Cal thought of their last words, the promise she’d elicited from him, and pressed his eyes with the heels of his hands.
“I miss you, Gwen. God, I miss you.”
He thought of Maddie Kinkaid, but without the usual accompanying tug of desire. She, too, knew what it was to lose the other half of oneself, the shock of having one’s soul ripped in two, leaving a gaping wound that might never heal.
Perpetual internal bleeding.
She coped by believing her Jack communicated with her. Did she really believe it? he wondered. Deep inside herself, where people admitted to the lies they told themselves, did she believe it, down in her core? And if so, was there a chance that she was right?
He talked to Gwen every day because it made him feel better. But after she died, he never felt that her spirit remained behind. If there was a heaven, Gwen was there. If there were guardian angels, then she was TJ’s.
Would it make him feel better to know she hung around and sent him messages? He doubted it. He didn’t like the idea of his Gwen stuck in some weird netherworld, neither alive nor dead. Trapped. That would be worse than knowing she was lost to him forever.
He looked at his phone to check the time. It was after four, so TJ’s game should be over. Why the hell wasn’t Maddie answering her phone?
“Cal.”
He blinked to clear his vision and turned to Rebecca.
“Doctor’s in the waiting room. Dad’s out of surgery.”
Chapter 7
Maddie’s intent to purchase a leash and collar expanded to something more the longer she and TJ walked the aisles of the pet store.
“A dog bed?” Maddie eyed the prices of the giant pillows identified as beds for canine companions. “I have a blanket he can use.”
“Well, he’s gotta sleep inside or he might run off.”
“I’m sure the barn—”
“What if the cats don’t like him? Hey, look at this one with the pirate faces on it! Sweet! This is perfect, Miss Maddie!”
Maddie stared at the dog bed, its decorative fabric imprinted with the skull and crossbones insignia. TJ was right. It was perfect. Into the cart it went.
“What about toys? Every dog needs toys, right, Miss Maddie? Right?”
Maddie and TJ perused the dog toy aisle long enough to ensure Pirate became the proud owner of rubber chew toys, squeak toys, tug toys, balls for retrieving, and Frisbees for catching. “What about treats? Pirate’s skinny. I bet treats’ll be good for him.”
“Does this store have you on payroll?” Maddie tugged the brim of TJ’s baseball cap and regarded the boy with amusement. “You’re trying to get me to buy the whole store.”
“You couldn’t buy the whole store,” TJ said, and giggled. “It won’t fit in the cart! But treats will. My Gram’s dogs get chewys and biscuits. I bet Pirate would love those.”
Dog treats shared an aisle with food and water bowls—how could Maddie resist the red lightning bolt design?—and breath mints for dogs, at which point Maddie drew the line.
“But, Miss Maddie, his breath is—”
“Going to stay stinky,” she said. “Let’s go.”
They stood in line at the checkout, and while TJ knelt to pet a leashed puppy, Maddie took mental inventory of the contents of the cart. She groaned and puffed out a little laugh. “We came in for a collar and leash, remember?” She pushed the cart from the line and turned it around.
“Oh, yeah.” TJ jumped up to walk beside her. “How’d we forget that stuff?”
“I wonder,” Maddie said, and sighed.
Was this what parents experienced every time they went to the store or was she just a big pushover? She eyed the over-filled cart and called herself an idiot for spending so much money on an animal she didn’t intend to keep. But she deemed the fun she’d had shopping with TJ worth the price of a few dog care items.
With the trunk full of all things canine, Maddie and TJ’s next stop was at the vet’s to collect said dog. With Pirate’s new collar, a black leather job with silver spikes, and a matching leash in hand, they walked together into Dr. McManus’s office.
Darrilyn looked up from the computer. “You’re just in time. We close in a few. Dr. M prescribed some medicine for your fur-baby. There’s some ointment for his eye and some antibiotics, every twelve hours on both. Pam, that’s the groomer, already took care of the flea dip and treatment. Oh, and Dr. M said to give you a bag of food. I’ll have Keshawn carry it out to your car.” Her nails, painted a silvery blue, click-clicked on the computer keyboard, and then she presented Maddie with the bill and a small bag containing the medicines. “I’ll just call to the back and let them know you’re here.”
