Winners (34 page)

Jessie was amazed at how quickly they each selected a room. Heather took the largest one, next to hers. Adam found one he liked better, and Jimmy liked a smaller, cozier room because, he said, it reminded him of his old room. And Chris got the top floor, which she had thought would work best for him. None of the younger ones wanted to walk up an extra floor. They checked out both family rooms then, and ran up and down the stairs, exploring every floor. Jessie sat down on her own bed, and looked out the window at the peaceful view, feeling lucky again to have such a beautiful house. She was lying there, thinking about it, as Heather walked into her room with a serious expression.

“I hate that you made us move here, but the house is nice, Mom,” she conceded. Jessie looked at her and smiled. For Heather, it was a big admission. “I still want to go back to Squaw,” she said sadly.

“I’m glad you like it. You can go back to visit.” Heather shrugged then and disappeared back to her own room without further comment. Adam showed up a few minutes later with a puzzled look on his face.

“Why did he give us such a fancy house?” he asked his mother, as though there were something suspicious about it.

“It goes with the job. Anyone who took the job as medical director would get it. He wanted someone good to move here. It’s called an incentive,” she said, and he nodded.

“Heather is taking pictures of her bathroom,” he added, which sounded like good news to Jessie. It was white marble, with a large oval tub and a huge shower. Jessie’s bathroom was even bigger.

They were still looking around and settling in when a car pulled up behind hers in the driveway, and Jessie saw Bill and Lily get out. She heard the doorbell ring and went to let them in, and she saw that Lily was holding a huge basket of food and snacks for them on her lap, and Bill was carrying two bags of groceries and some wine.

They all came downstairs to meet the visitors, although Jessie was embarrassed by Heather’s sullen expression.

She introduced her children to Bill and Lily, and they all went into the kitchen, and Bill put the basket on the island in the middle, and the groceries on the counter. The boys were chatting with Lily, and she offered Heather a tour of the school the next day, which, much to Jessie’s delight, Heather accepted, even if grudgingly, but Lily didn’t seem to mind. She could see that Heather was upset.

Jessie looked past them at Bill then, who was watching the interaction and gave her a discreet thumbs-up, and she grinned and nodded. It was going well, and they loved the house, even Heather, although she hated to admit it.

And ten minutes later, Chris showed up, and looked happy to see Lily, which was an unexpected treat for him.

“Come on, Chris, I’ll show you your room,” Jimmy said, pulling on his brother’s arm. “It’s on the top floor.” That made it difficult for Lily, unless Chris carried her. In the end, Chris did exactly that, swept Lily up in his arms, and carried her upstairs, as Jimmy followed.

“Welcome home,” Bill said to Jessie after they left, and she smiled at him.

“Thank you for the gorgeous house. I think my kids have almost forgiven me. The boys anyway. And Heather is getting there. She loves her room.”

“Wait till your furniture comes—it will really look like home to them then.”

“Yes, it will,” she said, leaning against the kitchen counter. “How are things at The Lily Pad?”

“Booming along. It’s a beehive over there now. We’re almost ready. All we need are patients.”

“They’ll come,” she said peacefully. “I’m not worried.” And she knew that eventually they’d have patients from all over the country, just as at Craig.

Bill and Lily stayed for about an hour, and then they went home, and Jessie heard Chris tell her he’d stop by later. Bill suggested they all have dinner together the following night. He offered to do a barbecue, and Adam and Jimmy looked delighted. Chris said he would help, and Heather didn’t object. They hadn’t had a barbecue at home since their father died.

“Lily’s cool,” Adam announced as he helped himself to some of the food from the basket, while Jimmy took Chris upstairs to check out his room at last. He’d been begging to show it to him since Chris arrived. The boys were definitely settling in and were already wondering if any of the neighbors had kids their age. Bill had said he didn’t know but was sure there were some. The neighborhood was all families.

