by Loree Lough
Duke started to protest, but she held a finger aloft in true schoolteacher fashion, effectively silencing him. “Just give us a few minutes, okay?” She winked and then added, “I promise not to die while you’re gone.”
“For the love of Pete, Olive,” Duke said, “what a thing to say.”
“Can’t help it if I’m the type who calls a spade a spade, now can I?”
“Well, it wouldn’t kill you to consider a slightly gentler approach now and then,” he countered.
“Touché!” she said, returning his grin. She waved them away and added, “Say your prayers while you’re down there, nephew, ’cause you’re next.” And once they were gone, Olive told Sam to close the door and pull the guest chair closer to her bed.
Lord be with me, Sam prayed, following the woman’s instructions.
“I’ve never been one to mince words, Sam…”
Smiling, she slid her hand beneath Olive’s. “So I’ve heard.”
“…so I’m not going to waste time with nonsense, now.”
Oh, please, Jesus…strengthen me for what’s about to come.
“All my years as a teacher taught me a thing or two about sizing people up. And I know a good and decent person when I see one.” She squeezed Sam’s hand. “You’re perfect for that thick-skulled nephew of mine, so I want your promise that you won’t let him drive you away.”
“I promise.”
“He’ll try, you know…and sometimes it won’t be easy, breaking through the barriers he builds around himself.”
“Tell me about it,” Sam said, grinning as she rolled her eyes.
“Ah, so he’s started already, has he?”
“I’m at least as stubborn as he is, so don’t worry.”
Tears welled in her dark eyes. “He and I…we’re the only blood kin the other has in the world. I’d hate to think nobody would be around to fight for him, to fight him, if need be, after I’m gone.”
“You’ve got my word, I’m not going anywhere.”
“So you love my nephew?”
“With all my heart.”
A wan smile brightened her face. “I know. Just needed to hear you say it.”
“Then you’ll be happy to know, he’s heard me say it.”
Eyes closed, Olive shook her head. “Let me guess…he didn’t say it back, did he?”
“Not yet. But I have it on good authority that he will.”
The woman’s lids snapped open and she zeroed in on Sam’s face. “Who told you that?”
Thumb aiming at the ceiling, Sam said, “I’ve spent hours on my knees, pleading for a sign…if Bryce and I are wrong for one another.”
“And?”
“Not a heavenly peep.”
Olive’s relieved sigh echoed in the small room. “Praise the Lord.”
Her breaths came more quickly as she said, “Now, this is gonna sound weird, even from me, but I want you to do me a favor…”
“Anything,” Sam said, meaning it.
“I want to be cremated in my red dress.”
“In your…you want…what?”
A grin played at the corners of her mouth. “You heard right. My red dress. With my red earrings and bracelet, and my red shoes, too. You’ll find them all in my closet.” Olive sandwiched Sam’s hands between her own. “And I want you to have my pearl necklace. I don’t much care what happens to the other stuff, but the pearls belonged to my mother.”
Sam didn’t know when anything had touched her more deeply. Sweet Lord, Sam prayed, please, please don’t let me cry.
“I’m really gonna miss you, Sammie-girl.”
Sam wanted to be strong, for Olive, Duke, and Bryce, but God help her, the woman wasn’t making it easy! She bit her lower lip to still its trembling. “Can I…can I get you anything? One of your romance novels? A fudge brownie? A big stick to hit me with, so I’ll shut up?”
Olive snickered. “Ice chips would be nice….”
She’d seen the plastic cup on the tray, already filled to the brim with crushed ice, and understood that sending her on this mission of mercy was Olive’s way of giving Sam time to recover. She’d barely rounded the corner before the enormity of the situation engulfed her. The tears came hot and hard, and she did her best to hide them by pressing herself into the corner near the pay phones. If losing Olive was this tough for her, how much harder for Duke? And for Bryce, who loved her like a mother?
