Page 41 of The Sandbar saga
Part Two
Dr. Conner
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Chapter 15
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THE PRINCIPAL OF ST. Mary's Academy stepped up to the mic on the podium. "Katie Meihoff."
Katie glided down the aisle of filled chairs and walked toward the stage. Race clapped, trying to make up for the lack of family in attendance at her graduation. In a flowing navy colored gown and cap with gray tassel, she regally strolled forward in high heels, holding her shoulders straight and her head high.
He couldn't take his eyes off her. She'd completed her senior year, making the honor roll.
He never had a doubt that she was smart. Wise beyond her years, she'd grown up before she'd physically matured.
She'd gone through more downs than ups, and each time pulled herself to the surface with a thrive for independence. In all aspects of her life, she'd found her confidence.
Her long blonde hair cascaded down her back as she kept her chin level and her gaze straight ahead. Anyone looking would see a strong young woman on the brink of adulthood and never guess that behind the calmness, a storm waited to erupt.
She had an unnatural dependence on him, one he never discouraged. Her emotions swung wildly, going from one extreme to another. She had yet to control herself, but she was trying.
She tried so damn hard it killed him at times to see her struggle.
He'd taken on her case six years ago because he was the newest psychologist at the clinic and handed the clients that no one wanted to invest themselves in. Over the years, he found himself intrigued the deeper she let him in. He'd stepped into a parental role because Katie had no one to fight for her, and in the end, had become her guardian.
Katie reached up and switched her tassel to the other side of her cap before walking off the stage and going back to her seat with the other girls in her class. He sat back down, observing her carefully, trying to sense some kind of self-awareness of what she'd accomplished tonight.
She kept her gaze forward and put the diploma on her lap, folding her hands. A light, floaty feeling came through his chest, recognizing the tight reign she used to control her emotions. She'd done the same proper hand placement as a child, sitting prim and proper to please her mother, so as not to get in trouble or be noticed.
Except, her mother wasn't here. She hadn't been here for the last six years. Once he'd signed the guardianship papers, she'd disappeared from Astoria.
A priest approached the podium and led everyone in prayer. Katie turned her head, looking through the crowd of parents, sisters, brothers, and grandparents, packing the bleachers. He'd come in early, sitting at the end, four rows up, making sure he could see her throughout the ceremony.
Her gaze rolled over him before coming back and connecting with him. She stared at him in the way she had a habit of doing, trying to gauge his feelings—if he accepted her behavior or disapproved.
For how confident and wise she was, she came to him insecure and desperate for affection. A class code 4-90 thru 4-98. Her behavioral and emotional disorders with onset developed in early childhood. Her abandonment and rejection issues were severe enough to permanently scar her.
The mental disorders the school suspected all those years ago were quickly proven non-existent. In all ways, she had full functions and balances. But he couldn't breach her sub-conscious.
Anyone she permitted into her life would realize she would always doubt the levels of love given to her. She would forever believe every heartache, hardship, and loss that touched her would come about because of something she had done or thought.
Stopping her worry, he winked in approval. Katie's brows softened in relief, and she winked back, pursing her lips. The smile inside of him tugged at his mouth. She'd been practicing.
During spring break, she'd come home with him and spent ten days trying to blink with one eye, and then added what she referred to as duck lips to make it more feminine. Her antics had amused him for hours, long after she'd left and returned to school.
He exhaled quietly through a tight chest. The time had come to let her go.
He'd given her everything he had in support, knowing she depended on him more than anyone suspected. She sought his approval, no matter how many ways he tried to push her toward experiencing life with her peers.
The prayer ended. The principal wished them all well, and the eighty-seven female class members stood and threw their caps in the air.
Several girls came over and hugged Katie. She smiled, laughed, spoke, and acted exactly like someone who had put their school days behind them tonight, ready to step out and make her footprints in the world.
He stood and walked down the bleachers, beating the crowd. Escaping the suffocation pressing down on him of an uncertain future.
The last of Katie's belongings were already packed and picked up before graduation, having shipped most of her things to his house over two weeks ago. All he had to do was wait for her to come to him.