Her Valentine Family (8 page)

“I guess maybe it's because of the cancer or maybe from losing my mom as quickly as I did but I tend to notice things more clearly than I did before. My sister
and I have been discussing that a lot lately, since we're both going through this together.” She moistened her lips, sighed and then smiled at one of the children who'd pointed out how well they were doing on the puzzle. “Good job,” she said to the boy, then continued to Jessica. “It's kind of like we're making sure we don't miss anything because we realize you never know how much time you have or when you may see someone for the last time.” She paused and looked at Jess. “You understand?”

Jessica swallowed. “I think so.”

“Anyway, now I'm a big believer that if you need to do something, or say something to someone, then you shouldn't waste time,” Hannah said, as another set of parents entered the room, thanked her for teaching their daughter and then took their little girl.

There were three children remaining: a set of twin boys and Nathan. The three were obviously determined to complete the puzzle before they had to leave, and Jess wasn't about to take Nathan right now. She wanted to hear more of what Hannah would say, and she wanted to talk to her, to tell someone about what she was about to do, about how
she
needed to say something to someone and about how she'd been wasting time.

“Hannah,” she started. Then the father of the twins poked his head in the door and called, “Matthew, Daniel, let's go.”

“Bye, Nathan,” they both chimed and followed their dad out of the room.

“Bye!” Nathan yelled. Then he asked, “Hey, Mom, I'm nearly done. Can I finish?”

“Sure,” Jessica said. “If that's okay with your teacher.”

“Of course,” Hannah said. “I need to straighten up
in here before I leave.” She moved to a table covered with crayons and started placing them in square plastic baskets.

“I'll help you.” Jessica helped collect the crayons and pencils that littered the kid-size tables in the room.

“Our Bible lessons this quarter are covering families in the Bible,” Hannah said. “Tonight we learned about Abraham and Sarah.”

“And baby Isaac,” Nathan chimed in from the puzzle table.

“That's right,” Hannah said. “Good job remembering, Nathan.”

He looked up from the puzzle and told Jessica, “They were really, really, really old when they had a baby.”

Jessica laughed. “They sure were.”

“Like, he was a million or something,” Nathan said.

“More like a hundred,” Jess clarified.

“But God helped them have a baby anyway, because He can do whatever He wants,” Nathan said, the last
s
dragging out in a lisp.

“That's right,” Hannah said. “He can.”

“Nathan loves learning,” Jessica said.

“I can tell.” Hannah's hands paused as she picked up a pink crayon. “You know, he reminds me of someone.”

“He does?” Jessica examined her little boy and knew that Hannah had probably put the pieces together. Had anyone else in town? Had anyone else at church?

“Did you know Chad Martin moved back to town, too, not long ago? He's got a little girl now.” Hannah's voice was very soft, low and protective.

“I know,” Jessica said, looking toward the door. No one was there, but she still kept her eyes focused on the opening to the hall. She didn't want anyone hearing
Chad's name associated with Nathan—not until she'd told him.

Hannah put the crayon in the basket Jessica held, then laid her palm on Jessica's wrist, causing Jess to look back at Nathan's young teacher.

“I always thought the two of you would get married. I think everyone did. And then you left, and then he married someone else.”

“I know,” Jessica repeated. So much had happened in the six years since she'd left. Hannah didn't look anything like the girl Jess knew in high school, the one who was the picture of health. Moreover, like her sister, she now had the disease that killed her mother. And Jessica had left the father of her son behind, and while she was gone, he'd met and married someone else.

“But he isn't married now,” Hannah continued. “I don't know what happened, but from what I hear, he was hurt when it ended. The talk from the town gossips is that his wife treated him very badly and that he has custody of their daughter. She didn't try to keep her and doesn't even come to see her. But I've seen him with that little girl, and he's terrific with her.”

Jessica didn't know about the rumors, though she suspected that Chad would tell her when he was ready to share that part of his life. But she knew one of Hannah's statements was true. He is very good with her.

“He's a good man,” Hannah said. “He deserves to be happy, and so do you.”

