Dakota Love (48 page)

Silent minutes ticked by as Walt stared at the china cup and Lil stared at their hands.

“Sam served in Nam, too. I didn’t know him back then since I’m not originally from here. Doctors at the VA think his cancer might have stemmed from chemical warfare over there.”

Lil choked back a sob. War never really stopped for soldiers who saw action. Why hadn’t she understood that when she was young?

“Guess I was lucky on that account. I wasn’t subjected to the chemicals.” Walt shivered as his eyes locked onto hers.

“Sam led the Memorial Day services. He always told the story about coming home. It was February 1968. The men in his unit, excited to be coming home, had no idea how the country was reacting to the war until their plane landed in Southern California. Before disembarking, they were told they’d be ushered to a hangar where they needed to change into civilian clothes before entering the airport because protesters waited inside. The superiors were trying to stop a riot from breaking out. They succeeded, too.”

Lil gasped.

Walt squeezed her hand. “I couldn’t agree with your reaction more.”

Lil’s rapid-fire pulse boomed in her ears. Walt mistook her reaction. She lived in California in 1968. As a war protester she waited for many planes, wanting to hurl insults and accusations, stealing the soldiers’ pride in serving their country and their relief to be home.

“Better go see if anything needs to be done to ready the rooms.” Warm tingles remained on Lil’s skin when Walt withdrew his hand from hers.

Her confused emotions twisted the past and present together in a tangled mess. She knew this nursing assignment would be tough because of Walt’s veteran status. Although gruff at times, he was an honorable soldier and faith-filled man who deserved a better person than her for his caregiver.

Walt stood. “I wish I didn’t need this.” He grasped the walker and started toward the living room. “Are you coming?”

Hesitating, Lil rose from the chair and followed. “I thought we were going to check on the rooms.” Grief must be fogging Walt’s thinking, like her emotions clouded hers.

“We are.” Walt crossed through the doorway into the living room.

“But the doors…”

Walt stopped and turned. “That’s the parking entry. The main entry to the hotel is through the office.”

Apparently Lil’s mind was fogged by past regrets but Walt’s was clear. She followed Walt through the living room, then through one of the doors on the far living room wall. Expecting to find a small cubby of an office, Lil marveled at the spacious square room, large, bright, and modern.

Yellow-and-white-striped wallpaper decorated the upper walls, meeting white wainscoting in the middle. The reception counter’s light wood, varnished to a high shine, wrapped around a small workstation housing a computer, cordless phone, and rolling chair.

Wooden kitchen cabinets with a sunny-yellow countertop lined a wall. Two toasters, a microwave, and an industrial coffeemaker with a heating element on the top, as well as where the coffee brewed, sat stately on the counter.

Four diner-style tables and chairs sat about four feet from the cabinets. Mounted on the wall opposite the cabinets was another flat-screen television.

Walt stopped by the workstation and removed keys from a drawer by the computer. “Would you check and see what I have for coffee? Top cupboard just above the pot. I might need to call the service.”

Lil walked over to the cupboard. Two large boxes, one marked D
ECAF
, sat on the shelf. She tipped each one “You have seven packages of regular coffee. The decaf box is almost full.”

A pen scratching on paper sounded as Walt jotted a note.

“Anything else while I’m over here?”

“Don’t think so.” Walt started down the hallway, opening a door to their right marked L
AUNDRY
.

Wide-eyed, Lil followed behind. The room housed two industrial front-loading washers and dryers. The washers sat on one side, the dryers on the opposite wall. A long white plastic table cut the room in two. A cart with a large canvas bag inserted into a hollow area sat just inside the door.

Walt opened a closet lined with linens, towels, and cardboard boxes and began inventorying the supplies. “Good on soap. And it looks like Sarah caught up the laundry.” He turned. Taking his hands from the walker, he placed them on his hips. “I’ll be on laundry duty.”

