THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTER

by Ginna Gray

  Charles Minze, the male nurse, arrived the next day, much to Lily's relief and Ida Lou's annoyance. There were some initial skirmishes and vying for territory between the two, but Charley was an affable sort and a born diplomat. By the end of the first day he had won grudging acceptance from the older woman with lavish compliments about her cooking. Before day two was over he had completely won her over by asking her advice on all manner of things, particularly those concerning his patient.

  In his late thirties, Charley was a strapping man with bulging muscles and an appetite that outstripped even Maggie's, which went a long way toward softening the housekeeper's resentment. Bald as a cue ball, with fearsome tattoos on each biceps, he looked more like a professional wrestler or a Hell's Angels biker than a nurse, but when dealing with Jacob he was a soft-spoken, gentle giant.

  Having Charley's around-the-clock assistance made life easier for everyone, particularly Lily, and before long the household had adapted to his presence. For the most part, Charley stayed in the background, but when needed he always miraculously appeared. After only a few days it was difficult to imagine how they'd ever gotten along without him.

  During that first week Maggie developed a routine. She spent the daylight hours visiting with her mother and Nan and Ida Lou, ran errands for them and did her best to stay out of her father's way.

  When Jacob retired each evening immediately after dinner, Maggie walked through the orchard to the cannery, staying there until late, poring over the books and scouring the files for answers. She never used her car to drive to the cannery for fear her father would hear and want to know where she was going. Before leaving the office every night she carefully put everything back exactly where she'd found it so as not to arouse Miss Udall's suspicions, as well.

  Just before dawn each morning Maggie rose and went for a three-mile run around and through the orchard, returning home in time to shower and change for breakfast with the rest of the family.

  Jacob continued to have good days and bad days, but he was always at his strongest and most alert in the mornings, more like his old self. He talked fondly with Lily and Jo Beth and engaged in lively banter with his sister. Dan joined them every morning, for breakfast or coffee afterward, and when the conversation turned to business matters Jacob displayed his usual sharpness.

  Listening to the morning discussions, Maggie could almost pretend that her father wasn't sick at all. He spoke to her as little as possible, but there was normalcy in that, as well.

  Thursday morning, one week after her return, Jacob and Nan reminisced over breakfast about how, as kids, they used to swim in Catalpa Creek. Listening to their teasing, Maggie contentedly consumed the stack of waffles on her plate and indulged in the pleasant fantasy that her father was the same vigorous man she had always adored.

  "I'll never forget the time you tossed that piece of rope into the water and yelled 'snake!'" Nan recalled, giving her brother a playful poke. "Nearly gave me a heart attack."

  Jacob chuckled. "Yeah. That's the closest I've ever come to seeing someone walk on water. You were on the bank before the thing sank. And when you saw what it was you chased me all the way home."

  While everyone else laughed Jo Beth pushed her chair back and bounded to her feet. "I gotta go."

  "Hey, what's the rush, short stuff?" Dan said, coming up the terrace steps. "I just got here."

  Lily checked her wristwatch and frowned. "Why are you leaving so early? You have plenty of time. It's over an hour before school starts."

  "Drama Club is holding auditions before school for our first play of the year. I don't want to be late."

  She started to bolt, but Jacob stopped her.

  "Whoa, there. Just a minute. Did you fill out those college applications?"

  Jo Beth rolled her eyes. "Not yet," she replied in that put-upon voice only a teenager can achieve.

  Maggie stared, her fork suspended halfway to her mouth. Since returning home, she'd come to expect surliness from her sister, but she was stunned to hear Jo Beth address their father in that tone, especially given his condition.

  "Young lady, I specifically said I wanted you to mail those applications today. How many times have I told you, in order to get into a good school you have to apply early? As it is, you're running late. You should have taken care of this during the summer."

  The teenager's expression turned mulish. "It doesn't matter if I get accepted or not. I'm not going to college. It would be just a big waste of time. As soon as I graduate next spring I'm going to go to New York and become a professional actress."

  "Jo Beth!" Lily gasped.

  Nan arched an eyebrow and looked with interest from her brother to her youngest niece. Well, well, well. What is this? her expression plainly said.

