A Thousand Tomorrows & Just Beyond the Clouds Omnibus (45 page)

For half a minute his parents only stared at him, mouths slightly open. Then his mother exchanged a worried frown with his dad. “Cody”—she turned her attention back to him—“we’ve made a decision. Carl Joseph’s health is too unsteady.”

“We’re pulling him from the center.”

Cody could hardly believe it. The tables had turned, but after Carl Joseph’s accident and the doctor’s advice earlier that week, there wasn’t much to say. “I don’t know about independent living”—he shifted his weight—“but that
center’s good for Carl Joseph.” Angry tears clouded his vision. “He loves it there.”

“We’ve made up our minds.” His father’s voice was calm, but certain. “Your mother and I have talked about having you work with Carl Joseph.”

“You were looking for a way to be more involved, remember?” His mother touched his elbow. “That’s what you said when you came home.”

Cody didn’t respond. Anything he might say would make him sound delusional. After all, he had wanted safety for Carl Joseph whatever the cost.

They went on about how Cody could teach his brother ranch work, how to help with Ace and how to keep the fence around the property in working order. How to clear land and trim hedges—that sort of thing.

“Eventually he could take over for one of our ranch hands.” His father sounded as if he’d been thinking about this for a while. “Carl Joseph could make a living right at home.”

“Yes.” His mother’s tone was hopeful. “I found a program at the park for people with Down Syndrome. Something social, without the goal of independence. Something to help replace the center.”

Nothing would replace the center. Cody understood that now. The idea sounded safe. Constructive. But would it give Carl Joseph a reason to look forward to Fridays? Cody’s heart ached. He pictured Carl Joseph, the way he’d looked earlier today, basking in the light of his special friend. He peered back toward the hospital room and then at his parents. “What about Daisy?”

“She can visit.” His mother’s answer was quick. “Her parents can bring her over any time.”

“He has friends at the center.” Cody’s argument was only half-hearted.

“He’ll make new friends.” His father sighed. “We have no choice, Cody.”

Defeat settled in around Cody’s soul. He could hardly argue. After the accident, Carl Joseph might need a month before he was stable enough to leave the house. Based on the doctor’s advice and today’s accident they had little choice, really.

Cody felt his determination build. If this was a season in Carl Joseph’s life when Cody could help him get stronger or teach him how to be a ranch hand, so be it. He’d take him to the new classes and help him get stronger. He’d do it to the best of his ability. He owed Carl Joseph that much. Especially after today. His parents’ plan might work, even if it wasn’t what his buddy wanted.

Now it was only a matter of breaking the news to Carl Joseph.

Chapter Sixteen

M
ary Gunner hovered over a stack of dishes in the kitchen sink and watched Cody pound out of the barn on Ace. His frustration was at an all-time high. Mary watched him go, and she felt her anxiety grow. So far the new plan wasn’t coming together the way any of them had hoped. She sighed and adjusted the drain plug so it was tight against the base of the sink. Then she squirted dish soap in and around the plates and cups and turned on the hot water.

The old farmhouse didn’t have a dishwasher, but Mary had never minded. She enjoyed washing dishes. It gave her time to look out the window at the distant fields and foothills. Here, with her hands in warm, soapy water and her eyes on the endless ranchland, she always believed that somehow everything would work out.

But today she had her doubts.

Carl Joseph had stayed in the hospital overnight while they watched his heart. It had slipped into a weak rhythm after the accident, and his doctor wanted to be sure he was completely back to normal before he came home. By the time they released him, all his tests were fine, and Carl Joseph was ready to go home, ready to get back to his life.

His new life.

That afternoon, she and Mike and Cody sat down to explain the situation to Carl Joseph.

Mike had started the conversation. “We’re proud of you, son. You know that.” He leaned over his knees and rested on his forearms. He never broke eye contact with Carl Joseph.

