Kellie gave up as the clock struck twelve. She’d lost the opportunity to make the purchase and nothing could be done about it. With the phone in one hand and laptop in the other, she placed the call to a frustrated client and prayed the loss wouldn’t be held against her.
After an aggravating conversation that involved groveling and a plea for another chance, she hung up and plopped on the couch. Kellie rubbed her forehead and leaned back to relax. Unfortunately, she couldn’t seem to still her mind. Her thoughts bounced back and forth from stock prices, to gas prices—Nathan’s latest complaint as he traveled back and forth to Houston—to the cost of the rehab where her father now resided.
Kellie sprang from the couch, her mind suddenly made up. Only one thing could make her feel better about all of this. She needed to get out of the house for a while. She needed to head to town.
She turned the computer off, grabbed her keys and cell phone and headed out to the car. As Kellie threw the vehicle into reverse, she began to relax. In less than twenty minutes she would walk through the door of the Bluebonnet Rehab in Brenham. Her father would be waiting. They would share some smiles and she would fill him in on all of the things that happened over the past twenty-four hours, just like she had yesterday and the day before.
Kellie reached for the cell phone and pressed Nathan’s number. He answered on the very first ring, just as she pulled her car out onto the highway.
“Kellie?”
Kellie’s heart raced as she heard his voice. “Hi baby.”
“On your way to see your dad?”
“Yep. How’d you know?”
He chuckled. “I think I’ve got your daily schedule down to a science. Every day at 12:10 P.M. you call me. I was actually sitting here, waiting.”
“Really?” She felt her lips curl up a bit as she imagined what he must look like, sitting there waiting.
“Really.”
“We’ve gotten pretty good at this,” she said. “Can you believe it’s only been a week?”
“Seems like years.” His voice suddenly sounded tired.
She fought to change the direction of the conversation. “I’m shocked at how much we’ve gotten done in such a short time. It’s pretty amazing when you think about it.”
“Maybe that’s why I’m so worn out.”
“Well, as soon as you get home tonight, I’m going to pamper you.” She smiled as she thought through her plan. “I’m cooking Chicken Cacciatore.”
“My favorite.”
“I know.” She continued to formulate a plan, one she knew he would appreciate. “And I’m going to pick up a cheesecake while I’m in town.”
“In town?” He chuckled. “Brenham is ‘in town’ now?”
“Yes.” She couldn’t help but laugh. “Funny, how things change. Brenham is now the largest town in my little world. But it seems to have everything we need, so I’m not complaining.”
“Well, Houston is looking bigger everyday,” he said, “and emptier than ever, now that you’re not here. I went by the condominium this morning on my way in to pick up some more clothes and it just felt. . . odd. It’s not the same without you in it.”
“Aw.” Kellie’s lips curled down in a pout. “I miss you too, but you know what?”
“What?”
“We’re going to have a great evening together. Very relaxed. And after dinner, I’m going to rub those aching shoulders of yours,” she said.
Sounds incredible.” Nathan paused a moment to take another call. He returned with an abrupt, “Can I call you a little later? They need me down on the third floor.”
“Sure.” She kept a steady eye on the road. “I’m almost there, anyway. I’ll see you tonight, baby.”
“Later, gator.”
Kellie smiled as she finished the drive. In her heart, she felt a peace, in spite of the current situation. Something about being here, in the place where she grew up, just felt right. She would relish every moment—even if it was just for a short time.
She pulled into the Rehab facility at 12:30 and climbed from the car, anxiety mounting. As she entered the lobby of her dad’s now-familiar home away from home, she waved at the head nurse. “How are you today, Sharen?”
“Fine, girl. How about you?” The jovial woman with the ever-present jumbo loop earrings greeted her with a hug.
“I’m good.” I really am good.
Sharen smiled. “Well, I’m glad you’re here. Your father’s been asking for you all morning.”
“He has?”
“His speech is getting better every day,” Sharen said. “And that man does love to talk.”
Kellie responded with a grin. “My father is a very social man.”
“I’d say.” Sharen nodded and her earrings bobbed up and down.
They began to walk together toward his room. Sharen paused for a moment outside his door. She looked at Kellie intently. “Before you go in, I should tell you one thing.”
“What?” Kellie prepared herself, just in case the news was bad.
“I caught him crying this morning.”
Kellie felt tears well up in her own eyes. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” The nurse nodded in sympathy. “I think he was just overwhelmed. We were trying to get him dressed for the day and things weren’t going very well. We asked him to lift his right arm and he lifted his left—that sort of thing. I think he was embarrassed and maybe a little confused.”
“Oh my.” Kellie fought to keep her own tears in check. “Is he okay now?”
“Yes. The choir director from your church came by a few minutes later and had him singing a song of some sort.”
“He’s got his singing voice back?” Kellie’s hopes rose instantly. Her father had always sung—for as long as she could remember. Maybe the Lord would use that singing to bring him out of this awful situation.
“Well. . .” Sharen shrugged. “It was an attempt, anyway. At any rate, they were loud. Woke up Mr. Scoggins in the next room and he had quite a whining session about it.”
