Somewhere Only We Know (23 page)

Finn led Callum through to the kitchen, grabbed a beer from the fridge
, picked up his open bottle from the counter, and then led the way out to the back porch.

They both sat in silence for a few minutes, neither knowing what to say next.

“Did you try calling one of her friends?” Finn asked, finally unable to cope with the growing silence and both took a long swig of their beers.

“There is no point,” Callum sighed. “Those three are like the mafia, you don’t mess with the family. If Kate is
angry and pissed off at me, you can bet your ass, the other two are just the same.”

“Yeah,” Finn laughed. “I learned that the hard way. Don’t think I was their favourite p
erson either.”

“I am telling you, tho
se chicks are crazy,” Callum replied and both men laughed until once again, the silence returned.

“
Look, For what it’s worth,” Finn finally said turning to Callum. “I don’t think it’s too late for you and Kate. She called in here yesterday morning, early. She said she was going to find herself again. That she needed to be closer to Emily. The thing is, she said she thought you had moved on, but that she still had hope. She still loves you.”

“Did she say where she was going?” Callum asked hopefully.

“She said she was going somewhere only you knew,” Finn replied and smiled when he thought of her.

“She is going back to the summer house,” Callum said jumping up to his feet
, as a tiny bubble of hope sparked inside him. “She really is going home.”

Callum held his hand out to Finn. Finn looked at it for a moment, then took it a
nd shook it firmly, but neither said a word.

Finn led Callum back through the house to the front door.

“Thanks for all the help,” Callum said once he was back on the front porch. “I half expected you to tell me to go to hell.”

“It’s not what Kate would have wanted me to do,” Finn replied.

Callum turned to walk away then he stopped and turned back to Finn.

“I heard you
r dad is not doing so well,” Callum said sincerely. “I will keep him in my prayers.”

Finn thought for a moment, he wondered should he tell
Callum about his dad, he clearly didn’t know Jack had passed away.

He decided against it and instead just smiled.

“I would appreciate that,” Finn replied.

He stood and watched Callum hurry down the path to the car parked
outside.

He
smiled to himself knowing his dad would have been proud of him. He then thought of Kate, she was everything he wanted, but they just weren’t meant to be. It was time to let her go and move on too.

When
Harry Kelly opened his front door and found his only daughter standing before him, his heart leapt with joy. Without missing a beat, he wrapped her in his arms and hugged her tightly. He had missed her so much.

The minute
Kate saw her father, she broke down and sobbed her heart out.

“It’s okay baby girl,” Harry whispered to his daughter
as he squeezed her tighter. “Dad has you.”

When
he finally released her from his embrace, he looked down at his daughter and smiled.

“I’ve been expecting you,” he said with a knowing smile.

“How,” she sniffed as she quickly wiped away the tears.

“A father just knows,” Harry replied. “The last couple of times I spoke to you, I don’t kn
ow, you just seemed different. A little lost perhaps.”

“Oh, Dad
,” Kate said hugging him once again. “I have missed you.” She was so happy to be home with her father, back where she belonged.

“Come on, sweetheart,” Harry sa
id as he broke from her embrace slowly. “Let’s get you inside.”

He reached down and grabbed her bags
before they both headed inside. Once he discarded her bags in the hallway, he led her through to the kitchen and switched on the kettle. He made them both a cup of tea, then joined her at the kitchen table.

“So are you going to tell me what’s happened then?” Harry asked, as he sipped his tea.

“I don’t know where to start,” she sighed as she rubbed her tired eyes. “Everything is such a mess. I left Callum because he cheated on me, I met another guy, who was very sweet. Callum tried to sort things with us but he was so jealous of Finn. Then Jack died and….”

“Slow down,” Harry exclaimed, cutting her off mid rant. “Start at the beginning.”

So she did. She told him everything. About the night Callum cheated, about going to Seattle, Finn and Jack, she told him it all. Retelling her father all that had happened, she realised what an unholy mess she had made of everything.

“
So what now?” Harry asked when she finished her story. “What will happen with you and Callum now?”

“I have no idea,” she replied honestly. “I love him so much Dad, but I don’t know
if he still loves me.”

“Oh I don’t think that is even a question,” Harry replied with a small laugh. “A man does
n’t fly thousands of miles and punch a stranger out, for a woman he doesn’t love.”

Kate smiled at her dad.

“You have both made mistakes,” Harry continued. “But you have both been through hell, and you are allowed to be a little stupid and mess up.”

“
What if I can’t fix this Dad,” Kate asked. “How am I ever going to survive without him, these last few weeks have shown me how much I love him.”

“I don’t think you have to worry,” Harry said as he stood up and picked up the dirty cups from the table. “That boy is crazy about you.
Has been since the first day he saw you. He turned his world upside down to be with you. Have a little faith, this will pass.”

He reached over, patted her hand and smiled. “
Now, how about another cup of tea?”

That night Kate lay in her old bed. Her mind was full of Emily and Callum. The next day was the 21st of August and would have been Emily’s fifth birthday. She wondered if Callum remembered. Kate’s heart was sad, but the sense of hopelessness that usually came when she allowed herself to think about Emily, didn’t come. She thought of her beautiful little girl, and smiled. She thought of the day she was born, the day she said her first words and of the day she took her first steps. There was so many happy memories that they made in four short years. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep with Emily in her thoughts.

**********

The late afternoon sun felt warm and welcoming on her face. The air was filled with the smell of wild, summer flowers and the happy laughter of her beautiful little girl, Emily. Kate heard Emily calling her, then giggle again.

