Page 86 of To Catch a Latte Thick as Thieves

2

“You all right?” Jaredasked the sobbing woman seated behind him in the van. He could barely see her behind the wad of tissue she clutched to her face.

“F-f-fine.” She sniffed.

“Is there anything I can do?” he asked.

“No.” Cat waved a tissue at him. “I’m fine. I’m just not very good at goodbyes.”

“No kidding?” he asked, relieved to see a watery smile brighten her blotchy face and red rimmed eyes. “I was beginning to think there wouldn’t be enough left of you to soak up with a sponge.”

“That bad?” She grimaced and stroked Lucy’s soft head where it rested in her lap.

“Yeah.” Jared nodded. “I’d say it’s about the worst display of tears I’ve seen since Scar murdered Mufasa.”

“Sorry. I’m just not feeling all Hakuna Matata right now.”

“Understandable.”

She bit her lip and studied his profile warily. “For the record, I’m not usually such a sniveler.”

“It’s fine. Maybe if more people were capable to sharing their feelings, the world wouldn’t be such a mess.”

“That or we’d all be walking around in hip waders,” she joked.

Jared smiled, relieved to see she’d recovered her sense of humor. To say this morning had been rough would be a dramatic understatement. He knew it would be years before the vision of her saying goodbye to her brother would fade from his memory.

Wrapped in Cameron’s arms, she’d sobbed into his shirt as though the anguish of being parted from her brother was just too much for her to bear. Julia had broken down and cried while Cam had remained stoic, although his lips had wavered a bit. Jared had been surprised to find his own eyes dampened at the sight.

Her sobs had ripped into him, and he was sure he’d never heard a more forlorn sound in his entire life. One thing was certain, no one could accuse the woman beside him of lacking feeling.

“Where are we anyway?” Cat asked, glancing out the window at the highway that stretched before them.

“We’re nearing the New York border,” he said.

“That’s it? We’re already behind schedule,” Cat fretted. “I had this all planned out.” She reached into the glove box and pulled out a set of colored index cards. “Oh, this is not good.”