“Yes, I’ve heard that,” she said quietly. She was trying not to sound as shell-shocked as she felt. “Will you really be gone the whole summer?”
“Unfortunately . . . yes,” he said slowly. “But I’m sure I’ll come into Boston every so often, just to check up on things. It will probably be on short notice, but maybe we can get together then,” he suggested hopefully. “Maybe you could meet me in the city for dinner or something when I come in?”
“Sure, I could do that,” Jessica replied, trying to mask her disappointment. It had been hard enough having a relationship while she was in Cape Light and he was down in Boston. What was going to happen now?
“And there’s always a chance I can wrap this up a little faster,” he added. “I really hope I can.”
“So do I,” Jessica admitted. Still, she didn’t want to seem too upset. Men hated it when a woman sounded too clingy. “Maybe it won’t be so bad.”
“I’m starting to think the worst part will be not seeing you,” he said.
His admission made her feel a little better. “That’s nice of you to say,” she said softly.
“I didn’t say it just to be nice. It’s really true. But the time will go quickly, I hope. In a couple of months we’ll both be back in the city again, right?”
“Right,” she agreed. At least he sounded as if they were thinking along the same lines about their future. That was some consolation.
They’d keep in touch with phone calls and e-mails, she had no doubt. After the summer, when they both got back to the city, they’d start seeing each other on a regular, more steady basis. Jessica was almost sure of it.
They talked a bit more and Jessica told him about the stray cat. Paul listened for a while, then seemed tired and distracted. He said he’d call when he got to Minnesota, and Jessica wished him a good trip.
“Great,” she said, hanging up the phone. She wished she could get rid of the funny hollow feeling in her chest. Part of what she found so attractive in Paul was his ambition, so what right did she have to feel so upset when he had to put business first?
Jessica got ready for bed, telling herself this was just one of those downs in the usual ups and downs of a relationship. She’d just changed into her nightgown when she noticed the Bible on her small white table next to her bed. She flipped through the old pages, stopping every once in a while to read a few lines that she seemed to remember. Did she hear them at Sunday school? Or did her father read them to her? After more than half an hour passed, she closed the Bible and settled into her pillows.
Sam found the Bible. She wondered if she would see him when he came to repair the leak. She knew she’d feel awkward facing him after tonight.
But then again . . . some part of her looked forward to it. . . .
CHAPTER SIX
EVERY PIANO LESSON HAD A RHYTHM OF ITS OWN, the Reverend Lewis mused as he entered the parsonage and trod softly past the music room off the foyer. And yet they all had a similar progression.
First the sound of halting notes, bravely carrying a melody, speeding up in the easy places, stumbling at the more difficult passages. Finally the music coming quickly to a conclusion, as if the player were carrying a large stone downhill those last few bars. And through it all, the sound of his wife’s voice, low and patient, praising the effort, however slim.
The student whom Carolyn was working with now was actually better than most. She struck the keys with crisp confidence and had a good sense of timing. Not that he knew very much about music.
The reverend paused in the kitchen, where he peeked under the lids of the pots on the stove. Carolyn had made shrimp Creole, one of his favorites, a dish she often made for company. He wondered if anyone was coming.
He kept himself busy while he waited to find out, glancing through the mail, then washing up the dishes in the sink.
He soon heard the student’s mother arrive. It was Molly Willoughby. He recognized her voice, but she was in and gone before he had the chance to step out to say hello.
Molly had come to church regularly as a girl and attended Sunday school with the rest of the Morgan clan, he recalled. But Molly was now among the few in her family who didn’t belong to Bible Community Church. A single mother with an ex-husband who didn’t support his children financially or emotionally, she probably saw joining the congregation as just another pressure—one more obligation in an already harried life. The irony, Ben thought, was that growing in faith would actually lighten Molly’s load, for she’d soon see that the Lord is happy to share the burden with anyone who asks Him for aid. Yet years of ministering had taught Ben that he couldn’t push faith on anyone who didn’t want it. Molly would come back to the church when she was ready. All he could do was let her know that she would always be welcome.
