Mother's Promise (35 page)

She was quiet for a long moment. “And what dreams did you have in those days, Ben? I mean, why did you wish to be a doctor?”

It had been so long since Ben had thought about those days, those years when his only intent had been to get away from his father's house. The rest had simply fallen into place, and for the first time he realized that he had not chosen medicine at all. “Becoming a doctor was a way out.”

“Of what?”

He shrugged and grinned at her as the bus pulled to the curb to discharge and pick up more passengers. “How about you? How did you decide to become a nurse?”

She ducked her head shyly, but he saw that she was smiling. “I'm afraid I was a little rebellious as a girl,” she admitted.

“You? I find that impossible to believe.”

“It's true. My parents despaired for me, and they could not have been more relieved when James started courting me. They saw him as this steadfast young man who would surely set me on the right path once we married. They didn't even worry that he was older than I was. In their minds that gave him the maturity that I sorely lacked.”

“So you married James and then what? How did nursing school fit in?”

“I graduated before James and I married. He thought that having my degree was a good thing because I would be able to serve the community.”

Ben stood up as the bus neared their stop. He offered Rachel his hand and noticed that she hesitated a moment before taking it. Once they were off and walking toward his sister's place, he continued the conversation. “So you and James got married and Justin came along….”

A cloud of sadness passed over her features so fleetingly that he thought he must have been seeing things. But she did not look at him as she changed the subject. “You have turned the tables here, Ben. We were talking about you and how you came to be a doctor.”

Was she changing the focus back on him because she was still grieving for her late husband so much that the mere mention of his name brought her such sadness? “There was no real plan. I mean, becoming a doctor was never something I consciously thought about. The pieces kind of fell into place and here I am.”

“There was a plan,” she said. “No one accidentally becomes a doctor.” She opened the filigreed wrought iron gate that led to the path next to the driveway then looked back at him. “You may struggle to accept this, but God always has a plan for us.”

“What I struggle with, Rachel, is why God's plans seem to include making kids like Sally suffer.” He did not wait for her answer but trudged up the path ahead of her, calling out to Justin who was sweeping the flagstone sidewalk.

Rachel went first to the guesthouse to put on an apron and make a pitcher of lemonade. She carried the pitcher and a stack of three glasses out to the gardens and then set to work raking the debris that Ben and Justin had trimmed from some overgrown shrubs into a pile. All the while she was very aware of Ben's nearness. The way he had rolled back his sleeves to expose forearms that were surprisingly tan and muscular for one who worked indoors. The graceful way he moved as he stretched to cut branches that Justin could not reach. The sound of his voice coaching Justin to shape the shrub as he trimmed it.

Not for the first time it struck her that he would be a very good parent, and she wondered again why he had never married. His devotion to Sally was obvious, as was his care and concern for all of his patients. But they were all someone else's children. When a man loved children as much as Ben obviously did, why would he not be anxious to find a wife and raise a family of his own?

She gathered the clippings and deposited them in a rolling cart to be taken to the compost bin hidden behind the shed. She paused to wipe her brow. Justin and Ben were working side by side the way Justin and James had worked back in Ohio.

Ohio. All day she had worried about the meeting with Justin's teacher, knowing that the issue would not even have come up if Justin had been attending the small Mennonite school near their farm. Once again she asked herself if she had made a mistake in coming here. In bringing Justin to this place and exposing him to a world he was unprepared for, had she done what was best for him, or for herself?

It had all seemed so right in the beginning—as if God were leading her to this place, this job, this life. But what if instead she had allowed her grief to rule her decisions, her need to escape the memories of the farm that she and James had shared with his parents? What if instead of facing the future God had set out for her, she had run away and now Justin was paying the price?

“Mom?”

She shielded her eyes from the setting sun. “Ja.”

“Are we gonna eat?”

Rachel smiled. Some things did not change, like the appetite of a twelve-year-old boy. “Ja. We will eat.”

“Ben too?”

“Ben too.”

Darcy was mystified. Ben's car was still parked in its usual spot, and yet he was nowhere to be found in the hospital. She had lingered as long as she could, keeping an eye on the parking garage exit from her office window while she worked on reports for the upcoming board meeting.

