by T. L. Haddix
Ben studied him. “I don’t think there’s a person in the world who would hold those concerns against you.”
Noah grinned though he wasn’t really amused. “I’m sure we could find a couple.” He finished off his coffee and stretched. “He’ll be coming home soon. I’m afraid we’ll mess things up again.”
“Oh, I’d say you’ll both stumble a few times,” Ben said as he stood. “You know what Ainsley and I went through way back when. I’m not unfamiliar with the shoes you’re in right now. The trick is to help each other up when you do stumble, and you will. It’s work, but the end result is worth the effort.”
As he thought about running into Sophie the day before, Noah laughed. “There’s a lot of baggage to work through.”
Ben squeezed his shoulder. “When have you ever been afraid of hard work?”
“Point taken.”
“As far as not trusting him goes, what he did all those years ago, that was the kind of betrayal that you can’t forget. You can’t set it aside without effort on his part as well as yours.”
Ben held the door open, and Noah went in the kitchen ahead of him.
“But can we set it aside? That’s the question I don’t know the answer to.”
“Maybe it isn’t so much a question of you setting the past aside as it is you making the conscious decision to rebuild despite the past.” His uncle quirked an eyebrow. “You know?”
“That makes sense,” Noah conceded.
“You can’t pretend it didn’t happen. You shouldn’t act like it didn’t hurt. Both of you have very real grievances against the other that you have to work through. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try again. There’s a lot of water that’s gone under that bridge in the last few years, and maybe it’s enough to smooth the hard edges of the rocks underneath.”
Noah laughed outright. “You sound like a philosophical greeting card or something, Benny.”
His uncle grinned and spread his hands. “Doesn’t mean I’m wrong, does it?”
“No, sir, it doesn’t.”
As he helped Ben and Ainsley pull breakfast together, he thought about Sophie. She’d been the last person he’d expected to run into when he and Molly had opened the door to Eli’s room yesterday. If he hadn’t already had his guard up because he was in a hospital, his poker face might very well have slipped to reveal the longing that always hit him square in the gut when they met.
With that being said, when he’d told Eli he didn’t trust her, he wasn’t exaggerating. As much as Erica had played both him and Eli, she’d had help. Sophie wasn’t as overt about her duplicitousness, but she was as untrustworthy as Erica had ever been. Maybe even more so.
He’d be lying to say he didn’t dread having to interact with her again, even on a semi-annual basis. But if it was part of his relationship with Eli, he’d suck it up and do it. This time, though, he was going in with both eyes open. Not just with Sophie, but with Eli, as well.
Chapter Nine
By the time Haley Buchanan pulled into her driveway Monday evening, it was after seven o’clock. She was utterly exhausted. The day had been long and stressful in a way it wasn’t usually, and if that hadn’t been enough, she’d had to stop at the crowded store to pick up special food for her grandfather, food she’d have sworn she’d bought just a week ago but hadn’t been able to find that morning when he’d requested it before she left.
He could have waited until the weekend for the food, but Haley hated asking him to do that. There weren’t that many pleasures left in life for Fred Muncy, and she indulged him whenever she could. He’d raised her from the time she was a tiny thing, all by himself, and she adored him.
Mustering her energy, she crawled out of the old vehicle she’d lovingly named Hulk and grabbed her things. If she was lucky, the air conditioner would be working tonight, and she’d be able to take a long shower, then go straight to bed. The August heat was oppressive, to say the least, especially after spending most of the day in a facility that was kept so cold she could almost see her breath when she exhaled.
Her grandfather met her at the door, a wide grin on his weathered face as he wheeled his chair out of the way to let her pass.
“There’s my girl. How was your day?”
“Long and tedious. How was yours?” she asked as she reached into the plastic bag and pulled out a box of his favorite snack cakes. They were terrible as far as providing nutrition, but her grandfather rationed them out, making a box of twelve last two or three weeks so the impact on his health was minimal. And they made him happy, something Haley couldn’t overlook.
His eyes lit up as she handed him the box. “It just got better. I fixed some beans and cornbread. It’s in the kettle on the stove.”
“Thanks, Gramps. I’ll grab a bowl in a few minutes.” She put the rest of her purchases in the refrigerator and the ice pack from her lunch box in the freezer. “I’m going to go get cleaned up. Do you need the bathroom?”
“Nope. I can always go off the porch if I need to.” He winked at her when she pretended outrage, and echoes of the charmer he’d been in his youth shone through.
In revenge, Haley bent down and placed a smacking kiss on his cheek, a move that never failed to cause him to blush. “Love you, Gramps.”
“Silly girl. Get on with you.”
She laughed over her shoulder as she headed to her bedroom to gather clean pajamas. “Holler if you need me.”
Once she was in the tub, the hot water sputtering out of the showerhead in a fitful stream, she let go of some of her tension. Haley was a physical therapist, and most days she truly loved her job. Today, however, had dragged on and on forever, it felt, with one emergency or crisis cropping up after another.
