Do Not Forsake Me(83)

Jake and Randy looked at each other, then at Lloyd. “About what?” Jake asked.

Lloyd glanced at the guns again, wondering if he should take all of them out of the house first. “I’ll let them tell you. I had nothing to do with any of it, except that I agree with them on one thing.” He saw the suspicion move into Jake’s eyes. “I think you should…listen to what they have to say and I think you should…uh…let this be Mom’s decision, not mine or Evie’s or Brian’s or…even yours. It’s her life hanging in the balance, and we all want her to live and be healthy and…that’s all that matters.”

Jake took a cigarette from a tin on the counter but didn’t light it. “What the hell is going on, Lloyd?”

“I’ll go tell them to come over.” Lloyd put on a look of warning. “You just remember, Pa, that Peter Brown is going to do his best to get your sentence reduced, and that Brian loves Mom like his own mother, plus he’s a doctor and he knows what might be best for her…and he’s Evie’s husband and has been as good to her as you could ask of any man who dared to marry your daughter. So don’t you say anything to hurt him.”

Lloyd left and Jake looked at Randy. “Do you know what he’s talking about?”

“No.” She touched her hair. “Jake, my hair is down and I…good Lord, do we look like we just got out of bed?”

“So what if we do? We’re married and we’ve been doing this for twenty-six years.” He scowled. “Trouble is, after twenty-six years, something’s come between us—and I don’t know what the hell it is!”

Randy’s eyes teared. “The only thing between us is your anger over not knowing what to do about me, and that makes me feel responsible, but I’m not responsible, because I didn’t ask for this. Please don’t stay angry—not when we only have one more day together. You usually leave your anger outside the door, Jake.”

He sighed. “I’m just angry at myself.” He walked up behind her and grasped some of her hair. “I was okay until Ed Rogers said he didn’t want to operate on you. That’s when I really started getting scared.”

She hung her head.

Jake reached around and grasped the side of her face, making her turn around. He leaned down and met her mouth in a kiss that grew desperate. He pulled her into his arms, then lifted her off her feet and set her on the counter, where the kiss lingered. She wrapped her legs around him, and he wound his fingers more deeply into her hair. He left her mouth and wrapped her tightly into his arms, letting her head rest against his chest.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated. “I never get short with you, and you sure as hell don’t deserve it right now. I’m angry at whatever is wrong with you, mi querida, not at you—angry at myself for not being able to do something about it.”

“I know. I just don’t want you to stay angry—not when we have so little time together.” She reached around his neck. “After they leave, I want to go back to bed, Jake. I want to say good-bye like I always do before you go.”

Someone knocked on the front door then, and Jake gave her a quick kiss. “Damn.”

“We might as well see what they want, Jake.”

Jake lifted her down and Randy put her hands to her face to cool her cheeks. She ran her fingers through her hair and wished she’d had time to pin her hair properly and put on a better dress. “Button your shirt,” she told Jake.

He picked up his cigarette and bent down to light it at the stove. “Let them think what they want. We’re man and wife and can do what we want in our own house.”

“Jake, hear them out. Please, please, hear them out. Apparently Brian and Peter have some idea that might help us through this.”

Jake walked to the front door and Randy quietly followed, standing at a window with arms folded, feeling undressed and undone and defensive. Jake opened the door to Lloyd, Brian, and Peter. Randy noticed Peter look Jake over with more than a little trepidation. Then he glanced at her and nodded. Jake moved back and told them all to sit down.

“I’ll stand, Pa,” Lloyd said, moving closer to Jake. Randy knew immediately that her son was making ready to light into his father and hold him back if he lost his temper. She felt her heart pounding harder.

Jake watched Peter carefully. Neither he nor Brian sat down either. In fact, they both looked as if they were making ready to run if necessary. “What’s this about?” Jake asked.

Lloyd moved a little closer.

Peter took a deep breath. “Jake, I know of a doctor who is an expert in the kind of surgery Randy needs. He saved my wife’s life once in Chicago, years before she died in a buggy accident. I wired him there and found out he’s now in Oklahoma City.”