“Follow me,” he instructed and then returned to his car. Derrick wanted to argue, but did as he was asked.
***
“Thanks again, Adam. This has been a rough week,” Julia said after they had loaded everything and were on their way to Jackson.
“No problem, what’s wrong with your pipes?”
“The pipes in the basement bathroom aren’t draining properly. It could have waited, but I made the appointment a few days ago.”
“These things tend to happen without warning,” he commented.
“When are you guys going to pick out the tombstone?” Katherine asked.
“Clara said something about this weekend so that James can be there,” she referred to her brother who lived out of state. “I’m surprised that you didn’t ride with Derrick.”
“I knew you’d need help. Besides, he could have waited if he’d wanted to,” she shrugged.
Her mother’s face showed her surprise. “Are you upset with him?” she asked. She had yet to see Katherine truly upset with Derrick. She was always shifting the blame to herself.
“A little. I know I’m being unreasonable, but I wish, in this case, that he had made me a priority.”
“What’s so unreasonable about that?” Adam asked before Julia could.
Julia hid her smile from her daughter.
“His work is important,” she mumbled.
“More important than you?” Adam asked her.
Katherine winced. She didn’t bother to answer, and instead turned her attention to the scenery that was sliding by. They arrived at the house to find it empty, a note on the table.
Julia,
The plumber came and fixed the drain. Didn’t take long. We are returning Derrick’s rental. Be back shortly.
Love,
Walter
P.S. What’s for dinner?
Julia smiled and tossed the note in the trash. She went upstairs to change and returned downstairs to find Katherine peering into the fridge.
“What’s for dinner?”
“Why don’t you pick something up?”
“I’ll have to borrow your car.”
“I’ll drive you,” Adam volunteered.
Katherine smiled at him then turned back to her mom.
“What do you want me to pick up?”
“What does Derrick like?”
“Don’t ask; I’ll pick him something up. What does everyone else like?”
“I’m not picky,” Adam shrugged.
“Neither are the rest of us. Here you decide,” Julia handed Katherine money. Katherine kissed her mom’s cheek and turned for the door.
“Let’s go,” Katherine said to Adam.
Walter and Derrick pulled into the driveway both noting that it was still empty.
“Well, I would have thought they would be here by now,” Walter commented as they pulled into the driveway.
“Maybe they were caught in traffic or made another stop,” Derrick suggested.
“Maybe,” Walter reached to put his key in the lock. The door opened before he could and Julia smiled at him.
“We didn’t think anyone was here,” he commented.
“I sent Kaitlyn and Adam after some dinner.”
“Kaitlyn?” Derrick frowned.
“Sorry, Adam’s got me calling her that. I sent Katherine and Adam to pick up dinner,” she could feel heat suffuse her cheeks. Katherine and Adam seemed more like a unit than Katherine and Derrick did.
“What are they getting?” Walter inquired.
“I left that to them,” she shrugged.
Walter gave her a skeptical look and she defended herself. “Katherine had the best chance at pleasing everyone. She knows what we like, she knows what Derrick likes, and she knows what Adam likes.”
“When did they leave?” Derrick inquired.
“A little while ago; they should be back soon.”
“I don’t want to be rude, but I’m concerned about something,” Derrick said to them.
“What’s that, Derrick?” Walter asked.
“I know that Katherine has known Adam a while, but she can be naïve. Do you think it’s safe for her to be running off and spending so much time with him?” Derrick asked. His question was greeted with silence. “I just wanted your input. Adam seems nice enough, but he has a lot of world experience that Katherine is lacking,” he wished they would say something.
“Derrick, we’ve known Adam a while now and I’ll admit that when Katherine first started spending time with him that I had some of the same concerns, but yes, I think it’s perfectly safe. He’s had a rough life but he has shown nothing but respect for our family and our daughter ever since we met him. He used to come stay the night when his mom would get in bad shape. He’s practically family,” Julia answered. “I’m going to go fix some glasses of ice,” she stood and hurried from the room.
Derrick had the distinct impression that his question had not gone over well.
“I’m going to go change. Where...?”
“The guest room in the basement,” Walter told him. “One of the upstairs rooms was Gracie’s and Adam is in the other room,” he told him.
Derrick gave him a stiff nod and started down stairs.
Walter joined his wife in the kitchen and leaned against the counter as he took in her angry face.
“Is something wrong?”
“I know our daughter loves him, but honestly, Walter, I don’t see it!” her voice was low. “He comes in here calling our daughter naïve? Then he insults the man who took the time to be there for her when he wasn’t! No, I’m not okay. Our little girl was upset that he put his work first and frankly so am I,” she plunked an ice cube into a glass with more force than was necessary.
“I understand your concern, but Julia, she isn’t our little girl anymore. She always will be to us, but she’s not really and that’s the man she’s chosen to marry.”
“And I regret it for her already!” Julia snapped.
“We don’t get to make this decision for her, Julia,” he reminded his wife.
There was a commotion at the back door as Katherine and Adam, arms laden with food, came spilling in.
