Theo squeezed her hand and released it. “That’s one happily married man, I believe.”
“I believe you’re right.”
“He just wants everyone to be as happy as he is.” Theo took her hand and raised it to his lips, pressing a kiss that seared through her. “Please don’t feel pressured by his words.”
“I don’t.” She wanted him to kiss her hand again. To kiss her cheek. Her lips. Her own heart pressured her – not her cousin’s words.
Theo looked up toward the second floor of the house. “Will we bother her with sawing and hammering?”
Birds erupted in song, some robins chasing each other between the tall spruce trees that bordered the garden. “If she can sleep through all their chatter then I imagine it won’t bother her, but let me go up and check on her.”
“Thanks.” Once again he stepped close to her, this time pressing a warm kiss to her forehead. If she tipped her chin up, would he kiss her lips? She dare not be so forward, even though she wanted to.
She was falling in love with this man. Not that she knew what that felt like but if thinking about someone all the time and wanting them with you and wanting the best for them, then she was.
Lilly picked up the dirty dishes and carried them inside. She’d wash them after she checked on Mrs. Reynolds.
Upstairs, the air was still and stuffy. She needed to open the windows and finish dusting and cleaning the last bedroom on this floor. Lilly knocked on the door. No answer. She tried again. Finally she cracked the door open and peeked in. Sunlight, around the edges of the blinds, gave slight illumination through the curtains. Lilly allowed her eyes to adjust and opened the door fully. The woman didn’t move beneath the covers. Lilly returned to the hall and located a kerosene lamp, which she’d use to supplement the low gaslight. She lit the wick, placed the glass cover back on, and returned to the room.
Drawing near the bedside, she held the lamp high. Theo’s mother was flushed and perspiration trickled down her face despite the cool room. Lilly set the lamp on the nightstand and pressed her hand to the woman’s forehead. She was burning up.
“Oh Lord, please have mercy.” She touched the woman’s shoulder.
Theo’s mother moaned. “Water.” Her eyes fluttered open. “Water.”
Lilly removed the glass from the bedside carafe and poured water into it. “Can you sit up?”
Mrs. Reynolds struggled to lift her head but then let it flop back onto the pillow. “Please. . .water.”
Heart hammering in her chest, Lilly placed a hand beneath the woman’s head, covered with a satin bonnet of some type. She raised her up enough to take some sips of water.
“I’m going to send for the doctor.” Not that she knew where a doctor could be found.
“More. . . water.”
This time, Lilly removed the satin bonnet. “This might be making things worse. Holding the heat in from your fever.”
With her eyes closed, Mrs. Reynolds tried to lift her head, without success.
Lilly tossed the head covering aside and once again helped the woman to drink. “I’m going to get Theo to fetch the doctor. I’ll be back in a minute.”
“Stay. . .”
“After I send for the doctor.”
Lilly ran down the stairs and through the back. She found Theo and Garrett sawing boards. “Your mother is very ill. She needs a doctor right away.”
“What?” Theo stopped and set his saw aside.
“She has a bad fever.”
“Let me check on her.”
“Didn’t you hear me?” Lilly shook her index finger at him. “She’s burning up and can barely lift her head.”
When he glanced up at the room, she poked him.
“Go for the doctor now.”
“All right.” Theo blinked as though her words were finally sinking in. “There’s one just two blocks down. I’ll run over.”
Garrett set his saw down and wiped his hands on a rag. “Anything I can do?”
“Pray.”
He took her hands, and they bent their heads as he uttered a heartfelt prayer. When he added prayers for her mother, too, tears flowed from Lilly’s eyes. Dear God please let both our mothers be well.
Several hours later, the three of them gathered on the front porch, teacups in hand, Lilly rocking and the two men staring out over the yard. The doctor had come again, after checking Mrs. Reynolds in the morning and was upstairs.
Theo grasped a rosebud from one of the teacups she’d tried to organize that day. He twirled between his index fingers. “I’m sorry, Lilly, for drawing you into this.”
