by T. K. Chapin
“Pretty good, huh?” he asked as he put his fork down, only finishing half of his piece of cake.
Jill set her fork down and wiped her mouth with her napkin. “It’s amazing. All the food was.”
He nodded. “That’s Percy’s.”
She smiled.
Jill wasn’t sure how Tim was going to turn out, but just making it to a date was a good start. He was nice, wealthy, and he seemed to have his life together. As they climbed into the limo after finishing up their meal, Jill paused as she worried what his intentions were.
“I’m not going home with you,” she said defensively.
He laughed. “Are you kidding? I’m taking you back to your car, Jill. At the mall.”
She was embarrassed by her assumption but comforted by his response. Climbing into the limo, she shut the door behind her and they headed back to her car.
As the limo rolled to a stop in the parking lot at the mall, Jill paused for a moment to look at Tim. She felt drawn to him. Then, Tim leaned over and brushed her hair back behind her ear. He looked into her eyes for a moment. Then he kissed her.
She smiled as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him deeply. Tim was a man who could take care of her, treat her out and show her a world that she would have never been able to see. The possibilities with Tim were endless, and she felt safe.
CHAPTER 8
Three days came and went since Jill’s date with Tim. She was lying in bed asleep one morning when she was abruptly woken up by her cellphone ringing atop her dresser across the room.
Leaping up from her bed, she dashed across the hardwood floor to the dresser to answer it. She was eagerly still waiting for Tim to call after their date. Looking at the caller ID, she saw that it was her mom. She swiped to answer it, but it was too late.
“Ugh . . . ” Jill said, calling her back. It rang straight to voicemail and Jill hung up. She then called her dad.
“Honey,” he said, answering the phone. “You know I’m over at the church in the office at this time . . . what’s up?”
“Sorry. It’s mom. She tried calling me . . . I just wondered if it was about . . . ”
“Grandma?” he finished Jill’s sentence.
“Yeah,” Jill replied.
“Something wrong?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I called you, Dad.”
“I’m at the Church.”
“I know that.”
“Okay. Um . . . let me get in my truck and head home and see what’s going on.”
“Thanks, Daddy. I’d just drive down to the house, but I just woke up.” Jill hung up with her father, changed her outfit and headed out into the kitchen to put a pot of coffee on. As she filled the pot with water, she glanced out the window as she saw the snow was starting up again.
Her phone rang again. Setting the pot down on the counter, she hurried back through the house and into her bedroom to answer it. Looking at the phone, she was thrilled to see it was Tim.
She took a deep breath in and glanced over in her mirror. It doesn’t matter! It’s a phone call!
“Hello?” she answered.
“Jill?”
“Yeah,” she replied, smiling as she walked back out of her room and into the kitchen. “Tim, right?”
He laughed. “Yep. Glad you remembered me.”
She smiled. “How could I forget? What’s up?”
“I’m thinking about swinging by to show you these new menus.”
“Strange excuse to see me, but okay.” Jill glanced at the clock. “What time?”
He laughed. “I figured it was a good excuse. I’ll head over now. So twenty minutes?”
“Okay,” Jill replied.
She hung up with him and returned to the kitchen to finish making coffee before fixing herself up for Tim’s visit.
**
Her phone rang right as Tim pulled up in the driveway a short while later. Jill saw that it was her dad calling her back.
“Hey, kiddo,” he said. His voice was strained.
“What’s wrong, Dad?” she asked, glancing out the living room window to see Tim almost up to the steps of her house.
“You need to call your mother. That’s all I’m saying.”
Jill became worried at her dad’s request. Tim rang the doorbell.
“Someone at your house?” her dad asked.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s just a friend. I’ll call Mom.”
Hanging up with her dad, she went over to the door and opened it with a smile. “Hey, you,” she said, smiling as she leaned in to kiss Tim.
He kissed her back and smiled as he lifted her up in his arms. “Miss me?” he asked, setting her back down.
“Of course. Our first date was like what . . . a few days ago?” Jill asked, laughing as she shut the door behind him.
“Something like that,” he replied, smiling over his shoulder.
“I have to make a phone call. Coffee is on in the kitchen if you want some,” Jill said, stepping down the hallway toward her bedroom.
“Thanks,” he replied, walking into the kitchen.
Phoning her mother, Jill waited for her to pick up. C’mon, pick up, pick up.
“Jill?” her mother said into the phone with shaken and broken words. There was no doubt in Jill’s mind that her mother had been crying for quite some time by now.
“Yeah, Momma. What’s going on?”
“Grandma’s last two weeks are here, honey. The doctors are not giving her more than a week or two. She’ll be lucky to make it until Christmas.”
The words sliced through Jill as the reality sank in more than ever that her grandmother wasn’t going to be around much longer. At Thanksgiving the family found out it was soon, but nobody really knew when. And now, it was a week or two away, if that. Jill didn’t say anything, but the soft crying that followed the silence said it all.
“Can you come up here to the hospital, Jill?” Julie asked.
Jill sniffed as she wiped her eyes. “What hospital?”
“Deaconess.”
