Doug and Carlie: Lessons in Love (Doug & Carlie Series Book 4)

by Lisa Smartt

  “Chester was a good man. Yes.”

  “He was.”

  “He thought the world of you. Really, Matthew. You were a bright spot. For both of them.”

  “It’s funny. When Dusty first asked me about staying with them, I thought it was crazy. What older couple would want an ex-con to just move in with them? A rent house, maybe. But staying in their own home? No way.”

  “But they were special.”

  “Right. Dusty told me they trusted him…and so they trusted me. I didn’t understand that really. That level of…that level of…”

  “Community?”

  “Yeah, I guess.” He started laughing. “Not that they didn’t have their moments. At first, they were suspect. They’d watch me go in and out of rooms. They’d sit outside when I was doing yard work. But after the first week or so, they both relaxed a lot. Said I was family.”

  “You were family…are family.”

  His voice got lower. “Don’t know why it’s so hard. I mean, I knew he was old. But…”

  “But it was still a shock. It was for all of us.”

  “Right.”

  “Mrs. Ida is sound asleep and will probably be asleep for quite a while. Guess I better get on home. But if you need anything, anything at all, you know where I live, Matthew. Carlie and Mrs. Charlotte are coming by in the morning at 7:30. They said they’d be happy to go to the funeral home with her when she wakes up. Dusty said you called about wanting to work in the morning, maybe till noon, when they’ll be back from the funeral home, when she’ll need you here for a while.”

  “Yeah, that should work.”

  “Dusty said he’ll send someone for you about 8:00. Figured you’d need the extra time to get her settled in.”

  “Sarah?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you in a hurry?”

  “Not really.”

  “If you’re busy, don’t worry about it. I was just thinking maybe you…you could sit a while?”

  “Sure. I can do that.” I moved toward the floral chair because it was closer to Matthew and I didn’t want to speak too loudly. “You figure Mrs. Ida would be okay with me taking her chair? Just this once?”

  He nodded. “I’m sure.”

  I didn’t turn the lights on and neither did he. Who could have known what a truth serum darkness would be?

  Matthew spoke first. “Dr. Carter. He seems real nice.”

  “He does.”

  “And you guys knew each other in Junior High, huh? Small world.”

  “It is. Odd how he ended up back here, after all these years.”

  “And even odder that Aunt Charlotte insisted we all sit together at dinner. I’m sorry about that, Sarah.” I could see his head shaking even through the shadows. “It was out of line, but how does anyone tell Aunt Charlotte she’s out of line?”

  I laughed. “Trust me. People around here have been trying to figure that one out for years. So if you have any insight, let us in on it, Matthew.”

  “Everyone knows she means well. I think that makes a big difference.”

  “Yeah. She would do anything for any of us, for anybody. It really is true. Love covers a multitude of sins. Matthew, is there anything I can do? I figure it’s been a hard day for ya.”

  He lowered his head as his boots shuffled against the hardwood floor. “My dad died. On Friday.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I had no idea.”

  “That’s where I was, you know, last week. My friend, Julie, called. Said he was really sick, that maybe I should come, maybe it would be my last chance to see him…make amends and all.”

  “And did you get to see him?”

  “I did. My mom too. Maybe it was because Julie was there, but she acted glad to see me. Well, not glad really. But she didn’t throw me out of the hospital room. Probably because it would have been embarrassing. To throw me out. And they don’t do anything to embarrass the Prescott name.” He looked up. “I’ve done plenty of that.”

  “Matthew, I don’t know what to say. I mean, I’m so glad you went out there. Glad you were able to make peace with him, with both of them. But I’m sorry he died.”

  He paused. “Evidently I didn’t make peace. Not really.”

  “But I thought you said they responded well?”

  “I said they didn’t throw me out.”

  “What happened?”

  “When I walked into the room, my dad was coming in and out of consciousness.”

  “And your mom?”

  He shook his head. “You don’t understand the way we do things. My mom let me go a long time ago. It’s like I died when Mary died. Embarrassment. Shame. When I entered the hospital room, she looked shell-shocked. She didn’t get up. Never touched me. Finally, she whispered to my dad, ‘Matthew’s here.’ He actually came to for a bit. I walked to the bed, put my hand on his. And said…” Matthew started crying. He pulled a Kleenex from the box on the coffee table and blew his nose. “I’m sorry. I don’t even know why I’m telling you all this.”

