Page 36 of One Touch

But after my own relationship with Declan fell apart, and after coming home from Montana, it was hard to believe that was still the case.

Poor Lee.

* * *

I kicked asidean errant piece of cardboard and frowned at the ground. Only days ago, spread out on a moving blanket, I had been topless and straddling Beckett in nothing but my thong.

In the days since he disappeared, Aunt Tootie and I have been busy picking out stain and backsplash tile and materials for a really gorgeous open-shelf concept that I was planning to bug Beckett about.

I also pitched the random idea of adding a row of windows where Tootie could look out of the kitchen into the side yard, where she had her gardens. Sure, it wasn’t in the original design, but aside from eliminating two cabinets, it wouldn’t mess with the proposal Beckett had already drawn up. To be honest, I was thoroughly looking forward to the scowl he would shoot me when I told him about my amazing new plan.

Beckett’s crew had also been hard at work and had removed the center wall, adding in a new header to support what was once a load-bearing wall. His team worked so efficiently I scrambled to track down the man in charge while Beckett was away. I had hoped to salvage the section of wall with my mother’s handwriting on it, but when I asked him about it, he shrugged and pointed to the dumpster.

I searched among the nails and debris, but my efforts were hopeless. My chest ached for the loss of my mother, but also for the childhood that at one time had seemed so perfect. Since I didn’t have the same memories my brothers did of my mother, her handwriting was a tangible piece of her that I had hoped to keep.

Defeated, and with the crew wrapped for the day, I scheduled my social media posts and decided it would be a good day to finally visit my dad.

Pulling up to Haven Pines, dread rolled through my stomach. I was the one who had first noticed changes in Dad. It was subtle, him accidentally calling me June, my mother’s name. Then he would forget the day of the week or seem more irritable than his typical upbeat self.

For a while I thought I was seeing things that weren’t really there. But the subtle shifts became more and more apparent when the relationships with his business partners started suffering. Bills went unpaid. Duke stepped in and quite literally saved the family farm. Tootie and I did our best to care for Dad as his health continued to steadily decline.

Deep down, I knew I could use my father’s illness as an excuse to not go away to college and instead hang around Outtatowner in hopes of garnering a real commitment from Declan. What I thought was a committed, long-distance relationship was in fact not. I hated myself for my own naivete.

The lobby of Haven Pines was brightly lit and cheery. I greeted the receptionist, whom I recognized but couldn’t quite place. “Hi, I’m Kate. I’m here to see Red? Red Sullivan?”

The older woman smiled at me. “Katie Sullivan? Why, you sure did grow into those eyes!” She clicked her tongue as she assessed me. “Absolutely stunning. To think all the boys ran around calling you Catfish Kate! Who’s laughing now!”

My cheeks burned at the reminder of my foolish hometown nickname. I could kill my brothers for coming up with it in the first place. I thought maybe after I left, everyone would just forget about it, but in a place like my hometown, there looked to be zero chance of that happening.

I followed the woman’s directions and made my way toward the memory care ward of Haven Pines. After checking in at another nurses’ station, they buzzed me into the section where my father was living. The hospital rooms were set up to look like a quaint neighborhood. Doors to the rooms were modeled after front doors to actual homes, and the outsides were landscaped flowers and faux windows and lampposts.

It had been a long time since I had visited my father here. Normally Duke or Lee would pick him up, and we could spend the afternoon with a short visit or a dinner at Tootie’s house. His condition was stable, more or less, and we were grateful it hadn’t continued to aggressively progress. With the house under construction, it had been hard to find a space that was safe and familiar for Dad.

I lifted the knocker and gently rapped it on the door.

“Coming!” My dad’s gruff voice boomed from behind the door. A skittering of panic tickled my belly.Please be a good day.

The door opened and my father stood before me. His eyes peered out from the crack in the door. Time had weathered his face slightly, but he was still as handsome as always. Red Sullivan was tall and broad and strong.

My stomach dipped when I realized there was no recognition in the blue eyes staring back at me.

“Can I help you?”

I swallowed hard, but my smile wobbled. “Oh, hi. I’m Kate.”

Something flickered over my father’s face.

Don’t panic. It’s fine. This is fine.

“Kate? My Katie?” The door swung open, and my father pulled me into a big hug. “Well, goddamn, Katie. Didn’t recognize you at first. You did something different with your hair, right?”

I didn’t have the heart to tell my dad that my hair had remained pretty much the same long brown since my teenage years. The simple truth was that he hadn’t quite recognized me at first.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I melted into my father’s embrace. “Hey, Dad. Just thought I would come by and say hi. See how you’re doing.”

“Well, that’s fantastic news! I was just headed out for a walk. Care to join me?”

I smiled up at him as he closed the door to his room behind him. We walked down the hallway and around the corner. My dad waved or nodded at other residents and nurses as we walked. It was so much like walking through town in Outtatowner, only this time he was in assisted-living care without the freedom to come and go as he pleased.

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