“It sounds good to me,” she said in a whisper, and a tear rolled down her cheek. “Just don't die on me. Please, Matt…I couldn't go through that again…”

“I won't,” he said as he bent down to kiss her. “Not for a long time at least. And I'd appreciate it if you'd make an effort not to get shot again. I'm not the one who nearly died here,” and then he added seriously, “…I would die if I lost you, Ophélie…I love you so damn much…”

“Me too,” she said, and then he kissed her, and as he did, the nurse appeared, and told them he had to leave again, their time was up. ICU patients couldn't have visitors for longer than five minutes, ten at the most, but it had been long enough to find out what they both needed to know.

“Is it official, then?” he asked her, before he left. “Will you marry me?” He wanted to hear it from her lips.

“Yes, I will,” she said softly but meant every word of it. She was ready. And it was time.

“Can I tell Pip?” he asked as the nurse waved him toward the door.

“Yes, you can,” she said, smiling from ear to ear as he left, and she looked up at the nurse with a grin. “I'm engaged.”

“I thought you were married,” she said, looking surprised.

“I am… but I'm not… well, I was…I almost am…I will be,” she explained. She was giddy, she was so excited. All it had taken was getting shot three times to figure it out. A small price to pay.

“Congratulations,” the nurse said, and took her temperature, just as Matt walked back into the waiting room, and Pip stared at him to try and figure out what he'd done.

“Did you chicken out?” she accused him with a worried look, and he shook his head, trying to conceal his excitement from her so he wouldn't give it away.

“No, I didn't.”

Her eyes opened wide. “Did you ask her?”

“Yes, I did.”

Pip could hardly contain herself and neither could he. “What did she say?” She was holding her breath, as he smiled and put his arms around her. She was almost his.

“She said yes,” he said, with tears in his eyes again. It had been a very emotional day.

“She did? OhmyGod! Wow!! We're going to marry you! OhmyGod! Matt!” She put her arms around him, and he swung her around the room. “You did it! You did it!”

“We did it! Thank you for the idea, and the courage, and the kick in the pants. If you hadn't pushed me, I probably would have waited another year.”

“Maybe it was a good thing she got shot, sort of, well… you know …” Pip said thoughtfully.

“No, I don't know. And if she ever does something like that again, I'm going to kill her myself.”

“Me too,” Pip agreed, as they sat side by side together, partners in crime. Everything had worked out exactly as planned, thanks to Pip. All they had to do now was pick a date.





27

OPHÉLIE WAS IN THE HOSPITAL FOR THREE WEEKS. AND Matt stayed at the house with Pip for the entire time. She went back to school after her mother had been in the hospital for a week, but she went to visit her every afternoon. Matt spent the mornings in the hospital with Ophélie, then picked Pip up at school, and would bring her to see her mother in the hospital after school. They settled into a routine for nearly three weeks. And when she came home, Matt carried Ophélie upstairs to her room. She had to take it easy for another six weeks.

They had saved the lung and repaired her stomach, and they said the intestines wouldn't be a problem. She could manage with one ovary, and even have more babies if she wanted to, and the appendix was gone for good. She had been unbelievably lucky, and Louise Anderson from the Center had come to apologize to her for letting her put herself at risk. But Ophélie reminded her repeatedly that it was what she had wanted to do. It had been her choice. But there were going to be no more volunteers on the outreach team, which was just as well, although Ophélie had loved working with them. And she promised to come back to work at the Center itself in a few months, if Matt agreed. He had a say in it now, and he was no longer sure. He thought she should stay home with Pip, and him.

He slept in Ted's old den after Ophélie got home. He wanted to be there in case she needed him, and she was happy to have him there. She still needed help, and it made her feel secure. And Pip was thrilled.

Their wedding plans were going forward, and they had agreed to get married in June, when Vanessa could be there too. Matt had called her in Auckland to tell her, and she was happy for him. And they told Robert when he came to the hospital to see Ophélie.

“We're going to be a family again,” Pip told her mother with a big grin when she got home. It was obvious that Pip loved the idea, but so did Ophélie. It had taken a lot to get her there, too much probably, but she felt comfortable with their decision, and she and Matt were talking about a honeymoon in France, and maybe even taking the kids. Pip loved that idea.

Ophélie was resting quietly on her bed one afternoon, while Matt went to get Pip in school. It was six weeks after the shooting, and she was feeling stronger, but she couldn't drive yet, and she had only been out of the house a few times. She was excited about being able to go downstairs for dinner.

The outreach team had visited her at home several times too. She was thinking about them, when the phone rang and she answered it. The voice at the other end was familiar, but not welcome, and sounded very weak. It was Andrea, and Ophélie thought about just hanging up. But Andrea sensed that, and begged her not to before she could.

“Please… let me just talk to you for a minute… it's important.” She sounded strange and said she'd heard about the shooting and had been horrified. “I wanted to write to you, but I was in the hospital too.” The way she sounded made Ophélie keep listening.

“Did you have an accident?” she asked coolly, but nonetheless concerned. They had been such good friends for so many years.

“No,” Andrea hesitated, “I'm sick.”

“What do you mean, sick?”

There was an endless pause. Andrea had wanted to call her for months, but she didn't dare. And she had to know. “I have cancer,” she said quietly. “They discovered it two months ago. They think I've had it for a long time. I had stomach pains for about a year, and I thought it was just nerves. It started as ovarian, supposedly, but it's in my lungs, and now my bones. It's moving pretty fast.” She sounded almost resigned, but sad. And Ophélie was shocked. No matter how angry she was at her, she didn't want this for her, and it brought tears to her eyes.

“Have you had chemo?”

