by T. L. Haddix
“I like that young man, and I like what I’ve seen of his family. It takes a load off my mind knowing that you have him around.”
She smiled. “I like him, too. And it’s nice to have a friend I can rely on.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Eli Campbell isn’t just a friend, Haley-girl. Don’t tell me he is.”
“No, he isn’t. But I don’t know exactly what he is yet, either.”
His words floored her. “I’m hoping he’s the love of your life, the father of your children, and the man you’ll marry. I don’t think I could ask for a better man for you. He likes you the way you are, appreciates you for the woman you are. The person you are. I’ve not seen one whit of an indication that he wants to change you. And he’s as much as said to me that you make him want to be a better person.”
She took a minute to respond, and when she spoke, she had to clear her throat to get the words past the lump that was trying to choke her. “I guess this means he has the Fred Muncy stamp of approval, huh?”
He patted her hand. “He does. But the Haley Buchanan stamp is the one that matters. No matter how good a man he is, I don’t want you to just fall in love with the idea of him. Don’t get in any rush. There’s something to be said for taking your time.”
“Ah, like you and Gran did?” she teased.
Fred and Alice had met, and from what he’d told her, it had been love at first sight for both of them. Within three months, they were married.
He grinned at her. “When you know, you know.” There was a little bit of a rattle in his chest as he coughed, but he waved off her concerned look. “I’m fine. But I am going to go to bed now. I’ll see you in the morning, girl.”
She gave him a few minutes, then went in to check on him as was her nightly habit since he’d come home from the hospital. The room was bathed in a soft glow from the old lamp on his nightstand, and something about the way he was smiling caught her eye.
“You seem different tonight,” she said as she tucked the covers up around him, fussing that he didn’t usually allow.
“And how exactly do I seem?”
She studied him. “Happy, I guess. Peaceful, even. Like you have a secret.”
He winked at her. “Who’s to say I don’t? Now get on out of here and let an old man get his beauty sleep. I want to go up and see Floyd tomorrow while it’s still warm.”
“Okay. Night, Gramps.” She stopped at the door, her hand on the doorknob. “I love you, you know.”
Instead of a gruff and embarrassed grumble, he laughed softly. “I know. I love you, too. Now, git. Don’t stay up too late.”
“I won’t. Night.”
She closed the door behind her and went into the living room, shaking her head. Tomorrow might turn crazy, next week might be a hectic fight to juggle work and home, but for tonight, she was going to do what she’d told Eli earlier that day, simply be.
“A long, soaking bubble bath sounds like the perfect place to start the wind down,” she murmured. Then a little time reading in bed, and hopefully a good night’s sleep before her busy day started in the morning. “And maybe some time spent thinking about a certain blond-haired man with a smile that could charm the devil.”
She’d been feeling good about how her relationship with Eli was progressing, more sure of her own feelings with each passing day, but hearing Fred’s approval… It meant the world to her. She couldn’t ask for anything more.
Chapter Thirty-Six
When Eli’s phone buzzed at four o’clock Sunday morning, he knew it was bad news. No one ever called that early—or that late, depending on how you looked at it—unless it was bad news. Praying it was a wrong number, he felt his heart sink when he saw Haley’s image on the display.
“Haley? What’s wrong?”
A pause, then a loud sniffle. “I’m so sorry to bother you,” she said, her voice thick.
Eli sat up. “You aren’t bothering me. What’s wrong?”
“We, um. We’re on the way to the hospital with Gramps. He’s… It’s not good.”
He could hear her fighting for composure. Closing his eyes, he felt his own slip for an instant. “Hazard?”
“Yes. Can… Can you come?” she whispered.
“I’m on my way. Who are you with?” He threw the covers back and reached for the lamp, blinking against the light.
“Dudley. He’s driving.”
“Okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can. I promise.”
“All right. Thank you.” She sniffled again. “I have to go.”
“Call me back if you need me before I get there,” he said, but she was already gone. He took a moment to send a hard, desperate prayer up for everyone concerned, then reached for his jeans. A floorboard creaked overhead. “Noah.”
By the time Eli had gotten dressed, gotten his foot on, used the bathroom, and grabbed his wallet and keys, Noah was downstairs.
“What’s wrong?” he asked as Eli came out of the bedroom.
“Fred. They’re on the way to the hospital, and Haley said it was bad.”
He snatched a couple of bottles of water from the fridge, then went back for a soda. His adrenaline was running strong enough that he didn’t need the calories and caffeine to wake up, but he knew it would crash, and he’d need something in his system to slow that crash down.
“Do you need me to go with you?” Noah offered. “Is there anything I can do?”
Eli hesitated. “No. Maybe pray, if you’re so inclined.”
“Of course. Will you call if you need anything? If she does?”
“Yeah.” He gave Noah a quick, one-armed hug. “Thank you.”
“Good luck. Be safe out there,” Noah said as he came to the door behind Eli.
“I will.”
