Listen to Your Heart
Page 26
“I’ll make sure he didn’t get lost.” I didn’t trust Frank Young wandering my house alone. And I was right not to. When I made it to the hall, he was coming out of my dad’s office. He looked alarmed when he saw me.
“What are you doing?” I demanded.
“I was looking for the bathroom.”
“And that took walking all the way into my dad’s office?”
“I didn’t walk all the way in. I was just shutting the door when you saw me.”
That wasn’t true. I knew what I’d seen.
“You have trust issues, Kat,” Frank whispered, then walked to the next door, the actual bathroom, and shut himself inside.
I did not have trust issues. I had Frank issues. I walked into my dad’s office and straight to his desk to see what Frank might have been able to find. In the top middle drawer, I knew, was a ledger that recorded outgoing and incoming money. I’d never looked at it myself. I opened the drawer and rubbed my hand over the cover. What could seeing our financial information do for Frank or his family? Not much. That was between my parents and their lenders. My hand stopped at the edge of the cover. But what if our business was in trouble? Was that why my parents were pushing me to do something else besides the marina? To try other things?
I flipped open the book and stared at the numbers on the page. These numbers would have to carry us through the off-season, but I was surprised by how good they were. My parents were doing great, actually. So what was their problem? Were they trying to subtly tell me that I might not be good at running the marina? I shut the drawer and came out of the office just as Frank came out of the bathroom.
“The bathroom is right here, Kate,” he said. “Might not want to go nosing around.”
I shoved his arm, feeling a little guilty. My parents’ finances really weren’t my business, either. “You aren’t funny.”
Frank and I walked back into the living room together. Both Alana and Diego looked our way.
“Found him,” I said, by way of explanation.
Frank glanced at the TV screen. “I like penguins as much as the next guy, but I’m going to go now.” He headed toward the door, and Alana stood and followed him, probably wanting to interrogate him about what he’d been doing wandering around my house. I hoped she could find out more than I had.
Cora was still leaned up against Diego’s arm. I looked at my phone. It was already eleven o’clock. Although I had been doing a good job of not thinking about Hunter’s text, I couldn’t help myself now. I pulled it up and stared at it. I should’ve deleted it. I didn’t, though. I just tucked my phone away.
“Here, let me take Cora to bed,” I said, finishing the walk to the couch.
“I got her. Can I carry her somewhere?” Diego shifted her into his arms and stood.
“Her bed is in the house next door.”
“Lead the way,” he said.
“Right.” We walked outside and turned right. The grown-ups were having dinner at my aunt Marinn’s house, so Uncle Tim’s still sat empty. I led Diego around to the back glass door. Our back doors were all generally left unlocked, so I wasn’t surprised when it slid open easily. Diego followed close behind.
We both walked inside the dark living room, and I shut the door behind us. “Light,” I whispered. “Let me find a light.” I moved toward the wall and tripped on his foot, catching myself on Diego’s arm before I fell. Thankfully, I didn’t clip Cora’s head in the process.
“Sorry,” he whispered.
“No, it’s my fault. I can’t see.”
He gave a breathy laugh. I ran my hand along the closest wall and finally found a light switch that turned on a few lights above us.
“Her room is upstairs, follow me.”
I switched on lights as we moved through the house until we got to Cora’s room. That light I left off so that she wouldn’t wake up when we laid her down. I arranged the comforter on her bed, put her pillow in place, then moved aside for Diego. He gently lowered her onto her bed and pulled the blankets up around her. “Dulces sueños,” he whispered.
We left the room, shutting the door. “What did you say to her?” I asked.
“Have you not taken any Spanish in school? I’m offended,” he said, even though it was obvious by his smile that he wasn’t.
“I actually did. But I don’t remember anything.”
“Language is slippery when not practiced.”
“For sure.” I paused for a minute. “Or when not learned very well to begin with.”
We headed down the stairs and he asked, “Are you going to leave her here alone?”
“I’ll text her mom and wait here. Will you tell Alana bye for me?”
