“Aurelia Cade’s father was a moonshiner back in the twenties. It was good business to know who was coming up to the front door before they saw you.”
“A moonshiner. You mean like Elliot Ness and the whole prohibition thing?”
“Yes.”
“Awesome!”
“Aurelia can trace her family back to Daniel Boone.” Brian whistled in appreciation and Leah smiled at his enthusiasm. She led the way up the sagging front steps and knocked on the heavy wooden door.
“Leah, is that you? Come in,” Juliet called out.
“Hi, yourself.” Leah motioned Brian to follow her through the pine-paneled main room, with its massive fieldstone fireplace, and on into the kitchen.
Juliet was sitting at the table, her schoolbooks spread around her. “You didn’t drive yourself up here, did you?” she asked. “I thought Caleb was bringing you out tonight.”
“No, I didn’t drive myself. I’m following doctor’s orders, as I recommend all my patients do. Someone offered to drive me.” She stepped aside so Juliet’s view of Brian was unimpeded. “Juliet Trent, this is Brian Sauder—my baby’s half brother. Remember I told you about him the other day when you called?”
“It’s nice to meet you, Brian. Welcome to our home.”
Brian shook the hand she offered and smiled back. “Thanks.”
“I’ll go see how Aurelia is,” Leah said.
Juliet disengaged her hand from Brian’s and looked at Leah, blinking as though she’d just stepped from a dark room into the sunlight. “She’s sleeping. The visiting nurse was here when I got home from school. She left some notes for you and Doc Owens.”
“Good. I’ll go check them, but I won’t disturb Aurelia if she’s sleeping. Do you mind entertaining Brian for a few minutes?”
“No. I...I’ll take him out with me to gather eggs.”
“Eggs?”
“Yes, eggs. You know, the kind chickens lay,” Juliet said tartly.
“I know about eggs,” Brian said defensively, and then grinned.
Juliet stood up and Brian’s mouth fell open. He recovered quickly and hurried to open the door leading to the backyard. “We’ll be right outside,” Juliet told Leah. “Just holler if you need me to help with Granny.”
Leah made shooing motions with her hands as Juliet waddled across the kitchen. “I promise. And, Brian...”
“Yes, ma’am?” He carefully avoided looking at Juliet’s belly or Leah’s.
“Be careful of the rooster. He doesn’t like any other males in his henhouse.”
JEEZ HE DIDN’T THINK he’d ever seen any woman so...so pregnant. Juliet Trent was as big as a house. He was the first to admit he hadn’t spent a lot of time around pregnant women, but he wasn’t certain Juliet’s shape was entirely normal. She looked like she’d swallowed a beach ball. She lifted a basket off a hook outside the back door and turned to find him standing there like an idiot.
“You look like you’ve never seen a pregnant woman before,” she said.
“You’re not a woman—you’re a girl.” Seventeen at the oldest, he guessed.
She angled her head toward a half-collapsed shed backed up against the side of the hill, surrounded by a sagging wire fence. Half a dozen scrawny brown chickens scratched in the stony dirt. A white rooster with a big red comb strutted importantly among his harem. “When you’re nine months pregnant and you don’t even know where your mom and dad are, and the father of your baby took off for boot camp without even calling to say goodbye, you’re a woman.”
“Sorry,” Brian said, feeling foolish.
She put her hand on the small of her back, stretching her lilac-colored sweater over her distended stomach. A curl of hair worked its way out of the barrette that held it back from her face. She blew at it impatiently, then tucked it behind her ear. “It’s not your fault I got myself knocked up. C’mon. You hold the basket and I’ll get the eggs. Like Leah said, watch out. Lancelot, there, doesn’t appreciate any other male invading his territory.”
The inside of the old shed was dark, and it smelled. Juliet rummaged around in a couple of bins filled with straw and came up with two eggs. She dislodged two scrawny brown hens from their nests, setting them unceremoniously on the floor, and found a couple more. Brian stood his ground and hoped the indignant hens didn’t do anything on his shoes.
