Redwood Violet by Robin Mahle

CHAPTER 2

KATIE’S EYES POPPED open as she turned to see the time on the clock. She must have slept through the alarm. It was already six o’clock and their flight was due to leave at eight.

“Spence, wake up, babe. We’re gonna be late.”

Indiscernible mumbling escaped his throat. “Come on; get up. We’ve got to get going.” Of course, she hadn’t packed as intended. There was no time to shower and she struggled to get a brush through the heavily sprayed wedding-do. As she ran around, throwing their things in a bag, toothbrush in hand, she continued to shout at Spencer to get up. A few more rumbles and he managed to sit up on the edge of the bed.

“We have to leave as soon as possible. It shouldn’t be a busy flight, but getting through security will take forever. Come on, babe, shake out of it.”

“All right, all right. I’m up.”

They spent the next half-hour rushing around until finally, they were ready to leave.

“Okay, phone, purse, jewelry.” Katie rattled off her checklist. “You’ve got everything? Phone, wallet?”

“Yeah, we’re good, honey, let’s go.”

* * *

The airport was fairly empty. It was a Sunday morning in Eureka. Nevertheless, Katie and Spencer calmly but quickly ran through to security. There were a few very tired looking individuals ahead of them, but it wasn’t busy. Katie was never one to be late and she hated rushing around. It only took a few minutes to get through and they bolted to their gate. Their flight was still boarding. They had made it and Katie let out a sigh of relief as she handed the flight attendant her boarding pass.

“See, there was nothing to worry about, babe. We made it in plenty of time.” Spencer’s raspy voice made her chuckle. He always sounded that way after a night of celebrations.

“Okay, well if I hadn’t prodded you along, we’d have missed it for sure.”

They took their seats and moments later, they were airborne. Katie glanced over at Spencer and he was already asleep. She shook her head in amazement. Unbelievable.

Katie grabbed her tablet and turned it on. The airline charged a steep fee for wi fi access, but she was bored and had a few hours to kill. She opened up a search engine and typed “treatments for stress.” Maybe this was all stress-related, but before she called Dr. Reyes, she would be armed with information. There were several techniques that came up, including something called “relaxation hypnotherapy.” She found, as she deepened her search, other forms of hypnosis and treatments, but she was warming to the idea of the relaxation therapy and would bring it up to Dr. Reyes, assuming, of course, Dr. Reyes was willing and capable of performing such therapy. Katie only knew of her work with troubled families and victims of abuse. The Advocacy Group, her employer, was involved in everything from victim assistance programs to substance abuse clinics to community outreach programs. However, if Dr. Reyes couldn’t help her, she probably knew of someone who could.

There was no denying Katie had a knack for research and she was always looking for ways to solve her own problems as well as others’. This current dilemma was no exception. She loved to figure things out; find reasons for something. Whatever it was, she wouldn’t stop until she solved the problem or learned everything she could about a subject in which she had interest. This was likely the reason her work at the foundation was so invaluable. She often worked on cases involving detailed research. Fortunately, between the fundraising and her assistance with domestic case research, she was able to utilize both her passion for knowledge and her desire to help others.

Katie heard the flight attendant over the loudspeaker. “Please turn off your electronic devices, place your seats in their upright positions, and stow your personal belongs. We will begin our descent into San Diego momentarily.”

“Spence.” She nudged him gently. “Spencer, we’re getting ready to land. Wake up.”

“Okay, I’m awake,” he replied.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

“Better; not great, but better.”

“Good. I’m ready to get home. We’ve got a busy week ahead of us.

“Okay, honey. I love you, but my head is pounding and there is no way I can concentrate on what you’re saying right now. Let’s just spend a quiet afternoon at home. We can talk about next week later, I promise.”