So, once he’d called the doctor and convinced them that she needed to be seen right away—the man had always been persuasive—she had changed clothes, climbed into the truck, and let him take her to her appointment.
That had been the easy part of the day.
When the doctor had run some tests, then advised her that she had another kidney infection, along with a bladder infection, Lorrie hadn’t batted an eye. When he’d insisted that she go see a specialist and then arranged for her to get in immediately, she’d kept her composure then, too.
And when the new doctor with all the fancy initials after his name had kindly written out a prescription for more antibiotics, she’d accepted that, too.
But when the doctor had said that she needed surgery… Okay, technically it wasn’t surgery, but her brain didn’t seem to be processing that fact. What it was processing was the little bit of panic that had set in as soon as the doctor had explained what would happen.
No, maybe a lot of panic.
And not just her own.
Which explained why her house was full of people.
All of her boys were there, along with their significant others, the grandbabies, as well as a couple of her nephews. Oh, and the dogs. Couldn’t forget them. Not that she minded a house full of people. She’d spent the better part of her life making sure her family stuck together through thick and thin. But when they were all looking at her with concerned eyes and clasped hands, Lorrie would’ve preferred they be at their own houses, cherishing their families and making happy memories rather than sitting in her living room worried about her.
“I could make cookies,” she offered, wishing for something to do other than sit there and wait for the questions to come.
“Mom,” Travis said, his tone slightly chastising. That was Travis. Not only was he her oldest son, he was also—just as she’d predicted he would be—a worrywart like his father.
“It’s gonna be fine,” she told him, glancing around from one set of eyes to the next. “The doctor said it’s not a difficult procedure. They’re gonna go in with a laser to break up the stone.”
“A laser?” Zane asked at the same time Zoey said, “They don’t think it’ll pass on its own?”
“Based on the size of the stone and the location, along with the infection, he said the laser was the best way to go,” she said, glancing down at her hands. She really didn’t think all this talking was necessary.
“The blockage is causing the infection,” Curtis informed them.
Lorrie cast a quick look at her husband, noticing the crease in his forehead. Ever since the doctor had started talking in big words and mentioning general anesthesia, he’d been on edge. They all knew that Curtis portrayed the laid-back country boy as well as anyone, but when it came to her, he worried. A lot. That was one of the many, many reasons she’d fallen in love with him all those years ago.
“Now y’all better turn those frowns upside down,” Lorrie finally said, planting a smile on her face as she got to her feet. “It’s routine. They do this all the time. Who wants cookies?”
Mason and Derrick hopped up and ran toward her as she’d expected, jumping up and down, insisting that they get cookies.
As she turned away, urging the little boys toward the kitchen, Lorrie hoped no one saw the way her hands were shaking. There wasn’t much in the world that scared her—after all, she had raised seven rambunctious boys—but anything related to doctors or hospitals was sure to send her nerves into a tizzy.
“Momma, you really okay?”
Lorrie turned to see her youngest boy standing behind her. Zane had evidently followed her into the kitchen.
“I’m good, honey. I promise.”
Zane nodded, but it didn’t appear as though he believed her.
“Don’t you go gettin’ worried for nothin’,” she told him.
“I’m cool, Momma. Promise.”
“I know you are,” she said, wrapping her arms around him when he reached for her. Although he was twenty-six, towered over her by almost a foot, not to mention married with a baby of his own, Zane would always be her baby boy.
When she took a step back, she put another smile on her lips. The last thing she wanted was for anyone to worry. Everything was going to be fine.
Didn’t mean she wouldn’t be saying a few extra prayers in the coming days.
chapter FORTY-NINE
Once the house cleared out a short time later, Curtis lounged in his recliner, staring blankly at the television screen, smiling to himself as the memory of the first time he’d actually spoken to Lorrie started playing in his head. It was a memory he relived all the time.
He’d known the feisty woman all his life, being that they’d lived in the same small town, gone to the same school, attended the same church… But the day he’d actually met her… That was a day he would never forget. But there had been so many days after that he still relived over and over again. Like the time they’d gotten a dog at Lorrie’s insistence, only to find out she was allergic and couldn’t be around it for long. Travis and Sawyer had not been happy about that. Luckily, Mitch had taken that little pup off their hands.
Or the time when he’d been kicked off one of the horses and Lorrie had thought for sure he’d broken his leg. The instant she’d found out, she’d been livid. Then worried. Then angry all over again. It wasn’t until the doctor had confirmed it was just a sprained ankle that she’d relaxed. Right before giving him hell. He’d had to toss her onto the bed and make love to her just to get her to stop yelling at him.
That memory made him laugh.
He also recalled the births of all his boys. Though they’d suffered a devastating loss with the miscarriage of their first child, and it had taken years before they’d actually gotten pregnant again, they’d finally been blessed with Travis. It had been another emotional time for them both, and it wasn’t until they’d neared the due date that either of them had released the breath they’d seemed to be holding for most of those months.
Then six more kids had followed, even two at the same time.
