Magnolia Sky

by Susan Crandall

  Analise found her voice. “Of course there are treatments. Last time, the oncologist said there were options if you had recurrence.”

  Standing with her arm around a shaking Cole, Olivia turned to face her. She said softly, “I didn’t say there aren’t treatments. I said I’m not having any.”

  Analise overcame her frozen limbs and shot to her feet. “You’re not serious!”

  Calmly, Olivia said, “I am.”

  “Mom! Don’t say that!”

  “Let’s sit back down.” She pulled her chair close to his, keeping his hand held tightly in hers.

  He kept trying to pull away, but she held fast. “Listen to me. The doctor says I can go through chemo again, but the outcome is doubtful.”

  “You have to try! You have to!” Cole said.

  “Cole, listen to me. Do you remember how sick I was last time? I couldn’t do anything. I don’t want my last days with my family to be like that. I want us to live like we always do. I want to enjoy each day—as long as God gives me.”

  Analise asked in a shaky voice, “Exactly what did the doctor advise?”

  Olivia looked at her, still holding tightly to Cole, as if he might try to run away—which Ana thought very possible. She knew that’s just what she wanted to do.

  “The doctor said it’s my decision. With chemo he gives a twenty-percent chance at remission for a period of perhaps months—there will be no cure. If I choose to go without, he’ll prescribe things to make my life as comfortable and functional as it can be. I’ve already started taking some of them.

  “You see, with chemo, I might buy some time, but this disease will claim my life. I choose to live while I can, not lie miserable for months, then die anyway.”

  Cole jerked away and stood. “How can you say that?” His crying was beyond quiet tears, the boy was sobbing. “How can you just give up?”

  “I’m not giving up. I want to live. I’ll do all I can to fight this thing—but I’m not going to have chemo again. I won’t waste the time I have left with you in that way.”

  Cole collapsed back into his chair and buried his face in his hands.

  Olivia went on, “Richard is my friend. I wanted him here for me, to be my support.” She looked at Luke. “And Luke has proven himself to be a friend to us all.”

  Ana’s gaze cut to Luke. He smiled thinly at Olivia, then looked at his hands in his lap, hiding what was in his eyes before Analise could read it.

  “You need to get a second opinion,” Analise said, trying to sound practical. “Go to Memphis, or Mayo, there are several really good clinics. We can’t just let this be the verdict.”

  Olivia’s eyes were loving when they looked upon her. “My case has been reviewed by plenty of the finest doctors. This is ovarian cancer, Ana, you know the prognosis as well as I do.”

  Analise tried again. “But the chemo arrested it last time. You’ve had four really healthy years. If you took it again—”

  “I know. I can’t say with certainty that it wouldn’t buy me more time. But the odds . . . and the quality of the time I have left. I want us to go on with our lives, but I also appreciate the fact that I’ve been given enough time to prepare—I don’t want to squander it.

  “I know this is a shock. I just ask that you think about what I’ve said.”

  Cole got up and stalked out of the room. He thudded up the stairs. Analise jumped at the sound of his bedroom door slamming.

  Olivia got up and walked around the table. She put her hands on Analise’s shoulders. “Just think about it,” she said, very quietly. Then she sighed. “Richard, I feel like a breath of air. Care to take a walk with me?”

  The reverend smiled sadly, yet with so much warmth it almost broke Analise’s heart further. “Of course. I’ll get your jacket.”

  Olivia kissed the top of Ana’s head and left the room.

  For several seconds, Analise sat staring at the tablecloth, just trying to even out her breathing. She was light-headed and nauseous. The sweet cloying smell of the Black Forest cake seemed to overwhelm the room.

  Somehow she found a shaky voice and said, “Could . . . could you take this cake out of here?” With a trembling hand, she pushed her plate away.

  Without a word, Luke cleared all of the plates and carried the remaining cake back to the kitchen. Then he returned and sat silently in his chair. Analise didn’t look at him.

