Love Comes Home (10 page)

That could be anything from a bad week at work to Mike forgetting to pick up something at the grocery. Evie said that happened a lot. She claimed Mike’s mind was always somewhere else. Like he and God were having this deep conversation they weren’t letting Evie in on.

If Mike was upset with Evie’s bad mood, he didn’t show it. He seemed the same to Kate. Careful to hold Evie’s chair at the table and then Mama’s too. He was quiet, but while that wasn’t like the old Mike—the Mike before the war—it was like the Mike who’d come home from Germany. Daddy said Mike needed time. Mama said he needed prayer. Evie said he needed to figure out things and do it soon. Evie had never been long on patience.

Kate did her best to ignore Evie and just enjoy Jay at home and her family crowded around the table. Family that included Aunt Hattie and Graham and even Fern, though she’d refused to stay and eat today.

She missed Fern there. Kate could hardly believe she’d thought that, but somehow Lorena had pulled Fern into the family. That didn’t mean the woman wanted to be at the table with them. Too many people made her nervous, but she’d passed up a great meal. Mama must have gotten up before daylight to cook.

When it was time for dessert, Mama sat a whole brown sugar pie in front of Jay. “I thought maybe you would want to slice your own piece.” She handed him the knife.

Jay smiled at Mama. “Nadine, I want you to know I dreamed about this pie. Whenever things would get bad over there, I’d think about eating another piece of your pie and keep my head down.”

“What about thinking about us?” Lorena said.

“Sure, I did that too.” Jay winked at her. “I’d think about all those pieces of my pie you were eating.”

“You told me to.” Lorena insisted.

“So I did, but I do have to admit I’m happy to see you aren’t fat as a pig from eating all that pie.”

“Hey.” She tried to frown, but a smile pushed it off her face. “From now on, eat your own pie.”

“That I can do.” Jay studied the pie a minute, then sliced right through the middle of it. He slid one of the halves out on his plate. “There, that’ll probably do me right now.”

When everybody laughed, Jay looked around the table. “You think I’m kidding? Well, you’re wrong.” He attacked the pie with his fork. “Umm, even better than I remembered.”

“Mercy sakes,” Aunt Hattie said. “Don’t know that I ever saw a boy like pie so much, ’cepting maybe my Bo. He did love my raisin pie. You remember Bo? He didn’t make it home from that first war, you know.” She looked across the table at Jay.

Down at the end of the table, Evie let out a heavy sigh. Kate spoke up quickly to keep Aunt Hattie from noticing. “We didn’t get to know him, Aunt Hattie, but we wish we could have.”

“Us old ones remember, Hattie.” Graham said. “And those raisin pies too. They were fine.”

“Better than fine,” Kate’s father added.

“I don’t know what’s the matter with me.” Aunt Hattie shook her head. “Course you babies here don’t remember. You weren’t even born then. My old head loses track of the years from time to time. Hard to think about being eighty and that it’s been nigh on forty years since Bo went on ahead of me to heaven.”

“You think he’s eating raisin pie in heaven?” Jay asked her between mouthfuls of brown sugar pie.

“He might have to wait till I’m up there for that to happen.” Aunt Hattie’s laugh made her wrinkles dance. “You just keep on enjoyin’ that pie down here, son, and we’ll enjoy a little of it with you. If I know Nadine, she made plenty.”

“I did,” Mama said. “Lorena, get the other pie out of the pie safe.”

“Somebody can have my piece,” Evie said. “I never cared all that much for brown sugar pies anyway.”

Since when, Kate wanted to ask, but she kept her mouth shut. Some stews were better left simmering instead of stirred up.

“Birdie can have it. Now that she’s not getting my piece.” Jay took another bite and closed his eyes as he chewed.

“I think your pie is about to make the boy float up in the air.” Kate’s father reached for his slice.

“I am being transported.” Jay took another bite. “I knew this place was the closest thing to heaven the first time I came here. Beautiful women. Divine food. Books everywhere.” He glanced over at Mike. “Wedding music. All thanks to you, buddy.”

“The Lord works in mysterious ways his wonders to perform.” Mike smiled almost like old times as he dug into his pie.

