The Teacher's Unexpected Gift
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Syndi Powell
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CHAPTER ONE
CECILY SIGNED THE divorce paperwork with the last name she’d chosen to take back since her husband—correction, ex-husband—had decided that she wasn’t worthy of claiming his any longer. Cecily Karsten once again after a little more than a decade of marriage that she had thought had been wonderful. Where had it gone wrong? She was still trying to figure that out. She looked up at the clerk who then passed the paperwork to Tom for his signature.
“Is that it?” Cec asked. “Is it over?”
The clerk nodded and stamped the pages with an official-looking seal. “I’ll make you both copies, then you’re free to go.” She left them standing at the counter, and Cec turned to glance at Tom. He was wearing a suit and tie, just like he usually did when they’d been married. As if the day was another ordinary one, and not life changing.
She quickly looked away. It had now become painful to gaze at his familiar features and wonder when they would become fuzzy in her memory. Would it take six months to get over him? A year? Or would she be longing for something she couldn’t have for a lifetime?
“After she gives us our copies, did you want to go get a drink or something? Maybe a late lunch?” Tom asked from behind her.
Cec turned back to stare at him. Was that some kind of sick joke? He’d told her on Christmas Day that he didn’t want to be married anymore, and could she kindly find somewhere else to live by New Year’s. And now he wanted to get a drink with her?
She felt her jaw tighten and her eyes narrow, her pain turning into anger. Tom held up his hands. “Okay, okay. It was just an idea. Forget I said anything.”
Obviously, it had been a bad idea. The worst one he might have ever had. Except for the one where he kicked her out of his life and his home. She tapped her fingernails on the counter as they continued to wait. Finally, the clerk returned with warm copies of their divorce decree in hand. Cec took them and started to flee from the court building, pausing only for the elevator that would deliver her to the parking garage below. She heard Tom’s clopping footsteps nearing, and she reached over to press the down button several times, wishing the elevator would arrive sooner. The doors opened, and she rushed inside and repeatedly pressed the sublevel two button until the elevator doors shut a moment after Tom stepped inside.
“Couldn’t you have waited for the next elevator?” she said, her voice tinged with anger.
He glanced at her, then at the lit display as the floor numbers descended. “Why would I wait when this one was available?”
“Maybe because I don’t want to spend another minute with you.”
“Real mature, Cecily. I had hoped we could at least be civil with each other.”
She bit back the urge to stick her tongue out at him since it would only prove his point. “I am civil.” Barely. Though she usually tried to be polite at the least.
He snorted as if he didn’t believe her, but she didn’t really care. Nothing he thought concerned her anymore. She took a deep breath at that thought. Once, he’d been her whole life. Her reason for breathing. He’d consumed her thoughts and dreams and moments. She closed her eyes and pressed a hand to her forehead.
“What are your plans now that school is out for the summer?” Tom asked.
She reached over and pressed the sublevel two button again. They must have taken the world’s slowest elevator since time seemed to be moving backward. She glanced up at the lit floor display. Were they even moving?
The elevator stopped, the doors opened, but it wasn’t the right floor. She considered getting off and waiting for the next elevator, but a group of people stepped forward, and she had to move to the back to give them space. Unfortunately, this moved Tom closer to her as well. She rolled her eyes. “I don’t have my summer planned yet.”
“Really? You usually have an agenda for every minute until it’s time to return to school. What’s different this year?”
She glanced at him. Had he really asked that? Instead of verbally answering, she gave a noncommittal shrug and sighed in relief as the elevator doors opened to reveal the parking garage. She walked off the elevator and headed toward her car, keys in hand and steps brisk and unfaltering. She couldn’t wait to change out of these heels. She had chosen to dress up for her divorce proceedings in part to show Tom what he would be missing. But as she walked through the garage, her toes pinched and arches aching, she would have traded them for her comfortable ballerina flats without hesitation.
She reached her car and pressed the button on her key fob to unlock the doors. Tom called her name, and she turned in his direction, more out of habit than any desire to see or speak to him again. He held up one finger to make her wait for him. She tapped one foot on the cement floor, the tapping echoing in the cavernous lot.
