A Family Reunited

by Dorie Graham

  “Forget it.” She dropped her napkin on the table and rose. “I’d better get back. She’ll be pitching a fit that I wasn’t there last night to do my chores.”

  Disappointment filled him as he rose to face her. “You stayed here last night and didn’t tell her where you were, didn’t you? Why do you do things like that? No wonder she’s upset with you. I’m surprised the cops haven’t been by yet, looking for you again. You can’t keep going MIA like that.”

  “She doesn’t care. She doesn’t notice most of the time. It’s only when she needs something from me that it’s a problem.”

  “Is it really that bad?”

  “Yes,” she said. Her gaze slipped away. “Like I said, you have no idea.”

  “I’ll talk to Pansy and we’ll find a day this week for you to spend the night and get help the next morning. Maybe I can find a tutor who lives out your way.”

  “Forget it,” she repeated as she again hoisted her book bag to her shoulder. “It won’t work out. It doesn’t matter.”

  She headed toward the front door and he strode after her. “I’ll drive you.”

  “No,” she said and faced him with her hands up to stop him. “The shit’s going to fly as is and it’ll be worse if you’re there. I’ll take the bus.”

  “No, Kara, it’s late. I’ll drive you. I’ll just drop you off. I won’t stay if you don’t want me to. I don’t even have to come in. She never has to see me.”

  “She sees everything and then she’ll be pissed at you, too, and she won’t let me spend the night. I promise you, it’s better this way. Really.”

  The determination in her gaze halted him. “I don’t want to cause you any trouble,” he said. “I just need to know you’re safe.”

  Her dark gaze softened. “I know that.” She hugged him—a quick but fierce hug. “Maybe she’ll let me come stay. You can try asking her. I’ll text you when I’m there. I’ll be fine.”

  “Promise?”

  “Yes.” She blew him a kiss then headed out the door.

  He followed her, stopping on the porch as she hurried down the steps. “I’m driving over there if I don’t get your text,” he said.

  She waved in response and hurried up the street toward the bus stop. He glanced at the sun low on the horizon. She’d be late getting home. He should have made her call her foster mom to tell her she was on the way. He’d have to get the woman’s number. Surely, he could intervene on Kara’s behalf and help make peace between the two.

  He stayed out on the porch long after the sun had set. He should check in with his father, make sure he’d eaten and paid his bills, and check his usual hiding places for stashed bottles. They’d all been clear the last couple of visits and his old man had been attending his AA meetings regularly. Hopefully, he was still on the wagon.

  Family. He had no choice but to love them. After all, they were all he had. Laughter drifted to him from somewhere up the block. It was a pleasant sound, reminiscent of happier times in his childhood, back when family had a whole different meaning for him. He shook his head as the emptiness of his life settled over him again. There had to be something more out there for him.

  CHAPTER THREE

  MUSIC FLOATED OVER the speakers of the grocery store as Chase pushed his cart along the frozen-food aisle. He’d opted for the minicart, which still looked pitifully empty, even after he’d made the rounds of half the store. Buying for one didn’t stock up to much. He really needed to start eating healthier, the way he had when he’d lived with his father and Kara.

  Even as a young girl, Kara had always insisted on healthier eating. No chicken nuggets for her, like the other four-year-olds. She liked home-cooked meals, and unfortunately, that meant Chase had to do the cooking. He stared at the selection of frozen dinners and pizza. Somehow the single-serving frozen meals seemed a little pathetic.

  Sighing, he shoved the lonely boxes back onto the refrigerated shelves. He’d start with the produce section and get some fresh vegetables, then some meat. Surely he could make some simple meals for himself. He could always take extras to his father. The man never ate a decent meal.

  Chase had helped himself to a hearty assortment of carrots, broccoli and lettuce, satisfied with the way the vegetables filled his basket, when a man standing by the apples caught his attention. Chase turned toward the man, recognition dawning over him. Could that be Jacob Peterson, Robert and Alex’s father?

