Her Perfect Life

by Hinze, Vicki

  He looked at her through compassionate eyes. “It’s not that I don’t want to be with you, but I had plans with Trevor and Greg. I was kind of looking forward to that, you know?”

  C.D. watched with open curiosity. Would he be disappointed that Katie wouldn’t push the point? Or would he grasp her rationale?

  Either way, she was going to do what she felt was right. “No problem, Jake. I understand.” Katie smiled at them. “Let’s go to Gran and Grandpa’s together another time, then.”

  “You’re not gonna make us go?” Molly sounded stunned.

  “No, honey, I’m not.” She let her eyes hold her promise. “I am going to have to go without you, though. I haven’t seen your grandparents in a very long time, and I know they need to see me, just like I need to see you guys.”

  “But you’re coming back, right?” Jake sounded as if it was important to him. “Right?”

  That tone did Katie more good than anything else in the world. She nodded. “I’ll be back on Sunday. Molly, maybe we can plant some flowers then. Would you like to do that?”

  Blair and Sam exchanged a private glance, like all couples do, and Katie picked up on it. “Or is that going to mess up plans you already have made?”

  “Honestly, it will,” Sam said. “My parents are having a small gathering to celebrate their anniversary.”

  “Oh, well that’s important.” Katie wiped her mouth and put her napkin on the table. “Of course Molly has to be there for that.”

  “No, I don’t.” Molly looked at Blair. “I want to go plant flowers and make a garden like at our old house.”

  “Then that’s what you’ll do.” Blair smiled at Molly and winked. “Right, Sam?”

  “Actually, I think the adults need to discuss this privately.” He dabbed his mouth with his napkins. “Kids, homework.”

  “Sam,” Katie said in a voice just above a whisper. “Don’t protect them from disagreements. They’ll get on their own and not realize it’s normal.”

  “Katie’s right, Sam.” Blair nodded. “It’s important for children to live in a realistic environment so they develop strong conflict resolutions skills. If you prevent them from learning, then they won’t know how to deal with challenges constructively.”

  Sam frowned, but didn’t oppose, and of course Molly and Jake looked on, their eyes gleaming interest.

  Blair returned the conversation to the topic. “Molly would like to be with her mother, and that’s a good thing.”

  “I guess so.” Sam said it, but he looked miffed and close to sulking.

  He’d often done that, and Katie had always hated it. To get his way, he’d verbally agree but then silently show disapproval to induce guilt. It was a rotten way to treat people. Katie had ignored it before. She wasn’t ignoring it now—and Blair was right about the kids learning to resolve issues honestly.

  “Sam,” Katie said. “We’re all adjusting and we need to make a special effort to understand that the kids have full lives. I’m grateful for that, and I expect you are, too. We all want to be with them, but they only have so much free time. We have to share. And all of us—the kids included—need to have an attitude of gratitude that there are so many of us to love them. That’s a wonderful thing. If we all remember that, then we’ll have a little grace about sharing. Otherwise, we’re going to be spending a lot of time unhappy, and that’s just not necessary.”

  Katie stood up. “Life doesn’t fit neatly into little boxes. It’s messy. Sometimes, really messy, you know?”

  “Not my life,” Sam shot back. “My life was organized and orderly and just as I wanted it—” he said and then caught himself.

  “Until I came back.” Katie sighed. “I know. I interrupted your life. Well, that’s unfortunate, but I am back now, and I am going to be here and a part of the kids’ lives.” That notice was clear enough. “We will always be their parents, and that makes us a part of each other’s lives, too. You’re going to have to make room for me, Sam. Because I’ve already forfeited a lot, and I might forfeit even more from here on out, but I will never forfeit my children.”

  Blair frowned at Sam, came around the table and stood beside Katie. “No one expects you to, Katie.”

  “Thank you.” Katie clasped Blair’s hand, grateful for the show of unity in front of the kids. Sam wasn’t pleased, and standing with Katie had to be hard for Blair, but she knew this was right and thankfully she had the backbone to stand up for it. “Molly, you talk with your dad and mom,” Katie said mom without faltering, “and if you want to come over Sunday, phone me.” She looked over at C.D. “We should go now.”

