by Lois Richer
Gabe said nothing for a long time. Then he whispered, “Thank you.” Eventually he regained his voice. “That’s what I’m doing,” he told her. “I’m driving off the lions so my child will have a future.”
Blair squeezed the receiver tightly, then asked the question.
“Are you fighting for justice and truth, Gabe? Or are you merely hoping to exact revenge? It’s important to know the difference.”
“I have to go.” The hardness, the edge—suddenly they were back in his voice.
“Okay. I love you, Gabe. So does Daniel, and all the rest of us. We miss you. Please come back soon.”
The click of the line told her he was gone.
Alone and unobserved at last, Blair sat in the semi-darkness and let the tears pour down her cheeks. When Willie sank beside her, she didn’t bother to hide them.
“He doesn’t need us,” she sobbed. “He’ll never love us now. He’s the same old Gabe, Willie. Business first, last and always. He’s enmeshed in trying to remake the little boy whose father hurt him. He can’t see that he’s got a far better future waiting right here.”
Willie hugged her close and dabbed at her tears, but she didn’t contradict Blair one iota. Instead, in a hushed voice, she began praying for the man who hurt like a child.
Blair pressed the pedal down hard and headed for the work barn she’d called home for the last four nights. The honey crop was heavier than anything she could have imagined.
Daniel, just home from a camping trip with friends, would not be dissuaded from his opinion that his father’s return was imminent. If they’d hoped to take the child’s mind off his absent father, it wasn’t working. Blair wished she had something that would accomplish that for her. She thought about Gabe constantly, wondered how negotiations were going, how he was dealing with it. Gabe had been gone twelve long days. To Blair, they were like years.
She’d worked late the past two nights and hadn’t been home in time for his calls. Mac relayed the information, of course, but that wasn’t the same as talking to Gabe herself. When she’d tried to call back, his cell phone was off. Though his secretary promised, in a polite, distracted voice, to relay her message and the new phone number of the shop, Blair held out little hope of a return call.
As she steered the truck into the yard, she forced herself to face the fear that had been mounting inside her brain for days. Gabe had been sucked back into his old life. The money, the things, they’d become more important. Keeping them from his father took every moment of time and concentration. Hatred seemed to feed his actions.
She’d lost him.
Blair dashed her tears and climbed out of the cab, determined to go on with a facade of strength and composure. Albert, Willie, Mac, Daniel, they still needed her. Perhaps now more than ever. She had to be strong. She had to manage alone.
“Oh, Blair, I’m so glad you’re here. Willie wandered down a few minutes ago, and she’s determined to help. I can’t seem to stop her.” The young assistant Gabe had hired grabbed Blair’s arm. “Please make her stop. I’m afraid she’s going to hurt herself.”
Blair followed her into the shed and saw immediately what she meant. Willie stood by the workbench, lifting cases of candles that had been packed earlier. She teetered her way toward them, straining to hold the stack intact.
Blair was about to lift them out of her arms when Willie tripped. Though she was in obvious pain, she took great care to protect the boxes and landed awkwardly on her left hip. The graying skin tone and grimace of tightened lips told Blair everything she needed to know.
“Where did you hurt yourself, Willie?” She knelt by the older woman’s side and swallowed the bitter gall of panic. “Can you get up?”
Willie’s tightly clenched lips grew white, and she lay back with a moan. “No. It hurts too much. I’m sorry, Blair. I didn’t mean to cause problems for you. I just wanted to help.”
“I know.” Blair took her hand and felt for her pulse. “Don’t worry about that now. I’m going to call an ambulance. I don’t want to move you in case it’s something serious. Just stay still for a moment.”
Oh, Lord, she’s so special. Please keep her safe.
Blair directed her helpers to bring an old blanket, the only covering she could think of. They tucked it around the thin, frail woman. Then there was nothing to do but wait.
It seemed eons before the ambulance drivers arrived. It didn’t take them long to assess the problem.
