“Sure, I will.”
“There’s one more thing.”
“Yes…”
“Will you drive me to Quito?”
“To the Pattersons’?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll be glad to.”
When they arrived at the Garcias’ house, Mr. and Mrs. Garcia were home. Cate packed her things and prepared to say a very tearful goodbye. They were waiting for her in the living room. Matthew took her things to the car so that she and the Garcias could say their goodbyes in private.
“Thank you both for your friendship and generosity.”
“You are most welcome Miss Cate,” Mr. Garcia said.
In tears, Mrs. Garcia said, “
Mi amiga
, do not go,
por favor
.”
“Mrs. Garcia, I have to go.”
“But, why?”
“I just have too.”
“Carla, can’t you see how difficult this is for Miss Cate? It is okay
mi esposa
. Say goodbye to your friend. She must be on her way to Quito,” Mr. Garcia put his arm around his wife, trying to comfort her.
“
Adiós, amiga. Que Dios este contigo
.”
“Mrs. Garcia, I would appreciate it very much if you would please take special care of Sarah. I don’t think she is going to understand my leaving.”
“
Por supuesto mi querida
.”
“Thank you Mrs. García.” Cate wiped away her tears and hugged both of them. “I will never forget either of you.”
“Nor, we you,” Mrs. Garcia replied.
“Well, I guess it’s time to go.” Cate walked to the front door where Matthew was waiting. The Garcias followed them to the car, and Cate and Mrs. Garcia hugged one last time. As they drove away, the Garcias shouted, “
Que
Dios
vaya
contigo
,” and waved until the car was out of sight. Cate breathed great, deep sighs, knowing the other goodbyes would be more difficult.
They stopped by the house that she had shared with Miss Janet and Kim to see if Kim was at home. Matthew went in and returned with Kim. As she walked toward the car, Cate realized Kim was crying. Cate got out of the car and embraced her. They cried together, as they exchanged goodbyes. Kim lodged one last protest. “I don’t know exactly what happened today, but I do know Miss Janet said you were leaving. I can’t believe Dr. Kennedy took her side.”
“He didn’t,” Matthew said.
“Then, I don’t understand why you’re going,” Kim stepped back while holding Cate by the shoulders.
“I just have to go, but I need you to promise to do something for me.”
“Help take care of Sarah?” Kim asked, tears in her eyes again.
“Yes, please. Will you take my place and stay with her when David’s away?”
“I will if David agrees, but I’ll never be able to take your place. She loves you too much for that.”
Cate wiped her eyes, “I don’t know how I’m going to be able to say goodbye to her.”
“Then, why say goodbye? Stay Cate; please stay.”
“I can’t Kim,” Cate hugged her again, said goodbye one last time and got in the car.
Matthew had already returned to the driver’s side. As Cate got in, he asked, “Ready to go?”
With tears streaming, Cate nodded and they drove away, leaving Kim wiping tears and waving goodbye.
Cate dreaded the next stop most of all. She prayed earnestly that God would give her unwavering resolve to do what she had to. Knowing how difficult the next goodbyes would be, Matthew glanced at her a time or two as they drove to David’s house. He dreaded it for her.
When they arrived, Matthew told her that he’d stay in the car and wait for her. She took a deep breath, grabbed the door handle and started to get out when Matthew reached over , “I’ll be praying for you.”
“Thanks,” she sighed. As she stopped in front of the door and reached to knock, David opened the door.
With deep sadness he asked, “Please come in.”
Before she could say anything, David spoke again, “I was expecting you. I know why you’re here.”
“You do, how?” She could see that he was upset.
“Kim told me that you were leaving,” he avoided full eye contact.
“Yes, I am,” Cate answered, as she lowered her head and choked back the tears.
There was silence. Both worked hard to maintain control of their emotions. Finally, she found the ability to speak again. “I wanted to tell you and Sarah goodbye.”
“Sarah’s napping. I can wake her up,” David said, “but, before I do, I’d like to ask you to stay.”
He was making it difficult for her to be obedient to the Lord’s leadership in leaving, but she answered, “David I can’t.”
“Cate, I don’t know what we are going to do without you.”
Cate tried to take control of the subject so he would not ask her again to stay, “I asked Kim and Mrs. Garcia to help you take care of Sarah.”
“I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about
you
. We’ll miss you.”
