Chapter 17
Bewildered
Sarasota, Florida
May 4, 1987 (Monday)
1:30 p.m.
Kitty was excited.
She was going to have company. Patricia's baby was coming to Sarasota, Florida just to visit her. Of course, she
wasn't a little girl anymore. Holly was 25 years old, a little bit younger than her boys, but in the same age range.
Kitty Sigurdson was in nursing school and one of her closest friends was Patricia Sullivan. The last time she saw
her, she was six years old and told Kitty that someday she was going to be a nurse like her mom and "aunt
Kitty". They moved away for reasons unknown and when Kitty saw Patty's sister, Jean at the grocery store just
a few weeks ago, who retired to Sarasota with her husband she said the next time she heard from "Patty's
girl", she would pass along the message. Kitty wondered, it wasn't her place, why Holly didn't want to see her
Aunt Jean, but rather her? Eric was at the bookstore and probably would still be there until dinnertime, but at
least he wasn't afraid to leave the house like he used to be. She set out the "fancy nut mix" and although she
felt a tad guilty the store bought Archway oatmeal windmill shaped cookies would have to do, at least it
was on her good china, the white with the scalloped edges that was a reluctant wedding present from Red's
cold mother Bernice.
Kitty missed her little house in Point Place, this was just a little too modern for her with the fancy fan
light on the kitchen ceiling where Red, when he was still alive, had an actual private den with a door, Eric
sometimes used the room to draw in. It felt great to have an afternoon guest. She finished dusting the coffee
table and thought her glass grapes still looked good next to her Ladies Home Journal's and Family Circle's. The
coffee maker would beep when it was ready and she didn't know if they should catch up in the living room or in
the kitchen, she figured the kitchen since it was completely spotless. The parlor shelves still needed dusting, she
had her framed family photos in her knitting basket by her special pink chair. The last gift from Red. She missed
her husband so much. There was the sound of her happy doorbell and Kitty ran, she actually sprinted, to get the
door.
"Hi, Mrs. Forman….."
"Holly Sullivan! Is that you? You've grown!"
She wrapped her arms around the young woman. "You're so pretty!"
"Thank you."
She wished he thought so.
"Come in the kitchen, dear," Kitty held her hand, "I am curious why you chose to see me
over your Aunt Jean?"
"Because I don't like her."
Kitty laughed, Holly remembered her unique laugh. It felt good to get out of Santa Cruz and a chance to forget
about what's his name.
Holly put her keys on the table and took out her pack of cigarettes. "You don't mind do you?"
"Nursing is a very stressful job. It took me years to quit the habit. I know I have an ashtray somewhere. Would
you like a cup of coffee?"
"Sure."
"So how's your life, dear?"
It was obvious that Holly didn't know about the 1977 tragedies and Kitty was glad, she liked the days when she
didn't have to talk about it. Kitty found a clear yellow ashtray in the utility drawer and she put it on the table.
The girl looked tired and not all of it from traveling.
She put two brown coffee cups with turquoise blue Old English style "F's" in front of them and offered her a
windmill cookie.
"Work sucks…..but that might be because…..I don't want to bother you with this."
Holly thought it was obvious that Kitty didn't know about the tragedies in her family. Of course her Aunt Jean
wouldn't say anything, she didn't believe her, and she never had the courage to tell her now deceased mother.
"You're not bothering me with anything…it's good to talk."
A lesson that Kitty wished one of her boys would take to heart.
"I thought I met a nice guy…it's stupid…..he broke my heart…I fought my instincts to run…."
"Call me Kitty…."
"Kitty, I fought my instincts…I wouldn't have broken things up less than 24 hours after our first kiss together."
She vowed she wasn't going to cry anymore, but she didn't know if it was being in the presence of a kind
woman or just the exhaustion of it all, but she started to cry.
"Oh, Holly dear," Kitty got up to get the box of tissues that she kept by the telephone incase her Steven called
her, she needed to be ready with a box of tissues, a pen and paper, and her miniature bottle of vodka. "It'll be
okay."
"Steve's a jerkwad," She replied in frustration. "Thank you for the tissues and to top it all off he's a patient!
Sometimes I just want to get run over by a truck."
Steve?
Okay.
That was too common of a name to get excited over.
"Don't say that. It sounds like you have to get this off your chest. How did you two meet?"
"At the store. He helped me stop the lettuce from rolling onto the floor. I thought he had beautiful blue eyes. I
felt like such a dork that night. I didn't know what to say. I tried avoiding him, we had some small polite talk,
but my car wouldn't start…so he gave me a ride home so I could get my auto club card….."
"He sounds like a nice guy." Kitty stirred her coffee.
"I thought so too. At least he had a cute dog."
Steve.
Blue eyes.
(Could he not have worn his sunglasses?)
Dog.
"What kind of dog?"
"A German Shepard."
Steve.
Blue eyes.
German Shepard.
"You didn't say where you live now?"
She needed to get off the Steve topic it was too painful for her, "Santa Cruz, California."
Steve.
Blue eyes.
German Shepard.
Santa Cruz, California.
Holly put her cigarette out in the ashtray. "Remind me never to get involved with writer/artist types ever again."
This can't be happening.
Oh, Red, My Darling Husband.
Steve.
Blue eyes.
German Shepard.
Santa Cruz, California.
Writer.
"Kitty, where is your bathroom?" Holly asked
"Right down the hall, second door on the left."
The nice thing about a ranch house was that Kitty didn't have to worry about steps anymore. She finished her
coffee. These were an awful lot of coincidences or maybe Holly just said the words that Kitty wanted to hear.
She accidentally dropped her key ring on the floor; there was a silver "H" in modern script, a nurse's hat charm,
and a purple rectangular shaped box with the words Santa Cruz Beach & Boardwalk written on it. It was one of
those picture key rings.
Holly turned off the faucet and dried her hands with the cranberry colored towel that was on the rack. There
were only 2 toothbrushes in the holder below the medicine cabinet mirror. When she heard the sound of
something breaking, she forgot about her own troubles and went into nurse mode.
"Kitty, are you okay?"
Kitty was standing up, the coffee cup that Holly drank out of was on the floor in shattered pieces, the puddle of
caffeine, sugar, and milk on the light golden tile with the starburst pattern.
"Oh my God…" She couldn't stop the flow tears if she tried, "Oh my god…" Kitty waved her hands like she always
did when she was nervous.
"Why don't you sit down? I'll clean this up…" She gave Kitty a few tissues from the box.
"Holly, I know you are worn out, this was the start of your vacation but we need to go back to your hotel to
pack your bags and return to Santa Cruz immediately. I'm not letting this chance slip away! You're a living
Angel!" She stood up to give the young woman a big hug before sitting down again.
"Why?"
She grabbed a bunch of white paper towels to clean up the mess on the floor confused by Mrs. Forman's
behavior.
"I will explain things to you on the plane….Oh my God….oh my God…Red…Red sent you to me Holly….I just know
it!"
What was this about?
"Mrs. F…I mean Kitty, what's wrong?"
"Nothing….don't give up on Steven…or Steve as you call him…that's so cute! Oh my God….I have waited 8 years
for this day! I didn't think it was ever going to come. And I didn't think it would happen in quite this way. Your
jerkwad Steve, with the blue eyes, German Shepherd, the writer in Santa Cruz, California, is my Steven…..my
son…"
Kitty got up and continued to breakdown over the unexpected news in bewildered nurse Holly's arms.