The sheriff nodded. “Neither of them knew a thing.”
“Then what do you think it is?”
Mack shrugged. “If it was anyone else, I’d think that your daddy had rented out the fields. A lot of folks are putting in victory gardens to make up for the shortages.”
“There are just as many people looking for a place to live, what with the plant here and everything, so why not rent out the house?” Beau thought for a moment. “Did you check the kitchen door?”
“No, can’t say that I even looked for it. I was too busy noticing the fields.”
“Then maybe Dad did rent out the place.” Though Beau still had his doubts. Dad would rather cut off his right arm than do something that generous. “Have you met anyone around town that might be living out there?”
“Trying to meet everyone that’s moved in is like trying to count the stars in the sky. It’s near impossible.”
Same kind of odds that his dad had been renting out his house.
“You want me to keep trying to make contact?” Mack asked. “I can take the patrol car out there just to check up on things.”
“That’s okay.” Beau shook his head. “I don’t want to take up any more of your time than I already have. If there is someone living there, I need to meet them and let them know the situation with my father.”
Mack’s brow furrowed. “And if your dad hasn’t put renters in there?”
Beau wiped at the beads of sweat on his forehead. “Then I may have to give you a call. If they’ve got a crop in the field, they’re not going to take too kindly to being put off the land.”
“So how are you going to handle this? Just go up and knock on the door?”
“That’s how it generally works. Unless you’ve got a better plan.”
“I don’t know, Beau. I just can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong over there.”
“Well, you know me. Never been one to run away from trouble.” He chuckled at the sheriff’s concerned expression. “Face it, brother, if this person is on the wrong side of the law, your patrol car would send him running before we get any answers, and I need to know why he’s there.”
Mack tapped his finger against his lower lip. “So when are you planning this little surprise party?”
“Not sure. I’ve got some things to tend to around Merrilee’s before I can break free. Maybe this coming weekend.”
“Well, if you need me, you know how to get in touch with me.”
Mack was a good man, and an even better friend. The kind of guy Beau would have appreciated standing next to him in the heat of battle. He held out his hand. “I appreciate all you’ve done, Mack, for me and my dad.”
“Just wished I could have done more.” With a quick shake, the sheriff started down the granite stairs before turning back to him. “Hey, what do you want me to tell Chief Muster about the ball team?”
Beau smiled. “Tell him I’ll be happy to play for the men in blue.”
“Good! I’ll let you know when our next practice is.” With a smile, Mack pulled open the wooden door to the police station and disappeared inside.
Beau turned, strands of light playing peekaboo between the pine trees that rose like chess pieces in the town square, the last threads of warmth slowly severed as the sun sank behind the water oaks lining Cherokee Street. He’d despised this town when he had tied what clothes he had in one of Mom’s old sheets and walked out of his father’s house all those years ago. Promised himself he’d never step foot in this place again.
But now, staring out over the square, he wondered how he could have stayed away so long. A group of kids took turns swinging on the swing set, while over at the fountain, a young man dressed in navy blues fished something out of his pocket, the woman beside him watching, her mouth curved into a tender smile.
The memory of Edie’s blue-green eyes shining at him from across the table kicked his heart rate up. So he was attracted to the woman. What man in his right mind wouldn’t be? But she was German, the very enemy he’d been sent to fight against. And he was tired of the struggle. For once, he didn’t want to worry about his father’s temper, or fighting an unseen enemy or battling his own worries. And he certainly didn’t want to take on a woman whose eyes haunted him with their sadness.
Exchanging one prison for another.
No, he couldn’t allow himself to be ambushed by a beautiful and intelligent woman. He had a promise to keep—providing a living for Merrilee and Claire, eventually getting his education. And, with God’s help, saving his father from himself.
But as he turned down Main Street for home, an unfamiliar sense of emptiness he couldn’t quite shake welled up inside.
* * *
What an absolute dope she was!
