Paying Forward (The Lone Pine Series)

by Lynn Kinnaman

  The nurse directed her to the waiting room. It was there Leah and Carole found her. They’d been in the coffee shop in the doctor’s office wing, Leah explained. Five minutes away when Natalie had called. Natalie came soon after, explaining that she’d found out when Peter’s friend’s mother had called her.

  “She said to tell you again that he’s welcome to stay as long as necessary,” Natalie said.

  Leah hugged her, Carole held her hand and Natalie smoothed her hair. They were gathered around her like a team huddle.

  “She’s in a coma,” Holly said. The word terrified her.

  “Is it an induced coma?” Leah asked. “If it is, it’s to help her.”

  Holly nodded. “They said it would give her brain a chance.”

  “What’s wrong with her brain?” Carole said.

  “Trauma,” Holly said.

  “What exactly happened?” Natalie asked.

  “Her car got hit. She and another girl…”

  “Another girl?” Carole said. “Where’s the other girl? Is she hurt too?”

  “I don’t know, but they said she’s pregnant.”

  “What?” They chorused.

  “Who is this? How pregnant is she? Is the baby all right?” Natalie asked.

  Carole looked pensive. “It’s not Mallory, is it?

  “Mallory? You mean the girl who works for you?” Leah said.

  Carole nodded.

  “She’s pregnant?” Leah said. “I never noticed. When did this happen?”

  “About nine months ago, I’d say, but she didn’t show until late, plus we picked clothes that helped hide the pregnancy,” Carole said.

  “We?” Natalie said. “You must know her well.”

  “Yes,” Carole said. “We’ve become friends. She’s friends with Amy, too. I have to find out if it’s her.”

  “She’s friends with Amy?” Holly felt like she was trapped in a nightmare. “I didn’t know any of her friends were pregnant.” What else didn’t she know about Amy’s friends?

  “Well, if it is Mallory, she’ll need me. I don’t think she has anyone else. I’ve got to find out if it’s her.” Carole went in search of the nurse.

  “She won’t get far with the HIPPA laws and all,” Natalie said.

  “My sister’s resourceful,” Leah said. “And determined. I’m sure she’ll figure out something.”

  CAROLE

  “I need to see my daughter,” Carole said to the woman behind the desk in the maternity wing. “Mallory Johnsen.”

  The woman checked the computer.

  “She’s undergoing an emergency C-section right now. You can wait here and we’ll let you know when you can see her.”

  “Can you tell me how she is? She was in a car accident.”

  “Let me get the nurse,” the woman said, “she can tell you more.”

  Carole stood by the desk, watching the activity around her. There was a whiteboard announcing the number of babies born this month. As she watched, a woman came out, erased 45 and wrote 47.

  Twins? Or two different families? She felt a thrill. New life happening in this building while she stood there. It was mysterious and wonderful.

  “Are you Mallory’s mother?” The nurse standing in front of her wore a pleasant expression but Carole wondered if her credentials were being questioned.

  “Of course I am,” she said forcefully, then amended that when she saw the frown. “Yes, sorry, I’m Carole. How are Mallory and the baby?”

  “I’m sure you heard they’re doing an emergency C-section. They didn’t want to take any chances because of the crash. We’ll put the baby in the neonatal ICU for 24 hours, then, if everything looks good mom and daughter should be able to go home in about five days.”

  “So you expect everything to go well?”

  “Based on the preliminary tests I do, but every surgery has risks. We like to take it a step at a time around here. Will you be able to stay with her when she goes home? She’ll need some support. In addition to the surgery, she’s banged up from the accident. I don’t know what your situation is, but she shouldn’t be alone.”

  “Yes, yes, absolutely,” Carole said. She’d love to help Mallory. She’d grown fond of her as an employee but Mallory didn’t share much when it came to her private life. Carole didn’t even know where she lived, but it had to be on the application she’d submitted when she’d hired her. The question was, would Mallory let her in?

