Are You My Husband? Pt. 01

While not good, things between Scott and Kathleen had at least improved. They at least could talk without arguing.

One morning while driving to work together, which would remain necessary until her doctor gave her the okay to drive, Scott and Kathleen stopped at a prospect's house to discuss what the potential clients wanted to be done in their backyard. Kathleen was with Scott and listening the entire time as the prospects, Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson, described their vision of what their backyard should look like once the transformation was completed. Scott took a bunch of measurements and shot a few short videos and took a lot of pictures of the yard with his camera.

Once finished, they told the Fergusons they would work up the numbers and get back to them in a few days.

On the drive to the office, Kathleen asked, "That sounds like a really nice project for them and us. When I first started, I thought most of the business was maintenance like mowing or planting trees. That was how Daddy built up the business. I didn't know you were doing so much design work."

It was the least antagonistic thing she had said to him since she arrived back from Nashville.

"My degree was in landscape design. I was working for an outdoor lighting company on a project when I met your father and then Janie. He didn't do lighting at the time, so he reached out to my old company. Our company, which includes you now, does it all, from maintenance to hardscape, softscape, lighting, and water features like waterfalls or Koi ponds. We'll even dig out the place for a backyard pool, though we won't do the installation. This project would be a good one because it incorporates so many elements."

She quietly said, "I...I didn't know. Thanks for bringing me this morning. This was very educational."

"I'm glad you could come."

A few minutes later she asked, "Scott, what are you going to do with those pictures and video you took?"

"We'll use them and the measurements to plan the design. We'll draw out where everything is supposed to go to develop our estimate. Then we'll refine the topographical drawings for final specifications and installation."

"Do you ever use them to create a preview of what the finished project is going to look like?"

He replied, "We tried that twice. The first time, we went with a local firm to do the drawings for us, but we had to go back and forth so many times that they became prohibitively expensive to use except on the largest of projects. Even then, they were still awfully expensive. We tried to go cheap one time and used an overseas firm, but we weren't happy with the final output."

"Would you like for me to try? I do have a degree in art. I'm a graphic designer, and Janie thinks I'm a decent artist. I've never done anything like this, but I'd give it a shot if you think it would help."

Scott loved the idea. He was thinking through all the possibilities before replying.

Kathleen said, "That's okay. I can see you aren't excited about it."

"What? No. No. You're wrong. I'm very excited about it. I was imagining all the possibilities. Please do. I would be very, very interested in seeing what you could do. Janie always told me that she thought you inherited your mother's great skills in drawing and painting."

She harrumphed, "Apparently that wasn't all I inherited from her."

Scott said, "That's true, too. Your wit is just like hers; your smile is just like hers; you're even more beautiful than her, and I'm told that you are sweet just like her, though I haven't seen that since before I married Janie."

He was taking a chance with that last statement. She didn't bite.

All she said was, "Thank you for loving Mom and Janie so much." Then she flipped the conversation back to work. "Send me those pictures and the video, and I'll try to give you something before your estimate is complete."

"Oh, wow. That would be great."

Three days later, as they were preparing to leave work, she told him, "I have some sketches if you would like to see them. They are only in pencil. If you like them and want me to do another one, maybe we could get some better colored drawing pencils or pens for me to use."

"I've been looking forward to this. Let's see what you've got."

She placed three large 18" x 24" pages in front of him. He smiled immediately upon seeing them.

She said, "I had Janie pick up a drawing book on her way home the other day, so I wouldn't have to do it on printer paper."

Scott just shook his head and continued to smile. Her drawings were from three different points in the yard, providing the prospects a complete look at what the finished product could look like. He was very impressed.

"Kathleen, if I had known you do such good work and so quickly, we would have hired you straight out of college. These are excellent."

She said, "I really tried to pay attention to the conversation to understand what they wanted and what you tried to help them visualize. Even though I've been working here a little while, I'm not familiar with everything. I may have misunderstood your intent on some things."

