Page 67 of Blindly Yours

He doesn’t say anything. And I don’t blame him. I don’t know why I couldn’t walk away either.

Well, that’s a lie.

I’ve been lying to myself a lot lately.

I clear my throat. “Where are you headed now?”

He looks out the window. “My friend is here. My truck is ready. I’m gonna go pick up some things from home for Kara.”

“Good.” I nod and slide my purse over my shoulder. “I’m glad she’s ok.”

He starts to back away. “Anyway, thanks…for the drive, and for sticking around. I’ve gotta hurry up though. She’s really anxious about being alone.”

I look toward the door from where he came. I hate the thought of Kara being uncomfortable. “Do you, um, do you want me to sit with her while you’re gone?” It comes out before I can stop it, and I know I shouldn’t have suggested it. But bravely, I turn my gaze to his.

He chews on the inside of his cheek and regards me for a moment as if there’s a full-on battle taking place in his head. Then when he exhales, it’s almost a groan.

“I mean, I don’t have to… I just wanted to offer,” I amend quickly. He probably doesn’t want Kara to grow even more attached to me.

“No, no,” he sighs. “You’re probably exactly what she needs right now.” He drops his shoulders and gives me a pleading look. “Would you mind?”

“Not at all.” I try to give him a small smile.

With a curt nod, he checks me in at the front desk and then walks me to Kara’s room. I peer around the corner to see her sitting up in bed. She has a tray across her lap with an unopened coloring book and a box of crayons. She’s staring out the window with a frown, but when she hears us, she turns quickly and her face instantly brightens. “Rose!”

I step inside and grin. “Hi, Kara. How are you feeling?”

“My head hurts.” She shrugs. “What are you doing here?”

“Rose is going to sit with you while I go pick up your things from home,” Nate answers, smiling gently at her.

She claps. “Yay!”

He backs toward the door and gives me a sincere tilt of his head. “I should only be about forty-five minutes. Thank you…again.”

“It’s no problem at all. Take your time.” I cross the room and pull a chair up to Kara’s bed as he leaves. “So, what are we coloring?”

She rolls her eyes and points at the box of crayons. “Nothing very good with thesebabycrayons.”

I laugh and open the box. “I like crayons.”

“Dad’s gonna bring back my colored pencils.”

“Well, in the meantime, maybe we can each pick a page from your book?” I point toward the coloring book on her tray.

She flips it open and shrugs. “It’s all Cinderella. I like Rapunzel better, but they didn’t let me choose. Cinderella gets on my nerves.”

I smirk. Her concussion hasn’t lost her an ounce of personality.

We color for at least a half-hour, and by the time we’re done, we’ve cumulatively brought life to the pumpkin carriage, both evil stepsisters, and sweet little Gus Gus.

Kara tells me how she fell—off the monkey bars because her hands were slippery from the wet grass—but we don’t linger on the topic. We talk mostly about what she’s been learning at school and how anxious she is about joining the youth soccer team this spring. Apparently, her friend Jackie is ‘really good’ and Kara doesn’t want to look like a ‘newbie’ since this is her first year on the team.

“Have you been practicing?” I ask.

“Yeah, Dad and I have been playing in the backyard.” She puts a finishing touch on Gus Gus’s hat. “He’s pretty good, and I think he’s letting me win. But I think I might beat him for real once I join the team.”

“Maybe Jackie can show you some tricks? I’m sure she would love that.”

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