Sam slid to the floor, and on her knees, she quietly prayed. “Let her last hours go easy, Lord, so that her beloved husband and nephew won’t have to watch her suffer, so that their final moments with her will leave them with memories of the strong, capable, funny woman who loves them more than life itself instead of…” She couldn’t bear to make herself say, “instead of a pain-wracked dying woman,” not even in private prayer. “Make me strong, Father, so I can provide the care and support Duke and Bryce will need after—”
“You’re something else, you know that?”
Bryce…
She didn’t want him to see her this way! Please, Lord, dry my tears!
He helped her to her feet and drew her close. “I don’t know what I ever did to deserve you, but whatever it was—”
Sniffing, she placed a finger over his lips, silencing him.
“I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me, too,” she managed to say.
“Will you do something for me?”
Sam looked up into his handsome, haggard face. She didn’t dare say “sure, anything, just name it,” because what if what he wanted to ask her was to go away, out of some ridiculous notion he was protecting her from the anguish and turmoil that lay ahead? “What?” she said, choosing the word carefully.
“Say it again.”
“Say what again?”
“That thing you said, earlier, in my apartment.”
“Good grief, I said a hundred things!” And then she knew. Knew exactly what he needed to hear. “You mean that thing about how I’m crazily, madly in love with you?”
“Yeah,” he said on a sigh, “that.”
“If I say it again—and I’m sure I needn’t remind you that ‘if’ is the biggest little word in the English language—what will you say in response?”
He tucked in one corner of his mouth. “I’m not sure, exactly.”
She racked her brain, searching for the scripture that said something like, “if you ask this mountain to move, and believe I can move it, it will move.” Would God help her move this mountainous marine who’d stolen her heart?
Sam closed her eyes and placed her fear and frustration at the foot of the Cross. “I love you, Bryce Stone, you stubborn, thick-headed, eye-patch-wearing ex-marine, you. I have, almost from the moment we met, and—”
“I think you’re out of your ever-loving mind, but it’s your life.”
That was her reward for putting her heart on the chopping block? A paltry little “it’s your life”? If he wasn’t about to lose the only family he’d ever known, she’d let him have it, with both barrels, because—
“I love you, too, you know.”
Sam blinked up at him, wondering if he’d really said the words or if she’d merely heard what she wanted to hear. “What?”
“You know, you’re gorgeous even when you’re mad as a wet hen.”
“What!”
Duke poked his head out of Olive’s hospital room. “Bryce? She wants to see you.”
The furrow between his eyebrows deepened as he said, “Be right there.” And to Sam, “You okay now?”
Guilt and self-recrimination coursed through her as she considered how selfish her thoughts had been. Nodding dumbly, she gave him a gentle shove. “I’m fine. Go. She needs you.” Then, “Take your time. I’m not going anywhere.”
Bryce kissed the tip of her nose. “If I didn’t believe that, no way I could walk down that hall without blubbering like a baby.”
She watched him stride toward Olive’s room, every bit the straight-backed, take-it-on-the-chin mari
ne. At the door, he stopped and faced her and, smiling sadly, mouthed, “I love you,” sending her heart and her spirit soaring.
“She asked me to dim the lights,” Duke whispered as Bryce walked into the room.
“Just as well,” he whispered back. “Harder for her to see the proof that I’ve been bawling like a baby.”
“Duke, darlin’,” Olive said sweetly, “please get your ornery Texas bee-hind out of here so I can talk to my mule-headed nephew, will you?”
Jaw trembling, he sent her a three-fingered salute and stepped into the hall.
“Shut that door,” his aunt ordered, “and sit yourself down here beside me.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“You look tired,” she said when he kissed her forehead.
“Too much TV, not enough shut-eye.”
“You can’t fool an old fool.”
Even now, she could make him smile. Oh, how he loved this crazy old woman! “So what can I get you? Ice? Something to read?”
She waved the offers away. “All I need from you is a promise.”
He’d walk into hell and back if she asked it of him. “You name it,” he said, “and it’s yours.”
“Tell Sam that you love her.”
“Too late for that.”
