Worth the Drive

by Mara Jacobs

  As if sensing his thoughts, Katie looked up from her work, and blew some hair out of her face as she caught Darío’s eyes. She gave him a small smile, and mouthed the words “You okay?” to him. He returned her smile, nodded and mouthed “You?” She shrugged her shoulders, smiled again and returned to her chore.

  Darío never did get the final tally on the number of nieces and nephews Katie had. He knew she had four brothers, all married, all with children. But amid the chaos, he lost track of what child belonged to what brother and which children couldn’t be there because of swimming lessons or babysitting or something called T-ball. They seemed to range in age from three or four to around fourteen or fifteen. And someone had mentioned that one of the nephews had his mother’s car to take some of the others to swimming lessons. So there was at least one old enough to drive.

  Katie had not exaggerated when she told Darío in Memphis that their child would be surrounded by a large, loving family with lots of male influences. Her family seemed great. But her father, brothers and nephews were not the primary male influence that he wanted for his child.

  He would be his child’s male role model. Even if he had to move to this small town to do it.

  He realized with that thought that although a time would come when proof would be needed, he was going to operate for the next few months under the conviction that the child Katie carried was indeed his. The decision gave him a lightness, a freedom, and he chose not to question the feeling.

  Some of the children went out to play on the lawn after dinner while the adults cleaned up and then had coffee and some kind of Finnish cake in the living room. The two smallest children went instead to their aunt Katie, who seemed to know what was coming as she had set herself up in the largest chair in the room. The two kids, one was Molly, Darío thought he remembered, and the other Kyle, climbed up on Katie’s lap, snuggled in on each side of her and demanded, “Tell us a story, Auntie Katie.”

  Darío watched, mesmerized, from across the room as Auntie Katie told her niece and nephew a story complete with ogres and dragons and - Darío figured an apt twist for today’s times – a prince in distress and a maiden who saved him.

  “She’s something, isn’t she?” Katie’s brother Chris whispered. Darío only nodded, still trying to hear Katie’s sweet, lyrical voice, even though it had grown softer as the adults started their own conversations and Molly and Kyle’s eyes grew heavier.

  “You know, normally we’d all be ganging up on you, giving you shit about taking care of our sister, but I got to tell you, this is the best I’ve seen Katie looking since that piece of shit Ron ran out on her.”

  Darío didn’t let Chris know that the reason Katie glowed was from an entirely different reason than her going away with Darío.

  “I mean, he really did a number on her. I wasn’t even sure the old Katie was still in there. But hey, if shacking up with you for a few months can bring her out of it, then you’ve got my blessing.” He held out his hand for Darío to shake, which Darío did, thinking how odd to be getting this brother’s blessing to take his sister away for what they thought would be a three month fling.

  Darío wondered if he’d be getting the same treatment if they knew that he’d gotten their beloved baby sister pregnant? Perhaps he would.

  He kept his eye on Katie. She made a lovely picture, golden and shimmering with two bundles of lightness on her knees. One of the children – Molly he thought – sneezed and Katie took a tissue from her shorts pocket, held it to her, waited for her to blow and then put the tissue back in her pocket, all without breaking her telling of the story. The woman, though looking like an untouchable goddess, was a born mother.

  The purity of the moment made Darío’s throat catch. It was a beautiful picture, Katie with children on her lap. Could he be a part of that picture? Did he want to be? He knew the answer before he’d even finished the thought.

  An image of Katie sitting, cradling his child, while Darío handed her a tissue after the child sneezed flashed through Darío’s mind.

  Yes. He wanted to be in the picture.

  Chapter Thirteen

  I played as much golf as I could in North Dakota, but summer up there is pretty short.

  It usually falls on a Tuesday.

  -Mike Morley, pro golfer from North Dakota

  Katie picked Darío up bright and early Saturday morning to get breakfast before heading to the golf course for the Annie Aid golf outing. When he opened the door to her, Darío looked frazzled, something that Katie had not seen on Darío before.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, stepping into the room as he held the door for her.

