Love Comes Home (28 page)

So instead of being honest and leaning on him, she made excuses. “I’m just tired. Being in the family way is not as easy as I thought. I figured anything Evie could do, I could do twice as easy. Guess not, but I’m fine. Really.”

She had thought that about Evie. And now look at Evie waddling around weeks from delivering her baby and Kate here in bed. Aunt Hattie had to be wrong about this being necessary. She had to be.

“You’re better than fine.” He put his hand over her barely rounded tummy. “He’s going to be better than fine too.”

“He?” She pushed a smile out on her face. “He could be a she.”

“We both know he’s going to be a he, don’t we?”

She laughed, forgetting her worries for a moment. “Do you want a boy that much? Little girls dote on their daddies, you know.”

“Maybe we’ll have one of each. That way we won’t have to choose.”

“Twins. I don’t think so. I’d be bigger if that was so.” She managed to keep her smile, but the worry crowded up in her again. She should be bigger already with just one baby forming there.

He sat up and looked her directly in the face. “I don’t care which we have. As long as you’re okay.”

“And the baby,” Kate whispered.

“And the baby,” he agreed. “But right now I’m just thinking about you. I want you to feel better. You stay right there in bed all day if you need to.”

“I will. You better get going. You’ll be late.”

“Right.” He looked at the clock and stood up. “Or if you want me to, I’ll go up to the store and call the boss.
Take you to the doctor.” They didn’t have a phone here at the house yet.

“I’ve got an appointment tomorrow. Uncle Wyatt is loaning me his car.”

“You can tell him never mind. I’ll take off tomorrow and drive you to the doctor.”

“If you want to.”

“I do.” He looked down at her and hesitated again. “Maybe I should get Birdie to come stay with you today.”

“She’s already on the way to school. She rides with the Baxter boy.”

“She’s not getting struck on him, is she?” Jay frowned.

“I don’t think so, but she’ll get struck on some boy someday. I did.” She grabbed his hand and kissed it. “On you.”

“Not when you were fourteen.”

Kate laughed. “When I was fourteen, I would have probably told you to get lost unless you were good at playing ball or catching frogs.”

“We’d have been okay. I was a world champion frog catcher when I was a kid.” Jay leaned down to kiss her head. “You take care of my girl and boy today.”

When she gave him a puzzled look, he pointed at her middle. “The twins.” Then he grabbed his jacket and was gone.

He didn’t go out to the kitchen to grab anything to eat, and Kate felt guilty all over again for not getting up. Her mother always got up and fixed breakfast. Always.

Maybe not when she was expecting
, a little voice whispered in Kate’s head. Three babies. And the one she’d lost. The first one while Kate’s father was in France fighting World War I. Kate slid back down in the bed and pulled the cover over her head. She didn’t want to think about that. Not today.

Instead she’d think about Jay warming up to the idea of being a father. Talking about twins. She smiled a little and pushed the cover off her head. Another reason she couldn’t tell him her worries. But was that really right? Her smile slid away as she stared up at the ceiling and tried to ignore the pain in her back.

Why didn’t she tell him how bad she was feeling and how scared she was? Why didn’t she at least tell him to stop by the store and let her mother know she wasn’t feeling well? Her mother would check on her no matter how busy the store was.

She might need somebody to check on her. She might need her mother. Or Aunt Hattie, but Aunt Hattie couldn’t walk down to see her. She looked as weak as Kate had ever seen her yesterday, but not too weak to pray for Kate’s baby. Aunt Hattie’s prayers were powerful.
But your will, not ours, Lord, for you
knows best.

“Dear Lord, please.” The longing in her heart reached toward the Lord.

Once, when she was Lorena’s age, she’d been so angry at God that she turned her back on him, but the Lord hadn’t turned his back on her. He’d simply waited until she came to her senses and opened her heart to him again.

