by D. R. Mather
April came from the living room, “Mind some more company?”
“Well I don’t know, should we Brandon?”
He walked over and said, “Come on Aunt April, you can play with us too.” He brought her to the coat area.
When they had finally finished all the body packing for outside, they exited the Inn only to see Beth and Alex smooching on a seat.
Judy saw them and said, “AHEM, child alert.” Then she smiled as she saw them straighten out and behave.
“Aunt Judy, what were Aunt Beth and Uncle Alex doing?”
“Shit. Well, you see Uncle Alex stayed out too long and his throat started to freeze. Aunt Beth was only out for a little while so she was still warm inside. So Aunt Beth was warming Uncle Alex’s throat to help thaw it out!”
Judy was so proud of that answer. Yeah, until Brandon said: “Daddy must get a lot of frozen throats then, ‘cause mommy is always thawing his out.” He then bolted off to the nearest snow bank and plowed into it head first.
Everyone was looking at Judy, Beth said, “Any other bright ideas professor?”
“Yip, tonight I’m going to teach him advanced calculus, you horny dogs.” She barreled into the same snow bank Brandon was in.
Somewhere along the line, a snowball was thrown. No one took ownership of it, but the great mid-west snowball fight was in mid-swing now. Michelle, Cindy, Billy and Roland seemed to have joined in the fray somewhere. Judy caught one in the right ear. Luckily it was from Brandon, so it wasn’t hard packed or even thrown with force, just hard enough for the snow to get nice and deep into her ear.
Judy couldn’t get it out so she thought; ’I’ll melt it out.’ With that, she stuck her finger in her ear. Had she not done that, maybe she would have heard the car a bit sooner, who knows. Her right ear was facing the driveway with her finger in it, but eventually the sound bounced off the house wall and hit her left ear. Everyone else was already frozen in place. Judy snapped to face the driveway; now she too was frozen.
She couldn’t move. She heard the car – Kevin’s car. She also heard…music. He had the radio blasting… it was...it was…Supertramp…
“When lonely days turn to lonely nights
You take a trip to the city lights
And take the long way home
Take the long way home
You never see what you want to see
Forever playing to the gallery
You take the long way home
Take the long way home…”
Everyone was moving towards the pavement where Judy was standing; the car and music were getting closer when Cindy and April reached Judy, but there was no car yet.
April put her arm around Judy and whispered, “Baby’s home, honey.”
Judy just dropped to her knees, her body shuttering like a volcano just before it erupts, everyone could see it. It was actually an amazing sight to behold. It was as if the soul of Judy was climbing up out of her to go and meet the man she loved because it couldn’t wait for Judy to do it. As the little horse on the grill came into sight, the volcano began to release its hold, along with everyone else’s there that day. How does one describe the heart-wrenching cry of happiness? She had one gloved hand and one bare hand covering her face now, so they couldn’t see her face at all. They didn’t need to see it though; they could all feel it coming from her. As if the energy surged and went throughout them all.
It wasn’t pain that racked Judy now, it was something else; a sudden release of tension or perhaps a feeling of becoming whole again, or maybe it was just a feeling of Judy finally building a true adult relationship that she had already decided she wanted to last forever.
Judy never actually made it to the car. Kevin saw her and slid the car in almost the completely opposite direction, looking as if he were leaving, not coming. He knew what he was doing, because when he opened the door, it wasn’t in his way when he hit the ground. Kevin slid on his knees on the snow-covered driveway for a good eight feet before he actually reached Judy. He didn’t walk to her, or run to her, he slid into her on his knees, seemingly able to stop just as he reached her body. It was then that volcanoes erupted all over the front of the Colburn Inn. Both Judy and Kevin were crying so hard that they could barely catch a breath of air. Although Kevin couldn’t come close to what was releasing from inside of Judy, not one bit as close. As everyone there could attest to, those two people held each other for so long that Barb went and got a throw blanket for them and put it over both of them.