  She needed some air, too, but knew her legs would not carry her right now. Putting her elbows on the table, she buried her face in her hands—but she didn’t cry. She was too stunned to cry. Why, oh, why couldn’t the news have been of an impending marriage?

  When she felt she could speak with a steady voice, she said, “You knew.” She raised her eyes to meet his.

  Leaning forward, Luke folded his hands on the table. “Yes.”

  “Why didn’t you warn me? You just let me think . . .”

  He drew a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Because Olivia asked me not to.”

  She hardened her gaze. “Why did she tell you? I don’t understand.”

  He shook his head. “Maybe she needed to say the words to someone a little more removed first.” He paused. “She’s worried about you and Cole. She wants to make this as easy as possible—”

  Anger sparked. Analise got to her feet. “Easy! How in the hell can this be easy?”

  “Ana.” Luke got up and walked around the table. “Everyone knows there’s nothing easy about this. She wants to do all she can to ease your pain, your worry.”

  “Then she should damn well get herself into treatment!” With those words, the tears came.

  Luke stepped closer and took her in his arms. She started to pull back, saying, “Cole . . .”

  He held her tight. “Shhh. He won’t be back down tonight. He needs some time, too.”

  With that assurance, Analise let herself sob into his shirt, clinging with her fists in the fabric. He held her close and rocked her gently, cupping the back of her head with his hand. “I’m here. You don’t have to do this alone.”

  “I’m not ready to lose her. She’d been doing so well. She deserves years and years of life after all she’s suffered.” She sniffed loudly and straightened up. Grabbing a napkin off the table, she blew her nose. “This is ridiculous. Of course she’ll get treatment. It’s just that it’s such a shock. Once she gets used to—”

  He put his hands on the sides of her face. “Ana, it’s not the shock. She’s known for weeks.”

  She gave a slight gasp and stepped away from him. Looking into thin air, she whispered, “Weeks? She’s known for weeks and kept it to herself? How awful for her.”

  He said, “I think Reverend Hammond was helping her.”

  Her head snapped up. “Reverend Hammond isn’t family. I should have been helping her!” Her eyes narrowed. Why did this man who walked into their lives a couple of weeks ago know more about the dearest person in her life than she did? Had the bond she’d thought she and Olivia shared been one-sided? Why hadn’t Olivia confided in her—as she would certainly have confided in Olivia if the tables were turned?

  Luke must have seen the change in her, because he reached out. “Ana—”

  She pulled away. “Since she seems to think so highly of you”—she was ashamed of the jealousy in her voice; in a time like this it seemed petty to even consider such things as hurt feelings over who she confided in—“you can help me convince her to get treatment. First, I’ll have to meet with her and her doctor to see what he’s advising. Then you and I can make her see—”

  “No. Ana, I can’t. It’s not my place.”

  “Bullshit!” She punched her index finger in the air between them. “She put you in that place when she told you before she told her family. She trusts you. You have to do it.”

  “I think we should both sleep on it and discuss it after the shock has worn off for you.”

  She drew a breath to argue further, but he spoke before she could. “Tomorrow. It’s not like she’s going to ha
ve to decide tonight. One night, that’s all. Then we’ll discuss this when we’re more clear-headed.”

  She knew he thought she was the one who wasn’t clear-headed. His head was clear and well ordered, since he didn’t just get slammed with the news. Which gave him the advantage in this argument. So she nodded. “Tomorrow. We’ll form a plan tomorrow.”

  He took her hand. “You look like you could use a little outside air yourself.”

  She glanced at the ceiling. “Cole.”

  Luke said, “I hear Olivia and the reverend on the front porch. He won’t be alone.”

  Giving a single nod, she allowed him to lead her to the back door and out into the night.

  They walked slowly, in silence, taking a meandering path to the metal bench. Analise drew in the cool, moist air, felt the damp film it left on her cheeks and thought how wonderful it was to be able to feel—to be alive. It just didn’t seem fair that Olivia’s life was being threatened. She was too young, Cole needed her—she needed her.

