Authors: Lisa Heaton
Chapter 9
H
er car was still idling. It was early, and Chelsea sat in Tuck’s driveway, dreading going inside. Lucy had spent the night with her dad the night before, so she didn’t yet know about John. She would take it hard. No one could have anticipated the relationship that developed between Lucy and John, a most unusual bond, truly as if they were father and daughter – or maybe grandfather and granddaughter. Once, Lucy said it was okay that she had no granddaddy since she had John. That sweet memory actually caused a smile to tug at Chelsea’s lips, a rare occurrence in the past months.
Finally, after putting it off as long as possible, she turned off the engine and walked up to the house. Even before she reached the top step of the porch, Tuck had opened the front door.
Having heard a car roll down the gravel drive, Tuck had peeked out the front window and saw Chelsea sitting in the car. When she didn’t get out immediately, he decided to give her a minute. Bobby had called before daylight to tell him about John, but he had not told Lucy yet. He was waiting for Chelsea so that she could be the one to tell her. It seemed best that way. Tuck was heartbroken for Chelsea and Lucy both. The months ahead were going to be traumatic for them, something no one was prepared for. Even though he knew it would come, still he felt ill equipped.
As much as he wanted to hold her, to comfort her, Tuck didn’t even consider it, but as soon as he opened the screen door she stepped into him. When she draped her arms around his neck and collapsed against him, he wrapped his arms around her, whispering, “I’m so, so sorry. John was a good man.”
If anyone understood what she was feeling, Tuck did, so he simply held her as she had once held him. Just as he had felt that day by the barn, Chelsea was drowning in grief and longing for things to be different. He was helpless to help her. The only thing that could possibly bring her comfort was gone forever. Since hearing of John’s illness, he had prayed harder for his healing than he had prayed for most anything. Of all the things in the world that he didn’t want, this was it, Chelsea hurting and heartbroken, lost and alone.
For a moment, they stood together in the doorway. Chelsea had done well holding herself together during the hours of the night, but for some reason, the sight of Tuck sent her over the edge. Maybe it was because she knew how difficult it would be when they talked to Lucy. She had lost her maw maw not so long before, and losing John so soon afterward would be just too much.
Chelsea saw Lucy come to stand in the doorway of the living room. She was watching them embrace. It was clear by the look on Lucy’s face that she knew why Chelsea was there. When she came running across the room, Chelsea moved from Tuck’s arms, dropped to her knees onto the floor, and grabbed Lucy into her arms. Together, they rocked back and forth and cried.
Watching Lucy and Chelsea cry, Tuck found he was crying along with them. How could he not think back to that first Christmas Eve when they held each other in Chelsea’s doorway? Though it seemed like a lifetime ago, in some ways, it felt like yesterday. It was as vivid to him as if it were. From the very beginning, there was some divine connection that enabled them to feel what the other was feeling, to share and grieve and weep together. Even still, it baffled Tuck.
Eventually, Chelsea took Lucy to the sofa, and for a while they simply sat and talked. Tuck excused himself as they discussed what their future would look like without John in it.
It was decided that Lucy would go with Chelsea while Tuck worked. Before they left, though, Tuck offered to go with Chelsea to make whatever arrangements she needed to since she had done the same for him. She assured him that John had made all the necessary preparations and that her dad was handling anything that was yet to be done. Their plan was to spend time together as a family, Chelsea, Lucy, and Sara Beth. The funeral would not be until the following day, so for that day, they just wanted to be alone.
When Tuck entered the funeral home, he found Chelsea there looking as if nothing tragic had happened. She was shaking hands, greeting those coming to the visitation. Bobby told Tuck she had been like that since the visitation had begun earlier in the afternoon. She was not at all the Chelsea who fell to pieces in his arms the morning before.
The girls were with Granny Gail but would be coming to the funeral home later in the evening. Tuck would stick around until then. As awkward as it felt for him to be there, he couldn’t imagine not staying. He went to Chelsea and told her again how sorry he was, but after that, tried to stay in the background as much as possible.
