A Field of Poppies (42 page)

He slipped it on her, pretending not to notice how thin her arms were, and how fragile she really was beneath her hospital gown.

“
Oh wow, sweetheart, how pretty you look. This blue robe is the same color blue as your eyes.”

She beamed.

“
I brought you something else that I thought you might want.”

“
Like what?”

He pulled the lip gloss out of his pocket. “It’s gloss, not lipstick, but it has a little tinge of color.”

“
Daddy! Thank you! I need a mirror.”

He lifted the lid of the tray table. “There’s one underneath here, remember?”

“
Oh, right,” she said, and quickly applied a neat layer of gloss to her lips.

Justin watched with a lump in his throat. She was growing up. God willing she would also grow old.

Less than fifteen minutes later, there was a knock on the door and Callie’s excitement shifted south. Suddenly, she was a frightened, little girl all over again.

“
I’m right here, Callie. He’s not your daddy, but he is the man who gave you to your mother. It’s a good thing to know him.”

And just like that, she lifted her chin. “I’m ready, Daddy. Please let them in.”

Justin opened the door. He saw fear on Wade’s face.

“
Come in. Callie’s been waiting for you.”

An hour later, the mood in the room had done a complete one-eighty. Callie held court like the female she was, shy one minute and then flirtatiously giggling the next, but always with an eye on where Justin was in the room. He was her anchor.

It was obvious from the expression on Wade Tiller’s face that he had fallen in love, but he was wise enough to keep his distance. Justin couldn’t help wondering how many times today the man had thought of Deborah. Probably as many times as he’d thought of Sunny and wished he would have had the same chance with Poppy that Wade had here.

But there was that bit about a murder. What a difference a crime made.

****

After an hour, Callie began to fade and Justin saw it.

“
I hate to bring a good thing to an end, but I see someone getting tired,” he said.

Callie made a face, but it gave her permission to sink back against the pillows.

“
Don’t worry, kid,” Hank said. “If I get to donate, not only will you get better, but you’ll be strong. I’m the strongest one in the family.”

Paul rolled his eyes. “You better hope it’s me. It’ll raise your IQ level to the max.”

“
You’re offering to donate a kidney, not a brain,” Tommy said, which made everyone laugh.

Wade had seen Callie fading, as well. He couldn’t imagine the hell Justin Caulfield had lived through this year, thinking this child was going to die. He stood up, wanting to hold her, but it was all too new and too soon.

“
As you can tell, there are no shy genes in the Tiller family, and your father is right. You need your rest, young lady. Thank you for receiving us with open arms. This day has been amazing in so many ways, but it’s definitely one of the best days of my life.”

Callie sighed. “It started off scary and ended good. Thank you for caring and for helping me.”

Wade glanced at Justin, then back at his child. It had taken him all hour to get to this point – to giving himself permission to even think of her that way. He saw himself in her – the white-blonde hair and blue eyes - and he saw Deborah. He’d always thought of her as the biggest mistake of his life, but no more. Whatever they’d done wrong, this child made it right.

“
No matter which one of us winds up being the lucky donor, you need to know we’re proud to have a connection to you. One day we might share more than blood, but for now what you’ve given us is enough. Rest well. We’ll be in touch.”

“
I’ll walk you to the elevator,” Justin said.

Callie waved from the bed, and then they were gone. The room had gone from high intensity to a silence so profound that it quickly sucked her under.

When Justin came back, she was asleep. He kissed her forehead, wrote her a note, and left to go home.

Bravest girl in the world. Love, Daddy.

Later, when she woke up and found it, she tucked it under her pillow for good luck.

****

It was the morning of Jessup Sadler’s funeral. Coal Town was primed like a john with a hard-on. All they needed was a willing hooker and it would blow.

Plenty of people die. Not a lot of them get murdered and even less of them murdered by a member of the city’s founding family. Everyone was curious. Did a murder victim look different than a regular dead man? According to the gossip on the streets, Coal Town was turning out to see for themselves.

John had the heads up straight from Aaron Coulter about what was happening, and to expect standing room only at the church. Poppy was already dreading the second funeral, but to realize it was about to become a spectacle only made things worse.

To add insult to injury, the cold front that had come through last night left some bad news behind. Right after the car from the funeral home came to pick them up, it started to snow.

****

“
Look at that,” John said, pointing out the window.

The flakes were so tiny they didn’t have the weight to fall. Instead, they kept floating up and swirling down, caught in the air currents from passing cars.

Poppy shuddered. The cemetery was on a hill with no windbreak and she wished she’d worn pants and her boots instead of the same black dress and shoes she’d worn to her mama’s funeral.

When they turned the corner leading up to the church, Poppy’s heart skipped a beat. The streets were lined on both sides with cars as far as she could see.

“
Oh my God!”

John reached for her hand. “It appears Aaron was right. How do you feel about being on show one more time?”

Poppy shivered. “Daddy would hate this.”

He frowned. “Don’t think of it that way. He’s beyond all this crap. It’s you I’m talking to. Can you do this?”

Her chin came up. “Yes, and don’t play into this feeding frenzy, Johnny. Don’t get indignant on my behalf. I can take care of myself, okay?”

He gave her hand a quick squeeze.

The church loomed. Moments later they were out of the car and being escorted into the church. The ones who’d been unable to get a seat inside the church were standing in the church yard and spilling out into the street.