They giggled together. Kellie then thanked the nurse for the information and braced herself for the usual rush of emotions as she opened the door to her father’s room.
“I’m here, Daddy.”
He lit up immediately. “K. . .Kellie.”
“How are you today?” She walked to the bed and gave him a hug. His eyes, though full of love, still had a look she couldn’t place. Vacant. That’s what it was. He wasn’t quite himself. Not yet, anyway.
“F. . .fine.” He sat up and she plumped his pillows, as always.
Kellie took a seat in the chair next to him and struck up a conversation. Of course she did most of the talking, but her father responded with as many words as he could muster. His eyes spoke the rest. She told him about her morning, about her Internet woes and about her business. She shared what it was like to be back at the church of her childhood and how she felt when she saw Julia and Madison. In short, she talked his ear off.
At one point, her father interrupted with one shaky word. “N. . .Nath..an?”
“Nathan’s in Houston, Daddy.” Her heart ached, even as she spoke the words. “He’s at work today. But he’ll be home tonight.”
“H. . .home?”
She reminded him of the rental house in Greenvine and tried to put his mind at rest. Clearly he didn’t quite understand how Nathan could be in one place and she in another. She rushed past the explanation in this hopes that a little would suffice.
“W. . .where is your m. . .mother?”
“Ah.” I should have told him right away. “Mom’s at a luncheon at the church today. She’ll be here in about an hour.”
Her father nodded and smiled. “L. . .love her.”
“I know you love her, Dad.” Kellie winked at him. “And she loves you too.”
His eyes filled with tears and he brushed at them with an undeniable look of anger crossing his face.
Kellie’s mind reeled as she contemplated his reaction to her words. Why
would that upset him? Of course her mother loved him. After just a moment, Kellie figured out his thoughts. He’s worried that he’s unlovable in this condition. That’s what it is.
She stood and embraced him. “Daddy, you’re still the love of her life. That will never change, no matter what.”
He nodded, eyes still moist. “I know.” He squeezed her hand and looked directly into her eyes. “L. . .love you, K. . .kell.”
“I love you too, Daddy.” She gave him a kiss on the cheek, and then sat to chatter his ear off awhile longer.
***
Nathan pulled into the driveway—if one could call it that—and turned off the car. He sat for a moment, staring at his new home in the dusk. It had an eerie look, one that still made him a little uncomfortable. In some ways, the whole experience reminded him of a movie.
“And people think living in the city is scary.” He spoke to no one but himself. Of course, he had been doing a lot of that lately.
Nathan took the keys out of the ignition and reached for his briefcase. As he climbed from the car, he caught a glimpse of Kellie through the front window. She scurried around the kitchen with her short blonde hair tucked behind her ears. He hadn’t seen her wear her hair like that since they’d met years ago in Dallas. He stared in silence as his gorgeous bride shifted from the stove to the table. She looked. . . what was the word? Relaxed. She looked relaxed and happy. Funny, He’d almost forgotten what that looked like.
Nathan opened the back door of the car and pulled out an overnight bag. With the bag in one hand and briefcase in the other, he crossed the still-overgrown lawn. Sooner or later he would get to it. Probably later, rather than sooner. Nathan entered the house with a rehearsed smile on his face. He didn’t want Kellie to see the exhaustion or any hint of frustration. She had been through enough, after all.
She greeted him with a warm hug and a brush of light kisses along his cheek. “How was the drive?”
Nathan fought the temptation to say ‘long.’ He opted, instead, to go another route. After all, the Lord had given him plenty of time to get some work done on the road. And his prayer time had increased, to be sure. Besides, it was a really pretty drive, especially in the springtime with the bluebonnets to keep him occupied.
Nathan smiled as he said, “Not bad. I’ve been listening to tapes from that conference in Austin. I actually made it through the first two.”
“Great.” She took the briefcase from his hand and set it aside. Her lips curled down in a bit of a pout as she continued. “I had a little trouble signing onto the Internet today, but I called the phone company. They’re going to send someone out tomorrow to look at our line.”
He had worried about this, to be honest. In her line of work, an instant connection was critical. “Any consequences?” He almost dreaded her answer.
“Yes.” Her gaze shifted downward. “But nothing a little pleading couldn’t take care of.” She sighed.
He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Honey.”
“Se la vi.” She gave a wave of her hand, as if to dismiss the whole thing.
Nathan wasn’t quite ready to let go of his troubling thoughts. “What are they saying at the office? Are they okay with this change in plans?”
“So far, so good,” she said. “Thankfully.”
Nathan breathed a sigh of relief. “Well then, I’ll just pray the phone company gets all of the kinks worked out. Looks like the Lord’s already taken care of the rest.”
“Yep.” She ushered him toward the table. “Hungry, I hope?”
“Starving.” In truth, he’d barely had time for lunch. Somewhere between the two drives and the workload, there just hadn’t been time for food today.
She pointed at the dish of Chicken Cacciatore and salad and beamed. “I’ve been working hard.”