  “Not yet,” Jake protested. “I want to show you my room—so you can see me there.”

  At the hospital, she had said she’d sleep better if she could see them in her mind; where they were. Jake remembered.

  “Go ahead, Jake,” Blair said. “Take your mom up.”

  Blair hadn’t faltered, either, Katie noticed. That had to be a good sign.

  Smiling, Blair turned to C.D. “Can I recruit you and Sam to put some boxes in your truck? Some of Katie’s things?”

  “Sure.” C.D. stood up.

  “Thanks. They’re in the entryway. Sam will show you.” Blair cleared some dishes from the table and took them to the kitchen.

  C.D. clapped a troubled looking Sam on the shoulder. “Come on, Sam.” Walking around the corner to the entryway, C.D. grabbed a box. When Sam had one, too, C.D. said, “For what it’s worth, a friendly piece of advice.”

  “I’m open to anything that gets me through this in one piece.”

  C.D. started to keep his mouth shut—the idea of Sam getting a little of what he’d dished out to Katie held merit, but in the end, he took pity on him. “When women make up their minds and band together, the best thing a man can do to spare himself considerable misery is to keep his mouth shut, follow their directions, lay low and stay out of their way.”

  “I don’t get it.” Sam bent down and grabbed a second box. “It’s like it’s them against me.”

  “It is them against you. They’re standing as one for the kids,” C.D. said. “You might want to think about that.”

  * * *

  Jake plopped down on his bed. “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Sure.” Katie sat down at his desk. She loved his room. It was so like him. Warm and sloppy, but still somehow clean and comfortable.

  “Were they mean to you over there?”

  Katie didn’t want to discuss it, but Jake was naturally curious and she didn’t want to shut down communications between them when he’d finally started opening up to her. “Some of them were, but one man was good to me.” General Amid. “He protected me as much as he could.”

  “Molly was right. They beat you up, didn’t they?”

  “Yes.” She looked into his eyes, saw his concern and was grateful not to see fascination or morbid curiosity. “How did Molly know that?”

  Jake shrugged. “She’s like Grandma Cole,” he said, referring to her psychic gift, “but don’t mention it in front of dad. He freaks out about it, so we don’t bring it up.”

  Did Blair freak out, too? Katie wondered, but didn’t ask. Best not pry too much too soon. It’d all come out with time. “My mother was amazing.” Now, the dementia ruled her.

  “Molly is, too,” Jake said. “Is that what happened to your arm?” He propped his head on his own bent arm. The light from his bedside lamp streaked across his pillow and face.

  “No.” She ran her hand down her forearm, elbow to wrist. “It was broken in the crash. My legs were, too. A doctor set the bones in my legs, but he wouldn’t touch my arm.”

  “Why not?”

  “He didn’t like Americans and his boss didn’t insist that he fix it, so he left it broken.” She remembered that time and inwardly shivered. “So I fixed it as best I could.” In a cold sweat, she’d nearly fainted from the intense pain.

  “You set your own broken bones?” He looked awed.

  “I didn’
t have any choice.” She looked down at his striped bedspread. “It was a hard time, Jake. A lot of bad things happened. But I just kept thinking of getting back home to you guys and that got me through it.”

  He sat up, serious and solemn. “You must have loved us a lot.”

  She gave him a watery smile and reached for his face, cupped his chin in her hand. “I still do.”

  “That which is endured is conquered, eh?” Jake said.

  He remembered! Overwhelmed, Katie couldn’t speak, and settled for a nod.

  Jake talked quietly for a few minutes, and then Katie stood up. “Well, I’d better go. From the looks of that stack of books, you’ve got tons of homework.”

  “Yeah.” He stood up, too, threw his arms around her neck and hugged her hard. “I’m sorry they hurt you, Mom.”

