by Emma Woods
“Wow,” I said. “Um, I guess I’ll need to wait and see if it lets up.”
Matt pulled me back and shut the front door. He shook his head, “There’s no way you’re getting home tonight, Corinne. The weather reports said we were in for at least ten inches of snow. This won’t let up for hours.”
My heart began to pound. I was stuck here? What was Gus going to do? He’d never been alone overnight! If he’d eaten supper at Rosa’s and stayed there long enough, she would have kept him there rather than let him walk to Gate House. But if he’d left before the snow hit, he’d be on his own. What if the power went out? What if he tried to get up to Bumblebee House and got lost in the snow?
I was starting to have trouble breathing. I looked up at Matt with wild eyes, panic starting to set in.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, instantly concerned.
“Gus!” was all I could gasp out.
Matt drew me over to a chair and had me sit. He brought a glass of water and then rubbed my back, saying calming things while I tried to catch my breath.
“It’s going to be okay. Gus can handle being home for a night. Even if he’s scared, he’ll be fine. No one is going to hurt him in this weather.”
Finally, my hands stopped shaking and I was able to get out my phone. If I could just get ahold of him, or even Rosa, I’d feel better. But there was no signal. The snowstorm had cut off our communication.
“I don’t have a signal,” I moaned.
Matt went for his and reported the same thing. He returned to the couch and watched me carefully.
“I know you’re worried about Gus, but you don’t have to worry about yourself. You’re welcome to stay here tonight. I’ll change the sheets and you can sleep in my bed. I even have a spare toothbrush still in its packaging. As soon as the roads are clear, you can head home tomorrow morning.”
“Thanks, but I’ll sleep on the couch. Don’t argue. You’re much too tall to be comfortable here. I’ll be fine.” I took another deep breath. “I’m sorry I panicked.”
Matt leaned back and waved that away. “Don’t even worry about it. If I thought Rosemarie was in trouble, I’d probably be in the same condition. There’s just something about younger siblings, isn’t there? You never stop feeling responsible for them.”
I relaxed into my own chair and managed a tired smile. “No kidding. It doesn’t help that I’ve spent my whole life caring for Gus. When we were kids, there were a lot of questions about whether or not he’d learn to talk or read or do basic math. I worked with him every day after school, all through kindergarten, so that he could stand up on the stage with the other kids on the last day and sing the alphabet song.”
Matt grinned. “You’re so good to him.”
“I hope so. I hope I don’t get to the end of my life and realize I should have done something or other.” I reached for a blanket and pulled it around myself. “He’s mentioned wanting to live on his own, you know. I think it’s because you’re his new hero and he wants to be just like you. Heaven knows what I’ll do if he starts growing a beard or wants a tattoo.”
He laughed at that. “I think Gus is pretty great, too. Do you think he’d ever be able to live alone?”
I scrutinized him. Why was Matt asking? Was he curious, or was he thinking of a future with me that didn’t include Gus? I didn’t want to jump to conclusions, so I carefully said, “I think he might be able to, one day. He has a lot to learn about how to take care of himself. He’s started doing his own laundry and helping me with cooking and cleaning. Still, since he can’t drive, he can’t get to a grocery store on his own. And Birch Springs doesn’t have a bus system.”
“Gus is so good at the store. Once he knows how to do something, he does it really well. I bet he’ll be able to live alone sooner than you think,” Matt said hopefully.
I nodded carefully. Matt seemed excited by the thought, and that made me nervous. I didn’t want him banking on Gus moving out of my house any time soon.
When I didn’t respond, my host suggested we start that movie. We sat together, not saying much through the film. I had trouble following the plot. I kept stealing glances at Matt and worrying that we’d already hit the first major snag of our relationship.
Later, when I’d used Matt’s extra new toothbrush and washed my face with his soap, I stretched out on the couch and fretted. Matt had disappeared into his bedroom after wishing me goodnight, and I stared at his closed door, wondering. Sleep was a long time coming as I laid on the couch and worried.
19
The snowplow didn’t come through until late morning. Luckily, every second person in town seemed to own a snowblower and a pickup truck, and the roads were passable much earlier. I was able to get back to Gate House by nine the next morning.
The panic that had first set in didn’t come back full force, though I drove home faster than was strictly safe. My phone still didn’t have a signal. I prayed fervently that Gus had managed with the unexpected turn of events.
I parked in my usual spot outside Gate House and would have sprinted to the door if the walkway hadn’t been covered with a foot of fresh snow. Instead, I high-stepped my way up to the front steps, and then pulled my key out and thrust it into the lock. Once inside, I began calling for Gus even as I brushed the snow from my shoes and pantlegs.
“Corinne!” he cried in answer and came hurrying into the hallway.
Gus threw his arms around me. I held him close, trying not to cry. His reaction told me a lot about how he’d handled being left on his own.
“Are you okay?” I asked, and pulled him toward the living room, where we both sat heavily on the couch. “Were you scared?”
He didn’t roll his eyes and scold me for my worry, so I knew he had been afraid.
Slowly, he explained, “I was okay at first. Rosa drove me home after supper when the snow started. She invited me to stay, but I didn’t want you to come home and be worried that I wasn’t here.”
