by Barbara Ebel
Greg’s casket stood waiting to be lowered into the ground. Annabel and Nancy stood alongside each other, their arms touching.
“Why don’t you just ask your orthodontist next time for black braces?” Nancy asked. “We have so many deaths in this family.”
“I plan on having these braces off, not changing their color again,” Annabel said sullenly.
“Come on girls,” Sara said, linking her arm in Danny’s.
Danny removed Sara’s arm, took several steps, and crouched. His mother was also buried here. One single physical spot on earth for his parents. A black hole to house them.
As they headed to the car, the sky further darkened. “It’s going to rain,” Sara said, waving upward.
Danny couldn’t agree more. “Happy is the bride that the sun shines on and happy is the corpse that the rain rains on.”
Sara stared at her husband.
“I learned it from him,” Danny said and mustered up a small smile.
___________
Danny stood in a Nashville office building, the large windows facing north, as a tugboat towed a barge in the brackish Cumberland River below. The attorney he and Mary waited for had taken care of his parents legal matters for years, and Danny recalled visiting his office as a young man and waiting outside in the lobby, just as Annabel, Nancy and Sara were doing.
Tom Werner tapped on the conference room door and entered. Since the last time Danny had seen him, more gray weaved through his black hair and he had grown a goatee. But his wearing of suspenders hadn’t changed; today’s they were Valentine red.
He gave Danny a strong handshake. “I’m sorry about your Pa, Danny. Mary, did you have any difficulty with the funeral arrangements since we talked?”
“Not at all, Mr. Werner.”
“We’re on a first name basis here,” he said. “I took care of your mom and dad for years. And Mary, you and I haven’t been strangers since you’ve been overseeing your Dad’s funds for quite some time now.”
He gestured for Danny to sit, and pulled a chair out for himself. As he spread the will and trust papers before them, he agreed that the girls remain in the receptionist’s area. “I would like to bring them in at the end. We can inform them, briefly, what will happen when they turn eighteen, if that’s okay with you, Mary.
“That’s fine.”
“A lot of this is moot,” Tom said. “Danny, as you know, your sister and the bank will implement the details of Greg’s estate.” He looked at Mary. “Mary, take care of residual funeral bills, don’t forget to notify all financial institutions of Greg’s death, and recheck those lists you prepared on his assets and liabilities. You will also be responsible to pay the bequest he made to the American Cancer Society.”
“The only debt left will be forthcoming bills from the nursing home,” Mary said.
Tom read the basic will to them both and highlighted the trust sitting on the table.
“Mary, I can take care of the real estate legal affairs if you’d like. Transfer the house deed to your name.”
“That would be fine,” she said.
Tom leaned back into his chair and crossed long legs. “Danny, as you know, your dad felt strongly that your financial security was a given. He’s handing over most of his liquid estate to his grandchildren. The bank will manage that trust, which starts for each of them when they turn eighteen. They will receive half their trust the first four years, and then the rest in biannual increments for twenty years. Your father essentially wanted to pay their entire college or higher education, that’s why the big payoff up front. Any questions before I simply explain it to the girls?”
“No,” Danny said. “There are no surprises here.”
Annabel and Nancy came in and sat at the far end of the table, not expecting to be part of the remaining conversation. When Tom gave them details about their eighteenth birthday, Annabel’s goal became that much more attainable. Now she wouldn’t drop any future medical school from consideration because of tuition. And if she earned a scholarship, any money she earned from part-time jobs would be straight savings, or better yet, she could put it towards a college fishing club fund.
“Wow, Dad,” Annabel said. “I wish Grandpa were alive. So I could thank him.”
Sara dabbed her nose. She smoothed her fingers on her lap. Her father-in-law had been a gem.
“Do you mind that Dad gave most of his estate to Mary and the girls?” Danny asked Sara when they left.
“Danny, he left us almost everything. The girls are an extension of us.”
