“And why not?” She looked down at her grandson.
“Because this bear is boy and Heather’s a girl’s name, and you’re Grammy.”
“Then, I suppose you have to name him Alex.” Heather reached over and hugged Ben.
“I have chocolate cake for dessert. Is anyone interested?” Juanita announced when they finished their spaghetti and Tim stood to gather their empty plates.
“Me, me,” Ben said.
“Me, me, too,” Tim said.
Juanita brought cake slices to the table.
Tim looked at his mother and went back to the original discussion. “Mom, I want you to know if you really love this man, then I’m behind you. I want you to be happy.”
“That goes for me, too, Heather.”
“Thank you, kids. I prayed you’d feel this way because I think Alex is the man I want to spend the rest of my life with.”
“You like him that much?”
“Yes, I do. I’d marry him tomorrow if he’d ask me, Tim.”
Later, when Heather pulled into her driveway and opened the garage door with her automatic opener, she didn’t notice the car parked across the street or the driver getting out and heading in her direction. Neither did she notice her neighbor pulling into his driveway at about the same time, forcing the woman to get back into her car. By the time the neighbor got into his house, Heather had her garage closed and locked and was locking the door into the hall from the garage.
She got ready for bed and snuggled down, waiting for the phone to ring. It wasn’t long and it thrilled her to tell Alex she’d told her family about him.
When they hung up, Heather went to sleep thanking God for giving her such a loving son and his family and for letting her meet the man she knew she’d love forever. She was dozing off when the car pulled away from the curb and disappeared into the night with the driver cursing stronger than any sailor.
CHAPTER 16
Heather spent most of the next day writing. In the late afternoon, she went to the rest home and visited her father. He didn’t know her, but seemed to enjoy her visit. When she left, she went by her favorite Mexican restaurant for takeout. She’d finished eating when the phone rang. It was Tim. He said they had homemade ice cream and wanted her to come for dessert.
As they sat around the patio table, Tim said, “William called again today asking when you were coming home.”
“What did you tell him?”
“We said we didn’t know.”
“Heather, Tim told me you were going to break up with William,” Juanita smiled at her mother-in-law. “I’m glad, because I never liked him. He isn’t your type.”
Heather smiled back. “I don’t think I ever liked him much either, honey.”
“Grammy, who is William?”
“A man I know, sweetheart.”
“If he’s not nice to my Grammy, I don’t like him.”
“I don’t think he’ll be coming around Grammy much longer, Son.” Tim patted Ben’s back. “Why don’t you go get those graphs and things you did at the doctor and show them to Grammy?”
“Okay.” He went toward the back door.
“Graphs?” Heather looked at Tim.
“We have something to tell you about Ben, but decided your news was enough for last night. Now it’s our turn to shock you, but you’ve got to promise me you won’t get too excited. We want to keep things as normal for Ben as possible.”
A scared look crossed her face. “There’s nothing wrong with him—”
“It’s nothing like that, Heather. It’s a good thing, I think.”
“Yes, Mom. I know how proud of him you are. Please try to tone it down this time.” He grinned at his mother’s puzzled face and went on. “You know he’s an exceedingly smart child and they’re already letting him do third grade work. Juanita and I decided to take him to a special doctor in Winston-Salem for an evaluation. You’re not going to believe what we found out.”
“What?”
“His IQ is hovering around one-sixty.”
“Oh, my word, Tim. That’s in the genius category, isn’t it?” Her eyes got big. “My boy is a genius.”
“Now, stay calm, Mom. Not only is he a genius, but he’s on the verge of testing as high genius.”
“We knew he was awfully smart, but we never dreamed how smart,” Juanita said.
“I’m so proud of him.” Heather squeezed her eyes together. “Aren’t you?’
“Of course we are, Mom, but we don’t want to make a big deal out of it.”
“Why not? It is a big deal.”
Juanita shook her head. “It’s such a big deal, they’re pushing us to send him to special schools, but I want him to have a normal childhood.”
Heather took a deep breath to calm herself. “He does a lot of little boy things.”
“Oh, yes. He loves his teddy bear collection and his trucks and cars. Of course, he’s always making up stories about them and he’s taken several of his toys apart and put them back together.” Tim took his mother’s hand. “He’s reading a lot, too. I noticed he’s beginning to pick out chapter books to read. I’m very proud of him, but I’m like Juanita, it’s scares me a little.”
“You and Juanita are smart, Tim.” Heather smiled at her son.
“I think our IQ’s are somewhere around one-thirty to one-thirty-five. But we’re not nearly as smart as our son.”
Ben came back. “Here you go Grammy. The doctor said I was a smart little boy. Of course, you tell me that all the time.”
“So, am I right or what?” She took the papers and put her arm around him. “I always said you were the smartest little boy I know.”
“I know.” He put his arms around her neck. “When are we going to the beach?”
“In a week or so, if it’s okay with your parents.”
“Is it, Dad?”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Are you going to play on the beach with me when we get there, Grammy?”
“Of course. What do you want to play?”
“We can dig holes and see the little sea life float in it.”