Edie kicked a piece of gravel across the freshly paved street, the heat from the setting sun rising from the asphalt radiating warmth up to her knees. What had she expected, that Beau Daniels would be completely different from his father, that he’d be respectable and kind, maybe even everything she admired in a man? Instead, he gets arrested almost the second he strolls back into town.
Well, not really arrested, she silently corrected, staring at a nearby oak tree. But that doesn’t mean he won’t be in jail before the night is over.
The newly blossomed leaves of the water oaks—the same vibrant color of Beau’s eyes—trembled in the last fading strands of sunshine. Well, Beau might be a handsome man but she couldn’t afford to be caught up in trouble, and that’s exactly what Beau Daniels was.
Trouble.
Only he’d sounded that way when he’d spoken of his desire to go back to school, to study medicine. Unlike a lot of the boys she’d known, Beau had seemed like a man who knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life. And she found that quality equally attractive.
Edie stopped and looked around. Goodness gracious, this didn’t look anything like Fairground Street. Where was the old oak that spread out like an umbrella, giving workers from the plant a brief respite from the heat on their walk home? Why was the road veering left instead of right? Slamming her eyes shut, Edie had to grit her teeth to keep from screaming. She’s been so deep in thought over Beau Daniels, she must have taken a wrong turn.
Blast the blasted man!
The only thing she could do now was turn around and head back into town. But night was settling over her quickly. Even now, long shadows of pine blended against the soft red clay, the last drops of sunlight hugging the new buds. Edie rubbed her arms, not sure if it was the evening air or her uneasiness that made gooseflesh rise on her skin. Well, standing here like some helpless ninny wasn’t going to get her home any quicker. She’d better get a move on before Merrilee got worried and called the police.
Twenty minutes later, with the last light of day fading, Edie pulled up alongside a street sign and took a deep breath, wishing for the first time in a long while that she was back in Detroit. At least there, she could have grabbed a cab, but Marietta wasn’t quite the metropolis her hometown was. She drew in a deep breath and sighed. Mack’s offer of a police escort looked pretty good now.
Edie let her head fall back, gazing up at the first hint of starlight that glittered against the velvet of the purplish-blue sky. Lord, if You could help me find a way home safely, I’d sure appreciate it.
The sound of childish laughter dancing in the air like a playful tune drew Edie’s gaze downward. Amid the blackness of the tree line, a patch of snowy white widened into a narrow path leading into a clearing. Maybe, if God was listening, the kids could take her some place where she could use a phone. With a perfunctory glance first one way, then the other, Edie crossed the road.
The jagged edges of rock against the soles of her saddle shoes slowed her down, a faint hint of honeysuckle filling her lungs with each breath. A line of pale yellow, soft and welcoming, lit the path some distance ahead of her. Edie hurried toward it, pushing aside the low-lying pine limbs in her way.
Letting go of the last branch, Edie stepped out
into the clearing and stared. A nest of houses, each one identical to the last, dotted plots of land alongside the path, reminding her of the neat cookie-cutter homes that lined the streets where she used to live. Tall pines hung over yards made up of kudzu and dandelions, an occasional bicycle peeking out from the weeds. At the end of the dirt road, a group of boys played baseball, squeezing out the last few seconds of fun before night engulfed the day. A familiar longing welled up inside her.
Home.
The gentle slap of a rocking chair pushing against the wood drew her attention to her left. “Is anyone there?”
The rocker jittered like butter on a frying pan as its occupant rose. Faint light from the front room was enough for Edie to make out the familiar face of Harold Stephens. “Ms. Edie?”
“Mr. Stephens, I am so glad to see you.” Edie let go of the breath she’d been holding, her heart slowing at the comforting appearance of the familiar bus driver. She hurried up the rock path leading up to the house. “Thank heavens, I wasn’t sure if I’d even find someone to help me.”
His footsteps pounded against the floor as he came to the top of the stairs. “You shouldn’t be here.”
