by Pamela Morsi
Jesse agreed and let Lilly June inside. The old hound walked around the cabin, as if looking for Aunt Will. Finally she settled in front of the fire with a snort of disappointment that gave the impression that she missed being used as a footstool.
After every dish was washed, dried and put away in the cupboard, and there was no further excuse to stall, Jesse grabbed up a pen and paper and sat down at the table. Camryn seated herself catty-corner.
“I don’t think there is any plan for me,” she stated bluntly.
“Don’t give up before we even start,” Jesse said. “Almost anything can be accomplished if you break it into small enough pieces.”
She looked skeptical.
“Truly,” Jesse insisted. “I would have never passed Variational Calculus without that philosophy.”
Camryn just looked at her.
“That’s a joke.”
“Not much of one.”
“Okay, let’s start very, very basic. What is the one thing you want to see for you?”
The teenager gave a heavy, bored sigh, but took a moment to dutifully consider.
“I don’t want to work for my mother,” she answered.
“Okay, that’s a good start,” Jesse said. “But it’s negative. Can you rephrase it positively, without the word don’t?”
“I positively do not want to work for my mother,” Camryn replied. “All right, all right. What I want. What do I actually want? I want to get out of this place. I want to go somewhere else, live somewhere else, see somewhere else.”
“Oh, that’s good. Very decisive and concrete. It’s an excellent starting point.”
“But it’s a dead end,” Camryn said. “It takes money to go someplace. How would I find a job in a strange town? And if I did, how could I ever afford to support myself?”
“Piece by piece,” Jesse told her. “We’ll break it down and figure it out piece by piece.”
Camryn shook her head. “I think some of the pieces are missing and some are broken. I don’t think you can fix me. Besides, I need to get going.”
“Why?”
“I tried to bring your car up here,” she said. “It’s down on the trail, kind of stuck.”
“Stuck? Like in mud?”
“No. It’s like the road is too bad to keep going forward, but there’s no place to turn around.”
“So what are you going to do?” Jesse asked.
“I’ve got no choice. I’m going to have to back her all the way down,” Camryn said. “It was stupid for me to try to drive up here.”
Jesse was thoughtful for a moment. “Sometimes we make a turn and get it totally wrong,” she said. “I think that’s what happened with me and Greg. He’s a nice guy, but I can’t even imagine how I thought I’d be happy married to him. So I had to back out of the ruts I was used to and get on another road. I don’t know where this one is going to take me, but I was going nowhere before.”
Jesse left her notes on the table.
“Come on, I’ll walk down with you, partway. I can’t get too far from the cabin.”
“Sure.”
She peeked in on Aunt Will and allowed Lilly June to come with her as they walked down the slope toward the approach.
“We’ve made a start, so I don’t want you to give up,” Jesse told her. “Aunt Will is counting on me to help you find a new road. But it’s your road and you’ve got to help yourself get there.”
Camryn didn’t look any more hopeful, but at least she didn’t continue to argue.
29
Piney’s Tuesday was busy. Doc Mo had an overnight emergency in Ash Flat and didn’t make it to the clinic until after eleven. Piney held down the fort, treated patients that he could and rescheduled the ones that would. But a waiting room full of patients continued to wait. Since most everybody knew everybody else, conversation was to be expected, and an impromptu meeting broke out on the subject of Aunt Will.
Sneezer was a bit ahead on contemplation of the matter.
“Yesterday, as soon as I heard, I jumped in my truck and headed over to see her.”
“How was she?” Cathy Turley asked.
“Didn’t see her,” Sneezer answered. “I got about a half mile up the approach and there was that girl of Marcy’s—you know, the one that always looks like she’s dressed up for Halloween? She was up there in DuJess’s car. She’d tried to drive it up to Aunt Will’s. Lord Almighty, kid’s got no sense at all. We both had to back down, clean to the highway.”
That statement brought lots of chuckles and shaken heads.
“I’ve not been up that way in ten years or more,” Armon Gidman noted. “It weren’t great then, imagine it’s far worse now.”