  “It seems I have to check out this morning. All their rooms are completely booked for tonight because of the fundraiser.”

  “Oh. Of course, every hotel in town is booked solid. Not only do we have all the athletes coming in, but people come from all over the U.P. and Wisconsin to golf in this thing and then go to the dinner dance.”

  “It would seem so.” Darío indicated the phone and phonebook on the bed. The phonebook was thin and the yellow pages section only about 20 pages. It was flipped open to the motel section.

  “They should have told you that when you checked in,” Katie said.

  Darío looked sheepish. “They did, actually. But I honestly did not know when I checked in if I would still be here on Saturday. They also told me there were no places in town that had an opening for Saturday night, so I took my chances here.”

  Of course she knew the solution. It was silly, really, that he’d even stayed in the hotel this long after they’d decided Wednesday night that she’d go on Tour with him. She just hadn’t liked the idea of Darío staying in the house that she’d shared with Ron.

  Time to grow up, Katie. She was going to be traveling with this man. Staying in the same hotel rooms with him. The whole idea was to get know him better. Starting now. “Well, you’ll simply stay with me tonight and tomorrow before we leave on Monday,” Katie said.

  He watched her, Katie could feel the depth of his stare. She lifted her chin, daring him to argue with her, but he seemed resigned to the idea. “Sí, that is probably the only solution. I have been trying to see if there were any cancellations anywhere, but no luck.”

  “Of course not. It’s Annie Aid. Lizzie wouldn’t stand for any cancellations.” Darío laughed at her joke. He must have noticed Lizzie’s propensity for making a plan and sticking to it. “Let’s throw your luggage in your trunk, and your golf bag in my car. We can leave your rental here and pick it up after the golf outing.”

  He nodded his head and stuck out his hand. “Your keys?”

  “It’s unlocked. The keys are in the ignition.” Darío only chuckled at this and made for his golf bag. Katie went for the suitcase.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Darío nearly screamed. “That’s very heavy, you can’t carry that.” He rushed toward her, which was difficult in the small room.

  “Okay, you take suitcase, I’ll take the golf bag,” Katie said.

  Darío shook his head in disbelief. “You can’t take that either. You shouldn’t lift anything so heavy.”

  Katie sighed and sat on the bed, holding her hands up in surrender. “Okay, fine, you haul them both. I’ll just sit here and be pregnant.”

  Darío smiled, the warmth returned to his face. “Thank you. If you want to help, I hadn’t gotten to my carry-on bag, yet. My shaving kit from the bathroom, those papers over there,” he pointed to a sheaf of papers on the credenza, “and anything else you see laying around.”

  Darío picked up the suitcase and went out the door. Katie went to the bathroom. His shaving kit was mostly packed. Only a canister of deodorant, his toothbrush, toothpaste, and aftershave were left on the counter. Katie was shocked by the overwhelming sense of intimacy she felt as she packed his toothbrush in the travel case she found in the kit. Her fingers gently stroked the bottle as she brought the aftershave to her nose, breathing deep. Darío always smelled so go
od, and now she knew why. The label was in Spanish and looked expensive. Not something she’d be able to pick up for him at Wal-Mart.

  She stepped out of the bathroom, put the now-complete shaving kit into the carry on bag and collected the papers off the credenza, adding them. She looked around for anything that wasn’t hotel issue. There was a stack of magazines on the bedside table. Not sure if he’d read them or not, she scooped them up to take.

  Covered by the magazines, at the bottom of the pile were two books.

  Always interested in what other people were reading, Katie sat on the bed to look them over. She heard Darío behind her come in for his golf bag, then leave again. The first book was a thriller currently on the bestseller list. It had a price sticker on it from an airport bookstore. She guessed that’s where Darío bought most of his books, not getting a chance to actually go to bookstores and browse for hours as she loved to do.