Hearing those words Cate struggled again with her resolve to obey God and leave Ecuador.
“I’ll miss you too,” she said, and then added, “both of you.”
“Yeah…”
Fearing she wouldn’t see him for a long time, she decided to try to apologize again for the past. She summoned the courage, took a breath and began. “David there’s something I’d like to say to you. There are lots of things in my life that I wish that I could change. One is the way that I treated you seven years ago. I’ll always be sorry for that. I–I wish I could change it.”
He nodded, “I know, I wish I could change some things too.”
“But, we can’t. Can we?” She wasn’t sure why she had asked that.
Maybe, I’m still searching for a glimmer of hope that one day we’ll be together.
“No, we can’t,” David answered.
“But, it would be nice if we could.” She couldn’t hold back the tears any longer.
“It would be-very nice,” David said, as she began to cry.
He shuffled his feet nervously unsure of what to do as Cate lowered her head and wiped tears.
“I’ve got to tell Sarah I’m leaving, but I don’t know how to say goodbye to her, and I don’t know how to make her understand about my leaving.”
“I know,” David swallowed hard and cleared his throat.
Cate stood, shaking her head, “I just don’t know.”
“Why don’t you let me tell her? Maybe, it will be easier coming from me?”
Cate was grateful for his offer, but knew that it was something that she had to do. “I need to tell her, but I don’t know how to make her understand.”
“I don’t think she’s going to understand no matter which one of us tells her, but it’ll be easier for you if I tell her.”
“I can’t leave without at least seeing her,” Cate raised her head, with tears in her eyes.
Hurting for Cate, himself and Sarah, David answered, “Okay…she’s in her room.”
Cate walked slowly to Sarah’s room; she found the child sleeping peacefully. She walked softly to the bed, bent over, and kissed her gently on the forehead. As she did, her long brown hair brushed Sarah’s cheek, and roused her from her sleep. Catching Cate’s hair in her hand, she opened her eyes. Seeing Cate leaning over her, she caught her around the neck and pulled her closer for a hug.
“Hey, Baby Girl,” Cate said, trying to hide her sadness.
“Hello, Cate. I missed you at the music program this morning. Where were you?”
“I–uh–I had something important to take care of.”
“But, you didn’t hear me sing.” Sarah said, disappointment in her voice.
“I’m sorry, Baby Girl. If my meeting hadn’t been very, very important, I wouldn’t have missed your singing.”
“Would you like to hear me sing my song now?”
“Sure,” Cate said.
Sarah began to sing, and Cate’s eyes filled with tears.
Seeing Cate with tears in her eyes, Sarah stopped singing, “What’s wrong?”
Cate tried to answer, but the words wouldn’t come. David had followed her into Sarah’s room and seeing Cate’s distress, he said, “Sarah, honey, Cate’s going home.”
“Home? To the Garcia’s’ house?” Sarah asked, with furrowed brow, and a confused expression.
Cate was trying hard not to cry, but tears trickled down her face and she couldn’t answer.
“No honey,” David said, “she’s going home to Kansas.”
“Is your mother sicker?” Sarah tried to decipher what was going on.
Cate shook her head ‘no’ and forced the words, “No, Baby Girl, I’m going home to stay.”
“You’re not coming back?”
“I don’t know honey, but probably not,” Cate answered, with lots of tears and a big sigh.
“But, I don’t want you to go,” Sarah protested through tears.
“I know,” Cate hugged her.
Sarah sobbed, “Who’s going to take care of me?”
“Kim and Mrs. Garcia will help daddy take care of you,” Cate answered, trying to comfort her.
“But, I want you,” Sarah protested again tearfully.
“I know, but I’ve got to go home,” Cate hugged her tighter. “Don’t cry. I’ll see you when you and daddy come home to Kansas again.”
Taking Cate’s cue, David joined in, “Sarah, honey, Cate’s right, we’ll see her again.”
“But, not for a long, long time,” Sarah protested, with her arms still tightly around Cate’s neck.
Maybe not,” David said, trying to comfort her.
Cate knew she had to try to bring an end to the grief they were all feeling and begin the drive to Quito. She took a deep breath and said, “Well, I’ve got to get going. Matthew’s driving me to Quito, and I don’t want it to be too late when he drives back home tonight.”