“Of course.” He paused by the back door, his hand on the handle. “Dulces sueños. It means ‘sweet dreams.’ ”
“Do you speak Spanish at home?”
“When I was little and my grandparents were around more, I did. Now, not as much.”
This probably wasn’t a conversation to be having with his hand on a door handle, ready to leave, but I couldn’t stop myself from asking, “Where are your grandparents now?”
“My grandmother passed a couple of years ago and my grandfather lives in a home now because he has Alzheimer’s.”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“It’s okay. It’s life, right?” He slid open the door. “Bye, Kate.”
“Bye, Diego.”
He let himself out. I texted my aunt, then stared at the text from Hunter again. After a few minutes, I heard laughter outside. I walked to the living room. It was dark, barely lit by one of the lights I had turned on in another room. I parted the front curtains and watched as Diego, his niece and nephew, and Alana headed along the front walk from my house toward his car. Alana grabbed hold of Diego’s hand, pressed it between both of hers, and said something to him. He laughed. Then she picked up Camilla and spun her around before placing her on the ground again. I let the curtains fall back in place.
“Kathryn!”
My lights flipped on, and I winced against the sudden brightness.
I held my hand up to block the light and sat up, disoriented from sleep. It was Saturday morning and the sun wasn’t even up yet. A quick glance at my cell phone showed it was five a.m. “What?” I asked in confusion. “Is everything okay?”
My mom stood over me. “We had a break-in last night.”
Now I was fully awake. “Someone broke into our house?”
“No, the marina. They released all the WaveRunners.” Mom’s face was drawn and worried.
“Released them?” I had no idea what that meant. At night we kept the WaveRunners on the south side of the dock, locked behind chain link.
“They’re scattered all over the lake.”
I climbed out of bed and opened my dresser to grab one of my swimsuits. “They just let them loose on the lake? They didn’t steal them?”
“No, they didn’t steal them. We can see them on the GPS, scattered everywhere.”
“That’s so weird. Did they take the keys, too?” I asked.
“No, they must’ve had a boat or their own WaveRunner and dragged them around that way,” Mom said, turning to go.
“And Patrol didn’t catch them? Nobody reported noise on the lake last night?” Powered vehicles on an otherwise quiet night were loud.
“What are you doing?” I demanded.
“I was looking for the bathroom.”
“And that took walking all the way into my dad’s office?”
“I didn’t walk all the way in. I was just shutting the door when you saw me.”
That wasn’t true. I knew what I’d seen.
“You have trust issues, Kat,” Frank whispered, then walked to the next door, the actual bathroom, and shut himself inside.
I did not have trust issues. I had Frank issues. I walked into my dad’s office and straight to his desk to see what Frank might have been able to find. In the top middle drawer, I knew, was a ledger that recorded outgoing and incoming money. I’d never looked at it myself. I opened the drawer and rubbed my hand over the cover. What could seeing our financial information do for Frank or his family? Not much. That was between my parents and their lenders. My hand stopped at the edge of the cover. But what if our business was in trouble? Was that why my parents were pushing me to do something else besides the marina? To try other things?
I flipped open the book and stared at the numbers on the page. These numbers would have to carry us through the off-season, but I was surprised by how good they were. My parents were doing great, actually. So what was their problem? Were they trying to subtly tell me that I might not be good at running the marina? I shut the drawer and came out of the office just as Frank came out of the bathroom.
“The bathroom is right here, Kate,” he said. “Might not want to go nosing around.”
I shoved his arm, feeling a little guilty. My parents’ finances really weren’t my business, either. “You aren’t funny.”
Frank and I walked back into the living room together. Both Alana and Diego looked our way.
“Found him,” I said, by way of explanation.
Frank glanced at the TV screen. “I like penguins as much as the next guy, but I’m going to go now.” He headed toward the door, and Alana stood and followed him, probably wanting to interrogate him about what he’d been doing wandering around my house. I hoped she could find out more than I had.
Cora was still leaned up against Diego’s arm. I looked at my phone. It was already eleven o’clock. Although I had been doing a good job of not thinking about Hunter’s text, I couldn’t help myself now. I pulled it up and stared at it. I should’ve deleted it. I didn’t, though. I just tucked my phone away.
