Secrets of Forever

by Marie Ferrarella

  If there was even the tiniest possibility that any of old Doc Elliott story was true, Ellie owed it to Miss Joan to track down what had happened to the mystery sister. She couldn’t shake the feeling that this might actually help things in the long run—as long as that sister were still alive.

  “Thanks, Pop,” she said. “I’m going to go see if I can catch Olivia in her office.” With that, she walked out of the tack room.

  Eduardo nodded. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do,” he called after her.

  “I will,” she promised. Provided there is anything to be done, she added silently.

  * * *

  Ellie rehearsed what she was going to say to Olivia at least three times before she got to the woman’s law office in the middle of Forever. As it turned out, when Ellie told the woman about her discovery, Olivia was surprised, to say the least.

  After listening to Ellie repeat the whole story, the family lawyer was silent for several seconds then said, “Well, I can definitely look into this for you. I have a few ideas where I could try to find out if there’s any truth at all to the information. Do you want me to let Cash in on this?” she asked since Cash Taylor was not only her law partner, he was also Miss Joan’s husband’s grandson. Olivia assumed, because Cash hadn’t said anything to her, that he was in the dark about this, as was his grandfather.

  “Well, if this does turn out to be true,” Ellie said, knowing that Olivia was a little skeptical, though for her, the feelings that it was true were growing stronger and stronger, “then he and Harry are going to need to be filled in eventually.”

  “You know how private Miss Joan is,” Olivia pointed out. “She might not like anyone knowing. If this does turn out to be true, there’s a reason no one’s ever heard about it.”

  “I know. But I’m willing to bet that nobody in town likes the idea of living in a world without Miss Joan if we can possibly help it. And something tells me that we might need a lot of ammunition on our side to convince that woman to agree to have the surgery—if that does turn out to be the case,” Ellie amended.

  Olivia nodded. “You have a point. I’ll get on this right away,” she promised. “But if I hit a wall, then I’m going to ask Cash for help,” she warned.

  Ellie nodded. “Sounds fair.” And then she got down to practical matters. “Look, I can’t pay you up front, Olivia, but maybe we can come up with some sort of a weekly arrangement so that—”

  Olivia looked at Ellie, a somber expression on her face. “Are you trying to insult me?”

  Ellie stared at her. “No, of course not. Why would you even ask something like that?”

  Olivia drew herself up in her chair, her posture military-rigid. “Because you’re making it sound as if you have a monopoly when it comes to caring about Miss Joan—and you don’t,” the woman informed her. “Miss Joan, whether she likes it or not, is community property. All of us owe her something. All of us care about the woman because, for one reason or another, at one time or another, Miss Joan was there for each and every one of us when we needed her most.”

  Ellie smiled at the lawyer who had hit the matter right on the head. “I didn’t intend any disrespect, Olivia.”

  Olivia nodded her head. “I know that, but sometimes things need repeating.” She looked down at the notes she had made to herself while Ellie had told her what she knew. “I’ll let you know as soon as I find something—and, Ellie,” she called after the pilot who was already at the door, ready to leave.

  Ellie turned around, waiting.

  “Good call,” Olivia told her. “I’ve got a feeling we’re going to need everything we can gather together in our arsenal to get that sharp-tongued, stubborn old woman to listen to reason.”

  Ellie smiled at Olivia and nodded. “I know.”

  * * *

  Ellie wanted to tell Neil about this latest potential development with his patient, but she was forced to wait until the following day when they were to meet for the doctor’s next driving lesson.

  She swung by the Davenport house that following morning to pick him up. Ellie fully intended to tell him about Miss Joan’s possible mystery sister the moment she saw him. But Neil looked so anxious to get behind the wheel for another driving lesson that she decided to put her news on hold. It could keep until another couple of hours had passed.

  “You know, I am really surprised that you never decided to do this on your own,” she told Neil after he very neatly parked her Jeep in the spot she had pointed out. The man, she thought, was a natural. “You’re really good at it.”