“It’s dang near impassable,” Sneezer said. “Not much better than taking your four-wheel across country.”
“Marcy should have seen to that when she moved the old gal up there,” Madge Weston pointed out.
From her place behind the reception desk, Viola chimed in, “Marcy doesn’t have cash for nothing like that,” she said. “She didn’t even want Aunt Will up there at that old cabin. But you know Aunt Will, she gets something in her mind to do and nobody on this earth is going to argue with her.”
“You know my brother-in-law has that big Cat,” Armon said. “I could ask him about running a pass up that way.”
Sneezer nodded, “I dang forgot that Shorty had that road grader. Why don’t you give him a call, see what he thinks? I’m thinking he owes Aunt Will.”
“What did Aunt Will do for him?” Cathy asked.
“Well, let’s just say, it ain’t typical for a man that’s six foot tall to have the name Shorty.”
Armon chuckled. “Yeah, I remember he was a year ahead of me in school and I could rest my elbow on the top of his head. Aunt Will fixed him. She gave him some kind of nasty stuff to drink and he shot up like a weed over the summer.”
“Really?” Madge sounded more intrigued than questioning. “My grandson, Brandon, is kind of small for his age. What did she give him, Piney?”
Scribbling notes as quickly as he could, Piney had avoided getting drawn into the discussion. His reply was harried and sarcastic.
“Human growth hormone.”
“Oh,” Madge said, obviously taking his answer as serious.
“No,” Piney clarified, forcing patience into his voice. “Where would she get her hands on anything like that? She probably gave him some sort of vitamin tonic or she wormed him or something like that. Once he was healthy, his natural development recommenced.”
Madge’s brow furrowed. “Do you think Brandon could have worms?”
“I doubt it,” Piney replied. “But if his mother is concerned about him, she can always make an appointment.”
With that, he picked up his paperwork and retreated to his office. He knew he was grumpy and he knew why. That beautiful Saturday with Jesse had somehow reawakened him sexually. It was rational to think that having a bout of great sex after a long drought would make him feel more satisfied. Instead, it had made him hungrier. He could hardly sleep and when he did, he had vivid, luscious dreams that basically involved Jesse naked and shaking her butt at him like a bonobo in heat. With the current situation up at Onery Cabin, he had little hope of his dreams coming true.
He grouched through the day with lots of black coffee and all the professionalism that he could muster. They were very late getting done and closing up. Too late for Piney to make the trip to the team’s basketball game in Bruno-Pyatt.
He grabbed an orange for sustenance and climbed in his truck. He told himself to stay home and get some rest. But he couldn’t resist seeing her, even if only for an hour.
Making the slow drive up the mountain, he mentally crossed his fingers that the guys would get Shorty to do some grading. If the approach were just a little smoother, he could go a lot faster. Piney would like that a lot better. As it was, it was nearly eight-thirty when he parked in the clearing below the site. Brandishing his flashlight, he started up the slope.
The door to the cabin opened and Jesse stepped out on the porch. Her silhouette within the glow pouring through the open entryway was enough to get him smiling.
She was looking toward the truck, undoubtedly trying to determine its owner.
“It’s me, Jesse,” he called out.
To his complete surprise and utter delight, she jumped off the porch and ran toward him. Worried that she might trip and fall, he rushed toward her. By the time they were in each other’s arms, they were laughing.
“Miss me much?” he teased.
“A little bit,” she answered. Then she kissed him. It was a sweet, languid kiss, full of tenderness with a verifiable thread of heat.
When their lips parted, Piney hummed with pleasure. “Now that was worth the trip,” he told her.
He loosened his embrace, but kept an arm around her to make sure she stayed close as they walked together.
“I didn’t think you were coming,” she said.
“I couldn’t stay away,” he admitted. “How’s it been? How was your day? How is Aunt Will?”
