Providence (22 page)

Jeanie put her arm over my shoulders and gave them a squeeze. “Don’t take it personally,” she said. “I’m sure Lily doesn’t feel that way about you. I think it’s just that she has no baby of her own, yet she still has all that mothering inside of her. Life can play some cruel tricks like that. I don’t want to think of how I would feel if I suffered the loss she suffered.”

Shame came over me like a curtain dropping onto a stage. Thinking about what Lily had lost made my resentment of the joy holding Baby Girl brought Lily seem even more selfish and unkind. Jeanie seemed to sense my dark feelings and changed the subject. “She’s a real fighter,” Jeanie whispered, nodding in the direction of Rosie. “I’m sure you want to spend as much time with Rosie as you can now. I’ll come down to the store for a few hours every day this week to cover for you so you can come home. Mother Applewood will love the time alone with Chloe.”

As much of a talker as I am, it seems that I can never find words when I need them the most. I stood and watched Jeanie walk out to her car. The cold night air that I swallowed hurt my chest, so I leaned for a moment against the door after closing it. Rosie and I were going to have to talk about her health. I stepped toward the parlor and was greeted by the purr of Rosie’s snoring. Any talk of illness would have to wait until morning.

CHAPTER 25

I no longer looked at Rosie’s bedroom as the forbidden land. This was due to practical necessity, not any loss of respect for her privacy. The closer Christmas got, the earlier I left for the store in the morning. That allowed me time to get any housekeeping and bookkeeping chores done before opening for customers. Rosie’s schedule was going in the opposite direction of mine. With each passing day, Rosie got out of bed later. I took to bringing a tray in to her before I left in the morning, so I could be sure she had some breakfast.

Each morning, I would stand by her door and knock three times. I would close my eyes and listen to the sound of the drawer in Rosie’s bedside table scrape open. It was followed by the sound of the plastic vials plunking against each other as they were swept into the drawer. Finally, the drawer would scrape shut again and Rosie would call out for me to come in.

That morning when I knocked, there was no sound of pill containers scurrying into hiding. Instead, Rosie called out her welcome right away. When I walked into the room, I noticed that Rosie had already been up and about. The window shade was already pulled up, inviting the light in. Rosie, with a quilt drawn tight around her shoulders, sat in a pool of sunbeams that collected on her bed. “I’m getting used to you spoiling me,” she said, smoothing the blankets around her.

I set the tray down on her bed. “You deserve a little spoiling,” I said. “You’re looking fine today.”

“Since I was up early anyway, I decided to make a shopping list for our Christmas dinner. Why don’t you look it over and add anything special you might want,” Rosie said, handing me a piece of paper.

“I’m sure you remembered everything,” I said. “I’m glad you’re wide awake this morning. I wanted to talk to you about Jeanie.”

Rosie shook her head. “That poor girl. Her husband has to learn to stand up to his mama. Coming in and taking over their home the way she does. It’s a shame, a real shame.”

I nodded and said, “Jeanie offered to come to the store for a few hours each day to help out,” I said. “If she does that, then I won’t have to close the store at lunchtime every day. I didn’t give her an answer one way or the other; I wanted to check in with you first. How would you feel about her helping out? Would you mind her being alone in the store while I came home for an hour at noon?”

“I think it’s a great idea,” Rosie said. “You could use the company down at the store. She could use a reason to get out from under her mother-in-law’s thumb. And like you said, we wouldn’t have to close the store for an hour in the middle of the day.”

“Then I’ll accept her offer,” I said.

Rosie laughed. “I doubt that you will have to say anything. Dollars to doughnuts she shows up today without any word from us. She’ll probably put up a fight on this, but I want you to pay her for her time. The store is doing real well, and every girl should have a little pocket money all her own.”

I looked at the caramel-colored tubes lined up on her table in parade formation. “Rosie,” I said. “What are you taking all of those medicines for?”

