Jim had been an only child with no living parents. Wherever Meredith was buried, he should be with her.
And the children. Years ago, when the twins were born, Meredith had made Lydia swear to take the kids if anything happened to her and Jim. Lydia had agreed, but then both women had laughed at the ravings of a new mother. And now Lydia was faced with the prospect of raising three small children.
Her parents were in their mid-seventies, long past the age of being able to keep up with toddlers. Plus, her father’s heart event tonight clearly signaled that she couldn’t look to them for help.
And then there was her fiancé, the man who’d been adamant about not wanting the responsibility of raising children.
She was on her own.
Suddenly overwhelmed with the enormity of the task facing her, she slumped in her chair and allowed the tears to flow.
* * * * *
How Lydia was able to hold it together for the forty-eight hours after her sister’s death was a question she would probably ask herself for the rest of her life. Because she was the only family member who could realistically take the children, and because of the prior agreement with her sister, they were released into her care.
Since she and the children would be living in Whispering Springs, she persuaded her parents to bury Meredith and Jim there so that the children would be able to visit the graves as needed to understand the concept of death. Jason’s parents immediately volunteered to arrange for the burial sites at Greenwood Cemetery, right outside the city limits of Whispering Springs.
Caroline sweet-talked Larry Henson into having one of the stents done in Dallas. She and Travis drove Lydia’s parents down to Baylor and got Larry checked into the hospital there. And while Lydia was relieved her father was getting the stent he needed, she also felt a modicum of relief at having one less problem to deal with.
The children were almost more than she could handle. Ellery and Annie, the three-year-old twins, cried almost non-stop on Sunday while they were in the hotel waiting for Meredith and Jim’s bodies to be released. Levi was a dream baby. He ate and slept, unconcerned by the chaos going on around him.
Jason was the lynchpin that held them all together. He rented a van to get them home. He brought food when they were hungry. Bought clothes for the kids to wear. Held Lydia at night when she could take no more.
However, the guilt of leaning so heavily on Jason ate at her. It wasn’t fair. The man was putting up a good front, but he had minced no words in expressing his disinterest in parenting. She would have to find a way to do this without him. However, for now, she would take whatever help she could get from wherever it came.
Monday, the bodies were released for burial. Eternal Rest Funeral Home arrived to transport them back to Whispering Springs. As they were packing up the hotel room, Lydia’s cell rang.
“Dr. Henson,” she answered.
“Is this Lydia Henson?” a female voice asked.
“Yes.”
“I’m trying to reach Meredith or Jim Hardy. Your number was given as an emergency contact.”
The emotional stab came in hard and fast, gutting her so quickly it made her drop to the edge of the bed.
“Who is this?” she asked.
“Naomi. We have Jasper here for boarding. The Hardys usually pick him up first thing on Monday morning, but we’re getting concerned since we haven’t heard from them. Do you have another contact number for them?”
“Jasper? Who is Jasper?”
At the mention of Jasper, Ellery and Annie began jumping around the room shouting, “Jasper. We’re going to go get Jasper.”
Lydia put her finger to her lips, which did little to slow down the two girls.
“Their dog,” the woman on the phone replied.
“Meredith and Jim had a dog?”
“Yes. A golden retriever. Now about reaching the Hardys? Can you help?”
“Hold on a second.” Lydia stood. “Jason, I need to step outside for a minute to finish this call.”
“No problem,” he said, tucking both girls under his arms to swing them. “I’ve got this.” The two girls giggled and shouted as he tossed one and then the other onto the bed.
The hotel room door snicked closed behind her.
“Meredith and Jim were…” she paused to swallow against the lump growing in her throat. “Meredith and Jim were killed this weekend in a car accident.” A flood of tears gathered again in her eyes.
“Oh my God. I am so sorry for your loss.”
She sniffed. “Thank you.”
“I hate to ask, but what do you want to do about Jasper? We can keep him until you pick him up.”
A dog. The last thing she needed was a dog. She opened her mouth to ask if it was possible to find him a new home, but the sounds of Ellery and Annie laughing echoed in her mind. They’d already lost so much. How could she take away their pet too? Maybe having Jasper with them might help a little. It certainly couldn’t hurt.
She sighed. A dog and three kids.
“Can you hold on to him until I can get there?”
“Of course.”
“Thank you. We’ll head up there today.” Besides, they had to go to the house and get clothes for the kids.
The house. How would she be able to take care of cleaning out the house and selling it? Once again, she was swamped by a tidal wave of all the responsibilities she’d just inherited. Her stomach threatened to return her minimal breakfast of toast and coffee.
“Today or tomorrow. No hurry,” the woman was saying. “Again, I am so sorry for your loss.”
Lydia leaned against the door to their suite, running the various options of getting to Wichita and back to Whispering Springs. She didn’t see any way possible to do everything they needed to do and get home in one day.
The door behind her opened, sending her stumbling backwards. Jason caught her before she fell.
“Sorry about that,” he said. “You about ready to head home?”
She sighed heavily. “I have to go to Wichita first.”
“What? Why?”
“Seems there’s a dog I have to pick up.”
