out and adjusted her shawl as she walked with him to Grandma’s burial plot.

When they arrived, Katie focused on the headstone already in place, bearing the name John Lachlan. She didn’t remember Grandpa nearly as well as she would have liked since he had died when she was four, but she remembered his laugh. Grandma had always talked about the way he found humor in things. If he could have lived longer and she could have stayed with them here in Two Lakes, life would have been much brighter.

Though she tried to focus on Pastor Donovan’s closing words, Katie didn’t catch much of what he said to conclude the funeral. Before she knew it, people dispersed, giving her final sympathies on their way out. She looked over her shoulder and watched Mom, Christopher, and Grant walk away without a word or backward glance, leaving her alone. She preferred it that way, but it still left an ache deep inside that longed for family.

With a sigh, Katie turned back to the grave. Ethan still stood beside her. She held his gaze for a long moment, unsure what to say. Today couldn’t be easy for him either. He didn’t owe her anything and shouldn’t have to stand around here with her just to make sure she was all right when he was grieving too.

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