“Fractured hip, I’d guess,” one of them muttered as they lifted Willie into the ambulance. “Woman her age shouldn’t be working in a place like this. It’s too heavy.”
Blair flushed to the roots of her hair but she didn’t bother to correct his impression. It was more important to get Willie taken care of.
“You go on ahead,” she told them, her mind surging. “I’ll need a vehicle. My grandfather will want to come, too. I’ll follow you.”
At home, Mac and Albert sat beside the pool, watching Daniel play halfheartedly in the shallow end.
“Did you see Willie? Silly woman won’t give up on this fool idea of doing her share, even if it kills her.” Mac crossed his arms. “Did you bring her back?”
There was no way to sugarcoat it. Blair took a deep breath. “She’s on her way to the hospital, Grandpa. She fell. The ambulance guys thought she’d probably broken her hip. I’m on my way there now.”
“We’re coming with you.” In a few swift moves, Mac had Daniel out of the pool and was drying him off in a big fluffy towel. “Grab your clothes quickly, son, and let’s get going. Willie needs us.”
Albert trundled along behind when they finally left the castle. His face was pale, his eyes huge behind the horn-rimmed glasses. “She doesn’t like hospitals,” he muttered to Blair. “She won’t want to stay there.”
Blair patted his hand. “I know, Albert. We’ll just have to pray.” She’d taken Gabe’s keys to the Jeep without even thinking, and they piled inside without a word.
Mac gently explained the situation to Daniel as Blair drove.
“Will Willie be okay? I don’t want her to hurt.”
“I don’t either, son. I’m sure God will take good care of her.” Mac tried to reassure the six-year-old, but his words didn’t quiet Daniel.
“I need to talk to my daddy,” he kept repeating. “He’ll make it better. He knows what to do.”
Gabe! Blair hadn’t even thought of him. “We’ll phone him as soon as we find out something about Willie. Now just sit quietly and let me drive.”
By the time they reached the hospital, they were all tense with worry. The doctor met them inside. “She’s fractured her hip. The X rays show a clear break. We’re going to have her flown to Denver where a surgeon will insert a sort of screw that holds the bone together. She’ll be there for a few days, then they’ll bring her back. She should be up and walking by then.”
“Thank you, Doctor. Could you let us know when we could see her? It’s important for all of us to talk to her before she leaves.”
The doctor nodded, then hurried away. Once he’d gone, Blair caught sight of Mac’s gray face. His mouth worked impotently for a few moments. His hand gripped her sleeve.
“I want Willie to have the best care, you know that. But he wants to fly her, Busy Bee! We don’t have that kind of money. And we don’t have insurance to cover that. How will we manage?”
He wobbled, grabbing Albert’s arm for support.
“I’ll take care of it.” Blair led him to a chair in the waiting room and eased him into it. “That’s what I do, remember? I take care of things. It will be fine, Grandpa. As long as Willie is all right, we can handle anything.” She saw him struggle to take a breath and loosened his collar. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. It’s my sister I’m worried about. We have to think about her.” He leaned his head against the wall, closed his eyes and began to move his lips.
Blair knew he was praying. She felt the tug on her jeans and squatted in front of
Daniel. “What is it, son?”
“Are you gonna call my daddy now?”
She hugged him, then set him free. “Not just yet. I want to see Willie first, talk to her. Then I’ll have some news for your dad.”
“We should phone him right now. My daddy would come home right now if he knew we needed him.” With a frown at his mother, Daniel turned and walked to the chairs. He plunked himself down beside Mac, threaded his fingers in the older man’s and closed his eyes, obviously following his grandfather’s example.
“I’ll stay with them. You go see the nurse. She’s been waiting to talk to you.” Albert smiled encouragingly, and she hugged him.
“Thank you, Albert. You’re a true friend.” She dealt with the nurse’s questions as efficiently as possible, greatly relieved when the doctor came to tell her Willie could see them for a few minutes.
“She’s ready for flight so don’t hold her up too long. We like to get these things taken care of as quickly as possible.”
