Last Chance Christmas (Last Chance #5)(9)
Author: Hope Ramsay

Great. All the angels in Haley’s life were crybabies.

She scratched where the phony beard on the costume itched. The stupid headdress kept falling down over her eyes.

Just then, Maryanne’s momma arrived at the door to the fellowship hall where they were rehearsing. Maryanne’s crying got harder, and she threw herself into her momma’s arms. About that time, other mommas started to arrive, too.

Of course, Haley’s momma wouldn’t be picking her up from rehearsal. Haley didn’t even know who would be coming for her. It could be Aunt Jane, or Granny, or even Lizzy. It probably wouldn’t be Daddy.

Doc Cooper turned back toward the children in the third-grade Sunday School. “All right, y’all did really great. Keep practicing your lines, and we’ll have another rehearsal on Sunday morning.”

Haley didn’t need any rehearsal. She knew her one line: “Let us go unto Bethlehem and see this thing which is come to pass.”

In fact, Haley could recite all the words from the Gospel of Luke, and she knew the difference between waddling and swaddling. And she knew something about angels, too. She cast a glance at the Sorrowful Angel who was sitting in the corner, weeping as usual.

Haley couldn’t do anything about Maryanne, but maybe she could help the Sorrowful Angel. Now was the time to put her plan into action. She straightened her shoulders and set off toward Doc Cooper, who was talking to Maryanne’s mother.

“Hey, Dr. Cooper, can I talk to you about something?” Haley asked as she gave both of the grown-ups her sweetest smile. She had learned that grown-ups tended to give her what she wanted if she was polite and smiled a lot.

“Just a minute, Haley,” Doc said.

He turned toward Maryanne’s mother. “I’m sure if you took some time to help her learn her lines, she’d be more confident.”

Maryanne’s momma didn’t look very happy. “Doc, I don’t think it’s the lines. She’s terrified of speaking in front of folks.”

“She’ll be fine. She needs to face her fears.”

Maryanne’s mother nodded but didn’t look all that certain. When Maryanne and her momma left, Doc Cooper knelt and brought himself down to Haley’s level.

“What is it, Haley?” The doctor had reddish gray hair and freckles on his face like a kid.

“Well, I need a, um, I think they call it a consultation.”

Doc Cooper smiled at her. He had wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. “Do you now? How can I help you?”

“Well, you see…” She hesitated for a moment. It was entirely possible Doc Cooper was like the rest of the grown-ups who didn’t believe in angels or Santa Claus. But he was her Sunday School teacher, so it figured that he had some faith in angels.

“I was wondering if you could help Daddy.”

Something changed in his eyes. “Honey, what’s wrong with your daddy?”

“He needs more room in his heart. I was wondering if you could do an operation.”

The doctor blinked a few times, and Haley had that horrible feeling Doc Cooper might turn out to be like Dr. Newsome or the rest of the grown-ups in town, who were always talking about angels, but not really believing in them much.

“Who told you he needed more room in his heart?” Doc Cooper asked. His forehead was all wrinkly now. That wasn’t a good sign.

She thought about lying. It was sometimes easier to fib about the angel. But ever since last summer, when she discussed her angel problems with Reverend Ellis, she knew that Jesus frowned on that sort of thing.

“The Sorrowful Angel told me,” she confessed. “The angel said Daddy needs to make room in his heart for love. I think that has to happen before she can get back to Heaven. I told her I would consult with you about it. Can you make his heart bigger with an operation?”

“Oh, dear. Honey, it doesn’t work that way.”

“It doesn’t?”

“No, darlin’. I can’t make a heart bigger.” Doc Cooper gave Haley a serious look—the kind grown-ups always got when they were about to say something not nice. “Haley, I know you’ve heard folks talk about how your daddy’s heart is broken. And I suppose in a way that’s true, but I’m afraid I can’t fix that kind of broken heart.”

“Then how’s he gonna get better? And how will the angel get her wings?”

“Wings?”

She nodded. “The angel needs wings. She doesn’t have any wings, and I reckon that’s the problem with her not being able to get back to Heaven. But she told me that if Daddy had more room in his heart, things would work out.”

The doctor nodded seriously, but Haley could tell he was thinking grown-up thoughts. “Honey, usually the kind of broken heart that your daddy has gets better on its own. It just takes time.”

He patted her head and stood up. Haley gazed up at him and realized that Daddy was standing right behind the doctor. He’d heard everything she’d just said.

Chapter 6

The next morning, Stone took a seat in Dr. Andrea Newsome’s office, located in the only medical building in Allenberg. A big desk with brass fittings filled one side of the room. In the corner stood a low table and chairs, with a variety of toys scattered about.

Andrea specialized in kids with problems.

