Her Perfect Life

by Hinze, Vicki

  “Or reverse that,” Sam suggested. “Or you and C.D. could come here and we could all have dinner together. Solidarity for the kids.”

  Katie looked at C.D. “The kids would probably like that best,” C.D. said. “Not spending the day being shuffled around, I mean.”

  Blair took Katie’s hand. “We want what you want, Katie. We’ve had a lot of Thanksgivings, but this one is especially important to you because it’s the first one since you came home. Whatever you want to do, we’ll support.”

  Katie cut a glance at Sam. When he nodded, she looked over at C.D. “It’s up to you,” he said.

  He meant it. They all did. Touched, Katie nodded. “Let’s, um, all be together here, then.”

  “I was hoping you’d say that,” Blair said with a delighted little squeal. “Shall we run to New Orleans to get your parents and have them here with us, too?”

  “My mother’s bad days aren’t very flattering,” she said. Sam could get an earful. “That might be a little awkward.”

  “Not at all,” Blair said. “Believe me, in the past six years, I’ve heard everything there is to hear,” she said, guessing Katie’s reluctance. “The kids have too, and we all know what to hear and what to pretend we’re deaf to hearing.”

  Sam grunted. “She always did like C.D. best.”

  Blair winked. “You already know the only caveat. Sam’s parents will be here.”

  “Ah, yes.” Katie hiked her brows. “But this year, they’re your problem, not mine.”

  Sam frowned, but his heart wasn’t in it. C.D. laughed, and so did Blair. “I might call on you for reinforcement,” Blair said. “Experience has to pay off.” She touched Katie’s arm. “But Elizabeth will approve of this. She’s positively militant about unity in the family at the moment.”

  “All right,” Katie said. “Let’s do it, then—provided the kids are okay with it. They might be overwhelmed at having to deal with all of us at once. I want them to enjoy the holiday, too.”

  “I told you she’d ask us,” Jake said from the stairs. “Pay up.”

  “This is so not fair.” Molly shoved two dollar bills at Jake. “Mom?”

  “Yes?”

  “Yes?”

  Katie and Blair answered simultaneously.

  Molly smiled and held out her hand. “I told you they’d both answer me.”

  Jake slapped the two dollars back against Molly’s palm. “Shut up.”

  Amused, Katie said, “I take it you two are okay with the plans to all be together on Thanksgiving here?”

  Jake nodded.

  “Yes,” Molly said. “But do Gran and Grandpa Slater—”

  Jake elbowed her in the ribs.

  “Never mind.” She glared at Jake and rubbed her side.

  A bubble of excitement rose inside Katie, and for the first time in a very long time, she really looked forward to Thanksgiving.

  * * *

  By Thanksgiving, life had pretty much settled into a routine for Katie. She spent time with C.D., time with the kids, helped C.D. at the bar, prepared her little garden for winter and nested in her cottage. Life was good.

  She’d tried no less than three times a week, but still hadn’t managed to deal with the beach. She was making progress, though. On Monday, she’d actually gotten out of the car. She hadn’t let go of it, but she’d gotten out and put her feet on the asphalt parking lot.

  Why this was such an ordeal in her mind, she had no idea, but it’d been the source of intense speculation between C.D., the kids, and even Sam and Blair. Their suppositions had been all over the place—everything from the ordeal being over to what comes next and a thousand things in between that were and weren’t related. The kicker was, even if they’d been right, Katie wouldn’t have known it. And that irritated her to no end.

  Which is why she was less than enamored when Jake brought the subject up at the table on Thanksgiving.

  “Let’s not talk about it today,” Katie said.

  Grace lifted her index finger. “Tell me what’s going on with this.”

  She was having a pretty good day. Not a great day, but so far, she’d been doing well, and her eyes were clear. “It’s nothing, Mom,” Katie said, reassuring her.

  “It’s a big something, Gran,” Molly contradicted Katie without apology. “Mom’s scared to go to the beach.”