  She tossed the book into the carry on bag, on top of the magazines. Her breath caught as she looked at the second book.

  What to Expect When You’re Expecting.

  She knew the book well. She’d read it once all the way through, years ago. And had read the first few Chapters again and again every time she and Ron would await either the news of pregnancy, or the inevitable onset of her period.

  It seemed Darío had read the beginning several times himself. The pages in the front of the book were somewhat ragged and dog-eared and Katie saw that some pages were actually turned down to mark certain spots.

  She flipped to the first marked page. Nutrition in the first trimester. Surely Darío would find no fault with her there. She’d been religious about her diet from the moment she’d found out she was pregnant. In all honesty, she ate pretty healthily before that as well. The hangover in Texas had mentally stayed with her long enough that she hadn’t even had a beer at the Commodore during Friday night pizza with the girls before she’d found out she was pregnant. She was even drinking milk for goodness sake, and she hated milk.

  She flipped a few pages until the next bent down page stopped her. Mood Swings. Ah, she’d had those all right. But they’d been from deliriously happy to euphoria. Having struggled with infertility so long, there were none of the doubts that could wiggle their way into a snit. No thoughts about the changes to her body. No second-guessing about the kind of mother she’d make.

  The only swing her psyche had taken was in respect to Darío. But then, Katie had the sneaking suspicion that Darío could wreak havoc with her mood regardless of pregnancy. His physical presence anywhere in her vicinity did funny things to her body. Things not pregnancy-induced.

  She thumbed through the well-read pages and stopped at the next marked page. Sex in Early Pregnancy. She chuckled to herself. It was nice to know that Darío still thought of her in that way. After another chaste good night kiss at her door last night after the visit to her parents’, she was beginning to wonder.

  She didn’t need to read the pages. She knew what they said. In some cases, women would become sexually hungry during the first trimester. In other cases, some women would display a decrease in their libido during the first trimester, then a sexual awakening of sorts would take place and desire would return.

  Katie didn’t know if she fell into the later category or if the timing of Darío’s appearance played a part, she only knew the last two days she’d felt a “sexual hunger” like she hadn’t experienced in years.

  She heard Darío coming down the hallway and threw the book into the carry-on bag, zipped it up and headed to the door to meet him. To take him away from the hotel and to her home.

  “What a difference a year makes, eh?” Alison said.

  The three women were seated at a long banquet table, one of at least fifty at the Annie Aid dinner dance in the Hancock Rec Center, a hockey arena used for weddings and banquets in the summer when the ice was taken out. The table was strewn with the remnants of a delicious dinner catered by an old high school friend.

  Darío was across the hall, sitting at a table amongst several professional hockey and football players graciously signing autographs for anyone who wished. Occasionally he’d glance up, and give her a questioning, “you okay?” look, to which she’d smile and nod.

  Annie Aid was a rousing success, as Katie knew it would be. The sun had shone bright and strong on the Copper Country for the well-attended golf outing earlier in the day. The dinner dance was going great. The only event left was the celebrity memorabilia auction. Lizzie had scheduled that for last, figuring with a good dinner and a few drinks, people would feel like opening their checkbooks a little wider.

  Katie figured if that’s what Lizzie planned, then it was surely a good strategy. Anything Lizzie planned seemed to come off with a hitch. But now, with Alison’s remark, she remembered the same night a year ago, and was reminded of one of Lizzie’s plans that had blown up in her face.

  Remembering her own entrance to the dinner dance a year ago – in the brand new Hummer that Ron had just purchased – Katie shivered.

  “Worst night of my life, easily,” Lizzie said. Katie thought maybe Lizzie shivered as well.

  “Not one of my best, either,” Katie said. The other women looked at her. They all knew why Lizzie had hated that night – it was the night she and Finn had broken up – albeit temporarily. Their questioning glances wondered why Katie felt so strongly.