Maddie gaped at the veterinary fees and swallowed her shock. After her expenditure at the pet store, this was an unpleasant surprise, and all for a stray she had no intention of keeping long term.
A few minutes later, the door that led from the grooming area opened and Keshawn stepped through with Pirate. Pirate’s ears and nose twitched and he pulled away from the tech with an impressive leap toward Maddie and TJ. The polished floor offered no purchase, and with a cartoonish scrabble of his legs and paws that Maddie deemed worthy of Wile E. Coyote, Pirate lost all semblance of control over his lanky body. He landed on his butt and skidded the last few feet, slamming into TJ who had dropped to his knees when Pirate began his comical slide. The dog came to a stop in the boy’s arms.
TJ accepted Pirate’s happy licks, snuffles, and snorts with frenzied delight and looked up at Maddie, his eyes shining and mouth laughing.
Any trepidation she harbored surrounding the rescue of Pirate melted away at the happiness on the little boy’s face. She knelt with TJ and received a greeting from Pirate, minus the comical skid. The dog’s entire body gyrated with the enthusiastic wagging of his tail.
“He knows us, Miss Maddie!” TJ said. “And he smells like my Gram’s house, all flowery and stuff.”
“He certainly looks better.” Maddie noted that the dog’s tail, matted when they found him, now resembled a bristle brush, and she marveled at what a little soap and water could do. She ran her hands over Pirate’s fur expecting the wiry texture to be quill-like as before, but his groomed coat reminded Maddie instead of her grandmother’s fox fur.
She buried her fingers in the dog’s thick coat. She inspected him with gentle hands, noting again his malnourished state, and made him a silent promise to see him strong and healthy with proper care.
She took his bearded face between her hands to get a good look at his injured eye and laughed when he plopped his front paws on her shoulders.
“He wants to kiss you!” TJ said.
Maddie swiveled her face away to avoid Pirate’s enthusiastic tongue. “No kisses right now. Not with that breath, mister.” She pet his head and scratched his mismatched ears, deciding they had benefitted from his bath as they now gleamed a healthy pink on the tender inside skin, and boasted soft feathers of fur along the edges. “I just want to have a look at your sore eye.”
The area around his injured eye, now cleaned and shaved, gave him the vague illusion of sporting an eye patch. “He really does look like a pirate. And he isn’t dumpster gray anymore, either. I’d call him more of a silver fox.”
TJ stood and rested his hand on Maddie’s shoulder. “He looks more beautifuller than before.”
“I’m not sure beautiful is the term I’d use. Ruggedly handsome, maybe.”
“That’s what Henry’s mom always says Dad is,” TJ said. “So that’s good. Right?”
Maddie chewed on that for a moment, wondered what else Henry’s mom said, and told herself that Caleb Walker’s relationship with Henry’s mother was none of her business.
While the love fest continued between dog and boy, she removed the narrow lead Keshawn had looped around Pirate’s neck and in its place secured the spiked collar TJ had chosen. She clicked the leash to the collar and handed it to TJ.
“You’re in charge,” she said. “I need to
pay the bill.”
“Take care now,” Darrilyn said when the transaction was complete. “And remember, Dr. M. wants to see him back in a week. Hey,” she called when they were almost out the door, “Keshawn’s bringing the bag of food out to your car.”
Another ten minutes was spent in the parking lot while Keshawn loaded the thirty pound bag of dog food into Maddie’s trunk and spent time cooing at Pirate and chatting with TJ about baseball.
Pirate squeezed into the backseat next to TJ. He curled up, the bulk of his body in the seat with his scrawny limbs hanging over the edge, looking like a size eight body squished into a pair of size two jeans. The dog rested his muzzle on TJ’s knee and rolled his one good eye around as if keeping watch over the interior of the car. His bad eye, while still puffy and swollen, looked much better, thanks to knowledgeable care and antibiotics.
