Until Next Time (The Shooting Stars Series) (39 page)

“It looks like a nice place,” she told him. It was a small, older home with new vinyl siding and shutters.

“Maybe she finally used some of the money I sent,” he said as they climbed from the car. There was a late model Toyota parked under the carport and they took it as a good sign. They walked the path to the door, knocked, and waited. The door opened and Donna stood looking at them.

“Adam?” she said in disbelief.

“Hi, Mom,” he greeted her.

“Come in,” she invited and stepped aside. The interior was as neat and comfortable as the outside indicated. A blonde Cocker Spaniel, its nub wagging enthusiastically, greeted them.

“Down, Sandy; go get in your bed,” Donna ordered and the dog obeyed.

“Have a seat,” she invited.

Katherine sat down beside Adam on the couch and studied his mother. She looked better than she had the last time Katherine had seen her. In fact, except for the worry lines around her eyes, she looked to be doing pretty well.

“How are you, Mom?” he asked her.

“I’m better. I’ve been worried sick about you.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner. It took me a while to get my nerve up after our last visit.”

“I’m sorry about that, Adam,” there were tears in her eyes.

“No, Mom, I deserved your anger,” he said. It was quiet for a moment and then he spoke again. “I see you got a nicer place.”

“Yeah, it’s no mansion but it suits me. I joined an AA group, Adam. Too late, I know, but I joined.”

“I’m glad, Mom, I haven’t been out of rehab long myself.”

“I heard some rumors. I’m sorry, Adam. I’m sorry for all the times I directed my anger and frustration at you,” Donna broke down, her voice and face anguished. Adam rushed across the room to his mom and the two embraced.

Katherine felt like an intruder.

“Mom, I forgave you a long time ago. Can you forgive me?”

Donna nodded and the two hugged again.

“I’ve picked up the phone to call you so many times but I wasn’t sure that you would want to hear from me or that the number I had was recent.”

“Mom, I would never refuse to talk to you,” he assured her.

“So what are you doing now?”

“I don’t know yet, I am working on that but for now I am living in Nashville and getting my feet under me again.”

“I’m glad, Adam; I hope you work out what it is you want soon. It took me a while to do so.”

“I have a few ideas but I’ll have to see.”

“How are you, Kaitlyn?” Donna acknowledged Katherine for the first time.

“I’m doing well, Ms. Ellington.”

“Donna, please. So have you two stayed in touch all this time?”

“Pretty much,” Katherine admitted.

“What have you been doing with yourself?”

“I graduated from college and now I work in advertising with my fiancé.”

Donna looked between them a moment before she spoke again.

“Congratulations on your engagement,” she finally offered.

“Thank you. Where are you working now?”

“I’m working at the hospital.”

“That’s a good place to work.”

“I like it. You know, I owe you an apology too. All the time you were trying to be a friend to my son I was trying to convince him not to spend time with you.”

“It’s okay, Donna. I assure you that I never took it personally,” she smiled at his mom. She was actually pretty nice. They stayed for a while letting Adam catch up with what was going on in his mother’s life.

Back at the house, Derrick was the last one up.

“Good morning,” Derrick greeted Julia and Walter as he joined them. He’d been exhausted the night before and had slept later than he had intended.

“Good morning, Derrick. There are some bagels and muffins in the kitchen if you’re hungry,” Julia offered.

“Thanks; where’s Katherine?”

“She went with Adam to see his mother. He hasn’t seen her in quite some time and didn’t want to go alone,” Julia explained and watched him frown. Julia wanted talk to her daughter about how possessive Derrick could be; she should stay out of it.

“Hello,” Adam smiled as he and Katherine entered the living room. He sat down on the love seat and Katherine joined him, leaving Derrick alone on the couch. Julia looked between them and wondered if her daughter was even aware of what she had done or had done so out of habit.

“Guess what?” Katherine asked with a wide smile.

“What?”

“The visit went great!” she told them and Adam filled them in on the details.

“I’m glad your mother is doing better,” Julia told Adam.

“I know you probably need to be going but is there time for us to all go eat?” Walter asked.

They agreed there was, and piled into her mom’s car with Katherine sandwiched into the middle of the back seat.

***

Katherine sat in the front seat of Adam’s car and chastised herself for all the mistakes she had made of recent. She should never have turned to Adam and spent the night in his arms. She should have stood up to Annelise about some of the wedding plans. She should have put off some of the planning to be with her grandmother more. That one ate at her the most. She had known her grandmother’s heart condition was worsening and she had allowed herself to get swallowed up with wedding plans until it was too late to spend more time with the woman.

In the back seat, Derrick droned on and on about his issues with his client, his concerns for the rookie he had left handling him and about what he would do to court the client and make sure they knew they were still in good hands; Adam frowned at him.

“Would you quit beating yourself up over there,” Adam finally cut Derrick off.

Derrick frowned at Adam and glanced at Katherine.

“I should have been there more,” Katherine said softly.

“Do you really think your grandmother expected you to sit around at her side and wait for her to die? The doctor said she could have months or years depending on several factors. Kaitlyn, you couldn’t know and you saw her rather recently. That’s not bad when you live in two different cities.”

“Three weeks. It’s been three weeks since we went down to see her,” Katherine sighed.

“I know how much you loved your grandma, Kaitlyn and she knew that as well.”

“You’re right, it’s just hard to let go,” she admitted.

Derrick wondered how Adam had known that Katherine was quietly berating herself.

