Fabrication (4/27)
“I should have known I’d find you here,” Katie said, dropping into the seat across from Reid. “Let me guess: caramel latte, whipped cream, extra shot.”
Reid smiled. “Don’t say that too loudly. I have a reputation to maintain here.”
Katie laughed. Reid took a sip of his drink, closing his eyes as he savored the taste before swallowing. “I had dreams about this,” he observed.
He opened his eyes again, looking across the table at Katie. She was calmer compared to her excitement at the hospital the previous day, and he could start to see subtle changes he hadn’t noticed before. Katie appeared almost the same, and yet different somehow, like she had lived a whole lot more than six years of life since he had last seen her. Not to say that she was looking old or worn out or anything. Just…wiser. A little sadder, maybe. And yet, still as friendly as ever.
She smiled at his prolonged silence, tilting her head curiously. “What?”
“Nothing,” he said, taking another sip.
“Whatever happened to keeping in touch, huh?”
“That was your job, and you know it.”
“And I did fairly well, you have to admit, even with the barest minimum of response from you.”
“It was - difficult for me to…I had to…”
“I know,” Katie said. “I get it.”
They were silent for a moment, and then Katie took a deep breath. “And then I got wrapped up in my own stuff, and here we are, six years later.”
“You’re a mom!”
“I’m a mom,” Katie agreed, nodding.
“And a Snyder?” Reid asked, fishing for information.
“My husband Brad was Holden’s cousin.”
“Was?”
Katie sighed, picking at her coffee cup with her fingernail. “He was killed. Accidentally shot. The day Jacob was born.”
Reid leaned forward across the table quickly, placing his hand over hers. “Katie, I’m so sorry.”
Katie put on a brave face, nodding as she turned her hand around and interlocked her fingers with Reid. She exhaled a shuddering breath, and then smiled widely.
“What about you?”
Reid furrowed his brow. “What about me?”
“You got someone in Texas waiting for you to come home?”
“Yes,” Reid said immediately.
“You do?!”
“Mm-hmm, his name is Dirk. He’s a rodeo clown, believe it or not. We’re planning a commitment ceremony for this fall.”
Katie threw a sugar packet at him, and Reid turned serious.
“No, of course not. I wouldn’t put up with anyone who’d be willing to put up with me.”
“Hmm,” Katie mused, lifting her cup to her lips.
“Oh, what?”
Katie shrugged. “I’m just making a mental list of the single gay men in town. It’s a pretty short list, granted, but I think you’d - ”
“Katie, there could be a pride parade going down the street right now, and you wouldn’t realize any of them were gay.”
“Hey, I’m a lot better at it now.”
“Uh-huh,” Reid said disbelievingly.
Katie smiled charmingly at him before changing the subject. “So where are you staying, anyway?”
“Last night, the Lakeview.”
“You hate hotels!”
Reid shrugged, fiddling with his empty coffee cup. “It’s better than my rental car. I’ll find something for a few weeks, don’t worry.”
Katie lifted her eyes to the ceiling, shaking her head. “Or, hey, I know,” she said sarcastically. “I have an extra room.”
Reid stared at her. “You’re serious?” he finally asked.
“Absolutely. It will be a blast! Come on, let’s go make a copy of my key.”
**
“Hi Dad,” Luke said unenthusiastically, walking into the farm kitchen.
“Hi Luke. How are you?” Holden replied, not looking up from the carburetor he was fixing.
Luke walked around to the other side of the table, dropping into a seat and sprawling out across the top of the table dejectedly. He sighed.
“Not good, I take it,” Holden deadpanned; Luke grunted a response. “Here, see if you can make anything of this.”
Luke pulled himself back into a sitting position, taking the hunk of metal from his dad and turning it over in his hands.
“Grandma’s going to flip if we get grease all over her kitchen table,” he observed.
“That’s why we have to fix this before she gets home. She’ll never know.”
“Or we could just finally buy her a new tractor.”
“You know Grandma.”
Luke nodded in agreement. Both Snyder men were silent for a few minutes as Luke worked, and then Holden broached the topic.
“So what’s going on?”
Luke shrugged. “I don’t know. Bored, I guess.”
“Running a shipping company and a multimillion dollar charitable foundation isn’t exciting enough for you?”
“You know what I mean,” Luke said. “I can’t work all the time.”
“Well, I’m happy to hear you say that. You’re young; I’ve been a little worried that you’re overextending yourself at work and not…getting out enough.”
Luke snorted. “Who am I supposed to be getting out with?”
“You have plenty of friends.”
Luke looked pointedly at Holden. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Fine,” Holden allowed. “But you’re not going to meet…other kinds of people in your grandmother’s kitchen. So, call up your friends and go out.”
“I’m sure they’re busy,” Luke said, finally getting the carburetor put together and handing it back to Holden.
“Noah?”
“Make-up dinner with Richard.”
“Casey?”
“Out with his pre-law friends. Everyone has a life but me,” Luke sighed, tilting his head back and resting it on the chair as he stared at the ceiling.
Holden smiled briefly. “You are still young, Luke.”
Luke sat back up and looked at his dad with a disbelieving expression. “And I have plenty of time to meet the right guy?”
“You do!”
“Please try to remember back to when you were 22. Would that have been any consolation?”
“No,” Holden conceded.
Luke sighed. “Dad, I want the same thing everyone else does. And I do know what I’m missing.”
Holden didn’t say anything for a few minutes. “Your mom says that Dr. Oliver is here to operate on Noah,” he finally said.
“What does that have to do with anything?” Luke asked, trying not to sound panicky.
Holden laughed. “No, I didn’t mean it like that. I was just…trying to change the subject, because there isn’t really anything I can say that would make it better.”
“Oh,” Luke said, settling uncomfortably back into his seat.
“I never said I was good at this fatherly advice thing.”
Luke smiled awkwardly.
**
“Would you let it go?” Reid sighed.
Katie took a breath, fighting sobriety before she fell into uncontrollable laughter again. “I can’t! I just can’t believe you’re still using this!”
She was sprawled out on the couch, her feet in Reid’s lap. She was playing with his keychain, which now held the key to her apartment as well as his regular keys. She held them out towards him, shaking the keys so the plastic pacifier bobbed up and down. He grabbed for the keys, and she pulled her hand back.
“I think it’s kind of sweet, actually,” she said.
Reid rolled his eyes. “It’s a keychain. It’s functional. There’s no point in replacing it.”
“Plus it reminds you of Oakdale.”
“At most, it reminds me of you. The one part of Oakdale I could tolerate.”
“Mmm,” Katie said skeptically.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
She held up the pacifier again. “He’s 22 now, you know. Legal.”
Reid dropped his head to the back of the couch with a groan. “You’re not starting this up again, are you?”
Katie grinned. She took a breath, about to speak.
“Seriously, Katie. Drop it.”
Continued