Kate should've killed him years ago.
She had it all planned out just a few years before. She'd take out an insurance policy under her mother's name, blow up the house, make it look like an accident and that'd be it. Her mom would be free, set up for life. No more Wayne, no more injuries she couldn't explain.
But the documents had come in the mail and her mother, Diane, had gotten to them before she could. She'd kicked Kate out of the house, called her ungrateful, and told her not to return.
Part of her wished she'd blown up the house anyway. But she hadn't. She'd just packed up her things and rode her motorcycle into the horizon as if she had some adventure to go on. That's what she tried to tell herself, that it was an adventure.
She'd ridden her bike all the way to Tom's house. Her childhood best friend hadn't been able to deny her asylum, at least for a while. His fiancée, Rachel, wasn't very fond of Kate or their friendship. She saw both as a threat to their relationship and didn't make much of an effort to welcome Kate.
Kate hadn't stayed long, scared to step on Rachel's toes and ruin something good for Tom. She was good at that, ruining the good things, especially for herself. (She had ruined any chance of them being anything more than friends, after all, hadn't she?)
It'd been a struggle to find balance, to find a proper job that paid her enough to rent a little one-bedroom house in the big city. It made her regret not going to college like Tom had. She'd had the grades, but she'd stayed behind to try to protect her Ma.
In the five years since she'd left, Kate had made quite a name for herself. Her boss at the diner she'd worked at had let her take the pictures for the new menu he was making and he'd loved it so much that whenever clients commented on the pictures, he told them it was her. She hadn't expected it to spark interest in the clients, but they'd asked if she took family portraits and real estate pictures and a side career in photography had taken off.
She loved it and she'd made enough money to drop the waitressing job, though she still gave her former boss, Joe, a discount whenever he needed something, either for the diner or for his family. He'd been kind to her and she could never repay him.
Returning to Cedar Rapids had never been in her plans, but the second she'd gotten a call from Tom saying her mom was in the hospital, she'd dropped everything, canceled all photo sessions, and gone back. It was bad, she knew. She could hear it in his voice. But nothing had prepared her to see her mother on her deathbed.
Cancer, they'd said. Stage 4, metastasized to multiple organs. Incurable, just a matter of time.
It weighed on her that she had little time to say goodbye. It angered her that, in a way, Wayne had stolen time with her mother from her. It hurt her that Diane had refused to let her in, refused to see her.
So, yes, she should've killed him when she had the chance. She should've rid the world of his stench and his legacy, even if it cost her her freedom — it had cost her her mom either way.
She'd stormed out of the hospital and Tom had followed suit, as he often had. He'd been hesitant to run away with her when they were kids, but she knew that if she'd tried, he would've been there with her every step of the way. Even if he didn't have anything he wanted to leave behind.
He was a lot faster than she remembered. He'd never really been able to keep up with her when they were kids, always huffing and puffing his way behind her, long after she'd stopped running. But he'd reached her just before she got to her car, pulling her into his arms and letting her cry out all the feelings that overwhelmed her.
Her tears had drenched the collar of his white coat as he tried to soothe her as he had so many times when they were growing up and things had gotten difficult for her at home. This time, the harsh reality of having no family left had sunk in for Kate and it hurt more than she'd ever expected it to.
"Let's go somewhere, get your mind off of things."
She felt tempted to refuse, to just make her way back home, to move on with her life. But Tom, too, felt like home and, after not seeing him for so long, she owed him some of her time and attention. After all, he'd sacrificed so much to be there for her her whole life.
A Halloween carnival had not been what she expected when she'd accepted his offer. But as they drove in, she couldn't help but roll her eyes at the activities before her. "We haven't been to one of these since we were 12, Tom."
"And, until then, it was tradition. We didn't miss a single one, remember? You loved these!"
"We were kids, Tom. I don't want to bob for apples," she whined.
"Come on, Katie. Live a little."
She lets him drag her to the corn maze straight ahead, grateful that he didn't try to push her to do one of the hay rides or towards the petting zoo. Part of her is nostalgic, remembering all the times they ran through cornfields as kids and came to holiday attractions just like this one to compete and see who could find their way out first.
For some reason, this time, she felt uneasy, even if Tom blabbered on about how his son, Connor, loved this sort of thing. He and Rachel were planning on bringing him to this very one the following weekend, but he was happy to share in the experience with Kate first, for old times' sake.
The maze was longer than she expected, but they were successfully finding their way through it. She was thankful Tom hadn't shut up since they'd paid the fee to go in, it guaranteed that her mind wouldn't wander to her mother and how she was losing her, in more ways than one.
