Amnesia (23 page)

“No. I, we, love….” It was too much for him, and he collapsed back on the pillow.

Tawny laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous! Love has nothing to do with this. You see, Mr. Frindle, Beverley is not like you or your religious fanatics with whom you associate. She is a Windham and is out of your league. Way out. She couldn’t possibly love you and as soon as she is found I’m sure she will come to recognize it for what it was, simply being a rebellious child.”

She noticed that tears were slipping down his cheeks and she smiled knowing that she was getting through. She knew she was hurting him and didn’t really care. He was just a lower class commoner. Really, she was doing him a favor. She decided to clinch the deal.

“I understand that you may think you love her, but as you can plainly see, it is just a fling to try to get at me. However, I will help you get over this easier.” She reached into her bag and withdrew her checkbook. She wrote out a check, tore it from the pad, and placed it on the table beside the bed.

“That will help a great deal I’m sure. It’s more than you could possibly earn in six months, probably a year. Enjoy your newfound riches. Go find yourself a nice little Mormon girl in your own class and have lots of little kiddies.”

She turned to leave, then spoke over her shoulder, “Just remember, you can be hurt much worse than the mere bruises you have now. Now we wouldn’t want that to happen would we.”

She smiled, victorious. So much for Peter Frindle and that cult of his. Now she just needed to fix Gregg and that insolent attitude he had developed.

*
             
             
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*

Bill showed up at the McConnell’s early to spend some time with six-year-old Kate, whom he hadn’t seen for over a year, since before the accident. To his delight, she not only remembered him, but also still had the crush on him she had felt since she was barely three. Nancy McConnell never let him forget the time he had held her little three-year-old Kate and agreed that someday when she grew up he would marry her.

He could still remember asking Kate if it would be okay to marry Lacy. She had screwed up her face as if she were going to cry, then nodded somberly and quietly said, “It’s okay, if you really like her.” They had all laughed, but now the thought saddened him, the memory triggering his still healing grief.

He turned his attention back to the checkerboard and the mature acting tot sitting across from him. “Beating his socks off of him,” as his grandmother always used to say. He smiled at her concentration, busily analyzing her next move as if her whole world hinged on the outcome of this game. So far she had beaten him three times, with just a little help from him, and it looked as if this game would end the same. One of the best ways to befriend a youngster was to lose a game of checkers to them.

The doorbell rang behind him and he turned from where he laid face down on the floor to see who his blind date would be tonight. His stomach tightened at the thought of dating, and he wasn’t very happy to have learned that Jack and Nancy had arranged one, pretty much behind his back.

At first he was angry with them, but he knew that they looked at him more as a little brother than a co-worker. His dad had taken Jack under his wing while he was a rookie and recent law school dropout. He was always looking out for him and teaching him the ropes of police work, and the politics of being a police officer. Bill had grown up around the McConnell’s to the point where he sometimes forgot the difference in their rank. He just wished they would leave him in peace about his social life. Not unlike most caring families, they adamantly refused.

“Welcome to our humble home,” he heard Nancy say to the new visitor. “Let me introduce you to the rest of the family. This is my husband, whom I believe you have already met. And this is my ‘little brother’ Bill”

Bill stood up, the checker game momentarily forgotten, and took a deep breath before turning to meet the innocent conspirator. “Hi, glad to…Lissa!”

“Bill? What are you doing here?” a surprised Lissa Brandon replied. “You’re Nancy’s brother? I had no idea.”

He chuckled. “No, not really. We kinda grew up together, so it feels that way sometimes. And you must be the ‘cute doc’ Jack was talking about.”

She reddened at the appellation, but smiled in pleasure at the compliment. “I assume from your face you knew nothing of all this?” she observed.

He sent a scowl hurtling toward a beaming Jack McConnell as he answered. “Not until a few minutes ago. You see my ‘big brother’ here feels the need to get me re-attached.” He turned back to her with a big smile, “but in this case, I will agree he has great taste.”

She blushed again, feeling the warmth of acceptance from the group. She liked the idea of attachment to these people, even though she was little more than an acquaintance. She covered her feelings quickly though, turning to introduce herself to the small girl standing next to her, impatiently waiting to be acknowledged.

“And who is this pretty lady?”

“I’m Kate, and Bill is going to marry me when I grow up.” She grinned widely at the attention, and the reaction to her announcement.

Lissa laughed lightly at the comment, and then looked up at Bill, who was now taking his turn with crimson cheeks. Not as much at the comment, he knew, as to his reaction to the tinkling sound of his blind date’s laughter. He decided he enjoyed the feeling that it sparked, and joined in the game.

“That’s right. But right now she’s only this many,” he held up three fingers, much to Kate’s indignation.

“I am not. I’m six now!” She put her hands on her hips and glared at the man, bringing another round of laughter from the crowd, including Kate after she realized he was only teasing.

Nancy broke into the conversation with the announcement that dinner would be ready in just a few minutes. She asked Bill and Lissa to assist in setting the table, a not-so-subtle attempt to get them together.

They moved toward the kitchen in the large home, grabbed the plates and utensils, and then headed toward the recently added formal dining room. It was an obvious addition to the home and Lissa commented on it.

“Actually, most of the original home has been lost with all of the additions and renovations,” Bill informed proudly, circling the table while placing the plates in front of the chairs. “When they first moved here it was a one bedroom shack, the living room taking up nearly half the house.”

“That is a big living room,” Lissa agreed, following behind him, arranging the silverware around the plates. “They’ve done a lot with it.”

Bill chuckled at the comment, winning him a confused look. “That living room we just left,” he clarified, “was the house. We tore out all of the inner walls after they got the left wing finished, and came up with this. The only thing we didn’t move was the guest bathroom, which used to be the kitchen. We needed the water for the fixtures.”

