Wanted(49)
“But surely the doctors can do something? I know of a woman who had cancer two years ago but she’s doing fine now.”
“This isn’t the same, Katie. It’s bad.” Her voice cracked as she strived for control. “The medication he’s on isn’t to cure him…it’s to help with the pain. Some days he doesn’t seem to even want to wake up.”
Raising her head, Holly looked Katie straight in the eye. “But he wants to see you, Katie.”
“Why me?”
“He loved you once. I think he still does.”
Katie shook her head. Wanting—needing—to deny Holly’s words. “I am not the person he thought I was. He knows that, yes? He remembers?”
“He doesn’t care. Don’t you see? Brandon just wants to see you again. To make sure you’re okay. He’s worried about you. Wondered what happened to your life.”
“I…I don’t deserve his worry. I treated him terribly.”
“Don’t you get it? He doesn’t care.” Slowly, Holly added, “See, that’s the thing about my brother. He doesn’t care if I’m not perfect, if you aren’t, either. He just doesn’t want to be forgotten.”
“I never forgot him, or you.”
“Then don’t let him think you did.” Holly opened her purse and pulled out a slip of paper. “Here’s the name of the hospital. My phone number’s on there, too. Go see him before it’s too late. I’m begging…I’m begging you,” she said, obviously choking on the words. “Even if you don’t care about me, please go. Please just care about Brandon.”
“I do care.” Yet, even as she said the words, she felt ashamed. Caring people didn’t ignore friends. Not even former ones.
“For what it’s worth…I’m glad I found you. You look…happy.”
“I am. I mean, I was.” Swallowing hard, Katie held out her hand. “Thank you for finding me. I will go see Brandon. I promise I will, as soon as I can find a driver to take me to the hospital.”
“Try and hurry.” Holly clasped her hand with a hint of a smile, then walked away.
Behind her, the door opened again. “Katie? Katie can we get some pecans?”
Blinking away her tears, Katie nodded. “Sure. Um, Mary how about you ask Mr. McClusky if we might have a pound. I’ve a notion to make pecan tarts with you today.”
“All right.” Mary looked at Katie curiously before pointing to Holly’s retreating form. “Who was that?”
“Her name is Holly. She is a friend of mine.”
“But she’s English.”
“I know.” As Mary sidled closer, Katie wrapped an arm around her slim shoulders. “She is.”
Just as they watched Holly get into her car, Hannah looked up at her. “She sure is tall. She’s as tall as a horse.”
Katie chuckled at the comparison. “She’s tall, but maybe not like a horse.” Though it felt as if her throat was closing from so much suppressed emotion, Katie did her best to smile comfortingly. “She’s nice, too.”
“She looked sad.”
“She was tired I think.” After smoothing back a nonexistent strand of hair back into her kapp, she added, “She…she has a lot on her mind.”
“Oh.” Turning away from Holly’s retreating form, Hannah said importantly, “I’m gonna go ask for pecans so we can bake today.”
Later, as she walked the girls to the buggy, Katie realized that Holly had finally accomplished what she’d set out to do…she’d found Katie and brought up the past.
Now it was Katie who had to figure out what to do with her future.
Chapter 13
“I saw Katie, Brandon,” Holly blurted the moment Brandon woke up from his nap. “She finally went to that general store I told you about.”
It took her brother a few moments to focus on her. More time passed before he spoke. “What happened?”
“I talked to her.”
“A-a…and?”
He looked worse. As she pressed the remote control button so he could sit up, Holly used the time to school her features. The nurses had warned her he was having a bad day. His sluggish words and dark marks around his eyes showed they hadn’t exaggerated.
“Hol?”
Taking a deep breath, she mentally attempted to moderate her feelings. The last thing Brandon needed was to see her stress. “Oh, well, at first I couldn’t believe that it was actually Katie. She was standing with two little girls and all dressed in Amish clothes.”
“Two girls? Is she married?”
“No, I later found out that she’s just watching them.”