The Big 5-OH!

by Sandra D. Bricker

When he cut himself off, Liv turned toward him and asked, “In fact, what?”

  “Well, I was going to say—in fact—the wedding isn’t the only thing that wouldn’t be the same without you.”

  “Oh,” she replied knowingly.

  “Life in general wouldn’t be the same. That's why I hope you’ll rethink this whole idea about—”

  This time, it was Jared's ringing phone that sliced through the air.

  This is getting to be a little ridiculous, Liv thought.

  “Sorry,” he said, slipping the cell phone out of his jacket pocket. “This is Jared Hunt.”

  Liv sighed and took a large bite of cake.

  “Josie, settle down. She's right here with me,” Jared said, and Liv inched to the edge of her chair. “Start at the beginning. What's happened to Hallie?”

  20

  “You made the choice to leave the clearing,” Horatio reminded Prudence.

  “I know.”

  “So why are you so sad when you’re only doing what you decided to do?”

  “Because I’ve decided that I may have decided something I didn’t want to decide.”

  You have your boarding pass?”

  “Yes.”

  “And your bag?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay. And I have the car keys. I’ll return it after your flight leaves and take a taxi back home.” They moved forward in the line toward the security gate, and Liv pushed Boofer's plastic dog carrier along with them with her foot before turning to Jared with a smile. “Thank you so much, Jared. For everything. I’m just so sorry I have to go like this, before we were able to figure out—”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. Hallie's hurt, and she needs you. You go to her, and we’ll talk soon.”

  “It's only good-bye for a little while, anyway,” she reasoned. “It's not like it's forever.”

  “Exactly.”

  “It's not like I’ll never see you again. I mean, there are airplanes and long weekends. People do it all the time.”

  “Yes, they do.”

  Boofer barked from inside the carrier at her feet, and Liv reached inside and tickled her chin. “Don’t worry. I’ll be with you the whole time.”

  “I would have been happy to take care of her until Josie could come back.”

  “We don’t know when that will be,” Liv reminded him. “I think it will be better for them both if I take her up there with me.”

  “All right,” he said, and then he grabbed her hand and held it between both of his. “Have a good trip, and call me when you get there.”

  “I will.”

  “Give my love to Josie. Tell her I’m here if she needs anything at all.”

  “I will.”

  Jared gazed into her eyes for a long, pregnant moment. “I’ll miss you,” he told her.

  “I’ll miss you too.”

  “This has been a remarkable couple of weeks, and I’ve developed feelings for you that I didn’t know I knew how to feel.”

  “Next in line,” the security guard called out to her. “Let's keep it moving.”

  “Have you ever noticed how often our conversations are interrupted?” Jared asked her.

  “I’ve noticed.”

  “Come here.”

  She moved toward him, and he circled her with his arms, pulling her into a lingering kiss.

  “Safe trip,” he whispered as he released her.

  Liv picked up her bag with one hand, and Boofer's carrier with the other. Just as she turned to walk through the security post, Jared touched her on the arm.

  “I love you, Liv.”

  Tears sprang to the surface in Liv's eyes almost the moment the words were out, and they rolled down her face in streams with no warning at all.

  “I love you too,” she muttered, twisting away from him. She hurried through the checkpoint and, without looking back, she rushed down the hallway and rounded the corner, Jared's declaration echoing deep within her ears.

  Thump—thump—thump—thump—thump.

  Each time her shoe landed on linoleum, it echoed as Liv ran down the long, sterile hospital corridor. The kids were just where Josie had said they would be, and Hallie's six-year-old saw Liv first, popping to her feet and running straight at her. Liv barely had time to set Boofer down on the floor and drop her bags before Katie clunked into her arms.

  “Aunt Liv, my mommy had an accident, and she broke her spare ribs.”

  “I know, sweetheart. I talked to Granny Josie last night. I got here as soon as I could.”

  “You were at Granny's house in Florida?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is that Boofer?” she asked, wiggling out of Liv's arms and crouching down to look inside. “Hi, Boofie. Did you fly on an airplane too?”