It pleased him that his simple admission brightened her face. “Good. I was beginning to think you’d lost all your marbles.” She chuckled softly. “Well, since you can’t promise me that, I have another request.”
“Uh-oh. Do I really want to hear this?” He would put on this brave front as long as she needed him to.
“Ask her to marry you.”
He laughed, too long and too loud, but honestly, what did she expect, springing a thing like that on him?
“I’m dead serious.”
“Humor me, will you, and dispense with the dead jokes, okay?”
“Sorry,” she said. “Okay, let me rephrase that. I wasn’t kidding just now when I said I want you to ask Sam to marry you.”
“What makes you think she’d want to spend the rest of her life with a guy like me?”
“What’s that mean…‘a guy like you’?”
This was neither the time nor the place to burden her with his self-pitying reasons, so Bryce flicked on the TV and started scrolling through the channels.
“Give me that thing,” she said, snatching the remote from his hand. And hitting the Off button, Olive snapped, “Show an old dying woman some respect, will you?” Then, “Oops, sorry. Nix the word ‘dying. ’ ”
“Thanks.”
“Remember that movie where the guy said, ‘If you build it, they will come’?”
Bryce nodded, though he had no idea where she might go with this line of thought.
“If you ask her,” Olive said, “she’ll say yes.”
He leaned the back of the chair against the bed rail and then straddled its seat. “Yeah, I know,” he admitted, laying one arm atop the other on its top rung. “I guess maybe she’s not as smart as we thought, is she.”
“I see only one dummy in this room, and he’s wearing an eye patch.”
“Always was my own worst enemy. How many times have you told me that?”
“Hundreds. Thousands, even.” Olive grimaced, clutching the sheets so tightly her knuckles whitened.
“What…what’s wrong? Want me to get the nurse? Is it time for your pain medi—”
“You just sit right back down there, nephew,” she husked. “I don’t want the meds. They make me groggy and fog my brain. I want to be wide awake and alert when…. ” Her voice trailed off and she bit her lower lip. And on the heels of a short, shuddering breath, she added, “There are things I need to say, and things I want to hear before Jesus comes to take me home. Can’t do that if I’m all doped up, now can I?”
“When was your doctor last in to see you?”
“Couple of hours ago.”
“And what did he say?”
She frowned. “Nothing I care to repeat.” Then, “I’m only interested in hearing what you have to say.”
“Olive…”
“Can I be perfectly honest with you, Bryce?”
He could probably count on both hands the number of times she’d called him anything but “nephew” and have fingers left over. “’Course you can.”
“I don’t have much time left.”
He looked down and nodded in acknowledgment.
“And you know better than most how I feel about wasting time.”
Smiling sadly, he nodded again.
“I need to say a proper goodbye to my husband, but I can’t, I won’t, until you promise me you’ll ask her to marry you.”
Just because he asked didn’t mean Sam would say yes, so what could it hurt, making the promise that seemed so important to Olive.
“Oh, who are you kidding? Of course she’ll say yes. She’s in love with you!” A shuddering sigh escaped her lungs before Olive said, “Let me rephrase it for your thick-headed benefit. I want you to promise you’ll marry her.”
He noticed a strange sparkle in her eyes. Having seen it before—on the battlefield—Bryce knew Olive hadn’t been exaggerating when she’d said the end was near. “I promise.” Life would be bleak enough without her in it. But facing the future without Sam, too? He didn’t even want to think about it.
“Go on, then, skedaddle. And send Duke in here, will you?”
Every muscle in him tensed. Was she…was she saying goodbye…right here and now?
“Don’t worry, nephew,” Olive said, smiling weakly, “I’ll hang on a little longer.”
“Promise?”
“Aw, wipe that sad grin off your one-eyed face, will you? I don’t want to meet my Maker until everybody I love is right here beside me.”
As he made his way from her bed to the door—a distance of perhaps six feet—it felt as though someone had filled his shoes with lead. And in the hall, when he waved Duke closer, it seemed his arms were made of wood.
