by Harmon, AJ
With a bag of dog treats, three bottles of wine, Cadbury’s chocolate and four bags of baby carrots, Beth returned home and settled in. Starting at the top of the pile, she began to read.
“Another vampire story,” she muttered. It seemed that half of the books she received had to do with vampires, werewolves or aliens. It was amazing how some writers actually believed there was a market for a story about a romance between a green slimy alien and a morbidly obese teenage girl from the Bronx. But her favorite crazy you-must-have-been-on-crack-when-you-wrote-this book of all time was the science fiction story set in the future where the government supplied robots to pleasure the businessmen during their commute between earth and the space station off Mars where they worked. It was weird and not at all anatomically correct but she’d had to read it ‘til the very last word. Needless to say, however, the author received a polite ‘thank you for your submission but we aren’t interested’ letter.
By the fourth chapter of the current vampire novel, Beth found herself finishing off one of the new bottles of wine.
“Great!” she said to Cleo. “I’m going to have to get pissed in order to finish it!” She emptied her glass and turned the page.
By the time she’d started the second book in her never-ending pile, Cleo was pacing to go out.
“Okay,” she sighed. “Let’s go.”
When she returned a few minutes later, her cell phone was beeping. She had a voice mail.
“Hi. It’s Tim. Umm, I thought that maybe your sister was leaving today? Anyway, I was hoping you’d let me take you to dinner one night this week. Give me a call. K, umm, hope to hear from you.”
Beth put down her phone on the kitchen table and stared at it. She didn’t delete the message. She didn’t call him back. How could she? Emma had made it very clear what she thought of Tim and her mother would only be ten times worse. It would be wrong to keep seeing him. If wouldn’t be fair to Tim and it certainly wouldn’t be fair to her. She was already in love with him and if she continued seeing him, that love would just grow deeper, of that she was sure. No, it was better to end it now before she was put in the unimaginable position of choosing between him and her family.
Sinking into the corner of the sofa the tears began to fall. Burying her face in her hands she cried until there weren’t any tears left. Cleo sat beside her, resting her nose on her thigh.
“I’m sorry,” she blubbered as she petted her dog’s nose. “I know you love him too. We’ll get through it, you and me. We’ll be strong for each other, k?” And then she cried some more.
10.
Beth flew home for the holidays for the first time in six years. It was both a relief to leave New York for a little while and depressing to return to her family home and it only took a few hours of being there before she longed to be back in her apartment.
Emma, sweet thing that she was, had told her mother all about Tim. Ann pointed out repeatedly that Beth should be aiming much higher when it came to a husband. A blue collar worker like a fireman did not meet the Collins standard and she and Beth’s father would never give their blessing in a union such as that. After all, she’d said, they had their reputation to uphold. How would it look? Plus, there were several suitable men right there in Surrey. She’d happily pick one out for her daughter.
By the time the annual Collins’ Christmas party arrived, Beth could recite all of her mother’s arguments before Ann had the opportunity to repeat them…again. Her point had been made. Beth understood.
While the catering company delivered van loads of food, Beth sat in her room and debated what to wear.
“Something sexy,” Emma offered as she barged into Beth’s bedroom. “Mum has invited several eligible bachelors this evening.”
Beth opted for an over-sized knit sweater.
All evening long, her mother introduced her to men that she approved of. Several of them were nearing their fifties and Beth had to control all facial expressions as to not offend any of them. After a couple of drinks, a tall reasonably good looking man handed her a glass of champagne.
“I think we are supposed to meet,” he smiled. “I was asked to give this to you.”
“Thanks but I already have one,” Beth said holding up her other hand with a half-full glass of champagne.
“Ah,” he smiled. “I don’t think your mother really cares about the champagne…just about my introducing myself. I’m Gerald Clark. My family comes from Cornwall. In fact, my great uncle was an Earl.”
“Fascinating,” she yawned.
“Why don’t we have lunch tomorrow at the Pig and Pony?”
“I’m sorry. I’m busy tomorrow.”
“The day after then?”
“I’m busy then too.”
“You know your mother would really like us to have lunch.”
“Fine. Lunch tomorrow at the Pig and Pony.”
“Brilliant. I’ll meet you there at twelve thirty.”
“Brilliant,” she sighed.
By the time Beth returned to Manhattan the week after New Years’, she’d had lunch with Gerald four times and had promised to have dinner with him when he came to New York on his next business trip. Gerald was a partner in a law firm that had offices in London, New York, Chicago and Paris. He said he’d be visiting the US in the spring. Ann Collins was ecstatic. Beth was not.
*****
With winter upon them, the flu was in full grip of the station. Tim, always extremely healthy, subbed several shifts a week for those who called out sick. In fact, Tim hardly went home. For three weeks straight he worked fourteen hours on, ten hours off, sleeping and showering at the station, but once Christmas had come and gone, he realized he wasn’t going to be able to continue at his current pace.
“You should find a hobby,” his mother told him.
“Come with me to the shelter this week,” Janie suggested.
“Are you still doing that?” Tim asked.
