When Love's at Work (9 page)

Alex McCallister was worried. He had
surrendered and dropped the idea of driving Purity to the hospital,
but she hadn’t said he couldn’t follow her to make sure she got
there safely.

As he watched Pure’s car pull into the
hospital’s parking garage, he breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t
sure how long she’d be at the hospital and she’d no doubt be tired
when she left. He wished she had let him drive her. Now he’d be
thinking about her driving home in the early hours of the morning,
tired and worried. He thought about parking his car and keeping
watch, but it could be hours before she left or she might even
decide to stay the night.

As he pondered his options, Alex’s cell
phone rang. The display showed that it was Purity calling, just as
she had promised.

“
Hello.”

“
Hi, I’m here at the
hospital,” Purity said.

“
Thanks for calling to let
me know, Purity.”

“
No problem.”

“
If you need a ride home
or if you need to talk or anything, you have my number. Use
it.”

“
Thank you. You’ve been
very kind, Alex, and I appreciate it,” she said, adding, “I’ve
called the girls and they’re going to meet me here at the
hospital.”

“
The girls?”

“
My best
friends
.
We’re
sort of like The Three Musketeers.”

“
Then I won’t worry… as
much.”

Purity smiled to herself. This man had
definitely carved a little niche in her heart.

“
I’ll call with an update
when I know more details.”

“
I’d appreciate
that.”

They said their good-byes and Alex drove
home, feeling more at ease knowing that Purity’s friends would be
joining her.

Purity took a deep breath and made her way
into the hospital. She found her mother’s room. Upon entering, she
saw her sister, Angela, sitting in a chair beside her mother’s bed.
She was taking money out of her mother’s wallet while her mother
slept.

“
Hey, how’s
mom?”

“
Hey,” Angela said,
quickly shoving the money she had retrieved into her bag and
putting her mother’s purse back in the drawer by the bed. “She’s
resting comfortably now.”

“
She has good color,” Pure
said, more to herself than to her sister. “Does she know she had a
stroke?”

“
No. She doesn’t really
remember having it. The doc said it was a mild one and it hasn’t
really affected her. She’s always had trouble with her balance, so
that wasn’t because of the stroke, but they still think she should
go to rehab. I don’t think she needs it, though. She’s done fine
without it for years.”

“
Well, I wouldn’t say
she’s done fine,” Purity said. Angela often minimized the
seriousness of health situations. “She’s had quite a few falls and
her carotid artery is 75% blocked.”

“
That’s another thing,”
Ang stated. “The vascular surgeon says he wants to clean out the
plaque in her corroded artery. He wants to do surgery
tomorrow.”

“
This is all happening so
fast. I mean, she just arrived here at the hospital.”

“
Oh, no, she’s been here
two days already.”

“
Two days? But, you just
called me tonight.” Pure was angry and annoyed that her mother had
been in the hospital two days and no one had bothered to let her
know.

“
I meant to call, things
were just confused and I forgot.”

Pure wanted to hit something, hard. Who in
the hell didn’t tell their sibling for two days when their mother
was in the hospital?

Purity felt a hand on her back and she
turned to see Meg and Court. She didn’t know tears had been
threatening to escape until she saw her friends. They embraced her
warmly as emotion fell in watery drops. No words were spoken as she
gained renewed strength and hope from these women who knew her
better than her own sister.

Courtney and Meg walked with Purity to the
waiting area down the hallway. Pure’s lungs felt like they were
going to burst.

“
She was stealing money
from my mom’s purse when I walked in,” Purity said.

She didn’t need to tell Meggie or Court who
the “she” she was referring to was. It was obviously her sister,
Angela, up to her old shenanigans again.

“
Mom has been in the
hospital for two days and Ang didn’t even call me or Bobby until
today. Who does that?” Purity exclaimed, wide-eyed.

The two women had seen their friend in
situations similar to this far too many times. There were no words
of comfort that would mend or heal. Advice was definitely not
wanted. The best thing they could do was listen and make sure
Purity took care of herself during this challenging time.