Jessica's mouth rolled inward, throat pinched.

“You should tell him,” Hannah said softly. “About Nathan.” She paused, apparently waiting for Jess to say something. When she didn't, Hannah continued, “He doesn't know, does he?”

There was no use denying the truth. Jessica shook her head. “Not yet.”

“Don't wait too long,” Hannah pleaded. “Remember, I'm a big believer that you shouldn't waste time.”

“I won't,” Jess said.

Her parents suddenly appeared at the door, both of them smiling as they saw Nathan pop the last piece of the puzzle into place and exclaim, “I did it!”

“You certainly did,” his granddaddy said. “And now I see why we've been standing in the lobby and waiting for so long. I'm betting you had to finish the puzzle before you were ready to go, huh?”

“Yep,” Nathan said, splaying his arms to show off his work. “What do you think, MeMaw?”

“It's absolutely amazing. Love all of those animals.”

“Me, too,” Nathan said. “But I bet that boat smelled yucky.” He grabbed his take-home papers from a nearby table.

“Thank Ms. Hannah for teaching you,” Jessica's mother instructed.

“Thanks!” Nathan said excitedly.

“You're welcome,” she said as Nathan moved to the door.

“You coming, Mama?” he asked.

“Be right there,” Jessica said. She let them start down the hall, out of earshot, then said, “I want to thank you, too. I needed a little encouragement, and you've given me that. I plan to tell him the truth this week.”

“Well then, you say those prayers for me, and I'll say some for you. We'll call it even.”

“You sure you're still a year younger than me? You've
got a lot of wisdom for someone who's only twenty-two,” Jessica said with a grin.

“Cancer ages you quick,” Hannah admitted, “but it's not always a good thing. Coming here, to church, helps my disposition most days, but I have to admit that sometimes I get a little mad at God. Then, when things get really bad, He's the one who gets me through, and I come back around. It's kind of hard to explain.”

“I think you explained it great,” Jessica said, then hugged Hannah before turning to go.

“One more thing,” Hannah said.

Jess stopped at the door. “Yeah?”

“Ask Nathan to show you his paper from tonight. It touched my heart, and I think it'll touch yours, too. He—well, he really wants to know his daddy.”

Jessica swallowed thickly and wondered what Nathan had put on that paper. “I know he does. And he will, soon.”

“And something else,” Hannah said.

“What?”

“He looks like him. I mean, I wouldn't have known so quickly if I hadn't known he was your son and hadn't remembered how close you and Chad were, but knowing that and then looking at Nathan…it was pretty easy to tell.” She smiled. “That isn't a bad thing, at all, but I thought you should know.”

“Have you heard anyone else say anything?” Jessica felt dread trying to creep its way into the joy of knowing Nathan looked like Chad.

Had anyone else noticed?

“No, but I'll let you know if I do. Then again, after this week, that won't matter, will it? He's going to meet his son.”

“Yes, he is.” She waved and left the classroom feeling better that Hannah hadn't heard any suspicions about Nathan's paternity from anyone else in town. Maybe she'd be able to tell Chad before he learned it from someone else.

She made her way to the lobby, where the only people remaining were her parents, Nathan and Brother Henry, apparently waiting on all of them to leave so he could lock up.

“Sorry,” she said. “I was visiting with Hannah Taylor.”

“No problem at all,” Brother Henry said. “She's a sweet girl, isn't she, and bless her heart, she's been through quite a lot.”

“Yes, she has,” Jess said, while her parents nodded in agreement.

“I'm feeling better tonight, though,” Hannah said, rounding the corner with her teacher's tote on her arm. She was so small now that the bag seemed to swallow her side. “Because I had a terrific group of kids in my class.”

“She had me!” Nathan said. “Bye, Ms. Hannah.”

“Bye, Nathan,” Hannah said with a smile. She added a goodbye to Brother Henry, Jessica's parents and finally Jess, then left the church.

“We learned about Abraham and Sarah having an old baby,” Nathan said.

