Her Country Heart

by Reggi Allder

  ***

  Wyatt watched Amy roll over onto her back. Asleep, she purred quietly, her long strawberry hair spread out over the white pillow case.

  He studied her. Her natural beauty was displayed in the dawn’s light. With the bed sheet at her waist, pale pink breasts rising and falling with each breath she took, her nipples were still budded from his recent attention. His need grew. But she had to be exhausted from their night of love making, so he ignored his desire and let her sleep.

  Lately, unexpected thoughts churned in him and he worried. Something he’d never done until recently. Possibly because he’d lost his mother at an early age, for most of his life, he’d thought only of his wants and needs. Now concern for Amy and Bobby was foremost in his mind.

  He agonized over the kid’s illness and Amy’s lack of family support and mulled over her deteriorating financial condition, even losing sleep. What would happen to her if she tried to run the farm alone and failed?

  He wished he could let her have the farm, let her putter in the garden, make pies, and work on her crafts. But the responsibility of being the executor of Granny’s will weighed heavily on him. Not only that, he wanted Amy, but did he want a lifetime of responsibility for her and her son?

  CHAPTER 25

  Amy sat at Granny’s desk in the den and watched the rain come down. “I’m glad this rain came after the pumpkin patch closed.”

  Dressed in a pair of old blue jeans and a long blue cable knit sweater, Vanna stretched and sat up on the overstuffed sofa. “Yeah, me too. Kids and mud. Yuck.”

  Amy frowned as she calculated the final numbers for the crafts and added it to the pumpkins and the apple pies that were sold.

  Vanna sneezed and stood up from the sofa. “Damn, I’m coming down with an early cold to go with this rain. Do you have any tea? I could use a cup.”

  “Yeah. Help yourself. I’ve got English breakfast and peppermint tea.”

  “Peppermint’s perfect.”

  “I’m almost finished with the books. Make a cup for me too and I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”

  “Done.”

  Amy zipped her pastel pink sweatshirt and went back to work. “Whoa. I can’t believe it,” she whispered. We did better than I could’ve imagined. With a sense of satisfaction, she wrote a check to each of her friends for their part of the profit.

  With the checks in her hand, she jogged to the kitchen. “Wait til you see how much we made.” She waved the checks.

  “Nice.” Vanna folded the check and put it in her purse. She handed Amy a cup of tea and then sat at the table.

  “Hmm, peppermint tea, I love it.”

  “Speaking of love, how long is Wyatt going to be gone?”

  “Until Thanksgiving. He has to make a living you know. It’s only three weeks. It just seems like forever.” Amy put a teaspoonful of sugar in the tea and stirred. “Bobby misses him too.”

  “I ran into Wes the other day. You won’t believe who was hanging on his arm.” Vanna poured another cup of tea and took a sip.

  “Nan?”

  “No. Charlene. Decked full out in red leather.”

  “No way.”

  “Way. And I could hear her call him sugar as they walked by.” Vanna giggled.

  “They deserve each other.” Amy laughed too. “I don’t see how two brothers can be so different.”

  “You really love Wyatt.”

  It wasn’t a question so she didn’t answer. “Vanna you’ll find someone.”

  “In a town this small? Not enough people. Sometimes I think I should’ve stayed in LA.” She shrugged. “I was miserable in LA, too many people.” She smiled. “Too small, too big, you see I’m hard to please.”

  “You’re not.”

  “Yeah, I am. Uh, someone did ask me out.”

  “Who?”

  “Doesn’t matter. Can’t go.

  “Why? Don’t you want to?”

  “The funny thing is I do. But Mom wouldn’t like it. She wouldn’t understand.”

  “Who is it?”

  “Manuel Gordon,” Vanna’s voice softened, “Manny.”

  “He and his crew harvested Granny’s apples. I didn’t know you knew him.”

  “I kind of knew him in high school. We had a secret thing back then.” Vanna blushed.

  “You never told me.”

  “Never told anyone and I hadn’t seen him since then. One day he brought his sister’s little boy to my preschool. When he came to pick up his nephew, we talked. Before I knew it, I was looking forward to seeing him whenever he came to school to get his sister’s kid. He’s so easy to talk to.”