With pie still on his plate, Jay groaned and pushed away from the table. “Don’t throw any of that away. I’ll eat the rest later, but my poor stomach’s not used to such good food. Got to break it in slowly.”

“Could be you should have taken a smaller slice,” Graham told him.

“When somebody offers you a slice of heaven, you grab hold of as much of it as you can.” Jay reached for Kate’s hand and then Lorena’s. “And you hang on.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Graham said.

“Heaven don’t come down ev’ry day,” Aunt Hattie said.

“Not unless you live in Rosey Corner,” Jay said.

Kate leaned over and kissed his cheek. It was good to have Jay home. He had a way of making everybody smile, even Tori. Everybody except Evie, who had stopped faking good humor and held her head in her hand. Mike stroked her arm and glanced down the table toward Kate as though asking for help. Kate pretended not to notice. She would not let Evie’s dramatics spoil this day.

Samantha picked that moment to spill her glass. Tori jumped up to mop up the water. Daddy moved his chair back and started coughing.

Aunt Hattie frowned over at him. “Is he taking that tonic I made up for him, Nadine?”

“He’s taking it, Aunt Hattie.” Mama rubbed his back. “He’s getting better.”

Daddy held up his hand and stood up. “I am,” he choked out. “Better.”

That had to be wishful thinking. Or maybe just wishful talking. The cough didn’t sound better as he pulled out his handkerchief and made his way into the other room. Her mother stared after him with a worried frown, then pushed a smile back across her face as she asked, “More pie, anybody?”

“We’re stuffed, Nadine. Couldn’t hold another bite,” Graham said.

Kate pulled her hand away from Jay’s with regret. She wanted to be touching him all the time. “You go visit with Aunt Hattie and the men, Mama. We’ll do the dishes.”

Mama took off her apron and handed it to Kate. When Samantha reached her hands up to her, she picked her up out of the high chair. “Her dress is wet, Victoria.”

“I’ll change her.” Lorena jumped up to take the little girl. Then she slid her eyes back to Kate. “Unless you need me to help with the dishes.”

Kate laughed. “You go hang out with Jay, Lorena. After all, I get to take him home with me.”

“But you’re coming back Christmas morning, aren’t you? Or you could all just stay.” Hope lit up Lorena’s face. “Tomorrow’s Christmas Eve. We could go caroling and come home and drink hot chocolate while Daddy reads the Christmas story to us. Christmas morning we can have pancakes and cinnamon rolls and play Santa Claus for Samantha. You can’t miss that.”

“Sounds like more heaven coming down.” Jay smiled at Lorena. “But let’s get out of here now before Kate changes her mind and gives us KP duty.”

“I wish I could do the dishes.” Aunt Hattie pushed up from the table. “It ain’t a good thing to get so feeble a body can’t do a piddlin’ thing. Seems to be time to move on up when that happens.”

“No, no, Aunt Hattie. You have to make Victor his tonics.” Mama helped Aunt Hattie through the door to the sitting room. Daddy had finally stopped coughing and was opening the stove top to load it with more coal.

“I can do that for him if he’ll wait,” Jay said.

“It’s better to let him.” Mama looked over her shoulder at Jay. “This cough has been hard on him, but it’s like Aunt Hattie said. Nobody wants to feel helpless.”

Mike stayed beside Evie after the others were out of the room. He looked a little helpless himself as he asked, “Are you all right, honey?”

“I’m just peachy.” Evie shook his hand off and stood up. She snatched up her plate and stacked it on his with a clatter. “Go.” She made a sweeping motion with her hands. “Do your man talking things.”

He looked so troubled Kate wanted to give him a hug, but it wasn’t her hug he wanted. Tori raised her eyebrows with an unspoken question when she moved past Kate to put up the leftover pie. Kate shrugged. She didn’t have any answers, but she was going to. Just as soon as Mike went in the other room.

Kate picked up some glasses and headed toward the kitchen, but that didn’t keep her from hearing Mike and Evie.

“Do you want to go home?” Mike said.

“Who said anything about going home?” Evie’s voice had
an edge in it. “I’ve got to help wash these dishes. Probably ruin my new suit, but who cares? The dishes must be done. Food on the table. Food off the table. Clean dishes. Dirty dishes. Over and over.”

