The Homecoming (Thunder Point #6)(72)

“Seth can’t.” Oscar laughed. “Some of us have learned to sit still. That boy, he might never be still. I hope you’re prepared for that.”

“To tell you the truth, Oscar, I’m not real sure what to be prepared for. He’s the same guy I knew growing up and yet, he’s brand-new.”

“How’s he different? Tell me.”

“He’s a little more serious,” she said. “And he’s a lot more patient. He takes some things in stride that a younger Seth would’ve been all worked up about. Like his father. You know about his father?”

Oscar nodded. “Cranky, I’m told.”

“I guess that’s accurate. I don’t know exactly why. I know he’s disappointed that Seth isn’t a football star, but you’d think he’d be over that by now.”

“You know, Iris, some folks are just that way no matter what. I think they dislike the good turns in their life as much as the bad. I was a little bit that way when I was younger.”

“Really?”

He nodded and bent his head to sip some coffee through the straw. “I was always worrying about things I couldn’t do anything about. Always working too hard, sleeping too little, my brain whirring around all the time. That can get to be a habit, I think. In fact, right after the accident I was like that because I couldn’t figure out any other way but being mad all the time.”

“I guess you figured it out,” she said.

“I did. Flora was a big help.”

“She was?”

“Oh, yes, ma’am,” he said with a big laugh. “Flora is a gentle woman. She hardly ever has a gruff word for anyone. It used to drive me crazy that she was too soft on the kids when they could’ve used a stronger hand. But after putting up with me and my temper while I was stuck in this chair she told me in her nicest possible way that from that moment on she was all done doing for me if I couldn’t be civil and pleasant and most of all grateful. She said, ‘I’m done with your bullshit, Oscar Spellman, and you can either be sweet as an angel or you’ll get none of me. And none of me is gonna leave you real damn hungry!’” He laughed. “I think I always knew she had it in her.”

Iris smiled. “Did you straighten right up?”

“Oh, yes, ma’am, I did. I didn’t doubt her a second. Still, it took a while for me to slow down my mind and listen for a while. I move a lot slower, but I have some things now that I was moving too fast to notice before. I have a better relationship with my wife and kids. I taught my grandson to play chess. My grandson thinks I’m a lot smarter than I am.” He laughed at himself again.

“You almost seem grateful for some of the changes in your life.”

“Let’s don’t go that far,” he said, but he smiled. “That young man of yours, I don’t know where he got it, but if I’d been in his shoes I never would’ve visited me even once, much less all the time.”

“I got the impression he felt really bad about the accident,” Iris said.

“I reckon. But he could’ve come one time, said he was sorry it all happened and never come again. He’s a strong boy, but he’s got a very kind heart. He kept coming back even though Flora and the kids didn’t make him welcome. Now, what makes a man do that?”

“I don’t know. But I admire it.”

“He’s a generous man. We’d’ve been lost without his help.”

“I thought he only visited every month or two?”

Oscar nodded. “True. And it was a good year before I’d even have a conversation with him. I made that boy work real hard. Even after the way everything turned out—the court battle and all. All the money that he gave us.”

“He must have felt some deep responsibility after losing the suit,” she said.

“Losing? Girl, he won. We lost that suit! Seth wasn’t driving safely, but no jury would agree it was his fault we were hurt. Mighta been, no one will know.”

Iris frowned. “He won? What money?”

“You don’t know?”

She shook her head.

“Girl, he set up a trust for our family. Gave us every penny he had.”

Iris scooted forward in her chair. “What money?”

“Well, all the way through his surgeries and rehab, he was pretty well taken care of—he had insurance, disability, plenty of support—he was a pro ball player. He also had some money set aside—a large sum he’d gotten for signing his contract. I imagine he could’ve used that to live on, to pay for college, that sort of thing. Maybe his father is mad about that—that the money didn’t stay in the family. I told Seth we didn’t want his charity and he just said it wasn’t charity. That I’d have to earn it every day. It beats me just how he thought I’d do that. He set up the trust so that when some of my benefits ran out, there would still be help. He told me, ‘Take care of this here, Oscar, because that’s all I got and there ain’t no more.’”

Iris was speechless.

“He didn’t tell you?” Oscar asked.

She shook her head. “I bet he didn’t tell anyone.”

“He’s got a big heart, that boy. And you remember, he was a kid then. Not a wise older man, but a kid whose dreams were destroyed. A kid who was gonna have a lot of work ahead just to get by.” He shook his head. “He’s going to make a good father.”