The Christmas Clock and A Song For My Mother - Kat Martin Page 0,8

longer."

Sylvia noticed the page lying open in Doris's lap, a photo of a cheerful, airy home filled with lush, green plants.

“I know it's none of my business,” Doris said, “but is Lottie all right? When I drove her here two weeks ago, I thought she was coming in for a simple checkup."

“I wish I could tell you but I can't divulge patient information. I'd get fired if I did. Why don't you ask her what's going on? She might be glad to have someone to talk to about it.”

“All right, I will.” Doris smiled. “In the meantime, I hope you're getting settled in.”

“I'm completely unpacked. I'm looking forward to buying some plants and things to make the apartment feel more homey.”

“That's a good idea. I'm very good with plants.”

“I think they make all the difference.”

Doris's look turned thoughtful. “I hope Floyd doesn't make too much noise out in his shop.”

The sawing and hammering could be kind of a nuisance at times but Mr. Culver never worked past nine in the evening and the apartment actually sat over the garage, not the shop, so it wasn't really so bad.

“I'm getting to where I hardly notice,” Syl said.

“That's good to hear.”

“I'll check on Mrs. Sparks.” Syl turned and walked away, hoping Lottie Sparks would confide in her friend. Going through Alzheimer's was difficult enough without trying to do it alone. She was certain Lottie wouldn't mention the problem to her grandson, at least not until she had to, and even then, it would be hard for him to understand.

Syl thought about the darling little boy who lived in the house next door. She had always wanted children. She and Joe had planned to have at least three or four of them.

Then the week before their wedding, she had gone in to see her family physician for a gynecological exam. She had been having some problems with her periods and wasn't sure of the cause. Testing had revealed cervical cancer, fairly well progressed. Treatment would require a complete hysterectomy, followed by chemotherapy.

Syl had been devastated. She was engaged to a man who wanted a family more than anything in the world. And there was no guarantee that the chemo would work.

Still, she knew without a doubt that if she told Joe what was happening, he would say it didn’t matter. He would say that he loved her and he wanted to marry her anyway.

But depriving Joe Dixon of the family he so desperately wanted simply would not have been fair. And making a young man with a bright future deal with the possibility of losing his wife to cancer was simply unthinkable.

Instead, Syl had ended her engagement and left for Chicago. She had refused to return Joe's calls, refused to see him when he followed her to the city. She had lied to him, told him she had never really loved him and that they were both better off going their separate ways.

A broken heart, she believed, was better than a broken future.

In the years after her recovery, she had tried to forget the man she had loved so much, tried to forget the pain she felt whenever she heard his name. Over the years, she had worked to make a new life for herself and for the most part, she had succeeded.

But a day rarely went by that she didn't think of Joe, didn't remember the lies she had told him, the heartbreak she had caused, and that she had ruined his life.

Teddy Sparks arrived at Murdock's Repair Shop about fifteen minutes early, as he had every day since he started. Neither Joe nor Bumper were in the waiting room when he got there. Teddy wandered into the shop and saw a pair of long legs in faded jeans sticking out from beneath a jacked-up car, and strolled over.

“Hi, Joe.”

Joe wheeled himself out from beneath the body of the car. “Hey, kid.” He checked his wristwatch, “You're early again today. I appreciate a man with enthusiasm.”

Teddy grinned. He liked when Joe talked that way. Liked that Joe treated him like a grown-up. “Whatcha want me to do?”

Joe wiped his hands on a grease rag. “Come on. You can sweep up the waiting room.”

As Joe rested a hand on his shoulder and began to guide him toward the waiting room, Teddy looked wistfully behind him at all the cool machinery. He'd been hoping that today might be the day he'd get to do some work in the shop, maybe use a grease gun