“Hi, Hope,” he smiled gently and was rewarded with a small smile in return.
For an instant, and not for the first time since his return, Lillie wondered what it would have been like if he’d been their father. She could imagine parenting these children together, but biology and circumstance had decided otherwise. Had the fates been kind…but if there was anything Lillie could count on in this life were the fates not being kind, when it came to the two of them.
“Mom’s in her room making more lists, and Sheila is getting ready to feed Molly. I’m packing the car,” Jonathan said while shouldering a duffle bag.
“Can I help?” asked Alex.
Jonathan began to give his consent, but paused, careful, she noticed, not to presume anything with her children and looked to Lillie for guidance.
Lillie nodded her head, and Jon said, “Sure, sport,” and flicked the brim of Alex’s baseball cap.
Alex walked directly to the largest suitcase and tried to move it out the door. When it wouldn’t budge, Jon said, “Whoa, sport. No mere mortal can budge a woman’s suitcase,” and then showed him how to extend the handle and pull the case along on its wheels.
Lillie’s heart caught in her throat as she watched her husband—ex-husband--interact with her son. It was such a shame he had given up teaching. He was so talented at making kids feel valued. Just now with Alex, it would have been much easier to shoulder the heavy case himself, but instead, he took the time to build his self-esteem instead of shredding it. He taught him a way he could move the suitcase himself.
Her son beamed up at him as Jon laughed at something he said, and Lillie turned from the glass storm door to find her daughter.
As she suspected, she found her with Molly in the kitchen, talking softly to her while Sheila, the certified nursing assistant, flushed Molly’s feeding tube after her lunch. Hope and Molly had a very special bond. The girls had grown up spending time with each other. Hope loved to sit for hours and whisper in her friend’s ear. It was during these times Molly’s frantic hand motions ceased and her delicate fingers rested in her lap.
Lillie had often asked her daughter what she talked to Molly about, but Hope usually just shrugged or said she was telling her stories.
Knowing both girls were in good hands with Sheila, Lillie walked down the hallway and knocked softly on Donna’s door.
“Come in,” Donna called.
“We’re here.”
“Lillie, thank you for coming. I know it couldn’t have been easy.”
Lillie waived her hand in dismissal, as though seeing Jonathan was of no consequence. “I wasn’t going to miss seeing you off for all of the world.”
“I’m glad I got to see you. Where are the children?”
“In the other room.”
“I figured Hope would be with Molly and Alex…”
“Is everywhere!” and they both laughed and shook their heads. Alex’s high energy kept Lillie and everyone else around him hopping, but neither woman could envision a time without him.
“That one will keep you young.”
“I was thinking more along the lines of gray hairs.”
Donna looked into the antique cheval mirror that stood in the corner of her room and ran her fingers across the fringe of bangs. “I just hope I get to keep all of mine after Jonathan’s doctors get though with me.
“Well, it doesn’t matter.” Lillie slipped her arm around Donna and gave her a squeeze. “You’ll still be beautiful.”
“Ha! No one’s called me beautiful since Jon’s father passed away.” Donna crossed the room and picked up a small black and white photo encased in an ornate silver frame. “I don’t think a day went by that he didn’t tell me so.”
Lillie tried to hide her surprise at Donna’s comment. Donna noticed anyway and chuckled to herself. “Are you surprised?” Donna asked.
“Well, Jonathan never spoke much about his father…”
“You mean, Jonathan never spoke well of his father.”
“That, too,” Lillie admitted.
“Albert was a wonderful man, a good provider. He worked two full time jobs, what with the mill and the farm. Most nights he would drag in the door long after the children were asleep.” Donna paused and when she did, her face looked wistful remembering. “I think that if Albert would have lived to see Jon grown, Jonathan would have come to understand his father.”
“I wish Jon had known him like you did. I think it would have changed a lot for him.”
“My Albert was a child of the depression. To him, showing his love was providing for his family. But that was the way it was back then. The men went off to work, and the women minded the home and the children.” Donna looked sad as she remembered.
Lillie decided things were getting a bit maudlin, so she decided to change the subject. “Hope is excited about seeing Molly every day.”
Donna straightened the spread on the bed for what was probably the hundredth time that morning. Lillie could tell there was something on her mind so she took a seat on the cedar chest at the end of the bed and waited.
“I wanted to talk to you before I left.” Donna went to her nightstand and removed a thick manila envelope.
Lillie accepted the package when Donna held it out to her and placed it in her lap. “Those are all of my important papers and a copy of my will. I wanted you to have copies.” She didn’t say, “Just in case” but they both felt the unsaid phrase hanging in the air nonetheless. “I’ve made you my personal representative. I hope that’s all right.”
“Of course,” Lillie said immediately then added, “but won’t Jonathan wonder about that?”
“He’ll understand,” she said resolutely. “Men are no good at this kind of thing. Women are the ones that take care of the details and carry on.”
Lillie nodded her head in agreement, but added, “You will be home in a week with a treatment plan. I don’t really think this is necessary,” she said hefting the envelope.
