Nathan continued on, clearly oblivious to her ponderings.
“Your mom just wants the best for everyone,” he said. “For your dad, for
you.
. .” He paused and looked into her eyes with some
concern. “She’s so used to taking care of everyone. I’m sure it must feel odd
that everyone is now sweeping in to take care of her.”
“She needs it. Thank goodness my sister is able to spend a
few days with her. Otherwise I don’t think I could have left.” Kellie reached
to pull a gray skirt from the suitcase. Great. This one needed to go to the
dry-cleaners too.
“True. And you’ve been there for her every step of the way.
But doesn’t it feel great to be home again?”
She looked around the familiar bedroom and nodded. There was
a certain comfort to this place—a familiarity.
In spite
of the smell.
In spite of the pull to be elsewhere.
This was still home.
“
Now.
. .” he zipped the suitcase
closed and lifted it down onto the floor, “What do you say we forget about
dirty clothes and parking spaces for awhile and just focus on us?”
“I
think.
. .” she gave him a
teasing look, “that sounds perfect.”
***
In the days that followed Kellie’s return to Houston, Nathan
watched over her closer than ever before. He couldn’t help it, really.
Something in her demeanor had changed. Sure, she had settled in at the
condominium. She had even returned to work with a vengeance. But something
was.
. . off. He could just feel it.
Daily, she called her
mother for an update. The news remained unchanged for the most part. Though her
father had been transferred to a rehab facility, his recovery would be slow,
tedious. Kenton could formulate a few words, but would have to completely
re-learn how to function in most every area of life.
“I can’t even
imagine.” Nathan voiced his thoughts aloud as he eased his car through traffic
on Houston’s busy 610 Loop. To lose all of your ability to function, to
work.
. .
How could a person
re-learn how to work, how to enter the job force?
Would Kenton ever return to his
job?
Would his God-given skills
regenerate, or was he destined to live a half-life?
Nathan shrugged that idea aside. Of
course his father-in-law would make a full recovery. They wouldn’t give up on
praying for that very thing.
As he reached the Post
Oak exit, Nathan wound his way through the mob and counted the minutes until he
arrived at the restaurant where Kellie probably already waited. He had planned
tonight’s outing with much anticipation. After so much time apart, he now chose
to take advantage of each moment.
He pulled up to valet
parking at Le
Jardin
, one of Houston’s classiest
restaurants, known for its tempting French cuisine. After handing off the keys,
he sprinted toward the door. He reached in his pocket to feel for the familiar
jewelry box. In just a few moments he would draw it from its hiding place and
set it on the table in front of his beautiful bride.
The host led Nathan to
a small table in the back of the restaurant, where Kellie waited. She sat with
laptop open, typing with a vengeance.
“Hey, baby.” He kissed
her on the forehead.
She startled then
looked up into his eyes with a smile. “Hey. Just catching up on some work. Can
you believe they have wireless Internet access in a high-end restaurant like
this?”
“I believe it.” He shook his head. “It’s scary, but I
believe it.” He smiled at his beautiful bride. “So, how are things at the
office? Getting settled back in?”
She rolled her eyes.
“This probably wouldn’t be the day to ask.”
“Ah. Well, things are
finally slowing down for me. I was actually able to sneak away to the health
club for an hour this afternoon.”
“Good for you. I’m
going to try to do that tomorrow. I haven’t worked out in weeks. And with all
the food my mom’s friends brought in, I’ve probably added at least three inches
to these hips of mine.” She flashed him an impish grin. “I don’t think I’ve
ever seen so much fried chicken in my life. Or cakes. Have you ever seen that
many cakes in one place?”
Nathan’s heart twisted.
Lord,
how long has it been since I’ve seen her smile like that?
“The food was great, but you haven’t
changed a bit. You look awesome.”
“Thanks, Baby.” Kellie
snapped her laptop shut and picked up a menu. “But all this talk about my
ever-widening hips has reminded
me.
. .I’m starving.
What sounds good to you?”
“I don’t know. Let’s
have a look.” They quickly settled on lobster bisque and steak with béarnaise
sauce.
Once their waiter—a stocky fellow with contrived
French accent - disappeared, they sat in silence a moment. The clinking of
silverware and soothing instrumental music provided the perfect backdrop,
Nathan reasoned. He and Kellie would enjoy a beautiful meal together, and fill
the empty spaces with conversation that excluded work-related things.
“I haven’t been here
in ages.” Kellie looked around the room in quiet contemplation.
“Me either. It seems
like we’re always eating on the run.” Nathan garnered up the courage to
continue. “In fact, that’s one of the reasons I wanted tonight to be so
special. I wanted to let you know that I think we should have a regular
date-night.”
She smiled. “That’s a
nice idea. I’ll take a look at my calendar and pencil you in.” She was teasing,
but something about her words bothered him.
“No.” He felt his lips
curl down. “We have to stop fitting each other in. We have to make sure we put
our relationship above our jobs.”
“Wow.” She took hold
of his hand and squeezed it. “That actually sounds like something I had planned
to say to you tonight. I don’t know how much longer I can go on with things the
way they’ve been. I mean, what’s the point of having great jobs, a great place
to live and all of that if we hardly have time to see each other?”
“Amen.” He flashed a
broad, heartfelt smile. “Sounds like we’ve prepared the same speech.” He paused
and gazed into her beautiful eyes. “
So.
. . what do
you think we should do about that?”
She shrugged. “I like
the date-night idea. It might be a little harder, now that we’re driving back
and forth to
Greenvine
every weekend. But I have
Tuesday evenings free, for sure. What about you?”
“Tuesdays are good for
me. At least for now.” He pulled out his phone to double check his calendar.