  Dan picked up the coffee carafe from the table and rose from the chair he'd just taken. "I'll go get Ida Lou to refill this," he said, and headed for the house, diplomatically taking himself out of the family argument.

  Maggie kept her head down and her eyes on her plate. She drew enough flack from her father on her own. She wasn't about to get embroiled in her sister's battles.

  "You'll do no such thing!" Jacob snapped. "That's childish nonsense. You're going to go to college and get a degree in business, then you're going to come back here and learn the cannery business from the ground up so that you can take over someday."

  Maggie's head came up. He was going to give Jo Beth the job she'd always dreamed of having? The job she'd worked so hard for all those years? It wasn't fair.

  "No! I won't do it! I don't know anything about business. I don't want to know anything about business. I don't care about the stupid business."

  "Jo Beth, you mustn't talk like that. You're upsetting your daddy."

  "I'm sorry, Momma. I don't want to upset anyone, most of all you and Daddy, but I won't sacrifice my dream to please you. If you want someone to take over the company, let Maggie do it. She's the brainy one in the family and she loves that stuff. I hate it."

  "Jo Beth—"

  "No. I don't care what you say, I'm going to be an actress. I'm going to be in plays and maybe even movies. What do I need with a stupid college degree?"

  Jacob's fist struck the glass-topped table, rattling china and silverware and nearly toppling several glasses. "That's enough. You can just forget this foolishness. I won't allow it."

  "You won't have any say in the matter. I'm going to be eighteen in a few weeks. Then I can do whatever I want and you can't stop me!"

  With that, she turned on her heel and tore down the terrace steps, leaving a stunned silence behind. Maggie and the others at the table watched her tear across the dewy backyard and disappear into the long, six-car garage. Seconds later her sporty red Mustang shot out through the wide doors and she barreled down the drive without so much as a glance toward the terrace.

  "Well. That was interesting," Nan drawled after a moment.

  Maggie sneaked a peek at Jacob. He looked pale and shaken. So did her mother. "I'll go get Charley," she murmured, and rose from the table.

  "You're the cause of this, you know," her father said before she'd taken a half-dozen steps.

  Maggie stopped in her tracks and turned. "What?"

  "Jacob, really! This is too much," Nan scolded, but he paid her no mind.

  "Jo Beth has always been a sweet, biddable girl. Then you show up and she starts getting these harebrained ideas. Just because you ran off to New York and became a model, she thinks all she has to do is walk into a theater and someone will make her a star."

  Maggie tossed her head back and laughed. "I wondered how you were going to make this my fault."

  As a rule, out of old habit and deference to his illness, Maggie let her father's criticism roll off her. If she bothered to counter at all it was with flippant humor, but this was more than she could swallow.

  "First of all, Daddy, I went to college, remember?" She cupped her hand to the side of her face and widened her eyes in mock surprise. "Oh, wait. Of co
urse you don't. How could you? You didn't attend my college graduation, did you. Just Momma and Aunt Nan came, as I recall."

  Jacob frowned. "There was a cri—"

  "Yes, I know. A crisis at the cannery. Which was miraculously solved by the next day when we got home. But the point is, Daddy, I went to college. And if you'll recall, I didn't 'run off to New York.' You threw me out on my ear.

  "I'll take the heat for my own sins, but don't you dare try to blame me for Jo Beth's. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go find Charley. You look as though you need him."

  She whirled around to leave and pulled up short, startled to find Dan standing just a few feet behind her. She could see by the look in his eyes that he'd heard the whole thing.

  Quivering with hurt and humiliation, she sidestepped around him and hurried inside, for once unable to dredge up so much as a smile.

  Maggie spent the remainder of the morning in her room, at first pacing and raging and calling herself a fool for returning home, but in her heart she knew she was whipping up her anger as a way to fight off tears.

  When she'd calmed down some she passed the time with busywork. After hand-washing her delicates, she gave herself a facial and painted her fingernails and toenails a sassy fire-engine red.

  Then she bit the bullet and spent an hour on the telephone with Val, scheduling a photo shoot in New York.