My heart squeezed at his thoughtfulness.
“But then I saw that it was snowing really hard and I knew you wouldn’t come home. I brushed my teeth and went to bed at eleven o’clock.”
“It sounds like you did everything right,” I praised him.
Gus’s shoulders hunched. “The power went out around midnight. It was so dark and quiet.”
I put an arm around him. “That sounds really scary.”
He hugged me back for a moment before answering, “It was a little scary. I prayed and asked God to keep me safe. Then I fell asleep.”
That made me smile.
“I don’t want to live by myself, Corinne,” he said, pulling back and searching my eyes. “I know I said I wanted an apartment of my own, but I don’t think I want that anymore.”
“Well, I’m not kicking you out. You can stay with me as long as you like. But, Gus, you might one day find that you do want a place of your own. Sometimes it is a little scary to live alone. That’s part of growing up. You face the hard things or the scary things and you trust God with them, just like you did last night.” I patted his scruffy cheek. “I’m really proud of you.”
We didn’t speak of it again, but when Gus kept closer to me than usual, I knew he still wasn’t quite over his fright. All of our usual Sunday activities had to be put on hold. I’d just spent time with Mom, so I didn’t call her. Church was out of the question. We didn’t go to the grocery store for our typical weekly shopping trip.
Gus and I opted to walk up to Bumblebee House to spend the day with Rosa. We put on our tallest snow boots and our warmest coats and tromped up the driveway. It hadn’t been shoveled out yet, so it made the walk tiring, but much more fun. I pushed Gus into a snowbank, and he threw snowballs at me in retribution. We arrived out of breath, pink-cheeked, and laughing on Rosa’s front porch.
She was delighted to see us, as she always seemed to be. We passed a very fun afternoon with a huge pile of board games and Rosa’s special spiced cider. At supper time, the three of us ate more
leftovers in front of the TV. Phones were finally back up, and we were able to determine that everything was going to be back open the following day thanks to the nonstop work of our town’s single snowplow and many dedicated individuals.
Rosa’s front door opened when we were halfway through “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” which was now Gus’s most-requested film. We looked up, waiting to see who was going to appear around the corner. I was pleasantly surprised to see Matt’s bearded face emerge from the hall.
“Matt! What are you doing here?” I asked and jumped to my feet. I motioned for him to follow me, and we went to the living room so we wouldn’t interrupt the film.
“I wanted to make sure you were okay. How’s Gus holding up?” he inquired.
I sat in an oversized armchair, tucking my feet up under me. I tossed a look in the direction of the family room and sighed. “He did great last night. He even went to bed on time.”
Matt looked relieved.
Taking a deep breath, I began the speech I hadn’t realized I’d been writing in my head all day. “Gus told me that he was scared being alone, especially when the power went out. He handled it well. Still, he told me that he doesn’t want to live alone anymore.”
Matt opened his mouth to speak, but I held up a hand to stop him.
“I told him that he always has a place with me. Maybe he will live on his own one day. Maybe he won’t.” I watched Matt carefully before going on. “It’s too early to say what’s going to happen with you and me. But if things go well and one day we get married, you need to be fully aware that Gus might always live with me. If we have kids, Gus will still be there. And there’s the chance that my mom will need a place to live someday, too.
“You need to take some time to think about what that might be like. No matter how much you might love me, that will be a strain on a marriage. It’s hard enough to start out as husband and wife without a witness to every disagreement. There’d be less privacy and more bills. We wouldn’t have meals alone. You’d always have someone who wants to watch TV with you or play video games. You’d be going from living alone to having a wife and another roommate.”
He was frowning now. “Are you trying to tell me you don’t want to marry me?”
“Not at all,” I assured him. “I still want to date you, and that might lead to marriage. But you can’t operate under the expectation that Gus won’t live with us. We’re kind of a package deal right now. I want to make that really clear. It’ll be hard for me if that’s a deal breaker for you, but it’ll be easier to handle now than six months down the road.”
Matt looked away. He was sitting on the edge of his seat, forearms resting on his knees. It was a posture of agitation. And, oddly, I was reassured by it. Matt was taking this seriously. It was so important that he wrestle through the idea of a ready-made family and not pretend that things would be different.
He sighed heavily and sat back, looking me straight in the eye. “I hadn’t really given it much thought. I guess I was too caught up in the idea of me and you. Of course Gus might live with you forever. It’s obvious. I don’t know why I didn’t stop to think about it.”
Part of me was itching to get bent out of shape about his words. It was tempting to get defensive and say something to push him away so it didn’t hurt as much if he ended things. I wanted to snootily say, “Why wouldn’t you think Gus would live with me? How dare you enter into a relationship with me without thinking that through!” But I chose to follow his example. I’d been less than kind on many occasions’ and he’d had deep wells of grace for me. It was my turn to return the favor.
“Take some time to think it through,” I offered. “If I don’t hear from you in a few days, I won’t be worried.”
“Thanks, Corinne. I really appreciate that.” Matt got to his feet. “I think I’ll head home, if it’s okay with you.”
“Of course,” I said, even as my stomach clenched. Please, don’t let him be dying to get away from me!
