Autumn Dreams (30 page)

“I don’t want to go to the hospital,” she protested. “I can’t go to the hospital.”

The paramedics ignored her.

“My husband will be upset.”

“Your child will be upset if you don’t go. And I’m here. He’s not.”

Mom shot Cass a dirty look.

“Now stay still,” one paramedic said. “I’m going to immobilize your neck.”

“There’s nothing wrong with my neck. The car didn’t touch my neck.”

And I thank You, God!
Cass thought as she watched.

When they slid Mom into the ambulance, she was still protesting to no avail.

“Come to the emergency ward at Shore Memorial,” the paramedic said. Then she climbed into the back with Mom and they drove off, lights flashing but siren silent, announcing a serious situation within but not one which was life threatening.

As the ambulance disappeared around the corner, Greg returned from his perusal of Mom’s car across the street, its nose sticking out into the road, forcing cars to drive around it.

“Can I move it?” Dan asked. “Park it here by the garage?”

Greg nodded. “I’ve got all I need for my report.” He turned to Cass. “Do you want me to go tell Mr. Merton for you?”

“No,” Cass said. “I’ll tell him.” And the brothers.

“Let me get Charlotte’s car out of the road, then I’ll take you to your dad’s,” Dan said.

Cass nodded and turned to Dan’s car in a daze. The kids followed her, and Dan found himself with a car full. Greg led the way to Scallop Street with his lights turning, clearing any traffic from before them.

They found Dad in the kitchen looking at a very overcooked piece of steak.

“Where is she?” he demanded. “Look at my dinner! Ruined because she didn’t come right home. She promised she would.”

In spite of her worry, Cass couldn’t help but smile. He sounded just like a frustrated homemaker whose family ignored her calls to the table. Then she sobered.

“Dad, we have some bad news, but it’s not nearly as bad as it could be.”
At least I don’t think so
.

Immediately Dad forgot the steak. “She had one of her incidents? She hurt herself?”

Cass shook her head. “No incident.”

“She got run over!” Jenn blurted, eyes huge.

“What?” Dad grabbed the back of a chair for support.

“Shut up, Jenn,” Jared hissed. “Just keep your mouth closed. Let Aunt Cassandra tell. She was there.”

Jenn started to cry. Paulie patted her on the back, his desire to comfort her palpable. She flinched at every pat.

“Mom did get run over,” Cass said, and continued quickly, before her father could speak. “The front car door knocked her down and the front wheel rolled over her. She’s on her way to the hospital right now, and we came to take you. She’ll want to see you, and I know you’ll want to see her.”

The next few hours passed in a blur for Cass. There was the ride to the hospital and the wait in the emergency room. While they waited, she called Will, Hal, and Bud.

“Should we fly home?” Bud asked from Colorado. “We can be there by noon tomorrow.”

Cass sagged against the wall as she held her cell phone to her
ear. “I don’t think you need to come. I don’t think she’s hurt nearly as badly as she could have been. Dad’s with her now, and I’ll call when I know more.”

“We’ll put her on the church prayer chain right away.”

“Thanks,” Cass mumbled and thought about her own church prayer chain. Pastor Paul ought to be notified too.

The doors to the waiting room flew open and Will and Lucy rushed in, followed by the three cousins.

“I called Pastor Paul and got Mom on the prayer chain,” Lucy said. “Pastor said he’d be here as soon as he could make it.”

“Now what’s this about Mom running over herself?” Will demanded.

Cass hadn’t finished telling the story before the door flew open again and Hal and Ellie, minus their kids, came in. Cass told the story a second time. Then Pastor Paul arrived and the story was rehearsed again with lots of prompting from all those who hadn’t been present at the event.

As the family settled in to wait for any news about Mom, Will put his hand on Cass’s shoulder and squeezed. “You did good, BB.”

“Thanks, Will.” Cass collapsed in one of the molded plastic chairs, Dan taking the one beside her.

He shifted his weight, trying to find a comfortable position. “Whoever designed these didn’t have a man my size in mind.”

“Poor baby.” Cass patted his arm.

He grinned at her for a minute, then turned serious. He took her hand in both of his. “You doing okay, Cassie?”