“An old baby?” Brother Henry asked, grinning.

Nathan laughed and corrected, “Having a baby when they were old, I meant.” He held out his palm and cocked his head at the preacher. “I remembered what I learned.”

Brother Henry laughed. “I thought our deal was for you to remember
my
lessons.”

“I didn't get to hear you preaching tonight,” Nathan explained, and to his joy, Brother Henry dropped a peppermint in his hand.

“You're right. You didn't, and I'm glad you remembered what you learned in class. You're a smart boy, Nathan Bowman.”

“That's what Mama says,” Nathan said, working his words around the candy he'd already popped in his mouth.

Still laughing at Nathan's comments, Jessica and her parents steered him out of the church and to the car, where he talked about Abraham and Sarah the whole way home. By the time they reached the house, they had heard his entire interpretation of Abraham “getting a promise, and Sarah not believing it, and Sarah laughing, and then how they named him Isaac 'cause God said to 'cause she laughed and Isaac means laugh.”

Nathan had enjoyed the story so much that he continued to talk about it throughout his bath and was still going strong when Jessica tucked him into bed.

“She laughed,” Nathan said again, snuggling under the covers. “She didn't think God meant it, did she? That she would have a little boy when she was very old.”

“Not at first,” Jessica said. “But then later she did, especially when she had that little boy and she was so happy to have him, just like I'm happy to have you.” She kissed his cheek and hugged him tightly, enjoying the bonding time they shared each night before he went to sleep.

Then she saw his rolled-up take-home papers on his nightstand and remembered what Hannah had said. “Hey, you didn't show me what you did in class. Want to show me before you go to sleep?”

“Sure,” Nathan said, wriggling away from her to reach for the papers.

“This is Abraham and Sarah and Isaac,” he said, pointing to the coloring page. “I kind of got out of the lines on her hair, but Ms. Hannah said I still did pretty good.”

“She's right. You did a good job,” Jess agreed. She continued admiring the picture and wondered why Hannah thought this paper showed that Nathan wants to meet his daddy. Maybe he'd said something about Abraham and the way he was looking at the baby in Sarah's arms. “So, you like this picture of Abraham's family?” Jess prompted, hoping to figure out what Hannah had meant.

“Yep, but my family is on the other side. We drew ours on the back.” He turned the page, and Jessica now knew that this was what Hannah wanted her to see.

Nathan drew his typical tall, skinny house in red crayon and put an even taller tree on the right side, the green swirled circles at the top forming its leaves. On the ground, to the left of the house were two stick people. The taller one had brown hair that was longer, and Jess recognized the “mommy” drawing that Nathan often put in his pictures. She also recognized the little boy beside the mommy as his traditional “Nathan” drawing. Both of the stick people were merely round circle heads with two lines forming the legs, which was the extent of Nathan's current drawing skills.

Jessica adored the way he always drew the mommy and little boy so close together when he depicted his family. But the mommy and son weren't the only things on the page this time. On the opposite side of the house, just beneath the tree, was another stick figure, a little
taller than the mommy, who appeared to be wearing a hat. And beside that circular head and string legs was another straight line extending outward, as though the fellow had one arm.

“Who's that?” Jess asked, though she suspected she knew.

“That's my daddy. He hasn't found us yet.”

Jess nodded, gathering her bearings.
He doesn't even know to look for you yet.
“What's that?” she asked, pointing to that extended line.

“That's his bat,” Nathan said, as though this should have been obvious. “Remember? He's going to teach me to play T-ball. And he's going to be my coach. Anson's daddy is his T-ball coach.”

“Who's Anson?”

“A boy at school.”

“Is that what he's wearing? His baseball cap?” She pointed to the hat on the daddy's head.

“Yep. Anson said he was on the Rangers last year, but he don't know what team he'll get this year yet. Do you think I'll get on Rangers or something else?”

“I don't know,” Jess said, and made a mental note to check into the Claremont Little League sign-ups tomorrow. And she guessed she should probably ask how they go about signing up to coach.