by Loree Lough
“No, I’m fine,” the big man said. Then he pulled the chair closer to Olive’s bed and sandwiched her hand between his own, kissing her knuckles and whispering sweet, soft words.
“What about you, Olive?”
“Cheesecake,” she said, licking her lips, “if they have it.”
“And if they don’t?”
“I’ll settle for a big wedge of chocolate cake.”
She wouldn’t eat it, because the cancer had weakened Olive beyond the capacity to chew and swallow, but Sam aimed to deliver both, anyway. “We won’t be long.”
“Take your time,” Olive called after them. “Duke and I need some cuddle time, anyway.”
Sam didn’t dare look back, for fear the sight of Duke’s agonized expression would cause her to lose her precarious hold on self-control. Besides, Bryce needed her strength every bit as much as the newlyweds did. Neither Sam nor Bryce spoke as they walked toward the elevators. Didn’t speak as they waited for the doors to hiss open, either. But once the rumbling car headed for the first floor, he pulled her close and rested his chin on her head.
“Thanks for being here with me,” he said, his voice thick with a pent-up sob.
“Can’t think of any place I’d rather be.” Easy to say, since it was the truth, pure and simple. She loved him, and he loved her. Here is where she belonged.
“You want to take a walk?” he said when the doors opened. “I’m not really in the mood for more coffee…”
“That sounds great, because neither am I.” It had been nearly two days since either of them had set foot outside. Perhaps some fresh air and sunshine would help him cope with what would happen, possibly very soon.
The hospital grounds seemed serene and beautiful…in direct contradiction to the shape Olive was in. Sam slipped her hand into his and they slowly made their way to a bench.
“I feel so helpless,” he said. “She’s always done so much for me, and I can’t even think of something to do for her.”
“You’re doing the most important thing of all, just being available when she wants to talk to you.”
Nodding, Bryce breathed a long heavy sigh. “I have to admit, Sam, I can’t wrap my mind around this crazy cremation idea of hers.”
“If it’s any comfort,” Sam said, “I saw an interview with Billy Graham years ago. When he was asked about it, he quoted 2 Corinthians 5 verse 1, where Paul says that our bodies are like tents that can be taken from place to place, while our resurrected bodies are our permanent homes.”
He pressed a kiss to her temple. “Are you always this sane and rational?”
“Absolutely!”
Chuckling, he got to his feet and held out a hand. “Guess we’d better get to the cafeteria, see if there’s any cheesecake on the menu.”
They headed back inside as the piercing wail of sirens announced the arrival of a new patient in the ER. Sam said a silent prayer for the person in the ambulance, because one thing the world didn’t need right now was another family preparing for the death of a loved one.
While he’d served overseas, it had been Olive who’d mailed boxes stuffed with enough shampoo and soap, toilet paper and other hard-to-come-by items to supply Bryce and every soldier in his barracks. At Christmastime, she’d sent decorated sugar cookies, and during the Easter holidays, baskets of candy. The guys came to count on her regular supply of hunting and fishing magazines, John Grisham and Tom Clancy novels, and prepaid calling cards that allowed them to phone their families back home. She would have been a terrific mother, Bryce thought. Immediately he corrected himself, because she’d been a great mother!
How would he say goodbye to the woman who’d taken a neglected, lonely young boy under her wing and made him feel wanted and loved, unconditionally? How would he face every day, knowing he’d never hear her mellow laughter or look into those sparkling eyes so filled with love…for him?
Bryce didn’t think he could…without Sam to bolster him. He glanced down at her curly-haired head, amazed that he felt he could lean on someone so small. But he could, and knowing it filled his heart to overflowing with a peculiar mix of love and guilt, because how could he feel joy of any kind in light of Olive’s ever-failing health?
“I still can’t believe it,” he said, holding the door for her. “I mean, what’s it been, three weeks, and already she’s at Death’s door? How can that be?”
“I don’t know,” was her quiet response.
“The doctors said ‘months,’ not weeks.”
