A heartwarming short story

Kim thought she knew where she was going, but then things changed...

“Are we lost, auntie Kim?” Lachlan asked, gazing up at her with trusting blue eyes. He was such a beautiful child, from his fair, curly hair to the tips of his plump little fingers.

“Lost?” she replied. “of course not. I know exactly where we are.”

Her hand tightened around his and a shiver went down her spine as she recalled her brother’s harsh words earlier today.

“Grow up, Kim,” he’d said. “you’re irresponsible and I’m sick of worrying about you. It’s time you stood on your own two feet. you’re not a child any more.”

“Well, maybe if you didn’t treat me like one...” she retorted.

“Don’t give me that,” Mark began. Her sister-in-law, Christina, touched his arm.

“Steady on, Mark.”

He’d rounded on her.

“Did you hear what time she came home last night? Or, rather, this morning? Who was she with? No wonder she didn’t get up in time for work.”

“Mark,” Christina said, “kim isn’t due at work today. She arranged time off. you’re getting all het up over nothing.”

“What?” Mark’s cheeks went red. Being wrong-footed did nothing to improve his temper.

“Kim was –” Christina began.

“I’m sorry,” Kim interrupted. “sorry I disturbed you last night, and I’m sorry I’m such a burden. I’ll start looking for somewhere else to live first thing on Monday.

“You’re right. It’s time I grew up.” He snorted at that, not believing she was serious.

“Mark,” Christina said. “please, not today.” He sighed.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have said all that. You don’t have to move out. this is your home, Kim; always has been, always will be.”

“Whatever.”

She felt sorry for him because it was his birthday and it wasn’t every day you had a zero in your age.

At 30, Mark was 12 years older than her. He’d stepped up when their widowed father had been killed 10 years ago, when Kim was just eight.

He’d been 20 and living with Christina, but they’d welcomed Kim into their home.

Now they were married with a four-year-old son, and Kim had always felt part of their family. Until now.

Maybe her living with them was putting a strain on their relationship.

She’d broken up with her boyfriend, Ethan, a few months before, and Mark had seemed as upset about it as Kim was.

Perhaps he’d been hoping she’d leave home then, and she’d dashed his hopes when she and Ethan broke up.

“I’ll talk to him,” Christina said after Mark stormed out.

“No, don’t,” Kim said. “it’ll spoil the surprise.”

“You are sweet, Kim,” Christina said. “When he finds out the truth, he’s going to be very apologetic, and rightly so.”

“Auntie Kim,” Lachlan said, shaking her out of her thoughts. “i’m hungry.”

“Are you, sweetheart? So am I. Perhaps we should go back.we have that lovely buffet to look forward to and lots of cake.”

She turned round. there appeared to be no path through the trees and she couldn’t even see which way they had come.

Everywhere looked the same, and she hadn’t seen an arrow marker for ages.

They set off along what looked like a path but ended in a tangle of brambles and bracken. when she tried to retrace her steps, the same thing happened.

This wasn’t a very big wood and she could hear the sound of distant traffic, but couldn’t tell which direction it came from.

Christina had hired a hall for Mark’s birthday and Kim had spent last night decorating it with balloons and banners, with the help of Karam, who worked for Mark at his building company.

“He is going to be so surprised!” Karam had said with obvious delight.

“I know! He hasn’t a clue,” Kim had replied. “you should see the cake Christina has ordered. It’s in the shape of the tool bag he started out with, and it has icing tools sticking out of it!” “Mark will love it.”

Kim looked down at Lachlan, who was rubbing his eyes.the poor boy was going to be exhausted before the party began if they spent much longer trudging around here.

And what if they couldn’t find their way out before it got dark?

She was such an idiot. Christina was with Mark, getting ready – he thought – for a birthday meal out, and he thought Kim had taken Lachlan into town. He had no idea about the hall or the disco or the fabulous cake.

The plan was that Christina would bring Mark to the hall under some pretext, and that everyone would be waiting to surprise him.

“I’d rather we spent my birthday together,” he’d said when Christina told him she’d booked a table for two. “as a family.”

“Well, the table is booked now. we’ll have a little party and a cake tomorrow with Lachlan and Kim.”

Kim had brought Lachlan for a walk in the woods so he could run off some steam before the party started but somehow they’d strayed from the path and now they were well and truly lost.

Mark and Christina would turn up to find the most important person in their lives was missing, along with the cuckoo

in their nest who clearly was every bit as irresponsible as Mark said she was.

Kim didn’t even have her phone with her. She’d left it in her bag back at the hall. But she hadn’t intended to get lost! “The sun is in my eyes, auntie Kim,” Lachlan said.