“Cecily, I just want to say...”
She waited for a moment, wondering what he could possibly offer her now. Apologies for breaking her heart? For upending her life? For making her feel worthless and unloved and full of insecurities?
When he didn’t continue, she asked, “What do you want, Tom?”
He glanced down at his shoes then back up at her, a gesture she’d come to know that meant he was sorry. “I only want you to be happy again.”
“I was happy. But obviously you weren’t.” She got inside her car then slammed the door shut on him. She started the engine and paused only to let Tom get out of her way before backing out of the parking space and racing away from this horrible, horrible day.
Once on the street, she turned the volume of the car stereo louder so that it blasted a song that she’d been playing on repeat since Christmas. Her best friend, Vivi, called the tune her comeback song. Cec preferred to think of it as her takeback song because she was going to take back her life from the mess that Tom had left it in. Take back her freedom and her independence. Take back her confidence and purpose. She smiled and turned the volume up one more notch.
The computer display on her car’s dashboard lit up, informing her that she had an incoming call on her cell phone. She smiled at the name before pressing the button to answer. “Hey, Vivi.”
“Hey, yourself. How did it go?”
Cec hesitated, reflecting on the events of the morning. “Well, I’m not lying in a crumpled, crying mess on the floor of my car, so I’d say that it went better than I expected.”
Vivi made a noise on the other end of the phone. “Girl, please. You’ve got more strength in you than to allow that jerk to get to you.”
Cec bit her lip as she thought about Tom’s request for a drink and her refusal. “I might have been a bit prickly with him today.”
“Like he didn’t deserve that.”
“Well, I could have been nicer. But when he asked me to get a drink with him after...”
“He did what?”
“Why would he ask me that? Today of all days? We had just signed the paperwork to dissolve our marriage, for goodness’ sake. There was no way I wanted to spend another five minutes rehashing what happened.”
“Well...”
Cec slowed the car as it approached a red light. “You think I should have agreed to go?”
“I’m not saying you should have gone, but maybe you would have gotten some answers out of him.”
“Answers?”
“Like why he suddenly wanted out. Why did he tell you at Christmas? And was he really seeing someone on the side?”
“I told you I was only wondering about that. Not that he really was.”
“Okay, but you might have gotten...”
“What? Closure?” She started to accelerate when the light turned green. “Maybe I could have. But it’s too raw right now. I just signed the papers. I need more time before I’m willing to pick at that scab.”
“Okay, okay, fair enough.” Vivi paused on the other end. “Do you want to get together tonight? I’m in the middle of grading final papers, but we could grab some dinner.”
“I thought you and Brian had a charity thing to go to.”
“I can cancel. He’ll understand that you need me more because you’re my best friend and you’re hurting.”
“I’m not hurting.” She said the words then realized they were true. She’d had almost six months to come to terms with this change in her life. She might be a little bitter right now. Okay, a lot bitter, but it was getting better. And she didn’t cry herself to sleep every night like she had at the beginning. She had come to accept this monumental change in her life. “Go out with your boyfriend. I’m fine. Besides, I’ve got Pops.”
“We’ll plan a night out together soon though. I heard they’re doing a trivia night, at the pub next Friday.”
Cec laughed. “Jasper has been talking about wanting a rematch since we creamed him and his team the last time.” Jasper had an ongoing rivalry with Cec and Viv ever since they’d beaten his team at the pub’s trivia night three years ago. It only fueled the fun on those evenings.
“We needed to get him back for his team beating us before that. We can’t allow him to win ever again. I can’t handle the humiliation.”
“You and your competitive side.”
“Love you, girl. Call me later if you want to talk.”
Arriving back at her grandfather’s house, a tan brick bungalow, Cec lowered the music volume before turning off the car. She’d moved in with Pops this past winter when he’d been diagnosed with terminal cancer and wasn’t sure how long he’d have.
She stepped out of the car and looked down the oak tree–lined street. She could hear shouts from kids, who, now free on summer vacation, rode their bikes up and down the neighborhood at any time. Glenda from across the street called a greeting. Cec held up a hand in response, then slammed the car door shut.