Sam’s expression said what words needn’t: The doctor said maybe she had months…if she was lucky. Bryce fought the urge to slam his fist into the wall or kick the elevator door—something that would help vent his pent-up frustration.
“Better not cry,” she advised.
“Why? You think my eye patch will fill up with tears and make weird bubbling noises as they ooze out?”
Passersby wouldn’t have thought twice about a couple hugging and crying in the middle of a hospital hallway. But hugging, crying, and inspired more than a few quizzical stares, which only made them laugh harder. If there was any truth to the theory that laughter alleviated stress, they’d surely eased some in those moments.laughing? That
“Looks like we’re in luck,” she said as they entered the cafeteria. “They have cheesecake and chocolate cake.”
Moments later, they tiptoed into Olive’s room.
“It’s about time you two got back,” she said, opening one eye as a corner of her mouth lifted in a wry grin. “Is that cheesecake you’re holding?”
Bryce nodded.
“Somebody get me a fork!”
Duke plucked one from his shirt pocket, and as he peeled away its protective sleeve, Bryce couldn’t help thinking what a perfect match Duke and his aunt made, because until now, he’d never met a person who carried disposable flatware and paper napkins “just in case.”
He hid a smile as Sam helped Olive shove the fork through the thick, gooey cheesecake, her own mouth opening slightly as she watched Olive bring it to her lips.
“Would you like a sip of water to wash it down?” Sam asked.
“Wash it down? Are you nuts! I want to relish the flavor.” And winking, Olive added, “Somethin’ tells me I ain’t gonna get either of these in heaven!”
Though Duke had put his back to Olive, his lurching shoulders made it obvious that her comment had broken him. Sam’s eyes filled with tears, too, and much to his surprise, so did Olive’s.
Bryce went to her bedside and kissed her cheek. “I love you, Aunt Olive.”
“I know you do, nephew, and I love you, too. Now step back so I can look into your eyes.” With a weak smile, she added, “Correction…your eye.”
He did as she asked as she added, “You’ve meant the world to me, and I couldn’t have loved you more if you’d been my own flesh-and-blood son.” Squeezing his hand, Olive added, “I sure am gonna miss my big tough marine.”
“Gonna miss you, too,” he choked out.
“Duke, honey,” Olive said, “come close, will you, so I don’t have to shout?”
Immediately he did as she’d asked.
“You’ve made me so happy,” she said, “marrying me in the autumn of my life. I never thought the good Lord would send me a husband to love, but He did. He did!”
“If only we’d had more time.”
“We had exactly enough time, darling man. Just exactly enough.” Olive glanced around the room, at her husband, at Bryce, at Sam. “I couldn’t have asked for more in the last moments of my life than to be surrounded by the people I love most in the world.” Reaching for Sam’s hand, she said, “Promise me you’ll take good care of my nephew?”
“You know I will!”
“It won’t always be easy, but I have a feeling you can handle anything that stubborn man dishes out, because you’re special, Sammie-girl.” Olive paused, closed her eyes, and took a deep shuddering breath. “You know what makes me a little sad?”
“No,” Sam admitted
as tears streamed down her cheeks.
“That I won’t be here to help you get ready for your wedding. You know, to fuss with your hair and fluff up your veil.”
Now Olive met Bryce’s eyes. “And you!” she said. “Oh, how I regret not being here to pin a boutonniere on your lapel!”
“Knowing you, you’d stick me with the pin and tell me there’d be worse in store for me if I didn’t pay attention during the ceremony.”
Her weak, quiet cough punctuated his statement. Bryce wanted to wrap his arms around her and hold her tight, so that maybe some of his own strength would seep into her, give them a few minutes more.
True to form, she read his heart. “No, darlin’ boy,” she said, “it’s time, and it’s for the best that I let go now.” In a gentle, motherly voice, she added, “I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but you’re gonna be fine, just fine, because I’m leaving you in very good, very loving hands.” Olive punctuated the comment with a slow wink aimed at Sam. “Name one of your kids after me, why don’t you….”
