“Amy, what are you doing here?” she asked, her brows furrowed. “Where’s Aaron?”
“He’s at home with Laura.” Amy squeezed her mother’s cold fingers. “I had to come, Mum.”
Martha smiled sadly. “I’m glad you did.”
“How is he?”
“They’ve just taken him up for the operation. They can usually remove the clots through the artery running up from the groin but apparently he has quite a few, and some are in a tricky place.” Her skin paled. “They have to go in through his skull.”
“Oh God. Mum!” Amy’s hand flew to her mouth as she tried to stifle a sob. She knew the stroke was serious, but she had no idea her father would have to have his skull cut open. She had assumed they would give him a few blood thinning tablets and he’d be on his way. How naive could she be? Even when Martha had told her he needed surgery she still didn’t quite believe the seriousness of the situation.
She pulled her mother into a one-armed hug, trying to offer as much comfort as she could. This was like Julia all over again. After the car had hit her she had needed surgery to stop the internal bleeding, but things had gone south, and she had died. She couldn’t fathom the same thing happening to her father. She prayed to God he would be all right.
“I don’t know what I’ll do if I lost him,” Martha sobbed.
“You won’t” Amy promised. “He’s the strongest man I know. He won’t let this keep him down for long.” Her father had always been active and she truly believed that would help him in getting through this.
“I hope you’re right.”
“Shall we go see if we can grab a coffee somewhere?” Amy asked.
“Okay.”
Amy helped her mother to stand and together they searched out the cafeteria. After grabbing two cups of grey looking coffee, they settled at a table in the corner of the room. The cafeteria was busy with hospital staff, visitors, and patients. The smell of old sandwiches and heavily brewed coffee reminded Amy of her old primary school lunch room.
Amy watched as her mother added sugar and milk to her drink then clasp the mug in both hands. “If he comes through this,” Martha said, “he’s going to need a lot of after care.” She stared out of one of the windows overlooking the carpark. “I think we’ll have to cancel plans for the new house.”
“That’s not something you need to decide now,” Amy said, adding milk to her own coffee.
“No, I do. If he had a minor stroke it might still be feasible, but he had a major one as well as a TIA.” At Amy’s raised eyebrows she explained, “It’s like a mini-stroke.” She pulled in a deep breath, her eyes filling with tears. “They’re doing brain surgery on him, Amy.”
Amy reached across the table, placing her hand on her forearm. “I’m so sorry, Mum.”
“We’re going to need to adjust the house. Give him a downstairs room, add ramps for a wheelchair, a wet room. God, what else?”
“Mum, stop. We can think about this once we know how he is.”
“No. I need to start making plans.” Martha stood from the table. “Let me go find a pen and paper.” She wandered off in the direction of the lightly staffed kitchen.
“Okay, Mum. Whatever you need,” Amy said to herself. Her mother had always been a doer, never one to sit around idly when things needed to be done. Amy supposed this was just her mother’s way of dealing with things.
A few hours later Amy found herself outside getting some much-needed fresh air after being cooped up in the hospital all night. She pulled her phone from her pocket and called Laura.
“Hi,” Amy said once she heard Laura’s raspy voice say hello. “Did I wake you?” she asked.
“No, I was just resting my eyes.” Sounding more alert, she asked, “How’s your dad?”
“He’s out of surgery. They’ve removed the clots and he’s in recovery. Mum is with him now.”
“How are you holding up?”
“It’s been a stressful few hours waiting for news, but I’m okay. It’s Mum I’m worried about. She’s written a huge list of adjustments we need to make to the house for when he comes home.” She sat on a nearby bench, wrapping one arm around her waist to ward off the early morning chill. “We don’t even know how severe his prognosis is yet.”
“She’s probably trying to keep her mind occupied, so she doesn’t worry as much. Sometimes being practical helps.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.”
“If you can send me a photo of her list, I can make some calls and see about materials you might need and things like that.”
