Hard to Resist - By Kara Lennox Page 0,8
the fire, Kat alternated between supreme confidence that she could handle everything and dismal despair that nothing would ever be the same again.
At least Samantha had a safe haven. She would stay with her dad this weekend. When Kat had called her ex and told him about the fire, he’d dropped everything and promised to come to the hospital as fast as he could.
Chuck Ballard was a good guy, a concerned father who was very involved in Samantha’s life. There’d never been any question about custody, though. Chuck, a bit old-fashioned, felt that a little girl belonged with her mother. But he always paid his child support on time, and he never missed a weekend visitation.
Even now that he was remarried and the father of a new baby, he made time for Samantha.
“Do I have to go stay with Daddy?” Samantha asked as they sat in front of the hospital in their borrowed clothes, waiting for Chuck to pick them up.
Kat pulled Samantha into her lap. “I thought you loved staying with your dad. Besides, he’s really worried about you. He’s promised to take the whole day off work and spoil you silly.” Kat had called Samantha’s school to let them know she would not be attending today, Friday. By Monday, Kat hoped things would be back to normal—or at least not quite so chaotic.
“I do. But I want you to come, too.”
“I wish I could. But I have to find us a new place to live. And I have to file a claim with our insurance, so we can buy new furniture and clothes and stuff.”
Samantha nodded, perking up slightly. “Can I get a princess bed like Krista’s?” Krista was her best friend at school, and she had a “princess” bed with a ruffled canopy.
“You can get any kind of bed you want.”
“Will you call me?”
“I will definitely call you. Okay?” She made another mental note: Replace cell phone. Her mental notebook was getting pretty crowded.
“Okay.”
Chuck’s familiar Subaru pulled up a few minutes later and Chuck leaped out. He was a nice-looking man, tall with a ready smile and thick, dark hair, receding slightly. The mere sight of him had once made Kat feel so safe. Now, she felt only gratitude that he was such a concerned father to Sam.
He scooped Samantha up in his arms. “Oh, Sammy, when I heard what happened I was so scared. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“The doctor said I was okay.”
Chuck reached for Kat and pulled her into a light embrace. “I was worried about you, too, kiddo.”
Kat put on a brave smile. “We’re fine. Right, Sam? She was very brave.”
“Do you have some place to stay?”
“I’m staying with Deb, my office manager. So if you can drop me at the office—”
“You’re working? After you lost everything in a fire?”
“I’m borrowing Deb’s car.”
“You should get some sleep first. You can crash at my place.” He said it as if the decision were made.
Kat took a deep breath. This was the main reason they’d gotten divorced. Chuck meant well—he didn’t have a mean bone in his body. But he liked taking care of Kat, which included making all her decisions for her. That had been fine when she’d been a seventeen-year-old orphan, scared out of her wits. But it wasn’t so fine now that she was a twenty-six-year-old businesswoman.
“No, Chuck, I really need to go to the office. I’ll be fine.”
He didn’t argue further, but he didn’t approve, either. She’d learned not to let that bother her. She did not need others’ approval to validate her. That was the core value of StrongGirls, a counseling and life-skills program for at-risk teen girls that was Kat’s brainchild, and now her livelihood and her passion. Kat had toyed with the idea of starting her own nonprofit before grad school, and she’d gotten serious about it a couple of years ago. She’d designed the curriculum and applied for grants. Last January, she’d opened her doors. Although it was a small program right now, Kat felt it was meeting the objectives she’d set. She was making a difference in young girls’ lives.
When they reached her office, a tiny storefront on busy Jefferson Street, she gave Samantha one final hug. “I’m proud of you, sweetie,” she said. “I know how tough this is, but you’ve been a real trouper.”
“Am I a StrongGirl?”
“My number-one StrongGirl.”
Chuck tried to give Kat some cash, and when she refused he pressed a wad of bills into her hands anyway. That was Chuck. Generous to