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“Thank you,” he said, beaming. “I like to visit lots of different restaurants that are nothing like mine. I started my career working in a five-star restaurant.”
“And you want a date with me? Why?”
“Well, let’s see,” he said, rolling his eyes upward. “You can get out stains, you’re good with a needle, various things... Maybe we should get to know each other better. Isn’t that why people date?”
“I shouldn’t have rubbed your head,” she said. “I do that with patients who have a lot of fear or anxiety or look like they might puke. It relaxes them.”
“I’m not the only one?” he said. “Damn. I thought I was the only one.”
“You want to be the only one?”
He nodded and smiled slyly. “How about Sunday night? The pub is kind of frisky on Friday and Saturday night and I like to stay close. There’s this great gourmet restaurant in Aurora—only nine tables. The chef is a friend.”
“You can put me down,” she said. “I have to go through the trash.”
“This feels kind of nice,” he said. “Okay.” He let her legs drop down but, with an arm around her waist, continued to keep her close. “You said yes to Sunday night, right?”
“I didn’t yet. I haven’t had a date in a while.”
“Me, either,” he said. “Maybe we’ll get through it okay. I’m very polite. And helpful.”
“You did drag me out of a Dumpster, so I guess I owe you.”
“Dr. Culver,” Eleanor called, coming toward them, holding Leigh’s phone. “It was in one of the exam rooms.”
“That’s right!” she said. “I took it out to see who was calling me and put it on the counter rather than back in my pocket.” She smiled. “You’ll be happy to know I won yet another free vacation. That’s when I turned it off.”
“Then she fell in the Dumpster,” Rob said. “Headfirst.”
Eleanor gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. Then she started to laugh.
“It’s okay,” Rob said. “I saw her go in and pulled her out.”
Then Rob and Eleanor both laughed—hard.
Leigh crossed her arms over her chest. “I could have been killed, you know. Someone could have thrown away a butcher knife and I could have landed on it. Then would you be laughing?”
Rob draped an arm across her shoulders. “Of course not, Dr. Culver. I also wouldn’t have asked you to go out to dinner with me, so I’m glad you weren’t mortally wounded.”
“Oh, that’s so romantic!” Eleanor said. “You plucked her right out of the garbage and asked her out! What a great story!”
“You’re fired!” Leigh said. “And gimme that phone!”
And with that she stomped toward the clinic. She heard them behind her.
“Very good move, Rob!” Eleanor said.
“I hope so,” he replied. “A little klutzy, isn’t she?” And they both enjoyed a good laugh.
Later that night, her cell phone rang and she saw it was Rob Shandon. She clicked on Accept, but said nothing.
“You gave me your number, remember?” he said.
“Are you done laughing at me?” she asked.
“I should have been laughing with you,” he said. “You climbed up on a broken chair and fell headfirst into a Dumpster. You’re not even bruised and you were pulled out by a handsome man. Okay, that part’s fiction—you were pulled out by me.”
“I’m not going to tell you you’re handsome.”
“Fair enough.” He chuckled. “Can I pick you up at six on Sunday night? I’d really love to take you to dinner.”
“All right. Is it dressy?”
“Nothing in Colorado is dressy. I’ll probably trade my jeans for pants but anything is acceptable. You’ll love this place. It’s unique, delicious, there’s a guy who plays classical guitar and there’s always some new creation from the kitchen. It has a cult following—foodies who know what they’re doing. So, I’ll see you at six on Sunday. I hope the rest of the week is less adventurous for you.”
“Thank you,” she said. “Yours, too.”
Since Leigh spoke to Helen daily, she was well aware that the process of selling the house had been in full swing. The moment Leigh had said, “Let’s do it,” Helen had hired a team of three women her Realtor had recommended to help her sort through a lifetime of precious junk. She had over a dozen large plastic tubs filled with pictures, Leigh’s handmade Christmas ornaments from childhood, favorite books, special school papers, linens and dishes that had been handed down, everything she couldn’t part with. She also kept several boxes of her own books, mostly to give away. She was ready to lighten her load.
“I should come and help,” Leigh said.
“As much as I’d enjoy your company, I’m writing a check for this one. If you can think of anything you left here that you can’t live without, now’s the time to speak up. All those medical books are going to the library.”
“Everything I need is online now,” Leigh said. “Those books cost a fortune and will probably never be used again. Even medical records are all stored in the cloud now. We’re paperless. What about the furniture?”
“Is there anything you’re particularly attached to?” Helen asked.
“I brought the old oak dry sink and the two paintings I loved with me,” she said. “I bought a new bedroom set, guest room furniture and some living room pieces and just essential kitchen items for my rental. What are you going to do with the furniture?”