Although he was seventy, and sometimes he couldn’t remember what he’d done last week, Curtis had never forgotten one single memory of the life he’d shared with Lorrie. Not the important ones, anyway.
And to think it had all started what that first conversation on his mother’s front porch.
“Why’re you here?”
“Because my daddy told me to come over here.”
“To do what?”
Lorrie shrugged.
“So your old man forced you to come over here?”
“Yep.”
“To see one of my sisters?”
“Nope.”
“My mom?”
“Uh-uh.”
“My brother?”
“Wrong again.”
“Then who? Me?”
“Mm-hmm.”
That gutsy little blond-haired, blue eyed girl had come to see him that day though it would take a while before they ever figured out why. Still, he reflected back on that as one of the best days of his life.
Lorrie Jameson had come to his house that sunny October day, unwilling to tell him why she was there, and still she’d managed to suck him right into her orbit. And that was the day his entire life had changed.
After everyone left and the kitchen was once again clean, while Curtis sat in the living room watching television, Lorrie disappeared into her bedroom as she did every night. It was her quiet time; the few minutes every day that she took just for herself. A time to reflect.
Going into her walk-in closet, Lorrie grabbed the small diary and the pen beside it from her shelf, then started to carry it back into their bedroom but stopped. Glancing at one of the white banker’s boxes on the floor, Lorrie leaned down and lifted the lid, pulling out the oldest book inside, then carried both back to her bedroom and took a seat at her little desk. She settled in with her diaries, trying to gather her thoughts.
The one on the right
was worn and tattered from age. Its blue cover had been scribbled on time and time again with doodles by a teenage girl who had just started experiencing life at fourteen years old. The other, new and crisp, with a fancy leather binding, had been a Christmas gift from Curtis last year. Inside, it held the musings of a much older, much wiser woman.
The only person who knew Lorrie had been keeping diaries for the majority of her life was her husband. Not even her children were aware that every single day since she was fourteen years old, Lorrie had taken the time to jot down her thoughts. In fact, it had been the very day that she had gone over to Curtis’s house and talked to him for the first time that she’d decided to start writing. Sometimes a paragraph, sometimes several pages, depending on the events that had taken place. And over the course of fifty-three years, there were a lot of words written in dozens and dozens of books. All of them kept in those boxes in her closet.
As she sat there, trying not to think about her visit to the doctor or the impending procedure scheduled for Friday, Lorrie carefully opened the first diary she’d ever written in. It wasn’t anything fancy, because they’d had no money back then. Daddy had made just enough to pay the bills; Momma had stayed home to take care of the kids. If she recalled correctly, Owen hadn’t even been born yet. According to Daddy, there had always been too many mouths to feed, so Lorrie had never asked for anything extra. Instead, she’d taken one of her schoolbooks without them knowing. Just a simple notebook with lined paper. And it had worked just as she’d needed it to.
Using her index finger to guide her, Lorrie started reading the first page.
Sunday, October 7, 1962
I can’t believe Daddy made me go over to the Walkers’ place today. On my way over there, I hoped that no one would be home and I could come back and tell him so. I didn’t get that lucky.
Continuing to stare down at the page, Lorrie reflected back on that day, the rest of her worries disappearing for a few brief moments. Her life had been an emotional roller coaster, a ride she had never wanted to get off of. No one ever knew what the next day would bring, but it had all brought her to where she was now.
The bedroom door opened, and Lorrie looked up to see Curtis standing there, watching her with those same intriguing blue-gray eyes she’d fallen in love with all those years ago.
“You writin’ in your book?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Okay, then. I’m gonna take a shower.”
Lorrie nodded, watching as he made his way into the bathroom. Her thoughts drifted back to that day more than fifty years ago, and she couldn’t help but smile. Five decades later and that man still made her girl parts sing.
Grinning, Lorrie picked up her pen and her current diary and began to write.
March 15, 2016
Blessed. That’s how I’m feeling today.
Although things aren’t exactly perfect at the moment—my health is a little rocky, I think—I feel incredibly blessed. It is during times like these when I see how important family is. We’ve stuck together through thick and thin, and I’m incredibly grateful.
My boys have grown into such fine men, now all with families of their own, lives blossoming and a full road ahead of them. Watching them grow up has been one of the greatest gifts I could’ve ever received. And I have their father to thank for such a beautiful life.
If someone were to ask me if I could go back in time and change anything, I can honestly say that I wouldn’t. Every decision I’ve ever made has led me to here. Right where I am today. A life full of love and laughter and hope. And I’ve had the greatest man at my side along the way. No one can ask for more than that.
chapter FIFTY
Friday morning, March 18
Curtis had been pacing the halls, his boots clomping on the tiled floor, his head snapping up anytime a person walked by him or a nurse moved behind the nurse’s station desk. He knew he was irritating everyone who worked there, but he truly didn’t give a shit.
He was waiting for his wife.
To get out of surgery. Or procedure, or whatever the hell they wanted to call it.
He absently rubbed his chest as he continued pacing. If they didn’t like it, then they damn well better get over him walking back and forth because he had no intention of stopping until they told him he could go see her.