"I think you nailed it. Truly. Let's get out of here. They are expecting our quote tomorrow. If you would, call the Fergusons on the way home and see if they can meet tomorrow morning, we'll show these to them. I think they will be very pleased. I know I'm very pleased with them."

She asked, "Why don't you just scan them and send them?"

"That's a good question. I'll be glad for them to have these if they sign the quote. If they don't sign with us, I don't want the competition to use your labor to help them with the project. In the past, I made the mistake of leaving some documentation behind, which the client showed to Stennis Supply & Greenhouse, our biggest competitor. They used the information to undercut us on price. Also, that documentation likely reduced his workload by several hours. Your drawings are too good. They should be for our use only."

"Thanks, Scott."

When they got home, Scott showed the drawings to Janie, who was equally excited. Their enthusiasm rubbed off on Kathleen, who by the end of the evening was feeling good about herself for a change.

The next morning, they met with Mr. & Mrs. Ferguson to discuss the quote and potential timing. When Kathleen showed them the drawings, they were both even more excited about the project.

Mrs. Ferguson said, "That's it. I think you captured it perfectly. That's exactly what I want."

Scott gave Kathleen a cross between a smile and a smirk as if to say, "I told you so."

Mr. Ferguson wasn't very happy with his wife at the moment because she was undercutting his ability to negotiate the price lower. However, he knew that if Scott could deliver what was in those drawings, his wife would be happy.

In the end, Scott allowed the price to come down seven hundred dollars, but it was only a fraction of the overall price. The Ferguson's signed the revised quote, and Scott would email them the contract by the end of the day. Everyone was happy.

Back in the truck, Scott told Kathleen. "That was just excellent. Would you be willing to do more of that?"

"Sure, I've always loved drawing, so I enjoyed doing that. Do you think it will help?"

"Woman, you have no idea. You are about to become incredibly busy, and you and I are going to do a lot more of that type of selling."

"I'd like that," she said.

The chill in the air between the two of them seemed to have at least thawed a little.

Kathleen was very pleased. It may not have been what she had planned on doing with her degree, but that morning had felt very rewarding.

Scott told her to order whatever she needed for her drawings, and the business would pay for it. She was looking forward to that. It made her feel like she was actually contributing. Also, she could always draw, a talent that she inherited from her mother, who had encouraged her.

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By Thanksgiving, she had been on her first prescription for a month but had yet to see any difference. She was still having her sixty to ninety-second hallucinations and they were now occurring regularly, three times per month. The doctor was puzzled, but not discouraged. He suggested she continue on the same prescription through the holidays.

The sisters enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday together, even though Amanda was getting worse. The few times Kathleen went with Scott to visit, Amanda recognized her immediately, but wouldn't consider that Scott could be anyone but her late husband, Franklin. It now irritated Amanda if Scott would try to correct her regarding who he was, so he didn't. He and Kathleen would still show her the photos, but even looking at her wedding photo, she still believed that she and Scott were married. That situation infuriated Kathleen. Also, Amanda no longer recognized Janie in the pictures any longer, and she increasingly had more difficulty swallowing.

So, the small breaks in the ice between him and Kathleen were quickly refrozen.

The Christmas season was enjoyed by all, but they now knew it was only a matter of time before Amanda would be gone.

After the end of the year, the accounting books were finished, and Kathleen was now old enough, twenty-five, to access her portion of that year's earnings, plus the previous years since she inherited her percentage of the business. While it was a nice chunk of change, she really wasn't sure what to do with it.

A couple of years ago she would have been thinking to use it for a large down payment for a house and a new car, but she couldn't have either of those, which made her very sad. So, she invested it for the time being while she figured out what she wanted.

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In early February, Amanda's difficulty swallowing did lead to aspiration pneumonia. Had she not had difficulty swallowing and been able to eat better, she may have been strong enough to fight through it.

The nursing home called them as soon as the diagnosis had been made. They visited her every day after that call. One afternoon, when they entered her room, she gave them a weak smile when she saw all of them. Until that week, it was rare for her to see all three of them at the same time, and though she felt terrible, she was very happy to see all of them.

