She pushed his hands away and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "I don"t want her to worry when we don"t show up. How about if you go in to buy a couple of hot chocolates while I wait in the car, and then we go home?"
Luke fastened his seat belt and started the car. "Deal. Buckle up and let"s go."
Cindy checked her watch then took another sip of her coffee.
It was nearly cold, half-gone, and Luke still wasn"t there.
Just in case, she checked her cell phone. There were no missed calls.
As she flipped open the phone to search for Luke"s number, she realized she only had his business listing. Kat was too new to the group to be in the group"s directory, but Cindy hoped the girl would join. Not only was the group good for her, but for a little thing, Kat was pretty good with a hockey stick. Because she was small, most of the boys on the other team treated her like she might break-which was their mistake and her team"s gain.
While she tried not to worry, Cindy repositioned her chair to avoid being obvious about looking toward the door every time it opened, even though she should have been paying attention to the conversation at her table, which was about the postgame social activities the parent volunteer group was planning.
She"d nearly given up hoping they were going to come when Luke walked through the door.
Alone.
Luke stepped to the side of the entrance and slowed, glancing around the room until they locked eye contact. He paused, ran one hand through his hair, and approached her.
Cindy stood and guided him away for a private conversation. "Where"s Kat?"
He ran his hand through his hair again. "She"s feeling a little out of sorts right now so I"m just going to pick up a couple of hot chocolates and go home."
Cindy turned to look outside at Luke"s car parked beside the building. Kat was sitting in the front pa.s.senger seat, blowing her nose.
It was probably none of her business and probably not smart to get involved, but she had to ask. "What"s wrong?"
"Kat needs some downtime, I think."
She waited for him to say more but he didn"t.
"Is she going to be okay?" The second the words left her mouth, she knew the answer. Cindy didn"t know the whole story, but she"d figured out enough to make a good guess. The girl had lost both her parents, and now Luke was trying to pick up the pieces.
Cindy had been younger than Kat was now when her mother had died, but she still felt the loss and the heartache every day. Living with Melissa and her two daughters made Cindy miss her mother even more.
One day Kat would be okay, but that wouldn"t be for a long time. No matter how good Luke could be, he would never replace her mother.
Cindy wanted to help but didn"t know how much to get involved.
"I should get the hot chocolates and get going. Kat didn"t want you to worry, so I came in instead of using the drive-through. I guess I"ll see you at work tomorrow-if you"ve got time to squeeze in a couple of oil changes."
"Uh...sure..."
Before she could come up with something more intelligent, Luke turned and headed for the counter.
While he was being served, Cindy sank back into her chair and watched Kat. She didn"t spend a lot of time with teenagers-she had only agreed to help the youth group short-term because of the hockey tournament. She did know that when left alone, most teenage girls went into texting frenzy, catching up on the precious minutes they"d been out of contact with their friends.
Kat sat still, staring out the window at nothing on the dark side of the parking lot, every once in a while swiping her arm across her face. She wasn"t texting-just staring out the window. The girl probably hadn"t seen any of her friends since she moved in with Luke.
The girl needed more than just a cup of hot chocolate.
But Cindy had needs, too. And one thing that she didn"t need was to get involved in someone else"s family troubles when she was drowning in her own.
She watched as Luke got into the car and handed Kat one of the cups. The girl nodded then continued to stare out the window.
Cindy stood. "I have to go home; sorry I can"t stay. I"m sure whatever you decide will be fine." She tossed her cup and half-eaten m.u.f.fin into the garbage can and headed for her truck, hoping once she got home she would be able to just sneak in quietly and go to bed. Whether sleep would come would be another issue.
Chapter 4.
Luke had almost finished the paperwork on an insurance claim when the bell above the door tinkled. He did a double take when he caught sight of Cindy walking in.
He grinned. "This is a surprise. Welcome to Like a Prince Rentals." He looked up at the rack where they hung the keys. "Did Brent take you something that I don"t know about?"
"No." She glanced at the street then back to him. "I came over so we could talk before the school bus arrived."
Automatically he turned to the direction of the bus route. "Kat"s feeling better today. We watched a chick flick last night with cold hot chocolate and burnt microwave popcorn. It wasn"t my kind of movie, but Kat enjoyed it-something about Chihuahuas and Hollywood and some number in the t.i.tle."
"That"s Beverly Hills..." Cindy shook her head. "Never mind. I was just wondering about something. I"m sorry if I"m sticking my nose where it doesn"t belong, but I was wondering if Kat might want to come with me and a few of the kids from the youth group to Pike Place Market on Sat.u.r.day. They"re doing a fund-raiser lunch after church on Sunday and want to buy all the fruits and vegetables from the market."
