Escaping the Past (Wester Farms) (18 page)

“I guess you like my gift,” he said, wiping the tears from her eyes with his thumbs.

“It’s the most beautiful gift I have ever seen,” she sniffed. She raised herself on tiptoe to kiss his cheek but then heard a discreet cough in the doorway.

“Lola, is everything all right?” Brody asked, his face marred with worry.

“Yes, Dr. Wester. It’s your mother.” She turned and pointed back to the bedroom.

“Is she al
l
right?” He quickly disentangled himself from Lou and started to walk toward Lola.

“Absolutely, Dr. Wester. She’s sitting up and asking for you.”

Chapter Thirteen

Lou followed Brody to Mrs. Wester’s bedroom and was astonished to see her sitting up in bed with a big smile on her face. She raised her arms to Brody as he approached and took his hands in her own. He bent and touched his lips to her cheek.

“How are you, Mom?”
H
e reached and touched her forehead.

She grabbed his hand with her own and swatted him away like a pesky fly. “I feel wonderful. Better than I have felt in quite some time, actually.” She spoke clearly and succinctly, eyes bright and shining. Then she noticed Lou in the room.

“You come here, too
.
”
S
he swiftly waved her hand in a come
-
hither motion. Lou approached the bed, a worried frown upon her face. “Why do you look so sour? Both of you? You both look like you’ve just spotted a deer with antlers on his ass.”

“Mom!” Brody replied, smiling broadly. Then he sobered. “I am glad to see you feeling so much better.”

“Me too!” Mrs. Wester sighed. “Now. What are we going to do today?”

“What do you mean?” Brody asked, his eyebrows drawn together.

“I mean I am tired of sitting in this bed all day and I want you to take me somewhere.”

“Did you have somewhere in particular in mind, Mom?”

“Actually, I do.” Her eyes met Brody’s as she said, “I want to go to your father’s grave.”

“Mom, we can’t…”

“Don’t ‘we can’t’ me,
s
on. I’m telling you where I want to go. Now, either you can take me or I can call a cab.” She pointed to her nightstand and said, “Lou, would you get the phone book out of the bottom drawer for me, please?”

Lou looked at Brody like a deer caught in the headlights.

“Don’t do it, Lou.” Then he turned to his mother and groaned. “You’re sure this is what you want to do?”

“Positive.” She smiled softly at Brody. “Why don’t you two go and pack a picnic while Lola here helps me get dressed?” She motioned for Lola to get up from her chair and pointed her toward the bureau to retrieve some clothes. “Move it,
s
on. I don’t have a lifetime.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Brody said as he pushed Lou from the room.

In the hallway, her worried eyes met his. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“No,” was his only reply.

“Then why are we doing it?”

“Because, when people as sick as my mom are about to die, they usually have a day or two of clarity before it happens. They usually rally right before death. They have an opportunity to take care of unfinished business and to say goodbye to the people they love.”

Lou reached up and touched his cheek. “Oh, Brody, I had no idea.”

He took her hand and brought it to his lips. He kissed the backs of her fingers gently. “It’s going to be okay. I have been expecting this for a while but it sure doesn’t make it any easier.” He drew in one deep breath, steeling himself. “Let’s go and make sandwiches.”

They worked well in the kitchen, packing a picnic basket with sandwiches, chips, cookies
,
and drinks. Lou made three sandwiches and placed them in the basket. “You need to make one more,” Brody said around a mouthful of ham.

“Why?”

“Because you’re going with us.” With the look on h
er
face
,
she expected him to follow the comment with
,
“Duh
,
” but he refrained.

“Are you sure you want me to come? Don’t you want to be alone with her for today?”

“Nope. I want what she wants
,
and she’s going to want you to go. I want you to go, too
. O
therwise, I’ll get stuck with Lola if there’s a crisis.” He made a face of horror, probably in hopes of winning her sympathy.

She laughed softly and then hung her head.

He reached over and tipped her chin up, looking into her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“It just doesn’t feel right to laugh when your mom is so sick.”

“I’ll make a deal with you.”

“What kind of deal?”

“While she’s alive, we’ll laugh. Then, when she’s gone, we’ll cry.”

“Deal,” Lou replied.

“Deal
.
” Brody snapped the picnic basket closed and went to stow it in the trunk of the car.

****

Brody found loading the car with picnic supplies was much easier than loading his mother into the car. She was still weak and tired but her mind was clear for the first time in weeks. Brody gently lifted her from the wheelchair and lowered her just as tenderly into the backseat of the car. Lou buckled her seatbelt while Brody put the wheelchair in the trunk. Lola slid into the backseat alongside her and Lou got in front.

She turned around in her seat to look back with a frown on her face. “Are you sure you want to do this, Mrs. Wester. Are you okay?”

“I promise you, dear, that if I get tired, I’ll ask to come home. This short little trip won’t kill me, I’m sure. If it does, I’ll go out happy.”

