Texas Weddings 3 & 4 (26 page)

Lord, will I ever experience true friendship
again?
 
I barely know anyone at my
church. Who would take care of us if something like this happened?
Just as quickly, she pushed the thoughts from her mind.
Don’t be selfish. Just be glad they’re here
for Mom. That’s the important thing.

She and Nathan slipped
across the hallway to the doors of the I.C.U. They used the hand sanitizer pump
on the wall as they waited for the doors to swing open. When they did, Kellie
was the first one inside. She had to get to her daddy, had to let him know she
was still here, still praying. She had to see his face, to reassure
herself
he would be okay.

Nathan gripped her
hand as they made their way across the crowded room to the bed where her father
lay, still and silent. The bed was surrounded with monitors and I.V. poles. The
light clicking sound continued on the monitor as his heart beat, steady and
strong. As always, she checked the numbers on the monitor to see if the
pressure in his brain had subsided.

Funny, how much she
had learned in such a short time.

Sadly, his numbers
remained unchanged. She pressed back the lump in her throat and reached to take
her father’s hand. “Daddy, we’re here. We love you.” Salty tears slipped down
her cheek and dribbled across her lip, but she swept them away. No sadness
here. Only hope.

Nathan wrapped his arm
around her waist and pulled her to himself. She drew in a deep breath and
continued on. “You have a lot of friends here, Daddy. Half the church has come
by to be with Mom and to let you know how much they love you. People are
praying in the hallways, praying in the waiting room—”

“And praying right
here.” Nathan took a step closer to the bed and reached his hand out to touch
her father’s arm. In a voice quiet and genuine, he began to pray aloud. Kellie
couldn’t remember when she had ever heard him speak with such faith, such
assurance. She also couldn’t remember when he’d been this bold—to pray
aloud in front of a room full of total strangers.

And yet here he stood,
taking a position of authority at the very moment when she needed him most. He
finished up the prayer and she added her “Amen” to his. She noticed another,
quieter voice behind them and turned.

“Mom.” She took her
mother’s hand and drew her closer to the bed. “I’m sorry. We thought you were
still in the waiting room with your friends. I hope you don’t mind that I
rushed in ahead of everyone. I just couldn’t wait.”

“Of course not.” Her
mother smiled. “I’m so glad you did.”

Kellie couldn’t help but notice how tired her mother
looked—and older than she could ever remember. She saw the pain in her
mom’s weary eyes and wanted to do something about it—but what could she
do?

You’re doing just what I’ve called you to do.

She startled as she
heard the words resound in her spirit.
Yes,
Lord.

The three of them
stayed for a few minutes until a nurse with a brusque voice reminded them that
they were limited to two visitors at a time.

“I have to go,
anyway.” Nathan planted a kiss on Kellie’s head then reached to grab her
mother’s hand. “I hope you don’t mind, Mom, but I’ve got to get back to the
office for a few days. I’ll come back on the weekend.”

“Of course I don’t
mind. You’ve been more than wonderful to come and stay as long as you have.
It’s far more than I would have expected, and I’m so grateful.”

“I wouldn’t have been
anywhere else,” Nathan said. He gave her a hug,
then
turned back to Kellie.

Kellie’s mom gave her
a serious once-over. “You should take this girl with you. I’m sure she could
use some rest.”

“Mom, I’m not going
home. I’ll be fine.” Kellie wasn’t trying to be stubborn. She just couldn’t
imagine leaving.

Nathan shook his head.
“You’re not fine—at least you won’t be if you don’t get some rest.” He
turned to face her mother. “I’m sending her to your place for a few hours to
get some sleep. And a shower.”

Kellie rolled her
eyes. “He thinks I smell.”

“I’m sure we all do.”
Her mother chuckled. “Speaking of which, if you’re going to my place, I could
use a change of clothes.” She quickly gave Kellie a list of items to fetch, and
goodbyes were said.

Kellie and Nathan left the hospital arm in arm. As she
climbed into her mother’s older-model sedan, she glanced in the rearview
mirror. Nathan gave her a smile and a wave from the driver’s seat of her
beautiful sports car.

With tears in her
eyes, Kellie turned the key in the ignition and put her mother’s car in gear.
For once, she would have traded it all—the job, the condo, the car,
everything—for just a few more minutes with the man she loved.

***

Nathan shifted his wife’s sports car into gear and headed
out onto the highway toward Houston. He tried to still his thoughts, but they
would not be silenced. Guilt ate at him like a cancer. How could he leave her
there?
 
Would she think his job took
precedence over her?
 
It wasn’t
true, but how could he prove it?
 
Did he need to try?

Was
his job too important?
 
Had he
focused too much on what was going on at the office and not enough on what was
happening at home?
 
He shook his head and focused on the road. A man had to
work. And he had done a pretty good job balancing his work life and home life.

Nathan prayed aloud as
he clutched the steering wheel. “Lord, I know
You
’ve
called me to provide for my family. Kellie is my family. I won’t be able to
provide for her if I lose my job.” He drew in a deep breath. “Please give me
wisdom. And please show me how to spend more time with her. I want to be with
her.”

I need to be with her.

He swallowed the lump
in his throat and kept driving. His thoughts shifted to the office. With this
current quarter drawing to a close, the workload was unbelievable. And for some
reason, tempers flared—even over the phone. The atmosphere of the whole
place seemed to be changing right before his eyes. “It’s just the pressure of
the season we’re in. This is going to pass.”

He hoped.

In the meantime, work
waited. Balancing the phone in one hand and the steering wheel in the other, he
punched in the number to his office.

five

Kellie hung up the phone and turned to her mother with a
sigh.

“Everything okay at
work?” Her mom’s forehead wrinkled in concern.

