Around the Bend (Sandy Cove Series Book 4)

by Rosemary Hines

  Michelle disappeared into the kitchen and the three of them sat down in the living room. “So how was your drive?” Amber asked.

  Grant replied, “Fine. Long, but fine. We had good weather, so that helped.”

  “Looks like you’re all packed,” Stacy observed.

  “Yep. I’m ready to go whenever you guys want to leave.”

  “We thought maybe we’d grab an early dinner in town and try to make it to Sacramento tonight,” Grant said. “Then we can get an early start and plow all the way through to home tomorrow.”

  Michelle came back into the room with a tray of coffee cups. “I brought one for you, too, Amber,” she said.

  Amber smiled and reached for the cup. “Thanks.” Then turning to her parents she said, “I want you guys to meet Caleb before we leave.”

  “We were just explaining to Amber that we’re hoping to make it to Sacramento tonight,” Grant added to Michelle.

  “A lot of driving,” she said. “Amber told me you’d be needing to get back for work. I’ll go see if I can find our little race car driver.” She stood and left the room.

  “He is so cute, Mom,” Amber told her, as they sipped their coffee. “I’m really glad you guys get to meet him.”

  “Me, too, honey.”

  “I wish Chad could have known him,” Amber added, her voice thick with sorrow.

  “We’re so sorry about what happened, honey,” Grant said, moving toward Amber.

  But she put up her hand to stop him. “Please, Dad. Just give me a little space. I’ll be okay.”

  Stacy knew Amber was trying, but she still had a lot of bitterness toward her dad for all he’d put the family through when he ran off those seven years earlier. I hope someday Amber will forgive him and put the past behind her.

  A few moments later, Michelle returned with a brown-haired boy, who looked a little nervous.

  “Mom and Dad, this is Caleb,” Amber said as she stood and walked over to him. “Caleb, this is my mother and father.”

  He sucked in his lower lip, and Stacy saw Michelle gave him a little nudge. “Hi,” he replied, lifting his hand to wave. Then he leaned closer to his mom, who wrapped her arm around his shoulder.

  “He’s a little shy with new people,” Michelle explained.

  He’s adorable, Stacy thought. Images of Amber’s brother flashed through her mind. He looks so much like Jack did as a boy.

  “We heard you’re a race car driver,” her husband said to him.

  Caleb looked up at his mother.

  “I was talking about your new remote control car,” she explained with a reassuring smile.

  “Oh,” he replied, his expression relaxing a little. “Wanna see it?” he asked.

  “Sure,” Stacy replied as Grant nodded. They both stood and followed Caleb as he led them out to the back patio. They watched him demonstrate the car and the maneuvers he’d learned to make as he raced it around the perimeter of the concrete pad.

  “Nice driving,” Grant observed.

  The little boy beamed. “Thanks!”

  Stacy glanced at Amber, who couldn’t seem to take her eyes off of him. She reached over and put her hand on Amber’s shoulder. “We’d better get going, honey.”

  “Yep,” Grant agreed. “Time to get moving.” He turned to Caleb and added, “Thanks for showing us your car, kiddo,” he said.

  “That’s what my grandpa calls me,” Caleb replied seriously.

  Stacy tried not to stare at him. His grandpa. Wow. Grant’s his grandfather, too.

  As if reading her thoughts, Michelle said, “He’s actually talking about my grandfather. He was just in town for Caleb’s birthday.”

  Turning to Caleb, Stacy said, “That’s right. You just had a birthday, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah,” Caleb replied with a grin. “I’m six now.”

  Amber looked at her and Stacy was flooded with emotions as she recalled the day Amber had handed her baby to Michelle at the hospital. She could remember Amber collapsing in her arms. I wonder how she’ll do saying goodbye to him again now?

  As if on cue, Amber walked over and squatted down to be eye level with Caleb. “It’s time for me to leave,” she said.

  “I’ll go find Maddie,” Michelle interjected. “She’ll want to say goodbye to you, too.”

