Chapter Thirteen

Alex sewed five neat stitches in Aaron’s left thumb, then wrapped the hand in gauze. His friend vibrated with anxiety.

“How could I be so stupid,” Aaron said for what must have been the tenth time. He ran his uninjured hand over his tired face. “I’ve drilled a thousand holes through two-by-fours and strung a million miles of electrical wire, and today I manage to skewer my own thumb with my drill. How the hell am I supposed to work with my hand wrapped up like a God-damn mummy?”

“You’re probably going to have to take a few days off. The stitches need to be in for about five days, but you’ve got to keep it clean or else you’re going to get an infection.”

“I can’t afford to take a few days off!” Aaron shouted. He closed his eyes and wiped his hand over his face once more. “Sorry, Alex. This isn’t your fault. I shouldn’t be yelling at you.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re entitled to do a little yelling. Edie’s surgery is the day after tomorrow, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. We’re leaving for Bangor tomorrow morning. They’re going to do some preliminary blood work and some other tests, and then her surgery is scheduled for early the next morning. I’ve got to spend three nights in a hotel and pay for meals and gas, on top of the cost of Edie’s surgery.” He lifted his bandaged hand. “And then I go and do this. I need to work! How stupid can I be?”

“Don’t beat yourself up. You’re under a lot of stress. Have you been sleeping?”

Aaron sighed. “Not a lot. Neither of us has.”

Alex nodded. “It’s understandable. But remember, Dr. Collins is very highly thought of. He’s going to take good care of Edie.”

“I know. He has to. If he doesn’t, I don’t know what the kids and I would do…” He looked away, his voice trailing off.

“Don’t even go there. Edie’s going to be fine.” He prayed he was telling the truth. “Listen, I’ve got a little extra money put aside. It’s not much, but you’re welcome to it.”

Aaron looked up at him in surprise. “I appreciate that, Alex, more than I can tell you, but I can’t take your money. Isn’t the whole reason you’re in Lobster Cove so you can pay off your student debt?”

He waved away Aaron’s concern. “Some things are more important. I’m serious, Aaron. The money’s yours if you want it.”

He saw him swallow and press his right thumb and forefinger against his eyes before he turned away. When he’d composed himself once more, he looked up at Alex and nodded. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll get the cash to you as soon as I can. But right now I want you to get the hell out of my ER and go home to your wife. And for God’s sake, look after yourself. You’re going to be useless to Edie if you don’t. You can start by getting some sleep. Doctor’s orders.”

Aaron hopped off the examining table. “Yeah, you’re right. Thanks, Buddy. For everything.”

Alex clapped him on the back. “Let me know how things go with Edie’s surgery.”

“I will.”

He left the room, and Alex sat at the desk to complete his notes in Aaron’s medical file. On top of all the worry about Edie’s illness, Aaron had to deal with the stress of paying for her health care. The costs of the surgery and the ongoing treatments would be steep. The few hundred dollars that he could give would be a drop in the bucket. He hoped Edie and Aaron had some money stashed away. Or maybe their families could help.

He set down his pen and stared out the window. Despite all his years of medical training, he felt absolutely powerless to help. He closed Aaron’s file and sighed. This was what happened when he let himself get involved in his patients’ lives.

When he returned to work in San Diego, the anonymity of the big city meant he wouldn’t know his patients outside of the ER. He could remain completely detached and uninvolved when treating them.

A tug-of-war began in his head. Was that what he really wanted? To never know who his patients were? The people of Lobster Cove meant something to him, and he fought for the health of each one of them. He was dealing with a variety of illnesses and conditions, some of which challenged all his training.

Alex’s cell phone sounded, a text message alerting him that he was needed elsewhere. He didn’t know all the answers, but he had a few months left on his contract in Lobster Cove to try to figure it out.

****

At first Alex thought Julia wasn’t going to show up for their game, but five minutes before they were scheduled to begin, he saw her and Ava hurrying toward the ball diamond. Ava waved at him and continued on to the playground. Without a word, Julia put on her cleats and ran to her position at shortstop. He ran toward her, taking a detour on his way to the pitcher’s mound.

