Bless Her Heart

by Sally Kilpatrick

  “And what do you have to say, Posey?”

  “Nothing.” I hugged her instead.

  “I’ve got to go to work,” Rain said, giving me a wink that no one else could see. She had worked her way up to an instructor position. They were even talking about flying her to studios in other cities to train other instructors. She’d declined any appointments other than summer ones because she was headed to college in the fall.

  “Me, too,” Henny said with a sigh. He’d managed to work his way to shifts that started at seven and went until three in the morning. He assured me this was an improvement, but I couldn’t see how.

  My siblings each hugged Mom once more before heading to their respective cars.

  “You gonna leave me, too?”

  I winced. “Actually, Liza invited me over for an adult slumber party,” I said. “We’re going to watch bad movies and do each other’s nails.”

  “Then I guess I’ll go it alone.”

  I hadn’t thought about that. Mom, alone in the big house all by herself? “Rain will be back by midnight.”

  “I plan to be asleep by then. Maybe I’ll catch up on my reading.”

  She didn’t say much on the way home or when I dropped her off. Before I started for Liza’s house, though, I took a minute to make a phone call.

  “Hello, Santiago?”

  * * *

  “You did not call him,” Liza said.

  “Totally did. Told him she was depressed and that he might want to check on her,” I said as I carefully applied a nail polish called “Trophy Wife” to Liza’s toes.

  “What if the two of them get into another fight?”

  “Won’t be a problem. Her car’s in the shop, and I hid the whiskey.” I put the cap back on the polish and leaned backward to stretch my back muscles.

  “Remind me never to piss you off,” Liza muttered as she wiggled her toes, now painted a metallic teal.

  “Wise words, I’m a new woman.”

  Liza cocked her head to the side. “I think you’ve been a new woman ever since you told Miss Georgette off. I hate that I missed it.”

  “If I’d known how exhilarating it would be to bless some hearts, I would’ve gotten into that business a long time ago.” I sat back on the couch and pulled up the footrest. I might’ve hated the leather, but I missed the footrest. Mom’s ottoman had a way of wandering off when I tried to put my feet up. “She still carrying on about that?”

  “To anyone who will listen, but everyone who’s spoken to me is disappointed that you haven’t come back to church since Easter.”

  “Look, I’ll get there eventually, but I have a lot of memories to overcome.”

  “That and you might run into John.”

  “Whatever.”

  Liza took an Oreo and passed me the package. “If you’re over the age of thirty, you don’t get to use the word whatever unless it’s ironically.”

  “Whatever.” I took an Oreo and passed the package back to her.

  “And when are you legally a free woman?”

  “What is this? Twenty questions? I thought we were supposed to be doing girl stuff like, I don’t know, painting my nails. Last time you forgot.”

  “Gotta let my toenails dry first,” she said. “Believe me, you’re going to appreciate this arrangement in a few months when you won’t be able to even see your toes, much less paint them. Court date?”

  “June second.”

  “Want me to come?”

  “Nope. Ben says I don’t even have to go, but I will to make sure a certain someone doesn’t show off his jackass tendencies.”

  “That’s fair.”

  Down the hall, a pitiful cry crescendoed into a wail. “Could you? My toes are still wet.”

  I doubted they were, but I didn’t mind getting the baby.

  “Gonna get that job you wanted?” asked Liza when I came back with a freshly changed but still fretting baby boy. She lifted her shirt enough to nurse the child.

  “I don’t know,” I said as I looked away. I’d seen Liza’s nipples so many times I felt confident I’d be able to pick them out in a lineup. I didn’t think I could be so blasé about nursing, but we were all about to find out.

  “Well, New Posey needs to get crackin’ and ask that principal if she’s going to have a job.”

  “New Posey wants to watch a mindless movie and then fall asleep.”

  “Solid plan,” Liza said with a yawn.

