“I want to go, too, Mom,” Lisa said, grabbing her purse.
“All right,” Grace said, because she didn’t want to take the time to argue about it.
She shooed them out the door ahead of her, giving Kinlaw a wave as she hurried to the car. He returned it, and if he was bothered by the downpour, it didn’t show.
“What kind of motorcycle is that?” Allison asked as they followed him out of the neighborhood and onto the main road.
“Allison, don’t start with the dumb questions,” Lisa said.
“It’s not a dumb question. I want to know if it’s an Indian.”
“Well, who in this car do you think knows anything about motorcycles?” Lisa said with the sarcasm she’d honed especially for her sister.
“Well, not you, Pouf Brain.”
“Don’t call me that!”
“Do you two think you could postpone this until I’m not driving in a rainstorm,” Grace interrupted. “Thank you!” she added when they didn’t say anything more.
Grace concentrated on following Kinlaw, trying not to lose him as he wove in and out of traffic. He had said that Josh sounded worried. She hoped it was a new father’s reaction to his child’s illness and not actually justified. Still, they had admitted Elizabeth to the hospital.
Grace thought that she had been right to assume that Josh Caven hadn’t had an easy life, and it was probably even worse than she’d imagined. She had known couples—and a few single women—who were foster parents. Good foster parents. She strongly suspected that Josh hadn’t encountered many like those.
“Sandra Kay, what were you thinking,” she said, not realizing she’d spoken out loud.
“What?” Lisa said.
“Nothing,” Grace said. “Both of you help me keep an eye on where he’s going.”
The sun was going down and if anything, it was raining harder. She lost sight of Kinlaw at one point, but he must have realized it, because they soon caught up with him. He led the way through the Camp Lejeune main gate.
“Hey, do you know what kind of motorcycle he’s riding?” Allison asked the young Marine who inspected Grace’s driver’s license.
“Yes, ma’am” he said, making Allison want to giggle. “Indian Chief, ma’am. Vintage restored model.”
“Thank you. I thought so,” she said, giving Lisa a triumphant look.
A few minutes later, Kinlaw led them to the hospital. Then, with a wave, he continued on his rainy way. Actually, the hospital wouldn’t have been that difficult to find. Obviously, the man had very low expectations when it came to Grace’s ability to follow directions.
“I don’t know how sick she is,” Grace said as she and the girls hurried across the parking lot to the hospital entrance. “It might be better if you wait in the lobby until I find out.”
“No, I want to go with you, Mom,” Allison said quickly. “We don’t have to go in the room. I just want to be . . . close.”
“Me, too,” Lisa said, clearly begrudging a situation that required that she agree with her sister.
“Okay, but no squabbling. I mean it.”
“Mom,” Allison said while Lisa rolled her eyes.
They found the room easily enough. The girls waited in the hallway as Grace eased the door open. That Joshua Caven was surprised to see her was a monumental understatement. It took him a moment to find his composure, and when he did, he got up from the big chair he’d been sitting in and came to the door.
“How is she?” Grace whispered in case Elizabeth was sleeping. She could see the baby from where she stood, but she couldn’t really tell if she was awake.
“I . . . don’t know,” Josh said. “They don’t tell me much. She’s still got a high fever and that IV—man, she hates that. They brought her some applesauce a little while ago, but I can’t get her to eat it.”
“Can I try?” Allison said around Grace. “I won’t be a pest about it.”
He hesitated.
“Well, maybe a little bit of a pest,” Allison amended. “She likes me. She might take a little bit for me.”
“Yeah, go ahead,” he said, stepping aside. “But stop if she starts to cry.”
“We’re just going to do a little girl talk,” Allison said. “And if some applesauce shows up—who knows?”
“Are you hungry?” Lisa asked him as Allison walked to Elizabeth’s bedside. “I saw some vending machines back there. I’ll go get you something.”
“No. I . . . don’t have any change.”
“I’ll be right back,” Lisa said.
“What?” Grace asked, noticing the bewildered look on his face.
“I don’t . . .” he said, then shook his head.
“We’re just here to see if we can help you out with Elizabeth. You may have noticed she’s a big hit with the James’ women.”
He smiled at that, a tired smile he couldn’t maintain. He looked over his shoulder. Allison was chatting away—and sneaking tiny bits of applesauce in while she kept up her running commentary.
Lisa came back with a can of orange juice in one hand and some kind of snack in the other.
“I tried to get what would be good for you,” she said.
“Good choice. Thanks,” Josh said, taking what turned out to be an oatmeal cookie and some peanut butter and cheese crackers. “I’ll pay you back.”
“No, that’s okay. I wanted to get it. The nurse said for me not to overpopulate the room, so I’m going to go sit in the waiting area. I think I saw somebody I know from school.”
“Okay,” Grace said.
Josh took a deep breath and stared at the snacks Lisa had given him.
