God In The Kitchen (20 page)

            “We don’t have a clue,” I said with a chuckle. “Sorry.”

            Chloe looked at the few people that were still left in the line. “I can certainly see why and I completely understand. It’s not a problem at all. Just let me know when you know.”

            I stood from my station by the trash bags. I had finally stopped chipping ice and was beginning the clean up process. I placed one hand on each of Chloe’s arms and looked her in the eyes. “It went well. Really well.”

            “Can we go to the concert now?” Ian asked, breaking the short spell Chloe and I had going as we gazed at one another.

            “Is that all you think I’m good for?” I asked as I turned my attention to Ian.

            Ian vehemently shook his head. “No,” he said, his blonde hair still waving, though his head had stopped shaking. “You also have good lemonade.

            I laughed. “You want some more?”

            Ian nodded and made a train whistle sound.

            “Coming right up,” I said, reaching around a few of the workers who had stuck it out the entire day and grabbed one of the few remaining glasses.

            As Ian chugged his second glass of the cold liquid that day, I told Chloe how the remainder of the day would go. “We’re going to shut down as soon as these people get through. There’s not too much to clean up, but we want to make sure we leave things the way we found them. We’ll take the supplies we brought from the station back there and do the counting. It might get kind of late since we’re getting a later start than we had thought. Do you want me to just call you tomorrow?”

            “I don’t think I can wait that long,” Chloe said, wiping a bead of sweat from the lemonade glass away from her neck after it dripped off of Ian’s cup. “Would you mind stopping by tonight?”

            “Not at all,” I said since I had hoped that was what she would say anyways. Ian would likely be in bed and after I gave her the news, maybe we would finally get a chance to talk. Even though I felt close to her, I really hardly knew her and I was going to want to know where I stood relatively soon.

            Chloe looked relieved. She had played it cool with the crowd earlier, but I could see that she needed to know if we had the money Ian needed for his surgery sooner rather than later. The anticipation was killing her.

            “I don’t know how comfortable you are with this,” I said, “but the local news crew that was here earlier is back. Do you want to talk to them? With or without Ian?”

            “I get to be on TV?” Ian said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as some of the lemonade clung to his upper lip.

            Chloe looked at him in a thoughtful manner. “I do want to say thank you,” she said as she glanced at the camera that was being set up a few feet away from the stand. “Do you think they could make it quick? I don’t want to put too much strain on him,” she said rolling her eyes towards Ian.

            I nodded. “I’ll tell them they only get a minute,” I said and walked over to the news crew, Chloe following closely behind.

            After I had informed them that the mom and son who were the key to the whole event were not only there, but willing to talk to them, they were practically drooling. They didn’t care if they only had a minute, they wanted whatever they could get.

            I stood to the side and watched as the reporter thrust the microphone into Chloe’s face and Ian smiled. “What do you have to say about today’s events?” she asked.

            “I’m just so grateful for everyone coming out here in this heat,” Chloe said, turning her attention to Ian as he hammed it up for the camera. “We don’t know the results yet, but whatever they are, we couldn’t be happier with the way things went. I can’t say thank you enough to the radio station, the sponsors, and especially the people that simply got thirsty today and bought lemonade. My son has a long life ahead of him because of all of you,” she concluded with tears glistening in her eyes.

            Because of that last statement I knew Chloe was optimistic about the outcome. I also knew that what I thought about her initially was correct. It didn’t matter if we had enough money or not…she was going to find a way to get that surgery with whatever we had to offer her.

            “Do you have anything to add?” the reporter asked Ian as he placed his nose directly on the microphone.

            “I had two glasses of lemonade,” he stated in the loudest voice I had ever heard him use. “It was really good.”

            The reporter laughed and Chloe took a step back, thanking them for their help in getting the word out. She returned to the booth with Ian and I asked the news crew if they had any other questions and promised another interview once we knew the results of the sales that day.

            Chloe and Ian helped clean up until everything was loaded into the station vehicle and then she slung Ian over her shoulder and headed to her own car.

            “I’ll see you soon,” she mouthed over the already sleeping Ian. She was right, it had been a big day for him. He had likely missed a nap or two and he did a lot of things he wasn’t used to doing. But having him there, even for a little while, was a great boost to the event.

            I raised my hand in a silent wave and watched her walk back to her car, wishing that I could just hop in and go back to the apartment with them right then. But I couldn’t see Chloe again until I had something to tell her. It was time to go back to the station to count.

            I let the rest of the promotions crew bring in the station items and selfishly grabbed the moneybox and that was it. I hauled the box into the conference room and started separating bills into piles. After half an hour, I had help, but I was happy to do it on my own.