  “It’s the sand,” her mother told Molly. “The desert intruding on her life here.” She looked over to her daughter. “Katie, I don’t see so well anymore,” she said, obviously referring to her psychic sight, “and I don’t know everything you went through. But I don’t need to know. I’m your mother, and I’ll tell you this: nothing they did to you can be as bad as what you can do to yourself. Make wise choices.”

  C.D. watched with interest.

  “What exactly does that mean?” Molly asked.

  Elizabeth Slater answered. “It means your mother must forgive herself and then she can be content in her life again.”

  Her mother had seen some. “Forgive myself?” Katie asked.

  “Of course, Katie girl,” her father said. “You didn’t finish the mission. There were consequences. You failed, and you need to forgive yourself.”

  “I do not need to forgive myself for anything they did to me.”

  “No, Katie.” Her mother looked at her, impatient. “Not for what they did, darling. Because you couldn’t stop them.”

  “Women suffer from this all the time, Katie,” Elizabeth said, then took a bite of cranberry. “Though likely not to your degree, due to your unusual circumstances. Not many women are taken P.O.W.”

  “Can we not discuss this now?” Katie asked, getting edgier with each word spoken. “I want to be thankful. I really don’t want to discuss this now.”

  C.D. stood up. Blair and Sam joined him. “The topic is closed,” C.D. said.

  “Sorry, Mom.” Molly muttered. “I was trying to help.”

  “I know you were,” Katie said. “It’s okay.” She waited until C.D. and Sam and Blair sat back down. “I’ll figure it out. I just need a little more time.”

  Grace looked at Sam. “I might have been wrong about you.” Her gaze shifted to Blair. “You appeal to his higher angels.”

  Blair flushed prettily. “Thank you, Grace.”

  “Frank, isn’t it wonderful having both our girls at one table?”

  “Yes, Grace, it is.”

  Elizabeth assumed Grace meant Katie and Molly, but Katie—and obviously Blair, judging by her grin—knew Grace meant Katie and Blair. And Katie was just fine with that. Parched, she searched the table.

  “I have news,” Sam said.

  “Blair, there’s no water. I don’t have any water.” Katie tried to keep panic from her voice, but it snaked through her belly and chest and lodged in her throat.

  “I’ll get some.” She went to the kitchen.

  “Katie?”

  She heard C.D. but couldn’t answer. Her mouth and throat were too dry.

  “She went thirsty for a long time, Grandma Grace,” Molly whispered across the table.

  “Yes, darling, she did.”

  C.D. reached for Katie’s hand. It was as cold as ice.

  Blair heard Molly and rushed back, pouring a glass full of water as she moved to Katie. “Your water is right here, Katie.” She set the pitcher down within Katie’s reach and lifted her hand, wrapped her fingers around the glass. “Here you go.”

  Katie emptied the glass. C.D. refilled it from the pitcher, and she drank again, feeling the panic inside her subside. Embarrassed and awkward, she sent Blair a grateful glance.

  Smooth as silk, Blair resumed normality. “Sam, what’s your news?” she asked, claiming everyone’s attention.

  Sam let her. “It’s about Mrs. Jefferson.”

  “She’s having a baby.” Blair, Molly, Jake, C.D. and a recovered Katie all said in unison.

  Elizabeth nearly jumped out of her skin. Katie’s mom and dad chuckled, and Sam’s dad, Jason, looked baffled.

&
nbsp; “That’s right.” Sam winked.

  “Her cat told us,” Molly told Elizabeth.

  Elizabeth nodded, but now looked as baffled as Jason.

  “So Katie,” Jason said. “Have you decided what kind of business you’re going to open?”

  “Not yet.” She had narrowed down her possibilities, but she hadn’t yet finished her research. She hadn’t forgotten C.D.’s suggestion about the garden shop, or his comment about her being at peace with her hands in the dirt. It was on her short list. In ways little else could, peace tempted her.

  “What about a doll shop?” Molly said. “You like those old ones with the lacy dresses a lot.”

  Sam cut into his turkey. “What about a consulting firm for defense contractors?”

  Katie made a yucky face. “No way.”

  “What’s wrong with you guys?” Jake asked. “Mom, you need to sell flowers and yard stuff. You love that. I remember when I was little, you’d let me pick out the seeds from a book, and when they came, we’d put them in those little black cup things. It was cool.”