After a couple of hours, they were getting ready to leave when Amanda asked, in a voice made raspy from pneumonia-induced coughing, "Franklin, I'm cold. Will you lay by me for a few minutes? I've missed you."

Scott was stricken at the request. He looked at Janie, who simply nodded her head. Kathleen flamed red.

Scott gently eased into the bed on the side that didn't have any tubes or wires, and she rolled over and snuggled into him with a smile on her face. Tears were flooding from his and Janie's face. Amanda whispered, "I love you, Husband," sighed, and went to sleep.

It took all of Scott's self-control not to start sobbing while Amanda was lying on him. Kathleen immediately left the room to get a nurse.

After the nurse came into the room, she helped Scott get off the bed and ensured that Amanda was covered and comfortable.

Amanda did not survive the night.

It was two days before Valentine's Day when they laid her to rest next to Franklin and his first wife, Janie's biological mother. Scott tried to be strong for the grieving women. He would miss Amanda, too.

During the viewing and the funeral, there were many people they didn't know or recognize that gave their condolences and said how special she was and how much she would be missed. A small procession of little-ol'-ladies at least Amanda's age paid their respects and told them how much she had meant to them and how unique her talent was. Ramon was there with Emilia, his wife, who was a few months pregnant. He cried like a baby.

Pastor Leo, who had been theirs and the Winters' pastor for long over a decade, gave a moving eulogy. Scott's parents, from Chattanooga, came down for the service and drove back late in the day after the wake at Scott and Janie's house.

By evening all their friends, neighbors, and the few employees that came had left. As he was leaving, Ramon hugged all of them and told them how much he would miss her, too. He had known her and Franklin a long time, much longer than Scott.

Scott put the children to bed while the two women were sitting on the couch sipping rather large glasses of wine.

As Scott reentered the room to sit in one of their chairs with an ottoman, Janie extended her hand, inviting him to sit with them on the couch. When he tried to sit with her between him and Kathleen, Janie tugged him and rearranged herself until he was sitting between the women. As soon as he sat, she rolled into his side and reached for Kathleen's hand.

Reluctantly, Kathleen gave her hand to Janie, who reeled her in closer and closer until the two women were each nestled underneath Scott's arms. Janie reached over to cup her sister's face and said, "I love you. I'm so glad you're here with me, with us."

Tears were falling from Janie onto Scott who squeezed his wife to him and kissed her on top of her head and whispered, "I love you," which caused her to smile.

Tears began to fall from Kathleen's face because at that moment, she was terribly sad at having lost her mother and envious of what her sister had. She had been for several years. She had a hard time imagining any of the men she had been with the last several years trying to comfort her in this way after her mother had just passed away.

Then Scott leaned over and kissed Kathleen on the top of her head saying, "and I love you, too, and I'm glad you are here, also."

For most of the last eight months, he would not have meant that, but at that moment he did.

Scott could feel her noticeably relax after that, and they all enjoyed sharing the tender but melancholy moment together.

_____________

In late March, Kathleen's condition hadn't changed, so the psychiatrist wanted her to try a new prescription. He was also reaching out to his colleagues for recommendations or suggestions.

She and Scott were spending more time selling, and they would soon need to hire more people to handle the new business. Scott continued to remind her that it was her business, too, and she was a significant contributor to its new growth. She beamed at that. She had easily earned her raise and was now paying her own way at the company.

Scott and Janie continued to be amazed at some of her drawings because she could produce amazingly realistic-looking work to present to the clients. Often if the installation didn't look just like the picture, his team would have to go back and fix it. His install teams got better at sticking to Kathleen's 'photos,' and over time that problem went away. The clients loved her work.

One afternoon, Kathleen was with Scott in his office, which she usually shared with him since he was so rarely in it. He was talking on the phone with a supplier while Kathleen was drawing. As he and the supplier were discussing the order, he watched as Kathleen started trying to wipe her arms as if she were trying to wipe something off. A moment later she was looking around the ceiling, confused.

