Chapter 10
Light drizzle speckled Katie’s windshield Sunday afternoon as she drove to Romantic Blooms, the flower shop run by her friend, Cheryl Montgomery. While the store was closed on Sundays, Cheryl had a special display outside the store for Sunday pick-ups. Katie still thought the set up was genius. The refrigerated display had a keypad to open it. Cheryl gave her customers a four digit code to unlock it. She changed the code frequently and had a security camera focused on the display, though she always laughed it was a waste of money. “Normal people don’t see flowers as a high-ticket item. You can’t eat them and they’re not going to bring you anything at a pawn shop. I suppose some desperate boyfriend might steal them to beg his girl to forgive him, but even then it’s highly unlikely.”
As Katie stopped her car, she could see four bouquets in the display. She glanced at her receipt before walking up to the store front. After opening the display case, she pulled out the flowers she’d ordered. She drove the familiar roads of Romance to the cemetery. The smell of pine mingled with the earthy scent of rain as Katie walked to her mother’s headstone. She knelt next to it, took last week’s wilted bouquet out of the attached vase, and replaced it with the fresh flowers and water. “I was able to get your favorites this time, Mom,” Katie said, setting the now empty glass vase at her side. “Sunflowers and mums. I wish you could be here to see them. Cheryl had some sunflowers as big as my hands.”
For a moment she sat in silence, her eyes skimming over the carved letters and numbers. Sarah Louise Mackall, Beloved Mother and Daughter, June 13, 1971 - Sept. 24, 2016.
Katie sighed. “I miss you so much, Mom. I wish you could tell me which direction to go. Mike and I went to the Homecoming Dance yesterday, as chaperones this time rather than students. I think it’s definitely more fun as a student. But in some ways it was just like old times. I can’t seem to stop teasing him and he still makes my knees feel all wibble-wobbly. Did Dad make you feel that way? I guess he must have because you married him.” She sighed again. “Uncle Earl says I need to give Mike another chance. Part of me wants to, but another part of me is afraid of being hurt again. Or worse, being hurt like you were. I don’t know how you stayed strong by yourself for so long, Mom.” Tears filled Katie’s eyes. “I never realized how hard things were for you, not really. Call it the blinders of childhood, but you always seemed so together and so certain things would be all right in the end. ‘Rainbows always follow the storms and sunflowers always look for the light.’ That’s what you said every time I felt discouraged. I didn’t realize how difficult those words must have been for you until it was too late. I’m sorry I didn’t do more to ease your burden, Mom.”
Her throat tightened as sobs built in her chest. The solitude of the cemetery surrounded her, making her feel loud and alone as she cried. A warm breeze brushed past her with the aroma of sage and lavender, her mother’s favorite scent. She lifted her eyes and hazy in the distance, a rainbow curved through the sky. Peace settled over her like a warm blanket. “I love you too, Mama.”
“Katie?”
She turned at the sound of her name, her heart pounding. “Mike, what are you doing here? You scared me.”
“Sorry,” he said. He knelt next to her, oblivious to the dirt and grass clinging to his charcoal gray suit. “I saw your car by the road and thought I should check on you.”
“I’m fine, just visiting Mom. I always come on Sunday with fresh flowers for her.”
He nodded. “I see. Sorry I startled you. I was just worried when I saw your car.” He paused. “And as I walked up, you looked really upset.”
“I was upset,” she admitted. “It’s hard not having Mom here when I feel like I need her so much. I can talk to her, but she can’t answer. Not with words. But I am feeling much better now.” She stood, brushing dirt from her skirt.
Mike rose next to her, giving her a curious look. “How do you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Seem so together?” he asked. “I feel lost and alone so often and my parents are only a phone call away.”
Katie shook her head with a smile. “I’m not nearly as together as I seem, Mike. I was upset today because I feel a little lost and alone. Aunt Viv and Uncle Earl are wonderful, and I know they love me as though I were their own. Even still, it’s not quite the same.” She looked again at the fading rainbow. “But sometimes, answers don’t come with words. Isn’t that the beauty of the spirit?”
Mike chuckled. “Giving me an extra Sunday School lesson?”
“Maybe. I suppose you were on your way to church?” Katie asked.