Edie slowed her pace. What an odd thing for him to say. Almost as if just the thought of her presence here in his front yard bothered him. And here she’d thought they were friends. “I’m sorry to impose on you, really I am. But I got turned around coming out of town and managed to get myself lost.”
“Oh, Ms. Edie.” Mr. Stephens waddled down the stairs, hesitating at each step until finally he stood in front of her. “I didn’t mean to bark at you like that. It’s just, we don’t get too many folks like you out this way.”
Edie nodded. He didn’t have to explain. After months of meeting Gertie in the back stairwell of the hospital, she knew the unspoken barriers between the whites and the Negroes in this town. It had never sat well with her, but particularly not now when she could see the worry in Mr. Stephens’s expression.
Well, fuss and bother, this was an emergency. “If I could just use your phone, I’ll wait out by the highway.”
“We don’t have a telephone.”
“Oh.” No phone. Just how far had she walked? How could she not have noticed the absence of telephone lines overhead? Her stomach fluttered at the answer. Too busy fuming over Beau Daniels.
The screen door squealed on its hinges as it opened. “Daddy, are you out here talking to yourself again? It may be how you think things through, but you’ve liked to scare Momma right out of her apron when you started answering yourself. She almost dropped a pan of hot pudding.”
Edie grimaced. “I’m afraid I’m the one causing all the commotion.”
A young woman stepped into the shadows and stood on the top stair. “Edie?”
“Gertie? I thought you had to work the late shift.”
“Dr. Lovinggood sent me home. Thought I might need a little time off.” The woman walked down the stairs, the starched cotton of her skirt swishing with each step. “What about you? Last thing I heard, you were on your way to dinner.”
“I took a little detour and got lost. I had hoped to use the phone, but your father says you don’t have one.”
“Nobody around here does.” Gertie joined them at the bottom of the stairs. “Phone company says it’s too much bother to string lines into our neighborhood. Says we’re a bad risk.”
“Now, Gertrude,” her father warned.
But Edie knew this look. Had seen her friend climb up on her soapbox enough times to know better than to pull her down. “But what’s going to happen when someone needs medical attention? Will they finally put in the lines when someone dies?”
Gertie had a point. “Can’t Dr. Lovinggood help you? It seems to me that he would be the likely person to convince the phone company.”
Father and daughter exchanged an odd look before Gertie turned back to Edie, her lips pressed into a straight line. “Well, I might as well tell you. Dr. Lovinggood fired me this afternoon.”
Edie gasped. “Why?”
“Insubordination. Told me I shouldn’t have talked you into giving blood to that soldier on my floor.”
Edie laid her hand on Gertie’s forearm. “But I made the decision to donate. Didn’t you tell him that?”
But Gertie just stood, shell-shocked. “I still gave your blood to that boy on my floor, which is against hospital regulations.”
This wasn’t fair. She had to do something. “I’ll talk to him. He’s got to know this was my choice.” Edie felt her voice catch in her throat. “He can’t fire you. You’re too good of a nurse for that.”
“That’s what her momma and I think, too, Ms. Edie.” Mr. Stephens’s deep voiced rumbled as he draped an arm around his daughter and pulled her close. “Any hospital in the state of Georgia would be blessed to have my baby girl on their staff.”
Gertie laid her head on her father’s sturdy shoulder. “Thank you, Daddy.”
Edie’s heart constricted into a hard knot. She had always run to her dad when school or friends had let her down. And he had always held her, his arms cradling her while he assured her that everything would work out all right. She had felt precious beyond anything else on this earth.
But there would be no more hugs, no more assurances. Only loneliness.
And a sense of guilt that continued to grow with each life she touched. “What are you going to do now?”
Lifting her head, Gertie shrugged a shoulder. “I’m not sure. Probably apply to the hospitals in Atlanta. I could always enlist.”
