Reid crossed the street and dodged a speeding car. He barely missed hitting his thigh on the guy’s bumper. Reckless kid. He batted some hanging moss from a cypress tree out of his way when he stepped onto the curb and reached Scott’s office.
The receptionist looked up with a smile when he yanked open the door. “I only called fifteen minutes ago.”
“I couldn’t believe the papers were ready. You’re fast.”
“Scott wanted them at the top of my to-do list.” She slid the stack across the table to him. “Let me put you in a conference room so you can read them. I’ve got stickers where I need your signature.”
His gut was tense as he followed her down the carpeted hall to a small room containing only a table and chairs. “Thanks.”
“Bring them out when you’re done.” She shut the door behind her.
Reid stared at the papers. They wouldn’t sign themselves. Divorce. Such an ugly word. But their marriage had been over long ago. Lauren’s own choice, not his at the time.
He read through the legalese and jotted his initials on every page where indicated. There was no settlement amount offered to Lauren in the documents, and he was asking for $25,000 in past child support. It wasn’t nearly as much as anyone would have paid, but it was bound to enrage her.
Reid signed his name with a flourish at the final sticker and stood. Even though this wasn’t a done deal yet, he felt a weight lift. His decision felt good.
On his way out, he handed the papers to the receptionist and thanked her again before he stepped out into fresh air scented with roses from a bank of flowers in the lawn. He spotted Officer Jackson Brown exiting a sandwich shop and waved to him.
Jackson waited for Reid to join him. “You looking for the chief?”
“Maybe. Depends on what kind of mood she’s in.” Reid grinned to show he was kidding.
“You’ve got a woman with a one-track mind. Delivering justice is never far from her thoughts. Just finished up a meeting with her and got my marching orders.” He held up his big drink. “After lunch, of course. A big guy like me has to keep up his strength.”
Jackson’s gaze went over Reid’s shoulder, and his smile vanished. He stepped past Reid and handed his sandwich bag and drink to a homeless woman curled against a tree trunk in a small patch of shade.
“Here, ma’am. It’s turkey and salami on rye. And sweet tea with lots of ice.”
The woman appeared to be in her fifties and wore several layers of dresses. A backpack, ratty and dirty, lay propped against the tree trunk beside her.
Her brown eyes widened, and she took Jackson’s offered food hesitantly. “You’re sure?”
“Oh yes. I bought it before realizing I’m not really that hungry.”
She took a long slurp of sweet tea and gave a heartfelt sigh. “That’s good. Thank you, young man.”
“You’re welcome. Is there anything else I can do for you, ma’am?”
Her gaze lifted to his face again. “Your mama raised you right, son. This is all I need right here.” She opened the bag and pulled out the sandwich.
Jackson watched her eat for a moment before he rejoined Reid.
“Nice thing to do,” Reid said.
“Her name is Millie. Her husband died several years ago, and she has no family. When her house in Pensacola was repossessed, she found her way here and has been living on the streets. Mostly she sleeps in the park.”
Just the kind of guy Reid would like to know better. He clapped him on the shoulder. “Want to share a pizza for lunch?”
Jackson consulted the time on his phone. “If we do by-the-slice so I don’t have to wait, I can squeeze that in.”
* * *
The aroma of crawfish étouffée filled Olivia’s small house, and the taste lingered on Jane’s tongue. She put down her napkin. “That was delicious, Megan. I can’t believe you made it by yourself.”
Megan rose and put her plate in the sink. “Thanks, Jane. Mom helped too. I’ll go grab my stuff, and we can get going.”
Jane smiled at the girl’s eagerness to see Will. “I’ll be ready in fifteen minutes or so.” She reached for Olivia’s plate, then drew back when she saw her friend hadn’t finished. “You didn’t like it?”
“You know I love étouffée, but I-I was having trouble swallowing.” Olivia’s hand trembled as she reached over and grasped Jane’s forearm. “Would you bring me the manila envelope in the drawer to the left of the sink?”
“Sure.” Jane retrieved it and noticed Scott Foster’s firm’s address in the upper left corner.
Olivia had trouble pulling the papers out and shredded the envelope in the process. “You have to see how much I’m deteriorating. I expect the doctor to give me bad news tomorrow, and I want to be prepared for it. I asked Scott to draw up guardianship papers for Megan.” Olivia’s brows drew together over dark-blue eyes. “You’re still willing to care for her?”
Jane’s chest pinched, and she swallowed hard. “Of course, Olivia. You know I love her. But you’re still in the early stages of ALS.”
“Thirty percent die in a year, and 50 percent die in two to five years. This thing seems to be racing right through me. I need to have all my ducks in a row so I can rest in God’s provision for me.”
“I don’t like the way this conversation is going. It sounds like you’re giving up.”
Olivia’s eyes filled with tears. “I don’t think I’m going to beat this, Jane. You like to fix things, but sometimes outcomes can’t be changed.”
It was all Jane could do to stay in her chair. She wanted to pace, wave her hands, and shout. She inhaled and let out a slow breath to calm herself. “I want you to fight, Olivia! Some people live decades with ALS.”
“A few. But I feel myself slipping daily. I’ve lost twenty pounds, and I’m having trouble doing a lot of things that used to be so easy.” She held out the papers for Jane to take. “If you’re willing, please sign these before Megan comes out. I don’t want to worry her.”
