120 days... (5 page)

“So you aren’t scared, at all?” he asked.

“Nope, jumping out of planes was something I always wanted to do, but never found the courage or time to. The first week I was at Sam’s place, she took us up here to jump, and I’ve been back every week since then. I love it. Besides, what’s the worst that can happen? My chute doesn’t open? I die? Well, I’m weeks, maybe days away from dying as it is. This”—she pointed to sky—“ . . . this I’ve got.”

Ethan nodded. “It seems like I’ve got a lot to learn.”

Sam turned away to make sure the other guest, Bruce Blucker’s, harness was secured properly. It was his first time up as well. He loved everything to do with fitness; even though he was in his eighties, he could run circles around the staff half his age. It seemed the lung cancer wasn’t slowing him down and he wanted to try it.

Sam took a deep breath and thought about Ethan. His skill set wasn’t something they needed at the ranch. He seemed like he’d be better suited for an office, but he was a quick learner and had the drive to put 100 percent behind what he was doing. He didn’t seem like the type who would take a leave of absence from his company to come up here and get his hands dirty. This wasn’t the first time she’d wondered if his brother’s passing changed something at the core of his being.

As they all piled into the plane to take them up, she went through her mental checklist, making sure everyone’s safety equipment was operational. Yes, what Patty said was correct; they were all days or weeks away from death, but she didn’t want their death to come earlier by an accident. She wanted them to have every single second they could.

“Are you going to make it?” Stopping next to Ethan, she looked at him and noticed he looked a little pale.

“This? Oh, yeah. No problem, I’m fine.” He gave her a thumbs up.

“It’s not too late to back out, you know.” She nodded to the man strapped to Ethan’s back. She’d made sure he had the best, most competent instructor to tandem jump with him.

“No.” He shook his head. “If they can do it, so can I.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “This isn’t a competition.”

“That’s not how I meant it.” He sighed. “Patty had a good point. I’m not going to pass this opportunity up. I have to be honest, I may never do it again, but I can say, at least once, I jumped out of a plane.”

“Fine, you’re up next.” She slapped him on the shoulder, walked to the door of the plane and jumped out.

As she freefell, the wind flew past her face making it difficult to breathe. It was always the part she hated, never feeling like she could breathe. Every single time she jumped, it still took her by surprise, and she had to fight the natural urge to panic and hyperventilate in order to get the oxygen her body wanted. Once she pulled the ripcord and her body was jerked into position, she settled in to enjoy the slow ride down. Pulling on one side of the chute and then the other, creating big lazy circles, this was the part she enjoyed. It was so quiet, she couldn’t hear any of the hustle and bustle that went on down below. It was her time: no responsibilities, no questions, no duties, no death, just falling gently back to earth.

Too soon, the ground was coming up to meet her. She bent her knees and walked her way down. She looked around to see who had landed and made sure they were okay before gathering her chute and watching her newest employee land.
Not bad for his first time
, she thought, as he was able to stay on his feet with the help of the instructor.

Once he disconnected, she walked over to him and smiled. “Good job. The first jump is always the hardest. You end up either loving it or hating it. Although, I’m guessing you aren’t chomping at the bit to get back up in a plane.”

“Yeah . . .”

She laughed. “Well, if it makes you feel better, it’s not my favorite thing to do.”

He tilted his head to the side. “Then why do you?”

“Because I found out really quick, even though some people are dying, and this is something they want to do, doesn’t mean they still don’t get scared the first time they do it. They can’t all be Patty.” She shrugged. “The easiest way to show them it’s going to be okay is to jump with them myself. To be honest, I hate the freefall, but after the chute is open, the peace is perfect. You take the good with the bad.”

“So, am I going to have to jump every time?” He looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

Sam smiled at him. “No, not at all. Having someone on the ground to help out would be great. I’m usually never the first one to jump, and sometimes, our guests need a little bit of help after they land. If you could take that over for me, then I can stay on the plane and make sure the rest of them are good to jump.”

“Now
that
is something I can do.” His shoulders sagged with relief.

“Then we have a plan.” She casually patted him on the back and was surprised at how the feel of his muscles tensing under his shirt sent butterflies dancing in her stomach. Normally, it wasn’t something she thought about. Human touch was a big part of what went on at the resort. People wanted to feel connected, wanted the love, wanted to know someone cared enough and wasn’t scared to touch them because they were dying. She always tried to show them they mattered.

“We have a plan.”

They both smiled at each other.

Day 5

Ethan–

Wow, finally got to sit down and talk with Sam. She’s amazing. You can tell she loves this place, and us. She gives it her all, puts everything into her program. You’d be surprised by how many things there are to do around here. Every single day, there’s something new. Even when I get to the point where I won’t be able to get around as well, there are still going to be things for me to do, or hell, even if I want a chocolate cream pie at two in the morning, they’ll get it for me, and never make me feel like I’m putting them out, or asking too much. I can’t put into words how great that is.

