Waiting for Daybreak (31 page)

Paige shrugged. “It never came up, really.”

“It also never came up that Milton Parrish and my grandfather had given me one year to turn a profit in the Shoal Creek store. If I passed that test, then I would be allowed to pursue the dream I’d had all along. I could open a Parrish Apothecary in the Lancaster Building in Nashville. It also never came up that my fourth stepmother has been planning to take the building for herself—in spite of the fact that it’s my grandmother’s memories that live there. The drain of your salary at my store was helping to make that possible.”

Paige’s face softened just a little. “That explains a lot. If I’d only known . . . well, I don’t know what I would have done differently. Fact was, I needed the job, whether you wanted me there or not.”

“Yeah, if I had known, maybe . . . well, I don’t know. I guess it doesn’t matter much now. I want you to know I was wrong—dead wrong. I never meant for it to go that far.” She took a deep breath and continued. “You know what I’ve discovered?”

“What?”

“I hate retail.”

“You may have just discovered that, but I’ve known it about you all along.”

Clarissa smiled. “I guess I’m a little slow on the uptake sometimes.” She took a deep breath. Now came the hard part, the part where Paige was likely to send her packing. “I’m here to ask you to take your job back.”

“You want me to work with you again? After all that’s happened?”

“Not for long. I’m applying to grad schools. Research has always been what I’ve wanted to do. I thought that changed when I got a chance to follow in my grandmother’s footsteps, but you know what, it didn’t. Just because I loved my grandmother more than anyone else in the world doesn’t mean I was meant to walk the same path she walked.”

“I guess not.”

“Yeah, well, all that to say, I’ll only be working there long enough to teach you how to do all the paper work and for you to hire a replacement for me. I went to see Gary Powell and told him everything.”

“What’s going to happen?”

“There are all sorts of hearings and legal wrangling in my future. We’ll likely settle with Ms. Feldhouse, but as for what’ll happen now with Mrs. Vaerge? Who knows? I’ll likely eventually have my license suspended—at least for a while.”

“You don’t know!” Paige shouted, and Clarissa nearly jumped. “I was at the hospital yesterday and Ora is improving enough to talk and respond. And she never took any of the pills you’d given her. Whatever might have been done wrong”—Paige put her hand on Clarissa’s shoulder and looked her directly in the eye—“Clarissa, you did not cause her heart attack.”

“What?” Clarissa stared back into Paige’s eyes, unable to believe the sincerity she saw there. Could this really be true?

“Are you . . . sure?” The dam of emotions that she’d held so tightly through all of this—all of her life for that matter—burst. Deep, guttural sobs sounded, and she knew they were coming from her, but she couldn’t stop them.

“I’m sure. I called Gary Powell when we realized what had happened, or rather what had not happened.”

Clarissa leaned her forehead against the brick façade of the house and fought with all that was in her to regain control. Part of her wanted to feel as happy as Paige looked, but the greater part found little comfort in the news. Sure, she wasn’t to blame for the heart attack, but that offered only cold comfort. It wasn’t the error itself after all, but the way she’d lost sight of everything that mattered.

“I’m glad she’s better,” she said. “I’ll have to swing by.” She blinked hard. “You know the worst part of it? I tried to honor my grandmother, and instead I’ve shamed my whole family.” She forced herself to straighten her shoulders. “But my grandfather and I have decided to take the Lancaster Building and open a nonprofit. My grandmother was a big proponent of women’s education, so it will be something that provides educational opportunities for women who wouldn’t have them otherwise.”

“Sounds like that is something she’d be proud of, then.”

“Yeah, so . . . anyway. About that job?”

“What would your grandfather think about your offer?”

“I’ve already talked to him. He’s all for it. So is Milton Parrish.”

“Let me think about it.”

“Sure.” Clarissa turned to leave but knew she could not go until she’d said it all. “One more thing you need to know. The investigator . . . that was all me. Tony gave me the guy’s name, but he didn’t hire him and he wasn’t using you. You made him really happy—until you broke his heart, that is.”

“I did not break his heart. His heart was never in it.”

“Believe me, I know Tony better than anyone else in this world. When I say you broke his heart, that’s exactly what I mean.”

