Scars

Newt was wide awake and feeling much better by the time they got to the hospital.

After asking how he was feeling, Shane said, "I want to hire Shandy to run the office."

"Oh, you do, do you?" he said in his typical blustering way. "I take a couple a days off and what? You think you run the place?"

"Yeah. Pretty much," his son told him.

He looked over at Shandy and said to Shane, "Well, it might not be so bad to see a pretty face around the office. Lord knows no one wants to look at your ugly mug all day."

"But I thought you wanted to go back home to Missouri," he said to Shandy. "Not that I'm complaining, mind you."

"Oh, things have a way of changing sometimes, Newt," she said sweetly before smiling at Shane.

The look wasn't lost on him nor was the way his son looked back at her.

"Okay, then. She's hired," Newt said.

He looked at Shandy then asked her, "Why aren't you at work, young lady?" which caused both her and Shane to laugh.

The oncologist came in and said, "Oh. Looks like the whole family is here."

"Oh, I'm not family," Shandy said immediately.

"Nonsense!" Newt and Shane said at the same time resulting in another round of laughter.

"Well, I have some very good news, Mr. Kirby. I've been an oncologist for over 15 years and I've never seen a granuloma that big before. But that's what it is."

"So...it isn't cancer?" Shane said not wanting to get his hopes up too high.

"Nope. But because of the size we are going to have to remove it. And you're very lucky you came in when you did. Had it gotten any bigger it could have obstructed your airway and cause even more serious problems. So I've talked to your attending physician and we've agreed to discharge you this morning. Keep taking the antibiotics and give my office a call and we'll get you scheduled for surgery as soon as possible. Any questions for me?" he asked looking at all three of them.

There were none and when he walked out Newt said, "I told you this was nothin'!"

Shandy looked at Shane and both of them wanted to hug the other in the worst way. Instead they just laughed.

"Oh, go on and kiss her," Newt said doing his dismissive wave.

Shandy's eyes opened very wide causing Newt to say, "What? I'm old, not blind. I saw the way you two have been lookin' at each other since you walked in. I know why my boy wants you stay and...how things have changed. I wasn't born yesterday, you know."

"I think maybe we could settle for a hug," Shane said before putting his arms around his beautiful girlfriend. But the hug did turn into a kiss and the comment from Newt made then not only stop but laugh again.

"I was only kidding, for heaven's sake! Save that for when you two alone already, would ya?" causing one more round of laughter from the happy new couple.

Shandy dropped Shane off at work then went back to get Newt and wait until he was discharged. On the way, she stopped by the diner and after saying hello to the only woman she was friends with in Fargo told the owner, "I quit."

She didn't even listen as he cussed her out for leaving him in the lurch. She just smiled and walked out feeling happier than she could ever remember. Well, with the exception of last night, that is.

Late that afternoon, Shane had the new furnace installed and hooked up to the tank that had been set up just behind the house. A few minutes later he switched on the pilot light and just like that, the house had heat again. He set it for 68 degrees, watched it for a few minutes then packed up and headed back to the office.

It was just before 5 o'clock when he stopped by the house. He ran in and grabbed something out of his room bothering only to say 'hey there' and 'welcome home' before running back out.

"Is that normal?" Shandy asked as Shane zipped in and out.

"Nope. Never seen him like that before," Newt said as he finished the chicken soup she'd made for him.

"What can you give me for this?" Shane asked the pawn broker. Shane had paid nearly five grand for the ring and he knew he could never give it to someone else.

He got out his jeweler's lens and after a long look said, "I can give you $2,800 for it."

"I need three grand," Shane countered.

"$2,900. My final offer," the man said.

"Okay. Deal."

By the time Shandy came in to work the next morning, all she found was an invoice saying she owed $2,625 which included the state's 5% sales tax. She'd have a hundred dollars taken out each payday until she paid back the full amount, and because she was now family, there'd be no interest.

"So my house is all nice and toasty warm now?" she asked Shane after they went over the invoice.

"Yes, it is," he told her.

"I see," she said rather coyly.

"What?" Shane asked when she smiled.

"Well, I was just thinking that if you were, you know, tired of living in your old bedroom at your dad's house..."

"Why, are you propositioning me, Ms. Taylor?" he asked feigning indignation.

"I've already corrupted you, so why not?" she replied sweetly.

The office was still empty so she sat on his lap and said, "Besides, I kind of like the way you make me feel whenever you're around."

"Oh, okay. So you'd like me to be around all the time to make you feel that way?"

"Pretty much," she said as she kissed him. "I like the way I feel when you're around me and...in me."

"Ah-hah! Now I get it. You really are a fan of White Snake, aren't you?" he said after she finally told him what she'd meant.

"The biggest!" she said referring to the size of his snake.

"Well, it does make a lot of sense. I mean, that's a lot of house for one very small, very beautiful woman to live in by herself."

"So you'll move in with me?" she asked knowing the answer. "I mean, in a few days once your dad is better, of course."

"If I move in with you, may never want to move out," he said as though it was a warning.

"I see. So this could be permanent?" she asked as though she needed clarification.

"It very well could. At least until we can afford a nicer place of our own."

"Maybe you'll get tired of me before that," she said.

"Right. And maybe bull frogs will sprout wings and stop busting their asses when they jump," he quipped.

Shandy laughed and said, "I love you so much. So...will you move in with me?"

"You better believe it," he said before kissing her just as the first employee came in through the rear entrance.

"Back to your desk, file wench!" Shane said. "Oh, first check and see if there's any lipstick, okay?"

"Ha! If you want to kiss the help, you're on your own...Snake," she said pointing to his bottom lip.

Newt was back home and well on his way to recovery after surgery when Shane moved out two weeks later. When he promised his dad he'd stop by to visit every day he thundered, "Why? I'm gonna be back at work in a couple more days and you can see all the time!"

The truth was he'd had it with work. He was tired and worn out and this latest scare made him realize he didn't want to spend the rest of his life fixing furnaces or installing heat pumps. He didn't tell his son, but he'd set up a profile on a couple of over-50 dating sites and decided to test the waters.

By spring, Shandy was officially single and Shane had put enough away to make a down payment on an even nicer ring he surprised the love of his life with when he proposed the very next day as they had dinner at Deanor's Diner where it had all kind of begun. Betty was still there and even she cried when Shandy happily said 'yes' to her lover's big question.

Her father drove to Fargo for the wedding that summer and immediately hit it off with Newt who was now dating a 'young filly' of his own. By the time he left, he told Shandy he was going to give the dating scene a whirl, too.

But as happy as Shandy had been since the day her furnace died and she'd placed a desperate call for help, nothing was sweeter than holding her first child, born just ten months after her wedding.

As much as she'd love to have been able to breast feed her baby boy, not even the scars that reminded her of her past and all the pain could take away the joy she felt as she held her child in her arms, thankful he would never have to face the decision she had. And as she held him close, the man she loved more than life itself sat beside her as he reminded her once again how much he still loved and would always would—scars and all.