Last Chance Hero

by Cathleen Armstrong

  Jess didn’t say anything for a moment.

  “Well, Kaitlyn, I hear the things you’re saying, but I just don’t get it.”

  “I don’t get it either. I just know it’s true. But talk to Elizabeth. She believes it and she gets it. And she’ll be real happy to explain it to you. All you have to do is say something like, ‘Boy, it’s lucky I ran into you today.’”

  Jess laughed. “That would be an interesting conversation, and I might just do that. I’ve been meaning to get by to see her, anyway.”

  After hanging up, Jess leaned back in her chair and thought about her conversation with Kaitlyn. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe in God; she did. She had just always thought of him as being too busy running the universe to get involved in the results of a blood test. And she supposed that if you were braced for bad news, like Kaitlyn was, and got good news instead, you might think God had done that, as a reward, maybe, for being a good person. But Jess knew that good people got sick sometimes, just like bad people stayed well, and how that all added up to being part of God’s plan was the thing that didn’t make sense.

  A tap on her office door interrupted her musing, and she felt for her shoes with her toes and slipped them on. “Come in.”

  Gabe Quintana, with a backpack slung over one shoulder, opened the door. “Hi, Dr. MacLeod. I came. Is it still okay?”

  “Of course. I was expecting you. Why don’t you get set up at that table? I’ve got a patient coming in in a few minutes, but I think I’ve got time to see what you’re doing and where you are.”

  “Oh, here. My mom wanted me to give you this.” He handed her a manila envelope on his way to the table.

  “Thanks.” She took a peek inside before tossing it on her desk. “Perfect. Just what I was looking for.”

  “Everything okay?” Gabe gestured toward the envelope with his chin as he sat down and pulled books and notebooks from his backpack.

  “Everything’s fine. Didn’t I tell you that everything isn’t about you?” Jess grinned as she pulled a chair over next to him. “Now, show me what you’ve got here.”

  Fifteen minutes later, Eva stuck her head in to tell her that her next patient was ready for her, and Jess got to her feet. “Okay, I think you’re good to go with this. I’ll pop in to see how you’re doing from time to time, but other than that, you’re on your own. Are you okay with that?”

  “Yeah, sure. Thanks.” He positioned his book in front of him and flipped open his notebook, and by the time Jess reached the door and looked back, he was already scribbling in his notebook. He was going to be fine. She had no doubt of it.

  Not till the last patient and Eva left almost simultaneously did Jess get back to her office, and she found Gabe pretty much where she had left him, except there were a few wadded-up sheets of paper around, and a couple other notebooks were open on the table.

  “Hey there, how’s it going?”

  “Good.” He didn’t look up.

  “Any questions so far?”

  “Nope.”

  “Want something to drink? Some water?”

  “I’m good, thanks.”

  Jess smiled and shook her head. Whatever might keep Gabe from achieving his dreams, it would not be inability to focus, that she could see.

  Sitting at her desk and slipping off her shoes, she opened the manila envelope and pulled out Marta’s résumé. The more she read, the more delighted she became. If she had written Marta’s résumé to her own specifications, it couldn’t have been more perfect. Marta had even taken a course or two in billing and office management.

  “Gabe, what time does your mom get up? Gabe? Gabe!”

  He finally looked up, almost as if he wondered where he was. “What?”

  “What time does your mom leave for work?”

  “Around 4:30. Why?”

  Jess looked at her watch. “Shoot, it’s nearly 5:30. She’s long gone.”

  “5:30?” Gabe started slamming his notebooks closed and shoving everything into his backpack. “Man. I’ve got to go get the kids from the neighbor’s and make them their dinner.”

  “Okay.” Jess was glad she wasn’t between him and the door. It seemed like a good way to get run down. “It looks like you’re doing just fine. When’s your next test?”

  “I’ve got a chemistry test Wednesday, and we have a calculus quiz every Friday.” Gabe slipped one arm through a backpack strap.

  “Remember, you have to get A’s on both, so let me know if there’s anything in either that you don’t understand.”