When she drove away, she could see Paige still standing at the door, tears glinting in her eyes.

Paige sat on her mother’s bench, Clarissa’s words turning over and over in her head. Her old job back. What was she supposed to do with that?

In truth, she really didn’t have a lot of other choices, but for some reason she hadn’t been able to say yes right away. She needed a day or two to mull it over. Maybe it was pride. Actually, there was no maybe about it, it was pride pure and simple.

She thought of Clarissa’s breakdown when she found out that she wasn’t responsible for Ora’s heart attack. How the guilt must have haunted her for the last few days.

What she couldn’t bring herself to think about were Clarissa’s words about Tony.
Broke his heart. Right.
She couldn’t allow herself to believe something that would only get her hurt. Again. Besides, he himself had admitted that he originally came to Shoal Creek with the hidden motive of assessing her as a threat to Clarissa. What kind of person would do that?

She reached down and scratched Dusty’s left ear. “Yeah, Dusty, what kind of person would do that?” He looked up at her with his soulful brown eyes, and in that moment she knew the answer.

A person who loved his niece and wanted to protect her.

Hadn’t she been just as quick to judge—more so, even—when she found out about the investigator? At least Tony had given her the benefit of the doubt long enough to apparently change his mind.

Maybe Clarissa was just trying to be nice. Tony couldn’t possibly have a broken heart over her. Could he? And what could she do about it now, anyway? He’d never want to talk to her again, and she certainly didn’t want to call him and have him slam the phone down in her ear. What kind of person would set herself up for that?

“Come on, Dusty, let’s go inside.”

They walked across the lawn and a thought began to buzz through her mind, like a fly that would not go away no matter how hard you swatted at it.
Was that what Clarissa had expected when
she’d come here today?

Likely, she’d expected Paige to slam the door in her face. If she was willing to drive this far, expecting rejection, couldn’t Paige at least pick up the phone?

She wasn’t sure of the answer.

chapter
forty-five

Clarissa walked into the one place she never thought she’d come again. Back to Mercy Hospital. Energized by her visit to Paige, she realized this was the one thing she still needed to do before she could even think of moving on with her life. Now that Mrs. Vaerge was awake, it was time to come and apologize—take whatever the woman might throw at her, because they both knew that Clarissa deserved it.

She didn’t bother with the fake ID badge this morning. She would just walk in during visiting hours like she belonged there. She wouldn’t stay long.

A glance at her watch told her visitation would start in a couple of minutes. She got into the elevator, her heart pounding in an entirely new way. What would she say to this woman? “I’m sorry we gave you the wrong thing, but I sure am glad you didn’t take any, so your heart attack is not my fault”? Come to think of it, if she didn’t take any, why did Clarissa need to talk to her at all?

She didn’t know the answer to that; she only knew that she
needed
to. And after the last few months of turmoil and disquiet, she was ready to do whatever it took to start over. To become someone new. Someone more like the person she knew her grandmother would’ve wanted her to be.

Clarissa got off the elevator just in time to see the nurse open the door from the unit to the visiting area. “Okay, everyone. Time for a quick visit.”

Clarissa filed in behind a man about her own age and went straight to Mrs. Vaerge’s bed, thankful that no one had questioned her right to be there. Mrs. Vaerge was lying back against the pillows, holding her forehead with her right hand as if she had a headache. She let the hand drop as soon as she saw Clarissa. “Hello there, young lady. Didn’t expect to see you here.”

Clarissa walked inside the divided area, but just barely. She wanted to make a quick escape. “I don’t suppose you did. I didn’t expect to see myself here.”

The older woman nodded to a chair beside the bed. “Take a seat.”

“Uh, no thanks. I don’t want to keep you long. I just wanted to come by and say how sorry I am that all this happened.”

“I had a heart attack. End of story. Wadn’t your fault, no reason for you to be sorry about it.”

“Maybe it wasn’t my fault, but it easily could have been. If you hadn’t had a heart attack last week, you likely would have had one in the next few weeks. Because of the mistake that I let happen. And it wasn’t just a mistake. It was something I was doing that was plain old wrong and I knew it.”

