Express Duet

by Jody Day

  I dove into cleaning Shelley’s Heart with cathartic vim and vigor. Everything shone when Mom came back, her arms loaded with stuffed teddy bears and board games. She also brought bags of fruit snacks and candy for the children coming for the weekend.

  We dolled up the room together. Satisfied that cuteness prevailed, we sat in the kitchen for a cup of coffee.

  “You know,” she said, “I was thinking about your trip to Dallas. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to let Mr. West know about your plans. He could convince Scott better than anyone probably. Why don’t I call? I want to check on him anyway.” She took her cell from her purse.

  “Paul West’s room, please.” We grinned at each other while the call was transferred. I think Exit 477 had gotten under her skin as well.

  “Mr. West? This is Gwen Brown. How are you feeling?” A long pause ensued. Mother listened, nodding.

  “Yes, it can be grueling, but you’ll come out stronger on the other side. Hang in there. Say, Bailey’s planning a surprise for Scott, and we need you to be a co-conspirator. She and Toppy are going to drive up and look in on you. Toppy has tickets to the Cowboys game, and Bailey would like to visit with you while they go to the game. She’s concerned that Scott will balk at leaving you. What do you think?”

  She listened again, and her amused smile told me everything would be OK.

  ~*~

  The Sanchez family blew in with too much luggage for one weekend. I guess you have to bring the whole kitchen sink when you have six-year-old twins. Andrea and Andrés were delightful though, if a little precocious.

  “Andrés, don’t put your shoes on the pretty couch!” Viana Sanchez picked up the boy and set him on the floor. Andrea promptly stood up on the couch. Her father, Ciulo, whom we soon learned went by his nickname Chewy, removed her as well.

  Mother and I helped them in with all their things. We fairly tripped over the twins as they ran up and down the stairs. Upstairs was not the best idea for those two. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before.

  “We can move their room downstairs, if you like, Mrs. Sanchez,” I said.

  “The Sweetheart Room is lovely, but if you could move my husband and me upstairs, then we’d be close to the children. That will be fine.”

  “Just give us a few minutes. Have you had dinner?”

  “No, and we’re starving. It’s a long drive from San Antonio,” Chewy said, restraining both children at once from another run up the stairs.

  “West House is down the street. Good food and very reasonable. My mother and I will rearrange the rooms for you before you get back.”

  The family piled back into their car and drove off for dinner.

  It didn’t take long to carry their things upstairs. Nothing really needed doing as the room next to the children’s room had a king-size bed and was already clean.

  “I hope the Sanchez’s like this Adirondack décor.” Mom fluffed their pillows and put clean towels in the bathroom. I moved my things back down to the Sweetheart Room.

  The family returned with two very sleepy children—full of Toppy’s hamburgers and fries probably, and ready to go to bed. Viana and Chewy carried their twins up the stairs. Shortly after, the parents also retired for the night.

  Bright, shiny, rested faces showed up for breakfast the next morning. The Sanchez family planned to attend the Fire Ant Festival. Marshall adopted an “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” attitude toward one of Texas’s most annoying pests. Chewy couldn’t wait to take part in the thirty-mile Tour de Fire Ant cycling competition. The children talked excitedly about riding in a choo-choo train that weaved through the vendors on the town square, where Viana planned to shop. They ate breakfast and then headed towards the day’s activities.

  “Packed?” Mother asked as we cleaned up the kitchen.

  “Yes. I’m excited. I hope it will make Scott happy. He’s been working so hard. He deserves this. Toppy, too.”

  “I’m glad. What are you going to talk to Mr. West about for those hours?” She hung the fall accent dishcloths on the rack and then poured us both another cup of coffee.

  “I thought I might choose a book from Shelley’s shelves and possibly read to him. If he’s up to talking, I want to hear more about the Bible study at the diner. Things just got started up again then more upheaval.” Maybe Liz and Tracy would keep things going for a while.

  “I like coming here,” she said. “Maybe I could swing by one week for the Bible study.”

  “I’m seriously thinking of staying here, if things work out.” I sipped my coffee, too excited to eat the casserole that Mother set before me. “I would need for a few days in a row to string together without catastrophe before I can decide.”