They ate the groceries for dinner that Bill and Lily had brought them, and after that they all went to their rooms, lay down on their big beds, and watched movies on their computers. Heather called all her friends and secretly told them how beautiful the house was. She had already invited two of them to come and visit in July and August, and they had promised to come. Things were looking up. And she was curious to see the school with Lily.

Jessie called Carole and told her things were going well with the kids. Heather was still angry, but it was obvious she liked the house and she had conceded that much to her mother. And Jessie knew her visit to the school would be a major factor.

The next day Lily picked Heather up and took her around her school, and showed her where everything was. She introduced her to some juniors who would be seniors with her in the fall, and to several cute boys. Heather was duly impressed and reported to her friends later how hot the boys were at her new school. And for the first time, she actually looked happy when she got home. Two of the girls had asked for her cell number, and if she was on Facebook, which Heather said she was.

And that night they went to the Thomases’ for dinner. Bill barbecued chicken and steaks for everyone, and they sat down at a big picnic table outside, while Lily moved around them with ease, and made salad in the kitchen. Jimmy followed her and looked at their kitchen with fascination when he saw that everything was at the right height for Lily.

“Wow, you can reach everything!” He had never seen a kitchen like that before.

“Yes, I can. My daddy did that for me.” Lily smiled at him. He was as cute as Chris had told her.

“That’s rad!” he said, and she laughed as Chris came to help her carry things outside.

“Is he bugging you?” Chris asked with concern about Jimmy, and she shook her head with a grin.

“No, we’re friends. He likes our kitchen.”

They had fun at dinner, and the following day their furniture arrived from Squaw Valley, and Jessie spent the day organizing everything. It looked like home to all of them by that night. Her furniture fit perfectly, and the kids had everything they needed in their rooms. When Carole came by, they were almost settled, and she helped Jessie unpack the kitchen. It had gone remarkably smoothly.

“Looks like you’re all set,” Carole said when they finished, and Jessie thanked her for the help.

When she left, Jessie realized that it was true. They had everything they needed.
Except Tim
, she thought to herself, and then she turned off the lights and went upstairs. And for the first time in seventeen months, she didn’t put on his pajamas. She had brought them with her, but she folded them carefully and put them away in a drawer. It was enough now just knowing they were there. She didn’t have to wear them anymore.

Chapter 26

The new housekeeper, Mary Sherman, arrived the day after the movers, and Jessie introduced her to the children and spent the morning with them until they got acquainted. Mary was in her forties, and had worked for two families Bill knew. She made a nice lunch, and offered to drive them to the park and take them to a movie, and as soon as they left, Jessie went to work. Real life had begun.

And Bill was right. The Lily Pad was a hive of activity, with everyone buzzing around, opening files, working on computers, putting away medical supplies and sports equipment. There were a thousand things being done by an army of people, and Jessie walked into her new office with a smile and a sigh of relief. She felt as at home here as she did in the new house. Everything felt fresh and new, people were excited, and they had two months until they opened. But it was all in good order.

Jessie got busy sending e-mails to neurosurgeons she knew around the country, telling them what they were doing, inviting them to visit, and asking them to send patients. Their roster of medical and rehab personnel was impressive. And the website they had put up was informative and inviting. Joe had done a great job with it. It turned out that he not only had a knack for overseeing construction and dealing with people, but he was a whiz with computers. The Lily Pad was giving him a chance to use his many talents. And Jessie was proud of everything they had done in the past year. The Lily Pad was already a spectacular place.

“How’s it going?” Bill asked her when he wandered into her office at the end of the afternoon. He’d been working on some financial matters with Joe, and he was happy to see Jessie in the office next to him, and be able to talk to her and ask her advice anytime, not just on the phone or when she came to Denver for a weekend.

“I think everything’s on track.” She smiled at him. She was totally at home and in her right place. “I can’t wait till we open. It will really be exciting when we have patients.”

“What if no one comes?” he said with a look of panic.

“That’s not going to happen,” she reassured him. “We have some great staff here, people with top experience. When physicians see our personnel roster and read their credentials, they’ll know.”

