Last Chance Hero

by Cathleen Armstrong

  While she waited, Jess stretched out, using Elizabeth’s gate for support. When she heard the screen door open again, she looked up to see Elizabeth in a lavender warm-up suit making her way across the porch.

  “Don’t forget to use the ramp.”

  Elizabeth veered slightly and headed for the ramp without answering.

  “Is that cane going to be enough support, or do you think you need to take your walker?”

  This time Elizabeth did look up, and there was no question that she had been bossed just about as much as she was going to take.

  “I can manage just fine the way I am, thank you.” She made her careful way down the ramp and gave Jess a tight little smile when she joined her at the gate. “Are you ready to go?”

  They had walked for a minute or two with Elizabeth navigating the sidewalk and Jess walking beside her in the street before Jess broke the silence.

  “I think you’re annoyed with me, Elizabeth.”

  Elizabeth took a few more careful steps before she heaved a sigh. “No, I’m not annoyed with you, sweet girl. You’re just getting the brunt of it, I’m afraid.”

  “The brunt of what?” Jess kept her voice gentle.

  “This.” Elizabeth lifted her cane and shook it. “This whole mess. I was doing just fine taking care of myself and my house, driving myself where I needed to go, and then with one little stumble on my porch steps, everything changed. Now I can’t take a blessed breath without someone there to make sure I’m doing it right. My sweet daughter-in-law calls me two or three times a day. Ray and Lainie, as much as I love having them with me, moved here from Santa Fe just to look after me. And have you met Sarah, my granddaughter who lives just two doors down? Well, she comes by every day after she gets home from school. She says she wants a cup of tea, but I know she’s just checking to see if I’m still upright and breathing. The only reason in the world that they don’t hire a babysitter for me now that Lainie’s working at the diner is because they make me wear this little help button all the time. Even then they don’t want me to leave the house unless one of them is with me, for all the world like I was about two years old. Well, I’m here to tell you that the only thing that has changed is that I’m a little stiffer than I was. Maybe I don’t move quite as fast as I used to, but my mind is just fine, thank you very much. And I can still take care of myself.”

  Jess just raised her eyebrows and nodded without speaking. She had seen Elizabeth fuss gently at her cat, or at Lainie for not resting enough, or even at Andy for not wiping his boots on the welcome mat before coming into her living room, but this was more than that. Elizabeth was frustrated and angry on a level Jess had not seen.

  Elizabeth stopped and looked up at Jess. Her cheeks were pink from the exertion of her walk, but her smile was more relaxed, if a little rueful. “My goodness, listen to me talk. I should be ashamed. I’ve got more family caring about me than you can shake a stick at, and all I can do is complain about it. I need to be counting my blessings, that’s what I need to be doing.”

  She set off again with a determined gait, and Jess fell in alongside her. Truthfully, she understood Elizabeth’s exasperation perfectly. It was natural, and Jess didn’t think Elizabeth had anything to apologize for, but somehow she felt that the last thing Elizabeth wanted right now was to be set straight—again.

  They reached Elizabeth’s gate, and Jess held it open for her. If the walk to the end of the block had tired Elizabeth, her slight puffing and her rosy cheeks were the only indication. Her steps were firm and quick until she reached the ramp, and then she stopped, took a deep breath, and grasping the rail with her free hand, more or less pulled herself up the ramp to the porch. Jess followed close behind, and if Elizabeth noticed her hovering, she chose not to say anything.

  “Come in the kitchen and I’ll get us a cup of coffee.” Elizabeth led the way through her little house. “I don’t have any coffee cake this morning, but these cookies have oatmeal and raisins, so we’ll just call them breakfast.”

  Jess sat at the table where Elizabeth directed and watched as her hostess moved around the kitchen, filling cups and taking cookies from the jar and putting them on a plate. She still seemed a little breathless.

  “There now.” Elizabeth finally sat down and smiled across the table at Jess. “This was all I wanted in the first place, just a little coffee and company. Have a cookie. My little friend Olivia and I made them yesterday, so they’re nice and fresh.”

