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She shook her head, embraced her daughter-in-law, Tammy, and motioned for them to sit with her. “Not a word, and I don’t want to sound like an alarmist, but I don’t have a good feeling about this. The nurse wouldn’t look me in the eye.”
Tammy leaned forward and folded her chilly hand in a soft embrace. “She could be tired. Or preoccupied with a million other things.”
Sam scrunched her face and cleared her throat. “I’m sure you’re right. I’ll try not to borrow additional troubles.”
Her sons, Gage and Jake, entered the room. They silently glanced around before immediately approaching her. “No word yet, boys.” She hugged each one before they settled in to wait.
It was about thirty minutes before a doctor entered the now-cramped room. Noting no additional seating, he held up a finger and stated, “I’ll be right back with another chair.” He was back shortly, wheeling a flimsy looking desk chair into the room and promptly sat in it. He rested his forearms on his knees and folded his hands together. His eyes roved the room before landing on Sam.
She held her breath, waiting for the words she’d already assumed were coming. “Mrs. Powell, I’m your husband’s attending physician, Doctor Sinclair. I’m very sorry to tell you that Mr. Powell didn’t make it.”
Choking back a sob, Sam glanced around at her sons watching carefully for their reactions. Gage teared up but sat stoically beside his brother on the sofa. Her eyes met his and held. Jake’s raspy voice broke the silence in the room. “Can you tell us what happened?”
She swallowed as she sadly watched her sons processing the news that their father had died.
“I’m afraid all I can tell you is the medical side of things. The police will need to fill you in on the accident. In general terms, Mr. Powell died from a ruptured spleen. He was alive at the scene and rushed here, but he died in the ambulance. We tried to resuscitate once he arrived, but we were unable to. I’m very sorry.”
1
“You should sign up for the same dating service I did. It’s time you meet someone, Sam. It’s been a year now,” Jessie said.
Jessie was a perky little blonde with wavy hair and bright blue eyes. Her voluptuous body and her bubbly personality were hard to resist.
“I don’t think a dating service is for me, Jess. I would hate having to start all over again—multiple times. I don’t think I’m a kiss-as-many-frogs-as-you-can kind of girl,” Samantha replied. “That being said, how was your date last night?”
Jessie’s bright smile lit up the room. “Oh, it was great. He’s funny and smart, and we talked all night. I don’t think I got home until about three this morning. I’m seeing him again tonight—I can’t wait!” She smoothed her blue blouse and tucked a blonde lock behind her ear.
Grinning, Sam replied, “I’m so happy for you, Jess. You deserve a great guy.” Dropping her car keys into her purse, she continued, “Three in the morning, huh? Your day is going to drag.”
Giggling, Jess responded, “It might, but totally worth it. I’ll be thinking about him all day.”
Sam grinned as she made her way back to her office. Jessie was a great person to see first thing in the morning. No matter what her mood, she could brighten your day. Hopefully, this boyfriend would work out for her. The last one had cheated on her and broke her heart, right after Tim had died. The women helped each other out in their respective grief. Jess, ten years younger than Sam, had been married at one time but had already been divorced when Sam began working at the law office five years ago. She now lived vicariously through Jessie and her boyfriends. Not that Jessie was a tramp—far from it—but she was always trying out dating services and dated a lot. She continuously tried to encourage Sam to sign up on one of those sites, but so far, she just couldn’t bring herself to do it.
As her computer booted up, she mentally clicked over her day. It was Tuesday, meaning Mrs. Koeppel was coming in. The feisty little lady, in her mid-eighties, was full of spunk. Sam had some documents for the spritely woman to sign; then she was meeting with one of the attorneys for additional work to be done on her rentals.
* * *
Grayson Kinkaide woke early; he’d always been an early riser. He’d drink his cup or two of coffee in the morning while reading the paper and then another cup while heading to the office before anyone else arrived. He’d worked hard to build his architectural business. After spending years in a horrible marriage, he’d decided it was time to break free, not just from the sham of a marriage, but from his father-in-law’s business as well.
Gray and Suzanne had been divorced for seven years, and Gray still worked hard to feel in control of his life. He fought the bitterness that crept in as he watched his best friend, Caleb; his brother, Jamie; and his sister, Dani, have a special someone in their lives. He was grateful they were happy and had found their other half, but he’d never found that special someone to complete him.
Of course, he’d felt guilty for his bitter thoughts, especially when five years ago, Jamie’s wife died of cancer. He wondered why he’d ever begrudged Jamie any happiness at all. He still had to work on a lot of issues. By throwing himself into his work to build the business he’d always dreamed of, he was finally accomplishing just that.
Today, as a matter of fact, he and his son Jackson were meeting with his friend, Bill, an attorney in town, to discuss further business expansion. Jax was now home from serving in the Army, and Gray wanted to add an arm to the Kinkaide Architecture and Engineering firm—demolition.
Jax had been working as a demolition specialist for about a year, and the demolition jobs were bringing more work to the firm, so it seemed the time was right.
* * *
Around 9:50, Jess buzzed Sam’s office. “Mrs. Koeppel is here for you, Sam.”
Smoothing her soft gray top as she made her way down the hallway, Sam let out a shallow breath and rounded the corner. There sat Mrs. K, prim in her deep red suit and her black walking shoes, her ankles crossed. She was old-fashioned in some ways, very forward in others; if something was on her mind, you’d hear it.
Having been widowed herself, now eighty-four and married to her second husband, Albert, Mrs. K was someone to aspire to be like. She and Albert had what seemed like a nice relationship and proof that second chances exist.
“Good morning, Mrs. K. How are you today?”
“Oh, my dear, I’m doing very well. Nothing like having a man dote on a woman to put a smile on her face.”
