by Rachel Hanna
“You see, sweetie, I need a bone marrow transplant. And that’s one of the reasons that I’m here. My wife, and your brother and sister, they’re not matches. I’m here because I’m hoping that you’d be willing to get tested over at the hospital and see if you’re a match for me.”
Suddenly, she was overflowing with emotion. Had her father only come back because he wanted her bone marrow? Had he really ever had any interest in having a relationship with her, or was this all about saving his own life?
At the same time, she wanted to save him. She wanted to do anything she could to keep him alive. The conflicting emotions felt like a tornado inside of her gut.
“Did you talk to Mom about this?”
“No. Maybe I should have, but I wanted to talk to you first. I didn’t want anyone making the decision for you.”
“What does this procedure entail?”
“It’s a very simple procedure, from what I understand. You might be in the hospital for most of the day, maybe overnight. But if you’re a match, you’ll save my life.”
Evie stood up. Brandon looked up at her, confused.
“I need some time to think. I… I can’t do this right now…” She turned and ran toward the house, leaving her father sitting on the dock, calling out to her.
Right now, she needed to be alone and think about what her father had just told her. It was a lot to take in, and the pressure was just too much.
“There you are,” Kate said as she and Mia walked into the backyard. They’d spent the last hour talking about how to approach their father. Now, as Kate stood in front of him in the gazebo, she felt ill-equipped.
“I didn’t know you were looking for me. Am I in trouble?” he asked with a smile.
“Maybe,” Mia muttered under her breath.
They sat down across from him at the picnic table. “What are you doing out here?”
“Reminiscing.”
“Reminiscing about what?” Mia asked. It was odd that he was just sitting there staring off into the distance.
“To be honest? I’m thinking about your momma.”
“About Momma? What do you mean?”
“Well, when I come to the B&B, I can feel her presence. It gives me peace.”
“I know what you mean. Momma is all over this place. I can feel her everywhere,” Mia said, the grief she tried to keep tamped down coming to the surface yet again.
“I remember when we’d hike these trails as teenagers. She was so young and outgoing, and I felt completely inadequate in the shadow of her. I wondered how anyone like her could be interested in a tall, gangly guy like me.”
“Dad, we know.” Kate blurted it out so quickly that even Mia was surprised.
“Know what?”
“Sylvia called,” Mia said softly.
They watched him process the information for a moment. His jaw tightened. His face hardened. “She had no right to do that.”
“She’s your wife, and she’s worried about you. We’re all worried about you,” Kate said, reaching for his hand.
“This is my decision, and she’s been pressuring me.”
“Dad, she wants what’s best for you. This is a serious situation.”
“Do you think I don’t know that? Look, I know you girls want to talk about this, but I really don’t.” Jack stood up and started to walk toward the house.
“You have to get the ablation,” Kate said loudly.
Jack turned around. “I don’t have to do anything. And I’m not going to. Look, God has a plan for all of us, and this is just His plan for me.”
“That’s a crock and you know it!” Mia said. Kate was surprised that her little sister had spoken up so strongly.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re scared, Dad. We get it. But, maybe God is giving you the gift of options. Did you ever think about that?”
“I don’t like either option,” he said, turning to walk again.
“Do you know who would’ve loved options? My momma! And she’d be so mad at you right now!”
Jack turned again. “Mad at me? Why?”
“Because you’re our last living parent, and we just got you in our lives. You’re supposed to take care of us until God calls you home, and you’re giving up! She’d smack you right across your cheek and bless you out if she was here.”
Kate loved this side of Mia. She’d never seen it before, but it was certainly effective. Jack paused for a long moment and then walked back to the picnic table, sitting down.
“I love you girls. You know that. But this procedure isn’t a sure thing. They might not be able to find the spot causing the arrhythmia, and then what? More procedures?”
“I watched Momma fight until there were no other options. That’s what you do to stay with the ones you love,” Mia said, a tear rolling down her cheek. Jack reached over and grabbed each of their hands.
“We’ll be here for you, Dad. No matter what. Just please don’t give up,” Kate said.
“I’ll tell you what. I’ll get a second opinion at a hospital in Atlanta. If that doctor agrees, I’ll get the ablation. Okay?”
Kate was so relieved. “Thank you!”
The girls rushed over and hugged Jack tightly. There was hope again, and for that, Kate was beyond grateful.
Cooper sat on the tailgate of his truck, needing a break after so many hours of working on the treehouse platform. He wanted to get it done to see Evie’s face when it was finished. But he also had other work to do around town on various projects, so he knew he couldn’t take up too much time building it. It wasn’t that complicated of a structure, so he thought he would have it finished within the next day or so.
When he saw Evie walking up the driveway, he was surprised. She was supposed to be spending time with her father. He was concerned when he saw the look on her face. She looked like she’d been crying.
“Hey. What’s the matter? You look really upset.”
Evie walked over and sat down next to him on the tailgate. “My dad told me that he’s dying.”