Lou hid her smile behind her hand. They drove down the winding driveway to the main road and traveled twenty more minutes to the local Baptist church. The church sat on a hill beside a pasture and a pond
,
and had a fenced family graveyard next door. Brody set up the wheelchair and moved his mother over to the chair while Lola and Lou anxiously hovered. He gently tipped the wheelchair back and smiled into her eyes.

“Looks like you get to recline while we go across these rocks.”

“Just get me there,
s
on. I don’t care how you have to do it,” she replied.

“I’ve never been to the grave, Mom. Which way do I go?”

Lou caught his eye with a silent question.

“I didn’t come home when my dad died,” he mumbled under his breath.

“But you
’
re here now,
s
on. That’s what matters.”

The headstone was overgrown with weeds and brambles and showed a general lack of care. Brody bent immediately and began to pull up weeds and remove sticks and old flowers.

His mother looked at Lou and asked, “Lou, will you take Lola and go down to the pond? There are some nice flowers that grow down there. They would look pretty up here.” She stared absently at the headstone.

“Sure. We would love to.” Lou bent and placed a kiss on the old lady’s weathered cheek before they walked toward the pond.

Brody sat down on the grass beside the wheelchair and looked up at her. She touched the curls on his forehead tenderly. “I remember when you were just a little thing and you looked up at me like that.”

Brody rested his cheek against her knee. He looked into her gray eyes, so like his own, and said, “I’m sorry, Mom.”

“For what?” She absently patted his head.

“For running away. For not coming home. For not being here for you when he died. For not being what you needed.”

“You were always what I needed, Broden. Always. You were your own person. I remember when you were little and your dad got angry at me because I let you do things your way. He thought you should fit in this neat and tidy little box and we should try to keep you there. You were never made to fit in a box like that. You were made for bigger and better things.” She smiled at him. “You were made for love and laughter and life. You have had all of those things and made your own way. I am so proud you are mine.”

“I just couldn’t make him see…” Brody started.

“He was your father. Fathers want what’s best for their children. If you were on the farm, he could watch you and protect you from things that would hurt you. He did it because he thought you would never go. He regretted it every day after you left
,
but then he saw you were successful and happy. He was proud of you, too. You didn’t need him after you left
. T
hat’s hard for a father to take. Did you know he went to your graduation from college? He stood way in the back and watched you get your diploma. In a perfect world, he would have let you have your dreams and let you out of the box. He would have agreed you needed to take your licks like a man while still giving you a safe haven to come home to. But the world is not perfect
. N
either was the man.”

“I still loved him,” Brody stated blandly.

“He knew it, dear,” was her only response to his comment. She grinned broadly at him and took his chin in her hand. She shook his chin gently. “But you were mine. From the day that you were born, you were mine. I counted your fingers and toes. I looked into your eyes and I knew you were mine. You were the best baby. A fabulous child. But you were not made to be a rancher.”

“But I like ranching,” he declared petulantly.

“But you
love
medicine.”

“I’ve had a lot of fun here these last few weeks. I can’t believe how much John has grown.”

“That one will always be a rancher and will love every minute of it.”

“And Sadie and Jeb will never change, will they?”

“God, I hope not!” They both laughed. “And Lou? What do you think of her,
s
on?”

“I think she’s wonderful.”

“And?” Her eyebrows lifted.

“And what? She’s fabulous. She’s terrific. She’s…Lou. Jesus. I don’t know what to say about her.”

“You have to take her just like she is. Because she doesn’t hide anything, Brody.”

“I’m not taking her at all, Mom. Good grief.”

“Okay!” She held her hands up in mock surrender. “Just remember what I say. Everything doesn’t fit into a neat and tidy box. Some things are complicated. And they are supposed to be that way.”

“Point taken,” he said. “I love you.”

“Almost as much as I love you. Now, scoot. Go and help Lou finish picking the flowers. Send Lola back up here. Then we’ll put the flowers on the grave and have some lunch by the pond.”

“Are you getting tired?”

“No. I’ll let you know when I am. Run along. I want a minute alone, please.”

“Okay.” He kissed her on the forehead and started to walk toward Lou who was still gathering flowers by the pond. He motioned to Lola that she should go back up and sit with his mother while he walked over to Lou.

“Are you doing all right?” she asked quietly.

“Yeah. But we had better get home before too long. She looks a little tired.”

“I’m ready when you are,” Lou replied and put the bouquet of wildflowers in his hand with a smile.

They turned to walk back to where Lola and Mrs. Wester waited at the gravesite. Then they heard Lola scream. “Dr. Wester! You had better come quick!”

Brody and Lou both broke into a fast run and reached her at the same time. She appeared to be sleeping, her head hanging to one side, eyes closed, and a slight smile on her face. Brody touched her lightly on the shoulder but she did not stir. He grabbed Lola’s stethoscope from where it rested around her neck and listened to his mother’s heart.

He stood up and turned to grab Lou in a tight embrace. He buried his face in her hair and he pulled her close to him. “She’s gone,” he whispered in her ear, his voice cracking only slightly as he said it.