“Sell it or give it away,” Helen said. “It’s more than I need, and if I ever settle down again before the nursing home, I’ll buy what I need. Most of our furniture is deeply loved and quite old. If I decide to settle in San Diego or La Jolla this winter, I’ll rent something furnished. Our keepsakes are all packed up in waterproof tubs and I’ll have them shipped to be stored near you. If you move, it can also move. On lonely Saturday nights you can look at your old kindergarten drawings.”
“That sounds like wonderful fun,” Leigh said with a laugh.
“There’s something you can do, darling. Rent a storage unit—not a large one. Give me the address and I’ll have this stuff shipped. It’s all nicely labeled.”
Three weeks after the work of sorting and tossing had begun, the For Sale sign went up and in forty-eight hours there had been an offer. An excellent offer. Leigh had naturally assumed it would take at least a month to close and finish the moving process but she should have known better. With Helen in charge, delegating, the process moved like greased lightning.
It was only the day after Rob had asked her out when her cell phone rang and it was Helen.
“I’m just leaving work,” Leigh said. “Let me call you from home.”
“Yes, do,” Helen said. “I’ve finished everything and I’m coming.”
Leigh froze. “What?” She sat back down at her desk.
“I’ve disposed of the furniture, hired the house cleaners and painters, sold my car to one of the packers, signed my end of the paperwork, left the routing numbers for my account with the closing agent and packed my bags. I can be there in three days.”
“Helen! How in God’s name did you manage all that so fast?”
“I had very efficient help and have moved into a hotel. The buyers are in a hurry, had a walkthrough today and want to close as soon as the title office is ready. If anything is upset in the next couple of weeks I guess I’ll fly back here to straighten it out, but I have no business here. I’m going to have to buy a new car when I get there...”
Leigh laughed. “You are amazing. How do you do it?”
“There is no one to do it for me or to argue with me about my process. Therefore, I get it done. I’ll be there Saturday afternoon. Is that all right?”
Leigh just laughed. “Of course.” And she thought she would either explain to Rob that something came up or she would ask if Helen could be included on their date. “I can’t wait to see you.”
“Shall I arrange for a rental car?”
“I’m off this weekend. I’ll come to get you. Will you be flying to Denver?”
“Yes, please. I have quite a load this time. I might have to make your house my base, taking over your guest room. How do you feel about that?”
She felt all warm and lovely inside. “Nothing could make me happier, Auntie.”
“Wonderful! I promise not to get underfoot.”
Whatever words we utter should be chosen
with care for people will hear them and be
influenced by them for good or ill.
—Gautama Buddha
4 (#u922d9516-b2c1-587d-b21c-cd65653e3e7d)
LEIGH HAD SEEN her aunt Helen several times since moving to Timberlake but only twice had Helen come to Timberlake. Last fall Helen visited and she was very preoccupied with the colorful leaves, plus she was finishing a book. Book deadlines always left Helen a bit antisocial and holed up with the final manuscript. Leigh was excited to introduce Helen to her new friends and colleagues.
This visit would be extended, at least until Helen grew restless. It was obvious when Leigh picked her up and filled the car with boxes and suitcases that she was planning on staying awhile.
“Wait till you watch the news,” Helen said, beaming. “They’re expecting another crippling snowstorm in the Midwest! And I’ll be here!” Then she giggled.
“When will you be traveling next?” Leigh asked Helen when they were on the road back to Timberlake.
“There’s a conference in New York at the end of May, just for a few days. Then I’m going to San Francisco in July. Maureen has a lovely little guesthouse and I can stay as long as I like. I wish you could get away for a little while. We could do the town.”
“We’ll see,” Leigh said. “Maybe I can take a couple of days. I do love Maureen and I haven’t seen her in a long time. But I’m needed here. These people depend on me and it feels...” She smiled. “It feels so good.”
“You’ve gotten so mellow since you’ve come here,” Helen said.
“The quiet and slower pace suits me,” Leigh said. “I was afraid I’d be bored. I’m not.”
“Have you made many friends?” Helen asked.
“There are some. The fire department is across the street and those guys hang around the clinic sometimes. They bring their families to me and sometimes include me in their get-togethers. There are a couple of other medical practices nearby—a pediatrician and an orthopedist—we’re friendly. There’s a neurosurgeon I’ve gotten to know—Maggie. She goes to Denver three days a week for her practice. We’re friends and her sister-in-law, wife of one of the paramedics, has become a friend. Maggie’s dad, Sully, has a great camping outpost on a lake nearby—he’s everyone’s friend.”
“And you’re skiing?” Helen asked.