Chapter 16
Annabel pushed the turn signal down and slowly crept left on to the street. She couldn’t wait until the spring when she’d turn sixteen and get an intermediate restricted driver’s license and the use of Melissa’s Acura. For now, she considered herself lucky to have her mom with her while she drove with a permit.
It was the fall semester in her second year of high school. This term she studied at a consistent pace; no more staying up very late for cramming subjects at the last minute. She wanted to develop mature study habits for college and, hopefully, medical school. She dedicated more time to her advanced placement English class, maintaining a consistent A with a constant flow of essays. Polishing her writing skills would be beneficial no matter what she did, medicine or not. If she topped it off by refining her spoken words, that would be even better. In college, she wanted to join a debate team.
“Nice job,” Sara said as Annabel coasted the car into Mary’s driveway and shut off the ignition.
“Thanks, Mom.”
“Have fun tonight. I’ll be outside school tomorrow.”
“See you then. Tonight I’m going to edit a paper and study for a math test.”
Annabel unclasped the seat belt and picked up her olive knapsack. Lately, she resided at Mary’s at least half the time. Annabel had splurged on a shopping spree, officially converting Danny’s old bedroom into her second bedroom. She’d bought a paisley bedspread, bought accessory sham covers and curtains, and hung a younger rocker than the U2 poster Melissa had framed. She liked a poster of John Lennon that Danny had left on a closet shelf so she resurrected it to hang on the closet door. She had a second home and second set of parents, since Casey also lived there part-time as well.
Sara changed seats and drove to Nancy’s school where Nancy already stood on the sidewalk with a group of girls. Her daughter wore a Capri pink zipped hoody and denim skirt over black leggings, making her legs look like toothpicks. No doubt, Sara thought, her baby was in the throes of adolescent hormones, her height springing skyward like a germinating tulip. Sara liked Nancy’s new hairstyle, parted right down the middle, flattened with a curling iron. It bluntly stopped at her shoulders and she used a therapy product to shine it like silk. Today she wore a thin zebra print headband, almost unnoticeable. All told, her hair still fell along the side of her face, nicely masking her troublesome-looking ears.
Sara waved when Nancy looked towards the blue CRV and parted from her friends. Nancy opened the passenger door, threw in a book bag, and slid in.
“Guess Annabel’s at Mary’s,” she said, noting her sister’s absence. “You’re going to have to run by yourself, Mom.”
“That’ll work.”
At home, Sara stirred ingredients into a crockpot. She put down the utensil and said, “Guess I’ll go change and run.”
“Dad going to be home for dinner?” Nancy asked.
Sara tried to recall what he’d told her that morning. “I can’t remember if he’s on call today or if he said he’d be late.”
Nancy grinned and slapped more cream cheese on a cracker. “It’s all the same these days.”
Sara winced, expelling her daughter’s words from her mind as quickly as she had heard them.
___________
Casey’s seven-to-three shift finished quietly while he sat in the ER. He hadn’t seen Danny in days, so he took two steps at a time to the OR and looked in the doctor’s lounge. His friend sat at a sid
e table rolling a mouse in front of the computer, gathering lab results. Casey tapped Danny’s shoulder as he walked by, lowered the television volume, and sat at a round table where Danny joined him.
“I’m waiting on a case,” Danny said.
“One I brought you?”
“Not all my cases come through you.” Danny said, kidding him. “This one comes from an internist who did a superb medical workup. Geriatric medicine at its finest.”
“Why? What did they find?”
“Normal pressure hydrocephalus.”
“Refresh me,” Casey said.
“It should be a consideration for every doc practicing geriatric medicine. Someone in the family will bring grandpa in with urinary incontinence, memory impairment, and a gait disturbance. Everybody writes it off as Alzheimer’s, but if it’s NPH and it’s treated in a timely fashion, symptoms improve.”
“So are you going to do a lumbar drain?”
“A VP shunt. Ventricle to peritoneum. Then I’ll follow him with CT’s.” Television coverage of the approaching presidential election caught their attention. A speech from a major contender at a prominent university ended and the newscaster returned.