She thought about one of her co-workers, a woman she couldn’t really stand, who liked to brag about all the vacations and trips her fiancé took her on. They were going to a resort in Michigan this weekend, and between cleaning up messes and doing her regular job, that was all Haley had heard about.
She was about ready to kill Neesa, hide her body, and take her place on the trip. If she’d been comfortable leaving her grandfather alone for a few days, she’d get out of town. She needed a break. She could dip into her meager savings and afford a decent hotel for a night or two, anyhow, even if she only made it as far as Lexington, two hours away.
But she didn’t want to leave Fred. He’d been having trouble transferring himself into and out of his wheelchair lately, a side effect of the decades-old injuries that were ravaging his body. She knew she wouldn’t have a lot more time with him, a few months if she was very lucky, and there’d be plenty time to take trips later. After.
Always after. Sometimes she felt like her entire life had been planned around after. Part of her resented that. Most of her accepted it as what her life was. She’d learned a hundred years ago, it felt like, that fighting her situation was futile.
“Maybe someday,” she said as she turned off the now tepid water. “Someday always comes when after is done.”
For now, she’d take the time she’d been given with her grandfather and enjoy it for what it was. He was the only family she had left who gave a tinker’s damn about her, and that still meant something to Haley. It meant everything, and she’d deal with whatever else the world threw at her after.
Chapter Ten
“We should go see him,” Sarah Campbell told her husband Tuesday morning. They’d finished breakfast and were having coffee on the front porch that overlooked the top of the mountain where their farmhouse sat. “Even if he will be home soon, we should go see him. The phone calls aren’t enough.”
Owen frowned, his eyes somber. “You don’t think we get a pass because of our age?”
She leveled the look on him that had served her well while raising five children and running herd on twelve grandchildren, assorted nieces and nephews,
and their children.
He sighed. “I guess not.”
“Why are you so reluctant to go see him?” she asked softly. “He needs to know we love him.”
The frown turned to a fierce scowl. “He knows that!”
“Hmmm. Then he needs to know he’s been forgiven, that he’s welcome here. And you need to be the one to tell him.”
Standing, Owen shoved his hands in his pockets and stared across the valley. “I’m not sure I have forgiven him yet. And I’m worried about what’s going to happen once he gets back here. What if he and Noah…”
With a grunt, Sarah got to her feet. Her right knee was bothering her this morning, a sure indication rain was on the way. She went to the man she’d loved for more than fifty years and put her arms around his waist, sighing when the rightness of touching him settled in over her bones.
“It’ll be a lot easier for those boys to heal their hurts if we show them love and support. And Noah’s a big boy now. He’s guarded. He won’t let Eli close if Eli doesn’t earn his trust back. Noah’s too much like his grandfather to let that happen undeservedly.”
Owen turned, slipping his arm around her shoulders. “Woman, are you trying to say I’m stubborn?”
Sarah touched his chin. “Not trying. I am saying it. We need to go see him. You need to forgive him. How can you expect Noah to move forward if you’re still stuck in the past?”
He gave a put-upon huff, but he nodded. “When do you want to go?”
She kissed him. “We could drive down this afternoon, spend the night at Benny’s.”
Owen rested his cheek on her hair. “All right. I love you, you bossy woman.”
When she goosed him, he jerked and laughed, grinning down at her.
“I love you, too, you stubborn mule.”
His face turned serious, and Owen cupped her cheeks. “I mean it, you know. I still love you as much now as I did the first time I told you. More, even. You’re my world, Sarah Jane.”
“And you’re mine,” she told him solemnly. “Now, let’s see if we can figure out a way to facilitate some healing between our boys. It’s past time.”
He kissed her again. “That sounds like a plan I can get behind.”
That was exactly what she’d been hoping to hear.
Chapter Eleven
The doctor had just left the room Tuesday morning when Eli’s phone rang. He was so elated with the news he’d gotten, though, he almost fumbled the device.
“Hello,” he answered breathlessly when he got it straightened out.
“Hi, sweetheart. Are you okay?” Sarah asked.
“I’m better than okay, Grandma. I’m coming home. They’re letting me out today.” He could hardly believe it, and he laughed, half giddy with the surge of freedom he was feeling. Molly had gone down to the cafeteria for breakfast, and he could hardly wait for her to get back so he could tell her. If he didn’t think he’d fall flat on his face, he’d attempt a dance around the room with his crutches.
“Oh, Eli! I’m so glad. We were going to drive down this afternoon and see you, but I guess we’ll stay home and plan a welcoming party instead.”
“Yeah?”
“Absolutely. We’ve missed you so much. It’s going to be nice to have you close again.”
He ducked his head. “I hope so, Grandma. I know I have a lot of work to do.”
She sniffled on the other end of the call. “Well, I have every confidence that you can do it. Hold on a minute, I need to tell your grandfather the news. Owen, he’s coming home today,” she said.
“Already?” he heard his grandfather ask.
