by Nancy Adams
Her phone vibrated again, and she glanced at it out of habit. It wasn't Rob's number that was calling, and she had to look at it a second time to realize that it was Darren. She couldn't possibly have explained to anyone else why she was doing it, but she picked up the phone and clicked the answer button.
“Hello?”
“Katie Lou, it's Darren, please don't hang up. I just need to talk to you for a minute, can I talk to you?”
“Darren, don't be stupid, I've got caller ID. If I wasn't willing to talk, I wouldn't have answered. What do you want?”
“Listen, I—I ran into David a little while ago, and he said he saw you at church Sunday. I just—I just wondered how you're doing.”
“How I'm doing? Oh, well, let me see, my fiancé threw me through the windshield of his car by hitting a tree after he fell asleep behind the wheel, then he dumped me because I was in a wheelchair and might look bad on his political resume, and then he and his rich daddy decided they needed to pay me off to keep me quiet about it. How do you think I'm feeling?”
She heard a deep sigh through the phone. “You don't have any idea how much I regret all of that. The accident, breaking up with you, everything. I don't know if I was still in shock, or what happened, but I cannot for the life of me understand how I could have been willing to give you up over my political goals. Katie Lou, I know you won't believe this now, but I'd rather be with you and dig ditches for the rest of my life than be the president of the United States without you by my side.”
“Darren, come on,” she said. “If you really felt that way, you wouldn't have called off the engagement. You would've stuck by me, wheelchair or no wheelchair, but you couldn't do that.”
“You're partly right,” Darren answered. “I should never have called off the engagement, and I should have been there for you every single day since the accident. I never once should've considered going ahead with the political plans, not while you were lying in a hospital fighting for your life. Not even after you were out of the coma, and paralyzed. That never should've happened, and if I had been in my right mind at the time, it wouldn't have. I listened to the wrong people, including my own father, and I regret it.”
Katie Lou lay there in silence for a moment, just listening to him breathe on the other end of the phone line. “Well, it's too late now. You've got your political career ahead of you, and I'm going into private practice. We're both lonely and miserable now, and maybe that's the way it's supposed to be.”
“Katie,” Darren said, “is there—is there any possibility we could try to start over?”
Katie Lou was shocked, because that was the last question she’d ever expected to hear from Darren. She opened her mouth three times to try to answer, but it was only on the fourth that she finally managed to get words to come out. “Darren, I can't believe you'd even ask me that. You dumped me, remember? You ran out on me while I was lying in a hospital, and then you said that I would be a liability to your campaign. How could I ever consider giving you another chance? I mean, put yourself in my place. Would you give you another chance?”
“No, I wouldn't,” he said without hesitation. “But I'm praying that you might, because you're a better person than I am. You've always been a better person than me, but I'm only just beginning to really understand that. I never deserved you, Katie Lou; I never deserved the wonderful, beautiful woman that you are. I still love you, that hasn't changed.”
Katie lay there for a long moment, without saying anything, just thinking. Finally she said, “Darren, right now, I'm going through some things of my own, things that have nothing to do with the accident, or with you, and I just need to figure them out. Give me a day or so, and maybe try calling me again. I'm not going to say I don't remember the good times we had, I do. I'm just not sure that I could ever trust you enough again to want to be with you. And if you'll be honest with yourself, I think you can understand that.”
“I do understand it,” Darren said. “I understand it completely, and I even agree with you, but I'm hoping you'll reconsider anyway. Katie Lou, you are not only a better person than me, but I'm a better person when I'm with you. I love you, I swear to you that I do. I'm hoping, no I'm praying, that you'll give me another chance. Okay, I'll—I'll call you again. Maybe day after tomorrow?”
Katie Lou nodded into the phone. “Yeah, day after tomorrow. Maybe I'll have things figured out by then. And, Darren? If I were to give you another chance, it will absolutely be the last one. Do you understand that?”
“All the way to the soles of my feet,” Darren said, and then the line went dead.
Katie lay there on her bed, trying to think through all that was going on. She was trying her best to make sense of everything, but nothing was making any sense at all. Rob, who she was sure must be her soul mate, had just been caught with another woman, kissing another woman right in front of her. And Darren, who probably should never have gotten up the nerve to call her again, suddenly sounded like he truly did care. It was like the world had turned upside down, and she wasn't sure what to do about it.
“When in wonder, when in doubt,” she recited to herself, “run in circles, scream and shout. If I thought it would do any good, I'd be up and running around the house right now.”
She was still holding her phone in her hand, when it vibrated again. She glanced down and saw that it was another text from Rob, and she saw the message before she could think to look away.
Katie Lou, it read, please call me. I can explain. I love you.
She threw her phone across the room, and it shattered against the wall. Only hours earlier, she would've given anything to hear those three words from him, but now, with the words, “I can explain,” right in front of them, they just didn't mean as much as she had wanted them to.
She lay there and thought a while longer, and it struck her that she had told herself just a little while before that there would be a logical explanation, but now she didn't want to hear it. With that being the case, she had no intention of going back to Rob's clinic, and would be finding a new physical therapist.
