Last Chance Family

by Hope Ramsay

  The thought soured Charlene’s stomach. “I’m finding the cat. Isn’t that what you asked me to do this morning?”

  “Yeah,” he said, taking a step forward, his voice sounding strange and tight, “but I didn’t intend for you to go rushing out into the middle of traffic and putting your life at risk. Damnit all, Charlene, that cat is a nuisance and a demon. You could have gotten hit. Shit, you almost did get hit. Don’t you have any brains?”

  Charlene took one step forward, intent on giving Mike Taggart a piece of her mind. He had some nerve getting mad at her for trying to save Tigger’s life. Obviously he wasn’t the man for her if he didn’t understand how important the cat was.

  “You listen up, mister—”

  She didn’t get any further with her tirade because she must have planted her foot square onto the oil Roy had just warned her about. Her feet slipped right out from underneath her, and she fell backward, hard onto the blacktop.

  She saw stars for a moment. And pain exploded in the back of her head. Somehow she managed to keep her hold on Tigger. She closed her eyes against the rain. The world began to spin, making her stomach roil.

  “Don’t move.” She knew that voice. Mike stepped into view and tried to take the animal, but she wouldn’t let go.

  “Tigger isn’t a demon cat.”

  “Come on, Charlene. I didn’t mean what I said about the cat. It’s just that…” His voice broke and he stopped talking, and somewhere in Charlene’s rattled brains she knew that his tone of voice meant something important. But she was kind of having trouble making sense of the world right at that moment.

  Sirens blared. She looked up at Mike and saw the tears running down his face. Or maybe it was just the rain. “I was just coming out of Eugene’s office. I saw it all happen. The cat is not that important, Charlene,” he said.

  “I needed to save her. Rainbow needs her.”

  “Rainbow needs you more.”

  “That’s nice, Mike. But I’m not going to marry Tim. Can we get that clear?”

  He caressed her cheek. That was very nice. She wished he would do more of that. “Of course you’re not,” he said. “You’re going to marry me. So you better stay with me. I don’t think I could bear being left again.”

  Whoa, the head injury must be pretty damn serious. Did he just propose? No, not possible.

  She tried to get up but the pain exploded in her head.

  “Don’t. Wait until the EMTs get here.”

  “Okay. But I’m wet.”

  Someone threw a blanket over her. And she didn’t have the heart to tell them that it did nothing for the water that was flowing like a river under her back. Not to mention that the pavement was kind of hard.

  “I think I may be concussed. Did you just ask me to marry you?”

  Mike smiled. “Uh, yeah, I think I did.”

  “You think you did? Boy, that’s the story of my life. I wait thirty years for someone to pop the question, and he’s not even sure he asked.”

  “I’m sure.” Charlene was just settling herself in for a little romance when the EMTs arrived. They pulled Mike away, forcing him to take Tigger with him. And the next thing she knew, Ross Gardiner was there asking her a bunch of questions and shining a light in her eyes.

  And then Mother and Daddy showed up, and before long, there was a whole crowd right there in the middle of Palmetto Avenue standing under the only stoplight in town.

  The ER waiting room was crowded with a boatload of people from Last Chance, most of whom Mike didn’t even know. Mike had gone home to change into dry clothes and to drop off and feed the cat. And in that short time, Charlene’s family had gotten the jump on him.

  Her mother was at her bedside while the doctors conferred. Since Mike wasn’t family, no one in charge would let him get close. And her father, a tall man who looked exactly like her, had already told him in no uncertain terms that he disapproved of Mike on every level possible.

  Mike was thinking about giving the guy a piece of his mind when Timmy came striding across the room. “Mike. Where have you been? I’ve been trying to call you for the last three hours. You need to get upstairs to Rainbow’s room.”

  Oh. God. “Is she okay?”

  “She’s fine, but she’s awake and she keeps asking for you. Look, Mike, I just heard about Charlene. Is she going to be okay?”