Kevin finally moved Judy back a bit, “Come on, what say we go in where the temperature is above the freezing mark?”
“Oh…oh…okay honey.”
She was still sniffling but some of that could have been all the cold air she had been dragging in and out of her nose. Kevin helped her up and they both stood there for a second or two just wiping their eyes. Judy stepped back, looked Kevin in the eye and smacked him on the arm with her glove.
“Don’t you ever leave me like that again; I don’t think I can take it again.”
“Judy, I’ll try my best, but you know what I do, it was a package deal, remember?”
She hung her head, “Yeah, I remember.” She jumped up on him with her legs around his waist, “Carry me in?”
“I’ll carry you anywhere you want to go.” He kissed her again and again. For a few minutes, Kevin was beginning to think Judy was serious. He carried her all the way into the Inn, then across the entry and into the living room until he was right in front of a couch. She still wouldn’t let go of Kevin.
“Baby, people are watching.”
“Then we charge admission.” She kissed him again.
“Okay lightweight, end of the free ride, after five minutes my fair flag goes up and I start to charge as well,” he plopped her on the couch, then sat beside her, and said his howdy’s to everyone.
“Sweetheart, would you mind if maybe we took off our coats and stayed a while?”
Judy agreed as it was getting warm in the house. Kevin took her things and went to hang them up; while he was over at the coats, Brandon ran over and hugged Judy.
“I’m sorry I hit you so hard with that snowball and made you cry Aunt Judy,” he said.
“OH NO, it wasn’t you sweetie. No, it was my love coming back to me that made me cry.”
At Brandon’s age, he associated crying with something bad so he didn’t understand. Judy took a few minutes to explain. Kevin had already returned by the time Judy was half way through talking to Brandon, so he sat quietly and held her hand.
Brandon turned to Kevin and said, “I remember you. I showed you my picture at the table in our house way, way away from here!”
“That’s right Brandon. It’s a small world after all, isn’t it?”
Brandon thought about that, then said, “It sure seems big to me!”
Everyone laughed and Brandon turned and found Michelle.
Kevin looked at the two of them. “Did everything go well?”
“Perfect. We didn’t hit snow until maybe thirty miles from here. The truck seemed to handle what was on the ground well enough.”
“Did you return the truck to the local rental?”
“Yeah, April gave me a ride there and back. I’ve been kind of thinking on that part though. I’m going to have to go back to town and rent a car in the morning as we plan on leaving right after breakfast.”
Kevin smiled warmly, “Not a problem Billy, I can……” Judy elbowed him in the rib. “Judy and I can bring you in tomorrow morning.”
“Hey, listen Kevin, I can hitch a ride with someone else you know; you’ve done more than your share already from what I’m hearing.”
Kevin smiled quietly and thought to himself, ’You two have no idea, but you will tomorrow.’ He said, “Nonsense Billy, it would be my great honor, believe me. I was very happy to see that you were able to do this for me at all. Or should I say for Cindy and Roland?”
Cindy perked up then, “Speaking of that, I believe you have so
mething coming to you mister man!” She got up and went across the room to Kevin, kneeled on the floor in front of him and kissed him lightly on the cheek, “Thank you so very, very much, I don’t believe anyone else I’ll ever meet in my lifetime will have a heart like you.” She got up, rubbed Kevin’s head a little and went back to sit with Roland. Kevin was left there to turn a funny shade of blush again. Judy looped her arm through Kevin’s and snuggled him. Her smile could have penetrated solid walls at that point.
It was after eleven before the last of them went up to bed. Will and Barb left first.
”Place to run and all, you know,” Will said as he and Barb left.
Eventually it was only Judy and Kevin They moved to the chairs next to the fire and Judy slid hers right up to his of course. There was no way she was going to let him sit that far from her, and for Kevin, it couldn’t have pleased him more.
Kevin woke to the sound of Michelle quietly trying to wake them at around 1 a.m. Kevin and Judy had fallen asleep holding hands and resting each other’s heads together. Michelle found them still asleep like that. Kevin jumped up a little and realized what was going on; Judy was a lot groggier though.
