Enright Family Collection (133 page)

“Oh, the thought’s occurred to me. But my father meant well, Matt. He thought he was doing what was
best for me—and of course for him and my mother, as well. He may have been misguided, but he wasn’t evil. Now, Laura’s husband ...”

Matt met her eyes, and realized that they were in total agreement on that one subject.

“Anyway, to put that aside for a moment, anything I may do for Charity has absolutely nothing to do with guilt.”

“Then why ...?”

“Let’s just call it honoring a debt.” She said simply.

“Because she adopted Laura.”

“Because she
loved
her so selflessly, and gave her the home that I could not give her. Because she was there for her, because of everything she gave Laura over the years, all those things that have gone into making Laura the wonderful woman that she is today.”

“Do you think that’s enough reason to go behind our backs and interfere with her care?”

“I’m sorry, Matt. I didn’t think of it as interfering. Charity needs someone to stay with her at night. She mustn’t be in a situation where she might fall or injure herself.” Delia took a breath and looked up at him and said, “And besides, I felt that this was between Charity and me.”

“She’s our mother, Delia. She’s our responsibility.”

“Are you in a position to take on that additional bit of responsibility?” she asked kindly.

He bit his bottom lip but did not respond.

“I know that Laura has her hands full right now with the inn and with Allie. I thought that if I just took care of this one little thing, it would be one less thing that Laura had to worry about.”

“Why not just ask?”

“Because people always feel obligated to say
no
when you offer to spend money on their behalf. If they do ‘permit’ you, they feel beholden. I didn’t want that. I just wanted Charity well cared for, Matt. I just wanted her to be safe.” Delia paused, and when she looked up, Matt saw tears in the corners of her eyes.

“Why should it be so important to you?”

“There is a bond between us, between Charity and me.” Delia tried to smile but her eyes clouded and the tough twitch of her lips betrayed her. “Every night for thirty-five years, I tried to picture what my daughter looked like. I tried to picture her as a baby held close by loving arms, being rocked to sleep to a lullaby I would never sing to her. I tried to picture her as a toddler, with a thousand questions that someone else would have to answer for her. I tried to see her starting school, her hair pulled up in a ponytail that someone else’s hands had tied up with ribbons ...”

Her voice caught and her the hot tears fell like fat snowflakes but she appeared not to notice.

“And all the time I prayed that her mother would love her every bit as deeply as I did, would do all those things for her that I wished I could do. Charity was the answer to all of my prayers, Matthew. She was everything I had prayed for, and more.”

Matt took the carefully folded cotton handkerchief from his back pocket and handed it to Delia. She dabbed at her face gratefully, then continued.

“When I was here last week, I overheard one of the nurses talking about your mother walking in her sleep. It’s apparently not uncommon for someone in
her condition. Of course, I became alarmed that she might fall and injure herself. I asked how they would prevent her from sleepwalking, and there didn’t seem to be much of a plan, other than some type of restraint to keep her from getting out of bed. It occurred to me that perhaps if someone was with her through the night she would be safer, but when I checked around and found out how expensive it was to have someone come in to stay, I thought... well, I thought I would like to do that for her. For any of the residents who need special care. So I set up a fund. It is no hardship for me, Matt, but it would be a hardship for Laura. Perhaps it would be for you as well. So I thought I would just take care of it. I figured it was just between Charity and me.”

“Do you always just take it upon yourself to ‘take care of things’ for everyone?”

“Yes,” she smiled somewhat sheepishly. “I’m afraid that sometimes I do.”

“Mrs. Enright....”

“Delia.”

“Delia, I think I’m beginning to understand why you did this, and I appreciate the fact that you cared enough to step in. But the fact remains that our mother is our responsibility.”

“Might I propose a solution?” She touched his arm lightly. “I have all intentions of continuing this fund. It’s benefitting several others. But if it would make you feel better, supposing I keep track of the expenses for Charity’s nurse. Then, perhaps, you might start paying me back a little at a time, whatever you can afford.”

“That’s pretty generous of you.”

