Carolina Grace (Southern Breeze Series Book 3)

by Regina Rudd Merrick

  “Not for a few days anyway. Is there anything I can do for you?”

  The older man narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “No, but if you have time to stop by, I wouldn’t mind a visit. I have a son . . .” He looked down, breaking eye contact, swiping at his nose then waving his hand in dismissal. “I have a son, a little older than you. He’s in prison.” He winced as if it pained him to say it. “I didn’t raise him right, but I pray that by the time he gets out, he’ll be a better man than I was at that age.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.” Rance squinted, trying not to show any emotion.”

  Clifton shrugged. “That’s life. God’s in control if we let Him. It took me too long to let Him, I guess.”

  “I always figure we make our own way.”

  Clifton chuckled. “I used to think that way. I guess getting old and sick makes you rethink a lot of things.” The faraway look in his eyes made Rance wonder.

  “You know that old Elvis song, ‘My Way?’ Well, it’s wrong. I spent a lot of time full of pride, thinking I could do everything my way, like my daddy did. It didn’t work out, and I’m glad it didn’t.”

  He left his father’s hospital room as soon as he could, overwhelmed. This man didn’t fit the description his mother gave him. What had she said? She’d “had enough.”

  Unacceptable. There had to be more to the story.

  Doctor Hobgood strolled toward him. “I see you met Mr. Watson. What did you think?”

  This man didn’t want to know what he was thinking, because it had nothing to do with his medical status and everything to do with recent information.

  Rance cleared his throat and nodded. “His numbers were somewhat better today but not great. Dialysis is helping, but not fast enough.”

  The older man took the chart from him. “I agree. I’ve tried to get him higher on the transplant list. So far, nothing. Goes to show that status can’t buy you everything.”

  “What can you tell me about him?”

  “One of the founding families of Georgetown County, owned a cotton plantation, then the mill, then went to paper. I daresay the Civil War was a blip on their economic family tree.”

  “Have you known him long?”

  “Most of my life. We went to school together here in Georgetown. I went into the military, so I was away for a while. While he was enjoying college life, I was serving in Vietnam. The GI bill paid for my degree when I got out. Always a great guy to be around. His old man was something else.”

  “Any idea what caused his problems?”

  “Undiagnosed high blood pressure, alcohol, and cigarettes. Plain and simple. He tried too hard, for too long, to be like his daddy, and it almost killed him.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Lucy and Tom were on their first date since the birth of the twins, and Charly thought they would never leave. They had celebrated the twins’ due date the day before. She had been waiting a month for a chance to have the twins and Hayes to herself, and she didn’t want to miss one minute of their time together. She was in the home where she grew up, pretending, for a little while, that it was her home and her babies. Who knew when it would happen for her?

  She was cleaning up the leftover mac and cheese from Hayes’s plate when she heard a little voice begin to cry out in distress. She looked at the clock. It was suppertime. Evan. She was hoping that she would only have to feed them one at a time, so getting one up without waking the other was foremost on her mind when her phone buzzed with a text.

  Is this a good time?

  A smile tipped her lips as she read Rance’s text. As much as she wanted to talk to him, hungry babies wait for no man.

  “Hayes?”

  “Yes, ma’am?”

  She had to smile at the preschool gentleman. “I’m going up to feed one of the babies, and I wanted to let you know where I would be.”

  He sighed. It was the story of his life, these days, she was sure.

  “Okay. Can I watch TV?”

  She nodded then picked up the remote and helped him find a show. “Here you go. I’ll be upstairs if you need me.”

  “Thanks, Aunt Charly.”

  “Welcome, sweetie.”

  She tapped a quick reply.

  Babysitting, hungry infants, bored Hayes. Call me in an hour?

  She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. He might be busy in an hour. She sighed as she watched her phone even as she walked up the stairs to the master bedroom where two bassinets held their precious cargo. Another buzz.

  Sure. If I’m asleep and it’s later, I didn’t forget. Soon.

