“TELL ME YOU’RE NOT BACK at work already,” Meg Lockhart-Carrigan said when she ran into Kate in the corridor outside Kate’s office.
Kate carried her briefcase into her office and set it on her desk. “I’m back at work.”
Meg hovered in the doorway, obviously wanting to offer Kate what comfort she could. “Everyone thought you’d take at least a week off,” she said gently, “not just a few days.”
Kate sorted through the stack of mail on her desk, the sheer routineness of the action making her feel a little better. “I know,” she replied absently. “I had a call from the hospital administrator urging me to do just that.”
Meg shut the door, ensuring them some privacy. “Then why don’t you?”
Because I need to feel useful. I need to get my life back to normal. If it would ever get back to normal without her dad, Kate thought. “I just needed to be here,” Kate said finally.
Meg nodded. Having lost both her parents when she was in her early twenties, she understood what was going through Kate’s heart and mind as only someone who has also been through it themselves could. “How’s your mom holding up?” Meg asked softly.
“As well as can be expected,” Kate said. “She’s got a lot of friends, and that’s helping. Plus, we did everything we needed to do related to Dad’s death.” They had hosted a wake at the house after the funeral services. They had met with the family attorney and financial advisor. Cleaned out Mike’s office at the school, and sorted through his belongings at home, giving some thing to charity and others to friends and keeping the most personal items for themselves and any children Kate might have someday. They’d even established a scholarship fund in Mike’s memory, and accepted civic and education awards bestowed on him posthumously, knowing the actual ceremonies of such awards would come later. Through it all, Sam had called Kate often and done what he could to help her and her mother out, given the responsibilities he had at home. But now, Kate thought, it was time for her to move on and resume her life again.
Meg rummaged through the file folder she was carrying and handed Kate a sheet of paper. “Well, as long as you’re in, here’s a list of counseling referrals. Some of them have already made appointments with your office. Some will be calling.”
Kate scanned the list, perusing who needed grief counseling, checking the trauma victims. She stopped at the name referred for alcohol counseling. Read it once and then again. “Will and Sam McCabe signed up for alcohol counseling?” Kate asked, stunned. She didn’t personally handle this—someone from Alcoholics Anonymous would—but the arrangements were made for hospital patients through her office.
Meg nodded. “I never thought I’d see Sam agree to any kind of counseling period, for him or his boys. But after what happened with Will…”
“What happened with Will?” Kate asked in alarm. “Damn it, Meg. Tell me.”
“Will drank enough whiskey to kill himself the night of your dad’s funeral. Sam found him at the football stadium and brought him to the ER. They had to pump his stomach. I thought surely, given how close the two of you seem to have gotten recently, that Sam would have told you.”
So would have Kate.
WILL WAS SITTING on the front porch when Kate drove up and got out of her car, some sort of book in her hand. He couldn’t say he was surprised. He had been expecting her to come over to see him and his brothers for days, although he understood all too well why she hadn’t. Losing Mom had been horrible. It couldn’t have been any easier for Kate to suddenly lose her dad.
She walked up the steps and headed straight for him. “Hi,” she said softly, looking down at him.
Will could tell by the way she was looking at him that she’d learned what he had done. He sighed, wondering when his humiliation was going to end. “You know, don’t you?” he said, dispiritedly.
She nodded and gestured at a chair. “Mind if I sit down?”
Although he didn’t particularly want company, Will didn’t have the heart to tell her, not after all she’d been through herself the past couple weeks, with her broken engagement to that hotshot pilot, her dad’s illness, surgery and death. He shrugged. “If you want.”
Kate spoke in a soft, business-like tone. “I wanted to tell you someone else in my office is making the arrangements for you and your dad.”
Will didn’t know what to make of that. He’d sort of gotten used to Kate butting into their lives and trying to help. “They said at the ER that you were going to do it.”
Kate shrugged as if it were no big deal. “I figured you’d be more comfortable with someone else.”
“I gave you a pretty hard time when you were living here,” Will said.
Kate looked at him, letting him know it was all water under the bridge. “I know you didn’t mean it.”
Will tilted his head. He wondered how she had gotten to be so understanding. Especially when she’d had to put up with so much stuff from him. “I sure acted like I did.”
“You were hurting,” Kate countered, nothing but gentleness in her eyes. “You would have lashed out at anyone who happened to be near. I was just a ready target, that’s all.”
Will breathed in deeply through his nose. He didn’t know what it was lately. He hadn’t been able to cry the whole time his mom was sick. And now, about all he wanted to do was cry. Despite the calm way she talked to him, Kate looked really sad, too.
“I never had a chance to thank you for talking to your dad that way,” Will blurted, unable to help himself. “It really made a difference. If he hadn’t—” Died, Will was about to say. “Well, we had worked things out, and he gave me another chance to be on the team.” Will paused. “He was a good guy.”
Kate smiled through her tears. “Just kind of rough around the edges.”
Will nodded. “Yeah. He was that, all right. But all heart on the inside.”
Kate picked up the book on her lap and handed it to him. “This belonged to my dad. It’s a book about the greatest football players ever. I thought maybe you’d like to have it.”
“Thanks.” The ache in Will’s throat grew.
“Well…” Kate stood. Abruptly she looked as if she were trying hard to not cry.
Will swallowed, looked away, afraid if she did, he’d lose it, too.
After a moment Kate pulled it together, reached into the pocket of her jacket, and handed him a small white business card. “If you ever need anything…”
“I’ll call you,” Will said. And to his surprise, he could see himself doing just that.