Page 47 of Promise Me, Katie (Bennett Sisters #1)
When Matthew, Justin Macomb, and Chief Bennett pulled into the diner’s parking lot, Matthew was too tired to notice Katherine’s truck wasn’t there.
Inside, The Copperwall was nearly empty except for Beth Ann, the Fraser twins, and a booth occupied by four silver-haired ladies laughing and drinking coffee.
Seeing them come through the door, Beth Ann rushed over in a panic. “Is everything okay? Where’s Katherine?”
“What do you mean?” Matthew’s brows tightened. “I thought she was here.”
“And I thought she was with you. Didn’t you have today off? I sent Katherine home to be with you.”
“Seriously?” Matthew’s shoulders slumped in disappointed exhaustion. “She’s at home right now?”
Beth Ann nodded.
“That must be the voicemail on my phone. I didn’t check it. I thought it was my folks. We were busy.” Matthew gestured to Justin and Jerome. “We were out on a call. A pretty bad car wreck.”
Beth Ann gasped. “So, it’s true? Dr. Evans was listening to his old police scanner and told Florence about it. Are Kendall and Patrick alright?”
“They’ll be just fine,” Justin jumped in for Matthew’s sake, so he didn’t have to relive the details of another accident. “But now we’re worn out and hungry. Can you bring us coffee and some menus? And pie. We’ll definitely need some pie.”
“I know just what you like,” Beth Ann said as she hurried off, and the men settled themselves onto the soft bench seats of Justin’s favorite booth.
“Ahhh…” Jerome sighed, grateful to be off his feet. “I’m glad that’s all taken care of. I couldn’t handle anything else right now aside from some coffee, pie, and corned beef hash.”
“Me neither, Chief,” Matthew said with the same familiarity he would’ve spoken to his old chief back in Kinsey. Since their talk at dinner the night before, Matthew felt more at ease around Jerome and liked the effortless camaraderie building between them.
“You look dog tired, son.” Jerome shook his head. “Be honest. Did I make a mistake askin’ you to come out and help?”
“No, I’m alright, sir. All I need now is to eat, sleep, and see Katie. And hopefully not in that order.”
Matthew looked across the room and spotted Beth Ann balancing plates of pie up one arm, menus tucked under the other, and her slim fingers looped through three mug handles. He smiled, recognizing how hard Beth Ann tried to be her best for others.
“How was my baby girl after last night’s dinner?”
Matthew turned his attention back to his tablemates, but before he could answer Jerome, the diner’s front door slammed open with such surprising force that it made everyone jump. Florence even cried out in fear, while everything Beth Ann had in her hands dropped to the floor with a crash.
“What the devil!” Jerome scowled as he and Matthew spun around to see Katherine standing next to the shattered door. An invisible web held the tiny shards of glass together.
“Aww, hell’s bells!” Justin said, spotting the folders he’d given Matthew in Katherine’s hands. Jumping up from the bench seat, he positioned himself in front of Beth Ann.
About that time, Zach rushed through the kitchen door, followed by Lucy and Lyla. He didn’t see Katherine or the shattered glass of the front entrance. Instead, he looked at Beth Ann on her hands and knees, picking up broken pieces of cups and plates, with Officer Macomb standing over her.
That’s when Matthew realized that Katherine was wearing his old basketball shirt and immediately knew she’d found those damn files of Justin’s.
“Baby girl, do you mind tellin’ me what the hell is goin’ on?” her father hollered.
“Stay out of it, Daddy!” Katherine shouted back, looking positively wild. Her face was red with anger, and her cheeks were streaked with tears and mascara. “This is between me and her !”
Hearing Katherine’s angry voice, Beth Ann rose to her feet and peered around Justin. When she saw Katherine’s face, she immediately burst into tears.
“So, it was you ,” Katherine said, advancing on Beth Ann, her voice low and menacing. “All this time, it was you, and you never said a word. Not a damn word!”
When Matthew got out of the booth to stop her, Katherine glared at him. “You stay away from me,” she warned. “I’ll deal with you later.”
Matthew reluctantly stepped aside, afraid to even speculate the meaning of her words, as the weight of guilt hit him like a ton of bricks.
As Beth Ann tried to step out from behind Justin, he wouldn’t let her.
“It’s okay, Justin. I deserve this.”