  She sent him a “thumbs up” emoji.

  Residencies were hard. She knew that. A hospital resident’s time was not his own, and Rance seemed to be one who was determined to get as much out of his experience as possible.

  He called. Okay, texted, the modern equivalent. He communicated, and that was enough to put a smile on her face.

  She tiptoed into the bedroom. It was Evan. Always the hungry little man. She picked him up, glad she had brought two bottles up with her, because he wasn’t going to wait for anything, and about halfway through his bottle, his sister MariAnne started squirming.

  “Your sister is not as loud as you, young man. What do you think about that?”

  No answer, only a steady gaze into her eyes as he pulled on the bottle as hard as possible. Concentration.

  “I have a feeling you’ll be as big as your daddy at this rate.” She chuckled as he drained the last drop from the bottle and looked up at her in utter contentment. “Pretty good stuff, huh?”

  Before she could get him on her shoulder for a burp, he set forth a belch that would make a grown man smile.

  She laughed and kissed his forehead. “Well, Mr. Evan, I guess you enjoyed that one, didn’t you?” She laid him in the bassinet and turned on his mobile before picking up his sister.

  “Hello, Miss MariAnne. I suppose you want your supper too?” The steady blue eyes followed her every move. As soon as she was picked up, she seemed to relax into her arms. No rush, just contentment. “You’re getting used to waiting for brother, aren’t you?” The infant latched onto the bottle and proceeded to slowly and methodically drain it.

  Twins. What would it be like? She observed the seamless way Lucy and Tom worked together. How would it be to have a mate who was so in sync with you that you didn’t have to verbalize what was needed?

  Her brother was a blessed man. Lucy was a blessed woman, even if she did have to be married to her brother. Smiling down at the drowsy MariAnne, looking over at the kicking and cooing Evan, she wondered what the future held.

  Into her peaceful mental meanderings came the sound of footsteps up the stairs. “Hey, Aunt Charly, can the babies watch TV with me?”

  He leaned across her knees to kiss his sister and then went to hang over the side of the bassinet to get his brother’s attention. Both babies knew him already and stilled when they saw him. Was she like that with Tom? Probably. She had always, even now, thought he hung the moon.

  She grinned at Hayes. “What do you think they’d like to watch?”

  He pondered a moment, chin in hand, back on her knees. “MariAnne would prob’ly like a princess movie, but I think Evan would like to watch Cars. What do you think?”

  “You know, princesses like Cars too.”

  “Really?”

  “Do you know who helped your daddy fix your granddad’s old car?”

  “Who?” He was curious.

  “Your mama.”

  “Mama fixes cars?”

  “She does.” She tucked MariAnne into one elbow and scooped Evan up in the other. “Your mama can do anything.”

  “Anything Dad can do?”

  “Almost. But she can’t arrest bad guys.”

  “Oh. That’s pretty ’portant, isn’t it? I’ll bet she could if she had a badge like Dad’s.”

  “I’m sure she could. Now, let’s see if we can get these two angels in their bouncy seats and get that movie going.�
��

  He scrunched up his face. “They’re not angels, they’re babies.”

  “’Til they start getting into your stuff, they’ll be a little bit of both.”

  That made him laugh as he skipped down the stairs. He had no idea.

  This is how a beautiful girl spends her Friday night. Babysitting twins and a four-year-old. Rance grinned as he looked at her text. He imagined she was enjoying every minute. What would that be like? Having no nieces and nephews—that he knew of anyway—he hadn’t spent much time with small children. The obstetrics and pediatrics modules of his residency had been an eye-opener and made him realize that he liked kids.

  Who knew?

  He set the timer on his phone to go off in an hour. He wanted to talk to her. He hadn’t seen her in a week and hadn’t had time to call or text. His résumé wasn’t going to build itself, so he had worked on it diligently in what little spare time he had.