  She was going to fall asleep before she did my nails yet again. I wondered how she would feel about little Sharpie-drawn mustaches on hers.

  chapter 31

  On the last day of school, I teared up while my students and I sang “See Ya Later, Alligator.” At the last bell, I let them leave with a sentiment that could only be described as bittersweet. They’d done so well, and I’d enjoyed being a part of their lives. I touched the clover necklace that Maricela had made for me during recess. It was itchy and starting to droop, but she’d worked so hard on it that I wasn’t about to take it off until she’d left for the day. Out of impulse, I took out my camera and took a selfie of myself wearing the necklace before finally letting it go.

  I picked up the drawing of a T-Rex that Noah had drawn for me. I’d be putting it on the fridge for everyone in the family to see. His mother still scowled every time I ran into her at the grocery store, but I didn’t let that bother me. Her son had given me a hug on the way out the door, and that was the part that mattered—this after I’d teased him by saying I thought the velociraptor was an even more fierce dinosaur than the T-Rex. He’d stuck his tongue out at me on the way out the door, but then he’d grinned.

  I packed up my sparse belongings, including the items I’d bought with my own money. I still didn’t know if I would get the job for the next year.

  Which was ridiculous.

  I needed to know one way or another so I could make arrangements, know whether or not to accept a position in another county if it were offered to me.

  Once I had both purse and bag over my shoulder, I walked down the hall to see Ms. Varner. Since I was a supply teacher, I didn’t have to stay for the next two days to pack up. This was my last day, and I wasn’t going to leave without knowing where I stood. Maybe Old Posey would’ve slunk home and waited for someone to call her, but Liza was right: New Posey needed answers.

  I pushed past the secretary and rapped on Ms. Varner’s desk.

  “I’m here to turn in my key.”

  “You can hand that off to the secretary,” the principal said without even looking up. How did she get her hair to stay slicked back into a bun? I would’ve had enough wispies for a whole new head of hair.

  “I also wanted to know about the second grade position for next year.”

  Ms. Varner looked up, her stern expression enough to make even adults quail. “What about it?”

  I took a deep breath. “I know that you probably have a lot of people who are qualified for and interested in the job, but I want it and need it more than they do. If you hire me, you won’t regret it.”

  She leaned back in her chair and smiled. “There. That’s what I’ve been looking for.”

  “What?”

  “Confidence. As it turns out I had already requested approval to offer you the job and was only waiting on the Board to meet. So I assume I’ll be seeing you in the fall?”

  “Really?” I took a step forward to hug her, but she held out a palm to stop me.

  “Oh, don’t spoil it now. Heather said to tell you not to worry about the classroom. She’s coming in tomorrow to take everything down and make sure all of the records are in order. You are officially off for the summer, but your homework is to find a supply teacher just as capable as you are to take your place while you’re on maternity leave.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  She waved me out of the room, and I clutched my heart. New Posey could get things done.

  * * *

  New Posey’s exuberance lasted all of two minutes.

 
; There, leaning against my car was Chadwick Love. A jolt of panic stopped me dead in my tracks. I tamped it down and reached in my purse for my phone. My fingers closed over the Taser, but I could only use it as a last resort because nothing would please him more than taking it to use against me. Instead I dialed nine-one-one as I walked across the parking lot, hoping that I looked as though I were talking to Liza.

  “Posey,” he grinned as if we were old pals and nothing had ever gone wrong between us.

  “Chad.” I dropped my phone into my purse even as the dispatcher called for me. I hoped nothing jostled the buttons enough to disconnect the call.

  “I’m gonna need to move in with you this afternoon.”

  “No.”

  He frowned. “I need a place to stay, as you well know.”

  “Stay with your other woman. Also, you’re in violation of my restraining order yet again, not that it surprises me that you think certain rules don’t apply to you.”

  He scratched the back of his head, looking sheepish for once. “I, uh, can’t stay with Naomi. She kicked me out.”

  “Good. Now move away from my car so I can go home.”

  “I don’t understand why you’re so mad about all of this. We had some good times, too, didn’t we?”