“Everything all right?” he asked.

She didn’t quite look him in the eyes. “Yeah. Fine. Just lost track of time. Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” He wanted to say more, to ask her if she really was as fine as she claimed, but this was neither the time nor the place. He jogged over to the pitcher’s mound.

An hour later the game was over. They were beaten badly by the Cranberry Island team, the mercy rule being invoked when their team was down by seven runs after the fifth inning. By now, everyone knew about Edie’s illness, and an aura of worry and unease had settled over the team. Softball was the last thing on their minds.

Tracy sat next to Alex on the bench and removed her cleats. “Have you heard anything from Aaron yet? How did Edie’s surgery go?”

“I got a text from him this afternoon. He said everything went well with the lumpectomy. They’re going to keep Edie in the hospital overnight, and likely send her home tomorrow.”

“I wish I could be with her,” she said.

“I know, but she’s getting great care, and Aaron’s with her. She’ll be okay.”

Julia sat on the other side of Tracy. “Are you talking about Edie? How’s she doing?”

Alex repeated his news for her. She looked tired, her face strained.

“I’m glad she’s okay. Trace, Lily Stewart and I are talking to people about what we can do to help Edie and Aaron, like babysitting, rides into Bangor and Bar Harbor for Edie’s treatments, things like that. Can you give us a hand?”

“Of course.” She paused, and Alex saw the way Tracy’s brow wrinkled in concern. “You and Lily are working together?”

“Yeah, we are, amazingly enough. She’s been very supportive.”

“Lily is Ava’s paternal grandmother,” Tracy said for his benefit.

“I see. Is there anything I can do?”

“I don’t know yet, but if there is, we’ll let you know,” Julia said, bending forward to tie her sneakers. She still hadn’t looked at him directly. It was almost as if she was afraid to.

“I’d better get going. I’ll call you tomorrow, Jules,” Tracy said.

“Okay. Talk to you then.”

Ava ran across the ball diamond toward them, stopping to give Tracy a hug on the way.

“Dr. Alex!”

She threw her arms around his neck, and he caught her and placed her on his knee.

“I guess I don’t have to ask how your arm’s doing. You almost knocked me over with it!”

She giggled. “Are you coming over to our house tonight?”

Julia answered before he had a chance. “Not tonight, sweetie.”

“Why not?”

“Because Dr. Alex has other plans.”

He lifted an eyebrow at that, and she had the good grace to blush. But he wasn’t going to contradict her.

“I’ll see you at the next game, Ava.”

“But I don’t get to talk to you when you’re playing ball. I’m too far away. I like when you come over to our house and we make you a sandwich.”

He didn’t know what to say. He glanced at Julia for help, and she laid her hand on Ava’s knee.

“Honey, Alex can’t come over to our house all the time. Sometimes he has to work and sometimes he has to do other stuff, and see other friends.”

Ava put one arm around his neck and rested her head against his shoulder “Please come over to our house. I love you.”

Alex felt like he’d been blindsided by a Mack truck. He hugged Ava close, unable to speak. When he looked over at Julia, she was struggling for composure.

“I know you care for Alex,” she said, trying to smile. “He’s our friend, honey, but he’s got his own life. He can’t come to our house all the time.”

“I know,” she said in a tiny voice.

“We should go home now,” Julia said. “Say goodbye to Alex.”

“Bye, Dr. Alex.” She sounded as morose as he felt.

“Bye, Ava.”

She slid off his knee and took Julia’s outstretched hand. As they walked away, Ava turned to wave at him, but Julia continued to walk, refusing to look back.

She was determined to forget about their night together, to stomp out any tender feelings between them. Hell, maybe she was right. They wanted different things in life, wanted to live in different parts of the country. The chances of her changing her mind about him were remote. They were over before they even started.

But as he watched her walk away from him, his heart told him not to give up. She was worth fighting for.

****

“Hey, Nona. I’m glad I caught you.”

