At Home in Last Chance

by Cathleen Armstrong

  With a ping, the elevator doors slid open, and they stepped inside. Steven couldn’t help noticing that the entire conversation about Elizabeth’s future and welfare had been among the three Cooleys present. Maybe it was completely coincidental; maybe it was because as a Braden, he was not in the line of family authority; or maybe—and Steven had to admit to himself that this was the most likely case—it was because when a crisis occurred, Steven Braden was the last person anyone would turn to for a solution.

  The temperature had dropped to near freezing, and stars glittered like ice against the midnight sky when they walked out into the nearly empty parking lot.

  “You know, I think I’ll stay at Gran’s tonight.” Steven stopped at his uncle’s truck. “I need to get Sarah home anyway, and I’ll just check to make sure everything’s okay. Find her cat and see that it gets fed. She’ll want to know all that tomorrow when we see her. I’ll get up to the ranch first thing in the morning.”

  Joe Jr. nodded as he climbed into the cab of his truck. “Okay, but don’t be too late. We got way behind today.”

  “I’ll be there first thing. You can count on it.” And Steven was surprised to realize that “you can count on it” was exactly what he meant.

  13

  Have you heard anything?” As usual, Juanita was talking as she came through the doors of the Dip ’n’ Dine.

  “Nope, at least nothing new.” Chris didn’t bother looking pointedly at the clock like he usually did. Juanita never seemed to care anyway.

  “I called up to the hospital first thing this morning—that’s the good thing about hospitals; someone’s always awake—but they just said she had rested through the night. Well, of course she rested. What else is she going to do? Handsprings down the hall at 3:00 a.m.? I pointed out that Elizabeth Cooley and I have been friends for nearly sixty years and I would appreciate some real information, but they just said that was all they could tell me.”

  She huffed in exasperation as she tied on her apron. “And there you have the bad thing about hospitals. It’s not bricks and mortar that hold up the roof. It’s rules. And if they bend just one, the whole thing will come crashing down. At least that’s what they seem to think.”

  For once, Kaitlyn welcomed Juanita’s nonstop chatter. She never seemed too concerned about whether anyone was listening, and that left Kaitlyn to her own concerns, which centered on her daughter. It would always rip at Kaitlyn’s heart, but Elizabeth had been one of the first people in Olivia’s short life to draw her in and just delight in her, and when they found Elizabeth cold and unresponsive on the sidewalk, Olivia had been beside herself.

  Chris, of course, had gone up to San Ramon and the hospital as soon as he closed the Dip ’n’ Dine, and he had stayed until the family had been assured that, barring the unforeseen, Elizabeth would recover. But even that news hadn’t cheered Olivia. All she knew was that Elizabeth was not in the little house Olivia had come to feel so safe in and would not be there for a long time. Kaitlyn crossed the room to where Olivia sat stabbing at a plate of pancakes and slipped an arm around her shoulders.

  “How’re you doing?”

  Olivia shrugged and didn’t look up.

  “Miss Elizabeth’s going to be fine. You heard Uncle Chris.” Kaitlyn gave the skinny shoulders a squeeze.

  “Here’s another early bird.” Juanita drew their attention to the front window as the lights from an SUV cut across the back wall of the Dip ’n’ Dine. “I declare, they just keep coming earlier and earlier. We might as well not even have an opening time posted. What do you think, Chris? Should we let him in, or have him wait?”

  “Might as well let him in. It’s cold out there.” Chris had turned to go back to the kitchen but stopped when the driver stepped into the parking lot and dug his hands deep in his coat pockets. “Isn’t that Steven?”

  “Why, yes, it is.” Juanita had already reached the front door and opened it. “You come in here. Are you on your way to the hospital? How’s your grandmother?”

  “She was doing pretty good last night.” Steven took off his hat when the door closed behind him. “She had everyone up there marching double time. I think Aunt Nancy Jo’s planning on going up this morning, but I’m not sure when today I’ll get back. That’s up to Uncle Joe Jr. I’m heading back to the ranch right now, in fact. I just stopped in for a real quick breakfast on my way.”

