Hidden Summit

head.”
    “I’ll go tell them lights out,” she said, heading for their bedroom. And once again, Mommy’s word carried weight because the light went off, the door was pulled almost closed, and it got pretty quiet in there. Just a little murmuring.
    Katie sat on the couch, tired. She leaned back and pushed her hair away from her face, tucking the long strands behind her ear.
    Conner was rooting around in the kitchen. “I’m having a beer. Can you choke down another glass of that fancy wine?”
    “Did you like him?” she asked.
    “I’m having a beer,” he repeated.
    She sighed deeply. “Bring me wine.”
    He popped the top on his beer and poured the wine, taking it into the little living room. He handed it to her. “I didn’t not like him.”
    “Spit it out. What did you find wrong with him?”
    “Nothing. Really, nothing,” Conner said. “What do you find right with him? He just doesn’t seem like your type.”
    “He’s kind. Sensitive. Sweet. Good to the boys. Conscientious. Trustworthy. Dependable.”
    “He could be all those things and have a little more backbone, I’m thinking,” Conner said.
    “He has plenty of backbone!” she replied, a little heat in her voice. “He has a successful practice, is respected in the community, is a good family man....”
    “Hey, don’t get mad. He’s not like the other men in your life. Not like Charlie was. Not like me or Dad.”
    Her chin dropped. “But he’s so kind. Sweet.”
    “Seems to be,” Conner said. “But, Katie, what’s with that hand on the shoulder? Is that the extent of his physical…you know…”
    “He’s been up front about that. He doesn’t want to get physical with an employee. Even though he really likes me.”
    “He said that?” Conner asked.
    “He said that.”
    Conner whistled.
    “Oh, stop it! I know he’s not like other men I’ve been attracted to, but…” And then, inexplicably, she began to cry. She lowered her face into her hands, and soft, quiet sobs came from her.
    Conner moved closer to her, slipping an arm around her shoulders. “Aw, honey. What’s the matter?”
    “What’s taking him so long?” she asked. She lifted her face and peered at her brother. “All I want is a kiss! Well, okay, that’s not all I want, but we have to start somewhere.” She leaned against Conner and wiped her cheeks.
    He stroked her pretty hair. “He’s safe, is that it?”
    “Partly,” she said. “Or maybe mostly.”
    “Is that the way to go?”
    “Well, jeez, Danny…I mean Conner. At least he isn’t going off to war!”
    “There are lots of guys who aren’t quite as…quiet and refined who aren’t going off to war.”
    “There is nothing wrong with quiet and refined!”
    “You know what I mean. It just doesn’t look like he’s going to ring a lot of bells, if you get my drift.”
    “Yeah, I know. I thought about this a lot. The kind of guys I’m used to, the kind I’ve always been attracted to, men like my father and brother, are risk takers. Been there, done that. I’m ready to play it a little safe. I don’t want to keep losing husbands—I don’t want my boys to keep losing fathers.”
    “But, Katie, honey, I’m not a risk taker,” he argued.
    She laughed outright. “Yes, you are. An ordinary guy would run for his life after being threatened after seeing a murder, but not you! You’re going to take the stand, look him in the eye and convict him! You risk your life to do that!”
    “Not exactly,” he said. “I’m taking every possible precaution.”
    “I want a quiet life,” she said. Her eyes grew sad; she shook her head in frustration. “I want my kids to have a good education, a safe upbringing, a stable environment....”
    “And good teeth,” he said with a laugh.
    She wiped her tears and laughed, too. “And good teeth.”
    “He’s…like…perfectly normal. Right?”
    “Just because he loves kids doesn’t make him a pedophile,” she said.
    “But you don’t take that for granted, right? You got your eye on that, right?” Conner asked, because he couldn’t not ask.
    She lifted her head off his shoulder and with her blue eyes in slits, peered up at him. “Like white on rice.”
    He let go a big laugh and squeezed her tight. “Katie, Katie.” This was what people didn’t get about her because she appeared so docile. She was a lioness. A dragon. Because she stepped and talked softly, people sometimes took her for a pushover. Not Katie. No way she was letting her boys