"Two Less Lonely People" - Synopsis

“TWO LESS LONELY PEOPLE”
TREATMENT / SYNOPSIS

Inspired by a True Story
Created and Written by:
Bob Houseman

It's early Sunday morning, way before Bob usually gets up. He looks over at his wife as she sleeps. He leans over and kisses her on her forehead. He whispers "I love you". They learned last week, that Kate’s illness is rapidly deteriorating. Even though he is going for just a short drive down by the seashore, his thoughts are solely on his wife.  He’ll make sure he’s home before she rises.

As he heads toward the coast, he smiles as he remembers the day he and Kate met. He remembers the “look” Kate had on her face when they saw each other for the first time. He laughs as he remembers the first day he met her boys, and how much joy they have brought him and their mom.

The day is beautiful. There is music playing in the background from one of his CD'S. He feels a tear running down his cheek. What? He thinks. What's going on here? The song that has been playing is now ending. He hits the replay button.

When the song comes on again, he listens very carefully to the words. After a couple minutes into the song, he's now really losing it.  He drives into the beach parking lot. As he sits in his parked car, he looks out toward the ocean. And then it hits him.  Kate will soon be gone!

He reaches into the glove compartment and pulls out the pad and pencil.  He jots down a few thoughts. He pauses for a moment and then continues writing. When he’s finished he lays the pad down. After he is finished, he feels a temporary sense of relief. He believes writing might be the vehicle that will help him deal with the incredible sense of loss he knows he will feel after Kate is gone.

He also knows that the words to the song he has just listened to, portray the emotions that both of them were feeling the day he and Kate met. After a few minutes Bob gathers his emotions and heads for home.

Bob is a single father raising his high school aged daughter on his own.  He was an all-around athlete at Southlake High School and currently enjoys going to high school football games. He owns First American Realty in town. His primary hobby is working in his rose garden. He is a man of few words but has a dry sense of humor. He has been so wrapped up in his real estate business and raising his daughter Wendi, that he really hasn’t had time for much else. 

Bob’s daughter kids with him saying he is kind of boring. Well, not really. They are obviously very close. She is medium height with an athletic body. She is all girl until she is steps on the athletic field. She is popular with the boys and girls in school. Her Dad has obviously done a great job raising her.

Wendi’s personality is opposite of her Dad’s. She too is an athlete at Southlake focusing mainly on softball. She is considered a top major college prospect. Wendi wishes her Dad might meet someone and settle down. He kids with Wendi saying who would want someone who is boring like him?

Bob often sits on a bench down by the seashore looking out over the ocean and watching the waves break. There is a dog, Lucy who hangs out at the beach and seems to have adopted Bob for the day. There is also a pad and pencil sitting next to him along with a quickly thrown together sandwich.

He will occasionally get up from his seat and walk down to the water. Today is no different. As he is standing by the water he looks up the beach and decides to take a short walk. Lucy tags along. As he is walking, he notices a woman heading in his direction with a cute little dog. He sees that the woman is having difficulty walking on the sand.

As he approaches the woman he thinks she looks familiar but can’t figure out where he has seen her before. She is quite attractive and has a pleasant manner about her. Totally out of character, he decides he will stop and talk with her. As he approaches the woman, the first thing he notices is that she has a friendly smile. They introduce themselves to each other. Her name is Kate and the little pooch is Lizzie.

Kate is a no nonsense woman in her late forties. She has always been an athlete until she was in a terrible automobile accident several years ago. She grew up on a horse ranch where her father raised horses. She spent much of her spare time riding her dad’s horses. After a few minutes of conversation Bob senses Kate needs to sit down. He suggests that if she has the time, they walk over to the bench and talk for a while longer.

During their conversation he learns that she has three boys in high school and an older daughter living on the East coast. One of the boys Keith, is on the football team. She tells Bob that she attends all of her son’s games. He realizes that he might have seen her at a football game. Because of her physical limitations, she always sits in the same place in the stands.

After further conversation he learns that she has just left the doctor’s office and decided that instead of going home right away, she would come to the beach. Bob infers from the conversation that there is probably another more serious issue that Kate is dealing with. He decides to wait until she brings the issue up, rather than ask about it now.

After a few minutes, Kate looks at her watch and tells Bob that she has to leave for an appointment. He suggests that maybe they could meet for coffee sometime in the next week. She says that would be great and writes down her phone number for Bob on a scrap of paper.

Bob assists her to her car and watches as her car drives up the street from the seashore parking lot. After a few minutes, he realizes that this is the first time in a long time that he has even been interested in having coffee with another woman.

Bob learns that Kate's physical disabilities pale in significance to another health issue she is currently dealing with. Her main concern is how to discuss the issue with her children as soon as possible. Bob decides to take a chance. Although he just met her, he offers to be there with her when she tells her children. Kate is blown away by his thoughtfulness.

When Kate returns home she tells her boys about the wonderful afternoon she just spent with Bob. Her boys are happy for their mom and tell her that it’s about time for their mom to begin enjoying her life a bit.

Bob and Kate’s relationship continues to solidify and they both realize there might be a future for the two of them. Kate shares with her boys her feelings toward Bob and she tells them that she believes Bob feels the same toward her.

Without telling the boys what’s going on with her health, she tells them that their sister will be coming out for a long weekend in a couple weeks.  They haven’t seen her in a long time and besides, she wants to introduce her to Bob.