She entered the code for the garage door which rose before she ducked under it and walked up to the door to the house. Pops would be inside waiting to hear all the gory details of her divorce proceedings. And to be honest, the moment wasn’t something she wanted to relive just yet. But there was no reason to stay in the garage when he had probably heard her arrive.
She took the back door into the house and pressed the garage door button to close it behind her. Entering from the kitchen, she could hear voices coming from the living room, hushed below the hiss of her grandfather’s oxygen machine, a squat thing he’d nicknamed Faulkner. Early on when he’d been put on oxygen, he’d chosen nicknames for each of the machines, reflecting Pops’s love for American literature. There was Faulkner, the tall, thin one was Hemingway and the backpack air condenser was called Twain.
She placed her purse on the kitchen counter then happily kicked off her heels before leaning over to pick them up with two fingers. She started to walk toward the living room where she could tell from the voices that her grandfather’s neighbor Gus was sitting with him. Even though his name sounded like it belonged to a man her grandfather’s age, Gus was mid-thirties, like her. And hot. He could melt ice just by looking at it with that brown-eyed smolder of his. But what was he doing here in the middle of the day during the week? Didn’t the man ever work? Seemed like he was here at all times of the day.
The two of them had built a friendship when Gus had moved in next door during the weekend of the annual Army-Navy football game. Pops had gone over to introduce himself, heard the game playing on the radio and had declared that Navy would beat Army, having joined the Navy right after high school. Gus had been an Army medic, so he bet Pops that Army would win, wagering that the loser would have to shovel the winner’s driveway and sidewalks all winter. Pops had won that bet but had allowed Gus to use his snow blower every snowfall. Their friendship had only deepened over the last eighteen months.
“The thing is if we’re going to do this, we need to do it quick. The sooner, the better,” Gus was saying.
Cec stopped at the doorway, retreating a little so that she wouldn’t be seen. Those two were obviously up to something.
“I agree with you, son. I just don’t know how to tell her. She’s not going to like it.” That was her grandfather’s voice. He sounded a bit worried. What in the world were they planning?
“This is your life, not hers. And if this is what you want, then she’ll just have to understand. Doesn’t matter if she likes it or not.”
Pops sighed. “You’re right. Time is running out.”
Cec took a deep breath and released it. She knew he wasn’t going to get better. In fact, she’d watched him slowly decline over the last few months. The doctors didn’t offer much hope at this point. Whatever time her grandfather had left, she would make sure he would be comfortable. That’s all she had left to give him.
“Then we need to do this now. Before it’s too late.”
“Okay. I’ve got a doctor’s appointment next week that I have to be at, but we can hit the road after. Sound good?”
Cec stepped into the living room to glare at the two men sitting close to each other in the recliners. “I don’t know what the two of you are planning, but no one is going anywhere.”
GUS STARED AT CECILY, who stood, hands on her hips, looking as if she would spit nails if she could. Burt loved his granddaughter, but Gus was less convinced that she was as great a person as he claimed. Uptight, sure. Bitter, but for a good reason with the recent divorce. Beautiful, definitely. Though the scowl on her face didn’t enhance her high cheekbones, it did light a fire to her baby blue eyes. But she was no saint, despite Burt’s insistence.
Burt turned to his granddaughter. “How long have you been home?”
“Long enough to hear that you’re scheming something. A road trip?” She walked farther into the room to loom over her grandfather’s recliner. “Tell me that I heard wrong because there is no way you’re traveling any distance away from here.”
Burt held up his hand, quick to explain. “You didn’t hear wrong. I don’t want to spend my last days on earth cooped up in this house. I want to get out and see things.”
“What about your oxygen machine? What about all your appointments? And your prescriptions?” She shook her head vigorously, but it didn’t even make her blond hair fall out of her tight bun. “You are not, I repeat not. Going. Anywhere.”
Gus held up his hands to indicate a time out. “Now wait a minute, Cecily. Why don’t you hear him out before you shoot this down?”
She then focused those steely blue eyes on Gus. “I knew you would be behind this harebrained plan. You can break all the rules you want to with your life, but you leave my sick grandfather out of this.”
