Chapter 8

In just a few moments, they were in his car headed toward Arcadia. He noticed after a very short time that the conversation had become one-sided. She was staring silently out of the window.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Your family."

"They like you."

She sighed. "They used to like me, but they can't be too happy about my behavior following the accident as well as the fact that I was the one who was supposed to be giving you a ride that night."

He signaled and pulled the car to the side of the road. After doing so, he turned to her and began to speak, "Beth, look at me. I promise you that what happened wasn't your fault. There's no need for my family to know, and even if they do, there's no way they can blame you. I won't let them." He pulled back onto the road without waiting for her to reply. She remained silent beside him.

A little while later, Kevin pulled the car up to the curb in front of the Girardi house. His younger sister Joan was sitting on the front steps and she jumped up to meet them as he turned off the motor. "Beth!" Joan yelled, "I'm so glad you made it."

He glanced from his sister to her and back. "What are you two not telling me?" he asked, feeling as though there were some inside joke that he had been completely left out of.

Joan opened the back door and pulled out the wheelchair, setting it beside Kevin's open door. "Just come inside and we'll talk it over." She grinned, turned, grabbed Beth's arm and led her inside.

By the time Kevin had made it into the house, Joan and his mother had gathered the family in the living room where tea and snacks had been set out. Helen Girardi was already engaging Beth in deep conversation while Will, Luke and Joan were finding places to sit. As Kevin entered the room, his mother looked up and motioned for him to come and join them. Everyone had a cup and plate in front of them when Joan looked around and said, "I know some people may be wondering what's going on here, so I'm going to tell you right now. This was all my doing."

Kevin glanced at Beth who didn't return his look but kept her eyes, like everyone else, on Joan. She continued, "I think we can all agree that things have been a little crazy around here for the past few months, mainly because of me, but a couple of weeks ago I decided to stop thinking about myself and my own problems and do something nice for someone else. Kevin has been getting involved in a lot of new things, his job, basketball, dating, but it occurred to me that while Luke and I have Grace, Adam, Glynis and Friedman, he doesn't really have anyone to really confide in, a really close friend.

"We all know how hard that can be, I mean, Mom and Dad, you all don't really hang out with any other couples here since Dad arrested the Fire Chief. Anyway, I was trying to think of something nice that I could do for Kevin when I ran into Beth at the mall. It was so great to see her and the first words out of her mouth were about Kevin. We talked for a while and exchanged numbers, but she said she didn't think that Kev would want to see her. I didn't know how he felt about it either. So I did a little sleuthing. To make a long story short, situations seemed to indicate that they needed to see one another, and I called Beth to set up this whole event, the tickets, the game, the causal meeting, everything. Well, except what happened after they saw each other, that was all them."

Kevin and Beth both blushed as Joan finished her speech. No one in the room really knew one small but important fact that Joan had not revealed to them. It was on the urging of God that she had arranged the little meeting. She and Adam, her boyfriend of recent months, had been walking in the park when Adam left her to buy lemonade from a nearby stand. As she was waiting, a jogger with long blonde hair approached her. Remembering the fiasco with Adam's sculpture the last time she had listened to this particular incarnation, Joan tried to hide herself behind a tree. The jogger kept finally stopped in front of a crouching Joan and said simply, "Do what you need to do to help him. You'll see what it is."

Joan hadn't been receiving assignments since being hospitalized at the end of the school year, so perhaps this woman was just a regular in the park who passed along helpful information? Adam returned and the two of them left the park. Joan tried to get the woman out of her head, but that evening her mom asked her to get Kevin's laundry from his room. His laptop was open on his desk. His email was open and he had begun a message. She didn't recognize the name to whom it was addressed, but the body of the message was pretty depressing. She felt a little bad about reading his personal stuff, but it was obvious from the message that no matter what Kevin was telling the family, things weren't completely okay. He had written that something was missing in his life and he needed to make some changes. He continued that he wanted to tell someone, but that he just didn't know anyone here who would understand what he needed to do. She glanced at the address again with sudden recognition, "notwhoiwas" was Kevin himself. He had no outlet for his frustrations, so he was sending himself an email.

