by Lynne Gentry
“She’s too good to be wastin’ her talents on the likes of us,” Nola Gay agreed. “Sister and I have always known this dusty little town had nothin’ to offer a girl with her kind of dreams. Leona did everything she could to rein that girl in, but it was only a matter of time until she broke loose. Maddie Harper was born for bigger and better things.” She lifted her thick glasses toward Parker. “Better than any of us.”
Her pat on his knee cut the rope on the wild horse he’d wasted years wishing he could tame.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Maddie had just finished getting Etta May settled in the ICU when Dr. Boyer sent her a text that he’d be out shortly to talk to her family. The adrenaline rush that had successfully diverted her guilt at what had happened to Etta May plunged. Maddie’s knees went weak. What might have happened to this dear old woman if the twins hadn’t insisted on being in the middle of everything? Momma’s accident, Parker’s kiss, the CDC’s job offer had been distractions, but that did not excuse her lack of attention to her patient. She’d totally dropped the ball on Etta May’s follow-up.
Maddie updated the chart and turned to leave.
Nola Gay stuck her head in the room. “How’s my sister?”
“Let me come to you.” Maddie stepped into the hall. Parker and Isabella flanked Nola Gay with a supportive grasp. Parker returned her appreciative smile with a rueful nod she didn’t understand. She gently took Nola Gay aside. “Etta May’s suffered a blood clot to her lung, but she’s a tough one.”
“Thank you for being here, child.” Nola Gay wiped a tear from her cheek. “I think the Lord sent you home just for me and Sister.”
Maddie shook her head. “I failed her, Nola Gay. I should have insisted Etta May have that filter installed when the blood thinners weren’t getting the job done.”
“She didn’t want surgery.”
“But as her doctor, I should have—”
“No one can make Etta May do a darn thing she don’t want to do. She may seem all sweet, but she’s tougher than an old dill pickle.” Nola Gay’s arthritic hand cupped Maddie’s cheek with grace she did not deserve, did not often to others. “We all take risks. Sometimes they work out, and sometimes they don’t. But me and Sister are livin’ proof that stayin’ safe is a surefire guarantee of a very boring life.”
Humbled by Nola Gay’s easy forgiveness, Maddie realized she had some forgiving of her own to do. “You’re two of the least boring people I’ve ever met.”
“Well, imagine how excitin’ we might have been if we’d married and had children. Our children might have been embarrassed by our antics, but our grandchildren would have loved us.”
Maddie laughed. “That’s for certain.”
“Life’s too short not to forgive yourself for today’s mistakes and risk it all for tomorrow’s happiness, child.”
“Thank you, Nola Gay.” Maddie kissed her cheek, but her gaze was on the handsome cowboy and the beautiful little girl asking to go to Momma. “I think the Lord brought me home to hear that very piece of wisdom.” She pecked Parker on the lips and asked him to wait while she situated Nola Gay in the chair beside Etta May’s bed. Before she left the twins, she promised, “I’ll come back the minute we have information on Momma. You need anything?”
“Go. We don’t want you to miss a word of what that city slicker has to say,” Etta May said weakly.
“You’re good at this, Maddie.” Parker said as they hurried back to the waiting area. “Real good.”
His sincere praise, although tinged with a touch of melancholy, was better than an adrenaline rush. “Thanks.” Maddie swallowed and looked at her watch. They had less than five hours together...unless...
Unless she didn’t go.
The idea, strangely enough, wasn’t a door slamming on her dreams. It was a window opening to a whole new way of thinking. She was good at what she’d trained to do. She wanted to use those talents. Choosing Parker didn’t mean she wouldn’t, she would just use them in a different way. She didn’t know how that would look. All she knew for sure was that she could no longer ignore the Holy Spirit’s nudging to take a very drastic turn. Whether her mother lived or died, she was destined to make her life wherever Parker Kemp made his.