He mirrored her stance, putting his hands on his hips. “You don’t even know what we’ve got in mind.”
“I don’t need to know. I’ve heard all I care to.” Cecily crouched down beside her grandfather. “Pops, listen to reason, please. This is not the time to be traipsing around town or anywhere for that matter.”
“Gus is right.”
Cecily’s head shot back as if he’d stunned her. “He’s what?”
She scowled at Gus, but even her anger couldn’t dim the smile on his face. To further annoy her, he gave her a wink. “Ha! He said I was right.”
“I heard what he said,” she managed to say through gritted teeth. She turned back to her grandfather. “I know you’ve been depressed lately...” Burt waved a hand in her direction, but she continued to talk. “But this is the time we should be preparing for the inevitable.”
“That’s what I am doing, baby girl. Ticking items off my bucket list.” Burt reached over and put a hand gently on her head. “Doing things one last time before I die.”
Cecily stiffened at the last word. Burt had told Gus she had trouble saying the d word. She would talk about the inevitable or the end or anything else, but the word death would not pass her lips. He’d seen it a lot on the job, with families of terminal patients who were finding it hard to accept the truth about their loved ones. He’d transported enough patients who still tried to do what they used to and ended up falling and hurting themselves. He’d often sat in the back of the ambulance and held hands with someone who was afraid of what the end could be.
Gus rose to his feet. “We’re only talking one day. Not a week or a month. And not even a full day. More like an afternoon.”
Burt touched his granddaughter’s cheek. “I want to go one last time to Little Bavaria. Eat some chicken and noodles. Listen to an oompah band. And maybe reminisce about the last time I took your granny there for her birthday. That doesn’t seem so horrible, does it?”
Cecily sighed and shook her head. “No, it sounds wonderful. But I’m just worried about you.”
“I know.”
Gus watched the moment between grandfather and granddaughter, and an ache formed in the middle of his chest. His granddad had passed away just after he got discharged from the army almost a decade ago. The time Gus had lost with him left a bitter taste in his mouth. He’d do anything to go back to those days. Maybe that’s why he cherished his friendship with Burt. Because in some ways, he was like Granddad. A crotchety old man, Burt liked to call himself, but truth was he was a good man. Sincere. Humble. And Burt always had time to give him advice, and he needed a lot of it.
The fact that their time together grew short only made these moments sweeter.
And made the time that was left more urgent.
Gus cleared his throat. “We could go on a day that has cooler weather and during the week so the town will be less crowded.”
Cecily rose to her full height, which he guessed was all of five foot five inches if she wore heels, yet her demeanor made him feel smaller, and he was well over six feet tall. She gave him a scolding look that reminded him of a strict calculus teacher he’d once had. All she needed to complete the ensemble would be to wear glasses that sat on the edge of her nose. “It doesn’t matter what day it is or what the weather is like. My grandfather is not going.” Burt started to protest, and Cecily put a hand on his shoulder and continued. “At least, you’re not going without me.”
Gus wanted to roll his eyes at this pronouncement. “What? Your mere presence will stop any harm from happening?”
“No, but at least I’ll be there if something does happen to his health or well-being.”
Gus came to stand next to her and folded his arms over his chest. “I have superior medical training, so we don’t need you.”
She glared at him and put her fists on her hips again. “Well, I am his medical proxy and have to give consent for any treatment he might receive, so you will take me along.”
It was a good old-fashioned stand-off. They glowered at each other silently for several minutes. Gus swore that her left eye twitched, but she didn’t blink. And he wasn’t going to be the first one to do so. He concentrated on the dark blue circles around the baby blue irises of her eyes. Although her eyes looked less sky blue and more like cloudy gray skies at the moment.
“Okay, folks, I say the three of us all go together.” They both turned to face Burt, who gave them a big smile. “Great idea going during the week, especially now that school is out for the summer. We’ll choose a day that’s not too hot or too busy. I’ll even concede to using that horrible wheelchair if I have to, and Gus can push me around Little Bavaria. Good thing it’s little.” He nodded. “Yep, I’d say this is one of my better ideas. Wouldn’t you both agree?”
He smiled at them as if he’d won. Maybe he had.
