by Carrie Carr
Lex followed her. "You heard the boss. Let's get out of this damned snow."
Chapter Two
THE GAS FIREPLACE flickered brightly, warming the petite woman who reclined on the nearby sofa. The wind howled against the house, causing Anna Leigh Cauble to raise her eyes from the book in her lap and shiver in response. She glanced at the grandfather clock near the doorway and placed her book by her feet. "Goodness. It's almost three o'clock. Jacob must have gotten lost in his work."
She slid her socked feet into light blue slippers before she stood and wrapped a crocheted blanket around her shoulders.
She continued to grumble as she walked through the house and out the door to the side yard. "Rushed right out this morning. Too busy to eat."
As was their usual custom, they had spent breakfast together in the kitchen. Her husband had barely touched his food, which she attributed to his mind being on new ideas for his woodwork. He had made Amanda a hand-carved laptop desk and had been thrilled at her exuberance on Christmas day upon seeing the gift. He had mentioned designing something for Lex, but hadn't said what it would be.
"I swear. That man would work past bedtime if I let him."
An enclosed breezeway protected her from the elements. She opened the shop door and hurriedly entered. "Jacob? You've worked past lunch again, my dear. And I was too busy dozing on the sofa to notice. Come in and we'll have an early dinner."
The blare of his favorite radio station made it impossible to hear him if he'd answered, so she headed toward the back of the shop.
Anna Leigh had to navigate stacks of wood as well as finished products, to get to where Jacob spent the majority of his time.
"Dearest? Where are you?"
She tightened the blanket around her shoulders and stepped around a large dresser. "Jacob, darl--"
Her voice stopped when she noticed the still form on the floor. He was partially hidden behind a table.
Heedless of the dirt, sawdust and spilled lacquer on the floor, Anna Leigh dropped to her knees beside her husband. He was lying on his side, his face away from her. She carefully rolled him onto his back. He appeared to be asleep.
"Jacob?" Her badly shaking hand touched the side of his neck, which was much too cool in the warmth of the shop. "Oh, my dearest. Why didn't my heart stop, as well?"
The man she had loved and lived with for almost sixty years was gone. Anna Leigh's heart, once filled with love and happiness, shattered as she lowered her face to his chest and cried.
She didn't know how long she'd lain there, covered in sawdust and tears. Feeling emptier that she'd ever thought possible, Anna Leigh sat up and lovingly brushed her fingertips across the damp spots on Jacob's shirt.
"I've made a mess of you, haven't I?"
She sniffled and wiped her eyes with the edge of the blanket she wore. "I have calls to make, dearest. But I don't want to leave you alone." She shook her head. "Now isn't that the silliest thing you've ever heard?"
Placing what she knew was the final kiss on his lips, she lovingly draped the blanket across Jacob's upper body and stood. "Wait for me, my love."
The cold air didn't faze Anna Leigh as she trekked from the shop to the kitchen. Only as she dialed the wall phone did she realize that somewhere she had lost a slipper, and her left foot was covered in sawdust. She stared at the littered wool sock as she waited for an answer.
"Hello?"
Anna Leigh noticed the sawdust she had tracked in. "I'll need to get the mop."
"Mom? Is that you?" Michael, her son, asked.
"Yes, I'm sorry. I need your help, Michael." Reality finally hit and she began to shiver. "Could you please come right over? Thank you."
She hung up the phone without waiting for his answer. Her body continued to shake as she slid down the wall. "What am I going to do without you, Jacob?"
She wrapped her arms around her waist and gazed sightlessly across the room.
LEX AND AMANDA bustled through the back door, giggling like a pair of children. They slipped on the wood floor as they jockeyed for position by the coat rack.
"Lexington Walters, don't you dare track that mud and snow through the house." Amanda sat on the bench and removed her boots. "Sit."
Lex grinned, but sat beside her anyway. "Woof."
She nudged Amanda with her shoulder and kicked off her boots. "I wonder where the monsters are."
"Maybe upstairs driving Martha crazy." Amanda looked up as Martha stepped through the kitchen doorway. "Oh. Hi."