  “It’s fine. I’m glad you’re telling me. Go on.”

  “I said, ‘I’m sorry, Dad. I loved Mary. I’ll always love her.’”

  “And?”

  “And nothing really. He smiled and then it’s like he went back to sleep. Mom said, ‘He needs his rest.’ Julie and I left the room. Julie said she’d bring me back to the hospital the next morning. But the next morning they had moved him home. They brought in Hospice and everything. Julie was kind enough to take me to the house and Mom was a little more open. She told me it was good of me to come. She asked about where I was living. When I told her all about Dusty and the job, she asked how I liked living in a small southern town. I told her I liked it. Dad was unconscious the whole time I was there. But I don’t know. I felt like I had made progress. I knew I’d never see him alive again. But…”

  “It felt like closure.”

  “Right. Until Sunday. At first, the guy just told me Dad had died. I figured Mom had sent him to deliver the news. Or maybe they were sending him to transport me back to the funeral.”

  “But there was something else.”

  “Yeah. Evidently they didn’t want me at the funeral. Dad died Friday morning and they scheduled the funeral for Sunday afternoon, the same time the guy showed up at Doug and Carlie’s to tell me he was gone.”

  “That’s crazy. I’m sorry. That was painful, insulting.”

  He nodded his head. “But that wasn’t the main reason Mr. Morgan came from California. His real job was to tell me I’d been written out of the will. Years ago. That my cousin, Stephen, would be inheriting the business, that there was no need to pursue any legal action because it was all finalized a long time ago. He gave me all the paperwork.” He paused and his voice grew softer. “I don’t care about the money. And I never cared about the software business. But there was something about…about the way he said it.”

  “The rejection. The finality.”

  “Right. Made me wonder if Mom thought that’s why I went out there in the first place. That I was afraid I wouldn’t get the money or something. I don’t give a damn about their money, Sarah. I never did.”

  “I’m sorry, Matthew. A lot of loss for one week.”

  “The sad thing?” He spoke louder. “I’m more grieved about Chester dying than I am about my own father dying. How sad is that?”

  “I have a question. Your friend, Julie, why didn’t she call to tell you he died?”

  “Don’t know. Maybe they asked her not to. Maybe they told her they’d already told me. Anyway, I need to move on, put it behind me. I’m sorry for wasting all your time, Sarah. And I’m sorry about messing up your date with Dr. Carter. I could have helped Mrs. Ida myself.” He rose from the vinyl chair and stretched his arms into the air. “I’ve burdened you long enough.”

  “No. I wanted to be here. I did. You didn’t mess up my evening at all. It’s not like we’re actually dating. I mean, yeah, it was a date, but it’s not like he’s my boyfriend or anythi
ng.”

  Matthew laughed quietly. “Yeah, he’s no Jerry Conner. That’s for sure.”

  I stood but didn’t move toward the door. “I can’t believe Charlotte said that. That was a whole weird deal. Really. It’s not like it sounds.”

  “And how does it sound?” He walked closer to me and I felt nervous, the same way I felt in the car that day.

  “You know, like I led him on or broke his heart. I didn’t.”

  He got even closer and looked into my eyes. “Jerry Conner still likes you, you know.”

  “And how would you know that?”

  “The way he looks at you.”

  I grabbed my purse and fidgeted nervously with my keys. “How? Like I’m one of the few single women left in Sharon?”

  “No. He looks at you like you’re…you know, like you’re beautiful.”

  “I hadn’t noticed.”

  He walked toward the front door and turned on the porch light. He turned back to the living room and spoke with an air of sadness. “But you don’t have to worry about Jerry pursuing you anymore, Sarah.”

  “I don’t, huh.”

  He placed his hands in his front pockets and looked straight out the screen door. “No. Aunt Charlotte’s right. Jerry’s been outdone this time. And I’m sure he knows it. I’d offer to give you a ride home. But Chester’s car is still at the hospital and I’m not supposed to…”

  As I moved toward the door, high beam headlights illumined the front porch. Jerry got out of the patrol car and moved cautiously toward the steps.