  He almost beamed in response to her compliment. “Thanks. But I honestly never wanted to before.” He tried to make her see it from his point of view. “Between taxis, buses and trains, there was never any need for me to learn. You teaching me has put a whole different spin on things,” he confided. “For one thing, you make it look like fun.”

  They were parked over to the side of a road and there was no one else around. Alone like this with her had Neil feeling all sorts of romantic inclinations again. “You make a lot of things look like fun,” he confessed.

  Despite the fact that the Jeep was opened up, Ellie suddenly felt a lot warmer.

  She was allowing herself to be distracted, she upbraided herself, and right now, as drawn to Neil as she felt, she couldn’t afford that to happen. “I have some news about Miss Joan for you.”

  She caught him off guard, but he had his own news and he had a feeling that his was better. “So do I, actually. One of the people I went to medical school with went into the same branch of medicine I did and, after he graduated, he relocated not too far from this section of Texas.

  “I kind of got him through medical school,” he added, “and he feels he owes me, which in this case is a good thing. When I contacted him, he agreed to let me borrow the equipment I need to conduct Miss Joan’s tests and assess the results. Everything I need will be here by tomorrow. I’ll have to work fast because the loan is only for the day—but that should give me more than enough time to ascertain if Miss Joan has some sort of coronary issue going on or not.”

  Finished with what he had to tell Ellie and happy things were going so well, Neil asked, “All right, what’s your news?”

  “I found out that Miss Joan might have a sister,” Ellie said.

  He wasn’t sure why that would be viewed as good news one way or another.

  “Well,” he allowed slowly, “I suppose that’s good news in case Miss Joan winds up needing a kidney, but otherwise—”

  Ellie realized that he didn’t see the possible problem this sort of news could very well avert. She filled him in.

  “This might be the person we need to help tip the scales in case you do need to operate on Miss Joan. The woman can be exceptionally stubborn and maybe the promise of being reunited with an estranged relative might be what we need to get her to agree to having the surgery.”

  “You really believe that?” he questioned. “That turning up with this so-called ‘mystery’ person will make her listen to reason?”

  “I have to believe that,” Ellie told the surgeon. “Sometimes faith is all we have to get us through things. I believed that Dr. Dan would find a way to get a cardiologist to come take a look at Miss Joan and here you are,” she grandly announced.

  Neil laughed, shaking his head. “I don’t know how to argue with that.”

  “Then don’t,” she told him. “There’s no point in arguing, anyway.”

  “Say, would you like to come with me to the diner so we can tell Miss Joan the news?” he asked, feeling that if Ellie was so involved in this, she should be there for the highlights.

  She wasn’t sure what he was referring to. “About finding out that she has a sister, or about the necessary lab equipment coming tomorrow morning?”

  “Why don’t we tell her about the latter and hold off telling her the other news until
this ‘sister’ is actually located and on her way here?” Neil suggested. “Think of it as our possible ace in the hole.”

  She thought of that as an unusual way for him to phrase it. “You play poker, Doc?”

  Amused, Neil smiled at her. “On occasion.”

  “I would have thought that someone like you would prefer playing a more cerebral game, such as bridge or chess.”

  He didn’t want Ellie harboring a stuffy image of him. “Actually, I find poker to be more down-to-earth and exciting,” he told her. “Maybe while I’m here, after everything is over with, you and I can play a hand or two.”

  Ellie smiled at the thought. “Maybe,” she agreed. “But right now, I think you should tell Miss Joan to get ready for those tests tomorrow. By the way, did I hear you right? Did you say something about your friend shipping out a portable treadmill machine?”

  He nodded. “You heard right,” Neil told her.

  That was both good and bad. Good, because it was obviously necessary and bad because... “She’s not going to be thrilled about that.”

  “I don’t need her to be thrilled,” Neil said. “I just need her to agree to do it.”

