She blinked her eyes open for several seconds, disoriented. It took her several more seconds to register the bright glare of hospital lights and the muted chatter around her.
She found Caitlin standing a couple of feet away, scowling at her.
“What did I miss?”
“You slept like a baby through the whole surgery. Nearly two hours. I can tell you were really worried about your mom.”
She scrubbed at her face and sat up, stung by Caitlin’s sarcasm. Olivia wanted to remind her that she had just driven twelve hours across two states to get here before Juliet went under the knife but suspected it wouldn’t make any difference to Caitlin.
Nothing she did would be right, as far as her niece was concerned.
She also didn’t bother telling her about the week of sleepless nights she had endured since that attack that seemed a lifetime ago and how the cumulative effect of them must have caught up with her in this warm waiting room filled with low voices and calming music.
“Sorry. You said she’s out of surgery?”
“Yes. They called from the operating room and said she would be going back to the same hospital room where she stayed the night for the rest of her recovery time. They said to wait here and the doctor would be out to talk to us, though.”
Olivia still felt bleary-eyed and out of it. She wasn’t at all competent for any discussion with a medical professional right now. She didn’t have much choice, though. She needed to talk to the doctor and she wasn’t about to reveal any sign of weakness to Caitlin, with her current attitude.
“Okay.” She forced a smile. “Thanks.”
She had barely formed the words when a woman approached them. She looked to be in her forties with close-cropped salt-and-pepper hair and kindly brown eyes. She was tall and appeared elegant, even in scrubs.
“Hi. Caitlin, right? I think we met yesterday.”
“Yes. Hi, Dr. Adeno. How’s my grandmother?”
The woman gave her a reassuring smile but turned to Olivia without answering directly. “Hello. I know I haven’t met you. Are you a family member of Juliet Harper?”
“I’m her daughter. Olivia Harper.”
“All right. Good. I have to check these days, with privacy laws. I’m Dr. Sylvia Adeno. I performed your mom’s orthopedic surgery. Everything went great. As I spoke to your mother about before the surgery, we went ahead and did a total joint replacement because the blood supply to the ball joint was damaged in her fall. In that case, studies have shown that total replacement generally results in fewer complications in the long term. She’s got some fun new hardware.”
Just thinking about it made Olivia’s hips ache in sympathy. Her mother would be miserable.
“How is she? Can we go see her yet?”
“They’ll be taking her to her room shortly and you can join her there. I wanted to speak to you both first about her condition and what her recovery will require.”
“Of course,” Olivia answered. She still didn’t feel quite on her game, but at least she was no longer groggy.
“Juliet has had a very bad fall. She’s lucky to come out of it with only the injuries she had. The concussion is already healing nicely, though she may have lingering side effects for several weeks.”
“We can watch her carefully.”
The doctor paused. “I know your mother. She doesn’t like to sit still for very long, but she’s going to have to be realistic, and it is your job to reinforce that with her. Her recovery is going to take weeks, if not months.”
Not the news Olivia wanted to hear but rather what she suspected, judging by the severity of her mother’s injuries.
“Do you recommend she go to a rehab center during her initial recovery?”
“Can she get around the house in a wheelchair? Into the house and into the bathroom?”
“Some of it. Not all,” Caitlin answered while Olivia was trying to picture her childhood home and envision the possibilities.
“You have to discuss that with her and consider your options, then. If Sea Glass Cottage can be made more accessible, she’ll be able to recover at home.”
“I have a feeling that’s what she would prefer,” Olivia said.
“Of course it is,” Caitlin said. “She would hate having to go to a rehab center. They’re like nursing homes, aren’t they?”
The doctor shrugged. “Not exactly. But close enough that some people see them that way. You don’t have to decide anything about this today. I want to keep her at least a couple of nights for observation. We’ll make sure she has a safe place to go home to before we release her.”
“What about the garden center?” Caitlin asked. “The first thing she’s going to ask when she comes all the way out of anesthesia is when she can go back to work.”
Caitlin apparently knew exactly the way Juliet’s mind worked. Olivia could imagine her mother asking that very question.
“That’s going to be a personal decision. You as her family will need to remind her that work-related stress impedes healing. I would recommend at least three or four weeks away from the garden center and then she can slowly return for light office work only for another month.”
“Two months?” Caitlin exclaimed. “That’s the whole spring! She’ll go crazy!”
“It’s going to be difficult for her, certainly,” Dr. Adeno said. “But if she wants to regain full mobility, she’ll have to face the difficult and deal with it. She might need to find someone else to take over for her, at least for the first few weeks.”
She eyed the two of them. “Perhaps a family member could step up.”
“I can do it,” Caitlin said immediately. “No problem.”
Olivia did her best not to roll her eyes at her fifteen-year-old niece. “You’re still in high school. You can’t miss the last six weeks of school to run Harper Hill Home and Garden.”
