Righteous Obsession (73 page)

“No.  He’s blaming himself for trying to find me.  He
thinks that’s solely what triggered Father Michaels breakdown.  Caitlin said he
goes down to New Orleans once a month to see him.”

“That’s really sad,” Amanda said.  “Jeff isn’t my
favorite person, but I don’t wish him ill either.  His current state of mind
can’t be good for his daughter.”

“Caitlin’s been trying to convince him to get some
help with his depression, but he isn’t too hot on the idea, I guess.”

“I know he probably won’t talk to you, but I think you
could convince him of the value of therapy.”

Colin sighed.  “I’ve considered it, Mom, but then I
decided it’d be better for me to stay clear and let him work things out for
himself.”

“It isn’t an easy decision to make, I know.”

Debbie came over to them.  “Can I get anything for
you, Mom?  Did you have enough to eat?”

“I’m stuffed, darling,” Amanda assured her then
suggested, “Why don’t you take Colin and Alethea upstairs and show them how we
decorated the nursery.”

“Sure.” She motioned to Colin and Alethea. “Wait until
you see how we did it.”

When Colin got upstairs he discovered the nursery was
his former bedroom.  He hardly recognized it as the same room.  Alethea ran her
hand over the railing of the crib.  “This is a beautiful nursery.”

It was nearly eleven o’clock by the time they finally
returned home.  As they were getting ready for bed, Colin turned to Alethea and
said, “You didn’t tell me what grandma said.”

“She thinks we should have some tests run.”

“Tests?”

“You know fertility tests?”

“God!  What did you say?”

“I said with you being gone so much, we really didn’t
get much time together,”  She teased him.

“Sure!  Blame it on me!”  Colin joked.  “Well, if
grandma’s so worried about our fertility, I think we should practice our
fertility rites, don’t you?”

“I think that’s an excellent suggestion!”  Alethea
replied, wrapping her arms around him.

They had a short visit with Luke and Nora.  Colin was
glad to hear that Jeff had finally made an appointment to see a therapist.

“What made him decide to go through with it?”  Alethea
asked.  She and Colin knew from Caitlin’s letters that he’d agreed to see a
therapist twice before, but then backed out.

“Caitlin,” Nora replied emphatically.  “She told him
he had to get help or she was moving out because she couldn’t stand to be
around him when he was so depressed all the time.”

“I’m glad for both of them that Jeff’s getting help,”
Colin said “Has there been any change in Father Michaels’ condition?”

Luke shook his head and sighed.  “None.  Grandma and I
are planning to visit Dave for his birthday in September.  We just want him to
know we love him and we always will no matter what.”

Alethea patted his hand.  “I think it will be good for
you both to visit him and who knows; it may even help Father Michaels.”

“We pray every day that something will, Alethea,” Nora
replied.

“I suppose the fact that he’s not getting better only
adds to Jeff’s guilt complex,” Colin remarked.

“Hopefully not,” Nora replied.  “We’re confident that
therapy will be good for him.”

“How’s your mother feeling, Colin?”  Luke asked,
changing the subject.  Colin had mentioned to them that Amanda was pregnant.

“She’s doing great – no complications, thank God.”

“We’ve been keeping her in our prayers,” Nora said.

“I’m sure she’s very grateful.”

Colin and Liam met up with their parents, Alethea and
Debbie in Atlanta for Alison’s graduation from nursing school.  They flew in
from Chattanooga where they’d performed the previous night.  Liam alternated
between being excited and nervous all during the flight.  Everybody met at the
airport and then drove to Alison’s home to meet the rest of her family.  The
school held their graduation outside in a beautiful park.  All the students
appeared very proud as they stepped up to the podium to receive their diplomas
and pins.

Looking at Liam, Colin couldn’t decide whether he
looked as if he were going to burst with love or pride.  Probably both, he
finally decided.

Alison was planning to fly to San Francisco in two
weeks for job interviews.  Since she was graduating at the top of her class she
was certain she wouldn’t have any problem securing the job she wanted.  Alethea
invited Alison to stay with her.

Jake had mentioned there was an apartment vacant in
his building in the North Beach district of San Francisco.  Liam was planning
to call and inquire about it.  Colin cautioned him not to jump into anything
without first checking to make sure the building code was up to current
earthquake-proof standards.  He knew Jake tended to be kind of casual about
that sort of thing.  Peter offered to check the apartment for Liam.  If the
building code was up to standards and the apartment fulfilled his requirements,
Peter would put down the deposit and two months rent to hold for Liam until he
got home again.  Liam was happy to take him up on his offer.

Colin and Alethea flew to New Orleans from Atlanta for
a brief visit, at least for Colin, with Beau and Louisa.  He invited them to
visit San Francisco.  “We have plenty of room so you can stay as long as you
like.”

Louisa looked uncertain.  “I don’t know.  My roses
need a lot of attention this time a year.”

“Now who’s being an old fart, Louisa?”  Beau chided. 
“You know, your entire garden club would be thrilled to look after your garden
while you’re gone.”

