A Year of Extraordinary Moments (A Magnolia Grove Novel)

by Bette Lee Crosby

  I’ve spent a long time thinking it over, and now that I’ve made up my mind, I plan to make sure things happen as they’re supposed to. Tomorrow I go back to sign the final copy of my will, and afterward, I’m writing letters for Mr. McGinley to hand out when he reads it.

  When I listened to Dominic this morning, I wanted to believe he was telling the truth, but I know better. I can’t say if it was a flat-out lie or just wishful thinking on his part, but this I can say: Gabriel Hawke is the man Tracy Briggs is marrying, and there’s nothing Dominic can say or do to change that.

  46

  Two Days Later

  It took time for Dominic to work up the courage to confront Tracy. Twice he drove by the Briggses’ house, trying to get a glimpse of her as he passed. The first time, he’d seen nothing but a tricycle left out on the front porch. The second time, Lila was in the side yard tossing a ball back and forth with Lucas.

  The sight of the boy running and playing wasn’t what Dominic expected, but then he wasn’t certain what he’d expected. It had been nearly four years, but in his mind, Lucas had remained a toddler.

  He slowed to a crawl, then circled the block and parked on the opposite side of the street, two houses back. As he sat watching, the sour taste of regret churned in his stomach, then rose in his throat. He reminded himself that he hadn’t walked away, Tracy had. But still he wondered if he could have done something more to patch things up. They’d been good together. Maybe if he’d tried harder, she would have come back to Philly. As he sat remembering the loneliness of his room above the bar and comparing it to the sound of his son’s laughter, Dominic began to want what he’d lost. Getting Tracy back was no longer just a means to an end, it was something he wanted. He waited for twenty minutes, hoping she would come out, but she didn’t. When Lila took Lucas inside, he stayed another five minutes, then pulled away from the curb and drove off.

  On the third day, as he drove by, Dominic saw Lucas pedaling his tricycle along the sidewalk. Bent over, busily plucking dead blooms from the flower bed, Lila had her back to the boy. Dominic parked the car on the far side of the street, crossed over, and stood in front of Lucas.

  “Hi, Lucas. Remember me?”

  Lucas looked up and said nothing.

  “I’m your daddy.” Dominic squatted beside the tricycle. “Don’t you remember when we lived in that nice apartment, you and Mama and me? It’s been a while, but I’ve been thinking—”

  Lila lifted her head, spotted Dominic, and tore down the block. “Get away from him!”

  “He’s my son; you’ve got no right to—”

  “Tracy!” Lila screamed, her voice loud enough to be heard two blocks over.

  Street noise was seldom heard in the back of the house where the Snip ’n Save office was, but panic makes a scream shriller and more terrifying. The moment Tracy heard it, she bolted up from the computer and came flying through the front door like a woman on fire. By then, Lucas had begun to wail.

  “Get away from him!” she screamed. Without a moment of hesitation, she scooped Lucas up and held him in her arms.

  “It’s okay, sweetie; there’s nothing to be afraid of.” When Lucas’s wailing turned to a soft sniffle, she turned to Dominic, her eyes narrowed and expression unyielding. “What are you doing here?”

  “I wanted to see my son.”

  “After four years? Bullshit!” She handed Lucas to Lila. “Mama, will you take Lucas inside? I can handle this.”

  Nothing more was said until Lila and Lucas disappeared inside the house. Once they were gone, Dominic spoke.

  “I’m sorry for the things I’ve done. I’ve been a fool, and I know it.” He reached for her hand, and she smacked it away. “Don’t be like that, baby; I said I was sorry.”

  “Sorry? Sorry for what, Dominic? Sorry that for four years you didn’t even call to ask about your son? Sorry you canceled his health insurance when he needed it? What exactly are you sorry about, Dominic?”

  “I’m sorry for all of it,” he replied. “It was a bad time for me.”

  The resentment Tracy had harbored for all those years came forth in a burst of anger. She shoved Dominic, then took another step forward, leaning in nose to nose.

