by Debby Mayne
“Lucky?” He grins at me before scrunching up his face and looking back at her. “No, I’m blessed.”
Ms. Professional crinkles her forehead as she gives him a curious look. “Call it whatever you want. It’s amazing you’re able to talk to me now.”
“The Lord clearly has plans for me.”
“I don’t know about that, but I do need to take down some information before we admit you to therapy.”
“Do I need to leave?” I ask.
Before Ms. Professional has a chance to say anything, Justin speaks up. “No, don’t leave. I want you to stay right here. I don’t have to take my clothes off, do I?”
“No.” The woman glances at me with a big frown. “Are you related to the patient?”
“Yes. I’m his sister-in-law.”
She looks back and forth between us. “Oh.”
I can tell she’s not sure what to say to me, so she goes back to her business of asking Justin a bunch of questions—some of them repeating what she’s already asked. I’m starting to get the feeling that she’s hanging around longer than she needs to. I shift my weight from one foot to the other, until I’ve listened to about all I can handle.
“I’m sorry, but this has been going on a long time. My brother-in-law has been through a lot, and he needs his rest.”
“But the therapy—”
I gently touch her elbow and turn her toward the door. “Why don’t you come back tomorrow and finish up? I’m sure he’ll still be here.”
To my relief, she doesn’t resist. As soon as she’s out the door, I close it and go back to where I was sitting.
Justin lets out a soft chuckle. “That woman really got under your skin, didn’t she?”
I glance over at Justin. “Oh yeah.”
He starts to smile and then grimaces. “She was rather overbearing.”
“So you’ll start therapy soon, which is probably a good thing.”
“Yeah, the nurse said I’ll have to learn to walk and talk again, but since I’m lying here talking just fine, we can concentrate on the walking.” He clears his throat. “Now that I remember what’s coming soon, I just want to make sure I’m home in time to greet our new baby.”
Since he’s in such a talkative mood, I decide to bring up the topic of looking for a place to live. “You’re obviously not in the position of moving.”
He gives a slight nod and grimaces. “I s’pose you can say that.”
“And since the baby will need a nursery, either we can give up our workroom or I can move out.”
“I’d never ask you to move out of your home.”
“But I thought you and Sara wanted me to find another—”
He shakes his head. “No, not really. I think she was just putting the thought out there.”
“It’s still probably a good idea for me to start house-hunting.”
“You were kind enough to let me barge in when Sara and I eloped. Asking you to leave would be mean.”
“That’s something I need to worry about.”
He shifts a little in the bed and lets out a groan. “I’ve never had such a bad headache in my life.”
“Why don’t you try to get some sleep?” I need to ponder what I’m going to do, since there isn’t much time before the baby comes. “I’ll just relax in the recliner until Sara comes back.”
Without another word, Justin closes his eyes. Once I hear a soft snore coming from his bed, I allow myself to drift off to sleep.
The sound of my sister’s voice as she enters the hospital room jolts me awake. “I found the perfect place for you, Sally. It’s in the next building over, and it has all new appliances. It even has a built-in vanity by the master bathroom.”
I rub my eyes and pull the chair into an upright position. “You what?”
“A condo just came open. Remember that woman no one knows because she’s hardly ever home?”
“The one who drives the Jaguar?”
“Yeah. I saw her when I pulled in, and she asked if I knew anyone who’s looking for a condo—either to rent or to buy.”
“You’re doing what?”
Sally has stopped by on her way home from the hospital to tell me she’s looking at another condo in the same complex where she lives with Sara and Justin. “It’s an identical floor plan, so at least I know I’ll like the layout.”
“But it’s so expensive. Why would you move out?”
“The baby.”
“Don’t you have a three-bedroom place? You can use the extra room for the nursery.”
“I’ve told you before that we need a workroom.”
“Why can’t you just use your dining room like you did in the apartment? That’s what I’d do if I were you.”
Her sigh of exasperation goes all through me. I know she doesn’t understand why I’m so frugal, but she’s never had to be. Even after she and Sara started complaining about having to share a room, George and I decided to stay put in the small house we purchased when we first got married. Now I’m glad we did, because the house is paid for, and we have almost no debt.
“Mama, I’m not like you.” She gives me an apologetic smile. “Our business has grown, so we need plenty of storage space and room to work.”
“You can always move back here. I haven’t touched your room.” I look at her, hoping to see a sign that she might at least consider it.
She shakes her head. “Sorry, Mama, but you know I’m not going to come back. It would be too hard.”
“But the cost—”
“We make enough money for each of us to have our own place.”
“You can save that money for a rainy day.” I know my argument is futile, but I have to make at least one more effort to reinforce what I think is the right thing for them to do.
“That rainy day is here. Sara and Justin need their own place, and this is the most logical thing for me to do, since it’ll be too difficult for her to move while he’s recovering from his accident.”
It’s obvious that she’s not going to heed my advice, so I finally let out a sigh and shrug. “Do whatever you feel you need to do. So, when are you planning to make this move?”
