Ready To Love Again (16 page)

~*~

“So how was your date last night?” Gina asked after she grabbed a chair and sat down behind the table.
 

Katie felt a smile twist at her mouth. “It was great.” Sensing Gina wanted to hear more, she went for the safest answer. “Francesco’s was amazing, and the Forest Theater is so beautiful.”
 

“What about Chase?” Gina asked.

“What about him?”

She rolled her eyes before giving Katie a pointed look. “You know what I mean. How did it go?”

“Well . . .” Katie said, trying to stall. “He was great. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone with such impeccable manners. He was very attentive and sweet.”

“So are you guys going out again?”

Before she could answer, Daniel came back from his errand. “They’d better after the lip-lock I just witnessed.”

“What did you see?” Gina demanded.

“I saw your reclusive brother in a pretty heated make-out session with our new friend,” he said, pointing to Katie.

Gina turned back to her and grinned. “Well then, I guess that means you’ll be joining us for the Good Old Days next weekend.
 

Embarrassed, Katie nodded. “That sounds great.”

She spotted Chase coming toward them, and the lightness of her mood shifted to worry over how Liz had taken the kiss. Katie excused herself and made her way over to him. Chase looked a little apprehensive when she reached him, and she decided to let him make the next move.

“How’s Liz?”

“She’s okay. I think we just surprised her,” he said with a sheepish smile. “Uh . . . she told Shawn and Tony what happened.”

“And how did they react?” she asked with a smile, already knowing the answer.

“Like they had just won the lottery.” Chase rubbed the back of his neck, and they both laughed.

He took a tentative step toward her, and she smiled up at him, letting him give her a brief kiss.

Katie’s insides turned to jelly at his touch. The ease with which he kissed her gave her hope that he had plans to keep doing it. Chase took her hand, laced his fingers with hers, and walked her back to the barbecue.

“Get your hands off your girlfriend and get your ass over here,” Daniel said. “I can only keep so many wieners rotating before I burn some of them.”

Chase brought her hand up to his lips and kissed her knuckles before releasing her and snatching the tongs out of Daniel’s hand. Katie watched him for a moment, a little stunned by Chase’s acceptance of the label Daniel had given her.

After the lunch rush died down, Chase and Daniel left to have team pictures taken. Katie loved to cook, but when it came to barbecuing, she always had issues. She either overcooked steaks or undercooked hamburgers when she grilled, so she had taken the tongs from Chase with a skeptical frown.

“Just keep them rotating until they’re done,” he’d told her before giving her a small hug from behind.

She had given him fair warning. “If you keep doing that, I’ll burn every one of them.”

He’d chuckled and squeezed her hips before taking off to round up the team. Katie drifted off into her own little fantasy world while she moved the hot dogs around the grill. She was pulled away from her daydreams when Liz made her way over and plopped into the chair next to her.

“Hello, Liz. Are you having fun?”

“Not really,” Liz answered with a gloomy voice.

Katie stopped rotating the hot dogs and looked at her, contemplating how to cheer her up.

“Hmmm, did you go check out the games?”

“No.”

Katie brushed off the unease she felt at the curt reply. “What about the bounce houses, or maybe the slide? They look like fun.”

“No, I don’t feel like doing that.”

“Are you feeling okay? Would you like to lie down for a while and rest? I could set up a blanket back behind the booth.”

“Why do you care?”

“I’m sorry?” Katie thought maybe she’d misunderstood the hostility.

“I said why do you care? You’re not my mother.”

“I know that.” Katie was taken aback by the blatant hatred in her voice. “I just wanted to help.”

“Then go away,” Liz said before she stomped off in the other direction, leaving Katie stunned and speechless.

“I’m so sorry,” Gina said, having returned in time to overhear the end of the conversation.

Katie shook her head and collapsed in disbelief into the chair next to her, the hot dogs forgotten.

“She’s usually only that way toward Chase and Tony.”

Katie looked up into Gina’s pleading eyes. “Is she like this all the time?”

“No, just when she’s scared.”
 

“Scared? I don’t think I did anything to scare her.”

“No, scared that she’s going to lose someone else in her life. She’s feeling a bit threatened by the idea of you and Chase dating. Give her time—she’ll come around.”

Realization dawned on Katie. Shawn always hinted that he liked Chase and hadn’t been bothered when she told him they had a date. She never thought Chase’s kids would feel differently.

“What about Tony?” Katie had to know where she stood with him, too.

“Tony adores you. He’s a good boy. He’s selfless and wants what will make his dad happy.” Gina knelt down until she was at eye level with Katie. “Don’t worry. Liz’s bark is worse than her bite. She pushes the boundaries but then always realizes when she’s wrong. She’ll apologize once she thinks about what she’s done.”

Katie nodded, wondering how this would affect whatever was going on between her and Chase. “Has she had any counseling since her mother’s death? I know it helped Shawn and me get through the divorce.”

Gina shook her head. “I’ve mentioned it, but . . .” Her voice trailed off, then she gasped when she noticed the hot dogs.

Katie jumped up and pushed them around until she realized that she had burned the batch to a crisp. Sighing, she pulled them onto a platter and threw fresh ones onto the grill, determined not to burn them. Her thoughts had returned to the drama with Liz when she felt Chase press up against her back.
 

“Miss me?” he whispered, sending her heart into a flutter. She smiled despite her unease and leaned back against him.

“Yep.”

He slid the tongs out of her hand, then went back to work at cooking the hot dogs.

“What did you do? You killed the dogs!” Daniel whined. He picked up one of them and shoved it into his mouth. “They’re still good. Serve ‘em up!” Daniel pointed first to Gina and then to the hot dogs. She wrinkled her nose and shook her head.

“They may be edible to you, but would you serve those in one of your restaurants?”

