by Debby Mayne
Georgie drops another kiss on my lips before letting go of me. “I think it’s time to get back to the party. I don’t want folks to worry about us.”
I take his hand and walk with him. When we get to the group, I see Sally and Nate standing off by the barbecue pit talking with Sara and Justin, and it brings a plethora of feelings. On the one hand, I’m happy to see my grown daughters acting all . . . well, all grown up. But on the other hand, I’m not so sure I’m ready for this.
“Why don’t we—”
As I’m about to suggest joining our daughters and their guys, the sound of something rumbling toward us catches my attention. A bunch of people hop out of the way, and that’s when I see a bright orange hunk of wood with a helmet-clad head sticking out of the top coming toward us. I don’t have a chance to hop out of the way before the boxcar is right upon me.
“Mama!”
That’s the last sound I hear before I fall to the ground.
I can’t get to Mama fast enough, and Sara is right behind me—the only thing slowing her down is exhaustion from her pregnancy. She says she could take a nap any time of day or night now that she’s pregnant. Before I reach Mama, Julius has hopped out of the orange hunk of junk and removed his helmet. But the instant he gets out, he just stands there and stares down at her with an odd expression I can’t read.
Mama is lying on the ground, clearly unconscious. I kneel down beside her, lift her hand, and check her pulse. Relief floods me as I feel that she still has one, and it seems normal.
Grandpa Jay is right there, holding out his phone. “I’ve already called an ambulance. Everyone needs to back off.” He looks at Daddy, Sara, and me. “Except her husband and daughters.”
I look up at Daddy, whose eyes have filled with tears. He gingerly kneels down, something that I know is difficult since his knee surgery last year. Justin comes up behind Sara and puts his arms around her, while Nate stands off to the side looking like he’s not sure what to do next.
I meet his gaze. Within seconds, he’s by my side. “I couldn’t get to her fast enough.” He gives me an apologetic look. “But I said a prayer for her as soon as I saw her get hit.”
“Thank you.” I turn back to Mama, who is making moaning sounds as she starts to move. “Be still. I don’t want to take any chances on making this worse than it already is.”
Her eyes pop open. “Am I in heaven?” She blinks and then focuses on me. “I guess not yet.” Then she tries to push herself up on her elbow but falls back. “Ouch.”
“Where does it hurt?” I ask.
“My shoulder. I think I got the wind knocked out of me.”
As soon as those words leave her mouth, I hear the sound of a siren approaching. “Sounds like the ambulance is here.”
“I don’t want—” She squirms and grimaces, clearly in pain.
“Shh, just try to relax and let them take care of you.” I gently stroke the back of her other arm as I glance around and look for Julius. He’s nowhere in sight, but I figure Grandpa Jay will deal with him.
Once the ambulance arrives, I get up and take a step back to get out of the way of the paramedics. Nate doesn’t hesitate to pull me into his arms. Now I understand what people mean when they talk about finding comfort in someone else holding them. If it weren’t for his being there for me, I’d be pacing and fretting, probably making things worse.
“Looks like she might have a broken bone or two,” the ambulance driver says as the others take her to the ambulance. “But we won’t know for sure until she’s checked out and x-rayed at the hospital.”
“Is there anything life-threatening?” Those words catch in my throat, and I feel tears welling in my eyes.
“We can’t tell yet.” He looks at me and offers a comforting glance. “But I don’t think so.”
He turns around and runs to the ambulance. As it pulls away, Nate gestures toward the cars. “I’ll take y’all to the hospital.”
Without another word, Sara, Justin, Nate, and I pile into his truck, and he manages to maneuver it through the rows of dozens of parked cars and out onto the road leading to the hospital in Hattiesburg. I’m thankful that he’s here because I’m shaking too hard to drive.
Sara and Justin whisper in the backseat, but Nate and I don’t say a word until he pulls up in front of the emergency room entrance. “I’ll let y’all out here and go find a parking spot.”
