Falcon Song: A love story (12 page)

“No, problem. Hey, Jason’s been trying to find you. Have you talked to him?”

“No. I’ll see about giving him a call. Thanks, Scotty. Take care.”

“I will. Hey, call Jason like right away. Whatever he needs, it must be pretty urgent. See ya.”

“Bye now.” She pushed end the final time and then swallowed the huge lump in her throat and powered the phone back down with a sad, teary sigh as she whispered, “Goodbye, Jason.”

Chapter 11

Jason’s plane touched down in Oklahoma City and he was almost the first one off, even though that wasn’t very polite, but for once he didn’t particularly care. He needed to get home.

He still hadn’t been able to reach Kate, and so it was his mom who had come to pick him up.

He came out the doors of the terminal and was glad to see she was pulled right up at the curb directly in front of him. As she popped the trunk, he tossed his bags into it and then came to the driver’s side door and opened it. “Thanks for coming, Mom. Do you mind if I drive home?”

“No, honey. Be my guest. But are you sure? You look exhausted.”

“I’m fine. I’ll drive.” She would never drive as fast as he wanted to go. He walked around the car and helped her back in and then jumped back in behind the wheel and dug out for Wye.

He didn’t say much and his mom didn’t either as they pulled around and through the airport exits. She was looking at him across the car and finally, she said, “Jason, I’m not sure what’s going on, but Kate came by a couple days ago to see your dad and me. It was Friday I believe. It was really weird. She didn’t need anything. Didn’t really even say anything. Just small talked, left a folder full of some papers and then hugged us both and left. Both of us thought it was a little strange. And she didn’t smile once. Isn’t that unusual?”

Trying to appear nonchalant, he asked, “That she came by or that she didn’t smile?”

“Well, either. She’s never acted like that before. Is she okay?”

“I don’t know, Mom. I haven’t seen her for a few days. I’ll check on her as soon as we get home. How’s Dad?”

“Oh, he’s fine. He’s golfing today. How was your trip?”

Wondering whether to tell her the truth or just be casual, he said, “Oh, it wasn’t too bad. Busy. Hectic. You know how it goes.” Disastrous. That’s what he should have said.

She went on, small talking about this or that as they drove and he managed to conceal the fact that he’d never been so anxious in his life. The rest of the band wouldn’t even be home until tomorrow, but he’d been too uptight to wait one more night and had bought another ticket and come home to find out why Kate wouldn’t so much as even turn her phone on to take a call from him. Surely she wouldn’t really let a simple beer bottle and display of affection affect the friendship that had lasted a lifetime. He kept telling himself that over and over, but then he’d remember her face in Lubbock. In all honesty, he didn’t know what he’d find when he knocked on her door this morning.

Her car wasn’t in her parents’ driveway when he drove by, even though it was only seven in the morning and he wondered if she had already gone into work for some reason. He drove there next, but the lot was empty and he pulled his car to the curb to figure out where to try next, struggling to squelch the rising panic in his chest.

Even though he looked like he’d been up all night in a series of airports, he drove back to her parents’ house and knocked on the door. Laura answered, still in her robe and Jason felt bad for having obviously woken her up. She gave him a tired smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes and said, “Jason, I didn’t think you’d be back in town yet. Come on in.”

He came in the door and looked around hopefully. Maybe Kate’s car was just at the shop or something. “I’m sorry to visit so early, but I haven’t been able to reach Kate and I’m worried. Is she here? I didn’t see her car outside.”

Laura’s eyes darkened and Jason was appalled to see them fill with tears as she shook her head. “No, Jason.” He waited anxiously while she struggled to get control of her emotions. Finally, she said, “I’m sorry, Jason, but Kate has moved.”

“Moved! What do you mean?”

Laura shook her head and the tears began to course down her cheeks. “She left, Jason. She’s gone.”

He came and took her by the shoulders. “Laura, what do you mean? She’s the queen of Birches have roots. She never even moved out to go off to college. She’s lived in this house since the day she was born.”

Nodding, Laura continued to cry softly and she looked up into his eyes with both sadness and pity. “She came home Thursday pretty upset and told me she was leaving.” Laura shrugged her shoulders and went on, “She slept most of that day and then packed up her car. Friday morning, she went next door to talk to your parents for a bit and drove away.”

Jason closed his eyes and groaned. Opening them, he asked, “Where did she go? Where is she staying?”

Laura shook her head sadly. “I’m so sorry, Jason. She made me promise I wouldn’t tell you.”

It felt like she’d belted him in the gut, but somehow he’d been half expecting it. He looked at the woman he’d thought of as his mother-in-law for years now and then sighed. Kate had packed up and moved out of her lifelong home. He turned and looked out the window beside the front door. What did he do now? He couldn’t even ask her forgiveness. Turning back to Laura, he asked, “How long? Did she say how long she intended to be gone?”