Stone sat in the middle of a couch placed before the doctor’s desk. The minute he’d taken this seat, he’d regretted it. He sank deep into the cushions, and he felt like his knees were stuck in his ears.

“So,” Dr. Newsome said from her place behind her desk, “you said on the phone last night that you wanted to talk about Haley’s progress.”

He nodded and then related what he’d overheard Haley saying to Doc Cooper the day before.

Andrea gave him a long, assessing look. “Chief Rhodes, you do realize that Haley’s angel spends her nights in your bedroom.” She stared down at him out of a pair of deep, dark eyes.

“I am aware of it.”

“And now the angel is telling Haley that you need to grow a bigger heart.”

“Doctor, there isn’t any angel.”

The doc folded her hands together. “Well, that may be outwardly true, but to Haley the angel is real.”

“Yeah, well, it’s your job to make the imaginary angel disappear.”

“Haley has been traumatized. It isn’t that easy.”

“I reckon it’s not, seeing as we have to haul her over here every week, and I haven’t seen any improvement in her condition.”

Dr. Newsome scowled at him. “Look, it would be very helpful if you didn’t constantly challenge Haley about the angel. It’s a symptom of her problems. When you tell Haley that her angel doesn’t exist, it’s like telling her that her problems don’t exist. But for Haley, these things are quite real.”

Stone found it difficult to meet the doctor’s stare, so he looked down at the deep-piled beige carpet.

“Chief, have you ever thought about getting grief counseling?” Dr. Newsome said.

That had him raising his head. “Uh, I thought we were talking about Haley and her imaginary angel friend.”

“We are. The fact that Haley’s angel is talking to her now is significant. Up until now, the angel has been completely silent. I find it interesting that the angel’s first communications are all about you. I also find it interesting that Haley imagines the angel watching over you as you sleep. She clearly sees this angel as your guardian, not hers. To Haley, the angel is a nuisance. She’s made this clear on many occasions. But for some reason, she feels that you need a guardian.

“All of this makes me wonder about your feelings in relation to the death of your wife.”

His muscles tensed. “That is none of your damn business.”

Dr. Newsome didn’t so much as blink. “I think it’s relevant to Haley’s issues. The angel has basically told her that you need to get over your wife’s death. Why do you think Haley is thinking that?”

“Because she spends the majority of her time in the company of my mother, or the members of the Ladies’ Auxiliary, or down at the Cut ’n Curl listening in on every useless bit of gossip in this county. And believe me, my daughter has a mind like a sponge.”

Dr. Newsome straightened the pad on her desk, aligning it perfectly with the edge of her blotter. “Chief, I know Haley hears a lot of gossip. But sometimes what folks say around here has a lot of sense to it.”

“That’s saying a lot coming from a person with the number of diplomas you’ve got hanging on the wall.”

She leaned forward. “Sometimes common sense is more important than book learning. And don’t tell me you don’t agree. We both know the folks around here are smart and sensible.”

He nodded. “Okay. I’ll grant you that. But even in this backwater filled with smart folks, seeing angels is a problem. You’ve got to make the angel go away.”

“Have you ever thought that you’re the one who has to make the angel go away?”

“What?”

“That’s how I read what the angel told Haley. I’ve been talking to her for a year now, and I’m convinced that she’s worried about you almost as much as you are worried about her.”

“So it’s all my fault?”

“No, it’s not all your fault. Bad things happen to good people all the time. If it’s anyone’s fault, blame the drunk driver who took Sharon’s life. All I’m saying is that to help Haley, you should think about moving on.”

“I don’t want to move on. And besides, I couldn’t move on even if I wanted to. Sharon was my soulmate. And if you’ve spent any time listening to the commonsense wisdom of Miriam Randall, then you’d know that a person only gets one of those.”

“I think you could benefit from some grief counseling. I think your older daughter could benefit from it, too.”

Something nasty spilled into his system. Why was it every female on the face of the earth wanted him to go and talk about how he felt? He didn’t want to talk about Sharon. He just wanted to hold on to the sorrow. Somehow the sorrow kept a little bit of Sharon alive. As it was, each day it was getting harder and harder to remember her—even the way she looked sometimes.

“No,” he said, rocking himself up from the too-deep couch. It felt much better to be standing there looking down at Haley’s shrink. “I’m going to handle my loss the way generations of my people have handled it. In a silent and personal way. Now, do you have any other suggestions about dealing with this angel problem?”

He leaned over the desk. Dr. Newsome didn’t look surprised, discomfited, or even fearful. It was damn annoying that he couldn’t intimidate the good doctor the way she could intimidate him.

“Yes,” she said.

“And what would that be?”

“When was the last time you had sex?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“I’m guessing that it’s been a long time. You might think about giving up your celibacy. I know that sounds crazy, but for a lot of men, sex can be a way to let go of the pain and find a way toward new connections.”