Page 12 of Safe With You

Ethan raised his brows. “What? I’m fine.”

She didn’t appear convinced. She was entirely too attuned to the slightest upset in her children’s lives. But he loved her for it.

He did, however, silently thank Dad for cutting in with a change of subject. Mom couldn’t do anything about his earlier uncertainties anyway.

“I guess we won’t be going fishing with Joel later.” Dad had turned in his chair to look out the window. “Marshall will be disappointed.”

Ethan agreed, imagining how his nephew could be lamenting it right now. He probably had all the new fishing gear Dad had given him for Christmas sitting by the door, ready to go. “Yeah, he’s excited to try that new pole.”

“Maybe tomorrow afternoon. It’s supposed to clear up by then. He can always test it from the dock. We’ve caught some decent fish from there.”

It wasn’t the pontoon, but they’d enjoyed plenty of suppers growing up that consisted of sunfish Ethan and his siblings had landed from the dock.

A moment later, Dad’s attention shifted, his smile warm and welcoming. “Good morning.”

Ethan turned in his seat as Katie entered the room. She looked comfy this morning in a black hoodie with red embroidery around the edges—obviously another one of her upcycled creations. He loved seeing her creative streak. She always had been artistic. Hopefully, she’d take Megan up on her offer to help get a business going.

She greeted them all and approached the peninsula.

Ethan pulled out another stool. “Have a seat.”

She boosted herself up beside him. “Looks wet out.”

Ethan rubbed at the small spot on his sleeve where some raindrops had soaked in. “Yeah, I reached the porch just as it started pouring.”

Mom glanced up from the sausage links she’d just arranged in a pan. “You should have used an umbrella.”

Ethan just shrugged. “A little rain won’t hurt anything.”

The mothering expression remained but grew into a smile as her attention shifted to Katie. “I hope you still like pancakes. I switched to a new recipe recently but haven’t had any complaints.”

“I do. They’ll be much better than the cheap granola bars and ramen noodle cups I planned to survive on for the next few days.”

Ethan winced. That wasn’t much to survive on. Then again, if he didn’t live close enough to enjoy his mom’s cooking regularly, he probably wouldn’t eat much better. Frying up fish or grilling a good burger was about as far as his kitchen skills went.

In a few minutes, they sat around the table with plates full of Mom’s fluffy golden pancakes and sausages. Dad blessed the food, and they dug in. Becca asked Katie about her upcycled clothing creations between bites, and Ethan encouraged her to consider starting her business. Her eyes lit up whenever she talked about it, so she had a passion for it, something he understood.

Once they finished, Becca left for work at the local hospital. Katie helped Mom clear the table and then disappeared back upstairs to get her phone in case Drew called. Ethan stayed at the table since Mom insisted she and Dad could do the dishes. He glanced at his phone but caught Mom and Dad talking quietly to each other as they worked. Dad teased her before giving her an adoring smile. If ever God blessed Ethan with a wife, he prayed for a relationship like his parents had. Almost thirty-seven years of marriage and their love held strong.

He covertly snapped a couple of photos of them before movement drew his attention toward the living room. Katie had returned and stood at the patio door momentarily before letting herself out onto the porch. She hadn’t said where she’d been living these days—it had to be close to Madison, where Grandma Ruby had been—but he was willing to bet it didn’t have the view they had here.

He pushed up from his chair and walked to the coffeemaker. Dad always put a fresh pot on in the mornings. Just enough remained to fill two of Mom’s brightly colored mugs with the silicone lids. He stirred a spoonful of sugar into a blue one and then added double that and French vanilla creamer to the red mug. After putting the lids on, he carried them toward the patio door.

Chapter Seven

Rosie trotted out ahead of Ethan when he opened the door to the porch, her toenails clicking on the wooden planks. Katie looked over her shoulder from where she’d been staring at the lake from the railing.

He offered the red mug. “Coffee? I noticed you used cream and sugar yesterday. Hopefully, I got it right.”

She took a sip and nodded. “It’s good. Thanks.”

He gestured to one of the cushioned chairs nestled against the house. Katie took a seat while he claimed the one next to it. Rosie snuggled up next to Katie’s legs and rested her chin in her lap. Some of the weight lifted from Katie’s expression as she petted the dog’s head. Ethan smiled. Rosie seemed as eager to cheer her up as he was.

For a long moment, they both just sipped their coffee and looked out at the lake. Though they’d had all last evening to talk, it hadn’t been just the two of them. Ethan had so much he wanted to say, but he wasn’t sure where to start. Fifteen years was a long time to lose touch. How did one even make up for all that lost time?

Before he could figure it out, Katie’s gaze left the lake and landed on him instead, her expression and voice tentative.

“It’s not any of my business, so you don’t have to tell me, but is Becca all right? She seems to have a lot on her mind. Your mom looks at her like she’s worried about her, and I guess you all treat her like she’s fragile.”

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