Page 91 of Sunny Skies Ahead
I turned to face the woman, and my heart stopped when I saw her face.
No. It couldn’t be.
“I’m sorry, I must have missed your name,” I said, quickly scanning her chest for a name tag, even as my heart lurched in my throat. It couldn’t be her.
She laughed too brightly and waved a hand dismissively.
“You’re so funny,” she said, and my stomach heaved. Definitely her. “My name is Claudia. Technically, I suppose I’m your ex-sister-in-law, but I’m here representing the Kilpatrick Collective.”
Kilpatrick. I was going to be sick.
“Right,” I said, still keeping my neutral smile plastered on my face. “You all work with children who have been rescued from sex trafficking.”
Jacob’s sister. Jacob’s sister washere.
She didn’t know.
I was certain she didn’t know, because if she had, I can’t imagine she would so brazenly approach me and re-introduce herself like we’d ever been close.
She was older than us. I’d met her once when she came to visit Jacob at Camp Pendleton, and it had been a brief interaction. Jacob had been eager to get rid of her—for reasons that were painfully obvious to me now.
“Correct,” Claudia said, as if my remembering the basic gist of her nonprofit meant I’d passed her quiz. “This opportunity is so crucial to reaching more families. Our work is so necessary in this day and age. There are many organizations that focus on logistics of rescuing survivors, but few that focus on supporting the intense recovery that comes after the rescue.”
I fought to keep my expression interested. I’d envisioned this brunch hour as a place where people could network, and not as a sales pitch for our various nonprofits. It felt competitive in a way that made my skin itch. Every nonprofit was important. We all served different communities, and there wasn’t a hierarchy. Any of the three nonprofits represented today could do amazing work with the money and support bolstered by the grant.
Claudia and I hadn’t been close. We could barely be considered acquaintances. But this. . .
Anger swelled in my chest, swift and violent.
I knew the world existed in various shades of gray. I knew nothing was ever black and white, and nowhere was that more obvious than in the decisions people made. Claudia’s brother was capable of such horrible things, and yet here she was, leading a nonprofit that saved women from a life of horrors.
It was sickeningly ironic.
Several long seconds passed, and I realized Claudia was expecting a response. Right—this was a conversation, and it was my turn to talk.
But all I could do was stare at her.
Kameron had stayed silent up to this point.
“Kilpatrick,” I murmured, and his eyes widened as the words sank in. I gave him a small nod to say yes, that Kilpatrick. Kam pressed closer to me, wrapping a hand around my shoulder. I’d never been more grateful for his comforting presence than right now.
“We’re all here representing nonprofits that help people. In that sense, it’s a competition. But you don’t have to come after other nonprofits to build yourself up, Claudia,” Kam said.
God, he was perfect.
“I wasn’t saying—”
“I know it wasn’t your intention, but we’re telling you that’s how it comes across,” I said, politely interjecting. I wanted the final say in this conversation not because of the principle of it, but because I was about to walk away from this situation entirely and I didn’t want her to misunderstand my meaning.
“There are many valuable causes in the world. We should lift each other up, even in the sometimes cutthroat world of grant proposals and securing funding for those causes. I wish you the best of luck today. And I truly mean that. No matter what the results end up being.”
I gave her the most genuine smile I could muster and pulled Kameron’s hand down to link his fingers with mine again.
“Excuse me. I need to spend some time with my team before our presentation,” I said.
I pushed past Claudia, keeping my hand in Kameron’s, mentally counting the steps until I made it back to Lucas, who was gawking beside the breakfast table.
“That might just be the hottest thing you’ve ever done,” Kameron whispered in my ear, and I bit my lip to keep my smile at bay.