  They had done that, and Jake remembered. A lump slid into Katie’s throat and she swerved her gaze to C.D., who gave her a superior shrug because he’d predicted more of their memories would return as they did things together to jog them.

  “Oh, that’s perfect, Katie!” Blair nodded emphatically. “Your garden at the old house was absolutely beautiful. A garden shop is perfect.”

  “Maybe she doesn’t want to take a hobby and make it her life’s work,” Sam’s dad said.

  “Jason, if you love what you’re doing, it’s not work. It’s living your passion,” Elizabeth said. “Katie, you did have the most gorgeous roses I’ve ever seen. Blair is right. The entire garden was an artistic delight. You should—”

  Katie’s mother stood up. “My daughter will do as she fairly well pleases, and that’s that.”

  “Thank you, Mom.” Katie stood and helped her mother sit back down. “You’re absolutely right.” She patted her on the arm. “I probably will open a garden shop. I’m happiest when my hands are in the dirt.” She winked at C.D.

  Jake held out his hand to Molly. “Pay up.”

  She frowned and passed two dollar bills over to him.

  Biting back a smile, Katie watched her mom study C.D. “Gracious but you’re a good-looking man.”

  “Thank you, Grace.” He gave her a killer smile and promptly blushed.

  Adorable.

  “You always did love her best, C.D.” Grace smiled. “I always loved you for that.”

  Katie’s dad started to push back his chair to rise. “Maybe I’d better take Grace—”

  “No, Frank,” Blair said. “We’re all family here. Family is as it is, and it’s all a privilege. Grace is just fine.”

  Katie admired Blair, and the more she knew of her, the greater that admiration became. What a refreshing thing it was to not hate the other woman. To not stamp her as the wicked stepmother and inferior woman Katie’s husband loved best.

  Odd, but refreshing, and Katie added one more thing to her list of things to be grateful for today.

  “So when is this divorce business going to be final?” Jason asked Katie.

  “December 2nd.”

  Sam sent her an apologetic look, and she clasped C.D.’s hand under the table and whispered to Sam, “Family’s family. It’s all a privilege.”

  He muttered something unintelligible, and Katie gave C.D.’s hand a squeeze.

  “So, Katie,” Jason sat back in his chair, his gray hair catching in the light. “Sam’s told me about the deal you two made on the house. How are you going to open a business?”

  She had thought about it, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to announce it to everyone at the table. Still, why not? “Just like everyone else does, Jason.”

  “I’ll invest $10,000,” Sam said, assuming they were discussing the financial aspects of it.

  “We can do better than that, can’t we?” Blair asked. “If I keep the Beemer another year or two?”

  Sam nodded. “Twenty, Katie.”

  “I’ve got $250 I’ve been saving for a car,” Jake told her. “You can have that, Mom.”

  “I’ll add $12.50,” Molly added. “Sorry, Mom. I just bought a new iPad, so I’m pretty much broke—except for what I’ve won from Jake.”

  “I’ll throw in $20,000, too,” Jason said. “Seems only right, considering.”

  “We’ll match it, Katie,” her dad said. “Whatever you need.”

  Katie was overwhelmed, far too overwhelmed to speak. “I--I can’t tell you how much your offers mean to me…” Her voice cracked, and silent tears streaked down her face. She tried and tried, but she couldn’t go on.

  “Angel?” C.D. looked to her for permission. Katie nodded, and he finished for her. “That you’d offer to help means a lot to her—especially you, Molly and Jake. But Katie doesn’t need your money to open her business.”

  “Katie,” Sam said. “I know what you’re getting in the settlement, and it’s going to cost a great deal more than that to get a business up and running. There’s no reason for you to start out with a huge debt hanging over you.”

  She dabbed at her eyes, still too moved to speak.

  “No, Sam,” C.D. said. “Money isn’t a problem. Katie has more money than she’ll spend in two lifetimes.” C.D.’s voice hitched; he too was moved deeply by their willingness to help her. “But I think you just gave her what she needed most.”

  “What?” Sam looked totally lost.