  “Got it. Thanks.” He was already out the door.

  By the time Jess got to the front door to lock it, Gabe was backing his old truck around so he could exit the parking lot. Checking each room as she went, Jess headed back to her office. She still had perhaps an hour of work before she could leave. Marta Quintana’s résumé, still in the center of her desk, caught her eye, causing her to break into a wide smile. Tomorrow she’d give Marta a call, and tomorrow she’d tell Eva that her days of exile might be coming to an end. And if everything went well, within a couple weeks, she’d have Marta working right here with her.

  “Your mom called.”

  Andy hung his jacket and his hat on the hook by the front door. This really wasn’t the first thing he wanted to hear when he walked in the front door, but that’s what he got for forgetting his phone this morning. “Did you talk to her?”

  “Not for long, I didn’t. I said, ‘Hello.’ She said, ‘Who’s this?’ I said, ‘This is Tim Ryan, who’s this?’ She said, ‘Tim?’ And the next thing you know there’s this ruckus on the other end and that sister of hers comes on and says, ‘How dare you try to talk to her? Don’t you ever call this number again.’ Then she slams the phone down. The thing is, o’ course, is that I never did call her. She called me.”

  “I’ll call her and make sure she’s okay.” Andy walked down the hall to his room with his phone pressed to his ear. His call went to voice mail. “Hi Mom. Sorry about the call. I went off and left my phone on the charger this morning. But if you want to call back, I’m home now.”

  Within a minute, his phone rang, and the screen said “Mom.” He hit Accept.

  “Hi Mom.”

  “Would you tell me what in this world that man is doing with your phone?”

  So much for preliminary pleasantries.

  “I told you. I left my phone on the charger this morning, so when you called, he just answered it.”

  “I think you know I’m not interested in whether your phone is all charged up or not. Hang on. Aunt Barb wants to talk to you.”

  Andy rolled his head in a circle. The knot between his shoulders felt like it was the size of his fist.

  “Andrew Ryan, is that you?”

  “Hi Aunt Barb.”

  “Andy, would you please tell me why you opened the door to that man after all he’s done to your mother? And to you, for that matter.”

  “Well, I didn’t open the door to him. He opened it before I got home. He just needs someplace to stay awhile.”

  There was a moment of silence. Aunt Barb was probably reloading.

  “Well, let me tell you this, young man. Your mother has been planning for your Christmas visit since the day you told her you were coming. Just last Sunday in church when they said they needed folks to sign up for the Christmas program, the first words out of her mouth were, ‘Oh, I hope Andy’s here for that.’ But I’m telling you right now, if that man comes with you, I’ll leave you both standing on the front porch, and don’t think I won’t. Even if it does break your mother’s heart.”

  “Aunt Barb, it’s only October. We’ll get this worked out. I will be there for Christmas, and I’ll come by myself.”

  “Okay, then. Well, you take care, honey. Here’s your mom. Love you.”

  By the time Andy was able to get off the phone and head back to the kitchen, his head throbbed. He had forgotten to ask why his mother had called in the first place, and she hadn’t mentioned it herself, but the
fact that his dad was not invited for Christmas had been made abundantly clear.

  “Everything okay?” Tim was standing in front of the stove. “I found some pork chops in your freezer. Thought I’d fry ’em up, if that sounds good.”

  “Fine.” Andy rummaged in the cupboard for aspirin. “Dad, why did you answer the phone? You knew it would only upset her.”

  “Well, how was I supposed to know who was on the phone? Think I’m a mind reader?”

  “How about the fact that it said ‘Mom’ in big letters across the screen? How many moms do you think I have?”

  Tim turned around and poked the sizzling pork chops with a fork. “Countin’ that sister of hers, I’d say about one too many.”

  “Anyway, she’s upset, Aunt Barb’s upset, and the only thing that really got settled was that you’re not invited for Christmas.”

  “I wouldn’t go there for Christmas in a one-horse open sleigh. And you can tell ’em I said so, next time you talk to ’em.”

