~{Chapter 24}~

The next morning, I go to work with exhaustion written all over my face. I tossed and turned all night with thoughts of James and Matt on my mind. It also did not help that I kept thinking back to what Violet said about Harper.

"Um, Miss Garner?" Miss Stevens asks me from the doorway.

I gesture for her to walk in. "How have you been? I keep forgetting to ask."

She smiles and sits across from me. "I'm doing alright. Just more tired than usual. Everyone's been so kind. You were right. I need this job, so I don't plan on leaving."

I smile at her. "I'm glad. How is your little one doing?"

She smiles. "He's so sweet. I'll see if I can introduce him to you sometime soon. I know he'd love you."

"Well, I'll be sure you do that. Now, did you have something you needed to tell me?" I ask.

She nods. "I just wanted to thank you for your kind and encouraging words. They meant a lot, and they really helped me."

"Of course."

"Now, I did come by to tell you that the people from the honoring event called and left a message. They wanted to tell you that the event was moved up to Saturday," she says, her tone going back to her usual business tone.

My mouth drops open. "Saturday! That's in two days! How am I going to be ready?"

"Please, Miss Garner relax. Beth has told me that you're beyond ready. Even if you don't sound good, which I doubt, nobody is going to really notice. This is an event to honor them. You'll be fine," she says, trying to calm me down.

I just nod, trying to ignore the panic I feel. I convince her to leave me alone, and I begin to fully freak out as soon as she leaves. I know I am ready, but at the same time, I have no idea what people will think when I open my mouth to sing.

"Kate? Amy said you might be feeling a bit stressed, and it looks like she was correct," Beth says as she enters my office, closing the door behind her.

"A bit? That's an understatement. Beth, what if they hate it? What if this is all a mistake? What will I do?" I ask, clearly in my full on panic mode.

She sits down across from me and gives me a comforting smile. "Kate, you're doing this for James and God. How could this be a mistake? The families will love you because you can relate to them, and the song you're singing is going to be amazing. Plus, you still have two days. Just take a second to slow down and take deep breaths. It'll all be fine."

I nod and take a couple deep breaths. She is right. I just need to relax and not stress. I keep taking more deep breaths in order to calm my nerves.

"Good, Kate. Just don't stress," Beth says.

I nod and tell her to leave. Thankfully she does that, and I get back to work. I soon find myself facing a very stressed out author, so I am occupied the rest of the day. That meant I did not have time to worry about anything.

By the end of the day, I have almost forgotten whole situation. All of a sudden, my thoughts drift back to Saturday as I pack up. I feel myself beginning to panic again.

Ring, ring!

I grab my phone and say, "Hello?"

"Um, hey," a voice almost whispers.

"Hi? Who is this?" I ask.

The person sighs before hanging up. I stare at my phone for a second before I set it down to finish packing my things. Beth comes in with her usual cheerful smile.

"How are you doing?" she asks.

I sigh. "I honestly don't really know. I just need to go home and relax. Right?"

"Yes. That's exactly what we're going to do. I'm going to go with you and make sure you don't work. It'll be a girl's night!" she says with excitement written all over her face.

I laugh. "Sounds like fun. Let's get going."

She smiles and follows me out of the office. She follows behind me to my house in her car. When we get there, she immediately jumps onto the couch and turns the TV on. She also slips her shoes off.

I raise my eyebrow. "Comfortable?"

She just nods. "The only thing that would make this better would be if we had some popcorn and peppermint ice cream."

I laugh. "Is this your way of getting me to get you snacks? You do realize we haven't eaten any dinner at all, right?"

She pauses before jumping up from her spot. "Oh. Well, we can eat some... goldfish!"

I roll my eyes and lead her to the kitchen where she hurries over to my fridge. She groans when she looks inside. She closes the refrigerator door and stares at me with a sad and disappointed face.

"What?" I ask.

She groans again. "All you have in there is healthy stuff! How am I supposed to eat when all I see is green and green and green?"

I give her a smile. "You sound like you're back in kindergarten. I'll have you know that those green foods can actually taste pretty good."

Her face twists with disgust. "I don't think so."

"How about some scrambled eggs?"

She thinks for a second before nodding. "Sure."

I nod and walk over to the fridge. I pick up a box of eggs and take it to my stovetop. I get a pan out and melt some butter in it before cracking eggs into a small bowl. I then whisk the eggs and pour them into the pan.

"Are we going to have anything else with that? That seems a little light for dinner by itself," she soon tells me.

I laugh. "There's some bacon and sausage in my outside refrigerator."

I do not have to tell her twice because as soon as the words leave my mouth, she is sprinting to my garage. I laugh and go back to cooking my eggs. I sprinkle a little bit of cheese on them as Beth walks back inside with the bacon and sausage in her hands.

"You found them," I say.

