“Nana,” Kat breathed, instantly at peace. She stood and allowed her grandmother to envelop her in one of her hugs.
“Angel.” Nana Boo smiled into Kat’s hair. “It’s so wonderful to see you.”
“You too.”
Kat kissed her cheek before she pulled back. She glanced toward Carter shifting on his feet and rounding his shoulders in defense. She immediately grabbed his hand and pulled him with her. His grip on her hand was painful, but she would have taken all he had to ensure he was protected and comfortable.
“Nana,” Kat said with a dip of her chin, “this is Carter. He’s my … Wes.”
Carter’s head almost toppled off his neck he looked at her so quickly. His eyes were wide with surprise, but the smile threatening the corners of his perfect mouth told Kat her words were the right ones.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Carter,” Nana Boo offered with an outstretched hand and an ecstatic smile that creased her face in a thousand different ways.
Carter cleared his throat. “Nice to finally meet you, too,” he said as their hands met.
Nana Boo’s eager arms encircled Carter around his waist. She pressed her cheek against him and squeezed.
“Um, hi,” Carter mumbled, while staring at Kat over the top of the aged woman’s woolen hat. Kat smiled.
“I’ve been so excited to meet the man who’s captured my Kat’s heart,” Nana Boo whispered.
She stepped back and wiped a finger under her shimmering eyes. “Oh my.” She chuckled, observing the tears on her skin. “Silly old woman.”
“Not at all,” Carter said with a half smile.
Nana Boo cupped his cheek and tapped it tenderly. “And, darling, you’re just as gorgeous as she described.” She laughed at the speechless expression on Carter’s handsome face, and snaked her arm through the crook of his elbow. “Let’s get you inside. It’s too damn cold out here. Kat, give Trevor the keys. He’ll collect the bags.”
Carter pulled Kat with him, gripping her hand as if his life depended on it. She rubbed her palm up and down his forearm in placation. God, he’d been truly terrified when they’d been in the car. The distress was almost visible around him, evil and unrelenting. She knew where it came from; he carried it around with him like a lead weight.
Kat bit the inside of her mouth. The hate she harbored for his family made her teeth snap. They’d treated him so appallingly, never loving, caring, or nurturing him as he grew, and he now considered himself unworthy, with no comprehension of just how incredible a man he had become. It was painfully tragic.
“Was the drive good? The car was all right?” Nana Boo asked. She shut the front door behind them and pulled off her hat.
“Yeah.” Kat took a step closer to Carter’s side, knowing his need for contact. “He didn’t complain about my driving once.” She smiled when she saw him roll his eyes, his finger twirling a piece of her hair on her shoulder. “You may have even turned him into a Jaguar fan.”
Nana Boo’s eyes lit up. “You like cars?”
Carter scratched his neck. “Yeah, I, um, I dabble.”
“Carter likes motorcycles, too,” Kat interjected, ignoring the pointed look he shot her.
Nana Boo gasped. “A real-life Steve McQueen! Oh, be still, my beating heart.”
Kat giggled into Carter’s shoulder and closed her eyes when she heard him burst with laughter.
“I wouldn’t say that,” he murmured. “But I like them.”
“Well, I’ll show you the Triumph I have in my garage later.” Nana Boo winked. “You kids need a warm drink.”
Carter stared after the little woman as she scurried past them to the kitchen.
“She has a Triumph?” His blue eyes twinkled.
Kat laughed. “And an antique Aston. Come on, Steve,” she teased. “She makes a killer hot chocolate.”
Seated around Nana Boo’s huge wooden table, Kat allowed the warmth of her grandmother’s house, love, and acceptance seep into her, filling up the gaps of shame and uncertainty that had opened over the past few months. Carter, with his free hand always touching her, sat and listened while, before, during, and after their dinner of enchiladas and Oreo cheesecake, Nana Boo told him story after story of Kat and her childhood escapades. Stories detailing Kat falling off horses, climbing trees, and smashing baseballs through windows kept Carter enraptured.
Seeing him so relaxed, hearing him laugh, and having him slowly realize there was nothing to be afraid of was more than Kat could have dreamed. All she wanted from their weekend with Nana Boo was for him to see he fit into her life. She wanted him to see there were people who didn’t care about his past and the mistakes he’d made. It was important for Carter to understand not everybody would hold them against him. They didn’t define him.
She listened when Nana Boo asked him questions about his hobbies, smiling when Carter became shy and modest about his musicality and his love of all things fast and metal. He explained about Kala, and his desire to buy another motorcycle, which led to Nana Boo telling stories about Kat and her father riding up and down the beach for hours, simply to have the sound of the engine in their ears and the wind on their faces.
“She’s not changed,” Carter mused, smiling at Kat, making her cheeks flush.
Nana Boo was amazing, laughing and joking and never asking questions that made Carter uncomfortable. She listened with absolute attentiveness. Gradually, Carter’s shoulders lost their hard edge and his smile began to appear a little more easily. Even his grip on Kat’s hand loosened.
Although he had yet to resolve one particular issue, and she knew it was driving him beyond distraction.
Kat smiled knowingly when she saw him squirm for the thousandth time. “You can have a cigarette, you know.”
Carter glanced apologetically at Nana Boo. “I’m fine.”
“Trevor smokes out on the back porch, dear,” Nana Boo said dismissively while placing a bowl of Doritos and a sour cream dip onto the table. “Please feel free. You’re on your vacation.”
Carter eyes searched Kat’s for permission. “It’s fine,” she assured him, finding his timidity endearing as hell.
“Okay,” he conceded. He tapped his long fingers against the edge of the table, hesitating. “I need to call Max, too. I’ll—I won’t be long.”
He stood up from his seat and strode toward the back door. Reggie, with claws scratching eagerly across the wooden floor, got up from his place under Nana Boo’s seat and followed him. Carter looked at the dog by his side, cocking an eyebrow in question. Reggie sat down and thumped his tail excitedly.
“He’ll follow you,” Nana Boo explained. “He likes you.”
“Okay,” Carter mumbled, keeping his suspicious eyes on the dog before he opened the door and they both stepped out into the cold Chicago night. Kat stared at the door once it closed.
“He’s wonderful.” Nana Boo sipped her red wine. “He adores you, darling.”
“I adore him,” Kat confessed. She allowed her finger to trace the stem of her wineglass. “He was so nervous, Nana. He wanted to make a good impression so badly. I just wish he knew he didn’t have to worry. He doesn’t see himself clearly at all.”
“He will in time, Kat. If he hears it enough, he’ll see it.” Nana Boo smiled to herself. “He reminds me so much of …” She shook her head.
Kat rested her chin in her palm. “Who?”
“Your father,” Nana Boo replied. “He’s just like Danny was when your mother first brought him into the house, all jittery and aching for a cigarette.”
“Dad smoked?” Kat coughed into her wineglass.
“He quit when your mother became pregnant with you.”
Kat looked at the table, smiling. “I never knew that.”
“There’s a lot I could tell you about your father.”
“Please,” Kat encouraged.
“Your grandfather never approved of your mother’s choice of husband.” Nana Boo smiled reminiscently. “No one was ever good enough for his Eva.”
Kat exhaled a gust of sardonic breath. “Yeah, it must be a family thing.”
This made Nana Boo chuckle. “Yes, your mother is very much like her father.”