Every second it took for him to decide felt like an hour to Annie, until she couldn’t bear the wait any longer. She walked over to the steps, climbed to the top, and sat down.
Lennon left Keaton’s side, leapt up the stairs, and joined her. Annie planted her hands in his thick fur and slowly, lovingly stroked his head, letting him know how much she’d missed him and their times on the beach. What she wouldn’t give for sand beneath her feet and a piece of driftwood to throw to Lennon. His eyes told her he was thinking of the same thing.
The dog made the decision for Keaton. After another lengthy pause, Keaton joined her, sitting as far away from her as space would allow.
Annie smiled and then snuck a glance at Keaton, and was taken by surprise to find him smiling, too.
Lennon twisted and pressed his chin to her thigh.
Time passed, and Annie couldn’t remember being this content in weeks. She felt completely at ease. Keeping her promise, she didn’t speak, didn’t ask him a single question, didn’t fill in any of the details of her decision. Instead, she drank in the peacefulness of spending time with him.
Ten minutes went by before Keaton stood, his face filled with pain. His eyes locked with hers. The sadness she saw there nearly made her collapse.
“Oh Annie,” he whispered. “Tell me. Where am I going to find the strength to let you go?”
CHAPTER 36
The phone call came in the middle of the night from Teresa. “Britt’s in labor. She wanted me to call you.”
Annie blinked the sleep out of her eyes. The hospital in Aberdeen was forty minutes away from Oceanside, and Britt had already checked in. Earlier in the summer, Annie had gone with the teenage couple to the adoption agency and introduced them to the social worker there. They trusted Annie because she was impartial, whereas both sets of parents had definite views as to what Britt and Jimmy should do. Annie appreciated that this was a difficult decision and guided them with love, compassion, and understanding. They had chosen the family for their baby, and their choice couldn’t have pleased Annie more.
“I’ll be there within the hour.”
“Thank you.” Teresa, who was normally calm and cool, sounded shaken and emotional.
“It’s going to be fine,” Annie assured her.
“I know. I know. It’s just that it’s hard for me to see my daughter in so much pain.”
“Britt’s strong and healthy,” Annie reminded her. “Is Jimmy with her?”
“Yes. He’s not handling it well. I think Britt wants you here so you can help him through this.”
Annie figured as much. Once the adopting parents had been selected, Jimmy and Britt had requested that the couple be there for the birth of their baby. They wanted their parents and Annie to witness when they handed their child over to the parents who would raise their daughter. Because this was important to Jimmy and Britt, Annie arranged to take time off from the clinic.
For Teresa, Annie knew, this was history repeating itself. She was the same age as Britt when she gave birth, only Teresa didn’t have the support and encouragement of Britt’s father. Thankfully, Teresa’s family had stepped in to help, as she was willing to do for Britt now.
Annie quickly dressed and petted Ringo. Not knowing how long she’d be away, she filled his dishes with food and water before she left. By the time she arrived at the hospital, Britt had reached the second stage of delivery. She’d insisted she wanted to have a natural childbirth. Annie had coached her and Jimmy on what to expect, but they hadn’t attended the classes, although she had urged them to sign up. Time, distance, and funds made it impossible for the young couple.
“How are you doing?” Annie asked, stroking the hair away from Britt’s forehead, encouraging her with a gentle smile.
“This is a lot more painful than I thought it’d be.”
“I know it is,” Annie said. She had no firsthand experience with childbirth, but as part of her training she’d worked in a delivery room and realized why the birthing process was called labor. It was hard work.
Jimmy was a wreck, pacing the small room at the birthing center. He looked completely exhausted, acting like he was the one giving birth and not Britt. “Can’t they give her something to deal with the pain?”
“Yes, of course,” Annie assured him. “All she needs to do is ask.”
“Britt keeps refusing any drugs.”
“I don’t think they’re good for the baby,” Britt insisted.
“I’m more concerned about you,” Jimmy said, collapsing onto the chair beside the bed. “Please, Britt, do it for me. I can’t stand to see you suffer like this.”
“I’ll ask for them soon; I promise.” She closed her eyes as a contraction took over. Moaning softly, she arched her back. As the contraction grew in intensity, she twisted her head back and forth and bit into her lower lip to escape the ripping pain.
“Remember what I told you about the breathing exercises,” Annie told her softly.
The contraction eased, and Britt relaxed. Opening her eyes, she reached for Jimmy’s hand. “It was easier to practice those exercises when I wasn’t in labor.”
Annie figured that was true enough.
“Where’s my mom?”
“She’s in the waiting room,” Annie told her. She’d noticed Teresa slipping out almost as soon as Annie arrived. From the open door, Annie noticed Britt’s mother taking a seat next to the family who would be adopting the baby girl.
Britt’s eyes connected with Annie’s as she asked, “Will you get Becca for me?”
“Certainly, Britt.” Annie had nothing to do with the teenagers choosing a family from Oceanside. As it happened, it was Becca, the very woman Annie had met the first day she’d started work at the clinic. As soon as Britt and Jimmy read the application, they were assured that their daughter would be raised by a family that loved her, and in the same small town they called home.
