Karen was so surprised to see Kevin that she took her foot off the brake and the car lurched forward. Kevin jumped back in surprise.
“Whoa! Shit. Sorry, sorry,” Karen said. She quickly put the Jeep in park.
“Is it safe?” Kevin said.
“Yes, I promise. What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to talk to you, to explain.”
“You drove two thousand miles to explain?
“No, I flew nineteen hundred and fifty miles, rented a car, then drove fifty…. to explain.”
“I thought you hated cliches.”
“It’s painful, trust me.”
“So explain.”
“Couldn’t we go somewhere less… roadside?”
“Yeah there’s a place that’s probably open now, follow me.”
Karen drove just a little ways into town and pulled up to a storefront restaurant called the “Double L”. It had once been two stores mirrored in one building, now it was a bar and grill on the left half, restaurant on the Right. The two Ls were Lou Hollenbeck, who operated the Bar, and his wife Lisa who operated the restaurant.
They walked into the restaurant side. The door rang a little gold bell vigorously. They sat next to the window where lace curtains hung on rods right behind a neon sign that said “Open”. White Christmas lights were haphazardly hung here and there. Otherwise the lights in the restaurant were off and it was as dim as the bar.
A man in an apron walked up to their table through an opening between the two establishments near the back. They could hear the jukebox and hints of conversation from the bar side. part of a pinball machine could be seen.
“Say folks I couldn’t talk you into a table over on the bar side could I? Lisa ain’t here tonight. It’d sure save me a few steps.”
“I think we’ll stay here. Just get us a couple coffees and we won’t need to bother you after that.” Karen said.
“Okay then.” Lou said padding back to the other side.
Kevin looked at Karen’s face in the red glow of the open sign. The same one he had first seen during the blizzard three days ago.
“I didn’t mean to… I’m sorry I…” Kevin took a deep breath.
“Alright. If I’m going to do this…“
He cleared his throat and set his face firmly like he was about to lift something extremely heavy.
“Four years ago two kids drowned in a rip tide on Hermosa Beach in Southern California. Those were my... our... my wife’s and my kids. We thought we’d beat it, but just like the statistics and everyone told us, our marriage ended about a year later. Now, I realize it’s impossible to to tell you this without sounding… I’m honestly not trying to illicit sympathy, just some background for why I’m such a huge idiot.”
Lou arrived with a couple mugs on a finger on a glass coffee pot in his other hand, oblivious to the awkward gap in the conversation his arrival had caused.
“Coffee for you… aand coffee for you… No menus then?”
“No, we’re fine, thanks.”
“Okee dokie, jus come around if you need anything. Restrooms are over there also.”
Lou disappeared leaving them alone in the room again.
“I went to Montana to hide from the world,” Kevin continued. “I left a clue for someone to find me in my sad little world and you did. It sounds melodramatic, and maybe it is, but you saved me in a small way, you opened a door for me to walk through.”
Kevin reached across the table and took Karen’s hands. They were soft and warm.
“If there’s one thing I know, it’s that bad partings can be a poison that eats away at you. I need to apologize to you for how we parted. It was entirely my fault. I never actually considered your motives to be financial or in any way questionable. You were a much needed source of light in that house. But my defenses got the better of me and I acted badly, pretty much every moment you were there. I’m sorry for that.
“You may not believe this, but you are the embodiment of Persie. When I invent a character I get a picture in my head and then, when I found you in the snow… I saw a dear face I had only imagined before.”
He caressed her hands delicately, sincerely.
“I want to start over Karen, would you be my guest, not right now, be with your family, but for New’s Eve and a few days after. I have a place in Hawaii as it happens that... Well It would be wonderful to spend some time with you there. You know, no expectations, your own room…”
Kevin looked into her eyes. It was difficult to return such a steady gaze.
Karen was stunned. She felt like she’d just scratched a lottery ticket that showed zero after zero. She imagined the sun the surf, walking on the beach with this man.
“Wow,” she managed to say. “Um, that’s…”
She paused. In that moment she took her entire trip again. Driving to Ohio in a trance, the decision to keep going West. Meeting Sadie, and Hugh. All those miles there and back. She squeezed Kevin’s hands.
“You should have driven here. The whole way I mean. The highway gives you an excellent chance to think.”
She looked at him.
“Kevin, I could fall for you in a big way. Honestly, in some ways, I’m already there. But... Oh man... not going to Hawaii with you is going to haunt me for a long time.”
Kevin gave a stiff smile and squeezed her hands back. His disappointed was in freefall, but he could at least sense the soft landing in the knowledge that she was right. Even if it was a ways off.
“I’m not even going to mention this to my… Hell, I’d never live it down. But, we’re always haunted by something you know? It might as well be... We’re on our own journeys to… I don’t know, not being quite so sad. Our paths intersected in a perfect wonderful way. I wouldn’t change or trade it for anything.”
A snow plow rattled the windows as it drove by. Their eyes were locked on each other. A burst of laughter from the bar echoed in the room. The drink cooler’s compressor kicked on, its chirping hum and fans filling the emptiness of the room.
“But those paths, changed though they may be by the other, must keep on. I know I’m not remotely there yet... Are you?”
Kevin finally looked down.
“Well, at least it’s not cliche.” Kevin said with the slightest smirk. "Thanks for that.”
“See, you wouldn’t be able to live with yourself.”
“I guess not.”
Karen looked up at the plastic Pepsi clock on wall.
"Hey, it's midnight. Merry Christmas Kevin."
"Merry Christmas Karen."
Their eyes remained together for a long and perfect moment. There was only love and understanding.
“Can we keep in touch at least?" Kevin said. "You’ll tell me if you ever change your mind.”
“”Write for me, just keep writing. And if you write anything more about Persie, and trust me I’m not the only fangirl onboard with this, she needs a new dog... And do me one favor, name her Jewel.”
It was starting to Snow again.
It had been a while. Lou walked over to the restaurant side to check on his coffee drinkers. The table was empty, but the small pile of cash was ample for the bill and a sizable tip. He noticed their cars as he put the empty mugs on his finger, one drove East, the other headed West.
2 comments:
That was an awesome story Joel!
Thanks David!
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