My Sister's Prayer

by Mindy Starns Clark

  When they returned to the kitchen, Sary told Celeste to chop the vegetables while she braised the meat. Then she tossed everything into a pot of broth. Benjamin came in with more water and filled the second pot on the fire while Sary stirred the stew. The savory smell made Celeste’s stomach ache.

  Sary cleared the table and soon the stable boy came in. Behind him was a housemaid, a young Irish woman who introduced herself as Aline. She was pretty, with auburn hair and lively brown eyes. After her came Benjamin and a man who was likely his father. Sary served them all, and then Mr. Edwards came in and said a blessing before everyone started to eat.

  “Miss Talbot, you’ll have your meal once your work is done,” he said to Celeste before grabbing two pitchers and heading back to the inn.

  Celeste followed him with plates of stew and the bread. A few businessmen sat at the tables, all speaking in respectful voices, a scene entirely different from the rowdiness of the night before.

  An hour later, as she cleared the last of the dishes, the front door to the inn opened. Spenser stepped inside and motioned to her. Celeste glanced at Mr. Edwards, who was across the room, sitting at a table with two other men. He sighed but then nodded his head.

  “Sorry,” Spenser said. “I debated whether to tell you this or not, but when I delivered the furniture to the barracks I asked the supply officer about Lieutenant Gray.”

  Celeste pursed her lips together.

  Spenser whispered. “Should I continue? I won’t if you don’t want me to.”

  “No, you should,” she said, even though her first instinct was to cover her ears with her hands and run away.

  “I have no way of knowing whether this information is accurate or not,” Spenser said, “but the supply officer told me Lieutenant Gray has been courting a young woman in the area.”

  Celeste felt as if she’d just fallen overboard the Royal Mary. “Courting?” she managed to sputter.

  Spenser nodded, the expression on his face pained. He reached out to steady her. “But like I said, I don’t know that it’s true.” She nodded again at his muffled words, her ears stopped with fear.

  Spenser continued. “Perhaps when you see Jonathan, you can ask him about the—”

  “No need to ask the lieutenant,” Mr. Edwards interrupted, standing near them now. “It’s true.”

  “Who is she?” Celeste leaned her hand against the wall to steady herself.

  “Ask him yourself,” Mr. Edwards said. “But I’ve seen him with a young woman plenty of times. That’s why he bought the carriage.”

  Celeste gasped. Had he spent the money he’d saved on that? She managed to thank Spenser and assure him he’d done the right thing to tell her. “I’d better get back to work,” she added.

  Mr. Edwards nodded, and Spenser slipped out the door. Perhaps Jonathan had already been given the land grant and that was the reason for the carriage. Perhaps he was only being kind to the other young woman. That’s what she tried to tell herself as she scrubbed the dishes in the unbearably hot kitchen, sweat dripping down her cheeks like tears.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Maddee

  Well, look at that. You’re alive after all,” Nana said as she opened her front door on Saturday morning. Her face was pinched, and I realized she was peeved with me.

  I glanced at my watch. “I’m not late. We said between ten and eleven.”

  “I’m talking about yesterday, Madeline.”

  Uh-oh. Full name and everything.

  With a huff, she turned and crossed the solarium to the living room, where she sat in her usual chair and returned to what she’d obviously been doing when I arrived, going through Nicole’s medications and getting them organized into a travel case.

  And today had started out so well, my heart light despite the burden I was about to take on, my soul filled with purpose and a sense that this was God’s plan for me to care for my sister. I wasn’t going into this blindly, and I knew there would be at least some drama ahead, but I hadn’t expected it to come right away—and especially not from my grandmother. What was going on?

  “I assume your appointment went well?” Nana asked through tight lips. “With Dr. Hill?”

  Ah. Of course. The hunky doctor.

  “So it was a setup,” I replied, crossing my arms. “I thought so. Shouldn’t I be the one who’s put out with you? After all, you did ambush me.”

