Waking Up in Charleston by Sherryl Woods Page A

old-timer’s thing, what good’s it going to do knowing? They can’t cure it.”
    “There are things you could do, medicines that might help,” Caleb corrected. “And maybe it’s something else entirely, just a vitamin deficiency or something.”
    “You don’t believe that any more than I do,” Big Max scoffed. “Look, I’ve got money so somebody can take care of me, if it comes down to that. In the meantime, I’ll just go along the way I have been.”
    “But Amanda–”
    “Is not to know a damn thing about any of this,” Max said heatedly. “I mean that, Reverend. ” He said the last as if it were a curse, rather than a title of honor. “There’s nothing to tell, anyway.”
    “At least see a doctor,” Caleb pleaded. “I’ll go withyou. I’ll help you deal with it, whatever the outcome. Don’t just let this disease win, Max. Fight it. Get whatever help is out there.”
    “Will it get you out from underfoot if I say yes?” Max asked.
    “For tonight,” Caleb responded.
    “That’s not much incentive,” Max said. “So I won’t give you much of a promise. I’ll think about what you said. That’s the best I can do.”
    Caleb looked into his eyes, detected the fear Max would never admit to having. “Make the appointment, Max. It’s always better to know what you’re dealing with.”
    Max gave him a wry look. “Is it really? I wonder if you’d be saying that if you were sitting here in my shoes.”
    Caleb gave his shoulder a squeeze. “You’re tough enough to take the truth, Max.” He leveled a look directly into his eyes. “So is Amanda.”
    “But she won’t hear the truth, not from you,” Max said to him urgently. “I have your word on that.”
    Caleb sighed. He knew that without his commitment, Max wouldn’t see the doctor. He’d view that as the one sure way to make sure there was no truth to tell.
    “If you’re sick, she’ll need to know, Max,” he said firmly. “But for now I’ll leave it to you to decide when it’s time to tell her.”
    As he left the house, Caleb had the uneasy sense that he’d just made another pact with the devil and that it was one he was going to have plenty of time to regret.
     
    Mary Louise couldn’t seem to quit throwing up. She’d been munching on saltines and sipping ginger aleall day, but the stupid morning sickness was worse than the flu. It just wouldn’t go away.
    She knew she must look like a total wreck, because Willie Ron came into the Stop and Shop to get his check, took one look at her and ordered her to get out and go home to bed.
    “Come back to work when you’re over this flu bug,” he said. “I can cover your shift and mine till then.”
    “I can’t leave. I’m supposed to work a double shift,” she told him.
    “And I’m here,” he pointed out. “I’ll fill in.”
    “But you just stopped by,” she protested. “It’s not fair to ask you to cover for me on your day off. You’ve probably got plans.”
    “Nothing that can’t wait, and you didn’t ask. I offered,” he said. “Besides, somebody’s liable to come in and rob the place if they know you’re locked in the bathroom every fifteen minutes.”
    That possibility had actually crossed her mind, too. She was always careful to lock the register before going into the bathroom, but if anyone hung around and noticed her repeated absence, who knew what they might decide to do? Even if they only stole some beer or candy, she didn’t want it happening on her watch. The manager would eventually catch on that inventory was going missing on her shift and she’d be fired, no questions asked. Even though she wasn’t on some career track here, she didn’t want to lose this job, not now when every penny was going into savings for the baby.
    “Okay,” she said at last. “But why don’t I at least stay and keep you company? That way if Mr. Garrison shows up, he won’t think I’m blowing off work.”
    “And why don’t I just tell him that we switched