by Robyn Carr
“Jake!” she cried, rushing to the gurney. “Jake!”
“Please stand back, ma’am,” a firefighter said. “Are you family?”
“No,” she said. “I mean yes, yes. I’m his best friend! What happened?”
Lee interceded, grasping her elbow to keep her from clambering into the ambulance just behind the gurney.
“Hang on, Addie,” Lee said. “Let them get him to the hospital.”
“What happened?”
“A whole wall of boxes crashed down on him. I don’t know how. Nothing like that has ever happened before. Knocked him out cold,” Lee said. “I wonder if he had a heart attack or something and ran the forklift right into the boxes? They were mostly canned goods. His head is bleeding. You can’t go with him. I’ll give you a ride after I pick up Beverly if you want—”
Addie took off at a dead run back to her house, back home where she could grab her car. Without a thought of anyone else, she rushed to get to Jake. She paused in her panic only for a second to remind herself that Lee would make sure Beverly got to the hospital. But at the moment all she could think about was making sure Jake knew she was there, knew she loved him, knew that the greatest loss of her life would be if she lost him.
How could I have wondered for a second? she thought miserably.
* * *
By the time she got to Sutter Hospital, he had been seen by a doctor and was having tests—a head CT, an EKG, a few other things, and they were considering sending him to UCSF.
“For surgery?” she asked the nurse. “Heart surgery?”
“Are you aware of some heart condition we should know about?” the nurse asked.
“No, only that his father died of a heart attack, and he wasn’t very old. Did you ask him about that?”
“He’s talking to the nurses and they’ll get a medical history. I’m afraid that’s all I can tell you,” the admissions nurse said. “He hasn’t named you as a family member.”
“Is he conscious?” she asked.
“He was fully conscious when he came in and was talking.”
“Can I see him? For just a second?”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry. This isn’t a good time for visitors. I’ll check with the doctor, but I’m sure the answer will be no. At least until they can figure out his injuries.”
“Please check, will you? And if I can’t see him, can you give him a message from me, from Addie?”
“I can try, but understand, he’s been medicated and they don’t want to get him excited.”
“Just tell him Addie is here and that I love him. That’s all. But that’s important, okay?”
“I’ll see what I can do. You can sit in this waiting room.”
“His mother,” Addie said. “Someone is bringing his mother...”
“Yes, there was a call. She’s on her way. This would be the best place to wait for her.”
“I’ll wait.”
It seemed a long wait, with Addie looking at her watch constantly. Every five minutes it seemed like twenty had passed. Then Beverly rushed into the ER and Addie embraced her. “Is he all right?” Beverly asked.
“I haven’t been able to see him. They’re running tests of some kind. On his head, I think.”
“Lee said heavy boxes fell on him and the forklift tilted onto its side. Let me see what the nurse will tell me.”
But aside from saying Jake seemed to be doing fine, the nurse didn’t have anything to report. Finally, after a half hour, Beverly was allowed to see her son. When she came out, she was smiling. “He has a big bandage on his noggin, and he said while he waits for test results, he’d like to see you. If you’re still here, he said.” And then her smile broadened.
“As if I’d leave,” Addie said, walking into the patient area. She found his name on the white board outside the drawn curtains and rather sheepishly peeked inside. He sat up in bed, blood splattered on his shirt and a big white bandage wrapped around his head. “Aw, Jake. God.”
“I know. Pretty dramatic, right? I have to stay the night. To make sure I don’t walk in my sleep.”
“Really?”
He laughed. “No, not really. To be sure I’m not brain damaged, probably.”
“Jake, what the heck happened?”
“I tried to move too many boxes and hit the gas instead of the brake, a few boxes fell forward and I upended the forklift. Kaboom. I was never very coordinated.” He smiled a lopsided smile. “Just to be sure I’m not delirious, the nurse said some pretty girl loves me.”
“And you assume it was me?”
“I assumed it was Jeannie, but I’m giving you a chance here. I could die before morning.”
She put a hand on his cheek. “I’ve always loved you, Jake. I was worried about the right kind of love. Then you crashed into the canned goods, and all at once I realized there are lots of kinds of love. And I feel them all. I’ve wasted so much time overthinking things! I don’t want to ever be without you. Not ever.”
“Then that’s how you will have it. You’re my girl. From now on.”
“Wow, that was easy.”
“It won’t always be easy,” he said. “Now we have to live up to it. I’m looking forward to that.”
“Jake, do you think if I promised to sit up all night, watching you, the doctor would let me take you home?”
“It’s worth a try,” he said, beaming.
* * *
Justine wasn’t expecting anyone when the doorbell rang the Saturday before Christmas. In fact, she was just about to hop in the shower—she’d been cleaning, organizing and cooking all day and looked a mess. The girls were off doing some last-minute Christmas shopping, and she used the time to straighten up the house and make a lasagna for dinner. Livvie had invited her boyfriend, Jared, and often when Jared came over he would bring a pal along, maybe for Amber to look over.