“ ’Cause I’m growing up and Teacher is teaching me.” Carl Joseph looked nervous. He shifted his attention from Mike to her, and finally to Cody. “I was on a field trip.”

Mary could see the accusation in Carl Joseph’s eyes. He might not have confronted Cody, but he was angry. He hadn’t acted the same around his older brother since the accident. Cody stared at the old wooden table. Mike cleared his throat. “We have some new ideas for you, son. All of us think they could be a very good change for you.”

“Change?” Carl Joseph pushed his glasses up his nose and knit his brows together. “At the center?”

Mary couldn’t bear to drag the inevitable out any longer. “Carl Joseph, you’re not going back to the center. Not for now, anyway.”

“What?” His mouth hung open, and he took a few seconds to stare at each of the faces around him. A loud
exasperated sound came from him. He stood and walked a few steps, then he came back and sat down. All the while the shock never left his face. “I like the center.”

“But it might not be safe.” Mary reached out and held Carl Joseph’s hand. “You were nearly killed on Friday.”

Carl Joseph stared at Cody for a long time. Then he turned back to his mom and said, “ ’Cause Daisy might get wet.”

“I know.” Mary felt her throat get thick. If only there was a way to make Carl Joseph understand.

Mike took over then. “We thought maybe Cody could work with you, teach you how to be a cowboy here on the ranch. That would be a great life skill.”

“Brother…” Carl Joseph turned a blank look at Cody. “Brother is not Teacher.”

“But I can teach you a lot about working a ranch, Buddy.” Cody’s voice was tender. “Give it a try, okay? I have some good ideas.”

Carl Joseph seemed to sense defeat. He nodded and his shoulders slumped forward. Then, without saying another word, he stood and headed slowly down the hall toward his room.

Mary had replayed the scene a hundred times since then.

Since that day, Carl Joseph had spent a few hours each afternoon learning ranch skills, but his heart wasn’t in it. That much was clear to everyone. Mary blew at a wisp of hair. So what was the answer?

She heard the pounding of hooves across the grass out back. Cody came into view, he and Ace flying across the
ranch toward the old farmhouse. As they drew closer to the barn, they slowed and came to a stop. Cody was breathing hard, Mary could see that much through the kitchen window. He leaned close to the horse’s mane, the way he often did.

All last week, he’d been a different person. Happier, more engaged in conversation. But now… now he was the same sad Cody he’d been for the past four years. She studied him, the way he held himself, the way grief still tugged at his shoulders and his jaw line. Poor Cody. He missed Ali so much. The day she died, she took with her so much more than his lung. His excitement and love and laughter. She took those, too. He was lost without her. He wore his sorrow like a thick cloak—especially when he was on Ace.

Mary watched Cody and Ace head back out toward the far fence again. Cody was struggling with more than missing Ali. No matter how he tried, he couldn’t find the familiar friendship with Carl Joseph. They hadn’t visited the park program yet, but Cody had his doubts. They all did.

She drew a breath and returned to the dishes. Something would have to give soon, because neither of her sons was happy. Carl Joseph mostly kept to his room. Once in a while Mary would catch him at the computer trying to compose a letter to Daisy. But his frustration generally won out before he finished.

He was missing her badly, and though Cody had called Elle Dalton to inform her of the family’s decision to remove Carl Joseph, so far Daisy hadn’t been able to come for a visit.
Too soon, Elle told Cody. Daisy needed more time to get used to the idea that Carl Joseph wasn’t coming back. A visit now would confuse her.

And so these days Mary Gunner didn’t stand at the kitchen sink looking out the window admiring the view. She spent her time doing something she’d learned from Carl Joseph.

She prayed.

For healing and hope and love. And most of all she prayed that God would allow the sunshine to break through the clouds that had gathered around their home. Before the sad changes in her sons became little more than a way of life.

A
S MUCH AS
Elle wanted to believe Cody and his parents would change their minds, by Monday there was no denying the obvious. Carl Joseph wasn’t coming back to the center.

