The Reunion (19 page)

A
week later, Dave was back home trying to keep himself busy and his mind off Karen. It wasn’t working. He should be happy. John certainly was. He couldn’t believe how effectively Dave had pulled off his assignment. In just over a week he’d found Aaron, met with him, and got him to agree to come to Houston. Allan and Paul were happy too. The three men couldn’t wait to see Aaron again and had set December 18 as the date for the reunion.

Now less than two weeks away.

Another reason Dave should be happy . . . it was the first week of December. Christmas was in the air. The stores and government buildings in town were all decorated. Houses were trimmed with Christmas lights. And of course, Christmas music dominated the radio stations.

Dave had never noticed before how many Christmas songs had depressing themes. He used to hum or sing along with them, blissfully unaware. Now he heard them differently. They were written for the heartbroken.

“Blue Christmas” was one, seemed like he heard it at least once a day. And “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”—he used to really like this one but now understood that it was about someone having a lousy Christmas, hoping next year might be better. Even the Charlie Brown classic “Christmastime Is Here.” The lyrics sounded nice, but now Dave heard all the minor chords, the glum, haunting melody, and the children singing sadly in the background. Were they singing about him or Charlie Brown?

All week, Dave had done his best to put off his mom and Jake when they asked about Karen. At first, he’d give a vague answer or change the subject. Then he felt guilty, so he sat them down and told them the truth. Of course, they were encouraging and sympathetic. He was especially touched by Jake’s efforts to comfort him. “Doesn’t sound like she dumped you, Dad. She just needs a little time.”

So Dave busied himself by working on his book, mostly Aaron Miller’s part. Aaron hadn’t agreed to be interviewed yet; Dave was waiting for the right time to ask. A large part of his time was spent reviewing the videos of Billy Ames and Irene Hamlin. Heather had also sent her memory card in the mail, as promised.

Dave was almost finished editing and splicing, reducing over two hours of tape to a solid five minutes. But the end result was priceless. He couldn’t watch it without getting choked up. The next step was to transcribe this into text for the book. But the video turned out so good, he decided to hold on to it. Maybe he’d upload it to YouTube when the book came out.

When the book came out.
As if he already had a contract.

He tapped the play button and watched the video once more, thinking through different music tracks that might work. The front door of the condo closed hard. Had to be Jake coming home from school.

Dave called out as Jake walked by his bedroom door. “No practice today?”

Jake backed up, stood in the doorway. “No practice on game night.”

“I forgot you had a game tonight.”

“You coming?”

“Of course.”

“How are you doing?” Jake said. “About this Karen thing. You seemed a little sad at breakfast.”

“It’s just hard to sit around and wait until she calls.
If
she calls.”

“I’m kind of surprised how much this bothers you, considering how short it was. I mean, the two of you—”

“I know what you mean.” Dave swiveled in his chair. “I wish I could just snap out of it. The thing is . . . I’ve only felt like this one other time in my life, about one other woman.”

Jake nodded. He knew Dave was talking about his mom.

“I just can’t believe God intended us to meet, for me to feel all these things again, only to let it slip away so fast. But I don’t know what else to do.”

“What else? You’re not doing anything, Dad. You’re just . . . waiting.”

It felt odd to Dave, getting dating advice from his seventeen-year-old son. “But she asked me to give her some space,” Dave said. “She even said not to call, to wait and let her call me.”

“That was over a week ago. I think maybe it’s time for you to do something, to fight for her. Maybe you should just fly there and show up at her front door, try to win her back. It’ll show her how you really feel.”

Dave thought about it, then realized where this advice was coming from. He and Jake had sat through a number of romantic movies with Dave’s mom the last few months. “I appreciate what you’re saying, Jake. Really. But I don’t think it’s going to work out like it does in the movies. The girl has to totally love the guy, and she’s heartbroken they’re not together anymore. Then she walks away from the relationship because she thinks he loves someone else. So someone tells the guy, ‘Go after her. Don’t let her get away.’ If I do that here, it’s going to come off like I’m some kind of stalker.”

“Yeah,” Jake said, “I guess you’re right. I don’t know, Dad. You’re in a tough spot.” He smiled. “Maybe you just need to give her some more time. She’ll come around.”

“Thanks. And thanks for trying to help out your old man.”

“Sure, Dad.” He headed toward the kitchen.

Dave had only known Karen a short time. Before that, he’d been perfectly happy day after day, just having Jake back in his life. Besides, who gets to have a conversation like this with their teenage son? He sighed.

But then a thought came . . . Karen did need to hear something he’d planned to say the last time they’d talked. He reached for his phone and dialed her number before he chickened out.

Please, Lord, help me not to come off sounding desperate.