She couldn’t wait to tell Parker, but she didn’t want to do it in the middle of a hospital. She wanted one last privacy. The joy of seeing his face when she told him she was going to kiss him for the rest of his life belonged only to her.
They rushed to the waiting area, where the people who’d loved her and her family for years congratulated her on saving Etta May.
“She’s brilliant. A blessing to the medical community.” Once again Parker’s praise was a mixture of pride and resignation.
The pride she loved. The resignation she intended to blot out. But just as she was about to approach him with an invitation to find a private corner, he set Isabella down and let her run to his mother, who’d joined the growing crowd.
“Are we too late?” Maddie’s grandmother rushed through the sliding glass doors.
“Cotton!” Maddie ran to the door and threw her arms around the white-haired church janitor who’d swept her grandmother off her feet. “Grandmother!” She fell into her grandmother’s embrace.
David joined in the welcome and between the two of them, they quickly updated their grandparents on the details of Momma’s wreck, the internal bleed, the risks of surgery, and Etta May’s pulmonary embolism.
“This town may be small,” Grandmother said, “but it is never dull.” She kissed Maddie’s cheek. “I’m glad you were here, dear.”
“We all are.” David patted the empty chair beside him. “You got time to take a load off, little sis?”
Maddie smiled. “I do.”
David squeezed her knee and whispered so only Maddie could hear, “The sick of this world are going to be lucky to have you.”
Parker deserved to be the first to hear of her change of heart. And then Momma. For now, she would let David think she was going. “As the lost of this town are to have you, big bro.”
Dr. Boyer came through the swinging doors. When he lowered his mask, Maddie had never been so relieved to see his cocky smile. “Leona did well in surgery. We located the bleed and managed to seal it.”
“Only one?” Maddie asked.
“Only one.” Dr. Boyer assured her. “I’m expecting nothing less than a full recovery.”
Cheers went up and the desk nurse gave everyone a shushed warning. Maddie and David snatched a quick hug. Then David turned to his wife and Maddie threw herself into Parker’s arms. He spun her around. When he set her down, he said, “Go see your Momma. I’ll take you back to your car when you’re ready. No hurry.”
“I hate to make you wait. I know Isabella has had enough of the hospital.”
“She can go home with Mom.”
“All right.” Maddie couldn’t wait to remove that sadness from his eyes. “Give me a few minutes.”
Maddie and David accompanied Saul to one of three recovery bays. Momma was attached to tubes and monitors. She was groggy but her coloring was much improved. She asked again about the status of her pot pie and they all laughed.
“She’s back,” David said.
“Thank God.” Saul gently lifted Momma’s cast-free arm and kissed her hand.
A dopey grin slid across Momma’s mouth. “You can’t get rid of me that easily, Saul Levy.”
“Then I’m the most blessed man alive.” He kissed her hand again.
A lump formed in Maddie’s throat. Being loved and loving someone back was worth the risk. And it was what she wanted more than anything, even being an epidemiologist with the CDC. “Momma, I’ve got to check on Etta May and then—”
David shook his head, his wide eyes warning her to stop. “We’re all going to let you and Saul have a minute. Right, Maddie?”
“Sure,” Maddie agreed. “You rest, Momma.”
Outside Momma’s room, David led Maddie away from the door. “I’l
l tell her you had to catch a plane once she’s a little stronger.” He pulled Maddie into a big hug. “Go save the world, little sis.”
She couldn’t contain the joy bubbling inside of her. Momma was going to be fine, and she was going to tell Parker she was staying. She’d update David later, but for now, she had to find the man she intended to spend the rest of her life adoring.
After a quick duck into a restroom to splash water on her face and fluff her hair, Maddie hurried to the parking lot.
She found Parker waiting at his truck. She ran to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Miss me?”
“Always.” He peeled her loose without a kiss and opened the passenger door. His sober resignation stung. She’d give him a chance to make it up to her when she had him alone. She put a booted foot on the door frame and started to hoist herself in, then stopped.