At that, Laura began to cry like her heart was breaking and the tears rolled down her cheeks. “She was so sad, Jason. She said she couldn’t live with memories of your life together all around her. I think she’s gone for good. I don’t think she has any intention of coming back here at all. Not for years and years at least.” Laura was crying so hard Jason could hardly understand her and he stepped to her and put his arms around her and began to pat her back. After a few seconds, she took a deep breath and said, “I’m so sorry, Jason. She just loves you too much. She felt like she had to go.”

He sighed again. “I know, Laura. Things looked bad that night. I promise, it wasn’t what she thought, but it looked bad. I don’t blame her. It looked like just what she’s worried about all this time.” He pulled back from Laura and said, “But I need you to know. I was only holding the beer because that jerk had handed me his to hold, while he answered the door. I don’t drink beer with the guys like that. And I’ve never,
ever
slept with anyone when I’m on the road. I truly do love Kate.”

Laura looked up and wiped at her eyes and sniffled. “I know you do, Jason. And I always try to encourage her about you. But there are more ways to be unfaithful than just sleeping with someone. It was more than that anyway. She felt like you were growing away from her and away from God so much that she didn’t really even know you now. She felt like you were more like Cody than like her anymore.”

He turned and went back to look out the window again while he thought about that. Maybe Kate had been right. Maybe he was even worse than Cody in some ways. Cody had at least realized Jason was not behaving appropriately for someone who was in an exclusive relationship, even when Jason had thought he was just being a normal member of a band and having a good time.

At length, he turned back and said, “I’ll go and let you get back to bed. I’ll respect your promise to her, but could you at least relay a message that I do love only her and I’m so sorry and would like to apologize and beg her forgiveness?”

“Sure, I could do that.”

“Is there anyone else who knows where she is?”

Laura shook her head, but said, “Kiersten, but she promised as well. I’m sorry.”

Sadly, Jason said, “I’m sorry too, Laura. For everything.” He turned for the door. “Tell Orrin I said hello. How is he doing?”

“He’s taking this rough. He’s been really down since he found out about the… Well, lately. He loves Katie dearly and her troubles have set him back a great deal.”

Jason looked down and said quietly, “I’m sorry, Laura. Go back to bed. I hope you have a better day.” He came back over to her and hugged her again. “I love you, Laura. Thanks for always putting up with me. I’ll do better. I promise.”

She hugged him back and then whispered, “I just hope it’s not too late, Jason.”

“Me too. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye, son.”

Jason walked slowly back to his car and then turned around to look at their two childhood homes. He’d known she was incredibly upset. And he’d known that the sad, eerily calm, resigned face he’d seen in that elevator was different than he’d ever seen her look, but he’d never dreamed she’d pull up those lifelong, deep roots she’d spoken of forever. He closed his eyes to try to deaden the pain of seeing those two lonely looking houses with the empty spot where her car usually sat. She was gone. His deeply rooted Kate was gone. He had to find her.

Chapter 12

Walking into her room late Friday afternoon, Kate kicked off her heels and began to change into exercise clothes to go down to the hotel gym. She had been in Dallas a full week and still hadn’t been offered a job. She’d known the economy was bad, and that she looked incredibly young for a management position, but she’d hoped her record would speak for itself. Apparently not. Tying on a pair of running shoes, she made a decision to take a job waiting tables if she could get it and start working her way up. It might take awhile, but she knew what she was capable of.

Maybe all she needed to do was humble herself a measure before God, because when she got back to her room an hour later, she had a message on her cell phone about a job she was being offered.

It turned out to be part time waiting, and part time night controller for an elegant seafood restaurant in South Dallas and Kate was thrilled. That way she’d be able to use some of the accounting and business she’d studied and still not be stuck in an office a hundred percent of the time. And hopefully, by the time she was big with the baby she could have worked herself up to a less physically demanding job than server.

As she showered, she tried to remember what the manager at that restaurant had been like, but she’d filled out so many applications she wasn’t sure she’d even met that manager. It was supposed to start late on Monday morning, so she had two days to kill before she had much to fill her time. She wouldn’t rent an apartment until she’d been there awhile and made sure that was where she wanted to stay, but she could at least be looking around that area to see what she might want if she did. Anything helped to keep her from missing Jason so desperately. She hadn’t been able to lie down even once without being haunted by memories and regrets.

