Donuts and Detours

by Baganz, Susan M. ;

  “Hey, Bethany Joelle.”

  “Hi, Titus. Did you get any sleep last night?”

  “Some, but not enough. I had a few calls. How’s Adele?”

  “She had more than one stroke. The first took her down, but she was there for a while. The doctor said it’s amazing she’s alive.”

  “Prognosis?”

  “Not good. The tests showed she’s had several tiny ones over the last few months.”

  “What’s your next step?”

  “I need to call the attorney and find out what these papers really mean. And I want to be here tonight. She doesn’t want me calling her family or friends, but I don’t think she should be alone.”

  “So you won’t be coming to the garage?”

  “No. Sorry.”

  “I understand. Make sure you take care of yourself though too. Call Skye.”

  “Why?”

  “Because she’s a friend. Friends share the good and the bad.”

  Bethany sighed. “I’m not used to having friends.”

  “I know. You’ve been alone for so long. But you’re not anymore. Reach out and let people help you.”

  “OK. Lawyer first.”

  “Fine. I’ll be praying.”

  “Thanks. Have a good night, Titus.”

  “You too.”

  Bethany dialed the lawyer and made an appointment for the next day. She called Skye. “Hey, Skye.”

  “Oh, I’m so glad you called. How was your time with your family?”

  “They aren’t really my ‘family.’”

  “But they want to be.”

  “Yes, and it was wonderful.”

  “I hear a ‘but’ in there.”

  “But I came home and found my landlady suffered a stroke. She’s in the hospital.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “Me, too. She’s been like a grandmother to me. Or at least what I would consider a grandma to be. I’ve lived with her for years and helped her out around her home. We’ve made a good team. But it doesn’t look good.”

  “Wow. Anything I can do?”

  “Pray for us.”

  “Absolutely. Can you call her pastor?”

  “She doesn’t want any visitors. She seems OK with me being there. I’m her power of attorney. I know nothing about the decisions I might need to make.”

  “What an honor. She trusts you. Lean on God and you’ll be fine.”

  “I hope so. I’m afraid I’ll make a wrong decision and kill her.”

  “God has power over life and death. Listen to the doctors. They’ll help you.”

  “I don’t have much experience with the medical stuff. It’s like a foreign language.”

  “Ask them to break it down in simpler terms.”

  “OK.”

  “Keep me informed, OK? And if you need a place to crash, if you don’t feel safe at the house by yourself, you are welcome here. Or for dinner, anytime.”

  “I appreciate that. Thank you.”Bethany hung up and tipped her head back against the cushioned chair. “Lord, I don’t think I’m ready for any of this. Help me.”

  ~*~

  The next day she walked into Harrington and Associates law firm to meet with Roberto Rodriguez. She felt out of her element walking into this posh building. The receptionist escorted her to a nice office and let her inside.

  “Mr. Rodriguez, Ms. Hanson is here.”

  “Thank you.”

  The door closed and a tall dark-haired man with blue eyes smiled at her as he stood. “Come in and have a seat.”

  Bethany sat in a leather chair across from a shiny wooden desk with neatly stacked piles.

  “You came to see me about Adele McElroy?”

  “Yes. I found her power of attorney papers in the file she asked me to grab if anything happened to her. She had a stroke Monday and is in the hospital. She can’t talk right now, and they are doing more tests to see how severe the damage is.”

  “OK, let’s see if I can make it clearer to you what all these papers mean…”

  ~*~

  Bethany’s head spun after meeting with the lawyer. Mr. Rodriguez was a kind man and patient as he answered her questions. Adele spelled everything out clearly in the paperwork. It stunned Bethany that the older woman trusted her so implicitly, but not her family.

  The doctors were clear and not too encouraging about Adele’s future. Bethany spent every afternoon for the next week sitting beside the woman and reading to her from her Bible. She asked several times if she could call friends or family, but the older woman would become agitated, her heart rate would race, and a garbled “no” would be painstakingly spoken.

