Coming Home(136)

“Thank you. You know, I was okay with it, really. The only thing that made me sad was that I wasn’t able to provide my Louie with a son. He never said it, but I knew he wanted one.” She took a deep breath. “But God has a plan for everyone, and he works in mysterious ways. My daughter…she made some poor choices in her life. But those choices gave me Bryan.”

Catherine smiled, her eyes focused on her mug as if she were seeing something different than what was in front of her. “It wasn’t the way it should have gone, and it wasn’t the way I planned it, but it was wonderful all the same, raising that little boy.” She nodded slowly, and then her shoulders bounced with a quiet laugh. “And then along came Daniel. When I met him, he was six years old.”

She brought her delicate hand up to her chest, pressing it over her heart. “He was one of the kindest little things I’d ever met. He had a warmth in his heart, even back then.”

Leah looked down and smiled, imagining a six-year-old Danny—a sweet little boy with big blue eyes and messy black hair.

“What a pair they were,” Catherine said with a chuckle. “They certainly kept me on my toes. Such good boys. Thick as thieves. They would do anything for each other…” She trailed off, and her eyes welled with tears.

Leah reached across the table, placing her hand over Catherine’s, and for a minute they sat that way, neither of them speaking.

Eventually, Catherine grabbed her napkin with her free hand and dabbed at her eyes, taking a steadying breath.

“My sweet Daniel,” she said, more to herself than to Leah. “I wish they’d understand that losing Bryan has been punishment enough for him.”

There were no words to say. Leah knew what she was feeling. The sadness. The anger. The frustration. The overwhelming desire to convince the people who held Danny’s future in their hands what an amazing person he was, despite what he had done. And because she knew the feeling, she knew there was nothing anyone could say to alleviate it.

“You’re good for him, you know,” Catherine said.

Leah raised her eyes.

“And I know he’s my boy, and I’m a bit biased, but he’s good for you too, isn’t he?”

Leah nodded, her eyes beginning to sting, and Catherine reached over and patted her hand.

“He’ll take good care of you, sweetheart.”

The waitress approached the table then, asking how everything was and if they needed anything else. Once she left, Catherine changed the subject, asking her questions about her job, what made her want to be a teacher, what her favorite things to teach were.

A little while later, Leah got a text from Danny asking if they were still at the diner. She told him they were, and a few minutes later, he came through the door looking completely exhausted and ready to go home. Catherine insisted that he sit down and eat something since he hadn’t eaten anything all day, but he refused.

The drive home was once again quiet; Danny’s posture was rigid, but he managed to keep his face smooth the entire way back to Catherine’s. As soon as they’d dropped her off, though, he gave up the charade, and the tension began rolling off him in waves.

Leah sat quietly beside him, her hand clasping his on the console, drawing lazy, soothing patterns on the back of his hand with her thumb.

When they were a few minutes away from her apartment, Danny’s stomach growled loudly.

“You really haven’t eaten anything all day?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I haven’t been hungry all day. I could probably eat now, though.”