Love Finds You in North Pole, Alaska (27 page)

Guilt and self-recrimination coursed through her as she considered how selfish her thoughts had been. Nodding dumbly, she gave him a gentle shove. “I’m fine. Go. She needs you.” Then, “Take your time. I’m not going anywhere.”

Bryce kissed the tip of her nose. “If I didn’t believe that, no way I could walk down that hall without blubbering like a baby.”

She watched him stride toward Olive’s room, every bit the straight-backed, take-it-on-the-chin marine. At the door, he stopped and faced her and, smiling sadly, mouthed, “I love you,” sending her heart and her spirit soaring.

“She asked me to dim the lights,” Duke whispered as Bryce walked into the room.

“Just as well,” he whispered back. “Harder for her to see the proof that I’ve been bawling like a baby.”

“Duke, darlin’,” Olive said sweetly, “please get your ornery Texas bee-hind out of here so I can talk to my mule-headed nephew, will you?”

Jaw trembling, he sent her a three-fingered salute and stepped into the hall.

“Shut that door,” his aunt ordered, “and sit yourself down here beside me.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“You look tired,” she said when he kissed her forehead.

“Too much TV, not enough shut-eye.”

“You can’t fool an old fool.”

Even now, she could make him smile. Oh, how he loved this crazy old woman! “So what can I get you? Ice? Something to read?”

She waved the offers away. “All I need from you is a promise.”

He’d walk into hell and back if she asked it of him. “You name it,” he said, “and it’s yours.”

“Tell Sam that you love her.”

“Too late for that.”

It pleased him that his simple admission brightened her face. “Good. I was beginning to think you’d lost all your marbles.” She chuckled softly. “Well, since you can’t promise me that, I have another request.”

“Uh-oh. Do I really want to hear this?” He would put on this brave front as long as she needed him to.

“Ask her to marry you.”

He laughed, too long and too loud, but honestly, what did she expect, springing a thing like that on him?

“I’m dead serious.”

“Humor me, will you, and dispense with the dead jokes, okay?”

“Sorry,” she said. “Okay, let me rephrase that. I wasn’t kidding just now when I said I want you to ask Sam to marry you.”

“What makes you think she’d want to spend the rest of her life with a guy like me?”

“What’s that mean…‘a guy like you’?”

This was neither the time nor the place to burden her with his self-pitying reasons, so Bryce flicked on the TV and started scrolling through the channels.

“Give me that thing,” she said, snatching the remote from his hand. And hitting the Off button, Olive snapped, “Show an old dying woman some respect, will you?” Then, “Oops, sorry. Nix the word ‘dying. ’ ”

“Thanks.”

“Remember that movie where the guy said, ‘If you build it, they will come’?”

Bryce nodded, though he had no idea where she might go with this line of thought.

“If you ask her,” Olive said, “she’ll say yes.”

He leaned the back of the chair against the bed rail and then straddled its seat. “Yeah, I know,” he admitted, laying one arm atop the other on its top rung. “I guess maybe she’s not as smart as we thought, is she.”

“I see only one dummy in this room, and he’s wearing an eye patch.”

“Always was my own worst enemy. How many times have you told me that?”

“Hundreds. Thousands, even.” Olive grimaced, clutching the sheets so tightly her knuckles whitened.

“What…what’s wrong? Want me to get the nurse? Is it time for your pain medi—”

“You just sit right back down there, nephew,” she husked. “I don’t want the meds. They make me groggy and fog my brain. I want to be wide awake and alert when…. ” Her voice trailed off and she bit her lower lip. And on the heels of a short, shuddering breath, she added, “There are things I need to say, and things I want to hear before Jesus comes to take me home. Can’t do that if I’m all doped up, now can I?”

“When was your doctor last in to see you?”

“Couple of hours ago.”

“And what did he say?”

She frowned. “Nothing I care to repeat.” Then, “I’m only interested in hearing what
you
have to say.”

“Olive…”

“Can I be perfectly honest with you, Bryce?”

He could probably count on both hands the number of times she’d called him anything but “nephew” and have fingers left over. “’Course you can.”

“I don’t have much time left.”

He looked down and nodded in acknowledgment.

“And you know better than most how I feel about wasting time.”

Smiling sadly, he nodded again.

“I need to say a proper good-bye to my husband, but I can’t, I
won’t
, until you promise me you’ll ask her to marry you.”

Just because he asked didn’t mean Sam would say yes, so what could it hurt, making the promise that seemed so important to Olive.

“Oh, who are you kidding? Of
course
she’ll say yes. She’s in love with you!” A shuddering sigh escaped her lungs before Olive said, “Let me rephrase it for your thick-headed benefit. I want you to promise
you’ll
marry
her
.”

He noticed a strange sparkle in her eyes. Having seen it before—on the battlefield—Bryce knew Olive hadn’t been exaggerating when she’d said the end was near. “I promise.” Life would be bleak enough without her in it. But facing the future without Sam, too? He didn’t even want to think about it.

“Go on, then, skedaddle. And send Duke in here, will you?”

Every muscle in him tensed. Was she…was she saying goodbye…right here and now?

“Don’t worry, nephew,” Olive said, smiling weakly, “I’ll hang on a little longer.”

“Promise?”

“Aw, wipe that sad grin off your one-eyed face, will you? I don’t want to meet my Maker until everybody I love is right here beside me.”

As he made his way from her bed to the door—a distance of perhaps six feet—it felt as though someone had filled his shoes with lead. And in the hall, when he waved Duke closer, it seemed his arms were made of wood.