  “You didn’t spend the night at the hospital, did you?” Juanita was trying to direct Steven to a booth, but he took a stool at the counter next to Olivia before he ordered his eggs and sausage.

  “Nope. I spent the night at Gran’s. We left in such a hurry that I thought I’d better make sure everything was okay at her house.” Steven looked down at Olivia. “But everything was just the way Gran would have wanted to leave it. Sam was even inside and fed. Did you do that?”

  Olivia nodded. “Mom and I did. Sam was meowing on the porch and I knew he was wondering what was happening, so I told him Miss Elizabeth had to go to the hospital, but I wouldn’t let anything happen to him. Then we took him inside and fed him. Mom said he’d be just fine by himself and we’d go by every day to check on him and feed him.”

  “Well, that will make Gran feel much better. I know she was worried about him.”

  “Is she really going to be okay?”

  “That’s what they tell us.”

  “Can I go see her? And bring Sam?”

  “I’m afraid not, sweetie.” He held his cup up as Kaitlyn approached with the coffeepot. “They have rules about kids and pets at the hospital.”

  “And that is just what I’m talking about.” Juanita never stayed out of any conversation that interested her for long. “Rules for the sake of rules. What’s wrong with Olivia visiting Elizabeth for a few minutes? It’s not like she’s going to run up and down the halls screaming. Although they may have a point about the cat. That probably wouldn’t be a good idea.”

  “I’ll tell you what you can do, though, other than look after Sam for her.” Steven poured a big dollop of cream in his coffee and gave it a stir. “You can draw some pictures for her hospital room. It’s really bare now, and some of your pictures would make the room seem more like home.”

  “I could draw a picture of Sam so she wouldn’t miss him so much. And maybe one of her house.” Kaitlyn could almost see the wheels turning as Olivia planned her artwork.

  “And draw some of you. And of your mom.” Steven smiled at Kaitlyn as she set his plate and a dish of chopped, roasted green chile in front of him. “Thank you, ma’am.”

  Kaitlyn returned the smile. Really, she could have hugged him. With just a few calm words, Steven had managed to accomplish what Kaitlyn had been struggling so unsuccessfully to do since yesterday—give Olivia some peace and a reason to believe everything was going to be okay. Despite the tough little exterior she presented, her daughter’s world was fragile as spun glass.

  And whose fault is that? Always, always that contemptuous inner voice whispered that no matter what she tried to do, she could never atone for Olivia’s first seven years. Kaitlyn turned away as she felt the smile fade from her face.

  “I’ll get you some more coffee.”

  “Nope. Don’t bother. I have about five minutes to eat this and then I’ve got to get going. I promised Uncle Joe Jr. I’d be home first thing this morning, and what he considers first thing, most other folks call the middle of the night.” He spooned green chile over his eggs and picked up his fork as he turned back to Olivia. “I’ll stop by here on my way to the hospital to see if you have any pictures for me.”

  Olivia started to push her plate away. “I’m all done. I’ll make one now.”

  “No rush. Finish your breakfast. I won’t be back till late this afternoon.” He really was making short work of his breakfast, and Kaitlyn was pretty sure Elizabeth would have had something to say about it had she been there.

  As he had said, within five minutes Steven had eaten his breakfast and paid his check and was jamming his
hat back on his head as he headed out to his truck. The neon Dip ’n’ Dine sign was still gray against the window, and the sky hadn’t even begun to lighten.

  “Well, I don’t know if Joe Jr. was finally able to get a fire lit under that boy, or what.” Juanita stood watching through the window, hands on hips, as Steven’s truck pulled out of the parking lot and disappeared down the deserted road. “But I don’t believe I’ve ever seen him in such a hurry to get to work, not when the alternative was sitting around drinking coffee and talking.”

  No one responded to Juanita’s comment, but since most of her comments seemed to be delivered to the universe at large, folks rarely did, and that did not seem to bother her at all. Chris crossed the room to flip the neon sign on, and Kaitlyn followed him back to his desk in the kitchen.

  “Hey, brought you a cup of coffee.” She smiled as she placed the mug on his desk.

  “Thanks.” He barely looked up as he switched his computer on.

  “We haven’t had more than a minute to talk since yesterday.”