The top of the mountain was shrouded in fog, and Eli cursed when he realized that would slow him down somewhat. He hoped that once he got down to the main road, it wouldn’t be as thick, but since most of the main road ran alongside the river, chances weren’t good.
Twenty-five minutes after Haley had called him, he was walking into the ER. This early, it was mostly deserted, thank goodness. A small group of people was in the corner, a straggler here or there, but no sign of Haley.
He’d just reached the desk to ask after Fred when a door opened down a short hall, and she came out.
“Haley.” He started for her, his heart shattering when he saw the utter devastation on her face.
When she saw him, she gave a small cry and closed the distance between them, her arms coming around his waist to hold on tight even as she trembled.
Eli didn’t say anything, just held on to her.
After a minute, her breath sighed out. “They’re trying to stabilize him. He had a heart attack, we think. He’s not responsive. I was asleep and something woke me up. I don’t know what. When I got up, went in to check on him… he was gone,” she whispered, lifting her face to his. “Eli, he was so cold. I thought he was dead but he was still breathing.”
That was bad, he knew. Very, very bad. He cupped her face. “Tell me how I can help?”
She lifted her shoulders in a slight shrug. “There’s nothing you can do. I’m so sorry to have called you this early. I just…”
He shushed her by placing a finger across her lips gently. “You do not even go there, lady,” he told her softly. “I’m where I should be.”
It took a minute, but she finally nodded. “Okay.”
The next half-hour or so was tense, to say the least. Haley introduced him to her uncles and their wives, as well as one of Dudley’s sons, the small group he’d seen in the corner when he’d first come in.
Eli kept his arm around her, rubbing her back, holding her hand, hoping his touch soothed her. Though to be honest, he wasn’t sure who was comforting whom.<
br />
When the wide double doors leading into the department opened some time later, and a woman emerged, her face solemn as she headed toward the corner, Haley tensed.
“That’s his nurse from Hospice,” she said. “Hi, Julie. When did you get here?”
“Hey, sweetie. A little while ago. I came in the side entrance.” She sat down in the empty chair beside Haley, looking around at the group. “Here’s where we are. He is in a coma. At this point, he’s breathing on his own. We suspect he had a stroke, and the congestive heart failure has played into that. They’re moving him to one of our Hospice rooms now. He’s not in any pain. He’s as comfortable as we can make him. As soon as they get him settled, you can go in and see him.”
“What about putting him on life support?” Mo, Fred’s youngest son, asked.
“Mr. Muncy has a very clear advanced directive that he and I have discussed on numerous occasions during our visits. He doesn’t want anything more than palliative care to keep him comfortable,” Julie said. Her words were delivered in a tone that, for all its softness, brooked no argument. “I can’t give you an exact timeline here, but I suspect we’re looking at hours, not days. I’m so very sorry.”
Haley was shaking her head. “But he was so happy yesterday, and he didn’t have any excessive swelling.”
Julie laid a hand on Haley’s arm. “There’s not a thing you could have done to know this was coming.”
“I guess we should try to call Deb,” Dudley said. “She needs to know. Haley, do you want to do it?”
The angry glare Haley sent Dudley should have had him shrinking in his seat. “That woman has no right to be here. She gave that up more than twenty years ago.”
“Who’s Deb?” Eli asked softly.
“My mother.” She crossed her arms tightly over her chest. “If you want to call her, Dudley, you go ahead. I want no part of that. Is there anything else, Julie?”
“No. I’ll go back and see how things are coming along, then let you all know when you can come see him.”
Haley stood after she’d gone. “I need some air. I’m sorry.”
“I’ll come, too,” Eli said, following her. “Unless you don’t want me to?”
“I don’t mind.”
She walked outside, not stopping until she was at the fence that bordered the road across the way, overlooking the valley. The eastern sky was to their right, just beginning to lighten, and on the main highway below, traffic was picking up a bit as the Sunday-morning world started waking up.
Eli stood beside her, pulling in lungsful of the cool, damp air. It steamed away from him when he exhaled. He absently directed his breath toward a gap in the trees, watching as it dissipated.
“I’ve not seen her since I was eight,” Haley said. “My mother. She came in with her boyfriend and brought me all kinds of toys that she’d picked up from somewhere. Talked about how wonderful her life was up in Chicago, and how she was getting ready to start a new job. As soon as she got settled, she was going to come for me. She never did.”
“I’m sorry.” He slid his hand across her shoulders, curving it around her neck to draw her into him. “I’m so damned sorry, Haley.”
She returned the embrace, resting her head against his shoulder. “So am I.”
They stood there for a few more minutes, and then she sighed. “We should go back in.”
By eleven o’clock that morning, it was all over. Fred had slipped away peacefully, never regaining consciousness.
Eli’d never felt so helpless in his life as he stood by and watched Haley say good-bye to the man who’d been the only parent she’d ever known, the man who represented her home and family. Not even after the wreck, when Sophie’d almost died, or when his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.