“I can see that. It looks great.” Nathan sat at the unfamiliar table in an unfamiliar chair and ate off of an unfamiliar plate. All the while, Kellie chattered merrily. She never picked up on his discomfort and he never gave her any reason to. He took big bites and listened as she told him all about her day. Had she always been this talkative? For some reason, he couldn’t seem to remember this much chattering after work. Then again, in the city she had people to talk to all day. Here. . .
Well, here things were different. Clearly.
“I think my dad is doing a little better.” She paused and her lashes dampened with tears. “You should see him, Nathan. His face lights up every time I come in the room. The doctor says he’ll be up to walking outside by next week. I can’t wait. I hope the weather cooperates. I checked the weather report today and we’re supposed to have a lot of rain in the next ten days.”
“You checked the weather report?” He didn’t recall her ever doing that before.
“Well,” she explained, “I read the paper up at the rehab. I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately.”
“Wow.” Nathan couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm. I haven’t seen this side of her in a long, long time. Somehow seeing her so relaxed worked to relax him, as well.
He decided then and there that he could handle the drives, handle the loss in income and handle the bills from the new house and furnishings. . . as long as he got to look at this beautiful, peaceful face every night.
ten
Kellie stopped off at the grocery store in Greenvine on the way home from visiting her father. She entered the store with the list of needed items in one hand and the cell phone pressed to her ear. She continued an ongoing conversation with Nathan, one that had started twenty minutes prior, as she pulled out of Brenham.
“How late will you be?” Kellie spoke into the phone as she grabbed a shopping cart and headed it toward the produce aisle. One of the wheels didn’t seem to be working properly, so she switched out one cart for another. Unfortunately, the next one appeared to have the same problem.
“From what I’ve been told, this meeting could go on until seven or eight,” Nathan explained. “Looks like I’m not going to make it home till ten or after.”
She paused long enough to pout. “No way.”
“Way.
“Man.” Kellie tossed a head of lettuce into her shopping cart and sighed. “I had planned a great dinner. King Ranch Chicken and a brand new taco salad recipe I just found in a magazine up at the Rehab.” Her father seemed to spend more time dozing than awake, so she’d had ample time to browse the rehab’s worn selection of women’s magazines. She’d discovered recipes, developed a desire to redecorate and even come under conviction to intensify her romantic life.
“I’ll still eat when I get in,” he said. “But don’t wait on me, okay? Go ahead and do your own thing.”
“Do my own thing? Are you sure?”
“Yeah. And don’t stress so much over all the cooking. You’re going to make me fat.” He chuckled, but Kellie didn’t join in the fun. In truth, she had grown to love preparing a homemade meal each night and, as thin as Nathan was, she could scarcely imagine him growing plump. In spite of her new recipes.
Nathan let out a groan. “Great. That’s my other line. I have to run.”
“I miss you, Nathan.”
“I miss you too. See you tonight.”
He disappeared and Kellie turned her attention to shopping. Even if he came home late, she wouldn’t let that stop her from making a meal he would enjoy. She would continue to do everything she could to let him know how much she appreciated him.
She pushed the cart along, broken wheel bouncing with a clack, clack, clack. She glanced to her right and left, still adjusting to the outdated grocery store. It in no way compared to the contemporary, well-stocked markets back home in Houston. To start, it was a fraction the size. More complicated, it offered little variety. In particular, this tiny store carried very few of the natural, organic fruits and vegetables she had grown to love.
Well, no bother. The next time she was in Houston, she would go to the Whole Foods Market. In the meantime, this would have to do. She sorted through the
bell peppers, finally choosing two that she could tolerate. Next, she headed to the tomatoes. She picked her way through the small selection, bagging three small ones and placing them in the front of her basket next to the peppers.
Kellie rounded the corner onto the bread aisle. She reached for a loaf of bread and placed it in the basket. As she did, a familiar voice caught her attention.
“I’ve got a great recipe for homemade bread.”
Kellie looked up into her friend’s eyes. “Julia!” She squealed. “I can’t believe it.”
“Why not?” Julia smiled. “In a town this size, we run into each other all the time. Better get used to it.”
“I guess so.” Kellie paused as she thought about it. “It’s kind of nice. Doesn’t happen much in the big city.”
Julia quieted Madison, who’d started to squirm in the front of her basket. “This little girl’s sleepy. She missed her nap today. We had a tea party for pre-school girls up at the Civic Center. That’s why she’s so dressed up.”
“Well, she looks adorable,” Kellie acknowledged. In truth, Madison looked like the cutest thing she had ever seen with her ruffled dress and patent leather shoes. “And it sounds like a lot of fun.”
“I’m the activities director for the center,” Julia explained. “We do everything from inviting in speakers to taking road trips together. It’s a blast.”
“Wow.” Kellie pondered her friend’s excitement. How could anyone muster that kind of enthusiasm for a children’s tea party?
Julia continued to tend to Madison, who clearly wanted out of the basket. “So, are you getting settled in?” she asked, as she reached to scoop the beautiful little girl into her arms.
Kellie nodded. “Getting there. The house still needs a lot of work.” She and Nathan had spent a great deal of time on the place already, but it would takes months to transform the little house into a comfortable living space. Not that they had months.