by Linda Ellen
She gave in to the tears and let them fall. Minutes passed as she quietly sobbed.
And then…
“Hey babe,” came a voice, soft, weak, and achingly familiar.
Her eyes flew open and when they met the beloved warm brown gaze of her husband, looking at her with such love, she felt the constricting band that had been around her heart begin to loosen its grip. He was awake!
“Hey, yourself,” was all she could manage past the lump of emotion in her throat.
‡
EPILOGUE
“What happened then, Grandma?” asked David, Linda’s youngest son.
Ninety-year-old Louise reached for a tissue, raising a shaky hand to wipe away tears as she looked around her back porch at her family. They had gathered to celebrate the Fourth of July, grilling hamburgers, and enjoying one another’s company. It hadn’t taken long for someone to request Louise finish the story she had paused during their last family get together.
“Oh honey, I thanked the good Lord for giving your grandfather back to me,” she answered as her daughter leaned in to give her a hug. “Vic asked how long he’d been out, and told me what he remembered of the moments before it happened.”
“So he was okay?”
“Oh, he had a ways to go, but he made it. His skull had been fractured, but besides that, the doctors gave him a thorough examination and said that he’d suffered a heart attack. He had passed out from that and fell, hitting his head on the steel rack. Too much stress, work, cigarettes, and greasy food,” she added with a chuckle. “After that, I made sure he took healthy things for lunch…he hired extra help, worked less hours, and quit smoking – oh, but he was a bear during those early days.”
Everyone laughed.
“We all started going back to church again, and things were much better. He truly gave his heart to the Lord, and to my knowledge, he never uttered another word of profanity – at least not around me,” she added with a twinkle, making everyone laugh again.
“What about the station?” asked her grandson, Will, Linda’s oldest.
“Oh, we were very fortunate there. Vic, of course, had his trusty men, Floyd and Duke. But since it was during one of the busy seasons, his friend Hap sent one of his mechanics over to the station to help out with the repairs until Vic got back on his feet. Matter of fact,” Louise paused, lifting one finger into the air and furrowing her brow at the recollection, “it was Gary Hilliard, the man who had robbed him and Vic had dropped the charges.” The family uttered awed gasps at that.
Louise looked around at them, nodding as she shared their amazement. “Hilliard worked tirelessly, above and beyond the call of duty. His gratitude for what Vic had done for him had never waned. I saw him again many years later, his daughter grown and married by then, and he still mentioned his thankfulness toward Vic.”
A soft smile adorned her countenance as she thought of how proud she was of her husband for what he had done for that out-of-luck family. She knew most businessmen wouldn’t have. No, they would have taken their “pound of flesh” and been proud of themselves for it. With a shrug, she continued. “Anyway…once Vic was back at work, he hired another mechanic to share the load and Gary went back to Hap’s…probably because Hap could pay him more. Then once The Mall was finished, business was booming!”
A small smile adorned her face as she remembered how, during his recovery, her Vic had hated feeling “weak as a kitten” and had fussed and worried about particulars at the station until Hap had stopped by the house and gave him his word that he was making sure those details were covered.
“For the rest of his life, though, that old head injury would give him headaches,” she recalled. Then with a snicker, she added, “I thought of it as his barometer, letting him know when he’d done too much, because when he would get too stressed or tired is when his head would hurt. I’d have to remind him that he had others looking out for things, it wasn’t all on his shoulders alone anymore.”
Jim spoke up as he lounged in a chair on the porch. “We all helped out during the summers, and every time school was out. I loved working at the station,” he added quietly, an expression of fond nostalgia on his face.
“Yeah, didn’t Mom remake one of Dad’s old uniforms to fit you?” Buddy asked with a laugh. All of Louise’s grown sons, Tom, Buddy, and Jim, remembered when Jim – Little Jimmy – was a boy of nine, hustling around the station in his miniature uniform, with a grease rag hanging from his back pocket just like his Daddy, his U-Haul cap so big it slipped down over his eyes. But, he had always been a good helper.
“And what about Mom?” Will asked with a mischievous grin, reaching over to teasingly poke his mother.
“I’m afraid I was too young – and your Grandma wouldn’t let me get dirty,” Linda added with a laugh. “I did get to go to Daddy’s big mail box out at the street – on busy Shelbyville Road no less, and get the mail for him sometimes. Man, the station got a lot of mail!”
“So, you wanted to name Linda, Anita Louise?” Tom asked Louise. “I didn’t remember hearing that before. I bet you did give him what for when he went against your wishes.”
Louise nodded, turning her head to look at her daughter with a loving smile. “Yes, I was mad at him for a while, but I got over it. I followed the advice of a very wise woman, who told me not to keep him in the doghouse too long. And she was right, the name Linda did fit my little girl, probably better than the name I’d picked out. So in a way, I should have probably thanked Jack for passing around that bottle of Five Brothers.”
Everyone erupted into laughter and shook their heads, delighted at the fact that Louise, their dear mom and grandmother, had never lost her spunk.
“I used to not like my name,” Linda admitted with a shrug when things quieted down again. “But once I found out the story – that it was our great grandmothers’ names, and knowing that Daddy named me…it meant more to me.”
“Well, I love it,” Steve, Linda’s husband chimed in as he leaned over to steal a kiss.