“Mom, I’d loved to have you and dad come visit. 
You’ve never seen our house and the pictures really don’t do it justice.  Besides
I’m going to start landscaping and I could sure use your advice,” Alethea
pleaded.

“Alethea’s alone so much of the time with me on tour
that you’d be doing me a big favor,” Colin added.

“Well, I can hardly say no in the face of such nice
compliments!”  Louisa conceded with a laugh.

Colin left the next morning to fly to Little Rock. 
Alethea had decided to stay in New Orleans a few more days.  “I guess I won’t
see you again until our anniversary,” Alethea said.

“I’m looking forward to us yelling and screaming as
much as we want!”  He teased her.

She punched his arm.  “I swear!  You’ve got a
one-track mind!”

“And you love it – admit it!”

She sighed.  “What can I say?”

From Little Rock, Unforgiven flew to Texas to begin
their tour of the Southwest.  Colin had seldom been in this part of the
country, but always found it very beautiful despite it arid and barren
terrain.  He was thrilled when Rob Halford, lead singer of Judas Priest, joined
Unforgiven onstage in Phoenix to sing, ‘(We Don’t Need No) Parental Guidance’©. 
It was one of Colin’s all-time favorite Judas Priest songs.  The audience, of
course, went wild.

Colin flew home at the end of July for his and
Alethea’s first anniversary.  He’d meet up with the rest of the band in Los
Angeles to play two concerts at the Forum.

“So, how did it go?”  Liam asked Colin when he
returned.  “You look really happy so I’m assuming everything went according to
plan.”

Colin smiled and replied.  “It was very special.”  He
got suddenly serious.  “I’ll admit I had a lot of anxiety about my stabbing
being in the forefront of both our minds and ruining everything, but we didn’t
let it.”

“I thought a lot about that, too, but Alison called me
and we talked about it.  I felt much better afterwards.”

Colin smiled again.  “You and Alison should get
married.  I highly recommend the institution.”

“Well, now that Alison’s working, I’ve found an
apartment and we’re almost through touring, I can think seriously about
proposing,” Liam replied with a shy grin.

Unforgiven’s final concert on the North American
segment of the tour was on their home-turf, San Francisco, at the Cow Palace. 
Everybody’s relatives were backstage, including Colin’s grandparents.  He’d
invited Luke and Nora and they were thrilled at the prospect of seeing him
perform live.  Deb, Cody and Diana had come to the concert with Roger and Beth
Matthews since Peter and Amanda were staying home.  Colin had called his mom
and expressly forbade her to come since she was so close to her due date.  He
was afraid the loud music might induce premature labor.  Much to his surprise
she agreed with him.

“You mean you’re not going to argue with me about it?”

“No.  I’m too close to my due date so I’m staying
close to home.”

Colin laughed.  “Dad must be a nervous wreck!”

Amanda laughed, too.  “Well, let’s just say his cell
phone is never out of his reach.”

Unforgiven’s homecoming concert was undoubtedly the
best one of their entire tour.  The fans went wild to have ‘their’ band back
home again and they showed it by cheering continually, singing along and
clapping loudly.

Luke and Nora enjoyed seeing Colin and his band and
were amazed at what a big operation it was.

“We enjoyed seeing Unforgiven perform and meeting all
the people who work with you.” Nora said.  “We didn’t realize there were so
many.”

“Yeah.  It takes a lot of people to keep this thing up
and running.  Most of them have been with Jake and me since we started this
band.”  Luke looked up as they came into the room.

“How’s your mother feeling, Colin?” Luke asked.

“She’s fine, but she’s only a week away from her due
date so I told her not to come because I didn’t think it’d be safe.”

“Probably a good idea,” Luke agreed.

“I think at this point she’s probably wishing it were
over with.  I know I felt that way in my final month when I was carrying Jeff.”

“Have you heard from Jeff recently?”  Alethea asked.

“Yes.  He doing much better and sounds much happier,”
Luke replied.

“Caitlin does, too,” Colin said.  “I’m glad for both
of them.  Caitlin said he’s not going to see Father Michaels for awhile
anymore, but she didn’t say why.”

“Dave’s psychiatrist told Jeff and Kathleen not to
visit Dave anymore until further notice.  He feels Jeff’s guilt and Kathleen’s
fanaticism might be hampering Dave’s treatment,” Nora explained.

“I’ll bet that didn’t sit well with Mrs. Michaels,”
Alethea ventured.

“No,” Luke replied, shaking his head.  “According to
Jeff, she pitched a fit and had to be forcefully removed from the building.”

Nora sighed.  “I suppose we won’t be allowed to see
him either.”

“Why don’t you talk to his doctor,” Colin suggested. 
“He might make an exception for you.”

“That’s a good idea, Colin and it certainly won’t hurt
to try,” Luke said.