It was just like Laura to offer her assistance. Since the moment Amy had met her, Laura had gone out of her way to be kind and generous to her, and to Aaron. She had even managed to win Amy’s parents over. She truly was a special woman. Amy didn’t want her to feel like she was taking advantage of her, so she said, “No, you’ve already done so much.”
“Amy, it’s not a problem. Please let me help. I’ll just make some enquires so Martha has all the information if she needs it.”
Amy closed her eyes for a moment, the urge to cry making it hard for her to draw a breath. All she wanted to do was go home and have Laura hold her like she had when they had been sitting on the couch watching DVDs. She had made her feel so protected and safe. Amy had never wanted to move. When she finally thought she could speak without breaking down, she said, “Okay. Thank you. How’s Aaron?”
“He’s still asleep. I woke him up and told him about the surgery, I didn’t go into detail, and he fell back asleep.”
Amy stood from the bench and walked slowly back to the hospital entrance. “Well, I’m going to go check on my parents and then I’ll head home. I’m sure you need to get some rest.”
“Stay as long as you need. It’s Sunday and I have no work. I could take Aaron out for breakfast somewhere if you like.”
“What’s the time now?” she asked.
“Nearly seven.”
“I’ll be home as soon as I can, and I’ll come with you, if that’s okay.”
“Of course it’s okay.”
Amy waited for the automatic doors to open and then stepped inside. “Okay, well, I’ll see you soon.”
“See you in a bit. Drive safely.”
“Will do.” She hung up the phone then went in search of her mother. She was bone tired, her eyes scratching every time she blinked, and all she wanted to do was lay down somewhere and sleep for as long as she could. However, the prospect of having breakfast with Laura and Aaron put a spring in her step and her tiredness fell away instantly.
Chapter Sixteen
Three weeks later Amy found her mother sitting outside in the back garden watching Laura as she stacked up planks of wood with Craig against the side of the house. Amy sat on the swing next to her, handing her a cup of tea. Martha had been right about the improvements they needed to make to the house. Her father was paralyzed on one side and his speech virtually none existent. The doctors had warned that would be the case, and that he would need lots of care and the recovery time could take years. The news had hit Martha hard, however, after the initial shock, she had set about making the changes necessary to the house. Laura, of course, had offered to help in any way she could. Amy hadn’t wanted to accept but Laura had insisted. She had cleared her schedule and she and Craig, along with some other contractors Laura knew, had been making steady progress implementing the changes.
“What time will you be seeing Dad?” Amy asked. Jim was still in the hospital and she couldn’t wait to have him home. Aaron had only been to see him once and it had upset Aaron and Jim so badly that Aaron had refused to go back. Amy hoped having Jim home would help Aaron come to terms with his prognosis.
“In about an hour,” Martha replied before taking a sip of her tea. “Laura has been doing a great job with the house. I didn’t expect her to get her hands dirty, but she’s surprised me.”
Amy thought back to when she learned of Laura building the treehouse for Craig’s daughter. It seemed to
Amy that when it really mattered, Laura wouldn’t let anyone else handle the building. She looked over at Laura as she bent over to lower another plank, her gaze roaming over her firm backside. Blushing, she looked back to her mother. “She wouldn’t let anyone else handle this. She want’s everything to be perfect for when Dad comes home.” Martha regarded her steadily, her gaze boring into Amy’s. Amy tried not to flinch under the scrutiny.
“Have you told her you’re in love with her yet?” Martha asked.
“What?! No of course not.”
“Why not? It’s true isn’t it?”
Amy glanced again at Laura who was laughing at something Craig was saying. “Yeah, it’s true. But now isn’t the time to be getting into all that.” Amy felt her mother squeeze her thigh, drawing her attention back to her.
“Honey, your dad is going to be okay. You don’t need to keep putting it off.”
