by Nancy Adams
Julie blinked in shock, and lowered her eyes to the table. Rob reached over and laid a hand on top of hers to comfort her, while he glared at Anna. “Anna, she's only trying to help. I realize you were young when she left, but she really did care about us all, and about Linda, especially. You owe Julie an apology.”
Anna met his glare head-on for another few seconds, then backed down. She turned to Julie, her eyes softening. “He's right, Julie, I'm so sorry. I don't know why I'm taking this out on you, it isn't your fault.” Suddenly, she began blinking, and the tears began to flow. “It was me, I'm the one who was watching her, I'm the one who couldn't take care of her. I'm the one who couldn't save her, not you, and I shouldn't be taking it out on you.”
Julie was up in an instant, her arms around Anna's shoulders. “Anna, it's okay,” she said. “Honey, you got to realize that this is not your fault. There was nothing you could have done, nothing that could have made a difference. Rob told me that, from what the doctors said, she was already gone by the time you found her. You can't blame yourself, Anna, you just can't.”
Anna accepted Julie's embrace, and threw her own arms around the woman. The two of them held each other and cried together, while Rob sat there beside them, his hand on his sister's shoulder. He had tears of his own, but he could sense that what Anna needed was a woman's touch at that moment, so he stayed quiet.
After a couple of minutes, Anna got herself under control, and Julie got back into her chair. Anna looked at her brother and apologized for her behavior, but he assured her that no apology was necessary. They picked up their menus, and a few moments later, the waitress came to take their orders.
They spent their time together talking about Linda, going over the things each of them planned to say at the funeral and sharing a couple of memories that they hadn’t shared before. Anna told Julie about one of the times when Linda had gone into Rob's room and decided to play dress-up in his clothes. She had managed to tear several of his favorite shirts by the time they caught her, but she was having so much fun that Rob threw his hands in the air and told Anna to help her put on whatever she wanted. It had been hilarious when Linda came out of the bedroom a little while later wearing Rob's college sweatshirt with two neckties and his best suit vest over it all.
Of course, Rob had to get back at her by telling Julie about the day when Linda had tried to help carry in the groceries, tripped with a gallon of milk and ended up with most of it all over her. Anna had taken her into the shower, but Linda threw a fit and didn't want to wash it off. By the time Anna finally got her cleaned up, both of them were soaking wet, and Rob had to use a dozen towels to get all the water off the floor.
“I guess one of the things about Linda that always amazed me,” Julie said, “was how we would always end up laughing so hard, even though the things she did meant a lot of work for all of us. I probably spent more hours cleaning up messes she made that had us all laughing than I did just cleaning the house normally.”
Rob nodded, smiling. “So true,” he said. “She could wreck the whole house, but do it in such a way that made it too funny to get upset over.”
Finally, breakfast was over and it was time to go to the funeral home. Julie followed Rob and Anna, and they parked side-by-side. The three of them went inside, where Mister Crandall was waiting to greet them.
“Doctor Christopher,” he said. “We've got everything set up as agreed, in the Rose Room. Would you like to see?”
Rob swallowed, but nodded his head. Crandall led the three of them into the Rose Room, and they saw the coffin down at the front. Together, they walked up the aisle between the rows of chairs until they stood looking down at Linda. She seemed to be only sleeping, and the funeral parlor had placed the two dolls under one arm and the stuffed cat under another. It was just the way she had often cuddled them as she went to sleep.
Rob and Anna smiled through their tears, and Julie had moisture on her own cheeks. Each of them leaned down to kiss Linda on the cheek, and then they turned to Crandall.
“I'm absolutely amazed,” Rob said. “You've done a fantastic job, Mister Crandall. We can't thank you enough.”
“Simply doing our jobs, Sir,” Crandall said. He led them back to the entrance to the room, and showed them the guest book where visitors would sign in. The music they had chosen was playing, and it was only a few minutes later when the first attendees began to arrive. They greeted Mrs. Marshall, who ran the adult daycare, and who was accompanied by two of her staff and six of their other clients, two elderly women and four people who were disabled. All of them had known and loved Linda, and they told many stories of how she had brightened their lives.