A cry caught her attention and it took her a while to spot the source. Curled up in one of the corners, hidden amongst the corn wall, was a small blond boy. His tear-streaked face was as bright red as the flannel shirt he was wearing. "Hey, little man, you okay?" It was a stupid question, she knew that. But she was trying to sound as non-threatening as she could as she knelt down next to him, sneaking a glance at Tom, who was already looking around, trying to see if there was any way they could signal that there was a lost child in the maze.
"I want my mommy," the boy sobbed.
Kate's heart panged for him. She, too, wanted her mom. She always had. All she'd ever wanted was for her mom to love her as she was, as much as Kate herself loved her. But Kate had never really felt much affection from the woman who had given her life.
Kate introduced herself and then bent down further and picked him up, snuggling the small boy to her chest as he wrapped his arms and legs tightly around her. "Is it okay if we go find the exit and wait for your mommy there? There might be some people who can help find her."
She spoke softly, but didn't move until she felt the boy nod against her neck. Tom stayed back, not wanting to scare the boy who'd already found comfort in Kate.
She signaled for him to lead the way and he did, moving ahead of them a little faster, checking for paths that weren't dead ends. It took them a little while, but they finally started hearing chatter again and Tom followed the sound, Kate speeding up behind him until they came out of it.
They all felt like they could breathe again, the crisp air around them less contained than in the maze. Kate scanned the crowd, looking for someone manning the attractions that maybe they could talk to. But before she could spot one, a man was running towards her.
"Aaron!"
The man's yell got the boy's attention and, when he dug his face out of Kate's neck and saw him, wiggled out of her arms, running towards the man as well. "Uncle Jack!"
The man ran his hand over his thick stubble in relief, before kneeling at the boy's height and pulling him into a hug. Kate watched them interact, as Tom found a spot at her side and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, trying to comfort her.
It was grounding, she thought, as she watched the man tell the young child that his mom had been really worried. She felt out of place, her job there done, but she couldn't move, eyes trained on them. It wasn't until the man stood up and walked toward her that she snapped out of it.
"Thanks for getting him out, I don't even know how he went in there. He was with me one second and then the next he was gone," the man, Jack, said, rubbing the back of his head. "My sister would kill me if we didn't find him, but thankfully you did."
Tom's phone rang and he excused himself to answer his wife. Kate could've sworn she saw Jack's eyes twinkle in the golden hour light.
He extended a hand for her to shake, his gratitude evident on his face as they shared pleasant introductions. "It was no trouble, couldn't leave the little man crying in there. We were just going to find someone to help."
"Can we get hot chocolate?", Aaron's small voice piped up.
"Of course, we can. Let's just find you mom and we can go."
"Can Kate come?"
Normally, she would've found an excuse not to. It wasn't her place, she had nothing to do with them. But his hopeful little voice and the way Jack's eyes seemed to beg her to say yes compelled her to. "Please, join us. Consider it our way to say 'Thank you'."
"Yeah, okay. I guess I can."
Aaron asked to be put down and, once on the ground, placed himself between them, holding their hands. Jack tried to make conversation, asking her questions she found herself easily responding. It wasn't normal for her to have her guard down, but something about them felt different.
Tom had to leave, unfortunately, but he told her to try and have fun and make some new friends. He knew she hadn't made much of an effort to make friends while away.
It didn't go unnoticed to her that, to the average person, they looked like a little family. And that surprisingly didn't bother her, though she couldn't understand why.
Once they finally found Aaron's mother, Claire, Kate had felt even more comfortable with them. The blonde woman's bubbly, expansive personality was welcoming and warm. They hit it off like they'd known each other their whole lives and it made Kate laugh whenever Claire said something that embarrassed Jack. The way his entire face went beet red was both amusing and endearing.
She hadn't expected to stay with them for so long, but when she looked at her watch, it was well after nine, Aaron long asleep across his mother's lap. "I should get going, I have to head back home, still." It wasn't until then that she realized she'd gone there with Tom and her motorcycle was still at the hospital.
Kate hadn't even realized she'd muttered something about it until Jack offered to give her a ride. She tried to decline, saying it wasn't necessary, but he'd insisted. On the drive, Claire and a sleeping Aaron in the backseat, they'd talked some more. Talking to Jack was easy.
In the hospital parking lot, she said hesitant goodbyes and got out of the car, sprinting off towards her bike. But when Jack called out for her from the car window as he drove her way, she turned back around. He slipped her a simple piece of paper, his number scribbled on it, his eyes hopeful in a silent request that she call him.
She definitely would.