The car seat and Isabella were both missing.
“Where’s Isabella?”
“Mom’s taking her to see Dad for a few hours.”
Disappointed she wouldn’t have an excuse to squeeze in beside the adorable geek turned irresistible hunk, Maddie climbed into the passenger seat. Parker closed her door. Drinking in the faint odor of Aqua Velva, she watched him stride around the truck’s front bumper. He seemed tired, or sad, or both. The day had been long and he was still recovering, but something wasn’t right. She hoped the serious look on his face had everything to do her fighting cholera in Yemen.
When he opened the driver’s side door, she waved a hand over the pristine leather. “I was so upset about Momma I didn’t notice your clean truck. What happened to all the almanacs, fertilizer sacks, and Spanish dictionaries that used to litter your floor?” She teased.
“Decided the best way to keep up with Isabella was to get my act together.” He climbed behind the wheel. “Don’t look so skeptical. People can change, you know.”
Despite niggling worry, she couldn’t help the grin spreading across her face. “I do.”
If he’d caught her meaning, it didn’t register on his face. She didn’t blame him. He believed she was leaving him...again. Once they arrived at his ranch, she intended to wrap her arms around his neck and tell him death would be the only thing that could separate them. Then she’d hold on to what she wanted for the rest of her life.
But on second glance, she couldn’t stand the hurt in his eyes any longer. “Parker, I—”
He cut her off. “I can drive you to the airport if you want to leave your car in Texas until you get back in the States.”
Enough with the long-suffering attitude. Why didn’t he put his foot down and beg her to stay? “How would I get my car to Atlanta?”
“Maybe your mom and Saul will feel up to bringing it to you in a few months.”
“A few months?”
“No one cures cholera overnight.” He cut a pointed glare her way. “Not even you.”
“You wouldn’t bring my car to me?” She reached over and laid her hand on his leg. “If I asked real nice.” She felt him flinch beneath her touch.
“Maddie...” He started to say something, but his bobbing Adam’s apple cut off his words.
He was nervous. He’d been physically clumsy around her before, but she’d never seen him afraid to talk to her. To tell her what he was really thinking. Was he going to ask her to marry him? Was that the reason for the change in his demeanor? Was his reluctance tied to his belief she was leaving? Couldn’t he see from the way she looked at him that she couldn’t wait to say yes?
Yes, I’ll marry you, Parker Kemp.
Heart swelling two sizes in anticipation of him slamming on the brakes and pulling her into his arms at the happy news, she managed, “Parker?” Her fingers pressed above his knee. “What is it? Tell me.”
He swallowed again. “While you were taking care of me, I loved watching you work. It was a thing of beauty to see you move so comfortably in your world.” His chocolate eyes were watery. “You can spot a medical problem as easily as I can spot a corn weevil.”
“That’s romantic.”
“Hear me out, please.” He turned his gaze back to the road. “I’m gifted with agriculture. You’re gifted at healing. We’re both too gifted to waste our God-given talents.”
“I don’t plan to waste mine. Do you?”
“You would if you stayed in Mt. Hope because of me.”
“Are you staying in Mt. Hope?”
“This isn’t about me or what I do or do not do for Isabella’s sake.” His knuckles whitened on the steering wheel. “I think you should go to Yemen without any ties.”
She released her hold on him. “Oh you do, do you?”
“I do.”
“What if I was to tell you I’m not going?”
His head jerked toward hers and the truck headed for the ditch.
“Parker!” she yelled.
He quickly corrected before a single tire left the road. “You’ve got to go.”
“No, I don’t.”
“But—”
“There were two perfectly qualified candidates in the running with me. I’m sure either one of them will be happy to jump in and take my place.”
“You’re scared right now, Maddie. Your mom almost died. Your favorite patient almost died. And you’re worried I might relapse. Those aren’t good reasons to change your plans.”
“So you think I would be happier if I walked away from everyone I love?”
