by Lynne Gentry
She gave a conflicted nod. “I’m sorry, Saul.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Leona read Maddie’s note again.
Helping Parker at his ranch. Will meet you at parsonage later.
A weary smile lifted Leona’s lip. At least her children were going to be happy.
Her conversation with Saul had robbed her of more than a decent night’s sleep. The possibility she could love two men at the same time had stolen her peace. She may have told Saul she couldn’t love him because she was still in love with J.D., but that wasn’t true. She did love him.
Leona glanced at the clock. Moping wouldn’t change things for her and it sure wouldn’t get David and Amy’s nursery painted. She poured her coffee in the sink and gathered her paint supplies. Something about dragging fresh paint over marred walls always helped her see things with a fresh perspective. Besides, the time spent with her kids would give her an opportunity to reassure David that he didn’t have to worry about her choosing Saul over his father. She had her love life under control ... even if one man was dead and she’d killed the other with a simple I’m sorry.
She loaded everything into the van and climbed into the driver’s seat. The turn of the key produced a click as dead as her heart. She tried again. And again. Same sickening click.
“Not today.” She dug her phone out of her purse and called the church. “Shirley, is Cotton there?”
“He’s cruising the Mediterranean with your mother, remember?”
“Ugh. I forgot.” Leona tapped the wheel. “What about David?”
“He said he needed to clear his head.”
“He went fishing, didn’t he?” Hopefully, he wasn’t trolling past Saul’s lake house with plans to egg the place. “Did he say when he’d be back?”
“That boy is like his father when it comes to fishing. Stays as long as it takes to puzzle over whatever issue is troubling him.”
“That could take until sunset.”
Shirley must have heard the distress in Leona’s voice because she asked, “Everything okay?”
“My car won’t start. I told Amy that Maddie and I would come paint the ...” Leona caught herself before spilling the beans.
“Nursery?”
“You didn’t hear it from me.”
“Didn’t have to. I have eyes. Amy’s tummy is not as flat as it used to be. Reckon David’s puzzling on being a father?”
“Probably.” Shirley was good as gold, but Leona wasn’t in a mood to tell her that her interest in Saul Levy had sent David to the lake. Her ex-interest, Leona clarified in her head. “Would you mind giving me a lift, Shirley?”
“I’d be happy to help, but the baptistry is making that strange gurgling sound again. David asked if I could come by on my day off and let the plumber in. Hey, I know. Call Etta May and Nola Gay. They’ve got that Uber service now, you know? Probably give you the pastor’s rate.”
Leona hung up knowing her move to the other side of town hadn’t taken her as far from the life she knew as she might have hoped. Hoped? Was she really wanting to move on? To let go of her former life? To let go of J.D.? She had some puzzling of her own to do and painting was the perfect medium.
A few rings later, she’d nervously launched the excited Story twins into action. Leona hauled two cans of paint, several brushes, a couple of rollers, and a few disposable paint trays out of the van and waited on the curb.
She heard the big blue van a few seconds before she saw the cloud of smoke that trailed the lumbering vehicle. The van screeched to a stop. Loud country music shook the vehicle’s closed windows and vibrated Leona’s chest.
Nola Gay rolled down the window. “You’re our first customer, Leona,” she shouted over I’ve Got Friends in Low Places.
“Lord, help me,” Leona muttered as she loaded her stuff into the back and climbed through the sliding door Etta May had shouldered open. “What’s that smell?” Leona sniffed as she dropped into the bucket seat covered with a crocheted throw.
“Mountain Essence carpet deodorizer.” Etta May shouted over the rattle of the motor and thrum of the music. “Keeps this pretty shag smelling fresh as a daisy.” She ran her hand over the flattened nap of the gold-toned carpet. “You should’ve seen it before we rented a shampooer. We haven’t figured out how we’re going to tidy up that ceiling.” She pointed to the purple fake fur headliner. “Don’t worry, though. We think we vacuumed out most of the bugs.”
“You know what?” Leona started to climb out. “I don’t feel up to painting today.”
