Free Remember the Time by Annette Reynolds Page A

father, but complications from the flu have landed him in the hospital with pneumonia, making travel from Tempe impossible
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    The baseball faction is well represented. Spring training has come to a halt so that teammates can attend the service. The townspeople of Staunton have shown up in droves, and about one hundred people stand outside the chapel, waiting to pay their respects. The newspaper, magazine, and television reporters haven’t been allowed inside the chapel, and so spend their time trying to catch snippets of something newsworthy as more and more mourners try to enter the stone building
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    The whispering inside the chapel swirls around her, building to a crescendo of voices, creaking pews, and the organ music she’s always hated. Kate, shell-shocked and dry-eyed, stares at the coffin, unable to comprehend the fact that her husband is lying inside
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    Suddenly, the room grows quiet, and the priest begins the service. Kate, lulled by his voice, loses herself in the dolorous tones. Her vision blurs as she gazes at the flowers draped over the casket. She doesn’t hear a word he, or the other speakers, have said. She is surprised when Mike shakes her shoulder and whispers her name into her ear
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    Standing, she moves away from the pew, and the whisperingbegins again. Smoothing the front of her skirt, she wavers, and Mike quickly stands and takes her arm. They walk down the side aisle, the rest of the family following, toward a room at the back of the chapel where they will wait until it is time for the private graveside service
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    Kate walks to the back of the cozy, paneled room and sits in an armchair, its comfort lost on her. The black suit she wears accentuates her pale beauty. Her auburn hair falls in glistening waves around the collar. She wears a brimmed hat with a veil that she now lifts back. Mike is at her side with a cup of coffee and she takes it from him without a word. He sits on the arm of the chair and she is grateful for his presence
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    She gazes at the bookshelf across the room. Tears leak out of the corners of her eyes, and she tries to blink them away
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    Mike puts his arms around her, and she suddenly says in a quiet, choked voice, “I can’t go through with this, Mike.”
    “I’m right here, Katie. Not much longer.”
    “I can’t do it,” she whispers again, then she buries her face in his jacket
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    At the graveside, Mike holds on to her arm for the short prayer, and then drives her home. Paul’s family has already left for Charlottesville, leaving Kate alone in the house once again
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    Mike sees Kate to the door. “Do you want me to come in? I can stay with you tonight.”
    She shakes her head. “I’m going to go lie down. I’m really tired.” Then, realizing that not only has she lost her husband, but Mike has lost his friend, she puts her arms around him. “How will we ever be the same?” she asks, her voice trembling
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    “Come on, darlin’. We’ll be okay,” he says, accepting her embrace. “You know where I am if you need me.”
    She pulls away and quickly steps into the house
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    She has slept the whole afternoon and well into the evening, when she is awakened by the sound of rain pounding against the window. Disoriented, she sits up in the guest bed and switches on the lamp. She is still wearing the black suit, and begins peeling it off. She balls it up and shoves it into a wastebasket
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Wearing only her panties and bra, she walks down the hallway to the master bedroom. Kate hesitates before opening the door, but once inside she strides purposefully to the closet and finds a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt
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    And then she goes up to the tower room and begins moving out every box—every piece of junk—that is in it. It takes her well over an hour, but soon she has everything piled beneath the attic trapdoor. Another hour and she has it all in the attic. Her muscles scream for relief, but she doesn’t stop
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    She goes from room to room, carrying a large box, removing