  “A bad time for you? Asshole! You don’t even know what a bad time is! Being afraid your son will never lead a normal life, that’s a bad time! Running out of booze is not!”

  Again Dominic reached for her, and she whacked his hand away.

  “Get out of here,” she snapped. “Lucas and I are doing fine without you. We don’t want you in our lives.” She whirled on her heel and started off.

  Dominic followed, reaching out and grabbing her by the arm. “Wait! I’ve got something to say, and you’re gonna listen!”

  When she stopped and turned back, his voice softened. “I love you, Tracy. I’ve always loved you. I know I’ve acted like an ass, but all that’s done. I’ve changed. I realize now what it means to be a family, and that’s what I want for us. You, me, and Lucas, we’re a family, and we should be together.”

  “We’re not a family. We never were.”

  Dominic’s voice turned pleading. “Yes, we were. I was too blind to see it back then, but now I do. We’ll get married, give Lucas the kind of home he deserves . . .”

  Tracy shook her head. “It’s too late, Dominic.”

  “Just give me a chance to prove myself,” he said. “I know you’ve gotta remember all the good times we had. You loved me before, and if you let yourself—”

  “Dominic, I’m engaged.”

  A look of shock swept across his face. “To who?”

  “It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that I need you to leave us alone.”

  “No,” he said angrily. “Lucas is my kid, and I want to see him!”

  “Why?”

  It was a simple question, but one he hadn’t expected. He grabbed on to the first thought that came to him.

  “Because I’m his daddy, and a kid ought to know his daddy!”

  Tracy shook her head in disgust. “After four years you suddenly feel this overwhelming parental need? Sorry, Dom, I’m not buying it.”

  “Hey, this isn’t all my fault! You’re the one who walked out on me, remember? Maybe if you’d stuck around—”

  “Oh, you mean like stuck around long enough to catch you screwing the babysitter a second time?”

  Dominic hardened his chin, gritted his teeth, and spoke as if his jaw were wired shut. “You just can’t give it up, can you, Tracy? I said I was sorry. What more do you want?”

  “The only thing I want is for you to leave us alone.”

  “No! Lucas needs to know he’s got people on his daddy’s side. My grandma’s sick, maybe dying. Let me take Lucas for a while so she can get to know him before it’s too late.”

  Tracy stood there for a moment, allowing the shock of his request to register. “You’re not taking Lucas anywhere,” she finally said, then turned and started toward the walkway.

  Again he ran after her; this time he yanked her shoulder and spun her around.

  “Don’t walk off on me like that! I want to take my kid to see his grandma; is that asking too much?”

  She shook loose of his grip. “Yes, it is. He doesn’t even know you, Dominic. To him, you’re a stranger. If you want to visit him here at our house I might be willing to think about it, but there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell I’d let him leave here with you!”

  He grabbed Tracy’s shoulders and shook her. “Listen up! I’m Lucas’s daddy, and I’ve got rights! My grandma’s a good person, and I say we give her a chance to get to know the kid.”

  Tracy banged her fists against Dominic’s shoulders, broke free, and double-timed it up the stairs and onto the front porch. She stopped for a second and turned.

  “Lucas already knows your grandma. She’s been visiting him for the past two months.”

  Not leaving him time to respond, she stepped inside and slammed the door.

  Dominic just stood
there, dumbfounded.

  47

  Dominic DeLuca

  I feel like a truck just ran over me. Of all the people in this world, I never thought Grandma would be the one to stab me in the back. The only reason I can think of is that Tracy fed her a sorry-ass story about how I’m such a miserable daddy and she’s a saint.

  That’s probably why Grandma came up with the idea of giving Lucas the farm instead of handing it down to me. No doubt Tracy’s been buttering her up, figuring if Lucas gets the farm, she’ll be the one in charge of it. To her, it’s money in the bank. She’ll sell the place and pocket the cash. I know that’s what I’d do.

  I can’t help feeling betrayed. I thought if anybody was on my side it would be Grandma. I never figured she’d turn against me like Mama.