  She bristled. “I would hardly call that an ambush. I was trying to do you a favor. Obviously, you didn’t see it that way or else you would have called afterward like you promised you would.”

  I sighed heavily, telling myself Nana wasn’t really mad about this. She was worried and probably sad and even a little hurt about Nicole leaving. She had to find somewhere to direct all that emotion, so she’d turned a minor irritation with me into a major event.

  “You’re right, Nana,” I said, stepping into the room. “I’m sorry. I should have called. Honestly, with all I’ve had going on, it just slipped my mind. But I do apologize.”

  “Well…thank you,” she said, mollified. “I only wanted to hear from you because I was excited to know what you thought of him.”

  I took the seat to her left. “I understand. But the next time you set me up, how about a little warning first? I rode my bike there, and by the time I got to his office, I was an absolute mess. I doubt I made much of an impression.”

  She waved off that thought with a flip of her hand. “I’m sure you’re wrong there. I have no doubt he was quite taken with you. I assume it was mutual?”

  I shrugged. “He’s certainly one of the most handsome men I’ve ever seen, but we weren’t together all that long. I don’t know anything about him.”

  “I do. His mother and I have worked together on a number of charity events, and he’s all she can talk about. He sounds like a wonderful young man, and he’s from a very fine, very old Virginia family.”

  “Oh. Well, then. Let’s ring out the wedding bells.”

  She gave me a sharp glance but softened a bit when she saw my smile and realized I was teasing.

  “He’s one of the top orthopedic surgeons in the country, and I’m the one who arranged for him to do your sister’s operation. That’s when I got the idea about matching up the two of you.”

  “So you set up some bogus appointment, hoping it would spark a love affair?”

  “Don’t be sarcastic, Madeline. The two of you have a lot in common. You’re both churchgoers, in the medical field, high achievers, well educated, from good families…” Her voice trailed off, and then she hesitated for a moment before adding, “I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but according to his mother he has, quote, reached that age where he’s ready to find someone and settle down, but he wants lots of children and has yet to meet a woman with similar ideals.”

  I swallowed hard. “Lots of children?”

  She nodded. “Now are you interested?”

  I smiled. “I wasn’t not interested before, Nana. I found him very appealing, very attractive. But I highly doubt it was mutual.”

  She looked at me, her eyes narrowing. “You’re not that gawky teen anymore, you know. You have to remember that. Trust me, Maddee, you are every bit as beautiful as he is handsome.”

  Heat rushed to my cheeks. True, there was a big difference between the ugly duckling inside my head and the swan I saw in the mirror each day, but no way was I in his league. The reigning Miss America was barely in his league.

  “You think I’m exaggerating?” she asked, sensing my skepticism.

  “I think you’re biased,” I replied, leaning forward to give her a peck on the cheek. “But I love you. And I do appreciate your trying.” I rose, clapped my hands together, and added, “Now how about we get this show on the road so I can take my sister off your hands?”

  With so many elements to tend to, it took more than two hours to make that happen. First came a lesson from Inez about the proper way to get Nicole in and out of the bed, the wheelchair, the bathroom, and the ca
r. At my home Inez would be coming only on weekdays, and only while I was at work. The burden of Nicole’s care would fall to me on evenings and weekends, so that meant learning to do these things correctly lest I end up hurting her or myself in the process.

  Next came a lesson on tending to her various other needs, such as icing her ribs and elevating her legs. Throughout it all, Nicole was cooperative but quiet, though I couldn’t tell if that was because she was tired and in pain or because she resented being treated like such an invalid. Either way, we managed to get through it. Then, as Nana and I sat in the living room and went through the medications, upcoming appointments, medical info, and more, Inez finished gathering up Nicole’s things and loading them into my car.

  At last we were ready to transfer the patient herself. As I returned to the study and took in the sight of her, my heart lurched. In the middle of that ridiculously large bed she looked so tiny and helpless, her arms frail and thin as they hung at her sides, her face sunken from all the weight she’d lost.