“Here, let me take Cora to bed,” I said, finishing the walk to the couch.
“I got her. Can I carry her somewhere?” Diego shifted her into his arms and stood.
“Her bed is in the house next door.”
“Lead the way,” he said.
“Right.” We walked outside and turned right. The grown-ups were having dinner at my aunt Marinn’s house, so Uncle Tim’s still sat empty. I led Diego around to the back glass door. Our back doors were all generally left unlocked, so I wasn’t surprised when it slid open easily. Diego followed close behind.
We both walked inside the dark living room, and I shut the door behind us. “Light,” I whispered. “Let me find a light.” I moved toward the wall and tripped on his foot, catching myself on Diego’s arm before I fell. Thankfully, I didn’t clip Cora’s head in the process.
“Sorry,” he whispered.
“No, it’s my fault. I can’t see.”
He gave a breathy laugh. I ran my hand along the closest wall and finally found a light switch that turned on a few lights above us.
“Her room is upstairs, follow me.”
I switched on lights as we moved through the house until we got to Cora’s room. That light I left off so that she wouldn’t wake up when we laid her down. I arranged the comforter on her bed, put her pillow in place, then moved aside for Diego. He gently lowered her onto her bed and pulled the blankets up around her. “Dulces sueños,” he whispered.
We left the room, shutting the door. “What did you say to her?” I asked.
“Have you not taken any Spanish in school? I’m offended,” he said, even though it was obvious by his smile that he wasn’t.
“I actually did. But I don’t remember anything.”
“Language is slippery when not practiced.”
“For sure.” I paused for a minute. “Or when not learned very well to begin with.”
We headed down the stairs and he asked, “Are you going to leave her here alone?”
“I’ll text her mom and wait here. Will you tell Alana bye for me?”
“Of course.” He paused by the back door, his hand on the handle. “Dulces sueños. It means ‘sweet dreams.’ ”
“Do you speak Spanish at home?”
“When I was little and my grandparents were around more, I did. Now, not as much.”
This probably wasn’t a conversation to be having with his hand on a door handle, ready to leave, but I couldn’t stop myself from asking, “Where are your grandparents now?”
“My grandmother passed a couple of years ago and my grandfather lives in a home now because he has Alzheimer’s.”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“It’s okay. It’s life, right?” He slid open the door. “Bye, Kate.”
“Bye, Diego.”
He let himself out. I texted my aunt, then stared at the text from Hunter again. After a few minutes, I heard laughter outside. I walked to the living room. It was dark, barely lit by one of the lights I had turned on in another room. I parted the front curtains and watched as Diego, his niece and nephew, and Alana headed along the front walk from my house toward his car. Alana grabbed hold of Diego’s hand, pressed it between both of hers, and said something to him. He laughed. Then she picked up Camilla and spun her around before placing her on the ground again. I let the curtains fall back in place.
“Kathryn!”
My lights flipped on, and I winced against the sudden brightness.
I held my hand up to block the light and sat up, disoriented from sleep. It was Saturday morning and the sun wasn’t even up yet. A quick glance at my cell phone showed it was five a.m. “What?” I asked in confusion. “Is everything okay?”
My mom stood over me. “We had a break-in last night.”
Now I was fully awake. “Someone broke into our house?”
“No, the marina. They released all the WaveRunners.” Mom’s face was drawn and worried.
“Released them?” I had no idea what that meant. At night we kept the WaveRunners on the south side of the dock, locked behind chain link.
“They’re scattered all over the lake.”
I climbed out of bed and opened my dresser to grab one of my swimsuits. “They just let them loose on the lake? They didn’t steal them?”
“No, they didn’t steal them. We can see them on the GPS, scattered everywhere.”
“That’s so weird. Did they take the keys, too?” I asked.
“No, they must’ve had a boat or their own WaveRunner and dragged them around that way,” Mom said, turning to go.
“And Patrol didn’t catch them? Nobody reported noise on the lake last night?” Powered vehicles on an otherwise quiet night were loud.
