by Lin Stepp
She returned to the kitchen later with a smile, to find Ela frying chicken for the family’s lunch, her caramel cake now iced and sitting on the counter.
“Smells good in here,” Lydia said.
Ela turned to look at her carefully. “You look good. Spirit lighter. Eyes clearer. You found some healing.”
“Yes, I did.” Lydia walked over to hug the small woman. “And you helped push me in the right direction to do it. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now, set the table since you’re here. John, Manu, and the boys will be in soon for lunch. Mary Beth, too, I think, since Nancy’s at the store today. You can join us. I put fresh-picked cabbage in the slaw, there’s early sweet corn and field peas from the garden ready to put on the table, and you’ll find a fruit salad with strawberries and blueberries—one of the twins’ favorites—in the refrigerator. There’s plenty. You can help me set everything out.”
Lydia began to get plates down from the cabinet.
Ela turned to her. “How’d you find the house?”
“Very changed, more so than I expected.”
“Nice, isn’t it?” Ela smiled. “I always say a house takes on the personality of its mistress, and you can certainly see the joy and happiness of Mary Beth in every room, can’t you?”
Lydia smiled. “Yes, I can.”
“Well, you be sure and tell Mary Beth how much you like it. It will mean a lot to her. She and your father put hard labor and work into every room.”
Before Lydia could respond to this, the twins came barreling into the door ahead of John and Manu.
“We saw a big snake, Ela—” Billy Ray called out as the door banged shut behind him.
“Yeah, but it wasn’t a poisonous one,” Bucky interrupted. “Manu just picked it up and snapped it dead.” He demonstrated with a whipping motion of his hand.
Bucky pushed his hands under the faucet with Billy Ray’s to wash them for dinner. “We think it was trying to make a home around Old Oak and Manu didn’t want that. He said it might scare folks.”
“It would scare me.” Lydia smiled at her grandsons, finding it easier each time she saw them to tell them apart.
Billy Ray’s eyes brightened. “It was big, Nana Lydia.” He emphasized the word and spread his arms to show the length. “Manu called it a rat snake and said it could climb trees. It was coiled around a branch in Old Oak.”
Bucky climbed into his seat at the big kitchen table where they ate their breakfast and lunch meals. “Manu needed to kill it because it could also get into the chicken eggs, which isn’t good. He said it could even kill and eat little animals, like maybe squirrels or our cats.”
“Is its bite poisonous?” Lydia asked.
Manu finished washing his hands at the sink and sat down to join them at the table. “A rat snake can bite, but it’s not poisonous. But its bite can hurt and be painful. I didn’t want to take the chance of leaving the snake around Old Oak since all the children play there so often and climb in the tree’s branches.”
“Yeah.” Billy Ray leaned toward Lydia, his brown eyes animated. “I’d just started climbing up the tree, and I’d probably have got bit if Manu hadn’t seen the snake and called out to me.”
Ela raised her eyebrows at Manu.
As if in reply to her unspoken question, he said, “I looked up from the grapevines nearby, where I was working, and saw the snake hanging on the tree limb. About four or five feet long—hard to miss.”
Ela nodded, satisfied that Manu had been keeping an eye on the boys while he worked. “Let’s eat,” she said. “While everything’s hot.”
Mary Beth let herself in the back door. “Looks like I’m just in time.” She smiled at her family, her eyes especially lighting up with pleasure to see Lydia at the table. “Mother, what a treat.” She leaned over to give Lydia a quick hug as she moved to take her own seat. Then, of course, she had to hear about the snake episode before grace could be said.
As Lydia passed a dish of vegetables to Mary Beth after the blessing, she caught her daughter’s eye. “I took a tour of the house before lunch to see all the work you’ve done.” Lydia smiled at her. “I can’t believe how different everything is—it looks wonderful.”
“Yeah,” Bucky added. “Mom took down all the pictures of the mean ol’ frowning people. They always scared me.”
Lydia saw John smirk.