He shook his head. “No, just barely got back into town. I go to the singles branch. It’s a longer drive, but I figured most of the single LDS girls probably go there.”
Katie squashed down a wave of jealousy. “That would make sense.”
“I’ve never seen you there.”
She shrugged. “I’ve always gone to the family ward here in Romance. Well, the second one now.”
“Are there two?”
“Yeah, we had a lot of growth it seemed all at once. The congregation split just a few months after Mom died.”
The gentle drizzle began to fall in heavier drops and Mike opened an umbrella. “We should get out of the rain.”
Katie shivered as the wind picked up. “I guess I shouldn’t have left my umbrella in the car.”
Mike took Katie’s hand and pulled her gently. “Then you can share mine.” He put his arm around her shoulders and together they walked to their parked vehicles. Mike stood with the umbrella overhead while Katie unlocked her car.
She turned to him, surprised by how close he was. Her voice caught in her throat at the tenderness in his dark eyes. Katie swallowed. “Thanks for checking on me, Mike.”
He leaned closer and placed a gentle kiss to her cheek. “Any time, zorrita. I’m glad you got the answers you needed.”
Keenly aware of his spicy aftershave and the gold swirls near the center of his eyes, Katie nodded. “I’ll see you later,” she said, as she ducked into her car. Mike closed her door for her after she’d made sure her skirt was pulled inside. She watched him in the mirror as he walked to his truck before finally starting the car’s engine. The rain was falling steadily by now and she turned on her headlights and windshield wipers. With a sigh, she pulled back onto the road.
~*~
Mike arrived home late Monday afternoon. Earl Raleigh was sitting on the porch steps, whittling a stick. “Long day, son?” he asked as Mike got out of his truck.
“I’m so sorry, Uncle Earl, I’m normally home much sooner than that.”
Earl shrugged. “Life happens, Mike, don’t worry. So, let’s look at this project of yours.” He followed Mike inside and chuckled. “I see Katie wasn’t exaggerating about your furniture.”
Mike scowled. “There’s nothing wrong with my furniture.”
“No arguments here,” Earl said with a smile. “Women are weird. But some of those pieces have definitely seen better days.”
“Can’t argue that point,” Mike replied. “Anyway, that’s kind of down on my list of priorities right now.”
“Understood.” Earl looked around as Mike opened the door to the office. “Minimalist, huh?”
Mike rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I guess so.”
Earl laughed. “Katie said the same thing, didn’t she?”
“Pretty much,” Mike admitted. “She thought maybe we could build some bookcases on this wall, and wrap it onto that wall with a window seat or something like that.”
“Hmmm. What do you want?” Earl asked.
Mike ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know, an office? Katie had some great ideas and they all sounded good…”
“But what do you want?”
It took a moment for him to realize Earl had changed the subject. Mike sighed, “I want whatever Katie wants, because I want her. I want her to love me again, for us to get back on our plan.”
“Well then, what do you intend to do about it?”
Mike looked around the sparse room. “I plan to take her advice, even if it means froofy throw pillows are involved, and show her that I never stopped loving her. Then maybe she’ll remember what we had.”
“She hasn’t forgotten, Mike,” Earl said. “She may act like it, but trust me. She’s never forgotten you or stopped loving you.”
“What makes you so sure?”
Earl smiled. “Women don’t keep international letters from people they aren’t interested in.”
Mike stared at him. “Wait, you mean?”
“I’m probably not supposed to have told you that,” Earl said, rubbing his chin. “Come to think of it, I’m probably not even supposed to know about those. So, let’s keep that between us men, huh?”
“You got it,” Mike said.
Earl pulled his tape measure out of one of the pockets on his coveralls. He measured the walls and window, writing the measurements on a small pad of paper. “Well, I think that gives me a start. I’ll come up with a couple designs for you and you can pick which one you prefer. But let me give you some advice, one man to another.”
“Sure.”
“Don’t let Katie pick everything.” Earl winked. “The pillows only have to be as froofy as you want them to be. Come by Wednesday and I’ll have these designs ready for you.”
“Should I bring a bribe with me?” Mike teased.
Earl laughed. “I certainly wouldn’t say no, but maybe the bribe should be for a cute, young thing we both love.”