“Not Barb?” he asked, concern written across his face.
“You know her?”
“I met her and her husband at church a few times. I hate to hear that she’s not doing any better. They had high hopes for this last treatment option…”
“Do you know everyone?” Elise asked shaking her head.
“These people around here are my family now,” he said. “I make it my business to know what’s going on with my family.” He winked. “Please let Barb know I’m praying for her, okay?”
“I will. Goodbye for now,” Elise said softly as she slid into her car and shut the door. At that very moment, she knew her life would never be the same again.
Chapter 16
Elise picked up Jilly from dance camp and took her for a bite to eat before heading back to the campground. Of course, Dave’s car was gone since he was with Barb at hospice care. She wondered about their little dog, Sadie, and decided she would ask Dave about caring for her while he was away.
She still hadn’t broken the news to Jilly about Barb. Jilly had already been through so much with her own father that it made Elise sad to have to break such news to her so soon. As they walked into the RV, Elise told Jilly to sit down.
“Jilly, I have some news that might make you very sad, honey,” she said softly as she looked into her daughter’s huge blue eyes and held her tiny hand. She looked so much like Ted that it took her breath away sometimes.
“What, Mommy?” she asked, her innocent face starting up at Elise.
“Ms. Barb has been very sick, sweetie… for a long time…”
“She has?” Jilly said with a surprised look on her face. “She looked fine to me.”
“She has a disease called cancer.”
“Like your mommy did?”
“Yes, like my mommy. And Barb has had it three times.”
“Wow, that’s a lot.”
“Yes, it is, sweetie. But Barb is ready to go home now and meet Jesus face to face…”
“She is?”
“That’s what she told me today. So Dave has taken her to a special place called a hospice where she has wonderful nurses who will make her comfortable until she gets called home by the angels. Do you understand?” Elise was never sure she was explaining things correctly, and it always made her feel like the most inept mother.
“I understand. What about Mr. Dave? Is he very sad?”
“Yes, honey, he’s very sad. Barb is his one true love.”
“Like Daddy is for you?” Jilly asked. Elise’s froze for a moment, unsure of how to respond. She felt like her childhood asthma had just returned in a moment’s time, and she let out a big cough to regain her composure.
“Yes, Jilly. I loved your Daddy so much. After all, he gave me the greatest gift, which was you!” she said, knowing that was true. She did love Ted, but not with her whole heart and soul. There had always been that other part… “Ms. Barb has asked a favor of me. She wants me and you to take good care of Mr. Dave after she goes to heaven. He’ll be all alone, and we’re going to adopt him as our own grandpa, okay?”
Jilly smiled. “I’ve already adopted him in my heart, Mommy.” That child had a heart of gold and accepted people for who they were. Elise secretly hoped that Jilly would accept Ben… as her friend, at least. Whether it ever went any further was anyone’s guess. “Can I see Ms. Barb?”
“Of course. We’re going to see her right now, but I just wanted to explain things to you first so you weren’t upset.”
“I’ll miss Ms. Barb, but she’s just going to see Jesus, right? Daddy’s there, and I know he’ll introduce himself and show her around.” It was amazing how a child could so easily understand something and make it seem like a happy event rather than a sad one.
Elise and Jilly got into the car and headed for the hospice center. It was just on the edge of town heading into Wilmington and had a lovely view of the ocean from its hilltop location. Elise couldn’t think of a better place for someone to slip peacefully into heaven’s gates.
“Dave…” Elise said softly as she met him in the hallway. He looked tired and weary. Jilly ran straight into his arms as he swooped her up and hugged her tightly.
“My Jilly bug! Am I ever glad to see your smiling face,” he said, his eyes tearing up.
“Don’t cry, Grandpa Dave,” she said as she leaned back and looked at his face. “My Daddy is so funny. He’ll tell Barb jokes and fix her his famous barbecue ribs.” Dave laughed and hugged Jilly again.
“I bet she’s gonna love that, Jilly bug!” he said with a chuckle. Elise was so relieved to see his smile again.
“Can I see Ms. Barb?” Jilly asked as Dave lowered her to the floor.
“Of course, honey. Come this way,” he said as Elise and Jilly followed behind. The place wasn’t nearly as sad as Elise had expected. Her mother’s hospice was depressing and dark, but this place was light and bright. The staff was nice, smiling and saying hello as they walked down the hall.
Dave led them into room 16 where Barb was lying in her bed looking out the window that faced the ocean. She looked peaceful and serene which Elise could partially attribute to the pain medication that Barb had gotten.
“Hi, Ms. Barb,” Jilly said as she slowly walked up to the bed. Barb turned her head and smiled.
“Hey there, Miss Jilly,” she said in a whisper. It seemed her strength was waning moment by moment.