She didn’t cry that much, at least not noisily. Her grief was quiet, with slow, steady tears that slipped down her cheeks to be wiped away almost absentmindedly. When the doctor came in, she stepped back from her grandfather’s bedside, not taking her gaze from Fred’s face until the doctor quietly told the nurse, Julie, the time of death.
At those words, Haley turned and went into Eli’s arms.
Julie came over a moment later. “Do you want me to call the funeral home, Haley?”
Eli felt the fine tremble that went through her at the words.
“Do you mind doing that?” she asked, not lifting her head from Eli’s shoulder.
“No, sweetie, not at all.”
“I’d appreciate it. I just want to go home.”
Julie sent Eli a sympathetic look. “Is there anything you need, Haley?”
“No. Thank you. Do I need to do anything else?” She’d explained earlier that she had Fred’s power of attorney.
“Not a thing. Will you promise to call me if you need anything later?” Julie pulled a card out of the portfolio she carried and handed it to Eli.
“Thank you.” To Haley, he said, “Come on. Let’s get you home.” Though her uncles and their families hadn’t seemed unmoved by Fred’s loss, they weren’t even on Eli’s radar at the moment. He nodded in their direction and steered Haley out the door.
Once he had her safely buckled into the passenger seat of his SUV, he took his phone out and texted Noah, letting him know what was going on.
He texted back a moment later. “Do you want me to bring Mom over there for Haley?”
Eli glanced at her. “Not yet. I’ll call as soon as I can. Thanks.”
“Do we need to stop for anything?” he asked her.
She shook her head. “I just want to go home,” she whispered, staring out the window.
So that’s what they did.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
By the time Wednesday—the day of Fred’s funeral—rolled around, Haley was emotionally exhausted. She’d been spared the agony of having to make funeral arrangements for Fred, as he’d pre-planned his services a few years earlier. But there were still a thousand and one decisions that had to be made, and all of them felt like the weight of the world rested on her shoulders as she decided.
Thank God for Eli and his family. They’d not left her alone except when she’d needed privacy. That included the nights. Eli’d spent them at the house with her, sleeping on the couch.
Haley was ashamed to admit she’d leaned on him and Zanny more than she probably should have. But she wasn’t capable of thinking right now. Not when she got up every morning to face Fred’s empty bedroom across the hall from hers. After the first morning, she’d closed his door.
The church at the mouth of the holler that Fred had belonged to had set up a wake in the Sunday-school classrooms, located in the small building attached to the chapel. It would start after the burial had taken place.
“We know how difficult it can be, having all those strangers in and out of your house,” the pastor’s wife told Haley the day before. “This way, no one gets their feelings hurt, and it takes less pressure off the family.”
Haley had literally hugged her. “Pat, you don’t know… Actually, you probably do. Thank you.” Though Haley didn’t regularly attend services, Pat had become a good friend over the last couple of years. She was well aware of the difficulties within the family.
When Haley came out of her bedroom dressed in the soft black suit she’d chosen for the funeral, Eli was coming out of the bathroom, straightening his tie. He looked over her, his head tilted.
“Are you ready?”
“No.” She went into his embrace with a sigh, taking some comfort in the feel of his arms as they came around her. “Just a few more hours, right?”
“Right. Break them down into minutes if you have to, seconds even. You’ll get through this.”
“Have I thanked you yet, for being here?” she asked as she lifted her face from his chest.
Eli touched her cheek. “More than once. And no thanks are necessary.”
“I’m not so sure about that.” She closed her eyes and laid her head back down. “Let’s go.”
By one thirty, the burial was finished. There’d been a full house at the church for the services, and a good number of those people would be at the wake. The prospect of facing them all again for another hour or two was too daunting.
“I need a little bit—just a few minutes,” Haley told Eli, Zanny, and John. “Do you think it would be okay if I went to the house? Just for a bit?”
Her Uncle Dudley walked up then, hearing the last of the questions. “I need to have a talk with you, and it won’t hardly wait. I can give you a ride up there if you want.”
“Okay. I’d appreciate that,” she told him.
The offer was unexpected. He and Mo had been very civil over the last few days, and part of Haley wondered when the other shoe would drop.
“Do you want me to come up in about ten, fifteen minutes?” Eli asked, frowning.
She looked at Dudley, who shrugged, and then she nodded. “That’s fine. Thanks.”
The trip up to the house only took a couple of minutes. Whatever it was that her uncle wanted to talk about, she hoped it wouldn’t take long. She told him as much.
“I’m so tired, I just want to sit down for a few minutes,” she said as she unlocked the front door. The quietness of the house hit her like a punch to the gut, and she tossed her keys down on the table by the door.
“I know this has been hard for you. You and the old man, you were close.” Dudley paced to the middle of the open room, hands at his sides, and looked around.
Haley stood beside the couch, her arms crossed. “What is it we need to discuss?”
“Pops left me the house. He switched the deed over last year. You didn’t know that,” he said as he turned around. “He didn’t want you to. But now he’s gone… Well. I need you to move out.”