Karen set her purse down on the desk. When she pulled her cell phone out, she saw she had a missed call. It was from Dave, maybe twenty minutes ago. Her heart began to beat faster. She quickly checked and was disappointed he hadn’t left a message.

Before she talked herself out of it, she hit the send button. She waited a few rings, then heard that wonderful voice saying hello on the other end. “Hi, Dave, sorry I missed your call.”

“That’s okay. I didn’t leave a message. I know you said to wait until you called me, but—”

“Actually, I had a good talk last night with Steve and Aileen. They’re helping me sort out some of the things I’m going through.”

Dave didn’t respond for a moment. “Are you doing any better?”

“I think so,” she said. “And I want to thank you for not calling me all week.”

“It was hard.”

She was relieved to hear him say this. “It was hard for me too,” she said. “But to be honest, I’ve needed the break. Talking it over last night helped. I can really see this is more about my dad than you. I guess I’d been fooling myself. It bothers me way more than I realized . . . why he left us, why he never came back, or even tried. I thought I was completely over it, but when I saw his face in the newspaper like that, all these things just started floating up.”

“Did I make it worse? I’ve been trying to think of things I said or did all week, the only thing I can—”

“It really wasn’t you, Dave. Other than I really do think we were moving too fast. At least for me. I’ve barely dated anyone since Greg left four years ago, and here I was flying to Florida and meeting your mom and Jake already.”

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have pushed you into that.”

“You didn’t push me. I went willingly. But that’s just not who I am. I don’t just get up and fly away with some guy on a moment’s notice.” She thought that sounded a little harsh. “I’m not saying you’re just ‘some guy.’”

“That’s all right. Have you thought about a pace you might be more comfortable with?”

“A little bit, but I’m not sure I want to talk about that just yet, if that’s okay. I still think I need a little more time. Is that what you were calling about?”

“No, but just know I’m ready to go whenever you’re ready, at any pace you want. I was calling about something you just mentioned a moment ago, about how much you’ve been struggling with the way your dad left and him never trying to reconnect with you. Turns out, he did.”

“What do you mean?”

“You never knew about it. Your mom never told you.”

“When?”

“In 1987, six months after he got off the streets and got his life straightened out. He called your mom and told her he didn’t want to cause any trouble for her and had no intentions of making any legal claims, but he really wanted to start having a relationship with you and Steve again.”

“He did?” Karen felt her heart stirring inside.

“Your mom turned him down flat. Karen, I know you loved your mother a lot. I’m sure she was a wonderful lady and had very good reasons for doing what she did. And I don’t want to make any judgments here, but—”

“What did she say? Why did she turn him down?” Karen suddenly felt a rush of anger come over her.

“I’m making you upset. Look, I can call back—”

“I’m sorry, Dave. I’m not upset at you.” She had to calm down. “Did he tell you why she refused him?”

“He told me what she said. It was . . . well, to me, it was pretty harsh. I’m sure she thought she was just protecting you guys.”

“I want to hear what she said.” There was that edge again. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay. I know this is deep water.”

She heard Dave exhale.

He continued. “She made it clear you all wanted nothing more to do with him. She said you had brand-new lives now. A real father you even called Dad. He provided a normal family life and had been doing it for years.” Dave paused. “Are you okay? You sure you want to hear the rest?”

“Yes.”

“Aaron remembered one quote word for word. I wrote it down. Here, let me read it.” A brief pause. “Your mom said, ‘It’s too late, Aaron. Much too late. I’m glad you’re feeling better about yourself now, and you finally got off the streets. But this isn’t your home anymore, and this isn’t your family anymore, either. It’s best you leave well enough alone. The kids don’t even ask about you anymore. Haven’t for years.’ He was all broken up talking about this, Karen. He cried, almost uncontrollably, for twenty minutes, talking about how sad he was that he missed out on so much of your lives.”

Karen began to cry. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I just need a minute here.” She pulled a package of tissues from her purse and tried to get control.

“I’m sorry, Karen. I hate hearing you so sad.”

“This is all pretty hard to hear,” she said as she wiped her eyes. “But I’m glad you told me. Really.”

“Listen, I won’t keep you on the phone much longer. But I have an idea. Don’t answer now, just talk it over with your brother, pray about it, and let me know. The man who hired me to find your dad set up a reunion in Houston for December 18th. I’ll be flying there with Aaron, so they can spend some time together. I know Aaron—your dad—would be wide open to the idea of heading up to Fort Worth to visit you and your brother after.” He waited a few moments.

She wasn’t sure what she thought about the idea. She wasn’t sure of anything at the moment. “I’ll talk with Steve about it.”

“That’s great. Take your time. I’m not going anywhere. And Karen, I don’t know if this helps, but . . . I’ve gotten to know your dad some. I’m hoping to get to know him a lot more. He’s actually quite a remarkable man. If you don’t mind, I’d like to send you something.”

