by S. L. Baum
“Your turn,” he called from across the creek as he aimed his flashlight so that she could clearly see her way.
Krista tried her best to match Sam’s movements. She stumbled once, her foot slipping to the side of the stone and splashing on the top of the water. But she quickly recovered and decided she needed to take it slower; she figured hopping, like Sam did, was going to have to come later, and with much more practice. When she got to the last stone, Sam reached out his hand and she laced her fingers with his. It steadied her movement as she jumped beside him.
“It’s a shame the moon isn’t full tonight. It lights up this whole area. Mom used to say that the water dances as the moonlight glitters off the surface. It’s beautiful.”
Krista shined her light across the top of the water and tried to imagine it illuminated by the moon. “I’m sorry she’s not here with you, Sam.” She reached out and gave him a quick spontaneous hug. “I bet the full moon is amazing out here.”
Sam tugged on her hand and they started walking again. “We’ll come back when it is. You can’t miss the creek in a full moon.”
“I’d like that.”
Sam felt like he should let go of her hand. But in that moment, he realized he didn’t want to. He liked the warmth that seemed to flow through her and into him. He’d been cold inside for so many months, his pilot light having blown out the moment his mother died. He wanted to feel warm again.
Sam gave Krista’s hand a squeeze.
When they arrived at the pond, Krista noticed several cut logs piled up beside the fire pit, the whole area looked smoother, and there was much less debris than the last time she had been there. It looked as if someone had carefully gone over everything with a rake. “You?” Krista asked, pointing it out.
“Yeah. I came out this morning. Figured I’d clean the place up a bit. Good impression for the budding romance and all. Seems kind of a waste now. It’ll be too dark to notice.”
“Once you get the fire roaring, I’m sure it will all look amazing.”
“What’s this you get the fire roaring stuff?”
“Do you want a fire?” Krista asked in a breathy voice. “Or a fire?” she boomed. “I’ll produce the first kind. I leave you in charge of the second one.”
“Good thinking. No wimpy fires at the pond. Nothing but big flames allowed.”
Sam set the logs in the pit and started gathering twigs while Krista pulled a large blanket from Sam’s duffel and spread it out. She opened her bag to pull out plastic containers that held graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate bars, and also produced two thermoses of hot chocolate. She set them in the middle of the blanket.
Krista reached back into her bag and cursed. “Dammit.”
“What?”
“I forgot metal skewers for the S’mores.”
“City girl, we don’t use metal skewers in Cedar Creek. We use long, thin sticks, and sometimes we even carve them to a point. Then we scorch the ends in the fire and stick the marshmallow on top. Go over near those trees, take your flashlight with you, and look for some long, skinny sticks, twigs, or branches, whatever will work.”
“Isn’t that unsanitary?” Krista cringed.
“Scorching them in the fire first is sanitary enough. Everyone here is still alive, and marshmallows have been roasted that way my entire life. You’ll live, I promise. Plus, getting your fingers burnt from flaming hot metal might be worse than a little dirty stick.”
Krista looked at him with doubt. “If you say so.” She marched toward the trees in search of marshmallow roasting sticks.
While she was doing that, Sam crumpled up some of the newspaper he brought, shoved it beneath the pile of logs and twigs, and lit the fire. Then he pulled a bottle of Irish Crème and a bottle of Peppermint Schnapps from his bag, and set them near the stuff Krista brought.
As soon as Krista returned with the sticks, they heard voices, footsteps, and laughter approaching. When they saw random flashes of light, they knew Pete and Opal were near.
“Now that’s a fire!” Pete announced as they came into view.
“And that is exactly why you needed to be in charge of the fire,” Krista whispered. “Good job.”
“Thanks,” Sam whispered back. “Why are we whispering?”
“No idea.” Krista shrugged. “You made it!” she sang out as she rushed forward to give Opal a hug.
“Seriously,” Opal began with a huge smile on her face. “Jumping across those rocks in the creek was so cool in the dark. Heart pounding fun!”
