A Hopeful Heart and A Home, A Heart, A Husband

by Lois Richer

“She said nobody would ever marry you and be our dad ‘cause they’d have to take on our ramshackle farm, and everybody knows we don’t even have enough money to pay our bills, let alone buy anything new!” Keeley glared at her mother belligerently.

  “I always pay my bills,” Maggie murmured, softly enough that Keeley would hear, but fully aware of the teacher seated nearby, listening to this very personal discussion of her private affairs. She felt humiliated. “And nothing you’ve said so far explains why you slapped Ginny.” Maggie thought over the conversation. “You said ‘she steals.’ What did she steal, honey?” Keeley muttered something that Maggie didn’t catch. “Pardon?”

  “My papers. She stole my papers!” Keeley burst out angrily.

  “What papers?”

  “These papers,” Janice Fortescue murmured, holding out a sheaf of white computer printed sheets. “I picked them up off the ground.”

  There was a look of shared commiseration on her face that Maggie didn’t understand. She accepted them and glanced down in perplexity. Her eyes popped open at the big bold title on the first page.

  “How To Help Your Mother Snare That Man,” she read out aloud. Her shocked eyes flew to Keeley’s. “Where did this come from?” she demanded.

  “I, um, that is, a lady I’ve been E-mailing sent it to me,” Keeley mumbled, shame-faced. “She writes romances, Mom, and I figured she’d know a good way for you to meet someone. Then when Grady came along and you seemed to like him, I figured it would be nice to have him for our dad. You like him, Mom, I know you do.” Keeley’s belligerent voice was full of tears. “And Katy and I think he’s the best almost-dad we’ve ever had. He really listens when we tell him stuff.”

  “But Keeley,” Maggie gasped as she sorted through the documents that explained several ways couples could get to know each other better. “To talk to someone I don’t even know, about my private affairs!” She stared at the pages with distaste. “I just can’t believe you’d do this. Why, Keeley?”

  “Because Katy and me want a dad, that’s why. I’m tired of worrying about you and about what’s going to happen when we leave here! I got sick of hearing you crying at night. You did, Mom,” she accused when Maggie’s head jerked upward. “Before Grady came, when you thought we were sleeping, you’d get up and go in the kitchen and make hot chocolate. I followed you once and you were crying.” Keeley’s eyes filled with fresh tears. “After Grady came, you weren’t nearly as sad.”

  Maggie stared at the packet of advice for the lovelorn and tried to concentrate. “Ginny stole these?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?” Maggie stared at her daughter, hoping against all hope that Keeley wasn’t going to say it.

  “She was going to put them up on the bulletin board so everybody could see. She took them out of my backpack, Mom! That’s stealing. And she read them without asking. Mom? Mom!” But Maggie didn’t hear her. All she could see were the words dancing in front of her.

  “Your mother has to decide for herself if she loves Grady enough to marry him. You and your sister can’t help her with that, so don’t add pressure to this important decision by bugging her. I know you love him a lot. You can tell him that, of course. But your mother has to think of the future and whether or not Grady would be a good husband and a good father to you two. Once she’s married, it’s too late to change her mind.”

  She had to get out of there, Maggie decided. Before she screamed or tore up the sheets or stomped her feet. “I’m sorry Keeley struck Ginny, Miss Fortescue. And I will make sure she apologizes. I believe you said you’d asked her to stay in every day at lunchtime?” Janice hadn’t but that didn’t matter. Maggie stood briskly as the other woman nodded her head in agreement with Maggie’s form of reprimand.

  “I’ll take Keeley home with me now and together we’ll work out an appropriate punishment. Thank you for calling me. Keeley?” She lowered her brows at her daughter’s stubborn look.

  “I’m sorry, Miss Fortescue.”

  “All right, Keeley. You go home with your mother now. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  They walked down the empty hallway littered with bits of paper and erasers that the caretaker was sweeping into a pile. The door clanged shut behind them and Keeley jumped at the loud noise.

  “Mom? Are you mad?”