“I can’t have you overdoing,” Lil argued. “You’ll run the desk and nothing else.”

Walt raised a brow. “It doesn’t take much to throw towels and sheets into a washer and dryer.”

The walker clacked past her as Walt headed into the hallway. Lil followed, closing the laundry room door behind them.

“If the laundry’s caught up, my guess is Sarah has the rooms clean and in order.” Walt stopped in front of the first room’s door in the hallway, inserted a key in the lock, and opened the door.

Bleach’s bitter scent burned her nostrils, which, in turn, drew water from her eyes. The room, though neat and clean, mirrored most small hotel rooms with low-pile brown carpet, institutional white walls, a multicolored bedspread, and a framed watercolor print centered over a laminated wood headboard.

“Just like I thought. The work won’t start until guests arrive. Guess we’ll have time to work on your quilt this afternoon.”

“I guess.” Lil shrugged. She’d wanted to dust or vacuum, any kind of physical activity to burn off the anxiety of her situation.

“You’ve been awful quiet, and I think I know why.” Walt closed the door and started down the hallway to the office.

I don’t think you do
.

He placed the keys back into the drawer and continued to his main living quarters. “You’re worried that I’m overdoing it by opening the hotel to guests.”

Lil closed the door to the office and looked up to face Walt, who had turned and was now gazing at her, not fazed a bit by their height difference.

“Don’t be concerned. My stamina’s coming back, you know.”

She did know. It’s what she’d been counting on. That after tomorrow he’d lose the walker and gain a quad cane, leaving one hand free and causing him to need her less. Her heart squeezed hard at her last thought. When had she started wanting Walt to need her?

“Do you have an iron and ironing board?” Lil flipped the clasps of the sewing machine cover, the clack of metal against the plastic announcing its release. She lifted off the cover and placed it on the floor.

“Yes, they’re in the hotel laundry room. Why?”

“These pieces need to be fused to the back fabric before I appliqué around them,” Lil called over her shoulder as she headed out of the kitchen.

Walt fingered a stack of cut fabric. How anyone could turn these odd geometric shapes into anything that resembled a flower was beyond him. Tilting his head to look through his bifocals, he studied the large square block with tracing on it.

“Hmm, she has a pattern to follow.” Pulling a square from the pile, he matched the small shapes of fabric to the corresponding pattern on the block.

“Good job.”

Walt jumped. “You startled me,” he grouched. He’d been so intent on seeing the picture the pieces created that he hadn’t heard Lil’s plastic shoes squeak against the floor.

Lil put the iron on the table, then fiddled with the lever under the ironing board until the legs released. Looking around, she found an outlet, placed the board beside it, then began unwinding the cord wrapped around the iron’s handle.

“I wondered how all those little pieces fit together. Didn’t realize you had a guide to go by.”

“Well, now you know and you’re good at it, so that will be your job.” Lil licked her finger and quickly tapped the iron to test the heat.

“I’m not going to sew.”

“Who said anything about sewing? I need you to fuse these pieces on the block like this.” Lil lifted the green pieces from the table and placed them on the end of the ironing board. She grabbed something flimsy, cut to the shape of stems, and laid it on the large bright yellow block’s template.

“Is that tissue paper?”

“No, it’s fusible lightweight interfacing. Watch.” Lil lined up a green rectangle over the papery fabric and placed the hot iron on top. After a few seconds, she smoothed the iron over the fabric then lifted it.

“See.” She lifted the large block with the green fabric stuck to it then set the iron down. “Now when I appliqué around it, the fabric won’t move. Think you can do that for me, to help pass the time, or is it too girlie?” She pulled a face, but it couldn’t hide the challenge reflecting from those green eyes.

“I guess it would help pass the time in a more constructive way than staring out the window.”

Walt lined up another piece of fusing, carefully placed the green fabric over the top, and with a deep breath, pressed the hot iron down.

“Only takes a few seconds.” Lil watched over his shoulder.