“Sorry to hear you’re sick,” Jilly said. Barb reached out her hand and Jilly held it as she sat down next to her in a chair.
“Thank you, sweet girl.”
“I hear you’re going to heaven soon…”
“Jilly…” Elise said, trying to stop her daughter.
“It’s okay, Elise,” Barb said with a tired smile. “She’s a smart girl. Yes, Jilly, I’m going home to be with the Father very soon.”
“Are you excited or scared?”
“I suppose a little of both, but more excited.”
“My Daddy will be there. He’s tall and has blond hair just like me, and his name is Ted. Ask for him and he’ll show you around, okay?” Jilly said as if she was giving driving directions and not talking to a woman so close to death.
“I’ll definitely ask around,” Barb said. “And will you promise me something?”
“Sure!”
“Promise me,” she whispered in Jilly’s ear. “That you will care for your new grandpa over there, okay?”
“I promise,” Jilly whispered back.
“Take him for ice cream at least once a week.”
“I will,” Jilly said with a giggle. Barb was getting tired and kept closing her eyes, so Elise decided it was time for them to go.
“Sweetie, tell Ms. Barb goodbye for now. She’s so tired and needs to get some rest,” Elise said.
“Goodbye, Ms. Barb,” Jilly said as she leaned over and kissed Barb on the forehead.
“Goodbye, Jilly. And thank you for being such a sweet little girl,” Barb said. Elise got the feeling that Barb was saying her final goodbyes.
Jilly walked to Dave, who scooped her up and left the room quickly before emotion overtook him. Elise stood there for a moment and then walked to Barb, kissing her on the top of her head.
“Goodbye, Barb. Sleep well, my friend,” Elise whispered.
“Goodbye, Elise. Remember what we talked about, okay?”
“I will. I promise we’ll take care of Dave…”
“No, I mean about love.”
“I went to Ben’s and we are working through it, Barb. I promise. I won’t let him go so easily this time,” she said with a smile.
“Good. That makes my heart smile,” Barb said as she started to drift off into sleep again. Elise stood there a moment staring at her friend before she joined Dave and Jilly in the hallway.
“She’s sleeping,” Elise said as she reached out and touched Dave’s shoulder. “Is there anything I can do? Get you some dinner?”
“No, no…. I’m fine. I’m going to stay here until… you
know. The doctor said it could be anytime now.”
“I’m so sorry, Dave. Can I at least let Sadie out for you?”
“Oh, yes, I completely forgot about Sadie. My mind isn’t so clear right now.”
He gave her the key to the RV and a quick hug before returning to the room. Elise couldn’t imagine sitting there waiting for the love of your life to pass away, so she said a quick prayer for Dave before heading back to the campground with Jilly.
***
The next morning, Elise wasn’t sure what to do with herself. Jilly was finished with dance camp and Dave was at hospice, so she decided maybe it would be a good opportunity for a fun day with her daughter.
They loaded up the car with food and drinks before heading down to a day at the beach. She enjoyed spending a few hours frolicking in the surf with Jilly; it was great mother/daughter bonding time.
As they sat down for lunch, Elise’s phone rang. Worried that it was Dave calling about Barb, she quickly answered it with her mouth half full of a turkey sub sandwich.
“Hello?” she said without checking the caller ID first.
“Hey, lady!” It was Sandy. Thank goodness.
“Hey! How’s it going?”
“Very good. How about you? How’s my little Jilly?”
“She’s great. We’re at the beach now, so it’s kind of hard to hear you…”
“Oh, gotcha. Love your red swimsuit, though. Did you get that at Tyler’s Department Store?”
“Yeah…. Wait. What?” Elise asked confused.
“Turn around!” Sandy said. Elise turned to see her friend standing there behind a sand dune laughing and waving. Suddenly, all of her sons and her daughter came running from behind her.
“Oh my goodness!” Elise said as she jumped up and ran toward her friend. Of course, Jilly had already made her way to Megan and they were twirling around laughing. “What are you guys doing here?”
“Well, Phil had some golf convention in Dallas so we decided to take a road trip before the kids go back to school,” Sandy said as Elise hugged her tightly.
“How long can you stay?”
“We’ll be here for three glorious days!”
“Yay!” Jilly and Megan yelled simultaneously.
“I’m afraid I don’t have much room…” Elise started.
“No worries. We’re staying at the Blue Bonnet Inn down the road. We rented bicycles to get over here today. I was hoping to catch you here!”
“I’m so glad to see you, Sandy. You have no idea. There’s so much I need to tell you. Everything has changed,” Elise whispered.
Sandy instructed her boys to take the two girls down to the water’s edge to search for seashells so she and Elise could do a little girl talk. They sat down on the blanket and popped open a couple of sodas.
“Soooo…. Give me all the juicy Seaview gossip, girlfriend,” Sandy said with a wry smile. Elise was so glad to see her friend’s face. She needed a confidante right now.