  “Yes!” Maggie responded vehemently, slamming the car door shut behind her. “And I would appreciate it if you did not speak to me until I tell you to.”

  They drove home in grim silence with Keeley’s whitened face peering steadfastly ahead. At home, she climbed out of the car and walked stiffly into the house and up the stairs, her chin held high. Maggie ignored the sniffles she heard and went through to the kitchen to spread the papers on the table.

  It was awful, far worse than anything she had expected. There it was in plain black and white, for anyone to see. The story of their lives for the past three and a half months. Every time the girls had seen Grady kiss Maggie, or put his arm around her waist was recorded. The discussions Katy and Keeley had held to find out Grady’s preference.

  Here were questions about what the girls would call Grady if he married their mother, and on another page, questions about Katy baby-sitting any children she and Grady might have.

  It saddened Maggie to see that her daughters had addressed this woman named Debbie about things they should have been asking her. Why had she thought to hide their engagement? The girls’ lives were at stake here, too. She should have kept them informed about Grady’s role in their lives.

  But as the thoughts rolled around in her mind, Maggie knew the reason she hadn’t discussed her engagement with her daughters. Or anyone else, for that matter. The truth was that she was scared stiff to think about a future on this farm.

  “Grady is a good man,” she told herself. “But he can’t guarantee the future any more than Roger could. I might spend the next thirty years grubbing in this land. By then I’ll be too old to do anything else. I want to live a little before I die!”

  Maggie studied the words on the paper one last time. This Debbie person certainly knew her stuff.

  “Your mother has to be absolutely certain that Grady is the man for her. And she has to decide it for herself. You and Keeley have to back her up in whatever she decides. But she gets to pick the man she’s going to marry herself. Just as you two will pick your own husbands one day.”

  “Okay, Lord,” Maggie murmured, gathering up the white sheets and stacking them into a little pile. “Here comes another test. Please help me get through it.”

  Maggie walked slowly to the bottom of the stairs. “Katy and Keeley, I’d like you both to come down here, please.”

  They came at once, Katy first, with Keeley slowly following behind. Both sets of eyes were huge with worry as they studied her face.

  “We need to talk,” Maggie began. “I have some things to say and I want you both to listen carefully. If you have questions, you can ask them when I’m finished. Understood?” The girls nodded.

  “Good. First, I want to say that I am very hurt that you would speak to someone I don’t even know about my private and personal life. I would never talk about Keeley’s crush on Jeremy Benstat or about Katy getting her braces caught on the bedspread because those are things that should stay in a family.” Both heads lowered.

  “Secondly, I am very ashamed that my daughter would dare to slap another human being. That is not the way we solve arguments in this family and you know that. Don’t you?”

  They nodded slowly.

  “Third, you’ve both done something very dangerous by putting our name and address on the Internet. You both know that there are strangers all over the world who grab on to something like that. For that reason alone, neither of you will be allowed to get E-mail or go on the Internet for the next two months.” Not a protest issued from either mouth.

  “Now, since you wanted to know about Grady and me, I will tell you on the condition that this news is between you and I. No one else is to know.
And I mean no one.” Maggie slipped the chain out from beneath the high-buttoned neckline of her blouse and held up her ring. “This is from Grady. He asked me to marry him. I haven’t told him for sure when I would, because I wanted a little time to think about things.”

  “You and Grady are getting married?” Katy burst out. “That is so cool!”

  “Katy! We’re not going to get married right away.” Maggie hated seeing the look of disappointment cross her daughters’ faces, but she labored on. “There are some things I have to think about.”

  “Like what?” Keeley peered up from beneath her lashes. “You love him, don’t you?”

  “Yes, I do.” At least she was sure of that much.

  “Well, then?”

  “Keeley, it’s not that simple. I don’t know that I want to spend my life on the farm. I’d like to live in the city, get a real job, maybe send you guys to ballet lessons, or basketball, or swimming and gymnastics. There are a lot of opportunities in Calgary that Willow Bunch doesn’t have.”

  “Would Grady move?” Katy’s normally boisterous voice was quiet.

