Page 52 of Finding Solace
"Please call me Liam. I'm pleased you decided on giving this year's speech. I'd also like to offer my condolences on your grandmother'spassing."
"Thank you," I reply trying not to choke on my emotions at the mention ofGrams.
"I see you came alone, Mila." Claire leans into my personal space and murmurs. The comment hits the target nerve she was after. I shouldn’t let her get to me. Usually, I wouldn't, but I do wish Reid could have been here. Tonight, however, not being about her or myself, I squash the idea of shoving her face into the appetizers she has sitting in front ofher.
Instead, I excuse myself and walk over to the tent and tables they have set up and check out the various auction items. Amongst the items is an all-inclusive trip to the Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru. I flip through the color catalog they have placed on the display. I've never been outside of New York or Montana unless you count the states I passed over on my way back and forth during my summer trips as a kid. The thought alone of enjoying a vacation like this, getting to lay around in the warmth of the sun. The green-blue waters so vivid and alive with colorful sea creatures- I retrieve a bid sheet from the table. Every stroke of my pen as it writes out my bid fills me with excitement. Even if I don't win the trip, I will write a check for the same amount before I leave tonight to donate in my grams honor. Afterwards, I wander back to my table just as dinner is about to be served. From the options given, I settle on the roasted Cornish hen with rosemary buttered fingerling potatoes and bacon wrapped asparagus bundles. Aside from sharing brief moments of conversation with other contributors seated at my table I'm able to finish half my meal before the event coordinator starts announcing the winners of the auctioned items. When she gets to the exotic island vacation I bid on, I hold mybreath.
"The winning bid for a gorgeous all-inclusive vacation at the Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru," she pauses as she gets handed a piece of paper, "Mila Vaughn. It seems this was a highly sought-after item tonight.Congratulations."
I can't help the smile that overtakes myface.
"You? How in the world can you afford a bid that size, and it had to have been a large sum to outbid me. How can you afford such a thing on a nurse's salary?" Claire looks down her nose with a smug disgusted look on her botoxedface.
"Claire, that's enough," her husband Liam scolds his wife in front of the entire table. Opening and closing her mouth she shoots a knife-cutting glare my way before standing up and walking away from the table in the direction of theirhome.
"Mila, my apologies for my wife's behavior tonight," Liam tells me. I didn’t miss the underlying tone of detest when he said,wife.
"I appreciate the apology." I'm about to say more when the lady on stage announce, "Ladies and Gentlemen, our speaker for the evening is a nurse- a caregiver herself. Who better to stand up here at this podium. Please welcome Ms. MilaVaughn."
Standing, I smooth down my dress. Applause fill the night air, giving me the courage to put one heel in front of the other. Afraid I might mess up and forget something, I retrieve my notes I had stashed in my clutch. Exhaling the warm night air, I start tospeak.
"Good evening. I'm honored to speak here tonight." I wet my lower lip, look down at my notes, then lift my eyes to the 200 plus guests in the crowd. "Alzheimer's is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States. I can also tell you almost two-thirds of Americans with Alzheimer's are women. One of those women happened to be my grandmother Charlotte Scott. I cared for her for a long time, doing everything I possibly could before the disease started to progress to the point she needed more care than I could provide for her at home. You see, I'm what society describes as a "sandwich generation" caregiver—meaning I cared not only for an aging grandparent but also for a child, my daughter who just turned 5. At times, more times than I can count, I would feel overwhelmed and brokenhearted. What a lot of people fail to understand is Alzheimer's takes a devastating toll on not only the person having to live with the debilitating disease, but it affects the caregivers and families as well. Watching a loved one lose pieces of themselves, like forgetting the person they fell in love with or reliving a sad moment in life repeatedly because they got stuck in the past- because they became so lost in thepresent."
I pause to collect myself and swallow past my emotions. "Watching them stop right in the middle of eating a meal because they become confused with the simple task of how to use a fork to feed themselves." The memory of Grams at Christmas dinner last year grips at myheart.
Scanning the sea of faces I continue, "I urge you to open your hearts and of course your wallets. The donations given tonight will not only benefit the research and ongoing advancements in finding a cure for Alzheimer's, it will also help families cover the many out of pocket expenses associated with caring for their loved ones and provide much-needed counseling for the patient and the family membersaffected."
A distant roar—like a million horses running on open pastures starts to echo through the night sky. As the sound amplifies, you can feel the vibrations from the rumble course through your body. In the distance, a massive sea of lights heads our direction. I stand rooted to my spot while men and women stand to look on at what appears to be dozens of motorcycles traveling down the long private driveway of Dr. Walker's home. There are so many of them. I don't have to make him out. I know he's in the formation somewhere. One lone biker weaves his way through parked limos and high dollar vehicles, eventually coming to a slow stop at the edge of the white tent. I stand frozen until my eyes connect with Reid's. This man is every bit the definition of handsome. Dressed in a black, well-tailored tux, he dismounts hisbike.
Be still myheart.
Standing at his full height, Reid doesn’t say a word. His eyes tell me everything. He's here for me; all of them are here for me. Giving me his signature smirk, Reid encourages me to continue. I clear my throat to gain the crowd'sattention.
"I apologize for the noise ladies and gentlemen, but my family likes to be fashionably late. I'm going to try and end my speech on a more positive note. There is good among the bad. Those good days—maybe even brief moments of clarity your loved one will experience; hold onto them. Moments when they know; They are aware they have found their way out of the dark. Cling to that, latch on to each other because time is precious. It's those memories I clasp hold of. It's those moments I will share with my daughter. Charlotte Scott is who inspired me to become a nurse. Giving and taking care of people was not only in her nature, it's what she was put on this earth to do. To spread compassion and give her love to those around her. She instilled all those core values in me. I'm standing up here for my grandmother… I'm her voice," I flip the page to wrap up myspeech.
Absently, I continue reading the printed words. "Finding Solace," I seek Reid out after reading two words I know are not my own. Placing his finger on his lips to suppress a smile he nods his head wanting me to continue. I feel my knees wobble. Dropping my eyes, I read aloud again. "Your touch was my waking. Your kiss my oxygen-the air I breathe. In you, I see thousands of memories we have yet tomake."
Overwhelmed, my voice trailsoff.
I close myeyes.
I get lost in the words—hiswords.
I didn’t realize he was now standing right next to me. His scent invades my lungs and consumes all my senses. His love radiates off of him; It blankets me like the warm summersun.
"Look at me, Kitten," his warm breath floats across my ear as he leansin.
Lifting my head, I open my eyes. The only sound being the soft whispers of the wind. When I look out in the crowd, I spot all the guys standing towards the back. Along with the rest of the family—my family. And holding my little girl isBella.
Ismile.
Grabbing my trembling hands, Reid tells me, "I made a promise a while back to one very remarkable lady. I promised her I would watch every sunset with you. I plan on keeping my promise. You fixed all my broken pieces, Mila; you and Ava. Let me make up for all the moments I should have been kissing you. Marry me?" he asksme.
I don't make him wait. "You’ve got a lot of making up to do," I smile, and he kissesme.
Epilogue
Mila