The receptionist calls for someone to come and get us. By the time she arrives, Nate joins us.
“Are you all family?” the woman asks.
Nate clears his throat, but I don’t give him a chance to speak. “Yes, we’re all family.”
She casts a doubtful look at each of us before leading us down the hall, through the double doors, and into a small holding room, where Mama is propped up in a hospital bed looking around in a daze. My heart breaks from seeing her in such a fragile state.
“They’re taking me for X-rays in a few minutes.” Mama tries to move, but she’s been immobilized, so she gives up. “I reckon I don’t have to tell y’all I hurt like the dickens.”
Daddy’s voice at the door catches our attention. “What took y’all so long getting here?”
“I’m sorry, sir.” Nate gives Daddy a contrite look. “I had to get around a lot of cars.”
“I was just kidding. I’m surprised you got here as quickly as you did.” His levity brings me a sense of relief because I know he wouldn’t be kidding about anything if he thought Mama’s injuries were life-threatening. “It doesn’t appear to be serious.”
“Thank the Lord. Sounds like our prayers have been answered.”
All of us turn to face Nate. The fact that he’s thanking the Lord and praying brings even more comfort.
“You’re so right, son.” Daddy walks up to Nate and pats him on the shoulder before doing the same to Justin. “I appreciate you boys being here for our girls.”
Nate gently places his arm around me, and I continue to find comfort in his embrace. I can tell Daddy likes him because he doesn’t even flinch when he notices. He originally had a different reaction to Justin back when he and Sara eloped, but over time they have developed a good relationship.
Sara and I take turns whispering our thoughts and prayers in Mama’s ear. When the guy comes to take Mama to the X-ray lab, the rest of us remain standing in her room, looking at each other but not saying anything.
After she leaves, Nate nudges Justin. “Want some coffee? My treat.”
Justin looks like he wants to turn Nate down, but after only a brief hesitation, he nods. “Sure.”
As he gets to the door, Nate looks over his shoulder. “Want us to bring y’all anything back?”
Sara asks for hot cocoa, but Daddy and I don’t want anything. As soon as they’re gone, Daddy takes Sara and me by the hand.
“Your mama and I love both of you girls more than you’ll ever know, and even though these aren’t the best circumstances, your actions today have shown us what you’re made of. It’s nice to know we raised some loving daughters who don’t hesitate to be there when we need you.”
Sara hugs Daddy. “I love both of you more than you know too.”
He nods and smiles as he looks me in the eye. “I can tell. By the way, I appreciate how Nate gave us a few minutes alone. That is one smart boy, and I hope you don’t let him get away.”
If Daddy had said that about anyone in the past, it would have annoyed me to no end. But now it makes me smile. Yes, there definitely is something special about Nate.
Nate and Justin return about forty-five minutes later, and some guy in scrubs wheels Mama in right behind them. He gives us a thumbs-up.
“Good news?” Daddy asks.
“Yep. Doesn’t look like there are any broken bones or internal punctures. Just a dislocated shoulder that a little physical therapy can take care of.”
“Can she go home today?” Daddy asks.
“No, I want her to hang out here overnight, but when she goes home, she’ll
need someone to help her with some of her daily activities.”
“Do you have any idea when the doctor will come in to talk to me?”
The guy in the scrubs chuckles. “I’m talking to you now.”
Daddy’s eyes widen as Sara and I stifle giggles—partly from relief about Mama but mostly from Daddy’s reaction. “But you look like—” He cuts himself off.
“A teenager?” The doctor laughs again. “I get that all the time.” He straightens up and gives us a full-frontal view of his face. Now that I see the day-old stubble on his chin and crinkles around his mouth, I can tell he’s not the kid we thought he was. “I’ve been an emergency room doctor for almost five years now, so I know what I’m doing . . .” He smiles at all of us. “At least most of the time.”
“Do we need to start having our family reunions at the hospital?” The sound of Grandpa Jay’s voice grabs all of our attention.