“Well, he is a Campbell. Here, you tell him, sweetie,” Sarah said to Eli pertly, handing over the phone.
“You’re coming home? Really? Today?” his grandfather asked.
“If I can catch a ride, yes, sir,” Eli told him. “Noah and Molly are up here, so I don’t think that will be a problem.”
Eli wanted to ask him if he would be allowed to come to the farm now, if his exile had been lifted or if he was still persona non grata. After he’d married Erica and they’d made a disastrous trip to the farm where she’d thrown her weight around, Owen had forbade him from setting foot on the property again as long as he and Erica were married. Eli’d not had the nerve to ask if that was changed after her death, and he sure as hell didn’t have it now.
“Well, we’re looking very forward to seeing you,” Owen told him, his voice quiet. “Did Sarah tell you we were getting ready to head that way?”
“She did.”
“Think you’ll be up to Sunday dinner here? Not that we’ll wait that long to come see you once you’re in town,” Owen hurried to say.
Eli had to clear his throat around the lump that had arisen. “I’ll be there with bells on if you want me.”
Owen did some throat clearing of his own. “We would be honored by your presence. It’s long overdue, and I’m sorry for that.”
“So am I, Grandpa.” He glanced toward the door when it opened, then away to blot his eyes. “Molly came in. I’d better tell her the good news. I’ll see you soon?”
“Count on it. Love you, kiddo. You and your siblings be careful driving home.”
“We will. Love you, too.”
“What’s the good news?” Molly asked when he hung up. “Are you okay?”
Eli reached for a tissue and blew his nose. “I’m going home. Think you can put up with having me back in the house?”
She stared at him for a second, a slow, wide smile spreading across her face as the words sank in. “You’re what? Today? Really?”
He nodded and laughed as she threw her arms around his neck and squealed. “I really am, and yes, today.”
Molly laughed, but when she pulled back, her eyes were wet. “Oh, I’m so glad. Mom and Daddy will be over the moon! Have you told them yet?”
Eli grabbed another tissue and gently wiped her cheeks. “No, the doctor had just left when Grandma called.”
She hugged him again, then straightened, and he could see her professionalism take hold. “I guess we’d better start making some calls, then. Get things in order. Where do you want to start? It might be best for you to plan to stay a night or two at Ben and Ainsley’s. That way you’ll be close to the VA if you have complications.”
He grimaced. “I hadn’t thought of that. I was really looking forward to going home.” Which was ironic, he knew, as he’d been consumed with guilt over the necessity of having to move back in with John and Zanny.
Molly touched his face. “I know. So maybe for the first night?”
“I hate to impose on them.”
“You do not want me to pass that message along, I’m sure,” she said. She narrowed her eyes and propped a hand on her hip, her posture and expression so similar to their mother’s that Eli grimaced even as he laughed.
“Okay, little Zanny, you don’t have to lecture me. And no, I don’t. I guess I know I’m welcome.”
“You’d better know.”
As they made the calls to tell everyone, he realized she was right—as much as he hated to delay his return home any longer than he had to, staying a night or two in Lexington only made sense. He’d still be home in time to go to the farm for Sunday dinner.
He hated to put off seeing his grandparents any more than a day or two, though. Now that he had a glimmer of hope that he was going to be able to fix things with Owen, he was eager to get started with proving himself.
Chapter Twelve
A drizzly, persistent rain set in Monday morning, slowing Haley’s commute to work but giving her time to think. Her grandfather had had a rough weekend, having a lot of pain that they’d had a difficult time getting controlled. So instead of being refreshed by the days off, she was wiped out.
That
was happening more and more these days, and the weight of carrying that concern on her shoulders without any real help was starting to get to her.
Fred was her mother’s father, and he’d raised Haley since Deborah had left when Haley was only two. Her uncles, Mo and Dudley, lived down the road just a little way. They helped some, but with families of their own and entitled attitudes that grated on Haley’s nerves more often than not, they weren’t around much. Usually only if the situation benefited them in some way.
That said, they weren’t shy about offering their opinions about how Haley handled Fred’s care or decisions that needed to be made about the house or the like. And if there was a hint of any kind of monetary payout from something involving Fred? God help her. If she could have afforded it, she would almost have been willing to pay them to stay away.
Another weight that was resting on her shoulders was the constant battle to keep the bills paid. She made good money—really, she did. Especially considering they were in an economically depressed area. But in addition to her student loans and day-to-day bills, there were a lot of medical expenses that made life easier for Fred that her grandfather’s insurance simply didn’t cover. He’d had significant issues over the past year thanks to his deteriorating condition and those changes had proven expensive.
Plus, they’d had to put a new roof on the house, have it completely rewired, do work on the septic system, and install city water, all in the last few months.
Fred, who was a truck driver back before Haley was born, had been disabled more than thirty-five years earlier when he’d crashed thanks to faulty brakes on a company truck. He and his wife Alice had just paid off their house when the accident happened, and with him subsequently out of work, they’d not had a chance to build up any other kind of nest egg.