“Eat,” Grace said. “You really do look like you could use it.”
“This is . . . not easy,” he said. “Seeing her so sick.”
“I know,” Grace said, because she did. She’d been through hospitalized illnesses with both Lisa and Allison.
“Half of the applesauce,” Allison said proudly, holding up the small container.
“Good job,” Josh said. “Thanks, Allison.”
Grace moved closer to the bedside so she could see Elizabeth, who was holding onto Allison’s finger while Allison explained her current school assignment, “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” complete with muted sound effects.
“Whatever works,” Josh said, tearing open the wrapper around the oatmeal cookie.
“She’s nearly asleep,” Grace said when he’d finished eating. “Why don’t you try to sleep, too? I’ll watch her. And I’ll wake you up if she gets fussy.”
He looked doubtful. “This—I don’t—”
Grace waited for him to decide whether or not he wanted to continue.
“I’m just not used to this,” he said after a moment.
“What?”
“This. Is this what families do? Show up unannounced?”
“A lot of them do. A lot of them don’t.”
“Did Sergeant Kinlaw call you?”
“Yes.”
“He was supposed to call one of the K-Vs—I couldn’t get my sponsor.”
“Maybe he did,” Grace said, without knowing precisely what a “K-V” was. “Maybe the . . . K-V couldn’t get here. I imagine he always has a Plan B. Take a nap, Josh. While you can.”
“Yeah. I think I will.” He sat back down in the one big chair and closed his eyes and, incredibly, he was almost immediately asleep. She wondered if that was something he’d learned to do, some kind of Marine survival trick.
Allison was singing softly, but not one of the lullabies Grace used to sing to her and Lisa. Instead, she was working her way through an old “hillbilly” song—“Hey, Good Lookin’” and adding a “beep-beep” when she got to the hot rod Ford part. Grace wondered about the choice, but appar
ently it was a good one; Elizabeth gave a wan smile in all the right places and as the song went into an encore, her eyes began to close.
“She’s asleep,” Allison whispered after a moment.
“Good. I’ll watch her so Josh can nap a little while. You go keep Lisa company and read whatever you were supposed to read—or did you bring it?”
“Yes, Mom, I brought it,” Allison said, patting her jacket pocket.
“I’m glad you got her to eat,” Grace said, giving her a hug.
“Me, too, Mom.”
Allison left the room and Grace sat down in the remaining straight chair close to the bed, watching the labored rise and fall of Elizabeth’s small chest.
Poor baby.
And poor Marine. It was hard to go through this kind of thing, especially alone—Marine or not.
The door squeaked open slightly behind her, and Grace looked around, expecting to see Allison. She didn’t recognize the young woman standing almost in the doorway. Grace got up and walked to her.
“Who are you?” the young woman asked before Grace said anything, her tone suggesting that she had better like the answer. She was quite pretty even if she was clearly not happy.
“Family,” Grace said, because that seemed the simplest answer, given the situation.
“Yeah, right,” the young woman said. “I know better than that.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t—”
“What are you doing here?” Josh said suddenly. Apparently he could wake up just as quickly as he dropped off. He got up from the chair, and there was no delay in finding his sergeant’s face this time. “Get out,” he said bluntly. His voice was quiet for Elizabeth’s sake, but there was no doubt in Grace’s mind that he meant it.
“Josh, please,” the young woman said. “She needs me—”
“Believe me, you do not want to go there,” he interrupted. “Since when do you care about what she needs? She’s needed you way before now. She needed you every time I got her all dressed up for you and you never showed. Where were you then?”
“I was—I couldn’t—Josh—”
“I don’t want to hear it! Get out!”
“Josh . . .” Grace protested.
“You, too,” he said to her. “Both of you. Go. Now. We don’t need you.”
Grace chose not to argue. “All right,” she said. This was his situation—to handle however he saw fit—and there was a sick baby in the middle of it. She turned and left, heading for the waiting area without looking back. She just wanted to get her children and go home. Unfortunately, she didn’t see them anywhere. So she sat down to wait, hoping they’d gone to the restroom and weren’t dueling at twenty paces somewhere out under the pine trees.
Grace kept trying to understand what had just happened, replaying the scene with Josh and the young woman who must be Elizabeth’s mother in her mind.
She realized suddenly that she wasn’t alone and looked up. Kinlaw was standing not far away, clearly waiting for her to realize he was there.
“What?” she said, sounding for the world like one of her daughters, hell bent on starting something discordant.
“Went well, did it,” he said instead of answering.
“No, it didn’t go well.”
“You met Angie.” It wasn’t quite a question.
“If you call getting tossed out of the room together an introduction.”
“I . . . owe you an apology.”
“Now why doesn’t that surprise me?” Grace said. “I can’t wait to hear what for.”
“It’s pretty simple. Angie was crazy with worry about her kid and she was coming here no matter what. I thought maybe Josh would let her see Elizabeth if you happened to be here at the same time.”
