Natural Reaction by Terri Reid Page A

“Well, if there is anything else I can do, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
    “Thanks, Allen, we appreciate it,” Bradley said. “See you on Saturday.”
    After Allen left, Bradley walked to the front door with Joyce and Bill. “I need to go back to Freeport and take care of some things, but I’ll see you both tomorrow.”
    “We’ll meet you at the coroner’s office at noon,” Joyce said. “Will that work?”
    Bradley nodded. “That would be great. Thank you.”
    “You know, we will always consider you to be our son,” Bill said. “And once you find your daughter, we will be thrilled to spoil her.”
    Smiling, Bradley hugged them both. “She couldn’t ask for a better set of grandparents.”
    Mike remained silent until Bradley had pulled the cruiser out of the driveway and was headed back towards Freeport. “Those are great people,” he said.
    “Yeah, they are,” Bradley agreed.
    “So, how are you holding up?” Mike asked.
    Staring straight ahead, he tightened his hold on the steering wheel. “I’m holding on,” he said. “I’ve just got to get through these next couple of days and I’ll be good.”
    “You’re an idiot,” Mike replied casually.
    “What?”
    “Is that where Jeannine is going to be buried?” Mike asked, pointing to a large cemetery down the road.
    “Yeah, it is,” Bradley said.
    “Pull in there.”
    “Why?”
    “Don’t ask questions, just do it,” Mike said.
    Bradley glowered at Mike, but did as he requested. “What, is there a ghost in here we need to help?” he asked, pulling the cruiser to the side of a lane and putting it in park.
    “Come on, let’s take a walk,” Mike said.
    “A walk? It’s freezing out there.”
    “Yeah, a walk,” he said, slipping through the car door.
    A moment later Bradley joined him and they walked across the cemetery until they reached a small stone bench.
    “Sit down on the bench and talk to me,” Mike said.
    “What the hell?”
    “This is one of the only places where a grown man can be seen talking to himself and people won’t think he’s nuts,” Mike explained. “So, talk to me.”
    “About what?”
    “About Jeannine. Tell me how you met her. Tell me about your first date. Tell me about the day you found out she was pregnant.”
    Bradley sat down on the bench and stared at Mike. “Why are you doing this?” he asked, his voice breaking.
    “Tell me,” Mike insisted.
    Bradley took a deep breath. “Okay, I first met Jeannine when we were both in high school,” he began. “She was…she was…oh, God…she’s gone. I’m never going to see her again.”
    He bent over and placed his head in his hands as the sorrow washed over him. Tears he had been holding back for eight years broke free and poured from his eyes. His body was wracked in shudders of emotion and he was helpless to stop it. He pictured her on their first date, on their wedding day and when she announced she was pregnant. All their plans, all of their happiness, everything was gone and she was never coming back.
    After a while, the shuddering eased and he took deep gulping breaths of air.
    “Feeling better?” Mike asked.
    Wiping his eyes and nose with a handkerchief, he looked up at Mike. “Why?”
    “Because you’ve been strong for a long time and you needed to grieve.”
    “I had to be strong,” he whispered, “I didn’t want to let my feelings out.”
    “Yeah, I get that,” Mike agreed. “You had to be strong for Jeannine, for her parents and for your daughter. You had to be strong until you found her.”
    Bradley nodded his head deliberately. “I still can’t believe she’s gone,” he said. “My whole life had been centered on finding her and now…”
    “And now you have to figure out who you are without her,” he said.
    “How the hell do you know this stuff? You were a fireman.”
    Mike shrugged. “I had a youth minister who talked to me about this stuff after my friend died,” he said. “He helped me a lot. Then when I was