Providence (16 page)

It was half past noon, and my empty stomach seemed to be taking control of me. I should have been taking advantage of Georgia’s nap to do some dusting. Instead, I was sitting and staring out the window at the front door of the Tick Tock Diner. A couple of times my mouth actually watered when I saw someone leaving with a carryout bag. My insides jumped a little when I saw a familiar face coming out of the diner. John raised his hand in a kind of salute, shading his eyes. He squinted a little and then smiled, nodded, and waved in my direction. I hoped he couldn’t see the blood rushing to my cheeks. I gave a quick wave back and got busy with my dust rag.

It was two o’clock in the afternoon before I caught sight of Rosie again. Staying true to her word, she walked through the door toting a bag from the Tick Tock. My stomach growled as she laid out grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches and a couple of cold root beers. She was smiling from ear to ear.

“It’s all set,” she said. “The christening will be a week from Sunday. You need to fill out a couple of forms for the reverend.”

I could feel the blood rush from my head as I choked down a bite of my sandwich.

“Now, don’t you worry about anything. The forms are simple, baby’s name, place of birth, that sort of thing. And I’ll take care of the rest,” Rosie said.

“The rest?” I asked.

“I’ll take care of the party and the christening outfit. I’ve already started inviting folks, and on Saturday we can take the bus to the mall to buy whatever we need,” Rosie said.

I should have told her not to go to such a fuss, but my mind was stuck on those forms. Rosie must have taken the look of worry on my face as meaning something else. She said, “Of course, I don’t need to make all of the decisions. Why don’t you make a guest list, too? Put anyone you think I might miss on there. How about your friend, Sarah? I haven’t seen her around since school started. Am I working you so hard you don’t have time for friends anymore?”

I rubbed an imaginary stain off the floor. “I have time for everything I want to be doing,” I said.

Rosie must have sensed my yearning to end that conversation, because she quickly changed gears. “And we need to find a pretty dress for you to wear, too, Becky. Don’t you worry any. It will be my treat,” Rosie said. Then she sat down and took a big bite out of her sandwich. “I worked up an appetite this morning.”

Rosie didn’t leave out as much as a sneeze when she gave me a report of her visit with the reverend. I heard the words coming out of her, but I wasn’t listening. I was too busy trying to come up with answers to fill in the blanks on those forms. Rosie didn’t seem to pick up on my strange, silent behavior. Thoughts and ideas were shooting out of her like fireworks. One simple little statement, like “We’ll need plenty of food,” burst into dozens more about what kind of food, where we would put the food, what to serve the food on, and so on and so on. I don’t think I could have gotten a word into the conversation, even if I was so inclined.

Georgia was a little fussy that night. I think she picked up on my feelings. The two of us sat curled up on a chair in the front parlor. I had spent much of my afternoon trying to convince myself that there would be a way for me to fill out the reverend’s forms without outright lying. But sitting there with Rosie across from us made me realize that lying to a stranger wasn’t my problem. It wasn’t even God that I feared. I figured He knew I was doing my best to keep Baby Girl safe. It was knowing that I hadn’t shown Rosie the respect of telling the truth that filled me with shame.

Baby Girl let out a little sigh that was a sure sign she was giving in to sleep. I thought about putting her to bed, but decided I felt braver with her in my arms. Besides, what I was about to confess I was saying for both of us.

“Rosie, I have to tell you something,” I said. “I should have told you all of this a long time ago. You’ve been so good to Georgia and me. And I haven’t been completely honest with you. I can’t let you go through all this trouble with the christening without you knowing the truth. I can’t stand in a church with all these lies between us.”

Rosie set her teacup on the table and leaned in closer. “What kind of lies?”

“About who we are, and where we came from. About how we ended up at the Second Hand Rose,” I said.

“None of that’s important,” Rosie whispered.

“Yes, it is,” I said. “Didn’t you ever wonder why I never mention family?”

“Becky, we are family,” Rosie said. “You and Georgia becoming a part of my life was providence. And if there is one thing I’ve learned in my eighty-eight years on Earth, it is to never question your blessings. Accept them, appreciate them, be thankful for them, but don’t ever question them. I don’t care about your past; it’s the here and now that’s important to me.”

I wiped away the tears rolling down my cheeks and gulped in some air.

“And if all these tears have come about because I got a little carried away with the notion of a christening, then we can put a stop to that right now,” Rosie said. “But remember, Becky, God knows all of our pasts and He welcomes us into His home all the same.”

I looked down at Georgia sleeping in my arms. Maybe Rosie was right about this being providence. When I left Mama and Daddy’s house, I never would have guessed the twist and turns my life was about to take. Georgia needed me. I needed Rosie. And in a way, Rosie needed the both of us. “No,” I said. “I don’t want you to stop. Georgia should have a christening. I’m the bad one.”

“You’re no such thing,” Rosie said. “Why, you don’t have a bad bone in you. And you don’t owe anyone an explanation. You aren’t looking to learn all about my past, are you?”

I shook my head no.

“Then put this little angel to bed,” Rosie said. “And let’s not talk any more about this. I know all I need to know about the two of you. I know that you walking into the Second Hand Rose was one of the best things that happened in my life. Now, let’s get Georgia tucked in for the night. We’ve got a party to plan.”

