Grandda rode over to the house with her. He was playing around with the glove box, he called it, and the dials on the radio. When they were coming up on the pharmacy, he remembered he had a prescription to pick up. Wondering how she was going to afford that and pay for her late book fees, she went inside while Grandda told Mars what they were doing. Waiting in line, she thought of all the things she still needed to finish up before the end of term.
This was her last term in college. It was so close that she could almost taste it. Of course, she still would have to take her state boards, but she’d been studying for that since the beginning and hoped that she’d not have any trouble with it. Three more weeks of classes, and she’d be ready to sit in a room with other nurses to be and take the test. Christ, it had been a long road, but she was so happy that she’d been able to finish it in a reasonable amount of time.
It was her turn next in the line.
“Hello, Rayne. How’s the new home? I bet your grandda is loving all the rooms on one floor.” She told the pharmacist they were headed out there now to see it. “I got a call from Wats. He said you were going to be working for him in the office. He couldn’t get a better nurse to work with him. How much longer do you have to go, honey?”
Mr. Windle handed her the bag with her grandda’s prescription in it as she told him how long she had to go. He asked her if working with him over the summer had gotten her the credits she’d needed last year.
“Yes. They were impressed with how much you were able to help me with. And when I took my test on pharmacology, I aced it.” She looked for the price on the bag and couldn’t find it. “I don’t know how much I’m going to need to pay. I mean, I know Brenda will need to ring me out, and I don’t want to cause her any undue trouble.”
“No charge.” She asked him what he meant. “Wats is a good man and a great doctor. He’s also helping my daughter out with her summer camp needs. I know you’ve met my daughter. She is going to a special ed camp this summer and spring that Wats was able to get her into. I owe that man more than I can ever repay him. I don’t charge them for any meds they need, and since you’re going to be working for him, I don’t want to charge you either. Call it a perk.”
“But I know that Grandda’s meds are expensive, Mr. Windle. That’s too much for someone that hasn’t even worked yet.”
He told her it wasn’t to him. Nor for what the Wilkersons, the younger generation anyway, had done for him and his family. She didn’t know what to say, so Rayne thanked him profusely for the perk and made her way out to the car.
Grandda was talking to Wesley Wilkerson, father to Wats, just as she came out of the pharmacy. She was unsure how she felt right now and had to have her grandda repeat with he’d just asked her. Mr. Wilkerson got into the backseat of the car and told her it was all right. He’d just hitch a ride over to the restaurant with her.
Rayne had always been a very careful driver. But having a car that not only stopped when you pushed on the brakes just a little but would leap forward when the gas pedal was engaged made her a nervous wreck. Neither of the men said a word to her when she started out with a jump and stopped hard enough to nearly toss them out of their seats. She’d never been so happy to pull into a parking lot as she was when she got to the place to meet the others for lunch. Grandda went in, but Mr. Wilkerson stayed behind with her.
“You all right, honey?” She said she was just a little on the nervous side. “I spoke to Wats just now. He invited me to meet you. He said that you and he were going to be seeing each other. I don’t know how much you know about the wives of the family, but we’re trying very hard to get to know our sons. I won’t be intruding, will I?”
“Goodness no. I’m not sure of a lot of stuff going on right now.” She told him everything, including the need to have Wats hold her and the prescription perk. “It’s too much. And this car? While I really appreciate it, I’m sure it wasn’t cheap. Not on top of them putting in a home for my grandda.”
“You know my family, don’t you? I mean, the fact that we’re wealthy in our own right. Not to be rude, but I know that buying this car for you and putting in a better house for your grandfather isn’t going to hurt them at all. They’ve been good boys all their lives—no thanks at all to myself and their parents, but because of my sister. You let them do this for you, Rayne. Please. If it worries you too much thinking that they want something else from you, then you’d be wrong. They all just see something they can fix, and they do it. I’m very proud of them for that.”
She turned and looked at the man. “When I was ten years old, I saw your wife berating Wats for helping my grandma to her car when it was snowing. He’d gone out and started it for her so that it would be warmed up when she got out there.” Mr. Wilkerson said it sounded like something he’d do. “Not only did Tina slap him, but she kicked him when he