Why there? Why the hospital I lost Bradley in? Memories from that day flashed through her mind.
“I know it’s hard for you to come up here, and I would understand if you can’t. It was the best option for her.”
“Okay, Mom. I’ll be there. I love you,” Jill said with a sniffle.
“Love you too.”
Hanging up with her mother, Jill wiped the tears from her eyes and proceeded back down the hallway and into the kitchen. She found Tim sitting at the table in the kitchen and reading the newspaper.
“Hey,” he said from the table, setting his paper and cup of coffee down. “Everything okay?”
Jill shook her head and wiped a few more tears away from her cheeks. “No. But I’ll be okay.” She pushed a forced smile out.
Tim got up from his seat and came over to her. “You seem bothered. I’m not going to get the menus from the car to show you. It’s not that big of a deal.” He placed a hand on each of her arms and softly rubbed up to her shoulders. “You sure you don’t want to talk about it?”
“I’m sure,” Jill replied.
“Okay. Hey, I’m going out of town for a bit. Napa Valley, to be specific. Need to sample some new wines that some people are interested in putting inside each of the Percy’s restaurants.”
“Okay. Hope that goes well for you,” Jill said, heading to the front door.
Tim joined Jill’s side on the way out the door. “Where are you going?”
Jill saw Tim’s look of concern for her and she said, “I’ll just tell you what’s going on. My grandma. She’s not doing well. She’s down to a week or two left until she passes. I’m going to the hospital to be there for her.”
“I am so sorry, Jill . . . I wish I wasn’t going away. Bad timing for my trip. I wish there was something I could do for you.”
“Just pray, Tim, that’s all we can do,” Jill pleaded, trying to hold on to her tears.
“I’ll pray for sure, and
I’ll touch base with you in a week or so. I’ll be pretty busy until then.”
Jill nodded. “Okay.” She opened the door and let Tim walk out first before walking out herself and shutting it behind her.
**
On the drive into town, Jill prayed over and over again in the car with tears running down her face. She prayed for God to help her have peace and understanding like that night at her parents’ house. If there was one absolute place she never wanted to go again, it was Deaconess Hospital. Bad memories and broken dreams were the only thing she could think of every time she heard the name.
God heard and answered Jill’s prayer. As she pulled into the parking lot, a peaceful wave fell over her entire being, helping her to be able to take the steps she needed.
Arriving at her Grandmother Ruth’s room inside, Jill pushed open the slow swinging door and hurried across the smooth surface over to her grandma’s bedside. She hugged her mother first and kissed her cheek as she cried more.
Then she wiped her tears and went over to her grandmother.
“Don’t cry,” Ruth said, reaching up to touch Jill’s face. “Please don’t cry.”
Jill sniffled and wiped her nose with a tissue from the night stand next to the bed. “Okay.”
Wondering what she was going to do in the hospital with her grandmother, Jill had an idea come to mind. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her cellphone. Opening her E-reader app, Jill looked at Ruth. “Can I read to you?”
“That’s a lovely idea,” Julie said, touching Jill’s shoulder.
“I would love that,” Ruth replied with a grin.
Jill pulled up a chair and got comfortable. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness . . . ”
The story Jill was reading to her grandmother was one of her Grandma Ruth’s favorite stories that she had ever heard–A Tale of Two Cities. As Jill continued reading, she was only a half-hour or so into the story before her grandmother fell asleep.
CHAPTER 9
With only a few days left until Christmas, Jill was running on fumes between working long hours and visiting her grandmother at the hospital. It had gotten so bad that she’d found herself sleeping in the middle of conversations with her mother and grandma at the hospital.
One morning, Jill awoke at the hospital to a group of nurses unhooking all the equipment that was helping to keep her grandmother alive.
“What are you doing?” she demanded, jumping up from her chair.
A man who was moving a larger piece of equipment paused and looked over at Jill. “She’s being moved into in-home hospice.”
“No, we can’t afford that.”
“Dear,” Ruth said, grabbing Jill’s hand with her brittle grip. “It’s okay. They got it figured out. It’s being taken care of.”
“Oh,” Jill replied with confusion.
The nurses finished removing all the equipment and wheeled Jill’s grandmother downstairs to the exit, where Jill’s mother and father were waiting for her.
“Help me get into the car,” Ruth said to Jill as she motioned for the nurse to let go of the wheelchair.
Jill got into position and her mother got out of the passenger seat in the front. Julie and Jill helped Ruth get into the car and the nurse took the wheelchair back into the hospital.
As Jill shut the passenger door, she asked her mom outside of the car, “How did you guys figure out the hospice care? Like, financially?”
“It’s not your concern, Jill.” Julie smiled and touched Jill’s cheek with the palm of her hand. “She’s coming home . . . that’s what matters. We’ll see you back at the house?”
Nodding, Jill replied, “Yeah. I’m off today, so I’ll be there.”
**
Before heading over to her parents’ house, Jill stopped in at Tom’s Grocery store in Suncrest to pick something up for lunch. Walking the deli bunker, on the hunt for something quick and easy to curb her hunger, she was annoyed to see Jake at the other end of the bunker.