The boys really like Bob and his daughter. They kiddingly suggest to their Mom that she and Bob might think about getting married while their sister is here. She tells the boys that since she met Bob she hoped that the boys would feel the way they do.

For some time now, Bob has promised his daughter that the two of them would take a trip up the California Coast to play golf, check out some colleges, and just spend some alone time together. He feels that this might be the right time to discuss with his daughter how he feels about Kate, the seriousness of her illness, and why her daughter is really coming out from the East coast.

Bob and Wendi head out on their trip. He tells Wendi that he has fallen in love with Kate and wants to ask her to marry him. Wendi tells her Dad that there is no reason to wait any longer. She tells him to get on the phone right away and ask her to marry him. He does and she accepts. 

Realizing that Bob's rose garden is important to Bob and great therapy for him, and unbeknownst to Bob and Wendi while they are on their trip, Keith and Kate go to Bob’s house and completely upgrade his rose garden adding some of Bob’s favorite varieties of roses. When they return, Bob is blown away by Kate's gesture.

Both families attend Keith’s football game, and Kate's children are told of their mom’s illness the following day. The kids are told and obviously handle the news with a great deal of difficulty. They realize however, that their mom is a no nonsense woman and wouldn’t want everyone moping around.

Kate’s health is slowly deteriorating. One morning after getting up, Bob suggests that they go for lunch to a cute little Italian Restaurant. He suggests she wear a short-sleeved shirt since it might be rather warm. They are both blue jean guys so they jump in their clothes and head out. He tells her they will probably sit outside.

They have an enjoyable lunch together, and after lunch they leave the restaurant. As they are driving, she notices the area they are driving through looks really familiar. There are horse stables everywhere. They pull up in front of a stable around the corner from the equestrian center. Kate wonders what's going on. Bob smiles as he walks around and opens the door for his wife.

He helps Kate out of the car, looks at her and has a big smile on his face. She has a puzzled look on her face. They walk across the street toward the stable. Oh man, horse smell. She loves it. They walk toward the stables as the owner is walking out of his office. He greets Kate and Bob.

 “Well, this must be Kate”, says the owner. “Yes, this is Kate,” Bob replies, and “Kate, this is Rowdy.” Rowdy smiles and says, “Let me get you set up”. Kate wonders what’s going on. They follow the Rowdy around to the corral. He walks behind the barn and returns with a wooden step.

Kate asks Rowdy what the step is for and he tells her this is a step to help her get on her horse. She stares at Bob still not aware of what's going on. However, Kate learns that Bob had stopped by the stables several days ago and had arranged for all of this to happen. She can’t believe it.

Rowdy walks over to a stall in the barn and brings out a paint horse, named Scout.  She and Bob are now waiting next to the hitching post as Rowdy brings Scout over to Kate. Bob puts the wooden step by the horse and very gently helps Kate board the horse. She looks down at Bob. He has a big smile on his face. Kate is blown away!

Bob asks Rowdy if he will take some pictures, and Rowdy obliges. After a moment or two more, Rowdy ambles away allowing Kate, Scout and Bob to be alone together. After a few minutes Bob leads her very gently around inside the corral. He looks up at Kate and notices tears streaming down her cheeks.

She asks Bob if they could go out on the trail and Bob leads her out. Kate is in heaven. Because of her health issues, she hasn’t been on a horse in years. What a thrill! As Bob is leading them on the trail, he comes upon a boulder a foot or two high.

He guides the horse up to the boulder and climbs up so he and Kate are at eye level. He puts his arms around her, looks into her eyes, and tells her how much he loves her. They share an intimate moment together.  This is the most romantic thing she could ever imagine.

Kate now asks Bob if she can have the reins to the horse. With that, Kate gives her horse a swift kick and Kate and Scout take off like they are shot out of a canon. Bob smiles as he watches Kate and Scout haul buns down the trail. Kate is going for it with no regard for her physical well-being.

After a few minutes Kate and Scout return. Kate is acting like a kid. As they return to the stables, neither Kate nor Bob say much. They are simply enjoying their time together. What a blast.

After the ride they head home. She is exhausted but this has been an incredible day for her.  A day neither of them will ever forget.

At her next doctor appointment, Kate and Bob learn the end is quickly approaching. Bob and Wendi have become entrenched in every phase of Kate and her children’s lives.  They have become a “family” in a very short time.  It’s now getting very difficult for Kate, but Bob and the kids are as strong as ever for her. Bob has contacted Kate’s daughter and asked her to return to the West Coast.

The entire family has now returned to the seashore to where it all began for Kate and Bob. It is a beautiful day and late afternoon as the sun is shining through the trees. The family is walking on the beach with their arms around each other. Bob is holding on to Kate who is having a difficult time keeping up. She is barely able to hold on to Lizzie and they begin to lag behind.

In the background, one can barely hear the tune to Kate and Bob’s favorite song. Bob realizes Kate is unable to go any further. As the three of them sit alone in the sand, Bob is holding Kate in his arms with tears running down his cheeks.

The next morning with the sun rising slowly in the East, Bob drives down the hill to the seashore parking lot. He parks his car and slowly gets out of the car. Now holding Lizzie, he walks toward the seashore and looks out toward the ocean. Only this time he and Lizzie are alone.

The End