He heard her say quizzically, "It's raining?"

Scott realized what was going on and told the supplier that he needed to call her right back. He went and closed the office door, sat next to her on the couch, and wrapped his arms around her. She could see him coming and felt him hug her, but that didn't stop the rain.

About a minute later, it quit raining and she realized that she'd had another hallucination. She felt Scott wrapped around her and was ashamed and comforted at the same time.

"I'm sorry. I'm so embarrassed," she muttered.

Scott said, "nothing to be sorry or embarrassed about. We're here for you. I'm here for you."

She hugged him back tightly and said, "I hate it when it happens. It looks so real. I could hear and see the raindrops falling on my arms and pants and this couch, but I couldn't feel them. It's the oddest sensation. I know that some people that hallucinate would actually feel the drops. I'm not sure which is worse."

"I don't know, either. When was your last hallucination, before this?"

"The same. About ten days ago. They aren't quite predictable, but close. I think I'm going to stop this current medication because it occasionally makes me dizzy and nauseous, and it doesn't seem to have made a difference. Plus I cannot drink any alcohol with it."

"Oh, so that's why you've laid off the wine?"

That got a chuckle from her. "I probably needed to. I suspect that you think I'm a lush as is since, before this prescription, I usually had a glass in my hand during the evening."

It pleased Scott for her to open up to him. Maybe some of the frost was finally melting.

"I think you are many wonderful things but being a lush never entered my mind."

"Thanks." She liked his saying that but was ready to end the current conversation. Talking about her undiagnosed condition still made her uncomfortable and made her think it would eventually be like her late mother's. She said, "Here, what do you think of this for the Massey job?"

It was another winner.

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Chapter 2 - RESCUED

Life kind of moved along for most of the rest of the year. The block parties were again a big hit, and most of the women commented that Scott and Kathleen seemed to be getting along much better. All the guys were secretly, or not so secretly, drooling over her because at twenty-six, she was spectacular. Scott was just happy that they were getting along and doing so well at work, which was going very well.

Kathleen's 'visions' didn't occur with any greater frequency, but they were a little longer, close to two minutes each time. She had already done the math and estimated that at that rate of growth, by the time she was fifty each hallucination would last more than twenty minutes. Scott tried to comfort her by reminding her that it was extremely rare for any of Amanda's visions to last more than fifteen minutes, but she was clearly very, very anxious about the prospect of their slowly getting worse.

The holidays were great, and Kathleen even went with Scott, Janie, and the kids to visit Scott's parents at Christmas. Scott's dad took him out into the woods on their eight acres of property, and they chatted while they walked. Mr. Parker thought Scott was doing a good thing with Kathleen. Scott's mom was a little more reticent. She thought Kathleen was looking at Scott a little too lovingly, or longingly.

After the first of the year, Janie was going out of town for one of her visits to corporate headquarters up in New Jersey. January, the perfect time to visit New Jersey. She usually would go two or three times per year but hadn't been since Kathleen's arrival. Things seemed to be in a good place now, and with Kathleen and Scott getting along better and better, she wasn't worried any longer about them being alone together.

In the year and a half since Kathleen arrived, Scott had never said one thing about her staying with them, other than being justifiably upset by Kathleen's earlier attitude towards him. Clearly, that was no longer a problem. Now that she was so entrenched in their house and lives, she wondered how Kathleen was going to get out and meet other men and then possibly marry one, or if she ever would.

Her inability to drive, was a huge obstacle if she stayed out in the suburbs. It killed her to think about Kathleen possibly moving back to downtown Atlanta. At least if she did, she could rely on taxis. Janie didn't like the idea of that, either, but she would keep considering it. What if she were in the vehicle of an unscrupulous driver when a hallucination occurred? Whatever was best for her sister is what she wanted. Sometimes it seemed like what was best for her would be to stay with them, and Janie was okay with that. Actually, she preferred it.