  NATALIE

  Once she was sure there was nothing else she could do for Holly at the moment, Natalie excused herself from the group. Brone’s blinking message had reached the point where she had to listen to it. Whatever he had to say could not be as huge as what Holly was facing. She could be brave and hear him out.

  She played the message.

  Hey Nat baby, our troubles are over. I told you I’d figure out a solution, you just needed to trust me. I’m going to stop at the Branding Post with the guys for about an hour, then I’ll be home. Get a sitter and I’ll take you out to dinner.

  After listening, she ended the call and discovered Leah was alone in the room.

  Her face must have shown her distress.

  “What’s up? Was that Brone? Everything okay?”

  “Fine,” she lied. “Any more news?”

  “Carole hasn’t come back yet, obviously, and the nurse told Holly the doctor wanted to see her, so that’s where she is.”

  “I can’t believe what happened. I hope he has good news for her.” She remembered why Leah had been so close by in the hospital. “How are you doing these days?”

  Leah smiled. “Pretty well, actually. Just waiting on my results. If I’m still cancer-free, I won’t need to come back for another checkup for a year!”

  “That’s great!”

  The silence grew.

  “So, what’s wrong?” Leah asked. “And don’t say ‘fine’ this time, I really want to know.”

  “You were right. It’s Brone.” Natalie felt the tears well up. “It’s always Brone.”

  “What now?”

  “He left me a message. All our problems are solved, he said.” She bit her lip. She did not want to cry. “Leah, he’s lost his mind! You should have heard all the crazy ideas he had for making money, and now he says he’s solved our problems? I’m terrified at what he’s come up with!”

  “Maybe he really has found a solution,” Leah said. “It’s possible, right?”

  “Sure, I guess anything’s possible.” She pressed the back of her hands against her checks, mopping the dampness.

  “You won’t know until you hear him out.”

  “He wants me to get a sitter so we can go to dinner. I don’t know if I want to go to dinner even if I could get a sitter at this late date.”

  “Tell you what,” Leah said. “They can stay at my place. I have that spare room with two twin beds and the boys know me, they’ll be fine. I’ll order pizza and they can sleep over.”

  Natalie shook her head, visions of the disaster in the den earlier. “Oh, no, that’s too much to ask. I couldn’t impose on you like that.”

  “Nat,” Leah said. “This is a chance to save your marriage. You have to take it and see what you can work out. Your boys will be safe with me and I’m happy to do it.”

  “Ha!” Natalie said. “I know they’ll be safe with you, it’s YOU I’m worried about!”

  “Ha! I’m tougher than you think. I can handle it. Call him back and tell him yes.”

  She still didn’t want to talk to him, or explain where she was. She texted him. I have a sitter. We’re on for dinner.

  Carole burst back into the room. “The other girl IS Mallory! She’s having the baby right now. They’re going to come get me when I can see her.”

  “How in the world did you get that information?” Natalie asked.

  “Easy,” Carole said. “I told them I was her mother.”

  “There you go,” Leah said. “I knew she’d find a way.”

  Holly came back, pale and w
alking slowly. They rushed to surround her.

  “What is it?”

  “Is Amy okay?”

  “What did the doctor say?”

  “It wasn’t the doctor, it was the police. They wanted to give me the stuff from the car. Amy’s still in surgery.” Holly lifted the paper bag she carried and set it on the waiting room coffee table. “This was on the floor, there were bills scattered around the interior. The cops think they got them all.”

  Natalie looked into the bag and gasped. Then she reached in and pulled out the battered Pay It Forward! basket. A few bills fluttered from the top and landed on the floor.

  The looked at each other in shock.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  HOLLY

  “The question is,” Holly said. “How did it get in my daughter’s car?”

  “Yes,” Natalie said. “That’s a good question.”

  Holly didn’t like the tone in her voice. There was no way Amy took that money and there had to be a reasonable explanation.

  But what?

  “I can’t ask her,” Holly said. “She’s in a coma.” Maybe if she said it enough the word would lose its power.

