by Lisa Smartt
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, okay. Yeah. I’ll be right back.”
I slowly opened the door. “Hello. It’s me, Mr. Chester. Mrs. Ida?”
A weak but familiar voice said, “Come on in.”
I approached the side of the bed and instinctively straightened the blanket. Chester looked tired and so did Mrs. Ida. She only weighed 110 pounds probably. Hair solid white. She never wore make-up or made any attempt to soften the many wrinkles brought on by more than 85 years of living. She held his hand gently, but pulled away just long enough to bring a yellow plastic cup to his mouth.
“How are you two doin’?” I pretended to hit him on the arm. “I think you gave us all a pretty good scare, Mister.”
He smiled. “You’re sweet for coming.”
“I wanted to come, to check on you.”
“Sarah, I’m sure I’ll get better.” He looked at Mrs. Ida. “With a good lookin’ nurse like this, how could I not?”
“Right. Oh, absolutely.”
“But just in case I don’t, I want to tell you something.”
“Mr. Chester, you’re gonna be fine. Brother Dan says you’re stable now.”
“Yeah. But stable don’t keep me from being 88 years old. I’m an old man and old men don’t live forever.”
“Well, none of us live forever.”
Ida brought the yellow plastic cup back to his mouth and he took a sip of water. She wiped his mouth with a tissue and then kissed his bald head. The entire exchange seemed to give him strength. “It’s about Matthew. You know how much we like the boy. It’s only been a few months, but he’s family to us.” His voice weakened as though he were about to cry. “Family Ida and me never really had.”
“Yes.”
He reached for my hand. “We’re giving him the house, Sarah.”
“What?”
“The house. We’ve talked about it. It’s what we both want. We’re not gonna live forever. If I go on to Glory, Ida will need someone to help her. He’ll be good to her. But when she’s gone, we want him to have the house. We done got it drawed up with Jimmy Smithson this week.”
“That’s wonderful news. Really. You guys are amazing. But what does that have to do with me?”
Chester grabbed my hand and looked into my eyes. “That house would have been nothin’ to me without…” He paused and then wiped his nose with a wadded up tissue. “…without this woman right here.”
My face flushed.
Chester continued. “He’s a good man, Sarah. A good man. And he needs someone to love him. ‘Course he’s gun shy. Makes sense, don’t it? He’s known a lot of sufferin’ in his life. A lot of sufferin’. Some of it he brought on himself, but no matter. That’s all in the past. What’s done is done. Most of what the boy has seen we’ll never understand. But I know he’s healing. And we was wonderin’ well, we was wonderin’ if you have any feelings about…about Matthew?”
“I doubt Matthew has feelings for me.”
“That’s not what I asked ya, Sarah.”
I felt tears coming to my eyes as I patted his arm. “Just concentrate on getting better, okay? I promise we’ll all take care of Matthew. I promise.”
He held my hand tighter. “Matthew likes you, Sarah. You gotta know that.”
Before I had a chance to answer, Janie Evans burst through the door. She had been a nurse since before I was born. “Mr. Miller, how are we doing?”
“I been better, Janie. I been better.”
“Your visitors need to go home till tomorrow. You need your rest. I told Bart and Mrs. Charlotte they could come in for two minutes. But we need to clear the room after that.”
I stood and placed my hands gently on his arm. “You are an extraordinary man, Chester Miller. And you have an extraordinary wife too.”
He smiled at Ida and shook his head. “Ain’t that the God’s honest truth?”
Mrs. Evans was busy organizing pills by his bedside. “Sarah, the doctor is getting ready to meet with the rest of your group across the hall, if you want to say your good-byes now.”
I walked around the bed to hug Mrs. Ida. “Look after this ol’ man, will ya?”
She wiped her face and smiled. “He’s looked out for me all these years.” She paused and grabbed my hand. “And they been good years, Sarah. Not perfect. But good.”
I patted Chester’s arm. “I’m sure. Good bye…’till tomorrow.”
I tried to compose myself in the hallway. I dabbed my eyes with a Kleenex, applied some clear lip gloss, and put my hair up in a clip. When I walked into the waiting room, Carlie handed me a bottle of water. “How is he?”
