by Sharon Sala
He woke up to realize he was the one in tears and rolled out of bed, anxious to leave the nightmare behind. He glanced at the clock. It was a little after 6:00 a.m. He hadn’t intended to get up so early, but no way in hell was he going back to bed after that dream, so he got dressed and went to the kitchen to make coffee. While it was brewing, he got one of his dad’s work coats out of the closet. When the coffee was done, he put on the coat and took a cup of coffee to the back porch swing. He eased down onto the swing and then took a quick sip. It was still too hot to drink, so he pushed off in the swing, while he gazed across the back of the property, waiting for sunrise.
He thought about Laurel Payne and wondered if they were up yet, and if Bonnie was getting ready to catch the bus. If he closed his eyes, he could almost imagine his mother in the kitchen behind him, making biscuits and frying bacon, while making his dad’s lunch for the day. He would have been getting dressed and smelling all those wonderful scents drifting down the hall toward his bedroom, secure in the knowledge that all was right with his world.
He wished his parents were still living. He could use a little pep talk along the theme of “this too shall pass.” God, he hoped even a little bit of that could be true. He couldn’t imagine living out the rest of his life in this violent state of mind.
And so he sat on the swing until his cup was empty and sunrise was just a breath away. At that point, he stood, walked off the porch and into the middle of the yard.
The sky was already lighter in the east. The moon was still in the same place in the sky, but swiftly fading from sight. While he was waiting for sunrise, a flock of geese took off from the pond, resuming their winter flight south. He watched until they had flown out of sight, thinking how quickly they’d left their past behind. If only it were that easy for him.
He turned toward the east just as Mother Nature swept the horizon with a light brushstroke of gold, followed by a faint overlay of pink. Just after the pink turned to purple and the gold turned orange, a tiny portion of the sun was suddenly visible.
Once again, tears blurred Jake’s vision. There were too many days from his past when he had believed he would never see a sunrise from this location again.
“Thank you, God,” he said softly, and lifted his head, standing witness to the new day in much the same manner as he’d stood at attention during morning inspection.
When the sun was finally a valid orb too bright for further viewing, Jake went back in the house. He hung the old coat on a hook by the door and refilled his coffee cup before pouring himself a bowl of cereal.
Breakfast was served.
* * *
Ruby Dye was at The Curl Up and Dye early, verifying the number of ladies who were making food for Jake Lorde. She needed to make sure they knew to bring it to the shop by four this afternoon.
Rachel Goodhope, who ran the Blessings Bed-and-Breakfast, offered food and a helping hand to Ruby to carry it in, so they were all set. Ruby checked to see if there was a phone number for the Lorde property, but couldn’t find one. They would have to hope Jake Lorde was at home when they arrived.
* * *
With the extra time to make breakfast this morning, Laurel made pancakes for Bonnie. The treat was unexpected and so exciting that Bonnie almost made herself late because she talked so much through the meal. She was on her way to the bus stop when the big yellow bus came around the bend.
“Don’t run!” Laurel shouted as Bonnie started to sprint. “He’ll wait on you.”
Bonnie slowed down, and sure enough the driver stopped, honked the horn at Laurel, and waved. Laurel waved back and then waited until she saw Bonnie take a seat inside the bus before she relaxed. She’d just put her daughter into the hands of the Blessings school system and wanted her back in the same shape in which she’d sent her. Maybe a little dirtier, and hopefully a bit smarter, but safe. She took her time cleaning the kitchen and then changed her clothes and headed to work.
Today she only had two houses to clean. One belonged to P. Nutt Butterman, Esquire, and the other was at the Blessings Bed-and-Breakfast. She cleaned rooms while Rachel Goodhope, who owned the B and B, did laundry and all the baking. She only worked at the B and B when Rachel called because they didn’t always have overnight guests.
She made herself a sandwich and packed it in her lunch bag with a banana and a cookie and, at nine thirty in the morning, headed out the door.
The radio was on in the truck, and she was humming along with the song when she drove past the Lorde place and saw Jake at the barn. He was working on broken rails in the corral, and once again, she was impressed that he was being productive.
She started to honk and wave and then didn’t. No need encouraging him in any way. She was not on the market. But to her disgust, he was still on her mind when she drove past the city-limit sign and into Blessings.
* * *
Jake heard the vehicle coming before he saw it and immediately recognized Laurel’s old pickup. He kept working as he watched her pass. As soon as he nailed the last loose board on the corral, he put up his tools and headed for the house. He had business in town and wanted it over with.
* * *
Truman Slade didn’t punch a time card or bother himself with a regular job. He got a disability check from the welfare department for an injury to his back from when he was in prison. Truman considered not having to work was fair compensation for having been beaten within an inch of his life. He had a couple of pins in his spine as a result.
The way he looked at it, if he hadn’t been convicted, he wouldn’t have been hurt. He blamed the state for his troubles and considered it his due. It was how his daddy had lived, and his mama had never complained.
He and his brother, Hoover, had been named after presidents. It had been his mother’s hope that they would therefore aspire to higher goals than the ones their father had never set, but it hadn’t worked. Both Truman and Hoover had spent most of their adult lives in and out of prisons. Truman was out. Hoover was still in. Truman thought about doing better, but not hard enough to change his life to make it happen.
