There are things about growing up in a small town that you can’t necessarily quantify.
Brandon Routh
The whole incident with Queenie shook me up so badly that Brady offered to drive me to the hospital. My parents and Alva followed behind us. Then came the various boys and their respective girls, who’d all decided to stay until we knew for sure that Queenie was okay.
Turned out she was.
It took Doc Henderson a few hours to come to his conclusion, but he shared the news sometime around midnight. “It wasn’t a heart attack, folks. Just a case of angina, possibly brought on by stress. Has she gone through anything stressful today?”
“You could say that twice and mean it.” Pop sighed. “Yes, she’s had a stressful day.”
“My fault,” Alva whispered, her eyes flooding for the hundredth time. “Always my fault.”
“Not your fault,” Reverend Bradford said. He turned to the doctor to ask if he could go into the room to visit with Queenie and was told to keep the visit short. Seconds later he disappeared.
Pop shook his head. “It’ll be interesting to see how that one pans out.”
“Well, we’ve got her on medication that will keep her very calm while she’s here.” The doctor turned to look at Brady. “Don’t I know you?”
“This is Brady James.” Pop squared his shoulders and made the introduction, clearly proud to be doing so.
“I thought so.” Doc Henderson chuckled. “Hey, how’s the knee?”
Brady shrugged. “It’s on the mend. Had my first surgery four months ago. They’re talking about a second one, but I’m not sure yet when that will be.”
“Take it slow and easy,” Doc Henderson said. “I’ve known many a knee surgery that didn’t take because the patient tried to move too quickly. Tricky business, these knee problems.”
“Try telling that to my agent.” Brady rolled his eyes.
“Give me his number and I’ll be glad to.” The doctor nodded and then faced my dad. “Now, about your mom. I’ll probably release her tomorrow afternoon. I like to give these things time—usually twenty-four hours or so. But when she goes home it’ll have to be to a stress-free environment.”
“Guess that means I’ll be going back home,” Alva said.
“No way.” I rose and walked over to take the seat next to her. “You’re coming back to our place, Aunt Alva.”
“I insist,” Mama added.
“But Brady . . .” She gave him a hesitant look. “He came all this way just for me.”
“And I want to stay until I know for sure Queenie’s okay.” He glanced at me. “Is that all right?”
“Of course.” Relief flooded over me at this declaration.
“I saw a hotel up near the freeway. I’ll stay there.”
“You’ll do no such thing,” Mama said. “You should come to our place.”
“I don’t think there’s room, Marie,” Pop said.
“Well, let’s do this. I’ll send all of the boys—you included, Brady—to Queenie’s place. And the girls”—she glanced at Dahlia, Twiggy, and Crystal—“can stay with us.”
Beau looked at her with widened eyes. Likely he thought our mother would murder Twiggy in her sleep. “You sure, Mama?”
“I’m sure, baby boy. We all need some rest, and it’s too late for anyone to be driving back to Dallas tonight. The girls and I will get along just fine, I promise.”
Everyone stood at the same time, several in attendance yawning.
“Madge is gonna have her hands full tomorrow if none of us show up for work.” Dahlia slipped her arm around Dewey’s waist. “But I’d hate to leave until I know for sure your grandmother is okay.”
“I’m happy you’re staying.” He planted a kiss in her hair. Mama watched this from a distance and then announced that she was heading back home.
Brady took me back to my car, and I gave him instructions for how to get to Queenie’s house. Before we parted ways, he pulled me close and gave me a little kiss on the cheek. “I’m praying for her, Katie.”
“I’m grateful.” The words were more than just a platitude. Knowing that he was praying for my grandmother meant everything to me.
When I got back to my house, I saw that Mama had already settled our guests in the various bedrooms and the boys were nowhere to be found. I tumbled into bed and slept like a rock. When I awoke the next morning I found Mama and Pop in the kitchen, visiting with Dahlia, Twiggy, and Crystal. Turned out Mama and Crystal both liked to cook. And when my mother plopped a huge stack of pancakes down in front of Twiggy, she never said a word about gluten. Instead, she just dove right in, a delirious smile on her face.
“We’ll get ’er fattened up yet,” Mama whispered. “Then just see if my baby boy finds her so beautiful.”
I rolled my eyes but said nothing. What would be the point?
Afterward we headed up to the hospital, and the boys met us there. My heart did that usual pitter-pat thing that it always did when I saw Brady. He smiled and extended his arms. I gave him a warm hug.
The three girls said their hellos and goodbyes pretty quickly, then Dewey announced that he was driving them all back to Dallas. Jasper and Beau offered to go to Queenie’s house to pick up a change of clothes. I had just stepped out of my grandmother’s room to say goodbye to everyone when I saw a familiar face. Bessie May. She came tearing around the corner, fear in her eyes.
“Katie Sue! I’m so glad you’re here. How’s Queenie?”
“Better,” I said.
She grabbed my hand. “Your father says there’s a pro basketball player in Queenie’s hospital room.”
“That’s right.”
“Why is there a pro basketball player in her hospital room? Don’t you find that odd? The woman never watched a basketball game in her life, other than the ones at the high school, and she wasn’t terribly fond of those. In fact, she’s not fond of sports at all.”
“True. It’s kind of a long story, Bessie May.”
“I have plenty of time for a long story. I always get a little dizzy when I go into hospital rooms, so I’ll just sit right here and you can tell me all about it.”
“Isn’t this Saturday? Don’t you have a rummage sale at the church this morning?”
Her eyes widened and she gasped. “For pity’s sake! Yes!” She rushed into the room to say hello to Queenie, then quickly tore out the door, headed to the church.