“And you’re here,” he said with relief. Every now and then he still wondered if it would all work, but Jessie seemed so sure, and others had told him the same thing. This was a new world for him.

“They’d even come without me. I’m just window dressing.”

“Well, the window is looking mighty good, thanks to you,” he said gratefully as he sank into a chair. “Everything go okay with the kids today?”

“Perfectly. They like Mary. They love the house. The boys are happy, and Heather will get there. Lily was terrific to take her to school. I think that really helped. She seems less anxious and angry. Life is good.” He looked pleased. “I could never have done this, without you and the house.”

“And I couldn’t have done it without you,” he said sincerely. The people she had recommended and helped him choose were first rate. “Are you planning to take any time off this summer?” he asked her, and she shook her head.

“We’re opening in August, remember? Maybe a long weekend with the kids, but that’s about it. I was thinking of giving a Fourth of July barbecue, though. To celebrate our new home and the people we know here. I’ll let you know if we get it together.”

“And Lily would like you all to come to her graduation next week. I’m very proud of her,” he said with a smile.

“So am I,” Jessie said softly. “We’d love to come.”

It was a perfect event on a sunny day, and Bill gave a luncheon in his garden afterward. Lily looked radiant in her cap and gown. It was a real victory for her. Bill and Jessie both cried when she got her diploma.

And when Jessie asked her kids about giving a Fourth of July party, they liked the idea. They wanted to meet people, so she had Heather create invitations on her computer, and handed them out over the next few weeks. It was basically going to be an old-fashioned picnic in their new backyard. And by the time the day came, fifty people showed up. Chris and Adam were making hamburgers and hot dogs, Heather and Jessie had made a vast array of salads, corn on the cob, french fries, and biscuits, and Jimmy helped set out the pies and desserts, and handed out ice cream bars from a big cooler, while people helped themselves to wine, beer, iced tea, and lemonade. It was exactly what she had promised, a traditional Fourth of July picnic. And when Chris finished cooking, he sat down with Lily to relax. She was drinking lemonade, and he poured himself a glass of iced tea.

“The hamburgers were great,” she complimented him as he took off his apron and grinned at her.

“My mom and dad used to love giving parties in Tahoe. It’s kind of fun doing it again.” His father used to man the barbecue, and now it was up to him as the man of the family.

“My dad and I are going up to a lake tomorrow, to go fishing. Do you want to come?” Lily asked him shyly.

“Sure, I’d love it.” He looked pleased to be asked, and gently took her hand in his. “I’m glad we moved here,” he said awkwardly. “Now I can see you all the time.” Except she was going away to school. He could sense what she was thinking, and he had thought about it too. “I’m going to miss you when you leave.”

“I’ll come back a lot,” she promised. “And at least you’ll be here for holidays now. Maybe you could come to visit me in Princeton sometime,” she said cautiously.

“I’d like that,” he said quietly and put an arm around her, as she moved her chair closer to him. She didn’t feel awkward in it anymore, or around people. She was completely at ease, and he was with her. It didn’t bother him that she couldn’t walk. He honestly didn’t care, and she was a better skier than he was, even on her sitting ski. He was very proud of what she could do, and what she’d accomplished. And she was contributing time and effort to The Lily Pad. While they were talking about it, Teddy came over in his power chair. He had been chatting with all the guests and was the life of the party. He had sat down to eat with Carole and Joe, to discuss the art program he was designing that would be exciting for all ages. He had been at The Lily Pad every day, making lists of art supplies they’d need. They had hired two full-time art teachers, and they had two big rooms to work in. He was planning to work there after school and on weekends, to help out, as an internship for credit.

“What are you two up to?” Teddy asked them.

“We’re just hanging out,” Lily answered easily. Teddy and Chris got on well, which was nice for her. She loved being with them, and Chris was perfectly at ease with Teddy. Jimmy came over a little while later, and snuggled up to his older brother. He had ice cream all over his chin, and Lily wiped his face and gave him a hug before he scampered off again to find his mother. The three of them sat together, while the party wound down, and eventually just the two families were left. It had been a perfect day.