“Hello?”
Ragged breathing.
“Hello?” She almost hung up.
“Carol? This is . . . Michael.”
She made a face but kept her voice pleasant. “Hi.”
“Is Gordon there by any chance? I tried his home, but—”
“Actually, he just left to go to the store, but he should be back any minute. Have you tried his cell phone?”
“No, I . . . didn’t want to bother him on the road. I thought . . . well . . .” Michael actually sounded unsure of himself, which was totally out of character.
“Do you want me to have him call?”
“Please.” The relief she heard was as vivid as the delicious smell of baking cookies. It was so out of the ordinary she felt a stab of worry. Was something wrong?
“Michael, is everything all right? Is Elizabeth all right? Kellan?”
He paused, trying to formulate an accurate response. “As far as I know, Carol. I’m just calling because I need to speak to Gordon about . . . well, some things he suggested a while back, that’s all.”
“Oh. Well, I’ll have him call as soon as he gets back then.” Curious. Something was different, but Carol couldn’t put a finger on it.
“Good.” That relief again. “And Carol, thank you.”
Now she knew something was up. Michael had never treated her with that much politeness. Worry started churning and she couldn’t wait for Gordon to get back. She punched in the number for his cell phone and belatedly heard it ringing in the other room. He hadn’t taken it with him.
She was putting the cookies on a cooling rack when Gordon walked in. She didn’t wait for him to say a word. “Gordon, you have to call Michael. He’s at home and something really weird is going on.”
He set the coffee down and sniffed. “Smells good. You start the coffee and I’ll call him,” he suggested, turning.
“Don’t go. Call him from in here.” Only something really awful would have made him so nice, she was convinced. She hadn’t asked about Virginia Mae, but wouldn’t her own mother keep her apprised of anything bad there? After all, Julia was as much a chatterbox as her sister when it came to family matters.
Gordon stayed where he was and punched in some numbers on the wall phone. “Michael? Hey, how’s everything?”
He listened and frowned and then his face softened. “Sure, I remember. Yes, I’d be glad to do that.” From memory he quoted the name of the therapist he had offered a long time ago as well as her phone number.
“I think you are doing the very best thing, Michael. Sometimes it’s hard to sort out personal stuff. Yes, I will. Please let me know if I can do anything.”
Carol, who had shamelessly hung on every word, suddenly realized she had stopped counting the teaspoons of coffee she was putting in the filter.
“Aw, damn,” she muttered, dumping it back into the can and starting over.
When it was safely brewing she looked at Gordon. “Michael is actually asking to see a therapist? I can’t believe it. Oh—” Another thought interrupted her words. “Come to think of it, it makes perfect sense. Have you heard about Kellan?” When Gordon shook his head, Carol filled a plate with cookies along with two mugs of coffee. “Just listen,” she said.
When she was finished he looked at her thoughtfully. “You’re sure Michael knows everything?”
Her nod was emphatic. “Elizabeth told me and said I could share it with you. But you can’t tell anyone else. Not even Virginia Mae knows, which I think is wise.”
“Definitely. But I don’t think that’s the reason he wants to see someone. I’m not going to speculate. I’m just glad he’s going to talk to a professional and figure out some things. I know he hasn’t been very happy with Elizabeth living elsewhere.”
Carol drummed her fingers on the kitchen table. “I just hope everyone’s going to be all right.”
“I guess that’s all any of us can hope for,” Gordon agreed, reaching for another cookie.
Chapter Thirty-eight
Elizabeth was making notes. So far, she had three long notebook pages filled front and back and knew she was forgetting something. The phone rang just as she jotted down another idea she wanted to suggest to Kellan.
“Hello?”
“I just want to know one thing, Elizabeth.” Her mother’s voice signaled she was on the warpath and Elizabeth sighed.
“What do you want to know, Mother?”
“Is she pregnant?”
Elizabeth blinked. “Who?”
“Blast it all, Elizabeth. Kellan!”
Elizabeth started laughing. It was too stupid a question to even bother putting into words. “No! Mother, how could you even think such a thing?”
“Well, why are they having to get married so fast? I mean, it is absolutely breaking my heart at how everyone has to rush this way and that, when we could plan such a beautiful, lovely wedding if only we had time. So I asked myself this morning, Why? It’s the only answer that makes sense.”
Elizabeth’s smile was gentle as she shook her head. Only her mother. She wished she had time for such foolish pondering. No, she was not going to get rattled this morning; she simply had too much to do. Besides, nothing could destroy her peace today. She was helping her daughter put together her wedding, and it would be beautiful.
“Kellan is not pregnant. They are getting married in a month because that’s what they want to do.” Her voice made their wishes perfectly understandable.
She almost broke into a smile as she heard her mother utter a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snort. “What do they know? I mean, Elizabeth, when I think of how absolutely enchanting your wedding was, how it was the envy of all my friends, and good Lord, it took us the better part of nine months to pull it off.”
