“But this is Dad.” She closed her eyes, shook her head, took a breath. “The kids are little and he’s the only stability they’ve ever known.”
“That’s probably why he asked you to move back in a couple of years ago.”
Cate snorted. “You know he doesn’t need my help. And all that babble about my youth helping him parent them better than he would alone is just that: babble.”
Everyone in town had commented on his apparent lunacy. Predictions had hovered somewhere between the kids’ certain ruination and their imminent stints in the juvie system.
Their perceptions of Cate hadn’t changed much over the years. Even if she had. Or she thought she had.
“What if…what if all the people who said I couldn’t cut it were right? What if I blow it with them and something awful happens?”
“Come on. Look at your day care center.”
“That’s different. Parents know I hire only the best. They know their kids are safe with my teachers, some of whom they’ve known for years. I’m mainly the administrator. But Lindsay and the twins? Dad’s always been there to keep me from messing up too badly.”
Zoe brushed imaginary lint off Cate’s shoulder. “Dust that junk off, sister. I remember how scared you were, but it didn’t take you long to get into a family groove and you’ve done a great job, if I do say so myself.”
They crossed the parking lot, heading for Zoe’s yellow subcompact. Cate loved the tiny car, especially since she had to tool around town in a massive green minivan.
Zoe pulled out her keys and zapped the lock gizmo. “Hop in. I’ll give you a ride back to your car.”
They pulled out into the light early morning traffic in silence. A moment later, Zoe piped up. Again.
“What’d you think of your dad’s newest hire?”
Rand’s features flew into Cate’s thoughts, vivid and strong. He’d changed, but not so much. He still reminded her of her dad’s protégé, the guy who could never do wrong back in high school.
Only better looking.
But she couldn’t let Zoe know she thought of Rand that way. “Eh…not much. He’s still Rand Mason, you know?”
“He did come to see about your dad. He cares.”
Cate shrugged. “He’s always cared about Dad. Of course he’d come see how Dad’s doing.”
At the light, Zoe shot her a sideways glance. “Hm…just to see about your dad? Didn’t look like it to me.”
Intense blue eyes materialized in Cate’s memory. “Um…yeah. He gave me the third degree about the kids. He doesn’t think much of me.”
Zoe gunned the pedal. “Coulda fooled me. He looked pretty interested when he was talking to you right before I got there.”
“No way! Not Rand. He’s not interested in me. He doesn’t like me. Trust me. A woman can tell when a man can’t stand her. He can’t stand me.”
“Uh-huh.” Zoe chuckled, and Cate’s frustration grew. Rand had made her uncomfortable. But arguing with Zoe was a no-win situation. Besides, she had three kids waiting for her. And Cate knew all about the weight of parental responsibility. The fire had made hers even greater.
Cate glared at her friend. “Just drive, will ya? I’ve had a horrible night, my dad’s in the ICU, and the three kids are probably driving Miss Tabitha nuts by now. That’s the only thing I can do anything about right now, so let me get going to do what I can.”
“The lady doth protest—”
“Do you think Dad’s really going to be okay? I’m afraid…” She drew a deep breath. “I have to trust the hospital with Dad’s life. That’s just all there is to it. And they’d better not let me down. I’m not ready to do this parenting thing all on my own all of the time.”
“Get over yourself, girl. You’re gonna do it, you’re gonna do it fine and you’re not gonna do it alone, not while he’s in the hospital and not when he comes home. You have friends who’ll help, like me. I’m not chopped liver, you know. Besides, the Lord’s gonna be right there with you, remember?”
“Yeah. I remember. I just want Dad home again.”
Zoe slowed to pull up behind the van. When she shifted the car into idle, she reached out and put a gentle hand on Cate’s arm. “And your dad will be home again. Have faith. And a little bit of trust won’t hurt either.”
Tears welled in Cate’s eyes. “You’re right. Faith and trust, faith and trust. Got it.”
They said their goodbyes and she headed for the van, her gaze on the rosy tint of the eastern sky. As the day became more real, details crossed her mind. Had Robby run the dishwasher last night? He often forgot to follow through on his chores. She decided it would have to be a cereal morning. Tommy would likely howl, because he loved his pancakes, but no way was she about to cook anything when she got home.
Lindsay would take the news about her grandfather harder than the twins. She was the youngest, only an infant when her parents had died, but that wasn’t really the issue. Sweet Lindsay had a quiet nature, so much so as to seem almost withdrawn much of the time. She teared up at sappy commercials and she was shier than one of Miss Tabitha’s night-blooming primroses.
As much as she loved her niece, Cate struggled to understand someone so different from her. She’d always prided herself on her tough and scrappy approach to life.
Another pang of uncertainty pierced her. Was she really up to raising three kids? Her schedule usually kept her too busy to think about such things, so she did what she had to do to keep life moving along its regular tracks. Now, with Dad’s serious injuries, she’d been derailed. She was going to be on her own. Would she fail and prove all the town gossips right?
Ten feet away from the van, she caught a glimpse of herself in a shop window. The dark shadows under her eyes made her look as though she needed a doctor herself. Her cheeks lacked color and her hair resembled tangled ropes of taffy—the real thing, not the carnival-style, rainbow colored kind. Even though once upon a time, rainbow hair had been her thing, as Rand had reminded her. She sighed.
Still, rainbow hair or not, she didn’t look like she could be trusted to babysit, much less raise Mandy’s kids. Why Dad had thought she should, why he’d decided to trust her with his beloved grandchildren, she’d never know. Not that he had much choice now, thanks to his injuries.
Fear struck. Her knees wobbled and she leaned against the side of the van, her mind going a mile a minute.
Dad had always been calm and competent when the kids’ needs threatened to overwhelm Cate. But now that she thought about it, he’d started to turn the day-to-day stuff over to her almost the moment she moved back in. He’d said more than once that the kids would grow her up now that she’d become their stand-in mom. So far, she didn’t really feel all that different, but she had learned one very valuable truth: motherhood was not for wimps.
When she opened her eyes, the blackened theater loomed before her. The events of the night tugged at her and she didn’t resist. She made her way to the old structure, then just stood and stared, letting the sadness and anger wash over her.
Who? Who’d been making poison to feed to the town’s youth? Who would destroy this beautiful building? Who would have risked people’s lives? And for nothing more than pure greed.
Cate thought of Loganton’s residents. She’d grown up in town, so she knew everyone. Even guided by suspicion, she couldn’t come up with one potential guilty soul.
But someone was guilty. Dad and Wilma were in the ICU.
As far as she was concerned, whoever