  Without standing up, Amber glanced her way and nodded. As soon as Michelle was gone, she turned back to her son. “But we’ll write to each other, okay?”

  “Okay,” he replied, suddenly surprising Stacy by throwing his arms around Amber’s neck and giving her a big hug. When he released her, he said, “I’m glad you came to see me.”

  Stacy saw her daughter wipe away a tear.

  “Me, too,” Amber replied. “You be good and listen to your mom and dad.”

  He nodded, a serious expression on his face. “I will,” he promised.

  She gave him another hug and then stood up again, turning her face away so he wouldn’t see her tears.

  “Don’t be sad,” Caleb said.

  Stacy felt an arrow in her heart as she watched her daughter try to smile through her tears. Glancing over at Grant, she noticed the concern on his face as well.

  A moment later, Michelle and Madison came into the room. “Bye, Amber,” the girl said, as she gave her a hug.

  “Bye,” Amber replied with a sniffle. She picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder, and then turned to Michelle. “Thanks so much. For everything.”

  Michelle nodded and they embraced one last time. “We’ll keep in touch,” she said as she pulled back and looked Amber in the eye. “Call me anytime.”

  Stacy thanked Michelle again, and then the three of them walked out to their car to begin the journey home.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Phil sat across from the doctor, who was paging through a file in front of him.

  A somber expression preceded the doctor’s words. “I see that you’ve come alone,” he said.

  Phil nodded. “I want to hear this from you first before I tell my wife.”

  “All right,” he replied. Looking Phil in the eye, he delivered the bad news. “According to the results of your blood work and the CT scan, it looks like we are dealing with a pretty aggressive form of pancreatic cancer.”

  Phil sucked in his breath. Steady now. Hear him out.

  The doctor continued, “I’d like to do an endoscopic ultrasound to confirm this diagnosis and to determine the stage of your cancer.”

  “Okay, when can we do that?” Phil asked.

  “Let’s schedule it for Monday morning. You’ll need to fast from midnight on. No food or drink that morning. You’ll be asleep during the procedure, which will take about an hour. You’ll need someone to drive you home afterward,” he replied, flipping his file shut. “Any questions?”

  “How long will it take to get the results?”

  “It should only take a couple of days. We can meet again at the end of next week and go over the results as well as a treatment plan.”

  Phil nodded and sat forward in his chair, preparing to stand.

  “I recommend you tell your wife everything we’ve discussed. She needs to start preparing herself for what lies ahead.”

  He took a deep breath. “Thank you, Doctor.” How do I tell her this, Lord? Pressing his hands on the arms of the chair, he pushed himself to his feet, a sharp pain piercing his back.

  Apparently the doctor noticed him wince. He quickly came around to the front of the desk and supported Phil at his elbow. “Do you need to sit down for a few minutes?” he asked.

  Phil shook his head. “No. I’ll be okay. It comes and goes.” Pulling himself into an upright posture, he forced a smile and shook the doctor’s hand. He could see the concern in the man’s furrowed brows. “Now don’t you go worrying about me,” he chided. “I’ve been walking since before you learned how to crawl,” he added with a wink. Then he turned and shuffled out of the room, his heavy heart supported tenderly in the arms of a loving God.

&nb
sp; Thank you for the good years, Lord. And thanks for being with me today when I got this news. Maybe we’ll be meeting face-to-face pretty soon.

  Sheila stood in the front room of her new cottage on the outskirts of Sandy Cove. The vacant spaces and blank walls became a canvas in her mind as she imagined her furnishings and décor lovingly arranged and displayed.

  “Well, Mom, everything looks good to me,” her son-in-law said as he returned from his inspection of the house.

  “Great! I’m glad you had the time to do the walk through with me,” she replied. This was something John would have always been in charge of when he was alive.

  “No problem,” Steve said with a smile. “Shall we go sign the paperwork?”

  She nodded and followed him into the kitchen where the realtor awaited them.

  “Ready?” she asked.

  “Yeah.”