  “I think, at long last, we’re ready,” I said.

  Her face lit up for the first time all day. With a glance behind me, she lowered her voice. “You’re really breaking me out of this joint?”

  “Sure am.”

  “Not a minute too soon.” She pushed herself up from the mattress, looking as if she could leap from the bed and take off running through sheer force of will.

  Of course, Nana fussed over Nicole all the way down the front walk as I rolled her wheelchair to my car, saying how she’d hired a transport van for the move but that Nicole had insisted on her canceling it.

  “I’m tired of being some weirdo, coddled patient. I just wanted a nice, normal ride in a car with my sister.”

  Nana clucked her tongue, but I came to Nicole’s defense. “You can’t blame her for feeling that way,” I said lightly. “Besides, I could use the practice getting her in and out of the passenger seat.”

  With both of her legs in casts, we soon realized she wouldn’t fit in the front and would have to ride in the back instead. Inez did the lifting and lowering, setting her down and carefully sliding her across the seat until both legs were in. As I stood watching, it startled me how small Nicole had gotten. The medium-sized T-shirt I’d bought her after the accident now hung on her like a poncho, and the waistband of her shorts couldn’t hide the sharp pair of hipbones underneath.

  “She’s so thin,” I whispered to Nana, alarmed, but she assured me that though Nicole had barely eaten at first, her appetite had been coming back a little more each day.

  Inez tucked pillows behind Nicole and then stood up straight beside the car, the doors closed but the windows down, her face red with exertion as she caught her breath.

  “See?” Nicole called from her bizarre perch on the backseat. “Just a nice, normal ride in a car with my sister.”

  I laughed, though Nana did not.

  “Don’t forget the wheelchair,” she directed, even though Inez was already rolling it around to the trunk. “And her fan. Inez, did you remember the fan?”

  “No, I forgot,” she replied easily as she worked. “I’ll get it in a sec.”

  Turning to me, Nana explained, “Your sister has night sweats sometimes because of the pain. The fan helps.”

  I could see how difficult this was for our grandmother, her eyes almost desperate, her hands working furiously at a wad of tissue. Impulsively, I reached out and wrapped my arms around her in a big hug. She didn’t resist, and I could feel her weight relaxing against me as I patted her back and assured her that Nicole was going to be just fine.

  “Please don’t worry.” We pulled apart. “I think this is going to be a very good thing for both of us.”

  “I do too,” she said, dabbing at her eyes with the tissue. Myriad emotions shone on her face, everything from concern to fear to relief. “It’s just hard for a lot of reasons.”

  “I know.” I waited as she pulled herself together.

  “I’d like to visit weekly. How do Saturday mornings sound to you? I could stop in after Bible study.”

  “That sounds great, Nana. I’ll put it on the schedule.”

  With a brisk nod, she took my arm and walked me slowly toward the front of the car.

  “I found the letters I told you about. The sisters’ names were Celeste and Berta. I’ll have copies made this week and bring them with me when I come next Saturday.”

  “I’d love that.” I stopped at the door and pulled out my keys. “I’m sure Nicole would too.”

  “Would too what?” Nicole asked, tilting her head to look up at us from inside the car.

  “Maddee can tell you about it while you’re driving.” Nana looked from me to Nicole, an odd expression on her face, as if she had more to say. But then she seemed to let it go. Turning, she simply leaned in through the back window and planted a kiss on Nicole’s forehead, a sweet and surprisingly tender gesture from a woman who rarely initiated physical affection.

  “You’ll both be in my prayers,” she said, giving me a smile and a pat on the arm. And though I detected a catch in her voice, she managed to hold herself together.

  Inez had come back out from the house and was putting the fan in the trunk. She slammed the lid and then gave me a thumbs-up.

  “I’ll see you two on Monday,” she said to me before taking Nana’s arm and leading her out of the way.