“What?”

“A little video I’ve made. It’s not him talking but what others here at the park are saying about him. It’s only five minutes long.”

December 17

Aaron looked at himself in the mirror. It was about nine-thirty in the morning. He barely recognized the man looking back at him. Apparently, Dave Russo, the young man who’d set up this whole reunion affair, had called Sue two days ago, asked her if she’d take some time to help Aaron get a makeover.

That was the word she used when she’d taken Aaron out yesterday—a makeover. The day started with a new haircut, and not at his regular barber’s but some fancy hair salon. Made Aaron cough, all the perfume in that place. And he wasn’t too sure about the fellow that cut his hair. Especially when he’d tried to talk Aaron into coloring his hair darker and giving him a manicure. Aaron thought he was kidding. Aaron passed on that one. He wasn’t about to let anybody play with his hands.

But he had to admit, he kind of liked the way his haircut turned out.

He also liked all these new clothes: shirts, trousers, belts, socks, and shoes. Dave even insisted he get a suit, a nice dark blue one. And a long-sleeved white shirt and matching tie. Then Sue bought him a suitcase with wheels to put all these new duds in for the trip. She wouldn’t let him see what any of it cost. She said Dave had given her a budget to work with, and by day’s end, she’d come well under that.

But it didn’t seem right, getting all these things for nothing.

Aaron walked to his armchair, picked up his Bible, and zipped it inside the front flap of the suitcase. It was tucked neatly on top of his metal box, the one holding the Medal of Honor. Dave had insisted he bring it, told Aaron they’d be putting the suitcase in a compartment right over his seat while they flew. No chance of it getting lost or stolen that way.

Aaron lifted his new brown jacket off a hook and put it on. It was only a little nippy outside, but Dave said it was considerably colder in Houston, where they were headed. He was picking Aaron up this morning to take him to the airport, supposed to be here any minute.

Aaron sat in the armchair, ready to go. When Dave arrived, Sue said she’d call on the walkie-talkie. He looked over the place. Guess everything would keep; not like the world would stop spinning if he took a few days off.
Thank you, Lord
. He had to admit, now that this day was here, he was mostly looking forward to it. He hadn’t flown on a plane in over twenty years. Probably hadn’t bought any new clothes since before that; he only shopped in thrift stores.

“Okay, Aaron, you can come on out. Dave’s here.” Sue’s voice startled him. He slid the suitcase off his cot, wheeled it to the door. Hard to believe that before the sunset, he’d be four states over in Texas.

The same state where Karen and Steve lived.

He opened the door, saw Dave in the parking lot in front of the main house. Already had the trunk open. He was talking with Sue. Aaron took a few steps, then remembered. The picture. He hurried back to the workbench and grabbed his picture of Karen and Steve, still in its frame. He unzipped the top of his suitcase and carefully laid it inside.

Now he was ready.

When Dave saw Aaron coming, he waved. “All set, Aaron?”

“Guess so.”

“You look mighty fine in your new clothes.”

“I don’t know how to thank you, buying all the stuff in this suitcase. I—”

“You can thank your friend John when you see him. I’m just the messenger.”

“You think that old heart of yours can take all this excitement?” Sue said as he reached the car.

“Guess we’ll find out.”

As Dave took his suitcase, they heard a familiar humming sound. Aaron turned to see Billy and Tess heading their way.

“I know you didn’t want no big send-off, Aaron,” Sue said quietly. “But I had to tell Billy.”

“That’s okay, Sue. Meant to tell him myself.”

“He’s still the only one in the park knows about your medal,” she said. “I don’t know why you don’t want anyone knowing about it, but I’ll keep my trap shut. Can’t promise Billy’ll do the same.”

“Hey, Billy.” Dave closed the trunk lid.

“Dave . . . Sue . . . Aaron,” Billy said when he reached them.

“They gotta be on their way now, Billy,” Sue said. “Or they’ll be late for the airport.”

“I didn’t come to give a speech. I just wanted to say good-bye to my friend.”

“You know I’m coming back in a few days,” Aaron said.

“I know . . . but I also came to say . . .” He let go of Tess’s leash, and with the same hand gave Aaron a full salute. “Aaron Miller, I’m proud to know you and proud to be called your friend.”

Aaron just stood there, didn’t know what to say. He started getting choked up. He saluted back. “It’s been my honor to know you, Billy.”

“And I want you to know . . .” Billy picked up Tess’s leash again. “Everything you hear me say on that tape Dave has . . . I meant every word.”

They shook hands again, said their good-byes, and Aaron got in the car. As they drove off, Aaron turned to Dave. “What was Billy talking about?”

“You mean the tape?” Dave said. “Just some things he told me, to help me with my book research. I’ll let you hear it later.”