Ready To Love Again (47 page)

“Mom didn’t want to go anywhere either, but she’s gone.”

“If anything happens to me, then you’d still have your grandparents and Gina and Daniel.”

“But I want Katie,” Tony said. “She does all those things Liz said Mom did with her. I want Katie to be my mom.”

Chase gathered his children to his chest and clung to them while Tony’s plea echoed in his heart. After several minutes, Tony and Liz looked up at their father, waiting for his response.

Chase smiled through the tears in his eyes. “I’ll see what I can do.”

~*~

Katie and Shawn headed over to the O’Donnells’ for their Saturday morning ritual of cartoons and pancakes. Afterward, Liz and Katie drove into Monterey to have some girl time. Gina had given Katie a gift certificate to a posh salon on Cannery Row. She’d received it as a gift from her bridal shower, but she claimed she’d never go because she was loyal to her own manicurist. Katie suspected she had done it as a friendly gesture since she knew Katie didn’t get many opportunities to pamper herself. Whatever the reason, Katie was glad for some one-on-one time with Liz.
 

“So how were the first couple weeks of sixth grade?” Katie asked once they’d climbed into the massage chairs sitting side by side.

Liz shrugged and slid her toes into the tub of warm water. “It was all right, I guess.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound all that exciting.”

Liz folded her hands in her lap and leaned back against the massage chair while the tech began to scrub her feet. “I don’t know. It’s just . . . everything’s changing.”

Katie’s brow furrowed while she wondered what had brought on the melancholy shift in her mood. “How so?”

“Shannon has a boyfriend.”

Katie smiled when understanding dawned on her. “So she’s not around all that much anymore, huh?”

“Yeah.”

She reached over and patted Liz’s hand in a sympathetic gesture. “How long has Shannon had a boyfriend?”
 

“Since Thursday. He asked her if she wanted to go out when we were standing in the lunch line. She’s liked him since last year.” Liz sighed and looked at Katie. “I don’t like him at all.”

“Why’s that?”

Liz rolled her eyes, but then gave Katie an apologetic glance. Katie waved it off.
 

“Because she spends every lunch with him and they make goo-goo eyes all the time. It’s gross. She also won’t shut up about him when we’re together. I’m so sick of hearing about how sweet and cute he is.” Liz made a gagging noise before closing her eyes and slamming her head against the headrest.

Katie held in a chuckle and tried to stay straight-faced. “Is he mean or do bad stuff?”
 

Liz shrugged but didn’t look at Katie. After a minute, she opened her eyes and shook her head. “No. He’s never been in trouble at school, and I’ve never seen him be mean to kids like some of the boys are.”

“Hmm.” Katie looked thoughtful for a moment. “I guess I’m not really sure why you don’t like him.”

Liz thought about what Katie had said for a minute and then looked at her. “He’s just . . . just . . . a boy, and we never hung out with boys last year. They were all bratty and immature.”

Katie nodded. “And things should be like they were before when you were in elementary school.”

Liz started to nod, but shook her head instead. “No, I’m glad we aren’t at River School anymore. I was tired of being with all the babies.”

Katie couldn’t hold in her laugh. “I’m sure Shawn and Tony would object to being called babies.”

Liz smiled. “I guess I’ll have to remember that next time they whine about dad’s lizard limit in the house.”

“Oh jeez,” Katie said with a chuckle. “Yeah, they whined pretty loud when your dad put his foot down.” Katie tried to rephrase her question to get the conversation back to the original topic. “So you don’t think things should be like they were in elementary school?”

Liz closed her eyes, and Katie saw her lip tremble for a split second before she spoke. “No, but I don’t want to lose my best friend.”

Katie squeezed her hand. “Did you lose Gina when she married Daniel?”

“No.”

“Then what makes you think you’ll lose Shannon?”

“She’s just different now.”

“Does she treat you differently?”

“Well, no, not really. She just talks about him all the time and stuff.”

“Well, how’s that different than you talking about something you like? What about that new book you just read? You talked about it so much, I ended up borrowing it so I could see what you were so excited about.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Honey, we both know that change can be hard. Just make sure you’re not fighting it for the wrong reasons. People change, life happens, and sometimes friends move on. You can accept it, change with it, or be bitter about it, but the choice is always yours on how you handle it.”

Liz nodded, and they both fell silent while the nail technicians scrubbed, filed, and buffed their toes. Katie snuck glances at her while they relaxed to the rhythm of the chairs’ massagers, and she could almost see the moment when Liz realized what Katie meant. When they picked out polish, Liz handed Katie her choice, then slipped her arm around her.

“I’ve been really mean to Shannon,” Liz confessed. “I told her I didn’t like hanging out with her boyfriend and she needed to choose me or him or I was going to hang out with Marissa.”

Katie frowned. “What did she say?”

“She cried and said she would break up with him on Monday because it’s always sisters before misters, but I want her to be happy.” Tears welled up in Liz’s eyes when she looked up at Katie.
 

A sad smile spread over Katie’s face. Liz’s anguish told her the child had realized what she’d done wrong. What she needed now was reassurance. “Well, it’s not too late.”

“No?”

Katie shook her head. “Not at all. We can stop by her house on the way home, if you like.”

“Yes, please. I need to tell her I’m sorry and I won’t ever do that again.”

“I think that’s a very grown-up thing to do.” Katie gave Liz a squeeze and then led her back to their chairs.
 

“Thank you, Katie.” Liz plopped down on her chair and put her toes up on the hand towel for the tech to paint. “I don’t ever want to do what I did to you and Dad to anyone else. Especially not to my best friend.”

“Liz, you didn’t do anything to your father and me.”

