I sit down and put James’ shoes on for him.
“Ok, mommy, I will. I love you, too,” Raelynn says before she hands Alec his phone back to him.
“Rae, get your shoes on,” Alec tells her.
“Ok, daddy,” Rae says as she skips out of the room.
I listen as Alec talks briefly to Molly about her treatment. Right before he hangs up the phone, he tells her that Bobby wants her to call him when she can. He hangs up the phone and says, “The detox symptoms are done and now she is doing the 12-step program.”
“What is that, exactly?” I ask.
“It’s where they teach them how to avoid recurrent drug use, avoid temptation, and I believe, how to move forward from their addiction. She’ll never be able to get her nursing license again, but maybe she can become a motivational speaker or a drug and alcohol counselor. Molly was a great photographer at one time. Maybe she’ll get back into that.”
“Really?”
“Sure, that could happen for her. She’s on her way to recovery.”
I say, “This is wonderful news. Raelynn deserves this.”
Chapter Three: An Unexpected Surprise
Alec
Today is Emma’s birthday, and although we have a large family and lots of friends, I have planned something for just the two of us. Last night we did the birthday celebration with balloons, cake, and our family and friends. Today it will be just her and me.
All four sets of grandparents are taking Raelynn and James to Disney World for the weekend. We are very blessed our parents can do this for their grandchildren, and we are very blessed because this gives us some much-needed alone time. My parents, Emma’s parents, Max’s parents, and even Molly’s parents are all participating in the weekend getaway.
“What time are we going?” Emma calls from the other room.
“I think we should leave at noon.”
“Where are we going?”
“Nice try.” I walk into the bedroom; she is standing inside her walk-in closet. “Do you need help?” I ask, walking in to join her.
“How do I know what to wear if I don’t know where we’re going?”
“Mmm, that can be a bit of a problem. Let’s try to remedy this. It’s summertime and we live in Florida,” I say, tapping my index finger to my temple. “What would one wear on a hot summer day in Florida?”
“Alec, stop it! You’re not funny.”
“Then stop laughing and wear that red sundress.” I smirk.
“Get out so I can get dressed and just because I’m laughing doesn’t make you funny,” she says, laughing.
“That is exactly what that means,” I say, walking out of her walk-in closet.
I finish getting dressed and load up our overnight bag into the car. The house is filling up with boxes, and it’s becoming quite difficult to live in. We are planning on moving next weekend, if I can last that long. It’s not easy living out of boxes. I hate moving.
I turn around and Emma is standing on the front porch wearing a red sundress with white polka-dots and red high heels. Her blond hair is in a high ponytail. “You look stunning,” I say, honestly.
“Thank you. Do you want a bottle of water before we leave?” she asks.
“Yes, please. I already have everything in the car.”
“Just give me a minute to get the water.”
I start the car and run the air-conditioner to cool the car off. August in Florida is unbelievably hot. I stand by Emma’s car door and wait for her. I watch as she puts on her sunglasses and locks the front door.
“What are you smiling at?” she asks as she gets closer to me.
“I can’t smile at the birthday girl?”
“Maybe if I knew where we were going I’d be smiling, too.”
Laughing at her poutiness, I open her car door wide for her to get in. “You’ll know soon enough, Baby.”
I drive around town and Emma admires the view. After we ride around some, I take her to her birthday destination. I pray she likes my surprise. When Emma realizes where we are going, she looks over at me and smiles.
“We’re going to the new house?” she asks while looking over at me.
I look at her and smile, but I don’t say anything. We ride to our new house in silence. Emma rests her hand on my thigh as I drive. I enter the passcode and wait for the gate to open. Once we are inside the gate, Emma smiles when the house comes into view. The sun is glistening on the water and it is so inviting.
We drive closer to the house, and we both see Brice and Brooke sitting on the bench under the gazebo. Brice is wearing khakis and a white linen shirt, and Brooke is wearing a sundress and sandals. Emma looks at me and smiles. “I’m happy to see them, but I don’t understand.”