  “And I don’t have much time now either. I need to get this taken care of before the breakfast crowd turns up.”

  “Look, it’s about Olivia.”

  With a sigh he pushed back from his desk and looked up at her. “Okay.”

  Kaitlyn glanced through the window into the dining room where Olivia sat at the counter coloring on a placemat and lowered her voice to just above a whisper. “I’m really worried about her. You should have seen her when we drove up and found Elizabeth. I didn’t know who to deal with first. If Sarah hadn’t practically followed us down the street, I don’t know what I would have done.”

  “Yeah, that had to have been rough. So what do you think we should do?”

  It did not escape Kaitlyn’s notice that her brother had asked her opinion in a matter that concerned Olivia. That had not happened since Kaitlyn returned to Last Chance, and truthfully, not even Kaitlyn had expected him to.

  “For one thing, I want to be with her after school. After I pick her up, we’ll go by Elizabeth’s to check on Sam, and then go on home. Not much happens here after three anyway.” She smiled. “I can help her with her homework, and maybe we can even have dinner ready for you when you get home.”

  “Stop talking about me.” Kaitlyn looked through the window to the dining room to find Olivia, crayon poised over the placemat she was drawing on, glaring at her.

  “Sure, sounds like a good idea. Now, I really have to get to this.” Chris shook his head as he returned to his computer. “Man, the acoustics in here are something else. No wonder everyone says there are no secrets in Last Chance.”

  Kaitlyn walked back into the dining room and sat on a stool next to Olivia. “Tell me about your picture.”

  Olivia didn’t look up. “That’s Sam and he has a lizard. And Miss Elizabeth is saying, ‘Not in here, buster.’ How do you spell buster?”

  “B-u-s-t-e-r.” Kaitlyn waited until Olivia had painstakingly printed each letter before giving her the next. “I know you overheard Uncle Chris and me talking. What do you think of our plan?”

  “Okay, I guess. Just until Miss Elizabeth gets home from the hospital, though. I help her and read her stories and we crochet and cook stuff.”

  “We could do those things.” Kaitlyn tried to keep her voice light. Truthfully, she had hoped for a little more enthusiasm on Olivia’s part.

  “Mom, do you even know how to crochet?” Olivia’s patient sigh was way too grown-up for a seven-year-old.

  “No, I guess I don’t. Maybe you could teach me.”

  “Well, it’s really hard.” Olivia returned to her drawing.

  “Okay, then we’ll just have to do other things. But, Livvy, look at me.” Kaitlyn waited until Olivia, with another heavy sigh, looked up. “Miss Elizabeth might be in the hospital quite a while. And even after that, it will probably take a long time for her to get strong again.”

  She had intended to begin to prepare Olivia for the real possibility that her after-school hours at Miss Elizabeth’s were likely over, but at the stricken look that filled Olivia’s face, she decided to let it go. “But we’ll sure go see her as soon as she gets home.” She swept Olivia into a hug, which her daughter endured for about three seconds before starting to struggle.

  “Mom, you’re going to make me mess up.”

  “All right.” Kaitlyn ended the hug with a kiss on the top of Olivia’s head, inhaling the sweet fragrance of her hair. “Draw your pictures. I’ll give you about a fifteen-minute warning before we have to leave for school so you can finish the one you’re working on then.”

  As she picked up Olivia’s breakfast dishes to return to the kitchen, Kaitlyn could hear Juanita discussing Elizabeth’s fall with a table of breakfasters. Briefly, she considered asking Juanita to remember how upset Olivia was, but she gave that idea up. In the first place, Juanita would insist that she was practically whispering and no one but her intended audience could hear her anyway. And in the second place, this was Last Chance. Short of Kaitlyn taking Olivia home and keeping her there, there was no way Olivia was going to avoid hearing people talking about her beloved Miss Elizabeth’s brush with eternity.

  It was beginning to get light, but it was still quite a while before the sun would make it over the mountain peaks when Steven walked up the steps of the back porch and opened the kitchen door. Nancy Jo and Joe Jr. sat at the table cradling mugs of coffee in their hands, and from their expressions, they were deep in serious conversation.