“I haven’t even seen the condo yet. Sara told me she met the lady who lives there, and she’s wanting to either rent it or sell it as soon as possible.”
“Why don’t you rent it and see if this is what you really want? If so, then you can buy it later.” I remember one of my friends from high school getting on a lease-purchase plan where some of her rent applied to the down payment. That’s the only way she and her husband could afford to buy a house.
A thoughtful look comes over her. “That might be a good plan. I’ll ask her when she shows me her place.”
“When are you planning to see it?”
Sally glances at the time on her cell phone. “I’m supposed to be there in an hour.”
“Want me to go with you?”
She shakes her head. “I appreciate the offer, Mama, but I really need to make this decision on my own.”
“But I have experience.”
Her face widens into a smile. “So do I.”
She’s right. In fact, she has as much experience buying a home as I do—maybe even more, since I deferred to George and didn’t pay much attention to what I was signing. “True.”
She gives me a kiss on the cheek. “I think I’ll go home and freshen up before I go look at the place.”
After she leaves, I fix myself a cup of tea and carry it into the living room. George won’t be back until early evening, so I have the house to myself until then. What’s so strange is that for the first time in my entire adult life, I’m not sure what to do with all the time on my hands. All the committees can run themselves, there are no meetings today, and there’s nothing much to do at the moment.
It’s tempting to call some of the people on my church committee to see if anyone wants to come over, but I don’t. Last time we got together socially, some of them started gossiping, and that annoyed me. I do
n’t think they’re mean people, but I do think they’ve justified their self-righteous behavior by asking for prayer before telling everything they know—and I suspect some things they’ve made up—about their subjects. As soon as someone starts a sentence with “We need to pray for her because . . .” I know there’s some juicy gossip to follow.
And I have no doubt that some of their tongues wag about me when I’m not there. Last time I walked into a committee meeting, I saw the looks on their faces as they instantly stopped talking.
It breaks my heart that so many of the things the Bible speaks out against are making their way into the church. Sure, they’re compassionate and donate their time and money to those who need help. But that still shouldn’t give them something new to gossip about.
What bugs me even more is that I’ve been guilty of doing it more than once. I never felt good afterward, so I prayed that the Lord would forgive me and deliver me from the desire to spread rumors—even if they are true. Sometimes the temptation is still there, but if I remove myself from the group, I can generally find something else to do with my time and my thoughts.
But right now I’m feeling out of sorts and kind of lonely. Even though this isn’t the first time my daughters have told me they’re not coming home when I’ve asked them to, I think it has finally sunk in that my girls are grown and probably won’t ever move back into the room that I’ve assured them they can have any time they want it.
George has been after me to convert their old room into a craft or sewing room. He’s already converted the garage into what he wants. We used to park our cars in there, but one day I came home from the part-time job I used to have, hit the garage door opener, and nothing happened. When I went into the house, he hollered for me to come look at what he’d done to the garage.
He’d taken the day off from work to create his man cave with a big-screen TV, his old ratty recliner that I removed from the living room, some carpet remnants he’d picked up from the home renovation store, and a curb-recycled foosball table. I thought the garage looked hideous, but he was so proud of his space that I just smiled and accepted the fact that my car would be exposed to the elements in our driveway from now on.
The garage is still in the same condition, only now he rarely goes out there anymore. It’s a little too hot in the summer, even though he brought in a portable air conditioner, and a little too cool in the winter because the space heater can’t even begin to take the chill out of the air. Every now and then I mention that it might be nice to convert it back into a garage, but he just shakes his head. I think he sees that as a place he can go if he wants to, even though his favorite spot is still his newer chair in front of the high-definition TV in our very comfortable, climate-controlled living room.
When the phone rings, I expect it to be one of the twins, but it’s not. It’s George. “Hey, honey, I have a surprise for you.”
“A surprise?”
“Yeah. I would wait until I get home to tell you, but it’s gonna be a while, and I can’t wait.”
“What is it?”
“Are you sitting down? If you’re not, you’d better take a seat now.”
I lower myself into the closest chair. “Okay, I’m sitting.”
“I’ve booked us for a cruise right after the family reunion.”
“A cruise?” We’ve talked about it many times, but I’m not ready yet. I have so much to do—starting with losing at least twenty pounds and putting together a decent cruise wardrobe—and that’s not enough time. “But—”
“I know, I know. You have other things that are more pressing, but we keep talking about it, and if we don’t do it now, we may never get around to it.”
“What about the girls?” I pause for a second but not long enough for him to answer. “Justin is still in the hospital.”
“Sheila, you really need to stop doing this. Ever since the girls were born, you’ve centered your entire life on them. Now it’s time for us . . . for you and me to bring back the spark we once had.”