She had heard that woman on the Today Show talking about how people could write themselves letters to help them deal with difficult situations or when they had no one else to talk to, but this was just sad. She thought she heard someone coming and jumped up from the desk. As she did so she hit her knee and a paper fell to the floor. She reached to pick it up to shove it back into the drawer. It was a worn note from Beth in Arizona and a photo of her standing in front of a huge cactus. She was shocked as Kevin hadn't uttered a word concerning Beth for over two years. Then, she definitely heard Kevin approaching his room. She put the note in the center drawer and started picking up clothes as he entered.

"Mom wants me to bring your stuff down, she's getting ready to do a load. Is there anything you especially need or that is especially dirty?" she covered. He pointed to a few articles of clothing. She grabbed them and left the room with a plan forming in her head.

The story she told the family had been almost true. Beth, of course, knew the real story (minus the God part), but agreed that calling their meeting "chance" seemed to be the best way to present their plan to Kevin and the rest of the crew. Joan had called Beth and gotten her caught up on life in Arcadia, everything that was going on with everyone, and had mentioned that she thought Kevin needed to talk to someone from the past. Preferably someone that he had been very close to. Beth had been apprehensive but finally agreed when Joan assured her that they would make the meeting look completely unplanned until Beth was able to read Kevin's feelings toward her. Thankfully, Beth had agreed.

The family sat and listened as Joan, Kevin, and Beth spoke. Kevin told the family about his plans to go to college, adding that he had already applied to the journalism program at the University of Maryland. He had been told that he would be able to take most of the general requirements for the program at the local community college so he could continue with his job at the paper. Rebecca had asked him the week before if he would be interested in reporting on local sports. He had worked out his class schedule with her and was enrolled for the second summer session as well as the fall semester. Will shook his head in pride and satisfaction as he smiled at his elder son. Helen walked over to Kevin and kissed him on the top of the head. Neither was able to speak, as they were afraid words would betray their strong emotions of joy, relief, and pride.

Kevin further explained that he and Beth were going to give their relationship another try. At this point, Beth interjected. She told Kevin that if they were to really do that, the family needed to hear the truth about her involvement the night of the accident. With a deep breath, she began her story. The entire time Kevin held her hand and lightly rubbed her forearm. Will, Helen, Luke, and even Joan sat in silence and shock as Beth explained how Kevin had been with her, how they had fought, and how she had left him. She left out the parts that were unbecoming to Kevin's character and placed the blame solely on herself. As she attempted to do this Kevin stopped her.

"No. Mom, Dad, this isn't right. Beth feels very strongly that she caused the accident, but the truth is that I was drinking too. We did get into a fight, but it was my fault. I said and did things that I'm too ashamed to even admit, and if I had been Beth I would have left me there, too. There's no way she could have known what would happen. I think we just need to end all this right now, put it behind us, and start over."

Will was the first to speak after a moment of silence. "Beth, thank you for your honesty. I understand that you must be feeling tremendous guilt, but Kevin is right. You aren't to blame. A lot of bad decisions were made that night, and there is no way this can be pinned on one person." The entire room seemed to breathe as tears fell silently from Beth's cheeks.

Helen nodded in agreement and added, "Will is right. We're just so glad that you're here and that you and Kevin have been able to have another chance. Let's just have a nice visit now. Tell us what you've been doing for the past few years." With that, the conversation and mood turned much lighter. Beth told them about her experiences in Arizona, her new job in D.C., and everything going on at the moment. After she finished the Girardis took their turns telling Beth all that they had been doing in the past few months. Finally, Beth realized how late the hour had gotten and said that she really must be getting to the bus station. Kevin agreed to drive her, and she said her goodbyes to the family after making plans to get together very soon.

At the station, Kevin accompanied Beth to the platform as she waited for her bus to board. She promised to call as soon as she got home and to be on hand for his basketball game the next weekend. The PA system announced boarding for her bus and she bent to kiss him goodbye. She gathered her luggage and began to mount the steps. She had nearly reached the top when Kevin yelled for her. She turned and smiled. He was smiling broadly and waving. She found her seat and looked out the window at him. As the bus pulled away from the station he mouthed the words, "Thank you. I love you." She smiled and waved in return. A tremendous weight had finally been lifted and she felt that she could finally breathe again.