Jaymes met up with Megan, Georgia and Desiree at ‘Jakes on 4th’ for a cup of coffee and breakfast. Georgia had requested that day off when Jaymes had called her around seven in the morning to help him with the funeral arrangements. Desiree was a little despondent over the presence of the two ladies.
“I don’t know why Megan and Georgia have to be involved,” Desiree said, almost angrily. “You and I are family, they’re not.”
“Desi, Megan was Ellyn’s best friend in high school. Georgia is not only a friend of Ellyn and I, but also Ellyn’s co-worker at one time. And since I don’t have any other real family around, they are my family, always have been, always will be. I think they should help, and besides I had asked them to,” Jaymes said as they climbed out of the vehicle. He had decided to drive the Subaru Outback he had purchased for Ellyn a couple years ago as a Christmas present.
Before the Outback, she drove an old Prism. She had always wanted a newer vehicle, so he went out and purchased a maroon Subaru Outback. The smell of her still lingered as he relaxed behind the wheel of her baby. So many memories, he quietly said. His hands glided around the steering wheel. She kept it immaculately clean. That was another quality he had adored about Ellyn. She, much like his mother, had been very meticulous in wanting everything kept spotless.
“Are we going in or what?” Desiree asked, interrupting his trip along memory lane. She had already climbed out of the vehicle, leaning forward, her blouse falling open slightly as he turned to see her lean into the vehicle. He could see down her shirt for a moment before turning his eyes away. Desiree smiled. “Come on, Jay.” She closed the door as he exited the vehicle and after ensuring it was locked, he trailed behind her into the café.
Georgia and Megan were already sitting in the fourth booth back from the door when Desiree and Jaymes walked in. Georgia stood first, coming up and hugged Jaymes.
“Megan and I were chit-chatting. How are you holding up?” She kissed him lightly on the cheek.
“Tired, stressed, confused, I guess.” He said sitting next to Megan.
“Jay, listen.” Megan looked over at Georgia for a moment. “This is a hard time right now, and we are here if you ever need anything.”
“Thanks Meg, I appreciate that.”
“Where’s Chandler?” Georgia asked suspiciously.
“He’s finishing up the inquest into Ellyn’s death.” He forced the words out of his mouth, shuddering at the thought.
“Inquest?” Georgia asked a bit confused.
“I really don’t understand what it all entails, but something Chandler said is commonplace when someone dies unexpectedly.” Jaymes shuddered again as a cold chill rose from the small of his back, along his spine and reaching the nape of his neck. “He said he will have more information for me later on today.”
“Either way, it’s still hard,” Megan spoke, her usual confident and self-assured composure failing as Jaymes regarded her for a moment.
“Meg, we need each other right now. I’m grateful to have people like you, Chandler, Georgia and Desiree to look out for me,” he said, smiling, taking Megan’s hand into his.
“How about something to eat?” Georgia asked waving over a new server she had trained the last few days. A young gentleman with thick black hair and coal black eyes wearing a white shirt and black slacks, he approached their table.
“I’m not that hungry right now,” Jaymes began. “Just coffee for me, please.” He waited for the three ladies to order, neither of them ordered anything, just coffee.
“Well, I have a friend of mine who told me that we could talk with Boyd’s Funeral Home, and they’re located here in downtown Olympia, so we don’t have to go very far. I also talked with mom and dad, Jay. They sent me enough money to help with the arrangements. Mom thinks it best we go to the Baptist Church up in Tumwater to hold the service where Ellyn and I were brought up in. She knows the Pastor very well,” Desiree began. The server brought over four cups of coffee, and only Jaymes drank his black.
“I already have the floral arrangements done,” Megan said, looking over at Jaymes. She then squeezed his hand lightly as he sat staring off into the distance, leaving the three ladies to plan the funeral.
Jaymes closed his eyes for a moment, after taking a drink of coffee. The voices of Megan, Georgia and Desiree fading as he found himself lost in deep thought. Ellyn’s image appeared on the stage of his mind, wearing a white flowing dress as she turned to see him coming toward her. He remembered the place quite well. They had driven around what is called the Olympic Peninsula Loop.
They had stopped to spend the evening at a hotel in Ocean Shores, where their room looked out toward the shores of the Pacific Ocean. He had not been to Ocean Shores since he was a child when his parents would make the drive from Olympia to the beach every summer.