“I’m so glad you like the changes.” Mary Beth’s face brightened. “I remember how you used to wish you could change some things and I used some of those ideas—like putting the rose-spritzed wallpaper in the upstairs guest room—”
Lydia interrupted. “And the rich, deep blues in the living room. I love the feeling in there now.” She remembered the room before—stuffy, ornate, and full of uncomfortable antique chairs and high-back settees.
“I helped reupholster a lot of the furniture from what I learned helping out at Harper’s.”
“And we got dinosaurs in our room.” Billy Dale beamed. “Grandmother wouldn’t let us have dinosaurs before. Did you see our room?”
“I did, and I love your bedspreads with the dinosaurs on them and the big cabinet with all the dinosaurs inside it. You’ll have to tell me their names. I don’t know them.”
“We know all their names and all about them.” Bucky jumped into the conversation. “We’ll teach you.”
As lunch finished and Mary Beth got up to leave, Lydia asked, “I was wondering if it would be all right for the boys to come and visit with me for a few hours this afternoon? I thought we might take a walk up one of the trails behind the house and then bake cookies afterward.”
“Can we? Can we, Mom?” they both asked at once.
“I suppose.” She smiled. “It will give Ela and Manu a break from watching out for you. But don’t give your nana any trouble, you hear?”
“We’ll be good,” they parroted.
And so it was that Lydia had a lovely afternoon with her grandsons that day. They took a small hike behind Hill House to a sweep of cascades in the creek on Strawberry Knob, baked chocolate chip cookies, and then took the kittens out on the porch to play.
“I liked our hike,” Bucky said, trailing a string across the porch for Ava to chase.
“Me too,” Billy Ray added from the porch swing. “Can we go again sometime and do a long hike?”
“What did you have in mind?” Lydia asked.
“We want to go to Cataloochee and maybe see the elk.” Bucky looked up from playing with the kitten. “Tommy Simpson’s daddy took him and they saw calves last week—that’s what you call baby elk. He said they were cool.”
“I haven’t been to Cataloochee Valley in a long time. We’ll have to plan a day to go over and explore the valley, pack a picnic and hike one of the trails.” Lydia saw John’s truck pull up as they talked. He’d promised to come pick the boys up toward the end of the day.
“Daddy John,” Bucky called out to him. “Nana Lydia’s taking us for a hike in Cataloochee and maybe we can see the elk.”
“You need to watch these guys or they’ll be making all sorts of plans for your life, Lydia Ruth,” John said, walking up the flagstone path to the porch.
“Actually, I haven’t been to Cataloochee in years and years. I’d love to take a day to drive over and hike one of the trails I remember.”
“Can we go this week, please?” Bucky asked. “While the baby elk are still there?”
“I tell you what,” John put in. “How about if you two, Lydia, and me drive over to Cataloochee together? Maybe Friday. I think I can get caught up on the farm over the next few days to take a day off by then. I’d hate to see Lydia have to keep up with both of you two wild men by herself.”
“Can we really go?” Billy Ray’s eyes lit up. “That would be so fun.”
“We’ll ask your mother tonight.” He looked at the clutter of milk glasses, cookie plates, and toys scattered around the porch. “On condition that you guys police the area here before we leave.”
�
��Okay.” Bucky jumped up to start collecting glasses and Billy Ray followed, carrying cookie plates into the kitchen.
“Where did you find these old cars?” John asked, noting the pile of Matchbox cars.
“I found them in the attic and thought they might come in handy one day. They were J. T.’s and the twins’.”
“I remember,” he said, leaning over to pick up a green convertible. “The boys knew the make of every vehicle here, if I remember correctly.”
Lydia smiled. “I enjoyed spending time with the twins today.”
“Did they bombard you with a lot of questions?”
“Of course, like all normal six-year-olds would.” Her eyes caught John’s. “I showed them all the pictures of their uncles in the photo book and told them all about them. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not.” He studied her. “Did they ask you anything they shouldn’t have?”
She laughed. “If they did, I handled it well. It’s natural they should be curious and have questions.”
The boys came back out from the kitchen, and John stood to avoid being stampeded.
“What time are we gonna leave on Friday?” Billy Ray asked, nearly running into him.
