The Strange Healing (3 page)

After a brief silence she tentatively said, “I talked to my best friend when I lost my dad, and I was okay with that, but she was on her honeymoon when I lost my mom, and they moved out of state, so I didn’t really get to talk to her much.”

“So you’ve lost both parents, as well?  I’m sorry to hear that.  It sounds as though it wasn’t at the same time?”

“
It was about three years ago.  Dad had cancer and suffered the last year, so when he passed away I was ready for it, or as ready as you can be, I guess.  I’d actually been grieving that whole last year while I watched him deteriorate, so in a way I felt kind of relieved when he passed on.  I knew at least he wasn’t suffering any more.  Mom died in a car accident, though, and that was rougher.  It was only five months after Dad died, and I wasn’t prepared for that at all.”

“
Wow,” Heath sympathized.  “Five months apart would be rough.  That was about three years ago?

“
Yeah,” she said, and grew quiet again.

“
Did you have someone else you could talk to when she died?”

“
Not really.  I was pretty new to the area and hadn’t really made any close friends.”

“
Did you try talking to a counselor or therapist?”

She frowned and said, “Actually, yeah, twice.”

“Do you mean you only went twice?”

“
No, I went to a therapist, but she wasn’t really helping any.  So I switched and went to a psychologist, but –“

“
That didn’t really help much, either?”

“
No, but it wasn’t really their fault.”

“
What do you mean?”

“
I just couldn’t open up to them.  I don’t know, their offices seemed so formal, and they were strangers to me, and I just didn’t feel comfortable.  They were probably both very good, I just couldn’t tell them what I really felt.  So I just worked through it on my own.  I think some people just don’t do well with counseling.”

“
That could be,” he assured her.  “If you ever want to talk to someone, Heather says I’m a good listener.”

“
I’ll bet you are,” she said casually.  “Thanks, but I don’t usually talk to people about my problems.  Now that I think about it, I’m surprised I told you all this.  Sorry to bend your ear.”

“
You’re not bending my ear, Sara, honest.  I’m serious about being a good listener, anytime you want to talk.”

“
Thanks, but I’ve said more than enough already.”  Heath felt a change in her, as if she was pulling away from him again, like she’d done at the beach earlier today.  He felt like she needed to talk, but knew if he pushed, he’d probably just push her away.  Instead, he changed topics.

“
So, where are you and Heather going tomorrow?”

She sighed, and seemed relieved to talk about something else.  “She said there’s a year around Christmas store in town, and I love Christmas.”

“You’ll like this store then.  It’s huge, and really nice.  Anyplace else?”

“
She said I have to try a hot dog place that has a special hot dog you can only get in this area, so we’re going there for lunch.”

“
She’s right.  You have to go to Wally’s and try that.”

“
Yeah, that was the name of it.  We’re going there for lunch.”

“
Again, a good choice.  You’ll like the décor in his place.  It’s as laid back as it gets.  It’s lots of fun.  Any plans after lunch?”

“
She said she’d take me to an outlet mall to do a little shopping.”

“
I knew she’d have some shopping in there somewhere.  We do have a good outlet mall here, though.  Any plans for dinner tomorrow?”

“
No, the last place she mentioned was the outlet mall.”

“
Good.  Would you have dinner with me tomorrow evening, please?  There’s a local seafood restaurant that has the freshest local fish you can get.  It’s delicious.”

She hesitated again, and he was more determined than ever to have a chance to talk to her again.  Something was holding her back, and he was sure if he could get her to talk about it he could help her.  He looked at her and grinned as he said, “Please?”

She laughed and said, “Okay, but you’ve got to quit doing that.  It's just not fair.”

He just smiled as he asked, “How about if I pick you up at Heather’s at 7:00?”

“I need to go back to my motel and get some clothes.”

“
Now you’ll have an excuse to buy some new clothes at the mall tomorrow.  I’ll take you back to your motel after dinner.  Deal?”

“
What if I don’t find anything I like tomorrow?”

Heath laughed and said, “My sister has never gone to a mall and not gotten anything, and she generally won’t allow anyone with her to just window shop, either.  But if you manage to be the first ever to shop with her and come back with nothing, I’ll take you to your motel before dinner.”

Sara laughed and said, “Now you have a deal.” 

Heath loved seeing her smile.  She was a beautiful lady, and he felt drawn to her somehow.  He hoped he could make her smile a lot more.

They made it back to Phil and Heather’s, and Heath said, “Thank you for the walk, Sara.  I enjoyed it.  Sleep well and I’ll see you tomorrow morning for breakfast.”  He gave her a quick kiss on her forehead before opening the door for her.

Once back at his condo, he sat down and replayed the events of the day in his mind.  He called Heather’s cell phone, and when she answered he said, “Heather, I don’t want to talk to her right now, but are you with Sara?”

“No, she’s taking a shower.  Why?”

“
Do me a favor, please.  I’m having dinner with her tomorrow night.”

She cut him off and said, “I thought maybe that’s what the walk around the pool was for.  Way to go, Heath.”

“Thank you.  Now, back to why I called.  I get the impression Sara has a problem she needs to discuss with someone, and I’d like to try to get her to talk about it.”

“
Well, if anyone can get her to talk it would be you, Mr. Psychiatrist.”

“
That’s what I’m hoping, and why I’m calling.  I didn’t tell her what I do, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t, either.  I did get her to talk a little bit tonight, but I don’t think she’ll feel as comfortable talking to me if she knows I’m a psychiatrist.”

“
Then mum’s the word.  Do you want me to say –"

“
If she asks, don’t lie to her, but please don’t bring the subject up.  If she asks, try telling her I have my own business and keep it at that, or some such thing.  Don’t lie to her if she pins you down, though.”

