It was all Jane could do to stay in her chair. She wanted to pace, wave her hands, and shout. She inhaled and let out a slow breath to calm herself. “I want you to fight, Olivia! Some people live decades with ALS.”
“A few. But I feel myself slipping daily. I’ve lost twenty pounds, and I’m having trouble doing a lot of things that used to be so easy.” She held out the papers for Jane to take. “If you’re willing, please sign these before Megan comes out. I don’t want to worry her.”
Jane took the sheaf of papers and scribbled her name at the marked spots without reading through them. “You know I’d do anything to help. You can both move in with me. I’ll help take care of you.”
“And where would you put us? Your place just has one bedroom.”
“You and Megan could have the bedroom, and I’ll sleep on the sofa.” But even as she made the offer, Jane knew it would never work. “I guess you’d have trouble climbing the stairs. I could come here then. I could sleep on the sofa.”
Olivia shook her head. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. If we need to make changes, we can do that, but I wanted to make sure Megan is taken care of first. This sets my mind at ease, so thank you. I don’t want to leave Megan, but if that’s God’s will, we have no choice.”
“How could God do that? I don’t understand why he’d be so cruel.” Her voice wobbled as she tried to imagine a world without Olivia in it.
Olivia was one of the good ones. Always willing to extend a helping hand. Always thinking of other people. Even more importantly, she never seemed to lose her trust in God. She was an inspiration Jane had always looked to for grounding and comfort. A mother figure, really.
Olivia patted Jane’s hand. “God is never cruel. He always has a plan, and he sees beyond this temporal life. It might not be what we’d have chosen, but he always works things together for our good.”
“There can be nothing good in this, Olivia. Nothing.” Jane shoved the papers across the table to her friend and paced the tiny kitchen. “We have to do something.”
Before Olivia answered, Megan came bouncing into the kitchen. “I’m ready.”
Jane exchanged a long look with Olivia and turned toward the girl. “We’ll shove off then, Olivia. Get some rest and let me know if you need anything. I’ll have her back by ten.”
Megan bent down to brush a kiss across Olivia’s cheek. “Bye, Mom. Thanks for letting me go.”
“Have fun, honey.”
A shudder rippled down Jane’s back as she noticed how gaunt Olivia appeared. How pale and frail. She couldn’t bear to lose her, but she felt so helpless.
And what would they do if Olivia died?
* * *
Reid’s eyes burned from working on the computer all day. He was attempting to do his own editing, and it wasn’t going well. He wasn’t as fast as Elliot, though he knew his way around the software. Reid sighed with satisfaction as he closed his laptop and watched the sun set through his window.
He’d heard the faint strains of video games coming from Will’s room most of the afternoon, and he went down the hall to roust the teenager away from the screen for the rest of the night.
Will’s door stood open a crack, and Reid swung it back against the wall.
Reid stepped into the room. “Whoa, what happened here?” It still smelled like a teenage boy’s smelly athletic socks. That wouldn’t change for years yet. But the room was unexpectedly clean. Not even a sock lay on the tan carpet.
Will rose and stretched out his back. His tanned legs looked impossibly long in his gym shorts. The kid was shooting up by the day.
Will swiped a rag along the top of his dresser. “Megan is coming by later. I didn’t want her to think I was a pig.”
“I should have known. Do I need to pick her up? Her mom didn’t seem very steady yesterday.”
“No, Mom was stopping by to eat crawfish étouffée with them for dinner, then she’ll bring Megan over for a while. That’s okay, isn’t it? I asked you, but you were deep in editing mode and only mumbled. I didn’t think you really heard me.”
Reid vaguely remembered the boy stopping by his desk when an important part of the documentary had seemingly disappeared into the laptop’s black hole, and it hadn’t penetrated his head. “Sorry. It’s fine, of course.”
“Because anything Mom does is fine?” Will’s brown eyes held a twinkle.
Reid gave his son a small shove. “Well, there’s that.”
Will’s grin faded. “Are you guys okay? It seemed like she was mad at you on Saturday.”
How much should he tell him? Will was nearly an adult now, but it felt weird to talk about his relationship to a fifteen-year-old. And Reid had been treading lightly when it came to mentioning Lauren. Though Will adored his real mother, Lauren’s abandonment had brought a lot of pain.
Will tossed the disposable dust cloth into the trash. “It’s about Lauren, isn’t it? I’m not stupid, Dad. Rumors are flying around town that she’s trying to take you to the cleaners. I figured out a long time ago that she didn’t love me and never had. And that’s okay. I have you and Mom and Grandpa. My other grandparents now too. I don’t need her. She’d be the last person on earth I’d go to if I was in trouble.”
“Lauren confronted your mom and asked her to back off so our marriage could be repaired.”
Will’s brows shot up. “You’ve got to be kidding! You’d never go back to her, would you? And you’re not really married.”
“We might be.” Reid told him what he knew about the Nevada law.
“Wow, Mom wouldn’t like to think she broke up a marriage.”
“And she hasn’t. Even if I’d never found your mom again, I’d never live with Lauren. That leopard hasn’t changed her spots. She only wants money.”
“She’d never live here either. We’ve only been here a few months, but I already feel more at home here than anywhere we’ve ever lived. Don’t you feel that way too? These people are our friends. I never want to leave Pelican Harbor.”
“Me neither.”
Their lives had changed so dramatically since they drove into the city limits of this place. It was more than a new start—it was the beginning of a new life mixed with the ashes of an old life he’d thought had totally burned to the ground.
But it hadn’t. The embers were still smoldering, and life would never be the same.
Nine
Jane kept her distance from Reid in the kitchen as she loaded the dishwasher. An action movie for the kids blared on the TV in the living room, and the ambient noise quelled the agitation she’d been battling. She pulled out a chair at the table and lowered herself into it.
“What’s bothering you?” Reid asked.
His brown eyes seemed to search her soul, and she couldn’t look away. All her fears trembled, ready to be spilled on the tip of her tongue. How did he do that? No one else seemed to really see her the way Reid did.
“Olivia thinks she’s going to die.” Tears filled her eyes when the words erupted from her mouth. “I haven’t wanted to voice that feeling because it might make it come true.” Her voice wobbled.