Etta May shoved her back in. “Bluebird here may not be much to look at, but she rides—”
“Bluebird?” Leona asked, regretting showing interest the minute the word left her gaping mouth.
Etta May popped the van’s roof. “We named her that because she flies like she has wings.” She heaved the door shut in Leona’s face.
Leona lunged for the handle, which was useless because there wasn’t one.
Etta May hopped into the passenger seat. “Belt up, Leona. We can’t afford another hike in our insurance premiums.” She clicked in and patted Nola Gay on the shoulder. “Hit it, sister.”
While Leona was fumbling around for the clasp to secure her seatbelt, Nola Gay floored the gas and Bluebird peeled out, leaving a trail of rubber that would be a permanent reminder of this bad decision.
“I’m not in a hurry,” Leona shouted over the blare of Garth’s reminder of how low she’d sunk. At the stop sign, Nola Gay barely slowed then cranked a hard right. “Where are you going, Nola Gay?”
“I don’t know, but we’re making good time,” Nola shouted back, her hands wrestling the shimmy of the steering wheel.
Leona’s nails dug into Etta May’s seat. “The parsonage is the other way,” she shouted.
“I think she’s right, sister,” Etta May agreed.
“Well, pickle my gizzard.” Nola Gay did a quick glance in her mirrors. “Hang on, y’all.” She whipped a U-turn in the middle of the street.
Leona braced her arms against the seats as her life flashed before her eyes. “Lord, help us.”
Nola Gay goosed the gas and Bluebird flew down Main. They zipped past the Mt. Hope Messenger, the Koffee Kup café, and Dewey’s Hardware.
“It’s red.” Etta May screamed as she pointed to the town’s lone stoplight swinging in the wind.
Nola Gay stomped the brake. Leona’s seatbelt tightened. They fishtailed to a stop half-way through the intersection.
Pleased at her successful handling of Bluebird, Nola Gay glanced over her shoulder, “Good thing the auction barn’s closed today. Main can get pretty jammed up with all those pickups and overloaded stock trailers.”
Leona’s trembling hands unhooked her seatbelt. “I can walk from here.”
“We charged you door to door, Leona.” Nola Gay stomped the gas again and they shot through the intersection. “Door to door it is.”
Three minutes later, they screeched to a halt in the parsonage driveway. Leona’s legs were so wobbly she could hardly manage the porch steps. She’d tried talking the twins out of helping her carry her load into the house, but they’d insisted their services included both fetching and toting.
“Hey, Amy.” Nola Gay held up a paint can. “Blessed Blue. Something you want to tell us?”
Amy’s wide eyes darted to Leona. “Not really.” She reluctantly opened the screen.
“We know the only color Maxine allows in the parsonage is beige.” Nola Gay hiked her skirt and trudged up the steps. “Except when it comes to the children’s rooms.”
“Maxine claims the exception to the rule proves she has a heart.” Etta May huffed onto the porch with a paint can and the roller tray. “So when’s this baby due?”
Leona dropped her supplies and quickly began gathering supplies from the hands of the Story sisters. “Well, thanks for the ride. Y’all be safe on your drive home.”
“We’re not going anywhere.” Nola Gay refused to release her hold on the paint ca
n. “Our motto is: Dance with the one that brung ya! See.” She pointed toward the van and, sure enough, the hand-lettered saying ran the entire length of the vehicle. “Printed right in plain sight.” Nola Gay peeled Leona’s hand from the paint can handle. “We brought you. We take you home.” She charged through the open screen door.
Amy stopped Leona’s argument with the palm of her hand. “I’ll make ice tea.”
“You don’t need to wait on us in your condition, dear,” Etta May said as she followed her sister. “We know our way around the kitchen.”
“I didn’t say a word,” Leona whispered to Amy.
Amy shook her head. “Nothing’s secret in this town.”
Leona’s conversation with Saul pressed into her thoughts. How many people had seen her making a fool of herself over that man? “The twins have a sixth sense about them that’s scary.”