He glanced over his shoulder, expecting to see his wife come into the kitchen. Instead he heard her begin another piece, one that was bright and quick with pleasing counterpoint. Bach, he thought, the Goldberg Variations, though which one exactly, he could never be sure.
Ben smiled as he thought about how Carolyn would gently correct him when he got the name of a piece wrong. He still couldn’t understand what she’d seen in him, all those years ago.
He loved to listen to her play, especially when she thought she was alone and was playing just for herself. He was almost sure she didn’t know he was in the house right now.
He left the kitchen and walked down the hallway. He stood very still by the half-open door of the music room, watching as his wife’s hands danced along the keyboard.
I’ve been graced with so many gifts, Ben thought.
Carolyn must have finally caught sight of him out of the corner of her eye, for the next sound was a crashing jumble.
“Ben?” She pressed her hand to her throat. “You nearly scared me to death. How long have you been standing there?”
“Not too long. I didn’t want to interrupt you. I knew you’d stop playing,” he admitted.
She got up from the piano bench and clicked off the brass lamp over the score. “Just as well. If I don’t check the rice, it gets stuck to the bottom of the pan.”
“I’d rather listen to you play Bach than have perfect rice any day,” he said, following her into the kitchen.
“That’s sweet of you to say, dear.” She smiled and kissed his cheek. “Especially since I know how you feel about shrimp Creole.”
She stirred the rice, then checked the other pots on the stove. “Dinner is almost ready. Rachel and Jack are coming over.”
“I thought we might be having some company tonight,” Ben said. “I was out at the Potters’ today. Sophie gave me a pie. We can have it for dessert.”
“That was awfully convenient of you. Especially since I didn’t have time to pick up anything.” Carolyn took four dinner plates out of the cupboard and then counted out some silverware. “Rachel’s going to tell us tonight, so make sure you act surprised.”
Ben was momentarily confused, then catching the expression on his wife’s face, he remembered. The Big News, they had started to call it privately. Ever since Carolyn had spilled the beans on Memorial Day, the two of them had been waiting for Rachel to make it official.
“Ahh . . . so tonight’s the night, is it? Well, this is a celebration.” He rubbed his hands together happily. “Let’s set the table in the dining room. Maybe I should use the good china?”
Carolyn smiled at him and handed him the everyday plates and silverware. Her husband was clearly unaccustomed to even the smallest, most innocent deception.
“The kitchen will be fine, I think. We don’t want to overdo it. Besides, you’re supposed to be surprised, Ben, remember?”
“Oh, yes. Of course.” He touched his forehead with his hand. “I still can’t quite believe it. Me, a granddad!” He shook his head in amazement as he set out the dishes. “I remember when you were just pregnant with Rachel. Remember how you used to crave . . . what was it again . . . tapioca?”
“Rice pudding,”
she corrected him. “The same thing happened with Mark. I don’t believe I’ve eaten it since.”
“It doesn’t seem that long ago, does it?” Ben remarked, shaking his head. “Where does the time go?”
“Where indeed?” Carolyn replied as she began to make a salad. They were both quiet for a few moments, working together in companionable silence.
Ben noticed a faraway expression in his wife’s eyes. “Penny for your thoughts,” he said.
Carolyn blinked, as if he’d just brought her back to the present. “That pie you brought made me think of the Potters’ orchard. Remember when the kids were small, and we’d take the two of them apple picking? We’d bring home so many apples. . . .” She shook her head. “I’d be baking and putting up applesauce for days.”
“Yes, I remember. Mark would race between the trees and make me chase after him.”
“And he’d wind up so tired, you’d have to carry him down to the car.” She smiled at the memory.
“Well, pretty soon we’ll have our new grandchild to bring up to the Potters. That will be fun,” Ben said.
He took out some glasses and filled them with ice water, then set them on the table. “Was that one of Molly Willoughby’s girls you had in today?”