“It’s not because of Dad, well, not anymore.” She sighed, tilting her head back allowing the early afternoon sun to warm her face. Autumn wasn’t far away now and soon Aaron would be going back to school. All her plans for having a great summer with him had all but disappeared. She turned back to her mother. “The day of Dad’s stroke, Laura and I ran into Jessica.”
Martha’s eyebrows shot up. “I thought she was in the States?”
“Well, she’s back now.” Martha knew of the incident when Amy had kissed Jessica. Amy hadn’t wanted to talk about it, but Martha knew something wasn’t right with her daughter, so Amy had ended up telling her the whole sordid affair. “We had a brief chat and when Laura asked who she was I kind of ran out on her. I told her everything and she asked if I had feelings for Jessica.”
“That’s ridiculous. You’ve only ever loved Julia, Jess was practically your sister.”
“That’s what I told Laura.” Amy was silent for a moment while she thought about what to say next. How could she tell her mother that she all but broke Laura’s heart that day? “Laura took what I said wrong and thought I could never love her as much as I love Julia.”
Martha shook her head. “Again, that’s ridiculous. You never love people the same way. It’s not better or worse, just different.”
Amy smiled at her mother’s words, pleased she saw it the same way. “I know that now. After Laura left I went to the cemetery and said goodbye to Julia properly. I told her I wanted to devote my attention to Laura.”
“That must have been hard.”
“It was, but it was the right thing to do. I want a future with Laura, if that’s what she wants as well.”
“So how come you haven’t told her yet?”
“I was going to call her when I got home that day but then Dad got sick.”
Martha stood and stretched, then drained the rest of her tea. “I’m going to go see your father. Don’t waste time, Amy. Grab hold while you can.”
Amy watched as her mother walked up the garden path, stopping to say goodbye to Laura. Amy didn’t need to be warned about grabbing life with both hands. She had learned with Julia that life could be cut short. Amy had spent the last six years hiding from the world and she wasn’t prepared to do that anymore.
#
Two hours later Amy stood in the kitchen browning off some mincemeat she planned to use for her mother’s lasagna recipe. She had no doubt it wouldn’t be as nice as Martha’s, as Martha was the queen of cooking and Amy’s was barely passable. She left the meat to simmer and picked up a knife to chop the salad to go with it. She glanced up as the patio door behind her opened and Laura walked in. “Hey, you finished for the day?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Laura replied as she went to the sink to wash her hands. Looking over her shoulder at Amy she said, “We’ve got the ramp done out the front and the back. Tomorrow, Billy is going to come and look at what he needs to install the wet room.”
Amy smiled and put down the knife, then handed Laura a tea towel to dry her hands. “Thank you for this.”
“I keep telling you, I don’t need thanks.” Laura tossed the tea towel down and leaned back against the counter, stuffing her hands into her jeans.
“Well you’re getting them anyway.” It still amazed Amy how generous Laura could be. In the weeks since her father’s stroke, Laura hadn’t been far from her side. She had been brilliant with the changes she was making to the house and she even had time to take Aaron out to the beach or the movies. Amy herself hadn’t been handling her dad’s situation that great, spending time at the hospital or with her mother, and she was grateful Laura had been able to occupy Aaron’s time, freeing her up to be there for Martha. She gazed at Laura now and struggled to remember a time when she hadn’t been in their lives. They had only known each other for a few months but in that time, Laura had made herself indispensable to Amy’s family. Thinking back to before she knew her, all she could see was a dark and vast empty void. Sure, Aaron and her folks took up a lot of her time, but she had been merely existing. It had taken meeting Laura to finally realise how good life could be again. She didn’t plan on letting her go.
Amy pulled out a barstool and nodded in Laura’s direction. “Sit. Would you like a drink?” Laura did as asked and Amy could see the relief in her face finally sitting down after being on her feet all day.
“Have you got a beer?” Laura enquired.
“Sure.” Amy wiped her hands on the apron around her waist and retrieved a Budweiser from the fridge. She twisted the cap off and handed it to her. “Here you go.”
