Meet Me at Taylor Park (23 page)

Brandon stood his ground, but felt a tap on his shoulder.

Katie peeked out from behind at Steven, who was scowling. She whispered to Brandon, “Let me go. I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“Don’t go,” Brandon whispered back. “I’ve lost you too many times already.”

“The guy has a gun.” Her voice was urgent now.

Katie pushed out from behind Brandon.

She held out her hands as though to surrender. “I’ll go with you,” she said to Steven. “Just don’t hurt anyone.”

Steven lowered his gun. “Do you really mean it?”

“Yeah,” said Katie. “I’ll go with you.”

Steven looked pacified. “OK.”

Katie moved beside Steven and turned around to face Brandon. Brandon was desperate.

Steven took Katie’s hand and they walked away.

Brandon stood there. A whirlwind of emotions ravaged through him.

A sudden intense anger rose in his chest. He was not going to let Katie go, not ever again.

He lunged at Steven. Steven turned around and the two of them fell onto the dirty ground.

A shot was fired from the gun.
 

The birds in the trees scattered.

*

Chapter 19

Brandon inspected himself, but saw no wounds. He also felt no pain. He looked over at Katie, who looked fine.

Brandon continued to struggle with Steven on the ground while Katie screamed at them to stop. Katie took out a cell phone and called 911.

Brandon pinned Steven to the ground and then elbowed him in the face. Steven thrashed his arms in an uncoordinated manner. He then tripped Brandon with his legs and Brandon lost his footing.

He sprawled onto Steven and Steven turned the table on him. He was now punching Brandon in the chest.

As Brandon defended himself, he searched for the gun. He finally saw a black glint in the sun. It was far away, out of reach.

Brandon socked Steven in the chest, but Steven kept on pounding him.

The two of them struggled on the dirt until they grew exhausted. Their actions slowed and eventually, the punching ceased.

In the distance, police sirens wailed.

Brandon saw that Steven was slowing down and so he pushed Steven off him.

Katie rushed to Brandon’s side. “Are you OK?”

Brandon inspected himself again. “I don’t think it hit me.”

Steven got up and scanned the ground for the gun. When he could not find it, he looked at the two of them. His face was bloody and his eyes were incensed. He looked from Brandon to Katie, and a moment of deep understanding struck him.

He shook his head. “Forget this. You two can have each other.”

Katie looked at him. “I’m sorry, Steven,” she whispered.

The sirens grew louder and Steven looked like a scared rat.

He spit out a trail of blood and then scurried off.

Katie knelt down and held Brandon tight, kissing him all over. “Why did you do that?”

His face was bloody, as though he was just in a boxing match. “I saw him take you away from me. I couldn’t let that happen again.”

She hit him in the chest. “You could have died.”

“Never again.” He grabbed her hands. “We let too much time pass us by. We were almost strangers, Katie. Can’t you imagine? Us? Strangers?”

The tears that were Katie had been holding back were now overwhelming. They finally came, drowning her in a flash flood.

“You’ve come back to me,” Brandon said. He rested his eyes for a while.

She cradled him in her arms. “You never gave up on us.”

The rain had stopped. The sun was now bathing the entire park in golden hues.

*

That evening, Brandon took Katie to his farm in Langley. He showed her the cornstalks, and led her to the corner where a dozen oregano plants were in full bloom.

Katie waited until her eyes adjusted to the dark. When she saw the plants, she gasped and put a hand to her mouth.

An icy wind whizzed through the air. Katie shivered and Brandon put his arms around her.

She examined him. “That’s why you’re now so tan.” She grabbed his hands. “And your hands.” She rubbed his back. “And your back.”

He shrugged. “Small price to pay.”

He looked away, staring at the moon. “You said I was selfish. I didn’t want to be that guy anymore. After you left, I bought a farm and planted some oregano, but neglected it. And when you came back, I started planting them again.”

She reached in and hugged him.

Brandon stroked the back of her neck. “We can have pasta every night for dinner if you want.”

Katie closed her eyes, and pressed her face hard against his chest.

He whispered, “I’m not as rich as your fiancé.”

“Ex-fiancé,” she said. “And I don’t care.”

She then gripped his waist. “You never gave up on us,” she mumbled.

“I never did.” He stroked her hair. “I never could.”

*

Chapter 20

2011

Ashley listened in rapt attention. “I saw it coming.”

Katie shifted on the bed. “Did you?”

“Actually, you had me worried for a minute,” Ashley said.

Katie laughed.

Her daughter frowned. “So you did end up with your first love.”

Katie nodded. “Yes, but it’s not about first loves or later loves. It’s about how the love was proven. That means it’s real.”

Ashley wiped her eyes, and then gave her mother a big hug. “I can’t believe daddy got a farm so that he could grow your favorite spice.”

Katie stroked her daughter’s long hair. “Are you OK?”

Ashley looked up at her with dark eyes. “Kyle and I definitely didn’t have that. He never grew anything for me. The most he did was offer me half his cupcake at lunch.”

Katie chuckled, but then grew serious. “But your father paid a price. He got sick a couple years after you were born. I always suspected it was because he spent so much time in the sun on the farm.” She pointed outside at the giant oregano plants that were in full bloom. “I told him he didn’t have to work so hard on the farm, but he said it was his passion.”

In the other room, the coughing grew more cacophonous.