  “Isn’t that test for younger people?” Ellie questioned, anticipating Miss Joan’s reaction.

  “It’s for anyone with a heart who is able to walk,” Neil told her. “And from what I’ve observed, Miss Joan can not only walk, she can get around rather fast for a woman her age.”

  Ellie raised her hand to stop him. “Word of advice.”

  Curious because he hadn’t said anything that unusual, he said, “Go ahead.”

  She couldn’t keep the grin off her lips. “If you want to stay alive, I’d stay away from using terms like ‘a woman your age’ when talking to Miss Joan unless you want to observe being vivisected up close and personal by a layperson.”

  Neil laughed, waving his hand at her advice. “I’m sure that Miss Joan’s bark is worse than her bite.”

  “I wouldn’t put even money on that if I were you,” Ellie told him.

  Neil read between the lines. “She means a lot to you, doesn’t she?”

  Ellie saw no reason to deny it. “Miss Joan is the closest thing that Addie and I have to a mother. You’ll find that a lot of people in this town feel that way.”

  Neil nodded. That was becoming very clear to him. “Then I’ll be sure that all the tests are performed carefully and correctly,” he promised. “Now, let’s go and beard the lioness in her den.”

  “You drive,” Ellie told him, remaining seated where she was.

  Her suggestion pleased him. He felt like a student who had just graduated after taking an accelerated program. “All right,” he said, restarting the engine, “I will.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Ellie was thoroughly convinced that Miss Joan had some sort of special radar that managed to alert her to things, even though it didn’t seem really possible.

  Despite the fact that the diner was relatively full and she wasn’t even remotely looking in their direction, somehow the woman just seemed to know the moment they walked in.

  Setting down a pair of menus in front of two of her patrons seated at the counter, Miss Joan didn’t even look Ellie and Neil’s way when she asked, “You two here to eat, or did you come for the sole purpose of bending my ear?”

  To his credit, Neil recovered from the unexpected confrontation first. “A little of both,” he answered truthfully.

  Miss Joan moved over to the couple. “Well, if you’re here to eat, you’re more than welcome to sit down because, after all, that’s the business I’m in. But if you’re here to use that as an excuse just to bend my ear and try to talk me into something, you know where the door’s located,” she told them. “And just in case you forgot—” Miss Joan gestured toward the door “—there it is.”

  Neil looked at Ellie. “You in the mood for steak?” he asked. Then, before she had a chance to answer, Neil made the decision for them; he needed leverage to use with Miss Joan. If they were eating her food, then she had to be more receptive to what he was saying. “We’ll take two of your finest steaks.”

  Miss Joan gave him a withering look, as if he should know better. “There is no ‘finest.’ All the steaks here are good, sonny.”

  Neil never missed a beat. “Then it shouldn’t be any trouble picking out two of them for us,” Neil told her. “I like mine rare. How about you, Ellie? How do you like your steak?”

  “Tasting like a chicken,” she answered.

  Neil looked at her, confused. “What?”

  Rather than explain it to him, she looked at Miss Joan. “You have any of that fried chicken you had on the menu the other day?”

  “We might,” Miss Joan answered evasively. Then, because it was Ellie, she warmed up a little. “I’ll have Angel check. If she doesn’t have any, she can whip up a batch. That okay with you?” Miss Joan asked.

  That would definitely give Neil more time to talk to the woman, Ellie thought as she slanted a glance at Neil. “That’ll be perfect,” she told the woman.

  “What do you want to go with that?” Miss Joan asked the duo, pretending that she believed they were there for lunch.

  “Whatever you pick will be fine,” Ellie said, determined to be easy.

  Neil nodded in agreement. “What she said.”

  Miss Joan planted herself directly in front of them, one fisted hand on her waist. “Okay, now you two are just trying to butter me up. Just what are you really after?” she asked.