Poppy tucked her hands into her coat sleeves, looking neither right nor left as she hurried inside. The blast of warmth that met them at the door was just as startling as the cold had been.

Pastor Louis J. Harvard got the signal that the family had arrived. He cued the organist, who ceased playing and instantly struck a chord.

“
All rise,” Harvard said, and lifted his hands toward the ceiling to indicate the congregation should stand. Considering everyone spoke English, it was a bit of overkill, but Louis J. always had been one to play to the crowd.

Poppy fixed her gaze on the casket at the foot of the altar as she and Johnny walked down the aisle. She already knew what a lot of the mourners were thinking. By virtue of blood alone, she’d lost her right to be one of them.

The service went by in a blur. By the time the last note of music had faded, she was as cried out as a woman could be and still be breathing. It wasn’t until they raised the lid of the casket that she faltered.

John had his arm around her all the way through the service, but when she began to shake, he felt the tremors in her body all the way to his bones. He’d battled his own emotions, but seeing her like this hurt his heart.

“
You can do this,” he whispered.

She took a slow, deep breath then lifted her head. When the mourners began to move toward the altar, she bore silent witness to their passing.

Late that night when she’d finally gone to bed, she only remembered bits and pieces of the day.

Louis J. touching the crown of her head as if he’d been bestowing a blessing – or forgiving a sin.

Snow sticking to her eyelashes at the cemetery, leaving the world somewhat blurry to her view.

Hot coffee Gladys thrust in her hands as they came back to the church for the meal.

Aaron Coulter hugging Johnny and then walking away.

It was blatantly obvious that John was being held in higher esteem, and while she understood why, it didn’t make it less devastating. The innuendoes abounded that she now thought herself above the other residents in Coal Town. The knowledge brought its own kind of pain.

This time next year Poppy would be old news, but right now it hurt. Couldn’t they see that she was grieving as much as Johnny? Why would they think the Caulfield blood in her veins would blunt the sadness of losing both her parents in one day?

The antagonism made no sense, and yet it was there. All she could do was pray for the strength to ignore it and the courage to endure it.

****

It was Mike’s day off. Barring a homicide somewhere in Caulfield, he had the next twenty-four hours to himself. Today was the day of Jessup Sadler’s funeral. More than anything, he wanted the freedom to go to that church in support of Poppy, but it wasn’t his place to do so – at least not yet.

All day yesterday the police department kept getting tips that Jessup Sadler’s funeral might become a detonation point for some kind of riot. It made no sense why it could happen, but it was enough to make him worry. He made it his mission to get to the Church of Angels early and park in a place where he had a clear view of the entrance. If he saw a situation beginning to develop, at least he was in a position to call it in before it got out of hand.

Within thirty minutes, people began arriving and soon after that, it began to snow. He was guessing a good number of the mourners were here only out of curiosity. It wasn’t common, but not unusual for someone in Coal Town to die at someone else’s hands. But Jessup Sadler’s murder, and then the ensuing murder/suicide of his high society killers had turned this into a sensation.

By the time the funeral car arrived with the family, the church was full and the churchyard overflowing with mourners willing to stand in the snow for nothing more than a glimpse of Justin Caulfield’s dirty little secret.

He got out, ready to make a run for Poppy should anything get out of hand, but John stood a head above most of the people there, and had her tucked tightly beneath his arm. They disappeared into the church without incident, which was a relief, but he wasn’t going anywhere until he was certain the rumors were just that.

As he waited for the service to end, it felt more like a stake-out than monitoring security. When the pall-bearers finally emerged carrying the casket, he recognized some of them as men who’d worked Jessup’s shift at the mine.

Then Poppy came out and paused. For few seconds she stood alone on the steps of the church with the snow swirling about her head, staring out into the crowd below. She was ghostly pale, and even from where he was sitting he could see she was shaking. Oblivious to the tears on her cheeks, she lifted her chin in a subconscious challenge. When John appeared behind her then helped her down the steps and into the car, she never wavered.

And that was the moment he fell the rest of the way in love.

Chapter Twenty-Five

The snow quit before sunrise leaving a light dusting of flakes on the grass. John followed its exit, but not before eliciting a dozen promises from Poppy to call if she needed help, and that he’d stop in to check on her the next time he drove through West Virginia. Poppy hated to see him go, but in a way was also ready to get some order back in her life. The sooner she got used to living alone, the better off she would be.

She’d called Vic Payton to let him know she was ready to come back to work, and the joy in his voice had been obvious. She was back on the schedule, beginning tomorrow.

After spending all day yesterday at the church, she’d skipped Sunday services this morning. Today was about getting out her winter clothes and re-stocking groceries. Maybe she’d even treat herself to a burger and fries on the way home.

She was already dressed and in the kitchen making a grocery list when she heard a knock at the front door. It was Gladys.

And with her usual no-nonsense manner, went straight to the reason that she’d come.

“
Hi sugar! I saw John’s truck was gone so I guessed he was on his way back to Atlanta. I couldn’t help thinking of you here by yourself and want you to know Mel and I are here for you any time you need us.”

Poppy was relieved at least some of her friends weren’t going to drop her.

“
Thank you, Gladys. It’s good to know you two are still speaking to me. After everything that’s happened this past week, I wasn’t expecting there’d be anyone left here who’d remember my name.”

Gladys frowned. “I still don’t see the reason for all this fuss. If anyone gives you lip, you tell them to kiss your ass.”