Ch.10, Pt.7: Katherine didn’t hear from Rick…
Katherine didn’t hear from Rick for three days. After the funeral, when she saw she had no message from him, she called him in case he was waiting to hear from her. He wasn’t. He wasn’t home. That was when she decided to wait and see how long he would take to contact her. He drove up three days later, without any apparent concern, without apology when he came to the door.
“Hey Kate, hey Noodle,” he called cheerfully, giving Katherine a swift kiss on the cheek.
“Where have you been? Why didn’t you call?”
“Was I supposed to call? I’ve been out with the boys. I told you I would be.”
“Didn’t you get my messages?”
“Yeah, but I knew I was coming over today, so I didn’t bother to call and say I’m on my way. Why? Would you rather I called than come over?”
“It’s just that I had a bit of a rough time lately. I had to go to a funeral.”
“No,” said Rick in concern, gently taking hold of her upper arm. “What happened?”
“A friend of mine died suddenly of a heart attack. The husband of a friend of mine.”
“How terrible! How old was he?”
“In his seventies.”
Rick drew back. “Seventies! Well. What do you expect? I thought he was our age.”
“It was still upsetting. And I was sort of all alone.” She didn’t know what else to say without sounding needy.
“Poor thing.” He reached for her again and nuzzled her ear. “I missed you too. Especially at night.” She tried to remain stiff, but tremors ran down her back and settled in her groin. “The nights are so cold alone these days,” he continued. “You keep me toasty warn, you know that?”
“I do, do I?”
“Yeah. I’m looking forward to that tonight.”
“That’s pretty bold of you.”
“I can be plenty bold when I want something.”
“And what do you want now?”
“Actually,” he said, putting his arms around her, “I want to talk about New Year’s Eve. Got any plans?”
“Nothing definite, why?”
“You want to go somewhere?”
“Like where?”
“The Pickle Barrell.”
“Is that the pub at the mall? Don’t kids go there?”
“Not only,” he said softly. “But that’s not hoity-toity enough for you, is it? You snob.”
Katherine shrugged her shoulders.
“Would you rather stay at home on New Year’s Eve than go to The Pickle Barrell?”
“I would actually.”
Rick shook his head in amazement. “But New Year’s Eve. We’ve got to do something. I don’t want to sit around at home then.”
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be,” Katherine said in slow realization. “How about we have a dinner party? A formal dinner party, where we dress up. I could ask Frieda and Douglas, and maybe Lawrence could bring a date. Of course it’s too soon to ask Clara. Besides, Clara alone would be awkward. Clara’s my friend whose husband just died.”
“No, better not ask her,” said Rick quickly.
“How about some of your friends? Know any interesting couples?”
“I don’t actually. And back up a bit. What was that about dressing up?”
“Wouldn’t that be fun? You’ll look so good in a tux –“
“Tux? No way.” He pulled her hands away from his neck. “Absolutely not. I’m not renting a tux.”
“You mean you haven’t got your own?” she mocked.
“That’s right! I forgot. Snobs have their own tuxes. In all colours.”
“No, basic black, shawl collar, accordion pleated shirt, black patent leather shoes.”
“I have no idea what you just said.” Rick chuckled. “But it was very impressive. Are you doing the fashion reports on the radio now? But don’t even think about a tux.”
“I’m kidding.” She turned away and added “Tuxes are optional.”
He reached out his arm and brought her back to him. “What did you just say? Tuxes aren’t happening, OK? Unless you wear one, without the trousers.” They grinned at each other. “But if you do that I’ll have to ask the others to leave, because I’ll be taking you upstairs.”
“I don’t think so. Judy Garland I’m not.”
He bent to whisper in her ear. “Wanna dress rehearseal and see what happens?”
Ch.10, Pt.8: Promptly at 8:00 on New Year’s Eve » »