and was smiling when she got in the car and went home.
But once she got there, she showered, got into pajamas, and curled up on the sofa under a blanket. She wanted to watch TV, but every local station was covering the shooting, so she scanned her guide until she found a Disney movie and settled in to watch.
She fell asleep in the middle of it, and when she woke up, there were tears on her cheeks. She wiped them away, then threw back her blanket and went into the kitchen to make coffee. Once it was done, she took a cup of it back into the living room and pulled the blanket back over her and changed the channel.
It was almost dark when she heard a car pull up in her drive, and then she heard footsteps on her porch. She knew that stride, and was on her feet in seconds. She opened the door before Duke had time to knock.
Even though the room was dark, he saw enough by the light of the television to know she’d been crying, and shut the door behind him as he walked in.
“I don’t know why you’re here, but I’m glad,” she said.
“I didn’t want you spending the night alone.”
“You’re staying?” Cathy asked.
“Yes, ma’am. In your bed, with you held tight in my arms.”
“Oh, honey…thank you,” Cathy said.
Duke took off his hat and coat. “I had to. You’re hurting, and I can’t think about you going through this alone.”
“I have something to tell you, and you need to sit down,” Cathy said.
Duke sat. Then listened to the tremor in her voice as she told him the rest of the story and tried not to react to the horror he was feeling. But he was shocked and shaken as he pulled her onto his lap. “I feel like I should never let you out of my sight again.”
The weight of his arms around her was the safest feeling in the world.
“I know things happened to me, but I realized something this evening as I was sitting here in the dark. I keep surviving them, because I’m still supposed to be here, with you.”
“Thank you, God,” Duke whispered, then laid his cheek against the top of her head and just held her.
They sat within the silence of the darkened house, staring through the curtains at the streetlights that had come on, and at the flashing Christmas lights on the house across the street.
“You are the best Christmas present I’ll ever have,” Duke said.
“Today was my Christmas. Just getting you home alive is all that matters. Have you eaten anything at all today?” he asked.
“Biscuits and gravy at noon.”
“Do you have ice cream?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Then we are having ice cream for supper. Get some socks on so your feet don’t get cold, and meet me in the kitchen.”
And just like that, her world began to settle back into orbit. She ran down the hall to her bedroom as Duke got up and pulled shades and turned on lights, and then went into the kitchen.
He took the ice cream from the freezer, then began digging through her refrigerator. By the time she got into the kitchen, he was in the act of building two sundaes. A three-scoop for him and a two-scoop for her.
“In lieu of chocolate syrup, we have chocolate chips. And in lieu of nuts, we have granola. You also have honey, which is actually a good ice cream sauce, so pick your poison.”
“I’ll have some of all of it,” Cathy said. “Light on the granola.”
He spooned and he poured, and he sprinkled and he dipped until both sundaes were finished. Then he poked a spoon in each of them and carried them to the table where she was waiting…watching.
Cathy took her first bite and then rolled her eyes. “My compliments to the chef, and I love the honey on ice cream. It’s turning into a kind of taffy from the cold.”
Duke reached across the table and ran his finger down the side of her face.
“Love you.”
Cathy leaned into his touch. “Love you, too.”
Chapter 18
While life for some had ended that day, and families were still reeling in shock and in grief, Mary Cathleen Terry had survived. She didn’t know why, and it no longer mattered. She didn’t need a reason to be grateful she was alive. And Duke’s presence in her life gave her the joy that had been missing.