  Val wanted to set it up for the following week, but Maggie managed to push the session back another two. It was studio work, thank heavens, which was quicker than going on location, but it still meant she would be gone for three days minimum, probably four.

  When she went downstairs for lunch, to her delight, Laurel was seated at the dining room table. Her sister had stopped by every day to visit with Jacob, but if Maggie was there she never stayed long.

  "Hi, sis, good to see you," she greeted, and bent to kiss Laurel's cheek before she could shy away. Ignoring her stiff 'Hello,' Maggie sat down next to her.

  "Where's Daddy?" Laurel asked, glancing at the empty chair at the head of the table.

  "He's not feeling well. He's having lunch in his room with Charley. Today it will be just us girls."

  "Oh. Well, in that case, I, uh … I think I'll just run along," Laurel said. "I have a dozen things to do. I just stopped by to visit with Daddy for a few minutes before I got started."

  "Wait a minute, sis. I have an idea. I have an appointment in Tyler this afternoon with Dr. Sanderson to discuss Daddy's treatment. Why don't you come with me? We can leave now and have lunch at Mario's, just the two of us, the way we used to. Maybe do some shopping afterward."

  "Oh. No … no, I … I couldn't."

  "Nonsense," Nan chimed in. "Martin won't be back until late Saturday night. I'm sure whatever you have to do can wait a day. Anyway, you have to eat lunch somewhere. It'll be good for both of you to spend some time together."

  "Nan's right," Lily agreed. "You're always so busy, Laurel, you've barely spent five minutes alone with your sister since she's been home."

  "Oh, but—"

  "C'mon, sis. It'll be fun, I promise. And look at it this way, it'll give you a chance to talk to Dr. Sanderson about that experimental drug study you want Daddy to join."

  Three hours later Maggie wondered why she had bothered to twist Laurel's arm. During the drive to Tyler her sister had stared out the side window of the Viper, speaking only when Maggie asked a question, and then replying with a curt yes or no, or a silent shrug whenever possible.

  It wasn't like Laurel to hold a grudge. She was the most forgiving person Maggie knew. There had to be something more behind her behavior than just the rift between them. Laurel seemed edgy and distracted, almost frightened.

  Throughout the drive to Tyler, Maggie had tried subtle probing but Laurel had remained mum. Finally she'd given up and used the direct approach.

  "Sis, I know you're still upset over what you think happened, but there's more, isn't there? Something else is bothering you."

  "No!" Laurel denied too quickly, shooting Maggie a horrified look. "No, of course not. You're imagining things."

  "Oh, Laurel, we used to be so close, you and I. We could tell each other anything. Everything. Remember? I miss that. I miss you. Can't we talk this through and maybe get back what we once had?"

  If anything, Laurel looked even more panicked than before. "I told you, there's nothing to talk about. Now, will you please just drop it."

  Lunch hadn't been any better, and Laurel had been equally uncooperative during their brief shopping excursion afterward. Exasperated, Maggie had finally given up and driven to the offices of Drs. Lockhart and Sanderson, even though it meant arriving forty-five minutes early for her appointment.

  For what seemed like the hundredth time, Maggie glanced at her watch, then went back to flipping through the six-month-old magazine. She did her best to ignore the excited glances she was receiving from the receptionists and the other patients waiting to see the doctors. She was in no mood to exchange pleasantries with strangers.

  Maggie glanced at Laurel and ground her teeth. Her sister sat on the other side of the room, as far away from her as she could get, calmly reading a paperback novel she'd pulled from her purse. So much for renewing their sisterly bond.

  The inner door opened and the nurse stack her head out. "Miss Malone, Dr. Sanderson will see you now."

  Neil Sanderson stood up and extended his hand across the top of his desk when Maggie walked into his office. "Miss Malone, how nice to see you again. Won't you—"

  His eyes suddenly lit up. "Laurel! I didn't know you would be here, too. What a nice surprise." Dropping Maggie's hand in midshake, he hurried around the desk and took both of Laurel's in his. "It's so good to see you again. How are you?"

  "I'm fine, Doctor."

