by Rikki Dyson
The next day Mr. Barrington and Mr. Mosses took Mary Beth grocery shopping. Lora and Jackie took the children shopping for clothes, as well as for Bradley, Mary Beth and themselves.
“How could our lives get so turned upside down in five months?” Lora asked Jackie.
“Don’t look to me for answers,” Jackie said. “I have none. It’s like god takes away with one hand and gives with the other.”
“I wish he would give me Michael back. I would never ask for anything again.”
Within a few weeks, life seemed to be quite normal living in this big beautiful house. Jackie went back to her music teaching. There was even a music room on the ground floor. The three older children were in school and Suzanne was in kindergarten. Bradley was at his office and Mary Beth had the house to run. Everyone seemed to have a place except Lora.
In November, Lora went to work at Coast Plaza hospital. She worked the eleven p.m. to seven a.m. shift. It wasn’t the busiest shift, but it was busy enough that she could sleep when she got home. The nights in bed were the hardest. Bradley’s, practice was not doing all that well. Mr. Barrington took him out to NASA. Six weeks later, he was hired as a doctor for the space program. Bradley loved it, it was interesting and challenging at the same time.
Lora kept thinking about getting her own place, but everything was so convenient and comfortable at the mansion. When she brought the subject up, Mr. Barrington would act as if he was losing one of his chicks, therefore she kept putting it off, now she was glad she had. In the winter of nineteen-sixty-seven, Mr. Barrington died from viral pneumonia. In his will he left the house and grounds to Bradley and Jackie and the guesthouse out back, he left to Mr. Mosses. In the spring of nineteen-seventy, Mr. Mosses passed away sitting behind the wheel of his car in the driveway.
In May of the same year, Lora made up her mind to find her own place closer to the hospital. New condominiums were for sell a few blocks over from the hospital. Lora felt sure with her savings as a down payment and her salary she would qualify.
When they had first moved into the mansion, the third floor rooms were bare of furniture. Mary Beth had brought her furniture down out of storage from Dallas. She asked Lora, “Would you like your old bedroom furniture for your new place? Actually you’re welcome to the living room and dining room furniture too darling, if you want it.” Lora thought it over and decided, why not. There would still be plenty she would need to get started.
The month of June slipped upon her before she knew it. Lora had made it a policy for the past few years to work double shifts the month of June. She wanted as little time as possible to think. Michael’s memory was still strong on her mind. Lora had been asked out by plenty of guys; however, she just couldn’t bring herself to go. In nineteen-seventy-three, the war was over and prisoners of war were being released. Lora hoped and prayed Michael would be among the prisoners. That prayer wasn’t answered either:
In nineteen-seventy-five, Lora’s niece Jessica was entering her final two years of nurses training at Coast Plaza hospital. Lora invited her to stay with her. That would put her closer to the hospital than commuting from, the castle, as the kids called it. In June of the same year, Lora received a letter from Michael’s mother. She wanted to let her know the military had sent her a letter informing her that Captain Michael R. Patterson’s dog tags had been found at the crash site. Lora read and reread the letter. Now she knew all her hopes and prayers had been in vain. Michael’s remains were being sent home for burial. There would be a memorial service. Should she wish to attend, she would be more than welcome.
Lora thought about it and decided to go. She didn’t see how she could do any less. Michael had said, “I want to know you’ll be here waiting when I get back.” Well, God knows she had been waiting. She would go to New Hampshire and hope somehow, that Michael’s spirit would know she was there.
Chapter-5
The Memorial Service
Lora called the airlines and made reservations. She arrived in Concord a few days later. She took a taxi to the church where the service was being held. Michael’s father noticed the tall slender redheaded young woman dressed in a black suit with a wide brim black hat and sunglasses. Matthew Patterson asked his ex-wife, “Do you know the young woman dressed in black?”
Eunice Deveraux turned to look, “No, I don’t,” Michael’s mother said.
