Peculiar Treasures

by Robin Jones Gunn

  Katie made sure she arrived at the Dove’s Nest early. She and Christy worked in the same building, but Christy was in the bookstore. They saw each other less than they thought they would each day, spending their working hours about fifty feet away from each other but separated by a pizza oven, a wall, and two shelves of children’s books.

  On this particular day, Katie and Christy had their lunch breaks scheduled for the same time. Instead of meeting in the break room at the back of the Dove’s Nest as they usually did, Katie convinced Christy to slip outside into the warm afternoon and drive three blocks to a small deli. She hoped this would allow them the freedom to talk without interruption.

  As Christy ordered a roast beef sandwich for the two of them to split, Katie checked her phone. A smile lit up her face when she saw the waiting message.

  “What are you smiling about?” Christy asked, returning to the table with their food.

  “Did you check your phone lately?” Katie said. “Look, Doug sent a picture of Daniel. Is he the squishiest baby ever?”

  Christy looked at the phone screen. “Oh, look at those cheeks! He is so adorable. I can’t wait to meet him face-to-face!”

  “I know. We have to figure out when we’re going to leave tonight to go to Carlsbad. Todd said you and I are supposed to figure out the details.”

  Christy still was studying the photo. “Look at that little nose. He is so cute! I think he’s going to have Tracy’s chin, though. What do you think?”

  “No, that’s Doug’s chin. Definitely Doug’s chin.”

  “Did you ask Rick if he could get away before six tonight?”

  Katie nodded. “He said he could leave anytime.”

  “Then let’s meet at our apartment around five and go from there.”

  At 5:45 that evening Katie, Rick, Christy, and Todd climbed into Todd and Christy’s Volvo. They were together for the first time since the wedding.

  This is golden, Katie thought as they rumbled down the freeway eating fast-food tacos. I love being “us.”

  They arrived at the hospital in Carlsbad with only half an hour left of visiting hours. As they entered the room, they saw Doug standing beside the bed with a tiny bundle cradled in his arms. Katie never would forget the image of baby Daniel receiving one of his first “Doug hugs” from his awesome daddy.

  Tracy looked up. Her heart-shaped face was weary but radiant. “I’m so glad you guys came. Perfect timing. Did you see my parents? They were just leaving.”

  “I didn’t see them,” Todd said. “How are you doin’, Trace?”

  “Good. Better.”

  Doug’s smile looked as if it were about to sprout wings and fly across the room to greet them. He turned to give the gang a better view of his son.

  “Ohh!” Christy and Katie said in unison.

  “He’s so tiny,” Katie said. “The picture on the phone made his cheeks look so chubby. But he’s so tiny!”

  “Seven pounds, fourteen ounces,” Tracy said. “That didn’t feel so tiny when he was making his grand entrance.”

  “I guess you were right, Katie,” Todd said. “I thought he was fourteen pounds and seven ounces.”

  Tracy made a face. “I can’t even imagine!”

  “He is absolutely perfect.” Christy stretched out her arms. “May I hold him? Please, oh, please?”

  “Of course,” Doug said and then addressed Daniel with “Are you ready to meet your Auntie Christy?”

  Christy received the precious cargo into her arms. She looked like a natural, holding Daniel effortlessly and smiling at him.

  “Hello, Little Wonder. You beautiful baby, you.” Christy’s voice was soft and cooing without sounding gooey. Katie wondered if the year Christy spent working at the orphanage in Switzerland had ripened her heart to little ones in a way that Katie had never experienced. Todd seemed to admire his wife’s tenderness as well.

  Rick, in an uncharacteristic and yet perfectly natural gesture, stepped closer to Katie and put his arm around her shoulder. Katie felt warmed from the toes up.

  “He’s amazing.” Christy looked up at Doug and Tracy. “I’m so happy for you guys.”

  “Thanks. We’re still in awe,” Tracy said.

  “I cut the umbilical cord,” Doug said proudly.