“Not much beyond the few lessons I took last winter. I went with Maggie’s other sister-in-law, Sidney. This time I’m going to make sure you meet some of these people. You’ll get such a kick out of Sidney. She’s an amazing woman—consults in quantum physics at UCLA. She and her husband are going to move to Boulder at the end of the summer. She’s taking a position at the university and her husband is going to get his teaching certificate. Apparently he’s always wanted to teach high school.”
“I hope he’s got nerves of steel,” Helen said.
“You loved teaching,” Leigh said.
“My current job is much more flexible.”
“After we get all of your luggage sorted out, we’ll go and get something to eat. There’s a little pub in town owned by a guy I know—Sid’s brother, Rob. It’s kind of lively on Saturday nights, especially during spring break, and it’s always spring break somewhere. But I’d like you to meet him. He asked me out on a date. I patched up his son after an accident.”
“Did you go?” Helen asked.
“It’s for tomorrow night. I’m going to introduce you, tell him you’ve come for a visit, and I’m sure he’ll invite you to join us.”
“Have you been seeing him long?”
“No, Auntie—he just asked me. First date, though I’ve known him since I moved here. I think he’s just being neighborly because I put stitches in his son’s hand.”
“What a crock,” Helen said. “If he was thanking you for the stitches, he’d give you a plant or fruit basket. This sounds like a real date. I’ll look him over, and if I like what I see, I won’t join you.” Then she smiled her dazzling smile.
Leigh thought Helen was beautiful. She hoped to be that attractive and youthful looking at sixty-two. Leigh sometimes worried that Helen had never married because of her. As far as Leigh could remember, Helen hadn’t even hinted that she had any interest in a love life until Leigh was in college. After Leigh’s breakup with Johnny, during one of their teary heart-to-heart talks, Helen admitted that some of her many evenings with friends or book club nights or faculty meetings had actually been dates. But none of the men were ever all that serious, not much more than friends.
Helen was tall at five foot eight, her back straight and her head held high. She kept her hair colored a rich dark brown; she was trim and athletic. She was just beginning to show the true signs of aging, laugh lines around her mouth and crow’s-feet around at her eyes, but these little things did nothing to diminish her attractiveness. She had a beautiful, joyful smile. She didn’t look like a woman trying to appear thirty-five, not at all. She looked exactly like who she was—an honest, vibrant, healthy sixty-two. She loved her age and was reaching it with grace and humor. Leigh wanted to be just like her.
Together they unloaded Helen’s luggage and got her partially settled in the guest room. Leigh hadn’t had time to set up a work space in that room for her, since she arrived so quickly. “Just as well,” Helen said. “I’m going to want a small bookcase and a worktop of some kind. Maybe a sturdy folding table or maybe a desk—not a fancy desk. Just a place for notebooks, Post-its, those little things that keep me organized. The boxes contain office supplies—from printer to pens. I don’t actually sit at a desk to work and we don’t work off hard copy anymore—it’s always on the computer screen. I like to move around a lot, sometimes sitting on the porch, sometimes in a cozy chair, sometimes at the kitchen table. Sometimes in a coffee shop or bar.”
“Make this room any way you like,” Leigh said. “I want this to be your house, too. I want you to spend as much time here as you want. If you decide to stay for months or even years, that would make me so happy. If you just want to visit, I understand.”
“I’m going to stay a good long time while I look this place over,” Helen said. “Then we’ll see.”
The pub was warm and woody and the place was hopping, laughter ringing out from the busy bar area. It looked to be populated mostly with college students. They were supposed to be over twenty-one but who knew how many fake IDs were floating around the room.
“Let’s see if we can get a table or booth that’s a little away from the bar,” Leigh said.
“Why are there so many young people here?” Helen asked. “Skiing is over, isn’t it? Please tell me it’s over.”
“It’s almost May, it’s pretty slim pickings even at the higher elevations,” Leigh said. “But the trails and rock climbing all around us call to these young people. A lot of them come here to camp, hike, bike and climb.”
“Let’s spend spring break in Timberlake, Colorado? That can’t sound too exciting on the campuses in the north. I thought the kids all went to Florida,” Helen said. “Or Mexico.”
“The majority probably do, but as you can see, there are quite a few right here. Sully’s campground is always full during holiday breaks and weekends. Lots of families and quite a few students.”
They settled at a table near the front window and Helen immediately picked up a menu. She slid on her reading glasses and scanned it. “You can’t eat here too often and keep your figure. Hamburgers, pizzas, wraps, wings...”
“Pub food. I can direct you to some dishes that aren’t too heavy or greasy,” Leigh said.
“Maybe next time, dear,” she said. “Look at these hamburgers!”
“And I can vouch for them, too. They’re wonderful. You do like your occasional hamburger, don’t you?”
