The Fourth Sunrise: A Love Story Page 8

  “So, Joel,” Sharee asked. “Whatever happened to your friend Douglas?”

  “Oh… Douglas. He’s actually a bigger part of the story than you might think.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Well, Douglas eventually made it up to the big leagues and had at least .300 at bats at the major league level. Like me, sports injuries plagued him and in 1976, he was diagnosed with leukemia and had to quit the game.”

  “Oh no! That’s awful.”

  “Yup, he died a year later. He was a very good friend.” In that instance I felt the loss again. “Once my playing days were over, I picked up some odd jobs, but none was more rewarding that heading up the Douglas Ward Leukemia Foundation. I still run the foundation to this day. We have helped a lot of really good people.”

  Sharee looked at me and couldn’t quite gauge what to say. It was an abrupt bit of information to be dumped on her, but Douglas was an important part of my life. Still is.

  “That’s fantastic that you turned something painful into something positive.”

  I smiled and accepted her compliment. Even to this day, it was painful thinking about the death of my friend. He was a great person. I was lucky to know him. I paused and thought about my friend and smiled.

  Once again, there was a lull in the conversation, not for the lack of communication, but being able to catch up to how deep these conversations were ending up. I think we were both digesting it all. It was real easy to talk to Sharee and I liked that. It usually wasn’t easy for me to open up to people. Sharee made it easy. She looked me in the eye and asked a lot of questions that told me she was interested. It was amazing this pretty young girl would be even remotely interested in my life. She eventually broke the silence and asked, “When and how did you meet Christine again? I’m dying to know.”

  I swallowed my bite of pizza and said, “Every failed relationship I had in my late twenties and early thirties made me think about Christine more and more. I longed for that innocence, the innocence that we shared just slow dancing. I wanted to repeat the love I had in my heart, but I couldn’t find it elsewhere. My heart had met its one true love and I was lost, trying to find someone else who was not Christine. So, finally, I came to the conclusion that I had to see her again.”

  “What did you do?” Sharee perked up.

  I looked at Sharee and shyly said, “I came here five years in a row.”

  “Here? To Deltarado Days?” She looked up and down the three streets and smiled. “Did you have any luck?”

  “Yes, eventually. The seventies were ending and the eighties were here. Reagan was president and after a little scare with some lunatic trying to shoot him because he was in love with Jodie Foster, America had started to turn itself around and there was a lot of national pride, especially with the Olympics being hosted in Los Angeles in 1984. The United States was hosting the Olympic Games for the first time in a very long time. Even two years before, people were all feeling Olympic fever. The only fever I had… was a longing for Christine.”

  “So, you came here in hopes of seeing her five years in a row?” Sharee asked surprised.

  “From 1978 to 1982,” I said, answering the question.

  “So, you met her in the fifth year?” Sharee asked.

  I leaned back and looked at the night sky and said, “Yes, I did. It was a night much like tonight.”

  July 1982 – Delta, Colorado - Deltarado Days, 9:00 p.m.

  “I had come so many times that I had actually made friends in the town. I was always too embarrassed to tell anyone from the town why I was really here. Instead, I just told them that I just dug Deltarado Days.

  “It was 1982, and it was the final night of the fair. I almost didn’t show up because I figured there was little chance she would show up on the last night. But I was wrong. Thank God, I was wrong.

  “I thought I’d show up right when it got dark because I would dip in and then dip out once I’d made my rounds around the fair, looking every single woman in the face. It had been fourteen years and she could have had a lot of changes in her appearance.

  “As I walked around the fair, there was a lot of rock and roll and other types of music playing. It was terribly loud and I was getting a pretty bad headache. I did something I had never done in all the years I had gone to Deltarado Days. I decided to go the nurse’s station at the far end of the fair and get some aspirin.

  “The nurse’s station was a portable building that was about the size of a school bus. It was at the very end of fair and it took a good five minutes to walk to it.

  “Finally, I arrived. I went up a small ramp and opened the door.

  “As I opened the door, everything seemed to go in slow motion. I turned the doorknob and the door slowly flew open. I looked in and at the same moment the door opened, a woman in her early thirties looked up at me.

  It was Christine. I nearly passed out from being surprised. She had on a nurse’s cap and she looked me in the eye. When she saw me, she looked like she had seen a ghost and who knows what I must have looked like when I saw her.

  ‘“Christine,’ I said in a very calm voice.

  ‘“Joel,’ she answered immediately.

  “I didn’t know why but tears were dripping from my eyes, which caused her to tear up, too. It was odd way to greet each other for the first time in years. But it was honest. It was as honest as we had left things fourteen years before. ‘You look fantastic,’ I said, regaining my composure.

  ‘“So do you,’ she said, looking me in my eyes like she had done fourteen years before. It was as if she didn’t miss a beat.

  “‘I wasn’t sure you’d remember me,’ I said.

  “Christine looked at me, puzzled. ‘How did you know I’d be in the nurse’s station?’