Lora didn’t want to draw attention to herself or intrude into the lives of Michael’s family. She noticed the tall handsome man in his sixty’s, she would guess. There was no doubt in her mind that he was Michael’s father. There was a great resemblance.
After the services, Matthew Patterson came to Lora introduced himself and asked, “Are you Lora Flemming?” “Yes I am,” she replied. “How did you know?”
“My son’s letters were full of you. He referred to you as his ‘Fiery beauty.’ Even with your hat on, I couldn’t miss that red hair.” Lora smiled and shook hands with him.
He said, “You must come meet Michaels other family. It will do his mother good to know you’re here. We all know how much Michael loved you.”
Matthew introduced her to Michael’s family. His mother, Eunice Deveraux, his step-father Jack Deveraux, his brother Charles and twin sisters, Jan and Joy. They invited Lora to the house for coffee or drinks.
“Thank you, but I don’t want to intrude.”
“You will not be intruding, my dear,” Michael’s mother said. “You will be giving us a part of Michael’s life we were not privy too.”
They were all so kind, Lora couldn’t say, “No.” They all told stories of Michael. They each remembered funny things he said and did. Lora told of how they met and the funny things that happened in the ward. How much the other men liked and respected him. She shared her happiness of Michael with them and her deep grief of losing him.
She looked at her watch and told them, “I must go. I have a ten o’clock flight back to Houston tonight.”
Matthew told her he would drive her to the airport. The family thanked her for coming and most of all for sharing her memories of Michael with them. Eunice said, “So many times I have wanted to contact you, but refrained from doing so in case you had started a new life.” At the airport, Matthew Patterson said, “The past ten years has been and open wound. Your presence here and your sharing of your memories of Michael has started a healing process. Thank you for coming. Now young lady, go home and build a life for yourself. That’s what Michael would want for you.”
During the next two years, Lora and her niece shared the condominium. They became very close. Lora was Jessie’s confidant. Jessica graduated in May nineteen-seventy-seven, and was hired at St. Luke’s hospital, so she went back to live at the castle, as it was closer to St. Luke’s. Jessie’s twin brothers David and Daniel studied business in college. When they graduated, they became fire fighters, with Adair, Boots and Coots. They dreamed of someday owning their own company. Lora was close to all of her nieces and nephews, but Jessie was special. She thought of her as the daughter she had never had.
Chapter-6
Doctor Jonathan McKay
Jonathan McKay had been on staff at the hospital for about three weeks when he noticed the beautiful red headed nurse. He had tried to strike up a casual conversation with her; however, she was cool and aloof. Doctor McKay was a persistent man. Lora had noticed Jonathan McKay, his resemblance to Michael was uncanny, but he wasn’t Michael.
One afternoon, when she was pulling double shift, Doctor McKay came in the cafeteria, looked around, then brought his coffee and pie to her table, “May I join you?” he asked.
Lora frowned at him and said, “The room is more than half empty, why here?”
“It’s the only table with a gorgeous red head sitting at it,” he replied. “Why are you making our getting acquainted so difficult?”
“Maybe I don’t want to get acquainted.”
“Why not?” he asked. “I’m not married. You’re not married, so what’s the problem?”
“How about, I’m older than you,” Lora said.
“That’s no problem as far as I’m concerned,” he said with a roguish smile.
Lora stood up and said, “I have to get back on duty. We’ll discuss this some other time.”
He turned and watched her walk away. Jonathan McKay had never had any difficulty attracting women; however, this red head intrigued him with her aloofness.
Jonathan was thirty years old, had brown hair and blue eyes. He was in medical school when he was drafted into the Army. The Army finished training him, and then he was sent to Viet Nam for two years. He had spent the last two years of Army life at Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas. Now he was a civilian. Thank god! This was his first job since getting out of the Army. Two days later, he jumped in the elevator just as the door was closing.
Lora was pushing an elderly patient in a wheelchair to x-ray. He followed them and waited while Lora signed her in and gave the patient’s paper work to the technician.
