Page 48 of Promise Me, Katie (Bennett Sisters #1)

Determined to find Katherine, Matthew drove the same loop from the neighborhood where they lived, past her parent’s house and the diner, by Hope Community Church, then through Mr. Chen’s parking lot and back again nearly a dozen times.

“Whereareyou, Katie?” he repeated over and over again.

Every time he saw a vehicle that remotely resembled hers, then realized it wasn’t, his heart sank deeper into a pit of disappointment and worry. “Please, God, let her be okay. Please bring her home safely.”

As he drove through their neighborhood one more time, Jerome stepped out into the road, and Matthew had to stomp on the brakes and swerve to avoid hitting him.

“What the hell, Chief?!” Matthew cried out as the car slammed into a pair of garbage cans and came to a screeching halt.

Then Jerome marched over, ripped open the passenger door, reached inside, and yanked the keys from the ignition.

“Enough!” he bellowed, stuffing the cruiser keys into his pocket, then stomped back to where he’d been sitting on Katherine’s front porch.

“Don’t you think we should move the car out of the road?” Matthew called out after him.

“No! Turn the hazards on and leave the damn thing there!”

By the time Matthew reached Katherine’s house, the Chief was already settled on the porch swing. “No tellin’ how long it’ll be before she shows up. You should go home and get some sleep.”

Matthew was exhausted. But the only thing he wanted more than to lay his head down and close his eyes was to find Katie and hold her in his arms. He couldn’t think of a time when he’d ever felt this drained and defeated.

“What will you do?”

Jerome Bennett thought about it. “I’ll probably stay here a little longer. But in all honesty, it won’t do a damn bit of good. I know my baby girl, and it won’t make her come home any quicker.”

As Matthew’s hope crumbled, it felt like he was losing Katie forever.

“Where do you think she is?”

“My guess is she’s with one of her sisters. Those girls are thick as thieves and as tight-lipped as monks when they wanna be.”

Matthew felt a brief but reassuring wave of relief wash over him. “Can’t we call around and find out which one she’s with?”

“I don’t think so.” Jerome shook his head. “I mean, we could try, but if Katherine told ‘em not to say anything, I’m pretty sure they’d honor it. Even if their mother or I was doin’ the askin’. They’re just like that.”

Matthew was glad Katie had someone to turn to, someone she could trust. But he had hoped to be that person for her.

“I love her, sir.” He couldn’t stop himself from blurting out the obvious. “I really do.”

“I know, son, but you’re not doin’ her or yourself any good right now. Go home and hold your baby girl so your folks can get on the road. I’ll take the car back to the station and let you know if me or the missus hear from her.”

Matthew hesitated. He thought about using the house keys Katherine had given him to go inside and wait for her there, but he couldn’t be sure she wouldn’t bolt again. And it wasn’t a chance he was willing to take.

“Alright.” He shook the Chief’s hand. “Thank you.”

But Matthew only made it to the edge of his yard when he heard Jerome shout his name, and he came running back.

“Is she here?” he asked, but Jerome didn’t answer. Instead, he tilted his head toward the street and Matthew followed his gaze to see Andie, Maddie, Ellie, and Georgie advancing on them like soldiers marching off to war.

When they stopped at the bottom of the stairs, they fell in line, side by side, while Andie handed their father an envelope and Katherine’s other sisters crossed their arms over their chests.

Recognizing her handwriting, Matthew felt a small sense of relief, even though his stomach was still twisted in knots. When Jerome turned the envelope over to open it, he saw Daddy & Matthew scrawled across the front, and took a deep breath, bracing himself for the message inside.

Jerome swallowed hard before reading the note out loud. “Get off my front porch and go home. You’ll see me when I’m ready to see you. Katherine.”

After all four sisters affirmed Katherine’s words with a stern-looking nod, they turned on their heels without saying a word and marched back toward the street.

“Is it just me, or was that like a mafia hit?”

“You mean right between the eyes?” Matthew asked.

“Yep.”

“I would say so.”

Then they watched as the four Bennett sisters climbed back inside Andie’s minivan and drove away.

** *

“Young lady, do you honestly believe what you’re doing right now is any better?”

Katherine looked confused. She wondered how laying low to figure out the things in her head and heart were somehow the same as what had been done to her.

“But they lied. I’m not lying or being deceitful,” she grumbled, not meaning to be so short with her obliging host.