“Who else is there? The assistant manager quit a week ago and none of the other employees have been there long enough to know how things work.”
Olivia was aware of the surgeon, watching the conversation with a polite but distracted expression.
“This isn’t really your concern, is it, Dr. Adeno? You’ve done your part in performing the surgery. Thank you for that. It’s up to us now to make sure Juliet gives herself all the time she needs to heal.”
“Excellent. It’s always so much easier for my patients when they have supportive family members. She should be coming out of recovery and heading to her room, if you want to head in that direction. Do you remember where to go?”
“I do,” Caitlin said, looking sour, as usual.
“Thank you,” Olivia said to the surgeon.
“You’re welcome. Juliet is one of my favorite people and has been very kind to me since I moved to Cape Sanctuary. Also, my husband and I love to garden and count on Harper Hill to supply us with everything we need. We need her healthy and strong.”
They all did, Olivia thought as she followed Caitlin along the hallways a few moments later.
The solution was clear. She was going to have to stay, at least through her mother’s initial recovery. Caitlin certainly could not shoulder the burden of running the garden center and going to school at the same time. Knowing Juliet, her mother would hate being sidelined and would probably override any attempts by Caitlin or employees of the garden center to keep her away.
She had already been off since the attack in the coffee shop and would have to call human resources about arranging several more weeks of emergency family leave.
She was already edgy after being in town only a few hours and wasn’t sure she could endure several more weeks.
But her mother needed her help. What choice did she have? She couldn’t abandon Juliet or Caitlin. Olivia might not be able to tackle an armed gunman in a coffee shop. But she could surely manage to put her life on hold for a few
weeks in order to help out in a crisis.
JULIET
She flashed in and out of awareness for what felt like a lifetime.
One moment she was with Steve again and they were walking the cliffs on a summer evening with his old dog on a leash.
Another, she was with Natalie in the delivery room, half of her heart aching for her child and the trials she would face as a single mother and the other half overwhelmed with the miracle of life and this tiny, crying little girl.
Then she was laughing with Olivia over a show they used to enjoy together, watching her younger daughter’s face light up with glee as she understood some sophisticated, clever line of dialogue.
She hurt. Everywhere. She heard a whimper and realized it was coming from her.
“I think she might be coming out of it. She’s been moaning in her sleep. Should she be doing that? Is there something else you could give her?”
That sounded like Caitlin’s voice.
“Yes. We can give her more pain meds.”
She didn’t want to open her eyes to see who was speaking. It would hurt too much if she did.
Then a moment later, the tension and pain seemed to flow out of her like the tide receding, and she breathed out, her muscles relaxing.
It took her a long time to come back to full awareness. She didn’t want to. The drugs were lovely. Why would she ever want to leave this place where she was free of pain and fear, heartache and regret?
Eventually, she knew she had to open her eyes, especially when she heard Caitlin and Olivia arguing.
“I’m staying here, Caitlin. I’ve been on the phone with my company and have already made all the arrangements to take leave. I can handle the garden center during the day and work long-distance in the evening for my employer and my own clients.”
“Why? Don’t you think I’m capable? I’ve been helping out at the garden center for years.”
“It’s not a matter of whether you’re capable,” Olivia began.
Juliet wanted to tell her not to bother. When Caitlin was in one of her stubborn moods, there was no debating her. The best thing was simply to move on to another topic and quietly do what you were planning anyway.
She closed her eyes. When she opened them again, the room was quiet and she felt a little more clearheaded.
Olivia was sitting beside her. So she hadn’t conjured her in a dream, along with the husband and daughter she had lost.
“You’re really here,” she said, her voice croaking and her throat sore.
Olivia jumped up instantly. “Hi. You’re awake. That’s good. How are you feeling?”
“I’ve had better days.” She cleared away the dryness of her throat. Had she swallowed an entire bag of potting soil?
“The nurse said you could have some ice water when you wake up.”
Olivia retrieved a cup from beside the bed and the liquid trickling down her throat was the most delicious thing she’d ever tasted.
“Where’s Caitlin? Did she go home?”
“I made her go grab some dinner in the cafeteria.”
“She’s a good girl.”
“Yes.”
She sipped more water as snippets she had heard while she was out of it filtered through her head. “Did you...? I thought I heard you tell Caitlin you’re...staying.”
“For now. A few weeks, anyway.”
“You don’t need to do that. I don’t...want to be a burden.”
She had dreaded that most of all after her initial diagnosis, that someday Olivia would hate her for this weakness.
“You’re not a burden. I have everything arranged.”
“What’s...arranged?”
“I’m going to stay in town for now so I can take care of you and help out at the garden center until you’re on your feet again.”
“No.”
The word came out sharp, gruff, and Olivia looked taken aback.
“You don’t have a lot of choices here, Mom. Dr. Adeno says you need to take it easy for at least a month.”
A month! That was impossible. “We’ll be fine.”