“It is necessary for my peace of mind. I need to make sure you are okay with my decisions.” Donna paused and cleared her throat.
“I’m Molly’s legal guardian and if anything happens to me, they will need your help.
Cynthia does her best, but she’s not here every day like we are. She may not understand what is best for her.”
“But Cynthia is her mother. I’ve never wanted to pry about what happened when Molly was born, and then after…”
“Cyndi was very young and so overwhelmed…”
“Well, I’m forty-one and being a mother can still get a little overwhelming, so I can see how that would be difficult when you’re barely out of college.”
“She loves her daughter, has loved her very much from the start, but Molly’s care is expensive, and she won’t accept any financial help from Jon. There’s more than a little of her father in her.”
“I wish I knew her better.”
“Jon and I have always been so close. I love both of my children, but Jon and I have always had a special connection. Cynthia was the apple of her father’s eye and his death left her bereft. Her life seemed to spin out of control for a time…then Molly came, and Cynthia couldn’t deal with her problems, and Albert wasn’t here to help her. I did my best, and I hope keeping Molly here was the right thing.”
“Of course it was. Molly loves you so much.”
“I can’t imagine these last twelve years without her, but as much as I wish otherwise, I may let her down. Cynthia will have to figure it out on her own. She’s convinced modeling and acting is the only thing she can do to support Molly financially. That’s kept her on the west coast most of the time and out of tune with the daily routine of Molly’s life. She’ll need you, Lillie. They all will.”
“Of course. I’ll always take care of Molly. That’s one thing you’ll never have to worry about.”
“I know. The time will soon come when Molly needs to transition to a residential facility. I’ve kept her close, because I love her so much, but the tim
e is fast approaching when it will only be fair to her to let her spread her wings a bit.”
“But you are going to be here to see that, Donna. You have to believe that you are going to get better.”
“Sweetheart, at my age you learn to hedge your bets.”
Chapter Fourteen
Lillie slipped her late afternoon iced latte into the cup holder so she could rummage in her bag for her ringing cell phone.
“Eureka!” she announced as she finally located the slim phone just as it stopped ringing. Glancing at the Caller ID, she recognized the number as Jon’s. The calendar on her dashboard read Thursday, the date Donna was to receive the recommendations from the clinic’s interdisciplinary team.
Before she could depress the buttons to return the call, her phone again began to chime. This time the melody was “Happy Trails” which signified the call was coming from Catherine.
“Hiya, Cat! What’s up?”
“Hi, yourself,” Catherine answered with a smile in her voice. “How is your day, dear?”
“Good…busy. I’m just on my way to pick up the children and dinner. I’m giving Sheila the night off.”
“Well, that’s nice of you. Maybe Rand and I can drop by with dessert and take the children home for baths while you finish up with Molly.”
“That would be great. They’ll need baths, and it would be nice if I could tuck them in as soon as I get home. It’s been a long week.”
“You need a break, darling. You’ve been going non-stop since…well, I don’t know since when, but really it has been forever since you’ve had a break.”
“I’m fine…”
“Lillie, with the children and trying to be there for Donna and Molly… I know that you have your hands full.”
“Thank God, Cat. Who wants empty hands anyway?”
Catherine chuckled. “You are absolutely right. I just worry, and I don’t want you to be overwhelmed.”
“This is just a busy time of year. School is out for the summer tomorrow, and you know what that means. The kids are wild, and everyone wants to list their home for sale.”
“Rand and I were thinking…we have thousands of frequent flyer miles. We would love to take the children on a holiday. You could do something relaxing, maybe take a single’s cruise.”
“I’m not sure the ‘Love Boat’ is quite the thing for me.”
“Well, think about it anyway,” Catherine ordered. “May we have the children?”
“Of course. Where were you thinking about taking them? I’m not sure the Paris Ritz is ready for the likes of Alex.”
“Actually, we were thinking of Florida. You said how much they enjoyed it last year and next week is Grandparents week at Walt Disney World.”
“What?” Lillie asked, astounded. “Disney World? The place of pixie dust and princesses? The happiest place on earth?”
“One in the same. Rand is rather excited about it, and my editor has insisted it is one of the only places Catrina hasn’t been.”
Her aunt was referring to the popular series of children’s books she authored. Catrina, a white Persian cat, was the main character and the books were set around the world, teaching children geography and history in the context of an entertaining story.
Lillie laughed. “Catrina does Paris, Catrina does Rome and Catrina even does Tibet and Red Square, but Florida? I love it!”
“You make her sound positively pornographic!”
Lillie giggled wickedly, but soon relented. “They absolutely can go if it will get you to the Magic Kingdom.”
“You’re welcome to join us, darling.”
“As much as I’d love to be there when you finally meet Mickey Mouse, I think I’ll stay home and work. I can get a lot done and that way I won’t feel guilty taking some time off in July for an camping trip.”
“Oh, I’ve heard the Whitetail is lovely that time of year.”
“Yeah,” Lillie replied. “I’ve heard that, too.”
