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“You know it’s my pleasure, Ames. I love spending time with your sweet family. And besides, cooking for one isn’t very fun,” said Kate.
“Speaking of cooking for one,” said Amy slyly, “what’s going on with you? Met anyone special recently?”
“Oh please,” she replied. “You’d be the first to know if I had.” Kate hadn’t dated much in the past few years. Sure, there were a few guys here and there, but she wasn’t really one to be interested in casual relationships. She picked up the pan that had been used to transform tortillas into hard taco shells and ran it under the hot water. “But…I actually did get an interesting phone call at work this morning.”
“Oh? Who was it?”
“Ian,” Kate replied nonchalantly. Amy put down the cutting board dramatically and said, “Ian? Wait, Ian from college Ian? Ian who everyone thought you were dating because you spent so much time with Ian? Ian who went off to law school Ian? Ian who I tried to convince you time and time again was your soul mate Ian? ThatIan?”
Kate smiled. “That’s the one.”
“Okay. Just making sure I had the right person,” said Amy with fake nonchalance. She had known full well whom Kate was referring to. “Hmmm. Ian. Well, you talk on the phone from time to time, right? What made this phone call so interesting?”
“He’s moving to Raleigh.”
“What?!” shrieked Amy, dropping a handful of dirty ice cream spoons into the sink with a clatter that made Kate jump. “He’s moving to Raleigh?”
“He just found out that he got a job as a junior associate at Wilson, Warnock & Levinson. Apparently he applied all over the country, but he liked this firm the best out of everywhere that he interviewed. They have a big focus on patent law…or maybe it has something to do with contracts…well, whatever he’s interested in, that’s what they do. So he’ll be here in two weeks!”
Amy smiled and picked up a towel to dry the pan that Kate had finished washing. “Well, I guess we’ll be seeing less of you in two weeks, won’t we? It’s only a little over an hour to Raleigh. I’m sure you’ll both want to reconnect,” she said with a smirk and a raised brow.
“Kate!” called Parker from down the hall. “Daddy said you would read us a bedtime story. Will you do the voices like last time?”
“I’m coming, guys!” she yelled. She flicked some of the soapsuds from her hands at Amy and said, “Don’t get ahead of yourself. Ian and I are just friends. We’ve never been anything more.”
“Whatever you say,” Amy said to Kate’s back as she left the room to go read a bedtime story to the boys.
“Interesting,” said Amy with a knowing smile. “Very interesting.”
Chapter 2
Dear Mom,
In the two months since Ian moved to Raleigh, I see him at least two or three times every week. It’s surprising because it seems like he’s always working, but somehow we’ve found the time. Sometimes I drive up to Raleigh on my day off to meet him at his office and go to lunch. He’s been over to Rick and Amy’s a couple of times for dinner and once for a game night. (Don’t worry, I bankrupted him in Monopoly. I know you’d be proud.) He drives over to Rocky Mount almost every Sunday to come to church with me. And the most fun part is that he’s letting me decorate his apartment. He’s got a great loft in the city, but poor guy, no aesthetic eye whatsoever.
Maybe “poor guy” wasn’t the best choice of words, because now that he’s a lawyer he’s definitely not poor. Remember how in college he would never pay for anything? I seriously don’t remember him ever buying me a meal. Well, now he pays whenever we go out. And I’m not talking about just grabbing a sandwich or coffee (although he pays then, too). He takes me out to nice dinners all the time and insists on buying expensive meals and fancy desserts. It’s nice to be treated this way, for once. I’m really enjoying myself. What can I say? I like being spoiled.
Thanksgiving is coming up soon, and I’m sorry to say that I won’t be able to afford a plane ticket home. You know how expensive it is to fly across the country, especially during holidays. But I’ve been saving up and I’ll definitely be home for Christmas. Meredith has already told me I could have several days off, so I plan to spend the whole time with you in Carmel. I can’t wait to see you! I love living out here, but I miss you so much I can hardly bear it. Start looking through your puzzle collection and pick one out for us to do when I’m home, okay?
