Page 115 of She Wolf

Four boxes and two suitcases later we’re headed to my house in silence. Even Jack hasn’t asked for his song today. Both Coralie and Kate are staring out of their windows. It’s like there’s a grey cloud hanging over the car.

“Who wants burgers and shakes?” I ask looking in the rear-view mirror. Jack perks up and Kate watches him shimmy in his seat. She gives me a small smile and nods. It doesn’t seem right to trek into a restaurant right after Kate’s goodbye with her mom so I pull into Freezie’s on the way home.

We load up with food and pull into a spot. Coralie hands out the greasy goodness. Kate helps Jack to lay napkins over his lap and then opens up the cardboard containers for him before she digs into her veggie burger and fries.

“So, Casey said we should go over to his pool this afternoon,” Coralie announces to the car. Jack fist bumps and starts telling Kate all the games he’s going to teach her while she giggles along. Her shoulders start to relax and the worry that shadows her face begins to lift, if only momentarily.

***

While Coralie tries to contain the ‘Jack bomb’ that’s about to go off as he hurriedly opens one of his bags downstairs, I take Kate upstairs.

“There are two rooms to choose from. One facing the back and one facing the front. The street is quiet, and they both have a bathroom so it’s up to you which one you take.” The third bedroom I’ve saved for Jack as it doesn’t have its own bathroom and is the closest to the master bedroom.

“Honestly, I don’t mind,” she says looking around the room, but I see her eyes snag on the wide window that looks out into the yard.

“Take this one then. It has a nicer view.” I tell her and walk in, placing one of her cases on the bed.

“Thank you again, Gunner.” She runs her fingertips along the door frame.

“It’s no problem. I want you to make yourself at home. Would you like us to help you unpack?” I ask pointing to the case on the bed and the one I wheeled in behind me.

She looks behind her. “No, the boxes are to take to NYU and I just need to hang my clothes and put my toiletries in the bathroom.”

I nod. I don’t want to smoother her, but I want her to feel comfortable while she’s here. “Okay, I’ll leave you to it. We’ll be downstairs when you’re ready to head

across the street. Take your time.”

Before I go, I ask one more question, trying to put her at ease. “What’s your favorite color?”

“Erm, I love anything pastel. Pink, mint, lilac, lemon, peach,” she says and her brow pinches.

“What…what’s yours?” she asks confused,

“Mine is teal, Kate.Teal.” I send her a playful smile.

“Oh, I see. Right. Well, then I guess my new favorite color is teal then too.”

“Atta girl. It’s kind of a big thing around here. You’ll fit in just fine. Anything you need, you just ask. You wanna go back to your mom? I’ll take you myself. No sneaking off. We’re all in this together now Kate. You’re not alone anymore.” She smiles a sad smile and then I leave her to it.

We spend the rest of the afternoon over at Casey’s—the unofficial hub of the group. The headquarters if you will.

Kate begins to relax, and the others get to know her. It doesn’t seem like she has a sporty bone in her body, but what she lacks in sporting ability, she makes up for in enthusiasm and effort. Jack delights in making up games with her and when the sun begins its descent it’s time to take Jack back over to my house and get ready to spend the night in his new bed.

“Want to see something really cool?” I ask the little dude when he’s all ready for his first sleepover at my house.

The first of many, I hope.

“Can you believe you can see my bedroom at Casey’s from my bedroom here?” Jack says. He can’t, I mean not really but I get what he’s saying.

“It’s amazing.”

“Imagine if you had a pool too,” he muses while following me back out of the room.

“I did contemplate it, but maybe we can do something different here. You do some brainstorming, and we’ll see if we can work it out.”

“Like a zipline?” is the suggestion that explodes out of him, like he didn’t even have to think about it.

“Hmm, we may not be able to put a zipline in the yard, but we can certainly think of something just as good.”

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