When she opened the door Scott stood there, his arms laden with gifts. “Scott,” she said, absently smoothing her hair. “This is unexpected.”
“I hope you don’t mind,” he said. “I’ll just leave these and go. Unless...”
She waited for him to finish. “Unless?”
“Do you have a minute?”
“Sure. Let me take these.” She took the packages, six of them, and put them under the tree.
“The girls aren’t here?” he asked. He stepped just inside the door.
“Shopping. They’ll be home before long but really, Scott. You can’t get in the habit of dropping in.”
“What about Addie?”
“She’s been looking after Jake full-time, though I don’t think he needs much looking after anymore. He hurt his head at work.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Scott said. “I just wanted you to know—Cat is gone. She’s not coming back.”
“Left the sinking ship, did she?” Justine said before she could stop herself.
“Not quite,” he said. “Though she did get away with a bundle. I told her it was over and that the next time she came around, I’d have to call the police. I believe she already has a record of some kind. She must. She left willingly, and she knows I’m not completely flat broke yet. She was working on me to go after you in court to try to get more money.”
“She’d have been disappointed. The courts would never side with you. Our settlement was by the book.”
“I made a mistake,” he said. “I admit it. She didn’t turn out to be the woman I thought she was.”
Justine looked at that thin scar at his hairline. “I’m sure that must have come as a surprise.”
“I’m sorry, Justine. You’ll never know how sorry. If you ever want to give me any kind of chance...”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I couldn’t possibly take the chance that you’d hurt me like that again. You really don’t know how deeply hurt I was.�
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“You seem to have recovered,” he said.
“That’s what you wanted,” she said. “After only two months, before we were officially divorced, you said you thought I’d be over it by then.” She sighed. “That was the biggest shock. I was surprised by the lying and the cheating, but that happens to a lot of people. It’s a surprise, but not a cold, heart-stopping shock. It was your cruelty.” She shook her head. “The man I married was imperfect, as I am, but you were never cruel. You walked away from me as if it was your right. As if it didn’t matter what happened to the rest of us as long as you were happy. And you weren’t kind.”
“I’m sorry. I guess I’m too late. That Logan guy...”
“Logan is a very special man, but the reason I won’t consider taking you back is you, Scott. Your selfishness and meanness. And you found yourself a woman twice as selfish and cruel.”
He nodded. “Well, you’re strong. You’ve always been strong.”
“I am strong. I’m glad I’m strong. But my strength doesn’t mean you or anyone has the right to treat me with such terrible, heartless malice. Let’s call it done.”
“Well, I had hoped we’d at least be friends...”
She laughed. “Do you even know what a friend is? A friend is someone you can depend on, someone who has your back, someone you share your confidences with, your fears and dreams. A friend is there for you and doesn’t betray you. A friend stays in balance with the give-and-take of life, doesn’t just take and then take more and then more.”
“You have absolutely no love for me, is that it? After all those years and two beautiful kids.”
“It’s not the kind of love that would allow me to be a fool, Scott.”
He was quiet for a long moment. “What are your plans for Christmas?” he asked.
“A quiet Christmas for us. Jake and Addie will be cooking for Christmas Eve. Christmas will be a quiet day with the girls. And you?”
“I suppose I’ll check in with the folks...”
“You should do that,” she said. “And thank you for bringing the girls gifts.”
“There’s one for you, too,” he said.
“I wish you hadn’t. I’ll give it back to you unopened. I hope you and the girls can work out a relationship, but you and I?” She shook her head. “We are now something that might have been and didn’t make it.”
* * *
Christmas morning began what Justine had come to think of as a new normal. She put on a comfortable, fleecy sweat suit and got about the business of making brunch. Addie had stayed the night at Jake’s, something that Justine imagined would become routine, but they were planning to come over for brunch and gifts. The bacon had been cooked, the sausage was frying on the stove, potatoes were ready to go, a large fruit salad was prepared and in the refrigerator. The coffee was brewed, and while Justine had a cup, she tried not to think of all the lovely Christmases they’d had as a family, nostalgic holidays that seemed more perfect in retrospect than they probably were.
Amber was the first to wander into the living room where the fire blazed in the old fireplace. Next came Livvie, who walked into her mother’s arms.
And then there was a knock at the front door. “Why would Addie knock at her own front door?” Justine mused, heading that way.
“It might be Daddy,” Livvie said. “I invited him.”
“Oh Livvie, you should have checked with me!”
“It’ll be all right, Mom. He brought our presents yesterday. We have presents for him. I told him not to stay too long, and I told him no girlfriends were invited. I think there are things we should be openminded about. If he acts like a fool, he won’t be invited back.”
“Still...”
“You don’t want us to go to his house, do you? Let’s take one for the team. He’s pathetic right now.”
“Did he call you and ask?”
“No. I did it. I checked with Amber and she’s okay. We were pretty mean to him all last summer. I just want him to know we can still be a family, if a weird and broken family, but everyone has to play by the rules. Rule number one—respect the boundaries of the others. That means no mistress at our Christmas brunch. He said that wouldn’t be an issue.”