"Pike"s Place is kind of far. Can"t they get good vegetables locally?" Ever since Kat had come to live with him he"d tried to buy more healthy stuff, like salad in a bag, already cut, with carrots and everything, at the local supermarket. He certainly didn"t have to go across the city to fight the crowds and pay a fortune for parking just to buy rabbit food.
"I think they asked me to go so they don"t have to carry big bags home on the bus."
He couldn"t help but look at her hulking truck. "Just how many vegetables do they plan to buy?"
She grinned. "They"re going for the adventure. This would be a good way for Kat to make some new friends." Her smile dropped and her expression became serious. "I"d like you to come, too. If you can."
He turned back to Cindy, unsure of the reason for her request. He couldn"t count the times he had wished, even prayed, for exactly this to happen. Before he"d become Kat"s legal guardian, except for running his business, starting a relationship with Cindy had been foremost on his mind. But after last night that had changed. He"d thought Kat was doing okay, but all he"d done was call her by her name instead of her nickname and she"d fallen apart. With Kat sobbing her guts out and breaking down like she had, he"d almost lost it, too, and that wouldn"t have done either of them any good. For now he needed to help Kat, which meant concentrating all his time on her, not pursuing something that wasn"t likely to happen.
But Cindy was right: Kat needed to make some new friends. Texting her friends back home in Portland wasn"t the same as having someone close by. And she was doing less of it.
He nodded. "Sure."
She watched him, waiting for him to say more, but no more was needed. Kat needed to make some new friends.
"Sure"? That"s it?"
"Yeah. Would you like to pick us up, or is it better for us to meet you at the church?"
"I guess it depends. Do you live between the church and downtown?"
"Great. I"ll pick both of you up on Sat.u.r.day afternoon, if Kat says she"ll come. Let me know, okay? I need to get back to work."
Great. I"ll pick both of you up on Sat.u.r.day afternoon, if Kat says she"ll come. Let me know, okay? I need to get back to work."
Cindy pulled up to a large house in an upscale neighborhood.
It appeared the co-owner of Like a Prince Car Rentals really did live like a prince, at least compared to her humble abode.
Just as she turned off the engine, Kat and Luke stepped outside.
Kat didn"t hesitate; she ran to Cindy"s truck, opened the back door, and hopped inside. Luke waited for a few seconds and looked at the back door then slowly opened the front door to get in.
Cindy didn"t know if she should be insulted.
"Hi, Cindy. I hope we didn"t keep you...." His voice trailed off as his attention turned to the backseat.
"Luke, I"m sure you met Tyler at the practice on Wednesday. A couple of the girls were going to come, but at the last minute they got called in to work. Tyler has the list of everything we need, so it"s just us."
Tyler sat in the back beside Kat, grinning like an idiot.
Luke"s eyes narrowed, telling Cindy that Luke did indeed remember Tyler from Wednesday evening. But today Cindy didn"t think that Luke was quite so scary, probably because he didn"t have a hockey stick in his hand.
Cindy turned the key to restart the engine. "I know you haven"t been in Seattle very long, Kat. Pike Place Market is a Seattle landmark and a lot of fun." She put the truck into gear. "Buckle your seat belt and away we go."
Chapter 5.
Cindy did her best to bite back a grin at Kat"s wide-eyed look of wonder as they approached the main entrance to the market. The throng of people, more going in than coming out, was normal for this time of day.
Having grown up in Seattle, Pike Place Market had always been a part of Cindy"s routine with her mother. After her mother died, her father preferred Bellis Fair Mall, but when Cindy reached her teenage years and was old enough to take the bus across town with her friends, they went to the market often.
Just like then, every time she was there she bought something. Seldom what she went for, but she always bought something.
Today was going to be no exception.
"I think we should go to the shops first and the market last. Let"s go this way."
Before they stepped inside, Kat took a picture of Rachel the Pig with her cell phone.
"Stay together," Cindy warned as the crowd jostled them. "It"s really easy to get separated." While Luke wasn"t short, he was about the same height as most of the men and therefore wouldn"t stand out in the crowd-at least not from the back. On the other hand, they"d never lose Tyler; he stood taller than everyone in the area. But Kat was tiny and apparently easily distracted, already stopping to check out the fish, neatly displayed at the fish vendor. They would lose her in an instant.