  Adele slept more and more and began refusing the food the nurses would try to feed her. Even for Bethany, feeding was frustrating. Day after day she worked and spent time at the hospital and returned home to a dark house, empty of life in Adele’s absence.

  ~*~

  Two weeks passed.

  Titus missed Bethany. She’d asked him not to come to the hospital and since she was only there, at work, or home sleeping, there was no time for him to be with her. Was she taking care of herself? He had gone to the house the past two Saturdays and cut the lawn before heading to the garage. He even went through the garden and pulled out the veggies that needed harvesting and left them on the back table for Bethany to find. He left her cards too, telling her how he missed her and to please call him. The few times she did, exhaustion weighed her words and the conversations were short.

  He was eager to worship with her this morning as she’d promised to come. She’d agreed to go to lunch with him.

  Bethany walked into church.

  He swallowed hard. Her khaki slacks were baggy. Her shirt hung loose, and she wore a long-sleeved fleece shirt over it. Her hair was scraggly, shoulders hunched. This was a woman worn out. She spied him and gave him a half-smile as she headed his way, hands in her pockets, a hobo bag slung over one shoulder.

  “Hey, Titus. It’s good to see you.”

  “Bethany Joelle, you’ve lost weight.”

  She shrugged.

  “You really didn’t have it to lose. Have you been eating? Sleeping?”

  “Is this your tactless way of saying I look like crap?” She frowned. Her voice was barely above a whisper.

  “I’m sorry, it’s just—. Never mind. Let’s go in.”

  “Maybe this was a mistake. I should go…”

  “Bethany Joelle.”

  Titus and Bethany turned.

  Skye came towards them. She put hands on Bethany’s shoulders. “Girl, you need some good old-fashioned rest and relaxation. Obviously, Adele was the one who was keeping you together and now look at you.”

  “I should leave.” Bethany stepped back.

  “Oh, no you don’t. Jesus takes us just as we are and you are coming into worship with Ty and me.” She grabbed hold of one arm and nodded to Titus to take the other.

  He opted to put a hand on the small of her back.

  They led her into the sanctuary for worship.

  Bethany sat between them but didn’t sing.

  As Andrew preached on the gathering of the faithful in Hebrews, Titus prayed for the woman sitting next to him. At one point, she was so still he had to check to make sure she hadn’t fallen asleep.

  The service ended and they stood to exit with Bethany sandwiched between Titus and Skye. He grabbed her hand as they entered the aisle and gave it a squeeze which she did not return. When they got to the lobby, Skye stopped them.

  “Listen, I’m guessing you guys have a date planned and from what you’ve told me, Bethany Joelle, you’ve not seen this man in almost two weeks. Doesn’t look as though you’ve seen much of your pillow or a good meal either. Why don’t you come over to our house this afternoon? You can eat together by yourselves or join us. I’m not picky. Bethany needs time away from the hospital and that big empty house.”

  Titus glanced over to Bethany. “What do you want?”

  “That’s fine I g
uess.”

  Titus smiled at Skye. “How about this. Bethany will go home and I’ll run to get Cooper and join her there. I need to check the garden anyway. After that, I’ll bring her over to your house.”

  Skye’s face lit up with a bright smile. “Great! I’ll see you later. Call if anything comes up.”

  “We will.”

  Skye rushed off to pick up her kids from the children’s ministry program.

  “Are you up for driving home?” Titus asked.

  “Yeah. I can make it. I’ll see you at my place in a little bit.” Bethany sounded tired.

  “You have some news to share about Adele?”

  “Yeah. Lots of it. I still don’t know how to process it all.”

  “We’ll talk. I’d be glad to be a sounding board for you.”

  “OK. Thanks.” Bethany released his hand and strode to the door.

  Ty frowned. He rushed home to get Cooper who was more than ready for an adventure. The dog missed Bethany Joelle as well.

  ~*~

  Bethany came home and slipped into comfy jeans and canvas shoes. She couldn’t find a belt, so she used safety pins to make the waistband on the pants smaller. She put on a long-sleeved t-shirt and braided her hair.