  What was next? He had thought he had his future set. Finish medical school, find a killer location for his first assignment, then settle down and get married, move to a beach house on the coast near Charleston. Work hard, play hard, and then . . .

  What was it that Clifton Watson had said? That God was in control? Since when? Ashton Butler taught him that a man makes his own way. His natural father had followed this rule at one time as well.

  It made sense.

  He closed his eyes for what seemed like five minutes when he heard his phone’s timer go off. It had been an hour.

  He scrolled through his recent calls and touched Charly’s name to call her.

  After a couple of rings, he first heard what he figured was a movie in the background, a shuffle, and then a breathless “Hi!”

  “Everything okay?” He laughed as she chuckled.

  “We’re having a great time. Hayes is convinced that Evan is loving the movie Cars and that we should watch a princess movie next for MariAnne. I hate to burst his bubble, but the only reason they’re awake is that he keeps jumping in front of them.”

  “It didn’t take long for them to catch on to the fact that they’re loved by their brother, did it?” Rance was glad Charly couldn’t see the sad smile on his face.

  “Don’t tell Tom, but he’s an amazing brother. Jared, too, even though he’s not my brother.”

  “They’re pretty close, aren’t they?”

  “Um-hmm. They met in high school and have been best friends ever since. I tagged along with them every chance I had. What about you? I figure you have a group of buddies you ‘hang’ with?”

  “Yeah, although we’ve scattered quite a bit since college.”

  “Internship is rough, isn’t it?”

  “Sometimes. Once in a while we get together and go waterskiing or parasailing. Stuff like that.”

  “Guys stay busy. We girls? We go shopping or get our nails done.” Her laugh tinkled over his phone. “And I don’t know if I could go parasailing or not. Heights and I do not get along. My head goes all wonky.”

  “Once you’ve experienced it, you love it. So, I guess we won’t be going bungee-jumping any time soon? Or skydiving?”

  “Uh, no. I can get on a plane, however as much as I love it as a time-saving device, I white-knuckle the whole ride.”

  “Noted. Speaking of going, I was wondering if you’d like to go out again. I had a great time last weekend.” He heard a muffled laugh from Hayes and found himself smiling.

  “I did too, and I’d like that.” Did he imagine it, or could he hear a smile in her voice?

  “The Dave Matthews Band is having a concert next weekend, in Charleston, and I happen to have tickets for the Saturday night concert. Interested?”

  “Am I? Love them!”

  “I was afraid they would be too old school for you.”

  “Remember, my brother is twelve––get that––twelve years older than me, so I grew up listening to his music, not mine.” Her laugh was a tonic.

  “Great. Then concert it is. Are you busy tomorrow?”

  “Not anything firm. Lydia and I plan to go with Jared to look at a few rentals that Crawford and Benton have available.”

  “Sounds as if you’re getting ready to spread your wings.”

  His chuckle made Charly smile. “Yes, I think it’s time. Would you believe it was Mom’s idea?”

  “That’s awesome. I had a feeling she was a pretty amazing mom from meeting her.”

  “She is. She’s been through a lot and always comes out of it in style. I’ll bet you have a great mom too.”

  He paused, which made her wonder.

  “Of course. She’s gone through a lot too.”

  An unexpected silence on the other end of the line made her wonder if he was still there. “Rance?”

  “Sorry, the signal blanked out for a minute.”

  She didn’t think it did, but she would go with it. “I thought the call had been dropped or something.” Or something.

  “Anyway, you want to meet for lunch tomorrow? Maybe go to the beach?”

  “That sounds nice. We could go out to Pilot Oaks. They have a private beach, and they’ve built a little beach cabana down there with a bathroom and changing rooms.”

  “I’ve never been there. I’ve heard it’s nice. Isn’t it a bed and breakfast?”

  “Kind of. Sarah’s parents run it. They try to have it available for ministers and missionaries who need a time of retreat or a home on furlough. It’s a great ministry and such a beautiful place. It’s also a venue for weddings. Sarah and Jared had their reception there.”

