The Time of Her Life (16 page)

CHAPTER ELEVEN

S
USANNA
CLICKED
ON
THE
software icon the instant it flashed a notice for a
video call. Abandoning the budget she and Walter were
still
hammering into shape, she smiled in greeting as her daughter
appeared on the computer monitor.

“I haven’t heard from you since yesterday, Mother, so I figured
I’d better call.”

If the expression or the tone hadn’t given Brooke away, her use
of the title
Mother
would have.

“Hello, sweetie. What’s up?”

“I haven’t heard from you for one thing. A day, Mother. Not a
call or a text or an email. No one’s heard from you. Something could have
happened to you, and no one would have had a clue.”

Susanna had said those exact words a hundred times, so it took
her a moment to decide if Brooke was being facetious.

There wasn’t anything teasing about that
Mother.
Or the sour expression on her daughter’s beautiful face,
showcased on the monitor compliments of the webcam.

“Sorry about that. I meant to text you before bed last night,
but I didn’t get out of here until late. Sweet little lady named Mrs. Harper had
to go to the hospital. I was a bit rattled. I hope I didn’t worry you.”

An impatient
humph
was Brooke’s
only reply.

Susanna grabbed the reins on this conversation fast. She was up
to her eyeballs with work and couldn’t afford to end this telephone conversation
with any less emotional energy than she had right now, which was precisely what
would happen if she didn’t have a successful conversation with Brooke.

She’d get off the phone running the emotional gauntlet about
whatever was troubling her daughter and how she was unable to help because she
was so far away. Then would come anxiety about whether or not she should have
sold the house. After that would be guilt because a good mother would be able to
figure out how to help her child, and if they lived closer, Susanna would be
able to persist until she figured out how to help. Then the recriminations would
start because a good mother would realize she couldn’t control everything in her
child’s life nor should she want to.

And nowhere in that swirling soup of emotion would there be an
ounce of room left for work, or dealing with the crazily demanding, utterly
impossible and thoroughly irresistible mentor/co-administrator.

“So how’d your big exam go? Feeling good about it?”

“I got an A.”

“Oh, that was fast. Congratulations. Can’t say I’m surprised,
though.”

The compliment eased up Brooke’s disapproval just a bit. When
Susanna looked at Brooke, she saw Skip, knew when they’d stood side by side—now
only in photos—there was no missing the familial relationship. But the same
could be said—and was often—about mother and daughter.

Susanna recognized the fair skin, the delicate cheekbones and
chin, but she also saw the startling blue of Skip’s eyes, the charming smile
that managed to animate her daughter’s entire face. Brooke seemed to have taken
the best of both parents and put them together to create her own unique and
lovely self.

“Have you figured out what we’re doing for Thanksgiving yet?”
Brooke asked.

Thanksgiving? Still a good week away, and nowadays Susanna
didn’t deal with anything without a pop-up reminder on her computer calendar.
Hmm. She might have hit the snooze on the first reminder now that she thought
about it.

“Now’s the perfect time. Let’s decide.”

Brooke scowled. “What’s to decide? Brandon’s got that special
training camp, so he can’t leave Columbia. I know because I already talked to
him.”

“So they’re starting camp on Wednesday? Bummer. I was really
hoping they waited until Friday and ran straight through the weekend.”

“The only day he’s not practicing is Thanksgiving.”

“That does limit our options.”

“We should still have a real Thanksgiving even if Brandon can’t
get home.”

Home.

There it was. The problem.

“I’d feel bad if we excluded your brother from his first
college holiday away from his family.”

Brooke shrugged, twisted around to grab a bottle of vitamin
water off the windowsill beside her computer desk. “He’s the one with the
scheduling problem.”

“If we put our heads together, we can come up with something
better. Remember, we’re establishing new traditions.”

But no one had yet seen the picturesque cottage that had
replaced home. They didn’t have a home base, and they were used to a mother
who’d had the house decorated for Thanksgiving before they’d finished eating the
Halloween candy.