  “I think I met Olivia the first night I was here.” Jess took a sip of her coffee. “Didn’t someone tell me she was part of your family somehow?”

  Elizabeth laughed. “Technically, she’s my granddaughter Sarah’s niece by marriage, but we got close long before that happened. She comes over after school every day to keep me company.”

  Elizabeth must have anticipated a lecture because she raised both eyebrows and a forefinger. “Now don’t you go telling me that having Olivia every afternoon is too much for me. I get enough of that from everyone else. Olivia is the sweetest little thing you’ll ever meet and the highlight of my day.”

  “I’ll bet she is.” Actually, Jess had no intention of discouraging Elizabeth from having Olivia over. She had noticed the television was still on and Elizabeth’s crocheting piled in the recliner when she came in, just as she had noticed Elizabeth’s desire to fuss over and care for anyone who entered her front door. If anyone could keep Elizabeth from sitting all day, Jess had a feeling it was Olivia.

  “Elizabeth, I have an idea.” Jess leaned both elbows on the table. “I come by here every morning after my run. Why don’t you plan on walking with me? We’ll take it slow at first and build up your strength. When your family sees you moving around more like your old self, I’ll bet they’ll ease up a little. And frankly, I’d love the company.”

  “I thought you and Andy always ran together.”

  Jess wrinkled her nose. “Not anymore. Football practice started today.”

  “Ah, well, I should have known. Once football season starts, everything else around town pretty much takes a backseat.” Elizabeth took a nibble from the cookie she had just dipped into her coffee.

  “So? What do you say? Will you be my walking buddy?”

  Elizabeth sighed. “What time would you be by?”

  “About this time every morning.”

  “Every morning?”

  “It works best that way.”

  Elizabeth didn’t say anything. She took another sip of her coffee, gazing at Jess over the rim with a slightly furrowed brow and the bluest eyes Jess had ever seen.

  Jess picked up her own cup and waited. She was neither Elizabeth’s family nor her physician, and she wasn’t about to badger her into doing something she didn’t want to do. Even if it was for her own good.

  “Oh, all right. We’ll give it a try.” Elizabeth set her cup down with a little clank. “But I’d like to be back home and settled by 9:00 every morning. That’s when they run Rockford Files, and I like to crochet a few rows while I watch it.”

  “That won’t be a problem at all.” Jess held her cup up in salute. “I’m looking forward to this. It’s going to be fun.”

  Elizabeth clinked her own cup gently against Jess’s. “Well, we’ll see about that.”

  6

  You know, I have this funny pain in my knee sometimes. Not really a pain, more of a twinge, I guess.” Juanita set Jess’s salad on the table in front of her and bent to rub the offending joint. “It just comes and goes for no apparent reason. There’s no bruise or anything. Do you have any idea what it might be?”

  “Is it swollen?” Jess knew better than to engage in casual encounter diagnoses, but the question just seemed to pose itself.

  “No. There’s nothing you can see that might be causing it. It just up and hurts awhile and then it quits.” Juanita’s forehead furrowed. “What do you think?”

  Jess looked at Juanita’s knee, covered as it was with thick support hose. “I really can’t tell anything without
examining it. Why don’t you call the office and make an appointment? We shouldn’t have much trouble fitting you in.”

  “Oh, don’t worry about it.” Juanita’s expression relaxed and she flapped a dismissive hand. “I have an appointment with my regular doctor in a couple weeks. If it’s still bothering me, I’ll get him to check it for me. I just thought since you were here and all that you might be able to tell me something.”

  She moved off, without a trace of a limp, to ask the next table if they needed any more iced tea, and Jess picked up her fork. And there you have the second most effective way of dealing with tableside medical consultations—the first being to ask the patient to disrobe.

  Jess looked around the room as she ate her lunch. Every time she came into the Dip ’n’ Dine, she felt a little less like a stranger, and that felt good. In the excitement of her plans, she had dismissed her mother’s concern that she was moving somewhere where she wouldn’t know a soul. She liked people and never had trouble making friends. But she had never encountered a place like Last Chance, where everybody seemed to have known everybody else all their lives. They were friendly and even welcoming, but she still had that feeling that she was company and they were family.

