Page 3 of Love on the Brain
“Dad, you’re up.” Shelby pulled a pair of scissors from her coat pocket and handed them to their dad.
He shook his head. “I’ll say the blessing, but this is your project. I’m so proud of you. Your mother is, too. We can all sense her here. You cut the ribbon.”
Jane swallowed the lump in her throat as Shelby lifted on her toes to kiss their dad on the cheek and moved into place on the porch.
“I met Elisabeth while I was attending seminary during a mission trip to Haiti. Food poisoning landed me in the infirmary, and she’d come along as part of the medical staff. I wasverysick, if you know what I mean.” He paused. “Sorry, girls. I know you hate that part of the story. Well, I was there for several days, pretty much helpless, and she was my Florence Nightingale. All I could do was talk, and so we did. Unflappable, soft-spoken, an angel. She made me comfortable in my own mess—literally and figuratively. We fell in love on that trip, and I knew I’d follow her anywhere. When my studies were done, I came here to serve as youth pastor, and I think that’s when she realized I was serious about making a life with her.
“We aimed to raise our girls to help others. They have her spirit and her work ethic. And this one”—he turned back to look at Shelby—“looks just like her at the time we met.” He sniffed, and Jane gave up trying to hold her tears back.
It was true—Shelby looked so much like their mother, from her tall, slim figure to her tanned skin to her long, almost black hair and high cheekbones. Jane favored their father, fair and blond and lightly freckled.
“I’ve blessed many establishments—and ships, too. But this vessel stands out because its purpose is intertwined with our family’s purpose: to be a vessel to bless others. Proverbs 11:24-25: ‘One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.’
“May the Elisabeth Porter House thrive in her memory and, through God, provide for and meet the needs of its residents. Amen.”
“Amen!” Applause rippled through the crowd, and Shelby cut the ribbon.
“Hey.” Ryan spoke softly, close to her ear again. “Here.” She turned, surprised to see him holding a small travel pack of tissues.
He pulled one out of the package, and Jane laughed, accepting it to dab at her eyes. Always prepared, that was Ryan.
“Thank you. And thank you for being here. I didn’t think to invite you or Connie and Dale. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.” He’d been telling her that since she met him. “You’ve got a lot going on. We’re here, and my parents send their love and prayers. It’s going to be fine. With God on our side…”
“…How could it not be?” she finished the familiar line with a smile.
He draped his arm around her and gestured to the others now entering the house. “Shall we?” Noah and Jamie had taken off ahead of the group, and her in-laws had followed him in.
She nodded and hoped he hadn’t heard her stomach growl. Sadie’s blueberry muffins were calling her name.
* * *
As Ryan trailedbehind Jane into the house, it troubled him that he was unable to shake the feeling of unease that had taken hold when he’d laid his hand on Jane’s shoulder. Since he’d met her, she’d gone through the hell of losing the person she loved most in the world not once, but twice.
In their phone conversations over the last couple of weeks, she hadn’t once discussed her feelings. It had been the same when Casey was going through chemo and radiation, the first time around. Her businesslike, take charge and get it done outer boss eclipsed any and all inward emotions. It was almost as if she refused to believe anything could go wrong because she had a plan.
Ryan knew from experience the best plans—even those with multiple contingencies—could fail, and in big ways. He’d seen Noah’s scans. While Noah’s biopsy seemed like a routine procedure, the tumor’s location in his brain by the carotid artery made it dangerous. One slip of the scalpel and he could be paralyzed, or worse.
Jane hadn’t wanted to hear any of that, and who could blame her? She focused on her own actions, what she could control, and gave the rest to God and the professionals.
But in that way, she hadn’t been prepared for when Casey’s cancer returned with a vengeance. It had always been a risk, but Jane refused to believe it until it was too late.
And Ryan hadn’t been there for her or Casey when his health declined a second time. He hadn’t visited when hospice was called in. He regretted letting Sunny insist he stay home and accept an apprenticeship at the children’s hospital to train beside the South’s number one pediatric neurosurgeon. Their marriage was on the rocks, and he’d have done anything to save it. Failing at anything, especially marriage, after he’d waited half his life for her, had been unthinkable.
But like Casey, his marriage had been terminal. Looking back, he saw all the signs that he and Sunny weren’t right for each other, going back to their teen years. But by then, it was too late.
“Let me take your coat,” Jane offered once they were inside. “There’s a closet under the stairs.”
He shrugged off his long wool tweed and stuffed his hat into the sleeve. “Thanks. Can I get you a drink?”
Smiling gratefully, she took the heavy jacket from him. “Coffee, please. And if it looks like Sadie’s blueberry muffins are going fast—”
“I’ll get you two,” he finished.
Jane sighed in relief. “You’re the best.”
He beamed and lifted his hand for their bestie fist-bump tradition. She grinned back at him as their knuckles connected, and on the separation, they wiggled their fingers and made a whooshing sound.
