Kate stands with her back to the truck, hands digging into her thighs as though it's the only thing stopping her from spinning away into the universe. She'd grown, toughened up since she last saw them, but something in the way they looked at her has her feeling barely a day over eighteen.
I've seen the way you look at me.
He's here. He's here, in her safe space. Here, in the same town as Callista and Bridie, and she wants nothing more than to pack up all their possessions and run again. He's talking to her coworkers, and his voice is that same gravelly murmur that sends the hairs on her neck on end.
We both know it would kill Maddie to find out what we did.
He's here, barely thirty metres away, laughing and joking while the illusion of safety shatters around her.
It'll be our little secret.
"Kate?" Kate jumps at the nearby voice, letting out an involuntary gasp of shock, her water bottle slipping from her grip. It hits the tarmac with a heavy metallic thud and rolls away from her. 2Dads stops it with a boot, stooping to pick it up and hold it, a little scratched, back to her. "Crap. Sorry! Didn't mean to scare you." 2Dads peers tentatively at her, and Kate deduces that he's still a little wary after she told him off that morning. In terms of experience. "Ah, Dutchy wants to know how much longer you reckon before we get the road cleared up?"
Work. Work is a safety ring keeping her above water. At least she can focus on that. Because she knows how to be a firefighter, knows how to clean up fuel spills and organise the removal of broken glass and whatever else needs to get done. Sucking in a deep breath, Kate takes in the scene. The vehicles have been towed away, but the detritus of the crash still laden across the road. They'd managed to open up the second lane of traffic again, and cars were steadily streaming past, all slowing to goggle at the scene. "We could be here a while." She muses.
2Dads nods glumly. "Yeah, I guessed as much. Oh well..." He flashes a wink in her direction. "I guess I didn't become a firefighter just to get the girls."
Kate rolls her eyes, but the comment brings a smile to her face anyway, and she feels some of the tension ebbing away. "The family from the car... are they still here?" She's not entirely sure she wants to hear the answer. All she knows is, she'd felt safe in this town before he'd appeared, and now it felt as though she'd missed a step going down a staircase.
2Dads looks at her, and there's a shadow of concern on his face. "I think the woman wanted to hang around and wait for you, and I think the rest of them are there waiting for an Uber or whatever." 2Dads catches her expression and frowns. "Is that a problem?"
"I... I just..." Kate shakes her head. "I..."
"I'm not completely oblivious." 2Dads leans closer, so that as Spider approaches to collect something from the truck, he can't hear. "You didn't seem all that keen to see them. I can get rid of them if you want."
"I..." Kate runs a hand through her hair. "I can't... I just..." She feels her breathing start to speed up. "Dammit." She turns around and starts walking, one hand on her heart. She's not entirely sure of where she's going, only that she needs to put as much distance between herself and Patrick.
There's a scuffing of boots, and Kate knows that 2Dads has jogged after her, and she can't even begin to feel embarrassment that he's seeing her come undone like this, or that she's freaking out at work. And then she stops, quite abruptly, and a memory of herself at eighteen echoes in her mind, of frantically stuffing possessions into her car. And Cal, poor sweet Cal, asking where they were going. She can't let him run her out of another town.
2Dads stops several paces behind her, and Kate wonders if he's worried she'll start to scream, or cry, or attack him. Then a crackle of the radio tells her 2Dads is keying his two-way, and she freezes. For a moment, Kate is sure he's about to announce that she needs help, or else to tell Dutchy to keep Maddie and Patrick away from her, and she doesn't have enough breath left to stop him. But a moment later, 2Dads says, "Hey, Buff. Kate and I are just walking up the road. I think I saw a damaged stop sign further up that looked unstable. If so, I might need some help to get it moved."
"Yeah, best double check that." Buffer agrees a moment later. "Does she want the family sent on?"
"We could be a while." 2Dads reasons. "Probably better for them not to spend any longer in the sun after the shock they've had."
"I'll grab a contact number and send them on their way." Buffer says back. "Keep hydrated. The heat's a bitch today."
"You didn't have to do that." Kate murmurs, aiming a kick at a rock. It skids across the bitumen, eventually coming to a stop just outside the breakdown lane.
"You looked like you needed help." 2Dads shrugs, shielding his eyes to look back at the scene behind them. "I'm not a monster."
They continue walking idly up the road, meandering slowly, and Kate can't stop the question that bubbles from her. "Did she tell you anything?"
"Mrs-O'Flanaghan-Please-Call-Me-Maddie?" He shrugs. "Well... yeah, she did. I mean, she just said that you lived with them for a bit. You and Cal. And that you used to work at the pub the old man used to run."
"She didn't... say anything else?" What else could Maddie say? After all, he'd made sure she didn't say anything, hadn't he? It'll be our little secret.
