Home for Erring and Outcast Girls by Julie Kibler

Author:Julie Kibler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Crown/Archetype
Published: 2019-07-22T16:00:00+00:00

CATE

Arlington, Texas

2017

The morning after Thanksgiving, I sleep late, as if the presence of another human causes me to sleep deeper than I have in years. Maybe I’ve been on constant alert without even realizing it.

The temperature outside dropped overnight. I pull on yoga pants and a sweatshirt and emerge from my room, stopping to switch on the heat for the first time. In the kitchen I start the kettle boiling but suddenly wonder if Laurel drinks coffee. I prefer tea, hot, strong, and straight-up sweet. Coffee makes me retch.

Little noises come from the dining room and I peek through the opening over the bar. Laurel sits at the table, straightening papers and stacking her books.

“Good morning,” I say. “You’re an early bird. I’m not this morning. Or any morning, actually.” But I wonder now if living by myself for so long has even affected my morning energy. Then again, I was always a night owl. “Finish your studying?”

Laurel nods. “Yup. I can relax for a few days now. Thanks for letting me stay. I’d still be procrastinating if I wasn’t here.” She sniffs. “Oh my gosh, I love that smell.”

I know what she means immediately. Not the water boiling on the stove. The scent of dust burning off the heating coils. I love it too. It smells like winter.

“Hungry?”

Her cheeks redden. “I’m always hungry. I might have already had leftovers.” She raises her hands weakly with a meek smile. “I hope you don’t mind.”

I laugh. It makes me happy, and some other strange emotion. “I’d never eat all that myself. Do you want hot tea? I don’t have coffee.”

“Okay.” She smiles curiously, and I wager she’s never had it. I add splashes of milk and generous amounts of sugar to both mugs, then carry them to the table. Laurel sniffs the pale mixture, then sips with the spoon I brought her. “I like it.” She shrugs. “I usually have warm Dr Pepper for breakfast.”

No surprise. Dr Pepper is a Texas institution, a reasonable substitute for any morning beverage or, really, any meal in a pinch. But warm?

“What will you do the rest of today?” I ask.

Laurel leans back to study the light fixture. “Probably just get a head start on reading. Maybe binge-watch something if my computer cooperates.”

“I’m going on a quest,” I say. “I’ve been waiting for a day I don’t have any other responsibilities—no cleaning, no car maintenance or catch-up work. I’m going to wander around Arlington and Fort Worth and scout out places the girls might have been.”

She knows what girls I’m talking about. Her eyes light up. “That sounds intriguing!”

I chuckle at her choice of words. “You can come.”

I’d figured after a full day of company, I’d be so overwhelmed I’d want to be alone, but I’m not. And I don’t. And I hope Laurel doesn’t think it’s strange I’ve invited her. If I’m correct, she’ll worry more about whether it’s strange to accept. We’re two people hungrier for company than we even realized.

“Okay,” she says.

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