Call It Magic by Janet Chapman Page 0,95
breathed.
“Well, that’s the thing, you don’t find him. He finds people in trouble and helps them.”
The boy nodded and looked back out into the woods again. Katy watched his wheels turn for a moment, then decided he needed a distraction. “Do you remember me talking about my cousins who are about your age and live near here?”
“Yeah,” he said without looking her way.
“How about if I arrange for them to come and meet you?”
Shiloh pursed his lips and squinted into the distance. Just as it seemed like his thoughts might have wandered off, he said, “I’ll bet they’d like to see my chickens.”
Katy laughed, big and loud. This kid was something else. “I’m sure they would. I predict you’ll all be instant friends.”
Decision made, he glanced up at her with bright eyes. “Maybe they’ll even want to help me collect the eggs. Sometimes there are even blue ones!”
Her laughter continued as she reached over to ruffle his hair. “They’ve seen an egg or two in their day, my friend, but I have no doubt you three will find your own sort of excitement.”
Chapter Twenty
When Katy walked into the station the next morning, it felt like she’d been gone years instead of days. So much had changed, tiny shifts she couldn’t exactly define but that seemed to leave monumental waves in their wake. She glanced around her, taking in the shine and power of the equipment, the organization and purpose in their arrangement, and the health and strength of her team. And they were her team, she realized. Instead of waiting for them to choose her, she’d chosen them—and this life—with her return.
Of course, before they could do any of the important work together, she had to face the elephant-sized hurdle in the room—the fact that she’d quit on them, for reasons that, to them, must range from silly to nonexistent. Though she’d practiced in her bathroom mirror all morning, she knew she ran the risk of alienating them even more than when she’d first started, if her behavior the other day hadn’t already done so.
Seeing Gretchen near one of the buses, refilling supplies in the kits, she decided to start there. While she would never characterize them as close, they had bonded here and there in a way she hadn’t with any of the guys, so maybe that might buy her a little leeway.
“Morning,” she called out, much more exuberantly than intended.
Gretchen raised her brows and gave her a wary side-eye. “Hey,” she said.
“Need any help?”
“Nope. Just about done.”
Katy nodded, hopes quickly deflating. Maybe she should just plunge in and apologize. Get it over with. “So . . . I feel like I need to—”
“Listen,” Gretchen said, a halting hand in the air, “no offense, but I can’t work the checklist and carry on a conversation.”
“Oh, sure. Right. Sorry.” Katy nodded as she backed away. “We’ll talk later.”
Gretchen’s expression twisted into a smirk. “Jeez, MacBain. You had a day off yesterday. You couldn’t have gotten your talking out of your system then?”
The station stilled around her. Day off? She stared at Gretchen until it got weird, then found the best smile she could manage. “That would have been smart, wouldn’t it?” she fudged. “Moving along.”
“’Preciate it. Chief wants everything shipshape by the time he gets back.”
The “where did he go” question blossomed, but Katy made herself bite it back. She, better than anyone, already knew that answer. He had a lot to do, what with his new house and his total lack of furniture. Moving would be easy but getting ready for Aunt May would likely not. She didn’t blame him for taking the day off.
On that subject, though, her mind tripped over itself again. Gretchen acted like she’d simply been enjoying scheduled PTO instead of lying in the bed she’d made when she’d stomped off the job. Maybe Gretchen had actually had PTO, or maybe she just hadn’t taken part in the gossip.
Curious, Katy set off to see who else was at the station. She walked into the kitchen, mostly for information but also for coffee, and found Welles, Paul, and Ike clustered around the table. Apparently they weren’t as worried about Gunnar’s “shipshape” directive.
“Hey, guys,” she said, grateful for the distraction of the coffeepot. She peeked at them as she poured, eager for clues.
“Yo.” Welles gave her a small salute and a decent-sized smile.
She took a little breath and tended to cream and sugar.
“Morning,” Ike grumbled, sounding like ordinary Ike.
Just as Katy took another breath, inching her way