That night, she got a long newsy e-mail from her mother. Her e-mail address was the one thing she hadn’t worried about changing. She simply blocked Jason’s messages and tried to stop herself from hopefully scanning her inbox for messages from him the way she had for years now. The fact he was blocked as a sender didn’t help all that much tonight because her mother told her he’d finally come home and learned Kate was gone and how he’d reacted. Kate was both angry with her mother and grateful when she mentioned she’d promised to pass along that Jason loved only her and was so sorry and wanted to ask her forgiveness.

What a strange mixture of emotions that message brought. Foremost, instant heartache, but then a warmth of emotion she didn’t even know what to call, and then a self deprecating sense of being a sucker when she remembered he’d told her that all along. The last time he’d said good bye on his way to Lubbock, he promised her he’d come back to her. And he would have. That was the sad truth. If Kate hadn’t busted him with the girl right in his arms, she’d have taken him back never the wiser. It was so strange to her that the man she’d known her whole life had such a warped sense of different values for when he was away from her.

After reading it through several times and bawling the whole time she did, she finally replied and asked that her mother not pass on any messages from him in the future. It was too hard to try to put this heartache behind her when she did.

Kate spent Saturday checking out apartments and was completely at a loss as to how to respond to one of the apartment managers when he made it very clear he’d have liked to visit with her a lot more than just long enough to discuss amenities. Men flirted with her often enough, but she’d been Jason’s girl since literally before she was old enough to date, and having a guy make such open advances to her now that she wasn’t with Jason was thoroughly foreign to her. What was her role just now? She was definitely single, but that certainly didn’t mean her heart wasn’t still foolishly stuck back in Wye, Oklahoma. For once, the town name was frustratingly apropos. She was single, but she was also expecting a baby. Where that put her socially, was a strange question.

Climbing into her car, she realized it didn’t matter a bit what her role should have been. The last thing in the world she wanted right now was to start dating. Which was a good thing because for a long time, now, she’d need to be focused on raising a child, not having a social life. That was reality.

Rather than go straight back to the hotel, she decided to do some shopping. She’d need some more serviceable shoes if she was going to be serving. Plus it would keep her mind occupied for just a few minutes longer.

Sunday, she went to two different churches in that area to start checking out where she would start attending when the time came. That evening, lying in her bed, she thought about church. She was an unwed mother. And although she considered herself a committed follower of Christ, she also knew she now presented some questionable ethics as far as regular church attendance was concerned. Trying to meld the fact that she’d repented of her one night of indiscretion, with the fact that she’d be single and pregnant amid a group of churchgoers was uncomfortable for her and would probably be even worse for others in the congregation. Not only that, but the last thing she wanted was to be a bad example.

Was it better to show that you could make mistakes, even huge ones, and repent and come right back into the fold? Or would it be better to lay low for the duration and ease into the fold later after the baby was born and her situation could be assumed as a broken marriage or something? She absolutely dreaded the thought of not going to church for months.

She thought about just getting a ring and then being closed mouth to anyone she met, but she didn’t think she could bring herself to do it. Every time she saw her own hand she’d know she had failed with Jason. It was heartbreaking enough just to think of it ten gazillion times everyday already.

Finally, she turned on her side and put a hand protectively over her stomach and decided to go to sleep and not worry about it all right now. Maybe in time she’d come up with some answers. In a perfect world, everything would be fine, but this world was far from perfect.

She slept in Monday, hoping to sleep through as much of the morning sickness as possible and knowing she might have a long day ahead of her. Actually, it was great to be back in a restaurant and with a purpose ahead of her for the day.

She hadn’t been inside the restaurant for three minutes before she started to notice things that could be improved upon with better and more knowledgeable management, but of course she couldn’t say anything. Just for kicks, she made a mental list when she noticed something. Maybe in time, she’d be in a position where she could implement some improvements.

The morning passed quickly and she was glad to find that the manager, Kerri, a big, tall, brown haired woman was going to let her have a section of tables during that very first lunch. Kate was intuitive enough to realize Kerri was just trying to get a feel for how Kate would manage on a slow Monday noon, but she was happy about it anyway. Back home, she typically had new people start out bussing to get the hang of the place and to go clear back to bussing would have been very troubling.

After the lunch rush, Kerri took her back into the business office and began to show her the ins and outs of the restaurant’s accounting system and once again, Kate found several areas that needed improvement. A couple of them were even to the extent of nearly inviting employee graft or worse and at one point, Kate even commented on how some things needed to be changed in order to protect the company’s finances. Kerri laughed and waved a hand as if it was nothing, and made some comment about how Kate was just young and inexperienced and that this was life in the food service industry. Then Kerri went right on and it was all Kate could do to not turn and stare at her. What kind of a manager didn’t care if there was overt poor stewardship?

As they continued, Kate wondered who owned the place and what kind of profits it made when the management was this lackadaisical and the book work this shoddy. Whoever owned it must have not had much of a handle on its potential.