“At my age, it’s quicker to list what parts don’t need medicine,” Rosie laughed. “Where is our little princess?” she asked, changing the subject. “You weren’t planning to go off today without giving me a chance to spend a few minutes with Georgia Rose, were you?”

I took the tray away and brought Baby Girl in for some hugs. I arranged some pillows into a little chair on the bed and sat her next to Rosie. I left them together for a few minutes while I gathered what we needed for our morning at the store. I went into the last place in the house I considered ‘Rosie only’ territory: the kitchen drawer where she kept her money, papers, and phone numbers. I quickly copied down a number and stuffed the scrap in my pocket.

The first thing I did when we arrived at the store that day was pull that scrap from my pocket. I took a deep breath and dialed the number I’d scribbled on it. A young woman answered the phone, so I started in right away, thinking I had reached Rosie’s granddaughter. “I’m Becky Miller, the girl who works and lives with your grandmother,” I said. “I’m worried about Rosie’s health, and think it might be best if you come visit her.”

The young woman on the other end of the line cleared her throat. “I’m sorry miss,” she said. “You must be looking for Jennifer Perkins. I’m her assistant. Ms. Perkins is not available at the moment. May I take your number, so she is able to return your call at a more convenient time?”

I gave her the store number. A minute after I hung up, I picked the receiver up again. This time I reached the party I was hoping to get. “Hello,” John said.

I looked at the clock. It was almost nine in the morning. Why did he sound like he was still asleep?

“Hello?” John said again.

“Hi,” I answered. “This is Becky. Did I wake you?”

“I was up late studying,” John explained. “I have my last final later this morning. Do you need something?”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have bothered you,” I said.

“You’re not bothering me,” John answered. “You must have called for some reason. What do you need?”

I hesitated. John had important things to do today. I shouldn’t be bothering him with this.

“Becky? Is Rosie all right?”

“Yes,” I said. “At least I think so. I called because I was wondering if you have the time to bring a Christmas tree over to the house some day this week. I’ll pay you for the tree and your time, of course.”

“You don’t need to pay me for anything,” John said. “I’ll stop by later today after I finish my exam.”

“I don’t want to trouble you today,” I said. “You concentrate on your schooling. The tree can wait.”

“It’s no trouble,” John answered. “What time do you close tonight? I’ll swing by and pick you and Georgia up, and we can go buy Rosie a tree.”

The day kept getting better from there. Just as Rosie predicted, Jeanie arrived at the Second Hand Rose with no prompting from me. “Where should I put my coat?” she asked.

I had gotten used to seeing a lot of grumpy people in the last few days. The closer the holidays came, the more people seemed to feel like they were falling behind. But here was Jeanie, just a few days before Christmas, and her words came out of her like a song. I showed her to the back room. “I hope spending time here doesn’t cause you to lose some of that Christmas spirit,” I said.

“I’m not worried,” she said. “I used to work as a store clerk. I loved it.”

“Did you stop when Chloe was born?” I asked.

“No,” Jeanie said. “I worked my way through college. My freshman year I worked in this cute little boutique. The clothes were fabulous, which is why the next year I wised up and went to work at the Yarn Barn. Not much chance of my spending my whole paycheck there!”

As I followed Jeanie up the aisle, it occurred to me that there was much more to Jeanie Applewood than met the eye. Baby Girl, who had taken to spending her awake time riding my hip, squealed with wide-eyed delight at the pace that was needed to keep up with Jeanie. We reached the front of the store and Jeanie threw up her hands. “Where is my mind this morning?” she asked. “I forgot something in my pocket.” She turned and hurried back to her coat, her feet barely skimming the surface of the wood floor planks. A split second later, she stood in front of me smiling with her arm stretched out. “For you,” she said, nodding toward the envelope in her hand.

I took the envelope and looked inside. “Pictures!” I said.

“I took them at the christening,” Jeanie said. “I thought you might like a copy.”