Anyway, Thanksgiving. Meredith and the Baileys are going over to Amy’s parents’ house, and of course they invited me to join them, but I’m going to do something a little different this year. Ian has invited his parents and his sister from Chicago to Thanksgiving dinner in his new place and he wants me to join them. I think we’ll be done decorating by then, and I’m going to teach Ian how to cook a turkey. It should be fun! It’s so nice having him here. It’s just like old times. Except with better food.
Lots of love, Your favorite daughter, Katie-Bug
Kate pulled an envelope that matched her polka dotted stationary out of her desk and addressed it to her mother: Olivia Henry, 41088 N. Lavender Ct., Carmel, CA 93922. She smiled as she thought of her childhood home by the ocean. She had been writing letters to her mother for years. Sure, there were always plenty of emails and phone calls, but there was something about pulling out a piece of paper and hand writing words onto it that was so appealing to Kate. She was very close to her mother and wanted to keep her in the loop of what was happening in her life, but she wasn’t always the best with expressing her feelings through a phone call. She found that she was able to communicate better when she had time to sit down and process her thoughts by writing a letter. Besides, Olivia loved reading the letters from her daughter. She kept every one in chronological order in a box in her sewing room.
She sealed the envelope, wrinkling her nose at the taste of the adhesive on her tongue. “Ugh, you taste disgusting!” she said to the envelope. Her phone rang. Seeing the name that appeared on the screen, she grinned and picked up her phone. “Hi, Ian.”
“Hey you!” said Ian’s cheerful voice. “What time are you planning on coming over today?”
“I was planning on leaving in a few minutes, so that should put me up there around 12:30.”
“Super. I’ll take you out to lunch when you get here.”
“Don’t be silly,” she replied. “I was already planning on making a sandwich to eat on the drive. Besides, you spend too much money on me already.”
“I wouldn’t spend money on you if I didn’t want to. Are you sure you don’t want to go out to lunch? I know a new Thai place we could try.”
“No, I’d rather get right to shopping. We’ve got a lot of work to get done today. We have got to find an area rug for your living room and finish some painting.”
“Slave driver.”
“Would you be a successful lawyer today if I hadn’t spent hours quizzing you for finals in college?”
“Doubtful.”
“Okay then. Put on your grubbies and get ready for some home improvement.”
“Yes ma’am!”
“Your place is really starting to come together. It’s quite a transformation from that bare loft it once was.”
“All because of you, and you know it!” said Ian. “If I had to decorate this place on my own, it would have a futon and a big screen and that’s it. You’ve turned it into a real home. It’s amazing. You’ve really got a knack for this stuff.”
“What can I say? I’m a woman of many talents.”
“Yes. You sure are,” replied Ian with a laugh. “And so humble.”
“Naturally.”
“Okay, well I’ll see you around 12:30. Bye.”
After slapping together a turkey sandwich and grabbing an apple and a bottle of iced tea to take with her for lunch, Kate changed into a pair of old jeans that she wasn’t afraid to get paint on and a light blue long sleeved shirt. She tied her curly hair up in a ponytail, grabbed her lunch, and headed off to Raleigh. “Why hello iPod. Let’s listen to
some Sinatra today, shall we?”
She had come to really enjoy the drive. The time alone in the car gave her time to think. Last week, she had been so deep in thought that she drove right past the exit to Ian’s. But she had a lot to think about recently. It really was just like old times with Ian. Kate found it comforting to have someone who needed her, even if it was just to help pick out paint colors. But she couldn’t help wondering if Ian was starting to need her for something more. “Father, please be with us today,” she whispered in prayer. “Help us to be good to each other. And if…well, I mean…if this friendship is going to turn into something else…just give us wisdom, God.”
Kate shook her head in an attempt to stop these crazy thoughts. They were just friends, right? There was no reason to complicate things beyond that. She took a long sip of her iced tea and hummed along with Old Blue Eyes.