“Are you heading out?” Danny asked.
“I’m going to the gym, then to Mary’s. Annabel is staying the night there too.”
“I’ve noticed women admirers around here are becoming impatient with you.” Danny grinned. “They aren’t making headway snatching a date with the ambulance driver.”
“Hey, watch it. I’m a highly trained EMT, not just an ambulance driver. A paramedic. You, you’re just a brain mechanic.”
“Shut up, Casey.”
After a momentary silence, Danny and Casey cracked a smile.
“Come on, Casey, are you and Mary serious?”
.
“Okay, let’s go girls,” Danny said.
They walked again in silence as the temperature warmed, their clothes getting heavier. When they approached their secret ridge, they detoured and stood on the rocky cliff alongside baby white pines. The small evergreens jutted from the bluff beginning their ascent toward sky, like the towering trees behind them. “Beautiful,” Sara said. She stepped next to Danny and touched his hand.
“Very beautiful,” he said, smiling at her. Danny perched himself on a
“So far, so good. Better than good.”
Danny took an apple from the fruit bowl in the center of the table and bit in. The lounge door opened. A surgeon entered, followed by a woman in scrubs who approached their table.
“Dr. Tilson,” the woman said, “excuse me, but your case is going to the room. I won’t be scrubbing for it and won’t be staying over my shift. I have a guest visiting later, so I have to get home.”
“This is Rachel,” Danny said to Casey.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Casey.”
She turned her attention back to Danny. “I better get going. Good luck with your case, Dr. Tilson. I hope it doesn’t take you that long.” She picked an apple from the fruit bowl in the center of the table, took a bite, and left.
___________
After Casey left for the day, Danny called Sara. “Are you on call?” she asked. “I’ve made one of your favorites and Nancy and I are going to eat around six. We’re wondering if you’ll be joining us.”
“No, I’m not on call,” Danny said “But I have an add-on case which I’m starting soon. If I’m very late, please don’t wait up for me.”
“Okay,” Sara said despondently.
Danny scrubbed and started the add-on surgery. He remained aloof to conversation and had no opinion as to musical selections. Despite trying to concentrate, the medium pressure valve he chose just wouldn’t cooperate. “Damn quality control,” he said, flinging it. “Can someone in this OR get me something that works around here?”
The anesthesiologist and the circulator exchanged glances as the nurse went to hunt for another one. The next shunt seemed to appease Danny, and to the satisfaction of everyone in the room, the case finally finished. Danny zipped out of sight as though he peeled out of a fire.
___________
Danny rapped his knuckles on the door at Rachel’s townhouse. She opened promptly, and looked like the picture of relaxation. She smiled, eased Danny’s jacket off, and hung it on the back of a seat. Dakota cantered to them as they embraced, and finding no one paying attention to him, he clutched a fringed throw pillow off the couch and galloped away with it.
Danny peered around the couch after they sat down and saw the Chesapeake’s head resting perfectly on the white cushion. “I’ll acknowledge you now,” he said.
Dakota went to Danny wearing a motorized tail and turned his head in approval of Danny rubbing his hind end.
“Would you like me to make you a sandwich?” Rachel asked.
“Please. I’d appreciate that.”
Rachel stocked her refrigerator with Danny’s favorite cold cuts. She dolloped mayonnaise and butter on wheat toast, piled on mesquite turkey and Monterey Jack cheese, then poured him a soft drink. She placed them on the cocktail table, sat beside him, and flipped off her squeaky house clogs.
“Did your case go well?
“Fine, except for malfunctioning hardware.” He downed the sandwich quickly, being hungrier than he had realized, then eased his back into the couch. Rachel tucked into the corner of the couch, laid her head on his lap, and stroked his leg. She clicked on the television remote, and handed it to him.
They stopped channel surfing when Danny found a familiar spy movie, the agent impressed with his own slick gadgetry. Danny’s hand sought the soft skin beneath Rachel’s turtleneck. Dakota couldn’t separate them when he nosed into Rachel so he taunted her by dangling a pillow.