Anna and Julie stood up by the coffin to speak to the attendees as they came up to pay their respects, while Rob waited at the door to greet new visitors. A few moments later, he saw Katie Lou and Kylie enter the building, with their parents and another man. Rob broke into a huge smile, and held out his hands to greet them.
“I'm so glad you all came,” he said. “I know you didn't actually know Linda, but I so appreciate you being here.”
“Of course we're here for you,” Katie Lou said. “Rob, you know Kylie and my parents, and this young man is Peter Jackson. He's a friend of Kylie's, I hope it's okay that we brought him along.”
“Of course it is,” Rob said, shaking Pete's hand. “I'm delighted to meet you, Mister Jackson. Rob Christopher.”
Pete smiled. “The pleasure is all mine, Doctor. I've been hearing a lot about you, all good.”
“Don't believe more than half of it,” Rob said, “and if you heard it from Katie Lou, don't believe that much. She seems to think I'm a nice guy, and I don't want her to find out the truth.”
Pete winked at him. “Don't worry, Doctor, your secret is safe with me.”
Rob chuckled. He turned to Katie Lou and smiled. “It's good to see you,” he said.
“You, too,” Katie said. She glanced toward the front of the room, and Rob followed her eyes. “We should go up and pay our respects.”
Rob smiled sadly, and turned to lead them up to the coffin. Anna and Julie stepped aside as Rob and Katie Lou looked down at Linda.
“I wish I had gotten the chance to know her,” Katie said. “I can definitely see the resemblance between you.”
“A lot of people have said that,” Rob replied. “I think I got her hair, nose and chin, but Anna got her eyes and smile.”
They stood there for a moment, then Rob turned toward Anna and Julie, and Katie Lou turned her walker to follow him. She reached out to hug Anna, and extended a hand toward Julie.
“Katie Lou,” Rob said, “this is Julie. Julie used to stay with us when I was a teenager, to help out with Linda. When I emailed her about what happened, she came down to help out, and to help us remember all the good parts about having Linda with us.”
Julie smiled. “Katie Lou, I have heard so much about you these past couple of days. You're just about all Rob talks about, now.”
Katie smiled back, but there might have been a hint of jealousy in it. “Thank you,” she said. “I've heard a lot about you, too.”
The two women eyed each other for a couple of seconds, and Julie could tell that Katie Lou felt threatened by her presence. She released Katie's hand, and glanced up at Rob. “You've got yourself quite a treasure, in this guy,” she said. “I wish I had realized what I had, way back when. He'd be off the market now.” She turned her eyes back to Katie Lou.
“Oh, believe me,” Katie Lou said, “I know exactly how wonderful Rob is, so I guess your loss is my gain.”
Kylie, who had stopped at the coffin with Pete, suddenly leaned close to Katie Lou's ear. “I'm pretty sure this is not the place for a cat fight,” she whispered. “Pull the claws in, before somebody gets hurt.”
Katie Lou almost laughed, but caught herself. She glanced at Rob, who didn't seem to be aware of the power struggle going on between the two women; he was looking back at Linda. Seeing the pain on his face instantly crushed K
atie's jealousy, and she turned to go and sit down.
Julie turned away, as well, and found herself suddenly looking into Anna's eyes. The redhead was staring at her, and there was no mistaking the anger in her face.
“No ulterior motives, right?” Anna asked. “Maybe you've got Rob fooled, but not me. You picked a really lousy time to try to start up your relationship with him again, do you know that? He and I are grieving, and you're trying to use it against him, playing on his weakness and vulnerability. Well, let me tell you something, I'm not going to put up with it. You need to back down, and you need to back down now. He's happy with Katie Lou, and you don't have any right to come in here and try to mess that up.”
Julie met Anna's eyes with her own. “Look, when I came down here, I didn't even think I still had any feelings for Robbie, but when I saw him—well, they just came back. You know, you can't help who you fall in love with, you can't help who the heart wants to be with, there's just no way to control that. Rob is a big boy, now, and he can make his own decisions. All I want to do is make sure he has the chance to make the decision he wants to make.”
