Page 21 of Counter Attack

Not happening. But she kept that to herself as Gram shut the bedroom door behind her. Alex went in the bathroom and turned on the shower. She’d have to admit, Pearl Springs was growing on her. It was kind of nice to see someone on the street and get a wave, to know them by their first name and who their kids and parents were.

After dressing, Alex made her way to the kitchen as her grandmother set a salad plate with a huge scoop of chicken salad on a bed of lettuce on the island. “I heard Gramps say something about coming home for lunch?”

“Yep. Probably about the time you leave.” Gram set a similar plate across from Alex’s. “He won’t be happy that he’s getting the same thing.”

“How’d you do that? He’s eaten lunch at Pete’s for as long as I can remember.”

“And that’s why he’s put on twenty pounds in the last ten years. Pete will have to get someone else to advertise his burgers.”

Alex ate about half the chicken salad and put her fork down. “I can’t eat all of this.”

“You can and will. It’s only half a cup—I measured it.”

Her grandmother must have a big half cup. Alex was still trying to finish hers when a knock came at the back door. Gramps wouldn’t knock, so it had to be Nathan.

“Door’s unlocked,” Gram called out.

Nathan opened the door and stepped inside the kitchen, his presence filling the room. And when he smiled at Alex, it sent her heart into high gear. Gram broke the spell when she asked if he’d eaten.

“Peanut butter and crackers.”

“Then sit yourself down, and you can have what we’re having.”

He checked his watch. “Maybe just a tiny bit.”

“Gram doesn’t know the meaning of ‘tiny bit,’” Alex said dryly.

“Hush, girl.” She set another plate at the end of the island and heaped a healthy scoop of salad onto it.

“See what I mean?”

All three of them stared at his plate then burst out laughing. “Okay,” Gram said and used her spoon to remove part of the chicken salad before she pushed a plate of crackers toward Nathan.

A few minutes later, Alex’s phone dinged. Before she could fish her phone from her back pocket, Gram’s rang.

She exchanged a puzzled glance with Nathan, then as her grandmother answered her phone, Alex read her text from her grandfather’s chief deputy. She covered her mouth with her hand.No!

Gramps had collapsed with a heart attack and was being airlifted to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga.

13

By the time Nathan got Judith and Alexis to the hospital in Chattanooga, Judith had given verbal permission for the surgeon to do whatever it took to save her husband’s life, and the sheriff was in surgery. Since the artery supplying blood to the heart muscle hadn’t been totally blocked, the surgeon hoped to stent it instead of opening his chest.

Both women sat where they could watch the doors to the ICU. Judith rested her chin on her thumbs with her fingers pressed together. Praying, he assumed. Alexis watched the doors, stiffening every time they opened.

At least they hadn’t been taken to the small chapel where families learned their loved one hadn’t made it. That’s what happened when Nathan’s dad died. He stood and walked to the window and stared out at the turning fall foliage set against the backdrop of the blue October sky. He’d hoped a change of scenery would take his mind off the antiseptic smell smothering him.

How did bad things happen on such a beautiful day? Nathan forced himself to breathe evenly to calm his anxious thoughts. In spite of that, he jumped when the ICU doors opened, and a man in green scrubs and a surgical cap approached Judith.

Both women started to stand, but the doctor motionedfor them to remain seated. Nathan joined them as the doctor dragged a metal chair closer to them and sat in it.

“How is he, Dr. Holley?”

“Stable.” He glanced at Alexis and Nathan.

Judith quickly introduced them. “You can talk about his condition in front of them.”

The doctor nodded. “I was able to stent the left anterior descending artery as well as two smaller ones...”

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