“Alejandro, good to hear from you! How’s the weather up there? Is it cold?”

Alex chuckled. Another discussion of the weather. His grandmother was nothing if not predictable. “Actually, it’s hot and very humid. It is July, Nona. Southern California isn’t the only place that gets hot in July.”

“I’m glad to hear it. I was afraid your blood was going to freeze up there. So aside from the weather, how are you, Alejandro?”

He hesitated, not sure how to answer that. A few days ago he would have told her he was great, but now… When he closed his eyes he saw Julia walking away without a backward glance, and Ava holding her hand, looking at him with a forlorn expression in her eyes, her “I love you” ringing in his ears.

“Alejandro? What’s going on?”

“I…I met someone, but it didn’t work out.”

He found himself telling her all about Julia, how they’d met, how strong she was, how special she was, how adamant she was about staying in Lobster Cove. He told her about Ava and the bond they’d developed so quickly.

When he finished, Nona was silent, which was totally unlike her.

“Nona? Are you still there?”

“Yes, yes, I’m here. I’ve never heard you talk about a woman like this before. And I’ve definitely never heard you speak of a child this way. Are you sure she no longer wants to see you?”

“She doesn’t think there’s any point, since I’ll be leaving in February. She’s afraid of Ava becoming even more attached to me than she already is. She doesn’t want her to get hurt.”

“I suspect it’s already too late to avoid hurt feelings, Alejandro, especially yours. I’m worried about you.”

“I’m fine, Nona.” Or at least I will be. Someday.

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know if there’s anything I can do. Julia is determined to shut me out. Maybe she’s right. I couldn’t bear to hurt her or Ava.”

“You’re a good boy, Alejandro, always thinking of other people. Maybe it’s time to think about what you want.”

“What do you mean?”

“You have to do what makes you happy. You have to be with the people who make you happy.”

He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to do that when Julia didn’t want him. Even if he decided to stay in Lobster Cove, there was no guarantee of a future together.

“Thanks, Nona. I’ll think about what you said. I’ve got to run now. I’ll talk to you again soon, okay?”

“You’d better. But Alejandro, talk to your mother. She needs to hear from you.”

He groaned. “We’ll just get into a fight again.”

“Talk to her,” she said firmly. “Soon. Understand?”

“Yes, Nona.”

“Good. Te quiero.”

“I love you, too, Nona. Talk to you soon.”

He rang off and stared at his cell phone for a few minutes. What did Nona mean about his mother needing to hear from him? Was something going on with her?

He punched in his mother’s number before he could change his mind. She answered after a couple of rings.

“Alex? Is everything all right?”

“Yeah, fine. What about you?”

She sighed. “Not bad under the circumstances. Getting better.”

Alex sat up straighter. “What do you mean? What’s going on?”

“I thought Nona would have told you. Tom and I have split.”

“Oh!” That was a surprise. He stood and started to pace. “What happened? When did you split?”

“I think it’s been coming for a long time. We haven’t really been happy for years. Maybe we never were. Anyway, Tom came home one day a few weeks ago and said he’d met someone else. He wanted a divorce.”

“The bastard dumped you?”

“It was a relief, really. Like I said, we haven’t been happy for a long time.”

“I’m sorry, Mom.”

He wished he could offer more, but he didn’t know what else to say. He’d never been in her position. Over the years he’d had many girlfriends, some he’d liked more than others, but his heart had never been truly broken when a relationship ended. There’d been no one he’d considered spending the rest of his life with. Julia’s face immediately came to mind, and a shiver of unease passed through him. He had a feeling she’d be his first real broken heart. When he left, he knew a part of his heart would stay here in Lobster Cove with her.

“I appreciate that, Alex. I’m so glad you called.”

He felt immediately guilty. “I’m sorry I’ve been so lousy about keeping in touch with you.”

“I know I nag you sometimes.”

“Sometimes?” Alex couldn’t resist teasing her a little.

She chuckled. “Okay, a lot of the time. But I only do it because I love you and I want the best for you.”

