I lowered myself onto the lawn. Patrick’s wife is a nurse at the hospital and one of the kindest people I know.
I took another bite of my hamburger, surprised by how delicious it was. I realized I was hungry; no wonder, since the kids had kept me physically active for a couple of hours. I was actually enjoying the taste, a sensation I hadn’t experienced since Hannah’s illness.
“Who’s that?” Melanie asked, pointing out someone else who was sitting alone some distance away.
Patrick looked in the direction his wife had indicated, and I did, too. The woman seemed familiar. I’d seen herearlier while I was involved with the children. I thought at the time that I knew her, but I didn’t remember from where.
“Isn’t that Leanne Lancaster?” Melanie asked her husband.
I nearly dropped my cheeseburger. “Leanne Lancaster?” I repeated.
“Do you know her?” Melanie asked.
I slowly nodded and a numbness spread down my arms. “She was one of Hannah’s oncology nurses.” More than that, Leanne Lancaster was the second name on the list Hannah had given me. Trying not to be obvious, I squinted at her. Leanne looked different—thinner, gaunt, pale. That must’ve been why I hadn’t immediately recognized her.
“I hate to see her eating alone,” Melanie said. She turned to me, then started to get up. “I’ll go over and sit with her.”
“Why don’t you invite her to join us?” Patrick suggested. “Do you mind, Michael?”
“Patrick,” Melanie warned in a low voice.
“What?”
“I don’t want Michael to think we’re matching him up.”
“It’s fine,” I said, interrupting. Little did they know Hannah had already done that. “Invite her if you’d like.” I hadn’t seen Leanne in a year. That we should come across each other now felt like more than coincidence. I couldn’t shrug off the feeling that Hannah had somehow arranged this.
As Melanie walked over to chat with Leanne, Patrick said, “So, how well do you know Leanne?”
“Just professionally.” I was cutting off any matchmaking effort before it could get started.
“She’s had a hard time.”
“Oh?” I wasn’t sure what he meant. “How so?”
“Her divorce.” As he said that, I recalled the comment in Hannah’s letter.
“Her husband was Mark Lancaster,” Patrick went on to explain.
The name caught my attention. “What about him?” I asked. “Who is he?” Hannah hadn’t given me any details about the divorce.
“He’s the guy who embezzled money from that charity benefit the hospital had a couple of years back. He’s an accountant and volunteered to collect the funds. An audit a month later showed a discrepancy of twenty-five thousand dollars. As it turned out, Mark supposedly ‘borrowed’ the money.”
I nodded. The scandal had shocked the hospital community, but for me, of course, it had been eclipsed by our personal tragedy.
“I don’t remember the outcome,” Patrick was saying, “other than the embarrassment Leanne went through and the divorce.”
My guess was that Hannah knew all about Leanne’s troubles; she was the kind of person others confided in.
My thoughts were interrupted when Melanie returned with Leanne. I stood as the two women approached.
“You remember Michael Everett, don’t you?” Melanie asked Leanne.
“Oh, yes. Hello again.”
She had a nice smile, I noticed. I also realized how much she’d changed. Leanne wore her dark brown hair shorter than she had a couple of years ago and she seemed…deflated somehow. Her style was very different from Hannah’s—“careless casual,” I’d call it—and she was taller by several inches.
My perusal came to an abrupt halt. I was doing the very thing I’d sworn not to, and that was comparing her to Hannah, at least in appearance.
“Do you still work at the oncology center?” I asked, making conversation while I considered the last time I’d seen her. It would’ve been two weeks before Hannah’s death. Since almost
I took another bite of my hamburger, surprised by how delicious it was. I realized I was hungry; no wonder, since the kids had kept me physically active for a couple of hours. I was actually enjoying the taste, a sensation I hadn’t experienced since Hannah’s illness.
“Who’s that?” Melanie asked, pointing out someone else who was sitting alone some distance away.
Patrick looked in the direction his wife had indicated, and I did, too. The woman seemed familiar. I’d seen herearlier while I was involved with the children. I thought at the time that I knew her, but I didn’t remember from where.
“Isn’t that Leanne Lancaster?” Melanie asked her husband.
I nearly dropped my cheeseburger. “Leanne Lancaster?” I repeated.
“Do you know her?” Melanie asked.
I slowly nodded and a numbness spread down my arms. “She was one of Hannah’s oncology nurses.” More than that, Leanne Lancaster was the second name on the list Hannah had given me. Trying not to be obvious, I squinted at her. Leanne looked different—thinner, gaunt, pale. That must’ve been why I hadn’t immediately recognized her.
“I hate to see her eating alone,” Melanie said. She turned to me, then started to get up. “I’ll go over and sit with her.”
“Why don’t you invite her to join us?” Patrick suggested. “Do you mind, Michael?”
“Patrick,” Melanie warned in a low voice.
“What?”
“I don’t want Michael to think we’re matching him up.”
“It’s fine,” I said, interrupting. Little did they know Hannah had already done that. “Invite her if you’d like.” I hadn’t seen Leanne in a year. That we should come across each other now felt like more than coincidence. I couldn’t shrug off the feeling that Hannah had somehow arranged this.
As Melanie walked over to chat with Leanne, Patrick said, “So, how well do you know Leanne?”
“Just professionally.” I was cutting off any matchmaking effort before it could get started.
“She’s had a hard time.”
“Oh?” I wasn’t sure what he meant. “How so?”
“Her divorce.” As he said that, I recalled the comment in Hannah’s letter.
“Her husband was Mark Lancaster,” Patrick went on to explain.
The name caught my attention. “What about him?” I asked. “Who is he?” Hannah hadn’t given me any details about the divorce.
“He’s the guy who embezzled money from that charity benefit the hospital had a couple of years back. He’s an accountant and volunteered to collect the funds. An audit a month later showed a discrepancy of twenty-five thousand dollars. As it turned out, Mark supposedly ‘borrowed’ the money.”
I nodded. The scandal had shocked the hospital community, but for me, of course, it had been eclipsed by our personal tragedy.
“I don’t remember the outcome,” Patrick was saying, “other than the embarrassment Leanne went through and the divorce.”
My guess was that Hannah knew all about Leanne’s troubles; she was the kind of person others confided in.
My thoughts were interrupted when Melanie returned with Leanne. I stood as the two women approached.
“You remember Michael Everett, don’t you?” Melanie asked Leanne.
“Oh, yes. Hello again.”
She had a nice smile, I noticed. I also realized how much she’d changed. Leanne wore her dark brown hair shorter than she had a couple of years ago and she seemed…deflated somehow. Her style was very different from Hannah’s—“careless casual,” I’d call it—and she was taller by several inches.
My perusal came to an abrupt halt. I was doing the very thing I’d sworn not to, and that was comparing her to Hannah, at least in appearance.
“Do you still work at the oncology center?” I asked, making conversation while I considered the last time I’d seen her. It would’ve been two weeks before Hannah’s death. Since almost
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