  Katie put up her hand to stop him from saying anything else, and Rick removed his arm from her shoulders. “Sufficient info, right there,” Katie said. “I’m not ready for any word pictures you were thinking of sharing with us.”

  They laughed, and Daniel gave a little shiver of a start from the burst of sound.

  “Oh, sorry,” Christy whispered and placed a sweet kiss on the top of Daniel’s head. “He smells so brand new and fresh!” She kissed his little bald head again.

  “He’s not a new car,” Katie said.

  “I know.”

  “He’s a new soul,” Todd said. “A new life.”

  “Do you want to hold him?” Christy asked Katie.

  “I’m good,” Katie said.

  “Are you sure?” Doug asked.

  “Yeah, I’m sure. Don’t get me wrong. I love him. I think he’s adorable. I’m not rejecting my little nephew baby. It’s just that he’s so little. I haven’t brushed up on my newborn-handling skills lately and . . .”

  “It’s okay, Katie. You’ll have plenty of chances to hold him later,” Tracy said. “And don’t worry. I understand what you’re saying.”

  “We’ll put a little meat on his bones,” Doug said. “Then he won’t be so intimidating.”

  “I don’t want to give him back,” Christy said. “But the woman at the front desk made it sound as if they’re really strict on the visiting hours.”

  “They are. Here, I’ll take him,” Tracy said.

  Doug assisted in the transfer as if he had everything under control. “Thanks again for coming, you guys.”

  “One more thing before we go.” Todd stepped closer to the hospital bed. He placed his large hand on tiny Daniel’s forehead and spoke with gentle authority. “May the Lord bless you and keep you, young Daniel. May the Lord make his face shine upon you and give you his peace. And may you always love Jesus first, above all else.”

  “Amen,” Rick and Doug said in unison.

  Katie, Tracy, and Christy exchanged tearful smiles. The joy they shared in that moment came from a sisterhood of full hearts.

  Three weeks later, Katie dreamed she was at the beach around a campfire with Christy, Todd, Rick, and the rest of the gang. Her heart was full in her dream as well. They were singing, laughing, and roasting marshmallows.

  Her dream was interrupted when she sensed Rick gently pressing his hand on her shoulder. Katie opened her eyes. He was standing over her. She had fallen asleep at work on her lunch break.

  “You all right?” He pulled up a chair beside her at the lunch table. They were the only two people in the room.

  She nodded and checked the sides of her mouth to make sure she hadn’t been drooling. “Just tired. I stayed up until three o’clock last night writing a twelve-page paper. It took me forever.”

  “Your art history paper?”

  She nodded.

  “Did you get it done?”

  Katie nodded again and yawned. “Ask me anything about the PreRaphaelite Movement, and I will dazzle and amaze you.”

  “No need.” He subtly placed his hand over hers and gave her what could be considered a brotherly pat if anyone were watching. “You already dazzle and amaze me.”

  Katie smiled at him. “You’re not going to quiz me?”

  “If you really want me to, I will. But how about if I do the quizzing Friday night?”

  “What’s Friday night?”

  “We’re going to the beach with Todd and Christy, remember?”

  “Oh, yeah, I more than remember. I was just dreaming about it.”

  “You’re ready for a break, aren’t you?”

  “More than you can imagine.”

  “Good. I can get away from here around four o
n Friday. Do you want to drive down with Todd and Christy or by ourselves?”

  “Either way is fine with me.” Katie stood up and accidentally bumped into Rick.

  He grabbed her elbow and teasingly said, “Watch where you’re going, Weldon.”

  “You watch where you’re standing, Doyle.” She gave him a playful nudge.

  They smiled at each other, as Katie slid past him with a saucy flip of her chin. It was difficult to come across beguiling in a café apron and wearing a hairnet, but somehow, at the moment, it was working for Katie, and she knew it.

  Rick gave her a dark-eyed, you-are-the-red-haired-woman-of-my-dreams look that sent Katie into orbit.

  Yup, I would say the two of us are getting more and more “gummy” by the day, Rick Doyle. The more we hang around on this tree together, the gummier we get.