“Maybe we’ll dig all the way to China.”
“Now, Grammy. You know that’s impossible. The middle of the earth is molten lava.”
“You’re right. Grammy was kidding.” She cocked her eye at Tim.
“See what I mean?” Tim chuckled.
“I do see, but I don’t think any decisions have to be made tonight, do they?”
“Of course not.” Juanita stood. “I’m getting hot. Why don’t we go inside and have some of the ice cream Tim made for dessert? It’s peach. One of your favorites.”
“You don’t have to ask me twice.”
“Bet I can eat more than you can, Grammy.”
“We’ll see about that. I’ll race you to the kitchen.” They headed toward the back door.
“I bet I can eat more than you or Grammy either one, son.” Tim stood and put his arm around Juanita. In her ear, he whispered, “You were right. She makes up for my father saying there’s no way Ben could be that smart because it wasn’t in his genes.”
•♥ •
The next week was hectic for Heather. She spoke in Knoxville at a conference, and from there, she made several stops at signings and writing groups in Tennessee. She kept close tabs on her family daily and she credited the nightly calls from Alex with keeping her sane.
“I’m going to make my last stop in Hickory tomorrow afternoon,” she told him as she cuddled down in the bed at midnight on Monday night.
“What time?” He asked.
“At three. It should last a couple of hours, then I’m going to head home.”
“I don’t want you to do that.”
This confused her. “Why not, Alex?”
“Because I want to meet you in Hickory and take you to dinner.”
“I’d love that.”
•♥ •
It was mid-afternoon on Wednesday when Alex rode Zeke out to the edge of the Hi
lton pasture which joined Jude Winslow’s property. Jude and Luke were standing by the fence. Alex dismounted and strode over to them. “What’s going on?”
“We think the fence cutting has more consequences than teenagers playing pranks,” Jude said.
“What kind of consequences?” Alex frowned.
“Jude found this a little while ago.” Luke handed his father a computer sheet.
“It’s a copy of Anna’s high school picture.” Alex frowned.
“Looks like one copied on a computer. What’s it doing here?”
“I don’t know.” Luke looked puzzled.
“It was nailed to that fence post. I grabbed it off before I thought, but to me it looks like somebody wants you to know who’s cutting the fences.” Jude got off his horse.
“Do you know if Earl Turner is out of prison, Jude?” Alex frowned.
“Somebody told me he was released a few weeks ago.”
Alex looked at the picture again. “Surely, he doesn’t still hold a grudge.”
Jude shrugged. “I don’t know, Alex. He said he’d get all of us when he got out. I called Brock and Seth. They’ve both had some fences cut.”
“Neil told me at church Sunday he’d had some cut, too.”
“I called Richard Staples, Dad. I felt we should bring the law into this.”
Alex nodded. “What did he say to do?”
“Said to keep a close watch and he’d send out a man today to look things over.” Luke reached for the picture.
“We figure you’re getting the worst of it, Alex. You know he’s hated you since the day you married Anna,” Jude said.
“That was over thirty-five years ago. Surely, the man is over it by now.”
“Is he the man who always said he was supposed to be the one to marry Mother?”
“That’s him, Son. Your mother helped him with some kind of high school project and he was sure it was because she loved him. No matter how many times she told him she didn’t, he wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
“Then when the six of us practically took over the basketball team, he went nuts. Said he’d get us all, eventually.” Jude shook his head.
“Why?”
“He was arrested in his senior year and was sent to prison for a while,” Jude explained. “When he was let out, it wasn’t long until he did something and was back in. It went on like that for years. Then, ten years ago, he stabbed a man in a bar brawl in front of the six of us when we were having lunch in town. We all testified against him and I didn’t expect him to ever get out again, but some bleeding-heart politician managed to get him paroled.”
The faint sounds of a siren cut into their conversation. Jude mounted his horse. “I’d better go meet them. There’s no way they can get here by car.”
CHAPTER 17
After the police finished, they followed Jude from the field. Luke and Alex mounted their horses and started toward home. They went for a distance in silence. Finally, Luke said, “Okay, Dad, I have to ask. Where were you last night?”
“Hickory.”
“What were you doing in Hickory?”
“Taking Heather to dinner.”
Luke stared at him. “And I guess dinner took all night.”
Alex chuckled. “No, son. Dinner didn’t take all night. After eating, we spent most of the rest of the night sitting at the hotel pool, talking. When we got too sleepy to talk any more, we went to bed.” He looked at his son. “She slept in her room and I slept in mine. It wasn’t my choice, but she said she wasn’t ready to sleep with me yet.”
“I didn’t ask about your sleeping arrangements.”
“I know you didn’t, Luke, but I wanted you to know.”
There was another silence, then Luke said, “You really like her, don’t you, Dad?”
“I’m in love with her, son. I told her so last night.”
“What did she say?”
“She said she loved me, too. You know I loved your mother dearly and I’d give anything I have if I could’ve kept her with me. I couldn’t, and now I feel God has sent me Heather. I hope it doesn’t upset you that I’ve met someone I know I can be happy with once again.”