Blair nodded, then went to collect the rest of her family. They found Willie comfortably ensconced on a stretcher, though her eyes showed the pain she was in. Still, the same old smile of welcome lifted Blair’s weary heart.
“I’m so sorry, Willie. I should never have let you—”
“You couldn’t have stopped me. Though I’m sorry to have caused such a fuss. And so much expense! Dear, dear, how will we pay for this?”
Mac lurched forward, his face gray and haggard. “We have God as our father, sister. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, remember? He’ll supply all our needs. We’ll manage just fine. You concentrate on getting well.”
Daniel stepped nearer the bed. “I prayed for you, Willie. And my daddy is coming. We’ll look after you.”
“Thank you, darling.” She ruffled his hair tenderly. “Getting Gabe here is exactly what we need. Good thinking.”
Albert contented himself with squeezing her hand, and then Willie was gone.
Blair spared a moment to search for her composure. Then she whirled. “All right now, everyone. Let’s—” The words jammed in her throat as Mac wavered on his feet, his hand clenching his left arm. “Grandpa, what’s wrong?”
His voice emerged raspy and thin, his legs doubling under him as Albert grabbed his shoulders. “Get a doctor, Busy Bee. I think it’s a heart attack.”
Chapter Fourteen
Blair paced the length of the waiting room for the hundredth time, begging and pleading with God to save her grandfather’s life. She was barely aware of Albert and Daniel returning from the cafeteria until Daniel’s hand closed around hers.
“Can we call my daddy now, Mommy?” he begged, his green eyes serious. “Daddy loves Mac and Willie. We’re his family. He needs to come home.”
Blair sat down and hugged him close. “I know he does, honey. And I did call him. But I couldn’t reach him. His secretary says he’s not there and he doesn’t answer his cell phone.” She didn’t tell Daniel how much that combination of events worried her. Nor did she speculate on where Gabe could be or what he was doing.
Instead she focused her attention on her son and the loyal friend who’d stood by them through an hour of interminable waiting. “I guess the only thing we can do now is wait. And pray.”
“Mrs. Sloan?” The doctor stood behind her, his voice solemn.
“How is he?”
“We won’t know that for some time. Right now he’s in and out of consciousness. He keeps asking for you. I think it might be best if you came with me. Just you.”
She nodded, then turned to explain to Daniel.
Albert smiled. “We’ll wait here, Blair. You go ahead.”
“Thank you.” She followed the doctor down the hall and deep into the caverns of the hospital. Finally they came to a room where bleeps and blips of various machines were monitored on the big console at the nursing station.
“We haven’t been able to regulate Mr. Rhodes’s heartbeat yet,” the doctor explained. “He’s on oxygen and hooked up to several monitors. Try to get him to relax. That’s the best medicine.”
Blair nodded, prepared for the worst as she followed the doctor to her grandfather’s bed. Mac looked so frail under the white sheet, his fingers thin and gaunt, bluish where the IV dripped into them.
“Grandpa? I’m here. Please try to relax. You need to get your rest. The doctors are trying to help you. Please hold on. Please, Mac?” Blair carefully lifted his unfettered hand and slipped hers into it.
Mac’s eyelids fluttered as if he were rousing himself from a deep sleep. Finally they lifted. Blair breathed a prayer of thanks as she saw recognition in his eyes. His fingers tightened around hers for an instant.
“Call Gabe,” he rasped, his face contorting with the effort of speaking, his eyes closing.
“I tried.” She hurried to reassure him, anxious to keep him awake and aware. “I couldn’t reach him. He’s not in the office.”
Mac’s fingers loosened, and his chest sank as he heaved a weary, painful breath. “Call Gabe. You need him now.” The words died away as he sank into some oblivion that Blair couldn’t enter.
“I’m sorry, but you’ll have to leave now. He needs to rest. We’re trying to stabilize him, but it’s an uphill battle.” The nurse drew her from the room and closed the door.