  The question Katie didn’t want to ask was, “What’s going to happen when I start the RA job, and we’re not hanging out on the same tree every day? How gummy will we get then?”

  The rest of the day and the remainder of the week rolled along at its normal, quick pace, and then Thursday hit with a surprise. As Rick later recounted to Katie, Carley called him that morning half an hour before her shift started. She told him she had a new job at Casa de Pedro and was done working at the Dove’s Nest.

  Katie couldn’t believe how understanding Rick was. One of the other employees said Carley was having boyfriend troubles, and apparently her boyfriend worked at the Mexican restaurant, so that prompted her sudden job change.

  Even though Katie wouldn’t say she was glad Carley no longer worked at the Dove’s Nest, she was relieved. The two of them never had hit it off as co-workers, and it seemed to Katie that Carley flirted with Rick whenever she talked to him.

  At the same time, Katie had to sympathize a little with Carley wanting to work where her boyfriend did; Katie understood those benefits firsthand. The only odd thing was that, in the weeks Carley had worked at the Dove’s Nest, her boyfriend never had come in to see her. At least not while Katie was working, which was just about every day. Now her hours were bumped up since Rick and Carlos were on the spot, trying to cover Carley’s shifts until they could hire someone else.

  Katie was supposed to have Friday afternoon off. She had planned to use the free time to do the essential catch-ups like laundry and email before preparing for their evening at the beach. Instead, she took Carley’s hours, and she and Rick had to reschedule their beach date with Christy and Todd for the following Friday.

  “I’m so bummed,” Katie told Christy while Christy was getting ready to leave work. “Not about working more overtime. That’s okay with Rick and me. Missing out on the beach date depresses me.”

  “It’ll work out for another time,” Christy said.

  “I can tell you one thing I decided about an hour ago.”

  “What’s that?” Christy asked.

  “A customer came in talking about how he just had returned from Italy, and I decided the smartest thing I ever did was to blow all my savings and go to Europe last summer with you and Todd. No way could we have gone this summer. I’ll never regret that we made the trip when we did.”

  “Me either,” Christy said. “Even though right now the memory of hiking in the Alps and picking wildflowers with you seems like something we did a lifetime ago.”

  “A lifetime and a half.”

  They sighed together.

  “Growing old and being responsible really stinks,” Katie said. Christy laughed. “What are we going to be saying when we’re thirty?”

  “Or forty?” Katie asked.

  Neither of them projected further than that. It seemed impossible to imagine what life would be like that far in the future. All Katie knew was that she was only going to be young once. She didn’t want to miss out on any adventures because she was being responsible and working all the time.

  13

  A week later, when Katie and the gang were supposed to go to the beach, Rick had to postpone their plans. His older brother, Josh, was in town to make plans for opening another café like the Dove’s Nest in Arizona where he lived. Friday evening was the only time he could meet with Rick.

  The beach party was postponed one more week. However, when it finally did happen, all four of them agreed the timing worked out the best. For her part, Katie was relieved because she just had finished summer school.

  Todd and Christy had a full tank of gas in their car, so they offered to drive. Rick was in a great mood because he finally had found a roommate that looked like a good match.

  “Where did you find the roommate?” Katie asked, as she and Rick were leaving work and driving back to the apartment complex where they planned to meet Todd and Christy.

  “He’s a guy Todd knows. He’s able to cover first and last months’ rent, which is going to make my life easier than you can imagine.”

  “When does he move in?”

  “In a couple of weeks. I’m telling you, Babe, it’s going to be so nice to finally put some money in the bank.”

  “Babe?” Katie echoed.

  “Yeah, Babe. That works. Don’t you think?”

  “Ahh, no.”

  “No Babe, huh?”

  “No. Definitely a big, huge no on the Babe. Did you miss the movie that goes with that one?”

  “What movie?”

  “ ‘That’ll do, pig’?”

  “You lost me at hello,” Rick said.

  Katie rolled her eyes. “It’s ‘You had me at hello,’ not ‘lost’ me. ‘Had’ me.”

