Must-Have Husband

fine looking after myself.”
    “Sure you do.” Hank gingerly fingered his ankle, and Mac winced. “Anything else hurt?”
    “Everything else hurts, but it’s the ankle that bothers me the most.”
    Hank finished his examination, then rolled Mac’s jeans leg back down. “Well, it will live,” he said, patting his friend’s knee. “Just keep some pressure and ice on it for the next couple of days. Oh yeah, and elevate it if you can.”

    Connie and Linda sat on a bench beneath a mounted bear head in the lobby.
    “I hope he’s all right,” Connie said with concern.
    “Yeah, me too. We leave for Napa in the morning.” She turned toward her sister. “Are you sure you won’t change your mind about…?”
    “No! I’m telling you, Linda. That level of deception is against my moral code.”
    Just then, Connie’s cell phone rang. She stared down at the incoming number with a gasp. Linda looked too, then said, “Well, look who it is. The old code breaker.”
    “Grandpa,” Connie said, activating her speakerphone. “What a coincidence. We were just talking about you.”
    “And I was just thinking about you,” he said with a wheeze. “You and Linda both. Of course, there is one major difference between you.” He broke into a sporadic coughing fit, then caught his breath. “ She’s my married granddaughter.” Connie could just imagine him sitting there in an expensive bathroom and in his high-end electric wheelchair. Several beautiful nurses were bound to be catering to him as they spoke. One combing his silvery hair. Another straightening the pillow at his back. A third sweetly bringing him a tray laid for tea. “But not for long, eh?” he continued. “Soon, you’ll be next. Then all of the Oliver women will have fulfilled the family tradition.”
    Linda met her gaze, and Connie frowned.
    “The tradition,” the old man went on, “that your grandmother began. One dress made from original Paris lace, destined to bless an entire family. Every female in the lineage. And it’s a good thing your blessed day is nearly here.” He hacked loudly into his receiver. “I’m not getting any younger, you know. The doctors say I could go at any minute.” Linda’s brow creased with concern as Connie’s heart hung heavy with worry. She loved her grandfather greatly. It was painful to imagine he wouldn’t always be around. “I thank God every day you came to your senses and found yourself a groom before my eightieth birthday. What a gift this is to me. My very last granddaughter getting married! And just in the nick of time. You are bringing him to the party, eh? Just like you promised?”
    “You promised to bring him to the party?” Linda spewed under her breath. “Why didn’t you say so?”
    She hadn’t said so, because leaving out that little detail hadn’t seemed worse than omitting all the rest of the truths she’d left unsaid. She really was in a horrible mess. Maybe she should come right out and say it. “Grandpa,” she began tentatively, “the truth is, I have something to tell you…”
    He choked up on the other end of the line, springing into another coughing and wheezing spell. “Hang on, dear granddaughter. Hold on.” He breathed between fits and starts. “That’s my Connie,” she heard him tell one of the nurses. “The last single gal in the family. But she’s going to do it before I die. Make me and her late grandmother proud.” He started coughing again, and someone took away the phone.
    “I’m afraid Mr. Oliver will have to call you back,” a female voice said while the coughing continued.
    “Of course,” Connie said as Linda studied her with a sad look. “Oh, Linda,” she said, feeling defeated. “What am I going to do? He may not even live until my imaginary wedding.”
    “He didn’t sound good,” Linda agreed.
    Emotion roiled within Connie at the thought of losing her grandfather. He’d been more like a dad to her and her siblings than their real father had, always taking an interest in their lives, asking about and supporting their goals. It was only in advanced old age that he’d begun getting ornery, a little pigheaded perhaps, and intent on getting his way. But considering the constant love and support he’d provided the family throughout the years, everyone saw fit to indulge him. Even if that meant supplying him with three beautiful nurses, when one homely one would have been sufficient. “You don’t know how I hate ruining his party.