Ever Present Danger (13 page)

“Carolyn said he’s so quiet it bothers her. She wonders what’s going on in that little mind of his.”

“Maybe Elam needs to have a man-to-man with him. A boy his age may be afraid of what he’s feeling, especially if he’s never lost someone he loves before.”

“I got the impression Elam and Montana haven’t really clicked yet,” Kelsey said. “It’s beyond me, though. Montana is such a sweetheart. You’d think Elam would be thrilled to have a grandson.”

BY LATE THE FOLLOWING AFTERNOON, Lu had slipped into a coma and was no longer responsive.

Ivy Griffith sat in the rocker in Lu’s room, alone with her thoughts and aware of the
tick tick tick
of the clock on the nightstand. Montana’s voice startled her.

“Gramma Lu’s not gonna wake up, is she?” he said.

Ivy pulled her son into her lap. “I don’t think so, sweetie.”

“She told me she was gonna close her eyes and go from here to heaven, just like that.” Montana tried to snap his fingers the way Lu had.

“I know, but she hasn’t gone yet. She’s still breathing.”

“Will she hear me if I tell her something?”

“I bet she will.”

Montana got out of Ivy’s lap and walked over and stood next to the bed. “Gramma Lu, it’s me. I’m doing what you said. I’m trying to be brave.” He leaned over, his face close to hers. “I’m not scared now, and I’m glad you won’t be sick anymore when you get to heaven.” He stood up straight and picked up her hand. “I might be really big next time I see you, but don’t worry if you don’t recognize me because I won’t forget what you look like.”

Ivy blinked several times, trying to clear her eyes, but tears streamed down her face. It felt as though a part of her heart were being ripped away.

“Mom?”

“What, sweetie?”

“Listen…Gramma Lu isn’t breathing anymore. Has she gone to heaven now?”

Ivy got up and took Lu’s pulse. Nothing. She leaned down and put her ear against Lu’s chest. Not even a faint heartbeat. She shuddered at the realization that Lu might already be in the presence of God—and forever beyond her reach.

“Is she gone?”

“I think so.” Ivy brushed the hair away from Lu’s eyes and blinked the stinging from her own.

“I hope Gramma Lu heard what I said.”

“Of course she did.” Ivy pulled Montana into her arms and held him tightly, more for her benefit than his. She choked back the emotion, thinking the best thing she could do for him was stay calm.

Carolyn Griffith walked into the room and stopped, her eyes moving from Ivy to Lu and then back to Ivy.

“She’s gone,” Ivy said softly. “Just a minute ago.”

“Oh, honey. I’m so sorry.” Carolyn put her arms around Ivy and Montana and held them without saying another word for a long time, and then said, “I guess we should call Sonya first and then the funeral home.”

Brandon Jones sat in his office, working on cabin assignments for the counselors he had hired for summer camp. He was aware of footsteps and then saw Jake Compton standing in the doorway.

“Hey, Jake. What’s up?”

Jake came in and stood next to Brandon’s desk. “Elam just called. Lu Ramirez just died. He said it was peaceful. Apparently Ivy and Montana were with her.”

“I’m sorry. But at least she’s at peace. Is there going to be a funeral?”

Jake shook his head. “Just a private graveside service at Woodland Community on Monday. Apparently, Lu has a son and
grandson in Pueblo, and Ivy feels obligated to try to get a hold of them and give them the option to come. But she doesn’t think they will.”

“That’s so lame. What kind of son doesn’t come to his own mother’s burial?”

“Yeah, that’s pretty sad. Anyhow, I knew you’d want to know.” Jake started to leave, and then turned around. “Brandon, I hope there are no hard feelings over our disagreement about Buzz.”

“Kind of hard to disagree when you didn’t tell me anything specific.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I don’t have hard feelings, Jake. I’m just confused, that’s all.”

“Yeah, I know. I probably overstepped even bringing it up the other day. I just know that it’s easier to get sucked into the darkness than to walk in the light, and I worry about you having a foot in both worlds.”

“You’re worrying for nothing.”

“All right. I won’t bring it up again.”

After Jake left, Brandon glanced at the clock and was surprised that it was almost five. He picked up the phone and dialed home.