“You will though, a little at a time,” Adam assured her and then frowned at the crawling traffic in front of them.  “What’s this?”

“There must have been an accident. We’re not far from Highway Sixty-Nine. If we can make it there we can take the back roads or maybe by-pass the hold up.” Katherine suggested.

Adam pulled off when they reached the exit and pulled into a convenience station parking lot. He grabbed a map, hopped out, and spread it out on the hood.

“What are you doing?” Katherine frowned and jumped out behind him.

Derrick shrugged and followed.

“I’m looking at the map.”

“We don’t need a map. I know the way.”

“Well, as I recall there are two routes we can take.”

“One hundred is the fastest,” she informed him.

“But look, we can take Six Forty-One to Camden which will put us right at Highway Seventy.”

“It takes longer. We can take Sixty-Nine into Parsons and we’re right at Highway One Hundred.”

“But it looks like Seventy stays closer to the interstate.”

“It looks that way but One Hundred is faster. Or we can take One Hundred to Thirteen back to the interstate,” she argued.

“Or Seventy to Thirteen to the interstate.”

“One Hundred is faster!” she insisted again.

“Look, Kaitlyn. Seventy will run right into Charlotte Pike.”

“And One Hundred will run right into Harding by Belle Meade, that’s our side of town,” Katherine pointed out.

Derrick looked back to Adam for his argument.

“I still say Seventy looks closer.”

“Adam, I have made this trip hundreds of times. One Hundred is faster,” she had her hands on hips; chin jutted out, and emphasized her statement with a stomp of her foot. Adam stood in a similar stance and stared her down.

Derrick waited for the next move. This was rather interesting. Katherine had never shown this kind of spirit with him.

“Fine, we’ll take One Hundred,” Adam gave in.

Derrick didn’t bother to point out that Seventy and Charlotte Pike would have put them closer to his flat.

“Good. I’ll drive. Then you and Derrick can enjoy the scenery,” she claimed the upper hand.

So they still know I’m here, Derrick mused to himself. He certainly had been given a lot to think over in the short time he had spent with her since returning from Chicago.

“You’re driving?” Adam followed her around to the driver’s side.

“Yes, you drove down here, you drove around Jackson; you deserve a break.”

“I’m a man, men are supposed to do the driving.”

“Adam, please save the macho stuff for someone else. Get in,” she was clearly in control now.

Derrick climbed in and waited. This was their fight and he wasn’t getting involved.

Adam threw up his hands and went around to the passenger side. They were finally on their way, Derrick mused; the interstate was probably clear by now.

Katherine settled into the driver’s seat and told about the area as they went; apparently she was going to play tour guide now.

“And as we cross the Tennessee River you’ll notice the islands. Mark Twain once said that ‘A river without islands is like a woman without curves.’”

“That’s a nice comparison,” Adam said to get a reaction from her.

“Adam,” her tone was one of exasperation.

“You said it; I was just agreeing.”

“Up that road is Lady Finger Bluff and Mouse Tail Landing State Park. It’s all very pretty in an isolated kind of way. There’s a creek you can drive across and it’s always clear and cold. My grandpa used to take us up there,” her tone was wistful.

“I want to see it,” Adam commented.

“Are we in a hurry?” she asked her passengers.

No one said they were. Katherine shrugged and found a place to turn around. She passed the park and turned onto an unmarked road and then another unmarked road, this one gravel, and carefully navigated the hills and turns until they reached the creek and crossed it. She parked in a wide gravel area and killed the engine.

“How did the park back there get its name?” Derrick asked her.

“According to legend, back around the Civil War, one of the tanning companies caught fire. So many mice fled the buildings that the area became known as Mouse Tail.”

“How do you know your way around back here? It looks like it would be easy to get lost,” Adam asked her.

“My grandpa’s people are from back in here. He used to bring all of us grandkids up here to wade in the creek,” she said, as she sat on a large flat rock beside the creek and pulled off her shoes. Adam did the same.

“Yikes!” Adam said as his feet hit the water.

“I told you, it’s always cold. Come on Derrick,” she invited her fiancé.

“No thanks, I prefer my feet dry and warm.”

“It really is fun,” she was picking her way across the sharp rocks in the bottom of the creek.

“Looks it,” he said from the bank.

Katherine hit a moss-covered boulder, slipped, and almost fell into the water.

“Watch it,” Adam caught her and set her back on her feet.

“That was close,” she laughed.

The creek was wide and fairly shallow, except for some places where there were dips in the surface. Katherine had visited after heavy rains and seen it deep enough for swimming in. The banks were lined with trees overhanging the water, leaving the swiftly flowing surface sun dappled.              

“On up from here there’s an old graveyard and old church. It’s falling in now, but rumor has it that it’s haunted,” she told them.

“Where’s Lady Finger Bluff?” Adam asked from behind her.

“On up a ways. Supposedly some lady threw herself off the cliff to escape Indians. That’s what I was told anyway.”

“What is it?” Derrick asked.

“A hiking trail up to the cliffs overlooking the river. It has a nice view.”

“But not as nice as ours,” Adam smiled.

“No, I doubt that there are many that can top that,” she agreed.

“What view?” Derrick asked.

“In college we spent a day hiking and driving on the gravel roads through the Smokies. We came across this rock jutting over a valley, with a water fall opposite. It was gorgeous!” Katherine shared.

“We should probably get going,” Adam suggested as he made his way to the bank.

“Ow, ow, ow,” Katherine said as she picked her way back across the rocks. She looked up to find both men smiling at her and stuck out her tongue at them.