Her Mysterious Ways

Chapter 22: I Care

"Thanks for dinner, Darrell. It was great." I thanked him.

"No problem kid. Hey, I need to talk to you about something in the living room. Could you come in there. The rest of you ladies can finish eating and then we'll clean up together, okay?" Darrell asked in his gruff yet gentle voice.

Everyone nodded in agreement. They didn't even want to hurry up and swallow their food so they could give a real response.

"Okay..." I said reluctantly and got up. He sauntered into what seemed to be the living room and sat in a chair. I sat down in one beside Darrell's and waited for him to say something.

"So here's the deal. I may not be a father or anything, but I'm worried about," Again, he had to think about her the right thing to call her, "Andy. She hasn't had an easy life by any means and I just want to make sure it's better from now on."

"I get it. I really do, and I would never do anything to hurt her. She's my best friend, and I just couldn't." My voice was quiet, hoping that Andy wouldn't hear.

"Just your friend?" His eyebrows raised as a small smile formed on his face.

"Just my friend, I assure you, she doesn't want anything to do with me in that way." A small laugh escaped me when I told him the absolute truth.

"Don't be so sure, Cole. She has mysterious ways. If you like her enough, you'll find a way to win her over. Trust me."

"I never said I liked her."

"Didn't have to." He winked.

"Why do you care so much anyway?" I asked, wanting to know the answer. It was really interesting, knowing that fathers or father figures never wanted their girls to date.

"I'm one of the only ones that she has left, and when I saw how she acts around you, I knew you're a good person for her to be around. I haven't seen her that happy in a long time, Cole, and to see her like that is the best thing ever. She seems happy for the first time since..." He trailed off.

"Since what?" A million scenarios ran through my mind, but I couldn't pick just one that could've happened.

"She'll tell you when she's ready. Don't worry, kid. Everything will work out eventually." He smiled, got out of his chair, and left the room. I shook my head and followed him, wondering what the hell he was talking about.

"Hey, I've got a board game that I haven't played in years. Anyone want to take a go at it?" Darrell asked everyone when I entered the room.

"Grandma and me will!" Grace screeched in a very high pitched voice.

"Yes dear. I will." Grandma patted Gracie's hand and smiled gingerly.

"Cole, do you want to go for a walk?" Andy asked me, her eyes holding an emotion I couldn't quite place.

"Yeah, sure. Thanks again for supper, Darrell." I gave him a nod and headed towards the door.

As soon as we both had our winter gear on, she stepped outside and started walking, not even waiting for me to catch up to her. I really had no idea what was going through her mind, but I wanted to find out. I think she wanted to talk about it with someone other than her shrink but didn't know how to bring it up, so I decided to go for it.

"Andy, what happened?" I asked her, every word catching in my throat.

"What do you mean what happened?" Her eyes pierced through me and a scowl littered her face.

"No one has that many scars on their arms and gets sent to the hospital, and then a shrink once a week for no reason." I licked my lips but kept my eyes on her.