Chapter 8 Home

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Kat wiped her brow with a huff. The sun was unbearable today. She still refused to wear anything less than a long sleeve shirt though. The baggy blue fabric was thin which did offer her some relief. Plus, the large straw sunhat and shorts made up for it anyway. She pushed the lawnmower around the clearing beside the activities field that she'd already finished mowing. The shades of pink and yellow that were beginning to tint the sky made her realize that she didn't know where she was going to sleep tonight...

"Probably a tent..." She told herself before taking a swig of her water. It was still cold. David had brought her one every hour or two to make sure she stayed hydrated. She pinned him from the get go as an empath, but this was getting ridiculous. He was treating her like a camper already...She was an adult, dammit. She could take care of herself now. Kat began to push the lawnmower again with a slightly more determined face. She reminded herself of her condition...David was right to be concerned for her safety... It just wasn't the kind of help she'd expected from a stranger is all... She finally made it up to the top of the small hill and she paused to look back over the mountain range surrounding the lake. She smiled and sighed. She hadn't expected to ever see anything like that again when she was in that bathtub...
"Kat! Kat!" She heard that voice that had become all too familiar after only a day. She turned around and waved at David.

"You just brought me a water half an hour ago, David..." She grinned at him jokingly showing him the bottle and shaking the water around in it.
"No it's not that." He stopped to catch his breath. "Someone stopped by to see you." That caught Kat completely off guard. Who would come see her?
"A-are you sure?" Kat chuckled nervously. David nodded looking excited. She gave him a quizzical look. "What are you so happy about, if you don't mind my asking?" She inquired.
"Come on! I'll show you!" He grinned wildly and took her by the hand and ran with her down the hill. Kat screamed and held onto her hat as she ran down towards the lake with David. She realized she was probably blushing. Luckily that could be pinned on the slight sun burn she was sporting. She saw a car had pulled up beside the councilor's cabin that she didn't recognize. It was a Volkswagen type 2. She'd only ever heard them referred to as hippie vans though. It was a burnt yellow color that looked like it had seen better days. She turned her attention to the determined smile on David's freckled face. She was so confused as to what was going on and it was hard to accept that she would just have to wait and see what this was all about. When they made it to the bottom Kat was practically wheezing. She leaned on the flagpole to catch her breath.
"Oh goodness! I'm sorry!" David who had kept on without her for a couple paces rushed back to her side when he realized what he'd done. He pulled her water bottle from her belt hook and handed it to her.
"I can do it myself..." Kat blushed taking it and taking a few big gulps. David watched with a worried expression "Thankyou..." She sighed wiping her mouth. David's worried expression melted back into a smile. He walked over and opened the cabin door.
"Ron?!" Kat dropped her water bottle. The older man smiled at her from where he sat at the desk.
"Hey there, Katherine..." He stood up and walked outside and over to her. Kat just stood there with wide eyes frozen in place. He paused when he was right in front of her. He extended his arms offering a hug. David smiled wide waiting for her reaction. Kat looked between the two of them before letting herself fall into Ron's arms.
"Oh god, Ron..." Kat sobbed into his jacket.

"I know...I know..." He patted her back. "I came as soon as I found you...Katherine...I'm so sorry. All that you suffered...was because of me. Because I left you there..." He saw Kat cringe at his words. He silently cursed himself. He could have taken her to any motel in the damn city and he had to pick that one because the rates were cheaper...He'd assumed Kat had skipped town when he lost contact with her...He should have checked in with her...
"It's not your fault, Ron..." Kat shook her head with a sniffle. "There was no way you could have known..." she sighed looking away. The car caught her eye again. "What happened to your car Ron? The one you built?" She raised a brow.
"That IS the one I built." He grinned looking proudly at it. "It's the first one I built...when I was a young man." he chuckled remembering his hippie days. He never did cut his hair short again. He trimmed it every now and then of course but he kind of liked the way his silver hair reached his shoulders. His granddaughter would braid it for him from time to time. "Come on I want to show you." He motioned to it. She nodded and followed him over. He opened the side of the long car. Kat gasped audibly.
"Oh wow!" She awed. The front two seats were there but all of the rear seats were taken out. The floor, the walls surrounding the windows, and the insides of the doors were all covered in a shaggy maroon carpet. There was a long thin table affixed to the floor against the left side of the car. On the right side was seating covered in plush cushions.
"Those cushions come up and there's storage under them." He explained. "It's a little rough on the back, but after a few comforters it's actually a nice place to sleep..." Ron explained. "Go inside and check it out?" He gave David a look. David looked back at him excitedly. Kat climbed in oblivious to what was going on. She couldn't stand up straight inside it, but it was rather cozy. She lifted up one of the cushions and sure enough the white wood underneath had a hinge on it. She lifted it up to find...Kat reached in hesitantly and picked up the red book. She opened it up and let the tears spill that she hadn't realized were beginning to collect there.
"Ron... Thankyou..." She smiled at him. She flipped through the baby pictures of her children for a few moments before finding some of her old family photos. Her parents. They'd adopted her at birth, so she never considered them as anything other than her parents. They'd given her such an easy life growing up. She smiled at their memory and closed the book and held it to her chest.
"Keep looking!" Ron laughed happily. Kat smirked at him, set the book down and went back to the cabinet. She chuckled a little bit at the plushies she recognized as ones belonging to Mary from her old house. She looked through her own belongings for a few more moments reminiscing at every little thing she picked up. When she moved to the second cabinet, she started to become aware of what Ron was really doing...but she didn't want to think like that. She didn't want to get her hopes up. It was full of her clothes. All of them would be baggy on her now of course, but she was hoping to fill them out again sometime soon. She cautiously turned back to Ron who was holding up the keys to the van. She was speechless. David strained his neck trying to see her reaction while trying not to get too close and disturb their moment. She covered her mouth and her eyes widened. Ron chuckled.
"Come on now...Don't give me that look." Ron shook his head and folded his arms.
"Ron...I can't possibly accept all this..." Kat's brow furrowed. "I...I..." Kat began but Ron held up a hand to stop her.
"Look...Even if you don't blame me...I blame myself for what happened to you...But this ain't no pity gift." he clarified. "I built a new car with some of the money I got from your stuff..." He explained. "Considering what you went through...I don't need three cars all to myself..." he shrugged. Kat ran to him and wrapped him in a tight hug crying thankyous. Ron patted her comfortingly and for once she wasn't repulsed by the physical contact.