“We gave up on pleasing everyone with one thing, so we got pizza, chicken, and fish. If anyone is unhappy, they can get out there and fight traffic themselves. We’ve had our fill of it,” Katherine announced as she set her load on the counter and turned to relieve Adam of his.
“Sounds good to me,” Julia helped pull everything from the bags. “I set your angel in your room.”
“What angel?” she asked as she hurried from the room. There, on her dresser, was a plaster angel sitting on a pedestal, palms up with tiny birds eating from either hand. It was beautiful. She wound the music key and the tune of Sweet By and By tinkled into the air. She flipped the card over and read it: To the family of Gracie Ross, from Adam Ellington. For Kaitlyn Mayfield. She smiled and started down stairs.
“Adam, it’s beautiful!” she exclaimed as she came through the door, the music still tinkling into the air. “Did you see it, Daddy?”
“No, I didn’t. It’s very nice.”
“That was Mom’s favorite song,” Julia wiped her eyes.
“I remember her singing it; I started to buy a different one until I found out that one played her favorite song,” Adam told them.
Katherine hugged him and turned to watch Derrick frown at her. She continued to her room and returned to find everyone seated and not a seat available. She shrugged; she would eat at the bar.
“Here, Kaitlyn, I didn’t realize that we had taken all the chairs,” Adam jumped up.
“Thanks, Adam, I can sit at the bar; it’s no big deal,” she smiled.
“I’ll get my extra chair from the office and we’ll all sit at the table,” Walter commented and went for the chair.
Derrick scowled at Adam and kicked himself for not noticing the seating. This loser was making him look like a chump.
“Oh, I ran into Tessa and S
tephanie. They said they might stop by. You don’t mind do you, Mom?” Katherine asked as she took the seat Adam offered.
“Since when do I mind?” Julia smiled.
Her dad returned with the chair and Katherine ended up between Adam and Derrick-a place she was becoming accustomed to being.
Over an hour later, the first of Katherine’s guests arrived.
“Tessa, Stephanie, come in,” Katherine invited. “Why don’t we go to the basement?”
“There are some more people behind us. I am so sorry to hear about your grandma. How are you?” Tessa asked as she hugged her.
“I’ll make it. Who else is coming?”
“I think Mandie and Shannon and I know that Brandon and Jack are.” They waited for the others to arrive and then moved to the basement where her friends were introduced to Derrick.
“So, Adam, what have you been up to?” Brandon asked.
“Since I quit performing, I’ve been through rehab, and now I’m trying to decide what’s next.”
“That’s wonderful, man; I’m glad to hear you got yourself together. Good luck figuring out what you want to do now.”
“So what have you been up to, Kattie?” Tessa asked.
“Working and planning my wedding.”
“What do you do for a living, Derrick?”
“I work in advertising and marketing.”
“Sounds fun,” Tessa nodded and the turned her attention back to Katherine and Adam.
Derrick frowned; he was starting to dislike these people who treated his fiancée and Adam like a unit.
“I brought some pictures!” Tessa exclaimed as she dug in her purse. Katherine claimed the photos; she was seated between Adam and Derrick and wanted both to see them.
“What are we wearing?” she asked. “This was one of the school dances wasn’t it?”
“Yep,” Tessa nodded.
Katherine was standing between Tessa and Adam with an arm thrown around both.
“Really, Tessa, a camera in the cafeteria?” Katherine groaned. The picture was of them stuffing their faces.
“That was at a basketball game,” Tessa commented when Katherine flipped to the next photo. Katherine and Tessa had their faces painted in blue and gold and were waving miniature pompons. Adam had his arm draped around Katherine.
Derrick was growing increasingly disturbed by the history between the two. He had known their friendship was a close one but had it been more Katherine would have told him or should have told him. The next photo was Katherine and Adam in a standoff.
“What were you two into it over?” Jack asked.
“He and Kattie could get in some real rows,” Stephanie added to Derrick.
“Katherine,” Derrick corrected as he looked back to the photo. Katherine was standing hands on hips and cheeks as red as her coppery hair.
“Your eyes sure do snap when you’re mad,” Adam aggravated her.
“I’ll tell you what he’d done,” Katherine offered.
“Should’ve kept my mouth shut,” Adam sighed theatrically.
“He’d gotten another ticket and almost lost his license.”
“Have you ever seen these two fight? It’s worse than a cat fight,” Tessa asked Derrick.
“They get over it fast, though,” Stephanie added.
Derrick frowned. Just who was the couple here?
“Next picture,” Katherine called and flipped through several more pictures.
“Prom!” Tessa called and stopped her from her turning. “I loved that dress.”
“Hey, there we are,” Adam pointed to them.
“There’s a good one of you two in here,” Tessa flipped through the pictures until she found it.
“Did you two go to prom together?” Derrick asked Katherine.
“They were dating,” Tessa said this as though he should have known this.
Derrick wished he had known that. He pinned Katherine with a stare and watched her flinch. Her eyes held an apology before she turned to Tessa who was saying something to her.