Pete shook his head, clearly not sharing her sentiments. “It was interesting.”
“It’s alright, Pete. I was nervous too,” Krista assured him.
Pete caught Krista’s eye and held a finger up to his mouth. He clearly didn’t want Opal to know he didn’t share her enthusiasm. “Great directions, Sam. We found it without a hitch.”
Opal did a full circle around the fire pit. “I can’t believe this is your backyard.”
“Abe’s great-greats were one of the first families here. They helped settle this place; the original homesteaders,” Sam admitted. “I think Eli is the only other person with family that’s been around since the beginning of Cedar Creek.”
Krista sat down on one of the stumps by the fire. “Those are some deep roots you got there.”
Sam stuck his thumbs in his pockets and shifted back on his heels. “Not everyone moves around like you.”
“My grandma and I lived in the same house for almost all of my life. She bought it when I was one, after my mom took off. I’ve just been moving around since she died. Wait, how do you know I move around a lot?”
A look of sheer guilt came over Sam’s face. “I might have dug around the interwebs trying to figure you out.”
Opal placed her hands on her hips. “You Googled her?”
“I was trying to figure out if she had a record.” Sam looked down at his feet and kicked at the ground. “I admit. I overreacted. I was worried about Abe and I let my imagination get the best of me.”
“What did you find out?” Krista asked him.
“Absolutely nothing, other than where you’ve worked.”
Krista picked up a stick and poked at the fire. “So my record is clean?”
Sam looked up at her. “Squeaky clean.”
“Phew!” Pete exclaimed, wiping his brow. “I have to work with the girl. I’ve been scared for my life.”
“Oh, shut up, Pete!” Krista pointed her stick at him.
Pete picked up a stick and pointed back at her. “Hey, you look pretty sneaky and dangerous to me.”
Opal tapped at her cheek. “Come to think of it, she does to me too. Don’t go getting designs on my father! Maybe you should stay out of the diner.” Opal couldn’t hold a straight face; she started laughing.
“Alright guys, I get it. I’m an idiot.” Sam threw his hand up in the air. “Krista’s a nice girl. Can we get off the subject now?”
“I suppose we can, unless you want to keep telling me how nice I am. But no more teasing Samuel, guys,” Krista said with a smile. “Let’s roast marshmallows. Sam assures me that we won’t die from using sticks instead of metal skewers. I’m skeptical.”
Pete rolled his eyes.
A short time later, they were full of S’mores, had plenty of hot chocolate, and had told each other a ton of childhood stories. Pete and Opal ended up sitting quite close to each other on the blanket by the fire. Krista was pleased to see Opal lean her head on Pete’s shoulder and she moved her hand to hook her pinkie finger with his. It was a beginning.
At around eleven o’clock, Opal started to yawn uncontrollably. Pete reluctantly admitted that the evening had come to a close. It was time for them to leave. After packing up, they all walked back to the guesthouse, where Pete had parked his motorcycle.
Krista was shocked that they hadn’t taken Opal’s car. “It just occurred to me… you were nervous about jumping on stones across the creek, but you have no problem riding a motorcycle
,” she remarked.
“I wasn’t nervous,” Pete said a little too quickly.
Opal patted his back as she got on the back of the bike. “He was nervous,” she assured Krista.
“See you Monday, Krista,” Pete said, waving her over to him so he could give her a quick hug goodbye. “Thanks for inviting us over, Sam.” Pete gave them both a wave before he rode away. Opal’s arms were wrapped around his middle and he thought that having her hugging onto him tightly was about the best thing ever.
“You want to come in for awhile?” Krista asked Sam, when Pete’s motorcycle was out of sight. “Unless you want to go to bed or something.”
“Sure, I’ll come in. Abe’ll be snoring and I’m not tired.”
“We could watch a movie or something.”
“Just not a chick-flick, please, or something.”
Krista laughed. “I overuse that phrase. I know. And I’ll spare you the embarrassment of a chick-flick. We’ll find something to stream that we can both live with.”