And when you hear the reason why she does this, well, all I can say, bro, is it makes it all the better. There needs to be more people like her in this world.

Evan

After everyone unloaded from the van and disbursed to their rooms or cabins, Sam drove the van around to the garage near the kitchen and parked it. She sat there for a moment before climbing out and going to the vehicle log, making a note that they were due for an oil change. She’d somehow have to schedule it in, and they really should get the tires rotated. Bending down, she checked the tires closer. It was going to be the last rotation before she had to get new ones.

Opening up her task app on her phone, she added them to her list and started to walk out when Ethan came through the door.

“Hey,” he said. “I was wondering if you needed help with anything. I used to work in a garage after high school.”

“Funny you should mention that. The van is due for an oil change, and if you could take care of it, it would save me some time and money. Then all I’ll have to organize is the tire rotation.”

“I can take it into town for you and have that done.”

“Great. Can you make sure you get it done this week? We use the van a lot and end up racking up miles quickly.” She stepped over to the shelves of different vehicle fluids and checked to make sure they had enough on hand.

“No problem. So . . . ummm . . .” He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.” She kept checking the shelves.

“Why do you do this? I’ve been watching you for the past couple of days. You’re on the move from when you wake up to when you go to sleep. You’re always taking care of everything on the ranch and everybody. What drives you to work so hard?”

Stopping what she was doing, she turned and faced him, giving him her full attention. “They deserve it. I know some people think I’m wasting money, or throwing it away on people who are going to die sooner rather than later, but the extra days they have mean everything to them. One more sunrise, one more sunset.” She went over and grabbed a couple of waters out of the small refrigerator before walking to the door and held it open. “Come on, I want to show you something.”

Instead of walking back to the main house, she took a path leading up the small hill behind the garage. It wasn’t a difficult or long hike before they reached the top. It was one she’d taken many times over the years. She walked over to a bench under a tree and pointed to it.

“My parents, Bill and Bonnie Truman,” Sam said as the wind gently blew her hair. “We had money, but all the money in the world couldn’t buy cures for the cancers that ravaged their bodies. My dad was diagnosed first with stage IV colon cancer.” After all this time, she could say the words, but it still didn’t seem possible. “He went through chemo and radiation before having surgery. He ended up getting a bad infection and was in and out of the hospital for a couple of months. We thought he was going to die a few times before we found out he was allergic to the sutures they’d used.” Still, the image of him lying in the hospital bed looking so thin and his skin appearing grey haunted her. “When they went back in and removed them, he was fine. He started rebuilding his strength, getting better. Then they found the spot on his lung, and removed it. When he was first diagnosed, they said he’d be lucky to make it to five years. He proved them wrong”—she teared up but held them back—“all because of his attitude. He said he wasn’t going to be ashes in an urn sitting on the fireplace mantle. He was going to fight it, he had too much to live for. And he did. I’m not saying he didn’t have down days, but for every down day he had, there were a dozen or more positive days. He’s one of the best men I’ve ever known and I was lucky enough to call him Dad.”

She walked back toward where they’d come from and stood looking out over the ranch. “My dad was doing better, great test results, recovered from his surgeries, we thought we were out of the woods, then my mom had a heart attack. That was when they found her cancer, lung cancer, stage IV.”

“I’m so sorry. To have both of your parents have advanced stages of cancer like that . . .”

“Sadly, it happens more often than it should, especially with lung cancer. Anyway, it was large and in both lungs. There was no way they could do surgery or radiation. The doctors said if the chemo worked, she’d make it a year, if not, three months.” Her lips trembled as she tried to smile. “She took the same attitude as my dad. She fought it and blew their estimations out of the water.” She turned to look at him. “You see, attitude has so much to do with life. That’s what I’m doing here.” Her voice became stronger. “With the money they left me, I bought this place and fixed it up, and now I help people in the same position as they were. I help them live a few extra days, have a few extra sunrises and sunsets. Give them everything they could possibly need to make their last days here as wonderful as they possibly can be.”

“What about you though? You work so hard for them, and I’m not knocking that, but what about you? You need to take care of yourself.”

“I do, don’t you understand? The more I give, the happier I am, the more fulfilled I am. I don’t need for anything. This is what I want to do. This resort has become my reason for living.” She walked to the tree. “I planted this tree the very first day I took possession of this land. I hauled the sapling up here by myself, dug the hole, emptied my parents’ ashes in the hole and planted a tree for them. They are always together and it sits up here, watching over my property. Watching over all the other people who come here with cancer or any other terminal disease.”