Page 35 of Eleven of a Kind

“Ava isn’t here. I’m Kate. We haven’t met yet.” She shut the door and jumped on my bed.

“Kate?” My brows furrowed.

“The one and only, kid.” She grinned. “I heard you were helping yourself to some things that didn’t belong to you.”

“That's nice. Does the entire freaking family know?”

“Yep. Pretty much. That’s how this family works. They tell each other everything, and I mean everything. So, why did you do it?” She climbed off my bed and looked around at the things in my room.

“I don’t know,” I said.

“Sure, you do. Freya did a great job with this wall.” She turned her head and looked at me. “Answer the question.”

“My friend told me to. She said I wouldn’t get caught.”

“So, if your friend told you to jump off a bridge and promised you wouldn’t die, you would trust her and do it?”

“No.” I furrowed my brows.

“Listen, kid.” She walked over and lay next to me on the bed. We both stared up at the ceiling. “First of all, I commend you on your bravery for flying out here by yourself to find your dad.” She held out her fist to me, and I fist-bumped it. “Fifteen is a hard enough age as it is, but you’re a smart girl. You’ve already proved that. Then you go and do something dumb like you did today. You knew better than that, so I’m not buying your bullshit story about how your friend pressured you into doing it. Spill it, girl.” She glanced at me.

“How old are you?” I asked her.

“Twenty-one. Don’t change the subject because I can stay here all night.”

“I miss my mom so much, Kate. When she died, a part of me died with her. It had always been just us, with an occasional guy thrown in. She was more my best friend than my mom. I’m so pissed off at her. Why did she have to get in that truck when she knew neither one of them was sober enough to drive?”

“I don’t know, kid. But what I do know is that you can’t keep asking yourself that. What’s done is done, and there’s no going back to how things were. Ophelia likes to tell us that when life hands you lemons, make gallons of lemonade and store it away for when you need it most.”

“What?” My brows furrowed.

“Life is hard, and things won’t always go your way. Bad things will happen. It’s a part of life. You were born with the instinct of a fighter, just like your mom. And I suppose your dad.” She bopped her head from side to side. “Your mom fought to keep you and did everything she could to keep you safe. Don’t disappoint her. Even though she’s no longer here physically, she’ll always be watching over you. Just like Charles is watching over us.”

“Who’s Charles?”

“He was like a father to us over the years. That’s another story for another time. I’m sure Ava will tell you about him. My point is that life goes on. Make the lemonade, kid, and it’ll always be there to remind you that your mistakes are just mistakes. Learn from them, and don’t let them define you.”

“Have you ever made mistakes, Kate?”

“Fuck yeah. I’ve made a lot of them and caused a lot of people a lot of pain. You’ve got a good life here at Kind Beach.” She smirked. “Your dad is a great guy, and his punishments are only because he loves you and wants to protect you. If you don’t want his punishments, then I suggest you stop giving him a reason to do it.”

“Thanks, Kate.” I gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “You’re really cool.”

“I know.” She smiled. “Dump the friend. She’s a bad influence. You’re smarter than that.”

“I will.” I smiled.

CHAPTER13

Gabriel

I saw Kate walking down the stairs as I stepped through the sliding door.

“How is she?” I asked.

“She’ll be fine. Give the kid back her phone. She learned her lesson.”

“Thanks, Kate.”

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