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the water fighting to get inside. The world beyond the glass was
blurry.
People lingered in the grill. Alex could hear them mumbling to
themselves about waiting for the storm to break.
Katie drew a fortifying breath and reached for her bags.
“Miss Katie!” Kristen cried, sounding almost panicked. She stood,
brandishing the picture she’d colored. She’d already torn it from
the book. “You almost forgot your picture.”
Katie reached for it, brightening as she examined the picture. Alex
noted how—at least for an instant—everything else in the world
seemed to be forgotten.
“This is beautiful,” she murmured. “I can’t wait to hang it up.”
“I’ll color another one for you the next time you come in.”
“I’d like that very much,” she said.
Kristen beamed before sitting at the table again. Katie rolled up
the picture, making sure not to wrinkle it, and then tucked it into
the bag. Lightning and thunder erupted, almost simultaneously
this time. Rain hammered the ground and the parking lot was a
sea of puddles. The sky was as dark as northern seas.
“Do you know how long the storm is supposed to last?” she
asked.
“I heard it was supposed to last most of the day,” Alex answered.
She stared out the door. As she debated what to do, she toyed
again with the nonexistent ring. In the silence, Kristen tugged at
her dad’s shirt.
“You should drive Miss Katie home,” she told him. “She doesn’t
have a car. And it’s raining hard.”