She gave him a weary half smile and reached to push her hair off her face. She winced but ignored the cause. “Poor Dan. Another family emergency. You’ll be so glad when it’s time to leave Seaside and get back to your normal, uneventful life.”

He didn’t comment, just brushed the hair back for her. Then he turned her arm so he could look at her elbow. “When’d this happen?”

She glanced at the torn shirt and the brush burn. “I think the car knocked me over.”

He stood and pulled her to her feet. “Come on. This needs to be cleaned and treated.” He led her against her will to the desk. “Miss Merton hurt herself slightly in the same accident that her mother’s being treated for.”

The next thing Cass knew she was sitting on a gurney, Dan standing behind her with his hands on her shoulders, while a nurse cleansed and dressed the wound.

“There, all done,” the nurse said. “And look, there’s Dr. Wirshup. She can tell you all about your mom.”

It was a great relief to learn that Mom suffered no internal injuries, only a broken clavicle. She had to remain in the hospital for two or three nights to be certain she was as fine as the doctor thought. After all, she wasn’t a young woman.

“While we move her to her room, why don’t you all—” the doctor indicated the family spread around the waiting room—“go to the cafeteria and get something to eat. Give us thirty minutes, then come up to Room 215.”

“I can’t stay with her while you move her?” Dad asked.

“Not for the next half hour. Go. Eat. We don’t want you getting sick. Then you can stay with her as long as you like. We can even put a cot in the room if you want to spend the night.”

In the cafeteria the adults clustered around one table, joined by Pastor Paul, and the cousins and Paulie sat at another. Warmed-over pizza and premade sandwiches were all that was left to eat, and Cass thought longingly of the roast left sitting on the kitchen table. Maybe tomorrow night. But wait. Tomorrow night she was supposed to go to Cape May on her reconnaissance trip. And on Wednesday at noon seven people were due to arrive for a three-day planning retreat for their software company. If Hurricane Rodney didn’t keep them away.

Immediately guilt and indecision gripped her. Should she forget her trip? Send the seven people to another B&B? Certainly if Mom were seriously hurt, she wouldn’t go out of town, even though she was only talking a little over an hour to Cape May. If Mom were in a life-and-death situation, she’d gladly send her guests elsewhere. But what was required for the present situation? Would she be a terrible daughter if she wasn’t at the hospital every waking moment?

At that instant Will looked over at her from his seat across the table. “It’s a good thing you’re around to take care of Mom. She’s going to need help.”

“Yeah,” Hal agreed. “It’s a godsend that you’ve got the time to give her.”

Cass felt Dan stiffen beside her as she digested the brothers’ comments. She had lots of free time? Her eyes narrowed. She worked just like they did, maybe even harder since it was her own business, not some large, faceless corporation that employed her.

Even if she didn’t go to Cape May, time was an issue. Seven people were coming the day after tomorrow. Seven single rooms. Food to buy and prepare. The dining room to rearrange so they could eat together. Lunches thrown into the deal for a very nice increase in her usual price. Dinners for Dan and the kids. Rodney coming and the need to prepare SeaSong to ride it out with seven guests plus Dan and the kids.

Dad frowned at Will and Hal. “I think taking care of Charlotte is my job, not Cass’s.”

“Well, sure, Dad,” Will said. “But Cass will be available to you day or night if you need her.” He smiled at her. “Right, BB?”

Dan leaned toward Cass and whispered for her ear alone, “It’s up to you. I’ll back you, but it’s up to you.”

He was right; she knew it. She wanted to stand up for herself; she truly did. She had to if the brothers were ever to understand that she was one of five siblings, all of whom owed Mom and Dad their time. She took a deep breath but didn’t know how to begin without sounding selfish.

Pastor Paul studied Cass for a minute. “Maybe Cass doesn’t have any more available time than you do, Will. Maybe you’re putting an unfair burden on her.”

Will blinked, clearly startled at the idea.

“After all,” Pastor Paul continued, “she runs her own business, and everyone knows that running a B&B takes over your life. Then she’s got Jared and Jenn living with her on top of that.”

“And me,” Dan said. “Plus she’s got a business trip scheduled tomorrow night and seven guests arriving on Wednesday.”

“She won’t mind postponing her trip, will you, BB?” Hal smiled and took a bite of his ice cream Popsicle. He clearly thought the issue settled.