“Thanks,” Laura said then took a large pull from the cool liquid. “What time does Aaron get back from Diana’s?”
“About seven I think,” she replied whilst chopping tomatoes.
“Have you heard from Jessica?”
Amy glanced up, noting Laura staring down at the breakfast bar, twirling the bottle in her hands. “No. Why would I have?”
“I just thought, that maybe, well you know. She likes you,” she shrugged one shoulder.
“And I told you I had no feelings for her.” She put down the knife and switched the cooker off. Laura’s nervousness was palpable. She couldn’t blame her for being worried about Jessica, but it was time to lay out some truths. Laura needed to know Amy only had feelings for her. Deep feelings that were rapidly growing into a deep love. “We need to talk. And before you try and get out of it, it’s time, don’t you think?”
Laura took a deep breath. “I guess.”
“Come with me.” Amy went to her and took her hand, pulling her off the stool and into the living room. They settled side by side and Amy made sure she could see her eyes.
“Laura, before I met you I was stuck in a cycle of being content with what I had. I never thought I would get over losing Julia. Meeting you changed all that.” She took Laura’s hand again, feeling her tremble slightly. “You’ve been there for me and Aaron and made me feel like I can finally be happy again. I said to you once that I would be worried that when I’m with you I’d be thinking of Julia, and the truth is, I haven’t. Not once. When I’m with you all I can see is you.” She raised her other hand, gently cupping Laura’s cheek. Softly she said, “Your smile, your eyes, your heart. You don’t need to feel like you’re competing with anyone else because there is only you.”
Laura looked away, asking in a quiet voice, “What about Julia?”
Amy needed to be completely honest with her because if she wasn’t, Julia would always be between them. And that was something Amy didn’t want. She didn’t want Laura always wondering about her feelings for her, always feeling she was second choice. Yes, she loved Julia, once, but it was Laura that had her heart all turned around now.
“It’s true if she was still alive we’d probably still be together, but she’s not here, and I’ve changed. I’m not the same person I was back then. Who I am now is someone who is falling in love with you.” Laura’s eyes went wide, as if she never expected Amy to say that to her.
“You’re falling in love with me?” she stammered.
“Yes.” Amy smiled.
“After our argument I went and said goodbye to Julia. I told her I had feelings for you and wanted to make a go of it with you.”
“You did?”
“Yes.”
Laura leaned back into the couch staring at the ceiling. “Wow.”
“Wow indeed.” She grasped Laura’s chin, tilting her head to capture her gaze again. “You will never be second best. Not with me.”
Laura stared at her for a few moments then whispered, “I’m falling in love with you too.”
“So, does that mean you will finally kiss me? It’s been a very long three weeks since I last tasted you and I can’t wait any longer.”
Laura didn’t reply, she just leaned in and captured Amy’s lips in a fierce, bruising kiss. Amy groaned at the contact and before she knew what she was doing, she grabbed the front of Laura’s shirt and pulled her with her as Amy fell back onto the cushions, opening her thighs so Laura could settle between them.
The kiss grew hungrier as Amy slipped her hands under her shirt, grasping her waist and grinding her hips. She was on the verge of losing control with the need to have Laura naked on top of her. She hadn’t made out with anyone on her parent’s couch since she was a teenager and the thrill of doing it now blocked out all other thoughts. She just wanted Laura on her and in her, anyway she could.
“Eww, gross.”
Aaron’s voice sounded from the living room entrance and in a split-second Amy had pushed Laura off her and onto the floor. Laura grunted at the impact, but Amy was too busy rearranging her clothing to ask if she was okay. Amy shot off the couch to stare at her son, heat burning her flesh as she blushed furiously under his gaze.
“Aaron! Oh God. Um, it’s not what it looks like.”
He folded his arms over his chest. “Really? Cuz it looked like Laura was kissing you. Hey, Laura.” He added as Laura finally found her way to her feet, her blush matching Amy’s.
“Hi, buddy,” Laura said.
A New Beginning Page 12