  Matthew smiled and said quietly. “Speak of the devil.” He opened the front door. “Hey, Jerry! Come on in.”

  “Uh, thank ya, Matthew. I was just, well, I heard about Chester and I wanted to share my condolences with Mrs. Ida.”

  “She’s gone to bed. Dr. Burton gave her some medicine. Been asleep for a while now.”

  Jerry stood on the porch, nervously looking in all directions. “Well, that was real sad about Chester. Real sad.”

  Matthew was still holding the door open. “It was. A hard loss for all of us.”

  I did something wrong. Hurtful even. I moved forward and stood as close to Matthew as I possibly could. I could even feel my left hip touching his right arm. I could smell his cologne and feel every breath he took.

  “Hey there, Sarah. It was good of you to come help Mrs. Ida. Janie said you was on a date with Dr. Carter but that you quit on him because…well, because you was comin’ over here to help, you know, help Mrs. Ida that is.”

  Matthew put his arm around me and looked into my eyes. “She’s a Good Samaritan alright. Sure is.” Sadly, within seconds, he let go and walked out onto the porch. “Jerry, I bet you’d be glad to drive Sarah home tonight.”

  “Oh, absolutely!” His face beamed just exactly like the first day he donned the uniform. His mama had shown the picture to everybody in town at least a dozen times. She carries the picture in an old blue envelope in her purse. “Sarah, let me run clear your seat out. I’ll be glad to take you home. More than glad.” And with that, he turned and skipped off the porch like he had completely forgotten the grief of Chester Miller’s death, the grief that had supposedly motivated an evening condolence call.

  I gently slapped Matthew’s chest and whispered, “You are just looking for trouble, Mister.”

  He grinned. “Hey! I think we should at least give the guy a fighting chance.”

  “I think you should stick to working on cars.”

  “You’re probably right.” He gently grabbed my arm and I turned to face him. “Thank you, Sarah. Thank you for helping tonight.” He meticulously straightened the welcome mat with his feet. “And not just with Mrs. Ida either. Thank you for helping me. You’re a good listener. I’m not sure why I told you all that.”

  “I’m glad you did. And don’t worry. I’ll keep it to myself. Besides, don’t you want the locals to think you were away carrying out some dangerous International espionage mission or something?”

  “I guess there are worse things for them to be thinking.” When he smiled, his dark eyes looked even more handsome. Peaceful. Of course, it could have just been the moonlight. Or the porch light. Or the flashlight. Wait, the flashlight?

  “Jerry, what in the world are you doing?”

  “Just sending a light signal to let you know your chariot awaits. You know, like a bat signal or a lighthouse signal. Oh, and this is no ordinary flashlight either. It’s for law enforcement purposes only.”

  Matthew laughed. “Better be careful with that, Jerry! You could uproot the plants!” He winked at me. “You two kids stay out of trouble now!”

  Chapter 31, CARLIE: “The Notebook” Comes to Sharon, Tennessee

  Okay. Remember at the end of that movie, “The Notebook,” when James Garner lays in the bed with his wife who has dementia? When I first saw that scene, I was in a theater and everybody in the theater was just blubberin’ and blowin’ their noses to beat the band. I mean, if you can watch that scene and not cry, well, you’ve got no soul. You probably kick dogs or make mean faces at babies or take money out of the offering plate when it comes by.

  Anyway, that whole James Garner thing is called the broken heart principle or something like that. One spouse so grieved by the other one’s death that he or she dies too. Some people even say there’s medical evidence for it. Well, evidence or no evidence, that’s exactly what happened on Mill Street in Sharon, Tennessee, sometime Sunday night.

  Aunt Charlotte and I went over to Mrs. Ida’s at 7:30 to relieve Matthew so he could go to work for a few hours. He said she was still sleeping peacefully. That wasn’t too surprising considering the fact that she’d had sleeping medicine. But at 8:30 Aunt Charlotte got concerned and went to check on her. There was a great commotion and she hollered out, “Oh Lord, Carlie, she’s dead! Come quick! Ida’s done gone to meet her maker!”