Kerri spent the bulk of the afternoon with Kate and by the time she left her to see about some other things and get ready for the dinner crowd, Kate felt like she knew her way well enough around the business end of things to keep the day to day books together, as much as they had been certainly, and have things ready to turn over to the CPA at the end of every month.

She worked as a server again that evening from six until eight and then went back to the hotel tired, but grateful for that. Maybe tonight she would be able to fall asleep without the crushing thoughts of Jason and home breaking her down like they had for the last eleven days.

Back at the hotel, she went and worked out again, hoping that every little bit of fatigue would help.

Within just a few days of starting work, Kate had settled in and made friends with the other staff and had just about decided on where she wanted to live nearby when she came across some troubling questions on the night books. Kerri had her coming in at five thirty to serve the dinner rush and then at around nine thirty or so, when things slowed down, Kate would go into the office and begin to process the payables and receivables and do the books. She would typically finish at midnight or there about and walk out with the last of the dishwashers who were finishing cleaning up the place.

From the first, Kate had been surprised at how little profit this restaurant made for how brisk business was. It was a big place and lots and lots of people came through here, both at lunch and at dinner. There were some inefficiencies, but there still appeared to be an inordinate shortage of receivables in correlation to the supplies that were coming in.

Completely inadvertently, Kate hit a wrong button as she was tallying the night’s totals and she pulled up a hidden account that hadn’t been listed on any of the other ledgers. For several minutes she looked at it, but was unable to decide what it was an account of. It was labeled with only a number and didn’t correlate with anything that Kate could see. At length, she closed the window, finished the books and went back to the hotel, but there was something about that account that kept picking at her. In a way, it helped. That night she was able to think about work more and Jason less as she drifted off to sleep.

The schedule she was on worked well for her. She could sleep late and the morning sickness wasn’t so awful. Then she’d work out in the early afternoons before work and still be able to get to work on time and feeling well. As it was, by the time she was through at night, she was tired and her homesickness was easier to not dwell on.

Surprisingly, Kate really liked most of the people she worked with. Most of them were responsible and hard working, which wasn’t always the case in restaurants in her experience.

There was a server named Ben who had begun to be friendly enough to her it almost bothered her. He wasn’t inappropriate or anything, but just a bit more willing to do things for her than the rest, and always just happening to take a break the same time she took hers. It made her uncomfortable and she wasn’t really sure why. As she thought about it, it must have been that she still considered herself taken, and then she was irritated with herself instead of Ben. Yeah, she wasn’t interested in dating, but she needed to get past Jason eventually.

A few days after she had found the mystery account, she figured out what it was. That night at dinner, she had been assigned to a private party of forty eight, served inside a banquet room and it had been very elegant and high end. The appetizers had been King Crab legs and the main dish had been rib eye steaks and Swordfish. For dessert, they’d had fresh berry crepes that had to have cost a fortune. They’d also arranged an open bar that was enjoyed to the point that several of the guests were tipsy enough afterward that the maitre d had to arrange for cabs to get them home.

That night, as she was doing the books, there was no tab for the party listed. It was a big enough party that the bill should have totaled well into the thousands, but even looking to see if it had been prepaid somewhere, Kate found nothing. That was strange; Kate had seen Kerri run the ticket through the order register herself as she’d stood by. Wondering how it had gone through the order register without appearing on the night’s till, she went back to find the code it had been rung in under. Maybe it had been comped or something, which wouldn’t make any sense for a party of that size and expense.

She had to dig through the actual hand written bar receipts to finally find the code it was under. It wasn’t under either the normal restaurant sales or any of the listed employee comp codes and, in fact, Kate couldn’t even find an account with that number on it. Then she remembered the hidden account number and pulled it back up. She’d been right. The nearly eight thousand dollar tally was listed there under the hidden account. Somehow, Kerri had run it through just like it had been legit but had used a code that would keep that amount from showing up as a receivable for the night.

Kate quickly scanned the hidden account to realize that while tonight’s party was by far the largest sum on the list, there were fifteen other tabs on that same list dated within the last calendar month. Then she pulled up the history of the account and found it had been going since January one which was as far back as she had records for. This was the reason the restaurant wasn’t profitable. Well, it was profitable but it was Kerri and whoever else was in on this who was pocketing the profits and not the owners.

Absolutely disgusted by this kind of embezzlement that could potentially shut the entire enterprise down, Kate quickly printed the account ledgers and then the regular accounts, and the year to date list of what had been paid to suppliers and folded the print outs and put them into her purse. She wasn’t sure what to do with the information, but she knew she was going to do something. If someone had done something like this to her parents it would have bankrupted them.