CHAPTER 1
High School Reunion
In the northeast corner of Oklahoma, the bitter cold of winter was relentlessly loosening its grip. Spring was arriving, however slowly. It had always been Loni's favorite time of the year. Even as a child, she remembered looking forward to it, as a new season took bloom and with it, a chance for a new start. Loni was far from being a child now, yet she was terrified to face the future. It had been a year now since she had to make the most heart-wrenching decision to disconnect the life-support machines that had kept her husband, Kevin alive. Although, he had been in a coma for five long years.
Loni should have seen it coming. The doctors had certainly told her enough times that Kevin's prognosis was very unlikely, but she didn't want to hear it. She was in shock. For the first six months, she was in a fog. She took long walks with her dog, Shasta and wore only black. She couldn't even talk about Kevin without crying. She committed herself to her job and came home each night to a lonely apartment.
She missed her usual evening visits at the hospital with her husband, Kevin Colbe -- his friends sometimes called him Kev. They used to visit him a lot at first, but as the years lingered they came fewer and fewer. And when they did come, they didn't stay very long.
Loni felt as if Kevin's care was totally upon her shoulders, even though her Mom, Loretta, was extremely supportive and would come to the hospital every once in a while with Loni on her evenings off. The two would read to him, and played the radio so Kevin could hear his favorite songs. Some thought they were crazy for doing all that. They insisted he couldn't hear anything. But Loni and Loretta refused to let him just slip away.
Loni would move his legs up, in and back hoping his muscles wouldn't be as deteriorated when he woke up. She knew, of course that he would have to endure years of physical therapy. She did everything she could, but she just couldn't reach him. He just wouldn't wake up.
The apartment they once shared was lonely and quiet. She lay on her king-sized iron canopy bed draped in white fabric with a big white comforter and lots of fluffy white laced pillows stacked neatly at the head. She reached for the envelope with her invitation to her ten-year high school reunion. "I wish I still lived in Bradford," she thought to herself. But she didn't. She had to move two hundred miles away to Belvedier where her husband, Kevin had found a job.
She looked at the hand-made directory that came in the Bradford High School's ten-year reunion package. "They did a good job," she thought. Thumbing through the pages, she recalled several good friends she used to know. She reached over and pet her dog, Shasta who was comfortably laying on the king-sized bed. Loni didn't go anywhere without her brown and tan German Shorthaired Pointer, ever since the night of Kevin's accident when the little puppy showed up on her porch.
The day of the reunion came quickly. Loni had her little red convertible all packed up and ready to go. She called Shasta and he jumped into the front seat of the car. She drove the two-hour drive from Belvedier to Bradford and pulled into her Mom, Loretta's driveway. Shasta wanted out immediately and she let him out and walked him around the front yard. Loretta opened the front door and said, "Hi, you two! How was the drive?"
"Not bad," Loni replied.
"What time do you have to be at the reunion?" Loretta asked.
"It starts at seven, so we have a little time to freshen up."
"Come on in," Loretta said as she held the front door open for Loni and her dog.
"Can you watch Shasta for me?"
"Of course I can watch him." Loretta replied. "I know how much he means to you."
Since Kevin's accident, Loni and Shasta had become really close.
Loni walked the seventy-five pound bird dog through the house and let him out in Loretta's fenced back yard. Loni and Loretta sat on the couch and visited for a while, then she went back to the guest bedroom and finished getting ready.
She drove her little Mazda convertible sports car to the reunion with the top down and parked it in the parking lot of the Bradford Convention Center and walked into the building. She was greeted by the class president who was sitting at a table covered with name tags. She found hers and pinned it on.
Loni was amazed as she looked at all the decorations in the room. The far wall was decorated with pictures of her class mates, surrounded by blue and white ribbon, their school colors. She enjoyed looking at the old photos and then found an empty table and sat down. Looking up, she noticed a handsome familiar face walking her way. It was Nicholas Hart. "He looks great," she thought to herself and "his name tag says 'Dr' now."
Nick stopped at Loni's table and said, "Loni! Great to see you! I heard about what happened to your husband. I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am."
"Thanks Nick," Loni replied, "that means a lot to me." Loni felt a big knot in her throat as if she could burst out crying at any minute, but she mustered up the courage and began slowly telling Nick a kind of quick summary of all that had happened the last ten years. She and Kevin had only been married two years when the accident had cheated them of a long and happy life together.
"Sit down," Loni said as she patted the chair beside her. "You're a doctor now?" Loni asked as she pointed to his name tag.
"Yeah, that's what they call me these days," Nick joked. Loni and Nick talked for hours, enjoying the reunion together. Nick invited Loni over to his house afterwards where a few of their classmates were gathering to extend the party.
Loni followed Nick in her Mazda and was pleasantly surprised to find that Nick lived in a beautiful two story house with rock and brick exterior. The house sat away from the curb, with a well kept lawn and was in a really nice neighborhood. Nick gave her a quick tour while others showed up.
On Sunday, when the family picnic was over, Loni drove back to Belvedier. And once again, she and Shasta arrived home to a quiet and lonely apartment, and still, waiting there on the table were the tickets she and Kev had purchased for their all-inclusive Caribbean Scuba Diving vacation that they were preparing to go on just days before the accident.
Loni put her things down, and held the tickets uselessly in her hands. She remembered Kevin bought them right after she enrolled in a six-week long scuba diving class. They were going to go diving after Loni had earned her Open Water Scuba Diving Certificate. Everything was already arranged, everything ready to go except the other person named on the ticket wasn't there anymore. She sighed and gently laid the tickets back on the table, secretly hoping Kevin would walk through that door and sweep her off her feet again.
Loni had so looked forward to this vacation because it would be the first time that she and Kevin got to dive together. He had dove for years, even after they got married. He and Loni had been on several really good snorkeling trips during their time together. But now, Loni would have her certification.
But, Loni had to quit the scuba class after Kev's accident. She just couldn't concentrate and now with him being gone, she decided she should just go ahead and cancel the trip. "It just wouldn't be right," she thought. Going back to the reunion had inspired her...