Placing the iron in its caddy, Walt lifted the fabric and shook it. “It’s like magic.”

Lil rolled her eyes but smiled. “It is an invention that comes in handy for this quilter. Now, I’ll need all the green fabric adhered to the block first. When you’re finished, give it to me and I’ll start to appliqué around the edges while you work on the next block.”

“We’ll have a regular assembly line.”

“Sort of. The appliqué process takes awhile, so I’m sure you’ll get ahead of me. So if you need a break to sit down, feel free.”

Lil readied her sewing machine while Walt worked on the quilt block.

“I wonder if Mark sells this stuff in his store.” Walt aligned the fabric and pressed the iron down.

“I’m sure he does.”

“Want to stop there after my appointment tomorrow? I can update him on my recovery while you look around.”

“I’d like that, but you haven’t endured a car ride since you came home from the hospital. You already want to pick up some supplies, so you might not feel up to it. And shouldn’t someone be around here in case people come to check in?”

Walt’s head jerked up. “I never thought of that. I’m going to have to call Bill, tell him my schedule. See if they know when folks might be arriving.” He placed another green stem on the fabric.

Finding it hard to carry on a conversation and accurately adhere the pattern pieces to the fabric, Walt and Lil worked in silence.

A soft rap sounded through the kitchen. Walt turned to Lil. “Was that you?”

“No, I think someone’s at the door.”

Walt glanced at the clock, surprised that almost two hours had passed while he helped Lil with her quilt blocks. Putting the iron in the caddy, Walt walked around the ironing board. “I knew if I stopped watching out the window someone would sneak up on us.” He winked at Lil as he passed the table and went to the door, not realizing he’d left the walker behind until the swing of his arm to open the door threw off his balance.

Teetering, he grabbed the wall just as he felt Lil’s arm slip across his back to steady him. “Thanks, Speedy.”

“You did pretty well, but you need to remember that walker.”

The chiding grated on Walt’s nerves.

“Now that you’re steady, wait here.”

A low rumble started in Walt’s throat at Lil’s firm command. Just as he was ready to release it, the rap grew louder. “Just a minute,” Walt hollered, releasing his irritation with Lil on whoever stood on the other side of the door. Instantly aware that he’d just snapped at an innocent bystander, Walt strained to see out the window.

“It’s hard to see in the dusk, but it looks like a blue sedan,” Lil said as she set the walker beside him and gave him a “what’s your problem?” look.

Walt harrumphed and shook his head but bit back his retort as he continued toward the door. “A blue sedan. That would be Sandy’s car.” Walt opened the door, which wasn’t an easy task with Lil shadowing him. He waved Sandy’s petite frame in through the storm door.

“Lil, this is Sandy Callahan. We attend the same church.”

“Sandy, this is Lil, my nurse and
friend
.” Even in his aggravated state, his subconscious emphasized the last word.

“Nice to meet you.”

Walt smiled as the women said their polite greeting in unison.

“Bill said that you might need some help readying the accommodations and then cleaning throughout the week. I called the Joy group and we have many volunteers, so just tell me what you need done and when and we’ll make a schedule.”

“Sit down.” Walt motioned with his hand. “Want a cup of coffee?”

“No, thank you. I can’t stay that long. What are you making?” Sandy ran her hand over the block Walt had finished.

“Lil’s making her sister a Rose of Sharon quilt.” Walt sat down at the table.

“Is she getting married?” Sandy turned to Lil.

“No, it’s for her fortieth wedding anniversary.”

“Almost the same. You know it used to be a tradition to give a Rose of Sharon to a bride because it represents romantic love and the sacrament of marriage.”

“Sounds like you know your stuff.” Lil smiled at Sandy.

“Well, our Joy group makes quilts for missions every year and we try to do a quilt block named after a Bible verse. Then one of us researches the block and gives an educational session on the pattern’s history and how it relates to the Bible verse.”