Nathan
tried to read Kellie’s mind.
She was
used to granite countertops, top of the line appliances, hardwood floors.
Surely she would see this as impossible.
His
beautiful wife looked the place over in complete silence. He couldn’t seem to
read her thoughts.
“We
got three bedrooms here.” Chuck led the way down a narrow hallway to a door on
the left. “The first one is
kinda
small. My daughter
tells me it’d make a great office. I’ve just been using it for storage.” He
pushed the door open and Nathan couldn’t help but gasp.
“Storage?”
The room was filled, top to bottom, with junk. Nathan could hardly believe his
eyes.
“Wow.”
Kellie mouthed the word, her eyes widening.
“If
you liked that, you’ll love the next room.” Chuck led them down the hall to a
second small bedroom, equally as messy. “This one’s bigger. You two could put a
baby in here.”
Never
in a million years would I put a child in that room.
“Well,
we don’t have any children,” Kellie explained. Her cheeks flushed bright red.
“I can’t wait for you to see
this.” Chuck grinned as he pushed open the door to the master bedroom and for
the first time Nathan noticed a tooth missing on the upper right. “The master
suite—fit for a king and queen.”
Together
they entered a room that was surprisingly big and not terribly hard on the
eyes. It was in need of a fresh coat of paint, but this was truly the only
place in the entire house Nathan could possibly see himself in.
For a few moments, anyway.
“What
about the bathrooms?” Kellie asked the question quietly and Nathan tried to
imagine what she must
be
thinking about all of this.
Chuck
led them through the bedroom to the master bath. It was dated and in much need
of cleaning. The discolored tiles appeared to be coming loose from around the
tub and the grout had fallen in clumps.
“Wow.”
Nathan made use of his one-word vocabulary once again.
“Yep.
She’s a beauty.” Chuck turned on the light and gestured to the shower. “Now
that there shower head is new. I bought it at the hardware store and installed
it myself. It’s a fancy one.”
Nathan
nodded silently.
“So
what do you think?” Chuck looked him squarely in the eye. “Cause I’ve got
another couple interested.”
Sure
you do.
“I,
uh.
. .” Nathan looked at Kellie to
gauge her thoughts.
She stared at the room with
interest.
“Would you let us paint and
paper?” she asked.
Nathan
put a clamp on the gasp that wanted to escape.
“No skin off my teeth,” Chuck
said, “as long as you don’t choose any of those bright colors. Don’t want to
bring down the value of the house.” He gave them a knowing look.
Kellie
smiled and Nathan could tell she was fighting not to speak her mind. “And
you’re sold on this carpet, then?” she asked.
“Well,
yeah.” Chuck shrugged. “I like it. But
there’s real hardwoods
underneath ‘
em
, if you prefer that
kinda
thing. Not as comfy on the feet, but I guess they’re
in pretty good shape.”
“I
see.” Kellie looked around again. “When will the home be available?”
Nathan
could hardly believe his ears. She must see something in this place that he
didn’t.
“I’ll
be moving mid-week,” Chuck said. “My daughter and her husband bought one of
those fancy houses up in Austin. They want me to be close. I,
uh.
. .” He stumbled a bit over his words. “The doc says
I’ve only got about three or four months.” His gaze shifted to the ground.
The
older man’s words very nearly knocked the wind out of Nathan. “
I.
. . I’m so sorry,” he stammered. No wonder he’d let the
house go. And no wonder he needed to move so quickly.
“Oh,
Mr. Henderson.” Kellie’s eyes filled with tears.
Chuck
broke into a broad smile. “Three or four months of chemo, I mean. My daughter
wants me to be close to town so I don’t have to drive back and forth. I figure
I’ll be ready to move back to
Greenvine
in about six
months. Didn’t want the house to sit empty all that time.”
“It
won’t be empty.” Nathan extended his hand. “We’ll take it.”
“We
will?” Kellie looked up at him with tears still glistening against her lashes.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m
sure.” And with a shake of the hand, he sealed the deal.
Kellie looked around her new home
with mixed emotions. The wood-framed house, far cleaner than the day she first
saw it, was now filled with brand new furnishings—at Nathan’s request. He
insisted on pulling up the gold shag carpeting before the furniture went in.
She hadn’t minded, though the floors underneath were in need of refinishing.
She glanced at the kitchen. Gone
were the old appliances. In their place, Nathan had installed a practical black
stove and refrigerator, contemporary in design. He’d insisted these changes
were necessary, that this was the only way she would ever feel comfortable, but
Kellie wasn’t so sure. In fact, she thought the new items looked a bit odd up
against the dilapidated structure.
However, she would never hurt Nathan’s
feelings by sharing this thought—not after all the trouble he had gone to
just to make things nice for her.
Kellie
glanced at her watch. 10:35 A.M. She didn’t really have time to worry about the
house right now. Truthfully, it presented far less grief than her current
problem.
. .signing onto the Internet. Kellie hadn’t counted
on the inability to soar across the WWW at the usual rapid pace. Here, away
from the city, she had to resort to dial-up.
Dial-up.
She shook her head
in disbelief as she sat down in front of the computer.
The disbelief continued on as
Kellie fought with an uncooperative phone line for an hour and a half. Just
about the time she got signed on, she would get knocked off again. And today,
or all days!
She’d been advised by
a client to purchase a specific number of shares of stock at a current reduced
rate. Unfortunately, the ups and downs of the market made that transaction
impossible, at least without reliable Internet access.
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.”