  “I don’t know. I want the very best life for my children,” she added. “I have to make sure that I’m doing the right thing.”

  “What about what God says?” Keeley demanded. “I know He would want us to stay here.”

  “But I don’t know that, honey. I’m not sure God hasn’t given me this desire to move because that’s the best thing for us. Do you see what I mean?”

  “Yeah, I guess so.” Katy screwed up her face in concentration. “You mean you’re not sure what to do.”

  “Exactly. So I’ve been praying that the Lord would lead me wherever He wants me to be. And now I need to listen for His answer.”

  “You mean we don’t have any say about it?” Keeley frowned. “We have to go along with whatever you decide?”

  “Of course you have a say. But ultimately the responsibility to raise you girls rests on me. I have to provide for you as best I can and I’m just not sure it’s the best thing for either of you to stay cooped up on this farm. It’s been very hard to keep things going these last few years. You know that.”

  “Boy, do we!” Katy rolled her eyes. “But Mom, Grady’s got money. He could help us.”

  Maggie narrowed her eyes and frowned. “And you think that would be fair—to marry someone because he has money that we just happen to need?”

  “No.” Katy pouted for a minute before her eyes lit up. “But you said you loved Grady!” she crowed triumphantly.

  “Yes, I do. And the money thing has nothing to do with that.”

  “I’m very glad to hear it,” a low husky voice murmured from behind her. “It would be a terrible thing to be married for my money twice in one lifetime.”

  Maggie was startled by Grady’s entrance, and his revelation.

  “Is that what she did?” When he winked Maggie blushed.

  “Are you rich, Grady?” Katy asked.

  “Katy, me darlin’—” Grady laughed as he chucked the girl under the chin and sank into the nearest chair “—I’m as rich as a man can be. Your mother says she loves me.” He winked at Maggie. “And I think you two beauties are the best thing since sliced bread. “I’m richer than Croesus.”

  “Who?” Katy was frowning.

  “The guy who had all the gold,” Keeley told her. “I read it to you last week, remember?”

  “You mean you’ve got buildings full of gold?” Katy stared at him in disbelief. “And you’re working as a farmhand?”

  Grady stood and burst out laughing, the sound echoing around the room. “Katy, a man’s wealth has very little to do with his bank balance. I have enough money to live on, but that’s not important. Anybody can earn money.” He hugged her close. “But not everybody,” he whispered solemnly, “has the chance to have two lovely girls for his daughters.”

  “Is that what we’d be?” Keeley wanted to know. “Your daughters?”

  “I’d like that very much,” he murmured, glancing at Maggie. “But in here—” he tapped his chest “—you’ve been my daughters for a long time already.”

  “I love you, Grady,” Katy burst out, hugging him tightly. He hugged her back, drawing Keeley into the embrace and then tugging Maggie nearer when she would have backed away.

  “Group hug!” Katy called out.

  Maggie good-naturedly let them maneuver her closer to Grady and returned the kiss he pressed against her lips, fully aware of two sets of very interested blue eyes.

  “What are you doing here anyway?” Maggie demanded, pulling away. “I thought you were knee-deep in barley.”

  “Oh, I’d like to be! But that swather broke down. Again. Buster’s gone to see if he can find a part.” He tugged her close again, his eyes twinkling. “That leaves me with a little free time,” he whispered loudly.

  The girls cast each other knowing looks and moved toward the door. “We’re going to do our chores,” Keeley offered with a giggle. “So you guys can be alone for a while.”

  “Yeah, alone,” Katy reiterated. They moved through the door jostling each other. A second later Katy’s head poked back in. “Since you’ve got lots of money and we’re going to be your daughters, do you think we could get a four-wheeler?” she asked in wide-eyed innocence.

  “Katy McCarthy!” Maggie pursed her lips.

  “Well, I was just wondering. I know money isn’t everything, but it sure must be nicer to have too much than too little,” she retorted before closing the door behind her.

  “She’s got you there,” Grady said with a snicker, drawing Maggie into his arms. “That’s one very astute lady. She’ll make a wonderful businesswoman one day. You ought to be proud.”

