Wrapped Up In A Weeping Willow

by Tonya Kappes

  “I know.” The thought of all the legal stuff made her sick. Rob Ellington was not going to let her go that easy and she knew it. She also knew she needed to get a phone to call her agent and Benji. “But that’s not why I’m here.”

  “You don’t want to hear me yell at you like I do at all the other ya-hoos of Hudson Hollow?” Aunt Pris pointed out to the courtroom.

  “No. I want to know about who bought the farm.” Poppy bit the corner of her lip. “I’m living there. In someone else’s house, which should not have been sold.”

  “Honey, your mama and daddy took the Coach to the best doctors around. It cost money for them to go to Duke University to see them doctors, and the treatment is costly. They tried all them modern-medicine techniques, which seemed crazy to me, but they did. They don’t have that kind of money. It was all they could do to pay off the debt and get him the twenty-four-hour care the Sunshine provides for him.” She placed her hands on each side of Poppy’s arms. “It’s hard to understand, but it was for the best. Who was going to keep up with the farm? Your mama and daddy have their own business, and it’s just not right.”

  “I would. I would take care of the farm,” Poppy protested.

  “But you weren’t here. You aren’t here.” Aunt Pris’s words hurt her. “Don’t be getting all sad sack on me. You know what I mean.”

  Unfortunately, Poppy did. “But I’m here now.” She felt like a kid not getting her way and a big hissy fit coming on.

  “For how long?” Aunt Pris asked. “For now. But once you settle in, you might get a little restless. Honey, it’s hard to come home after all this time.”

  “How do you know?” Poppy wanted to run out of that room and back to the church kitchen with Louetta.

  “Because I wasn’t much different from you.” Aunt Pris lifted a hand and tucked a strand of Poppy’s black hair behind her ear. “I went away to law school and was gone for ten years. It took me another ten just to get used to being home. I know the scratch. Only I didn’t itch it. I stayed. Can you?”

  Poppy’s eyes filled with tears. Was her Aunt Pris right? Was she opening a can of worms she’d never intended to fish with? Was Brett right? Was she nursing a mama cat and her kittens only to abandon them? Why was she trying so hard to reconnect with her old life? Louetta? The spaghetti dinner? Her old friends?

  Chapter Twenty

  “Are you ready to go?” Elizabeth stood on the other side of the front porch screen.

  “Go where?” Poppy didn’t open the door, letting the screen be her protection.

  “Aren’t you gonna invite me in?” Elizabeth jerked the old handle and rattled the locked door. “We have to be at the spaghetti dinner in fifteen minutes. Now go put on some clothes and get out here. I told Mary Louise I’d come pick you and the Coach up.”

  “Shit.” Poppy smacked her head. She’s been so consumed with feeling sorry for herself when she got home that she’d fed the cat some kibble and gone to lay down in the bed. “I forgot about picking him up.”

  “You. You forgot about the Coach?” Elizabeth’s eyes were wide open. She shook the looked screen door again. “Open up this damn door right now.”

  Poppy did and Elizabeth busted in.

  “What is your problem?” Elizabeth shook her finger in Poppy’s face. “You ain’t gonna run off right now, are you?”

  “Is that what you think?” Poppy’s eyes narrowed.

  “It’s your pattern.” Elizabeth stood her ground. “Because if that’s the case, don’t you ever come back to Hudson Hollow again.”

  “How dare you!” Poppy screamed.

  “How dare you get this town all riled up and thinking you are going to be on the radio tomorrow? And getting me all excited about you being here and being best friends again. Not to mention poor old Brett. He’s all a mess that you are in town. And your mama!” Elizabeth stomped around the family room. “Your mama couldn’t stop talking about you when I went down there to the realty office to see if she could show me the house she showed Troy last night.”

  “What is up with you and Troy?” Poppy thought she’d be able to get the heat off her for a second.

  “Cold feet is what Lily Jane told me. But this is about you. Are you staying here or not?” Elizabeth planted her hands on her hips.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” Poppy whispered. “You say that everyone is excited I’m in town, but I’m not sure how long I’ll be here and I don’t want to get too close.”