“There,” she pronounced. “I’ve got them all.”
They walked back out into the pale sunshine, which had temporarily chased away the rain. Brian looked down at the four brown eggs in his basket. They seemed awfully small. “These are it?”
Juliet peered into the basket. “The hens are getting too old to lay good eggs. But Granny’s woken up to a rooster crowing outside her window all her life, so I’m not getting rid of these chickens until I have to.” Her voice broke on the last few words, and Brian was appalled to see a tear work its way out from under her sandy lashes and slip down her cheek.
“Hey, don’t cry. I was just teasing about the eggs.”
“It’s not the eggs,” she said fiercely, grabbing the basket out of his hands.
She whirled around so fast the chickens started clucking and fussing and flapping all over the yard. The rooster, apparently thinking Brian was the cause of the disturbance, charged at him. He had to do some fancy, broken-field running to get out of the pen without getting pecked. He scuttled through the gate and shoved the wobbly wood and wire barrier shut behind him.
“Man, you’re right. He’s one mean rooster.”
Juliet laughed, and he was almost glad Lancelot had come after him. She had a pretty laugh, all tinkly and light. “Leah told you he was a mean ’un, Rich City Boy.”
“My name’s Brian, not Rich City Boy.”
She stopped laughing abruptly. “You don’t have to be nice to me just because I’m Leah’s friend.” She stood there holding the basket in front of her like a shield.
“I’m not—”
Juliet cut him off. “I’m not asking for anyone’s pity. I’m going to graduate from high school with honors in three weeks—if this little guy stays put until then.” Her mouth softened into a smile for a moment, then hardened again. “In the fall, when Granny’s stronger and can take care of herself, I’m going to nursing school somehow. I might even be a nurse/ anesthetist like Leah. Just because I made one dumb mistake in my life letting Cash Dentrell talk me into having sex with him doesn’t mean I’m going to do anything as stupid again.”
Brian waited until she’d run out of breath and out of words. “I’m not pitying you and I’m not passing judgment on you. I think you’re pretty brave to be planning to raise a baby on your own and go to school. A lot of other girls...well, they would have made different choices, I think.”
“Maybe they would, but they’re not me. I’m not giving up my baby, do you hear?” She stopped, out of breath, and another tear rolled down her cheek.
Brian didn’t know what to say. Even if she had money for day care and school, it would be a real load. And from the looks of this place, Juliet didn’t have the money. But to give her baby up for adoption so she could go to school? What a hell of a choice. He didn’t know what to say, so he took the basket out of her hand. “Do you have a handkerchief?” he asked.
“There’s some tissues in the kitchen. But I’m not crying. It’s just all the dust and feathers and stuff.”
“Sure.” He nodded.
“And I told you, you don’t have to be nice to me because I’m Leah’s friend.”
“Okay, I won’t.” He grinned and held the door open for her. They heard voices from another room as they walked inside.
“Granny’s awake,” Juliet said, and her face lit up, but Brian could see a deep sadness in her eyes, and he realized, even though she’d told him her granny was going to get better, in her heart she knew the truth. “Would you like to meet her?”
It was a peace offering, and Brian accepted it as such, although he never felt very comfortable around sick people. “I’d lik
e to meet your granny very much.”
CHAPTER TEN
“HEY, DAD?” BRIAN’S VOICE came to Adam over the sound of running water.
“I’m in here,” Adam replied, wiping the last of the shaving cream off his face.
Brian’s reflection appeared over his shoulder in the bathroom mirror. “I thought I heard your shower running. You’re back. I was almost ready to send out a search team. Where have you been?”
“Running.” Almost far enough to guarantee he’d be so exhausted he could sleep. “I checked on you when I got back, but you were sacked out on the bed so I didn’t wake you.”