* * *
Laurel liked Mr. Butterman’s house. She liked cleaning it. She had known him all her life and when she was little thought his name was funny. She used to wonder who would name their child P. Nutt, but his parents had. Now it said something about how he walked through life to have taken a crazy name and turned it into an asset. She also loved the big shade trees at both ends of the house. They reminded her of sentinels guarding the property.
Today Mr. Butterman had left a note asking her to clean out the refrigerator before she left and apologized ahead of time for anything growing its own beard. Laurel giggled when she read the note. She’d seen his leftovers before.
She got to work on the house first, changing sheets on his bed, cleaning the bathrooms, dusting, and then running the vacuum over the carpets before running a dust mop on the hardwood flooring. She left the kitchen for last.
She began by cleaning the stove and countertops, then opened the refrigerator and began removing all of the covered bowls and carryout containers. Once it was empty, she quickly scrubbed down the shelves and drawers, then closed the door and threw away cartons, emptying the little dabs of leftovers Peanut seemed obligated to keep but never ate.
By the time she was through, it was almost 1:00 p.m. She had to be at Rachel’s Bed-and-Breakfast by one thirty. She pocketed the check Butterman had left for her and ate her lunch as she drove to Rachel’s. By the time she arrived, she was ready to start all over again.
* * *
Jake had a grocery list in his pocket and a cashier’s check to open an account at the bank as he drove into Blessings. The familiar sights were reassuring. Seeing a farmer’s cab-over John Deere tractor rolling down Main was commonplace, but it still made Jake smile, especially when he saw the Great Dane sitting beside the driver, calmly looking out th
e windows as they passed. Jake laughed. It was obvious it wasn’t the big dog’s first tractor ride.
He was still smiling when he parked in front of the bank and went inside. He saw the president, Carl Buckley, sitting in his office with a customer. Two of the tellers were with customers, but the lady at the customer service desk recognized Jake and stood up.
“Jake Lorde! It is so good to see you,” she said.
Jake smiled. Hattie Morris had been one of his mother’s good friends.
“Hello, Mrs. Morris.”
“How can I help you?” she asked.
He took the cashier’s check from his wallet and handed it to her.
“I want to open a checking account.”
“Certainly! Just have a seat here at my desk.” Jake sat, stretching his long legs out in front of him and eyeing the autumn decorations as he waited for her to be seated. “So are you home for good?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am, and glad to be here.”
“That’s wonderful. I drive by your home every time I go see my grandchildren, and it will be good someone is in residence there again. We all miss your father. He was a good man.”
“Yes, ma’am. I miss him, too,” Jake said, and then sat quietly as she went to work setting up the new account, ordering checks, explaining their debit card system and the app for online banking features.
Jake left the bank, heading to the post office to reestablish rural mail delivery at the farm, and once again he was on the receiving end of a big welcome home. By the time he headed to the grocery store, he was feeling good about his decision to return to Blessings.
He pulled up in the parking lot and, as he was getting out, saw Lon Pittman leaving in his police cruiser. When he saw the young man sitting in the backseat with an unhappy expression on his face, he guessed someone might be getting a life lesson on the perils of shoplifting, then flashed on witnessing Truman Slade beat up the cashier at a gas station before he robbed it. He frowned, still disgusted this memory had the ability to bother him, and headed for the store.
He paused just inside the Piggly Wiggly to get a basket, pulled out his list, and started down an aisle. It had been a long time since he’d had a chance to enjoy something as mundane as buying groceries, and he went at it with gusto, even adding candy and snacks that weren’t on the list. He was shopping through the canned goods aisles when he heard someone say his name. He looked up and saw Lovey Cooper, the owner of Granny’s Country Kitchen, coming toward him.
“Jake Lorde! Is that you?” Lovey said.
He smiled. “Yes, ma’am. It’s me.”
She eyed the groceries and then him. “Looks like you’re setting up housekeeping. Are you home for good?”
“Yes, ma’am, and happy to be here.”
She beamed. “Well, that’s wonderful news. Next time you come into my place, your first meal is on me. I’ll make sure all my servers know ahead of time.”
“That’s really kind of you,” Jake said.
“Just thanking you for your service,” Lovey said. “Say, are you going to be home this evening?”
“Yes, ma’am. Why?”
“I happen to know there are some ladies making you some welcome-home food. They were worrying about how to notify you they were coming.”
“Oh, they don’t have to do that,” he said.
Lovey rolled her eyes. “Now you know better than to turn down some good, home-cooked food, right?”
He laughed. “Yes, ma’am. I guess I do.”
“Then that’s that. I’ll let them know you’ll be home, and you don’t bother cooking any of that food you’re buying for a while. Save it all for another day.”
“I will do that,” he said.
Even after she walked away, the news that he was going to be on the receiving end of more heartfelt wishes and home cooking made him smile.
He was standing at the checkout lane later when he remembered the ruts in his driveway. He’d meant to put the blade on his dad’s tractor and grade the road smooth, but he didn’t even know if the tractor would start.