“I know, Mom, but you’ve got to understand that I’m a grown man and very capable of making my own decisions about my work and where I live. I’m really happy with what I’m doing right now.”

“Yes, but you could make a lot more money in a another specialty—”

“Mom, I really don’t want to argue with you about it.”

She sighed again. “I don’t want to argue with you, either. I miss you, Alex. I can hardly wait till you get home.”

Another wave of guilt swamped him. Even when he’d lived in San Diego he hadn’t visited her as often as he should have. Part of it was his schedule, and part was his dislike of his stepfather. But another part was that his meetings with his mother always turned into a tug-of-war.

“It won’t be long,” he said evasively. “Are you going to stay in the house in La Jolla?”

“No. It’s on the market. We have to split all our joint property.”

“Have you thought about where you’re going to live after you sell?”

She sighed. “I’ve looked at a couple of places, but real estate in La Jolla is so expensive.”

“Chula Vista isn’t as expensive, and you’d be closer to your family there.”

“I suppose.” She sounded less than enthusiastic. Her voice cracked. “The hardest thing is starting over again. I’m not sure I have the energy.”

Alex ached for her. “You’re going to be okay. I know you are. Listen, you could come out here for a visit. Maybe a change of scenery would do you good. I’ve got plenty of space.”

“I appreciate the invitation, I really do, but I’ve got so much to do right now with selling the house and finding a new place. But I’ll think about it.”

“Good.” He looked at his watch. “It’s getting late, Mom, and I have an early start tomorrow. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Goodnight, Alex. Thanks for calling.”

“Goodnight, Mom.”

He set the phone on the kitchen table. He and his mother had always had their issues, but he loved her. He wished he could go to her right now and give her a big hug. For the first time since he’d moved to Maine, he felt the huge distance between them, both literally and figuratively, and wished it wasn’t so far.

****

Julia, Ava, and Tracy arrived at the Cosgrove house with several bags of groceries and a bouquet of lilies, Edie’s favorite. Natalie let them into the house and led them to the living room, where Edie was lying on the couch in front of the TV. Ava took Natalie’s hand and they ran upstairs together. The baby screamed in her playpen, and Michael played with Legos that were spread all across the living room floor. Blankets and pillows were strewn across the dining room table and chairs where the kids had built a fort. Julia knew Edie had to be feeling rough for her house to be in this state of chaos. She normally ran a tight ship and hated mess and disorganization of any kind.

Julia set her bags on the floor and picked up the crying baby, who settled as soon as she was released from the playpen. She stooped to kiss Edie’s forehead. “How are you, sweetie?”

“Good. A little sore, but mostly tired.”

“That’s to be expected after general anesthesia and a procedure like yours,” Tracy said.

“Yes, so I’ve been told.” Edie pointed to the bags in Tracy’s hands. “What have you got there?”

“Groceries. Mostly stuff you can put together easily to make a meal tonight.”

“You guys didn’t have to do that.”

“You’d better get used to it,” Julia said. “Starting tomorrow, we’ve got an army of people organized to look after you and the kids. We’re going to make sure you get plenty of rest.”

“What?”

“We don’t want you to worry about anything,” Tracy said. She lifted one of the bags she carried. “Julia, I’ll take care of the food if you look after the baby.”

“Okay.” Julia sniffed Abigail. “I think I’d better change this little one. She doesn’t smell so good.”

Edie tried to get to her feet. “You don’t have to do that.”

“You stay right there. It’s not like I haven’t changed a poopy diaper before. I’ll be right back.”

Julia took little Abigail upstairs to her room. Despite what she’d said to Edie, she was out of practice when it came to changing the diaper of a squirming baby, and it took her a little longer then she’d expected to complete the task. But she finally got a clean diaper on her, along with a clean set of clothes.

When she and Abigail returned to the living room, she saw that Tracy had placed the lilies in a vase on a side table. Julia put the baby back in her playpen, though Abigail let her displeasure be known with a loud screech. Julia was afraid if she let her out, she’d grab one of the Legos lying on the floor and stick it in her mouth.