Duke paused for a long moment, one hand on Bryce’s shoulder, as if hoping to sap strength from the younger man. He gave a squeeze, and without looking up, entered Olive’s room.

If he was a praying man, Bryce might have asked God to deliver Duke a huge portion of strength and peace. Might have asked the same for himself, too, if he thought for a minute He’d answer. He spotted Sam just then, walking toward him with a little smile on her face even as her big eyes brimmed with concern and love…for
him
. In the short time it took her to get from the water fountain to where he stood, a sense of calm settled over him, and for the first time since he was a boy, Bryce thought maybe, just maybe, God
had
heard his prayer.

And when she came to him and settled into his arms, he knew without a doubt that God had, indeed, answered.

“What? You’re joking!” Bryce said, faking a smile for Olive’s benefit. “Christians don’t get cremated.” He glanced at Sam, standing on the other side of his aunt’s hospital bed. “Do they?”

Olive gave a helpless shrug. “Some do. This one
will
. And I want my ashes scattered at Forever.”

“But…isn’t that against some sort of rule? What’s the Bible say about it?”

“It says we’re to look forward to joining the Lord our God.” Olive tried to lever herself up on one elbow to emphasize her point. “This old shell of a body is of no use to Him. It’s my
soul
He wants.” She lay back, spent and gasping before adding, “Besides, I don’t want my flesh and bones becoming worm food.”

“Olive, darlin’,” Duke said, blue eyes wide in his suntanned face, “please…don’t say things like that!”

Despite her weakened condition, she cut him a flirty, mischievous grin. “Sorry, darlin’, guess I’m doomed to tell it like it is, right to the bitter end.”

Brow furrowed, he shook his salt-and-pepper-haired head. “How am I supposed to visit you and remember you if—”

“Duke, sweetheart, if you need a tombstone and a grave to remember me,” she said, laughing softly, “maybe I didn’t make a very big impact on your world after all.”

“Aw, Olive,” he countered, kissing her forehead, “that isn’t what I meant at all. I’ll never forget you!” He slumped onto the seat of the chair beside her bed as tears flowed from his eyes. “But where will I lay roses, darlin’?” he all but sobbed. “And where will I go to talk to you when I get to missin’ you like I know I will?”

Olive wiggled a finger, beckoning him near. “I’ll always be here,” she said, touching a fingertip to his chest, “and here,” she added, pressing it to his forehead. “And—”

Pain choked off the rest of her words. Grimacing, Olive held her breath, making the seconds that ticked by seem like an hour.

When finally Olive opened her eyes, she grinned. “Scared you, didn’t I?” A low, playful chuckle emanated from her as she said, “Don’t worry. I’m not leavin’ you just yet. I have a few more loose ends to tie up before I meet my Maker.” She aimed a forefinger at each of them in turn. “ ‘Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,’ ” she quoted, “scattered across Forever.”

Duke heaved a sad sigh. “So you won’t change your mind?”

She shook her head. “Nope. No way.”

The increased
beeps
from her heart monitor made it clear the subject had agitated her. It took just one quick glance at the bright green numerals skittering across the screen to inspire Duke’s defeated, “I declare, woman, you are the most stubborn female I’ve ever run across, and I’ve raised Brahma bulls for half of my life!” Smiling sadly, he patted her hand. “All right then, if that’s what you want, that’s what you’ll get.”

He looked to Bryce for approval and agreement. Sam watched an array of emotions flicker across his tortured face before he said, “Well, after all the time and effort she put into that little church of hers over the years, I guess the good Lord won’t bar her from Paradise just because she doesn’t want a typical burial.”

With a sideways nod, Sam invited him to follow her into the hall. “I’m going to the cafeteria for some coffee. Care to join me, Bryce?”

“Sure. I guess.”

“Can we get you anything, Duke?”

When his puffy, red-rimmed eyes met hers, Sam could have cried. But the newlyweds needed strength surrounding them, not weakness, and so she smiled.

“No, I’m fine,” the big man said. Then he pulled the chair closer to Olive’s bed and sandwiched her hand between his own, kissing her knuckles and whispering sweet, soft words.

“What about you, Olive?”

“Cheesecake,” she said, licking her lips, “if they have it.”

“And if they don’t?”

“I’ll settle for a big wedge of chocolate cake.”

She wouldn’t eat it, because the cancer had weakened Olive beyond the capacity to chew and swallow, but Sam aimed to deliver both, anyway. “We won’t be long.”

“Take your time,” Olive called after them. “Duke and I need some cuddle time, anyway.”

Sam didn’t dare look back, for fear the sight of Duke’s agonized expression would cause her to lose her precarious hold on self-control. Besides, Bryce needed her strength every bit as much as the newlyweds did. Neither Sam nor Bryce spoke as they walked toward the elevators. Didn’t speak as they waited for the doors to hiss open, either. But once the rumbling car headed for the first floor, he pulled her close and rested his chin on her head.

“Thanks for being here with me,” he said, his voice thick with a pent-up sob.

“Can’t think of any place I’d rather be.” Easy to say, since it was the truth, pure and simple. She loved him, and he loved her.
Here
is where she belonged.

“You want to take a walk?” he said when the doors opened. “I’m not really in the mood for more coffee…”

“That sounds great, because neither am I.” It had been nearly two days since either of them had set foot outside. Perhaps some fresh air and sunshine would help him cope with what would happen, possibly very soon.

The hospital grounds seemed serene and beautiful…in direct contradiction to the shape Olive was in. Sam slipped her hand into his and they slowly made their way to a bench.