Elle had asked for a week to convince Cody Gunner, but she’d failed. She could see that when her eyes met Cody’s as he sat in the back of the ambulance moments before it pulled away with Carl Joseph inside. Cody had probably convinced his parents before sundown that Carl Joseph couldn’t return to the center.

Carl Joseph’s accident had been deeply traumatic for Elle’s students. She was still trying to reassure them that Carl Joseph was okay, that the accident hadn’t done serious damage. The questions about his condition came every hour at first, but by Friday—a week since they’d seen Carl Joseph—the questions had stopped. Even so, nothing was the way it
had been. The students entered the classroom more slowly, and the first thing they did was look around and take stock. When they saw that once again Carl Joseph wasn’t there, they frowned, wrinkling their brows and muttering his name under their breath.

Of course the one most affected was Daisy.

It was Monday morning and Elle was in the break room, waiting for the students to arrive. Her sister was sitting at the art table, coloring a picture. For a week she’d done almost no talking. She didn’t volunteer information when Elle asked a question, and she wasn’t enthused about their latest field trip to the bowling alley.

The coffeemaker needed cleaning, so Elle took it to the sink and began rinsing it out. She could remember every detail of her conversation with Cody Gunner, the one that had taken place the day Carl Joseph got out of the hospital.

“We’ve made a family decision,” he told her.

At first she’d been distracted, trying to hide the effect his voice had on her. But then she realized what he was saying. His tone didn’t sound harsh or judgmental, the way he’d come across at times before. If she hadn’t known better, she’d have thought she heard regret. “Carl Joseph won’t be coming back to the center.”

And that was that. It served her right, because there was no denying the feelings she’d developed for Cody Gunner. What sort of woman was she? Looking forward to the company of a guy whose wife was sitting at home waiting for him? Elle was disgusted with herself because after a week with Cody, she was doing it again, letting herself fall for the
wrong man. Now he would no longer be a temptation. He wasn’t coming back, and neither was Carl Joseph.

But where did that leave Daisy?

Her sister still looked at the door every fifteen minutes, longing for Carl Joseph. When the music played, Daisy sat in her seat staring at her hands or looking at a blank part of the wall. All the while Elle allowed her sister to believe that maybe her friend would return.

But it was time to tell her the truth. No matter how much she hoped the Gunners would change their minds, they clearly weren’t budging. Carl Joseph wasn’t coming back.

Elle studied her sister. She would tell her today, after class.

The students were arriving, and Elle went to meet them. But as the day progressed, an undeniable cloud of sadness hung in the air. Even bad-tempered Sid was concerned about Carl Joseph. Sid raised his hand in the middle of an explanation on the new bus route. He didn’t wait to be called on. “Has anyone seen Carl Joseph?”

Elle didn’t give the others a chance to answer. “He’s getting better, remember? He had an accident.”

“So…” Sid held up his hands. He squinted, the confusion written across his face. “Is he still on the orange bus?”

“No, Sid. He’s home getting better.”

“He could get better here.” Gus looked around for approval. Several of the students nodded and started a chorus of voices agreeing that yes, certainly he could get better just as easily at the center as he could at home.

The rest of the day Elle had trouble keeping them focused. Finally when the last student was gone, she looked around
and found Daisy back at the art table.
God… how am I going to say this?
Sadness filled her heart and stung at the corners of her eyes. Dear sweet Daisy. She would be devastated by the news.

Her sister didn’t seem to notice her approaching, and Elle had a moment to stand behind Daisy before beginning the conversation. Her sister was drawing a picture of Mickey Mouse, each line meticulous, the colors exactly the ones used in the real Mickey.

“Nice, Daisy.” She took the seat beside her sister. “I like it.”

“Thank you.” Daisy didn’t look up. She switched the black crayon for a red one and kept coloring. “It’s for CJ.”