“Should we tell them?” Jeremy whispered when his mother stepped away from the table to grab dessert.
Rebekah had planned to tell her parents first, but she realized that wasn’t exactly fair, and this family needed something positive to lift their spirits. “Go ahead,” she whispered back.
When Hannah returned to the table, Jeremy said, “So, Mom, with all this cake baking you do, have you ever made a wedding cake?”
“Oh, once or twice. It’s been several years, though.”
“Do you think you could get into the groove again, or should we start shopping around for a baker?”
Her eyes flew open, and she looked from one to the other. “You’re getting married? Oh, Jeremy, that’s wonderful! When? Where?”
“That’s still up in the air,” Rebekah replied. “He only asked me on the way here.”
“Well, whenever it is, I couldn’t be happier.” Hannah grabbed a napkin from the table and wiped her eyes. “I need a hug.” Jeremy and Rebekah both came around the table and hugged her, and Thomas shook Rebekah’s hand.
Rebekah saw her opportunity and turned to Greg. “Are you a hugger?”
He held out his arms. “Come here, new sister.”
She laughed and bent down to hug him. As she did, the rest of the knowledge she needed flooded into her mind, and she stood back up with a big smile on her face. She couldn’t wait to talk to Jeremy, but that would have to wait. For now, she gave him a nod, hoping he’d understand what she meant to tell him.
The rest of their evening was pleasant, but Rebekah could see what Jeremy meant about his relationship with his father. Thomas just didn’t seem to interact with Jeremy the way he did with everyone else. She observed it as they batted around some wedding ideas, and she saw it again when she was telling the Burtons about her parents and encouraged them to come for a visit so they could all get to know each other.
Finally, she decided to talk to Hannah about it. She could continue to wonder about it and worry about Jeremy, or she could see what she could do to bring it out in the open. She offered to help Hannah clean up the kitchen, and while the sink was filling with water, she said, “I hope I’m not overstepping, but I noticed that Thomas and Jeremy seem a little distant with each other.”
Hannah sighed and leaned against the counter. “The last few years have been difficult,” she said. “All the men in this family are headstrong and independent, and they take things personally as well. When Greg . . .” She blinked rapidly. “When Greg had his accident, Thomas blamed himself, and he’s never moved past it.”
“Thomas blames himself? But Jeremy thinks he blames him,” Rebekah said, confused.
Hannah began clearing the dishes off the table as she spoke. “Thomas was supposed to get the brakes on Greg’s car checked that day while Greg was finishing up exams, but he got busy at work and it didn’t happen. When the drunk driver hit Greg’s car, it was from the side, and having better brakes wouldn’t have done much to help, but Thomas still held on to that guilt. It’s affected everything in his life, including his relationships.”
“So it has nothing to do with Jeremy at all, then.”
“No, it doesn’t. He’s changed with all of us. I wish I’d known Jeremy thought it was him—he didn’t need to carry that around with him all this time.”
Rebekah smiled. “It’s not too late to mend things.”
“I don’t know if Thomas wants to have a touchy-feely conversation. That was never his thing, even before the accident.”
“It might be the very thing he needs the most,” Rebekah said gently. She couldn’t march in here and start dictating how this family communicated—that wasn’t her place. But she could encourage them.
Hannah nodded. “I’ll see what I can do. Maybe enough time has gone by that he’ll be ready to talk about it now.”
They finished up the kitchen, then said their goodbyes. Rebekah told Hannah that she’d have her mother call as soon as they told the McClains the good news—she had a feeling that Barbara’s friendship would go a long way toward helping Hannah find the balance she needed. It was all Rebekah could do to leave it at that, but as soon as they were in the car with the door closed, she turned to Jeremy.
“There’s a way to help Greg.”
“There is?”