  Alex Peterson. At least it didn’t still hurt to think about her. How long had it been since he’d thought of her and her family? At one time they’d been like a second family to him. A real family, with a mother as well as a father and five adoring kids. At least they’d been adoring before the divorce that turned them into an everyday-dysfunctional kind of family.

  Yes, that kind of family Chase knew all too well.

  He circled around past the oranges to the assorted apples, stopping just short of where the man stood staring blankly at the fruit. It had been a while, but it looked like Alex’s father. Alex. He hadn’t thought about her in forever, not since he’d gotten over her dropping him like a hot coal.

  “Mr. Peterson?” Chase asked.

  Still the man who’d been the father of his best friend and the first girl to claim his heart stood lost in thought.

  Chase cleared his throat. “Jacob?”

  Jacob Peterson startled. His gaze sharpened, zeroing in on Chase. Finally, he gestured toward Chase, saying, “I know you. You’re my boy Robert’s friend. You dated my daughter Alexandra.”

  “Yes, Mr. Peterson, I’m Chase Carrolton.”

  “That’s it,” Jacob said and shook Chase’s hand. “Chase, yes, I knew that. It’s good to see you. You were always at our house. Look at you, all grown up. How long has it been?”

  “Too long,” Chase said. “Something like ten years? How are you? How are Robert and Alex?”

  Jacob’s expression fell. He shook his head. “You haven’t been in touch with Robert?”

  Guilt filled Chase. “We kept up with each other for a long time, but we’ve lost touch over the past couple of years. I’ve had so much going on. I think the last time I talked to Robert he was headed to Seattle for a doctoral program.”

  “Oh, that was a few years back,” Jacob said. “Robert was doing very well for a while. He was an associate professor at Antioch.”

  “Good for him,” Chase said. “Is he still there? I should get in touch with him.”

  “Actually, he’s come back here now. He’s staying at the house. He’s on leave from the university.”

  “Oh,” Chase said, curiosity filling him. “What kind of leave?”

  Jacob frowned. “He’s on medical leave.”

  “Medical leave? What’s going on? Is he okay?” Concern replaced his guilt.

  Jacob’s gaze found his. The man’s eyes, so much like Alex’s, were as clear a blue as Chase remembered, though troubled in a way they hadn’t been even back during what Chase thought of as the Dark Days at the Petersons’. Jacob shook his head, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. He said, “He’s been better. He was diagnosed nearly a year ago with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.”

  “Cancer?” Chase asked, stunned. Robert had always been active and healthy. How could this be?

  Jacob nodded. “He had several rounds of chemo and it looked like it was working. The tumors shrank, but then they grew with a vengeance, increasing in size and number, even during treatment. Then his oncologist had him go through a stem cell transplant.”

  “Stem cell?”

  “It’s like a bone marrow transplant.” Jacob’s shoulders heaved. “They used his own blood stem cells to regrow his immune system after they destroyed it trying to kill the cancer. It very nearly killed him, but the damn swelling started again in his neck within a week of the transplant.”

  His gaze met Chase’s. “It’s not good. He’s weak. But his oncologist is recommending a second transplant. He’ll need a donor this time. They want to type family first to see if one of his siblings
is a match. They’ll type me, too, but parents are only a fifty percent match. They’re hoping for higher.”

  “So does that mean maybe Alex, Steven, Becky or Megan will be a full match?” Chase asked. “At least he has a lot of possibilities in his siblings.”

  “That’s the hope. He’s got a one in four shot at finding a donor among them, if we can get them all to agree to be typed and possibly be a donor,” Jacob said.

  Chase straightened. “Surely, none of them would say no.”

  Jacob’s shoulders shifted in a shrug. A weary sigh escaped him. “I’ve been trying to round them all up. Most of them have either done the typing or agreed to. Becky’s still here. She’s married and helps manage the hardware store. They’re expecting their first child. Megan will come, of course, but she won’t be able to stick around. She has her daughter to care for. Steven is getting his blood typed, but he can’t leave his job now. He’s in Mobile.”

  He sighed. “There’s no need for him to come if he isn’t a match, so we’ll see how that goes. I left Alex a message, but haven’t heard back from her. Maybe she has a new number?” He looked at Chase questioningly.

