by Jo Ann Brown
As they walked to the community center, he hoped she hadn’t guessed he wasn’t sharing everything. The manager of the store, Nick, had been impressed with Robert’s organizational skills and his commitment to the project. Nick had kept him there, asking him questions about if he was looking for work and how Nick could contact him if a job became available.
Rutland was too far from Evergreen Corners, a ninety-minute drive on dry roads. In the winter with snow and ice, the commute would be longer. Leaving Evergreen Corners was something he didn’t want to contemplate, but the simple truth was he needed a job. He needed to finish paying off his daed’s debts and earn enough to live on.
Beth Ann said something to him. He didn’t catch her words, but he couldn’t ignore how the brush of her gloved fingers on his sleeve sent sweet warmth through him. The scent of something as fresh as lilacs filled each breath he took, banishing the evening chill. He should have been grateful the kinder surrounded them, because he was overwhelmed by the yearning to pull her into his arms and taste her lips, which appeared soft and welcoming.
He’d been able to control his temper while he was in Evergreen Corners. Most of the time. He hadn’t lashed out with closed fists as his daed had. Maybe his prayers had been answered. If he could be sure, it might be time for those driving lessons he wanted to give Beth Ann without the kinder acting as chaperones.
The thought of how he’d ask her filled his mind, so he hardly tasted the roast beef with rich brown gravy splashed over buttery mashed potatoes. Only when Dougie announced he wanted to join the youth choir at the church where Tommy’s day care was located did he chide himself for letting his imagination get in the way of his responsibilities. He couldn’t become like his mamm, either, and pretend nothing was wrong when her kinder had been bruised by her husband’s hand.
“A choir?” Beth Ann asked.
“Dougie likes to sing,” Tommy said, thrilled to know something she didn’t.
“I sang in it last year.” The older boy raised his chin, ready to argue.
She must have seen his motion, too, because she said, “As long as you keep up your schoolwork and don’t get into trouble, Dougie, I don’t see why you can’t sing in the choir again this year.”
“Any trouble at all?” he asked.
“Any big trouble.” She raised a single finger. “Don’t ask me to define that. You know the answer as well as I do. Behave yourself, and you can have a good time with the choir.”
He quickly nodded. He must have been eager to rejoin the choir if he was willing to comply with her rules.
“I want to sing, too,” Crystal said. “I’m old enough this year.”
“As long as you agree to the same rules Dougie has,” Beth Ann replied with a smile as she glanced at Dougie. Did she expect him to protest his sister’s participation?
The boy remained silent as his sister agreed.
Beth Ann turned the conversation to what she’d discussed with Deana Etheridge. Robert suspected she didn’t reveal everything, because shadows clung to the corners of her eyes as she smiled while she told them about the stack of paperwork she had to read and sign.
“As I told you,” she said, “the good news is you’ll be staying with me through the holidays.”
“After that?” asked Crystal.
“Let’s put our faith in God’s plan for us,” Robert said. “Guessing won’t get us anywhere. Besides, it’s time to enjoy delicious brownies.”
The kinder were distracted as they each reached for one on the plate in the center of the table. Dougie tried to sneak two, but set one back on the plate when Beth Ann frowned. The boy might not be learning manners. However, he’d discovered it was better to behave around Beth Ann.
Robert curbed his own impatience until the youngsters had finished and were handing their dirty dishes to a volunteer. He watched them join other kids playing with a box of toys at the rear of the community center.
“I’m sorry,” Beth Ann said, and he turned back to her.
“About what?”
“Last night. You’re right. I should have insisted that Deana talk to both of us, but I was worried that if I pushed too hard, she’d take the kids today.”
He nodded. “I figured that out on my way home when I cooled off. So how did it go? Really?”
He listened when she shared with him all that had been said during the short visit, her bright green eyes glimmering with tears. He didn’t care that they were sitting in the community center. He reached over and put his much larger hand over her trembling fingers.
“We’ll talk to Pastor Hershey,” he said. “Maybe he can do something.”
“Maybe.” She didn’t add anything more, and he heard the depth of her discouragement in that single word.
He waited, but she remained silent. Knowing one of the kinder could trot up at any moment with a question or to show off something they’d created out of the box of old toys, he asked, “What was all that secrecy at the store when you got a call?”
“It’s been an odd day,” she said.
“Odd?” He hadn’t expected her to say that. “In what way?”
She hesitated, then drew her hand out from beneath his. Dropping it to her lap, she sighed. “I’d just found out my aunt has died in California. She made me her sole heir.”
“Do you have to go there to settle her estate?” He was astonished at the intensity of his hope she wouldn’t be leaving Evergreen Corners. She had become such a vital part of his life in the past few weeks, and he had a difficult time thinking of her being so far away.
“No, there are lawyers handling it.” She gnawed on her lower lip. “She’s left me a large sum of money.” She hesitated before telling him the amount along with the limits her aenti had put on it.
“Beth Ann, that’s gut news.” Realizing how his words must have sounded, he hurried to add, “Not about your aenti’s death, but she must have loved you very much.”