Olivia rolled her eyes. “Will you? Caitlin said there’s no one to run the garden center right now. She, by the way, wants to drop out of tenth grade to take over.”
“That’s ridiculous. She can’t do that. She’s only fifteen.”
“Exactly what I told her.” Olivia studied her closely and Juliet was horribly aware that a tear might be dripping out of her eye. She pulled the scratchy hospital sheet up to wipe at it until Olivia handed her a tissue off the bedside table.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“It’s the medication, I’m sure.”
She nodded, though she knew it wasn’t the medication. She was feeling sorry for herself. She couldn’t really think straight, but she did know she didn’t want to be in this hospital bed and didn’t want to be dependent for help on a daughter who already seemed to resent her so much.
“You don’t have to stay,” she said again. “We can...figure something out.”
“It’s done. You don’t have to figure anything out.” Olivia’s voice was gentle. “Your job right now is to focus on healing. Those are the orders from Dr. Adeno. She’s quite fierce.”
She closed her eyes as another tear dripped out. She wasn’t even sad, really, just upset and emotional. “You hate the garden center.”
Surprise widened Olivia’s eyes. “What makes you say that? I don’t hate it.”
“You resent it, anyway. Or at least the time I spent there after your father died.”
What a horrible time that had been. Another tear dripped out. She had loved the man with all her heart, had loved their life and their daughters and taking care of all of them.
Then Steve had run into a burning building and hadn’t come out alive, and she had been left with all of it. The garden center, the house, two troubled girls, then Caitlin just a year later.
Their finances had been a mess. She’d only discovered it after Steve’s death. The business had been deeply in debt, the house heavily mortgaged. She was afraid they would lose everything and she and the girls would be on the streets.
She had been wholly unprepared for the challenge of taking over the family business. Steve had run everything and she had been content to let him. They had divided their family responsibilities down traditional lines. He had been provider, protector, while she had been in charge of the home front, stepping in to help run the cash register during busy times of year, yes, and being involved in some garden design projects, but that was all.
She had loved their life. She had loved preparing healthy, nutritious meals for her family, creating a home they had all wanted to return to. She had taken every opportunity to volunteer in her daughters’ classrooms, from home mother to field trip chaperone, even traveling with Natalie’s choir group on a memorable visit to Washington, DC.
She wanted to think she’d been a good mother. At least a loving one.
Then Steve had died and 100 percent of the responsibilities had fallen on her. In the midst of that, just six months after Steve died, Natalie had come to tell her she was pregnant and keeping the baby.
It had taken everything she had to keep her sanity hanging by the tiniest thread. As a result, she had neglected her youngest child horribly.
She told herself it was all right. Olivia had been the strong one, the one whose report card was always perfect and who had friends around her and who seemed to make good choices all the time.
Juliet had failed her, maybe more than she had failed anyone else in her life. The worst part was, she didn’t know how to fix it. Instead of healing the tiny cracks that had formed in their relationship, she had opted to ignore them, hoping they would fix themselves. Instead, they had grown into huge gaping fissures.
“I’m sorry,” she said
now, another tear dripping onto her pillow.
Olivia squeezed her fingers and Juliet wanted to hold on tight and not let go. “You have nothing to be sorry for. It was an accident. You don’t need to worry about this right now. Just do your best to rest. Sleep while you can. Do you need more pain meds?”
“Maybe.”
“I’ll get the nurse.”
“Thank you. I am glad you’re here, Olivia. Thank you for taking care of Caitlin.”
Her granddaughter came into the room just in time to hear that last comment. “I’m fifteen years old. I don’t need a babysitter, Mimi.”
The familiar nickname soothed her. “I know. You’re right.”
The nurse came in and bustled around, checking her IV and taking her vital signs.
“You’re doing great. Everything looks normal,” she said. Then she pushed a syringe full of medicine into the IV line. “This will help take the edge off. Don’t hesitate to call during the night if you need more pain relief. Stay on top of the pain and your body will thank you, trust me.”
Some pain was too big to climb, like trying to scale a steep mountain face alone in a blizzard.
She couldn’t even take the first step right now and decided to sleep instead.
7
OLIVIA
She was so tired. That troubled, restless sleep at the hospital earlier had done nothing, really, to take the edge off her exhaustion.
She wanted to find the nearest flat surface and collapse for a few hours. First, she had to retrieve her dog.
“Why are we stopping here?” Caitlin asked as Olivia pulled up in front of Melody’s house. Her voice had lost none of the attitude, despite the hours they had spent together in Juliet’s hospital room.
If something didn’t change soon, the next month would feel like an eternity.
“I left something here while I was at the hospital and I have to get it,” she said. “I shouldn’t be long.”
Caitlin’s sigh was heavy and put-upon. “Fine.”
“Do you want to come in?”
She thought for sure Caitlin would refuse and was surprised when her niece released her seat belt and opened her door in reply.
The Sea Glass Cottage Page 7