“What?”
“We were fishing, and he told me that he has some kind of rare blood disease and he needs me to donate my bone marrow.”
Cooper felt anger well up within him. Who told a kid something like that? Kate hadn’t mentioned it, which probably meant the Brandon hadn’t talked to her first.
“Evie, have you talked to your mom about this?”
“No. And I’m not going to right now.”
“You have to. This is way too big for someone your age to handle.”
“Cooper, you have to promise me you won’t tell her. I just want to be able to think about it on my own for a while. Maybe I’ll tell her tomorrow.”
“I’ll give you until lunchtime tomorrow. At that point, you have to promise me that you’ll talk to your mom.”
“Okay, fine.”
He looked at her, and it pained him to see the sadness on her face. “I’m sure your dad will be fine.”
“Honestly, I’m not even thinking about that right now. I’m wondering… Well, I’m honestly wondering if he only came here because he needs me for something. Would he have ever reached out if he didn’t need my bone marrow?”
It was a good question. A valid one. And Cooper didn’t want to say what he really thought. The odds were that Brandon never would’ve reached out to his daughter if he didn’t need something from her. Right now, he wanted to go push him in the lake.
“He’s your dad, and I know he loves you. I’ve seen it in his face, like when y’all were throwing the football.”
“I don’t know. I get the feeling that he’s only here because there’s something in it for him. I had really hoped he came here just because he wanted to see me, just because he loved me. But I don’t think that’s true.”
“So what do you think you want to do?”
“I don’t know. He’s my dad, and even if he’s doing this for all the wrong reasons, I don’t think I could live with myself if I didn’t donate and h
e died.”
“You don’t even know if you’re a match yet. Don’t put that kind of pressure on yourself, Evie.”
“Do you mind if I just sit out here with you for a while?”
Cooper put his arm around her. “Sure. You can sit with me for as long as you need.”
She laid her head on his shoulder, and he could hear her crying softly. And they sat that way until the sun started to go down, Cooper supporting this girl that he already thought of as his own daughter.
Chapter Ten
Mia laid on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Travis was supposed to be home tomorrow, and she couldn’t wait to see him. It had been a stressful few days, and not having him to lean on had made it all the worse.
Everyone had skipped dinner and opted to eat on their own. Evie seemed upset about something and had stayed up at the tree with Cooper until it was dark. Brandon had never come out of his room. Jack had gone to town to have dinner with Sylvia and mend fences. And Kate had eventually gone to eat at Cooper’s house.
That left Mia alone, sitting in her room with a leftover ham sandwich and a heart that missed Travis. She hadn’t heard from him since the day before because her phone had gotten wet. Unfortunately, the rice hadn’t fixed the moisture issue and she would have to replace the phone.
She looked up at the ceiling and wondered what her mother would think about the way she handled her father. She had to say that she was pretty impressed with her ability to think on her feet. Sometimes guilt was a powerful motivator, and she didn’t care if that’s what it took to get her father to fight for his life.
Just as she was about to get up and put on her nightgown, she heard something hit her window. It was a little jolting since nobody ever came down their driveway this late at night. Surely, it was just a little bug or something hitting the glass.
Bang!
There is was again. What was that?
She stood up and crept over to the window, being careful not to let anyone on the other side see her. She peeked out of the side of the curtain and couldn’t believe what she saw. Travis!
He was standing there, a bouquet of roses in one hand and a rock in the other.
“Travis? What on Earth are you doing?” she said, laughing, as she opened the window. “I thought you weren’t coming home until tomorrow?”
“I wasn’t, but I took an earlier flight. I need to talk to you.”
“Okay. I’m coming down.”
She quickly ran down the stairs and out the front door to find Travis waiting at the bottom of the stairs. She ran straight into his arms, almost knocking the bouquet out of his hand.
“I missed you so much!” she said, burying her face in his chest.
“I missed you too,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “But, I have to say that I’m surprised at this reaction.”
Mia pulled back. “What? Why?”
He sat down on the step and pulled her down with him. “I know what Sam did.”
“What did Sam do?”
“You called when I was in the shower…”
“Oh. That.”
“I’m so sorry, Mia.”
Suddenly, her stomach tightened. Why was he sorry? What had he done to be sorry for?
“Sorry? So you and Sam…”
Travis looked shocked. “No! Of course not! I meant that I’m sorry she didn’t tell me you called. I had no idea until earlier today. That’s why I took the first flight home. I sat at the airport on stand-by all day.”
“You did?”
“And when you wouldn’t answer my calls…”
“Sorry. My phone fell in the water and died. I need a new one.”
Travis chuckled. “Yes, you do. I thought all day long that you were mad at me. I fully expected for you to throw eggs at me when I got here tonight.”
“Why didn’t you call Kate?”
“I did. She never answered. And I called Cooper. Did he not tell you?”
“Cooper has been in a tree all day. I haven’t seen him.”