“Sounds good to me,” Sam agreed, walking up the steps behind her.
Krista pushed open the door but then spun around to face him. “You think this evening was productive?”
Sam stopped quickly, their faces just inches apart. He breathed in. Krista smelled of campfire and sweets. “Pete and Opal?” he asked, his mind having gone blank.
Krista nodded at him. Sam was looking at her strangely, she wasn’t sure what to make of it.
Answer her question, Sam silently admonished himself, noting the growing silence between them. “Yeah, I see a spark there.”
“Me too.” Krista spun back around and entered the house. She kicked off her shoes and put them near the door. “Just throw your stuff in the corner and we can flop on the couch. You want anything to drink?”
“Just water,” Pete said as he put his stuff down. “I had too much chocolate. I’m on the edge of a sugar stomachache.”
“But those melty marshmallows were so freakin’ good,” Krista told him as she went into the kitchen. “How about popcorn? Something salty to cancel the sweet.”
“Sure. Why not?”
The beeping tones of microwave buttons sounded, followed by the tiny explosions of corn kernels as they popped. Sam grabbed the TV remote from the table and began to look for something they could watch. By the time Krista returned with the popcorn and drinks, he’d highlighted a title on the guide.
“Is this one okay?”
Krista plopped down on the couch beside him. “Zombies! You sure know how to make a girl happy.”
“Oh good. If you hated zombies, I might have had to end this friendship.”
Krista gave him a skeptical look. “Are we friends now?”
“Do you normally invite people you are not friends with into your house to watch TV with you?”
Krista brought a handful of popcorn up to her mouth and shook her head.
“Then I guess we’re friends now,” he said as he grabbed a handful of salty, buttery goodness for himself.
Chapter Eleven
“Marlene, a few more steps, and we’ll be back to your house,” Krista promised the woman as they took their daily walk.
Marlene’s face was red, her breaths labored. “I can’t believe how tired I am today. We made better time yesterday,” she huffed.
“Every day is different. We can only take them one at a time.” Krista hooked arms with Marlene as they continued on toward the house.
“I need to sit,” Marlene insisted, when they reached the front porch.
“You don’t want to go inside first?”
Marlene lowered herself onto the bench by her front door and shook her head. “Can’t,” she breathed.
Krista placed her hand on the woman’s head. “I’m going to run in and get you a glass of ice water.”
Marlene looked up at her and nodded. When she’d gone inside, Marlene placed her right hand over her heart and concentrated on the rhythm. “I hate you,” she whispered to the organ that refused to work properly. The malfunctioning thing inside her was taking everything away from her. She felt it would soon end her life. “I hate you.”
“Did you say something?” Krista asked as she returned with the glass of water.
“Just mumbling to myself,” Marlene told her. She brought the glass to her lips and sipped at the cool liquid. “Thank you.”
“Maybe we should go back to fifteen minutes tomorrow,” Krista suggested.
“Maybe I should just stay in bed tomorrow,” Marlene countered. “What use is this?”
Krista sat down on the bench and squeezed the woman’s hand. They had been walking together for a few weeks, and during that time Krista had seen Marlene’s spirits rise and fall. Some days she clung to hope, other days she was planning her funeral, but every single time they walked she told Krista how much she fretted for Ben. Marlene berated herself over the stress and worry that her husband was going through.
“You most definitely should not stay in bed tomorrow.”
Marlene slumped down on the bench. “Why not? I’m just going to die, why prolong it?”
“We’re all going to die, Marlene. Every single one of us. But you’re not going to die anytime soon. Not in the next week, not in the next month, not in the next year… at least not from your heart issue.”
Marlene studied Krista’s face as she spoke. For the first time, a real and true sense of hope stirred within her; not the fake hope she put on her face like a mask for all to see. She felt this hope deep down inside her. Marlene had been telling herself to concentrate on getting better, and to believe that there was a chance, but she’d never really allowed herself to do it. She’d gone through the motions for Ben’s sake, for Doc’s sake, and to humor Krista, but there had been nothing behind those motions; they were empty. But suddenly, and without explanation, Marlene finally felt full of glorious, shining, warm, radiant hope.
