On the Line (41 page)

Janelle walked into the house ahead of Zach and Nathan and tossed her keys onto the
side table. Kelsey came limping out of the kitchen with a huge grin on her face.

“Daddy called,” she said before Janelle could ask why she looked so happy. “He said
the prosecutor is going to have all of the evidence looked at immediately. We could
know something before the end of the week,” she finished with a slight squeal as
she grabbed Janelle’s hands. “Isn’t that great?”

Janelle felt herself lighten a bit, but didn’t want to get too excited. After what
Nathan had told her about Patrick’s possible guilt, she couldn’t get too happy. What
if Nathan got off but Patrick didn’t? Kelsey would be crushed.

“That’s wonderful,” Janelle said and looked past Kelsey to Patrick as he leaned against
a column. He smiled at her, but she could see the dimness in his eyes and knew he
was thinking the same thing she was.

Nancy came around the corner with a smile on her face. “Dinner is ready. Everybody
come eat.” She turned and went back into the kitchen.

“Mom, you didn’t have to cook again,” Nathan said as he followed his mother into
the kitchen, briefly laying a hand on Janelle’s shoulder as he passed her.

Janelle stood and watched Nathan carry a casserole dish into the dining room; his
mother was following him with a large bowl. Zach skipped into the kitchen, and Kelsey
stepped to Janelle’s side and they walked into the dining room for dinner.

“Nancy, we can clean that up,” Janelle said as Nathan’s mother stood and picked up
her plate.

“No, dear, I don’t mind.” Nancy smiled at her and continued to tidy her spot at the
table.

“I do,” Nathan said as he stood and walked to his mother’s side. He took her plate
from her as Janelle rose from her seat. Nathan handed Janelle his mother’s plates
and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. “Mom, you should go home.”

Nancy’s chin fell and her lips turned downward. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”

“No,” Nathan said as he put his arm around her and walked her into the living room.
“I just think you look tired and that you’d get a better night’s sleep in your own
bed than you do on that lumpy leather couch.”

“Hey, I like that couch,” Kelsey mumbled to herself as she walked past Janelle with
other dirty dishes.

“I really don’t mind,” Nancy argued as her voice faded.

“Let me help you,” Elizabeth said as she walked around Patrick, still lounging in
his seat with a frown on his face. She tapped the back of his head. “You too.”

He looked up at her and sat straighter as Janelle tried not to laugh. He made eye
contact with Janelle, shook his head as he shrugged a shoulder, then rose from his
seat and picked up the now-empty casserole dish and large bowl that had been a chicken
and rice casserole with a side of broccoli and cheese.

“We’ll clean up,” Janelle muttered as Patrick walked past her. “Take her into the
living room and let her relax,” she added as she followed him into the kitchen, and
he nodded.

“Oh, Elizabeth,” Kelsey said as she took the dirty dishes. “Janelle and I got this,
you go sit down.” Kelsey motioned toward the living room with a soapy hand as Janelle
stopped beside her and put her plates in the sudsy water.

“Trust me, Mom, they like to do this,” Patrick said after he set his dishes on the
island. He winked mischievously at Kelsey. “It gives them a chance to talk about
Nathan and me and drink a bottle of wine while they’re at it.”

Kelsey scoffed and picked up a dishtowel. “We do not.” She swatted him with the towel,
and he chuckled. “It’s a half a bottle at best.”

He laughed harder and wrapped his arm around her. He kissed her temple, and they
swayed side to side. “I love you,” he murmured and stepped away.

“I know,” Kelsey countered with a twinkle in her eyes. “Now scat.” She waved Patrick
and his mother away with the dishtowel.

Janelle snickered as she returned to the dining room and collected the rest of the
plates and silverware from dinner. She could faintly hear Nathan urging his mother
to go home, so she could get a good night’s rest, and Nancy arguing against it. Janelle
carried the dinner things back to the kitchen and set them on the counter next to
the sink.