“Something about the air here, I guess,” Brian said with a shrug. His image disappeared from the steamy mirror. He’d gone into the bedroom. “Or getting up so early in the morning.” The landscapers working around the Hideaway Inn were on the job at 7:00 a.m. sharp. “How about something to eat? I’m starved.”
“I could go for a bite,” Adam said as he finished in the bathroom and joined his son.
Brian was sprawled in one chair, his feet propped on the other, looking out the window at the fading view of the river. “What sounds good to you?” he asked.
“You choose.”
“Well, there’s the pizza place next door or the burger joint out by the highway. Or the diner on the town square. I checked the special on their menu board today. It’s fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy and corn bread, with strawberry pie à la mode for dessert.”
Adam pulled on a sweatshirt. “From the attention to detail you gave the menu, I’d say you’ve already made up your mind.”
“Well, yeah, I could go for the fried chicken.”
“I could go for that myself.” Adam was surprised to find he was hungry. He usually didn’t care when or what he ate, or even if he ate most days.
“Then let’s go.” Brian stood up and grabbed his coat off Adam’s bed. “It’s nearly seven. They’ll be out of the special if we wait too much longer.”
“I’m ready.” Adam picked up his wallet and room key, and they headed out into the misty twilight
Brian had discovered a footpath along the river leading to a small park near the center of town, and with unspoken agreement they headed along it. They passed the Cherokee sitting under a security light and Adam noticed that its tires and sides were covered with mud. “Do a little off-road driving this afternoon?”
“I’ll get it washed in the morning,” Brian said quickly.
Adam shrugged. “No problem. That’s what it was made for. Couldn’t resist exploring those old logging roads up on the mountain, eh?”
“Not exactly,” Brian said, as they walked abreast along the asphalt pathway. “I was on the mountain, but not off on an old logging road, although I can’t say the one I was on was in much better shape. I took Leah to see one of her patients.”
“Leah?”
Brian nodded. “I went over to her house looking for you. You were gone a long time.”
“I ran farther than I expected.” There were lights coming on in the houses they passed. Television light glowed in darkened living rooms. The mist was thickening, and the rush of water over the boulders in the riverbed noisy. The everyday noises from the town and the highway in the distance were blocked out. They were the only people on the pathway, and Adam felt as if he and his son were alone in the world.
“Looking for you was only part of the reason I went to see Leah. I wanted to tell her I hoped she’d let me be some kind of big brother to the baby. I...I ended up driving her up the mountain to this old lady’s house.”
“I’m glad you could be of help to her.”
They’d arrived at a small bridge over a stream that came down the mountain to empty into the river. Brian stopped and, resting both hands on the railing, looked down at the water, although in the near darkness there was nothing to see. Adam turned his back to the river and watched the streetlights of the town flicker to life.
“Leah didn’t exactly come up with a visitation schedule for me and the baby, but she said she’d think about it. But that wasn’t all that happened. I met this girl. She lives with her great-grandmother—that’s Leah’s patient. Her name’s Juliet Trent. She’s seventeen—a senior in high school. The only person she loves in the world is dying and she’s pregnant, too, only a lot farther along than Leah. And to top it all off the father joined the army and left her to deal with it alone.”
“That’s a lot to handle when you’re only seventeen.”
“She wants to be a nurse,” Brian said, moving off the bridge and heading for the wooden steps that led up the embankment. “But she doesn’t have the money to go to college and pay someone to take care of the baby and her granny. That’s what she calls her great-grandmother—Granny.”
Adam nodded encouragement as they topped the rise and crossed the square toward the diner. Brian didn’t really need him to say anything, just to listen as he worked through his thoughts. If he’d done nothing else right these past few months, he had at least made enough headway with his son that the boy talked to him. It was more than a lot of parents could boast. It didn’t make up for the years he’d missed with Brian, but it helped.
“There’s this couple from Nashville—they’ll pay for all Juliet’s nursing-school expenses and for a private nurse to take care of her granny, if—”
“If she gives up her baby to them for adoption?”
“Yeah. It’s a pile of crap.”
