Driftwood: Part X

Nick leaned forward in expectation of Pat’s words.  Instead, he heard Mark say, “You know, we should head back to the house.”  Then looking at Nick he said, “Why don’t you come over for a bit.  The truth is, I like sharing the story of how we met but losing my wife was hard and I’d rather not talk about it in a public place.  Whaddya say?”

Without hesitation, Nick blurted out. “Sure.”

The three of them loaded into the car and started down the road.  As they neared Nick’s hotel, Mark asked, “You need to stop for anything.”  Nick replied, “No, I’m good.”  As they drove, Pat shared a little about her first husband, Richard.  “I met Richard in college.  I gotta admit I went to college in order to meet my husband and I hit the jackpot with Richard.  He was a hard working and honest man.  We had four children and I now have 8 grandchildren.  3 grandchildren were born after he died.” 

The sun was burning off the cool morning air so Mark announced it was time to roll up the windows and turn on the AC.  This made Nick happy since it would be easier to hear.  Pat continued, “Richard strongly believed in the roles the husband and wife played in the family unit.  Therefore, he preferred to be the breadwinner, which he was.  He also made sure to do all the yard work and house repairs.  He took care of the checkbook and never let me concern myself with any of the things he handled.  When the kids were little, I didn’t have a job outside the home.  So I was very involved in their lives and regularly visited their schools and took them to their various sporting or musical events.  Once the kids got older, I started working as a secretary for one of the town officials.

“Then I got the phone call.  There was an accident as Richard was making the left hand turn into his work.  A man driving a car in the oncoming traffic lost control of the car and hit Richard head on as he sat there waiting for the traffic to clear.  He died instantly.  He was 55 years old.”

Nick interrupted, “I’m so sorry.” 

“The next few weeks were a blur.  I felt a thick fog roll in over my life.  I was going through the motions but I was so grateful the kids were there for me even though they were hurting over the loss of their father.  A few years later, I remember asking them how I was during that time.  The consensus was that I acted normally for the circumstances but I gotta tell ya that there was a lot of time in the months following Richard’s death that I don’t remember.”  Then her voice lowered in a way that indicated something important was about to be said. 

“After the funeral was over and the older two kids returned to their homes, I was sitting alone at the kitchen table.  I honestly don’t know what I was doing, probably staring into my coffee cup or bowl of cereal.  All of a sudden, there was a knock at the door.  I thought it funny someone would knock since we have a doorbell.  I got up and answered the door.  You’re not going to believe this but it was Richard at the door.” 

A bolt of electricity shot through Nick’s body.  His nerve endings tingled.  Part of him wanted to cry but he steadied himself.  It seemed unbelievable but it was something he wanted to believe.  He had to believe it. 

Pat continued, “You would think I would jump into his arms but I was in a stupor so I just let him into the house and he just walked in.  He proceeded to his study and asked me to follow him.  Once in the study, he sat at his desk and started opening drawers.  He pulled out the checkbook and other papers and, step by step, showed me where all of our money was and who we owed money to.  Once he showed everything to me, he got up from his chair and left out front door.”

Silence hung in the air.  Tears were welling up in Nick’s eyes.  There were tears in Pat’s eyes too.  Then she added, “I have to believe it was actually Richard that came back to visit me.  No one else knew the books because only Richard did the books in our house.  I knew absolutely nothing about them because he wouldn’t let me do them.  That was the man’s job as far as he was concerned.  Had he not come back to tell me about the books, I would have been lost financially for a long time.” 

Then Mark added, “That’s quite a story, huh?  Now let me tell you about my first wife.”