The Someday List by Stacy Adams

Author:Stacy Adams
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2010-07-02T20:00:00+00:00

20

Despite their awkward encounter earlier, Troy kept his word.

He showed up about two hours into Aunt Irene’s four-hour hip replacement surgery and joined Uncle Charles, Aunt Melba, Rachelle, and Pastor Taylor in the waiting room. The folks who had called earlier and told Rachelle they would be stopping by the hospital never materialized.

When lunchtime rolled around, Troy accompanied Rachelle and Melba to the hospital’s cafeteria.

“Just the smell of that food makes my stomach turn,” Rachelle said as they rode the elevator to the basement.

“You get used to it, and after a while it doesn’t faze you,” Troy said. He let the ladies step out first, then walked between them to their destination.

Melba raised an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you worked in a hospital too—a singing, mechanical engineer physician?”

Troy threw his head back and laughed. It was contagious. Rachelle and Melba joined in.

“You guys think I’m the bomb, don’t you?” he said and grinned.

When they had paid for their sandwiches and claimed an empty table, he explained his earlier comment.

“My mother was diagnosed with colon cancer about eight years ago, so I spent a lot of time with her at the hospital,” he said. “So much that a lot of the staff got to know me. I kept telling them I’d sing for a good meal, and one day, they took me up on the offer.”

Melba laughed heartily. “I’m so sorry to hear about your mother, Troy. But did I just hear you say you sang for hospital cafeteria food?”

He smiled sheepishly. “I was young and trying to impress people, okay?”

Rachelle read between the lines. Trying to impress the women, he meant to say.

“You weren’t that young eight years ago,” Rachelle teased. “You’re five months older than me, so that would have put you in your late twenties. Come on, now.”

He shook his head. “You ladies win, okay? Let’s just eat.”

They munched on their food in silence for a while, but Rachelle wanted to know more about his mother. “Is your mother okay?” she asked.

“She’s in heaven now, but yes, she’s okay,” he said.

Rachelle’s heart went out to him. She wanted to reach for his hand, to comfort him, but knew better, especially on Aunt Melba’s watch.

“When she was diagnosed, we moved her to Milwaukee to live with my brother and his family. He had just been hired as an assistant principal there and couldn’t come back to Dallas,” Troy said. “I was working for an engineering firm that had an office in Milwaukee. I asked for a transfer so I could be there to help.”

He looked at Rachelle. “I don’t know if you remember my sister.”

Rachelle nodded. “Of course. She was very pretty and very bright.”

“Tania was a mixed-up teenager when all of this was going on,” he told them. “Before the move and Mom’s illness, she really got off track, had a baby, and dropped out of high school before graduating.”

“Tania?” Rachelle was incredulous.

Troy nodded. “When we moved to Milwaukee, she started dating some thug and wound up on drugs.

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