“And take Jimmy with you to talk to Lucas, will you, Annie?” He was in a near-panicked state, unable to hold still, pacing or leaping in and out of the chair.
“I’m not leaving you,” Jimmy insisted, his eyes flashing defiance.
“Yes, you are. I love you, Jimmy, but right now you’re more of a distraction than a help. I need to concentrate, and I can’t do it with you playing leapfrog all over this room.”
Jimmy was about to argue, but then he changed his mind. “I’ll send Becca in,” he told Annie. “But don’t leave Britt. She needs you with her.”
“Okay.” Annie stayed and reached for Britt’s hand after yet another powerful contraction. “It won’t be long now,” she whispered, hoping that would encourage her.
“Becca wants to name the baby Grace. It’s perfect, isn’t it?” Britt told her.
“It’s a beautiful name. Becca will be a good mother.”
“I think so, too,” Britt said, her voice raw with emotion. “Jimmy and I liked the idea of Grace growing up in Oceanside. They want us to be part of her life, too, like an extra aunt and uncle.” Her hold tightened on Annie’s hand as another contraction overcame her. They were coming faster now, growing in intensity.
It wasn’t long before Britt was ready for the delivery. Her mother held one hand, Becca the other, while Annie stood at Britt’s head, whispering encouragement as the physician prepared to receive the baby. Jimmy and Lucas Calder were called into the room and sat close by. Both men were pale, and Annie feared if they stood they might be in danger of fainting.
Britt pushed down hard and grunted as the baby slid from her body. Soon the birthing room was filled with the loud cry of the newborn. Annie’s eyes clouded with tears and she noticed that Becca was weeping, too. The baby squalled, turning pink and showing off her amazing pair of healthy lungs.
After cleaning the crying infant and wrapping her in a blanket, the nurse handed little Grace to Britt.
/> Gazing down on her baby, Britt kissed her forehead and then looked to Becca. With tears clouding her eyes, she handed the infant to the other woman. “Congratulations, Becca,” she whispered softly. “You have a daughter, and I know you will love her and be a good mother.”
“Thank you,” Becca said through her own tears of joy. “Thank you, Britt. Thank you, Jimmy.”
Annie looked over and saw that Lucas was weeping, too. Both Britt and Jimmy’s faces were wreathed in huge smiles. Jimmy joined Britt and gripped her hand with both of his. “We did the right thing,” he whispered.
Britt agreed, and Jimmy bent over and kissed her forehead. Teresa remained at her daughter’s side, and her eyes, too, were filled with tears.
* * *
—
An hour later, Annie arrived back in Oceanside. No sooner had she stepped inside the cottage when she received a call from the hospice center.
“You asked to be notified when Seth Keaton was close to passing.”
“Yes,” she said, recognizing the voice as belonging to Linda, the volunteer at the hospice center.
“It will be only a matter of hours.”
Annie let the news sink in. “Thank you for letting me know.” Her first thought was whether Keaton had been notified, too, and she thought that he must have been. If the hospice center had contacted her, then there was every likelihood they had reached out to Keaton, too. She knew he’d stopped in regularly to check on his father. That was the kind of man he was. Even knowing his father hated him and wanted nothing to do with him, Keaton still cared. Seeing Keaton seemed to upset the old man, and she’d learned that Keaton frequently checked with the volunteer and then left without visiting his father. It was better for them both that Keaton kept his distance.
The irony didn’t escape Annie.
Life and death in the same day.
Although she’d recently returned from the hospital, she headed out again and drove to the hospice center where Seth had been staying. Annie had stopped by a few times to see how he was doing. The man was defiant, difficult, disagreeable, and often crude. His pain level was managed with heavy doses of morphine. According to Linda, not once had he showed his appreciation for the care given him. When Annie was there, she’d sit at his bedside and do what she could to make him comfortable, though he seemed to resent her presence. Seth never spoke to her.
Annie debated if she should be with him now. But she knew that Keaton was likely to stay away, and the thought of Seth Keaton dying alone didn’t seem right, no matter what kind of father he’d been.
At a loss on how best to handle the situation, Annie went inside. She was grateful Linda was on duty. That helped Annie make the decision. She would sit with Seth until he passed. Keaton never needed to know she was there.
When she entered his room, Seth was sleeping. Pulling up the chair, she took a seat next to him. After a few minutes, his eyes fluttered open. From a previous conversation with Linda, Annie had learned that Seth fluctuated between unconsciousness and lucidity.
Awake now, he stared at her, uncertain of who she was. This wasn’t unusual for a man so close to death. He blinked and released a slow, ragged breath that rattled in his throat. “I’m dying.”
“Yes. It won’t be long now.”
“Expect so.” He faced death calmly, unafraid.
At least he wasn’t demanding that she leave. “Is there anything you want to tell anyone?” As an afterthought, she added, “Any regrets?” Naturally, her hope was that his parting words would be those of love for his son.
“I only have one regret in this life,” he murmured. “With everything in me, I regret ever having a son.”