“
Got it.  Good luck, Heath.  I had the impression something was bothering her, too, so I hope you can get her to talk to you.  I like her.”

“
Yeah, me, too.”

“
I thought so.”

He said good night, mumbling something about meddling sisters.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“
I've got to be one of the luckiest men alive,” Heath said enthusiastically as he seated Sara and Heather at the restaurant the next morning.  “Not every man has the pleasure of escorting two beautiful ladies to breakfast.  Life is good.”

Noting the big smile on his face, Sara said, “Oh, Heath, you probably say that to all the women you're with.”

Heath frowned. “No, I don't, Sara.  I'm a firm believer in total honesty, and I don't say something if I don't mean it.”

“
That is very, very true,” Heather assured her.  “If Heath tells you something, you can take it to the bank.  As you get to know him better you'll see what I mean.  It's actually one of the things I love the most about my brother.”

With a mischievous grin Sara asked Heath, “So if a woman you're with is dreadfully ugly you tell her that?”

Heath smiled at Sara as he calmly answered, “I'm seeing a playful side of you I didn't see last night.  I hope that means you slept well and are feeling better today?”

Sara
blushed. "Actually, I did sleep well.  I already told Heather, but I want to tell you, as well, thank you guys for talking me into spending the night with Heather and Phil.  I was pretty upset and you're right, I probably wouldn't have slept well alone at the motel.”

“
I'm glad we were able to convince you to stay.”  Smiling, he added, “And to answer your question, I'm not real sure what you mean by a dreadfully ugly woman.  I've found that if a woman isn't particularly pretty physically, if you look inward there's always something inside her that's truly beautiful.”

Sara looked at him, smiling, and answering, “Spoken like a true gentleman.  Seriously, I'd like to apologize for asking you that.  That was pretty rude.”

“I think I would have thought it rude if you seriously meant it, but I could tell you were playing with me.  It'll take a lot more than that to upset me, though, because to me you were just being a brat, which doesn't scare me off at all.  Some of the nicest, most interesting women I know can be real brats at times.  I find them challenging, and always worth getting to know.  Heather's the biggest brat I've ever met, and I love her dearly.”

“
What?  Who are you calling a brat?”  Heather asked indignantly.

Smiling, Heath told her, “If you can look me in the eye and tell me honestly you've never done one thing that screams brat, I'll apologize.”

Heather looked him in the eye a few moments, and started laughing.  She turned to Sara and said, “I hate it when he does that.  He knows I can't lie to him when he looks at me like that.”

Turning back to Heath, she admitted, “Okay, so maybe there have been one or two occasions in my life when someone could have possibly interpreted something I did as having a slight touch of brat in it.”

Heath was laughing as he said, “A slight touch, huh?  Like I said, I love you to death, brat.”

Sara was laughing now, as well.  “You guys make me wish I'd have had a brother or sister.”

“You grew up an only child?”  Heath asked.

“
Yeah.”

Grinning, he said, “Well, that explains the brat in you then.”

Now it was Sara who asked, “What?”

Trying not to smile whatsoever, Heath assured her, “Oh, yeah.  It's a known fact that any woman that grows up an only child is a spoiled brat.  The only question is how much.  Did you grow up a little spoiled, or are you a full-blown spoiled rotten brat?”

She looked at him indignantly until she saw the smile in his eyes.  She tried just as hard to be totally serious as she answered, “Oh, no, didn't you hear?  That theory was proven wrong, and you're looking at the well-mannered, even-tempered peach of a lady that blew the theory wide open.”  She smiled innocently at him.

Heath quit even trying to hide his amusement as he said, “Well, that answer pretty much says it all, doesn't it?  You, Miss Sara, don't know how anxious I am to get to know you.”

Heath loved seeing the smile she gave him.

After a leisurely breakfast filled with easy conversation, they went back to Heather's house.  Heath told them, “You two have a good day, and Sara, I'll be back at 7:00 to get you for dinner.”

Sara told him, “Thank you for breakfast, Heath.  I really enjoyed it.”

“
Good.  So did I.”  He reached down and gave her a quick kiss on her forehead.  “I'll see you this evening.”

After Heath left Sara asked, “What's the story with Heath?”

Heather looked at her, confused.  “What do you mean?”

“
I mean, he seems really nice, like the real deal.”

“
He is,” Heather assured her.  “He definitely is.”

“
So why isn't he married?  I mean, I'm 27 and you guys seem like you're about the same age.”

“
We're 30.”

“
So, is he married and divorced, or has he sworn off marriage, or what?”

Heather thought a moment before answering, “You know, it's actually my fault that he's still single, and sometimes I feel really bad about that, especially since Phil and I are so happy.  Heath deserves to be happy.”

“How is it your fault he hasn't met anyone he wants to marry?”

After taking a deep breath Heather explained, “Our parents were killed when we were in college, and I basically fell apart.  Heath took charge of things for me, which I was so thankful for.  He handled all the funeral arrangements and taking care of the estate, and all that stuff.  He spent a huge amount of time with me, though, holding my hand.”

“I imagine their death was a horrible shock.  I'm so sorry.”

“
Thank you.  It was a shock, but I didn't handle it well.  I just kind of crumbled.  I wanted to quit school because I couldn't concentrate on classes.  Heath asked what I was going to do instead, and I didn't really have any idea.  I just didn't want to do anything.  Heath was having none of that.  I had wanted to be a nurse since I was about five, and I was in my third year of nursing school.  He convinced me that Mom and Dad would be disappointed in me if I didn't keep going after my dream.”