Maddie checked her phone but had no new messages. She contacted Edie Kinkaid, who had called during the tee-ball game and invited her and TJ to dinner, to let her know they had Pirate and were on their way, ETA twenty minutes. Next she dialed Cal, surprised when he answered.
“Maddie—finally. How’s TJ?” He allowed her no time to respond. “I kept getting your voice mail. Is everything okay?”
“Yes, of course. Everything’s fine. I’m sorry about the phone. I had it on silent and it was in my purse, so I never heard it. The ringer is on now.” She glanced in the rearview mirror at TJ who sat stroking Pirate. “How’s your dad?”
“Resting. They took him into surgery, did an angiogram, and put in a stent. They’re going to keep him a couple of days for observation. One of my cousins is head nurse on the cardiac floor, so he’s in good hands.”
“That’s great.” Maddie said. “I’m so glad he’s okay. My dad had bypass surgery a few years ago, so I know how scary it can be. How is everyone else? Your mom?”
“Exhausted. She’s with Dad now. We’re trying to convince her to go home, have some dinner, rest.” He sighed, his words ragged with exhaustion and worry. “She won’t. I’m sure she’ll stay the night.”
“That can’t surprise you.”
“It doesn’t. Listen, I can come get TJ anytime.”
“No, you can’t. We’re on our way to my in-laws for dinner, and Edie will be heartbroken if we don’t show. We’ll be home between eight and nine. Why don’t you take your own advice and get some rest before you pick him up? Or better, I can drop him off on our way home. Or he can spend the night at my place. Whatever is easier for you, Caleb.”
“Maddie, you’ve had charge of him all day. I can’t expect you to keep him all night.”
“You can, as I’ve just offered.”
“I’ll pick him up around nine. Go enjoy your dinner. And please keep your phone handy. I probably won’t need to call you, but in case I do.”
“My phone won’t leave my sight, and nine o’clock will be perfect. See you then. If you change your mind and want me to bring him home, just let me know.”
“Maddie,” he said before she could hang up. “Thank you. Thank you so much. You can’t imagine how I appreciate what you did today.”
“It was my pleasure.” She hoped he heard the sincerity in her voice.
She set the phone on the passenger seat rather than in her purse, and glanced back at TJ who was quiet for the first time all day.
Pirate’s snout rested on TJ’s knee, and TJ’s hand lay atop the dog’s head, his grubby fingers woven through the silvery fur.
Both boy and dog rippled the air with gentle snores.
***
Cal breathed easier after talking to Maddie, but he took a minute alone outside his dad’s hospital room to collect his thoughts and steel his reactions. He knew the sight of his father lying pale against the white sheets, a maze of tubes insulting his body, would be rough. He took a deep breath and opened the door.
Cal’s feet rooted where he stood. His stomach roiled and his chest tightened, slight nausea making him ill. He pulled a breath through his mouth and into his lungs, and used the second it took to close the door to steady his emotions.
His father, William Walker, had long carried the nickname “Big Will” for a reason. To see him lying like a felled oak, inert, silent, was almost more than Cal could bear. He stepped to the foot of the bed and forced himself to breathe.
“He’s resting,” Sada whispered, exhausted, relieved. She pushed out of the chair next to the bed and went to stand with Cal at William’s feet. “He woke for a moment and smiled at me, squeezed my hand, but then he went right back to sleep. I think the meds will keep him out for a while.”
“I’m sure of it,” Cal said. “You ought to take advantage of it, Mom. Go home, get some food, some sleep.” He held up a hand when she began to protest. “I know you don’t want to leave him, but I’ll be here. I’m not suggesting you don’t come back. I’m just saying you could use a break.”
“If he wakes up—”
“I’ll be here. Look, I’m not picking up TJ until nine. It’s a little after five now. Go home, eat, take a nap, collect whatever things you need to stay the night, and be back here by eight-thirty.”
“I don’t have a car. I came with your dad in the ambulance.”