“C’mon, Mike. Let’s pick these up.” In a few minutes they had the Legos back in their plastic containers.

“Where’s Aaron?” Tracy asked when she came back into the room.

Edie sighed, closing her eyes briefly. “He’s working. With the medical bills starting to pile up, he’s worried about money.”

“How can he manage, with his hand bandaged and his thumb full of stitches?”

“His thumb full of stitches?” Julia asked. “What happened?”

Edie told her how he’d injured himself. “He was overtired from not sleeping, and his mind just wasn’t on his work. I’m afraid he’s pushing himself so hard he’s going to hurt himself even worse.”

“It was just a momentary slip,” Tracy said. “Aaron will be fine. You need to concentrate on looking after yourself.”

Edie’s chin quivered. “How can I do that when my husband is worrying himself to death about money and my kids are picking up on how scared we both are?” She glanced at her son, clearly worried she’d said too much.

“You’re not in this alone, Edie. We’re going to get you through it.” Julia made a quick decision. “Is your mother coming over to look after the kids today?”

“Yes,” Edie said with a sniff. “My parents are both coming over when they get off work.”

“Good. I’ll tell you what. We were going to stay here, but I think it would be better if Tracy and I took the kids for the afternoon. I’ll call your mom and tell her to pick them up at my house after work. I want you to relax and sleep while the house is quiet.”

“I can’t let you do that, Julia.”

“Oh, yeah? And how are you going to stop me?” She gave her friend a smile. “Just take care of yourself, okay?”

Tears streamed down Edie’s face. “Okay. I love you guys.”

“We love you too, sweetheart. And like I said, there will be someone around tomorrow to look after you and the kids, and we’re going to keep on looking after you until you don’t need us anymore. You and Aaron aren’t alone.”

Julia bent to kiss Edie’s forehead once more. She couldn’t do anything about the cancer, but she was going make damn sure her friends got everything they needed to get safely through this ordeal.

****

The following Saturday afternoon, Lily arrived with a binder filled with names and phone numbers of people who had volunteered to help the Cosgroves.

“You’ve been busy,” Julia said with a laugh.

“You bet! I’m glad to help Edie and her family. It feels good to do something positive for someone else instead of worrying about my own problems.”

“I know exactly what you mean.” Concentrating on Edie took her mind off her parents’ problems, at least temporarily.

She wished she could say the same about Alex. Not an hour went by that she didn’t think of him, wonder what he was doing, who he was with. Every night she remembered what it had been like between them. She remembered his scorching kisses, the gentle touch of his hands, the feel of his body against hers. She remembered what it had been like to have him inside her, thrusting, pushing, stretching—

Enough. With an effort she pushed thoughts of Alex away.

“Grandma!” Ava ran toward them, a look of pure joy on her face. “You’re here! Can you play with me today?”

Lily bent to give Ava a hug. “Your mom and I have some business to do, but I think there’ll be some time for us to play.”

“Can we go to the playground at the school?”

Lily looked to her for confirmation, and Julia smiled. “I think you and Grandma will have time to do that, honey. Why don’t you play by yourself for a while so we can finish our work?”

“Okay. Can I bring my dolls down here?”

Julia knew she just wanted to be close to them. “Sure, but what do you have to do when you’re done playing with your toys?”

“Put them back in my room.”

“Good girl. Go ahead.”

She ran up the stairs. Lily smiled at Julia. “She’s a sweet child, a joy to be around. You’ve done such a good job with her.”

Julia was surprised at her praise. “Thank you. I’m very proud of Ava.”

“You should be. And you should be proud of yourself, too. You’ve raised her by yourself these last three years. I know that couldn’t have been easy.”

“No, not always. It was tough sometimes, but my mom and dad helped me a lot.” And now Lily had stepped in to give her a hand. Perhaps it was time to trust her a little more. “Ava’s a little older now. Maybe she could have a sleepover at your house sometime soon.”

