Remembering Becky Ch. 09

From over by the cafeteria doorway a rattled woman appeared, her voice sounding relieved as she called over.

"Geraldine! Thank goodness I found you! You've got a break room full of people waiting to finally get rid of you upstairs."

With that, she smiled grimly at me and said "Gotta go now. Goodbye David, and good luck."

She turned and headed toward the door as I eased back down into my chair, only able to mouth the words "Bye Jerry" as she departed.

***

Epilogue...

During the fall of that year, I found myself driving over to Vermont one sunny Saturday afternoon, to visit the Crooked Road antique shop north of Bennington. It was foliage season, which made for heavy traffic, but it was such a spectacular sight to see the brilliant colors of autumn in all its glory that it was worth it.

The antique shop was doing a booming business, the store overflowing with browsers and buyers. When I finally caught up with the owner, I found out that he woman I had hoped to see, her sister Geri Winters, was off at a craft fair out in the Boston area, displaying some of her work.

While I cursed my bad luck, as well as my stupidity in not checking first before driving up here, I wandered into one of the side rooms of the shop. This room displayed a large number of paintings, all originals done by Geri.

They were quite good, most of them scenes of scenery, farmhouses and the like. One picture, almost hidden off in the corner, caught my eye. Although it was priced at far more than I could afford, there was no way I could pass it by, so I wrote a check for it and took it home.

The painting hangs in my living room, where I can enjoy it from no matter where I sit. It's a painting of a woman emerging from a pool, climbing up the stairs. Her skin is radiant and glistening from the water, her hair is a blazing red, and her smile is so bright it lights up the entire room.

Sometimes when I look at the painting, I laugh. Occasionally when I look at it, there are still times that a tear comes to my eye. It all depends on my mood at the time I guess, but either way it always makes me feel something. That's the important thing.

A couple of weeks after I visited her shop I got a note from Geri, saying how sorry she was that she missed me, and how she wanted me to stop up again so we could have lunch. Geri said things were going pretty well for her, all things considered, and hoped they were for me as well.

Geri said she was happy I liked the painting of Becky enough to buy it, and she hoped it helped me as much to view it as it did for her to create it. She had priced it so outrageously that she knew no one would buy it. Inside the note was my check for the painting, cut in half.

There are those times when I say something that no one understands, but Becky would have, and I miss that. There are also those moments where Becky would instantly sense the absurdity of something, and come out with the perfect cryptic comment. Those moments just pass silently now.

There were times just after the accident when I wished I had never met Becky. Times when I wallowed in self-pity, and thought nothing could possibly be worth the pain I was feeling with her gone. In reality, nothing could have been further from the truth. I was the luckiest guy in the world, and now all I need do is to look at the picture. Then I remember.

***

Thank you to everyone who took the time to write and comment on the story.