  “It really depends on Scott, doesn’t it?”

  “No, Mom, not really. Of course if he didn’t want me to stay, that would be a cincher. There was a time when I would have depended on what he thought of me. It’s actually very important to me now, but I’m learning to be content in who I am in Christ. Whether he likes me or not, and I think he does, I’d like to work here, live here.”

  Mother smiled. “It’s been good for you. Even in the middle of all this turmoil, you seem stronger.”

  “I am stronger. Although, I’m purposely not thinking about all the details. By the way, how’s Darryl?”

  “He was released today, but into custody. He’s been charged with arson.” She sighed, shaking her head. “He seemed glad to be in jail, though. I think he’s afraid of those bad guys he owes money to.”

  “I guess it’s all catching up with him. Are you able to forgive him, Mother? I believe he meant it when he said it was an accident.”

  “You know, I lived all my life with Gran’s ‘Onward!’ attitude. She was a very forgiving person and instilled that in me by her example. She was disappointed in my choice of men, but other than that, we were very close.”

  “I told Darryl about Christ. I pray he’ll think about it, but he pretty much turned his head away from me after I spoke to him.”

  “Bailey, I’m proud of you. I know what that must have taken. We’ll just have to keep praying.”

  I found it hard to pray for him when I saw the remnants of Pinewood Manor in my mind’s eye. But with God’s help, I would try.

  The Sanchez family returned that evening worn to a frazzle. They went straight to bed. I told them good-bye and informed them my mom would be serving them the next morning.

  As I lay in bed that night, I imagined first that Scott was happy to see me, then I imagined that he wasn’t happy. I finally fell into a fitful sleep.

  18

  On the front porch of Shelley’s I shivered in my sweater as I waited for Toppy to arrive. He showed up, waving a Cowboys flag from the window.

  “Ready, little lady?” He jumped out and opened the passenger door of his SUV.

  “Been ready for hours. I’m excited about this.” We headed for Dallas. Toppy put his radio on the ‘70s station. He knew all the words. I sang along, quite familiar because my mother listened to the same channel for years.

  “Oops, sorry. I didn’t understand some of the meanings of those words when I was a kid.” He turned off the radio and popped in a CD, and we listened to classical piano. A man of varied tastes, Toppy spanned the gamut of musical druthers. By the time we got to the Dallas Rehabilitation Center, I was beyond excited to see Scott and how he’d react to my surprise.

  We tiptoed into Peeps’s room. Scott was dozing in a chair beside the bed.

  “Well, hello fr…friends!” Peeps said, rather loudly.

  Scott jerked awake. “Wow, hey! What are you guys doing here?” Scott hugged his uncle then me.

  “Get your jacket,” Toppy announced. “You and I are going to a Cowboys game.”

  Scott didn’t seem to hear him. He kept looking at me. “Really good to see you, Bailey.” He hugged me again.

  A strange look came over Toppy’s face. He sat in Scott’s chair, deep in thought.

&
nbsp; I pulled away from Scott and went to Peeps. He reached up for a kiss on the cheek just beaming at me.

  “What did you say, Uncle Tops?” Scott followed me to his father’s bedside, not letting go of my hand.

  “I said I came to sit with my brother-in-law so the two of you can go to the Cowboys game.” He gave me a look that said, “Leave it at that.”

  “What?” Scott exclaimed, looking first at Toppy then at me.

  “My lawyer gave me a couple of tickets. I thought you might enjoy it.” I looked questioningly at Toppy.

  “Yeah, get outta here or you’ll miss the whole thing. Peeps and I have some catching up to do.”

  Peeps nodded.

  “Sure, Dad?” Scott looked like he might back out. “It’s been a rough morning.”

  “Go.” Peeps waved us out the door.

  “All right, then.” Scott grabbed his jacket and my hand and pulled me out of the room. I looked over my shoulder at Toppy. He threw me the keys to his car and nodded a big affirmative.

  Had Toppy changed his mind when he saw how glad Scott was to see me? Or had he planned not to go to the game from the very beginning? Either way, what a darling thing to do. I liked the Cowboys well enough, but to watch Scott have fun after all he’d been through…bliss.