“How about around ten in the morning?” John gestured to the cars on the porch, and the boys squatted down to load them into the wooden box. “That will give us time to have breakfast, pack a lunch, and still get to the valley in plenty of time for a good hike and exploration.”
Bucky looked up from plunking a handful of cars into the box. “Mama says we have family that came from the Cataloochee Valley.”
“We do.” John leaned a hip on the porch rail. “We have kinship links to the Palmers who used to live in the valley. We’ll stop and see the church named after them when we’re there.”
“I wanna see the Caldwell house, too,” Billy Ray chimed in. “Neal said one of his great-great-granddaddies built it. He told us stories about him and said when the park took the land in the Cataloochee Valley, a lot of the people moved over here to Maggie.”
“That’s true.” John agreed. “We’ll go see the old Caldwell place, too. It isn’t far off the main road.”
The boys bubbled with plans until it was time to go.
“You sure you’re up to this?” John grinned at her as the boys launched off the porch heading for the truck.
“I look forward to it.” She paused. “What was the name of the trail following the creek that went over so many log bridges? I think the boys would love that hike. It has so many places along the water where they can stop to jump on rocks or wade. And they’ll love crossing all the log bridges over the stream.”
John grinned. “That’s the Caldwell Fork Trail, and it’s a great trail to take the boys on. We’ll do that one on Friday. It’s a broad trail to walk on and a moderate hike. We can walk a few miles up the trail, picnic, and hike back out easily. We’ll also drive up the valley to see the Palmer Church, the old schoolhouse, and the Caldwell place before we begin.”
“And the elk.” Lydia smiled. “I do hope we see some elk. The boys are counting on it.”
John stepped closer and traced a finger up her arm. “I’m looking forward to a nice day with you, too—even more than with the boys.” He leaned over to pick a Shasta daisy from beside the porch and then tucked it behind Lydia’s ear before he headed to the truck. “I’ll see you Friday—if not sooner.”
Lydia felt a flutter around her heart. Things were moving forward positively in her life, with this a good day to remember, but a small caution light still flickered in the back of her mind. She needed to be careful.
CHAPTER 12
The week flew by, and John had little time with Lydia before Friday. A storm blasted through the area that they needed to clean up from, and June drop started in the orchard.
“What’s June drop?” Bucky asked, as he and Billy Dale followed John and Sam around the orchard.
John smiled at the twins. “It’s a natural phenomenon, when apple trees begin to drop some of their young fruit as the new fruit is being formed.”
“Can you make it quit?” Billy Ray stopped to pick up a handful of small ripening apples that had fallen from a Jonagold tree.
John stifled a laugh. “Actually, June drop is good for the trees. In fact, we’re going to help the thinning process today by removing more of the overload of apples forming.”
The boy frowned up into the tree. “But wouldn’t you always want all the apples you could get?”
“Not if it overtaxes the tree.” John put his hand on Billy Ray’s shoulder. “We experienced a heavy flowering spring, and so the trees are creating more fruit than they need to. In a natural way, the trees drop some of the fruit they don’t need in June, usually the inferior apples. Too much fruit would strain the trees’ resources and make the branches weigh too much later on.”
“Is that why you told Sam you’re gonna thin more off of the trees today?” Bucky asked.
“That’s right.” He reached up to pick a young, ripening apple to examine it. “We often need to go through all the orchards to help the thinning process. It makes for a stronger, healthier crop of apples.”
“Can we help thin?” Bucky’s eyes lit up as he asked.
John glanced at Sam, who nodded.
“Sure. We could use some extra help.” John smiled at the boy.
“Me and Billy Ray are going to run your orchard one day when you get old. Is that okay?” Bucky slipped a hand into his.
“Yeah, Sam’s daddy, Grandpa Sheppard, said you’d need someone since your own boys are doing other stuff.” Billy Ray crowded against his other side affectionately. “Do you think you could teach us all the stuff we need to know?”
John found it hard to answer around the lump in his throat.
