One Mountain Away (36 page)

There’s so much I don’t understand. But I do understand this. It really doesn’t matter.

Chapter Thirty-Two

CHARLOTTE WAS STILL surprised at how quickly things could move, even when she wasn’t pushing and slapping everything into shape. Less than a week had passed since she’d first told Analiese about the clinic, and now she and Samantha were watching the progress as movers wheeled the last of the file cabinets into a room at the end of the hall so that this room could be cleaned in preparation for the painters, who would arrive tomorrow.

She stepped farther to one side, so she would be completely out of the way. “I still can’t believe the Women’s Fellowship got behind this so quickly. I’ll be honest, I think they were having something of a spat. There were two projects they’d been considering, neither of which really excited anybody. But you know how these things go. One group allied themselves behind the first, another behind the second. Along comes Reverend Ana with a different plan, and nobody lost.”

Samantha picked up papers that had slipped under one of the cabinets, gave a quick glance and tossed them in the remaining wastebasket. “However it happened, this is great. And they were okay with the apple-green the staff chose? Pink’s supposed to be the most soothing color—somebody looked that up—but we were afraid none of the little boys would go into a pink playroom.”

“I think it’ll be great. We can paint the furniture bright colors like turquoise and purple to go with it. I’d guess the women coming in tomorrow won’t get much done except priming the walls, but it’ll be a start. And you don’t mind being here to oversee it?”

Samantha gave one of her cover-girl smiles. “Honestly? I don’t love being here on weekends, no, but I
will
love what’s going to come out of it. It’ll make everybody’s life easier, and that will help me cope.”

Charlotte was sorry Samantha had to be present, but she knew the other woman couldn’t allow volunteers to be at the clinic unsupervised, not even with every door along the hallway locked.

“If you have work to do, I can clean up here by myself,” Charlotte said. “I brought rags and trisodium phosphate. That’s supposed to degrease the walls, so the primer goes on smoothly.”

“I don’t mind getting my hands dirty. And the sooner we finish, the sooner we can go home. You’ve noticed how hot it is in here? We set the thermostat higher on weekends to save money. And there aren’t any windows worth opening.”

Charlotte was glad to hear she wasn’t having one doozy of a hot flash. Asheville was scheduled for an unseasonably hot day. Later in the afternoon, temperatures were supposed to get up in the high eighties, with no relief in sight until next week.

“As soon as the men are all done, I’ll start scrubbing,” she said.

“I’m just telling myself there’s a nice cool shower waiting at home and a glass of iced tea.”

“And air-conditioning.”

Samantha made a face. “Not at
my
house. Turned it on last week—it screeched like a cat in heat, and that was the end. Had the landlord out. Landlord had the repair people out. Repair people had the salespeople out. Landlord had his wallet out. They’ll install a new one next week.”

“I know how to fix that.”

“I wish, but there’s no fixing that sucker. The sales guy said they’re shipping it to the Smithsonian.”

“But I can fix your
evening
. You and Edna come to my house and swim. About five? We’ll cook something on the grill. I’d love to have you.”

“That sounds like an imposition.”

“To me it sounds like a pool party. It’s Harmony’s day off, and if I call now, she’ll invite friends and shop for dinner. Maybe Reverend Ana will show up, too. I’ll give her a call.”

“Well, Edna would love it.”

“She ought to bring a friend, then she’ll love it even more.”

“You’re sure about all this?”

“Never surer.”

The last file cabinet rolled by, and they surveyed what remained. Dust balls, greasy shadows on the walls, holes in the wallboard.

“Lots to do here,” Samantha said.

“On your mark, get set…”

An hour later the movers were gone, the dust was gone, too, and two walls were scrubbed clean. Charlotte needed a break. Before her illness she had been tireless. Now she had to stop and rest every few minutes. Samantha was on a stepladder scrubbing the top halves of the walls, and Charlotte was scooting along the floor on her knees doing the bottoms. They had it down to a rhythm, but it was still going slowly.

Samantha stepped off the ladder to take her own break. “My mother’s dropping Edna here in a few minutes. She can help.”

“Your mother?”