  Her cell phone rang. “If that’s Christy . . .” She answered before the second ring. “If you’re going to tell us that you’re canceling this time, one of you better be mortally wounded!”

  “Katie?” A pause was followed by, “Katie, it’s Nicole.”

  “Oh, Nicole! Sorry, I should have looked at the number. I thought you were somebody else.”

  “That’s a relief.”

  “Disregard what you just heard.” Katie switched ears and tried to sound upbeat. “So, how are you? Did you have a good summer?”

  “Pretty good. It went fast. How was yours?”

  “Two words,” Katie said. “Summer school. And the lesson well learned from those two words is that never again in my life do I want to put those two words together because the school part pretty much cancels out the summer part.”

  “But you’re done, right?”

  “Yes. And to celebrate, we’re on our way to the beach this afternoon.”

  “I hope you have a great time. I won’t keep you. I just wanted to let you know that I got the okay today.”

  “The okay for what?”

  “We can move into our rooms in Crown Hall North any time after noon tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow? I thought we couldn’t get in until next week.”

  “I did too. That’s why I thought I should call you in case you hadn’t seen the email yet. They said all the repairs were done, and we could move in. My guess is that they fixed up Crown Hall first this year, which is fine with me. I’m going to drive down from Santa Barbara tomorrow to move my stuff out of storage and into my room.”

  Katie hung up and stared at Rick. “I’m going to scream.”

  “Why?”

  “This summer is over before it even started.”

  “New job jitters?” he asked.

  “No, I’m not nervous about the job. I’m mourning the loss of any sort of summer break.”

  “We have our break right now. We’ll just have to make sure this beach night is memorable enough to make up for all the times we wanted to go this summer and didn’t.”

  Rick’s words held a lot of promise for Katie. Maybe even more promise than he intended to place on them.

  Christy, Todd, Rick, and Katie arrived at the beach in Carlsbad a little after five. They set up camp in a spot that by Katie’s estimation wasn’t the best choice. But the seaweed-strewn cove was close to Doug and Tracy’s house, and the plan was that, if baby Daniel
was doing okay, Doug and Tracy would come down to the beach to join the others for a while. This was the designated spot.

  The beach was crowded, and the sand still hot after being under the intense scrutiny of the sun all afternoon. The sky was clear, and the waves were calm. Voices of children splashing in the water echoed off the boulders that formed a backdrop to the spot where they settled. They were fairly sheltered from the wind, and the late afternoon warmth hung in the air.

  Rick’s cell phone rang, and he started a complicated conversation with his brother.

  “Do you want to go in the water with us, Katie?” Todd asked.

  She glanced at Rick. He was pretty involved in his phone call.

  “Sure.” She peeled down to her bathing suit and gave Rick a little wave as Todd, Christy, and she left Rick with the duty of watching their stuff while he talked to his brother. Katie had that uncomfortable yet sort of flattering feeling that Rick was watching her as she walked through the sand.

  The contrast between their hot footsteps in the heated-up sand and the cool foaming waves at the water’s edge was shocking to Katie’s bare feet.

  Todd walked straight in and dove under the water. He came up on the other side of a wave, shaking his head in Katie and Christy’s direction so the water beads flew toward them.

  “Eee!” Christy protested, putting up her hands to block the spray. “It’s so cold!”

  Katie thought the cold felt pretty good and strode through the water toward the waves. Todd headed back their way. His mischievous grin was classic. Katie knew what would follow.

  “Don’t you even think about it, Todd Spencer!” Christy backed away from her husband in the ankle-deep water.

  Todd grabbed Christy around the waist and seemingly effortlessly carried his bride over the “threshold” of what this surfer boy likely considered to be his true home — the ocean. Todd took five or six high steps to reach the spot where the waves were breaking. Christy let out a gleeful protest at first, but then she put her hands around Todd’s neck and smiled at him like he was the man of her dreams.

  The two young lovers went under the wave together and came up shimmering and laughing. Katie seemed forgotten as Todd and Christy locked in a deep kiss and ducked under the next wave before it had a chance to break over them.