“Ah. Jasper by any chance? The girls have been talking about brushes and toys ever since you mentioned that name.”
She nodded. “Look, would you mind terribly if I took the van? We can rent you another car to get you home. As long as I’m headed to Kansas, I might as well pick up clothes for the kids.”
“Hell, yes, I’d mind.” The remark snapped like a flag in a heavy wind.
“I just, well, you’ve been awesome, but these are my problems, not yours.”
His eyebrow shot up. “Problems?”
“No, no. That’s not what I meant.” She rubbed at the headache forming at her temples. “I don’t know what I’m saying. I’m just a little overwhelmed at the moment.”
The twins shoved their way between Lydia and Jason.
“Are we getting Jasper?” Annie asked.
“I love Jasper,” Ellery said.
“Jasper. Jasper,” Annie said, jumping up and down.
Lydia caught Jason’s gaze and saw his determination. She wouldn’t be driving to Wichita alone.
They decided that taking the girls to the house to pack might be too traumatic. Instead, they checked in to a hotel and Jason volunteered to babysit while Lydia did what she needed to do. The girls thought staying in a hotel was grand fun, especially since there was a pool.
The house was so quiet with only the sound of a ticking grandfather clock to break the silence. The sense of loss and grief swamping her was like nothing she’d ever experienced. She went to the master bedroom and sat on Meredith’s bed. The room and everything in it smelled like her sister.
She put her head on Meredith’s pillow and wept.
* * * * *
With Annie and
Ellery dancing with excitement around his knees, Jason paid for a couple of new swimsuits and two sets of arm floaties. Even though the girls told him they knew how to swim, he did know better than to trust a couple of three-year-olds for accurate information.
The young gal working in the store had flirted with him the entire time the girls had been picking out new suits. Once they were paid for, the store clerk volunteered to help Annie and Ellery get dressed for swimming. Jason gladly took her up on her offer as his arms were full of a wiggling Levi.
The hotel advertised a small, indoor kiddie pool, one of the reasons he’d chosen this place. The girls giggled and pranced and twisted around like they had ants in their pants as they all walked down to the pool area. The kiddie pool was maybe six inches deep where the kids walked in and might have been two or two-and-a-half feet at its deepest, but that was about it, thank goodness. He pulled a lounge chair closer and let the girls wade in the water. Within seconds, they were laughing and splashing each other.
Levi pushed against Jason’s chest, wanting down. He didn’t have a suit for the baby. Heck, he didn’t have one for himself. He hadn’t even thought about Levi wanting in the water.
The baby began crying…loudly. Jason knew Levi wasn’t hungry and his diaper wasn’t dirty. The only thing he might want is the water.
Jason sighed, pulled Levi’s shirt over his head and took off his shorts, leaving him dressed only in his diaper. He put a towel on the concrete where the pool was the shallowest. He sat on the towel and sat Levi in the water, whose diaper quickly sucked up water and doubled in size. Levi gurgled and splashed, a glob of drool dripping from his toothless grin.
“Uncle Jason,” Ellery said. “You should come in too.”
Jason chuckled. “I forgot my swim suit. I can’t.”
“Levi doesn’t have on one,” Annie said.
Oh, yeah. Jason could picture his explanation to the cop who would arrest him for getting into a kiddie pool wearing only his briefs. “But officer, Levi didn’t have on pants either.”
“That’s true,” he said. “But I like sitting here watching you guys play.”
The girls lay in the water, practiced swimming like someone named Ariel, whoever that was, and had a floating contest. Levi, on the other hand, loved hitting the water with his palms, effectively throwing water droplets on Jason. Before long, Jason’s shirt was fairly damp. He didn’t mind. In fact, he was getting quite a kick out of watching them play.
He checked his phone for the time and to see if he’d missed a call from Lydia. Almost five p.m. and no call. That made him a little nervous. Sure she was fine, he nonetheless would have appreciated her checking in. He didn’t know how long to let the girls swim or what to do about dinner.
At close to six, the girls were wearing down. He’d taken Levi out of the pool and gotten him redressed without getting squirted. A real accomplishment, in Jason’s opinion.
“Uncle Jason. I’m hungry,” Ellery said.
“Me too,” Annie echoed.
“Me three,” Jason answered, which made the girls giggle. “How about we go back to the room, get cleaned up, and I’ll have dinner delivered to the room.”
“What are we eating?” Ellery asked. “I want chicken.”
“Me too,” Annie echoed.
“I think we can do that. Get on out of the pool and let’s get you wrapped up in the towels.”
Damn, he was tired. The kids were cute and funny, but they were energy vampires.
Back in the room, he ran a tub of water and put both girls in there, along with a tired and cranky Levi. He let the girls play a little while he took a wash cloth to Levi and then got him out. Keeping an eye on the twins in the tub, Jason put Levi in a fresh diaper and his pajamas and then sat him in the portable crib the hotel had supplied.
“Be right back, buddy,” he said.
Levi began to cry.
“Yeah. I know how you feel,” he whispered and handed the baby a bottle, which Levi tipped up immediately and began sucking.
Back in the bathroom, he did a cursory bathing of the girls and got them out and dressed in their pajamas. He settled them on the bed with a movie and called room service. Then he collapsed into a chair. Where was Lydia?