"Of course I did! I didn't want to starve, did I?" she says as though she is shocked I would say such a thing.

I just laugh. "No, I guess not."

She starts putting bacon on a plate to cook in the microwave and hands me the sausage. I take the sausage and transfer the eggs to a platter. I put the sausage in the pan and begin to cook it. It is then when my phone rings.

"Would you grab my phone?" I ask Beth.

She nods and hurries to the living room and comes back with my phone in her hand. I quickly take it her from her and accept the call.

"Hello?" I ask.

I hear someone breathing on the other end, but the person doesn't answer.

"Hello?" I say again.

The person hangs up. I take the phone off my ear and stare at it.

"Who was it?" Beth asks.

I look at her and say, "I have no idea. That's the second time it's happened today. The person calls and then hangs up."

"Is it the same number as the one you had earlier?"

I look down at my recent list and nod my head. She clucks her tongue. I go back to cooking the sausage and quickly finish it. I put it on a plate, and we serve our dinner, buffet style.

After we finish eating, popping the popcorn, and getting ice cream, we finally sit down and watch a cheesy romance Hallmark movie. We laugh and cry. We also yell at the TV and the characters for being extremely stupid and judgmental. By the end of the movie, I have experienced at least three or four different emotions.

Beth is beginning to doze off, so I nudge her in her side. She jumps up and rubs her eyes. I laugh.

"What?" she asks.

I roll my eyes. "Stay here tonight instead of driving home. You seem exhausted."

"I'm not exhausted," she says with a large yawn.

"Whatever. Stay here."

She does not argue and follows me up to my guest bedroom where I say goodnight to her before walking to my room. I get ready for bed quickly, but I realize I am not very tired. I sigh and pick up a book to read.

I grab a blanket off of my bed and sit down on my window seat, covering myself with the blanket. I open the book and find myself being drawn into the world of the book. I finish it at around one o'clock. I close it and get in bed with dreams of the book in my thoughts. 

~-~-~-~
I go to the office the next morning tired from my late night read. I greet my receptionist and secretary before going immediately to my office and collapsing in my chair.

A knock comes at my door, and I quickly sit up and make it look like I am wide awake.

"Come in," I say.

The door opens, revealing Mr. Parker. I gasp and quickly stand up and walk over to him.

"Hello, Miss Garner. I'm here for a vacation and thought I'd stop by to see how the office is doing. It looks like it's doing pretty well," he says.

I smile and give him a small hug before going back to my chair. "I'm glad you think so. I wasn't expecting you, but it's quite a nice surprise."

He smiles and sits down across from me. "My wife and I just packed up and flew out here on a whim. Anyway, I've heard you're performing tomorrow at an honoring event for the families of veterans."

I nod. "You heard right. It's a crazy thing for me to do, but I couldn't say no, especially when they know I can kind of carry a tune."

He laughs. "I've heard you can carry more than just a tune."

"We'll see," I say.

"I guess we will. Well, I just came by to check up on you and the office, so I'll let you get back to your work. I'll see you later," he says as he rises from his seat.

I nod. "Definitely! Enjoy your stay!"

He chuckles and leaves. I smile and get back to my work. I have to edit at least two chapters today, and I have a meeting with a potential author.

"Miss Garner, I know you hate coffee, but you look like you need it, so I got you some. Don't worry, I put loads of sugar and cream in it," Miss Stevens says as she places a mug of coffee on my desk.

I smile at her. "Thank you. How are you today?"

She smiles. "Better than I've been in awhile. Thanks for asking. I'll let you get back to work."

She walks out, and I open my computer and start working. I edit and meet with the author and edit some more. By the time the day is over, I am exhausted and have gone through three large mugs of coffee. I am packing up my things when my phone rings.

"Hello?" I ask tiredly.

I once again hear breathing on the other end. The person says nothing.

"Look, I can hear you breathing! Who is this? Why do you keep calling me? I have things to do, so I need you to actually answer," I say.

"I-I," the person stammers before hanging up again.

I sigh and roll my eyes. "Honestly!"

"You okay, there?" Beth asks as she walks in.

"It was the person who keeps calling and then hangs up. I honestly am completely irritated," I say.

She just nods. "Well, I was going to ask if you wanted to come eat dinner with the two imbeciles and me?"

I laugh. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm going to go home, go over my song, and get some sleep. I just need a stress free evening, and I think the way you described Josh and Sam makes me feel like it's not going to be stress free."

She laughs. "Yeah, sounds like it. I'll see you tomorrow at the event. Make sure you don't stress at all. I'll come and find you if you do."

I nod and laugh and pick up my things. I say goodbye to her and walk out to my car, leaving her to lock up. As soon as I get inside my car, I take a deep breath.

"It'll all be okay. It'll all be okay. Don't stress," I tell myself, taking deep breaths.