Season of Blessing (22 page)
Friday afternoon
,
Cathy was in the middle of administering heartworm medication to one of her regular patients, a German shepherd she'd treated since he was a pup, when her secretary came around the door.
“You have a phone call from a Harry Bryan.”
Cathy finished with the dog, then hurried to the phone.
“Harry?” she asked when she picked it up.
“Hi, Cathy. I hope I haven't bothered you.”
She closed her office door with her foot and sat down. “Is everything all right?”
He didn't answer. “I wanted to talk to you about Sylvia.”
“Sure.” She leaned forward on her desk. “How's she feeling?”
“Pretty bad,” he said. “That last chemo treatment really did her in. She's getting her energy back now, but she's been depressed. And she told me yesterday that she feels left out of your lives because nobody's talking about themselves. You come over and you're totally focused on her. I wanted to ask you if you would gather up Brenda and Tory and come over and visit her after work today. She needs some company.”
“Well, of course.” Cathy swept a strand of hair behind her ear. “We've been trying to stay away because she's been so sick. We thought it took too much energy for her to have us over.”
“She needs a reason to get out of bed,” he said. “So come over and tell her all your problems, tell her what's going on with Mark and with Rick and Annie, tell her how the marriage is going. Get Brenda to tell her what's going on with the family, and let Tory update her on Hannah. In fact, tell her to bring Hannah with her.”
“Harry, we really don't want to burden her.”
“You're not burdening her,” he said. “You'd be helping her.”
She sighed and pulled on her ponytail. How many times over the last few days had she wished she could run to Sylvia for advice? “Well, I can sure give her an earful tonight.”
“Good,” he said. “Just come whenever you're ready.” “How about seven?”
“All right. I'll tell her so she'll be ready.”
Sylvia sat in the living room when the trio came in. Cathy hesitated at the door as a rush of emotion tightened her throat. She looked worse than Cathy had ever seen her. Her skin had a yellow cast to it, and her eyes seemed sunken in. But the moment she saw Hannah on Tory's hip, she reached for her.
“Give me that baby.”
Tory set her in Sylvia's lap. Sylvia laughed as Hannah smiled up at her. “Oh, you sweet thing.”
“How do you feel, Sylvia?” Tory asked.
“Better than I look. Aren't you glad?”
“You look great.” Brenda's weak statement didn't ring true.
Sylvia waved her off. “I feel like I've aged twenty years in the last two weeks.”
Cathy sat down next to her. “Is it the chemo?”
“Yes. The cancer and I were getting along fine until they started shooting that stuff into my veins. But I don't want to talk about that.” She sat back and put her feet on the ottoman. Hannah settled her head comfortably against Sylvia's chest. “So what's going on with you girls? Cathy, how's Mark settling in?”
“Oh, all right.”
Sylvia gave her a knowing look. “That doesn't sound good. He's not getting into trouble, is he?”
“No,” Cathy said. “It's just that Steve and I don't exactly agree on everything about Mark. In fact, we've been at each other's throats.”
Sylvia's eyes speared her. “Tell me everything, Cathy. What's going on?”
Cathy looked from Brenda to Tory, and realized that they were watching her with great interest.
“Well, let's hear it,” Tory said. “I thought you two were the happiest couple in the cul-de-sac. What gives?”
She sighed. “Steve's really mad at me.”
“About what?” Sylvia asked.
“I bought a car for Mark,” she said, “and Steve didn't think I should. He thought I should make him save up for half of it. But the thing is, he can't get to work if he doesn't have a car.”
“Where's he working?” Brenda asked.
“Wellâ¦nowhere yet. That's another sore point between Steve and me. But he will have a job soon.”
“So you bought him the car,” Sylvia said, “against Steve's will?”
“Not really. I mean, he says he's not upset that I bought the car, but that I bought the one I did. He thought it was too expensive.”
“Was it?”
“No,” she said. “I earn good money, Sylvia. I work hard. I should be able to buy my son something if I want to. Mark's been through a rough year. I wanted to do this. I don't know why he wanted to stop me.”
“It doesn't sound like Steve to sulk over something like that.”
Cathy took off her shoes and pulled her feet beneath her. “He says he's mad because of the way I did it, because I told him that he was interfering with my parenting of my children. And then when I started talking about how I earned enough money to be able to do things for my children, he felt like I was splitting our finances down the middle and taking my half back.”
“Sounds like it to me too.” Sylvia's calm declaration shot through Cathy.
“That's not true. Sylvia, I know all about submission and everything, but Steve was off base.”
“It's like I told you before, sometimes he will be. But the Bible didn't say submit to your husband when you're sure he's doing the right thing. I doubt if Steve would have pressed the issue if he knew how you really felt. He probably would have gone out and bought Mark a car himself, if I know him.”
