Kaleidoscope Summer (Samantha's Story) (53 page)

“
Yeah,
I talked to
Sam
antha
. He’s a doctor
. Life
seldom
hold
s
to any fairness
standards
.
”

“One thing you can do
. Like in the old
Westerns—t
ell him
to
get out of Dodge and stay out.”

“
Don’t want to
cross
p
rofessional boundaries
.
But
I can drop
a
not
so subtle hint
.
If
Sam
antha
see
s
him again
,
it should be her choice.”
Sam definitely didn’t need the added stress of this Daniel hanging around.

Chapter Forty
-four

F
ather,
I need Y
our st
rength to forgive—
the willingness to forgive.
And
please help
me
reach my grandparents—my connection to Anne
. I felt c
onfusion
and bitterness
creating a web around
my insides—
digging a chasm
between
God and me.
How can I ask for His help and not follow His teachings
?
~ Journal e
ntry

With both
dogs in tow
,
I rang the bell
on
Logan
’s front door. T
heir tails swished and
Goldie tapped the door with her paw
as Wolf nudged her with his nose. They had romped an
d played on the bluff enough to
realize where we were.

Dorthea opened the door
.
S
he looked to not miss
a word as she
sang
along
with the
iPod
clipped to her
bib
apron.
I bit
my lip to keep a giggle
from escaping
as she waved us on inside.
Logan had told me about Dorthea’s love of singing.
He adored Dorthea
,
and
said her singing made her all the more endearing.
She was
one of the sw
eete
st peopl
e I’d ever me
t.
We tro
mped
through the house
and
out the sliding glass doors
,
onto the deck.

Dorthea brought out a
tray of sandwiches and cold drinks
and placed
them on the round glass table
. “You want dog treats or should I feed them?”

“
Treats are good
, thanks
.
” On impulse
,
I reached over
and
gave her a hug. She
threw her amp
le arms around me and delivered a squeeze—almost knocking me
off balance. By the tim
e I recovered
,
she’d already gone
inside.

Dorthea returned with
dog treats
for the vagabonds, already off and run
ning
. “When
are
you going to be the new mistress of
Villa
d
el
Sueños
?” With a
mischievous
smile
,
s
he scurried away
without waiting for a reply.
I
tried to deflect
the impact of he
r words.
With the bookshop sold,
I would
soon be returning to Stone Valley
.

Logan
came outside, hair still damp from a shower, dressed i
n jeans
with
a shirt
from the station
’
s baseball team.
“When’s the big game?” I
tilted my head toward his chest
.

“We cancel
ed this y
ear
because of
Brandon
—it did
n’t feel
right to play without him.
The police department plays against the fire department.
” His eyes roved across
the grounds. “Where are the
dogs
?”

“They don
’t
usually go too far.” I strolled
with him across the grassy meadow
to
investigate
. Goldie looked our way and sprinted
to where we were
,
with
Wolf
at her heels
.

“They are so great
together.”

He stopped a minute
. “How about Woody’s tonight?”

“I’m helping Maggie this afternoon.
Wait unt
il you see the design
s Maggie
came up with. If I ever have a house—she
’s decorating it.”
Dorthea’s earlier comment
still boomeranged
in my head
—
what I wouldn’t give
? I
was
in love wi
th this man who made
my pulse
race and lifted
my spirits
by
simply
walking into the room.
But
was it meant
to be
?
I took a deep breath
and looked up,
searching for a stray
daytime
star
to make a wish on. Against all odds, I hoped for
lo
ve to win
.
But for now, things were better the way they were.

Not wanting to be rude to Dorthea, I ate half a sandwich. I noticed Logan’s appetite held stro
ng—n
o emotional lack of hunger on his part. Wolf stayed with Logan
,
and
Goldie and
I set
out to meet
Maggie.
She
wasn’t wearing her vest,
so
she
plastered her nose to the
car
window, t
he pout on her face saying
she wasn’
t happy
to be leaving her friend behind
.
I
had
barely driven
a
mil
e when I
noticed
a patrol ca
r behind me with
its
lights flashing. I
eased
over
to the shoulder of the road
.
Alec
came up to the driver’s side.

He
l
eaned down
, his face filling the open space where I’d lowered the window.
“
Thelma called. Your grandmother is in
ICU
.”

“I’ll
head there right away.
”
I took a deep breath and tried to hold back the tears.
“W
ill
you call Maggie and
let her know what happened
?”

“
Logan
’s
en
route
. H
e’s g
oing to the hospital with you.
” He briefly glanced away. “
That’s him now.” He motioned
behind us
.

Logan arrived
faster than t
he speed limit dictated. He had Wolf with him and we
left
both dogs
and
the SUV with
Alec
.
I seldom
went anywhere without Goldie, b
ut I had no idea how long we would be at the hospital.

I wanted Logan to drive faster and slow down at the same time.
“What if she dies? I s
hould’ve tried harder to reach out to
John
.”

We were moving so fast I couldn’t read Logan’s response—if he mad
e one. He handed me his phone with a text
from Thelma. “
T
hey’ve stabilized her
. Betsy
called the medics
right
away
.”

Thelma rushed to meet us
as we entered the double glass doors.
“Elizabeth is resting comfortably.
John
’s with her—h
e refuses
to leave her side.
She’s in our ICU room at the end of the hall.”
She pointed the way to the familiar room—the room where I had visited Logan.

Reluctant, not knowing what I would find,
I peered
through t
he observation win
dow
. She
look
ed
frail and feeble
.
John
sat
b
y her bed
,
hol
ding her hand. His shoulders slumped
forward
, and
the crea
ses on his face had deepened and the
skin around his eyes
had darkened. He looked as
though
life had delivered more than he could endure.
I brought my hands to my face and prayed
for God to
give him strength
.
“
I
want to go to her. But I wo
n’
t
upset
John
.” We
waited
in the private
intensive care
waiting
room
.

Logan
sat next to me. He touched my arm
and motioned to
ward the door. Betsy came in
,
looking tired as
she dropped into a chair. “She’s doing better than
expected when we brought her in.
I called Pastor Jim.
”

“I’m worried about
John
. He looks awfully tired.”
I watched her lips
,
waiting for a reply.

“She
’s
his whole life. He can be ornery but he loves Elizabeth. On our way in, following the ambulan
ce
,
he soaked a handker
chief
,
wiping his tears
. He did
n’t
want to live with
out
her—t
hose wer
e his words.
”
Bets
y’s watery eyes glistened.

Pastor Jim came in and sat next to Betsy. “How’s she doing?”

Betsy repeated the
same
information she’d shared with us.

Logan
nodded toward the door. There stood
John
.
My stomach clenched
in
anticipation of his harsh words—I prepared to leave.

He
dabbed
his
eyes with his handkerchief
,
shuffling his feet as
he
move
d toward me
.
“
G
o
see your grandmother
.
” John walked with me down the hall
. W
e stopped outside the door to the ICU
.
“
When you came to see us, she wanted to talk to
you. S
he’d sit and rock for hours after you left.
When she became ill toni
ght and asked for you, I realized
it was time. Time for Liz and me to both get to know our granddaughter.
”

He
led me to her
and stood by her be
d.
John
gently smoothed
her hair away from her brow
. S
he opened her eyes
and focused on my face
. “I’ll l
eave you two alone.” He walked
a little unsteady as he left
the room.