An Accidental Family (8 page)

If anyone knew how to handle grief and sadness, it was Lamont. She’d seen him enough times with Rose to know that they shared far more than marriage and children. During their years together, they’d shared a love so deep and abiding that anyone who witnessed it felt humbled in its glow. Nodding, she patted his arm, a silent signal that her crying jag had ended.

As he helped her to her feet, a shard of sunlight glinted from something a few feet ahead. Nadine went toward it and, crouching, dug through the boggy dust again. “My father’s pocket watch,” she said, palming it, “minus the gold chain.”

Standing, she rubbed away the grit and grime. The lid popped open, exposing old-fashioned numerals and filigreed hands. Amazingly, the thin second hand moved steadily clockwise in perfect rhythm with her heartbeat. “It was a wedding gift from my mother,” she said, holding it out so Lamont could get a better look.

He didn’t take it from her. Rather, he cradled her hands in his, leaned closer to read the inscription: “‘I
am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.’” He met her eyes. “From the Song of Solomon.”

Snapping the lid shut, she clasped it tightly in one hand. “I can’t believe it survived all that heat,” she said, mostly to herself.

“Good reason to believe Peeper survived it, too.”

Maybe, she thought.

She didn’t know how many minutes had passed as they stood side by side, staring at the scorched coals. Nadine wondered if, under similar circumstances, Ernest would have sensed that she required nothing more than his quiet presence to soothe her. Something told her that Lamont would have stayed with her forever, if he felt she needed it.

If she’d been keeping a ledger these past few months, with “Reasons to Like Lamont” in one column and “Reasons to Keep Your Distance” in another, Nadine knew which would be longer. Still, those few items on the Distance side troubled her, deeply.

Squaring her shoulders, Nadine took a deep breath. “Well, I guess there’s nothing more we can do here. Might as well head on over to your house.” She smiled up at him, hoping he hadn’t seen her lips quiver. “Thanks for putting us up tonight. First thing tomorrow, I’ll see about getting a place for the kids and me.”

He led her back to the truck and gently closed the door. It wasn’t until Lamont turned onto the highway that he said softly, “Nadine, I, ah, I didn’t want to bother you with this before, what with all you’re going through, but—”

“Lamont, you can tell me anything. You know that, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” he said, squeezing her hand. “But this is bad timing.”

“No time like the present. Besides, I could use a distraction.”

He turned on the radio. Turned it off again. “Peggy… Peggy quit on me.”

“What? But she’s been your housekeeper for—what—twenty years?”

He nodded. “I hired her full time about six months after Rose died.”

“I don’t get it. She always seemed more like a member of your family than an employee.”

Lamont shrugged, as if to say he didn’t get it, either. “Big place to maintain all by myself.”

She pictured the luxurious ranch, with its looming ceilings, wide-planked floors, gourmet kitchen and grand staircase…

“I feel like a heel, asking you for a favor at a time like this, but…but I wonder if you’d consider taking her place.” He held up a hand to silence her. “You and the kids are welcome to stay as long as you need to, in exchange for light housekeeping, and maybe you can fix supper once in a while. Temporarily, of course, until you rebuild and I find a new Peggy.”

Move in with him—lock, stock and barrel? He must be joking.

One look at his somber expression made it clear: Lamont wasn’t kidding.

“You’d have the whole upstairs to yourselves,” he said, “My room is downstairs, way at the other end of the house. The biddies down at the beauty shop can’t gossip, plus y’all would have as much privacy as you’d need. You’ll hardly know I’m there.”

He’d just proposed the perfect solution to her dilemma, so either she’d gone completely insane, or this was a dream. A beautiful, fairy-talelike dream. Because
shouldn’t she be the one saying, “You’ll hardly know I’m there”?

“You’d be doing me a huge favor if you say yes.”

What landlord in his right mind would rent them an apartment? She didn’t have a penny to buy Amy a gumball, and neither did Adam, thanks to Julie’s poor budgeting skills. Except for the kids’ dime-store furniture, stored in the barn, they’d lost everything in the fire. So even if she found someone willing to trust her to come up with the money, how would they pay for food and utilities?

Nadine almost chuckled aloud, thinking that when the fire marshal finished his investigation, he’d blame the blaze on the mountain of bills stacked on her desk. The smile dimmed as she corrected herself: On what
had been
her desk.