  “Right now I’m embarrassed,” she told him. “They’re so mercenary.”

  “No, they’re not. They’re just sweet little girls who know a good thing when they see it. I must say, I have to agree. Don’t you want to go along with their plans?”

  “Ha! Plans? I’ll show you plans!” Maggie lifted the stack of papers from the table and shoved them under his nose. “Sit down, Grady.”

  “Why?” He frowned, trying to read the top sheet.

  “Because if you don’t, you might fall down. It seems that you and I have been the subject of an Internet-generated romance plot. Women around the world have been advising Katy and Keeley on how to get us together.”

  He sank into the chair. “You’re joking!”

  “Not hardly. Those two ‘sweet little girls’, as you so sweetly called them, gave a romance writer our name. She passed on their questions. These are the replies.” She dropped the sheaf on the table.

  To Maggie’s surprise he looked not the least bit angry. Instead, his mouth curved in what looked like a proud smile. “Grady, have you any idea of what you’d be taking on here?” she asked.

  “No, actually I didn’t,” he murmured, studying the sheets more closely. “Not entirely. But you have to admit, at least it wouldn’t be boring.”

  Maggie sagged back in her chair and closed her eyes. Lord, she prayed silently. What’s the plan here? Please, please, tell me Your plan.

  The only response to her plea was Grady’s muffled laughter as he read through the sheets of advice from the matchmakers.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Grady was worried. Katy and Keeley had hunted him down in Marty Shane’s garage ten minutes ago. He could tell from their tone over the phone that something was wrong.

  “Grady, do you know where Mom is?” That was Keeley, her voice betraying just a tiny wobble.

  “She’s swathing.” A prickle of fear niggling up his spine made Grady’s arm tense. “Did you try her on the radio?”

  “For the past half hour. She isn’t answering.” Katy gave the information clearly. “Should I go and look for her?”

  “No.” Grady knew that was precisely what Maggie didn’t want. “I’m leaving now. I’ll be home in half an hour. Less, I hope.” He shook his head at Marty’s offer of a coffee.
“You guys call over to the McLeans’ and ask Buster to look in the west field that adjoins his. Okay?”

  “Y-yes, all right,” Keeley whispered. “Please hurry, Grady.”

  “I’m coming, sweetheart. You just remember that God is in control. Maybe you and Katy could say a few words while you’re waiting. I’ll be there soon.”

  He drove far faster than the speed limit, his powerful engine covering the miles easily. Precisely twenty-two minutes later he drove into the yard and squealed to a stop. Katy came racing out of the house, her little face white and pinched looking.

  “Mr. McLean’s away, Grady. Mrs. McLean said Timmy was sick so she couldn’t help us. Keeley’s trying some of the other neighbors.” She threw her arms around him. “I wish she’d come home.”

  “So do I, honey,” he murmured. “But right now I’ve got to go look for her. Run and tell Keeley we’re going looking and ask her to stay by the phone.”

  Grady grabbed his tool kit from beside the combine and chucked it into the truck. Moments later Katy came racing back and they set off together.

  “Do you think God wants my mom to go to heaven?” she asked in a hushed, frightened tone. “Maybe He needs her there.”

  “Nope. I think He knows that we need her here.” Grady tightened his fingers around the steering wheel and drove faster than he’d ever done down the dusty rutted track. There in the distance he thought he could see the outline of the swather, but where was Maggie?

  As they drew closer, Grady could see her bright red shirt on the ground. His heart sent up a quick prayer to heaven.

  “She’s on the ground, Grady. She’s lying on the ground. What happened? Is she dead?” Katy rattled the questions off in a tense, tight voice.

  “She’s not dead.” Grady surprised himself at his vehemence. “Stay here until I call you.”

  He raced across the furrows of perfectly cut barley, ignoring the chaff that flew up. As he went, he prayed.

  “Please don’t take her, Lord. We need her. The girls have already lost their father, God. They can’t lose Maggie, too. I can’t lose Maggie!”