“He’s a trooper.”
“Sarah? Sarah Simpson?” The voice was familiar but I couldn’t quite place it. I turned to see a face I hadn’t seen since probably 8th grade.
“Brian?”
He extended his hand. “You remember. Yes, Brian Carter.”
Remember? Who could forget? Brian Carter was the smartest kid in the middle school. He would have been Valedictorian had his dad not gotten that job that moved them to somewhere, somewhere I couldn’t remember. But the Brian I knew had braces and acne. Shy. Had he not been so brilliant, I probably wouldn’t have remembered him at all. This Brian was none of those things. Handsome. Confident. Clearly, the only thing he had in common with 8th grade Brian was the brilliance, as was evidenced by the white coat.
Chapter 26, CARLIE: Doctor, Doctor, Give Me the News…
What a night. Chester nearly died of a heart attack. Matthew broke the terms of his parole by driving him to the hospital. Aunt Charlotte ate and drank at least 750 calories in the waiting room, all the while explaining how hard it is to be on such a strict diet. And just as things were heating up between Sarah and Matthew, a doctor came in and threw a wrench into the whole thing. I know. You’d think the mechanic would be the one throwing wrenches, right? Wrong. Trust me. This doctor knows how to wield some serious fire power.
Janie Evans told us the doctor needed to come in and explain what was going on with Chester. I’m sure Janie told the doctor that Mrs. Ida was really old and she sometimes forgets to take her own blood pressure medicine. Plus, in such stressful circumstances, she might forget the details of Chester’s condition and treatment plan. We were more than glad to be the conduits for information Mrs. Ida might need later.
But when the doctor came in, none of us recognized him. That’s not unusual for me, but Doug knows everyone in the county. Finally, we recognized him from his picture in the paper. Dr. Brian Carter. New to the area. Well, not new really. He lived in Sharon a long time ago, until his mama and daddy moved to Knoxville for some kind of high falutin’ academic job. When they moved, Brian wasn’t even in high school yet. He moved back here last month because evidently Dr. Beaumont messed up Bill Watson’s medication and nearly killed him. And after that, several people lovingly suggested Dr. Beaumont should retire. Well, I don’t know if their suggestions were loving or not. Love or a lawyer? We’ll probably never know for sure. But there was a doctor opening anyway. I figure Brian Carter moved here ‘cause he probably didn’t have much chance to go anywhere else, seein’ as how he’s young and everything. I saw a PBS special on this once, how young doctors sometimes have to “do time” in small towns in order to get part of their student loans forgiven. I don’t know if that’s the kind of deal this is or not. And I don’t know if I like people referring to small towns as a place to “do time” either.
When he introduced himself, he didn’t say, “I’m Dr. Carter.” He just said, “I’m Brian Carter.” Doctors do that sometimes when they want to come off as being humble and noteworthy. And people were making note alright. People were definitely making note.
Turns out he and Sarah went to school together back in the day. So they quickly reminisced about the drama club and the spelling bees and all the things nerdy kids did in the 90’s. But then he efficiently redirected and explained Chester’s situation to all of us. He used very practic
al wording we all could understand. At one point, he looked at Matthew and said, “So, you live with the two of them, yes?”
“Yes.”
“When he gets released, he’ll need a lot of help and support. I have some instructions I’d like to give you. Nothing complicated or hard for you to understand.”
Matthew remained silent. Just because a man has dirt all over his shirt doesn’t mean he can’t understand simple instructions. I couldn’t help but wonder if he wanted to tell the good doctor that he was plenty smart, that he graduated from a private college in California, that he’d even gotten into Vanderbilt Law. But of course, he said none of those things. He just nodded his head.
“Any questions?”
Aunt Charlotte spoke up. “Are you married, Darlin’?”
He smiled. “I’m not. Are you available?”
She laughed and pointed to Uncle Bart. “Nope. Not me. This here’s my man and no young doctor is gonna come in and sway me from my vows.”
“That’s good. I respect a woman with priorities.”