I put the car in park and say, “You will in a minute.” By the time I get out of the car, Emma is already running down to the gazebo to meet our friends. When she stops running, I know that she sees her surprise. She turns around and looks at me and all I can do is smile.
“Is this your surprise?” she asks, walking up to me.
“It is.” I bend down to kiss her.
“We’re going sailing today?” she asks as she looks at the large blue and white sail on the boat.
“We are going sailing for the weekend,” I correct.
Brooke and Brice walk up to us and Brooke says, “Your boyfriend invited us to go sailing with you for the entire weekend. Unfortunately, we can’t go for the weekend, but we can go for the day.”
“Thank you,” Emma says, before she kisses me. “Alec, this is the best birthday, ever.” She stands on her tiptoes and kisses me.
“Emma, it hasn’t even started yet.”
First we go into the large and very empty house. Brice and Brooke haven’t seen it yet. We walk through together and it is just as amazing this time as it was the first time. Emma explains which room will be Raelynn’s and which room will be James’. Once we are done with the grand tour of the house, we load up the boat and set sail.
Emma, Brice, and Brooke look around at the boat. “This is a big sailboat,” Emma says.
“It’s a Catamaran. I like to sail, but I also like hanging out on the water. I wanted something that would allow me to do both,” I say as I hold her close. “Go downstairs and look around. One bedroom, a bathroom, and a small kitchenette are on the lower deck.”
While Emma, Brice and Brooke look around the boat, I sail around the very large lake. We see gators and Emma becomes scared. Now she is afraid they’ll come up in the yard of the new house. We lower the anchor and have lunch on the boat. We talk about us moving next weekend and when Emma brings up selling or leasing her house, Brooke and Brice mention that they may be interested in buying the house from her.
We have a packed lunch of sandwiches and fresh fruit. After lunch, Brooke lights a birthday cupcake and we sing “Happy Birthday” to Emma. Emma smiles so much that she can barely blow out the single candle on the cupcake.
“Did I ever tell you about the time Brice whined and whined about wanting a sailboat?” Brooke asks, seriously.
“I did not whine about wanting a sailboat,” Brice says sternly.
“Ok, did I ever tell you about the time Brice cried like a little girl about wanting a sailboat?” Brooke corrects herself and laughs.
We all laugh and she adds, “He had just joined the service and we were stationed in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He whined — I mean cried and cried — about how much he wanted a sailboat.” She looks at him and smiles, and he shakes his head. “Being the good wife that I was and still am, I went out and bought him the best sailboat I could afford.”
“I didn’t know you sailed,” Emma says, looking at Brice in amazement.
“I don’t, but my dear sweet wife did buy me a sailboat … in a bottle.”
We all burst out laughing and Emma has to wipe the tears from her eyes from laughing so hard.
“Have you ever heard about the artist and practical joker Hugh Troy? He was commissioned to paint a m
ural in a bank, so he painted a scene with boats, one of which was displaying signal flags. Deciphered, the signal flags stated, ‘Keep your money under your mattress.’”
We sail some more before we take Brooke and Brice back to their car. Once they pull out of the driveway, Emma turns to me and says, “You are amazing.”
“I don’t know about that, but thank you.” I bend down to kiss her. “Do you want to stay on the boat, stay in this house, or go back home?”
“You planned a weekend on the boat, didn’t you?”
“I did, but we can always change the plan if you’d like.”
“No, I like the idea of spending the weekend, alone with you, on the boat.”
“Mmm, and I like the way that sounds.” We walk hand in hand to the boat and I give Emma her first lesson in sailing. We sail some before we anchor for the night. We watch the sunset and make love under the stars. Emma sleeps and I hold her close.