“So…will you do it?”

If she said yes, she’d owe Lamont big-time, and not just dollars and cents. But if she said no, she and the kids would have to move into the local homeless shelter and get their meals at the soup kitchen. Her favorite Bible verse had always been 1 Corinthians 10:13, because the Lord had always known exactly how much bad news she could handle, and provided a way out. She believed He’d help her out of this predicament, too, but the way Nadine saw it, the price tag was enormous.

“Okay,” she said slowly, “but only if you let me take Peggy’s place. I want to do all the housework—laundry, shopping, cooking, the whole nine yards.”

“How ’bout we talk about it after your doctor gives you the green light. You suffered a concussion and smoke inhalation, don’t forget. Besides, last thing I want is for you to feel like a—”

“—like a live-in housekeeper?” She laughed. “
If
I
agree to this, that’s the only way my conscience—and my ego—will allow it.”

Nodding slowly, he exhaled a deep breath. “Okay. All right.” He paused, but only for a second. “So what do you say? Will you help me out of this jam?”

The timing was just too perfect. And so was the situation. Working as his live-in housekeeper would keep the gossips’ tongues from wagging, and keep her from feeling beholden. But no way she’d take the job if it meant putting a good woman out of work. “It just isn’t like Peggy to leave you in a lurch this way. She must have given you a reason.”

He swallowed, then cleared his throat. “She’s been talking about taking an extended vacation for years, now. Said something about Hawaii.”

Nadine remembered standing behind Peg at the convenience store recently. “Don’t need to win millions,” she’d said, waving her lottery ticket in the air, “just enough to take Ted to the islands for our anniversary.” But if she’d won, Nadine would have heard about it at church, where the pastor and at least half of his flock saw the lottery as gambling, and therefore, sinful. The only other possibility that made sense was almost too awful to consider. “She’s all right, isn’t she?”

“Far as I know. Why?”

“I just can’t figure out why she’d leave you after all these years.” Then, “Her husband isn’t ill, is he?”

“He’s fine, too.”

If that was true, then what was there to think about? Living and working at River Valley Ranch would put a roof over her kids’ heads, and yet, she’d remain close enough to visit her own property every day, to feed and water her animals. There were phone calls to make and
insurance forms to fill out. What better place to do it all than his house?

Like it or not, his suggestion made perfect sense. “All right, then. If you’ll let me earn my keep, I’ll do it.”

“Excellent!” he said, beaming. “So, what’s for supper, pretty lady?”

Pretty lady.
It’s what Ernest had always called her, while apologizing for beating her.

Please, Lord,
she prayed as Lamont put the truck into Park,
don’t let this be the biggest mistake of my life.

Adam and his family greeted them at the front door. “Grandmom,” Amy said, “wait until you see my room!” Blond pigtails bobbed as she jumped up and down. “Unka Lamont found clothes for me, too, up in his attic. He says they need warshin’, though.”

Chuckling, Adam mussed her bangs. “Sweetie, give her a minute to get inside before you drag her upstairs.”

Forefinger to the tip of the child’s nose, Nadine feigned a stuffy accent. “Yes, dah-ling, at least wait until the servants have carried all my valises up the grand staircase.”

Giggling, Amy covered her mouth with a pudgy hand. “You sound just like a movie star.” She hugged Nadine’s legs. “You’re funny!”

Adam frowned. “Honey, be gentle with Grandmom. She’s bruised from head to toe, and—”

“It’s all right,” she said, returning the hug.

Despite her best efforts to hide her discomfort, Lamont saw it on her lovely face. He noticed that her gait didn’t have its usual sprightliness, and neither did her usually musical voice. Dark circles had formed under
her eyes, and her smile seemed practiced and tight. “Hey, Amy,” he said, crouching, “how would you like some pizza for supper?”

Perching on his knee, she wrapped an arm around his neck. “Pizza? On a Sunday?” She looked to Julie for guidance. “Is that allowed, Mommy?”

“Sure,” said her mother. “Why not?”

“Good,” Lamont said, patting his stomach, “because I’m starving. And that’s a problem, ’cause I have a lot in common with Old Mother Hubbard these days.”

Amy slid from his knee. “You mean your cupboards are bare?”

“Not even a bone for poor old Obnoxious.” He got to his feet. “So what do you guys like on your pizza?”