  Chase shook his head. “I’m sorry, I wouldn’t know. I haven’t talked to Alex since she left Atlanta.”

  Jacob squeezed Chase’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Becky will track her down if need be.”

  “I’m sure if Alex knew what was going on, she’d drop everything to come help.”

  “I hope so.” Jacob grabbed a bag of apples and dropped them in his cart. “They can all do their blood typing in their respective cities. The real issue is getting one of them to come help. Once we find a donor, Robert is going to need care 24/7 for a number of months while he recuperates. I can’t do it on my own. I did it this last round with Becky’s help when she could get away from the store, but she’s been pretty much managing it for me since all of this started, and she’s running herself ragged. She can’t keep it up. I’m going to have to get back there on a regular basis.”

  “Look, I travel a lot for work, but I’d like to help when I can. Do you think Robert would mind if I stopped by to see him?”

  “I don’t know how he’ll feel about it, but I’ll take whatever help I can get. You boys always got along great. No reason why that can’t continue.”

  “Thanks,” Chase said. “You’re still at the same address?”

  Jacob smiled briefly. “Oh, yes, we’re still at the old house.” He frowned again. “I moved back after Ruth... Well, she’s in a home now. She has early-onset Alzheimer’s.”

  Chase frowned. “I’m so sorry, Jacob. I didn’t know. Your family has certainly seen its share of hard times.”

  “We have, but so have so many others. We’ll get through this.” He shook Chase’s hand. “It was good running into you, Chase. I’ll let Robert know you’ll be stopping by sometime.”

  “Yes,” Chase said. “Please do.”

  * * *

  “ONCE UPON A TIME there was a house by the sea, with a bountiful garden and a man and a woman who loved each other with all their hearts. The house was a place of beauty and light and the couple filled it with the laughter of their children.”

  Alex’s sister Megan Baxter brushed a strand of hair from her four-year-old daughter’s cheek and smiled at Alex.

  Alex shifted as she leaned against the doorjamb. After all this time, Megan still viewed the world through rose-colored glasses. It often proved a point of contention between the sisters, especially with Megan’s perpetual insistence on trying to get their family back together.

  “Go on, Momma, finish it,” Carly, Megan’s daughter, insisted.

  “Give me a hug good-night first,” Alex said as she moved into the room. After her day she didn’t have the stomach for fairy tales. She’d only come for dinner at Carly’s urging. If not for her niece, Alex would be hard-pressed to spend time with her sister.

  Carly wrapped her arms around Alex’s neck and planted a wet kiss on her cheek. She said, “Next time you can tell me a bedtime story, Aunt Alex.”

  “No way,” Megan said. “She’ll tell you horror stories and give you nightmares.”

  “I’m not that bad,” Alex said. “I wouldn’t scare the kid.” Although giving her a dose of reality might not be a bad idea.

  “It’s okay,” Carly said. “I like spooky ghost stories.”

  “Alex, stick around. I want to talk to you. I’ll finish up here then we can have a glass of wine,” Megan said.

  Alex nodded, though the last thing she wanted was another lecture from her sister on why she should reconcile with her father and older brother so they could plan the next holiday gathering. She headed to Megan’s kitchen, passing the den, where her brother-in-law Brad was engrossed in a crime drama.

  Brad was a good guy, who worked hard as an investment broker. When Megan, a corporate attorney, had been offered a job with a Fortune 500 company in Baltimore, Brad had started his own firm from scratch to follow her there. Alex gave him kudos for that.

  She poured Megan a glass of red wine and a sparkling water for herself. The ale she’d had earlier was enough to tide her over for a while.

  She took a sip of the water as her sister entered the kitchen. Alex held up her hand before Megan could say anything. “I’ve had a really rough day. I can’t take any family lectures tonight.”

  Megan nodded as she slipped into the seat across from Alex. “I know, Alex, you still haven’t forgiven and forgotten.”