  He nodded. “They think so. She’s got a nasty bump on her head, but I gather they did an MRI or something and she didn’t fracture her skull. She’s concussed, and they’re trying to decide if she should stay the night. I swear, Timmy, that cat almost took out the two people I care most about in this world. You think it was some kind of crazy payback or something?”

  “The two people you care about most in the world?” Timmy asked.

  “Uh, yeah. Sorry, Timmy, I think you come in third.”

  “Mike, I’m glad you care about Charlene and Rainbow, because I have something important to say. Something you might not want to hear.” He paused for a moment. “I refuse to be Rainbow’s guardian.”

  Mike blinked.

  “It’s not that I don’t care about her. I love her. But she belongs with you, and I’m not going to let you cop out. But I’ll be here to help you in any way you need.”

  And hadn’t Timmy been there from the beginning, making him stay, making him take responsibility, allowing his flock of church ladies to get all up in Mike’s business? Like a village.

  “Uh, Timmy, I kept my appointment with Eugene Hanks.”

  “I intend to rip up that medical power of attorney.”

  “No need. Because I didn’t sign it.”

  “You didn’t?”

  He shook his head. “I can’t leave Rainbow like I left Angie. Even if I do know that she’s in great hands. I just can’t. I love her. But the thing is, I still want to enter the World Series of Poker, so I’m going to have to figure out some babysitting arrangements.”

  Tim chuckled. “If you want my advice, I’d take that up with Charlene.”

  “I intend to. If I can ever get past her parents.”

  “Don’t worry. Charlene is way beyond listening to them. Just give it time, Mike. In the meantime, Rainbow needs you.”

  In the past, Mike might have argued. But Timmy was right. Mike had plenty of time.

  He’d already called Paul and told him to nix the Dragon Casinos deal. Mike still planned to enter the main event at the World Series of Poker, but he’d do it without a sponsor. If he played well, the Dragon Casinos people might still be interested. Or not. He didn’t care. He could play poker for the thrill of it, and maybe turn day trading into the day-to-day job. He’d been doing pretty well in the markets these last two weeks.

  But he wasn’t worried about any of that right now. Right now he was sticking around for Rainbow and for Charlene.

  They decided Charlene could go home, so long as her parents kept an eye on her. Head injuries could be tricky, but they were pretty sure she’d been lucky.

  In truth, she had a raging headache, but she wasn’t sure if it was because of her stupid fall or the hours she’d spent listening to Mother rant on about this and that.

  It was almost dark when they wheeled her out of the emergency treatment center and to the curb where Daddy had pulled up his big Cadillac.

  It was now or never.

  Charlene stood up. Every muscle screamed in pain. Falling flat on one’s back created bruises in all kinds of places. And with a head injury they were reluctant to prescribe pain meds. Which was just as well, because she had a conversation she needed to continue with Mike Taggart. It was a tossup whether the conversation would turn into a fight or something else. She prayed that her mind hadn’t played tricks on her. She distinctly remembered him saying something about marriage.

  “Mother, Daddy, thanks for staying with me. But I’ve got to go upstairs now.”

  “What?” They spoke in unison.

  “I don’t want to make a scene. So we’re going to be adult about this, okay?
I’m going back into the hospital to visit with Rainbow. I should have been there all day with the rest of the Methodist women praying for her speedy recovery. If I hadn’t been so stubborn about staying away today, perhaps I wouldn’t have gotten hurt. But it wouldn’t be the first time that my stubbornness got me hurt. Only this time, being stubborn almost cost me everything, and I’m not talking about the car accident either. I’m talking about losing Rainbow and Mike. I love them, and I was an idiot to run away from what I feel.”

  She turned and walked, slowly and painfully, back into the hospital. She expected her parents to follow her, but maybe they’d finally gotten the message.

  Because they let her go.

  She limped her way to the information desk and then up to Rainbow’s room. She pushed through the door.

  Mike sat in the bed with the child. Rainbow, sporting a big cast on her leg, leaned her head up against his side as he read to her from a picture book. And when he got to the right place in the story he started to sing in a slightly off-tune baritone, “I love my white shoes, I love my white shoes.”