“Someone will come get you as soon as you’re finished,” Lora told the patient.
In the corridor, Doctor McKay was waiting for her. She gave him a look and headed for the stairs.
“How about having a cup of coffee with me?” he asked.
“It’s not my break time,” Lora, informed him.
“Will you join me for coffee, tea or me, when it is your break time?” he asked flamboyantly.
Lora smiled at him and said, “Probably not, doctor.”
He looked at her very perplexed and asked, “Why the hell not? What does a guy have to do to get a date with you? I’m not going to eat you.” He gave her a crooked smile and said, “Well, not on the first date, anyway.”
She gave him a withering look and headed upstairs. When she knew she was out of sight she leaned against the wall and started laughing. It did feel good to laugh again and be flirted with again. Over the years, there had been other men who asked her out, but they had never been as persistent as Doctor Jonathan McKay had.
Lora sent him a note that read, “Ask me again in a week, I’ll be off double duty by then.”
He sent her a note back that read, “How about the fourth of July for the picnic and fireworks?”
The next time she saw him in the corridor, he stood with his arms out as if he was asking, “Okay?”
Lora smiled and nodded her head, “Yes.” Of course, she was invited to the castle, for the fourth, but she told them she had to work. She didn’t know why she lied to her family.
At nine-thirty the morning of the fourth, Jonathan McKay was at Lora’s door. When she answered the door, she shook her head and said, “You’re a bit early, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” he said, “But I just couldn’t wait. Hurry and get dressed, I have a picnic basket all ready and the park awaits us.”
Lora had to admit it was one of the most contented days she had spent in a very long time. They picnicked under the trees and then danced to a country and blue grass band in the pavilion. After dark, they watched the fireworks show until eleven o’clock. Lora dozed off on the way home. Jonathan woke her when they arrived at her place.
She tried to apologize, but he just smiled as he walked her to the door. Jonathan kissed her goodnight on the forehead and said, “Sleep well; I’ll see you at the hospital tomorrow.”
To Lora’s amazement, she did sleep well, with no dreams to wake her up crying. She really felt rested. It had been a most enjoyable day. Lora was back on the eleven to seven shift, so she had not seen Jonathan for a few days. He was just beginning rounds one morning as she was going off duty.
“How about having dinner with me, one night this week?”
“Sure, call me,” she said.
He did and they made a date for Thursday night. Jonathan knew it was her day off, so when he picked her up he said, “I hope you don’t mind, I made reservations at that new French restaurant.”
“That’s fine with me, but you’ll have to translate the menu.” Jonathan smiled and said, “I can do that, I learned to speak French in Viet Nam.”
Lora had such a look come over her face for an unguarded instant. He quickly said, “Have I told you how nice you look tonight?”
“No,” Lora said. “I’m sure you know a woman can never hear that too much.”
After they were seated in the restaurant Jonathan looked around, then said, as he looked her over, “You look more than nice tonight, you look gorgeous.”
Lora laughed and asked, “What brought that on?”
“I was just looking around when I realized I was sitting with the most beautiful woman in the room.”
“You have a silver tongue, Doctor McKay.”
“If only my pockets were so lucky,” he said smiling.
The wine steward came and Jonathan chose their wine. When the waiter took their order, true to his word, he ordered in French.
“When were you in Viet Nam?” Lora asked while they were waiting.
“From seventy-one to seventy-three. Why?” he asked.
She took a deep breath and said, “I knew someone who went there and didn’t come back.”
Lora took a drink of her wine trying to stay composed:
“You loved him a lot, didn’t you?” Jonathan asked.
Lora looked at him with frosty eyes and said, “Yes, and let’s leave it at that, okay?”
Their dinner came and along with it more pleasant topic’s of conversation. They had talked some about their families on the fourth. He told her he had grown up in Fort Worth. He lived on the west side in Westover hills.