“How could she when she didn’t know me? I never remember her coming to visit my grandmother and me.”
“Maybe your grossmammi wrote to her about you often enough so your aenti felt she knew you. At least enough to make you her heir.”
“I don’t know, Robert.” She looked at him for the first time since she’d mentioned her aenti. “I don’t know what to think or what to do.”
“You don’t do anything other than pray and let God show you the way He wants you to go.”
A faint smile pulled at her lips and at his heart. “Thank you, Robert. I needed to hear good advice. I should have known you’d be the one to offer it.”
Her words made him feel something he hadn’t in longer than he could remember. He felt he had done the right thing and didn’t need to second-guess every word. Did she have any idea what a precious gift she’d given him? Probably not, but he wouldn’t forget it.
Not ever.
Chapter Eleven
Beth Ann scooped up the towels on the bathroom floor and grimaced when she stepped into a puddle of water left. She’d insisted the children take baths before their visit to Dr. Kingsley’s office, and the bathroom had been drenched.
“What’s he going to do?” asked Crystal as she twisted her braids.
“He’s going to look in your mouth and ask you to stick out your tongue.” Beth Ann dropped the wet towels into the hamper. “He’ll check your ears with a little light, and he’ll listen to your heart.”
“That’s all?”
“Sometimes there are other things, but that’s what a checkup means.”
Tommy giggled. “Checkup! What a funny word! Checkup my ears and up my mouth. Checkup my nose?”
“Only if you’ve got a cold.” Beth Ann couldn’t keep from laughing. “You’re healthy, so don’t worry.”
They rushed into the living room to share what they’d learned with Dougie. She knew they were hoping f
or the day when they’d discovered something he didn’t know. They’d be waiting a long time, because if that happened, Dougie would never admit he hadn’t known before they told him.
She made sure her own face was clean and her hair pulled beneath her kapp before she went out into the main room. About to ask if they were ready to go, she halted when she heard Tommy let out a soft squeal.
“They’ve got shots, pip-squeak,” Dougie was saying.
“Shots?” The little boy’s face blanched to the color of new snow.
“Yep. Long needles.” Dougie put his hands a foot apart. “This long.”
Beth Ann strode across the room. “Enough, Dougie. You need to stop picking on your little brother.”
“Why? Isn’t that what little brothers are for? To pick on?” He gave a terse laugh. “That’s what Mom’s buddy Striper said.”
“Striper?” she asked.
Dougie refused to meet her eyes, and she guessed Striper had been someone involved with his mother’s drug use.
A knock came at the door, and she opened it and greeted Robert. Soft flakes drifted around him, but there were four inches of new snow on the steps.
“Are you ready to go?” Snow fell off his clothes to melt around him. “It’s brisk outside.”
“It’s not b-risk.” Tommy wrapped his arms around himself. “It’s cold.”
She clapped her hands. “Everyone, get your coats on. Don’t forget your mittens and hats.”
As the children rushed to obey, he said, “Sorry about the snow.”
“Don’t worry.” She laughed. “Wait until you see how much three small pairs of feet can track in.”
“You’re amazing. Do you know that?”
“What’s amazing about not worrying about things I can’t do anything about? I’d rather be strong and know God is with me...including while cleaning up puddles on the floor.”
He chuckled before gathering the children and opening the door. The boys hurried down the snowy steps, Tommy trying to keep up with his brother.
Beth Ann held her breath until the little boy reached the ground. She knew how precarious her own balance could be on the stairs, and she didn’t want Tommy’s visit to the doctor’s office to start with him having a broken bone set.
Crystal paused on the landing, looking around. “There haven’t been any groceries left in a while.” She gave Beth Ann a worried glance.
She hugged the girl. “We’ve got plenty to eat.” She shot a glance at Robert, which she hoped he understood meant he shouldn’t say anything about her aunt’s estate. She had no idea when she’d receive the money, but had been advised by her aunt’s attorney to set up a bank account soon. “I know how you like Abby’s brownies, Crystal.”
That brought a smile to the girl’s face, and she scurried to catch up with her brothers. Beth Ann followed at a more sedate pace with Robert behind her.
When they reached the green, the kids took off to run through the fresh snow. They chased each other and tossed snow into the air to blend with what was falling.
“I wonder how long they’ll remain excited about the snow. Everyone else is complaining about how it arrived so early this year,” Robert said.
“At their ages, I wouldn’t have cared if it snowed year-round.”
“Not me. I couldn’t wait for spring so I could go fishing.”
“You could try ice fishing.”
He shook his head. “It hasn’t been cold enough yet for the water to freeze enough to support me. By the time it does, who knows where I’ll be?”
Her heart lurched as he spoke about leaving. “Have you given up on finding a job in Evergreen Corners?”
“Not yet.”
“I know you want to work with wood.”
Giving her a wry grin, he said, “I’d be willing to work at any place that would have me. You weren’t at the project house yesterday when Michael said the rebuilding efforts would end by the first of February. Less than two months from now, and with the holidays in the middle, that’s not a lot of time to find a job.”
