The Reception

Laura Dell clung to her brother's arm for support, and he opened the door to help her into the passenger seat. When everyone was seated and buckled in, Eddie started the old car and pulled away from the cemetery. The coffee shop was only about five miles away, so the ride was fairly short, but then Eddie had to find a place to park. Little was said until Laura Dell broke the silence with, "It doesn't seem right, this weather. It's too sunny, too pretty. It should be cloudy and windy like for Dad; made it seem more real..."

"You going to be okay for this, Sis? We don't have to go," John William whispered, leaning forward from the back seat.

"You know I have to," Laura Dell replied, and she shook her head, shaking tears away, as if to emphasize her point. "I need to be there with these people," she said in a small voice that John William and Eddie could barely hear.

"We'll be right there with you Ms. Dell. You know we loved him, too, so we can help each other."

***

At the door of Standee's, Laura Dell stopped, closed her eyes, and took a breath, steeling herself for more tears. When she opened her eyes, she saw her reflection in the glass door and took comfort in her curly hair, her deep brown eyes--features that had so reminded Herbert of Malynne and had drawn him to her in the first place. She released the breath she had been holding, and John William pulled open the door, pausing to let Laura Dell enter first. She offered a weak smile to her brother, ever the gentleman, and stepped inside.

A table with coffee, tea, and small finger sandwiches was positioned against the far wall, so Laura Dell motioned for John William to follow and went to get a cup of coffee. She was sure that she would feel better when she had something to occupy her hands. With a steaming mug of decaf heating her fingers, Laura Dell turned to survey the room.

"--was a great guy. Can't believe he's gone." Laura Dell looked to her left to see Mr. Dresden talking with a man who looked to be around fifty or sixty. She knew the man was a stranger to her, yet there was something familiar about his eyes.

"Hello again Mr. Dresden. I'm so glad you could come today; I know Herbert would be happy about it, too." She looked to the other man and extended her hand. "I don't think we've met. I'm Laura Dell. I met Herbert working at the Field Museum; he used to come there almost every day, and we got to be pretty close friends."

"Ms. Dell, a pleasure to meet you, albeit under such sad circumstances. I'm James Weston. I don't know how much Herbert told you about himself--he could be a little introverted at times. Did he ever mention his wife to you?"

"Malynne, yes. He didn't talk about her too much, but when he did I could see how much he loved her and how sad he was still. Did you know her?" Laura Dell asked. She was so intrigued by this man who seemed to know about Herbert's mysterious past that she didn't notice Mr. Dresden back away to get more coffee.

"I'm her brother, her younger brother. I was only twenty-six when she moved away to get married." James replied.

Laura Dell's mouth opened in recognition. "Your eyes looked so familiar, but I couldn't place you. You look so much like her picture. She was beautiful."

"Thank you, she was. My only regret is that I couldn't have spent more time with her. I never really approved of Dr. Walters, your Herbert. I disliked him for taking away my best friend, my sister, and never really connected with him, even after Malynne's death. When she moved away to be with him, I tried to punish her by cutting her out of my life. I felt like she was abandonning me. The person I ended up punishing most was myself." Laura Dell reached out to touch James's hand, hesitating for a second in uncertainty before closing the gap to clasp his hand in hers. A tear dropped onto Laura Dell's wrist, and she looked up to see that it was not one of her own, but that of James.

"I'm so sorry. My brother is twenty-six right now, and he's probably my best friend just like Malynne was yours. If your relationship with Malynne was anything like mine with my brother, I know she forgave you for not talking to her." Laura Dell's stomach clenched at the thought of never talking to John William again. To reassure herself, she glanced over her shoulder, spotting John William still talking with Eddie.

"I know Malynne forgave me. She wrote to me every week when she left, telling me about her life on digs, and later about her cancer. I just...," James paused and closed his eyes before starting again. "I always thought I would have time to apologize to Dr. Walters. I never got to tell him that I was just jealous of how happy he made Malynne." He kept his eyes closed and tightened his grip on Laura Dell's hand. "I'm sorry Ms. Dell; I didn't mean to drop all of this on you. I should really go."

"No, please. You didn't know Herbert, er, Dr. Walters like I did. He would be glad you were here, I know he would. " Laura Dell raised her eyes to meet those of Herbert's estranged brother-in-law. "You said your name was James; did anyone ever call you Jimmy?"

This seemed to spark a fresh tear in James's eyes, and he nodded yes. "Only Malynne and my parents ever called me that. How did you know?"

"Wait here," Laura Dell told him and turned to find Eddie.

"Can I borrow your keys for a minute? I need something from your car."

Eddie tossed her the keys, and Laura Dell rushed out the door. She returned less than five minutes later carrying her over-sized purse that she had decided to leave in the car. She handed Eddie the keys and set her purse on the table and began digging through it. The purse was left forgotten on the table when she found what she was looking for.

"Here," Laura Dell said, handing a folded paper to James. "I found this in one of Herbert's notebooks, but I didn't know who it was for. He never mentioned a Jimmy, so I didn't even know where to start looking, but here you are. I know he would want you to read it."

She backed away from James to give him time to read and went back to collect her purse. John William and Eddie gave her puzzled looks when she walked back over to them. "That was Herbert's brother-in-law. Malynne's younger brother. Herbert had written him a letter in one of his journals, so I gave it to him." John William put a strong arm around Laura Dell's shoulder and kissed the top of her head. She leaned into his chest and closed her eyes, drawing comfort from the fact that she had such a good friend in her brother.

"I wish Herbert could be here to see all these people. I wish he could talk to James. I wish I could tell him how important he was to me and how much I'm going to miss him." Her tears collected on John William's button-up, forming a dark blue patch on his chest.

"Ms. Dell, let me tell you something," Eddie began. "Everyone, including Herbert, could see how much he meant to you, and you can rest assured that the feeling was mutual."

"Thanks, Eddie," whispered Laura Dell. That was all she could manage.

Someone cleared his throat behind her, so she pulled away from John William's embrace and turned around. James.

He swallowed once, then again, and opened his mouth to say something. His tears were mirrored on Laura Dell's face. His mouth closed and his shoulders dropped. Laura Dell stepped forward and stood up on her toes to embrace the older man. If there was anything she had learned, it was that everyone sometimes needed a little help, a friend. James's shoulders began to shake and Laura Dell squeezed her eyes shut against a flood of tears. He put his arms around her, the folded letter still clutched in his right hand.

"You were so lucky to have him as a friend. I just wish I would have had the courage to talk to him sooner. Thank you so much for helping to put this old man's mind at peace. You're an extraordinary woman, Ms. Dell." With those parting words, James handed Laura Dell a small white card and strode out of the coffee shop.

Laura Dell wiped her eyes on the short sleeve of her navy blue dress and looked at the card.

James Weston

Investment Banker (Atlanta Bank of Illinois)

WestonJ@yahoo.com

(217) 555-7413

She turned the card over to look at the back and saw that he had written her a short note.

If there's ever anything I can do for you, please don't hesitate to contact me. You have my unending thanks,

J.

"Let's go," she said to John William. "I think I'm ready to go."