Daddy reaches out to shake his hand. “Not a bad idea.”
“How’s she doing?”
Everyone turns to face the doctor, who gives his attention to Grandpa Jay. His eyes suddenly widen, and he moves toward the older man for a man hug. I look at Sara, and she shrugs.
Grandpa Jay pulls back and looks the doctor in the eye. “Why didn’t you tell me you were back in town, Paul? I thought you were working at Emory Hospital in Atlanta.”
“I just got back. Mom said she wanted me closer to home.”
Grandpa Jay takes a deep breath and gives the doctor a questioning look. “I reckon it’s about time to tell them about you.”
The doctor makes a face as he takes a step back. “I don’t know if this is the best place.”
Grandpa Jay pats him on the shoulder. “I think it is.”
You could’ve knocked Bucky over with a feather when Sally and Sara came back to the reunion and told him his grandfather had paid the college tuition for all of his childhood friend’s grandchildren. I mean, it’s not like he did anything wrong, unless you consider not telling the family about another good deed a bad thing.
Tears streamed down Sara’s cheeks as Sally explained how Grandpa Jay’s friend was killed in a factory accident, so he did what he could to help out, since he had the means from some of the oil money. My heart melted at the very thought of Grandpa Jay helping someone become an emergency room doctor.
“That money should have been ours.” Bucky shakes his head in disgust. “All this time I thought he put his family first.” Bucky’s all hunched over on the couch, acting like his world just ended. But it didn’t. Everything will remain the same, except his grandfather is even more awesome than I realized.
I glare down at him. “I think you’re overreacting.”
Bucky lifts his face from his hands, and I see the anguish on his face. “How can you say that, Marybeth? He’s giving away our inheritance.”
“Wait a minute.” There’s clearly something he hasn’t considered. “It’s not like it was your land or money. It’s his, and he can do whatever he wants with it.”
He scrunches his face and squints. “What are you talking about? Make some sense, will ya?”
“Okay, think about it for a minute. If he had a friend who couldn’t afford to send his children to college, and he was willing to cover the expenses, most people would consider him a hero.”
He leans back and folds his arms as he thinks about it. “What do you think? Is he a hero in your eyes?”
I nod. “Yes, I’ve always thought your grandfather was awesome, and now he’s even better than awesome.” I force a smile. “He is a real-live superhero.”
He pulls his lips between his teeth and squeezes his eyes shut before looking directly at me. “It’s still not rightfully their money. It should have come to us. You don’t get it because you’re not blood related.”
I let out a low growl of frustration. “Maybe not, but there’s still nothing you can do about it.”
“There might be. I know a lawyer—”
“Don’t you dare cause trouble for your grandfather, Bucky. Not only will it hurt him, it’ll show our son that you’re greedy and self-centered.”
Bucky contorts his mouth. “Yeah, you’re probably right—not about the greedy and self-centered part. Just the part about causing trouble for my grandfather.”
“Then why don’t you look at it in a positive light? You can even bring those people he helped into the family. Call them your honorary cousins or something. It wouldn’t hurt to have a doctor in the family.”
“Yeah, that’s true.” A grin spreads over his face. “And I like the fact that one of ’em’s a doctor.”
“Yeah, you can introduce him as your cousin Paul the doctor.” Apparently, having a doctor in the family appeals to him more than missing out on this relatively small amount of inheritance, so I give myself a mental high five.
Bucky sighs. “Great idea, Marybeth. It’s not like I’m losin’ a thing. I’m gaining family, and the Lord knows, you can’t have too many kinfolk.”
It’s obvious the whole doctor-cousin thing is what has brought him to this way of thinking, but whatever. “Now, why don’t you go splash some cold water on your face and get back out there to make sure our guests are having a good time?”
“We need to figure out who’s gonna sleep where,” he says as he stands up. “Since a lot of ’em have decided to go home, everyone who wants to stick around for the weekend will have their own room.”
I see movement in the doorway, so I look up to see who it is. He doesn’t look even remotely familiar. “Who are you?”