Derrick then watched Katherine turn to Adam as he leaned over to say something he obviously had no intention of sharing with the group at large. A moment later Katherine’s nose scrunched up as she shook her head and started laughing. Derrick felt his stomach knot as the two of them shared a smile that said as far as the two of them were concerned the rest of them had ceased to exist. He couldn’t take any more. It had been a long day, he was exhausted, and he needed time to process what he had learned.
“I’m having fun,” he lied, “but I’m tired. I’ll see you in the morning, Katherine,” he stood and moved to the spare room down a short hallway just by the stairs back to the main level of the home.
As he stripped, he contemplated Katherine and Adam’s relationship. He had a feeling that if he were to make an issue of her friendship with Adam now that he would be the one to come out looking bad. Derrick collapsed onto the bed with a resigned sigh. He would have to put up with the man but he was certainly going to keep an eye on him. He was also going to tighten the reins on his fiancée a little. She needed to behave as she would if they were already married and he had no intentions of his wife spending so much time with another man.
Eighteen
Katherine tossed and turned, dosing in and out of disjointed dreams. She missed her grandmother so bad it was a physical ache in her chest and her stomach was knotted painfully. She had enjoyed visiting with her friends and the distraction they had provided. They’d stayed until late and she had been certain that she would be able to sleep; she’d been wrong. She felt tears threaten again and finally tossed aside her blankets.
Katherine made her way down stairs as the tears she was trying to hold back spilled down her cheeks, filled a glass with water, drained it, and place it in the sink. She should go back to bed and sleep but she felt desperately lonely and in need of human contact. She hesitated at the top of the basement stairs before she made her way down and opened the door to Derrick’s room. Light spilled in from the hallway; he was sound asleep.
Katherine bit her lip a moment before she moved into the room and leaned over him on the bed.
“Derrick,” she said softly.
“What? Kaitlyn? What are you doing in here?” he frowned at her.
“I’m sorry. I just…I miss my grammie so bad and I needed to talk to someone,” she wiped at her tears.
“Katherine,” he sighed, “I am so sorry about your grandmother. It’s hard; I know. You’ll miss her but you need to realize that death as much a part of life as living. The best thing you can do is stay busy. Now that your mom’s schedule is open maybe she can come up more and you two can distract yourselves with planning the wedding. I am beginning to think you are dragging your feet. Ask her about it tomorrow and like I said: staying busy will really help,” he offered. “Now get some sleep sweetheart,” he rolled back over.
Katherine felt her chest tighten and rushed from the room. She didn’t know what she had expected, certainly not to be all but dismissed. She hurried into the garage and sank to the top step as sobs overtook her. The man had gotten up at the crack of dawn to sort out work so he could catch an early flight and be there for the funeral. She imagined he was exhausted. It still stung that she had needed him and he’d not been there. He’d tried, hadn’t he? He couldn’t help that the plane had been late. Except that he could have left the night before and he hadn’t. His client had been more important. Katherine laid her forehead on her knees and tried to tell herself she was being unreasonable.
Once her tears eased, she stood, made her way back inside, and climbed the steps. She still felt lonely and depressed. She wanted someone to talk to but she knew her mom was exhausted and still had a busy several days ahead of her. She couldn’t bring herself to disturb her rest. At the door to her room she hesitated and looked guiltily down the hallway. A moment later she moved to the door of Adam’s room and let herself in. She eased the door closed behind her and moved across the room on a light step.
Moonlight glowed softly through the windows flanking the bed and showed her the way as she climbed onto the bed.
“Adam?” she said hesitantly.
“Kaitlyn? What’s wrong baby?” he reached over, turned the lamp on and pulled himself up in the bed as he blinked at her. “Sorry,” he pulled at the blankets when he realized they had slipped to show off the underwear he slept in.
“I’m the one who barged in,” she shrugged.
“What’s wrong?” he asked as he surveyed her.
“I can’t sleep. I miss her so bad and I feel lonely and I…I just need to talk to someone. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” he assured her and situated himself against the headboard. “Talk all you want.”
“I just keep thinking about her and all these memories. I remember standing on a stool and cutting biscuits with a floured glass. I remember stealing red hots intended for her baking and learning to sew on a button or hem a skirt at her knee, her thimble too big on my smaller thumbs. I remember the way she told stories and would do all the voices,” Katherine wiped at her tears.
“As I got older I can recall helping her in the kitchen, trying to learn how she perfected her crusts and how her vegetables were always perfectly seasoned. I still can’t figure out how to make biscuits using the well method. I remember walks down the road and now I’ll never do those things with her again.”
“She left a hole, Kaitlyn and it will never be filled but the ache will ease with time,” he assured her.
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be such a cry baby,” she wiped at her face.
“You aren’t; you’re grieving and that’s perfectly understandable. That’s healthy. Don’t apologize.”
Katherine rubbed at her chilled arms and felt some of the tension drain from her. She’d needed empathy and understanding.
“Are you cold?” Adam asked her; she nodded.
“I can’t seem to get warm.”
“Climb under the blankets if you want; you’re safe with me.”
Until Next Time (The Shooting Stars Series) Page 27