The sound of the door lock popping jerked him awake. Good Lord, he’d fallen asleep in the chair. He quickly ran his gaze around the room. The twins were still engrossed in the movie. Levi had finished his bottle and was now standing in the crib watching his sisters.
A bronze-colored long-haired dog preceded Lydia into the room.
“Jasper,” both girls shouted and jumped off the bed.
“We missed you,” Ellery said, her arms wrapped around the dog’s neck.
“Yeah. Missed you,” Annie repeated.
“Hi,” Lydia said as she pushed three large suitcases through the door.
“Hi, yourself,” Jason said and heaved himself out of the chair. “I was getting worried.”
“Sorry. It took a little longer than I thought it would. The girls do okay?”
“We went swimming,” Ellery announced.
“You did?”
Both girls nodded.
“Yeah,” Annie said. “Uncle Jason bought us new bathing suits.”
Then with that announcement, both girls ran to the bathroom and came back carrying the wet swimwear.
“Wow,” Lydia said. “Those are cute.”
“Yeah, and he let us swim in the deep end.”
Lydia’s eyes flew open wide and she snapped her head from the twins to Jason. “The deep end?”
“Yeah,” he said, a grin threatening to break out as he teased her. “The deepest end of the pool.”
She glared at him. “How deep was the deepest end of the pool?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe two feet. Could have been as deep as two and a half.”
She smiled, and it was so good to see that on her face after the terrible weekend. “I see.” She looked at the twins. “Very daring.”
They nodded.
“Okay then, go put your bathing suits back in the bathroom and let’s talk about dinner.”
To the girls’ utter delight, Jasper followed them into the bathroom. In a minute, the sound of a dog drinking from the toilet echoed into the room.
“Just tell me the water was clean,” Lydia said with a sigh.
“Freshly flushed. I promise.”
A knock at the door had Lydia spinning around.
“I’ve got it,” Jason said. “We ordered chicken fingers for dinner.”
“Yay,” the girls shouted.
The headache that’d been threatening to break out all day finally pushed through and Jason flinched at the noise. Lydia must have seen his expression, because she hurried over to the girls to quiet them down and then to pick up Levi who’d started crying.
Between the two of them, they got the girls fed and into bed over their whiny objections. Levi, who was turning out to be an easy baby––thank God––ate and fell asleep almost immediately. Jasper climbed onto the bed with the girls, curled up and went to sleep. It was close to nine when the room finally fell quiet.
Jason took Lydia’s hand and led her into the small living room area of the suite. They both collapsed on the sofa.
“I was getting worried about you,” he said
“Afraid I’d run off and leave you with the kids?” she asked with a smile.
“Nope. I’ve seen you with them. You’re a natural mother.”
Her face flushed. “No, I’m not. I’ll never be able to replace Meredith.”
“Then don’t try. Just be you, and they’ll love you.”
She shrugged. “Thank you for taking care of them this afternoon. Without them underfoot, the packing went pretty fast.”
He put his arm around her. “How are you doing? It’s been a he
ll of a couple of days.”
“Not so good. I miss my sister.” She twisted on the seat until she was facing him. “I can’t believe she’s gone.” Her eyes grew shiny with tears. “I can’t do this,” she whispered.
“Yes, you can. You’re strong and brave. Your sister knew you would love her kids as much as she did. She trusted you.”
Tears rolled down her face. “I want to curl up in a corner and stay there until this nightmare is over.”
“I know,” he said and pulled her snuggly against him. “I know.” He kissed the top of her head. “Just take it a day at a time. And if that’s too much, an hour at a time. You’ll come out on the other side, just like they will. You’ll see.”
She sniffed and settled her head on his chest. His shirt grew wet with her tears, but that was okay. She could lean on him. He loved her.
He could give her the support she needed…for now.
Chapter Three
Late the next day, an exhausted Lydia, Jason, three kids and one very large dog pulled into the drive at Lydia’s house. Never had her own place looked so good. Except, now that she studied her cozy little abode, how in the world would she, Annie, Ellery, Levi and one very large, very hairy dog fit into her two-bedroom, one-bath home? At least the backyard was fenced for Jasper. Thank goodness for small wins.
“Are Momma and Daddy here?” Ellery asked.
The question was a direct hit to Lydia’s solar plexus. She drew in a deep breath and turned around in the passenger seat until she could see the girls.
“No. Remember I told you that your momma and daddy had gone to heaven to live with the angels?”
Ellery looked at her mulishly. “I don’t want them to go live in heaven. I want them to live with us.” Her bottom lip stuck out in a pout.
“Me too,” Annie said, her mouth striking the same pose.
Me three, Lydia thought. “I know, sweetheart.”
Both girls started crying, which woke Levi and got him on a crying jag.
She cut her gaze to Jason, who was watching her. He lifted one eyebrow in question and she shrugged.
This was too hard. How was she ever going to do this?
She forced herself to open the passenger door. “Come on. Let’s go inside and get ready for bed.”
Texas Lullaby (Texas Montgomery Mavericks Book 7) Page 3