She filled with rage as she reflected back to seeing him with that wedding ring on at Percy’s. Glancing at his hand, she noticed the ring was gone.
“Not married today?” Jill asked down the way to him.
“What?” he asked, turning to her.
“Your ring. You’re not wearing it today.”
He set the cold fried chicken package back into the bunker and came over to her. “What?”
“Don’t play dumb with me, Jake. Or is that even your real name? What is real about you?” Jill asked.
“Look–I don’t know what you’re talking about, I didn’t hear what—”
Jill reached out and slapped him across the face and walked away. She’d lost her appetite, and she surely wasn’t going to stand by and listen to Jake’s lies anymore. She had a real man in her life now.
**
Arriving back at her parents’ house, Jill pushed Jake to the furthest part of her mind so she could focus on her family, and more specifically, her grandmother.
Coming inside, she smiled as she saw that all the equipment had already been set up and her grandmother looked comfortable as she rested on her bed in the living room.
“Isn’t this wonderful?” Adam asked, standing alongside Julie and putting his arm around her shoulder as they both looked at Jill.
“It really is,” Jill replied, smiling. “At home in peace, like she wanted.”
Jill’s phone buzzed in her pocket. Slipping it out, she checked the screen to see who it was–it was Tim.
“I’ll be right back,” Jill said, excusing herself into the kitchen.
“Hello?” she answered.
“Hey!” Tim replied. “Napa Valley is insanely awesome! And the wines are only the beginning! We gotta come back here. Like me and you someday!” Jill smiled at Tim’s mention of a future of them together. “Is your grandmother . . . comfortable?”
“Yes. She’s comfortable. Thank you,” she replied. Jill realized it was Tim who had paid for the hospice. He was saying before he left that he wished there was something he could do, and he must have figured it out.
“Yeah, no problem,” he replied. “I do what I can. That’s just the type of guy I am . . . ya know?”
The doorbell rang at her parents’ house, pulling Jill’s attention away from the phone. Looking up for a moment, she saw that nobody was going over to answer it.
“Hold on, Tim, someone is at the front door,” Jill said, getting up as she went through the living room, headed for the door.
Opening the door, she beamed as her eyes fell on Tim. “You’re here?! I thought you were going to be in Napa Valley for a while longer!” she said, dropping the phone on the floor and leaping out and into his arms.
Tim laughed as he wrapped his arms around her and said, “I missed you too much to stay.”
“I missed you too!” Jill said as he set her back down.
“Did you want to go grab a bite?” Tim asked as he looked past her and into the house.
Looking over her shoulder, Jill asked her parents, “Mind if I go get a bite with Tim?”
Adam shook his head and raised a hand, “Go ahead.”
“Thanks, Dad. I’ll be back in a bit.”
Stepping outside, Jill shut the front door behind her and headed out to the limo that Tim arrived in.
“Can’t believe you weren’t in Napa Valley on the phone,” she laughed as they climbed into the back.
“I tricked ya pretty good with that one,” Tim said, following her into the backseat.
**
Dinner and a little relaxing was just what Jill needed after the intense schedule she had been undergoing with work and the hospital. She found it absolutely adorable that Tim didn’t bring up her grandma once. She suspected it was because he knew how much it hurt. Instead, he focused the few hours they spent together on having fun in the city.
Tim and Jill returned to her parents’ house later that evening. As they app
roached the curb, Jill became irate when she spotted Jake’s Pinto parked in the driveway. What is he doing here? Ugh!
“Let me walk you to the door,” Tim insisted as Jill began to get out.
She shook her head and looked back at him. “No, that’s okay.”
Tim sat back in his seat and raised an eyebrow. “Okay. Everything all right with you, Jill?”
She glanced back to her parents’ house and then back at Tim. “I’ll be all right. Thanks for the amazing time. It was perfect and just what I needed.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek before getting out of the car.
Walking up the snow-covered walkway to the house, she reminded herself not to smack Jake across the face again. No. Instead, she told herself she needed to go upstairs to her dad’s gun case, get his rifle, and shoot him. Then maybe he’d stop showing up everywhere she didn’t want to see him. Her thoughts were only joking, of course.
Reaching for the handle to open the front door, she found that it opened by itself. Looking up, she saw that Jake was coming out.
“Hey,” he said before side-stepping Jill and heading out to his car. As he walked down the path, Jill shook her head and walked inside.
“Why was he here?” she asked as she walked over to her father. Making eye contact with her Dad, she noticed the redness in them. “What’s wrong?”
Adam tightened his lips as the bottom one shook. His eyes fell over to the empty bed in the living room. He frowned as my heart shattered into a million pieces.
“I wasn’t here . . . ” Jill replied as her eyes fell to the floor. The lump that formed in Jill’s throat immediately made it hard to breathe, even harder to think. It hurt deeply that she had spent so many moments by her grandmother’s side and then, poof, she was gone.
“It’s okay,” Adam said, coming closer to hug her.
They embraced and Jill pulled back to ask, “Where’s Mom?”