Page 100 of Indigo Sky

Did I ever know?

“It’s in the shop,” she said. “I needed an oil change and new tires. That’s why Crystal drove me to work yesterday.”

“I thought she drove you to work so you wouldn’t be alone,” I replied as my brain worked to piece together a puzzle without the picture to work from.

“Well, I mean, yeah, there was that too.”

She shrugged her shoulder as she walked up the path to the front door. I followed tentatively, sweeping my gaze this way and that. Trying—trying—to recognize something that would trigger a memory.

You’re reaching. Just relax.

I sucked in a deep breath and tipped my head back to look at the clear blue sky, not a cloud in sight. It really was a beautiful day. Comfortable. Nice. We should’ve been hanging out in my parents’ backyard. We should’ve been taking a walk, holding hands, getting lunch at a place on Main Street to eat outside and enjoy the weather.

Maybe we still could.

Maybe we could go on a date. Brush all this shit aside for a while and just live a little without worrying about who was watching, following.

I exhaled as Kate pushed the door open. She stepped inside and was immediately greeted by a kind, feminine voice.

“Look who’s home, Howard!”

“Patricia! Oh, Patricia, you came back! Come here, come here, and let me get a good look at you.”

Kate glanced over her shoulder at me and offered a sad, small smile before leading the way into the sun-filled living room, where an older man sat on the couch with a cat in his lap, the tail swishing and eyes alert.

“Hey, Howie,” Kate said, crouching in front of him and taking his hand in hers. “How’s your day going?”

“I’m good, Patty. Even better now that you’re here.”

An older woman hurried into the room from somewhere deeper in the house, a bottle of juice in hand. “We went for awalk this morning,” she said, taking a seat beside Kate’s dad. “The weather isgorgeous.”

I stood as far away as the room would allow, not wanting to invade their personal space and potentially upset this fragile man with the bright eyes that looked all at once present and faraway. But his attention fell on me after only a moment, his head inclining curiously.

“Someone’s here, Patty,” he said. “We have company.”

Kate turned to look up at me. The nurse at Howard’s side noticed me then and smiled.

“Oh, Howie, this is my friend Revan,” Kate said, holding on to her dad’s hand as she stood and extended her other hand toward me by way of invitation.

"Revan," Howard said, raking a scrutinizing glare over me. Assessing exactly the way I thought a father would assess his daughter's new boyfriend. His eyes ended their journey by landing on mine. "You look like the villain in a superhero movie."

"Dad—Howie," Kate corrected herself with a roll of her eyes. "Be nice."

"Revan, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Angela," the nurse said, folding her hands neatly in her lap.

"You can call me Rev," I said to both her and Howard, who hadn't yet pulled his accusatory glare from mine.

The man didn't remember that the woman standing before him was his daughter, and yet I longed for his approval as if he did. I longed for him to understand that I could never play the part of a villain when I was too busy being the hero.

I took it upon myself to sit in the chair across from him and said, "I think your cat likes me more than you do, Howard."

Howard glanced down at the orange-and-black striped cat, tipping her head this way and that as she watched me with wide-eyed curiosity. That made him chuckle as he waved a dismissive, wrinkled hand with a cluck of his tongue.

"Sheba likes everyone. Don’t let it go to your head," he said. "And it's not that I don't like you. I don't know you well enough to know if I like you or not."

"That's fair," I said, nodding.

Kate caught my eye and bit her lip. I couldn't tell if she wanted to smile, laugh, or cry. Maybe all three. But what I could see was the gratitude in her stare, and it was one I understood. I was grateful too. For this moment, to be allowed to meet her father, to not recognize this room the way I’d recognized the exterior.

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