  His aunt smiled and moved to get up. “Wow. You did get here early. Need some breakfast?”

  “Nope. Just a cup of coffee.” Steven waved her back in her seat as he poured himself a cup and joined them. “Is there any news about Gran?”

  “Not a whole lot.” Joe Jr. leaned back in his chair. “Called up there a little while ago and she was still asleep.”

  “Just as soon as I get things under control here this morning, I’m going to stop by her place, gather up some of her things, and head on up to San Ramon.” Nancy Jo got up and started clearing the dishes. “I want to talk to her doctors, and then I’m going to check on what kind of modifications we’re going to have to make to the house here. You know, ramps and railings and such. We might as well get started on that.”

  “Why?” Joe Jr. leaned forward and planted his elbows on the table. “Don’t you think we should at least see how she’s going to be before we start redoing the whole house?”

  “You know as well as I do that as old as your mom is, this is not going to be an easy row for her to hoe. She’ll likely wind up using a walker, and even if she eventually gets down to just a cane, those steps outside are going to be just too much for her.” Nancy Jo’s voice softened a bit, and she rested her hand on her husband’s shoulder. “I know seeing her this way is hard on you too. But we need to think about Mom. She’s coming home, like she always said she would. And we need to make this house as easy for her to get around in as we can.”

  “I think you’re both underestimating Gran.”

  Joe Jr. and Nancy Jo looked at Steven as if Speed Bump had piped up from her bed in the corner.

  “Seriously.” Steven looked from one startled face to the other. “This is Gran we’re talking about. And she made it more than clear that she’s not going anywhere but home. Her home. That needs to be where our plans start.”

  Nancy Jo finally broke the silence left by Steven’s outburst. Her smile was kind. “I know. It’s hard on all of us seeing our tough old Gran get feeble, but honey, that’s just part of life. She’s had a great life. She’d be the first to say so.”

  “And you talk like it’s over.” Steven could feel the heat spread through his chest and head for his ears. “Did you even hear Gran in the hospital last night? Feeble is the last word anyone would use to describe her, even with a broken leg. And if you think you’re going to just run roughshod over what she says she wants, well, all I can say is good luck with that.”

  “All right, son.” U
ncle Joe Jr.’s voice left little doubt that Steven was skating on thin ice. “We all love Gran, and we appreciate your concern. Now, why don’t you go on out and get started. I’ll be out directly.”

  From the silence that followed his uncle’s slow drawl, Steven knew that the conversation, at least any that would include him, was over. And from the set of Uncle Joe Jr.’s jaw, he knew that heading out to the barn would probably be a good plan. He got up and went for his sheepskin jacket and his hat. At the door, he took a deep breath and turned to face his aunt and uncle.

  “Okay, do what you think you have to. But I’m going to get Gran’s house ready for her.”

  “Steven.” Aunt Nancy Jo sank down in her chair in exasperation. “There’s just no point—”

  “That’s all right, Nancy Jo.” From Uncle Joe Jr.’s expression, Steven knew he was still skating on thin ice, but he hadn’t fallen through quite yet. “Don’t see how it could do any harm. And what’s done can be undone if we have to sell.”

  “But it’s just a waste of money.” Aunt Nancy Jo was clearly not ready to let this go.

  Steven thought about reminding her that it was his money that would be wasted but decided that he had pushed Uncle Joe Jr. about as far as a man with any sense at all would push him. He put his hat on and let himself out onto the back porch. Through the kitchen window he could see that the conversation had resumed. And Aunt Nancy Jo was doing all the talking. He turned his collar up against the cold and jammed his hands in his pockets as he stepped off the porch. Speed Bump, who had been at his side since he left the table, followed close at his heel. The anger that had been burning in his chest flared again, and his hands, deep in his coat pockets, balled into fists. Dang! That was his grandmother they were making decisions for back there. His mom may have been just Uncle Joe Jr.’s baby sister, and his dad may have been a rodeo bum who never quite made it to the family’s inner circle, but Elizabeth was his grandmother just as surely as she was Sarah’s or any of his other cousins’. And he’d be blamed if he’d let anyone just brush him aside like some pesky fly.