Angela approached the three women and said,
“Mom says she wants me to handle all the arrangements and stuff, so
you can go home.”

Purity looked at her sister with disbelief.
“Mom said that?”

“
Yeah, she figures that
since I’m helping her out at home, I should be the one to continue
to help her.”

Helping her out? Pure
wanted to scream.
You may be the very
reason mom is in the hospital, you twit!

Purity excused herself and went back to her
mom’s room to verify that what her sister said was true. It was.
Purity told her mom she would honor her wishes and that she loved
her, then she left the room.

As Purity made her way back to the waiting
room, she wanted details about her mom’s carotid artery surgery.
When she entered the area, she asked her sister about it.

“
The doctor said he could
go either way. Either she could have surgery to remove the plaque
or start mom on an aspirin regimen. I told mom I wouldn’t have the
surgery and that she shouldn’t have it either. She agrees with me,
so she won’t be having surgery. They plan to have her go to rehab,
but I don’t think she needs that either. I’m guessing she’ll be
back home tomorrow.”

Courtney, Meg and Purity all had a look of
disbelie on their face. No one uttered a sound.

Angela said she was heading for the
cafeteria to grab a bite to eat and walked toward the row of
elevators.

Pure didn’t tell her that the cafeteria
wouldn’t be open at this time of night.

The small waiting area was filled with
unsaid words and thoughts unexpressed.

Finally, Meg’s voice sliced through the
thick pause. “Your sister is some piece of work.”

“
You said it,” agreed
Courtney, glad that someone had broken their trance-like
state.

Purity shook her head. “You think I’d be
used to all the chaos and confusion she brings with her wherever
she goes.”

“
What does your brother
think of her?” Courtney asked.

“
Mostly that she’s an
airhead and he doesn’t take anything she says
seriously.”

“
Well, that’s good, at
least,” Meg commented.

To lighten the mood and to change the
subject, Courtney inquired, “How’s the Garden Party shaping
up?”

“
Good,” Pure started.
“Actually, it was a huge mess for a while, but now things are all
smoothed out. It’s tomorrow.”

“
Wow, that came up
quickly,” Meg remarked. It seemed like Purity just started working
on the project.

“
I kissed one of the board
members tonight,” Purity blurted out.

“
What?” Meg and Court said
in unison.

“
I hope it was that cutie
Alex,” Courtney added.

“
It was,” Purity said and
then regaled them with her woes about the Garden Party and Alex’s
humor at her dismay. She recounted the words she’d flailed at him
and that she told him she quit. Pure’s friends listened intently to
the part where Purity apologized and they touched hands. Meg’s eyes
sparkled as the scene unfolded and Courtney urged her to get to the
kissing already.

“
Well, well, well,” Court
said, when Pure was finished with her tale. “
Purity and Alex sittin’ in a tree,
k-i-s-s-i-n-g…
” she sang.

Meg joined Courtney for
the rest of the refrain. “
First comes
love, then comes marriage, then comes Pure with a baby
carriage!
”

Purity couldn’t help but join them in the
camaraderie. “I don’t know about babies, but there was some serious
k-i-s-s-i-n-g going on.”

“
Isn’t it taboo to get
involved with a co-worker?” Courtney asked.

“
Well, technically, Alex
doesn’t work for The Kids’ Place, he’s a board member. They don’t
get paid, but yeah,” she answered. “I think it is frowned
upon.”

“
True love will always
find a way,” Meg said.

“
Always the dreamer,”
Courtney commented as she gave Meg’s shoulder a gentle
shove.

“
Just because you’ve never
been in love, you shouldn’t knock it,” Meggie replied.

“
I’m not knocking love,
I’m knocking you for the googly eyes and that faraway look you get
when you talk about love,” Courtney explained. “I don’t see that
look on Pure’s face when she’s in love.”