  She called the hospital to check on Adele.

  The crunch of gravel followed by the happy bark of a dog took her outside. Autumn had come and while some days had been quite warm, today was cooler.

  She grabbed a hoodie on her way out.

  “Hey, Bethany Joelle.” Titus drew her into a hug and kissed the top of her head.

  She melted into him. She had been able to survive without loving touches. But now, she longed to be wrapped in Ty’s embrace forever. Too bad marriage wasn’t in her future. This would be the man she’d choose. “Hey, yourself.”

  He pulled her to the wicker loveseat.

  Cooper leapt into her lap to smother her in wet kisses.

  “So, what’s going on?”

  Beth gulped and let out a heavy sigh. “When Adele fell a few weeks ago from her stroke, she hit her head. She has a subdural hematoma. They would normally operate but they don’t know…”

  “When do you need to decide?”

  “I already gave them permission.”

  “Do you want to go to the hospital?”

  “No point. She rarely awakens, and I wonder if she even recognizes me anymore.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Thanks for mowing the lawn and picking the vegetables. Yesterday I canned a ton of tomatoes and froze some other vegetables. Adele has a huge freezer in the basement.”

  “I’m sure she’ll appreciate it.”

  “She might never know. I doubt she’ll return home. She made me power of attorney over her finances and executor of her estate when she dies. She was smart. There’ll be no probate with how she set it all up. I had no clue I meant that much to her.”

  “Does that mean you’ll have to move out if she doesn’t come home?”

  “No. I can stay here as long as I want to according to the paperwork. And no rent.”

  “Well, that’s good, isn’t it?”

  “I suppose. It’s weird being alone out here. I can understand why Adele wanted a tenant, even though I wasn’t around much.”

  “You took good care of her. Mowing the lawn, shoveling snow…”

  “Raking leaves, maintaining her car, minor repairs around the house.”

  “Sometimes I wish you weren’t so independent.”

  “Why?”

  “You make a man feel useless given your ability to take care of yourself.”

  “I’m sorry. I don’t know any other way to be. No one has been there for me for a long time.”

  “I get that. But don’t be afraid to ask for help. By the way, the guys and I have a surprise for you.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Come here.” He led her to the back of his truck, lifted the cover to the back and let down the door. He reached for a big, lime-green scooter, and placed it on the ground.

  “That’s not mine. Mine wasn’t this color and had some dents. This looks new.”

  “It is. The guys at the garage all pitched in and shopped around and decided to get you a brand new one. And in your favorite color too.”

  “You didn’t need to do that.”

  “I know we didn’t, but we wanted to. We care about you. The guys ask about you and have been praying for you and Adele. It’s kind of a new thing now that we’ve been gathering to pray together at six o’clock every work night.”

  “That’s cool. You’re a great leader, Ty. Don’t ever doubt it. And thank you. Thank them for me too. She’s beautiful.” Bethany worked hard not to choke up.

  “It’s charged up, want to take her for a spin?”

  “Maybe later. Let’s get her into the garage. We should get to Skye’s. Help me put some of the vegetables together to take with us.”

  “Done.” He pushed the scooter to the garage.

  She grabbed his hand after he emerged and closed the garage door. “What did I ever do to deserve a great guy like you in my life?”

  “Nothing. And I ask myself the same question.”

  “You wonder what you did to deserve yourself?” She giggled.

  “Silly girl. No, what did I do to get the privilege of being in your life? I’ve missed you, Bethany Joelle.”

  “I’ve missed you too.” She reached up and planted a kiss on his lips. “I know. I know. No kisses, but you deserved it.”

  “I’m not opposed to kisses at all, especially not yours. I just want to be careful we don’t get in trouble.” He drew her close and his lips met hers in a lingering embrace.

  She rested against him and sighed. “Right now, I’m content. Even with the rest of my life in turmoil, with you I—”

  “—me, too.” He stepped back. “Let’s get those veggies together and get out of here. Skye is too perceptive by half.”