“It’s all right.” Gentle breezes rippled the leaves of the young maple tree and the lilac bushes.
Garrett eyed the two of them. “Seems the good Lord put you two together for a purpose.” The dainty teacup in the former lumberjack’s big hands looked absurd as he raised it to his lips.
Theo lifted his chin and looked overhead toward the cloud-dotted robin’s egg blue skies, as though he could see God there. “I don’t like imposing on others.”
“It’s all right.” Lilly sipped the strong black tea, flavored with honey.
“But you’ll not be able to conduct business if you’re tending to my mother and we’ve already interrupted your visit with your cousin.”
Garrett exchanged a glance with Lilly. “What business?”
She rolled her eyes upward. “Theo thinks I have a tea shop.”
“That would be my wife who owns a tea shop, not Lilly.” Garrett pointed to two huge crates on the end of the porch. “I’m taking all those teacups and saucers back to Mackinac Island with me.”
Theo’s forehead crinkled and he gestured toward the house. “What is this place then?”
Exasperated, Lilly set her teacup in its saucer with a clatter. “Your mama is upstairs possibly ill to near death and you want to talk about my so-called business?”
Theo’s cheeks flushed.
Garrett threw back the rest of his tea. “Soon as I hear what the doc says, I’ll need to head out.”
Steps sounded in descent on the interior staircase. Theo rose. “I hope he has good news.”
Lilly waited, rocking.
The portly man opened the screen door and joined them, the slight breeze from the water ruffling the wispy gray hair that framed his solemn face. “I wish I could put her in the hospital.”
“Should you?” Theo ran his hand over his jawline.
“I don’t want to move her. I fear she’ll worsen.”
Garrett stood. “Is there a private nurse available, doc?”
“None.”
“I’ll do it.” Lilly stopped rocking. “I took care of my Ma all this past year.”
The doctor’s gray eyes fastened on her. “And is she well now?”
“I. . .” She hoped so, but wasn’t sure. Lilly looked away.
“Never mind, as long as you can tend her now – that’s what matters.”
Chapter 6
Lilly swept the porch so vigorously, she feared a layer of floor paint might be removed. She stopped and dragged her muslin-clad arm across her damp forehead. Street cleaners passed by, the young man in front brushing up the manure and the one behind him spraying water from a tank inside the wagon he pulled. She stopped to watch the two. It wouldn’t be long until street traffic would pick up and Portage would be dotted with manure. But for now, for this early dawn moment, the avenue was clean. Wasn’t sin like that? You asked God to forgive you and before you knew it, you’d sinned again.
She set aside her broom and sank into the rocking chair.
“Excuse me!” A voice called out as someone grabbed Lilly’s arm, waking her.
She must have fallen asleep. Lilly threw off the arm, startled by the stranger’s voice and tried to rise, but fell back into the rocking chair. Lilly opened her eyes to see a silver-haired woman, whose crinkled face bespoke her many years. An old-fashioned rolled brim black wool hat was pinned atop her tightly upswept hair.
Please Lord, not another person here thinking Lilly sold teacups. “Hello.”
“Sorry to wake you, dearie, but I’ve got to get back to my shop before it opens.”
Lilly blinked up at her. Finally, she positioned her legs and rose from the rocker. She towered over the petite woman, who now took two steps back. “My name is Lilly Smith. What is yours?”
The woman’s thin lips parted. “Lillian’s great-niece?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Oh, my. I always feared it would come to this.”
Lilly had worked herself to a frazzle the previous day and hadn’t slept much because of Mrs. Reynolds being so ill. Obviously this stranger hadn’t come to pay her respects, although a dozen or so had greeted Lilly at church and had done so. “What is your business with me, ma’am?” My, her voice sounded snappish!
“Well. . .I.” The tiny woman squared her shoulders, causing the thick shiny fabric to strain. “I always thought Lillian just might start up her own tea shop, with all the collection she acquired.”
Help me have patience, Lord. Lilly turned her head toward the door, straining to hear if Mrs. Reynolds needed anything. “Auntie sure didn’t need all that stuff for one person.”