  “Too close?” Elizabeth cackled. “Honey, we are southern. We are like a tribe. When one of us comes home, we hoot, holler, and carry on like we ain’t got no sense.”

  “Did you say Brett is tore up about me being here?” The thought of Brett even talking about her made Poppy a little excited.

  “Yes.” Elizabeth stuck her hands on her hips. “Why? You got a little tickle in the back of your heart, hankering for him again?”

  “No.” Poppy shook her head. Maybe she was wrong about Brett being taken. Though she desperately wanted to ask Elizabeth about Brett’s current marital status, she knew it wasn’t right because she was still married to Rob and shouldn’t be snooping around. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s the fact that I just want a man to love me. Or to feel loved. Being cheated on hasn’t been exactly the best for my self-esteem.”

  “Honey, any man that cheated on you ain’t worth having.” Elizabeth wasn’t going to let Poppy feel bad for herself and Poppy loved her for that. “Now, get on upstairs and get some clothes on.”

  “What did Brett say?” Poppy asked over her shoulder as she walked up the steps.

  “He didn’t say anything to me, but you know gossip at the Hair Depot,” Elizabeth yelled up the steps. “One of my clients said Brett ran into you during that storm. But I came over here during the storm and you didn’t say a word.”

  “You and Lily didn’t give me a chance.” Poppy stuck her head out of the door of the upstairs bedroom and yelled, “You were so upset about Troy, I couldn’t tell you how that cat down there was yipping something awful and I rushed her in that storm to the vet clinic.” Poppy went back to the pillowcase with the clothes she’d brought from Pine Crest still stuffed inside. “You can imagine my surprise when he told me he was the vet now.”

  “He’s a good man, Poppy.” Elizabeth wasn’t telling Poppy something she didn’t already know. “And you let him slip right out of her fingers. Umm-umm-umm.”

  “What were you saying about your client?” Poppy quickly picked out a strappy black dress that hung loose and left a lot to the imagination. And it didn’t need ironing. A plus in her book.

  She buckled on a pair of strappy sandals and ran a comb through her hair. She didn’t look like the made-up Harper Ellington but a down-to-earth Poppy Bailey. Satisfied, she went back downstairs.

  “Brett was supposed to come over to my client’s farm this morning to check on his chickens. Brett showed up all right, but he was no good at all. My client said Brett usually handles his rooster pretty good, but he was all over the place and the rooster pecked him good on the hand. Even drew blood. He had to go get a tetanus shot at the clinic.”

  Poppy hated hearing Brett was injured on the job but wasn’t going to deny that she loved hearing how she’d put him on edge.

  “Will he be at the dinner tonight?” Poppy put her hand on her chest, unclasped the necklace, and put it on the bedside table. She didn’t want to risk him being there and seeing it on her.

  “I don’t know if he’ll be there or not. He usually is.” Elizabeth’s voice faded when she looked at Poppy coming down the stairs. “We are going to the church. Wednesday night spaghetti dinner. Why are you dressed so fancy?”

  “I just fell like looking nice.” Poppy shrugged, put the necklace on the foyer table, and pushed Elizabeth out the door.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Sunshine was exactly how Poppy remembered it. The red brick ranch-style nursing home had a long cement porch on the front, with steel rods used as pillars to hold the sh
oddy roof above it. A few elderly people were scattered across the porch, seeming to be watching the big raindrops fall out of the gray sky that looked to be one giant cloud over Hudson Hollow. It was one of those clouds that looked as if it had set in for the day, and there was nothing to do but curl up with a good book, a cup of coffee, or even just pull a quilt over your head and hibernate for the day.

  “It’s been hot all day long,” the fragile woman slumped over in her wheelchair said to Poppy when she walked up under the porch of the nursing home.

  “The weatherman said there will be a few breaks,” Poppy replied back, hoping to give her some hope.

  “Nah.” The elderly woman shrugged her off. “Trust me on this one. I think Mother Nature has messed with the seasons and is mixing them up.”

  Poppy smiled and put her hand on the door; the old woman was confused. Fall was around the corner. Poppy could feel it in the air.