“You’re a lucky young lady, then. You made a mistake, found out about it, and no harm came of it. Now you got a chance to do it over.” She rubbed her hand across her forehead again and took a deep breath. “Can I ask you one thing?”

“Sure.”

“Will you tell Paige something for me?”

“I’d be happy to, but wouldn’t you rather tell her yourself? I’m sure she’ll be in to see you in the next day or two.”

“This is something for both of you, and it’s best shared together.”

The woman had offered forgiveness. Who was Clarissa to argue the little points? “What shall I tell her?”

“Romans thirteen, twelve.”

“Excuse me?”

“Romans thirteen, twelve. You ask Paige, she’ll explain it to you.”

“Okay.” Clarissa looked over her shoulder at the stack of monitors that lined the nurses’ station. “Well, I better go.”

“On your way out, would you ask the nurse to come in here?”

“Sure.” Clarissa walked out of the small enclosure and across to the desk. “Excuse me, Mrs. Vaerge asked for a nurse.”

A pretty redhead looked up from the chart she was writing in. “Okay, I’ll be right there.”

Clarissa walked out of the unit, hoping that maybe tonight she could get a good night’s sleep—for the first time in a long time.

She entered the elevator with a group of three medical interns. As they moved downward, a sense of relief washed over her with each floor they descended. The interns talked quietly about potential nephritis in a patient they were following, when suddenly all three of their pagers buzzed simultaneously.

Clarissa had worked around the hospital enough to know a facility-wide page when she heard one. There was a code blue somewhere.

The only female in the group, a petite blonde, looked down at the readout. “I guess we’re going back up. CCU, bed 10.”

Clarissa’s heart fell faster than the elevator. CCU bed 10 was Ora Vaerge.

chapter
forty-six

Paige was watering her mother’s roses when she saw the white truck pull into her driveway. Dusty stirred beside her, swiveled around, and was quickly on his feet and running toward the house, barking full volume. Paige ran after him. “Dusty. Dusty.” She turned off the water then went after the dog, who now stood a couple of feet in front of Lee Richardson and another man that Paige vaguely recognized. “Dusty, down boy.” She grabbed the dog’s collar and he immediately lay down on the grass, but a low growling sound still came from his throat.

“You look like you’re busy.” The man smiled pleasantly.

“No rain. The flowers need water.”

He extended his hand, “I’m Milton Parrish, we met a while back.”

The man who owned the small chain of boutique pharmacies that Clarissa was hoping to open. “Yes, I remember.”

“I understand Miss Richardson came to see you, and I wanted to speak with you about that job offer.”

“Okay.”

“I wanted to be certain that we’re clear on the details. Lee has agreed to sell me his interest in the store, so I will become full owner, and you would be manager. As such, your salary will be slightly increased, and you’ll be paid back wages for the time lost due to this unfortunate incident.”

“But I don’t want—”

“Not negotiable. The fact is, you were an employee in a store I owned at least a partial share in, and I will set things right—at least, insofar as I am able.”

Lee Richardson looked at her evenly, but she could see the twinkle in his eyes. Every bit as stubborn as she, he would consider this the victory that had eluded him with his previous visit.

Paige crossed her arms and looked him full in the face. “I’d want to keep Dawn on as tech.”

He smiled outright. “Not a problem.”

“Oh, and by the way,” Milton Parrish said, “we’ll be changing the name of the store. Since Mr. Richardson is selling his share, and I’ve already got a line of Parrish Apothecaries, if you’d like to suggest a new name, we could definitely discuss it.”

“All right, I’ll give that some thought.”

“So, does that mean you’ve made your decision?”

Paige extended her hand. “Mr. Parrish, you’ve got yourself a new manager.”

“Glad to hear it.” Lee Richardson nodded. “Let me know if there is anything I can do to help you.”

Paige smiled at him. “I think I’m going to be just fine.”

Just moments after Milton Parrish and Lee Richardson had gone, Clarissa’s car pulled into the driveway. Paige waved from the backyard and walked forward, surprised by yet another visit from Clarissa. What would she have to say this time?

Clarissa got out of her car, her hair burnished by the setting sun. She walked around the car, then leaned back against it, as if she needed the support.