Rodney: Marshall’s Shadow – Jaguar Shapeshifter Romance by Kathi Barton (books for new readers TXT) 📕

get something good to eat, and she’d be right there when she came back. Shannon knew it wore her out quickly when she tried to stay cheerful for her. Resolving to try and be less teary, Shannon made her way to the cafeteria to get herself something to eat.

Not that she had a lot of experience eating in the hospital cafeteria, but she thought this one was superior in what it served up. They not only had a daily special that had been delicious every time she’d gotten it, but there was a wide selection of desserts too. Her favorite so far was the farmers peanut butter pie. She didn’t understand the title of it, but it didn’t deter her from having a piece daily when she came in.

It was hard for her to realize she’d been here only two weeks with her momma. It seemed a lifetime ago when she’d had to pull off to the side of the road when Momma started throwing up blood. Not just a little either—a scary amount of it. The ambulance was there within minutes and rushed her momma away from her. Driving to the hospital the medics had given her directions to, her momma was already in surgery when she finally made it there.

After the doctor said the words terminal cancer, very little else got through to her mind. Her momma had it in her bloodstream, which meant it had spread all over her body. It had taken her momma two days to recover from the loss of blood and then a couple more days for her to be able to talk to her. They had both cried that entire first day. Then Momma had gotten over it and seemed to be all right with what her body was doing to her.

Sitting at the table by the window, Shannon watched a couple of black squirrels chase each other all around the open garden area. Someone had planted some beautiful flowers in the area, and they were happy enough to make her feel a little better by just seeing them. When a large tray was set on the other side of her, she looked at the elderly man who sat down with her.

“Howdy, Darlin. I saw you sitting here all by your lonesome and thought I’d keep you company. I like that pie myself. Don’t rightly understand the farmer part of it—far as I know, farmers didn’t eat peanut butter—but then I’ll eat it no matter what it’s called. My name is Sheppard, but everyone calls me Grandda. What’s your name?” She told him. “Shannon is a pretty name. It is. Not as lovely as you are, but about there. You’re here with your mom. I heard the nurses telling me what wonderful people the two of you are. I’m sorry about your mom, sweetie. I truly am.”

“Thank you.” She decided she would unload on this man. For whatever reason, when he sat down with her, she thought of him as someone she’d known forever. Friends were something she didn’t have a great deal of, and he seemed to be one. “She’s going to die. Cancer. When she got sick in my car, we were headed to Florida. To catch a cruise ship for three glorious weeks. Now I have to figure out a way for me to go on without her.”

“You will. That’s a given, honey. I lost two loves of my life. Thought for sure I’d not want to carry on either, but I got me some grandsons and their wives that sort of bullied me into getting on with life.” He laughed. “Harris, my granddaughter-in-law, she’s a bit on the blunt side. Told me she was going to bury me alive if I just kept sitting there. She was right. Mean, but right in me not living. Now I have me a bunch of great-grandbabies and more to come.”

“It’s just my momma and me. She had me when she was very young. Her parents kicked her out even though they knew she’d been raped.” Looking at the squirrels again, she continued with her story. “I was born on her fourteenth birthday. In all that time, she’s never once made me feel like I ruined her life. Or blamed me when her parents were willing to take her back if she were to get rid of me.”

“Your mom, she sounds like a heck of a woman. Yessiree, a heck of a woman.” Shannon told him she thought so as well. “My grandson and his wife, they’re doctors. Rodney, he told me he hates telling people they got cancer. He told me they know it’s going to take their loved ones from them. Even his wife, Rebel, she told me it’s worse when it’s a child that is sick with it. It’s a terrible thing. I’m so sorry the two of you are going through this.”

“I am as well.” She realized she’d eaten everything on her plate and did feel a little better for it. “You’re very good company, Sheppard. Thank you for listening to me whine. I do that. My momma told me that it’s a fact of life that we all die, but that her ticket came up sooner than she’d like. But she’s all right with it. I’m not, in case I was hiding it.”

“You weren’t. But you weren’t whiney either. Sometimes you just need to get things off your chest, and I was here to help you along with that.” She thanked him again. “No need for that. I’m glad I could be here for you. You were looking a little off your feed, and I decided to come to see if I could help you.”

“You did. A great deal, as a matter of fact.” The speaker buzzed, something she’d come to associate with an announcement. Waiting for the person to speak, she had a sudden feeling it had to do with her momma. “I have to go.”

As she was racing toward the elevator, she heard the room