Sam ruffled Billy Ray’s hair, answering for him. “I think we can teach two smart little boys like you to be fine orchard farmers.” He grinned at the boys. “But maybe I’d better give you a little quiz to see what you know.” He paused for emphasis. “First question: Billy Ray, what are the two varieties of apples that Cunningham Farm created on its own from grafting and experimenting?”
“The Cunningham Red and the Cunning Sweet,” Billy Ray recited, pleased to know the answer.
“Pretty good.” Sam turned to Bucky. “How about you telling me a couple of the farm’s earliest fruiting apples?”
Bucky wrinkled his nose in thought. “The Early Joe, the Parmer, and the Lodi—that last one’s a yellow apple.”
“The Pink Pearl comes early, too,” Billy Ray put in. “Ela and Mama like it because the insides are pink and it makes pink applesauce.”
Hearing Cullie barking, the boys forgot the quiz for the moment and raced ahead to catch up with the dog.
“Do you think they’ll really want to stay on the farm, Sam?” John watched them run up the road.
Sam pushed back his hat. “I don’t see why they wouldn’t. They’ve loved the farm since they could toddle along beside you through the orchard rows.” Sam picked a ripening fruit off a Strawberry Pippin tree to examine it. “Sometimes the love of the land skips a generation. And their mother, Mary Beth, loves the farm.” He turned to grin at John. “Neal Caldwell does, too. You think something might work out there?”
“I guess just about everybody has noticed Neal’s interest,” John replied. “But time will tell if it goes further than that.”
John was thinking back on that comment Friday morning when Neal stopped by Main House as the family finished breakfast. “I hear you guys are going hiking today.” He tousled the twins’ heads.
“Yeah, Nana Lydia and Daddy John are taking us.” Bucky waved a fork in the air with enthusiasm. “We’re gonna see the elk and your family house, too.”
The twins babbled on with excitement, but John noticed Neal’s attention kept shifting to Mary Beth. “Bucky, you and Billy Ray better run and do your chores so we can get ready for that hike and leave for Lydia’s on time.”
They flashed a look at each other before hustling out of their seats to head for the door. “See ya later, Neal,” they called.
Mary Beth smiled. “They’re so excited about this hike.”
Neal shuffled his feet. “I heard you might be singing a few numbers with Vance Coggins and the Cross-Creek Boys tonight down at the Stompin’ Ground.”
“They want me to come.” She shrugged.
“What if I take you down and tag along with you tonight?” Neal propped a foot on the rail of a kitchen chair.
Mary Beth dropped her eyes. “I’d like that, but I made plans to go with Daddy and Mother already.” Her eyes moved to John. “Mother did say she’d come, didn’t she?”
John fidgeted, knowing he’d dragged his feet in asking Lydia to go. “Well, I expected to finalize that on our hike today. The week got busy before.” His glance moved to Neal. “Mary Beth, why don’t you plan to go with Neal for now, and then if I can talk Lydia into coming, we’ll join you there, have a double date?”
A panicked look crossed Mary Beth’s face at the word ‘date.’
“Let’s just call it an evening with friends, John.” Neal picked up on Mary Beth’s panic. “We’ll sit together, maybe clog a little, share a fine time. I don’t think Lydia has heard Mary Beth sing with the Cross-Creek Boys. It will be a treat for her. The Ivy Hill Band will be there, too, and a couple of local clogging groups Lydia will enjoy.”
“That sounds good.” John smiled at his daughter. “I think your mother will enjoy an evening at the Stompin’ Ground. She hasn’t been there in a long time. It will be a treat.”
“Well.” She hesitated. “But it will create a late night out for the twins. . . .”
“Manu and I will sit with the boys,” Ela put in. “They’ll be worn out after that hike and no trouble.”
“Okay, thanks. But I need to get down to the store now.” Mary Beth glanced at the kitchen clock as she pushed back her chair. “An early shipment is coming in and I want to unpack it before I open the store.”
“I need to get to work, too.” Neal opened the back door to head out, then turned back. “I’ll stop by about seven thirty. That will give us plenty of time to get there before the doors open at eight o’clock.”