“No, but I don’t serve hot dogs in my restaurants. They don’t really go with filet mignon or veal.”

Gina rolled her eyes and shoved him out of the way so she could put a few more hot dogs on the barbecue.

“What happened? Was my grilling lesson not adequate?” Chase asked.

Katie shrugged, unwilling to be the one to tell him what had happened. She figured Gina would let him know later, and she didn’t want to make things worse with Liz by being the wicked girlfriend who tattled on her.

They spent the next couple of hours working the booth with the occasional interruption to give the boys more tickets for the games and bounce houses. Liz didn’t come back, and Katie worried about how she could get her to warm up to her. Gina seemed convinced Liz would come around, but Katie couldn’t help but feel it would be a long, hard road.

“Dr. O’Donnell!” A coach from another one of the teams ran up in a panic. Chase looked up from grilling, and Katie could see his demeanor change from lighthearted to all business in a matter of seconds.

“Yeah, Tom, what happened?” he asked, putting down the tongs and motioning for Daniel to take over.

“The Arnold kid fell off the bleachers—it was a pretty bad spill. He was unconscious, so they told me to come find you.” Both Gina and Katie gasped. Even though Katie didn’t care for the little boy, she didn’t want to see him hurt. Chase nodded and threw his car keys to her.

“Please get my medical bag out of the trunk,” he said over his shoulder before he jogged away. She ran toward the car, got his bag, and by the time she arrived on the scene, Cody was awake but still flat on his back in the dirt. Chase pulled out a light and checked his eyes before his hands felt around the back of his head. Cody winced in pain when Chase found a tender spot.

He asked Cody a few questions, and Katie took a moment to look around. She spotted Tony and Shawn standing in the back, watching with wide eyes. Her son had a familiar look of guilt on his face. Chase eased Cody into a sitting position, then asked him a few more questions about how he felt. Katie glanced back toward the boys and found them huddled together. Shawn’s hand gestures were wild as he whispered to his best friend.

What the hell happened?

Chase stood and offered a hand to Cody, helping him to his feet. When the boy tried to take a step, he fell into Chase’s arms. Katie’s first thought was that he was dizzy from the fall, but then she looked down and noticed his shoelaces were tied together.

Shawn!

Cody knelt down to untie his shoes, and Chase’s lips formed a thin line. He turned to Tammy and gave her the diagnosis.

“He hit his head pretty hard. He probably has a mild concussion. I would have him take it easy for the next few days, and don’t let him go to sleep until this evening.” She nodded and then gave her son a worried frown. “Odds are he’ll have a headache. It’s okay to give him Tylenol, but if he starts throwing up or complains of dizziness, take him to the hospital immediately.”

“Thank you, Dr. O’Donnell,” she said, batting her eyelashes at him.

He gave her a curt nod, picked up his bag, and then turned toward Katie. “Where are the boys?”

She gestured to the other side of the bleachers, and he turned to scan the crowd until his gaze landed on them. Without a word, he strode over to them.

“Follow me.” His voice was filled with authority, and Tony ducked his head in shame, confirming her earlier suspicions.

Katie figured Chase had the same thought she’d had, so she took up the rear, making sure Shawn didn’t decide to bolt. They walked back behind the barbecue, out of the general public’s eye. Chase turned around and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“Which one of you tied Cody’s shoelaces together?” The cool tone of his voice was more intimidating than Victor’s loud outbursts. Katie glanced at Shawn, and his expression confirmed he was terrified. Both boys looked at each other and then at the ground, not willing to admit what they had done, but not denying it either.

“I’m waiting for an answer.” There was no mistaking that Chase was angry, but Katie was impressed with the way he kept his calm.

A determined look crossed Shawn’s face before he opened his mouth. “It was me, Coach.”

“No, Shawn! Don’t take the blame for me.” Tony turned to his dad with a tear in his eye. “It was me, Dad. Shawn didn’t have anything to do with it.”

Katie watched while Shawn’s eyes got as big as saucers, and he shook his head. “Tony, don’t. It was my idea, and Tony’s just covering for me because Mom would be really mad since she told me not to get back at Cody.”

Chase’s gaze went back and forth between the boys before he ran his hand through his hair and let out a frustrated sigh. They all stood there and waited for him to figure out how he wanted to handle their misbehavior. He looked at Katie for permission, and she nodded her head, letting him know she would stand by whatever he said.

“What you boys did could have had dangerous consequences. Cody is really hurt, and even though he’ll be all right, it was still wrong.” Both boys lowered their heads in shame. “I expect you both to apologize and not be the cause of any more pranks with Cody.” They both nodded in unison. “After you apologize to Cody, you will apologize to his parents. Do you understand?” Tony and Shawn looked at one another and then nodded again.

“Anthony, there will be a punishment when we get home.” Tony looked up at Chase with tears in his eyes, and Katie couldn’t help but feel sorry for him, especially since she was sure the instigator was her son.

“Yes, Dad,” Tony whispered.

“That goes for you, too, Shawn,” she said. Shawn didn’t bother to look at her but nodded to let her know he had heard her.

“Since you can’t be left to your own devices, I want you to help Gina clean up.” Shawn looked a little too happy at the idea of helping Gina when he and Tony went to ask her what they needed to do.

“I’m sorry,” Chase said, closing the gap between them. “I hope I didn’t step on your toes by taking care of that.”

Katie waved her hand, dismissing his concern. “It needed to be done. Don’t worry. If at any time Shawn needs correcting and I’m not around, I hope you’ll deal with it.”

“I know, but you were around. I was worried you might be angry that I reprimanded him.”

Katie wrapped her arms around his waist. “Does it look like I’m mad?”

He chuckled, and his hands rubbed up and down her arms, sending small shockwaves over her body.