Happy Hour (12 page)

But dammit, they did need to talk about it. They really did. This was not
going away. There was a baby growing inside of her daughter and they
had
to talk about it. Maybe today after the doctor’s appointment, she’d take
Shannon to lunch and they could sit down and discuss things like rational
adults.

“How did you find this Dr. Fry, honey?”

“I asked for a referral from my doctor back East and he searched around
for me and gave me this guy’s name. But when I called they said I’d be seeing a
different doctor. I don’t know, something about the practice being sold.”

“It’s good that you’ve been seeing a doctor regularly.”

Shannon looked at her mother as if to say,
do you think I am an idiot?
Just as she opened her mouth to probably say this exact sentiment, her name was
called. Danielle stood up to go in with her. Shannon looked back at her. “I’m a
big girl now, Mom.”

Danielle looked down and bit her lip, forcing back tears. Yes, she was a
big girl now, wasn’t she? “I know, honey, I really wanted to come in and maybe
hear the baby’s heartbeat.”

Shannon paused and then reached for her hand. “I’m sorry, Mom. Come on.”

A few moments later, in the patient room with the smell of antiseptic and
the temperature set at freezing, Shannon wore the paper gown and thin blanket.
Danielle sat in the chair against the wall behind the door, pretending to read
an article about holistic health pros and cons.

A knock at the door signaled the doctor’s arrival. His back was to
Danielle as he entered. He was tall with graying hair. He shook Shannon’s hand
and introduced himself. He then turned around. Danielle reached out her hand to
shake his and as he did so in kind, he caught himself. “Danielle Peters?”

“Mark?”

“You two know each other?” Shannon asked.

Danielle knew she was blushing. “Yes. From high school. I’d heard you
became a doctor. But I thought you moved to Washington, D.C.”

He nodded. “I did. I’ve only been back for a few months. Divorce. I bought
the practice here from Dr. Fry.”

“That’s great. Gosh. It’s been a long time.”

“It’s really great to see you.”

Shannon cleared her throat. Mark…Dr. Murphy turned to Shannon. “I’m
sorry. It’s been quite some time since I’ve seen your mom. You are her mom,
right?”

Danielle nodded.

“Hey, I have a great idea, why don’t the two of you go out for coffee and
catch up? Right now, I’d kind of like to, you know, get this over with.”

He turned from Danielle to Shannon and changed his tone. “Of course. My
apologies. So, feeling good? Any problems?”

“No problems. I feel fine,” Shannon replied.

“Good. I’ve gone over your chart and have spoken with your doctor back East
and we agree on the protocol he had going with you.”

“Good,” Shannon said. “I feel great and on board with the protocol and
very sure of what I’m doing. Can we just get things done here? I’m tired.”

Danielle glanced at her. She was acting off. It had to be because
Danielle was in there with her. She was making her nervous.

“Of course. Let’s go ahead and give you an exam, see how things are
going.”

“You know, I’d like to hear the baby’s heartbeat, but I think I’ll step
out for the other stuff,” Danielle said. Suddenly she wanted to be as far away
from the exam room, and Shannon and Mark, as possible.

“Sure.” Mark took out the Doppler and placed it on Shannon’s stomach.

The room filled with the sound of the baby’s heartbeat racing along, and
it hit Danielle hard. “That’s the baby. That’s my grandbaby.”

Shannon took her mother’s hand. “Yes, Mom. It is.”

Danielle had no idea she would have such a reaction. She brought the
palms of her hands to her face, cupping her mouth and nose, here eyes wide. The
baby was very, very real. The little heartbeat was echoing through the room,
racing, thudding along.

“Sure is, Grandma,” Mark said. “Maybe you two want to record it and take
it home for your husband?” He looked at Danielle.

“Nah,” Shannon said. “Neither one of us is married, and I think my dad
has enough
baby
stuff of his own on his plate. His new wife is pregnant
again
.”

“Ah. Okay.” Mark smiled sheepishly at Danielle.

“You know, I don’t think I want to be called Grandma,” Danielle said.

“We can discuss that later,” Shannon said. “Can you go so he can examine
me now?”

Danielle excused herself while Mark finished the exam. She was in the
waiting room when Shannon came out. “Dr. Murphy would like to see you for a
minute.”