“Fine. Fine. And fair,” she answered. “Last night she called me by the wrong name a couple of times. But I actually think she was better yesterday. She was so tired today, she never quite got going. It was a big contrast from the day before.”
“Yesterday was good?”
Jesse nodded. “Camryn came by and Aunt Will sat and talked with her for a long while.”
“Hmm. Did she offer to make her a lovesick poultice?” Piney asked. “I’ve been living in fear that Tree is going to show up with one and stink up the house.”
Jesse laughed. “No, she listened to her, gave her some advice and encouragement. Not one salve or tonic offered. Not everybody is as fortunate as you and I.”
Piney sighed. “Lucky us.”
“Aunt Will did tell a long mountain yarn about an unwed mother who had to go into hiding to protect her family name. I think it was meant as a warning to both Camryn and I on the dangers of being unchaste.”
Piney widened his eyes. “Well, I hope Camryn takes the lesson to heart. And…uh, I’m hoping you won’t.”
She gave him a teasing elbow in the ribs. “Aunt Will knows about us,” she said.
“Did you tell her?”
“She guessed.”
Piney nodded thoughtfully. “Well, don’t worry about it. They say a lot of things about Aunt Will on this mountain. And one I most often hear is that she can keep a secret.”
They’d arrived at the cabin door. Piney held it open and then followed Jesse inside. Aunt Will was seated in her rocker. She looked up at him, her smile was more smirk than friendly welcome.
“So, Mr. Baxley, you’ve come a-courting this evening.”
Piney felt the blush rise to his cheeks. “I thought I’d better check up on you,” he answered.
Aunt Will made a tutting sound and shook her head. “You’re a poor liar, Piney. Still, since you’re here, you might as well take a notice of me. My stomach’s a little poochy today and my old, wrinkly skin sort of feels tight on me, like it shrunk up overnight.” She chuckled. “No telling what DuJess must have put in my bathwater.”
Piney laughed with her and shot a look toward Jesse, who seemed pleased to be the butt of the little joke.
He knelt down in front of the rocker and opened up his bag and gloved up. With the light from his otoscope he looked into her eyes. He pulled down the lower lid and then the upper other.
“You’re got some jaundice,” he reported. “That may be what you’re feeling on your skin. Though typically the color doesn’t have any sensation.”
He examined her throat, her ears, her legs and ankles. He listened to her heart and recorded her blood pressure.
“Okay, can you lie down for me? That would make it easier for me to measure the fluid buildup in your belly.”
Piney walked Aunt Will to her bedroom. She carried her stick and leaned heavily on his arm. Once she was prone, Piney didn’t even have to look at his notes to verify the advance in her ascites. The fluid buildup in her peritoneal cavity had increased substantially. He performed very basic trill percussions, unwilling to add more to the old woman’s discomfort.
“You haven’t been sneaking salt, have you? Maybe eaten a handful of crackers or a slice of ham?”
“No,” she answered. “I don’t have much appetite left.”
Piney glanced over at Jesse who verified her answer with a nod.
“All right then,” he said, grasping her arm to raise her to a seated position. “I’ll help you back to your chair by the fire.”
“No,” Aunt Will answered. “I’ll get DuJess to help me into my nightgown and I’ll give this day a rest. Now, you two…” She looked from one to the other with a teasing grin. “Piney, I want you to have a seat in my rocking chair, make yourself comfortable. As soon as I’m tucked up in bed, DuJess, you go out there and sit yourself on this fellow’s lap. From there, a couple of smart young people like yourselves ought to be able to keep each other company for an hour or so.”
Aunt Will was right.
Piney sat in the rocker and waited, hopeful but without expectation. Jesse didn’t hesitate or feign bashfulness or reserve. She walked over and planted her round, curvy bottom in his lap and kissed him as if it had been years since she’d last tasted his lips.
For a half hour or more, they made out like teenagers in the last row of the movie house. He slipped his hand under her sweater. She sucked his tongue into her mouth. Love bites and strokes and squeezes until the room was a lot hotter than the dwindling flame in the hearth could account for.