“I know. That’s what Sayid keeps saying, but if I hadn’t been such a brat, you wouldn’t have left.”

“That’s not true,” Katie said with a loving smile. “You need to stop blaming yourself for what happened. Your father loves your mother very much, and it was just as hard for him as it was for you. He struggled with losing her and felt just as guilty about finding love again. Eventually, his grief and guilt would have affected our relationship, and the same thing would have happened. Our breakup was not your fault.”

Liz’s lip quivered again, but she looked down at her lap and asked, “It really doesn’t bother you that he still loves my mom?”

Katie reached over and nudged Liz’s chin so she’d look at her. “Absolutely not. Even though I never had the opportunity to meet your mom, I know she was an amazing woman, because only a remarkable woman could have such wonderful children.”

“I love you, Katie.”
 

The last barrier had somehow come down between them. Katie knew they would have their difficulties, but they would get through them together. Her heart swelled. She would have swung the girl into her lap and hugged her until tomorrow, but she didn’t want to smudge Liz’s freshly painted toes.

“I love you, too, sweetheart.”
 

~*~

They were fast and sneaky. Chase hunted the boys around Dennis the Menace Park while they played hide-and-seek, and when he thought he had caught one of them, they would somehow get free.

“Time out,” Chase gasped and placed his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. “I can’t take any more. Let’s grab an ice cream at the concession stand.”

They both jumped up and down before darting to the park entrance. There was a baseball field adjacent to the park, and the city opened the concession stand on weekends for the park-goers even when baseball season was over. They each grabbed an ice cream sandwich and moved to a shaded area where they could relax.

Chase tried to calm his nerves while they all finished their cool treat. “I need to talk to you both.”

“About what?” Shawn asked. He popped the last of his ice cream in his mouth and turned to Chase.

“About asking your mom to marry me.”

Tony’s eyes grew as round as saucers, but no words came out of his mouth. Shawn, who looked thoughtful, didn’t say anything for several minutes.

“So would that mean you’d be my dad?”

“Well, it’s not that simple. You already have a dad. But I’d like to be your
step
father, if you’d be okay with that.”

Shawn’s brow furrowed while Chase watched him in anticipation. “My dad hasn’t been around much since we moved here, so I could definitely use a stepfather.” He looked from Chase to Tony, and then his lips twitched into a smile that matched Tony’s huge grin. Shawn cocked his head to the side. “That would mean Tony would be my brother, right?”

Chase nodded. “But you’d have to share your mom with us all.”

“Tony and Liz would have to share you with me though, right?”

He nodded again, feeling relieved when he guessed where Shawn’s mind was headed.

“Yes. I want us all to be a family because I love you and your mom very much.”

“Can I call you Dad?”

Chase smiled. He had hoped that one day Shawn would get to that point, but he hadn’t expected him to want it so soon. “I would be honored if you called me Dad, but you don’t have to.”

Shawn looked over to Tony one more time, and something passed between the two. Without words, they communicated some unspoken victory, and Shawn’s smile lit up his whole face. He turned back to Chase, stood, and launched himself into his arms, knocking him on his back. Tony was right behind him, and they tackled Chase to the ground and bounced on his chest.

“So I take it you’re okay with me asking her to marry me?”

A resounding “Yes!” came from both boys.

“Okay, then you have to keep this quiet. No talking to anyone about what we discussed here. You can’t even talk to Liz until I have spoken to her, which will be tonight,” Chase said with a knowing look. “Especially don’t say anything to Katie.”

“Can I call her Mom?” Tony asked with a hopeful expression.

Chase smiled and nodded. “If she says yes, I’m sure she’d love for you to call her Mom.”

When they got back to the house, Katie and Liz were in the kitchen talking about the finer points of baking. Chase tried to help them start dinner, but he was shooed out and told that the girls were making dinner together.

Once they were all together at the dinner table, Chase got a strong feeling something had happened between Katie and Liz. They had made huge progress over the past weeks and were finally at the point where Liz accepted her, but this . . . this was different. Liz looked at Katie with adoration, and Chase could see a shift in the way Katie talked and reacted to his daughter. There was a comfort and ease between them that hadn’t been there before.

After Katie and Shawn went home, Chase tucked Tony in and then knocked on Liz’s bedroom door.

“Can we talk?” Chase asked when he walked in.

“Sure.”

“I wanted to talk to you about Katie.”

She closed her book and sat up to give him her full attention.
 

“I want to ask her to marry me, but I wanted to talk to you about it first.”

Liz’s eyes lit up, and she scrambled into his arms before he could say anything else. Her little cheeks were puffed up in the biggest smile he had seen in quite some time.

“Yes, Daddy! I want Katie to be in our family.”

“You do?” Even though he figured she would be okay with the news, he wasn’t prepared for her enthusiasm. Since their graveside visit, she had nagged him about making it official with Katie, always mentioning that it would make Tony happy.

“Yes. I love Katie.” Her tone was one of disbelief that he would even question her, and he chuckled at the turn of events. It was as if she’d erased her memories of the horrible way she used to treat Katie.

“So you’d be okay with her as your stepmom?” Liz nodded. “That means Shawn would be your stepbrother, too. So you’d also get another little boy who will, no doubt, irritate you to no end.”

She frowned and looked thoughtful while she contemplated his words.

“I can handle it,” she said at last, “as long as we even things out.”

“What do you mean?”

“I want a baby sister.”

“A whaaa—?”

“A baby sister,” she repeated, looking at him like he was an idiot.

Chase ran his hand through his hair and raked it across his face. He had no clue how to respond to her request and didn’t want to draw anywhere near a birds-and-bees conversation.