Martha's face was blotchy and her eyes were red. "Amanda, honey, you need to call your grandparent's house."
Amanda stood and moved toward Martha. She put her hand on Martha's arm. "Are you all right? What's wrong?"
"I'll be fine. But you really need to make that call." Martha squeezed her hand and released it. "Why don't you use the office?"
"Um, okay." Amanda gave Lex a questioning glance before she headed down the hall.
Lex put both pairs of boots on a mat near the door. "What's going on, Martha? And where are the kids?"
"They're with Charlie at our place." Martha blinked the tears from her eyes and wiped her face with a handkerchief.
"What is it? What has you so upset?"
Martha shook her head and gestured toward the office. "You go on, honey. She's going to need you."
"I don't understand."
Martha gently brushed Lex away. "You will. Hurry."
Lex stared at her for a moment before she jogged down the hall. Her socked feet slid on the floor as she turned into the den.
Amanda looked up from behind the desk when Lex entered the office. "Hi."
"Hey, there. Mind if I join you? The kids are with their pawpaw."
"Sure." Amanda rose and twisted the office chair toward Lex, who obediently sat.
Amanda crawled onto her wife's lap and picked up the phone. She dialed the familiar number and pressed the speaker button. They were both surprised by the answering voice.
"Cauble residence," Lois answered. The formal, stilted voice caught Lex off guard. Lois had been married to Amanda's father, Michael, for many years, and was more of a mother figure to Amanda than her real mother had ever been.
"Hi, Lois. This is Amanda. Martha told me I needed to call. What's going on?"
Lois cleared her throat. "Hi, honey. Um, let me get your father, all right? I know he's been waiting to hear from you."
Amanda pulled the receiver away from her face and looked at it. "What on earth is going on?"
She glanced at Lex, who shrugged.
The sound of her father's voice brought her back to the reason she was calling. "Hey, Dad. What's going on?"
Michael sounded tired. "Hi, honey. Is Lex there with you?"
"Yes, she is. What's going on?"
Michael coughed, choked with emotion. "Sweetheart, it's about your grandfather. I...I'm not sure how to tell you this, but--"
"Is he sick?" Lex's arms tightened around Amanda. "Daddy?"
"No, baby, he's not sick." Michael's voice broke. "He's...gone."
There was a rustling as the phone was passed to Lois.
"No, that's not possible." Amanda shook her head. "We saw him yesterday and he was fine."
Lois sniffled. "I'm so sorry, honey. But your grandfather has passed on."
"I don't understand." Amanda handed the phone to Lex. "They're not making any sense."
"Hello?"
"Lexington, honey. I'm so sorry. But Jacob passed away a short time ago," Lois gently said.
"Oh, God." Lex used one arm to pull Amanda close again. "How is Gramma?"
"Numb, I think. Honey, I know the weather's dreadful, but--"
Lex cut her off. "We'll be there as soon as we can, Lois. Thanks for letting us know."
She hung up the phone and wrapped both arms around Amanda. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart."
"But we saw him yesterday," Amanda repeated. "He was okay."
"I know." Lex struggled to keep her emotions under control. Amanda need
ed her and that was the most important thing. She'd find time later, in private, to mourn.
Amanda stared into her eyes for a long moment. "Gramma's going to need us."
At Lex's nod, she fell forward and buried her face against Lex's neck.
LEX PARKED THEIR Ford Expedition in the Cauble's long, gravel driveway, behind an older model Cadillac sedan and a black Ford Explorer. She hurried around to assist Amanda from the SUV, keeping her arm around her waist as they waded across the yard through the snow.
As they trudged up the steps, the front door opened to reveal Michael, dressed in a pair of dark slacks and a red sweater. He opened his arms and embraced Amanda, who clung to him as if her life depended on it.
"Hey, Dad." Lex joined them and put her hand on Michael's shoulder. "I'm really sorry about Grandpa Jake."
"Thanks, Lex." He kept his arm around Amanda and led them into the house. "Lois is in the kitchen with Jeannie and Mom's resting upstairs."
He explained that his older daughter, Jeannie, had driven to the house as soon as he called her. Releasing Amanda momentarily, Michael awkwardly patted Lex on the arm. "I'm glad you're here, too."
