Meet Cate by Fiona Barnes Read Free Book Online Page B

vent.
    "Cold?" Mike asked, his eyes on the road.
    She shook her head and continued watching landscapes fly by.
    The drive was intimate, the dark seamless. Blake Sheldon was quietly singing about being lonely on the car stereo. Heat slipped slowly around Cate, making her sleepy. She could smell the scent of strong coffee from Mike's travel mug−light with no sugar, she knew.
    He slowed, looking both ways quickly at an intersection, then making a precise right. She watched the diner slide smoothly into view, noting the few parked cars and the comforting lights. It crossed her mind to touch his arm.
    Let's just drive, she'd say. Keep going. Don't ever stop. He'd stare at her for a minute, wondering why, but he'd do it. Mike. Her Mike.
    He'd been her best friend since middle school, where they'd met in the large, open library. Cate was shelving books, feeling important, and Mike had come along to use the new computer system. He was a junior programmer, studious and intelligent. When he started showing up a couple days each week, as she did, Cate didn't think anything about it.
    When he asked her out, she hesitated.
    They'd dated for a few weeks at the end of that summer, the innocent, strong love only the young seem to find. Sitting on the beach, she'd leaned back against his shoulder and watched the sun set over gentle waves.
    "Do you think about the future?" Mike had asked her then.
    She shook her head. "Do you?"
    "Yeah."
    She turned to him then, a smile on her lips: "What about?"
    "You," he said, watching her face. "Us."
    Cate sat up carefully, staring. Her blue eyes were wide.
    "We'd get married." Mike leaned closer. His deepening voice was low and serious. "We'd have two kids: Jennifer and Bobby. There'd be a white picket fence and a swing out back."
    A horn beeped as Mike sat at the traffic light, knocking Cate back to the present. He glanced up at the rearview mirror, no expression on his face.
    "Whatever happened to Jennifer and Bobby?" she asked him now.
     
     

Chapter Twenty Two
    Mike rolled into the parking lot and eased to a stop. He shifted into neutral and pulled the parking brake, the lines settling with a satisfying chunk .
    He stared straight ahead at the diner for a second, then turned to face Cate with a slight smile. "What made you ask that?"
    "I don't know. I was just thinking."
    "About that summer?"
    "I guess."
    "Cate−"
    "Let's eat, okay?" She flashed a grin at Mike, opening her door and climbing up and out of the seat before he could answer.
    The pair were seated by the window in a tall booth. Other diner's conversation muddled around them, mixing with the newscast from a large-screen TV.
    "Cate−" Mike's eyes seemed to sum her up easily, a twinkle dancing through them.
    She was reading the menu as if it were The Bible and she was late for church. Her finger marked each word even as her eyes flew across the pages. Her other hand held the menu in place like a prisoner.
    "Cate," Mike said firmly. He placed his larger hands down over her smaller ones, effectively stopping her movement.
    "What?" She looked up at him, lost. Tears that hadn't been there a minute ago formed over the lump in her throat. Suddenly she wanted to run.
    Mike took all of this in with a patience she couldn't understand.
     

Chapter Twenty Three
    Mike had always known just how to handle her.
    Now he ordered plates of pancakes, sides of bacon and crispy home fries. He topped it off with orange juice and whole milk, handing the waitress their menus as he spoke.
    He smiled at the pretty girl, who then looked at Cate.
    "You're so lucky," she said. "My husband never gets it right."
    Cate smiled weakly and the waitress swept away.
    Mike knew better than to push. Cate would talk when−if−she was ready. Instead, he wrapped her up in talk of his day, all of his mundane work stories and funny little anecdotes. When the food was delivered, he watched her dig into the pancakes and nibble on the bacon. She sipped the milk, listening, leaning