  “Hi, Aunt Liv.” Ten-year-old Scotty headed toward her while Jason, his thirteen-year-old brother, didn’t even glance up at her from the hand-held computer game.

  “Hi, Scotty. Can you take my bag and Boofer over there with you guys while I go see your mom?”

  “Sure.”

  Liv froze in her tracks. Turning back with a second thought, she said, “Boofer's leash is in the outside pocket of my bag. Don’t take her out of the carrier until you get outside the hospital doors, okay?”

  “Yeah,” Scotty replied.

  “And make sure you put her back inside the carrier before you bring her back in. Is that clear?”

  “I think we can figure out how to walk the dog,” Jason cracked without looking up.

  “Are there rules about no dogs in the hospital?” Katie asked her.

  “That's exactly right, and we don’t want to break any rules. So you’re in charge, Katie Marie. You make sure Boofer is safe until I come back, okay?”

  “Okay!” Katie seemed thrilled to be in charge of something, even if it was just a mess of a dog with a tendency toward gas.

  “I’ll be right back.”

  Liv hurried down the hallway, reading off the numbers out loud as she ran by the doors.

  Room 1212. At last.

  Josie and Hallie's husband Jim were in chairs on either side of the hospital bed, and they both stood up when she walked into the room.

  “Oh, Pumpkin, it's good to see you,” Josie said as she hugged her. Jim gave her a weary smile over Josie's shoulder.

  “What do the doctors say today?”

  “The surgery went well,” Jim replied with a whisper. “They stopped the internal bleeding from the car accident, but they want to monitor her for a couple of days.”

  Liv stepped up to the side of the bed and looked down at her sleeping friend. Her cheekbone was bruised, and a small bandage was angled into her hairline on the same side of her face. A patch of dried blood formed the shape of a wobbly heart on the side of her neck. Liv doused a wad of tissues with water from the pitcher next to the bed and lovingly dabbed at the blood until it was gone.

  “She apparently had some head trauma,” Josie said, and Liv noticed for the first time that Hallie's mother looked exhausted.

  “Have they mentioned how severe? Was there any swelling to her brain?”

  “Yes. The doctor said it was minimal though.”

  “Good. That's good.”

  “It is?”

  “Yes. If there's—”

  Suddenly, a raucous noise from the corridor barreled closer, and Liv got a rather sick feeling in the pit of her stomach when tennis shoes squeaked on the floor and a cacophony of scampering paws drew nearer.

  When Josie whispered, “Boofer! My Missy Boofer!” she knew the reason why.

  “I’m sorry, Aunt Liv,” Katie whimpered from the doorway. “Boofer must have known Granny Josie was here.”

  Liv turned to find Josie cradling Boofer like a baby, rocking her back and forth and cooing over her. The dog was in canine nirvana, whining and pawing Josie's face.

  “Kathryn Marie,” Jim chided.

  “I know, Daddy. I was in charge. And I wasn’t supposed to open the door until I got outside, but Jason and Scot
ty wouldn’t help me carry the box, and I just opened the door wide enough to click on the leash, but Boofer pushed right out of the cage. I’m sorry, Aunt Liv.”

  “It's okay, honey. Will you go and bring me the carrier box so I can put her back inside?”

  “Okay.”

  Jim rubbed his temple and closed his eyes.

  “Can I get you something, Jim? Coffee? Some aspirin?”

  He sighed and stared at her for a long moment before he answered. “Hallie's the one who deals with everything. I don’t know how she does it, Liv.”

  “I know the feeling. I’ve asked myself that question about her a hundred times.”

  “My own kids are giving me a headache. How crazy is that?”

  “I don’t think it's crazy,” she said, pulling him into an embrace. “I think it's human. This is a lot to deal with.”

  “You canNOT have a dog in this hospital!”

  “I know,” Liv said, approaching the stern nurse who appeared in the doorway. “I’m a nurse over at Providence, so I do know the rules. I came straight from the airport, and then she got loose by accident. But there's a little girl on her way back with the dog carrier as we speak. I’ll take the dog out of here as soon as she gets here with it, I promise.”

