Chapter 7: Whenever a Door Closes...

"What did you do with them, Darren?" I mumbled under my breath as I opened one cabinet and drawer after another.

I was looking for the frog paper plates I had bought on sale several months before when I heard the mail sliding through the slot in the front door.

Deciding to take a break from my search, I sorted through the envelopes. "Bill... junk...junk..." The next piece made me smile. It was a padded envelope with Mrs. Donovan's return address on it. She'd probably sent Harry a book for his second birthday in a few days...but wait, that wasn't her handwriting...

I sat down on the couch to examine the mysterious package, carefully pulling the flap up, and finding a smaller envelope and a DVD in a plastic case inside. Baffled, I opened the inner envelope, startled to find a letter on a law firm's letterhead. What in the world?

Scanning the letter, tears began to run unbidden down my cheeks. I slid to the floor, collapsed in a heap and wept uncontrollably...

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"Rhi, I'm home!" I heard Darren call as if he was very far away. "I got everything on the list, except I'm not sure about the balloons," he shouted as he poked his head into various rooms looking for me. "Neither the clerk nor I knew what 'frog green' meant, so we picked sort of a medium...Rhi? Honey? Are you here?"

A whimper loud enough for my husband to hear escaped my lips, drawing him back to the living room. "Rhiannon! WHERE ARE YOU?" he yelled from behind the couch, sounding increasingly desperate because he couldn't see me until he looked down...

"Oh my god, Rhi!" he exclaimed as he crouched by my side. "What happened?" He started to dial 911 on his phone, but I stopped him with my hand on his arm.

"Don't move, Rhi! If you're hurt, you need to lie..."

"I'm...not hurt, Darren," I said, barely audible and still shuddering occasionally from crying so intensely. I continued, this time a little louder, "Can you...help me up?"

My husband immediately wrapped his arms around my waist and slowly lifted me onto the couch. "Rhi, baby, what...what can I do? What...happened?" he asked, stroking my hair, desperate to comfort me in my obviously distraught state.

"Just hold me, Dare, please?" I begged plaintively.

"Forever, Rhiannon," he declared, rocking me like a baby until my body was no longer wracked by silent sobs and I dropped off into a dreamless sleep.

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I woke abruptly, disoriented and gasping for breath. I repeatedly screamed, "HARRY! DARREN! WHERE IS HARRY?"

Darren came hurtling into our room, cradling me in his arms to calm me. Over and over he chanted, "Harry is with Jeff...Harry is fine..." until it finally sunk in.

"Oh, Darren," I exhaled unsteadily, "Mrs. Donovan...she's dead..."

"I know, Rhi. I found the letter after I got you into bed. I'm so sorry, sweetie. She meant so much to you...to us..." he said soothingly as he stroked my cheek.

I tried to absorb my husband's strength and love as he laid down beside me so we were face to face, clutching each other's hands.

"Just close your eyes, Rhi. You need to sleep right now...your brain is...overwhelmed with the shock..."

Exhausted and without any real intent, I replied, "But, Darren, it's dinner time. Jeff will be bringing Harry home from the zoo soon. I need to finish the party stuff before..."

"Rhiannon," Darren started firmly to get my attention. "Jeff is keeping Harry overnight. The party stuff can wait. You and I are going to get into our PJs, and we're going to sleep until you're ready to wake up. Then we'll talk about this if you want to, okay?"

I nodded hesitantly. After a chaste kiss, Darren got up to fetch my pajamas and change into his own. For the millionth time I asked myself, what had I done to deserve this amazing man?

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After waking alone and in complete darkness, Darren began searching the house for me again, trying to block out the memories of that afternoon's panic. He found me hunched over on the couch crying quietly. The only light came from a paused picture of Mrs. Donovan on our big screen television.

"Rhiannon?" Darren said softly as he gathered me in his arms. "Honey, you should have waited...I would have watched it with you..."

I sniffled, trying to stem the flow of tears. "I needed to watch it by myself first, Darren, but please..."

"Anything, Rhi...just tell me what you need me to do."

"Please, watch it with me..."

Darren reached for the remote and pressed stop and then play, keeping an arm around me the whole time.

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Just like before, I jumped when Mrs. Donovan's face and upper body appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. It looked like she was in her lawyer's office, and she was definitely uncomfortable.