“Dr. Boyer expects your mother to make a full recovery. Etta May’s on the upswing, and—”
“They’re not the reason I’m staying.”
He shook his head and pressed the gas. “I can only concentrate on one thing at a time and I need to concentrate on raising my daughter.” He was driving faster, like he couldn’t wait to have her out of his car.
“This isn’t a Bible quiz where you have to get all the answers right, Parker. We can—”
“We can’t.”
“I thought you loved me.”
“That’s why I’m letting you go.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Maddie fluffed the pillows propping her mother’s back. “That better?”
Momma eyed her over her reading glasses. “About as fluffy as they were five minutes ago.”
Maddie searched the room she’d tidied twice today already. “Need anything?”
Her mother removed her glasses. “There is one thing you can do for me.”
“Sure.” She’d already cleaned up from lunch and done two loads of laundry. If she had to put Romeo through his obedience paces one more time she was going to go out of her mind. “What is it?”
“Quit hiding out and get on with your life.”
“Momma, you’re still recovering.”
“It’s been two weeks since Dr. Boyer released me from the hospital.”
“He said you should take it slow.”
“Slow, not immobile. You’ve waited on me hand and foot. If I need anything, I have Saul.” Her eyes cut to the open French doors that overlooked the dock where Saul sat twiddling his thumbs. “It’s not good for a man to feel useless.”
“He took care of one dying woman and—”
“Which makes him more than capable of taking care of me. And for the record, I’m banged up...not dying.”
“Are you throwing me out?”
“How far could you go? You sold your car.”
“Cotton left the keys to his truck. Said I was welcome to it while he and Grandmother were off on their European riverboat cruise.”
Momma put her book and glasses on the nightstand. She patted the bed and Maddie obediently sat beside her. “Are you sure you can’t get that job back at the CDC?”
“I don’t want it.” Not that she didn’t care about the suffering in Yemen. She did. She just couldn’t quit thinking about the suffering in Guatemala, especially if Parker made some crazy decision to never go back there.
Momma studied her intently. “Did I ever tell you that I almost didn’t marry your father?�
�
The pain meds must have loosened her mother’s tongue. “No.”
“Your father and I were so different. I was a serious journalism major with plans to spend my life writing. Your father was loud. Charismatic. Incredibly sure of himself...except when he wasn’t.” Momma swallowed hard. “I loved that man so much it hurt. But I didn’t see how we could possibly work out our differences. I just knew I’d regret it the rest of my life if we didn’t try. So I agreed to elope. Some days were easier than others. Church work took a toll on your father. He’d disappear for hours. It wasn’t until I married Saul that I learned your father hid out at this very lake.” She shook her head sadly. “Our whole marriage, I’d believed J.D.’s struggles were my fault. To compensate for my failings, I demanded perfection from you and your brother. Not because you weren’t already perfect in my eyes, but to protect you from any negative critiques.” A tear slid over her bruised cheek. “How foolish. Your father didn’t need perfect children any more than he needed a perfect wife. He just needed us.”
“Momma—”
Her mother held up her casted hand. “When you’re young, the days are long. But as you grow older, you realize the years are short.” She raised her eyes to meet Maddie’s. “Too many years have gotten away from you and me, sweetheart. God has given us a chance to claim the remaining days.”
Maddie snagged an anxious breath. “I’m listening.”
“I was so determined to be nothing like my mother, that I went as far as I could on the opposite end of the spectrum.” Her voice broke. “I understand your desire to swing the pendulum the other way.”
The idea that she’d behaved exactly like her mother had once done came as a shock. But it was true.
Everything Maddie had done, including her brief relationship with an Olympic half-pipe snowboarder and her refusal to go to church, had been to prove she was nothing like Leona Harper.
If Momma noticed how this honest peek in the mirror had both humbled and horrified her, Momma didn’t let it keep her from what she was determined to say. “When you started needing some space, as all girls eventually do, I panicked. I held you under my thumb.”