  Across the room Lainie Braden, still slim in her uniform, took an order from two men perched side by side on counter stools. Lainie had been new once, but now she was as much a part of the town as the craggy eastern mountains or the faded asphalt highway that called itself Main Street as it ran through town.

  Jess munched thoughtfully on a bite of lettuce. I wonder if I would sound pathetic if I asked her what her secret is. Probably. I’ll just give it a little more time.

  As if she could sense Jess’s gaze, Lainie looked up and met her eyes with a wide smile. She murmured something to the men at the counter before making her way across the room to where Jess sat by the window.

  “Hey there. How are you doing?” She really did seem glad to see her, and Jess felt her loneliness shift a little to make room for the warmth of Lainie’s smile.

  “I’m fine, but how are you doing? Still feeling good?”

  Lainie laughed. “I’m feeling great. And if you could turn that into a medical diagnosis and tell my husband and his grandmother, I’d really appreciate it.”

  “Glad to hear it.” Jess let the comment about the diagnosis pass.

  “Of course, you probably need to wait till after my appointment, but I’m counting on you.”

  “Appointment?” Jess hadn’t heard about that.

  “I know, it’s not for another three weeks, but I went ahead and scheduled one. I didn’t want to wait to the last minute and then find out you were all booked up and couldn’t take any more patients.”

  “Yeah, that’s a real possibility.” Jess laughed. “But I couldn’t be more tickled. And once we’ve had that first appointment, you can count on me being in your corner all the way. If at all feasible, Mom calls the shots, I say.”

  “I knew I liked you.” Lainie grinned. “Mom. Wow. I have to get used to that.”

  “How’s that salad? Need some more iced tea?” Juanita appeared at the table and stood just close enough to Lainie that she had to step back a little.

  Lainie took the hint and gave Jess a wink as she moved away. “I’ll talk to you later.”

  Juanita watched her go and turned back to Jess with a shake of her head. “That girl is just the sweetest thing ever, and I’ve loved her since the day she landed in Last Chance, but she does like to visit with the customers. Now, how about a little more tea.”

  “Thanks.” Jess nudged her glass a little closer.

  “I just have to ask.” Juanita poured the tea and stood back regarding Jess’s plate. “Why do you get that salad every time you come in here? I mean, it’s good and all, but it’s probably the most boring thing on the whole menu. Are you on some kind of weird diet or something?”

  “No. I just like salad.” With Juanita looming over her, Jess felt a little protective of her plate of greens.

  “Well, you must, that’s all I can say. Have you even tried anything else on the menu?”

  “Um, no. Not for lunch, anyway.” Jess looked around the room. All the other diners were eating as if Juanita calling someone on the carpet was nothing new, and Lainie was nowhere in sight. If Jess were anywhere else, she’d ask for the check and flee, never to return, but something told her that she didn’t want to burn that bridge. She smiled up at Juanita, trying to keep her voice light. “But you never know. I might surprise you someday.”

  “Shock me someday is more like it.” Juanita gave Jess’s plate one last contemptuous glance and sighed. “Well, if that day ever comes, let me know and I’ll recommend something. Carlos is the best cook in this part of the state, and it’s not his salads that he’s known for.”

  Juanita took her iced tea pitcher and moved off to tend some other table, looking for all the world as if she hadn’t just raked a customer over the coals for her menu choice, and Jess watched her go. Some people leaned back in their booth and propped their elbows on the table for a chat; others barely glanced up and went back to their meals. Juanita seemed equally at ease with either reaction. Maybe that was the key. Let Juanita be Juanita; just don’t let her under your skin.

  Down the road at the high school just past the edge of town, Andy shoved the last of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich in his mouth and brushed the crumbs off his desk. Peanut butter and jelly had pretty much become his diet since football practice started. It was easy to slap on some bread in the predawn darkness before he headed to school in the morning, and it didn’t take more strength than he had left when he dragged himself home in the evening. Good thing he liked peanut butter. Or he had before football practice started.