“Mr. Walker?”
Curtis spun around so fast his seventy-year-old body could hardly keep up with his momentum, but he managed to put a hand on the wall to keep from falling over. “Yes?”
“There’re some people in the waiting room. They’re asking for you.”
Curtis glanced down the hall, then back to the nurse.
“I promise, Mr. Walker. The second I get the word that she’s being moved to recovery, I’ll run right out there and get you.”
He nodded, trusting the young woman’s kind eyes. He did need to go out and talk to the kids, let them know that so far everything seemed to be going fine. It wasn’t a long procedure, but every second that passed was like a decade to him.
Pushing open the doors, Curtis stepped into the brightly lit waiting area, finding Sawyer, Travis, Kaleb, Ethan, Brendon, Braydon, and Zane all staring back at him. All of his boys, standing shoulder to shoulder, watching him intently.
“We told y’all you didn’t need to come,” he said quickly.
Travis frowned, as he’d expected him to. Didn’t matter how simple they’d explained the process to be, his boys still worried.
“How is she?” Sawyer asked.
Curtis planted a smile on his face. “So far, everything’s goin’ as planned. She should be out any minute.”
“You need anything, Pop?” Brendon asked.
Yes, he needed his wife to smile back at him and tell him that she was fine and dandy and all this worrying he’d been doing was a great big waste of time. But he didn’t tell the boys that. “I’m good, son.” Curtis glanced around. “Anyone else here?”
Travis shook his head. “They all wanted to come, but we figured seven of us was enough.” He grimaced. “Since you told us not to come and all.”
Curtis chuckled. “Smartass.”
But yes, seven was probably enough. Especially when those seven were intimidating men all standing at least six foot four inches tall. It wasn’t often that all his boys were out in public together, other than in town, but when they were … it sometimes made people nervous.
Kaleb thrust his hands into his pockets. “Zoey’s over at your house, cleaning up and changing sheets.”
Lord. Sometimes Curtis wasn’t sure what he’d do without his family. The last thing on his mind had been worrying about getting the house in shape for Lorrie to come home. It was a day surgery, they’d told him. Which meant, provided everything went as planned, she would be spending the night at home just as she had last night. Thank God.
“Mr. Walker?”
Curtis turned around again, finding the same kind-eyed nurse holding open the waiting room door. “Yes?”
“They’re bringing her out now. I’ll take you back.”
“Go, Pop,” Ethan ordered. “We’ll be out here. When they say we can go back, we will.”
Curtis nodded, then hurried after the nurse, following her down the long hallway. He tried to ignore the overwhelming smell of antiseptic, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other.
“She’s still groggy from the anesthesia, but everything went as expected. I’ll let the doctor fill you in.”
When they finally turned the last corner and Curtis saw Lorrie lying on a bed, her eyes closed, her chest softly rising and falling, he released the breath he’d been holding. The one that had lodged in his chest the second they’d wheeled her out of his sight.
Without waiting for permission, Curtis hurried around to the side of the bed and put his hand over Lorrie’s. Her pale skin was a stark contrast to his much darker hand, and her dainty fingers slid beneath his perfectly, just as they always had.
“Hey, honey,” he whisper
ed, leaning over and kissing her forehead.
He wasn’t sure she could hear him, so he didn’t say more, simply content to watch her, knowing she was all right.
Someone cleared their throat, and Curtis looked up to see the doctor standing there.
“How’d she do?” Curtis prompted.
“She did great. We were able to go in and dissolve the stone, extracting the pieces we could. The tiny pieces will wash out of the kidney on their own. We did put a stent in place to help the kidney drain. This is temporary, and we’ll remove it when she comes for her follow-up visit in two weeks. We’ve inserted a Foley catheter to collect the urine.”
“Stent?” Curtis frowned. He recalled hearing something about that, but for the life of him, he couldn’t remember.
“Yes. She’ll come back to my office in a couple of weeks to have those removed. Basic procedure, nothing to worry about. She just needs to keep taking the antibiotics and drink a lot of fluids.”
Still holding Lorrie’s hand, he felt her squeeze, and he turned to look at her. She was smiling up at him, and that was when the tight band around his heart released. For a second, he felt a little light-headed.
“Hey, darlin’. Doc says you did great.”
“Was there ever any doubt?” Lorrie teased, her soft voice rough. “I’m a strong woman. I’ve put up with you all my life, haven’t I?”
Her joke made him laugh and he suspected that was her intention.
The doctor went on to explain everything again so that Lorrie would understand. A few minutes later, when he finally left them alone, and after a nurse came in to check her vitals, Curtis sat down in the chair and fought the urge to cry. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d cried, but the relief he felt was so damn overwhelming he could hardly contain it.
“I’m okay,” Lorrie whispered, sliding her hand over the top of his.
“I know, baby. I know.” Using his other hand, he brushed her hair off her face. “I love you.”
That beautiful smile beamed back at him when she said, “I love you, too.” And once again, all was right in his world.
Curtis (Coyote Ridge) (Volume 1) Page 24