  Just when Liv realized that her babbling sounded a little like Katie's explanation of Boofer's escape, the woman's hardness melted slightly, and she turned away and left without a word.

  “Why don’t I take the kids—and Boofer—and go to the house. I’ll put some dinner together for them, make sure they’re ready for school tomorrow, and you two can come home whenever you’re ready.”

  Katie thumped in, dragging the noisy carrier behind her. “They wouldn’t help me carry it,” she repeated.

  Josie kissed Boofer on top of the head before leaning down and nudging her into the case. Liv closed and latched the door before any more mayhem could ensue.

  “Wait, how are you going to get them home?” Jim asked. “How did you get here?”

  “Taxi from the airport,” she said. “We’ll get home the same way.”

  “No, look,” he groaned, producing keys from his pocket. “Take the car, and Josie, you go with them. I’ll get a cab home later tonight.”

  “Or I can come back and get you.”

  “I’ll call you.”

  Liv leaned down and looked Katie right in the eye. “Go tell your brothers to get their things together. We’re going home.”

  Katie poked her head around the corner and peered at her mother in the bed. “Did Mommy wake up yet?”

  “Not yet, sweetheart,” Liv told her. “She's still so tired. But sleep is very good for her right now. While she's dreaming, her body is healing itself.”

  Katie scuffed out into the hall, and Liv hoisted Boofer's carrier off the floor. Josie leaned down and planted a kiss on Hallie's forehead, and then she followed Liv out the door.

  “Olivia,” Jim called, and she turned back toward him. He looked like a somewhat deflated version of his former self, and the smile he tried to raise just didn’t quite make it. “Thank you.”

  Liv nodded, and then she started down the hall in the direction of the dull roar of arguing children.

  Spaghetti may not have been the wisest choice for a dinner menu serving three rambunctious children, but Liv hadn’t thought it through beforehand, and now, as she scrubbed tomato sauce off the wall behind the kitchen table, she made a mental note for the future.

  “The dishwasher is loaded,” Josie announced, “a pot of tea is brewing, and the children are in their bedrooms. Let's sit down for a chat.”

  “I just want to put some plastic wrap over Jim's salad.”

  “Done. Come and sit with me.”

  Liv rinsed the sponge with warm water, and then washed her hands, still drying them with a paper towel when she plopped down into the padded chair across the table from Josie.

  “Tell me about your trip,” Josie invited as she filled two cups with hot tea. “My Halleluiah tells me you and Jared have struck up a friendship. He's such a wonderful man, isn’t he?”

  “Indeed.”

  “And Rand?”

  “Oh!” she exclaimed as she stirred sweetener into the cup. “You don’t know. Rand got married yesterday.”

  “Married?!”

  “I know,” Liv laughed, shaking her head. “He met a sweet girl named Shelby, the two of them just sparked, and the next thing we knew they were planning to get married before Rand left for England.”

  “When does he go?”

  “The end of the week.”

  “Jared must be heartbroken. First you, and now Rand. I know what it is to feel left behind.”

  Liv glanced up at Josie, and she wondered about that faraway look in her tired eyes.

  “Speaking of being alone, catch me up on Clayton.”

  “He's improving every day. I called him this morning while I waited for my flight, and he was just as feisty as ever. He asked me to send you his love, though. And Hallie.”

  “The old geezer has a soft spot for me,” Josie commented, shaking her head. “Truth be told, I have a bit of one for him too.”

  “He's a good man. Once you get past the tough metal shell.”

  Josie laughed at that. “He sure does have a tough metal shell, doesn’t he, Pumpkin?”

  Boofer moseyed into the kitchen just then, and she seemed to have a hard time deciding which of them she wanted to approach. Finally, she lay down on the tile floor, right between them.

  “You and Missy Boofer appear to have become good friends,” Josie noted. “I’m happy to see that.”