  “Wait, one more thing,” Nana called out just as I started up the car and put it into gear.

  “Enough already,” Nicole muttered under her breath from behind me.

  “What’s that, Nana?” I replied sweetly through the open window even as I discreetly slid a hand back and gave my sister a pinch.

  “I’ve hired a very special physical therapist to do Nicole’s home visits. He’ll be starting on Monday.”

  I hesitated, assuming that by “special” she meant obscenely expensive and used by all the right people. Either that, or he was another drop-dead-gorgeous option for marriage and multiple procreation. I was about to ask for clarification when I felt a sharp pain at my elbow and realized I was being pinched in return.

  “Just go!” she hissed.

  “Sounds great. Talk to you later,” I called to our grandmother.

  We started off at last, the two of them watching and waving as we headed down the long, winding driveway. All was quiet inside the car until we pulled onto the road, at which point Nicole let out a whoop of joy from behind me, so loud it hurt my ears.

  “I’m free! I’m free! I don’t believe it! I’m free!” She pounded against the back of my seat for emphasis.

  “Okay, okay. Cool it with the fists. Trying to drive here.”

  “Sorry. I’m just…it’s not that I’m not grateful to her. I am. But there aren’t words. You have no idea.” She let out another whoop, only this one ended in a long, drawn-out exhale. Poor thing. I smiled, pleased I could be the source of such happiness and relief.

  When I’d thought of this trip, I had pictured us chatting all the way home, but now with me in the front and her directly behind, it was hard to carry on much of a conversation. I told her what Nana had said about bringing over the letters, but after that our words grew less frequent until eventually we were silent, and that was fine. We would have plenty of time for talking in the days and weeks to come. She’d grown so quiet, I had a feeling she’d fallen asleep on me anyway. After such a crazy morning, she was probably exhausted.

  Settling back in my seat, I took in the view of the James River as we crossed the bridge. Something about the silence in the car felt deeply pleasing to me, as though I were a busy mom after a long shopping trip with a toddler who conked out in the car seat on the way home. It wasn’t just a restful silence but a protective one, my charge tucked in safely behind me and everything right with the world.

  Fifteen minutes later, I was turning onto Monument Avenue when I heard a dinging sound, followed by a zip and a bonk and then a burst of applause. It wasn’t a ringtone I remembered having instal
led, but I reached for my phone just the same, trying to catch it before it woke up my sister.

  Only my phone wasn’t there. Startled, I twisted around to take a look, and there sat Nicole with my phone in her hands, head bent in concentration, fingers busy on the screen.

  She was playing some kind of game. On my phone.

  “Where did you get that?” I asked, tilting the rearview mirror so I could see her face.

  “From your purse,” she responded, not bothering to look up. Another dinging noise, followed by a casino-like jingle.

  “My purse?”

  “Yeah. And by the way, you really should turn on password protection. You never know when someone might take your phone.”

  She continued on with her game, not even hearing the irony of her own words. Unbelievable.

  “Nicole,” I said, trying to keep my voice even, “what did I say to you about respecting my things? I wasn’t kidding with all that.”

  “I know you weren’t.”

  “And yet here you are, playing on my phone. What part of respect do you not understand?”

  “Oh, come on, Maddee. Do you know how badly I miss my apps? It’s just a game—”

  “Games, calls, texts, whatever. You could be surfing the Internet trying to buy me a brand-new set of color-coded organizational binders, but it wouldn’t make a difference to me. If you try to use my purse, phone, laptop, tablet—whatever—without asking first, I’m taking you straight back to Nana’s, no questions asked.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Because you’re not respecting my boundaries, and I can’t have that.” I sucked in a breath and counted to ten. Maybe I was overreacting, but her action had really startled me. Was this how it was going to be? Her violating my space, my privacy, my things, and then acting as if I was the one with the problem?

  “Fine,” she huffed. “No phones, tablets, laptops, PalmPilots, Walkmans, Gameboys, beepers, fax machines—.”