Maybe it was Hal’s assumption that she’d do as he wanted. Maybe it was hearing the hated BB another time. Maybe it was the residual adrenaline from witnessing Mom’s accident. Whatever, the dam broke.

Cass stood and stuck her finger in Hal’s face. Her voice was
low and angry. “Don’t ever call me BB again.”

Hal blinked, his face frozen. He turned to Will with a where-did-that-come-from look. “But we’ve called you that all your life.”

“Well, I’ve hated it all my life.” Her voice shook. “I know you didn’t mean anything nasty, but it is still a terrible thing to call someone, meaning what it means.”

“It doesn’t mean anything anymore,” Hal protested.

“It does to me. Every time I hear it, I cringe inside. I’m telling you both.” She looked from brother to brother. “Never again. I mean it. Never again.”

“I hate to say I told you so, Will, but I told you so,” Lucy said. “I’ve told you for years it hurts her feelings.”

“But she never said,” Will defended.

“All you ever had to do was look at her face,” Lucy told him.

“Then what do we call her?” Hal asked in a tone that just missed whining.

“Cass,” she hissed. “Call me Cass. After all, it is my name.” And she sat down before her shaking knees gave way. She was appalled at herself. What kind of a daughter made a big deal out of a stupid nickname while her mother was being admitted to the hospital?

In the ensuing silence everyone avoided Cass’s eyes as they gathered their trash and quickly left the table until only Cass and Dan remained.

She turned to Dan. “Did I just make an idiot of myself?”

He gave a little laugh. “It wasn’t quite what I expected you to say.”

“It wasn’t what I expected me to say either.” She covered her face with her shaking hands.

“Hey, don’t let it worry you.” He pulled her hands from her face and held them. He leaned close to her until their faces were only inches apart. “You said what needed to be said. This may not have been the best time, but it wasn’t the worst either.”

She let her forehead drop to rest on his. “Thanks. What would I do without you?”

When they finally stumbled home after the nurse made everyone but Dad leave Mom’s room, Cass rescued her dried roast and
wrinkled vegetables and stored them in the refrigerator to resurrect another day. She sent Paulie home, Jenn and Jared upstairs, and reveled in a comforting hug from Dan. Somehow his hug made the unbearable bearable. What would she do without him? It didn’t abide thinking about, especially when he was holding her like she was precious. She told herself to just enjoy the moment. The future would come soon enough. Finally, he kissed her good night and took himself upstairs too.

Cass stumbled into her little room beneath the stairs and pulled on her nightshirt, the one that read
She sells seashells down by the Seaside
. She stuffed her feet into cozy socks. Glossy Flossie might keep her warm through the middle as the animal cuddled against her, but her feet were constantly freezing without the socks. Not very classy, but then who would see?

Cass sighed as she climbed into her little bed. She burrowed under the covers, Glossy Flossie purring comfortably in her arms. She buried her face in the cat’s soft fur and let the rhythmic rise and fall of Flossie’s contented purr and the sensuous feel of the silky coat comfort her.

She’d been so sure she’d seen her mother killed.

Thank You, God. Thank You!

Then she’d taken her stand against BB.

And thank You, Lord, for loving even us idiots
.

And what had she been thinking when she assumed taking in the kids would mean just a couple of extra bodies around? Talk about ignorant! And talk about feeling overwhelmed!

Add Dan to the pot, and life was a full rolling boil. Dan. She felt such an aching, such a yearning that her throat hurt. How she loved him.

Her breath caught. She loved him.

The realization burst over her like the Fourth of July fireworks, all color and enchantment, filling her with wonder that the magic had finally exploded for her.

She loved him with all her heart.

And he would leave her.

The bright swirls of color filling her heart fizzled and died.

Lord, I’m terrified and full of awe at the same time. I’m so afraid of when he leaves. Before when my heart wanted a soul mate, it was just a vague feeling of longing for what I saw so many others have
,
including the brothers. I felt left out, out of step, but there was no one I focused on, no unrequited love. Now my longing has a name. I can’t believe that such a wonderful man exists and that he seems to choose to be with me. Me!

And then he’ll choose to leave, just as soon as You tell him what it is You want him to know. And I’ll be worse off than before because I’ll have had a taste of a man I could love for the rest of my life
.