“Yes. His body formed scar tissue around the site of his injury, and that tissue helped protect his spinal cord. It’s also compressing the cord, so it’s hurting it while it’s helping it. If a skilled surgeon were to go in there and remove fifty percent of that scar tissue, taking out the bits that are causing the pressure but leaving the bits that are protecting the cord, it would reduce Greg’s pain, and it might give him back the ability to walk.” She held up a hand. “I’m not making any promises. I have no way of knowing for sure what the outcome will be. I just saw the possibilities, and I also saw potential risks—it could paralyze him completely.”
“Did you see any possibilities of death?”
She shook her head. “No, but remember, I don’t know everything. Greg will need to have a consult with the surgeon to find out all the ins and outs. What I’ll do is talk to Dr. Hunsaker tomorrow, and I’ll ask him to recommend a surgeon. He’s skilled, but I think we need a specialist. Once we have a name, you can tell your parents that I got curious and asked you some questions, and that I recommended this particular doctor.”
“How do we know the spine surgeon will be willing to listen to the idea?”
“We don’t, but I’m going to get Dr. Hunsaker on my side, and that will increase our odds.”
“I really don’t know how to thank you,” Jeremy said. “All this time, we thought things would never get any better for Greg, and now there’s this chance.”
“It’s just a chance,” she replied. “Nothing definite.”
“I’ll take whatever I can get,” he said. “You’re a blessing in my life no matter how this plays out. Never forget that.”
Chapter Ten
If Jeremy had found the McClains a little overwhelming at Sunday dinner, that was nothing to the way they reacted when Rebekah announced their engagement. All of a sudden, there were a million different voices asking questions, and Rebekah laughed as she held up her hands to quiet them all.
“Hold on,” she said. “One thing at a time. First off, we won’t be getting married until later this fall. There are several things we need to get squared away first, including finding out if I’ve gotten into medical school. Dr. Hunsaker offered me a cushy job at the hospital, but I was up all night thinking about it, and I’m still convinced that I can do more good as a doctor than I can as a nurse, so I’m going for it. If I don’t get in, I’ll try again, or I’ll try a different school. I’m not going to give up.”
“Hooray for not giving up,” Marti said, and everyone laughed.
“Second, we have no idea where we’ll live after the wedding—that’s all going to depend on school. If I get into UT San Antonio, we’ll move there, and Jeremy will be able to help out his family more. If I get in somewhere else, we’ll move there. This amazing man has offered to follow me anywhere I go, so I’m feeling pretty blessed right now.”
Jeremy smiled. “I’m just trying to give back everything you’ve given me.”
“Aww, that’s so sweet,” Candice said. “Looks like I’m getting another sappy romantic brother-in-law.”
“And you love it,” Kent replied, putting his arm around Jessica. “Look—I’m going to kiss her.”
“Ew,” Candice said, and everyone laughed again.
“Welcome to the family,” Bob said, shaking Jeremy’s hand. “I can tell how happy you make my daughter, and that means you’re all right in my book.”
“Thank you, sir,” Jeremy replied. “Your approval means a lot to me.”
“There’s just one thing I need to know,” Bob continued. “Do you play golf? On the computer, I mean. I have this game . . .”
***
“My father wore you out, didn’t he?” Re
bekah asked as she walked Jeremy out.
“Yeah, but it was fun.” He leaned against the hood of his car and pulled Rebekah into his arms. “Thank you for getting that referral from Dr. Hunsaker. I’m driving out to San Antonio tomorrow to talk to my parents about it. I’d invite you to come along, but they’re such private people—I think it would be best if I talked to them about it on my own.”
“I totally understand, and I was expecting that.” Rebekah snuggled into his chest. “While you’re there, you might see about having a heart-to-heart with your dad.”
“With my dad? What do you mean?”
“He’s not angry at you because of Greg’s accident. He’s been blaming himself this whole time.”
Jeremy had been rubbing her back, but his hand went still at her words before starting up again. “I had no idea,” he said softly.
“I asked your mother about it while we were there. I was being nosy—I admit it.”