“It’s the very least I can do. For Charity. And for Laura.”
And for you, too, for all you may not want my help.
“Of course, there is something I would ask of you in return.”

“That being?”

“I would like you to put whatever prejudice you have toward me and my family aside for a while. Try to keep a more open mind. Give us some time to prove to you that we’ve no intentions of hurting Laura ... nor do we want to take her from you.”

“How could you know how I feel?” His throat tightened unexpectedly.

“Matthew, we share something very precious, whether or not you realize it. Something besides Laura’s love. We both cherish our families. I might very well have the same concerns, if strangers invaded my family.”

He met her gaze.

“You need time to learn to trust, Matt. I don’t blame you. Just don’t be so afraid of losing something that you have, that you overlook the precious things you might gain.” She folded her arms across her chest. “Give us six months to get to know us, Matt. That’s not so very much to ask.”

“And in the meantime, I’ll be paying on the loan for the night nurse ...”

“Yes. That arrangement will continue, regardless of what you decide at the end of six months. Charity’s well-being should have nothing to do with how you feel toward me.”

It was a hard offer to walk away from. His mother did need the night nurse, and Delia had been generous enough to provide for the needs of other residents
as well. And Laura was having enough trouble holding up her share of the monthly bill from Riverview as it was. Right now, the last thing his sister needed was one more big bill to worry about each month.

“Mrs. Enright—Delia—you are a very generous, very thoughtful woman. If you would draw up some sort of agreement, I’d be happy to sign it.”

“I’ll take care of it today. Shall I mail it to you in care of the inn?”

“No,” he thought it over for a long moment. Delia was right about not wanting to worry Laura. Any correspondence to him from Delia was sure to evoke curiosity on Laura’s part, and Delia was probably right about not worrying Laura right now. And then, after his recent chat with Dr. Espey, he wasn’t sure about how much longer he’d be in Shawsburg. “Send it to me at Pumpkin Hill, if you would. And Delia, maybe we could keep this between us. Right now, Laura does have a lot on her hands ...”

“Then between you and me this shall stay.” She extended her right hand to him, saying, “Deal?”

“Deal.” He took her hand, smiling at the firmness of her grip. Delia Enright was a woman of substance in more ways than one.

“You know, we could work out our agreement right now. I just remembered that I have a laptop in the trunk of my car.” She searched her purse momentarily, withdrawing the remote which unlocked all of the car doors. Opening the trunk and sliding out the leather computer case, she said, “Matt, be a dear and open the glove compartment. There should be a box of Godiva chocolates ... yes, that’s it. Now, let’s just
walk down to that picnic area and we’ll type up our agreement. And then, if you’re not in too great a hurry, I’d like to share with you some information I recently received concerning that despicable man Laura married. Oh, and bring the chocolate, if you wouldn’t mind. We may be a while ...”

chapter sixteen

Matt had been fighting the urge all the rest of that week and over the weekend.

On Tuesday he caved in.

Oh, he told himself that it was the barn space that he needed to take a good look at. Hadn’t Doc Espey suggested that before Matt abandoned his dream of opening a clinic at Pumpkin Hill, he should try to figure out what it would take to convert the old barn into a modern veterinary facility? Didn’t he encourage Matt to see if it was doable, and then to approach one of the local banks to obtain a loan to cover the renovations? Sure, he had, and good advice it was. Why, Doc had even offered to co-sign the loan.

That Matt would most likely run into their tenant had nothing to do with the fact that he left Shawsburg right after his three o’clock appointment, that he’d planned ahead and brought Artie with him that morning rather than run home after work to fetch
him, or that he’d worked through lunch to make sure he’d get out on time.

But heck, if he
did
happen to run into their tenant, he’d try to find a way to explain why he’d left Ally’s birthday party so abruptly. Okay, he’d even apologize. And somehow he’d work into the conversation that he’d had a long chat with her mother last week, and that maybe he’d misjudged her. Maybe he’d misjudged all of them.