  Rainbow turned the page for him.

  Charlene let go of a completely sappy sigh because she couldn’t help but feel as if she’d come home. To her family. The one she’d always pictured in her mind.

  “Hey,” she said.

  Mike looked up, a big smile lighting his face. And in the next instant, he was across the room, holding her gently as if she might break.

  Which, actually, was kind of true. She probably should have waited until tomorrow for this. But she’d been waiting for so long.

  He eased back and caressed her cheek. “I’m sorry I yelled at you. I feel so guilty. But I was upset. I thought that truck was going to hit you. I thought I was going to lose you, just when I had come to realize how much I want you in my life.”

  “Just so long as we get one thing clear: Tigger is not a demon cat.”

  “Whatever you say,” he said with a half smile.

  “I don’t imagine Rainbow and I are ever going to turn you into a cat person, are we?”

  “You could try.” He hesitated for a moment, the smile sobering. “Look, doll, I’m not good at love. I haven’t had a lot of practice at it. But a wise woman told me that I should always bet on it. She said it was a sure winner. So here I am.”

  “A wise woman?”

  “I never lied to you about the fact that I spoke with Miriam Randall,” he said softly. “I was trying to get her to bless this stupid idea I had about you and Timmy. And thinking back over that conversation, I guess I heard only the stuff I wanted to hear. But here’s the thing. At the end of that conversation, she told me to bet on love, even if the odds seemed a million to one. She told me I couldn’t lose.”

  “Did she?”

  “Yeah. She was talking about you. I had already decided that you were perfect. And now that I think about my conversation with her, I spent a lot of time telling her how terrific I think you are.”

  Her face heated. “Terrific, huh?”

  “Yeah. Charlene, I love you. Nothing brought that home like standing there this afternoon watching that truck barreling toward you. And I just know that you and me and Rainbow are a match made in heaven. Miriam Randall is a miracle worker.”

  Charlene couldn’t believe it. All these years and Miriam had actually sent her the soulmate she had been looking for. And she’d done it in a sneaky, underhanded way.

  But then, come to think about it, Miriam was sort of like that. She always made her matches work for it, didn’t she?

  “I’ve been waiting my whole life for someone like you. I love you, Mike. I think I fell in love with you that day you rescued the cat from under the bush,” she said as she sank her head against his chest.

  “You’ve been waiting for a guy like me? Screwed up and confused?”

  She laughed. “No. I’ve had lots of guys like that. I’m talking about a guy who put his whole life on hold for a little girl. A guy who put up with a demon cat, just because the little girl needed it. A guy who learned how to braid hair. And who has learned the Pete the Cat song.” She looked up at him. “Amanda told me to go find a guy like that. And finally, I’ve found him. And in the most unlikely of places, right next door.”

  “Are you guys going to get married?” Rainbow said.

  They both turned. “Yes,” they said in unison.

  “So that means I don’t have to move into the perish house?”

  They nodded, and neither one of them corrected her pronunciation.

  “I can keep Tigger?”

  “Yes, you can,” said Mike.

  “And Winkin’, Blinkin’, and Nod, too?”

  “Uh-huh,” said Charlene.

  “And I can still be friends with Ethan?”

  “You’ll both start kindergarten together next fall.”

  Rainbow smiled, and for the first time ever, she looked like a little girl who might one day live up to her name.

  Molly Canaday is a tomboy with a passion for cars—and little time for romance.

  But Simon Wolfe is about to race in and change her priorities.

  Please turn this page for an excerpt from

  Last Chance Knit & Stitch

  Molly hadn’t planned to attend tonight’s meeting of the Last Chance Book Club. She didn’t have anything nice to say about their book selection this time. Besides, she had planned to work on the Shelby.

  But the bank had screwed up that option. And when she got home from work, she found her lazy, no-account brother sleeping on the couch, dirty dishes in the sink, and laundry overflowing the hamper in the bathroom.

