In the Following Weeks
A week later, Lucas saw the surgeon for a checkup. By then he was back to himself, anxious to chase after Sox and almost impossible to keep still.
Dr. Crawford examined the surgical site, declared Lucas was doing beautifully, and they were out of the office in ten minutes flat. Having the surgery behind them seemed a giant step forward, but in truth, it was only the first of many such steps. The hard work was still ahead, the hardest being the long weeks of waiting. Seemingly endless days of living in limbo, wondering if in fact everything would work as it was supposed to.
Since she was already in Barrington, Tracy texted Gabriel and asked if they might stop by the school.
I’d like Lucas to get to know the place so he won’t be scared when he starts therapy.
The answer came a few minutes later.
Absolutely, he replied. I’m in my office, just come on up.
That afternoon Tracy and Lucas spent two hours at the school. Instead of touring the building, they settled in one of the small classrooms where Lucas rummaged through the toys and plucked out a favorite. It was a red dump truck that he happily rolled back and forth across the floor.
Gabriel envisioned the thoughts filling Tracy’s head and gave her a knowing smile.
“Do you realize that by this time next year, Lucas will be able to ask for that toy and tell you what color it is?”
When she allowed herself to look ahead and see such achievements, it took her breath away.
“A year,” she murmured. “It’ll certainly be a long one.”
Gabriel chuckled. “Not if you keep busy and give Lucas time to grow into the new skills he’ll be learning.”
Long after Tracy left the school, Gabriel’s words remained in her head. She mulled the thought over during the drive home and as she was having dinner. When Lila set her homemade apple pie on the table and poured everyone a cup of coffee, Tracy spoke up.
“I’d like to work for the Snip ’N’ Save full-time,” she said.
“Full-time?” Meghan registered a look of surprise. “I hope you don’t feel that you have to.”
“I know I don’t have to; I want to. I want to be here with Lucas so I can watch him grow and learn to speak. A year from now he’ll probably be talking, and he’ll need someone to constantly reinforce the things he learns in speech therapy.”
“I can do that,” Lila said.
“I know, but I want to be the one to do it. It’ll be good for both of us.” Tracy gave a playful grin and said, “After all, Mama, if a woman is on her own, she needs to have a real job.”
“That’s foolish,” Lila replied. “Why would you think you need a full-time job? I’m fine with the way things are.”
“Mama, come on. I’m a grown woman. It’s time I started getting my act together. Besides, Meghan has been shouldering the responsibility for far too long.” She looked over at her sister and smiled. “Maybe it’s not too late for journalism school after all.”
It had been years since Meghan thought of Grady, and the mention of it now seemed strangely out of place.
“I’m not sure that after all this time . . . ”
“The thing is, you can go to school or not go to school; it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that for the first time since Daddy died, you’ll be free to do what you want to do, not what you have to do.”
Meghan considered this for a moment, then gave a small laugh. She couldn’t imagine not running the Snip ’N’ Save, and yet . . .
“If you’re really serious, I suppose we could give it a try.”
That night Meghan pulled the box of composition books from beneath her bed and began to read back through the years. She read page after page telling how eager she was to attend Grady and how one day she hoped to be a star reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Tucked inside one book she found the school brochure, dog-eared and worn thin from all the times she’d pored over it and pictured herself there in one of those classrooms. She closed her eyes and tried to remember the passion she’d felt back then, but oddly enough, it was missing.
She moved on and read about the weeks and months after her daddy had died and the heartache of losing first him and then Tracy. How could she give up the Snip ’N’ Save? It wasn’t just a job; it was her life. When everything else fell apart, she always had the Snip ’N’ Save with its pages waiting to be filled and deadlines demanding her attention.
Without understanding how it came about, she found herself holding yet another composition book in her hand. It was the book tied with a metallic gold ribbon. She tugged the tail end of the bow, and the book fell open just as she knew it would.
These pages told a different story. It was one of falling in love. It told of that first night and how as she and Tom sat across from one another at the Garden, she’d known they were destined to be more than friends. As she read how he’d brushed his thumb across her lip, she could feel her heartbeat quicken.
Suddenly a whirlwind of thoughts came rushing at her. This had been a summer of miracles. She thought of that day at the lake: Sox in the water, the storm, and the unexplainable wave that pushed them ashore. Sox leading her to Tom. His bark telling her that Lucas couldn’t hear. If she had been away at Grady, none of these things would have happened. The thought of Sox lying at the bottom of the lake sent a shudder up her spine.
When Meghan climbed into bed, he jumped in beside her. As she absently began to stroke his fur, she thought about her life. Everything she loved was here in Magnolia Grove. She didn’t have to go in search of happiness; it was right under her nose.
The next day, Meghan suggested she and Tracy work together at the Snip ’N’ Save.
“There’s a lot to learn,” she said, “but I’m thinking in time you could take over production, and I’ll work on new business development.”
“Perfect! That way you can cover for me when I take Lucas to therapy, and I can cover for you whenever . . . ” Tracy gave a sly grin and didn’t bother finishing the thought.
As August rolled into September, Meghan found days when she had little or nothing to do. In times like that, she packed a lunch basket, and she and Sox visited Tom at the clinic. On sunny days they sat outside at the picnic table, and on rainy days Tom cleared a spot on his desk and they sat opposite one another while Sox curled up beneath her chair. Emily joined them occasionally, but more often than not, she had errands to do.
“Grocery shopping,” she’d say as she hung the OUT TO LUNCH sign on the door and hurried off. If it wasn’t groceries, it was dry cleaning that needed to be dropped off or a prescription to be picked up at the drugstore. Emily was a bundle of efficiency who managed to keep both the office and her family running smoothly.
On the odd afternoons when Emily did get bogged down with record-keeping duties, Meghan stayed to walk the dogs and put fresh water in the bowls. One such day, she had a boxer with a wide body and disagreeable disposition out of his crate and hooked to a leash before Tom had the chance to warn her that Bruiser had to be muzzled.
“You’ve got to be careful with this dog,” he said, hurrying over. “He doesn’t like being put on the leash and will go for your arm.”
Meghan rumpled the fur atop Bruiser’s head. “Nonsense. He’s sweet as can be.” She lifted him to the floor and strolled out the door.
Tom watched the dog trotting along as if he had no trouble whatsoever with being on a leash.
“Well, I’ll be darned . . . ”
Later that afternoon, he asked what she’d done to calm the dog.
“Nothing special,” she said, “just told him he was a good boy.”
Tom shook his head. “You’re really good with animals. I think you might’ve missed your calling.”
She laughed at the thought, but a spot of color rose up in her cheeks.