  “She has a tough metal shell too,” Liv said, chuckling. “But she's all marshmallow and soft cookie crunch once you get past it.”

  Josie beamed.

  Liv found herself yawning, and she apologized as she shook it off. “I’m just so tired,” she admitted. “I think I’ll go next door and take a hot bath, and then sleep in my own bed tonight.”

  “You do that, Pumpkin.”

  Liv pushed herself up to her feet and stood over Josie for a moment. “Josie, I want to thank you so much for letting me borrow your home and your friends. I feel like a brand-new person. I needed something so badly, but I just didn’t know what it was. Sanibel was just the right thing.”

  “I can see it in your eyes. I’m happy I could play a part in you finding your way again. Just take care not to lose sight of what you’ve learned about yourself.”

  Curiosity pinched at Liv, and she cocked her head. Before she could ask Josie what she meant, the woman stood up and pulled Liv into an eager embrace.

  “Would you like to ride over to the hospital with me in the morning?” Liv asked her, and Josie nodded.

  “Thank you. I’d like that.”

  “I’ll call you.”

  The air was brisk, and Liv hurried across the yard toward her house, her luggage in tow. She’d become accustomed to mild nights and balmy breezes. Cincinnati weather was a far cry from that, but at least there was no more snow on the ground.

  The house seemed cold, both in temperature and in reception. On her way down the hall toward her bedroom, she flicked the button on the thermostat twice to make it a little warmer. She dropped her bags inside the door, and then plopped down on the edge of the bed.

  Maybe I’ll skip the bath and just crawl into bed.

  Minutes ticked by, and she just sat there, motionless.

  I think I need to get myself a dog.

  When she realized that she actually missed Boofer, Liv ripped into laughter. But Boofer wasn’t the only one that she missed, and that realization melted the amusement away like water on a hot sidewalk in the midday sun.

  She pulled her cell phone out of her purse and dialed.

  “Jared?”

  “I’m so glad you called. How's Hallie?”

  “She was asleep when I got to the hospital, but they have her on pain medication, so that's to be expected.”

  “And you?”

&nbs
p; “Me?”

  “Yes, how are you?”

  “I’m tired. And cold!” she declared, and Jared laughed. “It's fifty degrees here, which at one time I would have considered lovely spring weather. But now I can’t seem to get warm.”

  “You turned into a Floridian when you weren’t looking,” he commented. She had no reply to that. “How is it being home?”

  “Strange. My house hasn’t seemed so empty since Robert died.”

  Jared was silent for a long moment. Then, “I haven’t died, Liv. I’m still here.”

  21

  The grass in the meadow was long and green, and the recent rains had left it fragrant and inviting.

  But inviting as it was, Prudence didn’t partake. It just wasn’t the way she remembered. Or maybe, because she’d tasted the lush grasses surrounding the Enchanted Pond, she just didn’t like this grass anymore.

  “I’ll likely starve to death now,” she brayed.

  “You won’t starve,” Horatio assured her.

  “I will. I don’t want the meadow grass any more. I only want the faraway grasses that I can’t have.”

  “Well, that is a dilemma. Whatever will you do now?”

  “I told you. I’ll probably just starve to death.”

  Horatio covered his beak with his wing so Prudence couldn’t hear how he hooted with laughter.

  “That's a terrible fate,” he said. “I wonder how you can avoid it.”

  Preston and I are driving over to that new Chinese place for dinner. Do you want to join us?”

  Jared regarded Georgia with amused curiosity. “Just to clarify. This is the same new Chinese place that you warned Rand and me away from because of—what was it? grease and MSG?”

  Georgia's gaze dropped to the concrete parking lot beneath her feet, and she blushed all the way down to her shoulders.

  “Likes Chinese food, does he?”

  “Loves it.”

  “So a little grease and MSG doesn’t seem so bad now, huh?”

  “Do you want to join us or not?” she said, looking up and stamping her foot ever so slightly.

  “Nah, you go ahead. I’m going for a bike ride and then home to make dinner for Rand and Shelby.”