Before Sam or Bryce could respond, Olive turned to Duke and said, “Thank you, you big sweet Texan, for making all my dreams come true by loving me.”
A serene smile brightened her face. “See you all in Paradise!”
Chapter Twenty-five
Sam had hardly left Bryce’s side since the moments following Olive’s death. When she’d finally breathed her last, Sam had been beside him in a heartbeat, arms around him, pressing sweet kisses to his tear-dampened cheek. Her outpouring of love and affection reminded him of the last thing his aunt had said to him. How like Olive, he thought, to reserve her quickly waning strength to make sure he understood that he’d survive this…that he wouldn’t be alone once she’d gone.
When Bryce hadn’t been able to tell his own tears from Sam’s, his sobs had finally abated. She’d helped him to his feet and gently removed his eye patch. “Wow,” she’d said, grinning a bit, “it really does fill up with tears!”
The quiet chuckle her remark inspired had surprised him. Life would be different without his beloved Olive, but it wouldn’t be boring, thanks to Sam.
Bryce had watched as she tenderly led Duke from the room, listened as she promised to help with the arrangements and as she told the older man there was no shame in his tears.
In some of her last words to him, Olive had told Bryce that she was leaving him in good hands. Now, as Sam looked up into his face, her blue eyes alight with love, Bryce realized Olive hadn’t just left him in good hands, she’d left him in the best hands.
Sam’s hands.
Duke stood between Sam and Bryce at Forever, head bowed and eyes closed. “Oh, how I wish she hadn’t asked us to do this…”
“I hear ya,” Bryce said, “but she didn’t leave us much choice, did she?”
“Just remember what peace it gave her, hearing you both agree to grant her last wish,” Sam said, hoping to ease any second thoughts they might be having.
Nodding, Duke heaved a shaky sigh. “Well, then,” he said, removing the lid from the cardboard box containing Olive’s remains, “I can only hope St. Paul was right when he said these bodies of ours are little more than temporary dwellings where we reside until God calls us home.”
“Like eggshells,” Bryce added.
The wind whistled around them, bending the pines and making it appear they’d bowed in memory of Olive. An eagle screeched overhead, its dark wide-winged shadow blanking out the bright sunlight for a blink in time. A wolf howl was answered by another in the distance.
“That’s odd,” Bryce said. “They don’t normally do that at this time of day….”
As if to prove him wrong, a third haunting ow-oooooo pierced the air. Chalky white clouds rolled through a barely blue sky as the breeze rustled knee-high grasses that ringed the overlook. Finally, the robust trumpeting of a bull moose completed the wild symphony.
“If she told me once,” Duke said, “she told me a dozen times what that sound could do to a man, and by golly, she was right. Every hair on my head is bristlin’!”
The next sound didn’t come from nature, but from Sam, rifling through her pocket to find the envelope Olive had given her just days before her death. Bryce looked over her shoulder and read the familiar script: To be read atop Forever.
It was a balmy September day, and even Sam, who hadn’t yet experienced a North Pole winter, understood they should be grateful that they hadn’t needed to tramp through a foot of snow to reach this amazing place. A puff of air riffled the page, almost stealing it from her fingers as she slid it from its matching envelope. Heart pounding, Sam thanked God it hadn’t blown away and squeezed it tighter between her thumbs and forefingers. Lord, let me get through this without choking up. She cleared her throat and began:
“ ‘So there you stand, the three of you, side by side in my favorite place, where the human voice is a strange and unwelcome sound. You can’t hear a radio there, can’t get a cell phone call or television reception, praise the Lord!
“ ‘I can think of no better way to experience heaven than to know that my soul and body will both rest for eternity in Paradise—one with our heavenly Father, and the other right here in His heavenly creation.
“ ‘When you miss me, my loves, just come here and fill your lungs with clean air and feast your eyes on wild rivers and rugged mountains, on creatures most folks only see at the zoo, and remember how at peace I am to be a part of it all.