“Thank you Michelle, this would have been a lot more painful by morning.”
“You’re welcome,” Michelle whispered. ”Good night.” She whispered because Kevin was standing there with Judy lying across his arms, sound asleep.
Kevin brought her to bed and even managed to get her undressed without so much as a murmur from her. He slipped into bed beside her, wrapped his arm around her, and drifted off to sleep again.
***
Kevin was up with the sun. He was already out of the shower and getting dressed by 6:15 a.m.; he turned and looked at Judy, who was still sound asleep.
“I think she needs her sleep,” he said to himself.
Kevin quietly left the room. As he headed down the stairs, April was climbing them at a fast trot.
“My, but we’re on the move this morning aren’t we?”
“Good morning Kevin. In fact I am, the store called and two girls are out, I have to go cover for them. How’s Judy holding up?”
“Sleeping like a baby. When I left her she was curled up in a tiny, rather cute ball.”
“I’m so glad you’re back, not only for Judy’s sake, but as a whole. You just seem to – well, how can I say it? –you just seem to make everyone here a whole family instead of the renters we used to be. Do you know what I mean?”
Kevin gave April a warm smile, “Yeah, I think I do, and thank you for that.” He reached out and kissed April’s cheek.
“Oh come now sir, I’m just speaking my mind.”
They both chuckled and headed off in different directions.
Barb was the first person Kevin saw as he came around the corner and into the dining room,
“Good morning Kevin. I can’t tell you how happy I am that you’re back, it was quite a thing here. That poor baby, she had such a hard time. We’re all pretty sure that no one has ever shown her any real love in her life, and you come in and rip her out by the roots and re-plant her in such a large place. I think she just couldn’t handle it so quickly.”
Kevin walked over to Barb, “You know, of everything I’ve heard so far, you are the only one who has hit the head right on the nail. She’s going to learn most of how to love and be loved on her own over time, but I think she needs a boost.”
“Kevin, what do you mean by ‘a boost’?”
“Something needs to be fixed, and I’m the only one who can fix it, that’s what I mean.”
Now Barb was looking at Kevin with suspicious eyes, “This isn’t anything that’s going to hurt Judy is it? Because honestly, I think she’s had enough of that for a while.”
“Morning Will,” said Kevin,
“Good morning Kevin.”
Kevin noticed Will slip into the room from the kitchen and Will was now leaning against the door casing for the hall, his arms folded in front of him across his chest. Kevin knew that posture.
“I was just telling Barb…”
”I heard. Please, go on….”
Kevin knew Will was gearing up to defend Judy if he had to; he absolutely loved to see it, even if it was at his own expense.
“Very well then, to the both of you, I think I can fix the part of Judy that’s missing. We all see it, a sadness that creeps up in between those wonderful smiles. We all agree, those smiles could melt the polar ice caps, but, it’s the in-between smiles. Judy doesn’t seem to just go neutral; she seems to slip into the exact opposite direction.”
Barb very quickly turned to Kevin and touched his arm. Will had now moved up to them both, “Oh my god, I’ve seen that too, and I thought I was the only one,” said Barb. She turned to Will, “I remember I wanted to talk to you about it last year, but just before I started, that boiler broke down. I guess I let it slip by.”
Will looked back and forth between them, “You know Barb, not only are you and Kevin right but more than just the two of you, most everyone here sees it happen. She goes from this amazing smile to a horrible frown an instant later.”
“Exactly Will. I think Judy re-lives her past a lot more than we all see; it’s like a constant flashback in her mind. The only thing that saves her is the powerful love she has at her core. It rips the sadness out as soon as it hits and pushes it back. The only problem is, Judy still lives with it. This is why you see her all smiles and giggly, then a sad look, then suddenly back to smiles and giggles.”
Barb was still touching Kevin’s arm, “Do you really think you can help her? I mean the part of her that sits in quiet pain?”