“Becca took Grampa Boone home with her, so his car’s here in the emergency lot. You have no excuse not to go.” He pulled his mother into a warm hug and kissed the top of her head, comforted beyond reason by the familiar scent of her favorite hairspray. “And maybe I need a little time alone with my dad. You ever think of that?”
It was wrong of him, he knew, to manipulate her that way. But he congratulated his success when she said, “I didn’t.” She stayed in the circle of Cal’s arms but turned to look at her husband. “He does seem to be resting well. I suppose I could leave for a couple of hours. And I do need a few things if I’m going to stay the night.”
“Bring a blanket. It’s cold as hell in here.”
“Your cousin Lorraine is working a double, so she promised to keep me up to my neck in those warm blankets.”
“You know they just microwave them, right?”
“Really?” Sada let out a little laugh. “Well, that sucks the magic right out of it.”
“Go. I’ll see you in a few hours.”
Sada wrapped her arms around Cal and pressed her cheek into his broad chest for a tight hug. “You’re a good man, Caleb Walker. A bit of a sly fox, guilting me into leaving, but that’s okay. I appreciate your love and concern.”
Cal smiled. He should have known he could never pull anything over on her.
“Listen, as long as it’s just the two of us, there’s something you need to know.” She took his face in her hands and her eyes grew serious. “I’m only telling you this because of what happened today, and if you tell your father I told you this, I’ll be furious. Understand?”
Trepidation crawled up Cal’s spine, making the small hairs at the back of his neck stand on end. What now? What other terrible thing could this day possibly bring?
Cal held his mother’s gaze and nodded. “Okay. You’ll be furious if I spill. Got it. So what is it?”
Sada dropped her hands and faced William. She sighed, a bone-weary expulsion of breath. When she looked at Caleb he didn’t see the anxiety or fear he expected from the tenor of her words. What he saw was determination.
“Your father needs your help, Caleb. With the business. He has for a long time now. It’s why he’s been pestering you so to come on board.”
“What do you mean, needs my help?” Cal paced his words, a warning itch creeping along his shoulder blades. “Dad’s never even hinted that he needed help, just that he wants to keep the family business going.”
“Exactly.” Sada’s lips formed a taut line. “He’s too proud to admit he can’t keep up the way he used to. Too proud to ask his son to step in because he can’t do it all himself. This terrible thing, this thing that happened today? It’s because he’s running himself ragged trying to operate things the way he did ten, twenty
years ago. He can’t do it. He’s—he’s getting old. Older. And he needs help. There’s just too much pressure on him.”
Cal willed himself to breathe, to keep his chest from constricting, and to keep the drowning sensation at bay. “Exactly what is it you’re asking me to do, Mom?”
“Step in, Caleb. Step in and take things over.”
Cal rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and chose his words with care.
“I know you want to do what’s right for Dad’s health. But Dad doesn’t need to come out of this and find out someone, even me, has taken over the operation of the business. It’s his. He’s worked his ass off and any decision as important as this one needs to be his.” He held his hand up when Sada started to argue. “I’m not saying I won’t oversee things in the short term. He sure as hell can’t work the business from his hospital bed. I’ll go to the office tomorrow and take a look at things, talk to the job foremen on Monday and see what’s what. When Dad comes out of this I’ll talk to him and see what he really wants or needs for me to do.
“I know you’re scared for him, Mom. We all are. You know I’ll do whatever needs doing. But you have to let me talk to him. A hostile takeover just because you fear for him is something that, one, he’ll never allow, and two, he’ll never forgive.”
“You do understand that he has to have help, Caleb. Real day-to-day help. He’s doing too much. He needs to start handing the reins to someone else. The reason he hasn’t done that is because with all of his heart he wants it to be you. He’s been so sure you’ll change your mind about coming into Walker Construction that he won’t even consider working with anyone else.” Her eyes welled. “He’s going to kill himself trying to do too much.”
“Let’s take it a step at a time, okay? First order of business is you going home for a few hours. I’m right here if Dad needs me. I’ll do whatever needs to be done, okay?” He held Sada by the shoulders and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I won’t let you down. Either of you.”
Love Built to Last Page 12