“
That’s because I’m
jaded,” Purity replied. “I think I’ve only had the look Meg gets
one time and then I got burned. That turned me into a realist.” She
reached over and gave Meg a hug. “Meg can be the dreamer for us
all. We need someone to remind us that love will find a way, dreams
really can come true, and the sun will come out
tomorrow.”

“
The sun will come out…
” Courtney began to sing.

“
No! Stop!” Meggie put her
hand over Courtney’s mouth. ‘I hate that song.”

“
How can you hate that
song?” Purity asked, with a gleam in her eye.

As Meg began to answer,
both Court and Purity began anew. “
The sun
will come out tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow,
there’ll be sun…
”

“
I’m leaving,” Meg
threatened, as the two women burst into laughter.

Their giggles died away and after a brief
pause Purity said, “Well, I guess I can go home. Angela’s going to
take care of everything.” The idea definitely didn’t sit well with
her, but her mom was an adult and had all her faculties, so it was
her decision to make and she had made it. She wondered what her
brother would think about all this.

“
Come on, I’ll drive you
home,” Courtney offered.

“
I’m fine to drive,”
Purity began.

Courtney interrupted her almost immediately.
“You know I’m a night owl, Pure, and I’m used to staying up ‘til 3
or 4am every night. You’ve had a long day, topped off with an
unexpected family emergency. I’m driving you home.”

“
Listen to Courtney,” Meg
said. “If you don’t, I’ll whack you over the head with my bag and
we’ll drag you to Court’s car. Either way, you’re not driving
tonight.”

She had good friends, Purity thought, as
they made their way to the parking garage.

What was it Tapestry always said? Your
friends are your family of choice. These friends surely were.

Chapter Six

In five minutes the Garden Party would
begin. Everything was in place. The dark green linen tablecloths
were a wonderful backdrop for the brightly colored flower
centerpieces. Tapestry made grapevine wreaths laced with berries
and greenery and wrapped them around the slats on the ecru chair
backs. It gave the illusion that the tables and chairs were part of
nature’s plan.

Solitaire Blues, Chance’s band, began
playing, adding to the Garden Party’s atmosphere.

Sheila Martin approached Purity. “Everything
is set.” She handed Pure a list of the afternoon’s schedule. “We
ended up with three kids willing to read poems, two bands, Gothic
Marvel and Peanut Butter Express, two single mom’s and their
children and one blended family who will recount stories of how The
Kids’ Place helped them during hard times, and Nancy Glass is going
to perform a dance she learned in her performing arts class.”

“
Perfect!” Purity
exclaimed. “Sheila, once again, you’re amazing.”

The scent of Marsha Persimmony’s vegetarian
appetizer made Purity’s stomach dance. When was the last time she
had eaten? Pure excused herself and quickly made her way to her car
to grab a granola bar to tide her over. She always kept a few in
the glove box just in case she didn’t get a chance to eat a real
meal. It wouldn’t look good for the events coordinator to be eating
on the job. Time had gotten away from her today. Pure ate quickly
and her stomach settled down after receiving the nourishment.

Pure’s eyes scanned the crowd. She tried to
assure herself that she wasn’t looking for a dark-haired board
member with a searing smile and kisses that made her toes tingle.
It didn’t work. She felt the sting of disappointment when she
realized Alex McCallister was not among the partygoers. He had said
he wasn’t sure he’d be able to make it, something about a flood in
the men’s locker room.

Purity had teased Alex about the high
prestige of being a board member when she heard the news. His
laughter at her comment was still warm in her heart.

The event went smoothly and when Wendy
Gallagher spoke about how much it meant to her that her children
had a safe place to go after school and how that eased her mind
because she lived in a high crime area, there wasn’t a dry eye to
be seen. Her children, Joy and Madison, were six and eight,
respectively. The thought of the two children being home alone, or
out on the street until their mom could get home from work. was one
of the reasons The Kids’ Place was a necessity in the community,
not a luxury.