“It’s Thanksgiving, Mother. I took eighteen credit hours this
semester. That’s six classes and I have been working in the tutoring lab, too.
I’d like to get off campus for a few days before I have to start killing myself
again for finals.” All that on one long breath.

“I understand completely.” Oh, boy, did Susanna understand.
She’d been dealing with Jay, going back and forth and back and forth on
everything from Christmas bonus to coffee, which he said tasted horrible,
anyway, so why shouldn’t they try to save a bit of money there?

“Would you like to come here, Brooke? I can’t wait for you to
see the cottage. You’re going to love it.”

“But then it’s only you and me. What kind of Thanksgiving is
that?”

Brooke’s complaint was the very thing that had the ability to
drive a spear through Susanna’s heart. Mom hadn’t lived up to her daughter’s
expectations, hadn’t provided the homey holiday that memories were made of. That
was what good mothers were supposed to do.

But to Susanna’s surprise, she was able to shake out the spear
without too much effort. Change didn’t come easily, after all, and establishing
new routines would take some time.

“Christmas is our holiday, not Thanksgiving,” Susanna reminded,
shooting for some normalcy. Not everything had changed. “We always rotate, and
this is Uncle Milton’s year. Nana and Papa are driving up to Maine. We were
invited, of course, but this wasn’t a good time to make the trip. You helped me
make that decision.”

“But Grandma and Grandpa are going to be home alone.”

Skip’s parents. “They’d rather come to Charlotte for Christmas
when you and Brandon have more time off.”

“But they’re going to be alone.”

If we were home, they wouldn’t have to
choose.

Brooke didn’t say it, but Susanna heard it loud and clear,
evidenced by her daughter’s sullen expression and the way she twisted the top of
the vitamin water bottle, a vent for her agitation.

“They’re old, Mother. We’re their only family since Daddy died.
They shouldn’t have to pick and choose. We don’t have Grandma and Grandpa or
Aunt Karan or Brandon. We don’t have anyone, so we can’t have a holiday. I think
I’m going to the Outer Banks. I have some friends who aren’t heading home—”

Amazing how a little distance made it so easy to see past the
attitude to the hurt fueling it. “Aunt Karan and Uncle Charles will invite
Grandma and Grandpa, so they’ll have a good time. You know the kind of parties
Aunt Karan throws. And we always accommodate Brandon’s training schedule in some
way or another on the holidays, but if you want to go with your friends to the
beach, Brooke, it’s your holiday.”

Brooke brought the bottle to her lips and took a long swig,
silence her only reply as she reasoned through what to make of Susanna’s
acquiescence. Susanna knew she’d surprised her daughter. Truth be told, she’d
surprised herself.

But this was Brooke’s holiday. If she chose not to spend it
with family then she’d live with that choice. Might turn out to be a good
choice. Or not. Either way she’d grow and learn.

As much as Susanna wanted to be with her daughter on this
all-important first Thanksgiving away from home, the urgency seemed to have
faded. She wasn’t sure why. Maybe because they’d already distanced themselves
from the long-standing holiday patterns. Or maybe suddenly the unknown future
looked a little more exciting than scary. There was so much potential in
creating new traditions.

Brooke gave a shrug. “Well, I’m not entirely sure I want to
tackle an Atlantic beach in November.”

“Definitely be cold.” Susanna bit back a smile. “I have an
idea. Why don’t we meet in Raleigh? We’ll spend the day before Thanksgiving
shopping then drive down to South Carolina at night to surprise Brandon. We’ll
have Thanksgiving together then be there for his game on Friday. You and I can
head back to Raleigh, hit the stores again on Saturday—after all that Black
Friday nonsense—and come home on Sunday with enough time to rest before the week
starts again. How does that sound?”

Some girl time sounded great to Susanna. So did a break from
Jay Canady and his mood swings.

And her own unruly reactions to him.

Brooke took another swig to buy some time. Playing hard to get?
Susanna couldn’t be sure, but she held her breath, hoping this might signal a
bit of growth for their relationship, too. Mom and daughter with some genuine
friendship thrown in. Another transition. Susanna would like that.

“Shopping,” Brooke said with a sudden smile. “Sounds like a
plan.”