  She probably should have gone grocery shopping or tackled the laundry, but that would have ticked her off worse than she already was. So she took a shower, made herself a grilled cheese sandwich with the last remaining piece of American cheese, and headed out for her meeting.

  Thank goodness Savannah White was on refreshment detail this week. She arrived with the most amazingly delicious apple strudel.

  Molly found herself standing around the refreshment table with several club members including Jenny Carpenter, Arlene Whitaker, and Rocky deBracy, the wife of the English baron whose textile machinery plant was single-handedly creating an economic renaissance in Last Chance.

  “Honey,” Rocky said to Savannah as more members of the club trickled through the library doors, “you have to enter this strudel in the pie contest at this year’s Watermelon Festival.”

  Savannah gave Jenny a little smile, as if she knew that Jenny’s string of pie-baking victories was about to come to an ignominious end. “Oh, I don’t know,” she said sweetly. “It’s not my recipe. It’s my granny’s. And I think she already won a few blue ribbons at the festival.”

  Jenny maintained her composure. And why not? Jenny’s pies were as amazing as Savannah’s strudel. Molly was impressed by the baking prowess of both of them. When it was Molly’s time to bring refreshments, she always stopped at the doughnut shop.

  Jane Rhodes waddled in carrying her knitting bag and looking like an over-inflated hot-air balloon. “Hey, honey,” Arlene said, draping an arm around her niece-by-marriage, “when are you going to have that baby?”

  “I don’t know. I’m already three days past my due date, and I’m tired of people looking at me slant-wise and asking me why I’m still here. Like I’m going to disappear once baby Faith is born.” She ran her hand over her baby bump.

  “So you’ve settled on a name?” Rocky asked. The baby in question was going to be Rocky’s niece.

  Jane nodded. “Yeah. But I’m starting to think that she’s holding out until I finish this sweater.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a pink baby sweater that was missing one arm. Jane had been working on this sweater for weeks and weeks.

  She gave Molly a pleading look. “I’m desperate. How do I pick up the stitches around the armhole again? You walked me through it on the first arm, but then I forgot how to do it. And I was going to go ask your mother, but I
saw the notice on the door. Where is your mom?”

  “That’s one of those unanswerable questions,” Molly said. “Apparently she’s gone to see the world. And she didn’t think she needed to take Coach with her.”

  “Well, good for her,” Arlene said. “Don’t get me wrong, Moll. I love your daddy. He’s a great football coach and all, but he’s been ignoring your momma for some time.”

  Molly didn’t respond to this. Because the more she thought about the situation, the more she realized there was blame on both sides. Coach had ignored Momma, but it wasn’t right for Momma to take off without a word and leave everything on Molly’s shoulders. She clamped her mouth shut and took Jane’s knitting into her hands.

  She immediately relaxed. What was it about knitting that always calmed her down? She felt the same way when she was working on a car. Whenever her hands got busy, her brain slowed down, and she could live in the moment.

  She was deep into a knitting lesson when Nita Wills, the town librarian, called the group together. Hettie Marshall Ellis had arrived. Hettie was the CEO of Country Pride Chicken, the second largest employer in Allenberg County. She had also recently eloped with Reverend William Ellis, the pastor of Christ Episcopal.

  No one in town, much less the book club, knew how to deal with this new reality. Hettie was often regarded as the Queen Bee of Last Chance, but that seemed like a very unlikely role for a minister’s wife.

  When everyone had settled down, Nita kicked off the book discussion. “I have a number of questions about our selection this time, but before I start, does anyone have a question of their own?”

  “Yeah,” Molly said. “Why on earth did we pick this book?”

  A titter of laughter met this comment, but Nita wasn’t smiling. “I take it you didn’t like the book.”

  “Nita, the book is over a thousand pages. I got to page two hundred and threw the paperback against the wall. Honestly, this was the most depressing thing I’ve read since The Road. Why do we read these books?”

  “She’s got a point,” Arlene said. “I mean, I’m all for capitalism and freedom and all that, but honestly the author goes on and on about it. And she seems to think that anyone who gives to charity is either misguided or downright evil.”