  Scott and I ran like kids to the elevator and rushed to Toppy’s car.

  We drove out of the parking lot. Scott filled me in on his dad’s regime, how he’d been learning to walk Peeps through the paces.

  “The old man has been a real curmudgeon through the whole thing. He’s tired and wants to go home. It won’t be much easier once we get home if he doesn’t resign himself to the exercises.” He pulled me close to him as he drove.

  “We’ll have to pray and be patient.” I enjoyed snuggling next to him against the cold.

  “So how’s everything on the good old Washout Express? Choo, choo!” Corny, but cute.

  “Mandy and Macy are with Tracy at the diner. My mom is taking care of the guests at Shelley’s. Business was humming when we passed by the washout this morning at six. Nothing to worry about,” I said.

  “Would you be terribly disappointed if we didn’t go to the game? You’ve gone to so much trouble, but I’m dying to talk to you about something.”

  I couldn’t read his expression.

  “Not a bit,” I said. “Hard to talk at a game. Where did you want to go?” What did he want to talk about? Was something wrong with Peeps?

  “Not sure, but a quiet place. Sure you don’t mind?”

  How could I resist those blue eyes?

  I couldn’t. I would follow those eyes anywhere. “Fine with me. You’d give up a chance to see the Cowboys just to talk to me?” Steady, girl.

  “I’d give my right arm for a chance with you.” He stole a glance at me.

  Where was he going with this? My heartbeat did flips.

  “All right, then. Where to? A restaurant? A movie?” I ran through a mental list of possible quiet places.

  “I’ll know it when I see it, Miss Brown.” His voice turned soft, reflective. After the giddy excitement, we suddenly became quiet as church mice.

  Scott slowed the car as we passed a park. Lovely and green, as East Texas is wont to remain all year long, it was dotted with maples that shone in autumn glory. We parked the car and walked hand in hand to a bench nearly hidden by shrubs and canopied with wisteria and crepe myrtle.

  “How’s this, Miss Brown?” He bowed low, showing me to my seat with a sweeping flourish of his arm.

  “Why are you calling me Miss Brown? You’re positively nutty this afternoon. I guess you really did need a break.”

  “I need a break, and I’m going for broke, as well.” He got down on one knee and reached for my hand. He was breathing nervously and his hands were shaking.

  I gasped slightly and unconsciously threw my hand up to cover my mouth.

  “Bailey, I’ve prayed my head off about this.” He stopped and looked directly into my eyes. “I can’t stop thinking about you.”

  I can’t stop thinking about you either, and I’ve been praying too.

  “These few days that I’ve been away made me realize I need you by my side. You have been such a help to me. You know how to take charge and be there for a person. You’ve been so good for Dad, and everyone trusts you. You’re perfect for us—for me.”

  OK, I was hoping for “I love you,” but be patient, Bailey.

  “Would you, could you, if you feel the same way, consider becoming Mrs. West instead of Miss Brown?” He pulled a set of rings from his pocket.

  I knew without being told that they were Shelley’s. Had he asked his father about this? Had they decided together that I was the answer to their problems? My hopes died a little.

  “I…” I’d hoped for a declaration of love, not one of need. My breaking heart paralyzed me. I couldn’t sort it out and couldn’t speak.

  Scott searched my eyes. He reached for my other hand and clutched them both in his. “I…need you, Bailey. I need you on my team.”

  Was I expecting too much? Because it certainly felt like I was a good employee he wanted to lock into a contract.

  Father, have I drifted too far the other way wanting to be loved for just me and not for what I can do for people? I felt confused. I loved Scott; no doubt about that. I’d thought he loved me, too. Now I wasn’t so sure. Maybe his nerves were making him botch this. Or maybe he’d said exactly what he meant. Maybe he didn’t love me at all. Maybe I was just making his life easier by managing Shelley’s place. He’d already admitted he felt overwhelmed before I arrived. Could I marry a man who didn’t really love me? Should I even consider it?

  A worried look came over his face, the joy and excitement sucked away.

