The Hearts We Mend (13 page)

Evie scooted the chair closer to the bed and unzipped the bag she'd retrieved from Gertrude's house on her way to the nursing home. The woman's eyes began to shine like a child's on Christmas morning when Evie pulled out a gold-trimmed peignoir and helped her slip it on.

“Much better.” Gertrude sank against the pillow with a contented sigh. “I almost feel like myself again. Dr. O'Malley stopped in while I was eating breakfast. He said if I make good progress in my physical therapy, I should be able to go home in a few days.”

Evie refilled Gertrude's water glass from a pitcher on the nightstand and straightened the stack of get-well cards. “Are you still in a lot of pain?”

“Everything hurts when you're my age, dear.” Gertrude waved away Evie's question with a hand as pale as the bedsheets. “Now, tell me all about the wedding! I'm sure Raine was a beautiful bride.”

Evie had come prepared. She slipped a photograph from the side pocket of her purse. “See for yourself.”

“Oh . . . look at them.” Gertrude's eyes misted over. “You look beautiful too, Evie. And Cody . . . so tall and handsome. The spitting image of his father.”

Evie's throat tightened. “Yes, he is.”

“Were your parents able to make it?”

“They don't want to leave their village until the new church is finished, but Mom Skyped with Cody and Raine before they left on their honeymoon. They're planning a visit in October.”

“To meet their first great-grandchild.” Gertrude nodded her approval. “I suppose Angela is thrilled there's going to be a new baby living next door.”

Evie smiled. “Not just a new baby. She and John are excited to have Cody and Raine living next door. They moved the rest of their things in after they got back from their honeymoon.”

“I'm thinking about moving too.”

Gertrude said the words so matter-of-factly that it took a moment for them to sink in. “Moving?” Evie repeated.

“My sister, Corinne, and her husband have an extra bedroom, and she's been pestering me to move in with them.”

“Corinne lives in Texas.”

“That's right. Galveston. She and Robert have lived there for almost fifty years.”

And Gertrude had lived in Banister Falls for seventy-five.

“But what about your house?” Gertrude's home, a stately Victorian built at the turn-of-century, had been in her family for almost a hundred years.

“I would have to sell it, I imagine.” Gertrude took a sip of water. “Either I'm getting old or that house is getting bigger, because I get tired just walking from the kitchen to the living room.”

“The house must be getting bigger,” Evie said promptly.

“You're sweet to say so, Evie, but there's no getting around it. I can't keep up with things the way I used to. I've got dust bunnies taking over the house and real bunnies taking over my garden, and together they're taking up more time than I'm willing to give.”

“I'll talk to Pastor Keith. I'm sure there are people who would be more than willing to help.”

“I know they would. But I've been laid up for over a week, asking God to show me what He wants me to do, and I realized I'm not quite ready to start asking for help . . . not when I've still got some help left in me. A woman who attends Corinne's church owns a salon, and twice a month she hosts a spa day for women undergoing cancer treatments. Manicures, facials, even help choosing the right wig. Whatever a woman needs to lift her spirits. They're looking for volunteers, and even though it's been a long time since my pageant days, I still know what to do with a makeup brush.”

“I know you'd be wonderful serving that way, but it's still a big
change, Gertrude. You've lived in Banister Falls your whole life. You've put down roots here.”

“Every adventure starts with one step.”

“Is that what God told you?” Evie asked cautiously.

Lines bracketed Gertrude's faded-green eyes and scored her pale cheeks, but Evie saw the smile that had made her the reigning queen of the pageant circuit when she was a young woman.

“No, you did.”

“Me?”

“At the spring retreat a few years ago.” Gertrude reached out and patted Evie's hand. “I take very good notes.”

C
HAPTER
17

W
hen Hope Community hosted a picnic, it didn't just break out the hot dogs and lemonade. Two white tents took up most of the grassy area that bordered the parking lot—one a refuge from the heat of the sun and the other to hold the casserole dishes dropped off by a steady stream of women the day before.

Jack had taken a peek in the refrigerator before he'd left work on Friday afternoon, and the multitude of things a person could do with cold macaroni and Jell-O made his own set of skills seem a little inadequate.

The official kickoff for the event wasn't until eleven o'clock, but Jack had arrived at eight to take care of a few last-minute details. He still had to fill up the kiddie pool for the fishing game and hook the speakers up to the generator for the music that would give the midway a more authentic carnival-like feel.

Dan Moretti sauntered into the custodian's room while Jack was thumbing through the most current stack of Post-it notes, which Evie had stuck on the wall when he wasn't looking.

“How many of those things does she go through in a week anyway?”

“A lot.” Enough that out of concern for the environment, Jack had started to recycle them.

Evie had arrived shortly after Jack but gone straight to the kitchen. Jack hadn't seen her since. In fact, he hadn't seen much of her at all since Wednesday night.

It might have been easier to determine if Evie was avoiding him if Jack hadn't been avoiding
her.

“Evie likes things organized.” Dan shook his head. “When we were kids, she was the only one I knew who got more excited about shopping for school supplies than opening presents on Christmas Day.”

Jack bent down and picked up the box of prizes for the fishing game to hide his smile. “Nothing wrong with that—and it makes my job easier.”

“How is the job going, by the way?”

“Most of the time it's going great.” Jack pressed down a little on the first word. Moretti was a smart guy—he'd figure it out. “I better take these outside and finish setting up the game.”

Dan grabbed the sheaf of old-fashioned cane poles propped up in the corner and followed Jack into the hall. “That was Cody's favorite game. If I was working it, I'd make sure he got one of those little plastic soldiers with a parachute. I don't know why he liked them so much. Those things never worked right.”

“The parachutes are too light.” Trav had liked them too. “If you tape a dime in the center of it, it helps distribute the weight.”