  We called 9-1-1. But we both knew she was gone. The whole town of Sharon was in an uproar too. The news of Chester’s death had no sooner spread through Mabel’s and the barber shop before folks got word that Mrs. Ida had passed less than twelve hours later. But the worst part? Well, the worst part was when Aunt Charlotte and I had to drive to Bradford to tell poor Matthew.

  Dusty was on a ladder changing out a floodlight bulb. Matthew was rearranging piles of tires so he could pressure wash the parking lot. They both tried to play it cool with the whole TV show coming up. But I knew they were cleaning up the shop because shooting was to begin next Monday.

  Dusty waved and stepped down from the ladder. “Mornin’, ladies! I tell ya, my heart is sure grieved over Mr. Chester. That was a loss. A real loss.”

  Aunt Charlotte was unusually silent. I guess that odd fact in itself was enough to prompt his curiosity. “Carlie, everything okay?”

  “Not really. We need to speak to you and to Matthew too.”

  Dusty carefully placed the old bulb in a big rusty trash barrel on the side of the shop. “Matthew! You can take a break inside. These ladies need to speak with us.”

  Aunt Charlotte and I remained silent as we sat down on the ugly green couch. Dusty paced nervously. Matthew opened the door as he pulled the familiar red rag from his back pocket and wiped his hands. “Where’s Mrs. Ida? Is she sick or something?”

  Aunt Charlotte started weeping uncontrollably. Matthew’s face turned pale and his voice got quiet. “Wait, you’re not telling me…”

  Aunt Charlotte jumped from the couch and threw both her chubby arms around him. “Yes! Yes, Baby! She’s dead. Gone to be with God…with Chester, Darlin’.”

  Matthew pulled away from Aunt Charlotte and threw the red rag to the ground. “No! She wasn’t even sick! What did he give her? That Dr. Burton? How did…” He sat in a chair and put his face in his hands. “Please God, no. She was all I had left.”

  Dusty kneeled by the chair and placed his hand on Matthew’s shoulder. “She was an incredible lady. And she loved you, Matthew. She did. They both did.”

  “But I don
’t get it. That medicine made her sick. It must have!”

  Aunt Charlotte spoke with unusual calm. “Baby, this is what she wanted. ‘Member how she said it last night? That she couldn’t see no life without Chester? Well, God worked it out for her not to have to go through all that. She was 85 years old. Had a good life with a good man. And let me tell ya somethin’. People always felt sorry for both of ‘em havin’ no kids and all.” She wiped a tear as she wrapped her arm around his shoulder. “Well, look what God done. Right here…at the finish line. He gave ‘em you. And they was proud too. Lord, they was proud to have ya, Matthew.”

  Aunt Charlotte never ceases to amaze me. One minute she seems certifiably crazy. The next minute I’m convinced she’s smarter than all of us put together.

  Chapter 32, Sarah: Joy Multiplied and Sorrow Cut in Half

  The janitor, Mr. Billings, is the one who first shared the news. He bolted into the teacher’s lounge at lunchtime. “I just got word from Jerry Conner. Mrs. Ida died sometime in the night. That’s all I know.” I still couldn’t believe it. I’d known both of them all my life. Loved them. But so had everyone else in the school and in the town of Sharon. We mourned, yes. But unlike Matthew, none of us had ever had to mourn alone.

  I couldn’t wait for the closing bell. But I didn’t rush to leave school. I sat quietly at my desk thinking about Chester and Ida. She’d been my first Sunday School teacher. She gave us Fruit Stripe gum every Sunday and marshmallow eggs at Easter. She used a big flannelgraph board to teach Bible stories. Mitch Smith once asked how she could tell which flannelgraph character was Jesus and which one was Paul. She laughed and said, “This one here’s Jesus ‘cause he don’t look tired or weary.”

  I sharpened pencils and graded math homework. Truth is, I didn’t leave because I wasn’t really sure where I should go. I remembered that Sunday afternoon when Matthew walked in the door from his mystery trip. I couldn’t tell who was happier. Matthew because he got to see the Millers? Or the Millers because they got to see Matthew? Tears started falling on the red ink numbers in the grade book, causing them to fade slightly. A knock at the door startled me.