“No, Edna. Mom’s got a job interview, that’s why she couldn’t keep Edna the whole day.”

Charlotte wondered if Georgia Ferguson knew that
she
was here helping Sam. She sifted through possible responses for the right one. “I haven’t seen your mother for a long time.”

“I’ve told her about the playroom. She knows you’re here today.”

“Maybe I ought to go.”

“No reason to. She’s not your biggest fan, but she’s not going to make a scene, either.”

“I just don’t want…” Charlotte wasn’t sure what she didn’t want. She finally shrugged.

“Mom’s bringing bags of magazines for the waiting room that her students collect for us. She might need some help getting them inside, and I can’t leave the clinic. It could give the two of you a few minutes to talk.”

Charlotte knew it was well past time for that, but she wondered if Georgia would agree.

Somebody banged on the door, and Samantha went to answer it. Charlotte got to her feet and dusted off the knees of the oldest pants she owned just as Edna came barreling in to see what they’d been doing, and greeted her with a hug. Edna saw Charlotte as a friend because she had been there to offer aid when Maddie fell. She didn’t realize that Charlotte was Maddie’s grandmother, though, which was for the best.

“It’s yucky in here,” Edna said, when she pulled away. “I’m glad you’re fixing it up.”

“So am I. And I hear you’re going to help us get the walls clean?”

“If we work fast, we can be done fast. And it’s hot in here!”

“Way too hot,” Charlotte agreed.

Edna sped down the hall to see where the filing cabinets had gone, and Samantha, followed by her mother, came into the playroom.

Georgia Ferguson had shoulder-length cinnamon-colored hair and wispy bangs. She weighed no more than she had a dozen years ago, when Charlotte had last seen her, and her arms and legs were tanned and toned. Clearly, of the two of them, Georgia was weathering the storms of aging best.

“Georgia,” Charlotte said. “It’s good to see you again.”

Georgia lifted a brow, as if to question that, but she nodded. “Sam tells me Church of the Covenant is setting up a playroom here.”

“The Women’s Fellowship. They’re painting tomorrow.”

“So she says. Don’t let me get in your way.” She glanced at her watch to make it clear she wasn’t planning to stay.

“Charlotte said she’d be happy to help you bring in the rest of the magazines,” Samantha said.

“Oh, I don’t—”

“I’d like to,” Charlotte interrupted. “May I?”

Georgia’s hesitation was so brief it was hardly noticeable, but Charlotte saw the effort the nod that followed cost her.

“We’ll be back in a minute,” Georgia told her daughter. “We can do this in one load.”

Charlotte followed her into the parking lot. Georgia was wearing a sage-green knit suit with a silk blouse; clearly the upcoming interview was important to her. She was behaving like a woman with no time to waste.

“So your students collect the magazines?”

“They earn service credits.”

“The best kind of recycling.”

They reached a Honda sedan, and Georgia pulled out her keys to open the trunk. “The two bags on the right are for Mountain Medical. The rest go to a nursing home.”

“Georgia…” Charlotte put her hand on Georgia’s arm before she could start pulling out bags. “Samantha engineered this so we could talk.”

Georgia faced her, folding her arms over her chest. “Samantha likes everybody to get along.”

Charlotte hadn’t rehearsed what to say because she had wanted it to come from her heart. Now she wished she’d memorized a script. “Damn,” she said at last. “I have so much I want to apologize for, and no idea in the world how to do it.”

“There’s nothing I really need to hear.”

“I know you’ve moved on, but there are things I hope you’ll let me say, for both our sakes. It all comes down to knowing how unfair I was to you all those years ago, and wishing I could find a way to make it up to you. I was instrumental in making sure you lost your position at Covenant Academy.”

“You weren’t the only one. Don’t give yourself too much credit.”

Georgia hadn’t said it with venom, but the words stung, anyway. “I know, but I could have spoken against it, and I spoke
for
it instead, and pretty loudly. I wanted you gone. I wanted a nice, traditional, safe education for my daughter, so her life would be all those things, too. The worst part?” The worst part stuck in her throat and felt as if it had been sitting there for years. “She was happy in school when
you
were there making sure she was challenged. You valued her the way she was, which was more than I did. After you left and we hired someone more conventional? She never wanted to go to school again.”

