Home > The Best of Us (Sullivan's Crossing #4)(15)

The Best of Us (Sullivan's Crossing #4)(15)
Author: Robyn Carr

Helen laughed. “I have Leigh. She hasn’t shown that side yet, but I see the potential for that.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, how’d it happen you raised your niece?”

“I don’t mind,” she said, then relayed the circumstances. After filling him in, she said, “My sister was young and foolish. I was ten years older when Leigh was born and I was an established teacher. My sister died before she had a chance to grow up. I’m so grateful for Leigh. I doubt I’d have had children otherwise...”

“Leigh said you never married.”

“Never came close. Oh, I had a gentleman friend or two along the way but nothing that had permanence. You?”

“I was married. Maggie’s mother and I were divorced when she was only six. I had a few issues to iron out before I could be a good father. Maggie always loved me more than I deserved.”

Helen smiled. From what she’d heard from Leigh and many others around town, Sully was quite lovable. He was so honest it was refreshing. “And did Maggie live with her mother most of the time?”

He nodded. “And her stepfather, Walter, a good and patient man. He was also a neurosurgeon. That’s how Maggie got the bug.”

“And your ex-wife?” she asked.

“A pain in the ass,” he said, chuckling. “Walter deserves a medal. Someday when we’re closer friends I’ll wear you out with complaints about my ex-wife and you’ll think I have to be exaggerating, then you’ll meet her.” He shook his head, but still he chuckled. “Now that’s out of the way I’d like to hear how it is you came to write books.”

“Well, I don’t know if you know this, Sully, but teachers are not terrifically well paid,” she said. “And I have always loved reading so much. So, I dreamed of writing for many years and then, finally, when Leigh was just a girl, I decided to try my hand at it. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Thank God, Leigh was so busy in junior high and high school, always on the run. Once I finished my lessons and grading, there was still time in my day. I was very lucky—my third completed book sold. For a while I taught and wrote, then I retired from teaching. I thought we’d get along all right with my pension and my royalties. Now she’s a doctor and doesn’t need me to support her anymore.”

“That’s almost a fairy story,” he said. “You’ve been lucky in every way, haven’t you?”

“Almost. What do you like to read?”

“Now and then I’ll read a book my friend Frank gives me. It’s always a war story.”

Very typical, she thought. “And I bet you read your newspaper till it’s shredded.”

“Pretty much. Would I like your books?”

“I have absolutely no idea,” she said with a laugh. “And that’s not important. They’re mysteries. They’re excellent fun for me, that’s why I write them. I noticed that out behind your house there seems to be an area...”

“The garden,” he said. “I had to put a fence around it when the sprouts came up. The rabbits and deer pester it. Beau does his best to keep them away but sometimes he gets too excited and tears up the garden himself.”

“You like to garden,” she said.

“I like to harvest,” he said. “You have to garden to harvest. From the end of June to September we have the best fruits and vegetables in the county. Every day. I can grow tomatoes big as grapefruit—sliced, they’re like steaks. I hope you’re around when we start to pick and pluck.”

“So do I, Sully,” she said. “Next time I’ll come a little earlier so we can have our lunch together. I bet I could get some good writing done on your porch, looking out at that beautiful lake.”

“And if there are campers, that porch on the house is all yours, any time you want it. There’s even a socket for you to plug in. And I have Wi-Fi.” He grinned at her. “Have to keep up with the times.”

“And are you on Facebook?”

He grimaced. “Don’t have to keep up with everything, do I?”

She laughed.

“Besides writing, what have you been doing to entertain yourself?” he asked.

“Exploring,” she said. “Driving around the countryside, through a lot of little towns, poking around. Some of these towns—like Leadville, Breckenridge, Timberlake—are so cute.”

“Girl, the whole damn state is cute,” he said.

* * *

Helen had stayed at Sully’s for a couple of hours and as she was leaving she thought about what a charming and lovely man he was. He called her “girl.” Obviously a habit as she was the farthest thing from a girl one could get. And he told her he was seventy-two. Once she knew the number, she thought it reasonable. Except for the fact that he was fit and strong, had a youthful smile and eyes that twinkled all the time. His forearms were well muscled and toned, his color healthy and sun kissed.

She had no trouble imagining him as quite a smoothie in his younger years. She knew he must have fascinating stories to tell. What a good friend he would make.