“Wow. A bunch of miscommunication, huh?”
“Seems that way. So, tell me about Sam. Why did she do that?”
Travis sighed. “I never knew Sam had feelings for me.”
“I could’ve told you that, Travis. I saw the way she looked at you.”
“Why didn’t you tell me then?” he asked, with a laugh.
“Because I didn’t want you to think that I was jealous, even though I was.”
Travis ran his thumb across her cheek. “Mia, you should never be jealous of anyone. I’ve spent most of my adult life missing you, and there’s no way any woman would be able to pull me away from you.”
She leaned in and kissed him. “How’d the meeting go?”
“Great. I got the contract!”
“Congratulations, Travis! I’m so proud of you.”
“And that means the world to me,” he said, pulling her into an embrace and making everything in the world perfect again.
Kate was exhausted. After the conversation she and Mia had had with their father the day before, she’d had a fitful sleep. All she really wanted to do was lay down and nap for the rest of the day, but instead she was standing with Darrell, wearing a beekeeping suit, and looking at her new hives.
“Did you know a single bee will only produce about one-twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime?” Darrell was all bees, all the time. He loved what he did, and Kate admired him for that.
“I did not know that,” she said, struggling to keep her eyes open.
“Now, one hive can make sixty to one hundred pounds of honey a year…”
He kept talking and talking and talking. Kate tried to pay close attention, but she felt like curling up in the bee suit might actually be more comfortable.
“The queen bee goes on a mating flight once in her lifetime. She leaves the hive and mates with anywhere from five to forty-five drones and then stores the sperm.”
“Sounds like the queen gets around a little too much…” Kate mumbled.
“What was that?”
“Oh, nothing.”
“Mom?” Evie was standing on the other side of the gazebo, too scared to come very close to the bees. She had been stung once as a small child, and she was definitely not a fan.
“Oh, hey, honey. Did you need something?”
“I was hoping we could talk for a minute?”
Kate turned back to Darrell. “Can you excuse me for a few minutes? I need to go talk to my daughter.”
“Of course. Take all the time you need. I’ll just be over here communing with the bees,” he said, holding his hands out like he was about to direct an orchestra. What an odd little man he was.
Kate walked over to the deck where Evie was sitting, her hands in her lap, nervously fidgeting.
She sat down across from her. “Is everything okay? You look like you’re upset about something.”
“I don’t know quite how to talk about this.”
“Is this about your dad? I haven’t seen him today.”
“I don’t know where he is, actually. But, it is about dad.”
Kate knew it. Something had been up with him since the day he arrived, and it looked like her daughter had figured out what it was. Or maybe something else had happened that she wasn’t aware of.
“What’s going on?”
“Dad is dying.” Evie spit the words out like she’d been holding them in and was drowning on them.
“What?”
“He told me yesterday. He has a rare blood disorder and they’ve given him one or maybe two years left to live. That’s why he seems so out of breath all the time.”
Kate reached across and held her daughter’s hand. “I’m so sorry to hear that, Evie. I know that had to be really tough for your dad to tell you that. So he wanted to come here and spend time with you because he doesn’t have much time left?”
She shook her head. “No. I mean, maybe that’s part of it, but it’s not the main reason.”
“Wh
at do you mean?”
“He came here because he needs a bone marrow match, and he was hoping that would be me.”
Kate had never felt such anger well up within her. It felt like it was going to overwhelm her body and blow off the top of her head. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How could any father go straight to his teenage daughter and ask her for bone marrow without talking to her mother first?
And how could a father who hadn’t seen his daughter in years come back and make such a big request?
“You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“Look, I knew you would be upset which is why I didn’t tell you yesterday. I needed some time to think about what I wanted to do.”
“What do you want to do? You’re a kid! You have no business making a decision like this, Evie. That wasn’t fair for your father to put you on the spot like that.”
“He’s my dad. And I will be an adult in a couple of years. I think I should have some input in this, Mom.”
Kate took a deep breath and then blew it out slowly. She knew that she needed to calm down, if for no other reason than to not alienate her daughter. Evie was right. She should have input as to whether to get tested.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. And now that you’ve had some time to think, what are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking that it’s the right thing to do. If he died and I had any chance of saving him, I would never forgive myself.”
Kate could understand that. After all, if her father needed something like that from her, she would move heaven and earth to do it even if they didn’t have a good relationship.
“Have you spoken to him today?”
“No. I don’t even know where he is.”
“I think we should talk about this as a family, don’t you?”
She nodded. “I think so.”
“Why don’t you go hang out with Cooper? I think he is almost finished with your treehouse. I’ll find your dad, and we will set up a time to talk as a family. Sound good?”
“Okay.” She stood up and hugged her mother, something that she rarely did. “Thanks for being there.”
“Always.”
As she watched Evie walk around the house and then up the driveway, she felt a mix of emotions. Pride in her daughter, and plenty of anger towards her ex-husband. Now, she had to find him.