Colin and Alethea got home at two-thirty.  Colin felt
so tired all he did was wrap his arms around Alethea and fall immediately
asleep.  The sun was shining brightly when he finally woke the next day.  He
pushed his hair out of his face, glanced at the clock, blinked and looked at it
again.  It was nearly noon.  He rolled over and reached out, but Alethea’s side
of the bed was empty.  Something crackled underneath his hand.  It was a note
from Alethea, saying she had errands to run and would see him later.  He smiled
– Alethea always rose early no matter how late they’d been up the previous
evening.  He took a shower, got dressed and went downstairs.  He wandered into
the kitchen, trying to decide whether to eat breakfast or lunch then suddenly
stopped short.  The kitchen looked completely different.  All the cupboards and
woodwork were again the original light oak.

“Cool!”  Colin said, running his hand over the
finish.  Inside one cupboard he found some maple-almond granola.  He poured it
into a bowl, added milk and took it outside.  As he stood eating on the deck,
he noted the landscaping she’d done, planting rose bushes along the deck.  He
walked along the edge of the bluff and noticed she’d planted flowering bushes
with very sharp thorns.  He assumed she intended them as an erosion
preventative and to dissuade their future children from going near the edge of
the bluff.  He noticed also that Alethea had planted an herb garden.  He went
back inside, put his dishes into the dishwasher, poured himself a cup of coffee
and went outside to retrieve the mail.  On his way to the mailbox he noticed
the roses covering the Victorian-style trellis and the rose bushes planted
around the front porch.  He took a detour on his way back to inspect their
former Christmas tree.  Its growth amazed him.  Alethea didn’t just have a
green thumb she had an entire green arm!

He glanced through the mail then left it on the table
in the foyer.  He knew he had a ton of mail that Alethea had stored upstairs in
the office.  He’d have to go through it before he left for Europe.   He heard
his Patriot pull into the driveway.

“Colin!” Alethea called and waved to him as he came
from the back of the house.  He gave her a big hug and a passionate kiss. 
“Where did you go so early?”

She walked around to the back of the Jeep, unlocked
the tailgate, and lowered it.  “I needed to buy some more organic fertilizer
for my roses and go grocery shopping.”

“You must’ve inherited Louisa’s talent,” Colin
commented.  “The roses are thriving.”

“With my help and plenty of water and fertilizer!” 
She laughed.  They stacked the bags of fertilizer in the garage then carried in
the groceries.  Colin was careful not to step on any of the newly planted lilac
bushes.  “See my forsythia?”  Alethea said pointing to a row of bushes planted
along the property line on the opposite side of the house.  “When it’s full
grown we’ll have a natural hedge.

“The whole house looks great – inside and outside,”
Colin commented.

“Mom and dad helped me with a lot of it,” Alethea said
modestly.

“I’m glad they enjoyed their stay.”

“They did.  Dad even said if you couldn’t live in New
Orleans then San Francisco was the next best place.”

“I agree – in reverse, of course.”  He frowned.  “I’ve
got to see about getting us a fence, too.  I’ll make some calls and see if it
can be done before I leave again.”

“I’m not looking forward to that!”  Alethea pouted.

“Did mom come over and swim this morning?”

“No.  She called and said she’d skip it.”

“I suppose she’s feeling pretty uncomfortable,” He
commented as he was putting the groceries away.

“I hope Luke and Nora are able to visit Father
Michaels.  I know how torn they’ve been over this situation and I think it
would do them a lot of good.”  She picked up Colin’s wrist and looked at his
watch.  “Goodness!  I’d better get the sauce base for my Cajun spaghetti
started.”  She got to her feet.

Colin rose, too.  “I have something I’d better start
on too.  It’s a good thing I have a wife,” he teased her.  “Otherwise, I’d
probably just leave everything until who knows when!”

Alethea stood in front of him with her hands on her
hips.  “Are you implying I nag you?”

“No.  I’m saying you lovingly encourage me to do
things I don’t want to do,” He said, giving her a kiss.  He went upstairs and
started unpacking.  After that he went upstairs to his office to sort through
nearly seven months worth of mail.  Since any bills went directly to his
accountant he figured most of this was junk mail that would end up in the
circular file.  When Alethea came up to get for supper she found him sprawled
on the couch with his arm covering his eyes.

“Supper’s ready, Colin.”

He opened one eye and when he saw what she wore he
opened the other one and sat upright.  “Whoa!”  Alethea had changed into shorts
that showed off her tempting ass and long, slender legs to a great advantage. 
With the shorts she wore a Daneskin® tank top.  He eyed her, silently wondering
if she wore anything underneath the shorts and top.  Somehow, he suspected not.

“I hope you’re hungry,” Alethea said, pretending she
didn’t notice his intense stare.

“Yeah!  I’m suddenly ravenous!”

She had a suspicion he didn’t mean for her Cajun
spaghetti either!  “We’re eating on the deck.”

“Suits me just fine.”  Colin was acutely conscious of
Alethea’s presence during the entire meal.  Maybe, it was because whenever she
moved around him she touched him lightly or let her breast brush against his
arm as she was refilling his wine glass.  Maybe, it was because she wore his
favorite perfume.  Whatever the reason he found himself with a major hard-on
halfway through the meal.  When they finished dessert and coffee, Alethea began
clearing the table.  Colin helped her carry in the dishes and silverware.