Lex cleared her throat. "Where's Rodney?"
Jeannie's husband, Rodney Crews, ran a medical practice in town.
"He's finishing up at the clinic. The kids are at the Skimmerly's."
Amanda moved to give her father one more comforting embrace before she stepped back. "That's sweet of them."
Wanda Skimmerly had worked for Anna Leigh, and then Amanda, at Sunflower Realty before it closed. Wanda and Dirk's daughter, Allison, was a few days older than Lex and Amanda's eldest child, Lorrie. The Skimmerly's youngest, Penny, was in their daughter Melanie's class. Amanda looked at the staircase. "I should check on Gramma."
"Do you want me to go up with you?" Michael asked.
"No, thank you. But maybe we could talk, later?" Amanda held her hand out to Lex, who immediately grasped it. "Will you be okay down here?"
Lex kissed the back of her hand. "Don't worry about me."
"I always will," Amanda whispered, cupping her wife's cheek. She pulled away as if finally realizing her father had witnessed their intimacy. "Um, I'll just head upstairs."
Michael studied Lex, as if noting the weariness in her features. "Cup of coffee?"
"Yeah, that would be good, thanks."
With a final glance toward Amanda's ascent, Lex followed him to the kitchen.
As they crossed the threshold, Lex felt her heart break at how miserable Jeannie appeared. Amanda's sister held a special place in Lex's heart, since she was Lorrie's birth mother. She was barely in the room before Jeannie rushed into her arms.
"I--can't--believe he's gone," Jeannie stammered as she clung to Lex.
"I know, sweetheart. Me, either." Lex made eye contact with Lois, who held Michael's hand. "Is there anything I can do?"
Michael scooted his chair nearer to his wife's. "Not that I can think of. Mom's still in shock. She, uh..." his voice broke. "She found him collapsed in his shop. Too late."
Jeannie stepped away from Lex and squeezed her hand. She wiped her eyes with the heel of one hand before she turned toward her father. "Do you think it would have mattered?"
"Not according to the paramedics. There was a gash on his head where he had fallen, but it barely bled."
He took a tissue from the box on the table and blew his nose. "They said it was likely a massive heart attack. Even if Dad had been in the hospital, they couldn't have helped him." Unable to continue, Michael stood. "Excuse me."
He escaped through the back door.
Lois scooted her chair away from the table but stopped when Lex raised her hand.
"Let me," Lex offered quietly. She squeezed Lois' shoulder before she followed Michael.
Even with the relative protection of the porch, the cold wind cut across Lex's face.
"Where did he..." She noticed footprints leading away from the porch to the backyard. "Damn." She tucked her hands in the front pockets of her jeans to keep them warm and stepped onto the snow.
Michael was across the yard, leaning against a large oak tree with his back to the house.
With another muttered curse, Lex trudged through the snow until she stood directly behind him. "Michael?"
When he didn't answer, she softened her voice. "Dad?"
"Go back to the house, Lex. I...I can't--"
"You don't have to say anything." She put her hand on his shoulder. "Look, I know I'm not the greatest conversationalist, but if you need to talk, I'm here."
He lowered his head. "This whole thing feels like some sort of terrible nightmare." Michael slowly turned and looked into Lex's face. "I'm at a loss, Lex. What are we supposed to do? When Mom called me, she sounded so damned casual, as if she needed me to run an errand for her. Not like my father had just died."
Unable to keep his composure, he put his hands in his pockets and coughed. "I don't want to believe it. And I feel like such a failure. I couldn't even go into his shop to see him. Now all I'll remember is a lump on a stretcher, hidden by a damned sheet!"
Lex tried to put her arm around him, but Michael angrily brushed it away. She swallowed hard from the hurt it caused. "No, Dad. You'll remember him like I will, laughing on Christmas Day as his great-grandchildren played hide-and-seek in the living room."
"I hope." His voice faded into the wind. It took a moment, but he seemed to be able to picture the scene. "Melanie did look silly, hiding beside the tree. And the squeal Eddie let out at "˜finding' her, did tickle Dad." He grasped Lex's arm. "I'm sorry."