* * *

Leigh had a light afternoon at the clinic on Thursday with no patients scheduled after three. There could be walk-ins; she always had her phone in that case. When she was practicing in Chicago, it was always one after another, emergency room coverage wedged into days when she didn’t have family practice appointments. Small-town medicine was a whole new ball game. There were busy days but there were plenty of days that weren’t crazy.

She decided to walk down to Rob’s pub, hoping to catch up with him. She had talked to him briefly in the evenings, the sound of the pub in the background. He said that Finn had been to Denver to see Maia a couple of times. They’d been doing tests and he thought they must have her sedated because she was spacey. Leigh suspected an anticonvulsive barbiturate or a pain med for her headache, which apparently had been her most obvious symptom and complaint.

When she walked in, Sid was behind the bar. She beamed with a smile. “How are you, Leigh?” she said.

“Excellent. But how about you? I hear you have some changes coming your way.”

“Lots of them. First of all, we’ve been looking for a place in Boulder. There’s plenty of time to find just the right thing—I’ll be teaching there and Dakota will be taking classes. And of course there’s Sierra,” she said of Dakota’s sister. “Getting ready to make us aunt and uncle again—I can’t wait for that.”

“You have experience as an aunt,” Leigh said. “And how’s your nephew doing? Of course I mean Finn.”

“Well, I hear that Maia has been discharged and is home. There’s talk of more tests but I don’t know of any results so far. You know, it isn’t that unusual for young people in her age range to have a seizure or two without the cause being catastrophic. And since she was taken to the hospital, there hasn’t been another. If you want my guess, she’ll be treated with an antiseizure drug and have routine EEGs under the care of a neurologist.” Then she smiled as if she just realized she was talking to a doctor. “You might want to get a second opinion on that. I’m just a know-it-all who reads a little bit of everything.”

Leigh laughed. “But what you say is true—it’s not that unusual. Do we know what they’re testing her for?”

“I sure don’t, and if Finn does, he’s not talking. Poor kid—he’s really shaken. Here he found himself the perfect girlfriend and is terrified that she’s sick. But I bet you’re not here to see me...”

“I always love seeing you,” Leigh said.

Sid laughed. “I’ll find Rob and tell him you’re here.”

“I was right about how this works in small towns. One date and the bunch of you have us as steadies.”

“It’s just wishful thinking,” Sid said, sliding through the door behind the bar.

A minute later, Rob had taken Sid’s place behind the bar. He smiled. “What a great surprise. What can I give you?”

“A Diet Coke would be good. I’m not quite off duty yet,” she said, tapping her phone. “Eleanor is holding down the fort because there are no patients, but she’ll call if she needs me. How has your week been?”

“Not bad, really. I’ve been paying a lot of attention to Finn, trying to sense how he’s doing. After all that talking on the ride to the hospital last Sunday night, he’s not as talkative now. Of course, there’s not much to talk about. He’s got a lot of missed homework to take to Maia and warned me he’ll be spending a lot of time over the weekend helping her catch up.” He looked at his watch. “He’s probably there now.”

Leigh frowned. “It was kind of a long hospital stay.”

“Denver is a little far for outpatient services.” He looked around to see who was within hearing distance, but the bar was very quiet at this time of day during the week. “He’s been in this relationship since school started and I suspect it’s serious. If you get my drift.”

Leigh tilted her head. “He’s almost eighteen, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, almost. And when I was eighteen... Never mind.”

“I was eighteen once,” she said. “And I had myself an eighteen-year-old boyfriend. Has he said anything about that?”

“No, but I have two sons and the other one has never kept his mouth shut about anything.”

“Poor Finn.” She laughed. “Well, despite your many worries I hope Maia bounces back quickly and they can have a normal adolescent romance.”

“I’d like to have a normal grown-up romance,” he said. “When can I see you?”

“Oh, I think you’re the one with the scheduling issues. I’m mostly free.”

“What about Aunt Helen?”

“She’s quite responsible and independent, although I do want to take her car shopping this weekend so she doesn’t have to borrow my car to get around. She’s so low maintenance. She’s been trundling around, seeing the sights, making friends. She’s been out to Sully’s twice this week and said she’s staked out a great spot on his porch to write. The view is inspiring, she said. And she finds Sully delightful. She could hardly shut up about him. Isn’t that cute? I think they’re going to be friends.”

   
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