“Of course I am,” Janie replied. “I love it. Plus, this way I’m not desperate to have a dog. I get my fix at the shelter and then I come home.”
Matt grinned. “It works out for everyone.”
“Yeah, okay,” Tim nodded.
Two days later as his two-hour shift at the animal shelter came to a close, Tim had decided to come back and volunteer some more. He’d cleaned a few kennels and had taken a group of rowdy but happy dogs for a walk. He’d enjoyed every minute of it and felt like this was a good place to spend some of his down time.
During his third week walking his assigned group of dogs, he was on his way back to the shelter when he recognized the man sitting on the bench under the tree at the entrance of the park. It was Rob Wheeler, the firefighter who’d pulled Daniel from the burning building.
“Hey Rob,” he yelled.
Rob looked over at Tim, no expression on his face, nodded and then turned his attention back to…to nothing that Tim could see.
Tim herded the dogs in the direction of Rob and jogged across the grass. “How ya doin?” he asked as he stopped in front of the wooden bench.
“Fine,” Rob said with no emotion in his voice.
Two of the dogs, Izzy and Patch, nuzzled up to Rob and patiently waited for the stranger to pet them. Rob finally lifted his hands from his thighs and rubbed their heads. The dogs reacted by trying to give him kisses and Rob’s demeanor slowly began to change. A smile appeared on his face and his rigid frame relaxed. He even talked to the dogs. Tim sat on the bench next to him and eventually Rob began to talk.
“Doc says PTSD. I’m on medical leave.”
“Oh I had no idea,” Tim replied.
“I come here sometimes ‘cuz the wife doesn’t like me moping around the house.”
Tim didn’t know how to respond to that. He let the dogs fawn over Rob for a few more minutes and then excused himself. He had to return the pups to the shelter. Rob said goodbye and returned to staring into space.
As Tim left the shelter after returning his charges, he made a call to h
is brother Paul. When Paul left the Navy Seals he took a job in a non-profit organization that raised money and awareness for wounded veterans. Paul had already spoken at numerous fund-raising events in New York, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles bringing awareness to the need of increased funding and programs for those brave men and women who had served their country valiantly. One of the programs Paul had told his family about was placing therapy or service dogs with veterans suffering from PTSD. Tim had some questions for his brother on that very subject.
*****
He’d done his research, pumped Paul for as much information as possible and had enlisted the help of Rob’s doctor, Dr. Jenna Francis. She was a therapist who specialized in diagnosing and treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder within the FDNY. Rob had been willing to be their ‘test case’ and Tim hoped that soon there’d be dozens more with the help of the humane society. That’s where Matt and his millions of dollars came in.
Because Matt and his company, MEL Holdings, was one of the humane society’s biggest donors, when Matt asked for something, he usually got it. Tim was going to use every advantage he could muster to get his idea moving forward.
With Tim’s idea, Jenna’s credentials, Paul’s program data and Matt’s money, they were able to begin their own program placing shelter dogs with firefighters diagnosed with PTSD. Along with therapy and medication, when necessary, after six weeks improvement was being seen, and felt.
Rob was back at work, Izzy at his side. Engine 23 had adopted her as their official mascot. The shelter had been able to hire another fulltime animal behavior specialist to identify which dogs would be appropriate for the program and with the help of Jenna they matched up each firefighter with their new best friend.
Even the fire department bigwigs were starting to take notice. With a workforce that had as high as thirty-seven percent officially diagnosed with PTSD, and probably many more that went undiagnosed, this program could potentially save the department money, which was always a top priority, and create a healthier group of employees; physically, psychologically and emotionally. Tim had received a commendation and if this program continued to go well, Captain was well within his grasp.
For weeks, every spare minute not on the job was devoted to his new cause. He rarely went out for drinks after work and hadn’t been on a date since he’d taken Beth and Emma to dinner before Thanksgiving, not that he considered it a date. Jenna didn’t even tempt him. She was young and extremely attractive but their relationship was strictly professional and even if he had been interested, he would never have acted on it. There was too much at stake. He would never risk the program that he was totally invested in.
Plus, he still thought about Beth all the time, even though he’d stopped calling her after Christmas. She’d never answered and she’d never returned any of his messages.
For several weeks he’d gone over in his head what he could have possibly done to offend or hurt her. The only thing he could come up with was his run in with Amanda, but he’d explained all that and he thought everything was fine between them. The only other reason that he could think of was that Emma didn’t like him and she’d convinced Beth that he wasn’t right for her. He was beginning to think that that was probably the more likely of the two.
At the end of March Tim had been approached by the FDNY and was asked to present an award to the humane society at their annual benefit the last weekend of April. The fire department was honoring the organization for their generous donations of animals to serve as therapy dogs for their employees in the PTSD program. Tim was honored to do so and willingly accepted the assignment.
11.
Tim stood at the front of the ballroom talking to his brothers. His whole family had arrived to support him as he gave the award to the humane society. Matt and Janie were the last to arrive.
“Paparazzi are everywhere,” Matt sighed as he kissed his mother and hugged his father.
“They only want pictures of you,” Paul replied. “They aren’t interested in the rest of us! We’re not important enough,” he laughed.