  “You can ask when she comes out.” Natalie said.

  “I will. But that doesn’t mean I want to wait to figure it out.” Holly turned to Carole. “You’re going to have to ask Mallory.”

  “Mallory? What would Mallory have to do with it?” Carole had been so focused on the baby she hadn’t thought past that. Nor did she want to. The birth shouldn’t be tainted by this whole money thing.

  “Think.” Natalie said. “We know Amy didn’t steal it. Holly said she was at home. She didn’t even go to the FebFest.”

  “True. She was home when I left, and home when I got back, so I don’t see how.”

  “It’s not like she’d hop in her car and go to the Festival just to steal the basket, and whoever did it would have to do it after everything was over, anyway.”

  Holly looked at Carole. “How well do you know this girl Mallory?”

  “It couldn’t be Mallory. I trust her alone at the store all the time. I’ve never had a problem.”

  “Then someone else. Maybe they found it,” Carole said. “They were headed to the church, so I bet they were taking it back.”

  Holly brightened. “Taking it back! That has to be it! I’m sure that’s what they were doing.”

  “Yes,” Carole said, ready to support any theory that took the heat off Mallory. “I agree. That would fit the girl I know.” She wondered if the baby had arrived yet. No one had come for her. Maybe she should go check?

  Leah returned the basket to the paper sack and rolled the top tight. “Then it’s settled. The money is back and no harm is done.”

  Natalie frowned. “Someone still STOLE it. You can’t let them get away with it.”

  “Really? What would you do to them? Jail time?”

  “It’s not for me to say. But getting away with a crime is wrong.”

  “We don’t know it’s a crime, plus whoever it was gave it up.”

  “We don’t know that they gave it up. We don’t know how the girls got a hold of it.”

  “Which brings us back to the beginning.”

  “It wasn’t Amy. She was at home, it’s not like she stumbled across it in her closet,” Holly said, her voice strained. “I mean, Mallory’s the one who must have had it.” And she involved Amy and now Amy was in a coma. She felt her chest tighten and looked around for the paper bag. She didn’t want another panic attack.

  “Why are you all so fixated on this? We have the money back, who cares how we got it?” Carole said. “Why do you want to make such a big deal about it?”

  “Because I have to do SOMETHING!” Holly said, struggling to control her tears. Her answer to any crisis was action. She couldn’t do anything to help her daughter, but she could find out who took the money. One selfish person shouldn’t be allowed to destroy a program that benefitted so many. Pay It Forward was based on trust and that trust had to be protected.

  She felt the phone vibrate in her pocket and pulled it out. “It’s Mike,” she said, and turned her back on her friends to take the call.

  CAROLE

  Even though she understood Holly’s need to be active, Carole didn’t want it to be at Mallory’s expense. The idea that Mallory took the money didn’t even make sense. Why would she? Had anyone seen her at the Festival? She couldn’t picture a situation where Mallory would steal. She relied on her to close up the shop almost every night and the register balanced to the penny.

  Regardless, who cared?

  It was Holly who kept reminding them that money was simply a tool, so it made no sense that she’d be so wound up about it. She should focus on her daughter and leave Mallory alone, instead of trying to find someone to blame. Sometimes there was no one to blame, stuff just happened.

  She could hear Holly, Leah and Natalie talking but let it flow past her like wafting smoke.

  The baby would be here soon.

  Out of consideration, she had to stifle her delight. Ever since she’d found out Mallory was pregnant, Carole had secretly hoped to be in on the birth in some way. She loved babies, and her wish, to be on hand when Mallory’s came into the world, was coming true.

  In her wildest dreams, she never anticipated it would be under such difficult circumstances. She couldn’t enjoy the experience the way she’d hoped, with Amy’s life in danger. She couldn’t share her excitement with her best friends.

  And yet.

  The baby was arriving this very minute and she’d be one of the first to see him or her. A chance of a lifetime. Pretending to be Mallory’s mother had been an easy lie, since she had never felt more maternal.

