Page 44 of A Family Affair: The Plan
I hear Mimi’s protecting her at the Heart Sent, and you know Mimi…she never gives up on anybody even when she should.
So? When is Hope Newland leaving Magdalena? The sooner she’s gone, the sooner life will settle down and Sam can move past another bad choice.
And choose a good one this time. Not sure when she’s leaving but it can’t be soon enough.
Right. And if the nurse doesn’t catch his eye, I’ve got a few other names in mind, starting with a Sunday school teacher, a doctor, and a lawyer.
Let’s make a list of possibilities…
Yes, we’ll help Sam find his happily ever after.
As long as that happily-ever-after does not include the woman who tried to destroy our town.
Good riddance, Hope Newland.
21
Hope had never been a big believer in working outside, particularly in gardens. Too much dirt, too much work,too much…But spending time with Mimi, watching her dig in her backyard gardens, had changed her thoughts on that. When Hope spent time in the garden, planting impatiens and scattering zinnia and cosmos seeds, it calmed her, and that’s exactly what she needed.
It had been six days since her visit to Pop Benito and the phone call from Harry Blacksworth telling him Edgar Harrington had been rushed to the hospital. She’d prayed for the man and his family, and prayer did not come easily to her. While Mimi had insisted what happened with Edgar wasnotHope’s fault, she couldn’t help but feel guilty that she may have contributed to it.
There have been a few remarks about anxiety and panic attacks causing Edgar to pass out,Mimi had said.Maybe, maybe not. I haven’t been able to substantiate the information. No one knows for certain and Edgar isn’t talking. My guess is low blood sugar was the likely culprit.That man’s been living on the edge of poor health for a long time, and his wife mightthink she’s got control of his eating and lifestyle choices, but he’s fooling everyone, especially himself.
But Mimi’s words couldn’t relieve the guilt Hope felt that somehow, she’d contributed to the man’s incident. That guilt haunted her until the afternoon she received a call from Edgar Harrington. Hope had just finished watering the zinnia seeds and was about to start on the petunias when her cell phone rang.
“Hope? This is Edgar Harrington. Do you have a minute?”
“Yes, Dr. Harrington. How are you feeling?”
“Better. Foolish.” A pause, a deep sigh. “Have you ever heard the expression about how someone just cannot get out of his own way and creates his own problems?”
“I have.” She clutched her cell phone, waited for him to say more.
“I know there are a lot of stories going around town about what happened and the cause of it. I want you to hear it straight from me and more importantly, to let you know you had nothing to do with it. I passed out because of my own foolishness.” Another sigh, an almost laugh. “When you’ve been married as long as I have, you don’t want to hear what you should and shouldn’t do, and sometimes you do just the opposite. It’s not that your partner doesn’t have your best interests in mind, it’s just that darn it, you donotwant to do it. You think, ‘Why can’t I still eat a double cheeseburger, a side of fries,andan ice cream sundae without heartburn, high blood sugar, or weight gain?’ That’s what happened to me. I cheated the rules, and I ignored my wife and her never-ending suggestions on my food choices. On that particular day, I planned to head to the diner for the cheeseburger, fries,andthe ice cream sundae, but my wife’s voice wouldn’t stop chattering in my ear. So, what did I do?” A soft laugh, followed by a defeated “I skipped breakfast, and then I got busy, and it was almost one thirty in the afternoon. Iremember checking my watch right before I went down. That’s why I passed out and landed in the ER.”
That might be true and the man might be trying to make her feel better, but what about the whispers linked to panic and anxiety? Would he mention those? “I appreciate the call, but there’s a part of me that feels responsible.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Because…because…”
“Ah, so you’ve heard the talk about anxiety and panic attacks.”
No sense denying it. “Yes. And if they occurred, I know I’m responsible for that, and I am so sorry Dr.—”
“Hope, stop. You arenotresponsible for anything that happened to me. I’m in charge of myself and how I deal with the situations in my life. I’m the sort of person who buries everything and doesn’t think it’s necessary to talk about things like feelings or fear or worry, and if you keep it all bottled up, it’s got to go somewhere. It’s not because of anybody trying to force me out, or the issues I had with Sam, or even hiding my food from my wife. The attack or whatever had to do with how I handled the situations. The doctor said it might’ve been that, he can’t tell, but he was more inclined to think it had mostly to do with the low blood sugar.”
“I appreciate you sharing this.”
“I didn’t want you carrying extra baggage that wasn’t yours to carry.” Pause and a quiet, “I’m sorry for how things turned out between you and my son.”
“Thank you.” What else could she say?I wish we could have gotten past this? I wish we could have found a future together? I wish?—
“You’re good for him. He was happy and my wife and I saw that. I’ve tried to talk to him, but he’s more stubborn than I am and that’snota good thing.”
“He’s been very clear about not wanting to have anything to do with me, and I have to respect that. Anyway, I’ll be leaving soon, and then he won’t have to worry about running into me or avoiding me.”
Silence stretched on the other end of the line, made Hope wonder if Sam’s father had heard her. And then he spoke.
