A Special Kind Of Family. Eileen Berger

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СКАЧАТЬ medication. Her heart, blood pressure and everything else are good, thank God, and Dr. Rosemont, the orthopedic surgeon, hopes to operate in a day or two.”

      “I hope he can!” Vanessa passed on this information to the anxious girls, then asked if he’d be staying much longer.

      “No, Gram’s getting drowsy, probably from the medicine, but I’ll stop again in the morning on my way to work, after I check in with Andi and our adorable little Katherine.”

      She could almost hear the smile in his voice. This was the way it was supposed to be when you loved someone, wasn’t it? “Sleep well, Keith. And kiss your daughter for me when you see her.”

      “Sure will, Van. With pleasure!”

      Vanessa rolled over to push in the alarm button ten minutes before it was set to ring, and was ready for the day by the time Jana and Barb got downstairs, dressed for school. They’d said the night before that all they wanted for breakfast was fruit, hot chocolate and cornflakes, so she had that waiting for them on the kitchen table.

      The other three were at the table by the time Aunt Phyllis Bastian arrived. “I stopped to see Mom and talked with one of her nurses just before I left this morning. She had a fairly good night, considering everything.”

      That didn’t satisfy Jana. “Does she still hurt so awful much?”

      “Quite a bit, I’m afraid.” Her smile was somewhat rueful. “But she made me promise before I left that I’d tell everyone she’s doing just fine!”

      Barb’s hazel eyes were round with worry. “You mean—she’s not?”

      “She’s doing well for someone her age.” Phyl’s arm slid around the girl’s shoulders. “And you know Gram, she’s convinced everything will work out okay.”

      Barb looked even more upset. “She is going to be all right, isn’t she?”

      “Sure, she is.” Vanessa picked up her small purse and keys. “I must get to work. How about my dropping you and Jana off at school on my way?”

      They grabbed their books and ran out ahead of her, as she’d hoped they would, and she was in her office within a few minutes of dropping them at school. Time flew with in-house matters to be taken care of immediately, then fax, e-mail, and phone messages to be answered.

      She hardly glanced at a clock until Keith called around one-thirty to tell her Gram’s surgery was scheduled for the following morning. Vanessa wanted to let Rob know—actually, she wanted to hear his reassuring voice—but the funeral home’s answering machine gave the very proper message recorded by his partner stating that the service for some man was taking place at two that afternoon. Her call would be returned if she left a name and number.

      She did that, then leaned back in her chair and punched in the number for Gram’s room. The connection went through quickly. “Good afternoon, how are you feeling?”

      A soft laugh. “Grateful, mostly.”

      “Grateful?” That wasn’t the word she’d have used.

      “Mm-hmmm. My fall could have happened anytime, you know, but it took place when the girls were right there, and AnnaMae made the calls, and Rob and Pete came right away, and you stayed overnight—why shouldn’t I be grateful?”

      Vanessa felt a crooked smile come to her own face. “Why not indeed?” But she wondered how many others would have reacted that way. “I understand that you’re scheduled for hip surgery tomorrow morning.”

      “Right. And look, dear, don’t think you must be with me. Your primary responsibility has got to be there in Sylvan Falls.”

      She knew Gram wasn’t referring to her job here at the plant. “Things went well last night. I stayed until Aunt Phyl came this morning, and dropped Jana and Barb off at school on my way here. Everyone’s fine.”

      “I’ve been wondering about this afternoon, though. Phyl will need to leave no later than two-thirty to get back here for her shift at the hospital.”

      Vanessa drew in a deep breath. “I was hoping to get away early, but there’s no way I can leave until at least four-thirty or five.”

      “I’m going to call Gin Redding. Perhaps she can cover for us since she lives just across the side yard.”

      Us, not you. Dear Gram, worrying about everything at home when she’s got enough problems there. “That would help, of course, but I hate to make you do the phoning.”

      “Now you just get back to what you have to do, dear. I’ll call Gin, and if she can’t come over I’ll ask another friend. I’m sure to find someone.”

      There was the click of a closed line, and Vanessa sat there for a moment looking at the phone still in her hand. Leaning forward, she replaced it and got to her feet. She made a practice of getting around to each department every day, convinced that being readily accessible avoided the necessity of spending a lot more time troubleshooting.

      She was almost disappointed that Rob had not returned her call by the time she left at 5:28. With her mind on getting to Gram’s as soon as possible, and staying there, she’d verified that one of the foremen would receive any after-hours emergency calls. She considered stopping to pick up pizza on the way but had not had time to call ahead; she’d better hurry to relieve Gram’s good-hearted neighbor.

      As she parked by the curb and hurried inside, Vanessa was still trying to decide what to have for dinner—and gave a sigh of relief when Gin told her that church members would be sending the evening meal each day until further notice. She knew Gram often did this for others, but had not considered a possible reversal of that kindness.

      The doorbell rang, and Ricki hurried to respond. “Hi, Mr. Corland. So you’re the first to bring us a meal!”

      “I guess I am.” He chuckled. “Want to take a couple of these?”

      Going into the hallway, Vanessa was surprised to see his arms filled with a number of take-out boxes from her favorite steak house. “I hope everyone’s hungry,” he was saying even before she could greet him. “I brought both steak and barbecued chicken from Jerry’s Barbeque.”

      Does he remember the two of us going there? It seems so long ago!

      Barb and Jana also insisted on carrying containers to the kitchen, so he was empty-handed as she said, “Just set everything on the table till we get organized.”

      They exclaimed over the abundance of not only the meat, vegetables and salads, but even cherry and apple pies. Vanessa asked, “Have you eaten, Rob?”

      “Well, the church served a luncheon following the interment, and the family asked us to join them….”

      “You and Gin will stay and eat with us,” Vanessa stated briskly. “There’s so much food.”

      With the girls working together, it was only minutes until the table was set, coffee and hot water ready, the food on serving platters and everyone seated. At first the conversation primarily concerned Gram’s scheduled surgery, and the length of time anticipated for recovery and rehabilitation before she could return home.

      Kate’s grandmother СКАЧАТЬ