Page 82 of Blindly Yours

“I don’t think he can hear us,” Kara giggles. “But that’s good, ’cause he looks kinda angry. He probably wants to eat us for his lunch.”

Rose lifts her finger to her chin. “You think he looks hungry?”

Kara beams at her. “I think…veryhungry.”

They both burst out into laughter and I stand back and watch them bond in the sweetest way. I’m happier than I’ve been in a long, long time.

SEVENTEEN

Rose

Ihaven’t been in Kara’s room until now, but it’s just as pink as I expect it to be. The bedspread is printed with Gerber daisies, there are photos of Kara and two other young girls plastered all over a bulletin board, and there’s a pink fairy wand taped to the corner. Against one wall is a small oak desk with every kind of marker and colored pencil lined neatly across the top. Above it hangs at least a dozen drawings.

I cross over to admire them. “Did you do all these?”

Kara follows me and nods enthusiastically. “Yep! Some of them are kinda old. I’m better now. I did that one yesterday.” She points toward what is very clearly a bright green crocodile with menacing, sharp teeth, just like the one we saw at the zoo earlier today.

Next to it is a serene sunset landscape over a lake. There’s a small cabin in the foreground. “Kara, this is beautiful. Is this your cabin?”

“Yep! That’s my room, right there.” She points to one of the windows.

I move on to the next drawing, which features three girls, labeled, Kara, Maddy, and Jackie, and a dog.

“That’s Duke. He’s coming home from the trainer’s soon. I miss him,” Kara says.

“I’m sure he misses you too.” I smile. “I can’t wait to meet him.”

When I move on to the next drawing, my heart drops. Two adults and a small child stand hand-in-hand. They’re labeled Mom, Dad, and Kara.

“That’s my mom,” Kara says, pointing at the figure with yellow-blonde hair. “She was really pretty. See.” She lowers her finger to a framed photo I hadn’t noticed on the desk. A slightly younger Nate smiles with his arm around a woman with straight blonde hair and a bright, friendly smile. She holds a small toddler-aged Kara and rests her head on Nate’s shoulder.

I gulp. “She is beautiful, Kara. You look just like her.” And it’s true. She’s quite literally her mother’s miniature.

“Thanks.” She steps back and sits down on her bed.

“Kara,” Nate comes around the corner. “Maddy’s mom is here—” He pauses when he sees what I’m looking at.

Kara hops up. “Can we have s’mores when I get home?”

Nate doesn’t tear his eyes from the framed photo. “Um, yeah, we’ll see. It’ll be just about your bedtime.”

“Kay,” she says quickly as she brushes past him into the hall.

He’s perfectly still, but after a second, he blinks and cranes his neck toward her as she leaves. “Remember your manners! I’ll pick you up at 8:30.”

“Bye, Dad! Love you!”

“Love you too, Kara.”

When he turns to me again, the eyes that find mine are almost apologetic. But they shouldn’t be. Kara’s mother was and will always be part of their lives. No one should be sorry for that.

I glance at the photo and then back at him with a small smile. “What was she like?”

He rubs the back of his neck and sighs, but he continues into the room and sits down on Kara’s bed. “We met in college. In a comparative literature course. We both hated it. We wrote notes back and forth to each other in the back of the lecture hall like middle schoolers. I’m not sure how either of us passed the class.” He scratches his beard, not looking at me as I sit down next to him.

“Everything kinda fell into place after that," he continues. "We dated for a couple of years and then got married. She was a landscape designer. Knew about every single native plant. Could tell you what to plant in shade, what to plant in sun, what did well in acidic soil, what thrived with wet roots. Our yard looked a lot better once upon a time.” He stares out the window and frowns. “She was smart, but God, she was stubborn.” He laughs. “I once brought home a pallet of petunias for her garden and she about lost it with me for buying non-native plants. Said we’re killing the environment by forcing things to grow where they’re not happy. She knew they’d just die in the end, and that really bothered her.”

“It sounds like she was a very caring person.” I offer him a smile when he glances at me.

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