She stared at him dumbfounded, and then looked around the house again. The front door was off to the right of the dwelling, and opened into the spacious great room. On the right of the entry way was a door leading into what appeared to be the kitchen/guest bathroom, and just behind it the room sank into the kids’ playroom, complete with toy chests, book shelves, and a small TV/DVD combo surrounded by Disney videos.

She continued her visual tour from there, following the side wall until it jutted out to create the large formal dining room, complete with a chandelier over the table. Then on to the huge kitchen, with its yards of cabinetry, counter space, and center-island right in the middle of a long aisle separating the two sides of the room. She could see that the other end of the kitchen had an opening into a hall, which presumably led to the bedrooms. She also noted that in the center of living room side of the kitchen wall sat a large fireplace, with a rough-hewn log for a mantle.

Then she noticed all of the pictures and wall hangings. There was hardly any space on the walls that didn’t have something hanging on it. One wall was lined with what appeared to be a chronological history of Kate, beginning on the left with an 8x10 of her as a newborn, leading up through what appeared to be her kindergarten picture. It was a wonderful idea, Lissa thought, something she would have to do some day.

However the one thing that really caught her attention was the large painting that held a place of prominence over the fireplace. It was of Christ looking over his shoulder, wearing a scarlet robe and looking somehow sad. It made her feel like he was watching in discouragement at the world, at how they continued to reject his message of happiness. She felt captivated by it, as if He were speaking directly to her to do her part in bringing about his plan. She also felt humbled, knowing that there was always more that she could do, if she could only get past her own selfish desires.

“Impressive, isn’t it.” She nearly jumped at the startling voice of Nancy at her shoulder. She had been so caught up in the painting that she didn’t even notice her approach.

“Yes it is. It’s like He’s calling on us to help him help others. Something I think we all need to work on.”

“Yes, that’s true,” Nancy agreed soberly, “but there’s something more to it. Like he has something specific He wants us to do, and is sad because we haven’t done it. I never have figured out what that is, but someday I’m sure I will.” Then, shaking off the mood she continued, “Come on, dinner’s on the table, and I don’t want my special enchiladas getting cold.”

Lissa smiled, following her hostess into the formal dining room, noticing that the rest of the family was already seated. She took a seat next to Bill, the one left conspicuously vacant, and looked around at the smiles surrounding her. She glanced over at Bill, unsure if there would be a prayer on the meal or not. She didn’t have to wait long, as they all took hands and Jack intoned a simple but heartfelt prayer of gratitude over the food they were about to enjoy.

“So Bill,” Jack began the conversation as he took a big helping of the delectable smelling concoction before him, “I see you and Lissa are already acquainted. I take it that there is more than simply taking that report the other day?”

Bill wasn’t quite sure what to say, and was saved by Lissa. “He keeps showing up wherever I go. I think I might need to get the police involved.” She smiled at him, noting that he was again turning a lovely shade of scarlet.

“He does have a habit of doing that you know,” chimed in a giggling Nancy.

“Don’t you dare!” Bill exclaimed, succeeding only in producing a wider grin from the woman.

“This sounds pretty serious,” Lissa prompted, egging Nancy on, and loving the reaction on Bill’s face.

“Oh it is,” Nancy replied, a look of mock sobriety on her face. “You see, Bill has this way of trying to get to know people that some find somehow odd….”

“Nancy, don’t go there,” Bill tried to warn her, to no avail.

“It’s okay, Bill, she needs to know what to look out for,” Nancy soothed, as if Bill were a small child. Lissa noticed that Jack was having trouble swallowing from the laughter he was trying to hold back.

“There was this one girl that he really liked,” Nancy continued, “and wanted to get her attention. So one night he decided to follow her home. Only she had no idea who he was at the time, and thought she was in real danger. So she called the police.”

Lissa glance over at Jack again, and noticed he had completely given up eating until he was able to calm back down. She also noticed that behind the crimson cheeks, Bill was also struggling to hold back a grin. She found herself engrossed in the story, and was smiling widely as well. “What did they do?”

“Oh, they sent out their finest officer, one who was recently made Lieutenant,” she responded. Lissa’s look jumped back to Jack, who was nodding vigorously, now laughing so hard that he had tears streaming down his cheeks.

“Yep, good old Lieutenant Jack McConnell. Well, he was out to save the world, so he got at least a dozen cruisers out there, surrounded him and had him on the ground before anyone knew what was happening.”

All four adults were now laughing at the story, including Bill. Lissa was thoroughly enjoying herself, and was glad to see that Bill could take teasing so well, even though he was completely embarrassed.

“Oh, he kept trying to tell them who he was,” Nancy went on, “but good old Jack would buy none of that. He had one of the junior officers take him in to booking, and only then did they find out what really happened. Have you ever lived that one down at the station, Bill?” she concluded sweetly.

“No,” he answered, feigning anger. “Nor does it appear I will ever live it down here.”

They all laughed for a few minutes, envisioning the picture Nancy had painted. Then a curious thought struck Lissa. “Whatever became of the girl?”

This time it was Bill that answered. “She became Mrs. Lowell. I married her four months later. By then she realized that I was relatively harmless.”

They all chuckled for a few more minutes, until Nancy changed to a more serious subject. “Lissa, whatever became of that coma patient? I know he was moved up to long-term care, but I never heard what happened. There was a rumor that he woke up. Do you know?”

Lissa was surprised at her reaction to the question; something akin to joy sprouting within her as she thought of the man they called Robbie. What surprised her most was that she also felt a sudden pang in her heart, as if she missed his companionship, even though she had only spent a few moments with him. She was so caught off guard at these emotions that she didn’t respond for a moment, until she realized everyone was watching her quizzically.