“Yep. That’ll work.”
“And we can take
advantage of our drive time to my mom’s place,” she suggested.
“What do you mean?”
Nathan’s curiosity got the better of him.
“I
mean.
. .” she grinned mischievously, “We should spend that time talking. Really
talking—about our hopes, our dreams, our innermost thoughts.”
“Our innermost
thoughts?” Nathan couldn’t help but smile. Kellie had such a definitive way
with words.
“You know.” Her gaze
shifted to the table. “We need to talk about things
like.
. . children. When we’re going to have them.”
“Ah ha.
Those
innermost thoughts.” Nathan
nodded. “I agree.” He reached into his pocket and grasped the tiny box. “But in
the meantime, I have few innermost thoughts of my own I’d like to share with
you.”
Her face flushed.
“Right here?”
“I can’t think of a
better place.” He stared into her eyes and shared his heart. “I love you,
Kellie. I want you to know that. You’re more important to me than anything
else.”
Her eyes filled with
tears. “I love you too, Babe.”
“I have something for
you.” He pulled the box up to the table and set it in front of her.
Kellie’s eyes grew large. “What’s this?”
“Open it and see.” He
could hardly wait to see the look on her face.
Kellie tentatively
lifted the lid to the box and gasped as she gazed at the tennis bracelet
inside. “Nathan!”
He stood and
approached her side of the table. Reaching into the box, he pulled out the
delicate bracelet and fastened it around her wrist. “You deserved something
special. You’ve been through so much lately.”
She looked a bit
dazed. “But this is too
much.
. .”
“Nothing is too much
for you.” He gripped her hand and spoke passionately. “I mean that, Honey.
You’re the most valuable thing in the world to me. And there’s nothing I could
ever give you—nothing I could do—to show you how much you mean to
me. This bracelet is just a small attempt on my part to share something huge
that’s on my heart.”
Tears ran in tiny
rivers down her cheeks. “I love you,” she whispered.
“I love you more.” He
winked in her direction. They turned their attentions to the meal and to one
another. Nathan couldn’t help but relax as they chatted back and forth. For the
first time in weeks, he actually felt some sense of direction.
Kellie stepped out of her father’s private room at the rehab
facility and leaned against the wall. She didn’t like this place—the
smells, the people in varying stages of brain damage, the nurses scurrying to
and fro, caring for patients who often cried out in pain or shouted foul
insults. They couldn’t be blamed, of course, but it was all just too much to
take in.
With eyes brimming over, she stared at the door leading to
her father’s room. On the other side of that door a man she barely recognized
lay in a bed, fighting to re-learn everything.
“Lord, I don’t
understand.” How could he ever become the strong, intelligent man she had
always known?
And why was
everything moving so slowly?
She
fought with her feelings, one moment up, the next down. Would this roller
coaster ride ever come to a satisfactory end or were they destined to spend the
rest of their lives loving a man who barely remembered his own name, let alone
how to function in the world?
“Kellie?”
She looked up as her mother stepped out into the hall and
guilt overwhelmed her at once. She couldn’t let anyone know her fears, her
doubts. She must remain positive, upbeat at all costs. Kellie brushed away the
tears, ashamed to let her mother find her in a moment of weakness, and then
offered up a weak smile. “What’s up, Mom?”
“I’m just concerned
about you. Are you okay?”
Mom, you’re always comforting me. It’s supposed
to be the other way around. I’m supposed to be helping you through this.
“Everything is just moving so slowly.” Kellie sighed. “I
wish there was some kind of a button we could push to just speed him through
all of this.”
“I know.” Her mother
smiled. “You’re the Queen of Quick. I remember.”
Kellie groaned. “I can’t believe I actually said that.”
“I guess some things just can’t be rushed.” Her mother
shrugged. “But while your dad’s relearning, I suppose we’ll have to learn a few
things, too.”
“I guess.” Kellie
paused. “It’s just so hard
to.
. .to…” she choked
back tears. “To see him like this.”
“I know.” Her mother
drew her into a tight embrace and whispered. “It’s hard on all of us—but
it’s got to be harder on him than anyone. I can’t even imagine.”
“I can’t either. He’s
always been so strong. And his
mind.
. .” She pulled
back and gazed into her mother’s weary face. “His has the brightest mind of
anyone I’ve ever known.”
“That’s what I’m
counting on.” Mom smiled. “I know he’s still in there, honey. And he’s fighting
with all of his strength. I can see it in his eyes.”
“I can too.” Kellie
brushed away loose tears. “And I’m so proud of him. It’s just so hard to watch.
I don’t know if I have it in me to make it through the emotional ups and downs.
Sometimes I just
wonder.
. . if things will ever be
the same again.” She paused as she examined her mother’s face for a response.
“Are you ashamed to hear me say that?”
“Ashamed?” Her
mother’s eyes watered. “Oh, Honey, of course not. If anyone understands what
you’re thinking and feeling, I do. Trust me.” Her mother took a seat. “I’m up
here every day, watching. And praying. But that doesn’t mean I don’t get
discouraged.”
Up here every day.
Kellie cringed. How she wished she
could be here every day. How she longed to drop everything and race to her
father’s side as he walked through this valley. How guilty she felt for going
about her daily work as if nothing had changed—when everything had
changed.
“I’m relieved to hear
you say that,” Kellie confessed. “You’re so full of faith. It helps to know
that you have your down moments too.”
“I don’t think we’d be
human if we didn’t. It’s not my faith I question. I have faith. I think we just
grow weary sometimes. But those are the times the Lord has to carry
us—when we admit our weakness. We’re completely dependent on Him”