  The woman extended a clipboard to Sheila. “You’ll need to sign the highlighted places and initial these here,” she instructed as she pointed to specific sections of the inspection document.

  Sheila gave the clipboard to Steve, who looked it over and nodded. “Looks fine to me.”

  “Okay. Here goes,” she said, picking up the pen and signing her name. “The beginning of a new chapter!”

  “I think you’ll be really happy here,” the realtor said. “Sandy Cove’s a great little town, and this home has so much potential.”

  “Thanks for all your help,” Steve said to the woman.

  The three of them exchanged handshakes and the realtor gave Sheila a key ring with the house key attached. “It’s all yours!”

  Sheila felt a rush of excitement and nervousness as she took the keys. All mine. I can’t believe I’m doing this on my own. John would be proud. Turning to Steve, she said, “Okay. Let’s go home and tell Michelle. Then I want to call the moving company and arrange for the furniture and boxes in storage to be delivered this weekend.”

  As they were leaving the front door, Sheila paused for a moment to look back at the empty room. Smiling, she placed the key in the bolt and locked the door before they headed to the car.

  Joan was sitting on the front porch swing with her Bible on her lap as the senior transport van dropped off Phil at the bottom of the driveway. She watched him say goodbye to the driver with a nod and a wave before he turned to approach the house.

  He didn’t seem to notice her, his eyes on the ground as he slowly walked in her direction. “Hi, honey,” she called out.

  Looking up, he gave her a nod and a smile.

  As he slowly ascended the porch steps, he gripped the railing with one hand and placed the other on the small of his back.

  “Still hurting?” she asked.

  “Yeah.” He paused and looked at her with eyes full of love.

  “What? Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked, patting the swing beside her. “Have a seat, old man.”

  He sank down in the cushion of the swing and placed his hand over hers.

  “So what did the doctor say? Did he give you a prescription for the pain?”

  Her husband took a deep breath and then let it out. “Not exactly.”

  “You push yourself too hard, Phil,” she said. “We’re not kids anymore, you know. I’m sure if you’d just take a week off and rest, your back would feel much better, and you could get your energy back.”

  As he turned to look at her, she shifted her gaze from the yard to his face. He looked ashen and very troubled. Oh dear God, what’s going on? Her mind began racing with possibilities, but she quickly checked herself. “What is it, Phil? Tell me.”

  He squeezed her hand. “It’s not good, sweetheart.” He seemed to be groping for the right words.

  “Now you listen to me. I’m a big girl and I can take it, whatever it is,” she said, trying to convince herself as much as her husband.

  “I’ve got cancer, Joan,” he replied, his voice sounding almost apologetic.

  Cancer. Her heart sank. She looked away so he wouldn’t see the tears that were already pooling in her eyes. She felt him release her hand and drape his arm over her shoulder, drawing her close. I need to pull myself together. Here he is comforting me when I should be holding him. Taking a deep breath, she turned and looked into his eyes. “Tell me everything,” she said.

  “I don’t actually know all the details yet. The doctor wants to do another scan. Kind of an exploratory thing to determine how advanced it is and what treatment options I have. But it’s in the pancreas, Joan. It’s pretty serious.”

  “So that’s why you’ve been feeling so tired and haven’t had much of an appetite?”

  “Yeah. And why I’m getting these back pains,” he explained.

  “Okay, so when will they do the other scan?” she asked.

  “Monday.”

  “Should we tell Sheila?”

  He shook his head. “No. Let’s wait until we know more. She’s got a lot going on with her move. We can tell her when we go up to see her new place.” Then leaning back further in the swing, he rested his head and closed his eyes.

  She nestled closer and felt the swing gently start to move as Phil nudged the ground with his feet. Closing her eyes, she let its gentle rocking motion sooth her troubled spirit as she silently prayed for her husband.

  “You can put those boxes in the kitchen,” Sheila said as she directed her son-in-law’s unloading of the family van.

  “You got it, Mom!” he replied.