Blair stood alone in the hallway. Around her, the hospital bustled with medical efficiency, but she paid it no mind. Grandpa might die! He could leave her at any moment, and she’d be all alone.
She walked in a stupor as reality punched her with the utter hopelessness of it all. Somehow she found herself in the waiting room. Daniel lay asleep on his chair, his little body hunched in a defensive curl. Albert rose and helped her into a chair, his face grave.
“Blair, we need to get hold of Gabe.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that?” she half-sobbed, her knuckles against her mouth. “Grandpa just said the same thing.”
“Then you have to do it. No matter how much it hurts, no matter what it costs you, you have to tell Gabe that you need him here now.” Albert’s hands cradled hers. “You’ve been like a daughter to me, Blair. You’ve nursed me back to health mentally and physically. You’ve given me so much. Let me give a little back to you.”
She blinked away the tears. “Advice?” she asked tremulously.
“I know it seems silly for me to give advice to anyone.” He smiled to show he didn’t mind her surprise. “But I believe I’ve learned a lot from your family. And the one thing you do when things get tough is draw together.”
She nodded.
“Gabe is part of this family, Blair. He deserves the chance to be here, to be part of this. There may be decisions to be made. He can help you with those, or just support you. You need your husband. Your son needs his father. Isn’t it time to admit that this is one thing you can’t handle on your own? Call him.”
“What if he doesn’t come? His business is very important to him, you know.” She wiped away the tears and recited all the excuses she’d given herself in the past few hours.
“I believe you’re more important to him than anything else in the world. What if you deny him the opportunity to show you that? What if you exclude him from the only family he’s ever known, the only love he’s ever felt? Mac is as much his as he is yours. Gabe needs to be here.”
Having said his piece, Albert walked to his guarding position beside Daniel, bowed his head and closed his eyes.
Blair closed her eyes also, but not in prayer. Her mind replayed the distant past, a time when she’d been so badly hurt. A time when she’d needed Gabe and he hadn’t been there for her.
What if he doesn’t come now? What if he puts us on hold until his company is straightened out? What if he doesn’t want us anymore?
What if he’s waiting to be asked? What if he yearns to be needed, to be wanted? Would you deny him the love you promised him?
The questions raged inside her brain until she could no longer think straight. She glanced
at Albert.
“I’m going to the chapel,” she whispered, and waited for his nod before she left.
As she passed a bank of phones, the pressure inside built to nearly bursting. Phone Gabe. Tell him you need him.
With a prayer for help, she lifted the receiver and dialed.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Sloan, but he hasn’t returned. I’ll give him your message as soon as he does.”
She dialed his cell phone and got no answer.
Blair leaned her head against the cool, solid metal of the phone mechanism and prayed. “I’ve tried, Lord. I’ve tried to call him. He’s too busy with his old life.”
An idea glimmered in her mind. She scrounged through her handbag until she found the decrepit old address book. Gabe’s condo number was there. With shaking hands, she dialed again.
The phone rang several times, but no one picked up. Blair moved the receiver from her ear, ready to hang up, then caught the sound of his beloved voice.
“Leave a message. I’ll call you back.”
Frantically she searched for the words, the right phrase. But the beep signaled her cue, and there was no more time.
“Gabe, this is Blair.” She took a deep breath, squeezed her eyes closed and said the words she had never allowed him to hear. “I need you, Gabe. Please come home.”
The machine cut her off. Slowly she replaced the receiver. As she did, Blair felt a deep, cleansing peace surge through her body. She had done the most she could.
“The rest is up to You,” she whispered as she pushed open the chapel door and knelt in the back pew. Her eyes caught the tender, loving glance of Jesus as he gazed down at her from a painting.
“Please be with all the members of my family and bring us together again. Please bring us home.”
Gabe stood on the beach in the twilight, feet bare, jacket tossed carelessly onto the sand.
He’d lost everything.
How could his own father have employed such devious methods? The question drew a bitter smile to his lips. Why was he so surprised?