She and Kelsey worked in silence as Janelle thought about whether or not to bring
up what Nathan had said the night before. She wanted to prepare Kelsey for the worst,
but felt that Patrick should be the one to raise the subject and didn’t want to step
on his toes in case he had a good reason for not mentioning it. Janelle worried about
how Kelsey might react to the news if the first time she heard it was from her. On
the other hand, Janelle was her older sister and had been looking out for Kelsey
her whole life.

“Out with it,” Kelsey murmured as she washed the casserole dish.

Janelle met her sister’s gaze in the window above the sink. “Out with what?”

“Whatever you’re worrying about,” Kelsey answered. “You’ve had that look on your
face since you got home.” Kelsey froze with her hands half submerged in the water,
and her eyes widened. “Did something happen in therapy?”

“No.” Janelle grinned a little. “Andrew feels like Zach will be fine. He said he
was impressed with how well Zach seemed to handle this weekend’s events, and he thinks
Zach’s coping with everything very well. He says we don’t have to come back unless
we start to see a change or he starts to regress.”

Kelsey blew out a breath and closed her eyes. Her lips lifted and Janelle marveled
at the peace on her sister’s face. It was a beautiful sight, and she’d missed it.
After a few seconds, Kelsey opened her eyes and looked at Janelle again in the reflection
of the window.

“So, if it’s not Zach, what is it?” Kelsey looked down at her hands and resumed scrubbing
as her brow came together. “Was it what I said when you got home? About Dad’s call?”

“Yes,” Janelle confessed and moved to stand beside Kelsey. She turned and propped
her rear against the counter. “Kelsey, Nathan and I talked about the charges last
night. We . . . why are you smiling?”

Kelsey looked at Janelle, and her mouth opened a little. She closed it as her eyes
widened innocently. “I’m not smiling, I just think I know where this is headed.”

“You do?” Janelle raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, Patrick and I talked too.” Kelsey turned the water on and rinsed the dish she’d
been washing.

Janelle picked up a dry towel and took the wet casserole dish from her sister’s hands.
She started drying it as Kelsey pulled the stopper from the drain and rinsed out
the sink. She grabbed a paper towel and dried her hands and the lip of the counter
in front of her.

“I know that the charges against Nathan will be easier to disprove and dismiss than
the ones against Patrick. I know that there’s still the possibility of Patrick going
to trial and prison.” Kelsey tossed her towel in the trash and turned her hip to
the edge of the counter. “But I’m not going to dwell on it. We have hope, Janelle,
and I’m choosing to focus on that. If for no other reason than I don’t want Zach
and Zoe to know how terrified I am that we might not have Patrick around for a while.”
She smiled sadly, and her eyes filled with tears. “And I refuse to let that fear
ruin the time we have together right now.”

Janelle set the dry dish and towel in the corner of the counter and turned
to her
sister. She gripped Kelsey’s upper arms and squeezed lightly. “I’ve never told you
how proud I am of you, have I?”

Kelsey wiped her damp cheek and giggled. “What have I done to make you proud? You’re
the strong one. You’re the nurturer and the levelheaded one. I’m just the brat that
always did the wrong thing.”

Janelle shook her head and inhaled deeply. “No, I’m not. I’m what Mom told me to
be. Yes, I figured out her advice was crap before you did, but I still tried to abide
by it. When Tim hurt you and you realized how horrible Mom’s advice was in practice,
you broke away from it completely. I didn’t have that courage until it was too late.”
Janelle dropped her hands and jumped up to sit on the counter. “You’ve lived your
life the way you’ve wanted to, not caring what she said or did or how she treated
you, and I’ve lived in fear that I’d lose her approval or that I’d disappoint her
somehow.”

“Janelle,” Kelsey said as she pushed herself up onto the island. “That’s how we’ve
been our whole lives. She raised you to be Little Miss Perfect and treated me like
a little hellion,” Kelsey narrowed one eye, “which I blame entirely on Sean, by the
way.”

Janelle couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped. It was true that their brother had
always blamed everything on Kelsey, and their mother had always accepted everything
he told her as the truth.