  “‘I had no idea you were here,’ I said. She was under the assumption that this was a coincidence. She had no idea that this was my fifth year scouring the city during Deltarado Days, looking for her, just praying I could run into her on a visit to her parents in her old stomping ground. Now that I had found her, I had no idea what I’d say. I just knew that I had to reconnect with her, even if she was married. I just needed to speak to her one more time, maybe to have closure, so I could move on with my life.

  “I was still trying to regain my composure and for some reason, I began coughing.

  ‘“Are you all right, Joel?’ Christine quickly changed gears and was worried about me from a nurse’s perspective. She appeared to be the only one in the nurse’s station.

  “‘Are you the only nurse?’ I asked.

  ‘“Yes, tonight I am. I flew in earlier today. I have been a nurse for the past five years in Virginia.’

  ‘“Good for you. That was what you wanted to do. Any luck on being a doctor?’

  “‘There are too many classes to take to be an actual doctor and it’s very expensive, but I’m still leaving that open.’

  “‘You’re as amazing as I remembered.’ I looked down at her wedding ring and smiled. I knew her situation more than she realized, but I wasn’t about to reveal anything I didn’t have to. At least not yet. ‘Why now?’

  “‘Why now what?’ she asked.

  “I almost let the cat out of the bag that I had been looking for her for the last few years, so I decided I’d better change my tune and I said, ‘Is this your first year coming back?’

  “‘It is. I visit my parents twice a year. Both are still fighting the good fight.’

  “‘That’s great,’ I said. ‘That would make your mom 76 years old and your dad 84.’

  “‘You remembered their ages?’

  “‘I remember a lot of things,’ I said plainly. ‘So, how did you get this gig on the final night?’

  “‘I heard the regular nurse was going to be out tonight and the organizer of Deltarado was scrambling, looking for a registered nurse. I let it be known that I was in town and would love to come back to one of my favorite events and help out. Speaking of which, was there a reason why you came in her
e?’ Christine inquisitively stared at me.

  “I stared at Christine and was just overwhelmed by her presence. I had longed to hear her again for so many years, and here I was seeing her again. She looked incredible. She had aged a little, but not much. Everything was the way I remembered: her eyes, her hair, and her hands.

  “‘Uh,’ I said. ‘I have a headache. Or at least I did. It seems to have gone away.’

  “‘I guess I’m a pretty good nurse. I didn’t touch you and you were healed.’ She kept looking me in the eyes. Her eyes were telling me a story.

  “I could sense she wanted to know more. I wanted to know more. I had so many unanswered questions. So, I said, short and sweet, ‘What happened?’

  “‘What happened?’ she repeated my statement, confused.

  “‘Fourteen years ago. What happened?’ I asked again.

  “‘I got married,’ she answered.

  “‘I know that.’ I paused. Then I painfully said, ‘I came back for you.’

  “‘You did? When?’

  ‘“In January of the following year.’

  “‘You waited a year?’ Christine said, insulted.

  ‘“It was six months. I came back as soon as I could afford to come. We didn’t exchange anything…no address, no phone numbers.’

  “‘You were supposed to come back. Earlier,’ Christine said. Now this was getting very real and very honest.

  “‘I did come back for you.’

  “‘You waited too long.’

  “‘I came back for you as fast as I could. My father passed.’

  “‘I’m sorry. Wasn’t he young?’

  “‘He was younger than your parents but he was still in his late fifties.’

  “‘That’s too young.’

  “‘I know it is. That is why I stayed longer than I planned. Plus, I had no idea you would run off and marry your ex-boyfriend in the Army if I didn’t come back in time. It didn’t even dawn on me when I bought my bus ticket that that could even be an option.’

  “‘Benjamin came home after boot camp. We didn’t get back together until October. I waited for you as long as I could. I was so heartbroken that you never came back for me. I don’t know. I guess I just decided to settle. It was too painful thinking that you rejected me.’

  “‘I never rejected you. I thought about you every moment until I came for you.’

  “‘Every moment?’ Christine asked in a way that broke my heart. She was basically implying she wished she would have known.

  “‘You were even in my dreams.’ I looked at Christine and couldn’t believe how fast we got into real serious, honest issues with one another. There was more I needed to say. ‘I tried to come back for you. I really did,’ I repeated. She needed to know that I did all I could to come for her as quickly as I humanly could.

  “Christine looked at me and sighed. ‘Is this for real? Are you telling me the truth? That you seriously came back for me? I wasn’t just another girl in another town? You really rode a bus out to see me?’

  “‘I did. I even was walking around with a bouquet of flowers. I expected to find you that day and give you this romantic bouquet and propose to you.’

  “‘Really?’

  “‘Yep. I found out quick you were married. The two of you were the pride of the town.’

  “Christine sat down and took a deep breath. ‘This is a lot for me to handle. That you were here and that I had already married Benjamin.’

  “‘Me, too,’ I agreed. I wanted to talk to her so long that this machine-gun questioning was overwhelming from both ends. ‘Do you want to slow down a little bit?’ I asked.

  ‘“I don’t think we know how to,’ Christine answered.

  “‘I recall us having a similar problem, last time,’ I said. A part of me felt as if I was dreaming. I had imagined running into her many times, but somehow the concept of her working at the nurse’s station at Deltarado Days wasn’t a possibility that I had ever considered. ‘Did your family come with you? Would it be okay if I stayed in here with you and talked for you a bit?’