He watched as one person after another entered, spoke with Chelsea, and then finally moved on to allow the next person in line to speak to her. The line seemed never-ending. John was not only loved by those locally, he was admired nationwide. Masses of people came to pay their respects.
From afar, Tuck prayed for Chelsea. He was proud of how well she was holding up. Deep down, though, he suspected it was all pretense. She loved John too much to be taking his death so well. Somehow he knew this was merely the calm before the storm.
Irene, the woman who had shown him into John’s office in L.A., was there and seemed to be directing everything. She stood with Chelsea and introduced her to whoever approached next. From the time since he had arrived, she never left Chelsea’s side. Irene seemed to remember him immediately and was surprisingly friendly toward him, even calling him by name.
Bobby said she was now working for Chelsea. It was how John set things up. She had arrived hours after his death and would remain for an indefinite period of time. Tuck watched her with amazement as she so smoothly coordinated every moment of Chelsea’s time. When it was time to eat something, Irene simply interrupted the line of those there to pay their respects, saying that Chelsea would be back soon. Before anyone could say much of anything, she had swept Chelsea off to a private area to eat the food she had catered in. Of course Irene arranged that before learning that the church always provided food. It wasn’t until later when Tuck went with Lucy and Sara Beth into the family break room that he realized there was a mountain of food back there, more than an army could eat. Once Gail arrived, she seemed a bit stumped over what to do and how to help since Irene seemed to have everything planned down to the exact moment.
Mark and Karen, close friends of John’s, were there from the beginning. When Mark approached him, Tuck was more than a little surprised. He introduced himself and said he had heard all about him. Still, more than an hour later Tuck mulled over the things Mark said. It was as if John had told him of their conversation about taking care of Chelsea. He never mentioned that outright, but Mark kept referring to Chelsea’s future and how he was prepared to help in any way he could.
What most specifically caused Tuck to wonder was when he said he would get with Tuck later on down the road to hammer out the details. All Tuck could figure was that he was talking about a prenup. At that thought, Tuck felt sick. The last thing he wanted was to work out some financial agreement about Chelsea’s money. He didn’t want a penny of it. By Bobby’s estimate, she was worth nearly five hundred million dollars including her interest in KI. Tuck wasn’t sure exactly where Bobby got that number, but he seemed to be pretty certain of it. Five hundred million dollars and she lived in an old house on the main drag of town.
He had figured it was a lot, but he had no idea it was that much. With that kind of money, Tuck was surprised that John didn’t have some kind of security or build a wall around the house to make some impenetrable compound. Tuck grinned to himself when the memory of scaling the wall to Chelsea’s condo complex came to mind. Lot of good that did. Still, was she safe? Was Sara Beth? For that matter, was Lucy? With that kind of money, people would do some awfully wicked things to get their hands on it, including hurting a child. It made him think of a verse from Proverbs, something about a rich man ransoming his life with his wealth, but a poor man receives no threat. Maybe there was a threat. Considering matters such as that would likely be a part of his future going forward. Again, he felt sick.
After several hours more of greeting people, finally Chelsea sat with Lucy on a small sofa in a corner of the main viewing room. To see them together, sitting quietly, Tuck was reminded of how good a friend Lucy was to Chelsea when she first came home after she and John split up. Too, he was reminded how he could have learned from Lucy back then and been a much better friend. Because of that, he was determined to follow his daughter’s lead this time. It wasn’t about his feelings for Chelsea or the fact that he was secretly waiting again; it was about being a good friend to Chelsea and supporting Lucy in her grief as well.
He went over to where they were and simply sat. Without a word, they all three sat. When he did, he noticed Irene glance their way, as if she were watching over Chelsea. At one point Irene looked at him and half smiled, causing him to wonder if she knew too. The whole thing was a bit creepy, others knowing John intended for him to move in on a dead man’s wife. On more than one occasion he had wondered if maybe Bob knew since he and John had become such close friends. He presumed he did since he was the one to drive John out to his place. Since that day, Bob had acted differently toward him, and Tuck was pretty sure it wasn’t just his imagination. Over the past years, Bob had always been polite to him, but the past few times he had seen him, he was downright friendly.