I spread the pictures across the counter and looked from one to another and back again. Growing up, I had my picture taken in school every year. Mama and Daddy never bought them. One year, the girls in my class exchanged the little pictures with one another. I begged Mama and Daddy to buy mine. I promised I would do extra chores to pay them back. But Daddy said, “Why would we go and spend good money on those? We look at that face for free every day, whether we want to or not. You know what they say, ‘the pennies go to the wise and the foolish get a pounding.’”

I told everyone at school that I didn’t care for school photos. It wasn’t entirely untrue. I think everyone looks like a statue in those pictures and the cloth they put behind you is usually a color too ugly to be found in a box of crayons.

The pictures lying on the counter were nothing like that. Lined up the way they were, they told a story. And I might sound a little crazy saying this, but they didn’t just show how people looked that day. They showed how people felt. “They’re beautiful,” I said. “Where did you learn to take pictures like this?”

Jeanie’s face gave meaning to the word ‘glowing.’ “Thanks,” she said. “I majored in photojournalism in college. Now, I mainly take pictures of Chloe.”

I looked at the pictures again, zooming in on one of Rosie, Georgia, and me. I pulled a frame I’d stitched for Rosie out from under the counter. The photo was a perfect fit. “I made this for Rosie for Christmas,” I said. “I thought I would have to give it to her empty but, if it’s okay with you, I’ll give it to her with this picture in it.”

“Mind? I’m honored. The frame is beautiful,” Jeanie said. “I would love to learn embroidery. Maybe after Christmas you can give me a few lessons.”

I’d never thought of myself as a teacher, but I agreed. “And maybe you can teach me a little about photography,” I said.

“It’s a deal,” Jeanie said, and reached out to shake my hand. “What else do you have under there?”

“I made her an ornament, too,” I said. “I plan to go to the little booth in the drugstore to get a picture of Georgia and me for it.”

Jeanie looked at the ornament and the photos again. “This one would be perfect for the ornament,” she said.

“It’s way too big,” I answered.

Jeanie waved her hand in the air. “We’ll just crop it,” she said, grabbing the scissors from behind the counter. “I can give you another copy tomorrow.”

Now, I saw that picture as a piece of art and trimming it seemed no different to me than going into a museum and shaving a little off of a statue. But before I could stop her, Jeanie had started snipping away. When she slid it into the ornament, I couldn’t argue her choice. Rosie was going to love it.

The morning got busy and when lunchtime rolled around, I knew there was no need to worry about leaving Jeanie alone in the store. Baby Girl and I headed home when the church bells starting ringing. Every day at noon on the dot, those bells rang, and as soon as I heard them my stomach would start to growl. It was like that scientist and the dog I read about in school. Rosie had the table set when I walked into the kitchen. I put Baby Girl in her highchair and fed her while our soup cooled a bit.

“Was I right about Jeanie?” Rosie asked.

I smiled. “You know you were,” I said.

“Like I said the first time I met you, God gave me a sixth sense about people,” Rosie said. “She’s a good person, and she’ll be a good friend to you over the years if you let her.”

After lunch, I packed up the sewing machine and worktable to make room for the tree. I had stopped taking special orders days ago and only had some hand stitching left to finish. Rosie didn’t complain about the lack of work for her. Instead, once everything was cleared, she asked me to move one of the chairs so she could sit and look out the front window. I wanted to keep the tree a surprise, so I did as she asked and left her at her window post, watching the neighbors pass by.

Jeanie was ringing up a customer when Georgia and I got back to the store. Once we were alone, she gave me the rundown of what I had missed. “There’s a camera crew in town from the local TV station. They were filming all the decorated storefronts and streets for a Christmas in Our County series they’re airing on the evening news. They stopped by looking for you. The reporter said everyone in town told them it was you who brought back the town spirit. I told them they certainly had the right store, but that you were out at the moment.” I wondered if Jeanie heard my sigh of relief at that last remark. “I think they will probably be back later.” Then she looked at her watch and said, “I hate to run out on you so quick but I need to get home. It’s time for Chloe’s afternoon nap, and I don’t think she’ll go down for her grandmother.”