“Me? Why?”

“I don’t know.”

Danielle walked back through the doors. Mark stood around the corner
writing out a prescription. He looked over at her and smiled. “I know this is
kind of strange and because it is, feel free to say no. Like I said, I’ve only
been back for a few months and it’s good to see you, and I was wondering if you
would
have coffee with me? I thought your daughter’s idea sounded good.
And because we’re old friends and everything, I suggested to her that she see
my colleague. He’s wonderful. Top-notch. Dr. Jeffers.”

Danielle was speechless.

“I understand if you don’t want to. I really do. It is different meeting
this way again after all these years.”

“I’d love to,” Danielle blurted.

Mark’s smile grew wider. “Great. That’s great.” Now he was blushing. “How
about next Sunday afternoon?  I have to be out of town for almost a week, so…”

“I can’t. I have plans. Instead of coffee, would you want to have
dinner?” She could not believe she asked him that, but Mark Murphy hadn’t
changed a whole lot since high school, except for the gray hair and a few lines
around his eyes. Her heart raced and she could hear the blood rushing through
her ears.

“Dinner is great. I have a conference to attend that I leave for
tomorrow, but I’ll be back next Thursday. How does Friday night work for you?”
he asked.

“Perfect. Next Friday it is then.” She handed him her card with her phone
number on it.

“I can get the address off Shannon’s chart.”

“Okay.”

Danielle smiled as she opened the doors to the waiting room.

 “Pick up his leg and clean out his hoof. Like this.” Tyler picked up the
leg of the chestnut-colored horse named Popeye and cleaned out the hoof with a
pick. He set the hoof down and handed her the pick. “Your turn. Do the other
side.”

Jamie wrinkled up her nose. She didn’t mind brushing the horse, or even
spraying him with a mist of fly spray. But she didn’t know about picking up the
leg of a thousand-pound animal and cleaning crap out of his hoof. She wrapped
her hands around the lower part of the leg and tugged. The horse did nothing.

“Lean into him a bit,” Tyler instructed.

She did. Nothing. She pulled and tugged. “Come on!”

Tyler knelt down and showed her again how to do it. “Easy.”

“Easy for you,” she said, frustration building. Jamie tried again. The
horse continued with his standstill. Jamie stood up. “He doesn’t like me.”

“That’s not it. He doesn’t think that way. He might if you’d abused him.”

“I haven’t.”

“Horses are herd animals and like all herds, there is a pecking order,
and I hate to tell you, but you’re not high up on his list. He’s got you
buffaloed.”

“What do I do about that?”

“Take charge. He isn’t convinced that you’re in charge.” Tyler smiled.

“You think? Of course I’m not in charge. He outweighs me by about eight
hundred seventy-five pounds.”

“Yes, but your brain is larger than his. He’s smart, don’t get me wrong.
That’s a big mistake most people make. They think that horses are big, dumb
animals, but that’s not even close to true. He’s smart enough to know right now
that you don’t have the confidence to pick up his hoof.”

“I have confidence. I’m an editor-in-chief. I am a boss. I’m a mom.” Who
was this guy to tell her that she didn’t have any confidence?

“I’m not saying that you aren’t all those things and more. But horses
sense energy. If something is off with you, then he doesn’t trust you and he
has to trust you before he’ll respond to you.”

“I’m open to suggestions here.”

“Is there something bothering you? Or someone? Some kind of problem,
where you need to stand up to someone?”

“What, are you psychic?” she asked.

“No. But he is.” He pointed to Popeye.

“Please.”

“Stay with me on this. If you have an issue that requires you to belly
up, then see yourself doing so. Take care of the problem in your mind and then
try and lift his hoof again.”

Jamie sighed. “You’re kidding me, right?”

“Nope. Close your eyes and do what I said.”

“This is all very strange and sort of New Agey.”

“Not at all,” he replied. “Do it.”

Jamie did as the
horse whisperer
suggested. She knew the problem
currently on her plate was her brother-in-law and his wife and their attitude
toward Dorothy and her. With her eyes closed she ran through a scenario of
talking with David and defending Dorothy, telling him that he needed to help
take care of his mother and not be such a jerk. It did feel good, even if it
was all in her head. When she finished, she opened her eyes and saw Tyler
standing there still, a half smile on his face. “What?” she asked.