Elizabeth’s memory was a little different. Her wedding had grown from the simplicity she wanted into an ostentatious event that had been mildly embarrassing. From having only a maid of honor, Carol, and Michael’s best man, the wedding party had mushroomed to ten attendants each because Virginia Mae insisted extended family had to be included, which meant second cousins on her husband’s side. Disagreements arose daily and were always decided based on what Virginia Mae wanted. Elizabeth always felt like her mother would know best and had acquiesced. Ultimately, her mother had the wedding she’d always wanted.
It was one of many memories that weren’t really hers, Elizabeth thought.
Virginia Mae was making a suggestion, her voice sweetly cajoling. “I think I have a solution. Why don’t I give Kellan her wedding dress and pay for the honeymoon? By doing that, I should be able to leverage a little more time out of them, don’t you think? And perhaps we could talk about not having it at the river. I mean, most of our friends and family live near the city; it would be so much more convenient, not to mention more spacious, to have it at our church, don’t you think?”
“Mother, we don’t need a solution because there isn’t a problem.”
She waited for her mother to think of a response. She couldn’t help but feel a little giddy with the freedom of no longer feeling an obligation to her mother’s happiness. How on earth that had happened in the first place, Elizabeth hadn’t a clue.
It seemed she had spent most of her adult life letting this woman finagle her way into every crevice and then changing to suit her, always hoping it would make her mother happy.
“Yes, I know, but Elizabeth, don’t you think you could talk to them and—”
“No, Mother, but thanks for asking. Now, I have to hang up because I have a lot of things to do to get everything ready for June fourteenth. Good-bye.”
Invigorated, she picked up her notes again and added several more ideas, then got the phone book and began looking up numbers. It was good to be busy; it helped her ignore the discomfort in her legs. While the numbness had not gotten worse, it had not got better either, and Elizabeth was undecided over what to do, hoping either she could live with it or it would get better on its own. She had thanked
God more than once that it was no worse.
Michael. At odd times Elizabeth would suddenly start thinking of him, wondering what he was doing at that precise moment. She hadn’t seen him since the day he brought Kate Wilkins to see her and everyone else had come. The day Carol talked Mehalia and Serenity into going to New York.
That was someone else she really missed. Mehalia would have great ideas for the food next month. Elizabeth sighed, thinking again of how pleasant it had been to have someone to talk with, work with. The new house cleaners she had hired were straight-by-the-book businesspeople. The young girl with two older helpers would screech into the drive precisely at 9:00 a.m. every Tuesday morning, fling open the van, and each worker would come in laden with cleaning tools, buckets, a vacuum cleaner, and no time for idle chatter. Two hours later she would be presented with a bill, the house smelling of cleaners and lemon polish. And silence.
Michael’s face edged back into her thoughts, and she did what she had started doing on the same day she saw her first and only sun dog. Without thinking, she started praying for him that afternoon.
It was late in the day, long after she returned from church, brimming with the magic that had been divined just for her. She almost called him, she felt so wonderful, but at the same time she didn’t want to chance hearing the habitual coldness in his voice.
Without thinking, her spirit suddenly leaped up and started praying for him. Asking God to protect him, fill him with joy, wanting him to be as happy as she was. It made Elizabeth feel more connected to him, somehow, than seeing him in person.
She had not told anyone of that remarkable day, had not been able to even write about it. It was still too shiny, too immense. Sometime later, when she had lived with this new knowledge, absorbed it more fully, then perhaps she could find the words. Perhaps.
After a brief, quiet moment of holding her husband in her heart, she sat up, looked at the clock, and started making phone calls.
Chapter Thirty-nine
Gregory decided today was going to be the day. Somehow he had let Kellan waffle out of it until there was only a week before the wedding, and he still had not bought her an engagement or wedding ring.
Oh, the excuses had been valid. First schoolwork had to be completed, then the paperwork for transferring, then looking ahead and signing up for next year’s courses.
But he was putting his foot down. She was due back at his town house in fifteen minutes. It was Saturday, and he was taking her to the most expensive jeweler in Old Towne Fredericksburg. She would select the ring he would put on her finger on their wedding day, where it would stay forever.
When she got back from dropping off an overdue library book, he kissed her and wouldn’t let her take off her jacket. “Time to go,” he said firmly, pushing her out the door, and Kellan, who already knew his intentions, could see there was no way out. A firm jaw squarely set told her so. He was determined.
She was touched, she really was, but this was the last thing on earth she wanted. She had no interest in going anywhere and spending lots of money for what in her mind was a shined-up rock. Pretty, yes, but still a rock.
She had to let him make the effort. She smiled back at him, linking her arm through his and was swept away again by his generous smile, his eyes snaring hers in frank admiration. How’d she get so lucky?
Two hours later, Gregory’s smile had slipped and the jeweler, Adam Sheffield, was trying to keep his intact.
“We could always custom-make whatever you would like, but that takes a great deal of time,” he explained yet again to Kellan, who nodded. “You could get your plain gold band to use for the ceremony, while we make your design for the engagement ring?” he offered, obviously worried over their dilemma, wanting to make sure all the details were tied up nicely for this young couple.
Kellan offered a startling smile and touched Gregory’s arm. “Gregory, why don’t we go get a cup of coffee and talk it over?” She bestowed an even brighter smile on the older man, who was obviously getting anxious. “Thank you so much, Mr. Sheffield. You’ve given me a lot of things to think about. I appreciate it.”