“Well, it didn't seem like he was heading in that direction, Sylvia. Trust me.”
“I'm just saying that maybe you jumped the gun. Maybe there would have been a meeting of the minds if you'd just waited a little while.”
“But I wanted to buy him the car now.”
“I know you did,” Sylvia said. “And look where it got your marriage. Honey, when are you going to learn that you've got to die to yourself to have a happy marriage?”
The baby started to squirm, and Tory took her back. “She's right, Cathy.”
Cathy turned on Tory. “How can you say that after what you went through with Barry during your pregnancy? When he wanted you to abort Hannah? You didn't submit to him then.”
“That was different,” Tory said. “I wasn't willing to sin against God to make my husband happy. But you're talking about a car, Cathy. Not a life.”
Cathy turned to Brenda. Surely she was an ally. “What do you think?”
Brenda smiled. “I can understand how you feel, Cathy. But I think Sylvia's right, too.”
Cathy got up and set her hands on her hips. “I have a problem with dying to myself when it comes to my children. I'm not doing this for me, Sylvia. I'm doing it for Mark. Don't you agree that he deserves a car, that he needs something to help him get a head start so that he can get a good job and get his GED and get on with his life?”
Sylvia shook her head. “That's not the point, Cathy. It's like I told you. Steve probably would have come around and it wouldn't have been a bad thing then. But now you've got a strain between you. That's not going to help Mark in any way.”
Cathy just stared at Sylvia, then Tory, then Brenda. “All right. When I get home I'll die to myself so hard that you'll have to plan my funeral.”
Sylvia laughed. “That's my girl.”
Cathy plopped back down and propped her feet on the coffee table.
“So, Tory, how's your job?”
“I love it,” Tory said. “It's the greatest decision I've ever made. You should see the kids. They're so precious. They celebrate every victory, from washing their hands in the sink to scribbling on paper.”
“I'm so glad you like it,” Sylvia said. “Has it changed your perspective about Hannah's future?”
“Some. But mostly it's changed my perspective about me. They have no self-consciousness at all. They don't have the same critical tapes playing in their heads that I have. Nothing inside them is censoring them or scolding them. They just go for it. If they can't do it, fine, but if they can, you should see the joy on their faces.”
“We could all learn from that,” Brenda said.
“Really.” Tory got on the floor and set Hannah down. “There's this little guy named Bo who loves to learn. And he loves for me to teach him. He always wants to sit by me. When we go outside he wants to hold my hand. He has the sweetest heart.”
Sylvia's eyes glistened at Tory's enthusiasm. “Do you think they might let me come when I'm feeling better, and read to them or something?”
Tory looked up at her. “Well, sure. We always need help.”
Brenda set her elbow on her knee and propped her chin. “Are they hiring, by any chance?”
Tory glanced up at her. “Maybe. They have all the teachers they need, but they might need some part-timers.”
“Too bad.” Brenda straightened. “I need full-time.”
“You?” Cathy's question was too blunt. She'd known that Brenda and David were on a tight budget, but she didn't know Brenda was looking for full-time work.
“Yes, I'm looking for a real job with benefits.”
Sylvia leaned forward and got a pretzel out of the bowl Harry had put out. “Brenda, are you sure you want to do that?”
“Yes, I am.” Brenda got a pretzel of her own and seemed to examine it. “I've got to find a way to pay for Joseph's drugs. Most part-time jobs don't have benefits, so I'm going full-time.”
Cathy couldn't picture David going along with that. “How does David feel?”
“Well, he wasn't thrilled about it at first. But he knows it's necessary. I'll be giving the kids assignments to do while I'm gone, then I'll home school at night.”
Sylvia shook her head. “Honey, you'll wear yourself out.”
“I'll be fine.”
Tory slid Hannah back onto her lap. “Have you found anything yet?”
Brenda ate her pretzel. “No, not really. I've put in applications at about a dozen places. Since I've been at home for the last sixteen years, they act like I have no skills.”
“No skills?” Sylvia laughed. “Brenda, that's ridiculous. You have more skills than someone who's been in the workforce for twenty years.”
“That's right,” Cathy said. “You have medical experience, lots of it.”
“True,” Brenda said.
“And you're a teacher,” Tory added.
“Yeah, but not a licensed one. Home schooling momhood doesn't count.”
“You can type,” Sylvia said.
Brenda nodded. “Yes, I'm a really fast typist.”
“You could be an office manager,” Tory said. “You've organized your family for years.”
“Or a bookkeeper,” Cathy said. “Aren't you the one who handles the finances?”
“Some of them.”
Sylvia took another pretzel. Cathy watched her, wondering if she'd been able to keep much down for the last few days.