  A nurse poked her head in the door. “Carole?”

  “Yes!”

  “Congratulations, you’re a grandmother!”

  “How’s Mallory? Is it a boy or girl?” Carole hurried after the vanishing nurse.

  Leah’s words followed her out of the room. “Pretty slick trick, becoming a grandmother without ever becoming a mother. I told you my sister was clever.”

  NATALIE

  Brone had texted back. Great! I have reservations at Sam’s Steakhouse at 7. I’ll be home by 6:30 to get you.

  She had to get going.

  She tried to ignore the spark of hope that maybe things would work out. Maybe he really had come up with a solution that would solve their problems. The cynic chimed in. Not a chance. Men were heroes only in fairy tales. In real life they were flawed, some more than others.

  It was her bad luck to pick one of the worst.

  Regardless of her attempt to dampen the spark, it wouldn’t be extinguished. She wanted to believe in happy endings. She’d keep an open mind the best she could, but she’d also remain guarded.

  She needed to collect the boys from their movie date and tell them what was on the schedule for the evening.

  Leah was either kind or crazy to offer, she couldn’t decide which, but it would give her the time she needed to find out what Brone was up to.

  The spark flamed with fragile optimism. Don’t get your hopes up, she admonished herself.

  Holly had finished her phone call. “Mike will be here soon,” she said, her face showing her relief.

  How nice it must be, Natalie thought, to have a husband who offered comfort, support and encouragement instead of doubt and trepidation.

  “I’ve got to go,” Natalie said, giving Holly a hug. “Keep me posted.”

  “I’ll stay until Mike gets here,” Leah said, “if you want me to.”

  Holly took her hand. “Yes, I’d really appreciate that.”

  “What time do you want me to pick up the boys?” Leah asked Natalie.

  They finalized the arrangements and Natalie went to her car. The storm had left enough snow to make the skiers happy, and the plows hadn’t been out to clear the accumulation yet. She picked her way carefully.

  Everyone had their problems, she thought. It seemed the
one thing that never changed. She wondered if, after tonight, her problems would be resolved or magnified.

  In either case, it looked like she would be along for the ride.

  For now, anyway.

  MALLORY

  I

  hurt

  everywhere.

  I’m sure they had me on something to manage the pain, I only wished it could be stronger. Or that I could go back to sleep until the pain was gone.

  They told me she’d come through with flying colors. A baby girl. Healthy, but they still wanted to keep her in baby ICU for 24 hours.

  I could see her, but I had to go there.

  Right now I didn’t know if I was up to it.

  Right now I was wondering if the best thing for the baby was if I stayed away. Not because I didn’t love and want her, I loved her even without seeing her in person.

  Because I couldn’t be the mom she deserved.

  I had imagined our life together. Caring for her, teaching her the important things and raising her right, but now reality hit. My job wouldn’t cover the cost of child care, and I had no resources, no home, no money … and at that thought I froze.

  The money! We were going to take it back! Where was it now?

  The nurse cracked open my door and stuck her head in. “Your mother’s here, would you like to see her?”

  My WHAT? I couldn’t speak. Trust her to reappear now, just in time to ruin everything in my life. My mother?

  Whatever I said must have sounded like a yes because the nurse disappeared and then I saw the door ease open, every muscle in my body tense.

  What would I say? Why was she here?

  “I saw her through the window of the ICU. She’s beautiful.”

  Carole swept into the room, her smile radiant. The nurse was right on her heels. Carole came over to me and gave me a hug, her mouth at my ear.

  “I hope you don’t mind, there was no other way to find out how you were after the accident.”

  I hugged her back. “You’re the mother I’d pick if I had a choice.”

  She pulled back, and I could see tears in her eyes. “Thank you.”

  I was so relieved that my real mother hadn’t shown up.

  “You can have visitors, if you want to notify the rest of your family or your friends,” the nurse said on her way out.