“You…” Marlene whispered.
Krista stared into the woman’s eyes, trying to see if the spark had finally ignited. “What about me?”
“I believe you. This heart is not going to kill me.”
Krista smiled. Tears glistened in the corners of her eyes. “No, it is not.”
Krista’s grandmother had always encouraged her to gain the confidence of the people she planned on helping. She said that it made the process easier, less painful for the Deathtaker and more pleasant for the patient. A death could be taken without that confidence and belief in their gift, especially in dire situations, but it wasn’t the preferred method of most Deathtakers. Or so her grandmother had said.
Marlene sat up straighter and squared her shoulders. “And I need to trust you.”
Krista could see that a quiet determination to survive had replaced the despair that had taken over Marlene’s body at the end of their walk. “And you need to trust me,” Krista affirmed. “I promise to get you through this. Then you and Ben will be able to move to Charleston.”
“Wouldn’t that be lovely?” Marlene mused.
Krista stood up and reached for Marlene’s hands. “We are going to make that happen for you,” she said as she helped Marlene stand back up. “Let’s get you inside your house, and I will most definitely be back tomorrow to go on our walk. Okay?”
Marlene smiled. “I’ll be here, and ready to go out with you.”
“Excellent.”
Krista left Marlene’s house and drove straight to the medical center. As it happened most mornings, Pete was getting off of his motorcycle as she pulled into the parking lot. They waved to each other as Krista parked her truck, and Pete waited for her at the door.
“Did you walk with Marlene today?” Pete asked, unlocking the door.
“Every morning!” Krista sang as they walked into the lobby
“She doing okay?”
“Yeah,” Krista lied. “I think she might be doing better… with the new meds, and her daily exercise, and all that.”
“Really? I talked to Ben at the grocer
y the other day. He didn’t say much, but he looked pretty worried.”
“I’m sure he is worried, but I do think things are looking up. Are we still going to dinner at the diner tonight?” Krista asked, changing the subject.
“That seems to be what I have to do if I want to see Opal more often.”
“I can’t believe the two of them run that whole thing by themselves. Have they really never had any extra help, other than Sam, recently? And he’s only there a few days a week. It’s crazy.”
“It’s dedication,” Pete said with a note of pride in his voice. “Did you know Jim and Opal gave themselves five years to pay off the loan they took out when they opened Downtown Diner? They scrimped, spent very little, and worked nonstop. Opal told me they’re free and clear now. That’s the only reason she decided to have Sam take some shifts.”
“I wonder if Sam will be there tonight?”
“You like him,” Pete teased. “Sam and Krista sittin’ in a tree…”
“What are you? A ten year old? Sam and I are friends. We hang out, watch movies, go hiking. That’s all,” Krista protested. “But I do know who is k-i-s-s-i-n-g.”
Pete arched his left eyebrow. “Guilty and proud. I won’t kiss and tell, but I will say the woman smells amazing.”
“Jeez Louise, you love the way she smells. She smells like pie, doesn’t she? Does Opal know you just love her for her baking skills?”
“Shut it! Not true. I love her because she has an amazing heart. She wants the best for everyone.” Pete snapped his mouth closed.
“Does the woman know you love her?” an unexpected voice asked.
Krista jumped back and brought her hands up to her mouth as Doc Baker poked his head out of the storeroom. She let out a yelp. “Doc! You scared the bejeezus out of me!”
Doc looked at Pete. “Well, does she?”
“I-I-I haven’t actually said the words yet,” Pete stammered.
“You’d better get to it quick, son. Never delay the opportunity to tell a woman that you love her,” he said as he waved a finger at Pete.
“Listen to the man,” Krista told Pete. “He’s a doctor. He knows.”