Lily’s chin quivered, and for a moment Julia thought she was going to cry. Instead she reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “You can’t imagine how happy I am to hear you say that. I know Wyatt will be thrilled, too.”

“I’m doing this for Ava. She deserves to know her family.”

“Yes, she does.” Lily wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. “Well. Let’s get to work, shall we?”

For the next hour they made schedules for their volunteers and made lists of things to do and people they still wanted to contact, while Ava had a tea party with Snowball the cat and her dolls in a corner of the kitchen. Julia phoned Tracy at the hospital at the time she’d told her she’d be on her break, in order to get her thoughts about holding a fundraiser. She was all for the idea, so the three of them did some brainstorming over the phone. They decided they’d have a dance, with admission fees going to the Cosgrove family. They also made plans for a live auction sale during the dance. A few big ticket items, hopefully donated for the cause, would go up for bids. Smaller donated items could go into a silent auction, where people bought tickets for the chance to win the prize.

“It looks like the two of you have the volunteer situation under control. Edie told me people have been arriving at her house like clockwork to offer food and babysitting services,” Tracy said.

“All we need to do now is get lots of donations for the fundraiser,” Julia said.

“Not to mention booking a venue and a disc jockey and convincing them to give us their services for free,” Lily added.

“I’ll see if the school board will waive the usual rental fee for the high school gym,” Julia said, writing a note to remind herself. “It’s big enough to hold a lot of people. Hopefully we’ll fill it up.”

“Sounds good, Jules. I’ve got to get back to work,” Tracy said, “but I’m off tomorrow. I’ll phone around and see if I can scrape together some donations.”

“Thanks, Tracy. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Bye.”

The doorbell rang and Ava ran to the front door to see who was there. A minute later Julia heard her say, “Hi, Chloe!”

“Oh, shoot!” she whispered to Lily. “I forgot I asked Chloe to come over to watch Ava this afternoon. I was going to going to go over to the school today and do some work to get ready for the fall term.”

“You’ve had a lot on your mind,” Lily said sympathetically.

“I know, but I still feel bad. I’d better go talk to her.”

She went into the living room where Ava was busy showing Chloe her Barbie doll’s newest outfit.

“Hi, Chloe,” Julia said. “I should have called you, but I forgot. I won’t be working at the school today after all. I’m so sorry to make you come over for nothing. But of course I’ll pay you for your time.”

To her surprise, the teenager appeared distressed by her news, almost on the verge of tears. She turned her head, her long, blonde hair partially hiding her face.

“No, that’s okay. I’ll just…I’ll just go, I guess.”

Julia put her hand on her arm as she turned to leave. “Wait a minute, will you, Chloe? Ava, can you go see Grandma in the kitchen? I’m going to walk Chloe out.”

“Okay. Bye, Chloe. See you later.” She skipped into the kitchen.

Julia grabbed her purse from the front hall closet and pulled out some bills. “Let’s go for a little walk.”

She held the door open and, avoiding her gaze, Chloe stepped through. They walked in silence to the street. Julia stopped and turned to Chloe, putting the bills in her hand.

“Is there something wrong, honey?”

With her eyes downcast, Chloe shook her head. “No.”

“You know, if there’s ever something, anything, you need to talk about, if you need a friend, I’m here. Believe me, I know how much it helps to talk to someone when you have a problem. Whatever you say will stay between us. Okay?”

She looked up then, and Julia saw the pain in her green eyes. “Okay.”

Julia patted her thin shoulder and attempted a smile. Something was going on with her, but if she didn’t want to talk, she couldn’t make her. “Good. I’ll talk to you soon. I’m working on raising money for some friends with medical expenses, and I’ll probably need you to help look after Ava.”

“Okay. Bye.”

“Bye, Chloe.”

She watched her walk down the sidewalk for a few minutes before sighing and going back into the house. Chloe was not the kind of kid who was equipped to deal well with adversity. She was fragile and, even at sixteen, almost childlike. Julia wished she could take her under her wing and protect her from a harsh, uncaring world.

Wouldn’t Ralph Sykes love that?