  “How’d it go?” Kev came in looking happy and well fed. But then, he went home for lunch.

  Andy shrugged. “About like you’d expect, I guess. No one likes getting cut, especially when we’re this far into preseason practice. I expect I’ll be getting a few calls tonight from dads demanding an explanation.”

  “Glad it’ll be you and not me.” Kev leaned over the desk and turned the roster so he could see it. “I guess this is when it gets hard. These last few might play if they were at a larger school.”

  “Well, it’s never easy to let someone go when they really want it.” Andy leaned back and clasped his hands behind his head.

  “Like this one. Man, he’s a fighter. Too bad he’s got so many strikes against him.” Kev tapped the sheet with a pencil.

  Andy leaned to look. “Who, Quintana? Yeah, you’re right on both counts. He’s got a rough row to hoe, all right. And he is a fighter. That’s why I’m not quite ready to let him go yet.”

  “Really? I had him pegged for next. I feel for the guy, but he has a hard time even making it to practice. And when it comes to raw talent, he just doesn’t have what some of these other guys have—guys you’d have to cut to keep him.”

  Andy didn’t say anything. His assistant was right. Gabe was the next logical cut. He was smaller than most of the other players and had already missed two early morning practices. And more than once, Andy had held off summoning the team from the track for a few minutes because he saw Gabe’s battered pickup speeding down the highway and throwing up a cloud of dust as it careened into the parking lot. But man, he could scrap. Whether it was drills or a scrimmage, Gabe Quintana went after it like it was the championship game and it all depended on him.

  “Well, you’re the coach. I’m the first to admit that you know a whole lot more about this process than I do.” Kev broke the silence and headed back to his desk. “Say, if you could monitor the weight room this afternoon, I’d sure like an hour or two to go work on my classroom. I’ll need to be switching hats back and forth here pretty soon.”

  “Sure. No problem. I guess I got so wrapped up in what we’re doing here that I’d forgotten you have classes to teach.”

  “Yep. Two American history, one world history, and a gover
nment class. Coaches teach around here, unless you’re a football hero or something.” Kev grinned and raised both hands when Andy glanced up at him. “Sorry, man, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. It’s just that we haven’t had a full-time athletic director since the Glory Days. I guess the school board’s counting on you having your hands full getting another streak like that one started.”

  Andy shook his head. “Nope, I read the contract carefully. It said coach the football team and coordinate the rest of the athletic program. Not a word about a winning streak.”

  “Yeah, right. Check again and this time read between the lines; you’ll find it, trust me.” Kev reached for his hat. “Listen, if I go now, I’ll be back in plenty of time to make sure we’re ready for late practice. Okay with you?”

  “Sure.” Andy waved him away and went back to the papers piled all over his desk. He didn’t need to go back over his contract to read between the lines. With every interview he’d had before being hired, with every conversation since then that had turned to the Glory Days, with every discussion with Russ Sheppard and the Boosters, over and over he had said the same thing: this is a different time, these are different boys, you can’t saddle them with the past. And everyone had nodded solemnly and agreed. And every single one of them, Andy knew, cherished in his heart the belief that the mighty Pumas of tiny Last Chance were poised again to be the talk of the state, maybe even the whole country. He found himself longing for one, even one, conversation that didn’t devolve to the Glory Days. And even though he knew exactly the one person he’d like to have that conversation with, he didn’t see how he could squeeze it in until after football season.

  Jess slowed her car and rolled down the window as she passed the Welcome to Last Chance sign and drove into town. The warm, dry air, golden with sunset and still spicy with roasting chile, slid across her shoulders and ruffled her hair, chasing the chill she still felt after her day in the air-conditioned offices of the San Ramon Medical Center. Her first full day of taking Dr. Benavides’s patients while he was on vacation had been long and exhausting but so rewarding. She hadn’t put in a day like that since her residency. This, this was what she was created to do.