The Day Pass

Table of Contents

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Copyright

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About the Author

The Day Pass

Kerry Ann Flynn

Copyright © 2023 Kerry Ann Flynn

All rights reserved

First Edition

Fulton Books

Meadville, PA

Published by Fulton Books 2023

This story is a work of fiction. The characters, names, and events, within the story, are fictitious. Any similarities to real people or names are coincidental. The author took liberties for the sake of the story, including having a three-year-old on a river cruise.

ISBN 979-8-88982-333-9 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88982-334-6 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

In memory of Kathy. ❤

Heather

I'm okay. I never wanted to be old. Not that I wanted to die so young, nor did I want to leave when we had just started our family. There had been so much loss already, and I hated that I was the cause of more heartbreak.

My Bobby was the love of my life. I knew I'd marry him as soon as we met. My mom, dad, and sisters loved him right from the start too. I knew he'd be a fabulous dad. He's doing a great job with Josh. I hope Mom can convince him that he doesn't have to remain alone. You see, I have a plan for him.

When we found out I was pregnant, we knew all our dreams were coming true. Bobby and I were ecstatic. I couldn't wait to meet our baby. He's so precious. The worst part of my passing is that Josh won't remember me. Maybe it's a good thing that he was so young. My mom and sisters dote on him and love him almost as much as I do. They'll watch over him and Bobby. They're family.

Mom has been incredible. After losing our dad, she poured her heart and soul into us three girls. She was always there for us even when she was busy starting up her business. Her boutique is a source of pride for her, but her family is her life. She's been there for my Bobby and Josh. I hope having Josh around makes my passing easier for her. It'll be fun to see how Frank will fit in when he decides to move closer. That will be soon. He'll become quite smitten with Mom pretty quickly. He's a smart man.

Mom's boutique is really doing well. She needs to hire more help even with Lindsey and Abby working with her. That's how my plan begins: Mom will hire a young woman named Meghan because she's experienced in retail with a specialty in online merchandising and website design. That's the one area Mom doesn't know much about. Since Meghan will be new to the area, she won't know anyone but will get close to Mom and my sisters. She'll fit right in with the family. The three of them will soon become best friends, and it will only be natural that Meghan is invited to family functions. Of course, my Bobby and Josh will be there too.

Josh will be instantly drawn to Meghan with the innocence of a three-year-old. Fortunately, he's too young to feel disloyal to me. It will take Bobby a while longer. He'll need some reassurance from Mom and my sisters. Meghan will be perfect for him and Josh! Maybe I'll try to get another day pass to let him know it's okay to move on and that I approve of him and Meghan.

1

Bobby Johnson met Heather Young during his senior year of college. She was a junior. It was a Friday night, and he saw her walk into the party he was attending and wondered how he hadn't noticed her around campus before. She was beautiful, around five feet five, had long brown hair, and looked great in her tight jeans, brown leather boots, and a white sweater.

She was laughing at something her friend had said as they walked in, and headed to the kitchen for a drink. He asked his friends if they knew who she was. They didn't. He made it his goal to find out.

They met an hour later, and he knew she was different from anyone he'd met before. They talked like they had known each other forever. They laughed and joked and hung out until the end of the party. He offered to walk her home because he didn't want the night to end. She felt the same way. From then on they spent as much time together as they could.

Heather and Bobby got married five years after they met and dreamed of buying a home and starting a family. Three years after their wedding, they bought a house close to her family. They wanted to be nearby when they started their own family. They worked hard to make their new house a home and were so excited when two years later, they found out Heather was pregnant. Everything was falling into place. Life was good.

Carol, Heather's mom, had opened the 3 Girls Boutique just over five years ago, and Heather and her sister, Lindsey, worked there with her. Lindsey married Andrew Flynn a year later. When the girls found out they were both pregnant, they set up the back room as a kitchenette and nursery, so they could bring their babies to work with them. It worked for all of them and brought Carol and the two girls even closer. Heather and Lindsey always talked about their kids growing up together. Josh and Maddie were born two months apart and were so cute together. Abby, their other sister, started working with them after her daughter, Lexie, was born a year ago. The customers love seeing the babies in the boutique, and Carol loved having her girls working with her.

The past three years were a mixture of heaven and hell. A year after Josh and Maddie were born, Abby and Dan Fitzgerald were married in a beautiful outside wedding in May. All three of Carol's girls were now married to kind, loving men. Carol couldn't have asked for better spouses for her girls. She only wished Bill had been alive to see Abby and Dan get married. Abby had just started dating Dan when Bill passed away, but they all knew he was someone special. It brought Abby comfort to know her Dad had met and approved of Dan.

