Devon took his brother's advice. He stared at the television as the people on-screen recapped a football game. He wanted to fall into oblivion, knowing if she wasn't found, he wanted that oblivion to be permanent.
He saw her face in his head. His Hailey. The one person who managed to convince him loving someone else more than yourself was rewarding. He had a doting family, but it was Hailey who saved him after Kathy's death. So who would save him now?
As he drifted off, he saw her in a meadow. It was spring or summer, he couldn't tell which. The grass was to her knees, purple and white flowers swaying in a light breeze, and she wore a white dress. She laughed, and he grinned to see her so happy. She'd always been a happy girl, someone who brightened people's day. She talked all the time, she had compassion for others, and she was so sweet. On her bedside table, he kept a photo album full of pictures of him and Kathy. Any snapshots his parents had of them, any candid photos he'd taken on his phone, and the professional photos from their wedding. They were all there so Hailey would know she came from love.
Devon met Kathy the year they graduated from high school. Her family had moved into town because Lydia hired Kathy's mother for her practice. Kathy felt awkward being in a new school so close to the end of the year. She was upset because she wouldn't graduate with her friends back in her hometown. It was easy to befriend Kathy; Hailey was much like her mother in that respect. Caleb, Lori, Vince, Anna, Kathy, and Devon were as close as six people could be by the time summer started.
Kathy decided to stay in Merrimac and go to community college to be near her new friends, a decision her parents didn't support. They wanted to send her to college in another state, but she refused. Devon went to trade school and worked for a local lumber company until he could save enough to rent a house. He wanted to propose to Kathy, but he held off until he felt as if he could prove himself to her parents. He worked hard, helped Caleb study for his last year of school, and spent money getting Caleb trained instead of putting it toward the house he had his eye on.
Neither of them wanted to rely on their parents' generosity if they could help it.
Devon celebrated Caleb getting an internship when he graduated. He worked harder to save more money so they could open their own business. The house was pushed off for another year, and his parents promised he could stay with them as long as he needed. He had a plan; work full-time at the mill, fit in any orders from his business at night, and save whatever he could. He wanted to give Kathy the world, but she told him she would settle for a quiet life in Merrimac. It took blood, sweat, and Kathy working full time as the receptionist for Dr. Lydia McMillan, OB/GYN before they were able to rent a house. It was a compact one-bedroom, but they were happy. They got engaged without a ring, though Lydia and Don offered one of the antiques handed down through the family or to help with the cost of a new one. Kathy wasn't materialistic, but her mother was. Gloria Keystone wanted Kathy to go to college in the east and meet a wealthy man. She approved of the McMillans in general, but not in the way their eldest son acted as though he came from a low-class family. Gloria thought if she and her husband moved again, they could force Kathy to go with them. She didn't think for one second that her daughter could make it with Devon. She was wrong on both counts.
Devon and Kathy worked for what they wanted. They saved until they could buy a house, they had a small wedding at the McMillan's home, and they didn't splurge on anything. They found the building they used for their carpentry business because it was dilapidated and Caleb and Devon had to fix it up to use it. Lori was brilliant with building them a website to draw in customers. The four of them bargained and bartered to get ad space, trucks big enough to haul finished furniture, and help to refurbish the office. Vince was hired on when they got too busy to do everything alone. Anna was still in school at that point, but Vince worked for the mill until the brothers had enough earnings to pay employees. By then, Anna made more money than Vince, but he enjoyed being part of it all.
On the couch, Devon saw the years go by as though they were right in front of him. If he tried hard enough, he could reach out and touch Kathy's face. It would feel like the thrill of everything being new, the passion of first love, and the potential of their future. Kathy danced in a meadow, laughing as the sun streamed down on her. With an odd sort of precognition, Devon realized it was the meadow where he'd seen Hailey earlier in his dream. As Kathy danced in the tall grass, she beckoned. At first, Devon thought it was directed at him, but he saw Hailey running toward her mother from the treeline. When they met in the middle, Kathy scooped Hailey into her arms, and Devon cried for a scene that would never happen in real life. It was a wretched but exquisite sight to him. It had the ability to heal his heart and rip it to pieces in the same instant. Hailey and Kathy, together.
"Don't worry, babe. I've got her."
As Kathy spoke to him, he woke with a scream ripping its way up his throat.
Disoriented and sweating, he sat up. The house was dark except for a faint light shining down the hall. With his heart beating at the base of his throat, Devon bent over and screamed again.
Caleb ran into the room, kneeling in front of the couch and grabbing Devon by the shoulders. "What? What?"
"She's dead. She's dead."
Continuously, he repeated it in a monotone voice as Caleb tried to soothe him. "You can't know that."
"She's dead."
"God damn it, Devon, she isn't!"
Devon's head snapped up. He beat his fist against his chest as Caleb looked on helplessly. "It's right here. She was with Kathy in my dream. As she is now, at five years old, she was with Kathy."
Voice strangling on the last few words, he dropped his head again. Caleb sat next to him, doing his best to hold the last pieces of his brother together as they heard a phone ring from somewhere in the house.
"Let me get that," Caleb muttered, reluctant to leave Devon at that moment. Since he received no response, he stood and followed the sound back to the kitchen. Devon's phone was lit up and ringing shrilly from the table.
Heading back to the living room, he answered the phone. "No, let me get him."
He found his brother in the same spot on the couch, head in his hands, sobs forcing their way out from somewhere deep in his soul.
Caleb swallowed thickly. "It's Sergeant Hurley."
He sat down once more, terrified of what the news would be. Devon put his hand out and accepted the phone without even looking up.
"Yeah."
"Mr. McMillan? We found her."