  “‘No and yes. No, my family didn’t come with me tonight. I am here all alone at Deltarado Days. I’m staying with my parents. And yes, I would love for you to stay and talk with me.’

  “‘Are your parents still staying on the farm?’ I asked.

  “‘It’s a ranch,’ Christine corrected me.

  “‘I’m from Southern California. I don’t know the difference.’

  “‘You should. You lived in New Mexico for a while. I’m sure there are ranches out there.’ Christine looked up at me and smiled. ‘You look a little flushed. Have a seat, Joel. I’ll check your vitals.’

  ‘“You are the one sitting down,’ I said, pointing out that she had taken the available seat.

  ‘“Well, it’s time for me to act professional.’

  ‘“Professionalism is always a good thing in the nurse’s profession,’ I teased.

  ‘“So, why did you come in the nurse’s station?’ Christine asked me as she stood up to compose herself.

  “‘I think I have what is called a rock ‘n roll headache. I’m not a big fan of the new stuff.’

  “‘Not a huge Van Halen and Black Sabbath fan, I take it?’

  “‘What happened to the Beatles and the Beach Boys?’ I pleaded. ‘Even The Monkees were a lot better than the crap that is out there now. I don’t know why new rock ’n rollers don’t understand that noise doesn’t necessarily equate to music. But, I am obviously alone because I'm the only one in here with a headache.’

  “‘Joel Murphy. You know, I have followed your career the last few years,’ Christine said, completely changed the subject.

  “‘Or my lack of one,’ I laughed.

  “This is where I wondered if her husband brought me up. I wasn’t in the Army long, and once we got close, I told him that Murphy really wasn’t my last name, that it was Morgan. I did that in hopes if he did bring me up later to Christine, he’d refer to me as Joel Morgan. The way Christine was acting, apparently, she had no idea I had served with her husband.

  “Christine continued as I got up and sat in the chair she had been sitting in. Christine got up and began doing her nurse thing. Checking my ears, mouth, and nose. It was kind of embarrassing. I would hate to have a booger. I was pretty sure I was good. She said, ‘I would get minor league box scores in my town and followed you until you retired.’

  “‘No, I quit. More like I didn’t have a choice. I blew out my leg in the war.’

  “‘I hated that war so much. Thank God they ended it. My husband has never been the same.’

  “I was curious about how he was doing, but I gather I didn’t have to ask specific details and she would probably tell me as it came up in natural conversation.

  “Christine was continuing about her feeling on the war, ‘My husband spent a lot of time over there. And for what? Tell me one good thing this stupid war did!’

  “I smiled at Christine. ‘It didn’t do much good, that is for sure. It might have employed a few more soldiers; that was about it.’ I really didn’t want to talk about the war. By this point, the only thing I actually wanted to know is if I impacted her life as much as she had impacted mine.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Christine gave me a clean bill of health and just said for me to take two aspirin. She gave some to me with a glass of water. Eventually, we both sat in the two stools that were in front of the portable building. We put them right outside, which gave it a patio feel. We were lounging in front of the nurse’s station. I didn’t think most people even knew there was a nurse’s station at the fair, but maybe seeing a cute girl like Christine sitting out front, wearing her cute nurse’s uniform might at least allow others to know there was an option to visit a nurse at the fair.

  “‘Anyway, other than baseball, what have you been up to?’ Christine’s question was a little too cheerful and there was a lack of endorsement. I could tell her life had been hard. Her personality seemed a bit
reined-in…she was a little colder, a little less optimistic than what I remembered from years before.

  “‘I traveled across the West and Mideast since the war. I picked up odd jobs here and there being a carpenter.’

  “‘A carpenter?’

  “‘I’ve always been pretty good with my hands,’ I said as humbly as a statement like that could sound.

  “Christine took a long look at me and reflected, ‘You mentioned that you haven’t had too many girlfriends. Is that by choice?’

  “‘Yes.’

  “‘Didn’t want to settle down?’ Christine asked.

  “‘I did at one time.’

  “‘What happened?’

  “I smiled. I didn’t want to be a downer, but I also knew that I might not have much time with her and I didn’t want to leave any stone unturned. ‘I don't think you want to know what soured me on marriage.’

  “‘Why not?’

  “‘You might have had something to do with it.’

  “‘Me? I waited for you.’

  “‘For what? Two months?’

  “‘I had no idea if you were ever going to come back to see me. I just didn’t know and Benjamin definitely knew he wanted to marry me. Boot camp changed him and he wanted to start a family with me. He made it seem urgent. I think he was scared of the war, but having a family back home allowed him to not think about it so much.’

  “I knew better than she did to what extent her husband separated the war from his family. He had people call him a completely different name so he could escape. I just nodded my head and stared intensely at Christine.

  “‘I understand why you made him your husband. It doesn’t make it any easier for me to stomach.’ I was quiet and I kept staring into Christine’s eyes. It wasn’t a romantic stare. It was a definite one. But it was impossible to stare at her and not have it eventually turn into a loving gaze.

  “‘That look you’re giving me is what I have always remembered about you,’ Christine said.