She said, talking to someone behind the camera, "Are you sure it's working? How do I know if it's really..."

A disembodied but kind male voice assured her, "It's working, Millicent. That red light means it's recording. Whenever you're ready..."

Mrs. Donovan nodded, straightened her shoulders and started talking in a strangely stiff manner directly into the camera.

"Rhiannon. If you are watching this, then that means I have passed away. I am so sorry that you had to find out like this, but I did not want you to spend your time worrying about...I almost told you so many times...after they found the cancer, the doctors gave me no more than two years. I didn't want you to waste your energy on something no one could do anything about. I wanted you to focus on Darren, and Harry, and that school you work at...that's as it should be.

"You know I'm no fan of modern technology, but Darren gave me the idea to send you a video with all those DVDs of Harry he...burned?...for me to watch. I think that's the right word. I wanted you to see my face so that you know I mean what I'm saying...

She sounded more like herself now, obviously relaxing into what she intended to tell us.

"I tried to tell you when you visited last summer that you've become like a granddaughter to me. And, when you moved to California, it meant more than I could ever say that you and Darren didn't forget an old lady who isn't even part of your family..."

"Yes, you are..." I whispered and Darren squeezed me more tightly..

"Anyway, your happiness has brought me so much joy...I can't even..."

A tissue was passed to her by an unseen hand, and she wiped her eyes before continuing.

"Rhiannon...Darren...there's no reason that you would know this, but when Walter died, he left me...more than comfortable. I didn't really need to rent out our second house, but it was always nice to have someone close by. Plus, it brought me the three of you. So...I hope you're sitting down," she said with a half-smile.

Darren gave me a puzzled look, but I directed his attention back to the screen.

"For the last ten years, I've invested almost all of the rent I've gotten - including Rhi's - since I had more than enough to take care of my own expenses. The mortgages on both houses were paid long ago, and my needs were simple, so over the years, that's grown to a tidy sum. Until Rhi came into my life, I wasn't sure what I was saving that money for, but then I knew. So, first, I'm leaving you...how much is it again?" she asked the camera operator, nodding at his response, although he replied too quietly for us to hear. "Depending on when you are watching this, it will be at least $75,000."

Darren sucked in his breath.

"Second, I've transferred the deeds to the two houses to you as well. I don't expect you to move back to Wisconsin, but the housing market should do well by you. As you know, Rhi, they make excellent starter homes, and yours is decorated so nicely...all that work you put in..." she trailed off with a distant look before speaking again.

"My real estate agent thinks that you'll get at least $120,000 for each of them, but that could go a little lower...or a little higher."

Darren finally turned to stare at me with his mouth gaping open. I nuzzled his cheek, then pointed back to the television. "There's more?" he whispered in disbelief.

I nodded as Mrs. Donovan continued.

"Now, I know that you both have been hatching plans that you thought you would never have the...wherewithal to make happen, so you are NOT to put this money in the bank for a rainy day. You buy a bigger house so that your darling boy can have his own room when your other bundle of joy comes along."

Darren turned to look at me questioningly. "I mentioned to her a while ago that we wanted a sibling for Harry, but weren't sure where we would put...everyone..."

Our attention was drawn back to the screen when Mrs. Donovan started talking again.

"Darren, you start working on your own...label? Is that right? You told me once on the phone, but I can't remember... You are so talented and such a generous soul...now you can help other musical folks achieve their dreams, just like you have."

"And, Rhiannon...sweetheart...you were so brave to go back to school so you could do what you were born to do. You give those kids what they need to be happy and make their way in the world because you don't want them to be lonely and uncertain like you were. Now that you've got some experience under your belt, you need to start planning for your own place so you can do it the way you want...maybe at a camp, like you used to talk about when you would visit me while you were in school? The fire in your eyes told me you would get there some day, and this will get you there sooner."

Darren and I were both weeping silently now, but Mrs. Donovan wasn't quite finished.

"When you're ready, call the number on the letter you got with the video, and they'll know what to do.

"I think that's everything. No, I want you to remember one more thing...Rhiannon, remember when we used to watch 'The Sound of Music'? You changed the way they said it, but it's still true. You're sad right now, but that will lessen with time, and when it does, I want you to remember, whenever a door closes..."

She paused, and I recited with her, "...somewhere a window opens."