  “So, you haven’t told me, Dad. Why did you answer the phone? You had to know it wasn’t going to end well.”

  “I don’t know.” Tim flipped the pork chops over in the skillet. “When the phone rang and I saw it said ‘Mom,’ I realized what a long time it has been since I heard her voice. Not since the night, well, you know what happened. I just wondered if she sounded the same.”

  “And did she?”

  “Pretty much the same, at least as far as I could tell before that sister of hers got the phone away from her. You know, I don’t want to mess with your mom’s life. When I told you I was glad she was happy, I meant it. And I’m as sorry as I can be that things turned out the way they did. That wasn’t what we thought was going to happen when we started out. Someday I hope I can tell her that.”

  “That might be awhile, Dad. You burned a lot of bridges.”

  “I know I did.” He turned off the fire under the skillet and looked in. “I didn’t think to make anything to go with these pork chops.”

  “That’s okay. We can heat some corn real quick. I think we can get by with a little skimpiness for one meal.”

  Andy watched his dad while they ate. He still had that hair-trigger temper, but he didn’t seem to have the violence that used to accompany it. His eyes had bags under them and were heavy-lidded, but they weren’t red and watery like they used to be. And his hands didn’t shake.

  “Dad, the other night you told me you weren’t drinking anymore. How long has it been?”

  Tim rested his elbow on the table and rubbed his chin. “Pretty close to four years. Four years next month, come to think of it. I got real sick. My heart about give out on me. The doctor said the booze was killing me and if I didn’t stop, I’d wind up as dead as Jacob’s mule. So I stopped. I still had some things I wanted to do.”

  “You stopped? Just like that?” Andy felt anger begin to course through him again. If it was that easy, why had it taken so long? And if destroying his family wasn’t a big enough reason to quit, then what was?

  “Well, maybe not just like that. I got myself checked into the county loony bin and fought it out, but I beat that sucker. And I fight it again every day, but so far, so good.”

  “And the things you wanted to do? Have you got ’em done yet?” Andy still wasn’t quite ready to give up the hurt he had carried with him for way too many years.

  “Some. I saw the Carlsbad Caverns on my way down here.”

  The Carlsbad Caverns.

  “Well, good. Glad that stay in the county loony bin wasn’t wasted.”

  Tim put down his fork. “Son, I can tell you’re still awful mad at me. I guess you’ve got something to be mad about. But I thought you’d know without my having to tell you: I wanted to come home to Last Chance. And when I read that article in the barbershop and knew you were here, well, that’s all I needed to know.”

  Andy shoved his chair back from the table so hard that he almost tipped it over. “What do you want from me, Dad? You want me to get all weepy and tell you that as long as we’re together everything is just peachy? Well, I can’t. I’m sorry. I just can’t. Thanks for cooking dinner. I’m going for a walk.”

  He got up from the table, put his jacket on, and left the house. He had no choice but to walk by Jess’s house, but this time he walked on the other side of the street with his hat pulled low over his eyes. He didn’t think there was much chance that she’d be putting a birthday card in the mail again, but he didn’t want to take any chances. Truthfully, he didn’t imagine she wanted to see him any more than he wanted to run into her. But even if last night hadn’t ended like it did, he had a lot to think over, and tonight he wanted to be alone.

  When he got back, the dishes had been done, and the door to his dad’s bedroom was closed. He was glad to see that. The walk had done its job, and he felt much quieter, but the best way for him to stay that way would be if he didn’t have to deal with his dad at least till morning.

  He went into the kitchen to turn out the lights, and as he did so, several little piles of white dust along the baseboard caught his eye. Oh, no. Not termites. I think what I need to do is put the boards back on the windows of this place and just walk away. He knelt and rubbed the dust between his fingers and thumb. Not termites. The dust was far too fine. Looking up, he noticed that each pile of dust was below one of his patches, and each patch had been sanded smooth.