“If that’s what you want . . . ,” Gregory said, disappointed she hadn’t found anything she liked.
He couldn’t help thinking of Melanie. She had known exactly the kind of ring she wanted, and they had been in and out of here within the hour. And she still had it, he thought glumly. When he had broken off the engagement he’d told her she could keep it if she wanted to. Incredibly, she did.
Now he wanted something much better for Kellan. “You’re sure?” he asked again.
“I’m sure,” she said, giving his hand a squeeze.
“Thanks, Mr. Sheffield.” Gregory shook the man’s hand, who advised them he’d be open until 5:00 p.m.
Moments later they were seated in a small coffee shop fronting Main Street, not too far from the college. Kellan loved everything about this town. The history, the diverse shops that beckoned with antiques and art and clothing and crafts and cuisine. She took a small sip of excellent coffee and smiled.
“This is so good.”
Gregory didn’t touch his. “Kellan, we have to do something today. There are other jewelry shops around. Why don’t we go visit some; maybe they have what you’ve got in mind.” A thought suddenly alarmed him. “You do have something in mind?”
Her smile broadened, her eyes danced as she opened her purse. “Of course. I know exactly what I want.” And she pulled a small bag out and handed it to him.
“What’s this?” He could feel the shape of a box crinkling through the stiff brown paper.
“Open it.”
Puzzled, he pulled out the small box. Nestled inside were two silver rings with writing on the sides. “Kellan”—he picked them up, frowning—“I don’t understand.”
“The writing is in Latin.” She picked up the larger one and took his hand. “It means ‘I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.’” She slipped it on his finger, already knowing it would fit perfectly. “It’s from the Song of Solomon. A very sexy description of what marriage should be.”
His frown remained, but his eyes were puzzled. “That’s nice, but . . . why are you giving me this now? We need to find the rings we’ll be using next week.”
“These are the ones I want to use next week,” she said softly.
He looked at the ring and then at her. “I bet these didn’t even cost a hundred dollars together.”
“With tax and shipping they did.”
“I must be a little slow, because I’m not getting this . . .” He glanced at the ring again. It was nice, but nothing in the class he wanted for her.
He watched her take another long taste of coffee. “It’s a bit of a story. I guess I should have told you before, but I was waiting for these rings to come. They finally did today. Besides the library, I also stopped by the post office. You know I rented a box at school the last time I was here.”
“So why are we out shopping at all? If you’ve already made up your mind,” he said, a little hurt and irritated. “I meant it when I told you I wanted to buy you a ring you’d be proud of, something really spectacular. I mean, this should represent how I feel about you and this . . .” His voice trailed off. Yes, these rings were nice and he didn’t want to hurt her feelings by saying anything bad, but hell, this wasn’t at the top of his list.
“I know.” Kellan could see he was upset and thought about how best to explain. Honest and direct, that was probably the best. “This is the way I feel about diamonds and emeralds and all these other so-called precious jewels.” She stared directly, seeing he was still a little put out.
“They’re dressed-up rocks. Shiny, but still . . . just . . . rocks.” Impulsively, she reached over and held his hand. “But there’s a bigger reason, and it goes back to something that happened when I was a very little girl.”
An involuntary smile creased his face as he thought of her as a young child. Then he became attentive to her story about being at h
er grandmother’s house one day when she was about five years old.
“She used to show me her jewelry box and take out all these sparkly rings and bracelets and let me try them on. I loved watching the lights dance and ripple over those stones. She even had a tiara she would let me put on my head, and I’d look at myself in the mirror and pretend I was a princess.” Gregory watched the memory shimmer in her eyes and felt his heart melting; he could practically see the thrilled little girl.
“One day Grandmother was in the kitchen with the housekeeper, discussing the menu for lunch, and I wandered into her bedroom looking for something to do. She usually kept her jewelry box locked, but this time it was on her dresser and the lock was half open. I had to stand on a small stool to reach it, and as I tried to pull it off I didn’t realize it would be so heavy. So of course it fell, I fell, and all the jewelry tumbled out. They could hear the crash downstairs and Grandmother came running. She got to the door panting and shrieked when she saw what had happened. She strode in, hands clenched on her hips and started yelling, ‘You horrible child, look what you’ve done! Do you have any idea how much all this is worth? These are the jewels of my lifetime. My husband gave me these, some were from my mother’s mother—heirlooms, you bad, bad girl, and now everything’s scattered to high heaven. Kellan, how could you be so bad?’ She fell on the bed, her hands over her face, crying and muttering. Miss Maude the housekeeper came and chastised me again when she’d seen what I had done. She shooed me out the door as she tried to comfort Grandmother and started carefully picking up the jewelry. Then later my mother fussed with me terribly about touching those jewels. ‘Someday, if you behave yourself, some of them might be yours, Kellan. Now, don’t ever do that again.’”
Kellan still smarted at the memory and how it had made her feel. Through the years the memory still held the absolute shock; for the first time in her young life, she had not come first in her grandmother’s affections—the jewelry had.
A Sundog Moment Page 39