“I'm pretty sure he already told you how he feels about Katie Lou,” Anna said. “You're just not getting the message, apparently. Like I said, Julie, back it down. Rob and Katie belong together.”
Julie looked at Anna for another second, then turned and walked away. Rob had followed Katie Lou to the front row of chairs, and was sitting beside her, so Julie went to the entrance to greet people.
12
When the funeral service began, Katie Lou started to get up and move away, but Rob asked her to stay with him. He and Anna were the only family members in attendance, though they had invited Julie to sit in the front row with them. When they took their seats, Anna made sure she had Julie on her right and Rob on her left, with Katie Lou sitting beside Rob on his left.
The service didn't last very long, and since Rob and Anna had opted not to have a graveside service, the funeral home staff would see to the burial alone. Rob had explained to Katie Lou that he and his sister felt they did not want to watch Linda go into the ground, and she could understand that.
“Hey, we're all going to go out for lunch,” Katie Lou said, when the service was over. “Would you and Anna like to join us?”
Rob smiled, and looked around for his sister, spotting her toward the back of the room with Julie. His smile faded as he turned back to Katie Lou.
“Actually, we probably should pass,” he said. “Julie will be headed home today, so I guess we should spend some time with her.”
Katie Lou felt the sting in her heart, but smiled and did her best not to let it show. While she felt that Julie was certainly interested in Rob, the fact that Julie had told her that she was all Rob could talk about eased her concerns. “Okay,” she said, “I can understand that. Call me later?”
He smiled again and pulled her into a hug. “I sure will,” he said.
Katie Lou gathered up her family, and they all left to go find lunch. Allen waited until they got to the car to make his suggestion.
“Hey, we're in Maxwell,” he said. “How about Applebee's?”
No one objected, so they got into their cars and headed for Applebee's. Katie Lou had ridden over with her parents, while Kylie had come with Pete, so they made a two-car convoy as they made their way through town to the restaurant. It was only about a ten-minute drive, but when they arrived, they found that there was a line of customers waiting that snaked all the way around the side of the building.
“Good grief,” Allen said. “Is there some kind of convention in town? We'll never get in there.” Judy agreed, and Katie nodded her head as well. “How about we go over to Joey's? They've got a great lunch buffet over there. That work for everyone?”
“Yeah, sure,” Katie said. She rolled down her window and told Pete and Kylie where they were going. Pete nodded and gave her a thumbs up, and then followed Allen's car back out of the parking lot.
Back at the funeral home, Rob had turned and gone to where his sister and Julie were talking, but they suddenly stopped when he got there. He could tell there was an issue between them, but wasn't sure what it was. As far as he knew, everything was okay, so he didn't know what the problem might be.
“Hey, everything okay with you two?” Rob asked.
“Oh, we're just fine,” Anna said. “I'm just trying to explain to your ex, here, that she needs to back down and stop trying to pick up where she left off with you.”
Rob rolled his eyes. “Anna, for crying out loud,” he said. “What happened between me and Julie was over a long time ago, can't you give it a rest?”
“That's what I'm trying to tell her,” Julie said. “She seems to think that I'm trying to steal you away from your Katie Lou. Would you tell her I'm not?”
“Look, both of you just stop it, okay? We've just been through a funeral, we don't need this kind of crap right now.” He looked around the room for a moment, as if trying to regain his composure. “Look, why don't we just go get something to eat, okay? Can you both try to just calm down for the rest of today?”
Julie looked contrite. “Sure, Rob,” she said. She turned to Anna. “Look, Anna, if I've given you the wrong impression, I'm sorry. Rob's made it very clear to me how he feels about Katie Lou, and I promise you, I'm not trying to interfere.”
Anna gave her a sidelong look, but her eyes were softening. “Okay, fine,” she said. “Let's just let it go, then, shall we?” She turned to Rob. “Lunch sounds pretty good. Breakfast was kind of light, I'm actually pretty hungry.”