  The smell of mothballs seeped out from underneath the double glass doors before she could open them. It was like the smell had taken over her emotions and placed a deep sadness in her soul. The thought of the Coach being like the others here was almost too hard for her to bear.

  She looked back at Elizabeth, who was staring at her from the car. Elizabeth waved her hand, shooing her in.

  Poppy was glad she was going to get to see the Coach; she just dreaded it was in here. She was determined to get a real diagnosis of what was wrong, not what Scooter had told her or the woman from the Hair Depot had gossiped about or even her mama or Aunt Pris. The only signs of dementia she had noted was the fact that Trudy’s had closed up.

  The foyer had the same big tiled cream floor with gold specks she remembered when she’d come with the Girl Scouts, and it opened up into a big room with several couches and coffee tables for families to visit around if they wanted to. The TV in the corner played to an invisible audience.

  “Can I help you?” A woman behind a large sliding window had opened the glass. Her hair was wound in tight curls on her head. Her cat eyeglasses were hooked to a chain that dangled between her breasts, which hung down to the counter as she pushed herself through the glass. She repeated in a deeper accent, “Can I help you?”

  “I. . .” Poppy cleared her throat, fighting off the smell. “I’m here to see the Coach.”

  The woman held up a finger and slid the glass window shut. Poppy watched as she turned around and conversed with another woman behind her. Both of them looked at Poppy as though they were giving her the once-over and turned their backs to her, as if they didn’t want her to see them talking about her.

  Poppy’s patience was on edge enough walking into a place like this, she didn’t need anymore hassle. She smiled as sweet as pie when the woman turned back around and came back to the window.

  “You that granddaughter of his?” the woman asked after sliding the window back open.

  “I am Poppy Bailey, his granddaughter, yes.” Poppy took a step forward when she saw the woman was pushing the clipboard and pen out the window.

  “Well…” The woman looked at Poppy over her cat eyeglasses. “Normally we like to have an updated visitors’ list and you aren’t on there. But because you are visiting and we heard all about you, we will let you go on in. But you have to sign in first. You taking him to the spaghetti dinner?”

  Poppy nodded and took the clipboard, signing her name as fast as she could before the woman changed her mind.

  The woman took the clipboard back and glazed over Poppy’s signature before she pointed down the hall.

  “He’s in room Twelve, down on the right.” The woman slid the window back and let Poppy go on her way.

  The numbers were posted in gold single letters on each door with a nail through the middle. The thought of the Coach succumbing to a place like this drove Poppy nuts. What on earth was her mama thinking, letting him come here? Their family home had an extra bedroom since Poppy had moved out; why couldn’t he go there? Was he really as bad as her mama said?

  She sucked in a deep breath, fluffed up her black bob, and lightly tapped on the door.

  “Come on in!” the Coach called out in a shaky voice. Poppy hesitated. “Well, what are you waiting for? A written invitation?”

  Poppy smiled and pushed the door open. The room had a single bed with white linens, a hospital-style tray, a TV mounted on the wall, and a single chair turned toward the window. His gray head was barely visible over the top of the chair.

  “Coach?” Poppy called and walked in.

  “That’s who they say I am,” he joked. His hand appeared from around the side of the chair and he gestured for her to come closer. She did.

  He was slumped down, looking like a frail old man. He hadn’t looked like this yesterday. His bony shoulders stuck up under the white T-shirt and he wore a pair of blue sweatpants. His crystal blue eyes held a hollow socket underneath them, right above his cheekbone.

  “Well, girly, what can I do for you?” he asked.

  “I get to take you to dinner.” Poppy put a hand on his. He slipped it away.

  “Honey, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I bet you know my daughter.” He sized up Poppy. “She’s about your age. Even look a bit alike. Her name is Mary Louise Bailey. Do you know her?” he asked.

  “I’m Poppy. Your granddaughter.” Poppy smiled as though he was playing a joke on her.