“Come on.” Amy smiled and looped her arm through Leona’s. “I can’t wait to see this color on the walls.”
For the next couple of hours, Leona rolled Blessed Blue over navy walls and silver Dallas Cowboy stars. Each swipe buried another chunk of her life.
“It’s looking so good.” Amy handed her a fresh glass of tea. “Thanks for using your day off to help me.”
Leona let a big gulp of the sweetness slide down her throat. “You look tired.”
“Feeling a little nauseated.”
“Kind of late in the day for morning sickness, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, I thought I was pretty much past the queasy stage.”
“Maybe it’s the paint fumes?”
“I chose this paint because it’s safe for pregnant mothers.”
“Okay.” Leona didn’t like how the rosiness was slipping from Amy’s cheeks. “I’d feel better if you sat for a few minutes. Maybe check your sugar again.”
“You sound like David.”
“I know you’re the nurse, but—”
“I’m being careful and I’m not helpless.” Amy waved her off. “I can cut in around the baseboards.”
Leona gathered her courage and pressed on. “I’m sorry I didn’t seem excited the night you told me about the baby. It scared me. For you, and the baby.”
“I think David’s a little scared too.”
“He loves you.”
“I know.”
“He can’t wait to be a father. And I can’t wait to be a grandmother.” She hugged Amy. “Making sure the people we love are cared for is what family does.”
“Sometimes, family’s help can be more of a hindrance.”
Leona wasn’t sure where Amy was going with this so she kept her questions to herself and took another sip of tea.
“David loved his father. Misses him every time he steps into that church building or walks into this house. When you left, it was like he lost you too.”
The revelation was a gut punch. “No wonder he’s hurting.”
“He wants you to be happy. To have your own life. He knows people can’t choose who they love.” Amy sat on the rung of the stepladder. “Not even you.”
“J.D. Harper was the love of my life.”
“Was,” Amy said softly. “Saul Levy’s brought the sparkle back to your eyes.”
A light rap on the doorframe ended their conversation. “Leona?” Maxine stepped into the room with a caution that made Leona regret she’d let so much time pass without checking on the woman.
Leona suddenly remembered that she’d intended to invite Maxine to help, but she’d been so wrapped up in her own problems she’d completely pushed Maxine’s troubles aside. “Maxine, I should have—”
“Hope you don’t mind me letting myself in, Amy, but the door was open and I didn’t want to wake those nosy Story sisters.”
Amy let out a resigned sigh. “No problem, Maxine.”
“Nice color.” The compliment was as unusual as the pale color of Maxine’s face.
“The room needed to be freshened,” Leona said, not wanting Maxine to put two and two together and guess about the baby before David had a chance to make the big announcement.
“Paint it whatever color you want,” Maxine’s deadpan tone jarred Leona to the core.
“Are you okay, Maxine?”
“Could we talk? In private? Maybe on the porch?”
“Sure.” Leona stepped over the paint tray, wondering if she was stepping into a hidden bear trap. “Eat something,” she whispered to Amy. “And stay off that ladder.”
She followed Maxine down the stairs and past the two Story sisters who were sleeping with their heads resting on the back of the couch, their feet propped on the coffee table, and their mouths hanging open.
Once they were on the porch, Maxine pulled Leona to the far end. “Have you had a chance to ask Saul about being my lawyer?”
“No,” Leona confessed.
“Why not?”
“Because once you go down that road it’s almost impossible to turn back.”
“Howard and I have been fighting for years.”
“What do you fight about?”
“Anything that comes up.”
“Have you thought about talking to a counselor?”
“When you lose someone you love, it forever changes the way you look at the world.”
“Yes, it does.” Leona’s heart clenched. “But a counselor can help you find a way to keep living.”
“Not everyone has your faith, Leona.”
If Maxine only knew how she struggled. “I refuse to believe you’re a lost cause.”
“Counseling is not going to bring my son back. Howard and I are broken beyond repair.”
“If not counseling, then before you throw away thirty years with a man you still love, please consider getting to the bottom of what’s going on with Howard.”
“Just speak to Saul, please.”