  “Off the top of my head I can’t think of any. All I can think of is the time you assaulted me.” I reached into my purse, and he flinched. Obviously he remembered the Taser, too.

  Old Posey would’ve caved. She would’ve given him the benefit of the doubt.

  New Posey saw all of his tricks and his uneven charm for what they were. “Move.”

  He leaned back against the car and cross his arms over his chest. “I don’t think I will.”

  In the distance, sirens blared, getting louder as they approached. I smiled.

  He grabbed my arm, his fingers digging into flesh hard enough to make me gasp. “You didn’t.”

  “I did. Now let me go.”

  He dug his fingers in harder, and I rammed my knee into his groin as hard as I possibly could. He let go of my arm and crumpled to the parking lot, one of the most satisfying scenes of my life to date. “Stop coming after me. I’m not the girl you used to push around anymore.”

  chapter 32

  On June second, I stepped outside the courthouse a free woman. Shielding my eyes against the blinding sun, I half expected John O’Brien to show up with a Justice of the Peace.

  He didn’t.

  Next I looked over my shoulder to see if Chad had shown up.

  He hadn’t.

  The corners of my mouth turned up into a smile of their own accord, and I began to hum. Never mind the fact I couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket, a song in my heart bubbled up to the surface, and I was glad I’d chosen to walk because the warm weather perfectly matched my mood. Putting a hand on my belly that was just beginning to protrude, I took the stairs carefully and started walking the three blocks back to First Baptist.

  As it turned out, the Lord had a sense of humor that extended well beyond pregnant seahorse daddies or platypuses. Once I’d overcome the euphoria of knowing that I would be a teacher in the fall, I’d realized I would need a job for the summer months because supply pay ended on my last day and my new job wouldn’t start paying until the end of August at the earliest. Since I didn’t relish the idea of fighting teenagers for a fast food position, I tried Au Natural (my mother had finally hired Julia to be a jill-of-all-trades), the library (no dice), the dollar store (overqualified), and the grocery store (also overqualified). Where was a position available? First Baptist where their receptionist was out on maternity leave.

  Truthfully, I hyperventilated out in the car on my first day because I couldn’t stand the thought of another church reception desk or of facing people who might judge me. Once I’d reminded New Posey that she didn’t have to put up with anyone’s crap and that my erstwhile husband wasn’t allowed within several feet of her, I’d gone inside and found laughter. Brother Mark, the new preacher, told the worst dad jokes but his secretary, Gigi, laughed anyway. Her laugh was so infectious that anyone nearby had to join her. So I’d been shown my new post with a smile.

  Gigi showed me the ropes for the first day. One of the first things she told me was that I could read a book or surf Pinterest if I got bored just as long as I took care of answering the phones and any other tasks that needed to get done. From there we’d settled into an easy routine. Speaking of routines, it was Thursday and that meant Mrs. Morris would come by with Snickerdoodles. I picked up my pace because I did not want to miss those.

  “Back from lunch?” Brother Mark asked when I took my seat behind the desk.

  “Yes, I am.”

  No matter that I hadn’t actually eaten lunch but had gone to court instead. Soon he would head out to visit church members in the hospital, and I would heat up leftovers for a lunch at my desk. With any luck, a Snickerdoodle would be my dessert.

  “I know I’ve said it before,” Brother Mark said, “But the Lord really blessed us when he sent you here. You know just what to do to keep everything running smoothly.”

  “Thank you,” I said, warmed from the inside at such praise and glad that something good, no matter how tiny, had come out of my five miserable years doing the job elsewhere.

  “Say, why do chicken coops only have two doors?” he asked, his hand already on the door handle.

  “I don’t know.”

  “’Cuz otherwise they’d be chicken sedans!”

  I had to groan, but one office over Gigi’s high-pitched giggle rang out, and I couldn’t help but grin. “Send my love to Mr. Fox, please.”