“Of course they want a picture of you,” Janie smiled. “You’re looking mighty fine this evening Mr. Lathem.”
Matt pulled his wife into his arms and kissed her soundly. Tim watched the embrace with a tinge of envy.
If the past few months had taught him anything about himself, it was that he was lonely. His existence was meaningless unless he had someone to share it with. He wanted to come home from work and have a smiling face greet him. He wanted to wake up with a warm body next to him every morning. He wanted someone to take vacations with. He wanted to run his fingers through long silky blonde hair. He wanted what had been denied him. It had taken him months to figure it out, but now he had, he couldn’t deny it any longer. The problem, however, was that the woman he dreamed about, was not available to him. Of that, she’d made herself clear.
The lights dimmed and everyone took their seats. The Lathem family had two of the tables at the front of the ballroom. At his table were his parents, Matt and Janie, Mark and Katy, and Ben. At the table next to them was Andrew and Rory, David and Lindsey, Paul and Nic, and Tyler and Derek, Katy’s son. The only one missing was Adam, Janie’s son, and he was working in the ER and couldn’t get away.
“It’s wonderful to see so many people here,” Maureen whispered. She had long supported the organization and had badgered Matt into donating years ago. Since then, the entire family had leant their support in time, money, or whatever else was needed. She was proud to see her youngest son now invested in the family tradition.
*****
Beth stood in the bathroom in front of the vanity finishing up her makeup. The door flew open and she almost poked her eye out with the mascara wand.
“I need your help with these buttons,” whined Emma.
Emma had arrived for a quick visit the week before. She had basically used Beth’s place as a hotel, spending most of the time out with some friends she knew who were also visiting the city. Beth didn’t mind. She continued with her work and got to visit with Emma when she had gaps in her social calendar.
It was Emma’s last night in Manhattan, she flew home the next afternoon. They had been invited to attend a benefit with Gerald. He was also in town. Emma had had lunch with him a couple of times but Beth had managed to avoid him up until now.
They’d emailed a few times over the past couple of months. Well, Gerald had emailed Beth and on a couple of occasions she had replied. She really didn’t want to encourage him…her mother was doing enough of that, but she also didn’t want to appear rude. She did have some manners, after all.
Gerald had called a couple of days before and said their firm had a table at a benefit and seeing as though she had promised to have dinner with him, and seeing as though it was his last night in New York, she couldn’t say no. So she didn’t. She agreed to go and then he’d invited Emma to join them which eased her nerves as they wouldn’t have an opportunity to be alone.
It was actually kind of fun to get all dressed up and unwrap the diamond earrings that she had inherited after her great aunt’s death. Every girl liked to dress up once in a while, right?
Emma had purchased an exquisite gown earlier that day and looked like the belle of the ball. Beth helped her with the tiny pearl buttons and stepped back to admire her baby sister.
“You look lovely,” she smiled.
“Thank you,” grinned Emma. “You look good too.”
Beth had worn a dress that had hung in the back of her closet for several years. The last time she’d worn it had been at her engagement party to Edward. Her parents and siblings had flown in from London and they’d rented out a large suite at the Ritz. She’d been happy that day. Well, happy was a relative term. She thought she’d been happy. Although she’d been happier the day she’d broken off the engagement.
Beth studied her reflection in the mirror. Her dress was made of burgundy silk. It hugged her body like a glove and she felt good in it. She actually
felt a little sexy, but she wasn’t wearing it for Gerald. She was wearing it for herself. She’d been pretty glum the past few months and she’d realized that she needed to snap herself out of it. This night out was her first step in returning to the land of the living, not just trying to survive.
Gerald was to pick them up at six thirty and by six twenty both women were ready. Cleo was spending the evening with Jerry and Vince so as to not get dog hair all over them. Precisely at six thirty Beth’s cell phone rang.
“Hello?”
“It’s Gerald. We’re down stairs waiting.”
“We’re?” Beth was confused.
“’I’ve brought my associate Evan with me…to round out the group. We’re in the limo waiting.”
Real gentlemanly! Beth thought. What would mum think of that? She rolled her eyes.
“We’ll be down in a moment,” she said and hung up.
The two women left the apartment and rode the elevator down to the lobby. Gerald wasn’t there so they exited the building and stepped onto the sidewalk. Gerald wasn’t there either. The driver jumped from the limo and raced to open the door for them. He helped each of them, with their long dresses, into the back of the car. Gerald and Evan were laughing and drinking.
“Good evening,” Gerald said in his most regal accent and held his glass in salute. “This is Evan. Evan this is Beth and Emma.”
They exchanged pleasantries as the driver pulled into traffic. Beth sat back and watched the men fill their glasses again and she was mortified as Emma flirted with both of them at the same time.
Eventually they arrived at the benefit and had to wait as the limos in front of them deposited their guests at the foot of the red carpet.
“Oooh look Beth!” exclaimed Emma. “That’s Matt Lathem!”
Beth peered through the tinted glass to see an incredibly handsome man in a black tux pose for the paparazzi with a beautiful woman at his side, his arm protectively and loving wrapped around her hips.