“Well, we all make mistakes.” Georgia turned and lifted the first bag.

“I wish I was sure of that. Sometimes I watch other people, and they make living look so easy.”

Georgia straightened and handed her the bag. “You think so? You’re not digging very deeply, then.”

“Your life hasn’t been easy,” Charlotte said. “I know that. I know it was hard to find a job after you were fired.”

Georgia stopped unloading and turned again. “Charlotte, I’ll say it again. You’re giving yourself too much credit. You didn’t destroy my life. I learned a long time ago not to let
anybody
do that. You’re just somebody who was on the Academy board the year they fired me because my ideas were too subversive. After that I picked myself up, and eventually I found a job teaching kids with special needs. I support myself. I still work with kids. Sometimes I even upset their parents, for old times’ sake. But somehow they graduate and go out into the world and make successes of themselves. Maybe someday I’ll get credit for time served and another chance to put my so-called radical ideas into play, but if I don’t?” She turned her hand skyward to show she didn’t really care.

Charlotte believed everything except that last gesture. “I realize I can’t change a thing that happened, and I realize this is more about me and what I need, than what you do. But I did want you to know I’m so sorry.”

“I’m trying to decide if that helps.”

Charlotte hadn’t expected anything else. “Is my friendship with Sam and Edna going to be a problem for you? Because I’ll back off. I don’t want to cause any more ill will between us.”

“Are you spending time with them because you want to prove something to me?”

The shock on her face must have been all the answer Georgia needed. “I can tell you what Sam probably thinks. She thinks if she models grown-up behavior to both of us, maybe we’ll follow suit.”

Charlotte wondered if Samantha also thought Taylor would eventually follow suit, as well. “Maybe we will,” she said.

Georgia took the second bag and closed the trunk.

* * *

As he waited for Harmony to call Charlotte to the telephone, Ethan heard laughter in the background. Once she answered he reconsidered his call.

“I can tell this is a bad time,” he said.

“Not at all. I’ve been hoping you’d call.”

He knew if he told Charlotte their daughter had not accepted her letter graciously, the lilt in her voice would disappear. Somehow Taylor’s tantrum didn’t seem like something he should explain over telephone lines.

“May I drop by sometime?” he asked. “We should talk about Taylor.”

The line went silent for a moment, as if she was absorbing that. “Are you busy right now?”

“Don’t you have company?”

“None you’ll disturb. In fact you’ll be welcome. Bring your bathing suit.”

He started to decline, then his curiosity got the better of him. “You’re having a party and you’re inviting
me?
”

“Nothing formal. It’s just a hot day. Please come.” She paused for just a heartbeat. “I’d like it if you would.”

Ethan’s early-warning system was finely tuned, and all his alarms went off now. Since the afternoon they’d spent together at his house, he’d found himself thinking of Charlotte too often. The barriers he’d put up were tumbling, and the good times were like vines scampering over the ruins. He wasn’t sure which were more dangerous to contemplate—the good times or the bad.

“Listen, I know this is odd,” Charlotte said. “And if it’s
too
odd, never mind. But if it’s not, this afternoon why don’t we toss out the past, swim and have burgers, and after I’ve recovered from scrubbing walls all day, you can tell me what Taylor said when you gave her my letter.”

He hung up and wondered how possible it was to toss out the past when it kept coming back to haunt them both.

An hour later he let himself into her foyer. The door had been left ajar, and from the back of the house he heard laughter and cabinets slamming. He made his way toward the kitchen, where he was greeted by Samantha Ferguson.

“You should see your face,” she said, grinning. “Charlotte and I spent the day scrubbing walls at the clinic together, and Edna and I are reaping the reward in her pool. See you there.” She held up a glass of iced tea in salute and headed outside.

Harmony and a young woman with tattooed snakes winding up her bare arms were at the stove. Harmony, wearing a beach cover-up with her hair in cornrows, was stirring something that smelled fabulous.

“This is Glenda,” she said, “and she makes the most amazing red beans and rice. She’s teaching me how. If you eat meat, we’re having burgers, too. Glenda, this is Ethan.”