  Mom. Dear God, had any word ever sounded so sweet, been cherished so deeply? Katie’s nose, the back of her eyes burned and her control frayed. “It’s over now.” She held him tightly, closed her eyes and savored the feel and scent of him. “And we’re together again. That’s all that matters.”

  “I’m glad you’re home.”

  Tears blurred her eyes and she blinked hard. “Thank you, Jake.” Overwhelmed, she confided, “I have to tell you, what you just said to me is the best birthday present anyone has ever given me in my whole life.”

  “It’s your birthday? Today?” His face flushed and his jaw dropped open. “But I didn’t get you a card, and you don’t have a cake or real presents or anything.” He seemed horrified.

  “Those things aren’t important, honey. You just gave me something worth a lot more.” She hugged him tightly. “And I really needed it.”

  He looked embarrassed and pulled away. “Want me to walk down with you?”

  “No, you go on and get to your homework.”

  “Okay.” He plopped down at his desk and reached for his headphones. “Have a great birthday, okay?”

  “Thanks.” Katie walked to the door.

  “Hey, Mom?”

  It hadn’t been a slip of tongue. He’d said it twice. Mom. Smiling inside, she stopped and looked back.

  “If Molly comes over on Sunday, I might come, too—if that’s all right.”

  All right? It’d be fantastic. “Of course. Jake, you can come see me anytime.” Smiling, she walked out into the hallway and shut her eyes as she passed Sam and Blair’s room, then took the stairs down two at a time, her step a lot lighter than when she’d been going up.

  When she got into the car, C.D. said, “Well, you’re looking awfully pleased with yourself.”

  “Jake hugged me. He said he was glad I was home and he called me mom. Not once, but twice, C.D. It wasn’t an accident or a mistake.” She grinned. “He also asked if he could come over with Molly on Sunday.”

  “Now, that’s great news.” C.D. smiled. “I had my doubts about you not just making them go with us to your folks anyway—they’d get used to you during the visit—but it seems you know best. Your way is working out better.”

  “I can’t force them, C.D. I’ve been forced and I hated it. I won’t do that to them or anyone else ever again in anyway.”

  He reached over and squeezed her hand.

  “I was a maniac going over there,” she admitted. “But it really did work out fine. And with Jake—well,” she turned to a sing-song voice, “happy birthday to me.”

  C.D. looked stunned. “Is today your birthday?”

  She nodded. “I thought maybe Sam had remembered and that’s why Blair had invited us to dinner—so I could be with the kids. But apparently not.” Katie grunted. “No big deal, and definitely not personal. Most of the time, he forgets his own.”

  “Maybe he did remember.” C.D. passed her a brown envelope. “After we put the boxes in the car, Sam gave me this. He said to give it to you after we left.”

  She took the envelope and the joy she’d been feeling dissipated. “This isn’t a birthday card, C.D.” Sometimes the adorable man was as dense as dirt.

  “What is it?”

  “Divorce papers.” She opened it up to verify that. “Yep.”

  “Unbelievable. The louse had me hand you his divorce papers? On your birthday?” Muttering, C.D. hit the brakes. His tires screeched and dirt on the soft shoulder lifted a cloud of dust. Whipping the car around, he stomped the gas, heading back the way they’d just come.

  Even though Katie was buckled in, her shoulder slammed against the side door. “Where are you going? And why are you driving like an idiot?”

  “I’m going to do what I should have done a long time ago.”

  “What?” He slammed on the brakes to make a stop sign and barely stopped in time to not slide through the intersection.

  “Kick his amazingly lousy, sorry, selfish--”

  “C.D. That’s enough.”

  “Hardly.” C.D. glowered, radiated barely leashed outrage. “I can’t believe any one man is that cold and unfeeling.”

  “You’re not kicking his anything, C.D. Quade.” Katie tossed the papers down on the seat. “Turn around and let’s go home. I’m not in the mood for this.”

  C.D. pulled into a Winn-Dixie parking lot, stopped the car, and took a moment to cage his temper and calm down. When he had, he looked over at her. “Tell me what you need.”

  She took a sip of water from the bottle in the cup holder. “A burger, a couple margaritas and a new attitude.”