“I didn't know—” Dan stopped abruptly, and his expression changed.

The only way Jack could describe it was it looked like someone had hooked Moretti up to a twelve-volt battery and plugged it in.

Jack braced himself, expecting to see Evie walking up behind them.

“Good morning.”

It was Ginevieve Lightly who smiled at Jack—right before she stepped into Dan's arms and planted a quick kiss on his lips.

The guy didn't look the least bit shocked. Only slightly irritated . . . at him.

Because you're staring, Vale.

“Dan!” One of the teenagers in the youth group sprinted out of the kitchen and veered toward them. “Are you busy?”

“What's up, Logan?”

“We were wondering”—the boy cast a furtive glance over his shoulder—“where you, um, keep the fire extinguishers?”

Dan handed off the fishing poles to Gin. “I'll be right back.”

“Do you think he needs help?” Jack watched them disappear through the doorway of the youth wing.

“Dan's got this.” Gin started down the hall. “He warned me that a firefighter is always on call.”

“I didn't know he was a firefighter.”

“You didn't know we were dating either, did you?”

Jack slid a sideways glance at Gin as he opened the door. “Was my shock that obvious?”

“Actually . . .” Gin's smile held a hint of mischief. “It looked more like relief to me. Care to explain that?”

Jack couldn't . . . so he decided not to say anything at all.

People were already beginning to arrive, and a haze of smoke hung over the line of grills set up in the parking lot.

Gin set the poles down on the grass next to the inflatable swimming pool at the end of the midway. “I'm working in the food tent this morning. If you need anything—coffee, funnel cake, a clue—feel free to stop by.”

Jack liked Ginevieve. And maybe yes, he'd felt a small, completely inappropriate stab of relief knowing Moretti liked her too.

He emptied a bucket of plastic fish into the pool, each one marked with a number that corresponded to one of the prizes he then clipped to the pegboard wall.

“Uncle Jack!”

“Hey, Lily.” Hope flared inside of Jack until he saw Nicki, not Travis, walking toward them. “I didn't expect to see you here.”

“Gin convinced Sue to schedule me for the afternoon shift so I could bring the kids to the carnival for a few hours.” Nicki parked Grace's stroller in a strip of shade. In a short denim skirt, tank top, and her hair caught up in a messy ponytail, Nic looked about sixteen years old. The little sister Jack had never had.

And Evie had thought they were a couple.

The memory of that conversation still stung.

“Are Cheryl and Travis with you?”

“Cheryl called last night and asked if Lily could spend the night. I haven't talked to her yet, but she promised she would stop by and pick her up before I have to leave. My friend Tracey is going to watch the kids while I'm at work.”

“Hopefully she and Trav will drop off my truck. Their car wouldn't start again so I let them borrow it.” Jack had had to walk to the church. Not a big deal, but he hadn't had time to unload the lumber he needed for the apartment.

“I'm going to get my face painted, Uncle Jack.” Lily tugged on his hand.

Nicki glanced over her shoulder. “Ava and Luke are over there now, but Lily wanted to come over and say hello first.”

“Can you watch me?” Lily tugged on his hand. “I'm going to get a butterfly. Or maybe a heart.”

“For a few minutes. Then I'll have to get back to work.” The overtime would cover the parts Jack needed to fix Trav and Cheryl's car.

“Thanks, Jack.” Nicki grabbed the handles of the stroller. “I'll take Grace over to the bounce house and meet you there in a few minutes.”

“Bounce!” The whole contraption began to move as Grace demonstrated the word.

Nicki's laughter drew an appreciative glance from one of the guys flipping burgers on the grill. She bit her lip, and her gaze dropped to the ground.

Jack didn't know what to do with that kind of pain. He knew what she'd been through over the past few months, trying to get away from Victor. It had taken a restraining order to convince her ex that she wasn't going to take him back.

Cheryl was struggling with her own stuff too much to offer her sister much help.

But maybe . . .

Jack's gaze strayed to Evie again. She stood behind a table weighted down with homemade pies. Most of the people were dressed casually in shorts and T-shirts, but Evie wore a white sundress and strappy little sandals.

Lily broke free and scampered toward one of the booths.

Ginevieve's daughter, Raine, sat knee to knee with Ava, carefully painting a heart on the little girl's cheek. Cody stood behind her, making a balloon animal for Luke.

He looked up and smiled as Jack approached. “Hey, Jack.”

“Cody. How's it going?”

“Great. Have you met Raine? My wife?” He practically hummed the last word.

Evie was right. They were young.

“It's nice to meet you.” Jack had seen her posing for the photographer on the couple's wedding day, but they hadn't been formally introduced.

“Okay, who's next?” Raine leaned over and reached for the bucket of paintbrushes as Ava hopped down from the chair.

“This is my niece, Lily.” Jack gave her a gentle nudge toward the chair. “She likes peanut butter sandwiches and guinea pigs and butterflies.”

Raine grinned. “We should probably stick to butterflies, Lily. Is that okay? I'm kind of new at this, and I'm afraid my guinea pig would end up looking like a peanut butter sandwich with ears.”

Lily grinned back and climbed into the chair.

The music filtering from the speaker in the corner of the tent suddenly stopped, and Jack heard a chorus of groans from the women in the food tent.

“Sounds like they blew a fuse.” Cody set a white balloon crown on Ava's head. “Happens every year.”

“Probably because they've got enough Crock-Pots plugged in over there to drain the national power grid,” Jack muttered. He looked at Lily
. “
Will you guys be okay for a few minutes?”

“Butterflies take time.” Raine flashed a warm smile as she dipped the brush into a container of yellow paint. “Don't worry—Cody and I will keep an eye on them for you.”