Kaleidoscope Summer (Samantha's Story) (38 page)

“It’s larger
than i
t looks from the outside. A
family could live here.” I pee
ked into several rooms. “Two of the bedrooms
have
sitting rooms attached.”

“My grandparents enjoyed entertaining. They
designed
the guesthous
e to create privacy for their guests
.”

“When my parents
entertain
ed
,
they put their
guests up in a
hotel. Dinn
e
rs were
held in the establishment
’s din
ing
rooms.
Though I
n
ever heard anyone
co
mplain, and
invitat
ions to the grand parties they threw
were coveted.
”

“Not a bad idea. You don’t have to be concerned with everyone’s
comfort
.”
Maggie continued her
scrutiny
as we chatted.

“The majority of their
entertaining
was
business
related
. The few occasions
I recall it being personal were for milestone birthdays or anniversaries.” Attended by other club m
embers or business acquaintances—not friends of mine
.
I lowered my eyes. I hadn’t intended to tarnish
their memory.
My parents had
loved me,
and they’d certainly pro
vided for me. The
intimacy
I missed
had
never
equate
d
with
neglect
.

We traipsed
into the garden
. Maggie
picked up shears and began snipping a variety of flowers.
“I tend to
Logan
’s garden
each week.” She smiled, looking as at home in his garden as her own.
The plants and flowers
seemed
eag
er to bloom and flourish for her
,
like
an orchestra following the conductor’s baton
.

She glanced up
.
“
A few stems will
brighten the rooms.”

I checked the time on my
phone.
“Thelma said his release
should be completed by ten—i
t’s after nine.”

“
You’re
in a hurry to g
et him home.” She grinned, much li
ke th
e mischievous Cheshire Cat,
who
to Alice’s
dismay
was both
endearing
and
roguish
.
“You two are quite a
match.”

“Except we’re not
you two
. We’
re friends.
”
I’d wanted more for
longer than I’d been willing
to admit.

She
rolled her eyes.
“If you believe that—I hav
e some ocean property
in the desert
. J
ust saying
…
” She took a final
survey of the house. “Let’s go get your
friend
.” She did a graceful soft
shoe and giggled
.

At the hos
pital, I
parked near the front doors in a zone marked for patient pickup. The doors opened and Thelma pushed the wheelchair where Logan
sat, his face scrunched into a frown
.

“Oh, he doesn’t look happy.” Maggie stated the obvious.

Maggie
climbed into the back seat so Logan could sit in the front. Thelma
helped settle him inside the SUV
and secured
his seatbelt. “D
on’t you be giving your sister as much trouble as you’ve been wielding
around this
h
ospital. Can’t
say
I’m sorry to see
you going home—I
’d be
lying.” His forced
laughter lingered
as she pushed the wheelchair back through the double doors.

The ri
de home reminded me of
clouds rolling
in bef
ore a torrential rainfall. If this
was a clue what we were in for,
I wanted to withdraw my offer to help.

The first two
day
s
were
a struggle of n
ightmarish proportions. D
ay three
dawned and
I hope
d it meant
a
charmed morning lay ahead
.
I
turned in
to the drivew
ay with Goldie in her usual seat.
Maggie stormed
down th
e walkway beside the main house as we climbed out of the SUV.

“Good luck. He’s worse. Hates th
e food. Hates every show on
television. Hates any mov
ie I put on for him. Don’t make the mistake of
trying to give
him his meds.”
She
stomped to her car
.
I hadn’t seen the
feathers ruffled
side of Maggie before, and one thing I knew, I never wanted her ire directed at me.
If the way she sped
away served as an indication—Logan’s
mood was contagious
.

“Well Goldie,
if your Aunt
Maggie can’t handle him—
we’re in for another
fun day
.”

I
found
Logan
staring out the window. “Come with Goldie and
me to the bluff.”
He’d been cooped up and getting out of the house might help his moodiness
.

“Aren’t you a
fraid I’ll overdo it? Do you realize
how cool
it is out on the cliffs
?” He
’d
cl
omped
away
,
as
much as possible with an injured leg
.
Goldie perked up her ears as a
vibratio
n
carried
through the house
. Apparently
,
he’d slammed his be
droom door.

“Okay
,
b
aby
,
I’ll take you out
side
.” Goldi
e pawed at my leg
, and
I spun around
.

“Are we going
or what?” Logan
yanked
up
the zipper on his
jacket.

“You
go ahead. I’ll be right there
.”
I filled a
thermos
and grabbed a
blanket and mad
e
it to the bluff by the
time
he did
.

I spread
th
e cover
on the ground. Once he
’d
settled
on it
,
I put a pillow
under his injured leg
, a
nd h
a
nded him a mug
with steam rising
from the dark liquid.

He
closed his
eyes
—
I hoped
t
he balmy air
blo
w
ing
acr
oss the waves and tantalizing
the
skin
did its job
.
“You need anything?” He shook his head. If words
had
crossed his lips
,
I didn’t catch
them.
I wanted his deep
brown eyes to open
,
and
reflect the de
pth of th
e man I knew
—
the man who had stolen my heart
.
My personal struggles had paled in comparison to
Logan
getting well—e
motionally and physically.
If I used his mental state as a barometer
, getting shot had pierced
more than his flesh.

I drew my knees against my chest
an
d
wrapped my arms around them
.

He
rubbed the spot wher
e the bullet had entered
his skin. “A
larger caliber gun,
I
might not have
a
leg. When I think how I botched—
”

Father,
I don’t know how to respond.
“I’m thankful you’ve come this far with the healing process.”

“What heal
s the inside? I failed, when it mattered most
.
”
His chest rose and f
ell with a heavy sigh
.

“
A
ll we can do is take
eac
h day as it comes.
”
I sat facing him with my arms
still
hugged a
round my legs
.

“Do I deal
with
the nightmares one night at a time?” He
stood and stumbled.
I jumped up to help—he brushed me away. “T
he sad thing is
I never saw myself as a weak man—until now.”
He limped toward t
he house. I lagged behi
nd to give him a head start
,
not
wanting to
call attention to how slow
ly
he moved.

Back inside
,
I peered
through the open door of his bedroom
. He
lay
on his bed
,
facing the other way. I curled up against his back and held him. “Night turns darkest at the edge of dawn.”
When
I fel
t a
change in his breathing, I
ea
sed off the bed to let him rest
.

T
o pass the
time, I
sat and read. W
hen Maggie waltz
ed
in
sooner than I expected, I breathed a sigh of gladness
.

“Hi there.
Care
to share a cuppa
before you head home?”

“Sure. You’re early
.”
Truthfully, I wanted to leave.

“
Linda
agreed
to work extra hours for a
few days.” She measured the loose tea into half of a shiny silver ball and reconnected it with the other half.

“He’s
been napping most of the day
.”

“
Good.
He
needs the
rest
.
”

“Do I hear my name being banter
ed about
?” He came into the kitchen
,
his hair disheveled
and
looking as though
a sho
wer would turn him a few shades lighter
.
Not to ment
ion the dark thick stubble covering
his jaws and neck.

“Only with love
,
brother
dear
.
”
Maggie rolled her eyes
.

“
I’
ll take a rain
check
if you don’t mind. I have a few errands I’ve been putting off.” I reached for my bag and Goldie’s leas
h.
We started
down t
he pathway,
Goldie stopped
and
I f
ollowed the direction of her gaze
.

Logan
stood
at the beginning of the sidewalk
.
“Thanks for today
.”