“How about Joey's Steakhouse?” Rob asked, and both girls nodded. Joey's was another place where Rob and Julie had eaten out at times, but it didn't have quite the sentimental attachment to it that the Diner did. They pulled up in front of it a few minutes later, and were inside and going through the lunch buffet line within moments.
Strangely enough, getting through the funeral had eased some of his grieving burden, and he was smiling almost as much as he usually did. The two girls had put aside whatever issue they had between them, and the three of them were all smiling and relaxed.
Once they had gotten their plates and set them on the table, Anna excused herself to go to the ladies room, and without thinking, Rob reached over and took Julie's hand, caressing her fingers with his thumb. Julie looked up at him in surprise, and was struck by the fact that he was grinning at her, and his face looked a bit mischievous. She raised her eyebrows and smiled, then began leaning toward him, watching to see if he was going to pull back.
He didn't, and their lips met. It was only a brief kiss, and as they parted, Rob whispered, “Just one for old times' sake.” He leaned back into his chair, and glanced around to see if Anna had spotted them, and that's when he saw Katie Lou, Kylie, Pete and the girls' parents, who had just come into the restaurant. They were standing just inside the door, and Katie's eyes were locked on his.
For a split second, he broke into a huge smile, and then he realized what she had just seen. He started to get to his feet, but suddenly Katie spun her walker and took off out the door. Rob couldn't get past a server quickly enough, and by the time he did, Kylie and the others had followed her out.
Rob Christopher stood in the door of Joey's Steakhouse, scanning the parking lot for Katie Lou's car, but didn't see it. A moment later, Allen's Chrysler drove out of the parking lot followed by another car, and Rob began to wonder if he had just thrown away his last chance at happiness.
All Katie Lou would say was that she suddenly felt sick, that she needed to go home immediately. No one argued, thank goodness, and no one else had seen Rob and that blonde bitch locked in a kiss. It was bad enough to Katie Lou that she had seen it; she would've given anything to be able to erase it from her memory.
Her phone rang as they were driving away from the steakhouse, and she glanced at it to see that it was Rob calling. She hit the ignore button instantly, and turned off the sound.
All the way home, she insisted she
was just feeling sick to her stomach. As far as she knew, no one had any clue what was really wrong, and as soon as they got home, she rushed into her bathroom. She didn't have to fake being sick, then, because she threw up twice, just from the shock of what she had seen. Afterward, she got into the shower and began trying to scrub away the pain and the shame, but nothing was working.
“Just an old friend,” she mumbled to herself as she lay on her bed. “You got nothing to worry about, Katie Lou. You'll really like her, wait till you meet her.” She threw an arm over her face, and began to cry again.
She had made a fool of herself, that was the thought that went through her mind over and over and over. Like a fool, after Darren had dumped her, she had fallen for the first man to even act like he wanted to pay attention to her. She was such a fool, such an idiot. Rob Christopher was one of the best-looking guys in all of Missouri; what kind of an idiot could she be to think that he would want a crippled woman like her, when he could have just about any woman he desired?
He tried to call her, several times, in fact. She refused each call, and silenced her phone after the first one. She felt the vibrations that said he was texting her, too, but she didn’t even look at the messages. She didn't want to see whatever he had to say.
The afternoon passed, and evening came on. At dinnertime, her mother knocked on the door to ask if she wanted to come out and eat, but she said she didn't feel up to it. It wasn't that late, but she was already in bed. Her excuse about feeling sick handled any questions or objections from her family, so she just lay there in the dark and tried to forget what she had seen. A part of her believed that there would be a logical explanation, and she clung to that tiny hope, but she wasn't ready to listen to any, not just yet.
And if there wasn't one? Then she would simply accept the fact that she had been a fool, and would move on. She could still open her practice, just not anywhere near Doctor Rob Christopher or his clinic. She might even still specialize in counseling people with disabilities, she wasn't sure at that moment. The only thing she knew for sure, right then, was that she was hurting. Her heart, if not broken, was at least badly bent.