Luke shook his head. “It doesn’t upset me. Actually, I’m happy for you, but I have to admit it’ll take some getting used to.” He adjusted his hat. “If she means this much to you, I want to get to know this woman better.”
“You will. We talked about that last night. I found out she has a place at Myrtle Beach. When I told her we were going down next week, she informed me she and her family had planned to go down this month. She’s going to make arrangements for them to go down the week we’ll be there. We’ll get together, and maybe her grandson and Jacob will enjoy playing while the adults get to know each other.”
Luke nodded. “Getting together on vacation might not be a bad idea.”
•♥ •
Heather was in high spirits when she got home. She called Juanita, and her daughter-in-law said Friday would be the perfect time for them to go to the beach. When Heather hung up, she headed to the rest home. She spent a couple of hours with her father. He was in a good mood and thanked her several times for being such a nice lady and for visiting him.
Back at home she found a message from Juanita insisting she come to dinner so they could discuss the beach trip. Heather accepted the invitation and after the meal they finalized their plans to leave on Friday. Ben informed them he was riding with Grammy, then left them to pack the suitcase he always took his toys in.
When he left the room, Heather told them about Alex meeting her in Hickory and the plans they’d made for the two families to get together at the beach. She then went home and went to bed early. She was almost asleep when Alex called at ten. They talked until almost midnight and once again declared their love for one another. Heather went to sleep with a smile on her face.
• ♥ •
“You witch! When did you get back home?” Rachelle lit a cigarette and tried to calm her frustration. She’d missed it when Heather left town this time and had missed her return. Now, she was sitting here in her car again watching the house the woman had locked up safe and secure. She knew she was going to have to be more attentive.
“If I hadn’t got too drunk to drive…” She cursed again when a hot ash fell from her cigarette and burned her leg.
She was mad because her plans were falling apart. She’d tried to get in Heather’s house so she could steal her computer to see if she had any more Alex stories, but the alarm went off the minute she tried to jimmy the back door. Thank goodness she’d been able to run across the back yard and hide in the trees before the police arrived. She was so shaken up after they left that she went home and drank until she passed out.
“That must have been the time you came home, you slut!” She said aloud and crushed the cigarette in the overflowing ashtray.
A police car drove slowly by.
She muttered a curse and started her car. By the time they came back, she was heading down the street.
•♥ •
At two-fifteen in the morning the phone woke Heather from a deep sleep. It took her a few minutes to become coherent.
“Ms. Masterson, this is Nurse Conley.”
Heather sat straight up in bed. “My father?” She knew this was his private night nurse.
“He isn’t doing well, Ms. Masterson. I’m sorry it’s so late, but you wanted us to call. He had a stroke a little while ago and we’ve transported him to the hospital. I’m here with him.”
“I’ll be there soon.”
“There’s not much time left.”
“Thank you.”
In thirty minutes Heather was sitting at her father’s bedside. His breathing was labored and his eyes remained closed. She held his hand, her mind almost blank as she stared at the thin frame of the man who used to be the robust fire fighter. Not only did he not recognize her now, she didn’t recognize him, either. They told her the stroke had been sudden and massive. He wasn’t
expected to respond, but ease out of this world in his own time.
The room was dim and muted voices floated from the hall. She wondered how much longer he could hold on. She also wondered why he was fighting so hard. Maybe that was the way of death. You fought as long and as hard as you could.
His eyes came open and gave her a jolt. She started to call the nurse, but when he said, “Hi, Heather. I’m glad you’re here,” she couldn’t. It didn’t matter because Nurse Conley walked in at that moment. She took one look at them and left the room.
“I’m glad I’m here too, Daddy,” Heather said softly.
“Your Mama has come to get me, Heather.”
“Really, Daddy?”
He smiled. “Doesn’t she look beautiful?”
“Yes, she does.”
“I love you little one. Now, don’t you be sad.”
“Oh, Daddy…”
“Why, here comes Frances. She looks pretty, too.”
“Oh, Daddy,” she said again. This time, through tears.
“Buck up, little one. Kiss Daddy good-bye. And remember, I’ve always loved my royal ladies. All three of them.”
Heather leaned down and kissed her father’s withered cheek. Tears were flowing from her eyes.
“Don’t cry. Promise Daddy you won’t be sad. It’s a pretty place, Heather. It’s going to be all right because two of my royal ladies are already here. I love you, Heather.”
“I love you, Daddy.”
He smiled, closed his eyes and drew his last breath.
When the nurse came back into the room with a sleepy-looking doctor, Heather was still holding her father’s hand. “He’s gone,” she whispered.
“But Nurse Conley told me he was talking,” the doctor said through a yawn.
“He was telling me good-bye.”
“Let me get you something to drink, Ms. Masterson.” The nurse touched Heather’s arm.
Heather gently let go of her father’s hand and stood. “I don’t want anything, thank you.”
“Do you want to come outside and talk about some arrangements?” the doctor asked.
“No. My father planned everything before his mind went.” She told them which funeral home to contact.
“I’m really sorry, Ms. Masterson,” Nurse Conley said.
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