  Maggie raised one eyebrow at her sister's shy tone. To her surprise and amusement, a flush followed, flooding Laurel's cheeks.

  "Good, good. And please, I told you to call me Neil. Why don't we sit down over here where it's more comfortable?"

  Bemused, Maggie watched him solicitously lead her sister to the small furniture grouping in the corner of his office and take a seat beside her on the sofa. Maggie followed and sat in a chair across from them, but she had the feeling that Dr. Sanderson had forgotten she was there. He seemed to have eyes only for Laurel.

  Picking up one of Laurel's hands again, he gave it a pat. "Now then, how is your father today?"

  Maggie leaned back in her chair and let Laurel do most of the talking, interrupting only occasionally to add a comment of her own or ask a question. Her sister explained that Jacob wasn't feeling well today, but that generally he seemed to be holding his own. Then she launched into an excited explanation of the experimental drug study that was being conducted in Houston, and her talks with the doctors who were in charge.

  Neil listened attentively without interrupting, but when Laurel was done he grimaced and sighed. "I'm so sorry, Laurel, but in my opinion, and I'm sure Dr. Lockhart would agree, your father isn't a candidate for any kind of study. His cancer is too advanced."

  Laurel's eyes filled with tears. She gazed at him pleadingly, shaking her head. "No. No, there has to be something he can try. There has to be."

  "Oh, Laurel, I'm so sorry. I would give anything if only I could save Jacob for you, but I can't." In an unconscious gesture, he cupped her pale face and wiped a tear from her cheek with the pad of his thumb and gazed at her with such abject tenderness that Maggie's jaw dropped.

  Why … he's smitten with her!

  Maggie stared at the pair, both of whom seemed oblivious to her presence, filled with both delight and despair.

  Neil Sanderson was perfect for her sister, exactly the kind of man Maggie would have chosen for her—kind, gentle, intelligent. Best of all, everything about him—from the lovesick look in his eyes to his warm tone to his body language—revealed that he adored Laurel. And from her sister's girlish blushes, the attraction was mutual.

  The trouble was, Laurel wa
s married to that creep, Martin. And of her sister's many virtues, absolute loyalty headed the list.

  * * *

  Ten

  « ^ »

  That evening, after returning from the visit with Dr. Sanderson, Maggie went to the office as usual. However, no matter how hard she tried to concentrate on the business at hand, every few minutes she'd catch herself staring off into space, her thoughts on her sister and the handsome young doctor.

  She wondered if Laurel knew how Dr. Sanderson felt about her. How could she not? All you had to do was look at him. The man wore his heart on his sleeve.

  Maggie sighed and tapped the pencil eraser against her chin. But then again, knowing how naive Laurel was, she probably didn't have a clue.

  The hopelessness of the situation made Maggie sick at heart. They were so perfect for each other. If only Martin weren't in the picture.

  Maggie sighed. But Martin was very much in the picture, and as much as she detested him, she couldn't interfere in her sister's marriage. Anyway, even if she tried, it probably wouldn't matter. Laurel was committed to making her marriage work at all costs.

  With a little huff of annoyance, Maggie tossed the pencil on the desk and stood up. It was pointless to try to work anymore, since she couldn't seem to concentrate on anything but her sister's star-crossed love life.

  She quickly tidied up the desk and returned the files to their proper places, then left the building and locked up behind her.

  Leaving behind the security lights around the cannery buildings, she pulled her small flashlight from the pocket of her skirt and turned it on as she entered the darkness of the orchard. A hundred yards into the trees, Maggie cursed herself for forgetting to change the batteries. The small pool of light was so weak she could barely see. A few yards farther along the flashlight began to flicker and after a moment went out altogether.

  Maggie cursed and stopped to get her bearings and let her eyes adjust to the darkness, then struck out again in the direction of home.

  Though she knew it like the back of her hand, there was something spooky about the orchard at that hour. Maggie knew if she walked between the same two rows of trees she would come out at the back garden gate, but it was difficult to stay in the middle when you couldn't see two feet ahead of you, and low hanging branches kept snagging her hair and slapping at her face.