  “He seems nice. Gorgeous too.”

  “Yeah, but—I.” She sneezed three times and took a sip of tea and sneezed again.

  “Vanna you’re sick. You should be home in bed.”

  “You’re right. I’m out of here.”

  “But what about Manny?”

  “Like I said, I would if I could, but I can’t. Mom would kill me.”

  “Why?”

  Amy watched Vanna leave. She had the sense that her friend was relieved not to answer her question why Sophie didn’t like Manuel and wouldn’t want her to date him.

  ***

  Nervous worry ran through Amy. Life was going too well. History had shown that when her she felt too good fate would move to ruin things.

  The day after Bobby brought gluten free food to school, the other kids had stopped teasing him. Since then he’d looked forward to going to school. She couldn’t wait to tell Wyatt when he got back, after all the food was his idea. And she knew just how to thank him. Her body warmed in anticipation.

  After paying the monthly bills, she logged off her banking site and cleared the history. Money was tight, but if she was careful and there were no surprises, she and Bobby could make it until the Christmas. In December she’d have a Christmas craft fair and sell Christmas trees and then money would start coming in again. She should relax, but after years of tension, she just didn’t know how.

  ***

  Wyatt would be home soon. Amy wanted everything to be perfect for him. With only one more day until Thanksgiving, she set the table in the dining room. She hadn’t used the room since returning home, but it seemed the right thing to do now. She recalled his stories of Thanksgiving spent alone, while his mother worked at a restaurant. Wyatt was left with a frozen dinner eaten in front of the TV.

  She found Granny’s best lace table cloth, silver plate utensils and Lenox dishes and placed them all on the old mahogany dining table. She’d bought orange candles for the table. Her hand shook as she placed the last candle in the crystal holder.

  Risky to put too much importance on this dinner, she took a deep breath to calm down. It was only one meal in a year of nightly dinners. Right?

  Yesterday the rain had pounded the old farm house. The TV weatherman had promised wet weather for at least another day. But even the storm couldn’t dampen her mood. With Wyatt, Vanna, Sophie, Bobby and Johnny coming to dinner, she had the sense of family. After so much disappointment in her life, this holiday she’d be truly grateful.

  ***

  Amy turned off the bedside lamp and sank into the deep folds of her feather bed. Thanksgiving would be perfect. She closed her eyes and with a sigh she was about to drift off to sleep when a loud gust of wind rattled the shutters of her bedroom window.

  She blinked and looked out into the darkness and imagined making love with Wyatt. Her body quivered and heated remembering his touch. With her eyes closed, she could almost feel his kiss. She sighed. “Soon.”

  What time was it? Before she could rollover and check the clock, a drop of water hit her in the face, followed quickly by another. “What the—” For a moment she didn’t believe what was happening. Drips came one after another increasing in speed.

  In the dark she sat up and squinted to see the ceiling. “Shit.” She jumped out of bed and pushed it to the other side of the room.

  In her nightgown, she ran to the
bathroom and grabbed an armful of towels. She returned and tossed them to the wet oak floor in her bedroom.

  She as shivered as she jogged to the kitchen to get the biggest pot she could find.

  With the metal pot on the floor, she lined it up with the drops falling from the ceiling. “Of all the nights,” she mumbled. Ping, ping the drops sounded as they landed in the metal pot.

  “Mommy, what’s wrong?” Bobby walked into the bedroom rubbing his eyes. He blinked at the dim light she’d turned on.

  “Nothing, everything’s okay. Go back to bed.” She hugged him and walked him to his room. “Sweetie, go to sleep. It’s late. I’m going to bed too.” She tucked in the blankets and kissed his cheek.

  “Okay.” He yawned.

  In her room, she wiped up the water that had splashed on the floor and checked to see if the drops were going into the large stewing pot. Ping, ping, music to sleep by as long as the pot didn’t overflow.

  Her body ached with exhaustion, but the rain pounding on the roof kept her awake. She stifled a yawn and lay back against the pillow. “Damn it.” She knew the roof was old, but why did it have to leak tonight, when everything was going so well? But wasn’t that the story of her life? As soon as she began to relax and feel secure… Where the hell could she find money to patch the roof?

