The Parting Gift(16)

“Of course. I’m glad you’re here, … Blaine.” His voice was weak and raspy.

That makes one of us, Blaine thought, but he said nothing. The man was suffering enough. And Blaine was nothing if not a model of control. Well, when he was sober – a fading dull ache under his right eye reminded him why sober was best.

The woman was shooting daggers at him already. How could she be so attached to the old man?

The effort it took for David to speak was evident. Wheezing, he said, “You’ve met my nurse? Mara Crawford?” He gestured toward the woman. “Mara, this is my – um, Blaine Graham.”

“The captain and I met downstairs, Mr. Graham.” She smiled at the old man sweetly.

David gazed at Blaine with a hopeful twinkle in his eyes. Hesitantly, he spoke again. “I want to tell you…” The words seemed to drain him of energy, but he pressed on. “We have some things to sort out.”

“It would seem we are way past that, sir,” Blaine challenged.

The impact of his comment seemed to bring the wrath of his father’s nurse.

“I think he’s had enough for now,” she announced, stepping between David and Blaine. “It’s time for his medication. You should leave.”

Blaine shrugged and glanced back at his father. David faced the window on the opposite wall and shrank back down into his bed, defeated. A heaviness descended in the pit of Blaine’s stomach. This was way worse than he thought it was going to be.

He stalked out of the room and down the stairs to the living room. He was too angry to sit down, so he paced to the window and stared out at the snow-filled yard. The snow had started up again. Large fluffy flakes drifted down, creating a white haze in the afternoon sky.

Michigan winters were always white. His mother had loved the winter. Christmas was a major production at their house before she… They would go out tree-hunting for the perfect tree every year on the same day. They’d squeeze into his father’s Model A pickup and drive out to the country, hike up into the hills and pick out the tree his mother knew she just couldn’t live without. Her excitement was contagious. Even his father would laugh and tease her about how dramatic she was when she found the right one. She’d clap her hands and dance around the tree, forcing Blaine and his father to join her.

When they got home she would make them cups of steaming hot chocolate while Blaine’s father set up the tree in the living room. Right there. Right there in front of the window, where Blaine now stood. Even after his mother became sick, he remembered his father taking him up the hill to find that tree. Blaine was given the job of finding the one he knew his mother would love.

That was the last time a Christmas tree stood here. His father had refused to celebrate Christmas after Blaine’s mother passed away. Blaine had begged him every year. He had wanted to pull out his mother’s box of decorations and remember the stories she would tell about each ornament. The way she had taken hours to tell them while they trimmed the tree together. But his father had just shaken his head and looked away from him sadly. He didn’t want to take time for such things. Blaine hadn’t celebrated Christmas properly since he was ten years old.

“What was that?” The angry woman interrupted his thoughts as she entered the room behind him. Blaine cringed at the sound.

He didn’t turn around. Maybe if he ignored her, she would go away.

No such luck. He could feel her advancing on him, closing the space between them until she stepped around him and could look straight into his eyes.

Blaine tried to avoid her gaze. He looked past her out at the falling snow, pretending she wasn’t there, but she would have none of that.

“Captain Graham. What was that?” she demanded and stood on her tiptoes to meet his eyes.

“Mrs. Crawford, you can’t possibly understand.”

“Can’t understand? You think your problems are so complex? You think nobody else can possibly figure you out? I had heard pilots were arrogant, but you take the cake!”

“You think you already know me.”

“I do know you, Captain. Men like you are a dime a dozen. You think you know better than anyone else. You do some fancy flying, get a little recognition, and suddenly the people back home aren’t good enough for your attention, so you go off and forget them.”

“That’s not what happened.”

“Isn’t it? I just witnessed it with my own eyes! That’s your father up there! Sent home to die! And you’re still trying to pay him back for a little boy’s hurt pride!”

“I’m sorry you had to witness that.” He looked away again. Why was she so intent on making sure he felt like the crud he’d tracked in on her clean floor?

A long uncomfortable silence encompassed them. She seemed to be waiting for him to say more. Was she waiting for him to explain? Explain a lifetime of hurt to a total stranger who had already made it abundantly clear whose side she was on?

“That’s it? Is that all you’re going to say?”

“This is between my father and me. I’m sorry if you can’t accept that.”

“I’m here for your father, so anything that affects him concerns me.”

Blaine looked directly in to her fiery emerald eyes. “I’ve got to hand it to you, Mrs. Crawford. That is the best excuse for butting into other people’s business I have ever heard.” That shut her up, and Blaine took the opportunity to head out through the kitchen to the back door. He had to get out of that house and quick.