“No. But now you’ve put it to good use, haven’t you?”
“Ma’am, you haven’t even given me your name and you’re asking all kinds of personal questions.” Lilly’s patience had grown thin despite her prayer. If this old gal had walked up on their property and started in on her mother like this, Mama would have grabbed the broom and ran her off right quick.
A faint cry sounded through the screen door, “Lilly? Can you help?”
“Excuse me, but I’m needed.”
“You’re not going to get away with this!” The stranger called after her.
Lilly turned to face her. Maybe the woman was deranged. They had a few of those folks in the hollows of the mountains. But this lady looked too finely put together. “Ma’am, I may not be a real nurse but I can take care of Mrs. Reynolds just fine. So if you’re not here about the nursing position then scat!”
“Well! I never!”
Lilly went inside, pulled the screen closed and secured the hook, then slammed the big oak door with gusto. Tears welled up in her eyes. Maybe she should go back home where folks were more civil to one another. She needed her sisters and her Ma.
“Lilly!” Theo’s mother’s faint voice called from her room.
“Coming!” She lifted her skirts and ran up the stairs, glancing out the window as she rounded the landing. The stranger stood on the sidewalk, speaking with a police officer and pointing to the house.
There couldn’t possibly be a law against nursing a sick woman in one’s own home. Was there?
“Theo?” His boss’s voice was accompanied by a puff of smoke blown upward toward the paneled ceiling.
“Yes, sir?” He tried to focus on the diagrams spread out before him. He needed to get telegrams to his sisters to explain that their mother hadn’t improved, despite the physician’s best measures.
“You seem distracted.” His gaze traveled around the table, touching briefly on each of the other engineers.
He needed this job. Now more than ever. Doctor bills were adding up. When Mother recovered, he didn’t want her traveling any time soon. Thank God Lilly had kept her at her aunt’s house, otherwise Theo’s savings would be shot, as well as his dream that one day. . .
“Theo?”
“Yes?”
“I’m taking you off this project.”
The blood seemed to rush from his head, as dizziness shook him. “No. I’m fine.”
“Go home. Go look after your mother.”
His vision, momentarily blurred, cleared. He’d not said anything to his supervisor about his mother’s illness.
“I read it in this morning’s society column.” Mr. Dickerson cleared his throat. “The ladies are all atwitter that Mrs. Reynolds has arrived, but concerned over her illness.”
Theo’s mouth dropped open but he couldn’t manage any words. He clamped his lips tightly together.
Mr. Dickerson waved him away. “Go tend to her and we’ll see you back later this afternoon.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you.” Theo rose and nodded toward him and then toward his colleagues, who all wore a concerned expression.
As he got his belongings and left the building, his peer’s faces clung in his memory, sending a chill through him. Their apprehensive faces sent more distress through him than any of the doctor’s pronouncements.
Dear God, I need help. We need healing for my Mother. Don’t take her. Help me, Lord. Help us – all of us, and bless Lilly for being so good to us, dear Father.
Swiping away moisture from his eyes, Theo exited the building and soon strode through the park-like canopy of trees bordering the property. Birdsong called out in exultation, all manner of chirps and songs, and a mocking bird imitated the sound of a fire wagon’s gong. He couldn’t help but smile, hearing it. Beneath his feet, thick grass dotted with clover, gave way as he strode on. Bees buzzed around rose bushes that clumped here and there. As he reached the edge, a border of hydrangea bushes, covered in blooms of white and blue, greeted him with delicate fragrance. Nearby, a solitary poppy bloomed bright and vibrant against the carpet of green grass. One bloom, surrounded by what eventually would be more orange-red blossoms. All alone. Like Lilly. And beautiful and different like her.
When they married, and had a family, she’d be surrounded by children. His cheeks heated at the thought of producing those babies. They could fill up a house full. Perhaps he’d better court her first.
He strode toward the house when a livery carriage pulled down the driveway alongside Lily’s house. A little girl leaned out the window. “Ma, look how big it is!”
