Page 62 of Last Girls Alive

For some reason, just that simple question made her break down. She rarely cried, but with therapy and this case, so many emotions were building up inside her like a pressure-cooker.

“Oh, hey. It’s okay,” he said and held her close to him. Managing to unlock the door, he steered her inside and shut the door.

Lightning lit up the nearby skyline and thunder rolled in the distance five seconds later.

Katie knew that Chad had never seen her like this before, except when they were kids when she had lost her parents in the accident. His concern almost overwhelmed her. She stopped crying but it was difficult for her to maintain her composure. She was now embarrassed and uncertain why she had burdened Chad with her problems.

He hugged her tight and kissed her cheek. Not really knowing what else to do, he held her as they stood at the entrance until her shivering subsided.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t want to interrupt your work.”

“It’s okay. Everyone has personal issues they need to attend to at times. So don’t worry. Okay?” he said.

Katie looked at him with tears still in her eyes.

“Okay?” he said again.

She nodded.

“You are absolutely soaked. You’ve got to get out of those wet clothes. Go into the bedroom and in the top drawer on the left there are some hoodies and sweatpants.”

“Okay,” she said.

“I’ll make us something hot.” He left for the kitchen.

Katie went to the bedroom and found the warm clothes neatly folded in the top drawer. She shed her badge and gun, leaving them on top of the dresser. The cold from the rain-soaked garments was beginning to invade her bones, causing uncontrollable trembling. Quickly peeling off her clothes, she pulled on the dry ones. Taking a towel from the bathroom and letting her hair down, she sat on the bed and began drying her hair. She felt better almost immediately.

Breathe…

On a small shelf between the dresser and nightstand, there were several old photographs. One was of his parents, she had always liked them; his mom was laughing, probably about something funny his dad had said. There were frequent barbecues and fun times at their house when she was a child, especially during the summer.

Another photo was of her and Chad—they must be about twelve years old. Katie didn’t remember the photo being taken, but they were in a tree house they had built that summer. Chad still looked the same; cute, happy, and with a mischievous look in his eye. Katie had decided that she wanted to cut her hair short because it always got in the way, and she wore shorts, a T-shirt, and sneakers without socks. Both of them smiled broadly at whoever took the photo.

There were more photos of family and friends, then one of him when he graduated with his EMT license along with a group photo of his firehouse #15.

Katie smiled as she thought how amazing and wonderful it had been to be a part of Chad’s life for so much of it.

Wandering about the room to spread the warmth around her body, she noticed a small notebook on the nightstand. She didn’t know what possessed her to pick it up, but she slowly opened it and flipped through the pages. Neatly folded newspaper articles and printed reports from the Internet about all the cases she had solved were tucked into the pages. There was an article in theMilitary Timesfrom when she had completed training with Cisco.

It was touching that he had a scrapbook of her accomplishments. It made her realize how much Chad was a part of her life. They had lost touch when she had enlisted in the army, but he never stopped being there for her. She was so lucky, truly blessed, but didn’t really know it until that moment.

Katie looked out the bedroom door and could hear Chad moving around in the kitchen. She put the small scrapbook back on the nightstand. After laying out her wet clothes in the bathroom to dry, she returned to the living room.

Walking into the kitchen, the smell of warm spices filled the air. “What smells so good?” she said.

“It’s a blend of spicy tea leaves I made.”

“Wow, look at you. You buy a cottage and now are an herbalist and a chef.”

“Well, I confess. I learned this from Rob at work. His family is from India and he’s an amazing cook as well.”

He handed her a steaming mug.

“Thank you,” she said, carefully sipping the liquid. “Oh, wow, that’s delicious.”

“Knew you’d like it,” he said, smiling. “You look good in those.” He referred to the navy blue sweatshirt with the firehouse’s emblem on it she now sported.

Katie smiled back but then suddenly realized, “I have to take care of Cisco.”