“Nothing. Now go ahead and try.”

She bent over, took the leg again and after asking him three times to
pick up his hoof, the horse did so.

Tyler applauded. “Good. Now do the other two. When you’re done there, his
saddle is the darkest one in the tack room, in the corner on the middle stand.
His pad is lying on top of it. It’s navy blue with black diamonds around it.
Can’t miss it. I’ll be back. Kids should be arriving soon.” He walked away.

He
walked
away
. Great. What was she going to do now? Hoof
pick in hand and hands on hips, she eyed Popeye. The horse actually appeared to
be giving her the once over. Jamie took a look around. There were a handful of
teenagers and adults tacking up horses and getting ready for the program
children to arrive. She didn’t want to look totally helpless and inept, so she
went to Popeye’s other leg and gave it a tug. To her surprise, he lifted it up.
Maybe there was something after all to this horse whisperer stuff. After twenty
minutes of hoof picking and locating the right saddle, which was not easy to
lift and haul around, she began to feel in need of help again. Where was Tyler?
He was nowhere in sight, so she gave it her best shot and took hold of the
unwieldy hunk of leather. It took some serious effort, but she did it and then
stared at her success. Popeye sort of grunted as it landed on his back.
“Sorry,” she said.

Now to figure out how in the world to fasten the thing.  There was a long
leather strap and then the woven cotton part that Jamie knew was the cinch.
She’d seen other people do this. She could do this. Where was Tyler? He was
supposed to be helping her. Some help!

“Need some help?” she heard him ask.

She jumped, not hearing him come up behind her. “Yes.” She turned around
and saw that Tyler was with a boy of about thirteen and someone she assumed was
the boy’s mom.

“Jamie, this is Wilson and his mother Petra.”

Jamie stuck out her hand. “Sorry, my hand is kind of dirty.”

Petra smiled. She was tall with long dark hair pulled back into a single
braid, and light brown eyes that were as warm as her smile. “That doesn’t
bother us.” She shook Jamie’s hand.

“Jamie. Jamie. That is a nice name,” Wilson said, cocking his head to the
side. He gave the horse a pat. “This is Popeye, Jamie. Popeye.”

“Yes, it is, and I could use some help with Popeye’s saddle,” Jamie
replied.

“Should we help her, Wilson?” Tyler asked wrapping an arm around his
shoulders.

“Yes.” Wilson nodded while Jamie and Petra stood back from them. Wilson
watched intently while Tyler cinched up the saddle, wrapping the latigo strap
through and around the leather insert.

“My son is mentally retarded. He’s thirteen but he’s emotionally stunted
at about five. He’s a very sweet boy and he loves the horses. I can’t tell you
how grateful I am for this program and for people like you and Tyler who work
with these kids. This is the highlight of Wilson’s week. He sees so many
doctors and therapists that coming here is a break for him. Our big fear is
congenital heart failure because he has a hole in his heart. But we take it day
by day and bringing him here is a joy for both of us. It really is.”

Jamie took in what this brave woman told her. She often asked God why
these things happened to such good people. She didn’t know the answer and maybe
it was as simple as ‘that’s just life.’ Or maybe there was something more to
it. Maybe a child like Wilson was an angel on Earth who brought out the best in
people. As Tyler lifted Wilson up onto the horse and he smiled widely, saying,
“Look Mom, I’m a cowboy,” Jamie knew she was witnessing something powerful and
true in Wilson’s smile.

“Jamie, come on over to this side,” Tyler instructed. Jamie walked around
to the right side of the horse. “Now you’ll stay to the right of Wilson and
help him maintain his balance by holding his legs. I’ll lead Popeye around and,
since we’re low on staff today, Mom is going to get on this side with me and
hold the left leg.”

For thirty minutes, leading Wilson around on Popeye, Jamie forgot her
financial problems, her worries over Dorothy, and how she planned to deal with
her brother-in-law and his wife. Her focus was all about making sure Wilson had
a good time up on the horse.

After Wilson, there was a little girl named Juliet, and after her,
another little boy named Shawn. After three hours of tacking up, leading kids
around, and putting horses away, the adrenaline still rushed through Jamie. One
of the best parts of the morning was spotting Maddie every so often helping out
with her teacher, Gwen.