“Hello.”

“Hi, honey. Did you hear about Lu?”

“Yeah, Carolyn just called. She sounded exhausted.”

“Did she say how Ivy and Montana were handling it?”

“They’re both pretty stunned. Carolyn said Montana had a good visit with Lu last night while she was still alert, and he seems to be dealing with it much better than she thought he would.”

“Well, that’s good. Elam told Jake that Ivy’s not inviting anyone to the graveside service. Think we ought to send flowers to the house?”

“That’d be nice. I wish Ivy would let people reach out to her. I have a feeling she’s hurting a lot more than she lets on.”

AT THE CRACK OF DAWN the next morning, Ivy Griffith plugged in the Open sign at Jewel’s Café, feeling as though the gloomy gray clouds that hid the tops of the mountains had also settled over her.

“You shouldn’t be working today,” Jewel Sadler said. “I can call and get someone else to take your shift. I really think you’re pushing too hard. You know what Saturdays are like.”

Ivy put on the most pleasant expression she could muster. “I’ll be fine. It’s good for me to stay busy and get my mind off Lu’s burial. I’d go nuts having today and tomorrow to think about it.”
Please don’t send me home. I need the money
.

“Okay, doll. But if it gets to be too much, you come tell me and I’ll call my niece or ask one of the other girls to come in early.”

By midmorning, the place was packed out, and Ivy felt as if she were just going through the motions. Was it grief, she wondered, that was causing her to feel so detached—and would it pass quickly or mess with her mind for a long time to come?

A steady flow of customers came and went, including Brandon and Kelsey Jones, whose tender words of sympathy caused her to get teary-eyed and hide out in the bathroom until she regained her composure.

Finally two o’clock came, and Ivy went into the back room and leaned against the wall for a moment, relieved that she had
muddled through her shift without messing up any orders. All she wanted now was to go home and comfort her son.

“Why don’t you take off tomorrow and Tuesday?” Jewel’s voice startled her. “That’ll give you a day before and after the burial.”

“Thanks, but I’d really prefer to work.”

Jewel put her hand on Ivy’s shoulder and gently squeezed. “I’m sorry about your friend. I know you were real close. If you change your mind and want to take time off, you call me.”

Ivy looked into Jewel’s kind eyes until her own clouded over, then walked out the back door and around the side of the building. Pete Barton was standing next to her mother’s Jeep.

“Hi,” he said. “I thought I remembered you got off at two.”

Ivy pushed out the words, “What do you want?”

“Bite my head off, why don’t you?”

“A close friend died. I’m not in the mood for chitchat.”

“I didn’t know. When’d it happen?”

“Yesterday. Her burial’s Monday.”
Not that you care
. “So what do you want?”

“Nothing in particular. I haven’t seen you in a week and just wondered how you were. And if you’re going to let me pick you up for the class reunion next Saturday.”

“I’m kind of out of it at the moment. I need to get Lu’s burial behind me.”

“Please tell me you’re not thinking of skipping the reunion.”

“I’m not
thinking
at all, Pete. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I feel like I have mush for brains.”

Pete’s face softened. “Yeah, I remember feeling like that when my dad died. Sorry, I didn’t mean to push.”

Ivy sighed. “I’ll talk to you when we get closer to the weekend. Right now, I can’t handle any more pressure.”

Ivy walked in her parents’ house and saw Montana sitting with her mother on the couch. “Hi, sweetie.”

Montana looked up at her with his droopy eyes but didn’t say anything.

“How’s he been?” Ivy said.

Carolyn Griffith brushed the hair off Montana’s forehead. “He slept till almost noon. I fixed him a grilled cheese sandwich, and since then we’ve been talking about all the happy things we remember about Lu. How were things at Jewel’s?”

“Busy. I think she was surprised I rode out my shift. Thinks I should take a couple days off.”

“She’s right.”

Ivy shook her head. “Skipping work won’t make me feel any better. I’m much better off to stay busy.”

“Well, you’re not the only one I’m concerned about,” Carolyn said.

Ivy locked gazes with her mother—and then moved her eyes to her son. “Fresh air might do us both good. Would you like to take a walk and show me that hiking trail you found?”