The salty wind blew, causing Ellyn’s hair to whip in the wind wildly. The wind ruffling her white summer dress as the material clung to her, almost transparent.
“Isn’t this beautiful?” she had remarked, turning to see him. He recalled standing there watching her remove her shoes to feel the wet sand between her toes. The sun had started to settle as he watched her run toward the water. “Jay, come on…” she said, turning, ankle deep in the cold water of the Ocean. Her arms were outstretched to him. Her beautiful smile melting him as he walked to where she stood. He removed his shoes and socks, and rolled up his pant legs, joining her as she took both his hands into hers. A series of waves lifted and fell, as both Jaymes and Ellyn stood holding each other in the summer evening air.
“Look how beautiful the sunset is, Jay,” she said. The sky turning from a yellowish golden tan to a crimson red, as if the sky suddenly exploded into a mass fireball.
“Ellyn, you are more beautiful…” he said as he watched her, looking into her beautiful eyes. He reached into his pocket, his fingers fiddled with the black box as he pulled it out. Opening it up, he showed her a solitary diamond ring. “Ellyn, I loved you more than I could possibly think of loving someone else. I want to fall in love with you every single day for the rest of my life.” He removed the ring and slid it onto her wedding finger where she had once worn a simple gold band from her previous marriage with Jacob. “You’re my best friend, El. You’re my soul mate…will you…will you marry me?” he asked, kneeling in the cold frigid waters of the shoreline. The sun having descended beyond the horizon as she looked upon him, taking him in for a moment. Tears falling from her midnight blue eyes.
“Jay, I love you so much…yes…yes, I will marry you.” He took her into his arms, both hugging each other, kissing each other passionately.
“Jay…Jay…” Desiree slapped his arm with a spoon. “Wake up, Jay.” She then regarded him with suspicion for a moment as his eyes came open. Tears streaked along his face. “You okay?” she asked. Georgia and Megan watched him in silence as well.
“Sorry…just…I can’t do this.” He wiped his eyes with a napkin. “Please if you’d excuse me for a moment.” He quickly left the table, and headed toward the back of the café where the restrooms are. Stepping into the darkly painted men’s bathroom, he closed the door, locking it and collapsed to the floor, crying. I just want to get away! I just want to run! He cried deep in his soul. I know you’re hurting, but trust me. He heard a female voice, sounding like Ellyn somewhere within him. “I can’t do this,” he said, clenching his fist and punching the wall next to him.
“Hey, you finished in there?” A deep voice called from the other side of the door.
“Yeah, just give me a second here,” Jaymes responded, standing up and walking over to the toilet. He flushed the toilet to make it sound as if he was using the restroom, then walked over to the sink and washed his hands, splashed water on his face. He then looked at himself in the mirror for a moment before drying his hands and face. Moving over to the bathroom door, unlocking it, he stepped out into the narrow hallway. A burly potbelly man stood against the opposite wall wearing a pair of chaps and a black T-shirt with a picture of a half-naked blond woman straddling a black Harley. The words Harley Davidson above the picture form a half-arc, and the words ‘Are for Men’ on the bottom mirroring the top wording. His python looking arms are covered with several tattoos as Jaymes walked past the man. “Sorry,” he apologized and then stepped through the door, around the corner, back to where Georgia and Megan are seated. Desiree had disappeared while he was in the restroom.
“Where’s Desi?” he asked, sitting next to Georgia this time.
“She received a call while you were indisposed and had to leave quickly. She said to tell you not to worry about anything. All the arrangements will be made and Ellyn’s funeral will be this coming Sunday when your in-laws are in town,” Georgia answered, biting her lower lip. “You okay?” she asked.
“Not really,” Jaymes replied. He polished off his now cold cup of coffee, making a disgusting facial expression.
“Georgia, what had you ladies decided?” he asked, referring to the funeral arrangements.
“Jay, we hadn’t decided anything, Desiree pushed the two of us out, saying that it is all handled…her and her parents already made the arrangements.” Georgia looked upon him with sorrowful eyes.
“I told her not to worry about it, that…Never mind…I will have to give her a piece of my mind,” he said, having slammed his fist against the counter top, the glasses bounced.
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