* * *
Lillie sat through car pool lines to fetch her children from their respective schools. She was anxious to hear what Jonathan and Donna had found out, but she didn’t want to hear the news in front of the children so she waited to check her voicemail and return the call. She wasn’t sure she could maintain her composure, let alone drive the car safely with the children in it, in the event the report wasn’t good.
After a quick stop to pick up food from a local take out restaurant, they made their way to Donna’s condo where Molly awaited them.
“Hello! How’s our girl today?” Lillie asked after Alex had rung the bell, and Sheila unlocked the door and welcomed them inside.
“Just fine, although I think she’s starting to really miss her Grandma.” The last Sheila said behind her hand, careful to keep her voice low. Molly was sitting in the living room in the sunshine, near the picture window.
Lillie went first to the kitchen to divest herself of the bundle of fast food bags containing their dinner and returned to the living room to give her niece a hug and kiss.
She found Alex still in his coat talking a mile a minute, telling Molly and Sheila about his day. “Mark and Raja let Mrs. Allen’s snake out of the ‘quarium and, boy, did the girls scream!” Alex spun dramatically and pretended to screech like a girl. Molly smiled, and they all laughed at his dramatization. Lillie made a mental note to check Alex’s book bag. It seemed he knew a bit too much about the snake’s jailbreak.
“Did Mark and Raja have any help?” Lillie inquired of her son.
“Um, I’m not sure.”
“Well, why don’t you think about it a little bit, and we can talk about it later, at home.” Lillie had always tried to teach her children that honesty was the best policy. She wanted to give her son ample time to come clean on his own, if necessary.
A flurry of motion caught her eye, and her niece chortled as her hands motioned towards out of doors. Lillie looked out the window her niece was positioned under and saw some very ornate bird feeders and several birds partaking of their evening meal. There were three feeders in total; one with a clear liquid she supposed was sugar water and several hummingbirds fluttering about, one cylindrical feeder half-full of thistle for the finches and the last shaped like a Japanese pagoda with what looked like a multi-purpose seed that she knew would attract robins, blue jays and cardinals, among others.
“Bah!” Molly shouted and threw her arm towards the window.
Lillie looked from her niece to the direction her hand pointed in time to see a bright red cardinal swoop in for his dinner. “Wow Molly! You saw that, didn’t you?” Lillie was excited and pleased Molly had been able to point out the bird and made a mental note to tell Donna. She wondered, for an instant, where the feeders had come from. She hadn’t noticed them when she’d visited earlier in the week. It had been dark, she supposed, but she asked Sheila, “Have those been here all week?”
“Yep. Donna told me her son put them up.”
“Huh. I love to watch the birds at my feeder.”
“Donna said Jonathan had to petition the condominium board to be allowed to put them up.”
“Really?”
“Actually, she said he had to get the signatures of all of the owners because he wanted to do it quickly, and the board was not scheduled to meet until this week. They’d have missed the meeting, of course.”
“Wow.”
“Yes,” Sheila shook her head in emphasis. “Molly loves them so much. She’s really been watching them. She especially loves the Cardinals, don’t you, Mol?” Sheila lovingly smoothed Molly’s bangs back from her face as she spoke.
“I’m going to get the kids busy with their food. You need to hustle on out of here. It’s your night off. The rehearsal will start without you,” Lillie said. Sheila’s sister was getting married on Saturday and the practice ceremony and dinner were that evening.
“I’ll make it with time to spare. I only hope it goes well. Michelle is in a terrible state, worrying about the preparations.”
“It will be lovely.” Sheila looked at her watch. “I’ve got to run. The rehearsal is likely to take forever and the dinner’s at the Raven.”
“Oooh, that sounds good. I should have called in a takeout order.” Buffalo wings from the Raven sounded so much better than her plastic, full of fat, hamburger.
“I’ll try not to be too late,” Sheila added as she walked out the door.
“Don’t you worry about us. We’ll be fine and Rand and Cat are picking up the kids in a bit,” Lillie shared. “Stay out as late as you like,” then from behind her hand added, “You’ll be giving me a break.”
The telephone rang as she waved goodbye to Sheila. Lillie crossed to the kitchen to retrieve it from the cradle mounted on the wall. Lillie snatched it up quickly and pressed the talk button.
“Hello, Oleson residence.”
“Person-to-person collect call for Lillian Oleson,” a nasally voice stated in lieu of a greeting.
“This is Lillian,” avoiding using her last name in the reply. “I will accept the charges,” she said breathlessly. She knew the call had to be from Jonathan. No one else would have used the last name of Oleson. Everyone else she knew stopped calling her Lillie Oleson years ago when she took back her maiden name after her divorce.
Lillie laid out hamburgers, fries, drinks and napkins and waited for the call to be connected. “Hope, Alex,” she called into the great room, “Dinner.”
The phone clicked in her ear, and she heard Jon say, “Hello? Lillie?”
“Oh, sorry, I’m trying to get the kids settled.”
“My cell phone battery’s dead, and I’m at a payphone. Is everything okay?”
“Sure, just hectic.”
“I’ve been trying to reach you for hours…I’ve left messages for you everywhere.”
Coming Home Page 13