  “Honey, you’ve got the wrong coach. I mean, there are several of us at the school. I’m the baseball coach, and I really think we have a shot at the state title this year. Buddy Nixon is one hell of a pitcher and no one has been able to hit his curveball all season. None of them schools in Fayette County. Especially that Tates Creek School.”

  The words were coming out of his mouth and into her ears, piercing her heart like an ice pick.

  “Who are you again?” he asked, his eyes hollowed as he looked at her. Eyes she didn’t recognize. It was though she was a complete stranger to him.

  “I’m your Poppy seed.” If she said the nickname he had given her, he was sure to remember. “Your granddaughter.”

  “Who is your mama and daddy again?” he asked.

  “Mary Louise; your daughter is my mama.” Poppy’s brows creased. Hearing her own pleading words put her stomach in her throat. “I love you.”

  “Oh, honey.” He shook his head. “I’m so confused.”

  “It’s okay. I’m your granddaughter.” She kept repeating it, like he was suddenly going to snap out of it. She shook his arm. “Poppy seed. Your Poppy seed.”

  “Honey, you must be mistaken.” He placed his hand on hers and gently patted it. “I’m in here because they took out my kidney and gave it to Cecil Wilkins. He was off real bad. On his deathbed. And I couldn’t let that happen to one of my friends.” He pointed at her. “The best things in life come in three. Friendship, dreams, and memories. Hold them close.” He leaned toward her and whispered, “I’m planning on getting out of here today. Half the other people in this hospital are about to croak.”

  Poppy had forgotten all about Cecil Wilkins and the kidney. Another one of the Coach’s legendary stories. It was well before Poppy was born and if she recalled, Cecil didn’t live much after that. His body had rejected the Coach’s kidney and they never found another match.

  “Coach.” A young woman came in carrying a small cup. “I’m sorry; I didn’t know you had company.”

  “Me neither. I think she’s in the wrong room.” He looked up at the nurse. “But she reminds me of my daughter, Mary Louise.”

  “Oh.” She smiled at Poppy.

  “I’m here to take him to Wednesday night church supper,” Poppy responded and looked up at the woman with tears in her eyes. She whispered, “He doesn’t know me.”

  The young girl handed the Coach his pills. “You take these so you’ll be ready for the big game. We can’t have a coach with one sick kidney now, you hear?”

  He reached his hand out and let the young nurse put the few pills in his palm. He raised his hand to hi
s mouth and popped them in, swallowing them down.

  “Can I talk to you?” Poppy asked the young nurse before she left the room. She followed her out.

  “He doesn’t know me.” Poppy repeated what she had said in the room.

  “Oh, he’s had a rough night and day. He likes to break out of here because he thinks he’s here for a surgery he had many years ago.” The nurse pointed to her stomach. “Every time he does get away, he gets real confused.”

  “But he doesn’t remember me.” Poppy was not able to digest what was happening before her very eyes when just a day ago they were together and he knew exactly who she was.

  “I told you, he is having a bad day. It’s what happens with Alzheimer’s patients.” The nurse was snippy and Poppy didn’t like it. “I told you that he broke out of here to get his granddaughter and she fed him all sorts of sweets like MoonPies and Ale-8s.” The nurse shook her head disapprovingly. “Not good for an Alzheimer’s patient.”

  “There you are.” The woman from the glass window with the tight curls to her head, big boobs, and cat eyeglasses was waddling down the hall. “I see you met the Coach’s granddaughter, Poppy Bailey.”

  The nurse looked like she’d swallowed a fly. Her eyes grew as big as her opened mouth.

  “You need to hurry up and make your rounds. The doctors have a busy schedule at the hospital and need to get through their clients as quickly as possible,” the woman said and marched on by, grabbing the nurse along with her.

  Poppy pushed the number-twelve door back open and peeked in. The Coach was still staring out the window.

  Her heart was broken in two. Regret started to creep into her soul like the fog over Hudson Hollow Lake on a cold, crisp morning.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “I can’t believe it.” Poppy felt defeated, slumped over in the passenger seat of Elizabeth’s VW Beetle. The whiz of the manual transmission buzzed in their ears, but Poppy was too lost in disbelief to even hear it.