The perfect plan from Susanna’s perspective.

* * *

“A
RE
YOU
SURE
YOU
DON
’
T
want me to hang around, Jay?” Susanna asked. “I can
rearrange my plans.”

Jay met her gaze across the expanse of chairs in the hospital
waiting room, where they’d come to touch base with Mrs. Harper’s family and make
arrangements for her homecoming.

News of Mrs. Harper’s release had arrived early on a Saturday
morning.

“No sense missing out on the holiday,” he told her. “Go see
your kids and have fun. You’ve been working nonstop since you came to Charlotte.
I wasn’t doing anything exciting, anyway.”

“What will you do, then?”

“Walter and I usually get together to watch football.”

“Sounds relaxing. No typical big family get-together?”

That simple question wasn’t simple at all coming from this
woman. This question was personal, which meant she was interested in knowing
more about him. And while Jay knew her interest was only casual, it didn’t feel
casual. Not one bit.

“Not really. Not anymore. There’s only my brother, and he’s in
the Marines. Can’t make leave until Christmas.”

She appeared to consider that, looked thoughtful. “You have so
many people who care at The Arbors. Family-by-love.”

A fanciful sentiment from a woman he hadn’t realized was so
fanciful. She cared. Gerald had been dead right about that. Jay didn’t think too
many people could find their way into her life and not be cared about. “Walter
and I will see all of them on Thanksgiving, too. Liz throws her annual feast at
the facility. She makes every one of her pies from scratch.”

“Wow.” Drawing her legs up, she tucked them around her on the
bench seat, for once not wearing her customary business suit, but a long skirt
made of some filmy stuff that flowed around her legs when she walked. “Who’s the
feast for? The residents and staff on duty?”

“Everyone, and I mean everyone. She’s famous for her cooking,
so residents’ families show up, and staff families show up whether they’re
scheduled or not. Some of our local vendors show up, too.”

“You’re kidding?”

“Nope. The place is like a revolving door buffet until she
closes up shop at three. For the record, she has permission to use our
facilities to cook her family Thanksgiving meal. Her kids pack up everything to
take home. That going to be a problem? She supplies her own food.”

Give or take some seasonings and little items that were kept in
the facility kitchen. Jay wouldn’t muddy the waters with too much
information.

Susanna’s easy humor faded fast and she transformed into the
practical administrator he knew so well. “She and her staff are doing all the
cooking, right?”

He nodded.

“Then I don’t think there’ll be a problem.”

“Good.” He’d be sure to document the procedure and permission
in the management manual he’d been working on for Susanna’s reference in the
event he actually got out of here as planned. He was glad he’d remembered to
address the issue now. He’d been trying to cover every eventuality that might
come up in his absence, but he hadn’t considered Thanksgiving until this very
moment. How many others had he missed?

“Sounds like I’ll be missing a great time,” Susanna said.

“There’ll be photos up on the website. Tessa wanders around
with that camera of hers then gets Amber to post everything on Facebook. You do
know we have a Facebook page?”

“I do.” She smiled again, and Jay decided he liked this chatty,
easygoing woman. Off duty, Susanna was easy to be around. No wrestling back and
forth about little things that made a world of difference at The Arbors. She
could let all her caring come out without such black-and-white rules and
regulations hemming her in on all sides.

“I liked our page,” she admitted. “And I like the fact we’ll
have Mrs. Harper back. I hated thinking of her in the hospital over the
holiday.”

Jay definitely liked this Susanna with all the soft edges
showing. He liked her a lot. “We should have an idea of her arrangements as soon
as the doctor writes the orders. I didn’t expect it to take so long. You’re
losing a lot of your day off.”

“No problem here. I was reading commentary on North Carolina
ALF certifications, and this is more important. You don’t think the doctor will
release Mrs. Harper to return to her apartment yet, do you?”

Jay leaned forward and clasped his hands over his knees, the
small of his back beginning to ache after sitting so long in the plastic chair.
“I think we’re looking at a few weeks of physical and occupational therapy
before she can pass the transfer tests to get back upstairs.”