Kevin put an arm around both of them, “Yeah, I think I can, but I’m going to have to make a visit first.”
Will looked Kevin in the eye, “A visit? Where, to whom?”
“That, my dear, dear friends, is my little secret for now. Now, what’s for breakfast?” Kevin moved around Barb and started opening lids. “Aaahhh…waffles and sausages, perfect!” Kevin turned to them with his head only, “You two can talk amongst yourselves, ‘Kevin’ is about to put his feed bag on.” He gave them both a wonderful smile.
He wasn’t even half way through breakfast when he heard footsteps on the main stairs. He’d already learned them. Everyone else came down to the sound of…plop, plop, plop, plop…Judy was more like…plop, plop…plop, plop…plop, plop… It was as if she ‘stair stepped’ to the music that was in her head.
“Kevin?”
He heard her but his mouth was full of a muffin; it was very hard to swallow a muffin at first.
“UM EAR HUMMY.” He heard her giggle the second she’d heard him.
She peeked her head around the corner, “Why Kevin Chase, you never told me you went to the same polishing school as I did!”
”Shith,” said Kevin.
“I believe that would be ONE for Judy?” said Barb.
Judy came out from around the corner and didn’t so much walk over to Kevin but wiggled or twisted, or…..well….imagine a snake standing upright on its tail. All Kevin could see was that every muscle in her body seemed to be somehow involved in her movement. When she reached him she became Judy of many hands and lips.
“Good morning honey, did you miss me while I was sleeping?”
Kevin didn’t need to lie, “Yes baby, I did actually.”
“Damn right you did.”
“No really hun, I was in the shower and I couldn’t reach the crack of my butt. I could have used you then.”
Barb and Will figured Judy was going to zing Kevin back. Instead they got nothing because Judy went to Kevin’s ear and whispered something that made his eyes light up, then she went over to the steamers for food.
Kevin was left clearing his throat, “Ahem, well, yes, yes indeedy……moving on.”
Will went up to Barb, “I think our little fireball has found a new way to win a battle of the wits game.”
Barb gave Will a loving tap on his shoulder, “Oh you men, you’
re all the same aren’t you?”
“Only because you women make us that way honey,” Will said with a grin.
He looked to Kevin, whose mouth was once again filled; Kevin gave him a ‘thumbs up’. A few minutes later and Alex and Beth showed up.
“Morning you two loves birds,” said Beth.
Beth and Alex went over, got their food and then sat at the table.
Kevin looked at Beth; “Are you working today Beth?”
“Nope, I took a day off, I’ve had some saved anyway. Billy and Michelle are leaving so I wanted to hang around, you know?”
“Yeah,” said Kevin, “I do know. Another emotional and rough day I’m guessing.”
Beth looked to Judy, “We’ve had more than our share of those lately huh, Judy pie?”
“I’ll say, I’d like to pass on anything more, but I guess that can’t be helped can it. We do what we must!” The inner Judy answered that, they all saw it.
Kevin patted her leg for comfort, “That’s my girl.”
After breakfast, everyone was in the living room, the goodbyes were about to commence and the tissues were at the ready. Kevin had Judy on his lap again, he told her he was going to change her name to Rex or Fifi or something dog-like. Judy only giggled.
“Baby, I’m going to take Billy and Michelle into town to get a rental, okay?” he said.
“Oh yeah, no problem, all three of them should be able to squeeze in to the back seat.”
“Amm, they don’t need to honey, I’m going to keep you here where it’s snuggly, safe and warm.”
Everyone in the room witnessed the color go out of Judy.
“But why can’t I come?” She sounded frantic; a little too frantic considering Kevin was only going to town for a while. He stood her up and knew what was going through her head; she thought he was going away and wouldn’t ever come back. He was going to leave her behind forever. He took her hand and walked her into the dining room, just the two of them.
“Honey, I have a mission, not a dangerous one, but one that I have to do alone. I’ll be gone for maybe five hours tops okay?”