Since then, Kate thought her faith couldn’t be shaken, but perhaps she’d been coasting along thinking that because she hadn’t been challenged with hard times. She hadn’t had to read a telegram from the War Department the way Tori had about Sammy. Tori was going through a valley even now as she searched for answers to why her fervent prayers hadn’t brought Sammy home. Aunt Hattie would tell her, and had, that everybody had dark valleys to walk through. That wasn’t the Lord’s doing. It was just the way of the world.

“But please, Lord.” Kate closed her eyes. More words weren’t necessary. The Lord knew what she wanted.

Trust
him. He knows best.
Aunt Hattie’s voice sounded in Kate’s head almost as if she were standing beside the bed.

Kate woke a little after noon, feeling better. She sat up and ate a few crackers and drained the water glass. Then she had to get up for the bathroom. Since she was feeling better, she washed her face, combed her hair, and got dressed. It just seemed what she ought to do. Kate Tanner didn’t stay in her nightgown all day long. She could lie on the couch the same as the bed. Aunt Hattie hadn’t said she couldn’t use her eyes to read. Plus there was still that article for the newspaper to finish up.

Graham showed up just as she was settling on the couch with extra pillows and some cheese and crackers. Mothers-to-be had to eat whether they felt like it or not.

When Graham asked why she was lounging around, she told him the truth. “Aunt Hattie said I should lie down for a while.”

Graham’s face went from teasing to worried in an instant. “Something wrong?” he asked as he sat down in the chair closest to the couch.

Then she wasn’t quite as truthful. “My back’s been hurting some and Aunt Hattie told me it might be a good idea to take it easy. She knows a lot about babies coming.”

“You’re right there. She used to be the nearest thing to a doctor Rosey Corner had and a comfort to a woman carrying a child.” His frown got a little tighter. “But Hattie’s why I came by. Thought I ought to let you know she’s not doing good.”

“She looked tired yesterday, but not that bad.” Kate raised up off her pillow, worry poking her now.

“I don’t know about yesterday, but Fern says she’s laying abed today. Not wanting to eat. Barely awake enough to pray.”

Kate remembered her prayers that morning and the ones circling in her head even now about her baby. Prayers she’d thought Aunt Hattie would be saying too, and now Aunt Hattie needed prayers for herself.

“I could take her to the doctor.” Kate sat up.

Graham waved her back down. “She wouldn’t be happy about that if she told you to rest. Besides, a doctor can’t do anything for what’s ailing Hattie. Age. You know yourself she’s been ready to go for months now. Eager even.”

“I’m not ready for her to go.” Kate stared toward the window. She couldn’t lose Aunt Hattie today.

“And she may not go just yet. Just because she’s ready don’t mean the good Lord’s ready for her. She’s had these sinking spells before and come out of them.”

“But one of these days she might not.” Kate looked back at Graham, wanting him to tell her this wouldn’t be that day.

Graham blew out a breath of air and leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “One of these days she won’t. That’s true for us all.”

“Do you think we all have our time already set when we’re born?” Kate sank back on her pillows.

“That question’s too hard for this old man to answer.” Graham stared down at his hands. “But the good Lord knows all the answers. And with Hattie, he might be thinking she’s more than earned her rest. That he needs her good sense up there with him.”

“Young people die too. Even babies sometimes.” Her heart felt heavy at the thought. “There are a lot of babies’ graves in the cemetery at church.”

“You’re right about that.” Graham looked up at her. “Fevers of all sorts had a way of carrying off the little ones in the earlier days.”

“And then there are wars. Sammy would still be with us if not for the war.”

“Sammy and a lot of others.” Graham rubbed his hands up and down his thighs as he considered her words. “Hattie would be a better one for you to ask this. Or Mike. I ain’t no preacher.”

“But what do you think? You’ve always told me what you think about things.”

“Maybe so, but you used to ask easy questions about how many leaves were on the maple tree in your yard or if toad frogs really could give you warts. Your questions have gotten some harder over the years.” He smiled at her.