"Aside from what a sweet girl you were and how much she missed you after you left town? Not really." He shrugs, then presses tentatively. "But I think she genuinely wants to speak with you. From the sounds of what she said..." He hesitates for a moment, then ploughs on. "Well, it seems as though she was a bit unsure about why you left town."
"Yeah, well..." Kate kicks the rock once more. "Some things are better off not knowing."
"How was work?" Cal flops back onto the lounge and wiggles so that her feet rest on Kate's lap. Kate ignores the blatant invasion of personal space and simply stares at her sister, her red hair bright against the muted paint of the wall. "Anything exciting happen?"
"Not really." Knowing that she'd have to give Cal something, or else she'd needle until Kate revealed something, Kate shrugs. "Uh, there was a car versus truck. But no one was hurt."
"That's good, I guess." Cal grins. When Kate says nothing, she looks up, confused. "It is good, isn't it? I mean, it wasn't a carload of serial killers or Liberals, was it?"
"No, it was... it was good." More for something to do than any real need for food, Kate fiddles with the block of chocolate on the lounge next to her and snaps off a square.
Cal eyes Kate suspiciously. "Kate, I know when you're lying. I can tell." She leans closer, lowering her voice. "So spill. What's going on?"
She'd intended to tell Cal gently, if at all. But the words tumble from her in a rush, and Kate blurts out, "Patrick is in town."
"What?!" Her jaw drops and she sits up so quickly that as she swings her foot around it very nearly clubs Kate in the head.
"He was... in the car. With Maddie and the girls."
"Shit." Kate can already see Cal's eyes darting around the house, no doubt mentally cataloguing whether each door and window were locked. Kate can hardly blame her; she feels like she's checked them at least ten times tonight already. "Have you told Bridie?"
"Of course not." Kate snaps.
"Well, did he say anything?" Cal presses. "Did he threaten you?"
"No!" Kate shakes her head, laying a steadying hand on Cal's shoulder. "He... he didn't have the chance. Maddie was... Maddie. I mean, she doesn't know and... and fuck, what's he doing here?"
"Well, we can't wait to find out, can we?" Cal stands up, and Kate knows that if she doesn't stop her younger sister, she'll soon find herself barricaded inside the house and armed with kitchen knives. "What if he followed you here?"
"He didn't." Kate closes her eyes for a moment, kneading at her forehead with her knuckles. "Cal, just... just sit, honey."
"How do you know he didn't?" Cal steps towards the blinds, peeling it back and peering out into the dark night beyond, as though expecting to see his face pressed against their living room window.
"Because I've been driving around town for an hour before I came home and no one followed me." She hadn't felt terror like that in years. And, God, she just needs him to leave. Kate can't stop the anger from filling her as she throws her hands into the air. "Cal, I'm dealing with it! I shouldn't have even said anything-"
"So... you admit it. You're scared too. Kate, you need to go to the cops! Kate, he's a psycho-" Kate pushes herself up off the lounge, cutting off Cal's words with a hand.
"Cal, we're safe here. Okay? He left the scene before I did, and he doesn't know where we live. And... and he wouldn't try anything. Not like this. It's not his style."
"So now you're defending him again?"
"Of course not! I... I just..." She rakes a hand through her hair. "Look, I need to check Bridie's still asleep."
"So that's it?" Cal slaps a hand on her leg. "We're not even going to discuss this?" She aims a kick at a fallen lounge cushion, sending it skittering across the floor.
"Discuss what? I... I'm done, Callie. I'm tired. I just... I don't want to think about him."
"He..." Cal splutters. "We had a home, Kate! We had a home with Maddie and... and Sierra and Lila, and then he- he wrecked all that!"
"You think I don't know what he's done?!" Kate snaps. She's beyond irritated now, regretting saying anything at all. "But... God, I just can't go through it all again tonight. I just want... I just want to hug Bridie and sleep. It's just... I don't want to think about the past tonight."
"But it's not the past, is it?" Cal interjects, jabbing a hand towards the hall. "When his daughter is in the next room and-"
"What?" Bridie's voice cuts through the conversation, and both of them whip around to see Bridie, tousle-haired and pyjama-clad, standing in the doorway.
"Bridie!" Kate gasps, taking a step closer to her daughter and stretching out a hand. "How long have you been there?"
"Long enough." Bridie murmurs. "I... I've asked you about my father a million times, and you'd always tell me this story about how he was a good man..."
"Bridie-"
"But you lied to me, didn't you?" She takes a shaking step forwards, looking between Cal and Kate. "Both of you lied to me?"
"Bridie-" Kate takes another step closer, reaching out for her daughter.
"No!" Bridie snaps. "Just... just get away from me!"