But Gertie was needed here, in Marietta. Dr. Lovinggood had to know that. “I’ll talk to the doctor, tell him it was my idea. He’ll have to give you your job back.”
“Don’t you go doing something so foolish. He’ll just make it harder on you and the other girls on my floor.” Gertie gave a brief shake of her head. “It might be best if I enlist. More opportunities.”
“Your momma couldn't stomach all of her children gone.” Mr. Stephens hugged her tighter.
Edie glanced at Gertie. “Oh, is George in the military?”
“No, I have a younger brother, Roy. He's off with the 128th in the Pacific.”
Edie nodded, her thoughts fragmented. Another man fighting, possibly dying for his county while her parents… She refused to let her mind wander in that direction, not now. “You must be very proud.”
The older man glanced down at his daughter, his dark eyes shining with pride. “Yes, I am.”
Gertie gave her father a smile, then turned to Edie. “Now, what are we going to do about you? I mean, as much as I’d like a visit, this ain’t exactly the best place for you to be.”
Edie felt herself go warm. “I’m sorry. I’m beginning to think I should have just waited around until Mack finished up with Beau.”
“What were you doing with Beau Daniels?”
“Well, Beau was still at the hospital when I fainted today, and seeing how I live at his aunt’s and the fact I hadn’t had lunch,” she rambled on, then suddenly stopped. Why in the world was she babbling on about a man she wasn’t even sure she liked? “Anyway, he took me to dinner.”
“Really?” Gertie gave her father a knowing look. “That’s a first.”
“Why do you say that?” Edie glanced from one to the other, suddenly feeling like the odd woman out. “Surely the man has taken a woman out to dinner before.”
“Probably but…”
“But what?”
“Gert, that was a long time ago.” Mr. Stephens gave his daughter a stern look. “People say and do things when they’re young, then change their minds once they’ve done some living.”
“Maybe,” Gertie replied.
Edie crossed her arms over her waist. “Would you please tell me what you’re talking about?”
“Oh, it’s just something Beau told me years ago.” Gertie grinned at her, her dark eyes glittering with laughter. “So if you were with Beau, how’d you end up this far out of town?”
“Beau had s
ome business he needed to take care of.” Fire burned her cheeks. Before she knew it, the whole story spilled out. If she’d only kept her temper, she wouldn’t be in this mess. “So I started walking home. I guess I must’ve taken a wrong turn because before I knew it, I was here.”
“Beau must have gotten you pretty riled up for you to take off like that,” Gertie said.
He hadn’t, Edie realized, not really. If Mack hadn’t showed up when he did, there was a very good chance she would have enjoyed the rest of the evening with Beau, not that she would admit it to anyone. “Well, that’s neither here nor there. My problem now is getting home before Merrilee gets worried.”
“I have a suggestion,” Mr. Stephens said. “Why don’t you come inside and set a spell, maybe have a bowl of my wife’s pineapple pudding, and then I’ll drive you home.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
Gertie stared at her. “So what do you suggest we do? Let you walk home alone in the dark?”
“I don’t know.” Edie shook her head. She couldn’t walk another step.
But the thought of having Mr. Stephens drive her across town, drawing attention to him, maybe putting him in danger wasn’t an option. She’d done enough for the Stephenses today by getting Gertie fired.
“I’ll go with you.” Gertie’s hand on her arm drew
Edie’s gaze. Leave it to her friend to read her mind. “And we’ll take the back roads.”
Maybe, just maybe Gertie’s plan might work. “I’d be happy to give you some of my gas rations.”
The stern look Mr. Stephens gave her reminded her of her father, back in the days before the war. “Young lady, the Bible says we should minister to folks as if we were tending to the Lord himself. And you aren’t just anyone, missy. You’re my girl’s friend.”
Relief slid through her, and she took a deep breath. “Thank you so much.”
“Come on in.” Gertie nodded toward the front porch, leading Edie up the steps and into the house.
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