Page 38 of The Sandbar saga

Chapter 14

The school bell rang. Katie gathered her backpack and strode out of the classroom before the others could beat her to the door. It was finally the weekend.

Dr. Conner had been coming to see her religiously for four years, only missing one time because his mother had passed away—totally understandable because he had a good relationship with her— and today was her sixteenth birthday.

He promised to take her out to dinner to celebrate instead of spending the time talking. With her birthday, came the freedom to leave the school grounds, without an adult, as long as she was back in the dorm at seven o'clock on school nights and ten o'clock on the weekends.

She slammed the door to her room, wiggled out of her uniform, and slipped on a pair of jeans and an oversized, off-white, fisherman's sweater. The weather had changed recently, and it rained more than the sun came out.

Never thinking any place would get worse weather than Astoria, she'd been wrong. The Puget Sound area had more gloomy days with full cloud cover, especially during the -ber months. She put on mascara, lined her mouth with the lip stain she was addicted to wearing, and let her hair out of the messy bun she'd worn all day, knowing it would loosely curl halfway down her back.

Spritzing perfume on the insides of her elbows, she grabbed her wallet-purse that held her cell phone and hurried down the stairs. As she pushed out the front door of the school, she spotted Dr. C's car at the curb.

Not wasting time, she jogged over and opened the passenger door, sliding into the seat. "I hope you weren't waiting for long. I hurried."

"You're right on time." He pulled out into traffic. "Have you had a good day?"

She smiled at him. "One of the best."

"Excellent. That's how birthdays are supposed to be."

He'd changed since she'd met him. More relaxed and not so demanding about asking her questions. She chalked it up to his decision to go into private practice for himself and no longer worked for the clinic. Whether that change came with more stress, which added a few more gray strands in his hair at the temples and deeper lines at his eyes, he seemed happy when he visited her.

She reached over and slid her finger underneath the hair at this collar, pulling it out from underneath his shirt. He still kept his hair a little longer than most doctors, in her experience, and he never seemed concerned about the stubble growing along his jaw.

He glanced at her and smiled. Her stomach warmed. He seemed to like it when she touched him.

"Where are you taking me?" She leaned forward and played with the radio, finding her favorite station. "I wasn't sure how I should dress, but after being in a uniform all day, I didn't want to put on a dress. I hope jeans are okay. I picked a pair without any rips, just in case we were going somewhere nice."

He glanced in her direction, his gaze going down her body. "You look good."

"For a sixteen-year-old?" She grinned. "Can you believe it? Two more years of school, and I am out of there. Goodbye, St. Mary's, hello world."

"You still have college."

She wrinkled her nose. "I'll probably get a job."

He hmm'd as he was prone to do when he held back his opinion. She looked at his Adam's apple. Today, he'd unbuttoned his shirt three spaces and had the sleeves rolled up past his elbows.

"What did you do today?" She sat back and waited for him to fill her in.

"I had a meeting."

"Another evil child needing to prove herself sane?"

He frowned and glanced at her. She laughed. He had two rules. She was never to make fun of herself or try to get him to talk about his other patients.

The older she got, the more she realized how screwed up her life was from the beginning. Going to St. Mary's probably saved her in some ways. It got her out of her mother's house. It also forced her to take control of her schooling and her living situation. The added responsibilities, looking back, weren't a bad thing.

While she used to miss being normal, the longer her mother stayed away, the more she allowed herself to rely on those around her. She made friends. She adapted.

Not seeing her mother in four years was the best thing for her. All she had was two more years to go, and she was home-free. She'd drop out of existence, and her mother would never find her.

Though she doubted her mom would look for her. She'd faced the fact that her mother had abandoned her. With her dad dead, there was no one to force her mother to care about her, and she was okay with that. Most of the time.

"Here we are." He pulled into a parking lot behind a Chinese Pavilion restaurant.

She took off her seatbelt before the vehicle came to a stop. "I am so hungry."