“Being nosy isn’t always a bad thing. Especially if it can help resolve misunderstandings.”
“I’m glad you feel that way and aren’t angry with me.”
“How can I be angry when you were trying to help me? What else did she say?”
“She says she wishes she knew you felt that way.”
He exhaled. “It’s not the kind of thing I could just bring up to her.”
“But now you’re being given a chance to have those tough conversations and to open those closed doors. It’s a new start, Jeremy.”
“Thanks to you.”
She laughed. “No, it would have come out in the open sooner or later without me. I just poked at it a little.”
He gathered her up tighter. “You can downplay it all you want, but the reality is, you make good things happen wherever you go. I’ve always said you’re special even without your gift, and this proves it.”
“The gift is just the frosting on top of the really amazing cake?”
“Yeah. That.” He chuckled. “I love you, Rebekah McClain. Did you know that?”
“I strongly suspected it.”
“Well, I hope all your suspicions are confirmed.” He tilted his head down and kissed her. “I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us. I’m tempted to go in there and ask Marti to spill her guts.”
“No,” Rebekah replied. “I like living this way—every day a surprise. Especially when we’re together—it will be our own adventure, yours and mine.”
He kissed her again, then rested his chin on top of her head. “I like the sound of that.”
Epilogue
“This waiting is killing me,” Hannah said, looking up at the clock for the millionth time. “How long is this going to take?”
“Dr. Cunningham is the best spine specialist in Texas,” Rebekah replied. “I’m sure he’s just being thorough.”
“And I wouldn’t want him to be anything else.” Hannah sank back into her chair in the waiting room. “Thank you for helping us navigate through these rough waters, Rebekah. I didn’t realize how wonderful it would be to have a nurse in the family.”
“Anything I can do to help,” Rebekah replied. It hadn’t been easy for Jeremy to tell his parents about this surgery and the possibilities, knowing that he might be getting their hopes up for no reason, and it hadn’t been easy for Greg to decide that he wanted to give it a try. It had been a long month of doctor visits and consultations, but now, here they were, and soon they’d know if it had been a success.
Thomas and Jeremy entered the waiting room a moment later, carrying a pizza box, and Thomas was laughing about something Jeremy had said. So much healing had taken place in their family during this process, and it warmed Rebekah’s heart every time she saw them interacting with each other positively.
Another thirty minutes went by, and the pizza had been eaten and the box discarded before Dr. Cunningham came to find them. “The procedure went exactly as planned,” he said, looking pleased. “We removed the scar tissue that was causing the pressure, but retained the tissue that was protecting the cord. There will be some recovery time, and you need to understand that this won’t be an overnight process, but I believe that in time, Greg will be able to walk again now that the tissue isn’t compressing the cord.”
Hannah immediately burst into tears, and Thomas gathered her up into his arms.
Dr. Cunningham answered a few more questions, then stepped out of the room to leave the family alone.
“It’s a miracle,” Hannah kept saying over and over. “It’s such a miracle.”
“Just remember what he said,” Rebekah replied. “There’s going to be a long recovery process.”
“Yes, but there’s hope, and as long as there’s hope, I can endure almost anything,” Hannah replied.
Rebekah held Jeremy’s hand as they walked out into the hall to find a quiet corner. “I can’t thank you enough,” Jeremy said once they were out of earshot of his parents.
“There’s one very meaningful way you could thank me,” she replied. “You could marry me this fall.”
“I could, huh?”
“Yes. I think that would be a very nice token of your appreciation.”
He grinned and ran his hand down her arm. “All right, then. I think I can handle that.”
THE END
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About Amelia C. Adams
Amelia C. Adams is a wife, a mother, an eater of tacos, and a taker of naps. She spends her days thinking up stories and her nights writing them down. Her biggest hero is her husband, and you just might see bits and pieces of him as you read her novels.
You can reach her at [email protected].
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Rebekah (Seven Sisters Book 4) Page 8