Grace looked at him a long moment.
“Why?”
“She did a stupid thing—or ten—but I think she loves her kid.”
“No, I mean why did you think my being there would make a difference?”
“I just did,” he said. “You’re that kind of woman.”
Grace had no idea what he meant, but she didn’t want him to elaborate. “Look. I don’t know anything about Josh’s situation—and I don’t want to. I just . . . feel sorry for him.”
“Well, don’t ever let him hear you say that. You don’t go around feeling sorry for a Marine, Mrs. James—ever.”
“What—it’s in the Marine Rule Book?”
“Damn straight,” he said.
“You haven’t seen my daughters, by any chance?”
“Yeah. Lisa ran into somebody she knows whose cousin is a patient here. All three of them went to cheer the invalid up. I understand he’s pretty hot.”
“Oh, great. Do you know the room number?”
“That I didn’t get.”
“Don’t you ever meddle in a helpful way?” she asked.
“Apparently not. Come on. It’s a cold rainy night. I’ll buy you a cup of coffee while you’re waiting.”
“I need to find Lisa and Allison so we can get out of here.”
“Well, you could always do a room to room search, but it’s not far to the vending machines, and your daughters went in that direction. My guess is they’ll walk by there on the way back.”
She sighed and got to her feet. “Okay. I want to say something to Josh first.”
“I wouldn’t,” Kinlaw said.
“Why not?”
“Because he’s pissed off about Angie and about Elizabeth being so sick—and you don’t want to be the only one around he can take it out on.”
Grace looked at him. “No. I don’t.”
“Besides that,” Kinlaw said as they walked down the hall, “it’s better if he thinks he behaved like an ass.”
“He did behave like an ass.”
“The point being, sooner or later, he’ll realize it. He’s the kind of man who’ll want to do something about it. If you come at him again while he’s still feeling righteous, then the longer he’s going to think his behavior was justified. See?”
“No. I didn’t have any brothers and I’m raising girls.”
“You had a husband.”
“Yes.”
“Josh said he was killed in a car accident.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry for your loss. I served on a community action committee once with a Trent James. He knew how to get things done, and he didn’t suffer fools gladly. I assume that was him.”
“I—yes,” she said, despite the fact that she was surprised by the remark. Trent didn’t suffer fools gladly? He sold insurance; he had to suffer fools gladly. It was a big part of his job description. And it never occurred to her that Kinlaw and Trent might have crossed paths. She found that surprising as well.
“He seemed like a nice guy. It must be hard for all of you.”
“Yes,” Grace said for the third time. “What else did Josh tell you?” she asked, because she didn’t want to talk about Trent. She didn’t know when he and Kinlaw had met, and she especially didn’t want to know if it had been when things were so strained between them.
“He said you’re a good cook and you’re not his mother.”
“He believes me then.”
“Yeah. Not easy when he was so sure about it.”
“I still feel sorry for him.”
“I’m telling you—don’t.”
The vending lounge was overly air-conditioned and empty.
“Pick whatever you want—I’m buying.”
Grace didn’t argue with him about it. Actually, she thought it was the least he could do, considering. She opted for hot chocolate instead of coffee.
“Why did you do that? Really,” she said as she sat down at one of the empty tables.
“Because I’m the last of the big spenders,” he said.
“No, I mean the thing with Angie and Josh—and me.”
He looked at her, his demeanor direct and without apology, regardless of what he’d said earlier. “If there’s any way Josh can work it, he’s going to finish his deployment. He doesn’t need any distractions when he’s over there. He needs to get things settled with Angie if he can—before he goes.”
“Does Angie want Elizabeth back?”
“Yes and no—heavier on the no. Like I said, she did some really stupid things. But, unlike a lot of people, she knows it. It scares her—enough to believe Elizabeth is better off without her.”
They sat for a while in silence.
“So what do you think Josh’s chances are of meeting his real mother?” Kinlaw asked.
“Not good,” Grace said. “I’m the only relative she has and I haven’t seen or heard from her in years.”
“Maybe not the only relative. What was she like when you knew her?”
“She was a . . . free spirit.”
“Very tactfully put, Mrs. James. Is that why you don’t know where she is—because she’s a free spirit?”
“All I know is that it’s her choice. I’ve stayed put all these years. If she wanted to contact her family—me—she knows where I am.”
“Are you going to have the DNA test done?”
“I just got tossed out of the room, remember? I don’t see any kind of tests in our future.” Then she spotted her daughters walking past.
“I’m going to go,” she said. “Thanks for the hot chocolate. But please, try to leave me out of your future machinations, will you?”
She hurried away to catch up with Allison and Lisa.
“Mom!” Allison said. “There you are. Josh said you’d gone.”
“You saw Josh?”
“Well, yeah. That’s where we thought you were.”
“What did he say?”
The Marine (Semper Fi; Marine) Page 8