  Michelle smiled. Her mom looked really excited and happy to be moving into her new home, and Michelle was thrilled to know she’d be nearby from now on. With the kids settled at Ben’s house for the day, they had much to accomplish in the hours ahead. A moving service had delivered the furniture early that morning, and now it was up to them to transport the boxes Sheila had been keeping in their garage, as well as her clothing and personal items.

  “I want to try to sleep here tonight,” she’d told them, but Michelle was skeptical that everything could be in place by that time.

  “How about these?” she asked, gesturing to some boxes labeled “John’s Things.”

  Sheila glanced over. “Those are some things of your dad’s that I couldn’t bear to part with. Tim didn’t want them. Maybe you can look through them and see if there’s anything you or Steve want. For now, just put the boxes in the extra bedroom.”

  Michelle nodded. “Okay.” She picked up one and headed inside.

  Once all the boxes had been delivered to the designated rooms, Michelle locked the car, and they all went inside to begin the unpacking process. While Steve unloaded books and albums into the bookcase and completed the assembly of Sheila’s bed, Michelle and her mother attacked the kitchen. They lined the shelves and drawers with liners and put away the dishes, glasses, utensils, and pans.

  At 2:00, a knock on the front door caught their attention. “I wonder who that could be,” Sheila said.

  “Probably one of your neighbors,” Michelle replied. “I’ll go see.”

  As she opened the door, their dear friends from church, Jim and LouEllen Morgan, greeted her. The spinster brother and sister pair lived off the highway between Portland and Sandy Cove. Michelle and Steve met them by chance shortly after they moved to Oregon. It was a fluke encounter.

  Michelle’s best friend, Kristin, and her fiancé had flown into the Portland airport to visit for their first Thanksgiving in Sandy Cove, and their rental car had broken down on the lonely, winding highway. Jim came to their rescue, ferrying them the remaining way. He and his sister subsequently began attending Ben’s new church in Sandy Cove, and they’d been friends ever since.

  “Jim! LouEllen!” Michelle exclaimed, opening her arms to embrace them.

  “I was talking to Ben this morning, and he mentioned you two were helping your mom move today, so we decided to bring you some fixins,” Jim explained, nudging his sister, who extended a bag of food.

  Suddenly Michelle realized just how famished she was. They’d been going non-stop si
nce 8:00 that morning, and the thought of LouEllen’s home cooking made her stomach growl. “Wow. That was so sweet of you,” she said as she took the bag. “Come on in! I know Mom will be happy to see you both.” She moved aside and gestured for them to enter.

  “Now this is a mighty fine house,” Jim said with a whistle as he surveyed the front room.

  Michelle smiled at his old school language and his appreciation of the simple things in life.

  “Michelle?” her mom’s voice called from the kitchen.

  “It’s Jim and LouEllen,” Michelle called back. Then turning to them, she said, “Come on back and see the kitchen.”

  As they followed her through the dining area, Steve emerged from the bedroom. He greeted them with warm hugs. Then he said to Michelle, “I’m done in the bedroom. Anything else you’d like me to do?”

  “No,” she replied. “After we eat, you can go run your errands.”

  “Great. So what’s for lunch?”

  LouEllen smiled. “I made some pulled-pork sandwiches and homemade coleslaw and potato salad.”

  “You sure know the way into a man’s heart,” Steve replied with a wink.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  As Sheila stood to sing the opening worship song at Ben’s church the next morning, she felt the aches and pains in her shoulder and back from the hours spent unpacking the day before. She stretched her neck as she slowly moved her head from side to side.

  Michelle leaned over and asked, “Feeling a little stiff, Mom?”

  She nodded.

  “Me, too,” her daughter said.

  People were still filing into the sanctuary as they finished the last chorus. After bowing their heads in prayer, the worship leader encouraged them to greet the people around them before sitting down. As they turned around to the next row back, a familiar face greeted them.

  “Dr. Chambers!” Michelle said, the surprise in her voice apparent.

  “Michelle,” he replied with a smile. Then turning to Sheila, “and I believe your name is Sheila, right?” He extended a hand toward her.