As our group was breaking up, Uncle Bart and Aunt Charlotte walked across the hall to say their hellos and good-byes. Brian Carter put his arm around Sarah. “Great to see you again, Sarah! I’d love for us to get together sometime. I’m off on Tuesday. Any possibility there’s a spelling bee in town?”
She turned bright red. “Afraid not. We’ll be going over spelling words in my class though. Trust me. It gets pretty exciting.”
“I’m sure. How ‘bout dinner instead?”
She hesitated, but only for a moment. “Uh, yeah. Sure.”
“Great.” He quickly removed a business card from the pocket of his white coat. “Text me your number and I’ll make a plan and let you know. Looking forward to it.”
Doug extended his hand. “Thank you, Dr. Carter. Thanks for all your help with Chester and Ida.”
“You’re welcome. If you need anything at all, call my office. It was nice to meet you, all of you.”
And then he was gone. I found myself wishing Sarah had never gotten that front tooth fixed. Oh, and I was mad that she’d finally gone to one of Emma’s Mary Kay parties at the community center too. Mabel had invited her for what? Two years? But no. She had to wait ‘till now. And who says highlights look better than natural mousy brown? Oh, and what’s wrong with long denim shorts or a loose-fitting t-shirt from the Soybean 5K Run? Nothing, that’s what. Nothing at all.
Matthew’s face was pale. He looked like a kid who’d gotten the wind knocked out of him in a fight on a school playground. He pulled Doug aside and spoke quietly. “I better just leave Chester’s car here. Can you give me a ride home?”
“Sure, absolutely.”
“I want to say bye to them. I’ll only be a minute.”
“No problem. We’ll just wait.”
But before Matthew could get out of the waiting room, Sarah said, “The Nelsons and I, we’ll be goin’ right by your place. Really. They won’t mind.”
Matthew barely spoke as he moved across the hallway. “Okay. That’s fine, I guess.”
Chapter 27, SARAH: Bad Times in the Good Times Machine
Charlotte Nelson sometimes has a hard time distinguishing between what should be shared and what shouldn’t be shared. When Matthew and I climbed into the second row captain’s chairs of the Good Times Machine, she began her monologue with enthusiasm. “I like that Dr. Carter, Sarah. Sure do. I remember now who his mama and daddy is. His daddy was a tall, skinny fella. Taught at UTM. Sure seems like a nice boy, don’t he, Bart? Smart too. Real smart. And Sarah, your mama is gonna be right pleased that you’re goin’ out with him too. I mean, gosh darn it, Honey, we all love Jerry Conner. Who don’t love ‘em? I’ve known that pudgy little doll baby his whole life. But you done right to break his heart, Baby. You done right for sure.”
Before anyone could get in a word, Bart had pulled into my driveway. “First stop. Sarah Simpson.”
Matthew opened the door and got out so I wouldn’t have to step over him. He reached back into the van and took my hand. When I’d arrived safely on the pavement, he said, “Nelsons, thanks for the ride. It’s a nice night. I think I’ll just walk home from here.” He closed the door and waved.
Charlotte rolled down her window and protested. “Baby, we don’t mind takin’ you over to Ida’s. We don’t.”
“Oh, I know. But really. It’s not even a ten-minute walk. It’ll do me good. Clear my head a little. Thank you.”
Bart yelled, “Charlotte, he’s a grown man! Leave the poor boy alone.”
We both waved as they pulled out of the drive. Matthew headed toward the sidewalk. “Good night, Sarah.”
“Wait! It’s still early. And you’re right. It’s a nice night. Do you want to sit on the porch a while?”
He never even turned around. He just called out over his shoulder. “I’ve gotta get up early! Better not.” I stood there, watching him walk away in the dark. A few times he removed his cap and shook grass clippings out of it. Part of me wondered why he didn’t at least wait to leave until I got inside the house. Wasn’t that what a gentleman would do? Wait until the lady got safely inside. But then I realized it was Sharon, Tennessee. I didn’t remember the last time a felony crime was committed downtown. And it was definitely not committed at 9:30 on a Sunday night. Plus, it had been a lot of years since Matthew had had to think about social graces, especially social graces involving a woman.