Duke paused for a long moment, one hand on Bryce’s shoulder, as if hoping to sap strength from the younger man. He gave a squeeze, and without looking up, entered Olive’s room.
If he was a praying man, Bryce might have asked God to deliver Duke a huge portion of strength and peace. Might have asked the same for himself, too, if he thought for a minute He’d answer. He spotted Sam just then, walking toward him with a little smile on her face even as her big eyes brimmed with concern and love…for him. In the short time it took her to get from the water fountain to where he stood, a sense of calm settled over him, and for the first time since he was a boy, Bryce thought maybe, just maybe, God had heard his prayer.
And when she came to him and settled into his arms, he knew without a doubt that God had, indeed, answered.
Chapter Twenty-four
“What? You’re joking!” Bryce said, faking a smile for Olive’s benefit. “Christians don’t get cremated.” He glanced at Sam, standing on the other side of his aunt’s hospital bed. “Do they?”
Olive gave a helpless shrug. “Some do. This one will. And I want my ashes scattered at Forever.”
“But…isn’t that against some sort of rule? What’s the Bible say about it?”
“It says we’re to look forward to joining the Lord our God.” Olive tried to lever herself up on one elbow to emphasize her point. “This old shell of a body is of no use to Him. It’s my soul He wants.” She lay back, spent and gasping before adding, “Besides, I don’t want my flesh and bones becoming worm food.”
“Olive, darlin’,” Duke said, blue eyes wide in his suntanned face, “please…don’t say things like that!”
Despite her weakened condition, she cut him a flirty, mischievous grin. “Sorry, darlin’, guess I’m doomed to tell it like it is, right to the bitter end.”
Brow furrowed, he shook his salt-and-pepper-haired head. “How am I supposed to visit you and remember you if—”
“Duke, sweetheart, if you need a tombstone and a grave to remember me,” she said,
laughing softly, “maybe I didn’t make a very big impact on your world after all.”
“Aw, Olive,” he countered, kissing her forehead, “that isn’t what I meant at all. I’ll never forget you!” He slumped onto the seat of the chair beside her bed as tears flowed from his eyes. “But where will I lay roses, darlin’?” he all but sobbed. “And where will I go to talk to you when I get to missin’ you like I know I will?”
Olive wiggled a finger, beckoning him near. “I’ll always be here,” she said, touching a fingertip to his chest, “and here,” she added, pressing it to his forehead. “And—”
Pain choked off the rest of her words. Grimacing, Olive held her breath, making the seconds that ticked by seem like an hour.
When finally Olive opened her eyes, she grinned. “Scared you, didn’t I?” A low, playful chuckle emanated from her as she said, “Don’t worry. I’m not leavin’ you just yet. I have a few more loose ends to tie up before I meet my Maker.” She aimed a forefinger at each of them in turn. “ ‘Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,’ ” she quoted, “scattered across Forever.”
Duke heaved a sad sigh. “So you won’t change your mind?”
She shook her head. “Nope. No way.”
The increased beeps from her heart monitor made it clear the subject had agitated her. It took just one quick glance at the bright green numerals skittering across the screen to inspire Duke’s defeated, “I declare, woman, you are the most stubborn female I’ve ever run across, and I’ve raised Brahma bulls for half of my life!” Smiling sadly, he patted her hand. “All right then, if that’s what you want, that’s what you’ll get.”
He looked to Bryce for approval and agreement. Sam watched an array of emotions flicker across his tortured face before he said, “Well, after all the time and effort she put into that little church of hers over the years, I guess the good Lord won’t bar her from Paradise just because she doesn’t want a typical burial.”
With a sideways nod, Sam invited him to follow her into the hall. “I’m going to the cafeteria for some coffee. Care to join me, Bryce?”
“Sure. I guess.”
“Can we get you anything, Duke?”
When his puffy, red-rimmed eyes met hers, Sam could have cried. But the newlyweds needed strength surrounding them, not weakness, and so she smiled.