“Actually, thanks,” Rachel said, pulling it from his mouth and easing it under her hair. A relaxed bliss descended on both of them, which paved the way to closed eyelids. An hour and a half later, their sleep progressed to a deep REM.
___________
Nancy closed her notebook and rolled off her bed. She stretched, changed into cotton sleepwear, and stared out her front bedroom window. With the half-moon’s illumination, she saw few leaves dangling from trees. A fine parade of them blew across the pebbly cul-de-sac. It was eleven o’clock, later than normal for finishing her homework, but she had hung out with her mom in the evening longer than she thought. A melancholic mood had enveloped Sara, so much so, that she did not swing her arms in their normal melodramatic flare when she tempted Nancy with a newly rented DVD or discussed an upcoming mini-marathon for the Children’s Hospital.
Nancy looked in the mirror to swipe acne cream on the bulge forming on her chin, then sat down to her laptop and clicked onto MySpace. Several new messages appeared. She decided to change the video insert on her page, so began searching for clips by her favorite music artists.
___________
Sara missed the previous movie rental nights that she and Danny used to have, when she’d lie on the couch with her head on his lap. He’d stroke his hand through her hair. She made herself a wide mug of hot chocolate and tucked her feet under her. The bulk of the late night monologue focused on the presidential election. Each guest inserted his or her two cents worth about their favorite candidate but the talk show host craftily kept his impending vote choice neutral.
By eleven thirty, Sara had drained her cup and stared blankly at the ads following the show. She channel surfed and stopped at some sci-fi with a bad music score; as amusing as the late night show, but she wasn’t in the mood for humor. She clicked off the television, rinsed the pottery in the sink. and went upstairs. She left the hall light on for Danny.
Sara passed her wedding picture in the hallway. She loved the memories of that day, how consumed they had been taking their vows after an impeccable courtship. She had never seen Danny wear a tuxedo; she had gulped for air when she saw him waiting for her at the end of the church aisle.
The light was on in her daughter’s room, next to hers. The do
or stood ajar. “Nancy?”
“Hey, Mom.” Sara pushed the door open, went in, looked at the computer screen, but then sat on her daughter’s bed. Nancy closed the website, and shut down her computer.
Sara absently mindedly smoothed the bedspread then wrung her hands on her lap. Nancy slithered off the hardwood chair and nestled beside her. Sara glanced toward the window before darting her eyes to her daughter. She thought about taking Nancy’s hands into hers, but she couldn’t move. She pushed away the stone wall of denial and knew her husband was with another woman.
___________
A snout pushed Danny’s elbow. He gently tried to swipe it away, but as he moved, he remembered the family didn’t own a dog and his heart ticked faster. Jeez, he thought, rubbing his eyes. Rachel stirred, propping herself up from his lap.
“This isn’t good,” Danny said, “what time is it?”
Rachel saw the wall clock. “One o’clock.”
They both got up. Rachel slipped on her clogs while Danny used the bathroom. He came out, walked to the front door, and shook his head. She planted a kiss on his cheek.
___________
Danny could see lights on when he pulled the car into the garage. The light upstairs came from Nancy’s front bedroom; the downstairs light, maybe Sara had purposefully left on for him. What could have professionally detained him? Countless things.
He gripped his keys after turning off the car and headed to the door. Quietly he went in. He took off his jacket and draped it on a chair instead of hanging it in the closet. All was silent so he went to switch off the light to the hallway fixture.
Danny felt his wife’s presence and turned. “You awake?” he asked in a whisper. “I’m sorry I was delayed.
Sara fixed her eyes on him. Right through him. She unveiled his adultery like breaking open a vault of hidden atrocities.
Danny knew no explanation would be acceptable. It would make matters worse. At least he had that good sense.
“Go ahead,” Sara’s voice creaked. “You can turn that light out. Only if you think you can find your way to the couch without it.”