“Well, the first bit of news is not good. It’s Barb. She has cancer for the third time, and Dave put her in hospice yesterday. She doesn’t have long.”
“Oh, no, Elise. That’s terrible. I’ll say a prayer for her and for Dave. That’s got to be so hard.”
“Yeah, he’s having a hard time already. Barb made me promise that we’d take care of him after she… passes. Of course we would’ve done that anyway. Jilly and I have grown to think of Dave as family now. We love him and Barb.”
“This must bring back memories of your own mother dying from cancer. I’m so sorry, Elise.” Sandy reached out and rubbed Elise’s hand.
“It does bring back memories, but Barb is ready to go. She’s fought a long, hard fight, but she knows Jesus and she’s ready to be in His presence. Jilly said her goodbyes last night.”
“How was that?”
“Tough on me and Dave, but Jilly knew just what to say. Told her that Ted would introduce her to everyone,” Elise said with a proud smile. “And make his famous ribs.”
“That’s my sweet girl,” Sandy said. She loved Jilly just like she was her own child.
“But there’s other news. Big news.”
“Do tell…”
“It’s about Ben. I saw him. Actually, I saw him twice.”
“And?”
“Well, the first time, I yelled at him and pushed him down.”
“Excuse me?” Sandy said, laughing as she choked on her soda and almost spit it out.
“Yeah, not my finest hour…”
“And the second time you saw him?”
“Sandy, it was amazing. But now I’m so confused. Well, not really confused but guilt-ridden.”
“Why?”
“Why? Are you serious? Because of my husband. Because of Jilly.”
“Oh, you mean the husband who abandoned you and left you with a financial disaster and left his daughter without a father?” Elise had never heard Sandy talk that way about Ted. She was shocked.
“You’ve never said anything like that about Ted before…”
“I know. Because I didn’t want to ruin your memories or hurt you, Elise, but Ted didn’t honor your marital vows as far as I’m concerned. He said he’d be there for better or worse, for richer or poorer…”
“You know, the more I move forward, the more I’m learning that I have to forgive him, Sandy. Obviously, I didn’t know him as well as I thought I did, and maybe I didn’t recognize that his mental state wasn’t right. Whatever his reasons were, I’m left to be the best mother I can be. I can’t turn back time and undo what he did, and I can’t stay mad forever because it’s exhausting. I want to remember the good things about Ted, the fun times we had together.”
“And you should, Elise. But you don’t need to be alone for some certain period of time to prove you were a good wife. You deserve happiness.”
“Thanks. And I know that. I just don’t know what happiness means yet.”
“I think you do,” Sandy said with a knowing look.
“Anyway…” Elise said, rolling her eyes. “Ben is coming for dinner tonight to meet Jilly. Will you guys join us?”
“Of course! I can’t wait to meet the dashing mystery man,” she said with a giggle.
Elise continued telling Sandy everything she and Ben talked about in the tree. By the time she was finished, Sandy knew every last detail. When dinnertime came, she wanted her friend’s honest opinion on Ben.
Chapter 17
Elise hadn't been this nervous in a long time. Not only was Ben about to meet her daughter, but he was also about to meet Sandy, the best friend that took his place. In reality, no one ever took his place as her best friend. The two relationships had been totally different and unique in their own ways. And if there was anything Elise had learned since coming to Seaview, it was that her heart was big enough to have a lot of friends who meant the world to her.
"So, who's coming to eat dinner with us again?" Jilly asked for the umpteenth time since breakfast.
"Ben was my best friend growing up. He moved to Seaview recently, so we're going to spend some time catching up on old times."
"Is he tall?" That girl asked the most random questions sometimes.
"Not really. He's about average height."
“Is he as tall as Daddy was?” Jilly asked. A random question, for sure.
“No, not quite that tall. Your Daddy was taller than most people, sweetie,” Elise said as she tidied up their small space. Ted was the tallest person she’d ever known. His six foot five stature would’ve made him the perfect basketball player, but he played golf. Go figure.
“When I sat on Daddy’s shoulders, I thought I could reach the sky,” she said softly. Elise’s eyes started to well up. She stopped what she was doing, which was nervous busy work anyway, and sat down beside Jilly on the small leather sofa.
“Jilly, you know you can talk to me about Daddy anytime, right?”
“Yes, ma’am,” she said, her face full of thought. “Am I going to get a new Daddy on
e day?”
“Why would you ask such a thing?” Elise said.
“Because Susie Whitaker at dance camp said that her Mommy married a new Daddy when her parents got a divorce.”
“Oh, honey, no one will ever replace your Daddy. He’ll always live in our hearts. But if God sees fit to send me a new husband one day, we’ll cross that bridge then, alright?”
Always There: Christian Inspirational Romance Page 16