She shrugged. "It's okay. Why don't we go inside before we freeze? Amanda will have my hide if you get sick."
"Not to mention what would happen to you, right?"
Lex grunted, but didn't argue.
UPSTAIRS, AMANDA'S SENSES were on overload as she experienced the accustomed sights and smells as she walked the carpeted hallway. Her childhood summers had been spent in this house. She ran her finger along the small table that always held a lovely arrangement of flowers. Today, the silk wildflowers seemed faded in testament to the family's loss. The familiar aroma of vanilla tickled her nose. She was never certain where it came from, but it soothed her frazzled nerves.
At the end of the hall she stopped in front of the open door to her grandparent's room. She had been cuddled on Saturday mornings and comforted from bad dreams and protected from the real and imaginary monsters while in this room. She saw her grandmother, the woman whose strength always held the family together, curled up in the middle of the king-sized bed. She looked like a child.
Anna Leigh lay atop the covers with a patchwork quilt draped across her. She was wrapped around a pillow and appeared asleep, but her eyes opened when Amanda walked in. Without speaking a word, she held out a hand and beckoned Amanda inside.
Amanda rushed to the bed. She sat beside her grandmother and put her arm around her. Unable to express her grief in words, she found herself held as she broke down in Anna Leigh's embrace.
"Ssssh, dearest." Anna Leigh brushed her hand down Amanda's hair.
"This is so unreal. I can't wrap my mind around it, Gramma."
Anna Leigh kissed her head. "Neither can I."
She held Amanda close. "I keep expecting him to come in, covered in sawdust and varnish." Her voice turned wistful. "You were such a gift to him, Mandy. We missed so much of your sister's first years, and we were not about to make that mistake a second time. We flew out to Los Angeles the moment your mother went into labor. I remember, not hours after you were born, when Jacob held you. He was so smitten." She laughed lightly. "Those big, strong hands were so gentle."
"When," Amanda took in a shaky breath. "When I would stay here in the summer, I used to pray at night for you and Grandpa to be my parents."
"We would have loved that. Your visits brought such joy into our life." Anna Leigh sat up and wiped Amanda's cheeks with her fingertips. "Your mother was determined for you to have the best education
, and she refused to believe that you could have received that here."
The bitter laugh from Amanda was loud in the dark room. "Right. Not to mention the fact that she wanted both her daughters under her thumb."
Anna Leigh touched her knee. "I'm sure it was her way of showing her love for you."
"Yeah, right. My mother only loved one thing, and that was herself."
There was a soft tap at the door. Lex stood in the hall, looking uncomfortable. "Uh, excuse me."
"Come in, Lexington." Anna Leigh patted the bed. "Join us, please."
"I didn't mean to intrude, but Reverend Hampton is downstairs to see you." Lex edged into the room, but remained standing. She cleared her throat. "I'm so terribly sorry for your loss."
Anna Leigh crooked a finger at her. "Lexington, come here."
Looking like a chastised child, Lex trudged to the bed. "Yes, ma'am?"
"The loss is all of ours." Anna Leigh held out her hands, which were immediately grasped. "Thank you for being here."
"No other place I'd be, Gramma."
Lex grunted in surprise as she was hauled onto the bed and pulled into a group hug.
SNOWFLAKES DAMPENED HER head as Martha navigated the concrete walk to her home. She smiled when she saw the salt sprinkled beneath her feet. "Looks like Charlie and the kids have been busy."
Her smile faded as she thought about the three children. "They'll be heartbroken when they hear about Jacob."
Once Martha reached her front porch, she shook the snow off her head and shoulders, and stepped inside. Before she could remove her coat, a small blur wrapped around her knees.
"Mada!" Eddie released his grip and patted her slacks. "Eww."
"I know, honey. Mada got wet walking home."
She hung her coat on the hook by the door then picked up the toddler. "Have you been a good boy for Pawpaw?"
He wriggled happily in her arms. "Good, Pawpaw."
Martha laughed at Eddie's enthusiasm. "Come on, cutie. Let's go see what folks are doing."