  “And you’re embarrassed she’ll think we’ve been making out?”

  His face turned a delightful shade of pink, even under the beard. “Yeah.”

  “Silly man. Of course, she’ll think that whether we do or don’t.”

  He shook his head and grinned. “We’d better go.”

  Cooper barked his affirmation of their plan.

  19

  Friends show themselves in times of trouble, not in happiness.

  Euripides

  Titus carried the bag of canned tomatoes, ears of corn, and some squash as they walked up to the door at Skye and Dan’s home.

  Bethany revived after seeing the scooter and he was glad he presented it to her alone.

  Skye met them with her usual exuberance. He could understand how she could be a great Zumba instructor. He doubted she was capable of saying anything that would discourage a participant.

  “Bethany Joelle wanted me to bring this for you.” He unloaded the bag.

  “Adele’s garden has been too much for me to keep up with everything,” Bethany added.

  “This corn is wonderful. Let’s soak it and put it on the grill after the bratwurst is done.”

  “Mom! Can Cooper come out to play?”

  Titus went to the patio door and let the dog out. “I think he’d like that.”

  Skye giggled. “Didn’t realize you’d been promoted to ‘mom.’”

  “He’s been watching over me like a mother hen. Does that count?” Bethany said as she squeezed his hand.

  “How can that be true? I haven’t seen you in two weeks.”

  “You’ve mowed the lawn, taken care of the garden, and you’ve touched base with me at least every other day. Skye, he even left a sweet card under my wipers one day.”

  “I wouldn’t call that being a ‘mother hen’ if I were you. I’d call that being an attentive boyfriend. Nice job, Ty.”

  His face grew warm. “Maybe I should go outside to see how the kids are doing.”

  Bethany held him fast. “You haven’t spent time with me in two weeks and
now you’re trying to run away?”

  “I don’t think you can now, that would be cowardly.” Pastor Dan tossed his keys on an end table and placed his Bible next to it.

  Skye kissed him.

  Titus looked away. There was something so raw and beautiful about the affection between Dan and his wife.

  Bethany pushed the bobbing corn further into the water. “I’ve never had corn this way. Is it good?”

  “Tender and juicy and the skins can be used as a handle to hold it for eating. Or dipping in a vat of melted butter.” Titus grinned.

  “Mmmm, that sounds yummy.”

  ~*~

  At lunch, Titus sat across from Bethany with a kid on each side.

  After they ate, the children ran off to play with Cooper before their naps.

  “We have some fun news to share,” Dan said.

  “Really? What’s going on?” Titus asked.

  Skye grinned. “We’re expecting a baby!”

  “Whoa. Wow. That’s so exciting. Dan, you da man.”

  He caught the wink the pastor sent to his bride. “It’s surreal. Sharon and I tried and had so many miscarriages, it makes me wary.”

  “I tell him this baby is a life to celebrate, regardless of what any future might be. We can rejoice in him or her now.”

  “Says the woman who never lost a child.” Dan frowned.

  “Dan…” Skye warned.

  “Sorry. I really am happy, but I’m terrified too.”

  Titus reached over and clasped his friend’s shoulder. “How about we pray?”

  Dan nodded and heads bent.

  “Lord, thank You for the wonderful blessing of this child You have given to Dan and Skye as they start their life together. Give them peace as they move forward and help this baby grow to be exactly who You desire him or her to be. We thank You for this life and for their marriage and the wonderful love they share. Amen.”

  “Thanks, Titus. So…changing the subject. You two have been a faithful item. What would marriage look like for you?”

  Ty knew his eyes widened with shock. He glanced at Bethany Joelle.

  She was pale and avoided his gaze.

  “We’ve not gotten that far in any discussion between us…”

  “Marriage isn’t in my future,” Bethany blurted out.

  Frowning, Titus waited.

  Skye, however, did not. “Why? You guys are great together. I can see the love between you. Sparks fly whenever Titus looks at you.”