“Or a place to open your own shop.”
“That is going to have to wait. I can’t eat sawdust.” He chuckled. “The electric company won’t accept it as payment, either.”
“Did you check?”
“Are you telling me I shouldn’t give up?”
“You shouldn’t. Not yet. You’ve got a month and a half to make something happen. If anyone can do it, you can.”
“I wish I had your faith.”
“It doesn’t matter what I feel you can do. It’s what you feel you can do and what God has in store for you.”
“Danki, Beth Ann, for reminding me of what I should already know.”
“My pleasure.”
“No.” His voice took on a raspy edge. “No, it’s my pleasure.”
When he reached out and clasped her hand, she smiled up at him. The connection between them didn’t need words. His fingers rose to cup her cheek, and the wintry cold vanished as she lost herself in his royal blue eyes and their invitation to step closer.
“Hey!” shouted Tommy. “Aren’t you coming?”
Beth Ann blinked and saw Robert do the same. They’d been so wrapped up in the moment they’d forgotten where they were. Or at least she had. She drew her hand out of Robert’s, and the full force of the cold wind struck her anew.
Neither of them spoke as they went to the doctor’s office near the diner. When Robert opened the door and held it for them, she was conscious of how close they stood once again. She eased past him, making sure not even her coat brushed against him. If he touched her again, she doubted she could keep from throwing her arms around him.
The waiting room was full, but after Beth Ann checked with the clerk behind the half-glass reception wall, a woman moved to allow her to sit beside Robert. The three children went to sit on the floor with other youngsters watching cartoons.
Beth Ann looked up when a nurse called the children’s names. She thought of the times she’d stepped into the clinic’s waiting room to ask a patient to come in for an examination. A sharp pang cut through her, shocking her. Did she miss being a midwife that much? No, it wasn’t being a midwife. What she missed was being able to step forward to help people who needed her skills and spending time with them, answering questions and soothing fears.
When Dougie whispered something in his brother’s ear as they stood, Tommy squeaked with dismay. Beth Ann took Tommy’s hand. She didn’t need Dougie feeding Tommy more tales of fake horrors and torture he’d be facing in the examination room. However, she wasn’t going to accuse Dougie in front of others when she had no proof other than his expression, which resembled a cat who’d swallowed a canary.
“Did you know, Tommy,” she asked, “good boys get lollipops after they see the doctor?”
“Grape ones?”
She took a quick glance at the receptionist’s desk and the glass jar holding a handful of treats. Seeing a couple of purple lollipops among the rainbow of colors, she said, “Yes, but we need to get in to see the doctor right away before someone else comes out and chooses them.”
“Let’s go.” He gave her a grin so big it almost escaped his face.
Again they formed a parade with Beth Ann leading the way and Robert bringing up the rear. The nurse showed them to a room and told them the doctor would be in as soon as possible.
Robert stood by the sink while Beth Ann remained standing between Dougie and Tommy by the table. Crystal sat on one of the plastic chairs. They turned as a short, round man with gold-rimmed glasses perched on his bald head and a stethoscope dropping over his Patriots T-shirt walked in. He picked up a small computer from the counter near the sink and glanced at it.
Tommy asked, “When can I have my grape lollipop?”
“As soon as we’re done, young fellow.” The man introduced
himself as Dr. Kingsley and asked for their names. “We’ve got the whole family, I see. Shall we get started?”
“May I speak with you first?” Beth Ann asked.
“Of course,” he replied, though she could see he was curious what they would talk about before he examined his patients.
She went into the hallway between the examination rooms. She waited until Dr. Kingsley had closed the door before she asked, “Could you examine Dougie and Crystal first?”
He looked at his handheld computer. “The older boy is Dougie, right?”
“Yes. Once you’ve examined them, Robert can take them into the waiting room while you check Tommy. I don’t want to upset him by discussing his gait in front of his siblings.”
“His slap gait.”
Beth Ann relaxed a bit. “I should have guessed you’d notice it.”
“Has he been in physical therapy for it?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know if he’s ever seen a doctor for it.”
Dr. Kingsley’s brows arched. “You didn’t know the children before you took them into your care?”
“I’d known them less than an hour.” She explained how their mother was in rehab and they were staying with her through the holidays.
The doctor opened the door for her to reenter the room. When he announced he’d start with the oldest, Tommy murmured about being afraid the grape lollipops would be gone before he was done. Robert calmed him by saying he’d make sure one was set aside for the boy.
The exams for the older two were done quickly. Beth Ann waited until Robert had steered them out before she put Tommy on the table. He started to protest, but she reminded him that Robert needed to make sure his grape lollipop was waiting for him.
Dr. Kingsley went through the same steps of checking Tommy’s throat, his ears, and his heart and lungs. The little boy was fascinated when the doctor got out his small hammer to test his knee reflexes. While his left leg jerked, there wasn’t much reaction from his right.
