Chapter 87

The conversation with Kate had shaken Dave. He decided to stop in and see his brother, Patrick, before he went home.

"Hey. So, I saw Kate. She's pregnant, with twins. I met her husband too," said Dave.

"Oh. How did that go?" asked Patrick.

"Not great," said Dave.

"I'm sorry, man," said Patrick, knowing how devastated Dave had been about Kate.

"So, I saw her really briefly yesterday. She was in the middle of puking from morning sickness. It was the worst morning sickness I've ever seen. Far worse than anything Julia went through with Tommy and Freddy," said Dave.

"That's an awkward start to a conversation."

"Yeah. I didn't even know it was her at first. Her hair was in front of her face. I just thought it was a random puking lady, I guess. I didn't know it was Kate with morning sickness. I tried to get her to go to the doctor's. Jodi had to tell me it was just morning sickness," admitted Dave.

"That's pretty rough."

"Yeah, and then I just froze like an idiot and then her husband came out to check on her, because he heard her getting sick, so I got to meet Russell."

"What's he like?" asked Patrick.

"He seems fine. But the worst part came today. She sought me out for a conversation. Just the two of us."

"What did she want?"

"She apologized for hurting me. She said she felt awful about it and that she wanted me to know that. She also told me the person she told me she was in love with was Riley, and that he had helped her get over me, and they had just realized they were in love, but that he died before they could do anything about it. She told me that, since his body was never found, she had a really hard time getting closure after that and that, when I went to see her, she was still hoping he would turn up with amnesia or something."

"Well, she did say she was in love with someone else. I was in the car with Riley that night and he was all giddy about finally getting together with her right before the accident. He was smiling like crazy, I reckon they really were in love. Kate really didn't take losing him well. She seemed really, really, lonely after that, and then she left Drovers and I didn't see her again for a long time. I reckon she was hurting worse than she let on to all of us," replied Patrick. "She didn't have a support system at Drovers anymore. Not like she had with Jodi and Riley anyway. She just seemed so alone and sad. She wasn't the Kate you knew anymore. She was just a shell of who she had been, her . I hated seeing it"

"She said she wanted us to be able to be friends or, at least, friendly with each other, since she is moving back to Gungellan," said Dave.

"Well, you do move in similar social circles. She has a point there. Gungellan isn't very big. You'll likely see each other pretty often."

"You know I can't ever be friends with her," said Dave.

"Why not?"

"Because she destroyed me. Devastation isn't a strong enough word for how I felt after she told me she loved someone else. I had always believed we were going to end up together. Every plan I had made in my life involved her at that point. It was awful enough when she left Africa, but the rest of the time I was there without her, I just believed everything would be fixed once I got back to Australia, and then it wasn't, and it was devastating."

"Are you still in love with her?" asked Patrick, worrying about his brother and his marriage.

"No, but the memories still hurt."

"Of course they do, but if she hadn't said she loved someone else, you would never have met Julia. You wouldn't have Tommy and Freddy. You wouldn't have the life you have now."

"No. I reckon not. I would have married Kate if she would have had me then," admitted Dave.

"Is Julia only your second choice then?" asked Patrick.

"No. Of course not. Julia is incredible. She is warm and smart and wonderful. She;s so beautiful and funny, and so smart. I love Julia," said Dave.

"So if Kate showed up, right now, and said she still loved you, and would leave her husband to be with you, would you leave Julia for her?" questioned Patrick.

"No way. I love Julia. She's incredible. I only want to be with her," declared Dave.

"Then why can't you be around Kate?" asked Patrick.

"Because it brings the pain back," answered Dave.

"But without that pain, without that experience, you wouldn't have Julia or Tommy or Freddy," explained Patrick.

"I guess that's true. I hadn't thought about it that way."

"Do you believe that Kate's apology was sincere? Do you really think she meant to hurt you?"

"Kate doesn't hurt people on purpose or lie. Of course the apology was sincere," said Dave.

"So think of it this way. Someone you cared about did something that hurt you. It hurt badly, but it led to something great. That person sincerely apologized for hurting you, and never meant to hurt you in the first place, and would like to be friends again. Would you accept the apology and try to be friends again?" asked Patrick.

"When you put it that way it seems reasonable, but seeing her brought back so much of that pain," said Dave.

"Well, I reckon you basically have two choices. You can stay cold, distant, and angry with Kate, and try to have Ingrid cover as many calls involving her as possible, or, you can accept her apology and work through the pain and salvage some part of a friendship. I'm not saying you should be best mates or hang out one on one, but there is no reason you can't be friendly in social situations and when your paths cross professionally," said Patrick.

"How did my little brother get so wise? Thank you. You really helped me through this. I love Julia and I'm glad I'm with her. Being with her is the best, easiest relationship I've ever had. She makes everyday better. Who knows if it would have even worked with Kate? It didn't work the first time. We were always better as mates than lovers," Dave realized.

"Are you feeling better now?"

"I am and I think I owe Kate an apology too. She was only telling the truth when she said she was in love with someone and she was only trying to apologize this afternoon. Thanks, Pat. I needed help working through this one." He gave his little brother a big hug. "So, how is the Nanjemup District Vet Services Demo Derby car going?"

"Come check it out. I've been working on it after work the last few days," said Patrick as he led Dave out to the garage to see the car.

"Wow, it looks like a piece of crap. Nice work!"

"She ain't pretty, but it fulfills all of the safety requirements," said Patrick.

"Well, I reckon that's most important. Is there anything else left to do?"

"We still need to decorate her. Any thoughts on colors?"

"Well It's a car representing a large animal vet practice. I reckon it should look like one of those animals I service. How about cow print? Brown and white?" suggested Dave.

"I love it. We can paint it tomorrow. I'll get the paint."

"Perfect. Thank you, brother, for everything. I'm heading home. Please tell Tayler I said hello."

"She should be home eventually. She got stuck late because someone called in a bunch of neglected donkeys. The RSPCA is taking custody of eight donkeys and Tayler has to treat all of them tonight. I reckon she will be home very late. I'm glad you came by Dave. I'm glad I was able to help you work through your Kate issue."