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Hadley had been prepping her class for the day when Amy came in. She closed the door behind her, and with a solemn face, she approached. Hadley immediately thought she was in trouble. Last week her mother had a tough couple of days, and she had been absent. It was hard balancing the job she loved here at Living River Ranch and keeping her mother safe.
Unfortunately, several years ago, after her brother Thomas had been killed in action, her ordinarily outgoing, vibrant mother had faded away. It had been trivial things at first. Missed appointments, not picking up the phone and missing a day or two of work. Soon she didn’t want to see friends, and finally, she had locked herself away in that big old house. She didn’t come out anymore, and Hadley did all the shopping, errands, and upkeep herself. They didn’t have visitors, other than Belle, who made trips twice a week to try to help. They would sit and have tea and attempt to get her mother to talk. To date, only minimal success had been achieved. Hadley was worried that she would never get back the mother she had once adored, but after six years, hope was a luxury she no longer possessed.
“I’m sorry about missing last week,” Hadley said immediately, going on the defensive with Amy.
“Sweetie, where do you work? We all have lives, causes, and reasons to miss work. We are a team and cover for each other. It is part of what makes us special at Living River. I honestly never doubt you truly have to care for something with your mom when you call-in.”
“Thank you,” Hadley said, releasing her breath. “So, what did you need to talk to me about?”
“I think you need to sit,” Amy said, pulling out one of the kiddie chairs around the table in the classroom.
Hadley felt fissures run down her spine. She had an awful feeling that whatever was coming next would not be good. She sat in the little blue chair and waited.
“Ezra is home,” Amy said quickly, with her eyes glued to Hadley's face.
Her heart thudded heavily, and her lungs could not draw air. “How do you know? I mean, how long? Why?” She couldn’t think straight, and her mind was bouncing in a hundred different directions.
“He was injured and has lung issues. He is home for good,” Amy whispered. “I told him he could come to see you here this morning. I thought it would be better before you just saw him in town.”
Hadley was absently nodding, as she tried to figure out how to sort the chaos in her brain. Ezra had been the love of her life, and because of her mother’s condition, the only man she had ever dated. They were together for nearly eight years and had discussed marriage at one point. She had wanted to finish college; he was deployed, and they were happily making it work. He was hard-working, dedicated, and had written her nearly every week that he was gone. Then Thomas died.
She dropped her head into her hands. As her mother had slipped into her grief, in a moment of weakness, Hadley had broken things off with Ezra. He never balked or tried to talk her out of it. He just simply never came home, never wrote–anything! Time had passed, but the gaping wound of his absence was still festering.
She inhaled and did some slow breathing exercises. Amy was right. This was Little Bend, and they would bump into each other; it was a good idea to break the ice quietly. This meeting was just not what she had imagined being the way she would see him when he finally made it home.
“I will ask Elizabeth to cover you, and you can go into my office,” Amy said quietly.
Hadley rose and started toward the door, “thank you.”
“I hope I did the right thing,” Amy said, with a worried look.
“No, you did. I would hate for the first time seeing him again, to be on the street, or with a bunch of people around,” Hadley agreed. She wasn’t easily shaken, but this was causing her to feel totally out of balance.
She moved down the hall and paused in front of the wooden door to Amy’s office. She squared her shoulders and walked inside. Ezra stood nervously, as the butterflies in her stomach took flight. A single tear traveled down her cheek.
“Hey,” he said, moving forward as if to touch her but stopping. “Please, don’t be sad.”
“I’m not sure how to feel,” she said, coming altogether into the room and lowering herself into one of the side chairs. “I’m glad you are safe,” she said, with a tiny shrug.
“Man, I wish Thomas had made it back,” he said, after a moment.
“So, do I, every day. That doesn’t mean I wished anything bad for you, but my mom–well, she’s never been the same.”
“I didn’t know,” he said, moving forward on his seat intently staring at her. His attention reminded her of how she always felt back in high school. He had made her feel like the only girl around when he was listening to her talk, even about trivial things.
“It’s okay, we’ve tried several things over the years. She’s pretty much housebound,” she said, keeping the explanation light so as not to expose the true extent of the issue.
“Hadley, I just want to come home, work here at the ranch, and just get through the day. I have some medical issues that cause me trouble, and this would be the best setup for me. Besides, my mother and father love having me back around.”
“I bet they do,” Hadley said with a chuckle pulling a tissue from the box on Amy’s desk and dabbing her face. “They had dinner with my mother every Sunday night for some time, right after you and my brother shipped out.”
“I heard,” he whispered. “I don’t want to cause you or your mom any discomfort. If this will be too hard, I can try to make other arrangements.”
“No, you served your duty. You should be able to come home and spend your days in peace,” Hadley said, as her shoulders rolled forward. “I need you to come by and tell my mother, though, and Ezra–it’s awful. I just need you to know.”
“You name the time,” he said, as he sat back a bit less tense than a moment before.
She didn’t know what would come of it, but maybe seeing Ezra would help even just a smidge. Nothing else had done so in years, but Ezra had always been like her mother’s second son. Maybe he could get through where others had failed. She hung her head slightly; at this point, she had nothing else to lose.