“But you still know the answers.” He’d been her best buddy since the day she could toddle after him. The same way Samantha loved him now. He was a favored uncle, best friend, and grandfather all rolled into one. A man who would run through fire for her. Who had, in a way, picked her husband by giving Jay a place to stay in Rosey Corner. Who would answer her questions whether they made any sense or not.

He pulled in another deep breath and blew it out slowly. “Okay, the way I see it, even if the good Lord does know our ending day, he might not have picked it. He set the world in motion and then us folks down here shook it up a little. I’m thinking the Lord would be just as happy if we didn’t get into wars or have fevers and accidents that steal some of the seven-score years the Bible allots to folks.” Graham peered over at her. “That make any sense to you?”

“You always make sense to me,” Kate said.

“All right, so that’s my answer. But you know the rules,” Graham said, harking back to when Kate was a little girl. “You asked a hard question. Now you’ve got to ask an easy one.”

When Graham’s dog whined and scratched at the door to make sure Graham hadn’t forgotten him out on the porch, Kate had her question. “I’ve got one. Do dogs go to heaven?”

“Whew! That is an easy one.” He made a pretense of wiping sweat off his forehead. “Course they do. What would heaven be for me if old Poe wasn’t up there waiting? I figure he’s got us a spot picked out on the bank of a pond where the fish are biting and the coons come down out of the trees to play.” Graham stood up.

When Kate started to get up too, he held his hand out to stop her. “I know where the door is. You don’t have to show me. You rest like Hattie told you to.”

“All right.” Kate dropped back down on the pillows. “Thanks for letting me know about Aunt Hattie. I’ll be praying.” For Aunt Hattie and for herself. Her hand drifted down to touch her belly.

Graham stopped before he got to the door. “You need me to send your mama down here to see about you?”

“No, I’m feeling better. Really. I’m going to the doctor tomorrow. I’ll stop by the store on the way home to let her know what he says.”

When Graham still looked worried, Kate added, “Jay will be home in a little while. It’s already after two.”

“Is it that late? Well then, I guess it’s about time for Chaucer and me to take a nap.” When he opened the door, the dog slipped through it to lean against Graham. Graham put a hand on the dog’s head. “It promises to be a nice night, and
while old Chaucer here’s no Poe, he don’t mind sitting with me in the woods on a good night to see what we can hear.”

“Sounds fun,” Kate said.

“You get to feeling better, you can go with us sometime.” Graham smiled over at her. “Later on, when you get that young’un here, you can bring him too. He’ll need a proper introduction to the woods the way you got when you were a little tyke. You were wanting to go with me before you could climb the fences.”

“I had you to help me over them.”

“You might have to help me these days.” Graham chuckled and pointed Chaucer out the door.

He was getting older. Age had rounded his shoulders a bit, but his step was still lively as he went outside. He had plenty more nights to enjoy the woods. After she fluffed her pillow, she lay back and shut her eyes, letting the memory of Poe baying as he chased after raccoons play through her mind.

She had so many memories of Lindell Woods. Some bad, like the terrible fire there years ago. Some wonderful, like dancing with Jay under the old growth trees when they were falling in love. It would be good to walk in the woods with her son and make new memories.

With those peaceful thoughts she drifted off to sleep, after sending up a prayer for Aunt Hattie.

A gripping pain jerked her awake and stole her breath.

27

K
ate sat up and gasped. The cramp wasn’t only in her back now but instead was a giant fist grabbing her belly. Could she have eaten something that was working on her? But all she’d eaten since she came home from Aunt Hattie’s was crackers and cheese. It couldn’t be that, but something was wrong. Very wrong.

It wasn’t until she was in the bathroom and saw the blood that she knew. She was losing the baby. No vague fears of it maybe happening. This was real. She hadn’t been strong enough to protect her baby. Her head started spinning and dark edges pushed in on the sides of her vision.