Lora told him she knew the area. She had worked her first nursing job at Carswell Air Force base hospital. She told him about her dad being killed and that she and her mother moved to Houston to be near her older brother and his family.
Jonathan felt there was much she was leaving out, but in time, he would find out. In turn, Jonathan told her about his two older brothers. One was a lawyer and lived in Fort Worth. The other was a television executive and lived in New York City. That his dad deals in real estate and his mom is a writer of trashy novels. Thank god, she writes under a pseudonym.
“Did you go to Texas Christian University?” Lora asked.
“No, no,” he said. “That wasn’t far enough from home. I went to Northwestern. That was where Uncle Sam found me and said, “Young man, we need your services for a while.”
Through it all, he had her laughing. On the dance floor, she said, “I don’t know if it’s the wine or the way you describe your family, but I haven’t laughed so much in a long time.”
Jonathan smiled at Lora and twirled her around the dance floor. Much later, when he parked in front of her condominium, he said, “Well, tonight has been an improvement.”
“How so?” she asked.
“You didn’t fall asleep on me,” he said with a grin.
As Jonathan walked her to her door, Lora smiled and told him, what a wonderful time she’d had. He kissed her lips softly and said, “We’ll do it again one night soon.”
Then he turned and walked to his car. Their shifts didn’t permit them to see each other at the hospital, but he did call often. They made a date for the next Thursday for dinner and a movie.
Chapter-7
Jessica in love
Lora tried, to get to the castle as often as she could to visit her family. On Thursday as she walked in the door, her niece Jessica was waiting for her. “Quick Aunt Lora, come up to my room, I have something fabulous to tell you.”
As Jessie closed the door to her room, she said, “Aunt Lora, I’ve met this drop dead gorgeous man. He’s in his second year residency. He’s tall with black hair and blue eyes, and he owns a ranch.”
“Wait a minute,” Lora said. “I thought you said he was a doctor.”
“I did, but he has this ranch too.”
“Where?” Lora asked.
“I don’t know somewhere north of Austin or south of Waco. I don’t know, I just know I like him.”
“Slow down girl, whe
re did you meet him?”
“Would you believe on a blind date? Mary Faye Walters kept after me to go on a blind date with her boyfriends, friend, so finally I did. His name is Sam Scott and he lives in Rawhide, Texas.”
“Where the devil is Rawhide, Texas?” Aunt Lora asked.
“I don’t know, somewhere upon the Brazos. Who cares? Aunt Lora, he’s so nice and can he kiss!”
“Wait a minute. How long have you been seeing this guy?”
“Six weeks,” Jessie said, “But he’s the one.”
“Does your mother know yet?”
“No ma’am, I wanted to tell you first.”
Lora hugged her niece and said, “Don’t say anything to your mother yet. I wanna’ meet this Sam Scott first. When will you be seeing him again?”
“In two weeks,” Jessie said, excitedly.
“Okay, we’ll have dinner at my place and I can meet him.”
“That’s great, you’re gonna’ love him Aunt Lora. I know you will.”
Lora hugged her niece. She remembered how it felt to be in love. She never wanted Jessie to end up with a broken heart, so she would check out this, Sam Scott.
On Thursday at dinner, before the movie, Lora was telling Jonathan about Jessie and her crush on this Sam Scott. Lora smiled at Jonathan and said, “I’ve invited Jessie to bring him to dinner at my place next Thursday. Would you like to come too?”
“Sure, are we gonna’ gang-up on this doctor-cowboy, or what?” Jonathan asked smiling. Lora looked at him aghast and said, “Good heavens, and no, I just need to know he’s not gonna’ take advantage of my niece and hurt her.”
“How do you plan on finding out?” Jonathan asked. “Are you gonna’ ask him if his intentions are honorable?”
Lora frowned at him and said, “I don’t know. I was hoping to talk with him and let my intuition kick in gear.”
“Maybe we can do better than that,” Jonathan said.