13
Rob had come back inside the restaurant to find Anna sitting with Julie once more, and he took his seat. He looked at Julie, shaking his head.
“It never fails,” he said. “No matter how much I try to do the right thing, I will always mess it up. It never fails.”
Anna looked at him sharply. “Bubba, what are you talking about?”
He looked at her and gave her a sad smile. “You've been trying to warn me to be careful, so that I don't mess things up with Katie Lou, right? Well, when you went to the bathroom, I figured, what the heck, so I leaned over and gave Julie a quick kiss, just a simple one for old times sake. It didn't mean anything, I wasn't trying to start anything, nothing like that.” He closed his eyes. “And no sooner than I got done, I looked up and who did I see looking right at me but Katie Lou.”
Anna spun her head toward the door, then back to her brother. “Oh, no! Did you catch her? Did you explain?”
Rob was shaking his head. “I was too late,” he said. “By the time I got through the crowd, she was gone; they were all gone. I looked outside, but all I saw was her dad's car driving away. I tried calling her, but she won't answer.” He held up his phone, then started punching in a text message.
“Rob, I am so sorry,” Julie said. “I admit I still have feelings for you, but I would never deliberately…”
“Oh, bull!” Anna said. “You've been doing everything you could to get him excited about you again, ever since you got back here. Good Lord, if he wasn't so wrapped up in Katie Lou, he would have seen it himself.” She turned to her brother. “Rob, you can't let this happen. You and Katie Lou are perfect for each other, you know that.”
“I think so too,” he said, “but if she won't even let me explain about this, what can I do? Let's just give her a day or so, maybe she'll calm down and I can talk to her. Let's just eat, we’re already here.”
Anna shook her head, but
didn't say anymore. The three of them sat there and picked up their food, barely eating even half of what they had taken. When they finally gave up, Julie told Rob again how sorry she was, and went to her hotel while Rob and Anna went home.
“I could've told you this was going to end like this,” Anna said. “A girl as good as Katie Lou isn't going to handle it very well when an old girlfriend comes out of the woodwork. You should never have kissed her, Rob, you just shouldn't have.”
“Do you think I don't know that? Do you think I'm not kicking myself?” He shook his head as he looked through the windshield at the road ahead. “I'm an idiot, Anna, just a big idiot.”
“I hope you're not expecting me to argue with you about that,” she said, and turned to look out the passenger side window. She didn't say anything else, the rest of the way home.
Rob spent the entire afternoon sitting on his couch, trying to call Katie Lou or texting her, but getting no response. He jumped when the phone rang, but it was Julie calling.
“Hello?”
“Hey, it's me,” she said. “Just wondered if you got hold of her?”
Rob let out a sigh. “No, she still won't answer. I've tried texting her, too, but she won't respond to that either.”
“I'm so sorry, Rob,” Julie said. “Would you like me to try to call and talk to her? Try to explain?”
“No, this is on me. I just can't believe this could happen. How in the world could I be so unlucky that she would walk in just at that precise moment?”
Julie was quiet for a moment, but Rob could hear her breathing. “Rob,” she said, “they say everything happens for a reason, you know. Maybe she just wasn't the girl for you. No, don't get upset, I'm not trying to say anything about us at the moment. Just – well, maybe this is for the best in the long run.”
“I just can't believe that, Julie,” Rob said. “There's just something so special about Katie Lou, I can't explain it. I knew it the moment I met her, and it's only gotten stronger every day since then. It's like—I don't know how else to say it—it's like we were made for each other.”
Once again, Julie hesitated. “Well, if I can do anything, you know where to find me. The kids won't be home for a couple more days, so I'm going to stay here until Friday morning. I'll be here all day tomorrow, if you were to need me for anything.”
“Julie,” Rob said, “I just—I'm just hoping and praying that I can fix this with Katie Lou. I wish you the best, I really do, but I just don't think there's anything there for us, not anymore.”
“Okay, then,” Julie said, sadly. “I wish you the best, too, and I really hope it works out for you with this girl. Like I said, though, just remember that if you ever need me…”
“I remember. Take care,” he said, and then ended the call.
Rob tried calling Katie Lou again, but it was around dinnertime, so he got up and went to the kitchen. He called out to Anna, asking what she wanted to eat, but she said she wasn't hungry. He looked around the kitchen for a moment, decided that he wasn't hungry either, then went back to the couch.
He tried a few more times that evening to reach Katie Lou, but she didn't answer. After a little while, he decided her phone must be off, because it began going straight to voice mail, so he got up off the couch and went to his bedroom.
Katie Lou wasn't sleeping. A quick glance at her alarm clock told her that it was almost two in the morning, and she hadn't been to sleep yet. She was so torn up that she didn't think sleep would ever come again, heartbroken over Rob's betrayal with his old flame, and confused by Darren's horrifically timed call.
If anyone had told her that morning that she might consider giving Darren another chance, she probably would've told them that they were insane. Darren had not only come close to killing her, he had broken her heart into so many pieces that she’d figured she'd still be picking them up a dozen years in the future. And yet, hearing his voice on the phone, she had felt the same stirring of excitement that she had known every time he called for the last two years.