  I could really use that money, but I’m not willing to sell my soul to get it. After Grandma goes, I’m leaving Magnolia Grove and never looking back. Tracy can keep the damn farm and grow peanuts till they’re coming out of her ears. I don’t want to know about it or hear about it.

  It won’t be easy, but I’m gonna try to remember Grandma the way she was before Tracy poisoned her mind.

  48

  The Darkest Night

  After the shock Tracy had given him, Dominic desperately needed a drink. He didn’t bother to call Broom but went straight to Murphy’s, plopped down on a stool, and ordered a double. It was midafternoon, and the only other person in Murphy’s was Kenny, the bartender.

  “Kind of early in the day for a double, isn’t it?”

  Dominic gave him a mind-your-own-business look and didn’t bother answering. He’d already downed two doubles when Broom came walking in shortly after five. He sidled onto the stool next to Dominic and ordered a beer.

  “Ain’t you working at the gas station tonight?”

  Dominic shook his head. “Called in sick.”

  “Okay.”

  “You’re not gonna ask me why?”

  Broom shrugged. “Nope. I figured you’d tell me whether I ask or not.”

  “Tracy’s engaged to some other guy, and that’s not even the worst of it.”

  He hiccuped, then told about how Alice had been going over there to visit the kid for months.

  “And there’s not a damn thing I can do about it. The farm was supposed to be my inheritance, and Tracy stole it right out from under my nose.”

  It was after eleven when Dominic finally stumbled out of the bar, and by then he was listing like a sailboat in a windstorm. For the past two weeks, he’d been driving Alice’s car, and the fact that he made it home without wrapping it around a lamppost was somewhat of a miracle. Turning into the driveway, he inched along the dirt road, and when he finally got within ten feet of the garage, he killed the engine and sat there.

  All evening he’d been thinking about this moment. At first he’d planned to say nothing and let Alice go to her grave without ever knowing how he felt. Then he remembered his mama.

  He’d said nothing when she left. When she’d promised to come back for him, he’d just nodded and said okay. Maybe if he’d screamed, yelled, and insisted on going with her, things would have been different. Maybe after a while they would have grown used to doing things together. If he’d gone with her, he might be living in California right now, maybe working in a movie studio or parking cars at some fancy restaurant on Rodeo Drive.

  Dominic folded his arms across the steering wheel and dropped his forehead onto them. He’d made a thousand wrong decisions in his life; maybe saying nothing again would be one of them.

  It was well after two when he climbed out of the car and dragged himself into the house. Every night since his return to Magnolia Grove, Alice had left the lamp burning for him, but tonight it was pitch black in the hallway.

  Tracy probably called and told her what happened. So, what, now Grandma’s punishing me? Is she showing me I’m no longer welcome in what should be my own house?

  He fumbled his way down the hall to the staircase. The missing lamp prickled him like quills sticking in his back. Before he reached the top landing, he decided this time he wasn’t going to stand by and say nothing. This time he was going to say he deserved the farm. He’d lived here all those years, and he had a right to stay. Lucas was a dumb kid with no use for anything but a tricycle.

  The moon was high in the sky, and it cast a pale shadow across the upstairs landing, enough that he could see his way down to her room. He pushed open the door and snapped on the light. The bed was empty, the coverlet smooth and unwrinkled, a throw pillow placed in the center just the way it always was.

  “Grandma?”

  He turned and retraced his steps back down the stairs, thinking maybe he’d passed her by. She must have been sitting in the recliner, waiting for him to come in so that she could have another talk with him.

  He clicked the switch at the foot of the stairs, and light flooded the hallway. Walking through to the living room, he could already see she wasn’t in the recliner. He snapped on the table lamp and continued into the kitchen. Before ten minutes had passed every light in the house was burning, and he’d walked through every room searching for her. He’d even searched the attic, although he knew the stairs were too rickety and she almost never went up there.

  It made no sense. She was nowhere in the house. He stood in the center of the living room, looking mystified. He had her car, so she couldn’t have gone anywhere, and if she had, she would have left a note.

  He tried to think who might know where she’d gone, and his first thought was Tracy. She’d gotten close with Alice, so maybe . . .