Horrified, Annie jumped from the chair. She stared down at this dying man, dismayed that he would say anything so unkind and cruel. “How can you say that? You clearly have no idea the kind of person Keaton is, do you? He’s a good man, generous and talented and—”
“He took my Maggie from me.” His voice gained strength with his conviction.
“What?”
The old man made no sense.
He closed his eyes, and for a moment Annie was afraid he’d lost consciousness. It took effort for him to open his eyes again. He twisted his head back to get a better look at her before he spoke. “Maggie loved him more than me and it killed her.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Cancer,” he whispered, growing weaker now, his voice little more than a whisper. “We learned she had cancer when she was pregnant with him. The doctor said the treatment would kill the baby…Maggie refused…She wanted the baby. He killed her…She wanted him…loved him more than me.”
Tears blurred Annie eyes and her throat grew thick with emotion. “Old man, don’t you understand? She was giving you a gift.”
“A gift?” he spat. “Some gift. He’s a freak.”
Annie refused to listen to him say ugly things about Keaton, and she put herself in Maggie’s shoes. She would have made the same decision. “First off, Keaton is no freak. Your wife, your Maggie, loved you and her baby. She gave her very life to give you a son. It was her love for you that led her to make that decision. She knew, in every likelihood, this would be her only opportunity to have a child. She was willing to take the chance that she could beat the cancer after the baby arrived.”
“Maggie shouldn’t have died.”
“Do you seriously believe that she wanted to die? I’m certain she wanted more than anything to live, and she took a gamble that she would live.” Perhaps he was delusional after all.
He didn’t answer. “Keaton has my body and Maggie’s looks. Every time I look at my son, I see her face. She was an artist and everything that was good. I couldn’t believe she fell in love with me. Still don’t know how it happened that she agreed to marry me.”
“Your Maggie gave you the best part of herself,” Annie insisted, imagining what it’d be like to be Maggie. “You say she was an artist. Keaton is, too, and where do you think he got that talent? From his mother. I bet you don’t even know he’s the one who painted those beautiful murals in town.”
The question hung between them for several tense seconds.
“Keaton did those?”
Annie nodded. “He also rescues and cares for injured animals and…people.” She placed herself in the last category. “You don’t even know your son. You don’t realize what a good, decent man he is. Despite your hate, despite your mistreatment, he’s a kind, caring person. No one could ask for a better son than Keaton.”
“Keaton is an artist?”
It shocked Annie that Seth knew so little about him, but it shouldn’t have.
“Yes, he’s an artist and so much more. For you to say you regret giving him life is wrong on a hundred different levels.”
Staring up at her, Seth’s eyes narrowed, almost in disbelief at what she was telling him.
Annie wasn’t finished. “You have no idea how many lives Keaton has touched. How much good he’s done in this community. I’ll agree, some people think he’s different because he’s prone not to speak, yet he’s genuinely liked and admired.” Her voice grew stronger as she spoke. “Your Maggie gave you the best part of herself in Keaton, and you squandered that gift. If there’s anyone to feel sorry for here, it’s you.”
When she finished speaking, it looked like Seth had drifted away. Death was close now. Annie could feel its approach.
“Maggie?” His hand moved, reaching out to his dead wife, the woman he’d loved and lost. “Oh…Maggie.” His eyes opened and connected with Annie’s. “My Maggie.”
Annie realized he thought she was his dead wife. At this point, Seth Keaton had one foot in life and the other stepping across the line into death.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, his voice a low rattle. “So sorry.”
His eyes closed, and in that instant he was
gone.
Annie waited a moment, checked his pulse, and found there was none. She noted the time and sat with him for several more moments while she tried to make sense of their conversation as best she could.
Linda entered the room. “He passed?”
“Yes.” She gave the hospice worker the time.
“I’ll let his son know,” Linda said.
That relieved Annie of the task, and she was grateful. She didn’t want to be the one to tell Keaton that his father was dead. At some point in the future, if he was willing, she would explain that she’d been at Seth’s side at his passing and what his last words had been.
Although she promised herself to never reveal Seth’s one regret in life. Even knowing what she did about Keaton’s mother, she couldn’t understand how his father didn’t understand or appreciate the gift that his beloved wife had given him.
CHAPTER 37
At his father’s request, no funeral services were held. Seth Keaton Sr. was buried in the cemetery in the space next to Margaret Elizabeth Keaton. A couple days after he’d been laid to rest, Annie stopped by the grave site and brought flowers. Standing over the freshly dug earth, she remembered her last conversation with Keaton’s father, bent down, and set the flowers on Maggie’s grave instead. She decided that his mother was more deserving of the bouquet.
The same afternoon, Keaton unexpectedly joined Annie as she walked along the beach. The day was cloudy and windy, with threatening rainclouds. Lennon raced to her side, his tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth. Annie bent down on one knee to rub his ears. She’d missed him almost as much as she missed her times with Keaton. When she looked up, she found him looming over her. They hadn’t spoken since the day Mellie had stepped onto the porch. She’d waited for him to come to her and had waited in vain.
After giving Lennon attention, Annie sat on a beached log and looked out over the tide as it slowly eased its way out. Her heart expanded when Keaton sat down next to her, with Lennon resting between them.