How could he possibly still have a hold on her? How could she possibly even imagine trying again with him? The man had chosen politics over the woman he said he loved!
To hear him say it, however, it had been a combination of shock over the accident and pressure from his political associates and his father that had caused him to act that way. Could that be true? Could it be that he really did love her, as he said he did?
Why, oh why did romance have to be so confusing?
For the past few weeks, Katie Lou had been certain that she had finally met the man of her dreams, even when she didn't believe there was any hope that he would notice her. At first, she was sure that Kylie was going to win his heart, and she was determined not to be a sore loser, but when it turned out that it was Katie he was interested in, she had felt like she'd won the Miss America pageant or something. Hearing him say that he wanted to take her out had been one of the most wonderful moments of her life.
But seeing him kiss that blonde bimbo from his past had been absolutely the worst. That was worse than when she’d woken up from the coma, worse than the day she had seen the car that had almost claimed her life. Nothing she could imagine could possibly have cut so deep as seeing the smile on his face after his lips met Julie's.
Julie. He had told her about Julie, and even hinted that their relationship had been far more sexual than it should have been, given that he was only a teenager and she was an adult. To Katie Lou, though, Julie looked the part of a predatory older woman. What did they call those nowadays? Oh yes, cougars! That's what Julie was, a cougar!
Suddenly, Katie saw Julie standing right in front of her, and as she watched, the woman transformed into a horrible, catlike creature! She grew fangs, and her fingers suddenly had claws instead of fingernails—and she was reaching for Katie Lou! Katie tried to back away, but there was something behind her, she couldn't move, and she glanced over her shoulder to see that Rob was standing there, laughing as he held her tightly, preventing her escape from the mad cougar-creature that was stalking ever closer.
She suddenly sat up in bed, and realized that she had drifted off to sleep and into a nightmare. At least this time, it seemed, she hadn't cried out in her sleep. She sat there until she got her breathing under control again, then lay back and forced herself to relax.
She must have made it to sleep again, without more nightmares, because the sun was coming through the window. It was another day, and she needed to get up and face it, whether she wanted to or not. The memory of what she had seen at the restaurant was still fresh in her mind, as was the nightmare, but she was determined not to let either of them keep her down.
She got up out of bed and got fresh clothes, then went to the bathroom to get a shower. A little while later, looking more refreshed than she had ever expected to feel again, she made her way out of the bathroom and down the hall to find breakfast.
Kylie was there, and she poured Katie a cup of coffee without word. They sat at the table together, neither of them speaking for a couple of minutes, but then Kylie couldn't take anymore.
“Okay, you want to tell me what really happened yesterday?”
Katie Lou looked at her, and her resolve crumbled. Tears began to flow from her eyes, and she rubbed at them with her hands. “Oh, Kylie,” she said, “I just—I couldn't believe what I was seeing, that's all.”
Kylie's eyes went wide. “What did you see?” Kylie asked her.
Katie Lou opened her mouth a couple of times, but nothing came out, so she tried again. Finally she managed to say, “Rob—when we walked into Joey's, I just happened to look over to one side, and I saw Rob and that Julie, and—and Rob was kissing her.”
Kylie gasped. “Oh, my God, Katie Lou, are you sure? I mean, I mean, couldn't it have been someone who looked like them?”
Katie shook her head. “No, trust me, it was them. He looked up right at me, and I guess he knew I'd seen it because he suddenly looked shocked. He started trying to call me right afterw
ard, kept it up until I finally got pissed and threw my phone at the wall. That reminds me, I have to go get a new phone today.”
Kylie was staring at her, shaking her head from side to side. “Oh, Katie Lou, I am so sorry. I just can't believe this; I mean, he's been so wrapped up in you all last week.” She looked down at the floor for a moment, then looked back up into Katie's eyes. “Maybe it was just shock, after losing his mother. Maybe he's just not in his right mind at the moment. I mean, people make mistakes when they're upset, right?”
“HA!” Katie said. “Yeah, just like the one I made. I was all torn up over me and Darren breaking up, so I flipped over the first guy who was even nice to me. Pretty stupid, don't you think?”
“Stop that,” Kylie said. “I'm gonna tell you something, I've never seen two people who were better for each other than you and Rob Christopher. I don't know what's going on, Katie Lou, but don't you dare give up on him. There's bound to be an explanation, there's bound to be something that makes sense in this.”
“Oh, there is,” Katie Lou said. “It makes perfect sense that I'm a fool. That's what I did, I made a total fool of myself over Rob, talking about opening my practice in his clinic, all that stuff? How stupid can I be?”
Kylie got to her feet and leaned across the table, slapping both hands down on it. “Stop it, Katie Lou! You are not stupid, not by a long ways. Look, I understand this hurt, but I'm telling you there has to be an explanation. Somewhere along the line, you're going to find out that it wasn't a real kiss, it didn't mean anything, whatever. You've got to hold on to that.”
Katie Lou shrugged her shoulders. “That's not all that's eating at me this morning,” she said. “You wanna hear the rest?”
Kylie narrowed her eyes, as she sat back down in the chair. “Sure,” she said, taking a sip of her coffee.