“Yes, the older one, Lauren. She’s thirteen.” Carolyn poured some oil and vinegar on the salad and tossed it. “She only started a few months ago, but she’s quite good.”
“She sounded considerably better than some of the others,” he agreed.
“I think Lauren has real talent,” Carolyn told him. “She loves it, too. She’s been very diligent about practicing. It’s a shame that she only has a keyboard to practice on. I’d love to see a student like that with a real piano.” She brought the salad over to the table, where Ben now sat. “I can’t imagine how that will happen, though, considering Molly’s circumstances. When I first mentioned it to her, she looked at me as if I’d lost my mind.” Carolyn gave a small laugh. “You’d think I suggested she buy herself a mink coat and a pair of diamond earrings. But of course, it’s enough of a stretch paying for the lessons,” Carolyn added in an understanding tone. “I offered to take Lauren for free. She has so much promise. But Molly insisted on paying something.”
Ben regarded his wife thoughtfully. “Yes, Molly’s very proud, from what I understand. She doesn’t like to take help from anyone, though I suspect Sam helps her out a bit. He told me she’s working three jobs now—school bus driver, baking for the Clam Box and the Beanery, and doing housework around town.”
Carolyn set the salad bowl on the table. “Molly doesn’t have it easy,” she agreed. “And I guess a piano would be a real luxury. But a few weeks ago she said she’d been thinking about it and really wanted Lauren to have an instrument and asked if I would help her find an inexpensive used one. I started looking. I even asked Grace Hegman about the piano in her barn. But that didn’t turn out very well.” Carolyn sighed.
“Really? What happened?”
“The piano had been Julie’s, and Grace simply won’t part with it. I honestly felt bad even for asking her,” Carolyn admitted. “She’s still so . . . in so much pain.”
Ben sighed. “Yes, I know. I wish I could help her in some way, at least persuade her to return to church.”
Carolyn glanced at him and lightly touched his shoulder as she passed. “I know how hard you’ve tried to reach Grace over the years, Ben.”
“Yes, I’ve tried,” he said, removing his steel-rimmed glasses and rubbing his eyes. “And I’ll keep trying. Five years may seem a long time in some respects. But for Grace, it’s been no time at all.”
“I can see that now,” Carolyn said. “I really shouldn’t have even asked her, but I was feeling a bit desperate. I’ve checked everywhere. I really don’t know where else to look. Unless I start calling places in Boston. But the cost of transporting a piano from anyplace far away just doesn’t make sense.”
“ ‘Ask and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find,’ ” he reminded her.
“I ought to ask for some help on this one? Is that what you’re trying to tell me, Reverend?” Carolyn asked with a twinkle in her eye.
“ ‘—Knock and the door shall be opened unto you,’ ” Ben concluded.
She laughed. “Okay, I will pray on it and I’ll try my best. Something might turn up,” she added hopefully.
The doorbell rang then. Carolyn leaned toward Ben. “They’re here, Grandpa,” she said quietly.
“I’ll get the door,” Ben replied just as softly. “You wait here . . . Grandma,” he said, patting her hand.
Rachel looked radiant, Carolyn thought, her long, honey-blond hair framing her face, her blue eyes bright. Jack seemed equally happy. The opposite of Rachel in coloring, he had thick dark hair and brown eyes. Tall, lean, and athletic, he’d played basketball in college and now helped coach the team at the high school, in addition to being a guidance counselor there.
After sitting down at the table, the family joined hands, and Ben gave a prayer of thanks.
As Carolyn had hoped, it didn’t take long for Rachel to announce that she and Jack had some news.
Ben glanced at Carolyn, then, trying not to smile, he turned back to his daughter. “Yes, dear?”
She took her husband’s hand. “Jack and I are expecting a baby,” she said.
“That’s wonderful!” Ben declared. He got up to kiss and hug his daughter, then leaned forward and shook Jack’s hand. “I’m thrilled and delighted beyond words.”
“So am I,” Carolyn said. “When is the little one going to arrive?”
“The baby is due in January,” Rachel said, beaming. “But I’ll consider it a belated Christmas present. You don’t have to get me anything else,” she told Carolyn and Ben.