He gave me a warm, lingering hug before he went in search of his coat. “I’ll be in touch soon,” he promised before heading out into the night.
I went back to the movie, a bit deflated. I’d been honest with him. I was proud of myself for that. But it was still really disheartening not to know what was going to happen with us. After all the struggling I’d done to get to the point where I was willing to date him, it would be awful to have to give up so soon.
I was really glad to be able to watch Indy save the world and not have to dwell on Matt for a little while.
In bed that night, I handed the whole thing over to God in prayer. Then I rolled over and fell fast asleep. I headed off to work the next day with my hand firmly in God’s. I wasn’t going to fret about Matt. I was going to trust that God would take care of everything.
When my phone rang just after lunch, my heart leapt as I read the caller ID. “Hi, Matt,” I breathed.
“Hey, Corinne.” His voice was strained with emotion, and there was a lot of noise in the background.
What was going on?
“There’s been an accident at work. Gus slipped on some ice, and I think he’s broken his wrist. We’re headed to the hospital now. Can you meet us there?” he said quickly.
“Yes, of course. Are you going to the emergency room?” I asked, getting to my feet even as I spoke.
Once I had all the pertinent details, I hurried to find Heather and explain what had happened. She urged me to get my purse and go, leaving the front desk in her hands. Gratefully, I hugged her and then rushed to my car.
My brain was running a million miles an hour. I was worried that my brother was afraid and in pain. I dreaded having to tell Mom what had happened. I wondered what the full story of this injury was. But mostly, my scattered brain kept shooting off short, frantic prayers.
I almost lost it when I arrived at the emergency room and then had to drive around and around the parking lot, trying to find an open space. When I at last pulled into a free spot, I jumped out of the car and only just remembered to grab my purse and keys before I locked the door and darted toward the entrance.
The cool receptionist informed me that Gus had already gone back to be seen by the doctor. She didn’t seem too willing to let me go back until I informed her that I was my brother’s legal guardian. Only then was I given instructions as to how to find him.
“Corinne!” Matt called, spotting me from way down the hall.
I wound my way over to him, and he pulled me down into a horrible plastic chair next to him.
“They took him for x-rays. They’ll bring him back soon,” Matt explained.
“What happened?” I was finally able to ask.
“I’m not exactly sure,” Matt admitted. “I think Gus went out back to take some garbage to the dumpster. He says he slipped and fell. I’m guessing that he put his hand out to catch himself, and that’s how he broke his wrist. Corinne, I’m so sorry that this happened! You trusted your brother to my care and he got hurt. I feel terrible.”
I reached out a hand, which he grabbed onto as though he was a drowning man. “It was an accident, Matt. That wasn’t your fault. Anyone could have slipped and fallen.”
We fell into silence. The fear that had been my companion on the way to the hospital had disappeared somehow. Matt was here, and Gus would be okay. Everything was right with the world.
20
That is, everything was right with the world until the next day around noon when my family began to arrive at the hospital. When the doctor heard Gus say that he’d hit his head on the ice, he’d insisted my brother stay overnight for observation. And, sure enough, Gus was sporting a good-sized lump on his forehead to back his story up.
I couldn’t avoid calling my mom once the doctor had confirmed that Gus’s wrist was broken. It would be unfair to have her son hurt and not tell her about it. Unfortunately, I knew that the ramifications of that call might be far-reaching and devastating. True to form, Mom became hysterical and told me that she
and Dad would come right away.
What I hadn’t expected was for them to arrive with Charlie and Quinn in tow. The four of them burst into Gus’s room just as he was finishing his lunch.
“My baby!” Mom cried and threw her arms around her youngest son.
“Mom!” Gus protested, instantly annoyed.
Mom burst into dramatic tears and buried her face in his neck.
Only a moment later, my brothers turned on me, angrily.
“I can’t believe you let this happen, Corinne!” Quinn sniped. “You should have taken better care of Gus!”
“He shouldn’t have been allowed to get a job in the first place. What were you thinking?” Charlie accused.
I looked between the two of them, feeling totally ambushed. I threw up my hands in protest. “Back off, guys. I know you’re worried about him, but I don’t deserve the third degree. Gus wasn’t hurt because of any sort of neglect. It was an accident.”
My older brothers grumbled over this but stopped their attack. They greeted Gus formally, as if he was a friend’s child they hadn’t noticed before. Dad had stopped in the hotel gift shop and now stiffly presented his son with a few helium balloons tied into a bouquet with shiny ribbon. It might have impressed a six-year-old. Gus accepted the balloons politely, then forgot about them once I tied them to the head of his bed.
After that, I was mostly ignored. Mom fussed over Gus, insisting he finish the food on his tray even though he said he’d had enough. Dad left in search of coffee not ten minutes after they’d arrived and didn’t return for the better part of an hour. Charlie and Quinn put up a brief attempt at brotherly caring but were soon engrossed in their phones.
I watched Gus endure Mom’s smothering attentions as long as I could bear it. Finally needing an escape, I asked him if he would like a soda. Then I scooted out the door before any of the others could tell me off for letting him have something so unhealthy.