We watch the sunrise and have our coffee on the upper deck. The fish jump and the gators swim lazily in the water. After breakfast we take turns getting cleaned up in the small bathroom. We have a light breakfast and lunch. It’s a leisurely day as Emma reads and sunbathes, while I fish. Emma sails or tries to and I try hard not to laugh at her attempt.
I look at my watch; it is 6:00 p.m. “I have another surprise for you. Do you want it now?”
“Alec, I think this is enough.”
“It’s already done. The question is, do you want it now?”
She smiles and wraps her arms around my neck. “Yes, of course,” she says before kissing me.
“We’ll need to head back to shore.” I turn the boat around to head in the direction of the house.
“Alec, look.”
I look at Emma — she is pointing at a small boat that appears to be stranded.
“Do they need help?”
I guide our boat in their direction, “Let’s see if there is a problem,” I say. We learn that the motor quit working and the stranded boat is waiting on Seatow to arrive to tow them to their house. We also learn they live a few houses down from ours. “We are heading in that direction if you want to cancel Seatow.”
“Are you sure? We don’t want to put you and your wife out,” the young couple says.
“It’s no problem. Besides, we are already here. Might as well save your money.”
“Good point, thank you.” The guy tosses a rope to me while his wife cancels Seatow. Emma and the girl talk some while I tow their small boat to the dock of their house.
“Thank you, so much. We really appreciate it,” the guy says as I toss him his rope. “We will pay this forward.”
“No problem, have a good night,” I say as I pull off away from their dock.
I say to Emma, “Pay It Forward was a very good book and an OK movie that popularized — or maybe even created — the idea of paying a good deed forward rather than back, but have you ever seen Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, starring Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves?”
“Is that the one that popularized the saying ‘Party on, dudes’?”
“Yes, but a better saying it popularized was ‘Be excellent to each other.’”
“One time when we were living in Fort Drum, New York, Brooke and I went to the commissary to get some things, and as we were loading up the car we saw an obese woman crying. We walked over to her and saw that she parked in a parking spot and the cars on both sides of her car were parked way too close for her to get into her car. I was pregnant, but Brooke scooted in between the cars and backed her car up for her so she was able to get in.”
“Brooke plays like she’s hard, but I knew she had a soft spot.”
“Brooke has a very big heart, and she hates bullies.”
“Are you ready for your surprise, Baby?”
“I almost forgot about that. I’m ready, although you didn’t have to do anything else. This weekend was enough. I had a great time, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Emma stands close to me as I steer our boat into the dock. Once it is secured, I reach for her hand and walk towards the house. When we reach the gazebo, she stops and turns around to look at the lake.
“It really is beautiful and peaceful out here,” she says, looking at the sun beginning to set. “I’m going to like living here.”
I smile and hold her close and say, “Me, too. I think we should get married here.”
She turns and looks at me. “Alec, I think that is a great idea. It’s certainly big enough.”
“Good, when?” I ask.
“Um, I don’t know. We haven’t set a date yet.”
“I know, I think we should.” I walk Emma to the bench under the gazebo and we both sit down. I have been thinking about this for awhile although I didn’t plan to have this talk tonight.
“When are you thinking, Alec? A year or two?”
“I was thinking more like a few months. This isn’t our first marriage, and I don’t want to wait a year or two. I don’t see any reason to wait.”
“Our family is already here. We’re already living together. Our kids already think they’re siblings,” she says and I don’t think she’s talking to me. It sounds more like she is thinking out loud. “It’s already August. Are you thinking a winter wedding?”
“No, more like fall. November, before the holidays. I would like to be married before Thanksgiving,” I admit.
“A November wedding.” I watch her get her phone out, and although she is talking I don’t think she is talking to me. “What date do we have in November?” She scrolls through the calendar on the phone and mumbles, “Thanksgiving.”
I add, “And Veterans Day — it’s November 11th.”
She looks up at me and smiles, “Veterans Day is November 11th.”
