Winning Moves (Stepping Up 3)

“Thank goodness you didn’t answer your phone,” Jason said, handing the requested container to Kat’s mother and elbowing the door shut. “Do you know how long it’s been since I had home-cooked anything?”

“I’d have thought your mom would keep you well fed since you moved your folks to California,” Kat’s mother replied.

Kat digested that with a twist in her gut, her gaze dropping to the floor in an effort to hide her immediate reaction. How had she forgotten that Jason had moved his parents to L.A. a few years back? Sure, he’d bought a house here, a convenience and tax write-off, while filming this season’s show, but he had one there as well. He was no more rooted here than he’d been before. Not really.

“My parents have minds of their own,” Jason replied. “They hated L.A. and they hated being retired. They both took jobs teaching English in Thailand two years ago.”

“They’re in Thailand?” Kat asked, her eyes lifting, seeking Jason, and finding him propped against the counter, arms and legs crossed, his gaze on her.

“Yes,” he said, the look on his face telling her that he knew what she’d been thinking. “They’re in Thailand.”

So he wasn’t bound to L.A. by anything but the work he might choose to take, but hadn’t.

She swallowed hard. “Aren’t you worried about them?”

“I was until the first time I went to visit them and saw how happy they are,” he said, “though I admit the visit was meant to beg, bargain and plead for their return.”

“Oh!” Kat’s mother exclaimed. “I would love to do something like that. I’ve been volunteering at the children’s hospital and Hank has been helping out at a free legal service since selling his firm. We are both going nuts with nothing to do. I’ve been trying to talk him into travel.” Her gaze settled on Jason. “Maybe I could talk to Isabel about it?”

“My mother would be thrilled to hear from you,” Jason assured her. “Call her on Skype by using her first and last name. She’s always online.”

“Skype?” Kat’s mother asked, looking confused. “Is that the same thing as Twitter? Because I don’t want to tell the world my life story in ten words or less. I just want to talk to Isabel.”

Kat and Jason exchanged a look and laughed. “Twitter is one hundred and forty characters or less,” Kat informed her mother. “Skype is a private chat without long-distance fees, a lot like instant message. I’ll show you how to do it.”

“Is it forty characters or less? That seems very limiting.”

“No limit,” Kat assured her. “Just type as you like and you can even do video if you want.”

“Perfect,” her mom replied, putting the food in the oven and rubbing her hands together. “Dinner in about fifteen minutes.”

“That’s perfect,” Jason agreed. “I have to admit the one thing I’d change about your daughter is her hatred of cooking.”

Kat’s mother laughed, but that forced and tense quality to her demeanor had returned, and abruptly, at that. Even her tone was tight as she jokingly replied, “Kat prefers eating to cooking.” She winked at Kat and turned away to the stainless steel stove, opening the door and checking the lasagna, as if she hadn’t just put the tray inside.

Kat and Jason exchanged a concerned look. “Where’s Dad?” Kat asked, determined to find out what the heck was going on.

“Yeah, where is ol’ Hank?” Jason asked. “He and I haven’t gotten in a good game of chess in years.”

“Oh, he went out for a while,” Sheila said, using a pot holder to adjust the foil on the tray before fiddling with the temperature only to change it right back to what it had been a second before.

Kat walked to her mother, resting her hand on her back. “Talk to me, Mom. What’s wrong?”

Her mother inhaled heavily and stood up. “I don’t know. I just…don’t know.”

“What does that mean, Sheila?” Jason asked, sounding as concerned as Kat felt.

“It means that Hank says that he’s out drinking and that every man deserves to go drinking now and then. And when I told him I was calling Kat, he got mad, and now he won’t answer his phone.”

“Dad is out drinking?” Kat asked, glancing at Jason and confirming he was as baffled as she was.

“Since when does Hank drink?” Jason asked. “I could barely get the man to have a beer with me during the holiday football games.”

“He started today, apparently,” Sheila said. “Which is why I know something is wrong. He doesn’t want me to know about whatever it is.” She shook her head. “I… What if it’s another woman?”

Kat gasped and grabbed her mother’s hand. “Oh, God, Mother. It’s not another woman.” She hoped.

“It’s bad, whatever it is,” she said. “And I’d rather him be cheating than hiding some medical condition from me. What other two things can you think of that he would want to hide from me?”