The Reckoning by Beverly Lewis

Author:Beverly Lewis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2010-10-26T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

The hospice was especially quiet on Monday morning. Katherine had gone early, taking her guitar along, hoping to play soft music to entertain the patients as they ate their breakfast in the family-style eating area.

First, as was the procedure each time she came, she was given the update on all the inpatients. Two patients had passed away since her last visit, sadly enough. Willy, however, had remained the same.

When she asked permission to play, Natalie was thrilled with the idea. “Feel free to bring your guitar anytime you come, Katherine. Music is good therapy for the patients.”

One of the nurse’s aides took her back to the dining room and introduced her to the patients. “This is Katherine Mayfield, and she would like to play some breakfast music for you.”

Some of the patients clapped, but most of them just smiled up at her. For a moment, she wondered if maybe this was the reason she had come to Canandaigua. Maybe this, in God’s providence, had been the real purpose for her search so far from home.

Willy’s eyes lit up when he saw her, and she played several old tunes from Hickory Hollow days, then got brave and actually sang along.

The boy’s face beamed with approval and afterward he asked about the songs. “How’d you learn to play like that?”

“Oh, I had a little help, I guess you could say.”

“From your daddy, maybe?”

She chuckled. “No, my father didn’t help me play music.”

“Then who?”

“A good friend of mine.”

A broad smile broke out on his face. “Your boyfriend, right?” He had her, but she wouldn’t admit it.

“What’s his name?” Willy probed.

This conversation was going too far, too fast. But, looking into his curious eyes, she decided it wouldn’t hurt to share a bit with the boy. “Dan. That was his nickname.”

“What happened to your Dan? Did he help other people learn to play, too, besides you?”

She hadn’t ever thought of that, really—had never wondered about it, come to think of it. “I don’t know, but maybe he did. Dan was like that … always enjoyed being around lots of people, eating and talking, and sometimes just being quiet with a good friend.”

“I think you must’ve loved him,” Willy said softly.

She was startled by the comment. But she wouldn’t deceive this wonderful boy, this adorable child who was dying a little bit every day before her very eyes. “Yes, I loved Dan very much.”

“Then why didn’t you marry him?”

“He went away … for a long, long time.”

“Too long?” He stared at her, waiting for an answer.

“Maybe so.” It was surprising that she’d allowed herself to be pulled into such a conversation. But there was something innocent and sweet—trustworthy, too—about Willy. And each time she had come to visit, to cheer him with her presence, she was aware that he had encouraged her. Yet, sadly enough, his determined spirit, his will to live, seemed to be fading. She could see the light slowly going out of his eyes.

Today, though, while she played the guitar, she’d noticed a flicker of vitality in him.

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