Leona sighed. “If you’re so set on going through with this without giving Howard a chance to explain, you’re going to have to ask Saul yourself.”
“He’s looked at me funny ever since the night you and I ... had that unfortunate encounter with that pan of pot brownies.” She crossed her arms. “I don’t think he likes me.”
“You weren’t the only one high.”
“In Saul’s eyes, all’s forgiven as far as you’re concerned. I’ve seen how he looks at you.”
Who else had picked up on the connection between her and Saul? “I don’t think Saul bases his legal representation on whether or not he likes someone.” At least, she hoped not. She still needed his legal help and she hoped once their emotions cooled, they could resume their business relationship. “I can’t ask him to end your marriage in good conscience, Maxine.”
Maxine stiffened into the formidable force Leona suspected Howard was tired of dealing with. “Well, if you don’t ask him, I’ll see to it that David and Amy don’t have a nest for that little one.”
“What little one?”
“Don’t play dumb with me. I know nursery paint when I see it.”
The sensation of living in a glass house was a fire sweeping through her. She was tired of fending off the rocks this woman hurled. “Are you threatening me, Maxine?”
“Call it whatever you want.”
“You know, Maxine. You can take this parsonage and shove it where the sun don’t shine.”
Maxine’s eyes grew wide. “You’re inability to control your mouth is the direct result of fraternizing with that redheaded Episcopalian.” The jab at Roxie popped Leona’s cork.
“I could buy this parsonage ten times over if I wanted.” Her secret bubbled out like hot lava. “I’m rich, Maxine. Richer than you and Howard ever dreamed of being.”
Maxine stepped back as if Leona had hauled off and slapped her. “How on earth?”
“Let me just tell you, my nest egg didn’t come from that paltry salary you paid my husband all those years.”
“Your mother, then?”
“Bertie had nothing to do—” Leona’s rant was cut short by a loud crash from insid
e the house. “Oh no.” She left Maxine on the porch and shot inside. “Amy!”
The Story sisters stirred as she raced past. “What was that, Leona?” Nola Gay rubbed at her eyes.
“I don’t know.” Terror drove Leona up the stairs two at a time. “Amy!” She burst into the nursery. “Amy!”
Her daughter-in-law lay on the floor. Paint puddled around the turned-over paint can at her feet. “Amy!” Leona knelt beside the pale blonde and hollered, “Etta May! Call Charlie. We need an ambulance.”
Maxine burst into the room. “What happened?”
“Call David!” Leona ordered, fear pounding in her ears. “Amy?” She shook Amy’s shoulder, relieved when the girl opened her eyes. “Amy? Can you hear me?
“Uh...”
“What happened?”
“I’m gonna be sick,” Amy mumbled.
Leona hooked her arms under Amy’s and lifted her to a sitting position. Amy immediately vomited. “Where’s that ambulance?” Leona shouted.
“David’s not answering,” Maxine said.
“He’s on the lake. Probably in a cove without service.” Or he didn’t want to deal with Maxine today and declined her call when he saw the caller ID. Leona’s mind raced. She tossed Maxine her phone. “Try again. If he doesn’t answer, call Saul. Tell him I need David off the lake. Now.”
Etta May huffed into the room. “Charlie’s ambulance is in the shop. He said he could bring his son’s pickup but it’s chock full of roofing supplies.”
Amy vomited again.
“Oh, baby.” Leona handed her a clean paint rag. “I think your sugar is off.”
“Who are you?” Amy asked.
Leona’s heart beat against her chest. “Amy, how do I check your sugar?”
“I’m not your sugar, sweetie pie,” Amy mumbled.
“That’s it.” Leona scrambled to her feet. “Etta May, tell Nola Gay to fire up Bluebird. We’ve got to get this girl to the hospital.” Etta May just stood there, her mouth hanging open. “Now!”
Etta May shot out of the room. “Emergency! Emergency, Nola Gay.”
“Couldn’t get David.” Maxine handed Leona her phone. “But Saul answered your call on the first ring. He’s on his way to the lake.”