“So, what happened to the station after that?” Georgie, one of the grandkids asked as he grabbed a handful of potato chips. “It’s not still there, right?”
“No, it isn’t,” Louise answered with a soft sigh. “My Vic passed away too soon, for all of us, and eventually the station was torn down and replaced with a Moby Dick Restaurant.”
“Well, that’s lousy!” Georgie snorted in disgust.
“Yes it was. But, Phillips pulled out of Kentucky in later years when there became more and more competition for the gasoline business. Ah, well. They were good years while they lasted.” She lapsed into silence then, remembering more good and bad events during the years Vic operated his Phillips 66 service station.
“Vic used to say that he’d always wanted his own business, and when he finally got it – it turned out to be almost as much as he hoped it would be.”
“What did he mean, Mom?” Tom asked.
“Oh, you know…almost as much money as he dreamed he’d make. Almost as much success as he hoped he’d achieve. Nothing is perfect; life brings aggravations and trouble as well as good times and prosperity.”
The others concurred as Louise reached out to lovingly grasp the hands of those on either side of her, namely Buddy and Jim.
“His bold venture wasn’t everything he hoped it would be…but it was almost, and I’d say that’s pretty darn good.”
Amen.
THE END
The real Vic and Louise – and her beautiful smile!
Want to see more pics of the real people, like Uncle Billy? Visit the author’s Pinterest page for this story –
pinterest.com/linda4him59/almost-as-much
Previous books in this series:
Book 1 – Once in a While
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00P39GYIK
Book 2 – The Bold Venture
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01340HSGQ
Dear Reader,
Thank you for finishing my trilogy! I hop
e you enjoyed reading about my family and Louisville in the 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s. If so – would you please consider leaving a review on Amazon and let others know that you enjoyed it and that maybe they will, too? It would also be greatly appreciated if you would share these stories with your family and friends who you think might enjoy them as well. Thanks!
Writing these stories was a truly gratifying and sometimes cathartic experience. I’ve loved sharing the funny, sad, scary, and heart-warming stories that I’ve heard from my mom my whole life, plus adding some of my own concoctions to spice up times when, like Mom said, “They were just living, nothing exciting happened.” I’ve also grown closer with my mom, the real Louise, as we worked on details for the stories together. At 92, she’s still sharp and has such a great sense of humor; I wish you all could meet her. Perhaps you did, just a bit, through reading her story. And although my father, the real Vic, died when I was quite young, writing these stories made me feel like he was alive again, at least for a little while, and I was able to enjoy being with him.
DEDICATIONS
I have so many people to thank for helping to make this work of fiction happen. First of all, Jesus my Savior, who gave me the courage to attempt such a project, and who always answers a heartfelt prayer of, “Help me please, I’m stuck!” Next would be my husband and best friend, Steve, who is my biggest fan and is always full of encouragement and wonderful help. Countless times, I have gone to him feeling as if the story was stuck in quicksand, but with his wisdom and common sense – as well as his interest and knowledge in the story itself – he always helped me find the right path again. My beta and friend on this book, Judy Glenn, was a constant source of encouragement as I sent her chapters. Comments like, “You made me laugh,” or “Just so you know, you made me cry, and I’m not usually a crier,” gave me the boost to keep going. Thanks also go to the many friendly and helpful members of the Facebook group Clean Indie Reads, for their encouragement, knowledge, and helpfulness. I’ve learned so much since joining the group. My friends at the office, Mary June, Verna, Wanda, Kathryn, Sherry, and Terry, who were more inspiration than they know, always interested and asking how much more on the story I had written over the weekends. Their genuine interest means the world to me. I thank God for you guys! Thanks to my fans of the first two stories who begged me for a final installment – I was so honored that they wanted more! Thanks goes to my wonderful editor, Venessa Vargas, for fitting me into her busy schedule to polish, tone, and cull out my many repeats and stumbles; and Kathryn Lockwood for her final combing of the manuscript. Thanks to my brother, Buddy, for the funny anecdotes and memories that I’d never heard and was too young to remember at the time, like Hello WAKY and Five Brothers! And last, but certainly not least – to Mom, the real Louise – without you, there would be no story. Love you!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Linda Ellen lives in Louisville, Kentucky with her husband of thirty-five years. A lifelong avid reader, and after encouragement from her family and friends, she tried her hand at writing in 2009 and never looked back. Prior to the release of her debut novel Once in a While (fashioned from the real-life story of her parents’ romance), she has written 30 well-received Fan Fiction works, including short stories, missing scenes, novellas, and four full length novels, based on the TV show Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman. Linda keeps very busy with her work in her church’s prison ministry and writing every spare moment she gets. Many more plans are under way for books and series, both historical and modern day. To keep up with the latest news on her books, including trailers, cover reveals, release dates, and book signings, visit and “like” her Facebook page, Linda Ellen – Author. Also, if you “Follow” her on her Amazon Author Page, you will be notified when she publishes her next book.
For a special treat, go to her Pinterest page to see many pictures related to all of her stories:
pinterest.com/linda4him59
Linda loves to hear from readers. You can contact her in any of these ways:
Email:
[email protected]
Twitter:
@LindaEllen54
Facebook:
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