  Dear God, please don’t let it rain in Bobby’s room.

  CHAPTER 26

  The aroma of baked turkey and fresh bread wafted from the farmhouse kitchen into the dining room. Amy sat next to Bobby at the Thanksgiving table. As the people took a place at the oak table and under the candles’ glow, she gazed at them: Sophie, Vanna and Johnny, her new family. Her glance stopped at the vacant chair at the head of the table.

  Where was Wyatt? He’d promised to be there. If he couldn’t come, why hadn’t he called? If there’d been an accident and he was hurt, she’d have heard by now.

  When the hors d’oeuvres were eaten, everyone began to ask when the turkey would be ready. She couldn’t wait any longer. Dinner had to be served.

  A traditional meal of roast turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, green peas and sweet potatoes, with homemade pumpkin pie and hand whipped cream and raspberry sherbet for dessert was served. Bobby said grace. She carved the turkey and served large portions to all.

  Conversation flowed easily and no one was shy about asking for seconds of turkey and gravy.

  “I may not have to eat for a week.” Vanna said after swallowing her last bite of pie. “Here’s to the chef.”

  “Best darned pie I’ve ever had.” Johnny rubbed his stomach. “Can’t decide if I like your apple or your pumpkin best.”

  “You can like them both best,” Bobby said, a serious expression on his round face.

  “A wise statement my boy.” Johnny grinned. “Yep, Bobby’s got the right idea.”

  Everyone raised their glasses. “To Amy,” they said in unison.

  “ Mommy.” Her son held up his glass of milk.

  “To my family.” She raised her glass. And despite her disappointment at Wyatt not showing up, she smiled.

  “Here, here,” they shouted back.

  “Mommy, can I have more sherbet?” Bobby asked.

  Everyone roared with laughed.

  “You sure can.”

  “If you could make apple pie ice cream, Amy you’d make a fortune.” Johnny dug into his last bit of dessert.

  “Why I could make that,” Sophie said, her eyes sparkling.

  “I just know you could,” Johnny agreed.

  ***

  Later at the front door, Johnny offered to give Sophie a ride home.”We can talk about apple pie ice cream.” He laughed.

  “Well, if it’s all right with Vanna, I don’t mind.”

  “Mom, I have to stay give Amy a hand. So you might as well go with Johnny.”

  Amy winked at Vanna and then gave Johnny and Sophie a hug. “Thanks for making the day so special.”

  “Thank you,” they said in unison. She watched them get into Johnny’s GMC pick-up truck and drive away.

  When the door closed, Vanna said, “You know after my dad was killed my mom never showed any interest in men. But did you see the way she looked at Johnny at dinner tonight?”

  “She stared at him all through the meal,” Amy said.

  “Yeah, and Johnny didn’t seem to mind.”

  “No, he didn’t and he’s a heck of a nice guy.”

  “Is he? I’d hate to have my mother get hurt.”

  “Your mom could do a lot worse than Johnny.”

  In the kitchen, Amy surveyed the mess. “This is one time I wish I had a dishwasher.”

  “That’s me.” Vanna laughed. “You bring everything from the dining room. I’ll wash. You can dry.”

  “Sounds like a plan. Thanks for staying.”

  “No problem. How else could I get Mom to need a ride?”

  They both laughed.

  Amy put on an apron. “It’s good for Bobby to feel he has a family.”

  “Oh Amy, you and Bobby will always be part of ours.”

  “I know and it means a lot.”

  An hour later Vanna folded the dish cloth and rinsed the sink. “Too bad Wyatt couldn’t make it. His not being here was the elephant in the room no one was talking about. No one looked at the empty chair but Bobby.”

  “I’m glad no one asked where Wyatt was. It’s so disappointing. I—”

  “Oh, Amy.”

  “It’s okay. I’m just upset because he let Bobby down. I saw him looking at the empty chair with a sad expression in his eyes. I shouldn’t have let him get so close to Wyatt. He was starting to think of him as his daddy.”