            Once the bills were separated, the counting began. After the first round, we decided to count again, positive there was some kind of mistake. The lemonade stand had done well. We were sure of that. But had we really raised thousands of dollars in a few hours? I couldn’t wait to tell Chloe, but I had to stay until the second count was complete.

            When it was confirmed that we had only been a few dollars off the first time, the promotions director filled out a bank slip and vowed to take the cash to the bank to deposit into the station account first thing Monday morning. We would then write a check out to the hospital for the amount needed.

            Before the bills were collected and placed together back in the lock box for safety, I was out the door. I could wait no longer to tell Chloe the news.

            I arrived on her doorstep by 10 p.m. and realized as I knocked that I was suddenly very tired. I had spent the day on my feet, working hard, and it had been emotionally wearing as well.

            The door flew open after my first light rap and Chloe stood before me in a worn t-shirt and cotton shorts. Her hair was down and very wavy from the braided style it had held earlier in the day. It cascaded around her as her cheeks flushed and she said, “Come in,” as quickly as she had opened the door.

            I had all intentions of settling myself on the couch and teasing her for a while before telling her the final figure, but once I saw the anxious look on her face, I just couldn’t do it.

            “We did it,” I said, placing my arm around her shoulder as we walked towards the small living room. “The money. It’s all there. More, in fact.”

            “More?” Chloe asked, the shock on her face beginning to settle into her body and creating a tremor in her hands.

            “Lots more. You know I’ve been talking with the hospital and I know the exact amount for the surgery. Chloe…we nearly doubled it.”

            “You…you what? There’s…there’s over $100,000?”

            I nodded, turning to face her so I could see her eyes instead of just her profile. “We raised the money for you, Chloe. For you and Ian. The surgery will be paid for and you can do with the rest of the money what you please. You could start a college fund for Ian…buy him any train he wants…put a down payment on a house…whatever you’d like.”

            Chloe threw herself into my arms, wrapping herself around me so tightly I could barely breath.

            “Ian’s going to be okay,” she said as she shuddered against me. I felt her knees start to buckle a little and moved her to the couch.

            “You need to sit down,” I said, helping her ease down onto the old cushions.

            “Ian’s going to be okay,” she said again, looking into my eyes with a new sense of joy and relief.

            I nodded. “He’s going to be okay,” I agreed, silently thanking everyone who had bought a glass of lemonade that day, whether it had been for one dollar or twenty. All of the work had been worth it just to see the look on Chloe’s face and to know that the most important person in her world had a long life ahead of him. A long, healthy, normal life.

            “When…” Chloe began and then trailed off. I could tell what she was going to ask so I didn’t wait for her to finish.

            “The hospital said as soon as they had the funds in hand, they could schedule the surgery. It could be as early as late next week.”

            Chloe drew in a breath of air and I could see her mind reeling at the possibilities. She wasn’t sure what to say or what to think. She was a mother and she had just gotten the one wish she had ever had granted. Safety for her child.

            I placed my arm around her again and drew her into my shoulder. As much as I wanted to talk about us, where our relationship might be going, what she was going to do about her missing husband, and all of the other topics I had in mind, the shock was too new and too deep for me to say anything more.

            “How am I ever going to thank you?” she whispered.

            “Seeing Ian healthy is thanks enough, I said, squeezing her shoulder.

            We sat that way for a long time before her breathing steadied. I knew she had fallen asleep and I didn’t have the heart to wake her up and move her. I scooted down into the couch a few more inches and closed my own eyes. The couch was scratchy, but it was comfortable. I would get up when she stirred and head home. I didn’t have anywhere to be the next day as it was and right now, I felt like I was right where I needed to be. With the woman I had chosen.

            Ian’s surgery was scheduled for late the following week and Chloe and I often simply talked logistics. She was busy between work and caring for Ian and I had plenty of work of my own to catch up on since I had dropped almost everything else in favor of the lemonade stand. Chloe was going to take quite a bit of time off her own job so she was trying to put in as many hours as she could so that she could afford to take such a break.

            Ian would be in the hospital in the recovery ward for several days after his heart surgery and after that, he would move to a regular room for continued rest and observation. If all went well, he could be home within a week.

            Chloe’s excitement over the surgery quickly moved into a tense nervous fear and I could certainly understand why. Sure, her little boy had the opportunity at a long and healthy life, but he had to have surgery on his heart first. Any type of surgery was scary for someone of any age. Heart surgery on a boy under the age of 4 was even more than just scary.

            Whenever I would visit, Chloe would bustle around, packing a small suitcase of items Ian might need or want at the hospital and a much larger one for herself. She planned to stay by his bedside the entire time rather than coming home to sleep.

            I recognized her dedication once again and each time we talked about the upcoming hospital stay, I vowed to visit every day possible as well.