I knew Rosie couldn’t know the truth about us, but when I looked into her eyes it felt like she did. It felt like she knew all of our secrets, all of my wrongs, and it didn’t matter. She loved us as much because of it as despite it.

CHAPTER 19

Rosie must have planned a lot of parties in her lifetime. She knew exactly what we needed and where to get it. Best of all, she knew how to have fun while doing it. The only thing that didn’t seem to go her way was our trip to the mall.

We found the perfect christening gown in the Beautiful Baby Boutique. It was the softest white cotton with tiny white flowers embroidered all over it. It had a matching cap that the salesgirl kept mentioning as being able to convert into a wedding day hanky. For the life of me, I couldn’t imagine why anyone would be thinking about their baby’s wedding day when they were planning a christening. There also was a tiny pair of white shoes to match, but Georgia’s feet were already too big for them. Rosie tried to use that fact to bargain down the price of the set.

At the Second Hand Rose every price tag is an ‘about.’ Rosie taught me to answer a customer with, “That’s about twenty dollars.” If the customer thinks the price is too high then we emphasize the ‘about’ and work down from there. When we saw the price of the christening set, Rosie was ready to bargain. Unfortunately, the salesclerk was not familiar with this way of doing business.

“How about if we deduct the cost of those shoes,” Rosie said. “Since we all know that Georgia can’t wear them, it makes no sense for us to buy them.”

The salesclerk looked at us as if we were a cup of spoiled milk. “They are part of the ensemble,” she said. “I can’t sell you only part of an ensemble. Who would buy the shoes without the outfit?”

That evening when I got Georgia tucked in that night, I said, “Rosie, if you don’t need anything, I’m going to bed now too.”

Rosie looked up at me and said, “I don’t want you giving a second thought to the price we paid for that christening gown. We bought an heirloom today, not a dress. It will get passed down from Georgia to her children and grandchildren. It was just the lack of practicality of those shoes and the salesclerk’s snippy ways that got my feathers ruffled.”

I nodded and said, “Honestly, Rosie, if you want to return it, I understand. Georgia will look beautiful no matter what we dress her in.”

Rosie hesitated before saying, “We’re keeping the dress. I don’t want to upset you any, but I think you and Georgia should come to church with me tomorrow. After services, we can give the reverend the forms you filled out.”

I was too ashamed to tell her I hadn’t filled out the forms yet, so I nodded in agreement. I closed the door behind Rosie and pulled the papers from the drawer of my bedside table. I stretched out and started writing. It was easy enough to fill out her name without feeling like I was lying. As far as I knew, the only name she had was the one I had given her. The date of birth was a little bit harder. I decided on June 24, the day our life together began. I could feel my body tightening up when I got to the place of birth line. Everyone knew we weren’t from around Watson’s Grove, and I didn’t think telling them my own home town was a good idea. I was stuck on that answer for quite some time before settling on Freedom, South Carolina. When I finished with the rest of the questions, I placed the papers on my nightstand and rolled onto my back. I was trying to picture Georgia in her christening dress, but all I could see was me boarding a bus. I was sure lying to a preacher was the same as buying a bus ticket on the direct line to hell.

Even though we got an early start, almost every seat in the church was full when we arrived the next morning. We found a place in the front row, which made me as nervous as the turkeys must be with Thanksgiving right around the corner. Rosie watched me fidget for a few minutes before whispering, “Do you need to use the ladies’ room?”

“No,” I whispered back, hoping no one else had heard her question.

Reverend Thompson is a lot younger than I had imagined him to be, and I found myself taking more notice of his eyes than his sermon. There was something real familiar about them that I couldn’t put my finger on. Realizing that concentrating more on a preacher’s looks than his words might be another big sin, I decided to redirect my attention. I looked over Rosie’s shoulder at the songbook and sang with the choir.

When the service ended, the whole congregation moved from the church to the basement. A group of ladies had thrown aprons on over their church dresses and were already busy serving coffee and juice. Long tables were covered with muffins, breads, and pastries. I spotted a number of familiar faces, some I could put names to, some I couldn’t.

“There’s the reverend,” Rosie said, pointing across the room. She grabbed my elbow and steered me through the crowd.

I let Rosie do all the talking when we caught up with the reverend. I couldn’t help but stare at him. I was trying so hard to place him in my mind that I lost track of the conversation. The next thing I knew Rosie was digging her elbow into my ribs and the reverend was standing there with his hand out. I reached out and shook it. The reverend looked bewildered.

“Becky,” Rosie said. “Reverend Thompson is waiting for you to give him the papers.”

When I handed over the papers, the reverend skimmed them. He opened his mouth, but before the first word came out, Rosie interrupted. “I’m sure you’ll find everything in order,” she said. “And as someone who has been a member of this church longer than you’ve been alive, I want to thank you for all you do to welcome new members into our church family.”

The reverend opened and closed his mouth several times and then just seemed to give up on whatever he had planned to say. He smiled and nodded.

Rosie said, “We’ve been hogging all your time. We’ll move along now, so you can say good morning to everyone.”

“Yes,” the reverend said. “It was good to meet you. I look forward to the baptism next week. I hope to see you all here every Sunday.”

When we left church, Rosie said, “Now that you’re coming to church with me, there is no one home baking us muffins. How about we go by the house to meet up with John, and then we hurry on over to the Tick Tock for breakfast before going to visit Lily?”

CHAPTER 20