  “Kids are resilient,” Vanna said as they walked to the front door. “I work with them every day. He’ll be fine. And Wyatt may have a good excuse.”

  “It’s better he’s not here. I wouldn’t be in the mood to listen to his pathetic excuses. I’d have a few choice words for him. He hurt Bobby’s feelings and that’s not right.” She shrugged. “Well, we didn’t need him. We had fun anyway. He’s the one who missed out.”

  “Right. It’s his lost.”

  A gust of wind and rain hit them when Amy opened the front door.

  “Whoa, I didn’t know it was so stormy. Drive carefully.”

  “Yes Mommy.” Vanna laughed.

  Amy smiled, shut the door and leaned on it. Not wanting to ruin the dinner for everyone, she’d put up a good front tonight. Still, her heart ached and anger toward Wyatt burned in her.

  She’d believed in him, would have bet the world that he’d be there. She took a deep breath and pushed back the memory of the many times her ex-husband had failed to show up for important occasions. Why did she expect Wyatt to be any different? Weren’t all men like that? Or was she just stupid enough to fall the charming liars?

  ***

  Amy carried Bobby from the couch, where he had fallen asleep, to his room. When she tucked him in he woke and asked her to read a book.

  “Just for five minutes. Mommy, please.”

  Even though her feet were killing her and all she wanted to do was stretch out on her own bed, she couldn’t say no. “Okay. Five minutes. What do you want to read?”

  “My new dog book.” He grabbed it and then scooted over so she could sit on the bed with him.

  “Wyatt says some dogs are real good on the farm. He marked them. See? He knows lots of stuff about farms.” Her son’s eyes twinkled with excitement as he spoke.

  Bobby had spent the day waiting for Wyatt. Anger toward him flared. Even if he didn’t want to see her, at least he could’ve called.

  With the book open on the page of Border Collies, she read about the animal considered to be the smartest breed. The dog did seem to fit the bill, friendly, good with kids, and easy to train.

  “Wyatt says lots of kids get puppies at Christmas time. But if you gets one at Christmas you gots to be sure the puppy doesn’t eat stuff off the tree. Cause they’re not good for dogs. And…”


  “Slow down big guy.

  “But Mommy, you said I could get a puppy. And Wyatt says.”

  “I don’t care what he says,” she said too loudly.

  Her son frowned and a confused expression spread across his young face.

  “Uh—I just mean it’s been more than five minutes. You better get to sleep.” She forced a smile and kissed him on the forehead. “Sweet dreams.”

  He looked as if he was about to ask a question, but instead he said, “Night.”

  He seemed smaller than usual sleeping in his bed holding his favorite Teddy bear.

  She shouldn’t take her annoyance out on Bobby. He deserved better than that. Tonight she realized how important Wyatt had become to him and how much Bobby believed in the man’s opinions. He was a role model, a father figure. How could she tell him Wyatt didn’t want to be in their family?

  She quietly closed the bedroom door.

  “Damn you Wyatt.”

  ***

  The wind kicked up, pounded the house, and rattled the upstairs windows. Amy lay in her bed and listened to nature’s rage. Lights flashed in the dark sky and thunder exploded sounding like cannon fire.

  She sat up in bed and willed herself not to be afraid. Was Bobby scared?

  On tiptoe, she walked to his bedroom and peeked in. Unperturbed, he slept.

  With a sigh of relief, she sprinted to her bedroom. The pot catching the rainwater was just about to overflow. She quickly emptied it into the bathtub and then returned to the bedroom.

  Another clap of thunder shook the walls. With a look toward heaven, she whispered, “Remember don’t let it rain in Bobby’s room. Please.”

  In her pink flannel nightgown and fuzzy pink slippers, she made no sound as she went to the kitchen for another pot to catch the drips coming faster from the ceiling in her room.

  She was searching for a larger stewing pot, when sauce pans tumbled from the cupboard making a loud clatter. “Damn,” she swore under her breath and hoped Bobby didn’t wake up.

  CHAPTER 27

  Wyatt squinted in the dark to see past the windshield wipers pushing the torrent of rain aside. There it was, Granny’s old farmhouse, drenched, but welcoming.