“I guess.” Kellie took
a seat at the breakfast table and nibbled at a piece of toast. Truthfully,
things weren’t going as well as she’d hoped, but she certainly didn’t want to
concern her mother with unnecessary details. Her boss called every hour on the
hour. Not to worry her, he insisted, but to keep her abreast of all she was
missing.

Missing.
. ..

She fought to swallow
the lump in her throat. She missed her husband with an ache that wouldn’t
subside. Though she had tried valiantly to sleep, she’d spent much of the last
few nights tossing and turning. How could she sleep without Nathan by her
side?
 
Three years of marriage and
they’d only spent four or five nights apart.
And now this.

Her mother lifted a fried egg out of the skillet on the
stove and slipped it onto her plate. “I’m sure I’ll be fine, Kellie. You should
go back home, at least for a few days.”

“I can’t do that, Mama. What
if.
.
.?” She stopped herself mid-sentence. In the four days since Nathan returned
home, she had watched her father lie quiet and still in a hospital bed. She had
prayed more prayers, cried more tears and paced more hallways than at any point
in her life prior.

And the prayers appeared to be working. His numbers had
dropped substantially, enough for the doctors to pull him out of the medically
induced coma. Any time now, they predicted, her father should begin to awaken.
What would happen after that was far more
questionable.
Regardless, she must be here, at her mother’s side.

And
yet.
. .

Kellie’s heart ached and she quickly brushed away the tears
that formed at her lashes. She couldn’t let her mother see her crying.
 
The tears would have to be left to late
night hours, tumbling out onto crisp white pillowcases on the bed in her
parents’ guestroom. They could never fall openly. If her mother knew how much
Kellie’s heart ached to be with Nathan, she would insist upon a rapid trip back
to Houston.

Better to stay focused on the task at hand. “What time
should we leave?” Kellie flashed a brave smile.

Her mother sat down across from her and took a bite of
bacon. “Hmm.” She glanced at the wall clock. “Probably about twenty minutes or
so. Can you be ready that quick?”

“I’m the queen of quick.” Kellie couldn’t help but chuckle.
“You have no idea how fast I can move, Mom.”

“Oh, I can imagine. You
’ve always been an
over-achiever
,
trust me
. But you get that from
your dad, not me. I’m a little simpler than that, as you know.
Greenvine
is the perfect place for a gal like me. We’re
pretty laid back around here. Just how I like it.”

Kellie reflected on her words before responding. “I don’t
miss the fast-paced life as much as I thought I would, to be honest. It’s
weird—not having to set my alarm clock to be up before daylight. And I can’t
remember when I’ve had a real breakfast.” She took another bite of toast and
leaned back against the chair, happy for a few minutes of rest and relaxation.

“I’ve never known anything but this life.” Her mother took a
sip of her coffee then continued. “Guess that’s what happens when you’ve settle
on a small town environment. Life is slow. Simple. There’s plenty of time to
enjoy people—and things. Time to really intercede for those who need it.
And time to visit folks who need visiting.”

Kellie shrugged. “Life is a lot slower here,” she
acknowledged. “I had almost forgotten.”

“You didn’t seem to mind when you were growing up,” her
mother said with a smile. “But I think your father and I always knew you’d end
up in the big city, so it makes perfect sense that you live in Houston.
And Dallas, before that.
You’ve always been a city girl at
heart.”

“Really? What made you think that?”

“You just
seemed.
. .” her mother
gestured with her hands, “bigger than this place.
You and
your sister, both.
She was destined to sing in the opera and you—”

“What?” Kellie couldn’t help but wonder what she’d say next.

“You were so good with numbers.
A real
math whiz.
And talk about saving money. Do you remember that piggy bank
you had when you were little?”

“Yes.” Kellie groaned and leaned her head down against the
table. “Don’t remind me.” Truthfully, she couldn’t help but smile as she
thought about the bright pink ceramic pig with hand-painted eyelashes she’d
received on her sixth birthday. She’d saved every penny that came her way,
pressing each coin, each bill, through the narrow slot on his side.

“All of your birthday money, any cash you earned doing
chores—you socked it all away in that little piggy bank.”

Kellie shrugged. “Yes, but if memory serves me correctly,
the payoff wasn’t very good.”

“That’s right.” Her mother’s eyes narrowed to a slit. “You
lost it.”

“Not exactly
lost
.
Misplaced would be the right word.” Truth be told, she had hidden the ceramic
pig away in a safe place once his belly had been stuffed full of money. She
didn’t want to run the risk of someone walking off with him. In the end, she’d
done the goofiest thing an eight-year-old kid could do—forgotten where
she put it.

“We searched for that piggy bank for years, didn’t we?”

“Yeah.” Kellie sighed as she picked up the piece of toast
once more. “Lost forever.”

“You learned a hard lesson from that, to be sure.” Her
mother smiled. “But a good one. Made you a lot less selfish with your money.”
She clamped her hand over her mouth, obviously embarrassed. “I’m sorry. Selfish
might’ve been a strong word.”

“No, that’s about right.” Kellie
grimaced as she contemplated her mother’s words. She had been selfish as a
child, perhaps more than she’d realized. And as an
adult.
. .

Am I still
selfish?
 
Is that why I work so
hard—to put as much money into my ‘piggy bank’ as I can?

She shrugged.
 
“I’d like to think I’ve outgrown a lot of that, but I’m not sure. I do
enjoy working, but it seems like I spend a lot of time at the office.”

“You’re a hard worker, that’s for sure.” Her mother reached
to squeeze her hand. “You always have been. That’s nothing to be ashamed of.
And I’m just happy that you’re happy.” Her eyes misted over. “Both of my girls
are doing what they love.”