Meet Me at Taylor Park
Page 17
Ashley wiped her eyes, and then gave her mother a big hug. “I can’t believe daddy got a farm so that he could grow your favorite spice.”
Katie stroked her daughter’s long hair. “Are you OK?”
Ashley looked up at her with dark eyes. “Kyle and I definitely didn’t have that. He never grew anything for me. The most he did was offer me half his cupcake at lunch.”
Katie chuckled, but then grew serious. “But your father paid a price. He got sick a couple years after you were born. I always suspected it was because he spent so much time in the sun on the farm.” She pointed outside at the giant oregano plants that were in full bloom. “I told him he didn’t have to work so hard on the farm, but he said it was his passion.”
In the other room, the coughing grew more cacophonous.
Frowning, Katie got up. “I have to go check on your father. Are you going to be alright?”
Ashley dabbed her eyes with a tissue. “I think I’m going to be fine.” She smiled.
Katie turned around and was about to leave the room when her daughter said something.
“Mom?”
Katie turned back to her daughter.
Ashley was still dabbing her eyes. “Do you ever regret not being a famous fashion designer? Did you give it all up for love?”
Katie had never been asked this question before. She thought about it, and said, “No, I don’t regret it. I tried it, but it didn’t really work out. I’m happy being here with you and daddy. I didn’t know it, but that was my real dream all along.”
Katie looked at her daughter. She could see a lot of herself in her. The same hair, eyes and face. She knew that Ashley was going to be fine.
The coughing started up again.
Katie hurried out of Ashley’s room and into her master bedroom. Her husband was lying in the bed, still hacking away.
She grabbed his water on the dresser and brought it to him. “You OK, Brandon?”
He propped himself up in bed and drank the water. As he drank, Katie examined him. His eyes were dull, but not because he lacked passion. She hated that the illness had taken the passion out of his eyes. His face was gaunt, as though he had not eaten for days.
Brandon started coughing, and Katie took the glass of water out of his hand. Water spilled down the side of his mouth, so Katie grabbed a tissue and soaked it up.
He grabbed her hand. “This reminds me of that New Year’s Eve. Remember? I sprained my ankle and you fed me that chocolate cake.” His voice was weak and ailing.
She nodded, and tried to smile. “Yes, I remember.” She crawled into bed with him, and then held him while he closed his eyes.
She breathed in. “Kyle just broke up with Ashley. I told her our story.”
“How did she react?”
“I think it made her feel better.”
“Good.”
There was a comfortable silence for a little while. The only sound was the occasion car sputtering on the street outside.
Katie stared out the window. The oregano plants filled more than half the field. Row after row after row. It was a giant maze.
Brandon asked, “Can you just hold me for a while?”
Katie turned her attention back to him. She held onto his gangly body, putting her hands on his back and hip, feeling the sharply-defined bones. “I wish you hadn’t spent that much time in the sun. I don’t like oregano that much, you know. It’s not worth sacrificing your body.”
“I liked being in the sun,” he said. “I like planting things and caring for things. I want to go work on the farm right now and plant some more oregano.”
Katie looked at him disapprovingly. “You’re not in any condition to be working.”
He put his hand on hers, his face vibrant, even playful. “Hey, I want to take you for a walk in Taylor Park later.”
She put her other hand on his. “I wish we could, but they built a mall over it years ago. Remember?”
He looked confused, then said, “Oh yeah.”
“The doctor says you’re too sick to walk anyway.”
“What about making you some spaghetti with oregano?”
She gave him a tender look. “I’m fine.”
There was another silence, broken only by the Brandon’s cough. It sounded bad, like he was trying to dislodge something in his throat.
Katie stirred, getting up. “I’ll get your medicine.”
Suddenly, Brandon reached out one arm, holding her in place. He stared her in the face. “Why are you so good to me?”
Katie was unprepared for the abruptness of the question. For a while, she did not know what to say.
Then, she leaned in and whispered. “We said we have to take care of each other. You said that to me first, the first time we went to Taylor Park. Don’t you remember?” She put her hand on Brandon’s hair and stroked it.