  Alex groaned. She didn’t want to rehash the past again with her sister. This was exactly why she’d been frustrated when Megan had taken that job and set up house a mere ten-minute drive from her. Sometimes she thought her sister had deliberately targeted Baltimore to be close enough to pester her.

  She tossed back her water, then set down the glass. “I got laid off today.”

  Megan’s blue eyes rounded. “Oh, my, I’m so sorry, Alex.”

  “You and me both.”

  “Actually, it may be a blessing in disguise.”

  Alex ran her fingers through her hair. “Hon, I don’t know if I can take your overly optimistic view right now.”

  “I’m sorry. It’s just that... Did you talk to Dad? He said he called and left you a message.”

  Ugh. Here it comes, family lecture time. “I had a lousy day. The last thing I wanted was to talk to Dad.”

  “It’s Robert,” Megan said.

  “I’ve been meaning to call him,” Alex said, guilt swamping her.

  Megan had kept her apprised of their brother’s battle with Hodgkin’s. He and Alex hadn’t gotten along since their parents split and Robert had taken their father’s side. It still made her blood boil to think about it. Again, there was right and wrong and their father’s cheating on their mother was wrong.

  How could Robert support that?

  Still, Alex had meant to check on him numerous times over the past few months. It was always too late at night to call, though, or she just got caught up in work. Once, she had actually called and left a message, but he hadn’t called her back.

  She shook her head and asked, “How is he?”

  “Not good,” Megan said. “The autologous stem cell transplant failed.”

  “What does that mean? Can’t they try other chemo?”

  Megan bit her lip, her eyes troubled. “It means he relapsed. The tumors started growing again. Dad says the oncologist wants him to have a second stem cell transplant, this one with a donor.”

  “Another stem cell transplant?” Alex asked. “Wasn’t the last one risky enough?”

  “Well, yes, and the high dose chemo they hit him with apparently didn’t kill the cancer.” Her gaze fell. “It had a lot of bad side effects, too, like it destroyed his immune system, wiped out his blood cells. He’s like a newborn now. He can’t be exposed to anything. Dad doesn’t let him go anywhere but the clinic. And he’s lost all kinds of weight.

  “And who knows what else? I did some research. Dad doesn’t always ask everything h
e should and Robert, well, he needs someone there as a backup. What I’ve found, though, is that the one they want to do now is an allogeneic transplant and there’s the risk of his body rejecting the cells. His prognosis isn’t good.”

  Concern filled Alex. “Surely there’s another alternative. Maybe we should look at holistic treatments.”

  “Dr. Braden, his oncologist, feels this is his best chance at beating this.”

  “It just sounds like more of the same brutality,” Alex said. “Can his body withstand all that chemo?”

  “They want to type all of us to see if we can be donors. That’s why Dad was calling. Robert needs every chance to find a match he can get. His siblings are his best bet.”

  That sick feeling stirred again in Alex’s stomach. “How can this be happening?”

  Megan grabbed her hand. “He needs us, Alex.”

  “Of course. I’ll get tested or typed or whatever it is. Just because I don’t agree with Robert doesn’t mean I wish him any harm.”

  Megan relaxed in her chair. “Good, then you’ll call Dad?”

  “Yes.” Alex nodded, already dreading the conversation with her father. “I’ll call him.”

  “There’s more, Alex.”

  “What?” This was bad enough. How could there be more?

  “Dad said the clinic wants him to sign a new document that Robert will have someone caring for him 24/7 for about a week before to one hundred days following the transplant. Dad can’t cover the entire time. He’s already frazzled from this past time. Becky’s been trying to run the store on her own, but she’s having some difficulty with it. She’s getting closer to her due date. She needs him at the store. He needs help.”

  Alex stared at her sister as the sick feeling swelled through her. “He needs someone to come stay with them to help him with Robert?”

  “Yes,” Megan said. “See? A blessing in disguise.”

  “Megan, I’m an accountant, a financial analyst, a VP of finance. At least I was. But I’m not a caregiver.”

  “You could be all those things and still be a caregiver. Who else among us can pick up from our lives and transplant back to Atlanta?” Megan asked.