  “Tell you what, how about I bring a picnic lunch, and text me when you think you’ll be there, and I’ll meet you?”

  “I like the way you think.” She chuckled into the phone, more excited for the picnic than the concert.

  “It’s a date then.”

  “I’ll be waiting for you.”

  The conversation ended, and Charly put her phone on the table next to her chair.

  “Was that your boyfriend?” Hayes, once again leaning over her knees, dangling his feet, stared into her eyes. Could he look any more like her brother Tom?

  She felt the heat infuse her face. Who needs a mirror when a thermometer would tell you when you’re blushing furiously?

  “It was Rance, and he is my friend.”

  “Is he a boy?” This kid was serious.

  “Yes, he’s a boy.”

  “Then I guess that would make him your boyfriend.”

  What do you say to that kind of logic? At four, Hayes Livingston was a very astute individual when he stopped long enough to think things out. This time, he had.

  After hanging up with Charly, Rance was wide awake. No going to sleep now. He had a few choices. Call up a buddy and see what’s happening around town, night-life-wise, go to the gym and work out, or work on his résumé. Relaxation was out of the question with that hanging over him, so résumé won out. And for that, he might as well go to the hospital and use the free Wi-Fi and network resources he couldn’t get here at the apartment.

  He looked around his surroundings. The hospital was more of a home to him now than the apartment. He hadn’t spent any time here except to sleep and eat take-out. His mom had never been here. She always made an excuse when he mentioned her coming up to see him.

  He guessed now he knew why. She was afraid of running into Clifton or J. H. Or Sam. At that, he got up, grabbed his laptop, and slammed out the door. He was angry, and he didn’t have time for it.

  When he got to the hospital, the large sweet tea from McDonald’s had slaked both his thirst and his anger, and he felt better. As he exited the elevator on the fourth floor, something made him turn left instead of right. He found himself outside of Clifton Watson’s room and after a pause, went in.

  When the older man looked his way, a smile lit his face. “A little late for a visit, isn’t it?” His gravelly voice made Rance smile and then dim when he wondered what he would think if he knew that he was his son. “What, no scrubs? You must be off-dut
y.”

  “I am. How are you, Mr. Watson?” He shook the man’s hand and stood at the foot of the bed.

  “Better than I deserve. Hobgood said that I went up a little higher on the list today.” He paused and had a faraway look in his eyes. “I was glad but in a way hated to hear it. That means someone either died that was ahead of me or died to donate a kidney. A mixed blessing, for sure.”

  “I understand.” He tilted his head. “Or maybe someone on the list received a living donation.”

  The half-smile on Clifton’s face grew as he nodded. “I’ll take that thought any day.”

  “I’d better get to work.”

  “I thought you were here because you couldn’t stay away.” He chuckled. “I know you’re a busy man. What are you working on?”

  “Résumé. I finish up here in about a month, and I’m already looking at placements after my residency.”

  “Got family close by?”

  Rance looked down and shook his head, smiling. “I do, sir.”

  “Don’t neglect them. It’s not worth it. If there’s anything I’d do different, it would be to treasure my family.” He shook his head. “Two ex-wives and a son in prison, and I have to take responsibility for that.”

  “I’m sure there’s more than one side to every story. Right now, I’m keeping my options open.”

  “No girlfriend?” Clifton narrowed his eyes at him.

  Rance coughed in surprise. Was the guy psychic? “Not official.”

  “I had a feeling. Don’t keep your options too open if you like her.”

  “Yes, sir. I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “Now, see you do. Get on out of here. You’ve got better things to do than entertain a sick old man.” He waved him out the door, grinning.

  “Have a good night, sir.”

  “Thanks, son.”

  Rance got out the door before he realized he called him “son.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Spring, when a young woman’s fancy turns to thoughts of… weddings. But the planning and hard work comes long before that. Months before for most of her weddings.