“She’s very fast for someone her age,” Brady observed as I came back into the room. “Was she a ball player in a former life?”
“Hardly. The woman knows nothing about sports, as was probably evidenced by the fact that she didn’t know who you were. Er, are.”
We visited with my grandmother for a while. She seemed genuinely embarrassed that people had created such a fuss. On and on she went, talking about what a goober she felt like. Until Mama happened to mention that Alva had spent the night at our place.
“O-oh?” Queenie sat up a little straighter in the bed. “Is she still there now?”
“Yes, she’s resting up. I think last night was harder on her than she wanted to admit.”
“Ah.” Queenie shook her head. “Well, how’s the weather out there?”
Nice diversion.
My father glanced at his watch a couple of times, and Queenie finally took the hint. “I know what you’re fretting about, Herb. Just go open the store. It won’t hurt my feelings in the slightest. I’m about ready for a nap anyway.” She yawned to prove her point.
“Well, if you’re sure, Mama.” My father stood and walked over to his mother’s bed and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Glad you’re going to be okay. You gave us quite a scare.”
“Sure didn’t mean to.” My grandmother shrugged. “Now, get on out of here. You’ve got work to do. They’re gonna spring me loose soon, so I’ll call you when I need to hitch a ride.”
My father nodded and then said his goodbyes. The rest of us decided to leave a short while later when Queenie dozed off. No point in sitting there staring at a sleeping woman.
“Want to go to Dairy Queen for lunch?” I asked Brady.
“Dairy Queen?” He stretched and glanced at his watch. “Haven’t been to one of those in ages.”
“Well, you don’t know what you’re missing. If we leave now, we can get there before the lunch crowd.”
“Sounds great.”
We stepped outside of my grandmother’s room, and I gasped when I saw an old friend in the hallway. He was approaching with a concerned look on his face.
“Levi Nash.”
His handsome face lit with recognition when he saw me. “Katie. I just stopped by to check on your grandmother. We’ve been praying for her. How’s she doing?”
“Better, actually. I heard you were going to be coming back to Fairfield for the summer. It’s good to see you.”
Levi’s attention shifted to Brady and he smiled. “Well, I guess the rumors are true. I heard there had been a sighting of Brady James.” He stuck out his hand.
“In the flesh.” Brady shook Levi’s hand.
“Good to meet you.” Levi turned back to me, which made me feel honored. Most folks made such a big deal about Brady that they hardly seemed to take notice of me. “To answer your question, I’ll be back and forth from Dallas to Fairfield. I’m interning at the church, but I’m still leading a Bible study on campus in Dallas too.”
“That’s wonderful.”
“I think my mom’s glad to have me home, even if it is just for the summer.”
“The WOP-pers are glad too.”
“Those WOP-pers.” He laughed. “They’re something else. They sure prayed me back from a rough place. I’m thankful for that.”
“You seem so happy, Levi,” I observed. “Peaceful.”
“Does it show?” He grinned. “Still can’t believe I’m the same guy.”
“You’re not, actually.”
“Guess you’re right. My whole world has changed.”
“It’s obvious. This new life seems to really agree with you.”
“Thanks. I’m just so grateful.” He turned to give Brady a nod. “Great to meet you. Think I’ll go in and visit Queenie now.”
“She’s asleep,” I said. “So you might need to wait a bit.”
“No I’m not.” Queenie’s voice rang out from inside the room. “All that chattering outside has me wide awake again.”
I clamped a hand over my mouth. “Oops.”
“Send that boy in here,” she said. “I need some Levi time.”
He laughed and stepped inside the room with a wave of his hand.
“He seems like a great guy.” Brady slipped his arm over my shoulders as we walked down the hospital corridor together.
“My mother wanted me to marry him,” I said.
Brady stopped and looked at me. “Wait . . . she wanted you to marry Levi? Or Casey?”
“Levi.” I laughed. “It’s complicated.”
“Well, do me a favor and don’t marry either one.” He gave me a little wink and pulled me close.
I agreed, without any hesitation at all.
Less than five minutes later we pulled into the parking lot at Dairy Queen. As I stared through the plate-glass windows, I had a flashback to a day not so many weeks ago when I’d sat in this very same place, ready to go inside to meet Casey for an Oreo Blizzard. It felt like a million years ago.
Or not.
Brady and I stepped inside the restaurant, and I thought my heart was going to sail right out of my throat when I saw Casey sitting with a couple of his friends in our old booth.
Oh. Help.
“You ready to order?” Brady turned his attention to the menu. “I’m starving.”
“Mm-hmm.”
He ordered a burger and I got the chicken fingers basket, then we headed to a table near the back. As we passed by Casey, he glanced up at me, his eyes widening. They grew even wider when he saw Brady. I gave him a little nod and kept walking, but I felt like I might faint.
“You okay?” Brady asked. “You look like you’re not feeling well all of a sudden.”
“Yeah. I’ll explain when we get to the table.”
I didn’t get a chance to explain. The other patrons at Dairy Queen gathered around us, gushing over Brady like a celebrity. He took it in stride, but I could tell he really wanted to just fade into the woodwork. Or eat a cheeseburger in peace.
We did manage to eat . . . finally. “You sure you’re okay over there?” he asked after several moments of silence on my part.
“Yeah. I, um . . . there’s someone here that . . . well . . .”
“Someone in Dairy Queen?” He looked around at the various booths, stopping when he got to Casey’s. I didn’t have to explain, because Casey was staring at us as if he wanted to take Brady down. I had the strangest feeling it would only be a matter of time before the Oreos hit the fan.