Although she knew she didn’t deserve sanctuary after her behavior at the diner, Katherine was grateful to have it. She was also grateful that her sisters promised to keep her location a secret.

“Think about it. Did those people really lie to you?”

“Yes!” Katherine snapped, then bit her tongue before her emotions got the best of her again. With a heavy sigh, she slumped back against the couch’s mountain of pillows, looking down at the bandage wrapped around her arm. “I’m sorry, but yes, they did lie to me.”

“Oh, horse feathers! Can’t you see the difference between a bald-faced lie and a lie of omission?”

Katherine felt her fragile emotions begin to unravel yet again as salty tears teetered along the rim of her lashes, stinging the jagged red lines across the whites of her eyes.

“Don’t you see they were trying to protect you from the awful truth? It might not have been the best way, but maybe it was the only way to keep you from hurting even more. Would you have been able to go on and do all the things you’ve done if you knew everything you know now?”

Drained of any strength she had left, Katherine flopped over on the couch, curled up in a ball, and wept uncontrollably. When she felt a gentle, motherly hand against her back, she managed to cry even harder than she already was.

“Oh, dear girl, I didn’t mean to make you cry like that.

But if you can’t see the truth for yourself, I’d be doing you a disservice by not saying anything.

Everyone in that diner today loves you. No one wanted to hurt you.

Not your father, or Matthew, or Justin. Not even Beth Ann.

Can’t you set aside your anger and see how hard it must’ve been for them to carry the burden of that awful truth? ”

Katherine’s sobs deepened with regret.

“And it’s not just the people who knew about Max and Beth Ann.

Think about those who didn’t know anything.

Think about what Zach is going through right now.

Can you imagine whathemust be feeling?

How does he see sweet Beth Ann now, knowing that she used to be one half of an adulterous affairandpart of a situation that took the lives of two people?

I don’t imagine any of this is easy for him either. ”

Katherine lifted her head, wiping the tears from her eyes. “I didn’t even stop to think about Zach. Poor, sweet, always-there-when-you-need him, wouldn’t-hurt-a-fly, Zachary. He must be devastated right now.”

“Or not.”

“What?” Katherine blinked.

“Maybe he’s forgiven Beth Ann. Maybe they’ve already talked it through, and their relationship is even stronger for it.”

“But she lied.”

“People lie, Katherine. And other people forgive those people. Can you?”

“But—”

Millie raised her hand to stop Katherine.

She was about to add more pain and regret to the stockpile of shame Katherine already felt.

“Think about Lucy and Lyla. Or Florence and the girls. Think about how much they all love you and Beth Ann. How much they like and respect Matthew and your father and Justin.”

Katherine swallowed against the overwhelming lump of guilt in her throat. How could she not even consider them until now?

“Did you know those ladies attended the charity benefit this year and saw firsthand what was going on between Julia Brandon and Grant Adams? Because they didn’t run to you or Matthew and tell you everything, does that make them liars, too?

Or does it make them just like the people who knew about Beth Ann and Max and didn’t know what to do? ”

Katherine’s heart ached. “I did hear them saying things after the benefit about Julia and how bad they felt for Matthew. But I thought they meant they were sorry for his loss.”

“Well, they were. But they also saw more than they wanted to. Everyone did. Those two carried on all night, giggling and playing around like two drunken teenagers. It was sickening how they didn’t care who saw what. Frankly, I’d come to the end of my rope with it and went to tell them as much.”

“What did you say?”

“I didn’t get the chance to say anything. We caught the two of them carrying on out in that van.”

“What? Right there while they were supposed to be working?”

“Oh, they were workin’ alright,” Millie scoffed. “But it wasn’t the kind of work they were supposed to be doing.”

Katherine looked scandalized, and even though the older woman apologized for her colorful choice of words, Katherine couldn’t stop herself from laughing.

“I’m sorry, Millie. I know it’s not funny, but for some reason, coming from you, it is. You’re a grandmother. Grandmothers aren’t supposed to say those things.” When Millie blushed, Katherine realized she was witnessing a rare moment. “I can’t believe you just said they were workin’ alright .”

“Well, I didn’t know what to call it. I was scandalized when Henry pulled open that van door. I haven’t seen a bare white bum like that since the last time my dear husband Hamish wore his kilt. And that man was a stickler for tradition if you know what I mean.”

With that, Katherine was face-down on the couch in tears, although this time, her tears were accompanied by roars of laughter.