“But don’t beat yourself up for it,” Kelsey continued. “I actually did care, very
much, about what she thought of me until Patrick’s visit last fall. And her words
still haunt me. I just choose to ignore them because I do know better now.” Kelsey
turned to look into the living room and met Patrick’s stare. He stood and started
to come toward the kitchen and Kelsey turned to look at Janelle. “And so do you.
You know that you can still be happy, happier actually, by doing what you think is
best for you. You’re still the nurturer, you’re still strong, and you’re way more
levelheaded than I could ever hope to be.”

The sisters laughed as Patrick stepped to Kelsey’s side. He slid his arm around her
hips and positioned himself against her.

“I guess the moral of the story is that I’m proud of you too.” Kelsey smiled widely,
and Janelle’s eyes became watery. “I always have been. I’ve always known that you’d
be there for me, and I will do anything to make sure you stay as happy as you seem
to be now.”

“That makes two of us,” Nathan said as he approached from the dining room. He stopped
in front of Janelle, and she put her arms on his shoulders. “Mom has agreed to go
home tonight, but not yet. And she’ll be back in the morning.”

Janelle nodded as she leaned over to place a light kiss on his lips. “Works for me,”
she said with a grin.

Thirty-One

Janelle heard her sister come down the stairs but became distracted as the footsteps
continued to grow closer. She looked up from Zach’s schoolwork as Kelsey stepped
into the doorway of the dining room. Patrick appeared at her shoulder, and they looked
like they were about to leave.

“Are you going out?” Janelle asked as she caught movement in her periphery. Nathan
was standing in the other doorway, between the living room and dining room.

“Just for a little while. I’m going crazy sitting here waiting for something to happen,”
Kelsey answered.

Janelle frowned. She couldn’t argue with that, they were all on edge, waiting for
her father, or Mason, to call and give them an update about the case. It had been
a week since the arraignment, and every day that passed wound them all a little tighter
and brought the mood down a little more. At this point, Janelle would probably jump
at the chance to get out of the house for a while too.

“Where are you going?” Janelle questioned.

Kelsey looked over her shoulder at Patrick, and he shrugged. She looked back at Janelle
with a grin. “It’s a surprise.”

“I like surprises,” Zach said as his pencil stopped and he looked at his aunt.

“We think you’ll like this one,” Kelsey giggled. “Hopefully it won’t take long and
we’ll tell you when we get back. ’Bye.” She waggled her fingers and turned toward
the door.

“Kels,” Janelle stood and started after them. Nathan rushed to intercept her, grabbing
her around the waist as Kelsey and Patrick said their goodbyes to Nancy and Elizabeth
in the living room.

“Relax, sweetheart,” Nathan cooed softly.

“But Dad could come by any minute,” Janelle said with a pout and Nathan laughed.

“That’s not what’s bothering you,” he said as he wrapped his other arm around her
and held her close. “You want to know what they’re up to.”

“She doesn’t keep secrets from me,” Janelle complained softly then narrowed her eye
on Nathan. “You know what it is, don’t you?”

“I might,” he said with a grin.

The front door opened, and Kelsey squealed. “Dad’s here!” she exclaimed.

Janelle’s heart sped up and she tried to pull away from Nathan. When she saw his
jaw was clenched tighter than his grip on her, she stopped fighting him. She laid
her palms on his cheeks and pulled his lips to hers. She gave him a warm, gentle
kiss until his lips relaxed under hers then she pulled away.

“Nothing will come between us,” she reassured him.

He nodded and slowly released her. “Zach, keep doing your work,” Nathan said gently
as he took her hand.

Together, Janelle and Nathan walked out to the porch. Kelsey stood at the top of
the steps, watching George and Mason approach the house together, Patrick stood behind
her, his hands on her waist. Elizabeth and Nancy were already seated on the swing.
Janelle led Nathan to the column on the other side of the steps from Kelsey, and
she rested against the rail. Nathan slid his hand from hers and around her waist.