She was standing in a middle of a field of tall grass. It seemed ablaze with the dazzling colours from all the beautiful wild flowers dotted around everywhere, as they swayed gently in the light breeze. The summer sun was so bright, it was making it hard for her to see. She held her face up to the sun, soaking in the welcoming warmth.

“Mommy,” she heard Emily’s voice calling out and giggle once more. Kate spun around and found Emily standing in front of her, smiling brightly.

“
There you are,” Kate said bending down and scooping her little girl up in her arms. “I have been looking everywhere for you.”

“You are silly Mommy,” Emily said with a giggle. “I was
right here all the time.”

“I have missed you so much,
Em,” Kate said holding her little girl as close as she could.

“I am always here,” the little girl said
, pressing her hand over Kate’s heart. “I love you, Mommy.”

“Love you too, baby girl,” Kate said as the tears suddenly broke free and trickled down her face. “
Love you all the way around the world and back.”

“Don’t cry Mom
my,” Emily said as she wiped Kate’s tears. “Tell Daddy I love him too.”

“Okay, baby,”
Kate said as she stood Emily back down on the ground.

“I have to go now,” Emily said.

“I know,” Kate said as she tried her hardest to smile through her tears.

“Be happy,” Emily said before she turned and ran off laughing.

Kate quickly sat up in the bed and smiled. She wiped the tears from her eyes, but for the first time in a year, she felt at peace. She lay back in the bed and smiled again. She didn’t know how, but she knew everything was going to be okay.

**********

When Kate woke the next morning, she asked her dad was it okay to borrow his car.

She set out on her journey a little before noon
. She had one quick stop to make before she headed to the graveyard to put flowers on Emily’s grave. There were fresh flowers on the grave when she got there. She figured her dad, or one of her brothers must have dropped by recently and left them there. She knelt down on the grass, in front of the tiny headstone for about twenty minutes, and sobbed quietly.

When she got back to the car, she check
ed her phone. As it was Emily’s birthday, she thought Callum would have tried to call her, send her a text even, but there was nothing from him at all.

She started the car and pulled out of the car park and continued on her journey.

It was a little after two, when she reached their little summer house. The meadow was just like she remembered, just like in her dream. She walked to the door of the little house and unlocked it. It was just as they had left it. Everything still in place. Scattered picture on the walls, a box of toys in the corner, all the tell-tale signs of the happy little family, they once were.

Kate walked down the hallway to the room at the bottom and stopped. It was Emily’s room. She took a deep breath
before she opened the door. As she stepped inside a hundred different memories came rushing to her at once, and they were all happy ones. Of days when it was just the three of them and the rest of the world had disappeared. They were once so happy.

She walked over and sat on the edge of Emily’s bed. She picked up the pillow
from the bed and brought it to her face. Inhaling deeply, she could almost smell Emily on it. A lump in her throat almost choked her, but she refused to give into tears. Today was Emily’s birthday and birthdays should be about celebrating life, not mourning death.

When s
he returned the pillow to its spot on the bed, Kate picked up the blue bear that was sitting just in front of the pillows and smiled.

She remembered the day they had bought it for
Emily. It was the last day of play group for the summer. Emily had been so upset because it meant she wasn’t going to see her best friend every day.

So, Callum took her to the toy store and she picked the blue bear because it was her best friend’s favourite colour. She insisted on calling it after the little boy, whose name was Jack.

Kate had completely forgotten about that story until she saw Jack the bear, sitting on the bed. She thought about Jack and knew he was letting her know, he was doing what she had asked him to do.

She put the bear back down on the bed and stood up.
There was something she needed to do.

Returning to the car, she opened the boot and took out the five pink balloons she had stopped and bought on the way.

Holding them tightly, she slammed the boot shut and headed for the center of the meadow.

When she reach the center, she
stood for a moment, closed her eyes and turned her face up to the sun. It felt warm and welcoming. She smiled, knowing Emily wasn’t far away. If she listened really closely, she was sure she could hear Emily’s laughter echo through the air.

She opened her eye
s and looked up at the balloons, as she slowly opened her hand and released them. Pink was Emily’s favourite colour. Everything had to be pink. Everything except, Jack the bear.

“Happy Birthday, baby,” she whispered as she watched the
balloons rise higher and higher into the beautiful clear blue, summer sky.

“Kate,” A voice from behind her made her jump but she recognised it stra
ight away. For a moment she didn’t move, afraid it was just her mind playing tricks and that when she turned around, he would be gone.

Her heart pounding loudly in her chest as she closed her eyes and slowly turned to face him.  W
hen she had turned around, she hesitated. When she finally opened her eyes, she saw Callum standing there, in the middle of their meadow.

He l
ooked sad, tired and very nervous, but most of all, his was just as handsome as she remembered and her heart brimmed over with love for him.

She smiled at him and she could see him instantly relax.

“You found me,” Kate said as she took a step closer to him.

“I am so sorry I ever
lost you,” he said as slowly he moved closer to her. Kate didn’t reply immediately. Instead, she walked up to Callum and placed her hand over his heart.

“I was always here,” she said with a smile.

“Kate, nothing happened with that girl,” he blurted out.

“I know,” Kate smiled.

“There is no one else but you,” he said, as he reached up and brushed a stray strand of hair from her face.

“I know,” she said once again her eyes never leaving his.

“I am sorry I hurt…” Callum began to say, but Kate stopped him with a kiss. He wrapped his arms around her and drew her into him as he returned her kiss.

“No more sorry,” Kate
whispered breathlessly, when she finally broke her lips from his. “No more blame. I love you Callum.”

“I love you more,” Callum replied with a big smile. “I promise, I will make you happy again.”

“You already have,” Kate replied before her mouth found his once again. She had finally found where she belonged.