Theo stopped and watched. Was she taking in boarders? What about his mother? Would she need to be moved? Lilly hadn’t said a thing. He resumed walking toward the house.
One after another, stairstep girls stepped out of the carriage, followed by a thin haggard woman, whose wispy hair escaped her horror of a hat. Their faded calico dresses and scuffed brown boots reminded him of someone else.
Should he greet them? Should he run into the house and get Lilly and check on his mother? He drew in a deep breath, before striding toward the arrivals. “Good day, are you here for Miss Smith?”
“Miss Smith? Don’t that sound proper, Ma?” The tallest of the four girls, with ebony curls frizzing about her pale face, giggled.
“Hush now!” The mother frowned at her daughter before staring up at Theo with the same eyes as Lilly.
“Mrs. Smith?” Theo croaked as he held out his hand, intending to bow over this woman’s hand and kiss it, as he’d been taught.
The woman clutched her hand to her midriff. “Yes? Who are you?”
“I’m Lilly’s. . .” Her future husband? He’d not even asked the question much less told her he loved her nor even courted her properly. “I’m her friend.”
“Friend is it?” Her lips pursed. “Looks like we got here just in time. No decent man comes calling during daytime. Are you some kind of no account?”
A no account? A phrase he’d not heard, but surely pejorative. “No, madam. My mother is ill and I’ve come to check on her.”
The woman gathered her girls around like chicks. “What would your mother be doing here at my Lilly’s home?”
The front door opened. “Ma!” The screen door slammed behind Lilly as she flew toward them, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Theo used that opportunity to slip away into the house, his heart hammering. He’d check on his mother and then that afternoon, he’d beg the doctor to make room for her at the hospital, no matter if his “no account” at the bank was drained. He hurried upstairs, and rapped at his mother’s door.
No answer. He knocked again before gently opening the door. Despite the sun streaming through the windows, curtains parted, Mother lay sleeping, her hair arranged around her on her pillow
. On the washstand, a wet cloth perched perilously from the basin’s edge, water dripping onto the wood. He went to the stand and placed the rag into the water then lifted the bowl. He’d dump it, to spare Lilly the trouble, and then return to grab the pitcher and refill it. Growing up, he’d never have thought of such simple things. Servants slipped into and out of rooms so unobtrusively he and his family members didn’t realize they’d come and gone. How spoiled he’d been. At the rooming house, Mrs. Elsner no doubt did the same for him. All he and the other boarders had been required to do was to leave their bed linens at the foot of their beds on wash day, when she took the laundry to the cleaners. During the week when the cleaners had closed, Mrs. Elsner had washed everything in her newfangled wringer washer, in the back washhouse. Did Lilly’s aunt own one? Who was doing all the linen?
He had to do something to help.
Lilly pressed a teacup into Theo’s hand, and the warmth of her fingers sent a thrill through him. He leaned forward. Her eyes widened slightly, as they stood on the landing outside his mother’s room.
“Lilly!” Iris, the second youngest of the four flower-named girls hollered up the stairwell before tromping upstairs.
Theo backed up.
A pretty pink tinged Lilly’s high cheekbones. “What do u want Iris?”
“It’s been three whole days and you haven’t taken us to the lake, like you and Theo promised.”
Theo tweaked the girl’s nose. “Let me check on my mother and then we’ll see.”
Lilly held her index finger to her pretty lips. “Shhh! Listen!”
From inside his mother’s room, she and Lilly’s mother laughed uproariously.
“Is that so?” Mother’s voice was as strong as ever.
“Sure as shootin’, I’m tellin’ ya, that Irishman musta sold over a dozen cases of this elixir but I was his miracle case!”
Lilly rolled her eyes. “She’s still talking about that snake oil salesman.”
“He weren’t selling snake oil. It was medicine.” The young girl frowned up at her sister.
“Oh, botheration. The only thing he sold Ma was hope.”
“Hope?”
Tea Shop Folly Page 6