"Wait..." Cindy tugged the back of Luke"s jacket. "Stay here." She took off after Tyler, got his attention, and they returned to the fish counter. "This place is famous for its flying fish. The fish don"t fly, but when someone buys one, they throw it from the outside display to the staff at the cutting block, who will weigh and wrap it."
They waited for a few minutes, but no fish were flying through the air. She turned again to Kat. "Probably no one"s buying any fish yet because it"s so early. I know I sure wouldn"t want to carry a fish through the market all day while I shopped, wrapped or not. We"ll come back this way when we"re done and ready to go home."
They had barely walked a few steps when a female voice called out. "Cindy! Over here!"
Cindy turned to see Farrah trying to wend her way through the crowd to get to her.
"What a pleasant surprise to see you here," Farrah said as she reached them. She turned to Kat. "How"s our new hockey star?"
Kat looked at the ground and blushed.
Cindy smiled. "Luke, this is Farrah Tobias, my G.o.dmother. She usually helps out with the youth group, but she couldn"t make it last week when you were there."
Farrah turned to Luke and grinned ear to ear. "So you"re Luke. I"ve heard about you."
One corner of Luke"s mouth tilted up. "Really? I hope it was good."
Farrah smirked. "Apparently not as good as the real thing. Tell me, what-"
"Gosh, Farrah," Cindy blurted, stopping Farrah from repeating what she feared Farrah might say. "Isn"t that your friend Elsie over there? Waving at you? Did you lose your friend?"
Farrah checked her watch. "We were supposed to meet half an hour ago. I"m glad she finally made it. I guess I"ll see you next Wednesday."
"She seems very nice," Luke said as Farrah gave her friend a hug.
"The nicest. I don"t know how she does it, but she"s always there when I need someone. I hope I can be the same for someone else one day."
As Farrah and her friend turned and walked back to the produce, Cindy directed Luke, Kat, and Tyler past the food markets to the craft shops. Cindy headed for her favorite boutique to pick up her favorite herbal hand cream, since the degreaser soap at the shop dried out her hands. Before they got there, Kat had already slowed multiple times then stopped completely at one of the specialty jewelry boutiques. Luke waited outside while Kat browsed, but Tyler went right in to help Kat pick out the perfect pair of earrings.
So they wouldn"t get separated in the crowd, Cindy guided Luke to wait inside the store. He followed her with obvious reluctance to a rack of beaded necklaces while Kat nearly squealed with glee as Tyler picked up the ugliest earrings Cindy had ever seen.
"I"m not very good at this girl stuff," Luke muttered. "I never had any sisters. Do you and your mother and sisters come here often?"
Cindy forced herself to hold back an impolite snort. "They"re not my sisters; they"re my stepsisters, and Melissa is my stepmother."
"Oh..." Luke"s voice trailed off as he looked into her eyes, making her feel obligated to explain.
She looked down and pretended to examine a bracelet while she spoke. "The relationship between us is very strained." Strained being an understatement. "Melissa keeps threatening to contest the will and sue me for breach of contract. It"s totally bogus, but the legal battle would tie up everything I have and I"d lose everything, even my truck. The legal fees would probably eat up half the estate." Until she could figure a way out and still find a way to live, her life was at the mercy of Melissa"s mood and vindictiveness.
She cleared her throat. "If that"s not bad enough, Annie and Zella are always looking down their noses at me and constantly criticizing."
"I"m sorry. I had no idea. But they both work for you."
"Only because it was a codicil in my father"s will. I"m supposed to give them both full-time employment, but the business can"t afford that while I have to give Melissa half the profits-and Melissa knows it, which is another legal battle. Honestly I don"t know what my father was thinking." Cindy sighed. "I"ll be able to fight Melissa after both Annie and Zella get jobs elsewhere. For now they"re working part-time and going to college, so hopefully it won"t be too much longer. The lawyer says as soon as they both choose jobs elsewhere, I"m free of the codicil. Until then I"m at Melissa"s whim." She turned to pick up a necklace with a pendant on it then put it down and pretended to examine the matching earrings.
"I don"t know why I"m telling you this," she mumbled. The only person who knew, besides the lawyer, was Farrah. But Luke was easy to talk to and a good listener.
"You"re telling me because you need to vent and that"s okay." Luke smiled then picked up the necklace she"d just put down. "This would look pretty on you."
Cindy automatically raised her hand and pressed it over the gold chain around her neck that she wore under her shirt. It was the only thing of her mother"s that she had, and she never took it off. Melissa had thrown out all Cindy"s mother"s possessions after she married Cindy"s father. "I"m not really a jewelry type of person. Besides, I don"t have any occasion to wear it."