After miraculously finding a parking spot on the busy urban street where Ian lived, she walked up the sidewalk to his door and chuckled as she saw what lay on the ground beside it. It was meant to wipe your shoes on, but Ian couldn’t have bought a doormat like a normal human being. No, he had purchased a stone frog figurine, lying on its back with its hands clasped behind its head and a goofy grin on its face. It had hard bristles where his stomach should have been. Together they had named it Bernard. Kate hated the frog as soon as Ian picked it up in the store, but he seemed to love it so much that she didn’t have the heart to tell him how tacky it was. “Hello, Bernard,” she said quietly as she approached the door.
She knocked and looked down as she waited. “Stop looking at me, you creepy little frog!” she hissed at the leering figure. The door flew open and she was greeted with a warm hug from Ian.
Ian hadn’t changed a bit since college. He was very tall and trim with thick dark brown hair and piercing icy blue eyes. Sure, now he had a law degree, but he was still the same old Ian. Sometimes he acted 28 going on 60, and other times she could swear he was 12. But no matter what age he acted, he looked like a young, successful professional. Even in his old jeans and college sweatshirt like he was wearing today, he almost always seemed sophisticated. Maybe it was the glasses, or maybe it was his big vocabulary that he liked to show off.
“Let’s be on our way, shall we?” asked Ian, grabbing his keys from the entrance table that Kate had found (on sale, of course) at a department store last weekend.
Fifteen minutes later Ian parked his car in front of a furniture warehouse store that one of his coworkers had recommended to him. The pair strolled inside, discussing colors and wood tones, and ended up at a big pile of area rugs. Ian quickly lost interest when he didn’t find a rug he liked in the first five that they flipped through, so he wandered off to look around.
“Men,” she muttered. “They have an attention span of a gnat.”
Kate grew determined, and continued to dig through the stack of rugs. “Jackpot!” she said. “I knew I would find you.” It was the perfect size, perfect colors, with a masculine yet stylish pattern. She wrestled with the pile until she was able pull her amazing find to freedom. She looked around for Ian, but he was deep inside another section of the store by then. Unwilling to let the perfect rug go for fear that it would be snatched up by another customer she tried to find a way to carry the bulky rug by herself. “I’m not going to let you win, Mr. Perfect Rug!” She couldn’t roll it up and throw it over her shoulder because she would surely knock something over in the crowded store. It was much too massive to fold up and carry in her arms. So she did the only thing she could think of to do.
Kate decided to wrap it around herself like a giant toga. She waddled off and found Ian looking at floor lamps. He turned and looked at her, fighting hard to remain expressionless.
“You look absolutely ridiculous.”
She grinned. “I know. But look, I found the perfect rug!” Ian surveyed the rug and slowly nodded his head. “You’re right, as always.” She smiled proudly. “I love it. Now, can we find a bookcase?”
It wasn’t long before she had found a bookcase that she thought would go perfectly in Ian’s loft. It was contemporary but not too modern and just the right shade of mahogany. Kate pulled the tag to take to the register, and they headed towards the front of the store. After Ian had paid for his new furnishings, they headed out to the car - Kate still waddling within the rug - to wait for an employee to bring out the bookcase. They rolled up the rug and slid it into Ian’s sedan. It fit perfectly once the back seats were folded down.
The bookcase, on the other hand, was a different story. They picked up the incredibly heavy box that held all of the pieces to the bookcase and attempted to slide it into the car. It was about six inches too long. No matter how they adjusted it, it soon became clear that the box wasn’t going to fit in the car. Frustrated, she stepped back and put her hands on her hips.
“Okay bookcase, help us out there. How can we make you fit in the car?” said Kate.
“First of all, the bookcase can’t hear you, so I’m not entirely sure why you are talking to it. And I guess we’re going to have to open the box and take all the pieces out.”
“First of all, shut it, and that’s…that’s actually a really good idea. Why didn’t I think of that?”
“I guess I’m just brilliant,” replied Ian with a grin, brushing some invisible dust off of his shoulder. “Seven years of college must have paid off.”
