Читать книгу and I Believe - Jodie Richard-Bohman - Страница 19

Knock, knock!

Sleepy and confused, I opened my eyes trying to register where the noise was coming from.

Knock, knock!

I realized the noise was a knock at the front door.

God—I hope nothing is wrong with Mom or Dad, I thought when I noticed it was six o’clock in the morning. To my surprise it wasn’t Mom or Dad, but Liz.

“Is everything okay?” I asked, my heart beating a mile a minute.

“Yes,” she answered nonchalantly, walking right into my apartment. “I’m sorry for coming over this early and probably scaring you to death, but I have a surprise for you.”

“You what?” I asked, half relieved, half irritated. Here I was thinking there was something terribly wrong, and she is acting like it’s the middle of the day and asking me if I want to go out or something.

“I have a surprise for you. All you have to do is shower, grab some comfy clothes and I will be back in an hour to pick you up.”

“Liz, what are you talking about? It is Friday, and we both have to work.”

“Actually, I took the day off, and you don’t have to work either.”

“What?”

“I called your boss and scheduled a personal day for you. He knows that you’ve been under a lot of stress lately and was more than happy to approve your leave.”

“You did what?” I snapped back, shocked that she would do such a thing.

“I said you don’t have to work, and I’m taking you out for the day.”

“I can’t believe you did that behind my back,” I said harshly.

She narrowed her blue eyes at me, obviously annoyed with my tone, so I quickly changed it.

“Liz, I’m so sorry . . . I didn’t mean for it to come out that way. It’s just that Aaron came to work yesterday and I think he still wants a divorce and-”

She cut me off. “I’m sorry to hear that, but you’ve known all along that this was going to happen.”

I looked back at her surprised and definitely not liking what she had just said. “You have no idea what I have been going through,” I snapped.

“You’re darn right I don’t understand, and I hope like hell I never do. I know you’re hurting and probably will be for a long time, but unfortunately your marriage is over with and it is time you acknowledge that and start to move on.”

“How dare you say that to me!”

“You want to know something? This last month I’ve watched you run away from everything important in your life, and I’ve tried to be understanding about it, but when your ten-year-old daughter calls me up yesterday, worried sick to death about her mommy, that is when I knew it was time for me to step in.”

“What?” I asked, completely shocked.

She continued, ignoring my reaction to what she said about Jenna. “I hate to say it like this, but you’re giving me no choice. Would you rather have your heart broken because your husband left you, or would you rather have your heart broken because you lost one of your kids?”

Her words really made me stop and think. Yes, my heart was broken right now, but that kind of hurt could eventually heal. But losing a loved one, such as Jenna or Mia, well, I’d never get over that kind of loss.

“You’re right.”

“What?” she asked, seeming surprised I agreed with her instead of argued.

“I never thought about it like that, but you are absolutely right. Obviously this hurts and will for some time, but this isn’t the worse thing that can happen to me.”

“So does that mean you’re not mad at me?”

“I think you are mean, but no, I’m not mad at you.”

We both laughed.

“So are you driving or am I?” I then asked.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Great! I’m driving, and I’ll be back around seven-thirty to get you.”

“Okay. I’ll see you then.”

After taking a quick shower, I went into Jenna’s dark bedroom and turned on the lamp beside her bed.

“Hey there.”

“Hi,” she said, sitting up, yawning and stretching her arms out.

“I’m sorry for the way I’ve been acting lately.”

Her blue eyes widened.

“Don’t worry. You’re not in trouble for calling Liz. I just feel bad that you had to do that. I’ve only been thinking of myself lately and didn’t see how it was affecting you and Mia. But I promise you,” I said, lifting her chin up. “Things are going to change and I won’t act like that ever again. Okay?”

She eagerly nodded her head, looking happy and relieved.

I dropped the girls off at school and daycare and was sitting on a step outside by Mom and Dad’s garage waiting on Liz. It was so beautiful and peaceful out here. There was still a thin layer of white snow that covered the grass, and the sun was slowly peaking through the clouds, giving hope that spring might soon be here.

Liz pulled into the driveway.

“Sorry for being late. I assumed you would be late like you usually are, so I took my time,” she said when I got in her car.

“I get that a lot,” I kidded back.

“Now let’s finish what we started a month ago. Today, we’re getting the works. I have scheduled massages, haircuts, pedicures and manicures, along with some shopping. I also made a special reservation for lunch,” she said as we drove off.

The first thing on our agenda was massages. We were in separate rooms with the lights turned down and soft music playing in the background. With each rub, every ounce of my stress was being stripped away, one problem at a time. By the time the lady finished, I walked out of the room feeling intoxicated. Liz was flipping through a magazine and when she saw me, she chuckled.

“What?” I asked.

“Your hair,” she said, pointing to my head.

I felt my hair, which was oily and sticking straight up on end.

“I bet I look really cute right now.”

“All I can say is thank goodness we get our haircuts next,” she said.

I visited my beautician every six weeks, but it had been ten weeks since my last cut and highlight, and my hair was a mess. First came the foils then came a lot of cutting here and there and then voilà - my hair looked fabulous! She wedged the back of my hair, leaving my sides longer and flipped out, and the extra blonde highlights set everything off.

“Wow! I feel like a new woman! I can’t believe I was walking around for so long looking like a shaggy dog,” I said, staring at my hair in the mirror.

Liz was beside me, and out of the blue, barked out loud, startling a lady in the booth next to us. We began laughing so hard that we had tears rolling down our cheeks.

“We better get out of here before they kick us out,” I said and we headed over to get our manicures and pedicures.

While they were working on our feet, a lady offered us some wine, grapes and cheese.

“This wine is going down really well. I’m about ready to ask for the whole bottle,” I said.

“Hey - speaking of drinking, some of us girls are going to Creekside tonight for their St. Patty’s Day party. It should be a really good time. Shelly and Tina are coming.”

I completely forgot that it was St. Patrick’s Day. I loved St. Patrick’s Day.

I barely let her finish her sentence. “I’ll go.”

“What? Really?” she asked, surprised.

“Yes.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes,” I answered again.

“Woo-hoo! The old Kate is finally back!”

Once our nails were done, we went shopping. I bought myself a few new outfits, along with a fun St. Patty’s Day shirt for tonight. It was a green short sleeve shirt that said “Kiss me, not because I am Irish, but because I want you to” on the front of it. I had a long sleeve white tee at home that would look perfect underneath it.

One of my favorite restaurants was this awesome sushi and hibachi grill, and Liz surprised me by making reservations there. I was like a kid in a candy store as I ordered five different sushi rolls, each topped off with this spicy sauce.

“I loved Saturday nights when we would go to your mom and dad’s house,” I reminisced while we were eating. “We three girls would wait patiently as Dad showered and Mom got ready. Then we’d all load up in the family Oldsmobile and drive over to your house. The second we pulled into your driveway, there would be seven heads peaking out the windows at us.”

“We didn’t have company very often, so anytime a car pulled in, we were like wild animals checking to see who it was. It was like a special occasion when your family came over and Mom made sure to break out the fancy arrangement of ring bologna and cheese,” Liz said.

By the end of our meal, my stomach hurt from laughing so much. Liz always had a way of bringing humor to my life when I needed it the most.