120 days... (4 page)

“I’m sorry, they said I could come in. If you want, I can come back later.” Ethan fidgeted from one foot to the other at the door, trying to appear non-threating.

The lady behind the desk stood up. “No, no, it’s no problem. How can I help you?”

“Sorry,” he smiled shyly at her, trying to remember not to be the hard as nails businessman, and held out his hand. “I’m Ethan McGregor, your newest employee.”

“Oh, yes, Ethan.” She took his hand in hers and said, “I’m Samantha Truman, the owner. I’m sorry, it’s already been a busy morning and I forgot you were starting today. Did they already have you fill out your paperwork?”

“Yes, ma’am, all done and turned in.”

Sam shook her head at him and the corners of her mouth tipped up. “Please, you don’t need to call me ma’am.”

He shrugged. “Sorry, that’s how I was raised.” Part of him was shocked at how easily he’d slipped back into the manners his parents had taught him.

“And that’s the third time you’ve apologized since we started talking, a lesser woman would totally take advantage of you.”

Not sure where she was coming from, or going with that statement, Ethan decided nodding was the best course of action. The last thing he wanted was his normal arrogant self to come through. He needed to gain her trust if he was going to learn how she scammed the dying out of their money.

Looking at her, he could see why Evan wrote so fondly of her. He wouldn’t describe her as beautiful, but she was cute, and even with her red-rimmed eyes, he could see her personality coming through, like Evan said it would. No-nonsense, get to the point, help other people to the point of getting sick herself. Ethan had always loved puzzles and he knew he was going to love putting the pieces of Ms. Truman together. The odds of her being one of those rare people who gave without ever thinking of taking were slim. He’d known plenty before his parents had died. Or she had to be a first class liar, an expert in deception, like the majority of the people he knew after their deaths. It was no longer about just finding out what she was up to; it was a mission for him. There’d be hell to pay if she took advantage of his brother.

“Here, I’ll show you around while we talk.” She left her office and his longer legs easily kept up with her fast pace. “This is the main ranch house. All the offices and on-site staff rooms are here, along with ten rooms for the guests who prefer being near people, or have special needs. Meaning, they need to be tended to on a more regular basis.”

They walked around the main building and she pointed to her right—the building that was attached to the main house by a breezeway. “That’s the kitchen and dining room. Each guest can either dine with everyone, or alone in their room. We even set up special picnics or events, which are scheduled or requested. Behind that are the stables, which we turned into a garage and where we keep the vehicles and golf carts.”

“Then over there”—she pointed to her left—“is our game room, rec room, fun area. Most will hang out there at one point or another throughout the day, depending on how they are feeling. We have ten cabins back there, all within easy walking distance. Or if they are in wheelchairs, we have paved sidewalks made to blend into the landscape and treated so they don’t have to worry about slipping when it rains and guests are still able to get around. I’m in the original house, which you can see on that ridge over there.”

He listened carefully to her as she spoke about the resort. He’d already learned all this from their website, but he was hoping for more insight into her. “How do you decide what activities you are going to do?”

“It really all depends on the guests we have. I like to call it a menu. They can pick and choose what they want to do. We also have scheduled daily events they can come to if they wish. The maximum number of guests we can have at any time is twenty. It seems like a lot of work for so few, but it makes them happy, and even if only one person shows up, we like to make sure they have as much fun as they can, that each one is special and they deserve to be treated that way.” She looked at him. “When someone comes here, the doctors have told them there’s no hope, and they only have a handful of weeks left to live. The average number of days someone has to live before they arrive is forty. The average number of days they spend here before they die is one hundred and twenty. We feel,
we know
, that in the right environment, with the right attitude, people can extend how long they live, and have an amazing quality of life, even when they’ve been given a death sentence. We make sure they live what is left of their life to the best of their ability. Think about it, on average, we give someone eighty extra days of life. To me, that’s amazing. To them, it’s everything.”

Her impassioned talk hit him in gut. He immediately thought of his brother and his last days here. Clearing his throat he said, “And this.” He pointed to a wall, which was about four-feet high and flowed around a garden.

“That’s our Legacy Wall.” Her voice shook, but she stepped forward. “As soon as a new guest arrives, I have them create a handprint, one they can decorate however they want. As you can see, some only have their name, others have added their disease and some have taken the time to paint them. Once they are . . . gone, their handprint goes up along the wall.”

“How long is the wall?” He tried to see around the plants to get an idea of the size for himself.

She paused for a beat. “Too long.”

He couldn’t stop himself. He walked over to the wall. “How do you decide who goes where?”

“We started here.” She pointed to the first handprint near the ground. “That’s Kenneth Johnson. He was the first guest we lost after we opened. The colon cancer took him at the age of sixty-one. He’d been here for seventy-seven days. They follow around the wall, then when they get to here,”—she walked to the other side of the gate opening—“we go up one level and they wrap back around to the beginning, and so on.”

“Wow, you have four full rows.” He tried to wrap his head around the fact that so many people had died at the resort. They’d taken care of them, and maybe milked them out of their lifesavings while they were at it, he speculated.