  “Do you feel the same way, Bailey? Was I wrong to think you did?”

  “Scott, I…don’t know what to say. As far as feeling the same way…what I hear you saying is that you need help. I want nothing more in the world than to help you, and I will, but I hoped to marry for love. I’m sorry.”

  “Oh, Bailey, I’m such an idiot…let me…” Scott lifted himself from his knee and slid into the seat next to me, not letting go of my hands

  “No, it’s OK.” I shook loose from his grip.

  What was I thinking? Hadn’t it always been this way? Good enough to work, but not good enough to be loved. Maybe I should settle for this. Scott was a decent man. It was probably the best I could hope for. At least I loved him. At least I was sure he’d never do anything to hurt me.

  No. He meant too much to me. I couldn’t marry him and have him not feel as deeply as I did. The hurt, confusion, and disappointment seeped through my pores and tears fell. I couldn’t help it.

  Scott continued to speak, but there was a roaring in my ears that blocked his words, an ocean pushing my dreams farther away. But, I’d come a long way. There was a time that I would have said yes anyway.

  I walked toward the car with Scott following, murmuring some apology. What did it matter? My defense mechanisms switched into gear, my pain-masking processes jumped to attention. Keep my word and see Shelley’s Heart through the bookings I made, get a job, move back to town, deal with Pinewood Manor.

  Scott’s cell rang as soon as we got into the car.

  “On my way.” His face darkened. He revved up the engine and maneuvered Toppy’s vehicle in and out of traffic in a crazed kind of way.

  “Something wrong?” Oh please, God, not Peeps.

  “Dad’s taken a turn for the worse. He’s been transferred to a hospital.”

  19

  The wires and beeping monitors swallowed Peeps, his face gray and unresponsive. Scott rushed to his side. I took a spot against the wall with Toppy, out of the way.

  “What happened?” I whispered.

  “He was fine, chatting away, then kind of yelped, and closed his eyes.” Toppy squeezed worried tears from his eyes with his thumbs. “They think he had a heart attack.”

  A nurse watched the oxyg
en and heart monitor. She gently nudged his arms, patted his face, trying to wake him.

  “Dad?” Scott’s hoarse plea did the trick. His father opened his eyes and looked around the room, finally resting on his son.

  “There you are,” he whispered, barely audible from where I stood.

  “Did…she say y—yes?” His eyes roamed the room until he spotted me. “Come here, Queen o’ Sheba.”

  Slow motion seemed to make the distance farther, but I made it to his side and grasped his hand.

  “Take c…care of my boy, will you? I’ve got to go.” He put my hand in Scott’s.

  My heart broke on so many levels. No, Peeps, you can’t go yet. Scott doesn’t really want me. I love him. I love you both. I stepped back a bit.

  “No, Dad, please.” Scott fell on his father’s chest, weeping.

  “Tops?” Peeps whispered.

  “Here I am, Paul.” Toppy slipped beside Scott and laid his hand on Peeps’s arm. “You’ve been like a brother to me.” His voice broke.

  “Love y—you.” Peeps managed a weak smile for his brother-in-law.

  “I love you, too,” Toppy said, leaning over the bed.

  Scott moved out of the way so that Toppy could embrace Peeps. I wondered if they whispered good-bye, because again Scott cried, “No, Dad!”

  Toppy moved back to stand beside me, weeping openly.

  “G…g…good boy.” Peeps reached up for Scott, who leaned over and rested his head on the pillow next to his father’s face.

  “L…love my boy…always.” Peeps touched Scott’s face then closed his eyes. “My Sh…Shelley…” Peeps whispered.

  Peep’s jaw dropped. The beeps on the monitor became erratic.

  A crew of hospital staff rushed in, relegating us to the perimeter of the room. They began working on Peeps, barking orders, administering drugs. Paddles were applied to his chest, but beyond the initial jerk as the electricity poured through him, the paddles drew no response. The erratic beating continued, like some rhythm-less drummer.

  Moments later, the monitor flat lined.

  A doctor began manual CPR.

  “No, Dad, wait,” Scott whimpered from the corner.