Chapter 76
It did not take Katherine long to find Lillian. Now that she was back in her native surroundings, Lillian had fallen into her own predictable rhythms. From the balcony of her cliffside apartment, Katherine daily observed Lillian walking through the nearby gardens, so she rose early, got ready, and not so accidentally happened upon the princess there among the lush green leaves and flowers.
“Good morning, Katherine,” Lillian smiled. “Have you been waiting long?”
Katherine smiled at Lillian being one step ahead of her. “Good morning, Your Highness. No, I haven’t.”
“You want advice?”
Katherine nodded and waited for Lillian’s response. Her response was a laugh. She took Katherine by the arm and began to lead her along the garden path. “I can indeed see events, here and there, but I cannot see all things, nor can I see people’s thoughts. I only knew you needed advice, not because I saw it, but because I’ve seen that look on your face many times before. You must know how precious you and Evan are to me, and if there is any help that I can be to either of you, I want to make whatever I have available.”
“That is very kind of you to say,” Katherine began, fighting for the appropriate way into her question. She hemmed and hawed, concerned she would accidentally coney displeasure or ingratitude with the way she and Evan had been taken care of in Coellum. Lillian stopped and placed a hand lightly on Katherine’s shoulder. “You desire to return to your home.”
Katherine felt the sting of blood rushing to her cheeks. “I do, but that’s not the problem.” Katherine began walking again. “The problem is, and you and Amnon and Keetha have shown me this in your own ways, but I can’t force Evan to want what I want. That has been the flavor of our entire relationship, and it was eating at us like cancer. Just because I feel that I want to go back to what I knew, doesn’t mean that that’s the best thing to do. Does that make sense?”
“It does, yes.”
“At the same time, I want Evan to want what I want.”
Lillian nodded. The pair strolled the garden path in silence for a time before Lillian spoke again. The quiet lasted long enough, Katherine was certain she’d upset Lillian somehow. At length, the Princess spoke. “How do you know that Evan doesn’t also want to go home?”
Katherine thought for a moment, “Well,” she began, “he’s never said so.”
“If he never left Coellum, do you think you could be happy?”
That was a tougher question. The place was delightful, but there were all sorts of hopes and dreams she would need to let go. She was unsure how long it would take to let them go or if it was even possible. “I know the right answer is that I will be happiest wherever Evan is. I would like to think that over time I would arrive at something like happiness, but I wander if there would always be a part of me that would wonder what would have happened if we went back.”
Lillian smiled. “You are not the same woman I first met.” She laughed and looked at Katherine with such care Katherine had to look away. “You asked for my advice, and here’s what I think. Mind you, I’ve never been a wife, but I watched my mother and father relate, and I saw her show a good amount of respect to him even when it was clear at times that they did not fully agree. My advice is not to bring it up. Enjoy yourself here. Put home as far from your thoughts as you can. If he brings it up, then I’m sure you will find a way to compromise with him. If husbands and wives where you’re from are like the ones here, it will take much longer than you want, but the timing will be best if it happens.”
This was not the advice Katherine wanted to hear. She assumed Lillian would give her something else to focus her thoughts on or supplant her homesick longings for good. But to repress her thoughts, keep them to herself, and wait on a maybe, Katherine didn’t know if she had the strength. Still, the advice rang true. If she was going to be a different kind of wife, she would need to do things differently, think differently, and treat Evan differently. No magic spell from an alien princess would be as powerful as controlling herself.
Katherine took the advice to heart. She decided to do what she could to make Coellum feel like a new home. In the time that passed, Katherine Gold became the hostess she’d always desired in Athens. Their apartment was often buzzing with conversation and laughter. She picked up hobbies and made herself worthwhile with different beautification projects. All the while, she never said a homesick word to Evan.
“I have a question for you,” Evan asked Katherine on one of their sunset beach strolls.
“Yes?” Katherine asked, letting the sea breeze fill her hair.
“I hate to ask it because I’m certain of the answer. I’ve seen you come alive here. That’s not – I’m going to get the wrong – It’s like you’ve become the you I’ve always seen in you. That probably doesn’t make any sense. Maybe it’s the money or the access or the status, but I’ve seen you have the time and ability to make things blossom around you.”
“I’m not hearing a question,” Katherine said, snuggling into Evan’s side.
“I’m getting to it… because it’s going to sound like a sour note in a song when I ask it… but are you happy here? I mean really happy?”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you ever think about going back to Athens? From the moment we got to this place, it was all you talked about, and now…”. Evan trailed off.
“Are you happy here?” Katherine said picking up the thought.
“Yes? I mean, who wouldn’t be happy here? It’s like we’re king and queen of Oz or something. But…”
“But what?”
“There’s nothing to do. That’s not right. There’s lots to do. What I mean is, there aren’t problems to solve. There aren’t people to help.”
“No one needs a white knight?”
Evan stared hard at the star as it disappeared into the water.
“Do you want to go home?” Katherine asked.
“I think I do,” Evan said and let out a long breath.
“How long have you felt this way?”
Evan shrugged. “Long enough. I haven’t said anything for a long time because you seem so radiant here, and I know that if we go back to Athens, it will be hardscrabble again. I’ll be honest, I don’t think I can be a handyman. And I don’t think you’ll be happy if I’m a detective.”
Katherine squeezed his arm and laid her head on his shoulder. “What if… What if we went back, and you remembered what Sophie did for you?”
“Keep my calendar and my nose clean?”
Katherine nodded. “What if I do that for you?”
Evan stopped and turned to his wife. He held her face in his hands and furrowed his brow. “What have you done with the Katherine Gold I used to know?”
“I’m serious,” Katherine smiled. “I know I’m not as organized as Sophie, but I can learn. We could set up shop again, you the White Knight of Athens, and me the maiden you fight for.”
Evan smiled.
“As we’ve been here, two things I think were problems before: I didn’t want to be a detective’s wife, and you didn’t you didn’t want to be married to someone who didn’t want to be a detective’s wife. If we changed that, if I started playing on your team instead of fighting against you, maybe we’d make a better go of it. At least, that’s what I’ve seen here. That’s how Keetha and Amnon were, how Lillian is with her father, how all the couples are here, actually. Wives share their opinions and follow their husbands’ lead aggressively to make those plans happen. And husbands ask for the input. This was not true of my parents, but I’ve, more than once, I’ve seen husbands get input from their wives and modify their minds.”
“No!” Evan said in mock surprise.
“I know.”
“So, if I start asking if its possible to go back to Kansas, you won’t miss it here?”
“I have no idea,” Katherine said. “As you said, it’s been easy to do what I want here, and it will be a struggle on Earth.”
Evan put his hands on Katherine’s shoulders and, with all sincerity a few short words could contain, he said to her, “Kathy, I love you so much.”
Katherine’s eyes filled with tears. “I love you too.”
As the ocean waves continued to break softly on the shore and the stars appeared against the darkening sky, the Golds held each other in a long and overdue embrace.