“We’ve started on the inside.” She walked through the gate and showed him the additional two rows.

“So many people.”

“Too many.”

He found the last handprint and looked at it. It had today’s date on it. Looking back over his shoulder, he saw her take a deep breath and look down as she scuffed her shoe in the dirt. Walking a few feet, he didn’t have to go far to find Evan’s handprint. Crouching down, he placed his hand in his brother’s. Evan’s had always been a little smaller, but he was surprised how much wider his own fingers were compared to Evan’s. The sickness had already taken so much from him before he’d even arrived. His brother created this before he died. Ethan wasn’t sure how he was going to have the strength to get through his time at the resort. His heart ached for what he’d lost, and coming face to face with so many handprints, he wasn’t the only one.

The stones behind him were kicked and he knew she approached him. Letting his hand drop, he bowed his head and hoped for strength.

“We recently lost Evan McGregor, is he a relative of yours?” she asked quietly.

“Yes. My brother.”

She placed her hand briefly on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry. He was a very good man.”

He didn’t want her touching him, giving him comfort. His reason for being there was to find out if she was taking advantage of the dying. “Yes, he was. He was the best.” He had to keep focused on his brother, and giving her that little bit of information was his way of ultimately making her less suspicious of him.

Taking a step back, she scowled at him and her body tensed. “Why are you here? Why did you apply for a job? I don’t understand. I don’t recall anything on your application stating you had a relative who’d died here.” Confusion and anger filled her voice.

He stood up and ran his fingers through his hair. He’d already prepared his answer, knowing these questions would be coming at some point. Wanting to get them out of the way, he tipped his hand early. “When Evan was diagnosed with the cancer, he didn’t want me to drop everything to take care of him, again. I’m seven years older than him and when our parents died, when I was nineteen, I put my education on hold so I could get a job and raised him.”

“He was very lucky, a lot of people wouldn’t do that.” Her body relaxed a little bit, but she still seemed on guard.

Deciding to give her a little bit more, he continued. “All we had was each other.” He shrugged. “It was the only thing I could do. Anyway, he didn’t want me to remember him sick and dying. He wanted me to remember everything else. Well, as you know, he died recently. After I was notified, I had an appointment with his lawyer, who gave me Evan’s journal. I started reading it. The way he talked about this place . . .” He turned to look at her. “Really, it’s remarkable what you do for them. Something pulled me here. I applied here, got the job, and here I am.”

“There’s more to it than that.” Her head tilted to one side and her eyes narrowed as if she was trying to get into his mind and figure him out. “What about the job you had before coming here? I’m trying to remember.” She tapped her finger to her lip. “Didn’t you have your own company?”

Ethan held his ground. He didn’t want her to know she was right, and there was more to it. “My brother didn’t want me around in his last days. I need to be able to give back. I need to be able to be there for someone else since I wasn’t there for him. Yes, I do own a company, and because of that, I’m able to take off as much time as I need to try and help someone else.”

She nodded and relaxed some more. A smile spread across her face and she pointed to his shoulder. “It would seem someone’s happy you’re here.”

Ethan looked at his shoulder where a large butterfly had landed. It stood there, its wings slowly opening and closing, flashing its colors. He had no idea where the eyes were, but he was pretty sure they were staring at each other.

“My mother told me before she died, whenever I saw a rainbow or a butterfly, it was her thinking of me. We see a lot of them here in the garden surrounded by so many handprints. Looks like Evan is thinking of you.”

Ethan was lost in the moment, wondering if what she said was true. The child who used to be filled with wonder, hoped it was, but the cynical man he grew into told him she talked a good talk. It was all part of the scam. He wasn’t going to let his defenses down. His purpose was to expose her to the world so she couldn’t take anyone else’s money.

The butterfly fluttered its wings and took off, leaving him alone with her and at odds with himself.

Day 4

Ethan–

Skydiving, who would have thought, especially since I made damn sure I didn’t join the Airborne division of the Army all those years ago. But I finally did a jump and I can cross that off my bucket list. I will tell you that I don’t think I’ll ever need to do that again, unlike Patty. Man, she loved it. Today, we both jumped for the first time and had totally different reactions, that’s for sure. While this will be my last, I’m willing to bet money she comes back, every day if they’ll let her.

I wish you could meet her. There’s something about her that reminds me of Mom.

Evan

“All right, come on, folks, let’s move it! Time to jump out of a plane,” Patty said as she adjusted the straps on her harness and looked over at Ethan. “What’s the matter, Bucky? Scared?”

Sam looked over at the new guy, Ethan, and tried not to laugh, instead settling for a smirk. He did look a little green around the gills. Patty was in her mid-forties and still full of sass, even though a large-mass tumor in her stomach was slowly starving her, making her extremely thin.

“What?” Ethan asked. “No, I’m fine. But tell me again, why am I doing this?” His brow furrowed when he looked over at Patty.

“Because if those of us who are at death’s door can go up to eleven-thousand feet and step out of a plane, a healthy man like you should be able do it too. Don’t wait.”