It had been behind them when they’d entered the woods and now it was lower in the sky, but Kim now knew the direction they had to take.

“You clever thing!” she said, hugging him. “this way.”

Even when their paths resulted in a dead end, she knew they had to go away from the sun, and the noise of the traffic confirmed they were on the right track. “Are you OK, Lachlan?”

“Yes,” he said cheerfully.

While they’d been here, she’d pointed out things to distract him.

They’d seen beautiful jays, woodpeckers and squirrels and no end of interesting-looking bugs. Crows had cawed at them and they’d seen big eyes watching them from a hole in a tree.

“I think that’s a wise old owl,” Kim had said.

“How do you know he’s wise?” “Because he’s an owl.” She’d laughed.

The light between the trees seemed to change and Kim knew they were close.

She almost cheered when she saw one of the wooden post markers with an arrow pointing to the car park at the far end of the field.

“Kim! Lachlan!”

She heard a voice yelling. It sounded upset and panicky, but there were a few minutes yet before Christina and Mark were due to arrive.

And, knowing her sister-in-law, they’d be late.

Christina was always late, no matter how hard she tried to be on time. Wouldn’t it be just typical if, today of all days, she was early?

“It’s Karam!” Lachlan shouted excitedly. “Karam! We’re here!”

Kim emerged from the woods on to the field and stopped dead in her tracks.

She was used to seeing Karam in his work gear, but here he was in a smart black suit and crisp white shirt, the neck open and his tie clutched in his hand.

“Wow!” she said. “karam, you look amazing.”

His face broke into a smile. “Thank you,” he said with a little bow. “You look beautiful, Kim.”

“And you, young man, look very smart. Is that a new shirt?”

“Yes,” Lachlan said, holding out his arms. Karam picked him up and carried him on his hip as if he weighed nothing at all.

“His shoes might be a bit mucky,” Kim told Karam.

“No matter. It’s only mud. It will brush off.”

They set off across the field. “I wondered where you were,” he went on. “then I heard your phone ring and found your bag under a table. It has been ringing a lot.

“I thought something must have happened, then one of the caterers said he saw you heading into the woods with Lachlan.”

“And you came looking for us,” Kim said, feeling warmed all the way through to her bones.

“It is easy to get lost in the woods,” Karam said. “but I needn’t have worried. You weren’t lost at all.”

“Actually, I feel as if I’ve been lost for some time,” Kim murmured.

Perhaps not lost, but as if she didn’t belong. Mark had been grumpy of late, and she worried that she was the cause and that it was time she moved on.

She didn’t want to. She loved her family so much, but nor did she want to outstay her welcome.

She linked her arm through Karam’s and his smile made another shiver run down her spine.

This time, it wasn’t a shiver of fear. They arrived in the hall with minutes to spare before Mark and Christina were due to arrive.

Kim took charge, issuing everyone with

party poppers while Karam kept a look-out.

Kim checked her phone to find numerous missed calls from both Mark and Christina as well as several messages.

“They’re here!” Karam called out and she slipped her phone back in her bag. Moments later they heard Mark’s voice. “I don’t understand.why isn’t Kim answering her phone, and what are we doing here?”

“Don’t worry, Mark.you have to trust your sister.”

“I do! It’s other people I don’t trust,” Mark replied. “look at how hurt she was when she broke up with Ethan.

“And then, last night, she was out goodness knows where and goodness knows who with, until all hours.

“What if she’s got back with that Ethan? He’ll only hurt her all over again.”

Kim gasped at hearing Mark’s worried words.

She wanted to reassure him that Ethan was history as far as she was concerned.

“Let’s not talk about that now, Mark,” Christina said.

“I wish we’d all gone out together for my birthday.you, me, Lachlan and Kim.we could have asked Karam to come along as he’s practically family.

“I should be looking for my sister, not... Why have we stopped here, anyway?”

Christina laughed, and as the curtains parted a shout went up and party poppers began to explode.

“Happy birthday, darling!” she said and Kim caught a glimpse of Mark’s joyful expression as all the pennies dropped at once.

“You were here last night,” he said when the singing stopped and he picked Lachlan up and hugged Kim. “i’m so sorry for what I said, Kim.”

“You’ll make it up to me.” Kim’s heart was overflowing.

In that short overheard conversation, she finally understood why Mark had been behaving the way he had.

“She was with me,” Karam said softly. “She was very safe. I would not harm her, or let anyone else harm her.”

“Ethan couldn’t be further from my mind, Mark,” Kim assured him. “i’ve moved on.”

She slipped her hand into Karam’s and gazed up into his beautiful brown eyes and Mark laughed a soft, happy laugh of relief.

“Let’s get this party started!” he said.

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