I plopped onto the porch swing. Brian Carter. It had been forever since I’d even thought of him. I recalled every part of tonight’s conversation. His sense of humor. Handsome face. But I didn’t text him with my phone number. Not right now. I’d wait until tomorrow. Give him some time to ponder. Give myself some time to…I don’t know, think about what it would be like to go out with someone whose main goal in life didn’t involve surveillance of some kind.
Carlie pulled into the driveway and barely opened the car door. “Want a little company?”
“Sure. Come on up. The rocker’s got your name on it.”
“Good. I need a little rockin’ time. Maxine got James to sleep before we got home. Doug has some work to do for a meeting tomorrow. So I thought I’d drop by and see a friend.”
“So this is just a friendly visit, eh?”
“Of course. Well, that and I’m dying to know what you’re thinking.”
“About Chester? Brian Carter? Matthew breaking the terms of his parole?”
“Any and all of the above.”
“I’m sad for Mrs. Ida. If he passes, I can’t see her makin’ it, Carlie. She’ll be one of those who dies of a broken heart.”
She rocked back and forth like an old woman imparting wisdom. “She loves him. That’s for sure.”
“When it comes to Brian, it wasn’t really as much of a shock as I made out like it was. I mean, I’d seen his picture in the paper. But I figured he was married with kids by now.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“Are you excited? About Tuesday?”
“I’m nervous. I haven’t really dated since Jerry. And obviously, that whole thing went south in a hurry. You should have heard Mrs. Charlotte railing about it in the van. Said Jerry was a good guy, but I did the right thing, breakin’ his pudgy little heart and all.”
“She said that? In front of Matthew?”
“Yeah, he was right there. He probably didn’t even know I’d dated Jerry at all.”
“And now he thinks you’re a small town heart breaker, huh?”
“Who knows what Matthew thinks? Does anybody know? He goes away without telling anyone where he’s going. He gets a message from his father without telling anyone what it was about.”
“It’ll take a while, to trust people. He’ll come around.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Funny, I was startin’ to think there was somethin’ goin’ on between you two. He was starting to look at you like…”
“Like what?”
“You kno
w, like a man looks at a woman.”
My face grew warmer. “I doubt that. I just asked him to come sit on the porch a while. He walked down the sidewalk like he couldn’t wait to get away from me.”
“Well, duh! You’re getting ready to go on a date in two days. With someone else. That doesn’t exactly foster confidence in a man, right?”
“He’s had plenty of chances.”
“He doesn’t need chances. He needs confidence, confidence you’ll say yes.”
“Are you kidding? After that speech the other night, every girl and woman in town was pawing all over him. Now he’s going to be on TV and that will be multiplied by what? A million?”
“Mark my word. He’s not asking because he’s unsure of the answer.”
“And he told you that?”
“Uh, no. Not exactly. Look, I know these things, Sarah. I do.”
“Oh yeah. I keep forgetting how you have that special intuition when it comes to matchmaking. What are you going to call your matchmaking book? ‘The Principal and the Pomeranian’? Or is it ‘The Principal Overcomes Pet Dander’?”
“Keep laughing, friend. Keep laughing. Everyone likes to make fun…until they need me. And you do. You need me.”
“Okay. So, Matthew and I have eaten together, what? Ten times at least? Your house, Ashley’s place, church several times. And you’re saying there was never a time when he could have said, ‘Sarah, would you like to walk to the diner with me tomorrow night?’ Or ‘Sarah, would you like to go to a movie?’ No. I’m not giving him an out. He’s had plenty of chances.”
“You’re right. But have you ever thought about it from his perspective? No car. No family, really. He’s trying to get on his feet. Plus, we don’t even know all the things that went on in prison, things that would still haunt him.”
“I guess. Chester and Ida sure think a lot of him.”
“They do.”
“Carlie, I have a question that requires your matchmaking expertise.”
“Oooh, I can hardly wait. Hit me.”
“What should I wear Tuesday night?”
Carlie jumped to her feet. “Oh, yes, I can help you! Let’s hit that closet, Girlfriend!”