Mutually, they called a regretful halt to the pursuit.
“We can’t have sex in Aunt Will’s rocking chair,” Jesse declared.
“Absolutely not,” Piney agreed, solemnly. “Totally inappropriate. What would you think about bending over the kitchen table?”
He watched her jaw drop in momentary shock.
“Just kidding,” he assured her. “Just kidding…at least for tonight.”
She grinned at him. “I’m not opposed to a kitchen table, per se. But I’m thinking maybe your kitchen table would be a better choice.”
“Yeah, you would say that,” he teased. “You’re diabolical. Already I can’t sleep in my bedroom or walk through my bathroom without having fantasies of you. Now I’ll be having a hard-on with my breakfast cereal.”
She giggled. “Good,” she replied.
He wrapped his arm around her waist and jerked her toward him enough to give a halfhearted swap to her backside.
“Scamp,” he said. “I was thinking that I need real time with you. That we couldn’t settle for a quickie. But a quickie is looking better to me.”
“I’d feel weird about it,” Jesse admitted. “In Aunt Will’s place, with her sleeping in the next room. It seems disrespectful.”
Piney nodded. “I understand. Besides, I seem to be the one man who knows how noisy you are when you come. You’d wake the poor woman up, set the old hound to barking, the rooster to crowing, you’d probably even scare the milk out of the cow in the barn.”
Jesse feigned fury for a moment before she laughed.
She got up from his lap and put on water to boil for tea. He followed her into the kitchen area to lean against the counter and watch her work.
“So how’s the big breakup going at your house?” she asked him.
Piney shrugged. “Guys don’t really get into the details of that kind of stuff much. I don’t have any idea what happened. But he seems to be pretty mad at her.”
Jesse nodded. “That’s probably a good thing.”
“Oh, yeah? Why?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think I should say. Some things were told to Aunt Will in confidence and I overheard.”
Piney thought about that for a moment. “Okay, fair enough.”
Jesse turned to lean against the counter across from him. “My newest task as caretaker is to help Camryn make a plan for her life that doesn
’t include your son.”
“That should be easy enough,” Piney said. “Tree’s going away to college in the fall. After that she probably won’t even run into him a couple of times a year. She can keep working for Marcy at the health food store.”
“That’s exactly what she doesn’t want,” Jesse said. “She wants to go somewhere else, see something else. She feels like she’s going to be stuck here with her mother.”
Piney nodded. “I know that feeling,” he said. “It’s a long time ago, but I still remember. I couldn’t wait to get out of here.”
“But you came back?”
“Yeah. It’s funny the distinction from being ‘stuck’ in a place and choosing to call it home. It’s exactly the same location. The difference is inside yourself.”
The water began to boil and Jesse carefully poured it into cups already spooned with an herbal mix.
“What is this stuff?” Piney asked.
Jesse shook her head. “I don’t know, one of Aunt Will’s recipes. It’s tasty if you let it steep a bit.”
“We’d better be careful,” he said. “It might be a potion to turn us into frogs.”
Jesse smiled at him. “I figured there might be a way to get you to kiss me again.”
30
The next week was a rush with visitors. Truck after truck showed up with strangers inside. They all knew Aunt Will and she seemed delighted to see them. They brought cheeses and casseroles, loaves of homemade bread, nut butters and jams. Clearly everybody had been given the word about the special diet and had cooked and baked accordingly.
One heavyset woman who’d arrived in a giant black dually with a huge grill guard spoke plainly. “I asked myself, ‘Mary Lynn, if you were dying what would you want to eat?’ And I knew it had to be cherry pie. Not a dash of salt in it, I promise. A nice tart cherry pie.”
“That’s exactly what I told Piney,” Aunt Will replied. “Did he not spread that word? If he didn’t, maybe you could. I’ve got my mind set on eating a pie a day for the rest of my life.”
Mary Lynn was surprised, but obviously delighted.
“Maybe we’ll have a few vegetables along the way,” Jesse piped in.