After he paid, he hurried to the parking lot to load his purchases and then headed out of town. If the tractor would fire up, he’d smooth the road before company arrived.
Chapter 3
Ruby Dye, Rachel Goodhope, and LilyAnn Dalton were in high spirits as they drove out of Blessings. When Ruby got Lovey’s phone call and found out Jake had been notified they were coming, she was relieved. It would have been a mess trying to deliver all this food if he’d been gone.
LilyAnn was driving and talking about how excited her husband, Mike, was about the upcoming arrival of their baby, chattering on about the colors they’d chosen for the nursery and what all she’d received at the baby shower they’d given for her at church.
Rachel was talking about how their business was growing and the early bookings they already had for the bed-and-breakfast. She was excited for the fact that there were only a few nights still open between Thanksgiving and Christmas. She was bragging about what a smart move she’d made by hiring Laurel Payne to come twice a week and do the heavy cleaning in the rooms, so that Rachel had more time to devote to holiday decorations and baking for the constant turnover of guests.
Ruby wasn’t paying much attention. She’d chosen to sit in the back and hold the three-layer coconut cake Rachel made, thinking about Jake Lorde and what it must have been like for him to come back to that empty house. Then her attention shifted as LilyAnn turned off the blacktop to the road leading to the house.
“Oh, look! The driveway looks like it’s just been graded,” she said.
“Hold on to that cake just in case,” Rachel cried.
She glanced back at Ruby and then gave a sigh of relief. She was competently steadying the cake with both hands. When the car finally stopped, they breathed a bit easier.
LilyAnn got out, then opened the back door and took the cake from Ruby so she could exit the vehicle. Rachel went around to the back and opened the hatch to the array of covered dishes. Ruby was on her way to the house with the cake when Jake came out the front door, smiling.
Ruby started talking, even as she was waving a hello.
“Good evening, Jake!” Ruby said. “I’m glad Lovey ran into you to give you a heads up. We brought food—the best kind of welcome-home gifts.”
“This is so kind of you,” Jake said. “What can I do to help?”
“Come carry this ham,” Rachel yelled.
He ran to her aid and the four of them entered his house, loaded down with all they could carry. By the time they finished, there were at least a dozen different dishes on his kitchen counter—from salads to desserts and everything in between.
“This is amazing!” Jake said, as he peeked beneath the lids and foil-covered dishes. “And it all smells wonderful. I can’t thank you enough.”
Ruby handed him a list.
“These are the names and addresses of the women who donated, and I made a note of what they sent, so you can thank them personally.”
“Thanks,” Jake said. “I’ll get some thank-you cards in the mail soon. I promise.”
Rachel was used to being the center of attention around good-looking men. She had an eye for them too, but a recent brush with infidelity had taught her that looking was one thing, but never to take that next step again. And Jake Lorde was obviously not in the market, because the only vibe she was getting from him was related to good manners.
LilyAnn was hovering, pointing out things that would need to be reheated and how to do it, things that would freeze better than others, because her mothering instincts were on constant overload. She was completely comfortable with Jake because they’d grown up together, so they had a history in common. When Jake congratulated her and Mike on the baby on the way, she beamed.
“We own the gym on Main Street. It’s the only worko
ut place in town,” LilyAnn said. “Mike told me to tell you, if you’re interested, that your first visit is on him…if you ever feel the need to go sweat in public, that is.”
Jake grinned. This evening was far different from his arrival yesterday. He knew without asking that Ruby was the one who’d organized this. He remembered that about her from his father’s funeral. He hadn’t even known Blessings had a bed-and-breakfast until Ruby introduced Rachel Goodhope, but she was nice. She’d made sure to let him know that the dining room at the B and B would be open to the public on Thanksgiving, which was good to know for the people like him who had nowhere else to go.
“We’re going to leave now,” Ruby said. “Enjoy your supper, and if you need anything, all you have to do is ask.”
Jake followed them to the door, giving each a quick hug and a thank-you for what they’d done, and then he stood on the porch and waved as they drove away.
As he was standing there, the school bus went by on its way into town. Jake thought of Laurel’s little girl, Bonnie, riding that bus and guessed Laurel would be scurrying around now, tending to her family. He glanced in that direction and then chided himself that they were too far away to see, went back inside, and closed the door.
After the chatter of three women, the silence of his house surrounded him like a warm blanket on a cold night. It was the peace he’d sought. The healing he needed. He turned on the lights and then went to the kitchen and began filling a plate with whatever took his fancy. He poured a cup of coffee and started to sit down in the kitchen to eat, then changed his mind and carried it to the living room. He wanted a little conversation with his meal, but he didn’t want to have to participate, so he turned on TV and kicked back to watch as he ate.
* * *
The mood inside Laurel’s trailer was far from peaceful and a long way from quiet, but it was home. Bonnie was changing out of her school clothes and hurrying out to feed Lavonne before it got dark, and Laurel had white beans and a ham hock heating while she tried to scrub a ketchup stain off of one of Bonnie’s white socks. It was business as usual at her house.