  “Will do,” Brother Mark said as he walked out the door. Mr. Fox had been my seventh-grade English teacher and was in the hospital after having suffered a heart attack. At least everyone thought he was going to recover.

  I heated up my meal and ate quickly, finishing up just in time for Mrs. Morris to come through. The older lady limped in; she’d had hip replacement surgery but had refused to finish her physical therapy. “Hey, Mama, I brought you some cookies.”

  She placed a container on my desk. Ah, Cool Whip bowls, the Tupperware of the South.

  “Mrs. Morris, you are absolutely the best.”

  “Oh, no. This is all a devious plot to get you to name the baby Celeste after me.”

  I took a Snickerdoodle from its container and almost forgot to reply out of sugary euphoria, which, I was sure, was all a part of her plan to bring another Celeste into the world. “We don’t even know if it’s a boy or a girl yet!”

  The “we” made me falter. John called to check on me once a week, but his calls were always short. We didn’t plan to actually see each other until the August appointment when I’d have the ultrasound that told us if we’d be having a boy or a girl. Well, if I would be having a boy or girl. Best to remember I was going through many parts of this process alone.

  “Celeste!” she shouted before hobbling down the hall to the Ladies’ Ministry meeting.

  “That would be an awkward name for a boy,” I shouted down the hall.

  I heard her uneven return, then she poked her head around the corner long enough to say, “Worked for Sue in that old song Johnny Cash sang.”

  Eh, the actual boy named Sue might disagree.

  Miss Georgette pulled on the door that she ought to push. She gave me only a curt nod on her way to join the Ladies’ Ministry. Abigail Bolton waved hello on her way in, and finally Amanda Kildare appeared. She, too, had come back to the fold. The former Homecoming Queen and I had a new ritual. She slapped a paranormal romance on my desk. I drew a historical from my purse underneath, and we swapped.

  “I still think we should start a book club,” she said.

  “Maybe,” I answered. “You keep those women on track. We gotta close early today.”

  “You know I will,” she said, brandishing her new book with a grin. “I’ve got an appointment with a new book and a bubble bath.”

  Thirty minutes later,
I could catch bits and pieces of the meeting down the hall. I ignored them as best I could, though, while I searched Pinterest for classroom ideas and drank decaf tea. When the door opened, I looked up sharply because I hadn’t been expecting anyone. I certainly hadn’t expected to see John. From the way he’d stopped dead in his tracks, I could be reasonably certain he hadn’t expected to see me, either.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked.

  “Working here while Tammy settles in with her baby. What are you doing here?”

  “The piano needs tuning,” he said. “Actually several of them do.”

  “If I’d known you were coming, I would’ve made your brownies. Tammy didn’t leave me a note on the calendar, though.”

  “Must’ve slipped her mind.” He walked in the direction of the sanctuary but stopped. “It’s a shame. I did love those brownies.”

  Did. Past tense.

  “I could share my Snickerdoodles with you?”

  “No, thanks,” he said before disappearing into the sanctuary.

  I tried to concentrate on Pinterest, but it wasn’t working. I tried reading the romance Amanda had slipped me, but I couldn’t concentrate. Edgy, I walked to Gigi’s little office. “Got any copies I can run? Mailers? Anything?”

  “We’re all caught up, dear,” she said. “And I’m about to head out the door for a wedding shower. Here’s a check for John, and Vic’ll lock up so you can go as soon as the ladies finish their meeting.”

  With nothing else to do, I went back to my seat. Voices traveled up the hall from the ladies’ meeting. Tones wafted in from the sanctuary.

  John hadn’t mentioned if he’d really started going back to school to get a new degree or if he’d started looking for a new job. I was glad to see him still tuning pianos, his hair still long and his jeans still ripped. I only wished I hadn’t wiped the smile from his face.

  That wasn’t all your fault.

  No, but the two of us now were so different from those first few afternoons we’d spent together.

  I snort-giggled at the memory of how he’d eased my apprehensions that first day by quoting Song of Solomon.