“Yeah yeah yeah,” she said. “Let’s hope your giant head fits in the car once we get the bookcase in.”
~~~~~
After doing some touch-up painting, hanging a few pieces of artwork on the walls, and enjoying some pizza and salad back at the loft, Kate found herself on the floor of the living room trying to make sense of the instructions for building the bookcase. Ian wandered over with two mugs of coffee and laughed out loud when he saw Kate bent over the instructions with a shelf in one hand, a handful of screws in another, and a perplexed expression on her face.
“Don’t laugh at me!” she cried.
“I’m sorry, but you should see yourself. You look like you’re about to have an aneurysm.”
“You’re not exactly Bob Villa, mister. Get down here and help me figure out how to do this.”
They sat on the floor together, working as a team to transform pieces of wood, screws, and pegs into an actual piece of furniture. Kate had never been terribly gifted when it came to anything spatial or mechanical, so she wasn’t surprised when it turned out that the section of the bookcase she had been working on for twenty minutes was completely backwards. Frustrated, she threw up her hands and lay flat on the floor.
“I give up!” she cried.
Laughing, Ian joined her in a defeated position sprawled out on the floor. They stared at the ceiling and talked about lighting for the living room and what color to paint the bathroom. When there was a lull in the conversation, Kate asked, “Are you glad you moved here?”
“For the most part, yes,” replied Ian. “I love my firm and Raleigh is really growing on me.”
“Okay…but?”
Ian sighed and continued to stare at the ceiling. “But…it all just makes me think about my life. From the outside I know I look successful, but I can’t help feeling like something is missing.”
She wasn’t sure if she was ready to have the conversation that she assumed was about to take place, so she kept silent. Ian continued.
“I know I work a lot, but it’s just in my nature to find something I’m passionate about and devote myself to it. But there are times when I’m sitting in my office late at night and I think about going home, and then I ask myself ‘what for?’ It’s not like there’s anything waiting for me besides a newspaper and a TV dinner. I don’t think Bernard wants to hear about my day.”
“Have you actually tried talking to him?”
“Of course not. I’m not you.”
Kate let out a soft laugh and thought carefully about what to say next before she spoke. “I understand what you’re saying, Ian. I feel l
ike I’m in the same place. Although I’m not a workaholic like you” (he elbowed her playfully in the ribs) “I wonder if I’ll ever have my own family. I spend so much time with Amy and Rick and their kids. And I’m not complaining – I love all of them. I’m so thankful that they are in my life. But I’m human. I want to make dinner for my own family and tuck my own kids into bed.”
“I guess we’re both looking for the same things,” said Ian.
“Guess so,” she said. There was a long silence that she was determined not to break.
Eventually Ian got up from the floor. “It’s getting late,” he said. “You must be tired. Do you want to stay over? I’ve got the spare bedroom, which looks great thanks to you.”
“No, I’ve got to be at the store in the morning,” she said.
“Are you sure?” said Ian. “I wouldn’t want to drive all the way home right now if I was you.”
“Well, I am tired…but no, I should really go home. Thanks for a great day, though.”
“Thanks for all your help, Kate. You’re really doing a fantastic job on the apartment.” Ian gave her a big hug and walked her out to her car. He stood there for a moment, watching her drive away, and then headed back into his lonely apartment.
~~~~~
“Kate! Kate! Watch me!”
Kate lifted her head from the book she was reading and yelled, “I’m watching, Parker. Show me what you’ve got!”
It was a Saturday in the late afternoon, and Kate had agreed to watch Parker and Todd for part of the day so that Rick and Amy could run some errands sans children. “I’ve got no plans; stay gone as long as you want,” Kate told them. Taking her up on her offer, they decided to make a night of it with dinner and a movie.
She watched as Parker pedaled furiously down the street on his bike. Rick had recently removed the training wheels from his bike, and Parker was enjoying showing off his new skill. “Whoa, you must be the fastest kid on the block!” said Kate in exaggerated awe. Todd rode in circles near the house, looking forward to the day that his dad would remove his training wheels and he could be as fast as his brother.