  Her cell phone number was still in his contact list. He pulled it up and pressed “Call.” It rang three times, then a message came on saying she was unavailable. He recognized her voice asking the caller to leave a number and she’d get back to them.

  He jabbed “End” without bothering to leave a message.

  Who else?

  Remembering Alice kept a worn-out address book in the kitchen drawer, he headed there, pulled the drawer open, and rummaged through the contents. Beneath the clippings of recipes, birthday cards yellowed with age, and the envelope from Tompkins Investigation Services, he found the book. It was older perhaps than he was, with loose pages held together by a thick rubber band.

  He leafed through the pages, but no name popped out at him. Several names were crossed out with a date written alongside of them. As he started through the pages a second time, he noticed the name and number written on the inside front cover: “Charlie Barnes, 769-5439.”

  That name stood out. He remembered how Charlie used to come around after Joe’s death. He’d stay for hours on end, drinking coffee at the kitchen table. Dominic hadn’t seen him lately, but there was a chance . . .

  He dialed the number. Charlie answered on the eighth ring. “Do you know where Grandma is?”

  “What’s that?” Charlie’s voice sounded groggy.

  “This is Dominic DeLuca. I just got home, and my grandma isn’t here. Do you know where she is?”

  There was a moment of silence; then Charlie said, “I’m sorry, Dominic. I called the gas station, and Ed said you were out sick. When I tried you at the house, there was no answer. I didn’t have your cell phone number and didn’t know where else—”

  “Okay, okay. So where’s Grandma?”

  “Today was a very difficult day for your grandma. The pain got so bad that she couldn’t stand it, and I took her to the hospital.”

  “She got that bad in one day?”

  “It wasn’t one day. She’s been going downhill for the past month; surely you’ve noticed it.”

  Dominic lowered himself into Granddaddy’s chair. “I guess we haven’t seen a whole lot of each other since I’ve been home.” His voice was solemn, regretful almost.

  “Don’t worry. Dr. Willoughby has her on a morphine drip, so she’s resting comfortably for now.”

  “What hospital?” Dominic asked.

  “Mercy General.” Charlie rattled
off the address and Alice’s room number, then assured Dominic she was being well cared for.

  When Dominic hung up, he sat there feeling overwhelmed. He’d thought there was more time. He knew she was sick, but she’d seemed okay, like maybe the cancer was something to worry about in the future. Not right now.

  Not once had she told him she was in pain. True, she barely picked at her food and spent long hours sitting in the recliner, but he’d attributed that to growing older.

  Suddenly a feeling of loneliness settled inside of him. It was greater than any he’d ever known, greater even than after his mama had disappeared down that long dirt road. Even back in Philadelphia he’d felt Alice was there for him. He knew when he wanted to return, he’d find her waiting with open arms. Even when they’d had their talks, he never felt separated from her; scolded maybe, but never abandoned.

  Leaving the house ablaze in light, he walked out the door and got into his car. Mercy General was normally a twenty-minute drive, but he made it in ten.

  There were only a handful of cars in the lot, so he parked close to the front entrance and pushed through the glass doors. Inside, the lobby looked deserted. A uniformed guard standing near the elevator spotted Dominic and walked over.

  “Can I help you?”

  “I’m here to visit my grandma.”

  The gravity of the situation made Dominic more coherent, but it was easy enough to catch the slurring in his speech and the liquor on his breath.

  The guard glanced across at the clock above the door. “It’s four o’clock in the morning. Visiting hours don’t start until ten; come back then.”

  “Well, I’m here now, and I’m going to see—”

  The guard turned his head and spoke into the walkie-talkie on his shoulder. “Jack, I think we’ve got a problem.”

  When Dominic started to go around, the burly guard stepped in front of him again. “I said visiting hours don’t start until ten.”

  By the time Jack arrived, Dominic was nose to nose with the guard.

  “Hold on here,” Jack said and eased them back from one another. He motioned to the sofas on the far side of the room and told Dominic, “Let’s talk.”