“Emma, would you like to marry me on Veterans Day, November 11th of this year?”
“Do you think we can plan a wedding in three months?”
“Emma, I can plan a wedding in a week if you’ll be walking down the aisle to be with me.”
She leans into me, “I love you.”
“Is that a yes to a November 11th wedding?” I ask hopefully.
“A yes, Alec. That is definitely a yes.”
Molly
“Mail call for ‘Miss All that Glitters is Silver and Gold,’” Natalie yells from outside my room. Natalie is one of the resident counselors. She has a great personality and is very good at her job.
I laugh as she walks inside my room holding several letters. “You don’t need to announce mail call, you know.”
“I know, I have to do something to pass the time away.” Natalie hands me my letters and sits down on the edge of my bed. “Another glittery card?” she asks.
I smile and look at the cork board above the small dresser — the cork board displays all of the glittery cards that Raelynn has made for me. “I hope so. There’s just something about glitter that makes everything better,” I admit.
“I heard administration talking about charging you a cleanup fee when you go home,” Natalie says as she stands and walks towards the door.
“Really? This stuff does get everywhere.”
“No, I’m kidding,” she smiles. “I did hear Rachael say how blessed you are to get something in the mail everyday.”
“Thank you, and I’ll see you in group therapy at 6:00.”
“You know it. You do know what today is, don’t you?” she asks.
I smile, “It’s our three-week anniversary.”
Natalie says, looking around the room, “It feels good, doesn’t it?”
“It feels wonderful.”
“See you at group,” she says as she disappears into the hall. “Mail call for Mr. Hotstuff,” she yells, and I laugh.
I open my card from Raelynn and the glitter falls from it onto my lap. I have to smile. I also have to be careful not to be seen with a glittery crotch. I don’t need to draw attention to that. The homemade card has a picture of a little girl and her mommy. It says, “M
ommy, get well soon.” I open the card and the inside says, “I miss you, bunches. Raelynn. Xoxo.
I open another card and more glitter falls onto my lap and I have to smile again. The outside card reads, “To Sissy’s Momma.” There is a picture of a little girl swinging. At least I think that’s a swing set. I open the card and read it. “Get well soon, from Sissy’s Bubby, James.” I smile. He really is a nice boy. Raelynn makes me something everyday and Emma and Alec are very good at sending it to me. Today, they even included something from James. I display the cards proudly on the cork board.
I wipe the tears from my eyes and open the next letter. I am surprised to find it’s a letter from Bobby. I miss him and I am still shocked he is married. I never asked him and he never mentioned having a wife. When I called home, Alec gave me Bobby’s number and said he wanted me to call him. This place is pretty strict on phone calls. I decided coming in I would reserve all my out-going calls for Raelynn. Everyone else I can write to.
This is Bobby’s letter:
Doll, I was hoping you would call, but I understand why you haven’t. Thank you for being a part of the last several months with me. I hate the life we led, but I am glad that you were there with me. I am healing and becoming like the man I once was. It feels good to be normal — well, almost normal again.
I wake up and appreciate the sunshine, a place to sleep, hot water, and food on the table. I feel happy and sad. Sad over the loss of my Angel, Jamie, sad over the way I left my dear wife, Leah, and sad over the way things ended … well, could have ended with you. I feel pain and sorrow, and I am glad that I no longer numb it. It’s an emotion and we can’t run from it.
I heard from Alec that you are doing well, as I knew you would. You’re a fighter, Doll, and I know you will come out of this better than when you went into it. I spoke only briefly about my daughter, Jamie, while we were in the hospital, but I want you to understand what led me to my destructive lifestyle. I lost my only child in an automobile accident that I blamed myself for causing. I left my wife because I believed she was in an irreversible coma, and I was also afraid that if she woke up, she would blame me for Jamie’s death. I decided to leave and run, run from the emotions and run from the life that would remind me of what I can never have.
Mending Hearts Page 6