The last she'd seen of Ben he'd been on his way to see Sally. She'd actually gone to the children's wing on some excuse but with the sole purpose of running into Ben at the end of the workday, hoping he might suggest they grab a bite to eat together. But that had been well over an hour ago. She picked up the phone and punched in the number for the nurses' station outside Sally's room.

“Is Dr. Booker still with his niece?” she asked.

“He left a while ago. It's just the parents in there now,” the voice on the other end assured her. “Do you want me to page him?”

“No, thanks.” She hung up and drummed her manicured nails on her desk as she stared out the window at the parking garage. Maybe she'd missed him after all.

With a heavy sigh, she packed her briefcase with the files and reports she still needed to review and hooked the bulging bag over one shoulder. She retrieved her handbag from the drawer of her desk and headed for the parking garage.

Ben's car was still there, so she retraced her steps to the hospital lobby. “Have you seen Dr. Booker tonight?” she asked the security guard sitting at the information desk.

“Yes ma'am. He left a little while ago.”

“But his car …”

“He took the bus.”

The bus?

“He and the new chaplain lady.”

“I see.” But Darcy didn't see at all. Why would Ben take a bus unless his car had a problem and even then, why not call for a mechanic? And why on earth would he get on a bus with that woman?

“I expect he'll be back directly,” the guard continued, clearly wanting to be of help. “His car's here, after all, and Doc Booker does take pride in that car of his.”

He grinned at Darcy, and she tried hard to find a smile to offer in return. “Thank you,” she murmured and headed outside.

“I'll let him know you were looking for him,” the guard called after her.

Darcy walked blindly past the valet parking booth where two employees were busy helping visitors. Without any true destination in mind she walked out to the street and waited for the light to change. She saw the O
PEN
sign flashing in the family-owned café where she and Ben had shared a few late-night meals of scrambled eggs, toast, and coffee. From the window she would be able to see him return to get his car. It would be the most natural thing in the world for her to call out to him. After all, how many times had he teased her about keeping doctor's hours?

It was after seven, and the café was nearly deserted. She waved to Millie, the owner's wife, who was wiping the counter. “Sit anywhere,” the woman said.

Darcy chose a booth near the door with a view of the entrance to the hospital. She took out her laptop and one of the folders. “Just coffee,” she said when Millie offered her a menu.

Only when she heard a bus slow to turn onto the circular drive did she glance up from her work. A few more customers came and went, but Darcy barely noticed them. She was on her third cup of coffee and well aware that she should probably switch to decaffeinated when someone entered the café, started toward a stool at the counter, and then came over to her booth.

“Working pretty late, aren't you?”

The very last person Darcy had expected to see that night was Zeke Shepherd.

Chapter 21

J
ustin liked the doctor. He reminded him of his dad. Not in the way he looked of course. Except for both having dark hair, the two men didn't look at all alike. His dad's eyes had been so blue that his mom always said it was like looking at the sky on a clear summer day. Ben's eyes were kind of a mix of green and gold. Eyes that looked at you like he was really interested in anything you might have to say. Dad used to look at Justin that way.

Justin missed the talks he and his dad used to have. Talks about how things were going, what Justin thought about stuff, things like that. But that evening working together in the gardens, Ben had seemed really interested in what Justin had to say about school and then about how he was feeling about living in Florida now that he'd been here a couple of months.

“You and your mom are pretty extraordinary people,” he'd told Justin. “I mean, picking up and leaving behind everything you've ever known and starting fresh here? That's pretty unusual.”

“Starting fresh” was the phrase his mom had used when she was explaining about taking the job in Florida. She hadn't exactly told him that she'd not only have to work but also would have to go to school to get some kind of license. She hadn't exactly mentioned the late nights when she had to return to the hospital.

“It's kind of lonely,” Justin had admitted to Ben.

“I'll bet. You making any friends?”

“A couple.” Justin didn't really want to talk about Derek Piper. Ever since the thing with Mr. Mortimer and taking Sally's baseball glove, Justin had his doubts about whether or not Derek was really even interested in being his friend. It seemed these days he was only interested in how Sally was doing and when she might get home. And when Justin had asked Derek why he wanted the glove all he would say was that he needed it for a surprise for Sally.