Not for the first time, Matt wondered if Georgia knew about the arrangements Delia had made on Charity’s behalf. He guessed that Delia probably hadn’t bothered to mention it to anyone.

It had taken him a few days to sort through it all, but in the end, he realized that Delia had done what she had done from the purest of motives. Certainly, he’d had all intentions of demanding that she back off and permit him and Laura to take over the nightshift problem. Then Delia had pulled up the nurse’s last billing statement on her laptop computer and he’d had to struggle to maintain his composure when he realized just how expensive Mrs. Grayson’s services were. Taking that over right now would wipe out that college fund—however small it may be—that Laura had managed to start for Ally a few months ago. College tuition would be astronomical by the time Ally was ready to start applying to schools, though the thought crossed Matt’s mind that Delia, being Ally’s grandmother, might find a way to take care of that, too.

The terms Delia had offered Matt for the repayment of Mrs. Grayson’s fees had been very generous,
and consisted of a small monthly payment—an embarrassingly small payment for the time being—but it was all he could afford right now. Delia had seemed pleased with the arrangement, provided, she had said, that Laura didn’t know about it. They had both agreed that Laura had enough on her plate right then.

No, this would be Matt’s responsibility alone. After all, his sister had her inn and her daughter and their mother’s basic expenses to meet. If Matt could get his clinic up and running, he would eventually be in a position to take over the nurse’s salary from Delia and Laura would never be the wiser.

It sounded like a good plan to Matt.

And besides, he promised Delia that he’d do his best to get to know her family. What better place to start than with the one who was right there, at Pumpkin Hill?

Now, he thought as he pulled up the drive toward the barn, he’d just take a look inside the old barn and try to satisfy some questions that had poked at his own mind all week. Should he keep a section of the downstairs area in stalls for farm animals he might be called upon to treat? After all, there were still some farms in the area, and it would not be implausible that he might have call to use the stalls on occasion. If he converted the entire first floor, he’d lose that option. On the other hand, if he kept those stalls, and kept some room for the tractors, just how much space could he count on for examining rooms?

The last song he’d been listening to on the radio—The Who’s “Behind Blue Eyes”—stayed in his head
and he found himself whistling along with it as he opened the cab door and stood back to allow Artie to jump out. He slammed the door and pretended he wasn’t looking for the Jeep, but there it was, parked just across the drive from his pickup. He wondered what she was doing, if she had heard the truck and maybe paused to pull a curtain aside to see who was there. Would she come out to say hello, or having been burned by his abrupt behavior, would she let the curtain drop back and just go about her business?

He turned to look for Artie, but the dog had dashed through the open double doors of the barn.

It took Matt’s brain a few seconds to register this information.

Why would the big double doors both be open? Hope had only opened them when she was taking out a piece of large equipment.

Frowning, Matt followed the dog and walked through the open doorway. There was an empty space where his aunt’s favorite tractor—the 1956 John Deere model 60—should have been parked.

“Son of a bitch!” He yelled to the rafters above. Someone had broken into the barn and stolen one of their tractors!

He stomped toward the farmhouse to call the police and to interrogate their tenant. Wasn’t that the reason she was here? To keep an eye on things? What the hell had she been doing when the damned thief was stealing the tractor? It wasn’t like it hadn’t made some noise, for cryin’ out loud. You don’t fold up a piece of farm equipment and tuck it unobtrusively into your pocket! Why, the racket that that sucker
made when it started up was enough to raise the dead. It was loud, it was ...

Matt stopped midway across the drive and tilted his head to one side, listening to the sound that drifted on the afternoon breeze from somewhere beyond the barn.

The loud whiney rattle of the old John Deere.

Had Laura rented out the fields to a local farmer to plant?

Puzzled, he followed the sound of the tractor until he stood twenty feet out into the field, where he stared at the tractor and its improbable driver.

Even in the oversized T-shirt and jeans shorts, big round sunglasses and wide brimmed straw hat, there was no mistaking who was at the wheel.

Lord have mercy. Barbie meets John Deere.

“Hey!” she shouted and waved when she turned the tractor to the right and started to make her way down the next row.