He smiles as he walks toward Bucky and me. “My name is Paul Mason. Your grandfather asked me to come here when I got off my shift at the hospital.”
Bucky shakes his hand. “So you’re the doctor everyone’s making such a fuss about.” He stands back and looks Paul up and down. “You sure don’t look like a doctor to me. I’m not even sure I’d trust you to look in my ears.”
“Bucky!” I give him the elbow in the side—something I rarely do but have discovered it works to temporarily shush him. There’s so much going on that I’m not sure it’ll faze him. “It’s nice to meet you, Paul. Or should I call you Dr. Mason?”
“Paul is fine.” He takes a step back and glances back and forth between Bucky and me. “If you’d rather I—”
I interrupt him. “We are so happy to meet you, Paul.” I glare over at my husband. “Aren’t we, Bucky?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“I wish we had more food left, but the vultures have already swooped.” I take him by the arm and lead him toward the backyard. “Why don’t we see if there’s anything left on the dessert table?”
As we walk out the door, I glance over my shoulder and make a face at Bucky, who looks like he has no idea what to do next. I’m getting tired of trying to act a certain way just because we have money now. It’s exhausting, and it makes me feel bad for everyone I’m around. Bucky claims we’re supposed to behave like rich people, but I don’t agree with him. Besides, I’m not even sure how rich people are supposed to act. I want to go back to being myself.
“I hope my coming here isn’t causing a problem,” Paul says. “I just thought—”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m delighted to have you join our family. Sally and Sara didn’t have enough good things to say about you, and if they like you, so will everyone else.”
We stop at various clusters of people, and I introduce them to Paul. He’s very gracious, but I can tell he’s overwhelmed.
His eyes light up when he spots Sally coming toward us with Nate right behind her. I can tell he’s comfortable around them.
I don’t know what Julius was thinking about when he plowed into the crowd like he did. The area where Sheila was standing was at the bottom of a sloping section of our yard—a spot I’ve been after Bucky to do something about. He claims it’s a rolling hill and adds character and interest to the yard. I bet he won’t be saying that now.
“Hey, Dr. Mason.” Nate comes out from
behind Sally with his hand extended. “I’m so glad you took Mr. Bucklin up on his invitation.”
Paul gives Nate a big ol’ honkin’ grin that near ’bout splits his face in two. “It’s good to see your familiar faces.”
Sally stands there watching the two men chat, appearing more interested than I suspect she really is. I can tell she really likes this boy Nate, which makes me happy. That guy she brought to the last reunion seemed too clingy, and I think that would be a problem for her relationship with Sara, since the two of them have such a special bond.
“Hey, Marybeth.”
I turn around and see Bucky walking toward us. “Did you need me?”
“Yeah.” He shifts his weight from one foot to the other. “Well, actually, it’s Julius.”
I roll my eyes. “What about Julius?”
“He’s in the garage bawling his eyeballs out, and I don’t know what to do.” Bucky’s helpless look grows more intense. “I should have let you talk to him first.”
And I shouldn’t have let Bucky push me away, but I don’t tell him that. “Did he say anything?”
“He says he doesn’t want to live here anymore because he’s sick and tired of being rich.” Bucky shudders. “He even said he doesn’t want to drive his car anymore. He wants an old heap like all his friends have.”
I have to hold back a smile. My son . . . our son is asking for a heap; maybe he is finally realizing that a person’s value doesn’t come from money. “I’ll go see what I can do.”
I am so glad I brought Nate to the family reunion. He’s not only kind and smart, he’s there when I need him but gives me space when I don’t. It’s amazing, really. I’ve never met a man like him.
“Whatcha thinkin’?” Sara asks.
“I bet you can guess right on the first try.”
She grins. “I bet I can too. You really like Nate, like a lot, don’t you?”
I smile back at her. “I’ve already told you I do.”
“Then why did you let him go home after he brought us back? He could have come in.”