Frowning, Katie got up. “I have to go check on your father. Are you going to be alright?”

Ashley dabbed her eyes with a tissue. “I think I’m going to be fine.” She smiled.

Katie turned around and was about to leave the room when her daughter said something.

“Mom?”

Katie turned back to her daughter.

Ashley was still dabbing her eyes. “Do you ever regret not being a famous fashion designer? Did you give it all up for love?”

Katie had never been asked this question before. She thought about it, and said, “No, I don’t regret it. I tried it, but it didn’t really work out. I’m happy being here with you and daddy. I didn’t know it, but that was my real dream all along.”

Katie looked at her daughter. She could see a lot of herself in her. The same hair, eyes and face. She knew that Ashley was going to be fine.

The coughing started up again.

Katie hurried out of Ashley’s room and into her master bedroom. Her husband was lying in the bed, still hacking away.

She grabbed his water on the dresser and brought it to him. “You OK, Brandon?”

He propped himself up in bed and drank the water. As he drank, Katie examined him. His eyes were dull, but not because he lacked passion. She hated that the illness had taken the passion out of his eyes. His face was gaunt, as though he had not eaten for days.

Brandon started coughing, and Katie took the glass of water out of his hand. Water spilled down the side of his mouth, so Katie grabbed a tissue and soaked it up.

He grabbed her hand. “This reminds me of that New Year’s Eve. Remember? I sprained my ankle and you fed me that chocolate cake.” His voice was weak and ailing.
 

She nodded, and tried to smile. “Yes, I remember.” She crawled into bed with him, and then held him while he closed his eyes.
 

She breathed in. “Kyle just broke up with Ashley. I told her our story.”

“How did she react?”

“I think it made her feel better.”

“Good.”

There was a comfortable silence for a little while. The only sound was the occasion car sputtering on the street outside.
 

Katie stared out the window. The oregano plants filled more than half the field. Row after row after row. It was a giant maze.

Brandon asked, “Can you just hold me for a while?”

Katie turned her attention back to him. She held onto his gangly body, putting her hands on his back and hip, feeling the sharply-defined bones. “I wish you hadn’t spent that much time in the sun. I don’t like oregano that much, you know. It’s not worth sacrificing your body.”

“I liked being in the sun,” he said. “I like planting things and caring for things. I want to go work on the farm right now and plant some more oregano.”

Katie looked at him disapprovingly. “You’re not in any condition to be working.”

He put his hand on hers, his face vibrant, even playful. “Hey, I want to take you for a walk in Taylor Park later.”

She put her other hand on his. “I wish we could, but they built a mall over it years ago. Remember?”

He looked confused, then said, “Oh yeah.”

“The doctor says you’re too sick to walk anyway.”

“What about making you some spaghetti with oregano?”

She gave him a tender look. “I’m fine.”

There was another silence, broken only by the Brandon’s cough. It sounded bad, like he was trying to dislodge something in his throat.

Katie stirred, getting up. “I’ll get your medicine.”

Suddenly, Brandon reached out one arm, holding her in place. He stared her in the face. “Why are you so good to me?”

Katie was unprepared for the abruptness of the question. For a while, she did not know what to say.
 

Then, she leaned in and whispered. “We said we have to take care of each other. You said that to me first, the first time we went to Taylor Park. Don’t you remember?” She put her hand on Brandon’s hair and stroked it.

Brandon looked at Katie, his eyes lucid. “We said we have to take care of each other,” he repeated, closing his eyes. “I remember that. I remember that really well.”

Katie started to turn around.

“Wait,” Brandon said. “Stay with me.”
 

He held out his hand, and Katie took it.
 

She then climbed into bed with him.

A little while later, Brandon was silent. Katie was debating whether to get the medicine, but since her husband was already asleep, she thought it could wait. She knew the medicine couldn’t cure him anyway.

She held him, burying herself in his back. She could hear a faint pulse.

As she held him, she noticed that his breathing was slowing down. He was inhaling for a long time and then exhaling for an even longer time. This cycle continued for a while. Curious, she strained to catch a glimpse of his face, but he looked fine.

Closing her eyes, she gripped onto his back tighter still. A heavy silence hung over the room. Even his pulse was no longer audible.

They lay like that for the next little while, like two rabbits snuggled in the ground together, hibernating.

She dozed off, and then awoke with a jerk. She felt like she had been asleep for hours. She looked around and realized that she was still clutching onto her husband’s body. But, the eerie silence bothered her. She could not even hear Brandon’s breathing.
 

She nudged her husband. “You awake?”

When he did not answer, she nudged him a few more times. Concerned, she got out of bed and hurried over to the other side.

Brandon’s face was pale and whitening.

Katie put a hand to his face, gently caressing it.

His cheeks were cold, even though the room was heated.

Katie got into bed with him. She was glad she was facing him this time. He looked so tranquil just lying there.

She adjusted her body so that she was in a comfortable position, and then grabbed onto him.
 

She immediately recoiled, stung by the coldness of his body.
 

She then rubbed his arms to warm him up and then wrapped her legs around his.

She then stared into his face, and gave him a shy smile.

She nodded. She understood what had happened.
 

After fighting the illness for years, he was finally dead.
 

She knew she would have to call the funeral home and hospital soon, but before all the strangers came and handled his body, she wanted him all to herself for a while.