Amy began counting on dimpled fingers. “Pepperoni, mushrooms, sausage, green peppers, onions…but not olives.” She wrinkled her nose. “’Specially not those yucky green ones. And cheese. Lots of cheese!”

Laughing, Lamont headed for the door. “Hey, Jules, how about calling in the order while I drive into town. That way, it’ll be ready when I get there.”

“Sure thing,” Julie said, and disappeared into the kitchen.

Adam slid his wallet from his back pocket and held out a $20 bill.

But Lamont waved it away. “It’s on me. We’re celebrating tonight.”

Before the younger man could protest, his little girl jumped up and down. “Celebrating?” Amy said, blue eyes shining. “Like a party?”

“Like a party,” Lamont echoed.

As the child skipped off to join her mother, Nadine said, “Now, Lamont, we had a deal. I’m supposed to cook and—”

“Deal was,” he interrupted, “you’d start all that after your doctor gives you the go-ahead.”

When she smiled, he knew he’d won. This time, anyway. “Maybe while I’m gone, the kids can show you which room is yours.” Half in, half out the door, he added, “Have a look in the closet. Lily says you’re welcome to anything in there that fits.”

Something between surprise and shame darkened her face, and before she had a chance to launch into an “I’m not a charity case” speech, Amy darted back into the room. “We’re out of milk, Unka Lamont.”

It tickled him that, already, the kid felt at home enough to say
we.

“No bread or eggs in your ’frigerator, either.”

He promised to get some on the way home, and closed the door behind him. Life would be a lot of things with Nadine and her family under his roof, he thought, grinning, but boring wouldn’t be one of them.

As he drove toward Amarillo, he dialed his housekeeper’s number. “Peg o’ my heart,” he said when she answered.

“Uh-oh…”

“Uh-oh?”

“Last time you called me that, you asked me to bake Cammi’s wedding cake—two days before the wedding.”

Chuckling, he said, “It’s nothing like that, but I do have a favor to ask you.”

“I’m rollin’ up my sleeves as we speak…”

“I want you to take a vacation.”

Silence, then, “A vacation?”

“Maybe you and that ornery husband of yours can
finally take that trip to Hawaii you’ve both been talking about for years.”

“You call that
me
doin’
you
a favor?”

“Biggest I’ve ever asked of you.”

Peggy sighed. Lamont could almost picture her, rosy-cheeked face crinkled in a confused frown as she fiddled with the coils of the phone cord.

“How long am I supposed to be on this
vacation?
”

It could take as long as a year to rebuild Nadine’s house. “Six months, maybe more.”

She gasped. “Good gravy, Lamont, you’re not firing me, are you?”

“Of course not! You’re terrific, and I honestly don’t know what I would have done without you all these years.”

“Okay. Out with it, bud. What’s up?”

“I’m gonna level with you, but you have to promise not to breathe a word of this to anybody—especially Nadine—y’hear?”

“Got my oath hand in the air as we speak.”

Lamont told her about the money troubles between Adam and Julie, and how they’d been forced to move in with Nadine, saving news of the fire for last. “She has nothing, Peg, and you know how proud she is. If I invited her and the kids to stay with me while they rebuild, she’d never go for it.”

“I get it. She agreed if you’d let her do the housework in exchange for room and board.”

“Bingo.” Then, “Your lips are sealed, right?”

“Zipped,” was her reply. “I won’t even tell that ornery husband of mine. At least not until I’ve got him good’n buttered up with lotion on a sunny beach in Oahu.”

“Thanks, Peg.”

Her boisterous laugh punctuated his comment. “I
don’t know what you’re thankin’
me
for, but you’re welcome, boss.”

“Just so Nadine won’t get wise to the arrangement, how ’bout I pay you in advance, one big check to cover, say, six months’ worth of salary?”

“Lamont London, you’ll do no such thing! You’ve been more’n generous with me over the years. I know what other housekeepers get paid these days, and you’ve always given me double. So, thanks to you, I’ve managed to save up more than enough for a nice, long trip.”

“But Peg—”

“No buts about it. I like Nadine, too. Remember when I threw my back out a couple years ago? Why, that li’l gal brought me casseroles three times a week, did my laundry and cleaned the place ’til it shined like a new penny! Let’s say my absence is my contribution to the ‘Get Nadine Back on Her Feet’ fund.”