Josh was just six months old when Lindsey and Carol noticed Heather wasn't eating as much as she used to and looked like she was losing weight. Heather said she, Just felt kind of full. And I'm still trying to lose the baby weight. Bobby had noticed this too. Heather said she would start eating better and making healthier meals. That August, Heather started to not feel well. One day, she complained to Bobby that she felt bloated. They weren't worried about it but decided she should call her doctor. The doctor ordered a CT scan and called them to come in for the results.

Heather was thirty-one years old, had a six-month-old baby, and was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer. Life would never be the same. It was soon centered around doctors' appointments, chemotherapy treatments, and CT scans. None of them could believe this was happening to her. Heather said, It has to start somewhere. Why not with me? She was so strong and determined to beat it.

Heather got through the first round of chemo, and they all thought she had beat it. She wore a wig to Abby and Dan's wedding because her hair hadn't grown back yet from the chemo. The whole family celebrated together, so happy that Heather would be okay.

Nine months later, the cancer was back, and she started treatment again. Bobby, Carol, and Heather's sisters took turns bringing her to chemo treatments and taking care of Josh. All through this, Heather never complained. The doctors and nurses loved her. The cancer progressed through three different chemotherapies over the next year. The family was devastated. Heather didn't want to give up trying new treatments, but it seemed nothing was working this time. Four months later, Heather passed away. It was almost three years since she had been diagnosed. Her family would now have to figure out life without her.

They remembered the day Abby brought Lexie home from the hospital. Abby and Dan stopped to see Heather on their way home, so she could see the baby. Heather was laying on the couch, too sick to work any more.

As Heather held the baby, she started to cry and said, She'll never remember me.

Abby told her they would keep her alive. Sadly, it would only be in memory.

2

Carol had known Bobby was having a hard time since Heather's death. He was back to work and doing a great job at being a single dad, but it was overwhelming at times. Abby and Lindsey were helping him with Josh. They all missed Heather so much, especially Bobby. Carol knew with the Christmas holidays coming up that Bobby would be lost. They were all struggling this year.

On Thanksgiving morning, Carol talked to Lindsey and Abby about an idea she had before she approached Bobby with it. Both of them thought it was a great idea that would help get Bobby and Josh through the holidays.

Thanksgiving went as well as they all could have hoped for. It was the first holiday since Heather died. Carol approached Bobby late in the afternoon and told him she wanted to talk to him. Josh was playing with his cousins and uncles while Lindsey and Abby cleaned up the kitchen. Carol and Bobby went into the dining room and sat at the large oak table. Carol's idea was for her and Bobby to take Josh on a river cruise over Christmas and the New Year to take their minds off their first Christmas without Heather. Her death was still too raw to be in their home without her for the holidays.

Carol said, I have something I want to run by you. It's about Christmas. I know this year will be hard, and I had a thought that might help us through it. That's why she, Bobby, and Josh went on a trip for the Christmas holidays.

The Saturday before Christmas, they flew to Budapest and embarked onto the cruise ship for a fifteen-day European river cruise.

*****

Bobby didn't want to get out of bed. He just had the best dream: He and Heather were walking down a long dirt road, holding hands and talking. The sun was shining through the trees, casting shadows on the road. The sun felt warm, but a cool breeze rustled the leaves that were scattered on the ground. It felt so good to be with her again. They talked and laughed and held each other close. It seemed so natural, like it happened every day.

Bobby said, I'm so glad you're here. How is it possible?

Heather wrapped her arms around him, smiled up at him, and answered, I'm one of the lucky ones. I got a day pass. Not many are given out.

Their time together passed too quickly, and Bobby woke up alone in bed. He felt so good after the dream and believed that Heather had really been able to visit.

It's been six months since Heather died, and he missed her more each day.

Bobby thought, How has it been six months already? How have we gotten through this?

He knew he couldn't have done it without Carol, Heather's mom. Even through her own grief, she was the rock of the family. She held them all together through Heather's illness, death, the funeral, and their trying to get on with life without her. To Bobby, she was more like a mother than a mother-in-law. She and Heather's sisters, Lindsey and Abby, were there to help him with Josh through it all and when he had to go back to work. They all knew they would get through it together, and they knew it wouldn't be easy.

Bobby couldn't wait to tell Carol about his dream. But first he had to get Josh ready for the day. Josh would be waking up any minute and wanting his breakfast. At three years old, he had two loves: pancakes and dinosaurs. He'd be ready for the day as soon as he woke up, just like Heather always had been. He'd better call to see if Carol was awake. Josh would want to see his Nana as soon as possible.

*****

Carol woke up the same way she did every day…thinking of Heather. Her baby, her firstborn, was gone. Heather was the last thing she thought of before she fell asleep and the first thing she thought of when she woke up. It was the same when Bill, her husband, had died. But she never thought it would happen to one of her girls. She still found it hard to believe Heather was really gone. They had gotten through the worst of it, and she knew the pain will lessen with time, but