  Sitting down on the bench, the cool dampness made its way through the seat of her jeans. A little chill ran down her arms, making her shiver. Luke took his long-sleeved shirt off and put it around her, leaving himself in a short-sleeved T-shirt.

  “You’ll freeze,” she said, trying to take the shirt from her shoulders.

  He stilled her hands. “I’m fine. I’ve slept outside in forty-degree weather wearing less.”

  They sat in silence, listening to the crickets and the frogs. Then Analise said, “When Layton died, I remember thinking how strong Olivia was, how I didn’t know if I could begin to cope as she did if I were in her shoes. She comforted everyone else—Layton had a lot of friends and Olivia was their rock. When Calvin died, it was Olivia who held us together—it should have been me. I can’t imagine what it must be like, losing a child. But Olivia held my hand, assured me that life goes on.” She looked into Luke’s eyes. “Where am I going to find that kind of strength? How am I going to do that for Cole?”

  Luke settled his arm around her shoulders. “You know, Olivia said just about the same words to me the other night. Only you were the one who was strong, you helped her through the dark times.”

  Analise burst into tears. “She has to live! She has to fight this. I want her to see her grandchildren. God shouldn’t cheat her out of that. She has so much to give. I can’t . . .” The tears overcame the words, leaving the rest unsaid. But she sensed Luke understood; he understood her anger and her fear.

  He pulled her onto his lap and held her while she cried.

  Luke went to bed feeling the weight of this family’s tragedy on his heart. Their trials truly seemed endless. Frustration and impotence burned in his gut. Olivia had wanted him here to support Analise and Cole—but what could he really do? He could see that Analise was going to look at him as an adversary in her campaign to convince Olivia to take chemo. And Cole was already mad at him for moving in on his brother’s wife. No, he couldn’t see what good he was going to be able to do at all.

  Sometime in the night, he awakened from a fitful doze. He wasn’t sure what had drawn him from sleep, but it had been something other than a nightmare for a change. He listened carefully. A long, thin whine came from downstairs.

  He got up and pulled on his jeans. Then he moved silently through the house toward the noise. When he reached the kitchen, he saw Rufus with his nose pressed against the back door, shifting from paw to paw, his whine about to break out into baying.

  He put a hand on the dog’s head. “Shhh, buddy. Let’s not scare anyone off,” he whispered.

  After making a circuit of the downstairs windows and not seeing anyone or anything out of the ordinary, he rummaged around in the refrigerator and came up with a piece of leftover beef to distract Rufus. Then he slipped quietly out the back door. Of course, Luke thought, it could be nothing more than a deer or a raccoon that got too close to the house.

  As he stood on the back steps, he heard a metallic clang near the carriage house. He made his way in that direction, moving silently, sticking to deep shadow. Skirting around to the back of the building, he saw a dark form kneeling by the back door.

  Employing his old skills, he moved on silent feet, maneuvering himself into a position that would prevent any attempt the man might make to sprint away. When Luke was close enough, he grabbed the man from behind, wrapping his arm around the intruder’s neck. Luke threw him, face down, to the ground. The man kicked a large metal barrel next to the door, clattering it against the building before it fell on its side and rolled away.

  Rufus let loose with a round of baying in the house that Luke could hear clear out here.

  Luke got the man’s arm wrenched behind him and applied pressure. “Hold still. You’re not going anywhere.” After the man stopped wriggling, Luke jerked him to his feet, but kept a firm hand on his arm. When he saw the face, he wasn’t at all surprised.

  Dave finally recovered his breath enough to speak. “What in the hell is wrong with you?”

  “I was about to ask you the same thing.” He marched Dave toward the house.

  Dave sputtered, “Let go of me! I was just checking out the place.”

  “Yeah, you’re all solicitous concern.” Luke jerked him around and slammed his back against the carriage house. “I want you to listen to me very closely.” He pressed harder, nearly lifting Dave off his feet. “This ends now. I don’t care who you are, or what your position is in this county. You do anything to harm either of those women and I will make you disappear.” He lowered his voice and said through clenched teeth, “It’s all in a day’s work for a man like me.”

