grandmother always said things happen
for a reason,” she said as she clicked her seatbelt and threw her car into
reverse. “There’s a reason we met today. Don’t you think?”
Mary Jane was engaging and charismatic.
During our hour long drive into town, she told stories of her youth, stories
about the house in which we were staying and stories about her grandmother.
In the 1950s, Mary Jane’s grandparents
purchased this house and a few acres of land. Her grandfather had wanted to
farm the land, but her grandmother had always dreamed of having an orchard and
a little English garden. Mary Jane’s grandfather designated a portion of the
land to give his wife a gorgeous garden and planted apple, pear, and peach
trees all along the driveway for shade and to give his wife the orchard she so
wanted.
“He was always big on function, which is
why many of the rooms inside the house served dual purposes and were designed
with utility in mind,” Mary Jane explained. “I’m sure you’ve noticed some of
the kooky characteristics of that old place.”
“Yeah, I have. I was a little creeped out our first night.”
“Oh, don’t be,” Mary Jane insisted. “That’s silly. It’s just a very different kind of house.”
Mary Jane’s father was an only child, and
after her grandfather had passed and her grandmother became ill, he moved into
the acreage to help take care of his mother.
“He was used to being a spoiled only
child and eventually drained his mother’s bank accounts dry. As her illness
grew worse and the medical bills were piling up, he took to gambling and
hanging out with the wrong crowds to pay their debts,” Mary Jane sighed. “It
was a downward spiral from there.”
“That’s terrible. I’m so sorry.”
“I assure you, I am of his blood, but I
do not approve of the things he did,” Mary Jane promised. “I was raised by my
mother and stepfather. I was close to my grandparents, but not really my
father. He had his inner demons to battle, so he couldn’t be the father I
needed. That’s what my mother always told me anyway. Sorry. I’m rambling aren’t
I?”
By now we were seated in the waiting room
of Geneva County Hospital. The front desk clerk handed me a clipboard and asked
me to complete a stack of paperwork. As I got to the address section, I
realized I had no clue where we lived, let alone what our address was.
“I feel so silly, but we just moved here
the other day and I can’t seem to remember our address,” I lied to Mary Jane.
The truth was, I never knew our address to begin with.
“1573 285 th Avenue,
Hartsfield, South Dakota,” Mary Jane replied instantaneously.
I completed the paperwork and gave the
clipboard back to the clerk. “Do you know how much longer it will be?” Tuck
fussed as he clung onto my hip. “He’s still burning up.”
“Soon,” the middle-aged clerk enunciated
behind thick-rimmed glasses. “Please have a seat and we will call your name
when we are ready for you, Ms. Decker.”
“Did you hear her?” I said to Mary Jane
as I sat back down.
“I did. She was a little condescending to
you. I don’t like that,” Mary Jane scooted towards the end of her seat, like
she was going to get up. “I want to say something to her.”
“No, please, don’t. I don’t like to cause
a scene.”
“Don’t let people talk to you that way.
You asked a simple question and she gave you attitude. Not cool in my book.” Mary
Jane sat back in her seat. “I won’t say anything.”
“Tuck Decker,” a nurse called from behind
swinging doors.
“I’ll be right here when you get out,” Mary
Jane promised, grabbing a magazine from the table next to her.
Mary Jane Sweet was, quite possibly, an
angel.
CHAPTER 6
The knock on the door the next morning
startled me awake. I’d