Last Flight from Flagstaff (Choices: Story Two)

  ***

  Matt was waiting when Kristen arrived. The restaurant was crowded but Matt had reservations, and the hostess led them to a table for two. Kristen looked around. The walls were painted in a faux finish to resemble old plaster. The overall ambiance was of an Italian villa. The hostess handed them menus. “Enjoy your dinner.”

  They opened their menus. Almost at once, a server appeared. “Can I get you something to drink?”

  Matt looked up, impatient to be alone with Kristen. “Sure, a beer, whatever is on tap, and I’ll just have a Caesar Salad. Kristen, are you ready to order?”

  Kristen looked up from her menu, surprised at his hurry. Matt had suggested they try a new restaurant that a friend had recommended. She didn’t understand why he was rushing her before she had a chance to study the selection. “Okay, I’ll have the same, except a glass of white wine instead of beer.”

  The server nodded and collected the menus, bustling away. As soon as she was gone, Matt turned to Kristen. “Kristen, why didn’t you tell me about the missed payments?”

  “You talked to Donna?”

  “Yes, and she told me that we had missed some payments to you. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I assumed you knew. After all, you are the one who missed the payments.”

  “Well I didn’t know. I was relying on my bookkeeper.” Matt ran his hand through his hair. “Now I have to figure out what happened and why. Kristen, this would have been a lot easier if you had told me this as soon as you knew about it.”

  Tears glistened in Kristen’s eyes. “I’m sorry Matt. I thought maybe you were having some sort of trouble and I didn’t want to interfere. I figured you would get it straightened out eventually. I didn’t want to embarrass you.”

  “You didn’t want to embarrass me?” The server returned with the drinks and Matt paused. She puttered around the table, setting out coasters for the drinks and filling water glasses while Matt drummed his fingers on the table. After she left, he continued in a softer voice. “You didn’t want to embarrass me, so instead of asking me a direct question you dragged in a stranger to point out that I had no idea what was going on in my own business?”

  “I’m sorry Matt. I didn’t know it would turn out that way.”

  “What did you think would happen?”

  “I thought she could figure out what the problem was without asking you directly.”

  Matt stared at her. “So if Donna hadn’t spilled the beans, you were never going to tell me about this?”

  “Of course I was going to tell you.”

  “When?”

  “Once Donna figured out the problem and how to fix it.”

  Matt shook his head. “Kristen, do you really think my ego is that fragile?”

  “No. No, I don’t. Matt, I’m sorry I handled it so badly.” A tear escaped and ran down Kristen’s cheek. “I was trying to help.

  Matt sighed. “I understand.” He reached across the table to wipe away the tear with his napkin. “But Kristen, we’re going to be married. You need to trust me, to share things with me.”

  “I do trust you, Matt, with all my heart.”

  “Okay. Well, until I talk to Heather tomorrow there’s not much we can do. Let’s talk about something else for a while.” They talked awkwardly throughout dinner about nothing important as Kristen pushed most of her salad around the bowl instead of eating it. Afterward, Matt walked her to her car.

  “Don’t you want to come over to the house for a while?’ she asked.

  “No I need to get an early start and be sharp in the morning.”

  Kristen bit her lip. “You’re still coming by after the shower tomorrow night, right?”

  “Hmm? Oh yeah. I’m having dinner with my uncle, though, so I might be a little late. Text me when you’re ready.” He leaned into the car to brush her cheek lightly with his lips. “Goodnight, Kris.”

  “Goodnight.” Kristen drove home in a daze. How had she screwed everything up like this? She just wanted to help, to get everything figured out without embarrassing Matt. Instead, she had made it a million times worse. Kristen pulled into the garage and got out of her car.

  At least he still wanted to get married. Thank God for that. She would die without Matt. He was right; she should have talked to him before bringing Donna into the mess. Donna had only complicated everything. Maybe Kristen could still rectify the situation.

  Kristen walked through the kitchen and into the family room. She saw Donna curled up in the corner of the sofa wrapped in a soft cotton throw. Barney was stretched out across her lap. She was holding a book in one hand and stroking the purring cat with the other. The light from the reading lamp reflected off her dark blond hair. How could someone who had caused so much trouble look so harmless?

  “Donna.”

  “Oh hi, Kristen. Did you enjoy your dinner?”

  “Not really. Matt is mad at me about this whole mess.”

  “Why should he be mad at you? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “He says that I should have talked to him before I hired you.”

  “Well, that’s true.” Donna placed a bookmark in her book and carefully laid it on the end table, gently shooing the cat from her lap. “Kristen, sit down please.” She waited while Kristen perched on the edge of a nearby chair. “Why didn’t you talk to him first?”

  “I didn’t want to upset him.”

  “So if you gave him bad news he would be upset with you?”

  “I don’t know, he might be. I didn’t want to take that chance.”

  “Kristen, do you think Matt loves you?”

  Kristen stood up abruptly and began to pace. “What kind of question is that?”

  “Just answer me please.”

  “Yes, he loves me.”

  “Do you love him?”

  “With all my heart.”

  “So suppose Matt had to give you some bad news. Would you be angry with him?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Then why is it so hard for you to accept that he would treat you in the same way?”

  Kristen stopped pacing. “I see what you mean.”

  “Honey, you are going to have to be the bearer of bad news sometimes. You’ll have to tell him that the water heater is leaking, or you’re pregnant before you meant to be, or for that matter, you’re not pregnant when you do want to be. That’s what happens in a marriage. Believe me, I’ve been there.”

  “If you’re such an expert, what happened to your marriage?” Kristen snapped.

  Donna stared into the distance. “Good question.” She turned toward Kristen. “For one thing, we didn’t share things like this. We weren’t in tune with one another. I didn’t even guess he was having an affair until the day he left me.”

  Kristen sat down on the couch next to Donna. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

  “It’s okay, Kristen. It’s old news, but please learn from my mistakes.”

  Kristen took a deep breath. “Okay, I messed up. So I need to make it right. I want you to stop investigating right now and let Matt handle it. Just leave it alone.”

  Donna narrowed her eyes a little. “Is that what Matt said he wanted?” she asked.

  “Not exactly. He just said I made everything worse by having you talk to him instead of talking to him myself.”

  “I can understand that, but you can’t undo the past. Kristen, I haven’t gotten far, but I’ve found out a couple of things that you need to know.”

  “I’m not sure I want to.” Kristen slumped back against the couch, crossing her arms.

  “You need to know about this. First of all, because you are the executrix of your father’s estate, you may be forced to foreclose on this property if more payments are missed, whether you want to or not.”

  Kristen set up straight. “Are you sure?”

  “No, but your accountant thinks so and I suspect she may be right. The other thing is that the apartments seem to be fully occupied and well run. I can’
t see why they wouldn’t be pulling in enough to make the payments easily. The terms were not onerous.”

  “So where is the money going?” Kristen asked.

  “That is the million dollar question, isn’t it?” Donna tapped her index finger lightly on the table. “I need to go through their books and see if I can find out.”

  “I still think I should just let Matt handle it,” Kristen said.

  “I’ll tell you what. Matt is supposed to call me in the morning after he talks to his bookkeeper. I’ll tell him that I am willing to help, but only if he wants me to. How’s that?”

  Kristen nodded slowly. “I guess that would be okay, but I’ll talk to him too and let him know that it is all up to him. I won’t go behind his back anymore.”

  “Sounds good.” Donna yawned. “I’m off to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow for your bridal shower.”

  Kristen nodded. “Okay, good night.” After Donna left, Kristen sat staring into the empty fireplace for a long time.