“Yes, I'm still doing it now. I've had two surgeries, and they'll do radiation after the chemo, but I don't think…I don't think I'll make it that far,” she said honestly. “It looks pretty bad…I know you probably don't want to see me, but I need to know something… will you take Willie for me?” They were both crying by the time she asked.

“Now?” Ophélie sounded stunned.

“No,” she said sadly, “when I die. I don't think it's going to be too long. Maybe a few months.” Ophélie was sobbing by then. Life was so unpredictable, so unfair, so wrong. How did this happen to people? To Ted, to Chad… and now to her. Thinking about it made her all the more grateful for Matt. But she was still shaken by all that she had just heard. No matter what Andrea had done to her, she didn't deserve this, but apparently she didn't agree. “Maybe this is God's punishment for what I did to you, Ophélie. I know ‘sorry’ doesn't begin to cover it, but I am. I've had a lot of time to think about it… I'm so sorry… will you take Willie?” she asked again, and Ophélie just cried. It was all so cruel.

“Yes, I will,” she said through her tears. All she could think of was what Matt had done for her with Pip, and she had only known him for eight months, nearly nine. She knew that Andrea had no one else, and no other choice. She was his godmother, it was right, even if he was Ted's child. It wasn't the baby's fault. “Where is he now? Has someone been helping you take care of him?”

“I hired an au pair,” Andrea said, sounding tired again. “I want him here with me, till the end.” She spoke of it as a sure thing. It was terrible. So unbelievable. She was forty-five years old, and her son would never know either of his parents.

Matt walked in while Ophélie was still talking to her, and he looked puzzled. He could see that Ophélie had been crying, and he walked out of the room again. He didn't want to intrude. He assumed she would tell him about it later.

“Is there anything I can do for you now?” Ophélie asked sadly. She didn't want to leave any bad blood between them, especially now, although she knew that it would have been hard to bridge the chasm that had formed between them.

“I'd like to see you again,” Andrea said, sounding weak. “But I feel sick most of the time. The chemo is pretty awful.”

“And I can't go out yet. As soon as I can, I'll come over.”

“I'm going to have a new will drawn up, if it's okay with you, leaving Willie to you. Are you sure you can handle it, and you won't hate him for what I did?”

“I don't hate you,” she said calmly, “I'm just sad. I was hurt.” But just listening to her, she knew she had forgiven her. And she hadn't done it alone. Ted had been part of it too. That had been the hardest part of it for her. But so much had happened since.

“I'll stay in touch and let you know how I'm doing,” Andrea said practically. “I'll put your number on my emergency forms.” It had been there before, but after what had happened between them, she had taken it off. “And I'll give it to the au pair, in case something happens and I don't get a chance to call.”

“You have to hold on, Andrea. You can't give up.” She was feeling deeply affected by all she'd heard and the way Andrea sounded, and she was sorry that she couldn't get out yet. She knew that seeing Andrea again would be stressful for her. It was still too soon after all she'd been through herself. “I'll call you. Let me know how you are.”

“I will,” she said, crying openly. “Thank you. I know you'll take good care of him.”

“I promise you I will,” and then she decided to tell her about Matt. She had a right to know now. “I'm getting married in June. To Matt.”

There was a long silence, and a slow sigh. As though she felt absolved somehow, and she hadn't totally destroyed Ophélie's life, which she hadn't. “I'm so glad. He's a nice guy. I hope you'll both be happy,” she said peacefully.

“Me too. I'll call you soon. Take care, Andrea.”

“I love you… and I'm sorry,” she said in a whisper, and hung up. Ophélie set the phone down gently, as Matt came back into the room.

“What was that about?” he asked, looking concerned. Ophélie was obviously upset.

“Andrea,” she said, looking straight at him.

“Is this the first time you heard from her?” She nodded.

“Was she begging your forgiveness? She damn well should.” He was still outraged over what she and Ted had done, and then Ophélie realized suddenly that she should have asked him about the baby. But how could she refuse? She didn't think she could, nor should. He was, after all, Pip's half brother, and Ted's child.

“She's dying.”

“When did that happen?” He looked stunned.

“She found out two months ago. She has ovarian cancer, and it metastasized to her lungs and bones. She doesn't think she has more than a few months. She wants me to take the baby. Us …” She decided to make a clean breast of it immediately. “I said yes. How do you feel about that? I told her we were getting married, and I can tell her we can't, if you don't want to. But she doesn't have anyone else. How do you feel about it?” He sat at the foot of her bed for a minute and thought about it. It was certainly a major addition to their life, and not one he had expected, but he could see her point. It would be hard to refuse, and in some ways harder still for her, because the baby was Ted's, and Pip's half brother. It was a very peculiar situation.

“Our family seems to be growing exponentially, doesn't it? I don't see how you can't take him. Do you really think she'll die?”

“Sounds like it. She sounded pretty bad.”

“I don't think we have much choice. At least he's cute,” he said, leaning over to kiss her. He was an incredibly good sport. And they agreed not to tell Pip about it for the time being. It was too depressing, and she had been through enough trauma with her mother over the past six weeks. She didn't need to know Andrea was dying. It was just too much.

Ophélie got a note from Andrea, thanking her, a few days later, and she didn't call after that. Ophélie was going to call her, but she was so tired and weak herself, she kept putting it off and it still upset her. Matt drove her to the beach two weeks later, with Pip and the dog. They took a short walk, and sat in the sunshine. It already felt like summer, and was only March. They talked about their wedding plans. They had decided to do it quietly at the beach, with just their children present, and a priest Matt knew in Bolinas. It sounded just right to them. Neither of them wanted a fancy social event.