Kayli Unknown

Chapter 19 - Empty Nest

Kat went home to an empty lodge. When Dave brought her home, she thought maybe she would find Lisa's car in the drive. No. Just empty space. And an empty lodge. Funny how that felt. She lived alone. And while she had guests in the lodge most weekends, she was generally alone during the week. She hadn't minded. Sometimes there was Jim. Sometimes there was someone else. But many days she was alone. Somehow, some way, this day felt more alone, the lodge more empty.

She turned on the gas fireplace, sat on the leather couch with her feet pulled up under her, and stared at the fire. Lisa. She had been lucky Dave had not arrested her for assault. But Dave was a good guy, and he knew Lisa was... well... fragile. Taking her to the service had been a mistake. It had been hard enough on Kat. Empty room, empty chairs, rote words. How could any child be so alone? Her mourners - two bartenders and two old ladies, none of whom knew her full name and anything about her – other than how her life had ended. A plain brown box in an empty room. Kat found herself crying again. She wrapped her skirt around her feet and stared into the fire.

Had her lodge ever been so quiet – and so empty? Lisa might be back. Or might not. She had come to help Kat heal. Kat was now healed. So would Lisa just go off to wherever she needed to go to heal? A fragile lady sitting through fifteen minutes of words and emptiness. Probably back at her apartment. Maybe shouting, maybe drinking, maybe pulling a man on top of her.

The bar was gone, so her job was gone. There were jobs in Iron Mountain. Maybe she'd find one and never return to Amberg. And, Kat had to admit, that would simplify her life. Lisa was complex. Lisa was fragile. Lisa was probably ill. But she was also fun, and warm, and attractive. She had been kind, and soft, and helpful when Kat had needed her. It had been good to have her near. It would be good to have her next to her right now, to hold her, and talk with her, and plan what to do about Kayli. It would be good to have her.

Kat should not have taken her to the memorial service. But they had been a team, searching for Kayli's family. How could she have left Lisa home? And how could she have known how dismal the service would be? Kat thought about that brown box again, and felt Lisa's hand in hers, the hand expressing all the frustration and confusion and anger and fear Lisa felt. By then it was too late. She had taken a fragile woman into a room that would leave nightmares for all.

So now what? Now Kat sat by the fire, her arms wrapped around her waist, feeling the warmth of the fire, watching the light outside her windows fade, darkness already arriving by four. She napped. She listened for a car in the drive. Eventually she went to her kitchen, made a sandwich, drank some wine, and went to an empty bed.