The Power Within

Chapter Six

I walked into the kitchen, and stopped, and stared. It looked straight out of a magazine. The kitchen was massive, with a big island in the center. The cabinets were a dark cherry color, and the countertops, which looked like granite to me, were an eggshell white. The floor was a gorgeous, shiny light wood. The big window above the sink let in a lot of natural light, and the view of the woods was beautiful. Off to the left of the kitchen was an enormous dining room, the table looked like it could easily sit over 20 people. Who are these people? And do they really need a table that big?  I wondered. 

Gabby looked up from the center island, where the stove-top was. She was stirring something in a large, stainless silver pan. "Did you have a nice shower? I bet you are hungry."

"Starving, and I did have a nice shower. " I said, and sat down on one of the stools at the island. "What are you making? It smells good."

"Just my homemade spaghetti." She told me. "I heard your voice talking, were you talking to your parents again?" She asked, as she poured a small skillet full of hamburger, or at least it looked like hamburger to me, into the big silver pot.

I nodded my head. "Yup, they are about an hour away. So," I brought my phone out of my back pocket, and glanced at the time on the cracked screen. "They should be here around 7 or so." I put my phone back into my pocket.

I turned and saw Mia skipping into the kitchen. She plopped down on the stool next to mine. "Mom, when is dinner going to be done? I'm wasting away." She whined, but sent me a wink. 

Gabby looked at her daughter, and gave her a look I couldn't decipher. "You better knock that off, you are a grown woman, you don't whine anymore, at least not around me. And dinner is almost done. Go set the table." 

Mia huffed, and put her chin in her hand. "Why do we have to eat in that huge dinning room anyway?"

Gabby just shook her head, "Because it makes your brother happy. And right now, we could all use some extra 'happy'." Gabby went back to concentrating on cooking. 

Mia muttered something to herself that sounded an awful like, "well, older brother is a d**k head, why do I want to make him happy?" But she went to the cabinets and started to take out plates, anyway.

I stood up to help. 

Gabby looked up at me, and shook the wooden spoon, in her hand, at me. "Oh, no you don't, you sit back down. You just woke up after a car accident, and besides, you are our guest. There is no way you are helping."

I sat back down. I learned from my mother, that one should never argue with a mom when she points kitchen utensils at you. 

I sent Mia an apologetic smile. She smiled back and waved her hand, "Mom's right, you shouldn't be helping. I'm glad to see you awake, though. How are you feeling?" She asked me. She walked over and sat the plates down on that huge table. She came back and opened another cabinet and starting taking out glasses. 

"I'm feeling pretty good." I turned on my stool as I heard a door open and close.

"Mom, I'm home." A deep voice announced. The man, the voice belonged to, came into the kitchen. He was tall, and slightly bulky. It looked like he even had a small gut under his black long-sleeve shirt. I looked up to meet his eyes. They were a light blue, not like Gabby's eyes at all. Gabby's eyes were a beautiful green, that just screamed friendly when I looked into them. His eyes, though, seemed almost cold and mean. He was handsome, even with those cold eyes. His nose was a little big, but it fit his face, his lips were in a thin line as he narrowed those eyes when he met my stare. "Oh, you're awake. Finally, now you can get the hell out." 

"Mica," Gabby admonished. "Don't speak to her that way!"

So this is Mica. Well, now I can put a face to that smell. I thought to myself. I stood up and offered him my hand. My mother taught me manners, and I was going to use them, even if he acted like a d**k head. "I'm Kiley. I am sorry for any trouble I've cause. And I am very grateful for all of your family's help." 

His gaze went down to my out-stretched hand, and then back up to my face. "Just get out." He said in a tired voice. He put his hands in his pocket. 

"Um..." I started. 

Gabby interrupted me. "Mica Leonardo Skolt, I raised you better than that. Apologize right this instant, and get out of my kitchen if you are going to upset me."

He let out a sigh and sat down on the stool Mia had been in a few minutes ago. I remained standing. No way I was going to sit next to him. His smell was already bothering me. I still had no clue why, though. 

"I'm sorry." He didn't even look at me while he apologized. 

I just shrugged my shoulders, and went around to lean against the sink. At least, over here by the sink, I can't smell him as much.  "No biggie, my parents are on their way, so I will be out of your hair soon anyway." I crossed my arms.

Gabby looked over at me. "Like I said earlier, you are not bothering me at all. Please, you'll have to excuse my rude son. I'm not sure what is wrong with him."

Mica sighed again, and laid his head on his folded arms that were on top of the counter. "It was just a rough day at the restaurant." A few strands of his dark, brown hair fell over his eyes. 

Gabby laid her spoon down next to the stove, and walked over to her son. She patted his shoulder. "I'm sorry, dear." She placed a small kiss on his head.

I glanced at Mia in time to see her roll her eyes. I heard the door open and close again. A loud, feminine voice yelled, "Where's the food?"

Gabby rolled her eyes and went back to the big pot on the stove. "It's in the kitchen, you rude child." She said loudly. Gabby looked over at me. "I promise, I thought I raised my children better than this." She told me with a small shake of her head.

I waved one of my hands at her statement. "Don't worry about it. People are allowed to be rude every now and then. At least I think so, anyway. Although, my mother would agree with you."

Gabby smiled at me. I turned my head and looked at the woman who entered the kitchen. She was tall and lean like Mia, but her hair was short and light blond. She had Gabby's green eyes, though. Those green eyes met mine.