  “Your support,” C.D. answered. “You opened your heart to get to your wallet.”

  They all looked at Katie. She confirmed what C.D. said with a nod.

  “So where the heck did you get all this money, Katie?” Sam asked.

  She cleared her throat, let the swell of emotion settle, and then answered him. “C.D. followed my investment advice. I earned a commission.”

  The color leaked out of Sam’s face and C.D. laughed out loud. “I’ll bet you’re sorry you didn’t listen to her now.”

  “Yes, I am. I really am.”

  Everyone laughed and Katie leaned over and kissed C.D. on the cheek. “I adore you.”

  He put a hand over his heart—his silent signal, reminding her she walked in his soul.

  He’d felt that when she’d been dead to him. But was he saying that now because he had then, or did it really still apply? Did he even know?

  Blair interrupted her thoughts with a question to everyone at the table. “Who’s ready for pumpkin pie?”

  * * *

  “Location. Location. Location.”

  Katie surveyed the proposed property—a fabulous two acres of fertile land two blocks from the busiest shopping center in Willow Creek. “It costs more than my first airplane, C.D.”

  “You’ve got the money, Katie.”

  “I do?” She couldn’t make herself ask how much money she had. She wasn’t sure yet she wanted to know. Until she was sure, it was best left in Barbie’s hands; Katie just didn’t need any more pressures right now.

  “Yes, you do.” He looked at the old house sitting on the far end of the property, facing Cherokee Lane, the side street. “With a little fixing up, that’d make a great office—maybe even a great storefront.”

  She loved it. She feared loving it. Coming home had been an exercise in discipline. Not caving under all the disappointments had taken more starch in her soul than she’d ever believed she had. But in ways she’d never before understood, she did now. When you can’t walk, you’re carried. Things were sorting out and going well. Maybe too well, and that’s why the nightmares were back every time she closed her eyes. And why she still couldn’t make herself go to the beach and step on that sand. Somewhere deep inside her was the knowledge that she was too happy. That things were working out too well. And afraid it was true, she kept waiting for the other shoe to fall.

  “Honey, it’s a great location and a fair price. It’s exactly what you need to make a go of the busi
ness. All Barbie’s research says this is it.”

  Samantha would know surely. “I know she does, but—”

  “But what?” He stopped and really looked at her. “Are you afraid to be happy, Angel?”

  She was. God, but she was. “What if things don’t work out?”

  “Here?” he asked. “With your hands in the dirt?” He smiled. “Of course, things will work out.”

  She sank her teeth into her lower lip. “How do you do it, C.D.? How you always know what’s bothering me, and have that unshakable faith?” She shrugged. “I want that. I used to have it. I get glimpses of it, but I can’t grab it enough to hang on now.”

  “You will,” he promised, looping an arm around her shoulder. “Until then, borrow mine.” He swept her up in his arms. “Say yes, Katie. It’s perfect. I just know it.”

  She giggled and buried her face in his shoulder. “Yes.”

  Katie signed the papers to buy the two acres on Harbinger and Cherokee Lane on the first day of December and, though it was a chilly fifty degrees, she and C.D. and the kids celebrated with a picnic right in the middle of them.

  “I can help sometimes after school,” Jake said. “And in the summer.”

  “Me, too. I want to do seeds and bulbs. I don’t like roses, they scratch.”

  Katie looked at C.D. and smiled from the heart out. Sometimes life could be so gentle and tender and good.

  “Can we come back tomorrow?” Molly asked.

  “Not tomorrow,” Katie said. “It’s divorce day. Your dad and I have to go to court.”

  Jake’s eyes clouded and he looked troubled. “What’s wrong, Jake?”

  “My friend Mark’s parents got a divorce, and they started acting nuts.”

  “What do you mean, honey?” He was afraid of something; that was clear. But exactly what, Katie couldn’t imagine, considering relations between all of his parents.

  “Dating,” he said. “Staying out all night. Bringing weird people home and them staying over. We were studying for a science test and Mark had to tell his dad to turn his music down. We couldn’t even think.”

  Katie nodded. “Usually it’s the other way around.”