  Just before the lunch bell rang the next day, Andy walked out of his office and got in his truck. Most days he ate his lunch at his desk, but not today. With his dad there at home, his mom and aunt still furious at him in Oklahoma, and pressure building from all sides at school to keep that two-game win streak going, he needed to get away from school, if only for an hour.

  “Well, look who’s here! The man of the hour!” Juanita Sheppard greeted him when he walked into the Dip ’n’ Dine. “What do you think, Coach? Are we going to pound them into the ground like a tent stake again this week?”

  “Well, we’re facing a strong team this week. We need to make sure we want it more than they do.”

  “Oh, pshaw, Andy, do you know how many times I’ve heard those exact same words? Every time a coach gets in front of a microphone, he says the exact same thing: we’re up against a strong team and need to see who wants it most. I think they must make you memorize that in coach’s school or something.”

  “It works pretty well, don’t you think?” Andy took a seat in a booth by the window. “Strikes just the right tone between humble and confident.”

  “I don’t want humble. I want you to march in here yelling, ‘We’re going to smash ’em to smithereens.’” She handed Andy a menu.

  “You know, Juanita, I think they hired the wrong person for coach. You were here all along, and they went and looked elsewhere, and with Russ on the selection committee too.”

  “Don’t you think I couldn’t have done a good job either. But I can only do so much, and my work is here. I don’t know what Chris would do without me, and he doesn’t either, do you, Chris?”

  “I’d be the last to hold you back, Juanita. If your destiny calls, we’ll just have to muddle through somehow.” Chris, who had just come out of the kitchen, walked over to shake Andy’s hand. “Hey, Coach, good to see you. So you’re thinking of hiring Juanita, are you? What can I do to sweeten the pot?”

  “In case you hadn’t noticed, Chris, the position of coach has been filled, and you’re looking at the one who filled it. And it would serve you right if I walked right out of here, after you making a comment like that. This place wouldn’t last two weeks without me here, and you know it. I’ll be right back with your water, Andy.”

  It wasn’t always easy to know if Juanita was really offended, since she couldn’t say good morning without sounding as if the whole process was a personal affront to her, but she sure didn’t sound happy. Andy looked up at Chris. “I was just teasing her a little bit. Think we went too far?”

  “Nah. If Juanita didn’t threaten to quit at least once a
day, I’d be worried about her. Besides, you just told her they should have hired her instead of you. I’m sure she agrees with you completely.”

  Chris shook his hand again and wished him well on the game Friday before heading back to the kitchen. Juanita put his water on the table, pulled her pad out of her pocket, and gazed out the window while Andy looked at the menu.

  “Well, look at that. Here comes the doctor. This place is just filling up with VIPs.”

  Andy looked up as Jess came through the front door. She quickly looked away and tucked the brown paper bag she carried behind her purse as she slipped into a booth at the other end of the diner.

  “Hhmph. I thought for sure Jess’d want to come sit with you. You two have a tiff or something?”

  Andy ignored the question and handed her his menu. “I’ll have a bowl of green chile stew and an extra tortilla. Oh, and some iced tea.”

  “Well, looks like you just answered my question for me.” Juanita patted his shoulder as she took his menu. “Well, don’t worry. I’m sure everything will work itself out. It always does.”

  Andy gazed out the window as Juanita moved on down to talk to Jess.

  Please, just for once in your life, mind your own business and don’t start talking about tiffs.

  Thankfully, she didn’t, but since Juanita never spoke in a voice that couldn’t carry through three counties, Andy as well as every other diner in the place heard everything she had to say.

  “I see you’ve been to the bookstore. What did you get?”

  “Oh, nothing, really. I just stopped in real quick on my way home from the hospital.” Jess was clearly trying to sound breezy, but Andy caught the annoyed edge to her voice. Sounded like she might still be mad.

  “Well, that would be a trick since the bookstore is on the opposite side of town from the hospital and nowhere near the Last Chance Highway.” Once Juanita’s curiosity got up, you almost had to hit her with a stick to get her to drop the subject. “What are you reading that you don’t want us to know about?”