"Hey, the sleeping beauty is awake." She said. She walked over and took the stool next to Mica. "Name's Louisa," she told me. "How ya feeling?"

"I'm feeling good. Your mom told me you were the one who stopped and got me out of my truck. So, thank you very much."

She shrugged, "Not a problem, I'm sure anyone would have done it."

I gave a quick look at Mica, who still had his head down. I thought to myself, I'm not sure he would have. I looked back to Louisa. "Thanks anyway. And you went back to tow my truck here too?"

She gave a short nod, "Yup, it was easy stuff, cupcake. don't worry about it."

I must have given her an odd look, because she explained, "I call everyone cupcake. Sorry. It's a habit."

I smiled at her. "Well, my name is Kiley if you want to use that."

Louisa grinned at me. "I think you and I could be best friends."

I just laughed and shook my head at her. 

Gabby announced, "dinner is done," as she turned off the stove.

I let out a small moan when I took a bite of Gabby's delicious spaghetti. "Gabby, this tastes amazing." I told her, as I gathered more noodles on my fork.

Gabby gave me a big smile. "Thank you, dear. I have made this spaghetti ever since Mica was a baby. It was Leo's favorite." Her smile disappeared. 

I looked around the table at Louisa, Mia, and Mica, and noticed their faces looked grim, as well, at the mention of this Leo guy. 

Mia met my gaze, and explained, "Leo was our dad. He passed away a little over two years ago." She said with a soft voice.

Mica slammed his fork on the table, "He didn't just pass away. He was murdered." His deep, angry voice shook. He stood up, and stalked out of the room. Gabby's eyes followed her son. A few seconds passed, and we all heard a door slam shut. 

I looked at Gabby as she said, "Sorry about his temper, he still is extremely upset about his dad's death."

I nodded my head, "No, don't worry about it. I would be extremely upset too if my dad was gone." My heart went out to this family. Here they were, helping me, a complete stranger, even though they were, obviously, still hurting and grieving over Leo.

Gabby gave a thin smile, and said a little too brightly, "So, Kiley, tell me about you. What are you doing in our neck of the woods?"

I happily went along with the abrupt change of subject. "I'm a photographer, and I am just up here on vacation. I was actually on my way to Copper Harbor before I wrecked."

"Oh, Copper Harbor is beautiful, I've been up there twice with Luke," Louisa told me.

Mia sighed and twirled noodles around with her fork, "I've never been anywhere." She complained.

Gabby patted Mia's hand, "Let's not talk about that right now, please, dear."

Mia just gave her mom a slight nod and went back to twirling her noodles. 

I took a sip of water, as Louisa asked me, "So, a photographer huh?"

I nodded, "Yup. I work for a magazine down in Chicago." I took another bite of spaghetti.

Gabby smiled a real smile, "Oh, good for you. I bet your pictures are very good then."

I just shrugged. "I guess so. I mostly just photograph the models they use for the cover. Nothing too terribly exciting or difficult."

Gabby waved off my comment. "What is the magazine called? I will look it up right after dinner and see for myself how amazing your pictures are."

I laughed at her blind faith in my abilities. Gabby reminded me of Nora, they both had so much faith in their children. "I work for Klose-Ups."

Mia gasped, "I love that magazine. They have great fashion tips that are easy and don't cost a fortune."

I nodded, "Yeah, my friend Becca is one of their writers, and that is her column, actually. She always manages to convince me to be her guinea pig when she wants to try a new make-up look." The women laughed at my remark. 

Mia put her chin in her hand. "I bet you meet so many famous people and so many handsome guys too." She said dreamily. 

I shook my head at her. "Not as much as you think. I promise, it's not all glitter and glamour. Most of the time, it's me yelling at the models and them yelling back at me. And then I have deadlines, and I have to edit, and then re-edit picture after picture."

Mia sighed, still not convinced. "Whatever."

I turned to Louisa, "You said you've been up to Copper Harbor?"

She nodded, "Yes, indeed. Luke and I went up there once for a little get-away, and we loved it so much, we had to go back. We took our second trip up there about three years ago."

"So, who is Luke?" I asked. Her face seemed to light up when she said his name.

"He's my husband. He and Mica own the restaurant together. He works second shift, so I come over to Mom's to eat dinner almost every night. We have a little house that's just a few minutes away from here."

"What about you, Kiley, any special guy in your life, or girl? We don't judge who people love." Gabby said. 

"Nah, no special guy. I don't judge either, though." I told them. "Love is love. Shouldn't matter who it is, as long as the couple is happy."

The women nodded in agreement. A few minutes of silence passed as we all ate. My phone broke the silence. "Excuse me." I said. I stood up and and walked into the kitchen to answer it. It was my dad calling. 

"Hey, Daddy-en."

"I'm glad you answered your phone this time, Kiley-Ann," Dad said in a mocking tone.

I huffed at him, "I said I was sorry!" 

He chuckled. "Anyway, we are almost to Flushmont, what is the exact address of the place you are at?"

I walked back into the dinning room, "Hey, Gabby what is your address, my parents are only about 10 minutes away."

"274 Hickory Road."

"Thanks." I walked back into the kitchen. "Dad, her address is 274 Hickory Road. And we are eating dinner right now." I told him over the phone.

"Alright, well, we will be there soon. Stay safe until we get there."

"Yes sir" I said in a fake serious tone.

I got another chuckled from him before he said, "Love you, Kiley-Ann."

"Love you too, Daddy-en."

I hung up, and put my phone back into my pocket. I walked back into the dinning room so I could finish that delicious spaghetti before my parents showed up.