“Me either,” Jack added.
“That makes our list very short this year, honey,” Ben said with a grin. “We might not even need to go to the mall.”
“Yes, we will. We’ll all be shopping for the baby,” Carolyn predicted.
“They do seem to need a lot of equipment.” Rachel sighed. “When you start reading those pregnancy books, it’s practically overwhelming.”
“Don’t worry, dear. I’ll help you figure it out,” her mother assured her. “The gadgets help the new parents feel better, I think. But babies really don’t need much to keep them happy and healthy.”
“Just a lot of love,” Ben said. “And I know my future grandchild will get plenty of that in this family.” His smile took in everyone around the table in turn: Jack, who now sat with his arm around the back of Rachel’s chair, Rachel herself, and then Carolyn. “I’d like to say a brief prayer for you, Rachel, if that’s all right,” he added.
“Of course it is, Dad. I was hoping you would,” she replied.
They all bowed their heads and joined hands again. Then Ben said, “Thank you, Heavenly Father, for this blessed news. Please bless Rachel and help her through the pregnancy, and please send us a healthy, happy baby. And please keep us ever mindful, Lord. Help us not take for granted the ordinary but marvelous moments in life like this one, for which we should always give thanks.”
They were all quiet for a moment. “That was lovely, dear,” Carolyn said.
“Yes, it was, Dad. Thank you,” Rachel agreed. Jack leaned over and kissed Rachel on the cheek.
Carolyn smiled at them. Then her expression clouded.
“I wish Mark were here,” Carolyn said.
“So do I,” Rachel agreed. “Is he still in New Mexico? I sent him a birthday card there, but I’m not sure he ever got it.”
“Mark’s on the move again,” Ben reported with a sigh. “He sent a note a few weeks ago saying he’d be in touch when he had a new address and phone number.” Ben glanced at Carolyn, who was looking down at the remains of her supper. “I’ll let you know as soon as I hear from him again, honey.”
“Maybe he’ll come home for Christmas,” Rachel said wistfully. “I think we should start working on him now. I’d
be so happy if he were here when the baby comes.”
“Yes, that would be wonderful,” Carolyn said hopefully.
Ben reached over and covered Carolyn’s hand with his own. “I think he’ll come home soon, at least for a visit. A new baby is very tempting bait,” he joked to lighten the mood. “It just might do the trick.”
While Carolyn served coffee and the pie from the Potters’ orchard the conversation moved on to other subjects, including Jack’s job at the high school.
“You know how I love working with the kids,” Jack said, “but at this time of year, I don’t mind saying I’m counting down the days until summer vacation begins.”
“Will you be working at your father’s lumberyard again this summer?” Ben asked.
Jack nodded. “It’s pretty dull down there, to tell you the truth. But driving a forklift around a warehouse for a few weeks will be a nice change from teenage angst.”
Rachel tried to hide her yawning as the conversation continued, but Jack picked up on it.
“We’d better go, honey, before I have to carry you out to the car.” Turning to his in-laws, he added, “Rachel falls asleep at the drop of a hat these days. She’d topple right into her dinner plate if I wasn’t there to prop her up.”
“Oh, Jack, now you’re exaggerating,” she protested. “I’m not that bad!”
“You need to take care of yourself now, Rachel,” her mother said with a laugh. “Don’t overdo. Especially in the beginning.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of her,” Jack assured them.
Carolyn smiled, thinking her daughter had chosen a very fine husband. She patted Jack on the arm and said, “Yes, I know you will.”
After Rachel and Jack left, Ben and Carolyn worked together to clean up the kitchen. “We have a lot to look forward to,” Ben said. “This baby will be a big change for everyone.”
“I can hardly wait,” Carolyn admitted as she loaded the dishwasher. “I think I have a few of Rachel’s special baby things put away up in the attic. I know I saved her first Christmas dress. Do you remember that little red velvet dress with the lace collar? She has it on in that picture in the living room.”
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