Page 68 of Hearts Like Hers

“That was a really sweet message,” Hadleysaid, reaching across the table and squeezing Autumn’s hand. “You’re reallygood at expressing your feelings.”

“Oh, God.” Isabel rolled her eyes. “Into thecar. Both of you.”

“This was a very fun night,” Autumn said,grinning at no one in particular as she was escorted from the bar. The coolnight air smacked her in the face as they climbed into the car. Sandwichedbetween Isabel and Hadley in the backseat as they drove, Autumn leaned her headback against the seat and let her mind drift to that night at the observatory.Her. Kate. The stars. She located them through the sunroof of the vehicle,bright and wonderful and steady, and wondered if maybe Kate was looking up atthem, too.

She raised her head. “You guys, I think Imight be sick.”

* * *

“Hey, there,” Kate said, laughing, stumblingbackward. The kids had shot like rockets into her arms when she’d arrived atthe home of Mrs. Henderson, their foster mother, a smiley woman in her latesixties. Kate remembered seeing her around town, always very friendly and thetype to pull just about everyone she knew into a grandmotherly hug.

“You’re back!” Eva said with a wide grin. “Wemissed you!”

Ren stared at her. “I thought you’d movedaway.”

“Not quite. Whoa. Did you two grow?” Kateasked, staring into two beaming faces.

Ren nodded confidently. “I definitely did.”

“Not me,” Eva said. “I think I shranked.”

“Shrank,” Ren corrected.

Eva still wore a compression bandage on herleft leg and would have to for many months to come, Kate was told. However, herperky exuberance seemed intact. “Shrank,” she replied reluctantly, lookingannoyed at her brother’s correction.

“Are you feeling better?” Ren asked. “I am.”

“Me too,” Eva said. “I don’t have to be inthe hospital anymore. I’m out.”

“I can see that!” Kate made a point oflooking really impressed. She turned to Ren. “I’m good as new. Thanks forasking, pal.”

“Where did you go?” Eva asked, sliding ontothe couch next to Kate.

“I took a trip to California for a littlewhile. I needed to rest. But I came back because I missed you both.”

Eva slipped her hand into Kate’s. The simplegesture brought on a pang of sentimentality. She was such a softy lately. “I’mglad you’re back. Want to see my new coloring book? I’ve already colored threepages.”

“Definitely,” Kate said, grinning.

With Jennifer’s permission, they spent thenext few days together, Kate picking them up from Mrs. Henderson’s and takingthem on little field trips. The bowling alley, the movies, the petting zoo onthe outskirts of town. They were kids, who of course got grumpy, and bickeredwith each other along the way, but for the most part, the three of them gotalong impressively. Kate was actually really surprised by her own ability withthem and began to imagine her life in charge of them both for good. The fire,as tragic and horrific as it was, seemed to have set her on the path she wasmeant to be on. She’d never been one to get caught up in the mysticism that wasfate, but she was starting to believe in its existence. Something unseen wasushering her along. She could feel it as clearly as she could feel the sunshineon her skin.

“Do you know where we’re going to live now?”Eva asked one afternoon, as they took a walk through the small neighborhoodwhere they were staying. “Ms. Henderson said that we are only her kids for alittle while. Then whose kids will we be? Do you know?”

Her big brown eyes carried fear, and Katewanted nothing more than to reassure her, to offer up her own life and tell Evathat everything was going to be just fine very soon. But there was still a lotof red tape to sort out with Oregon’s Human Services. While Jennifer had beenthrilled to hear that Kate wanted to adopt them, especially since she would bewilling to take both siblings together, it wasn’t as simple as just signing aform. It would take time, and home visits, and a ruling from a judge, andagreement from the kids themselves. That part was important to Kate. In themeantime, it was best not to get the kids’ hopes up until they were furtheralong in the process. They’d lost their father, and it was obvious that theystill struggled to fully realize the extent of that tragedy. Eva hadnightmares, Kate had been told, where she woke up yelling for him. Ren didn’ttalk about him as much, but he’d grown quieter, they’d noticed. Stories fromboth had revealed their home life had been less than desirable and chock-fullof neglect, but the loss of a parent was huge and would impact them forever.

It was when she was alone that her thoughtsdrifted back to Venice. To Autumn. She missed her more than she would have thoughtpossible, and when all was quiet, she allowed herself to remember the soft skinof Autumn’s neck, her firecracker personality, the smart-aleck remarks, or herincredibly impressive mind for business. She thought of everything that wasAutumn and went to sleep each night wishing for a way back to her.

Tonight was no different. After a quickshower, she cracked the window and allowed the breeze to move through herbedroom, opting to sleep in just a T-shirt. As she slid into cool sheets, shecaught sight of a notification on her phone. A voice mail.

Hearing Autumn’s voice on the recording, shesat up in bed, a bolt of excited energy shooting through her. She smiled whenshe realized Autumn was flat drunk on the message.

She missed Kate. That one hit her right inthe center of her chest.

She laughed when she heard Isabel chasingAutumn and Autumn shrieking in response. Most of the message had made zerosense, but there was a takeaway: Autumn was thinking about her, too, whichsomehow made her seem not that far away. She debated calling back, but ifAutumn was as drunk as she sounded, then maybe it wasn’t the best night for it.Her friends were fantastic and would take good care of Autumn. Didn’t mean Katewasn’t wishing she was the one doing those kinds of things.

As the hours ticked on, the pull grew thatmuch more insistent. She needed to hear Autumn’s voice again, live and in realtime. In fact, she could think of little else.

The next day, she waited until midafternoonwhen she knew Autumn would take her break at Pajamas. It was sunny and warmthere. She’d checked the weather so she could imagine it. Yes, they’d made thedecision to keep the break clean, not wishing to make their parting any harderthan it needed to be, but if Autumn could break the no-calling rule once, socould she. It was like a free pass.

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