He knocked again. Justine looked skeptical. “As I’ve been told, she is no longer in the picture. But I told him no stopping by on a whim. This isn’t his house and we’re not a couple.”
“Fair enough,” Livvie said.
Justine thought, I can do this. And she smiled at her daughters, thinking, We somehow raised two very bright, intuitive girls.
EPILOGUE
One Year Later
Adele and Justine went for a long walk on the beach at dawn on Christmas morning before the events of the day would begin. These early-morning walks had become a cherished part of their daily routine over the past year.
Addie was deep into her master’s program and still working, but she was learning about transition following a divorce and making adjustments, entering a new relationship in her own family. She had moved in with Jake this past spring, and she was loving it 90 percent of the time. There was that 10 percent when one of them was grumpy or needed space or when they disagreed on things, both major and minor. But they both agreed they were in for the long haul, and they were planning a June wedding.
Justine completed the remodel of the old house, and it came as no surprise that it was stunning. For a while Addie was filled with envy; it had seemed like an old hovel while she lived there. But Jake’s house was beautiful, as well, so it didn’t trouble her for long. Amber was attending Berkeley, so Addie saw her fairly often, and Livvie had switched over to the high school in Half Moon Bay for her senior year. That’s where her friends were now.
Justine was happier than Addie had ever seen her. She realized with some surprise that Justine wasn’t naturally tense, wired for sound. It might have been the corporate career; it might have been the marriage; it might have been both. But now she was relaxed, self-confident and content. Her humor was sharp and her laugh was frequent. She was still seeing Logan, and they seemed to have a solid, romantic relationship, yet Justine held fiercely to her independence.
Scott had some trouble letting go of the girlfriend for the first few months of the new year but finally appeared to have broken free for good. He was stuck with a money-losing kayak shack but was in the process of turning it into a bar with a modest food service. He’d spent the fall enlarging the shack, laid a patio, got his food service licenses and would be ready to go by spring. It would serve as a good place to relax and watch a Pacific sunset, watch the whales when they were migrating, and he could provide picnic box lunches for people on their way to the beach. He kept a few kayaks, but he added rollerblades, bicycles, windsurfers and a few other beach accoutrements.
Of course, he had a girlfriend, but this one seemed sane and did not have a record. Neither did any mysterious bruises pop up unexpectedly. He did not drop in on Justine and the girls without permission.
So on this Christmas morning, one year and nine months since Addie saw Scott kissing Cat, they were coexisting without much trouble. Scott was invited to the Christmas morning unwrapping and brunch, but Logan was coming over Christmas evening. Amber’s and Olivia’s boyfriends were also dropping by. Addie and Jake were in and out through the holidays; there were too many desserts and board games ready to be played.
Addie was truly in love. There was no longer any question of whether it was the right kind of love. She’d taken a healthy look around and realized Jake was the man for her. Always had been. Had she not been a brokenhearted grieving mother or an overworked caregiver, their romance might have happened earlier. But the fact that they’d always maintained their closeness through all of those trials only made their love stronger and more steadfast. Practically every woman in town wanted to trade places with Addie.
As they watched the sun ris
e through the fog, they discussed how different but so much better their lives were. The new normal was working out, it seemed, for everyone involved.
“I agree,” Justine told Addie. “I never would have believed we would all be doing so well after everything that happened. But it would be better if Scott suffered a little more,” she said with a grin.
“True,” Addie said, “but maybe we should actually thank him. His bad choices forced us to make good ones.”
“I’ll never thank him for being such an idiot,” Justine said. “But I am happier than I’ve been for a long time, and they do say living well is the best revenge.”
“Here’s to living well!” Addie said as they both laughed.
* * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from The Country Guesthouse by Robyn Carr.
The Country Guesthouse
by Robyn Carr
1
Owen and his Great Dane, Romeo, walked around the lake and up the road to Sully’s store. Sully was sitting on the porch with his son-in-law, Cal Jones. His little granddaughter was sitting on the porch steps. The moment three-year-old Elizabeth saw them, she clapped her hands and yelled, “Womeo!” The Great Dane paused, turned his big head to look up at Owen. “Okay,” Owen said. Romeo took off at a gallop, looking like a pony, loping across the yard to his welcome party. Sully’s yellow Lab, Beau, met Romeo at the porch steps and the two dogs treated themselves to a trot around the yard.
Owen leaned his walking stick against the porch, doffed his backpack and ruffled Elizabeth’s hair as he took the steps.
“Hey, neighbor,” Sully said. “How’s the shootin’ today?”
“I only see the good stuff if I leave the camera at home,” Owen said. He shook Sully’s hand, then Cal’s. “Looks like the campground’s filling up.”
“It’s always spring break somewhere,” Sully said. “At least I get the outdoorsy types instead of the drink-till-you-puke types.”
Owen laughed. “Good planning, Sully. Is it too early for a beer?” he asked, looking at Cal’s beer.