  “The burger is easy, though I expect any time now, you’re going to start to moo.”

  “Moo.” She wrinkled her nose at him. “I’m making up for lost time.”

  “With a vengeance,” he agreed.

  “Moo and double moo.” She wrinkled her nose again and added a goofy grin.

  “Okay. You win.” He feigned a frown. “What else was on your list?”

  “Margaritas and attitude.”

  “Well, the bar’s closed tonight, but I think I can throw together a couple margaritas. But, Angel, I’m afraid the new attitude is another story. That one is up to you.”

  “I know that,” she said, leaning toward him, then picking up her sing-song tone again. “Which is why I want the margaritas.”

  “Got it.”

  “No, you don’t, C.D.,” she said. “You think I’m going to get drunk to forget my problems.”

  He looked at her but wisely kept his mouth closed.

  “Alcohol’s a depressant. I’ve never really cared for it, so rest easy. I’m not drinking to get depressed or to forget. I’d prefer my margarita without it.”

  “Okay.”

  “I’m just not letting Sam wreck my birthday. We’re going to celebrate, and I am going to be in a good mood.”

  “And that’s final,” C.D. said with passion.

  “Exactly.” She smiled. “I choose.”

  Chapter Eight

  Top Flight looked like many of the bars Katie and C.D. had been in on trips to various bases around the world.

  The walls were decorated with emblem and unit patches from the military members who hung out there. The requisite dartboard and pool table were in place, as were the tables and small dance floor that likely entertained dancers only on the rare occasion. People came here to talk about work, about flying and missions and planes.

  The bar itself intrigued Katie. It wasn’t just the standard wooden bar. It was massive, hand-carved from oak and embellished with eagles and elaborate leaves, and it stretched from one end of the place to the other. Behind it, the wall was divided into mirrored sections and separated by large wooden columns. It was a masterpiece, and its cost probably rivaled that of the building.

  She smoothed her hand down a small section of the bar top. “This is beautiful, C.D.”

  “Thanks.” He smiled. “You’re sort of responsible for it.”

  “What?” She set her purse on a barstool, turned and looked back at him.

  “Remember when we were stationed at Scott,” he said, referencing the air force base near Belleville, Illinois, “and we we
nt to that financial seminar?”

  She did, but she still wasn’t making the connection between that seminar and this bar. “Yeah?”

  “We took out insurance policies on each other.”

  “Oh, no.” She had forgotten about that. Unable to stop herself, she sighed. “So now you’re going to have to pay that back, too.”

  “No. I put that money in a long-term college fund for Molly and Jake. But it’s still there.”

  She was touched. Deeply. “You started a college fund for Molly and Jake?”

  “Um, not exactly,” he hedged.

  “Get exact, C.D., so I know exactly how to react—and be accurate.”

  He sighed. “Accurately, I’ve had the fund going for them for a long time. Specifically, I put the insurance money in the existing fund. I didn’t start a new one.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “I know that, Katie,” he said in a flat tone. “I never told you.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you’d have gotten all sappy on me, and Sam might have taken it the wrong way.” C.D. sent her a knowing look. “I know he put you on the spot about me more than once. I didn’t want to give him any fuel.”

  That, she’d never told C.D., but it was true. “Okay, color me sappy,” she said with far more nonchalance than she felt, “and tell me why you set up a fund for them at all.”

  He shoved a hand in his pocket. “Because I’m it. There aren’t any other relatives, and there’s no one to come after me. Your kids are as close to having kids as I’ll ever get.”

  Jake had known C.D. Molly had known him, too. “You’ve gone to Jake’s swim meets, and Molly’s—”

  “Piano recitals and ball games and dance recitals and to open house at their schools—all of which supremely irked Sam, but so what? He was always irked at me for just existing.”

  “He was irked at you because I adored you,” Katie corrected C.D. “Why did you do all that, C.D.?”

  “Because I love them,” he said simply. “I was there when they were born, went through every new tooth, first step, first word, potty training—you name it, and I was there.”