“Where will you be staying in Quito?” David looked directly into her eyes for the first time.
“I’m going to stay with the Pattersons until I fly home,” she answered, as she surveyed his eyes.
“When are you flying home?”
Cate saw the marked sadness in his eyes.
“As soon as I can make arrangements, I guess,” Cate answered, as she rose with Sarah still in her arm. As they walked to the door, David put his arm around Cate’s shoulder and walked with them. When they reached the front door, Cate hugged Sarah tightly and whispered goodbye.
“I love you, and I’ll miss you,” Sarah said, with tears streaming down her face.
“I love you too. I’ll miss you too.”
Cate hugged her tightly one more time and handed her to David. As he took her, his eyes met Cate’s eyes. For a moment, they shared another silent, sad gaze. Cate’s tears were flowing again. David’s face took on a tortured look, and he lowered his eyes. Sarah was crying deep sobs.
Reluctantly, Cate turned and began to walk away. She took four steps, whirled around and walked briskly back to where David and Sarah were standing. With an arm around Sarah, she hugged David tightly. She quickly turned, hurried to the car, and got in. As Matthew drove away she watched David and Sarah in the side mirror until they faded from sight.
Twenty Seven
The drive to Quito took two hours, but Cate didn’t notice. She was thinking about the goodbyes, and thankful that God gave her the strength to obey Him. Matthew was content to allow her to sit quietly and process what had happened. He was glad that she had asked him to drive her to Quito. That would allow him to spend more time with her before she left for Kansas.
They arrived in Quito at seven o’clock. When they pulled up in front of Dr. Patterson’s apartment building, Cate breathed a very long sigh, looked at Matthew, and got out of the car. Dr. Patterson invited her in and offered to help Matthew with the bags while Mrs. Patterson showed her to her room.
Matthew took the opportunity to share his feelings about Cate’s leaving. “Dr. Patterson, she doesn’t have to leave, and I can’t understand why she’s going.”
“I’m sure she has her reasons,” Dr. Patterson said, as they entered the elevator.
“But, I don’t get it.”
“I’m sorry my boy,” Dr. Patterson replied, “but these things have a way of working out for the best—eventually.”
“I’ve prepared dinner for all of us,” Mrs. Patterson said, as they returned.
“Thank you, that was very kind of you,” Matthew replied.
Knowing that Cate would not want to talk about why she was leaving everyone made small talk.
After the meal, Matthew decided it was time to head back to Peguche. Cate walked him down. Once at the car, she hugged him, thanked him for driving her, and told him a last goodbye. He reluctantly got in his car and drove away.
When Cate returned to the apartment, Dr. Patterson was waiting for her.
“Cate, are you sure leaving is what you want?”
“No, sir, but I do believe I need to go.”
“But, Matthew said that you could stay, if you wanted.”
“Dr. Patterson, I’m leaving because I think that’s what God wants me to do,” Cate said.
“You can’t argue with that,” Mrs. Patterson said to her husband.
“Indeed I can’t,” Dr. Patterson said.
“My dear, we’ll be very happy for you stay with us as long as you wish,” Mrs. Patterson added.
“Thank you, but I think I should leave as soon as I can make arrangements.”
“Afraid you’ll lose your resolve, my dear?” Mrs. Patterson asked.
“Yes,” Cate brushed a lock of hair from her face, her eyes were red and tired. “Dr. Patterson may I talk to you about something?”
“Of course, my dear,”
“I’ll give you two some privacy,” Mrs. Patterson excused herself.
“You don’t have to,” Cate responded. “Please stay?”
“If you’re sure,” Mrs. Patterson said.
“I’m sure. I’m convinced that God wants me to leave Ecuador, but I don’t know why. I know He led me to Ecuador, and I can’t figure out why He’s leading me away.”
Dr. Patterson sat back in his chair, his hands touching his lips, as he considered what he had heard, “You say that you are convinced that He led you here and that He’s leading you away.”
“Yes, sir, as far as I know I am absolutely surrendered to God, and today when I met with Dr. Kennedy, I knew God was leading me to leave, and though I don’t know why He wants that, I am trying to be obedient.”
“My dear, I applaud your obedience,” Mrs. Patterson said.
“Cate, trusting and obeying God, when you do not understand is a very courageous thing. Many Christians couldn’t or wouldn’t do that,” Dr. Patterson said.