Prologue-2
1070 Words
Kate MorganKATE’S HUSBAND, EVAN, supplied all of Adam Gardner’s needs when it came to eggs and milk. Adam was the deceased. Adam didn’t buy a lot, mind you; but that was one of the things that the locals of Carlton Bay liked about Evan. He was happy to cater to the needs of anyone, whether they were a big business or a small household.
Adam liked to support the local businesses and farmers alike, and those were the people who’d turned up to his funeral. Kate imagined that they were all thinking the same thing, wondering if they had lost another client—or if the bereaved wife would continue the business relationship.
Being new to the town—and the United States—Kate didn’t really know anyone at the funeral reception. For better or worse, she had gotten used to standing around and being ignored at these small events that her husband, Evan, took her to.
Kate turned around at the sound of her name being called—or shouted. Shouted was the more accurate term.
It was Evan who was calling her, of course. In fact, she’d become rather sick of hearing him butcher her name. Besides, no one else knew her enough to yell out across the room for her. She spotted him and made her way to where he stood among, she guessed, a group of other farmers.
“Have y’all met my beautiful wife?” Evan pulled her close to his side. “This is Kate. She’s from the Philippines” he said proudly of his imported goods.
When Kate agreed to marry the charming man holidaying in her home country, she hadn’t anticipated that her whole life would be placed on hold and that she would be someone’s—for lack of a better term—trophy wife.
“It’s nice to meet you, honey,” one of the guys said.
“Oh, she’s a beauty, isn’t she?” another said, as one might say of their prized cattle.
“Do you have a sister that looks like you?” joked another.
“My uncle has a Filipino girlfriend,” said the tall one. “You might know her, she’s from the Philippines too.”
“Do—you—speak—English?” someone asked slowly, several decibels higher than normal.
Yes, Kate spoke English. She had also graduated with a degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management and worked at one of the top hotels in Manila. However, to the tall one’s dismay, she didn’t know every single one of the 110 million Filipinos in the world. But she didn’t say all that. Gosh, no. She wouldn’t have dared. Every time she opened her mouth to speak, people made it perfectly clear that they didn’t understand (or appreciate) her thick, foreign accent. So she had learned to keep things short and simply answered with a yes or no.
She felt Evan kiss the side of her head, leaving a trail of goose pimples down the back of her neck. Daily threats of divorce and calls to immigration had left her less than enamored with her older husband. But she smiled at him—smiled at them. She had learned to. In just six months, Kate had been trained to sit, stand, and do, like a good ol’ American farm dog.
Never in her life had she felt so alone.
“Don’t do it,” her mother had warned in Filipino. Kate could still remember the disapproval in her face. “What could you possibly have in common with a man twenty years your senior? You haven’t known him long. People change when the vacation is over! I forbid it!” She ended her sermon with a mighty “tsk!”
But, always the believer in love, fate, and happily-ever-after, Kate brushed off her mother’s caution and followed the man of her dreams. Everyone knew that when life beckoned you as a twenty-five-year-old, you answered. “I’m an adult, Ma!” she had argued. “I’m doing it and you can’t stop me.”
It disappointed her to the innermost depths of her broken heart to learn that her mother had been right. Evan turned out to be, not the man of her dreams, but of her nightmares.
“I’ll just go and help Sarah with the children,” Kate said when she noticed the three butter-blonde Gardner kids running around in the backyard. It was the perfect excuse to get away from the awkward conversation she’d found herself in with Evan and his farmer friends. And when the guests had started leaving, Kate told her husband that she had offered to stay the night to help Sarah with the kids.
“Good idea, darling,” Evan said, his voice deep. “You make sure you keep her happy. We don’t want to lose her as a customer.”
Kate nodded.
That night, when the sun fell and only darkness filled the sky, Sarah approached her. Kate was on her hands and knees picking up the children’s toys which had been scattered everywhere. “Thank you,” Sarah began, “for your help.” She looked drained.
“You don’t need to thank me. I’m happy to help.” Kate knew that Sarah had no idea who she was. The truth was, she hadn’t properly met Sarah. But it was an excuse to take a much-needed break from her controlling husband, so she jumped at it thinking she would deal with the consequences later. “Why don’t you get some rest,” she said. “I’ll put the children to bed.”
“Oh, I couldn’t let you do that.” Sarah’s eyes spoke of sadness.
Kate stood up and offered a hand to Sarah. “I’m Kate,” she said. “Evan Morgan’s wife. He’s the one that delivers your milk and eggs.”
Once a connection had been established, Sarah’s face relaxed.
“You go and have a nice bath and I’ll put the children to bed.” Kate placed a hand on Sarah’s arm. “When you finish, I’ll have something ready for you to eat.”
Sarah stood motionless for a second before a tear escaped from her eye. “My babysitter quit.”
“I know,” Kate said, though she hadn’t really. She had been to many funerals in the Philippines before. It was always a weird, but nice, family gathering of sorts. Wakes were held for nine consecutive days before the funeral. Friends and relatives stayed and surrounded the grieving family. They sat and kept watch over the dead, never leaving the bereaved alone with their grief, offering to do everything for them, come hell or high water. “I’ll stay with you. You’re not alone.”
Sarah bit her lips. She was fragile and weak.
“I’ve got you.” Kate meant what she said. She would be there for this woman whose heart, like hers, had been broken into a million pieces.
* * *
- Writer