While sitting there with Chelsea and Lucy, Tuck was struck by how natural it was to be with them. For the first time in a very long time, all felt right with the world again. Even though there would be a long road ahead for them all, they belonged together. He didn’t question that. He was patient and would wait as long as it took.
Chelsea was kneeling in the floor of John’s closet praying. She did so often. When she could find a moment alone with no little girls demanding her attention, she would sneak away and sit in John’s closet. It smelled like him still, so when she was in there she could close her eyes and pretend he was still with her. Replaying scenes from their times together, she could often hear the sound of his voice as if he were sitting beside her. While it would probably cause others to consider her crazy, for whatever reason, it brought her comfort.
For the most part, she was doing well. It had been nearly three months since he had died. Life had an odd way of going on. After his funeral, life just began again. She had a toddler who lived daily life and made demands of her mother’s time. That seemed to begin the external clock of life ticking once again. During those final months, time had come to a standstill, a constant state of waiting for the end. Though she would never tell a living soul such a thing, the truth was, the end brought with it a small sense of relief. Not as if she wanted him to go – she didn’t and would have given anything for him to have lived – but his death did stop the waiting. The waiting was excruciating, ever hovering overhead.
Sara Beth’s birthday came soon after John’s death. It was one of the saddest days Chelsea had ever known. Oblivious to what had happened, Sara B. seemed to have a wonderful time. All the family was there; Tuck was there. Louis and Claude had flown in for the funeral and stayed to wait for her second birthday.
After her daddy’s death, Sara Beth had often asked for him, but as the weeks passed, she asked less and less. Lucy talked of John often. It was with Lucy that Chelsea could reminisce most about him. They shared such a deep love for him that most no one else could relate to. When she had been in town, Louise was the only other one who could join in conversations about him. Of all people, she could relate, but Chelsea noticed, Louise didn’t often wallow in the past, as she called it. Rather, she continually reminded Chelsea of the present and future. Louise was a healthy voice in Chelsea’s life, which allowed Chelsea to be a healthy voice in Lucy’s. Instead of dwelling on the sadness, Louise often redirected the conversations to what John would want for them in the future. He would want Chelsea to be strong. Chelsea was doing exactly what she promised, taking care of his girls.
Later that afternoon Chelsea’s mom stopped by on the way home from work. When she left, she had Sara Beth on one hip and Lucy following behind. Chelsea was relieved to have an afternoon alone. It was rare. Once they were gone, she made her way out to the garage and up to John’s office, but at the door, she hesitated for some time, a little afraid of opening it. She had not been in there since Irene left about a month after John died.
While she was in town, Irene had stayed at a B&B in town even though Chelsea invited her to stay with them. She came over most mornings and spent time with Chelsea. Mostly, they covered business matters. The few times John tried to do that, Chelsea refused, not wanting to face a future without him. Coming from him, it was heartbreaking. Once he was gone, working alongside Irene, it felt much more sterile, much less personal.
During John’s last months, he wrote out meticulous records of everything they owned, what he had recently sold, and the state of their finances. He had convinced Irene to continue working, to watch over everything that was pertinent to Chelsea’s and the girls’ assets and holdings at KI. It was his hope that someday either Lucy or Sara Beth would take some interest in the company, so he divided his holdings between the two girls with Mark and Irene acting on their behalf until they were twenty-one. Money from the proceeds of the sale of John’s remaining houses, including the beach house and New York apartment, were deposited in Chelsea’s account. He also placed a large amount in the Keller Foundation so that Chelsea could continue with her charity work when she was up to it. All else, he placed in a trust, naming Irene as trustee. By that point of the discussion on assets and trusts, Chelsea had so totally zoned out and honestly didn’t care that she had to ask Irene to just handle things and only let her know if something arose where she was needed. It was more than she could handle, more than she wanted to handle. She only wanted to be a wife and a mom, and since she was no longer a wife, she would focus instead on the girls as John would have wanted and trust Irene and Mark to make the right decisions.