“No, you don’t, Beth Ann.”
“Oh yes, she does,” Katherine snarled.
That’s when Jerome left the booth to stand next to Justin.
He wasn’t going to stop Katherine from saying what she needed to say, but he’d be damned if he’d let her physically harm Beth Ann.
Because for the first time, he could see how the years of guilt weighed heavily on the poor girl, and he finally accepted what he might’ve known all along.
That Beth Ann Lucas’s heart had been just as tender as Katherine’s, and they’d both been duped by Maxwell Chandler.
“Speak your mind, baby girl, then let it go.”
“What’s going on?” Zach demanded, but everyone ignored him.
“Get out of my way, Justin,” Katherine said. “She’s gonna answer for what she’s done.”
“No, Katherine.” Justin shook his head. “I know you’re hurtin’ right now, and I’m sorry for that, but she hasn’t done anything wrong. She’s been here all this time lookin’ out for you. All these years, she’s done her damnedest to make amends to you.”
As more tears fell from Katherine’s eyes, she laughed.
The sound was evil and sinister and filled with pain.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.
Oh, wait,” she sneered, holding up the file folders in her hand.
“I recognize this handwriting. These belong to you, don’t they?
So, you do know what you’re talking about.
You knew everything, and you never said a damn word either. ”
“Baby girl, you be mad at me. Justin was only doin’ his job.”
Katherine ignored her father’s words and threw the folders at Justin and Beth Ann’s feet. “That. Was. My. Baby!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, her voice cracking from sheer rage.
Beth Ann slumped back down to the floor in sobs. She pressed her hands together as if silently pleading for forgiveness and rocked back and forth under the tormenting weight of her secret.
Then, without warning, Katherine lunged forward, pushing past Justin and landing on her knees in front of Beth Ann.
She grabbed Beth Ann by the arms and shook her furiously.
“That was my husband, and that was my baby! You want me to have a husband and a baby so bad? Well, I had them, Beth Ann! I had them! But he didn’t choose me, and he damn sure didn’t choose her! He chose you!”
Caught by surprise, Justin and Matthew struggled to separate Katherine from Beth Ann. Even Zach ran over to help pry Katherine’s fingers from Beth Ann’s arms.
“My baby’s gone. She’s gone ! And you just get to go on like nothing ever happened?”
“I’m so sorry, Katherine. You know how much your happiness means to me.” Beth Ann’s words were broken by sobs of anguish. “Please, you have to forgive me.”
“Forgiveyou?” Katherine yanked her arms away from everyone’s grasp. “Forgive you ?” she screamed again.
As everyone stood in silence, Katherine took a long-labored breath, wiped stinging tears from her eyes, smoothed her hair away from her forehead, and glared into the faces of everyone around her.
“Oh yes, of course. Forgiveness. How could I forget? I should forgive you, and him, and him, and him…” she said, pointing at Matthew, Justin, and her father. “Then, just like magic, everything will be fine, right?”
Seeing everyone’s looks of fear and pity heightened Katherine’s emotions as she started backing out of the diner. Fueled by pent-up fury, she swung her arm and smashed her fist into what was left of the diner’s front door.
“Katie, no!” Matthew called out to stop her, but it was too late as all the tiny pieces of glass fell to the floor. He had tried rushing forward to protect her from hurting herself, but his feet wouldn’t move fast enough.
“You stay away from me, Matthew Brandon,” she warned as drops of blood from a multitude of tiny cuts dotted her skin. “In fact, that goes for all of you… stay the hell away from me!”
“Miss Bennett… what in heaven’s name do you thinkyou’re doing?”
Katherine whirled around to find Millie Fraser standing behind her. The Fraser matriarch had been just outside the threshold of the diner, holding a bouquet of roses in one arm and a neatly wrapped gift in the other. That was when Katherine remembered the fifth anniversary of The Copperwall.
“I thought I’d bring you a little gift,” she said, stepping inside and looking around at everyone’s faces and then at the glass on the floor. “But clearly, you’re in no mood for celebrating.”
With so much going on, Katherine had completely forgotten the important milestone.
“I’m sorry.” She brushed by Millie. “I’m sorry I let you down.”
Jerome, Justin, and Matthew tried to chase after her, but Katherine was too many steps ahead of them, and she made it to her truck and out of the parking lot before anyone could stop her.