Brandon looked at Katie, his eyes lucid. “We said we have to take care of each other,” he repeated, closing his eyes. “I remember that. I remember that really well.”
Katie started to turn around.
“Wait,” Brandon said. “Stay with me.”
He held out his hand, and Katie took it.
She then climbed into bed with him.
A little while later, Brandon was silent. Katie was debating whether to get the medicine, but since her husband was already asleep, she thought it could wait. She knew the medicine couldn’t cure him anyway.
She held him, burying herself in his back. She could hear a faint pulse.
As she held him, she noticed that his breathing was slowing down. He was inhaling for a long time and then exhaling for an even longer time. This cycle continued for a while. Curious, she strained to catch a glimpse of his face, but he looked fine.
Closing her eyes, she gripped onto his back tighter still. A heavy silence hung over the room. Even his pulse was no longer audible.
They lay like that for the next little while, like two rabbits snuggled in the ground together, hibernating.
She dozed off, and then awoke with a jerk. She felt like she had been asleep for hours. She looked around and realized that she was still clutching onto her husband’s body. But, the eerie silence bothered her. She could not even hear Brandon’s breathing.
She nudged her husband. “You awake?”
When he did not answer, she nudged him a few more times. Concerned, she got out of bed and hurried over to the other side.
Brandon’s face was pale and whitening.
Katie put a hand to his face, gently caressing it.
His cheeks were cold, even though the room was heated.
Katie got into bed with him. She was glad she was facing him this time. He looked so tranquil just lying there.
She adjusted her body so that she was in a comfortable position, and then grabbed onto him.
She immediately recoiled, stung by the coldness of his body.
She then rubbed his arms to warm him up and then wrapped her legs around his.
She then stared into his face, and gave him a shy smile.
She nodded. She understood what had happened.
After fighting the illness for years, he was finally dead.
She knew she would have to call the funeral home and hospital soon, but before all the strangers came and handled his body, she wanted him all to herself for a while.
She reached in and kissed him on the lips. It was like kissing a slab of stone cold marble, but Katie did not pull back. She kissed his lips for a while, but did not feel him kiss her back.
She then looked out the window and inspected row after row of blooming oregano plants, gently sprinkled with fading sunlight.
As she was doing it, only one thought came to mind.
It was a memory of twenty-two years earlier.
She was at Taylor Park with Brandon. The moon was glowing and round. It was quiet and they were the only people around.
They were sitting on the bench and Brandon turned to her. “Come on. I’ll take you somewhere and you’
ll forget all about the contest.”
He grabbed her hand, and soon, they were jumping up and down together on the trampoline.
The background was blurry, but Katie could see Brandon’s face very clearly. It was illuminated by the bright hue of the moon.
He was smiling at her as they jumped together. The crisp air stroked her face pleasantly.
Then, his smiling, moonlit face filled her entire vision. His mouth moved, but she did not hear sounds.
“What?” she said.
She saw his mouth move again, but this time, he said something.
“I want to take care of you,” he said. “And then we can have our happily ever after.”
He held both her hands and they continued to hop up and down on the trampoline.
At that moment, Katie forgot about her sadness caused by rejections from fashion competitions, her worries about the future, her anxiety about chasing her dreams.
Only one thing was on her mind and she was looking right at it.
It was the infectiously joyful face of her first love.
***
A Message from the Author
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Check out my other books:
Soul Mates - As the Apocalypse looms in the horizon, two immortal lovers recount their long lives and how they caused the End of Days.
http://www.amazon.com/Soul-Mates-ebook/dp/B008BLV7YS/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1339715976&sr=1-8
A Romantic Ghost Story - Trapped on Earth and forced to marry a demon, Nancy is a spirit about to give up her dreams of success in Hollywood when a brave young man returns her faith to her, and makes her believe in love again. A Romantic Ghost Story is about the all-powerful, redemptive nature of love and how it could change someone's world.
http://www.amazon.com/A-Romantic-Ghost-Story-ebook/dp/B006POX2NC/ref=la_B004OMMIMS_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1345257469&sr=1-2
Table of Contents
Copyright
Synopsis
Author’s Mission
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
A Message from the Author
other books