  Explaining, Katie said, “Ron had just come home with the monstrosity that day. It was the beginning of the end, even though I didn’t know it at the time.” But that wasn’t the entire truth. Looking back, she could remember the way her stomach contracted as he smooth talked his way out of spending their invitro fund on a yellow school bus. Though she hadn’t put it into a conscious thought, she’d known that day there’d be no baby.

  She rubbed her tummy, looked across the civic center and saw Darío once again watching her, a small smile on his face. She patted her non-existent belly and raised her glass of milk to him in a toast. He laughed. She couldn’t hear the sound way over here, but she knew it by heart.

  The girls had their concerns about her going off with Darío, and her parents had voiced theirs. But Katie didn’t want to think too much about her decision to travel with Darío, didn’t want to make plans for anything beyond the next Tour stop.

  Lizzie was the one who was the plan maker, and this smoothly-run night was a testament to that fact. Life just seemed to happen to Katie. Sure, she had plans, but things seemed to always turn in a different direction for her.

  She’d met Ron her freshman year at State and it had seemed so right, so natural to marry after graduation, even though Lizzie and Alison were starting exciting new careers.

  Moving back to Hancock just sort of happened to them as well. They’d thought they’d spend the first five or six years of their marriage with Ron playing in the NHL and Katie traveling to games. Ron had wanted her with him and Katie, her experiences limited to the Copper Country and East Lansing, wanted to see the country.

  A dirty crosscheck by a University of Michigan player left Ron’s NHL dreams in the dust. Katie lamented the lost opportunity to travel, but when Ron said he thought they should move to Katie’s hometown, she’d agreed. After all, Ron had been so devastated at his career-ending injury that Katie felt ashamed to express her disappointment at not being able to travel a little before settling down.

  They’d settled in easily, Katie getting on at the Ingot – which was ecstatic to actually have someone with a journalism degree in their midst. Ron became a math teacher at Katie’s alma mater, Hancock High School. Three years later when the hockey coach retired, Ron took that on as well.

  Their lives were smooth, envied, blessed.

  Until they’d decided it was time to start a family.

  Katie’d wanted to start after three years of marriage, Ron after five, so they’d compromised and began trying right after their fourth anniversary.

  She’d never imagined there’d be any problems. Her mother had borne f
ive children with no problems. Her brothers had already begun their families. Having her nieces and nephews around her made her yearn for a child of her own.

  She hadn’t been concerned until a year had gone by. They hadn’t done any temperature taking or any hormone charting, but they’d made love nearly every night, and not just for the sole purpose of conception. There were certainly no problems in the bedroom which could be attributed to her infertility.

  Katie remembered the following years, the tests that never concluded anything, the stress, the shame she felt that her outwardly perfect body was failing her.

  She took a sip of milk and pulled herself back. It didn’t matter now. She was pregnant. She would have a child. She’d never really given up her dream, even in those times when she’d turned away from Ron, ashamed at her own feelings of inadequacy.

  She’d just never thought her dream would contain Darío Luna.

  And that it wouldn’t contain Ron.

  As if conjured up from her reminiscing, Ron stepped into her line of vision, his large, hulking frame completely blocking out Darío. He walked toward her table, his eyes set on Katie. She looked at him with a dispassionate eye for the first time since she was eighteen years old. She didn’t feel the sharp intake of breath that she’d always felt when looking at Ron. Her heart didn’t leap at the sight of his sheer masculinity. Her knees were strong, solid, not weak.

  Even three days ago, when she’d seen him at the grocery store with his baby daughter, Katie had felt that strange rush of excitement that just seeing Ron had always brought her.

  A lot had happened in those three days.

  He sat down at the table, next to Lizzie, across from her and Alison. Katie had to put a hand on Alison’s arm that was slowly stretching toward her drink. Katie didn’t know if Al was going for a guzzle or for ammunition, but she didn’t want any drinks thrown at Ron. Well, not tonight, anyway.