Montana shrugged. “Not really.”

“Well, it’s much too pretty an afternoon to just mope around. Isn’t there something we could do—just the two of us? You’ll feel better if you get up and move. Maybe we could take a drive and—”

“Take me where they’re gonna bury Gramma Lu,” Montana said.

Ivy breathed in slowly and exhaled. “You’ll see it Monday when we all go out there to say good-bye.”

“But I wanna see it now. So I’ll know what it looks like.”

Ivy looked at her mother. “Is that wise?”

“Considering the circumstances,” Carolyn said, “I think it might be good to ease his mind.”

“So you’ll take me?” Montana’s eyes were round and wide.

“All right. Get your coat.”

Thirty minutes later, Ivy and Montana stood in the cemetery behind the reddish headstone marked “Weaver.”

“When are they gonna dig the hole?” Montana said.

“I don’t know, sweetie. Before Monday.”

Montana reached down and picked up a leaf and twirled it
between his thumb and forefinger. “Why did Gramma Lu like it here?”

“She thought it was peaceful.”

“Why did she care since she’s gonna be in heaven?”

Ivy put her hand on Montana’s shoulder, wishing he would run out of questions. “Gramma Lu wanted her grave to be at a nice place for you and me to come visit.”

“Why come visit if she’s not really here?”

“Her body will be here. Remember what she told you about her spirit?”

Montana nodded. “It’s a special part of her I can’t see with my eyes that will be alive in heaven.”

“And someday God will bring her body back to life and change it into a much better one that won’t get old or feel sick or sad.”

“Will she look the same?”

“I don’t know, sweetie.”

Montana picked up a thick twig and moved it through the air like a toy airplane. “What if I can’t recognize her anymore?”

“People who love each other will always recognize each other.”

“How do you know?”

“I just do.”

“But what if you’re wrong?”

Ivy exhaled loudly, and then wished she hadn’t. She paused for a moment, struggling to think of an answer, and then placed her hand on Montana’s heart. “You won’t need your eyes to recognize Gramma Lu because you’ll know her with your heart. There’s no one else like her.”

Montana looked up at her, his head tilted, and seemed to be processing. Seconds later, a smile stretched his cheeks. “That’s pretty cool.”

“Yes, it is.” She combed his hair with her fingers. “You ready to go now?”

“Okay.”

Ivy held his hand and strolled past Amy’s grave toward the parking lot. Under the overhang in front of the church, she saw a
white van with red letters painted on the side: Bill’s Cleaning Service. A man got out of the van and looked over at her and smiled.

Oh, no
, “Montana, get in the Jeep,” she said. “I don’t want to get stuck talking to that guy.”

“Hey, Ivy! Wait up!” Bill Ziwicki came running over to her before she could even get her door open. “Fancy runnin’ into you twice in one week. I couldn’t believe it when I saw you with Pete, Reg, and Denny the other day. Then I heard you were livin’ here again.”

“I’m staying with my parents for a while.”

“But you’re back for good, right?”

“I haven’t decided. What are you doing at the church?”

“I clean it on Saturdays. I’ve got my own business.” Bill gestured toward his van. “Guess I’ll need to adjust my work schedule next weekend for the class reunion. I’m lookin’ forward to it now that I know you’re gonna be there. I’ve never been to one before.”

“I might have to work.”

“But I heard Pete say—”

“Pete doesn’t know everything.”

Bill snickered. “Yeah, well, don’t say that to him or his stuckup jock pals.”

Ivy glanced through the window at Montana buckling his seat belt. “Listen, Bill…I’m really sorry about the way the guys treated you at Grinder’s the other day.”

“Pretty lame, all right. Why’d they blow me off like that?”

Ivy shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“They had a lot of nerve dissin’ me. I put my neck on the line to get you all the drugs you wanted. That should count for somethin’.”

“Well, don’t expect me to pat you on the back. I went from killer weed to blow and meth and spent the past ten years in and out of rehab.”
I can’t believe I just spilled my guts to Bill Ziwicki!

“Yeah, I heard about that.” Bill looked down at the ground, his hands in the pockets of his coveralls. “I never bought drugs again after we graduated. I only did it for you guys.”