B&C III - 46

Brian and Christine
Book Three
Saint Jane's
Part 46

He was interrupted by a phone call from Wendy. She said that she had spoken to Judge Parks about marrying them and he was pleased to do it, but wanted to meet Brian first, so she extended a dinner invitation to Parks and his wife for the following evening. “Did you check this out with Christy….And what did she say?....Sounds hopeful….Probably.….Okay, what time?....I’ll be there, sweetheart….Love you too.”

Wendy had suggested he come early to give Christy a chance to adjust to his being there. Brian thought that was a good idea. But he wondered if it was going to be a strain on all of them. Maybe an informal situation would be better.

Why am I being so cautious? he thought. Any situation, just about, is a good one for them to be together. The time has come! After all, we have both suffered through this latest disaster; surely she wants to share in the recovery with me as well as Wendy. I’ll go to the dinner expecting good things and giving as much love as I can.

Wendy’s apartment was a duplex, well and comfortably furnished. She had good taste, which was no surprise to Brian. She greeted him with a warm hug and kiss when he arrived at the time she gave him.

“Where’s Christy?”

“Upstairs in her room. She’ll be down. Have a seat, have a drink.”

Brian sat with expectation, watching the staircase.

Wendy returned with a couple of drinks and set them down. Then she went to the foot of the stairs and called “Christy?”

“Yeah” came a voice from upstairs.

“Come on down. Brian is here.”

“Okay.”

After a few moments Christy stood on a top step and then slowly came down the stairs. When she reached the bottom she stopped and looked at Brian. She wasn’t smiling.

Brian stood up. “Hi Christy.”

“Hi” she said.

“Brian went over to her and said “Christy, I’m sorry about the things that happened to you and I’m glad that your okay.”

He reached out to hug her but she pulled back.

“No” she barked. “Don’t touch me. Leave me alone!”

She started to run up the stairs.

Brian stepped toward her, put his hand on the bottom of the banister and said “Christy. I will never leave you.”

She stopped briefly. They both vividly remembered the first time that promise was made.

[They made their way through the tangles of the forest, around the frozen lake, in and out of clearings and over fallen trees. When they got to the far side of the lake there was a brook.

“This must be the same brook we were following once,” said Christy.

“Probably. I don’t know.”

The brook was filled with ice covered stones. The water was coming from the lake and it was moving very slowly.

“We’ll have to be very careful going across here,” said Brian. “It will be very slippery.”

He started to cross the brook, stepping carefully, testing each stone before he put his weight on it. Christy followed him. Brian made it to the other side of the brook and turned to help Christy who was almost there, when suddenly there was a rapid double flash of light and a loud crack of thunder. It frightened her and she slipped. She cried out and fell forward onto the snow. “Ow! Oh! My foot. I hurt my foot. It’s bad.” She was crying.

“Is there any way you can turn it so that it doesn’t hurt?”

She turned over on her back and tried twisting her foot around, crying with the pain, but she said “If I turn it in it’s not so bad. But it still hurts. Oh, Brian, I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay. You just lie there, take it easy and keep the foot turned in.”

“Okay,” she was crying a lot.

On that side of the brook there was a short, steep climb,, thick with trees, up to a clearing. “I’d better go up there and see where we are,” he told her.

She reached up to him with both hands, “Brian, please don’t leave me here.” Tears were coming out of her eyes and flowing down the sides of her face.

Brian put his hands in the snow on either side of her, leaned over and looked at her tear stained face.

“Christy. I will never leave you.”

They looked at each other for a long moment and each of them knew there was a bond now, a bond that would never break.]


(To be continued.)