  Dave’s eyes grew large. “Threatening an officer—”

  Luke shook him, snapping his mouth closed. “Am I clear?”

  Dave’s voice wasn’t much more than a wheeze when he said, “I was doing my job.”

  “Sing that tune all you want. Nobody’s going to be fooled.” He jerked Dave back in front of him and marshaled him toward the house.

  When they rounded the corner of the carriage house, the lights were on in the kitchen and beside the back door. Olivia’s face was pressed against the glass.

  As Luke got close, she opened the door and Rufus came howling down the steps. He ran in circles around Luke and Dave, baying and carrying on like he’d bagged the quarry.

  “Luke? Is that you?” Olivia called, her voice broken up by Rufus’s bass howl.

  “Me and a little unexpected company.”

  Analise stepped out onto the back stoop with Olivia.

  Dave jerked once more and Luke let him go. He spun on Luke. “You stupid—”

  “Dave!” Olivia shouted. “What’s going on?”

  Dave turned to face the women. “I was just keeping an eye on things, like I always do”—he flung a finger in Luke’s direction—“when this son-of . . . he jumped me.”

  Luke asked, “Where’s your car?”

  Dave shot him a killing look. “On the road. I didn’t want to disturb anyone.”

  “Just parked at the end of the drive, then? When I walk down there, it won’t be tucked away behind some bush?” Luke asked calmly. He crossed his arms over his chest to keep from putting a fist in the guy’s lying mouth.

  Dave ignored the question and turned on Luke. “This is ridiculous. Why were you out there poking around at this hour?”

  “Responding to our watchdog.” He pointed to Rufus, who had quieted but had his head tucked low, staring at Dave. “You normally ‘check things out’ using this?” Luke held up a long thin lock pick.

  Dave sealed his own confession when he patted his back pants pocket, looking for the device.

  Analise drew in a sharp breath, then said in a small voice, “It wasn’t Roy.” She and Olivia exchanged a troubled look.

  Olivia said, “Oh, Dave. Did you paint Ana’s car and break her window, too?” She gasped. “And poor Rufus! How could you?”

  “I don’t have to take this! I was just looking out for y’all.” He spun aro
und and headed down the driveway, disappearing quickly into the dark. They heard him mutter, “Bunch of ungrateful . . .”

  Rufus took several steps after him, chuffing, as if getting in the last word.

  Luke called after him, “Remember what I said.”

  After a second, Analise put a hand to her throat and said, “I wouldn’t have believed it. He’d been Calvin’s friend since grade school. Why? Why would he do this?”

  Luke said, “For the very reason he said I was doing those things . . . he wanted you to need him. And he thought he could convince you that I was the culprit. He wanted me gone.”

  A new light dawned in Analise’s eye. “He was jealous?”

  “He wanted to be a part of this family,” Luke said.

  Ana shook her head and said, “I supposed we’d better call Smug in the morning. He should know.”

  “Yes,” Luke agreed. “It’ll still be our word against Dave’s, no proof for charges, but the sheriff should know.”

  Olivia said in a sad tone, “Poor Dave. I’m so disappointed.” Then she turned around and went inside.

  As she’d said the words, Luke realized just how painful it would be to have Olivia use them toward him. Her disappointment would be a troublesome burden.

  If she knew the truth, you’d know the sting of those words.

  He was all too aware that he deserved them more now than on the day he’d arrived here, for he’d been letting these people believe his intentions were pure.

  He tried to ignore his nagging conscience as he followed the women back inside.

  Chapter 21

  First thing the next morning, Analise made a difficult call to the sheriff. She explained all that had been happening. The fact that this was all news to the sheriff just confirmed that Dave was at the center of it all; Olivia had reported every incident to Dave, and there was no paperwork, no notification to his superior on any of the vandalism.

  Smug said, “This puts us in a difficult spot. No evidence.” He paused. “I don’t think Dave is a dangerous man—a jealous one, maybe. I’ll take care of things.”