“ ‘I will love you all more than words could express…forever. Olive.’ ”
Sam finished on a deep, ragged breath, and then she folded the note and returned it to its envelope. Strange, she thought, that while tears shimmered in Duke and Bryce’s eyes, neither felt a need to cry or sob as they had in Olive’s hospital room on the day she died. Instead, a quietude settled upon them. Indeed, the entire area Olive had named Forever had gone utterly still and silent.
Bryce and Duke took turns flicking the box that bore her remains, and then the trio stared in stunned awe as the silvery dust cloud mingled with a whiff of wind before vanishing into a small puff.
“Goodbye, sweet Olive,” Duke said, putting his back to the beautiful vista as he trudged toward the car.
Nodding, Bryce followed, glancing once over his shoulder.
Only Sam remained, still clutching the envelope that held Olive’s last words.
“Rest in peace, Olive Stone,” she whispered, “with the Almighty and His angels.”
“Amen,” Bryce said, hugging her from behind. “Amen.”
Chapter Twenty-six
“Hard to believe it’s been three months since Olive died,” Bryce said, slipping an arm around Sam’s waist. “I don’t think she’d recognize the place.”
“I hope she’d be proud,” Sam said, smiling. “What the store looks like now is all thanks to that crazy list of hers.”
Chuckling, Bryce kissed the top of her head. “She was a list-making nut, wasn’t she?”
“I’ll say! I’ll bet I found a couple hundred of them while going through the desk and file cabinets.”
“God rest her beautiful soul. She was great at writing lists, but not too great with the follow-through. It took you to make it all happen, you little dynamo.”
“I’m just happy the place is turning a profit now.” She faced him and added, “Think maybe now it’ll sell, so you can open your carpentry shop?”
A quiet grunt was her answer, and Sam didn’t quite know what to make of it. She kept her questions to herself, though, because it was obvious that he’d made a concerted effort not to wallow in grief or self-pity. Quite the contrary, in fact… “So how’d you and Duke make out at the B and B today?”
“It’s finished, finally.”
“So he can open for business in the spring, just as he and Olive planned?”
Bryce groaned quietly. “I don’t know. Something tells me he’ll pack up and head back to Texas soon.”
“Oh, that’d be a shame!” Sam said. “But…I can’t bl
ame him, really. He doesn’t know us all that well, and we’re all the family he has here. And besides, everywhere he turns, there are reminders of Olive and the life they might have had together.” She sighed. “It just breaks my heart, watching him wander around like a lost lamb.”
Bryce nodded.
“So,” she began, changing the subject, “when are you planning to make good on your promise?”
“Which one?” he asked, his heart suddenly pounding.
“You said you’d show me the aurora borealis in September, if the weather cooperated.” Arms akimbo, she added, “And it’s November already!”
Bryce chuckled. “So it is.” And glancing at his watch, he said, “What are you doing tonight?”
“Oh, please. You know better than anyone what I’m doing tonight.”
The brow above his eye patch rose slightly as he considered her comment. “I do?”
“I’ll be with you, of course, somewhere north of town, watching the aurora!”
And hours later, at two in the morning and bundled in a thick quilt on the hood of his car, Sam and Bryce leaned on the windshield and stared into a sky that seemed to throb and pulse with life.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything as beautiful!”
“That’s what you said when I showed you Forever.”
“Well, that’s a whole different kind of beautiful. This,” she said, pointing to the waving, undulating green lights above, “this is just…well, it’s a miracle is what it is!”
“I’ve seen it hundreds of times, and I have to admit, it never gets old.” He gave her a quick, sideways hug. “You ought to feel really special.”
“I always feel special when I’m with you.”
Laughing, he mussed her hair. “No, goofy girl, I mean because the skies are putting on such a great show for you. September really is the best time to see it, so we lucked out big time, catching a display like this in November. We couldn’t have picked a more perfect night…clear and dark, with a full bright moon.”
“I’ll admit, I hoped we’d see more colors.”