Page 3 of The Calendar of New Beginnings
Few could understand such a tragedy, let alone process it and move forward, and Andy had floundered for a time. Leaving his pressure-ridden job at a leading Denver hospital and returning home to work at the local Dare Valley General had been a good move for him. She was happy to see him looking more relaxed and less grief-stricken than when she’d seen him last.
A brown-haired boy in a yellow shirt and navy shorts ran forward and wrapped his arms around Andy’s legs.
Of course, her color vision wasn’t back to normal yet either, so perhaps those navy shorts were really black. She had a hard time distinguishing between similar shades. If the problem stuck, she feared it would hurt her ability to capture important elements like color contrast in her photographs.
Danny Hale had inherited his father’s eyes, but his extra-serious gaze was rare for a five-year-old. Having met plenty of other children who had lost their parents young, she understood how tragedy matured a child.
“Danny, do you remember Ms. O’Brien?” Andy asked his son, cupping the back of the little boy’s neck in tenderness. “She’s the one who takes photos all over the world and sent you the ones of the animals we’ve only seen in the Denver Zoo.”
Not all of her photos were of war and starving children.Sometimes she liked to capture nature’s beauty, and she’d thought a little boy who’d lost his mother might like to experience some of life’s wonders. It had been her way of helping Andy, whose own devastation over losing Kim was heightened by his son’s grief.
“I remember her, Dad,” Danny said, climbing around his father’s leg like a monkey. “She’s the one who took a picture of the baby camel by my bed. Hi, Ms. O’Brien. That’s so weird since I call a lady Mrs. O’Brien already.”
She shuddered as he pointed to her mom. “Hi, Danny. How about you call meMissLucy instead? Less confusing that way. You can keep calling my mom Mrs. O’Brien.”
“I like your mom,” the little boy said, glancing over to where her mother was talking with his grandma and the Hale girls in the dining room. “She’s my grandma’s best friend. They take me all over town when Dad needs a break.”
Andy rolled his eyes.
“Especially for ice cream,” Danny said in the high cadence of a little boy. “I like chocolate chip cookie dough. What’s your favorite?”
“Mocha almond fudge,” Andy replied for her. “She always shared her ice cream with me, and I shared mine with hers.”
Memories of them swapping half-eaten ice cream cones filled her mind. Good days. Carefree days. It had been a long time ago. “Butter pecan.”
The corners of his eyes deepened as his smile spread. “We’re both a couple of nuts. We’ll have to take Miss Lucy for ice cream soon. She doesn’t get much when she’s overseas.”
No, she didn’t. In some countries, she had to bring herown food, not knowing if there would be a shortage or if the local food would be safe.
“Cool!” Danny said, jumping in the air. “I like Mr. O’Brien too. He gives me free soda at Hairy’s.”
She could only imagine what Andy thought of that, being a health-conscious doctor and all. “Soda and ice cream are the best,” Lucy said, “but my favorite treats are cinnamon rolls.”
“From Margie?” Danny asked, letting go of his dad’s leg and closing the gap between them. “She makes the best ones since Mrs. Kemstead re… Dad, what did Mrs. Kemstead do?”
“Retired,” Andy easily answered.
“Right. Did you know my mom?”
Lucy shot a quick glance at Andy, struggling to hide her surprise at the abrupt question. She’d met Danny a few times since his birth, but it made sense that he wouldn’t remember her relationship with his mother.
“Yes, I did,” she said, crouching down until she was eye level with the boy. “She was a really nice lady, and she loved you a lot.”
She’d spoken to countless children who’d lost loved ones, but it felt jarring to do it in Dare Valley. This was her safe place. Nothing was supposed to go wrong here.
Danny pointed to the ceiling. “She’s in heaven now,” he told her with an earnest shake of his head. “She’s an angel and looks after everyone in Dare Valley. But especially me and Dad.”
Her chest squeezed. Andy had a heart of gold for telling his son that. “Dare Valley is lucky to have her on their side.”
“Yep,” he said and then looked back at his dad. “Can Miss Lucy come over and show me her new animal photos sometime?”
“If she has any new ones,” Andy said. She looked up to see him studying her with the same intense scrutiny she’d noticed in her father’s gaze. “It seems like she’s been really busy the past few weeks.”
She took her time studying him right back, refusing to be intimidated. Little did he know she’d been convalescing, first in a South African hospital and then in a hotel room near her doctors’ offices, waiting to be given travel approval to return home.
“You tell me what day works, and we’ll make it happen,” she told Danny, rising carefully to her full height, being mindful of the lingering soreness in her back.
“You can come anytime,” Andy said. “Danny, how about we find you a healthy snack? Lots of other people are waiting patiently to talk to Miss Lucy, so we shouldn’t monopolize her time.”
