Her Eyes Read Online Free PDF Page A

disapproving glare Catherine usually held.
    "This is our home.” She said it as if reassuring herself of a questionable fact. “Yes. I think I remember it.” She followed him inside, looking at everything as if seeing it for the first time. “Bits and pieces are there, like parts of an old movie."
    Catherine walked through the house, touching things, staring at photographs for too long. A look of confusion crossed her features when she looked at one taken of her shortly before the accident. When her inspection took her to the backdoor at the kitchen, she stopped, then touched the door knob. She pulled her hand back, nervous, and Frank opened the door for her. It led to the back deck, where he'd made most of his improvements. Frank spent a lot of time here, pouring himself into things he could control with his hands. He enjoyed it, but Catherine never understood his pleasure in creating.
    He carved intricate designs in the posts, picked out the perfect landscaping, ending in a small rose garden. At the time, he rationalized that he'd done it all for Catherine, when actually he had needed something to do to take up his time. Seeing the look on her face made him glad he'd done it though. He worked for years to see that honest sincere smile on her face.
    "This is new, right?” She touched the banister, ran her fingers along the edges.
    "Yes. You were in the hospital for quite a while, and I didn't know what to do with myself."
    She reached up, tracing the outline of the bandages still on her face. It was a thin pad of white now, carefully taped to hide the healing scars. Sadness passed over her face. She pressed against the gauze until she winced in pain.
    "I don't know why you waited on me. How can you love someone so messed up?” She relaxed, and she flopped her hands at her sides. She'd gone through so much, but the disgrace over her physical deformities seemed less for vanity and more for him this time.
    "It will heal.” He didn't know what else to say. Not only was he stymied by what to say to someone who went through all the pain she had, but he also wasn't sure what to say to the woman who had for so long tormented his existence, the woman who cheated on him. The woman he thought he loved. “Don't worry about it."
    Catherine seemed so unsure, nervous to disappoint him. He searched desperately for some gentle words to ease her pain. None would come. This was foreign territory. She never needed reassurance before and never cared about anything he said. He pulled her into his arms and held her, wondering what new trials were coming into their lives and when her caustic remarks would return.
    "The backyard is beautiful. You are very talented."
    She pulled away, stepped into the small rose garden and sat on the bench he had placed in the middle. Her arms wrapped around herself and she rocked back and forth like a small child. Odd, that was something Pam did when she was worried about a test. The day before her driving test she rocked so much he told her she was going to start an earthquake. He'd never seen Catherine so vulnerable. And why was he suddenly thinking about Pam?
    "Would you like to be alone, or may I join you?"
    "Only be with me if you want to, not for pity.” She looked at him, tears in her mismatched eyes. “I'm not just talking about now. I want you, but only if you really want me for a wife, not for some vow or some sense of loyalty."
    Frank sat next to her and put an arm around her. She leaned against him, gave into his presence. The sensation was unlike any he experienced with Catherine, yet reminiscent. A pull kept him in place, and he could swear a bond developed between them.
    In his mind, an image flashed of a carnival he'd gone to with Pam years before. Sitting by the pond, sharing a hot dog, his arm around her, her head on his shoulder. Warmth filled him, and for once in many years, he enjoyed his wife's company. This was the Catherine he had always wanted to be with.
    They sat there in silence