Jane took the sheaf of papers and scribbled her name at the marked spots without reading through them. “You know I’d do anything to help. You can both move in with me. I’ll help take care of you.”
“And where would you put us? Your place just has one bedroom.”
“You and Megan could have the bedroom, and I’ll sleep on the sofa.” But even as she made the offer, Jane knew it would never work. “I guess you’d have trouble climbing the stairs. I could come here then. I could sleep on the sofa.”
Olivia shook her head. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. If we need to make changes, we can do that, but I wanted to make sure Megan is taken care of first. This sets my mind at ease, so thank you. I don’t want to leave Megan, but if that’s God’s will, we have no choice.”
“How could God do that? I don’t understand why he’d be so cruel.” Her voice wobbled as she tried to imagine a world without Olivia in it.
Olivia was one of the good ones. Always willing to extend a helping hand. Always thinking of other people. Even more importantly, she never seemed to lose her trust in God. She was an inspiration Jane had always looked to for grounding and comfort. A mother figure, really.
Olivia patted Jane’s hand. “God is never cruel. He always has a plan, and he sees beyond this temporal life. It might not be what we’d have chosen, but he always works things together for our good.”
“There can be nothing good in this, Olivia. Nothing.” Jane shoved the papers across the table to her friend and paced the tiny kitchen. “We have to do something.”
Before Olivia answered, Megan came bouncing into the kitchen. “I’m ready.”
Jane exchanged a long look with Olivia and turned toward the girl. “We’ll shove off then, Olivia. Get some rest and let me know if you need anything. I’ll have her back by ten.”
Megan bent down to brush a kiss across Olivia’s cheek. “Bye, Mom. Thanks for letting me go.”
“Have fun, honey.”
A shudder rippled down Jane’s back as she noticed how gaunt Olivia appeared. How pale and frail. She couldn’t bear to lose her, but she felt so helpless.
And what would they do if Olivia died?
* * *
Reid’s eyes burned from working on the computer all day. He was attempting to do his own editing, and it wasn’t going well. He wasn’t as fast as Elliot, though he knew his way around the software. Reid sighed with satisfaction as he closed his laptop and watched the sun set through his window.
He’d heard the faint strains of video games coming from Will’s room most of the afternoon, and he went down the hall to roust the teenager away from the screen for the rest of the night.
Will’s door stood open a crack, and Reid swung it back against the wall.
Reid stepped into the room. “Whoa, what happened here?” It still smelled like a teenage boy’s smelly athletic socks. That wouldn’t change for years yet. But the room was unexpectedly clean. Not even a sock lay on the tan carpet.
Will rose and stretched out his back. His tanned legs looked impossibly long in his gym shorts. The kid was shooting up by the day.
Will swiped a rag along the top of his dresser. “Megan is coming by later. I didn’t want her to think I was a pig.”
“I should have known. Do I need to pick her up? Her mom didn’t seem very steady yesterday.”
“No, Mom was stopping by to eat crawfish étouffée with them for dinner, then she’ll bring Megan over for a while. That’s okay, isn’t it? I asked you, but you were deep in editing mode and only mumbled. I didn’t think you really heard me.”
Reid vaguely remembered the boy stopping by his desk when an important part of the documentary had seemingly disappeared into the laptop’s black hole, and it hadn’t penetrated his head. “Sorry. It’s fine, of course.”
“Because anything Mom does is fine?” Will’s brown eyes held a twinkle.
Reid gave his son a small shove. “Well, there’s that.”
Will’s grin faded. “Are you guys okay? It seemed like she was mad at you on Saturday.”
How much should he tell him? Will was nearly an adult now, but it felt weird to talk about his relationship to a fifteen-year-old. And Reid had been treading lightly when it came to mentioning Lauren. Though Will adored his real mother, Lauren’s abandonment had brought a lot of pain.
Will tossed the disposable dust cloth into the trash. “It’s about Lauren, isn’t it? I’m not stupid, Dad. Rumors are flying around town that she’s trying to take you to the cleaners. I figured out a long time ago that she didn’t love me and never had. And that’s okay. I have you and Mom and Grandpa. My other grandparents now too. I don’t need her. She’d be the last person on earth I’d go to if I was in trouble.”
“Lauren confronted your mom and asked her to back off so our marriage could be repaired.”
Will’s brows shot up. “You’ve got to be kidding! You’d never go back to her, would you? And you’re not really married.”
“We might be.” Reid told him what he knew about the Nevada law.
“Wow, Mom wouldn’t like to think she broke up a marriage.”
“And she hasn’t. Even if I’d never found your mom again, I’d never live with Lauren. That leopard hasn’t changed her spots. She only wants money.”
“She’d never live here either. We’ve only been here a few months, but I already feel more at home here than anywhere we’ve ever lived. Don’t you feel that way too? These people are our friends. I never want to leave Pelican Harbor.”
“Me neither.”
Their lives had changed so dramatically since they drove into the city limits of this place. It was more than a new start—it was the beginning of a new life mixed with the ashes of an old life he’d thought had totally burned to the ground.
But it hadn’t. The embers were still smoldering, and life would never be the same.