“It happens all the time, Brian. It’s a perfectly legal arrangement, and in many cases it’s the best solution for the mother and the child.”
“But Juliet wants this kid.”
“You seem to have learned an awful lot about her in one afternoon.”
Brian stopped dead in his tracks. “Yeah,” he said wonderingly, “I guess I did.” They waited for the red light at Main and First, then turned left at Harley’s Fine Furniture. “I want to help her, Dad. Do you suppose Grandfather would advance me some money on my trust fund? I don’t want her to have to sell her baby to go to school.”
Adam chose his words carefully. He didn’t want to put Brian on the defensive, but he had no idea what the details of Juliet Trent’s circumstances were. Brian was too close to the situation at the moment to evaluate the choices with any degree of balance. Was it better for the girl to give up her child to a couple who would love and cherish it as their own? Or was she mature enough and strong enough to take on the challenge of raising a child and going to college at. the same time? It wasn’t an easy question to answer under any circumstances, and certainly not when he’d never met the girl.
“That trust fund is meant for your education, Brian,” he said as they approached the restaurant. “I’m not sure what your grandfather would say if you asked to use money from it to help a girl you’ve met only once.”
“I figured you’d say that. Could you lend me the money? I’ve got a little put away, but since I got laid off the construction crew last month...”
“It’s possible she and the baby would both be better off if she did give it up for adoption. I’m sorry, Brian. I know you want to help her, but I can’t go along with you on this. Not now.”
“You really are a heartless bastard sometimes,” Brian said angrily. “I thought doctors were supposed to understand about stuff like this. But you never did put yourself in the other guy’s shoes, did you? Even when I was little you always stayed a step back from everything and everybody.” He dropped his head back and stared at the sky, letting his breath out in a hiss. “The money’s there—more than enough. What’s so wrong with wanting to use it to help someone in a real jam?”
“It’s a worthy ideal, but money often creates as many problems as it solves. Juliet may not be capable of raising a child and going to school at the same time. It’s a tremendous burden. I know, because I was in med school when you were small. Can you assure me after a three-hour acquaintance that she’s a mature and focused enough individual to meet the challenge? If you can, I’ll get out
my checkbook right now.”
“You know I can’t. But she wants to keep her baby. She cried, Dad.” Brian aimed a frustrated kick at the tire of a vintage pickup parked at an angle in front of the restaurant.
“Hey there, son. Take it easy on my truck.”
Brian swung around. Adam turned his head to see Caleb Owens and his wife come out of the recessed doorway of the restaurant and walk toward them. “I—I’m sorry, sir,” Brian stammered. “I didn’t—”
“No harm done. Adam, is this your son?” Caleb asked, extending his hand.
“Yes, it is. Brian, this is Dr. Caleb Owens and his wife, Margaret. They’re friends of Leah’s. Leah’s a member of Dr. Owens’s medical practice.”
They shook hands all around. “Good to finally meet you, boy,” Caleb said. “Wondered when I’d get around to it. Glad you could come down here with your father.”
“I thought he could use the support.”
Caleb cleared his throat. “Yes, there are quite a few things he and Leah have to work out.” He grinned. “So you were admiring my truck, I gather.”
“She’s a beauty.”
“Found her sitting in an old barn up in the hills. Restored her myself. Took me two years. Like to take her for a drive?”
“Sure, I...” Brian looked over Caleb’s head through the big, plate-glass window of the restaurant. “We haven’t had dinner yet.”
“No problem. Margaret can keep your father company for a few minutes while I show you what Carlotta here can do.”
“It’d be my pleasure,” Margaret said smiling first at Brian and then Adam.
“You call the truck Carlotta?” Brian asked.
“Yeah, a pet name I have for her. C’mon, hop inside.”
“Dad?”
“Go ahead. I’m assuming you want me to order you the fried chicken and all the trimmings.”
Winter Soldier (Mills & Boon Vintage Superromance) Page 10