“I love you, Evangeline.” Mike sounded weary as if he had no hope his words mattered to Evie.

Kate turned in time to see Evie jerk back when Mike touched her cheek. He dropped his hand and shut his eyes a moment. Maybe praying for patience. It was obvious he needed it as Evie kept glaring at him until he turned away from her and followed the others out to the sitting room.

Kate broke the silence that fell over the room. “Have you lost your mind, Evie? Whatever in the world is wrong with you?”

“Wrong? What could possibly be wrong in this heaven-on-earth place?” She snatched up the plates and stomped toward the kitchen to set them on the counter by the sink. A fork bounced to the floor. When she started to lean over to pick it up, the color drained from her face. Grabbing the edge of the counter, she stood very still for a few seconds, then ran for the back door with her hand over her mouth.

Kate and Tori followed her out. Evie held onto the porch post and heaved out everything she’d just eaten.

“I think we can be pretty sure what’s wrong with her now.” Tori smiled as she pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket to hand Evie.

Evie wiped off her mouth. She was trembling as she stared down at her skirt. “Did I get any on my suit?”

“Don’t worry about your suit.” Kate wrapped her arms around her and turned her toward the door. “You’re freezing. Let’s get you inside.”

“But you don’t understand. I just bought this suit. Last week. And now I’m not going to be able to wear it and I’m going to lose my job and I’m not ready. I’m just not ready.” She looked at Kate and Tori and burst into tears.

“Maybe I should go get Mama,” Tori said as they guided Evie back into the kitchen.

Evie clutched Tori’s arm and kept her voice low. “No. I don’t want anybody to know.”

“Why not?” Kate eased her down into a chair. “Mama will be excited.”

Tori dipped the edge of a dish towel in the dishwater to wash Evie’s face. “And it’s not something you can keep secret for long. Especially when the morning sickness hits.”

“It’s not morning,” Evie wailed.

“Morning can sometimes last all day with this,” Tori said.

“Don’t tell me that. I can’t stand thinking that.”

“You’ll forget all about it when the baby comes.” Tori knelt down beside Evie’s chair, took her hands, and looked directly in her face. “It will all be worth it then.”

“I’m not like you, Tori.” Evie stared at her, anything but convinced. “I’m not ready.”

“I am,” Kate said. “I so want this to be me in a few months.”

“I wish it was you now.”

Kate smiled. “It can’t happen quite that quickly.”

“That’s what you think. A person forgets to take precautions one time and the next thing you know you’re heaving out your insides.” Evie rubbed the towel across her face and smeared her makeup. “I’ll bet you’re not even taking precautions.”

“Why should I? I can’t wait to be a mother.”

“But what about Jay? Does he want to be a father?”

“Why wouldn’t he?” Kate frowned. “Isn’t Mike happy about the baby?”

When Evie didn’t say anything, Kate said, “You haven’t told him, have you?”

“Don’t look at me like that.” Evie glared at Kate and then slid her eyes over to Tori. “You don’t understand. Nobody understands.”

12

T
ori fought the urge to give Evie a good shake. What was the matter with her? Her husband had come home from the war. She was being blessed with a baby. Tori knew what a blessing that was. She had Samantha. And here Evie was acting as if it was the end of the world instead of the beginning of life.

Tori stood up and went to the sink. Somebody had to wash the dishes. Evie wouldn’t listen to her anyway. Kate could handle it. Not that Evie would listen to Kate either. She obviously wanted to feel sorry for herself. Tori poured a capful of soap into the dishpan and stirred her hand around in the water to make suds.

“You’re right there. I don’t understand,” Kate said. “Mike loves you and you’re making him miserable.”

“I’m making him miserable? What about me?” If a person could shout in a whisper, that was what Evie was doing.

Kate didn’t answer right away. Tori kept her eyes on the glasses in the dishpan, but she didn’t have any trouble imagining Kate with her hands on her hips glaring at Evie, ready to explode. How many arguments had Tori sat on the sidelines
and watched between the two of them? Tori didn’t like arguing. When they were all home and shared a bedroom, she had often covered her ears and hummed a tune to block out their fussing.