  “A really good meal,” Ellie returned guilelessly. “Doc here thinks that New York diners have cornered the market when it comes to serving really great, inexpensive meals, and we know better than that, don’t we, Miss Joan?” she asked in a conspiratorial voice.

  Miss Joan’s frown went clear down to the bone. “You must think I was born yesterday,” she accused.

  “No, we don’t,” Ellie protested, deliberately assuming a wide-eyed expression.

  “But you do look young enough to pass for that,” Neil said innocently, tongue in cheek.

  Miss Joan’s eyes narrowed as she gave him a piercing look. “Don’t try to flirt with me, sonny,” she warned the cardiologist.

  “I wouldn’t dream of it,” Neil told her. And then his voice turned more serious. “But I am going to tell you that my friend came through.”

  “Good for you,” Miss Joan responded cryptically. “Your orders will be up very soon,” she told them as she began to walk away.

  Neil rose a little in his seat as he called after her. “What time will be good for you?”

  Turning, Miss Joan studied him for a long moment then said, “That all depends. Good for what?”

  Okay, this had gone on too long, Ellie thought. The doctor’s patience could only be pushed so far before he lost it. She answered for him. “To do the tests he came out here to do, Miss Joan.”

  Miss Joan raised her chin a little. “What if I say ‘never’?”

  Ellie looked at the woman in surprise. This was something new. “Miss Joan, you can’t go back on your word.”

  “Sure I can,” she contradicted. Asserting herself, Miss Joan said, “I can do anything I damn well please. I haven’t had another one of those fluttery incidents since the baby doctor here arrived in town.”

  “Doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen again,” Neil pointed out. “And having the proper equipment shipped out here like this is the most convenient I can make it for you.”

  “That’s not true,” Miss Joan replied, her eyes meeting his. “It would be more convenient for you to forget about this whole thing altogether. So how about it?”

  Ellie answered for him, feeling that since she’d known Miss Joan a lot longer, she was in a better position to become tough with the older woman. “I can get Harry and Cash to strong-arm you,” Ellie told the woman.

 
; Hazel eyes held Ellie prisoner.

  “You can get them to try,” the older woman informed her haughtily.

  Ellie’s voice softened as she tried another approach. “Miss Joan, you mean a great deal to all of us. Please, please just agree to go along with having these tests done,” she pleaded. “Who knows, maybe you will be in the clear once they’re done and then everyone can drop this whole subject.”

  The expression on Miss Joan’s face was dubious, but she threw up her hands in exasperation. “All right, all right! I’ll have the damn tests done—and then we will drop the whole subject,” she declared.

  Maybe, Neil added silently. “All right, how does tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. sound?” He reasoned that everything would have arrived and been set up in Dan’s office by then.

  “Lousy,” Miss Joan answered honestly.

  Neil glossed right over that. “If we get started by nine, we should be finished before your noon rush hour starts,” he proposed.

  Unwilling to commit, Miss Joan just shrugged. “We’ll see.”

  Neil frowned. “Miss Joan—” he said, a warning note in his voice.

  She blew out an exasperated breath. “All right, all right! If it gets you people off my back, I’ll be there tomorrow at nine.”

  “Why don’t I come by the diner and pick you up?” the doctor proposed.

  Miss Joan pretended to take offense at the suggestion. “You don’t trust me?”

  Neil smiled at her. “No further than I can throw you,” he answered good-naturedly.

  Miss Joan actually chuckled under her breath at that. “You’re smarter than you look, sonny. I’ll go see how Angela is doing with your order,” she announced, slipping into the small kitchen.

  As she walked away, Neil caught a glimpse of Ellie beaming at him. “What?”

  “Nicely played, Doc,” she said. “I think Miss Joan actually respects you.”

  “I think that just might be Miss Joan’s way of accepting the inevitable,” Neil pointed out. “She’s an intelligent woman. I think she knows that she can only put this off for so long.”