Sara will be so jealous. We thought our place was nice, but wait until she sees the one I’m fixin’ to buy. It’s the same floor plan, but it has all bamboo flooring throughout, except in the bathrooms and kitchen, where the current owner, Jeanine, has put in travertine. Stunning gray, taupe, and white subway tile backsplashes offset the light, sparkly quartz countertops in the kitchen and bathrooms. Every room in the house has extra detail, like chair railing, wainscoting, tray ceilings, and ambient lighting with dimmer switches. The only place I’ve seen with this many upgrades is on HGTV.
The bathrooms are breathtaking. The master bath has a garden tub with jets and super cool faucets and a shower with a rain head.
I think I’ve died and gone to heaven, and then I walk into the kitchen that features state-of-the-art appliances, including a range with a double oven, a microwave in a drawer, and a dishwasher that you can’t hear running, even when you’re standing next to it.
The whole place is ultrasleek and contemporary, but her traditional furniture tones it down a bit and gives it a homey look. I absolutely love everything about it.
Once I’ve seen the whole place and picked my chin up off the floor, she stops, turns to me, and smiles. “Well, what do you think?”
There’s no way I can act coy about my feelings. “I love it!”
“I thought you might.” She hesitates. “But there’s just one problem. This is my second home, and I don’t need the furniture. I’d really like to include most of what’s in here so I don’t have to find a place to put it.”
I swallow hard. “That might not be a problem if I can afford it.”
“I’m sure we can work something out. Did your sister tell you I’m motivated to do something quickly?”
“She said you were willing to sell or rent the condo out.”
Jeanine nods. “Of course, I prefer to sell it, but if that doesn’t happen quickly, I’ll consider renting it out.”
Now it’s time to ask the hard question. “How much do you want?”
“Well . . .” She looks off into the distance before turning back to me. “I did put quite a bit of money into the place, and it’s in perfect condition.”
I brace myself for a price I’ll never be able to afford. When we went looking at flooring and some of the other things Jeanine put into this place, we were stunned by how expensive it all was.
“But since there isn’t a Realtor involved, and I want it to happen quickly, I can give you a good deal.”
I swallow hard. “What kind of good deal?”
She quotes me a price that’s a little out of my comfort zone, but if I’m careful, it might be doable. Based on her expression, I think she interprets my hesitation as reluctance to go through with the deal.
“I’m pretty motivated, so make me an offer.”
This is a huge decision that I’ll need to make all by myself. When we purchased our current condo from Shay, we knew who we were dealing with, and I was in it with my sister. But I don’t know Jeanine other than waving to her in the parking lot, and I’ll be doing everything without another person to offer support.
“Can I give you an answer in a couple of days?”
She smiles. “Sure, I understand. This is a big decision. Your sister says y’all have a business together, and she’d love for you to live close so she and the baby can see you whenever they want.”
“Sara said that?”
Jeanine nods. “Yes, and she told me you’ve always been extremely close.” She sighs. “I’ve always thought it would be nice to have a sister, but instead, I have brothers who picked on me unmercifully.”
After I leave Jeanine, I go home to think about what to do. I’m so used to talking things through with Sara that I feel overwhelmed. Granted, she has always leaned on me too, and most of the time I’m the one who has made the final decision, but she normally questions everything.
I check our orders and fill the ones that have been in the queue the longest. Normal
ly, I would be frustrated with Sara for not helping, but she has her hands full and enough to worry about at the moment.
Mama calls me, and as soon as I click the On button, she starts talking. “I’m worried about your sister.”
“Why? What happened?”
“Nothing happened. It’s just that she looks so gaunt.”
“She’s not getting much sleep.” I’m concerned about her too, but I don’t want to alarm Mama. “I’ll relieve her as much as possible, but I know she wants to be there in case Justin needs her.”
“I’m sure she does, but she still has herself and the baby to consider.”
After we hang up, I lower my head and pray for my sister and everything she has to deal with. It seems as though everything is happening all at once, and to top it off, our orders for the holidays are picking up. Based on experience, I know we’ll be slammed within a month.
A humongous rush order comes in that typically takes both Sara and me an entire afternoon to fill. I take a deep breath, pull out all the ribbon I’ll need, and get started on it, knowing it’ll take me at least a full day to finish it. I probably should have taken down the option for rush orders, but we don’t get many of them, so I didn’t think it was necessary.
Sara and I have learned that organization is the key to filling these orders, so I line everything up in the order things need to get done by. Then I print out the page with everything on the list and tape it to the side of the small case that sits on the edge of the worktable.
As I work, I try to think about the girl or girls who’ll be wearing these bows. Since there are so many in each style, I suspect it’s for resale, or perhaps it could be gifts.
I’m glad I listened to Sara when she said we needed to order extra clips early in the season to make sure we don’t run out. Last year the types of clips we prefer were on backorder, so we had to use some that weren’t quite as good.
I get as caught up as I can, take a shower, and go back to the hospital. There’s no one at the nursing station, so I just keep walking all the way to the end of the hall. Hopefully, I’ll be able to talk Sara into going home for some food and rest.
