He clenched his jaw. “That’s easy for you to say. You’re looking toward your future with anticipation. You’ll be leaving in a few months to fulfill one of your dreams.”
“And haven’t you come to Sweetwater to start a new future for you and your family?”
“Yes, but—”
“No, there aren’t any buts. This is a good place to forge a new beginning. Craig and Allie seem to be a part of this town already, and I believe Jane will be soon. She’s fighting it, but she is the oldest. I think a boy in one of my classes, Ryan, likes Jane. She said something about him calling her a couple of times. That’s a good start.”
“Yes, but—”
The waiter chose that moment to bring their salads. Samuel clamped his mouth closed in a tight, thin line while the young man placed the small plates in front of them. Beth drenched her greens with a honey mustard dressing, aware of the strained silence between her and Samuel.
When the waiter was gone, Samuel continued. “But we’re not the family we once were.”
“Of course not.” Beth stabbed a piece of spinach with her fork and brought it to her mouth. “Your children are growing up. Their needs will be different. Even your needs will change with time.”
“My needs aren’t important at the moment.”
“You can’t neglect them, Samuel. As the head of the family, you set its tone.”
His hand on his fork paused above his salad. His knuckles whitened, his jaw hard. “How did we get on such a heavy topic of conversation?”
Beth took a swallow of ice water. “I hope the weatherman is wrong about another big snow in a few days.”
Tension siphoned from his expression, and he chuckled. “I didn’t mean we had to resort to talking about the weather.”
Beth placed her fork on her nearly empty salad plate. “What do you want to talk about? It’s your call.”
“This is your evening.” He finished the last bite of his salad. “How’s your brother doing in college?”
“I haven’t heard from him in a couple of weeks, and he hasn’t paid me any more surprise visits just so I could do his laundry. I took your advice and told him he would have to learn to do his own clothes and that I would be glad to give him lessons. I guess he believed me.”
“Good. He’ll thank you one day,” Samuel said as the waiter removed the salad plates and served them their entrées.
“I hope so. He wasn’t too happy when I told him.”
“Aunt Mae is already teaching Craig what to do, and since Craig is learning, Allie wants to do hers.”
“How about Jane?”
“Complains the whole time, but she does it.” He looked down at his sirloin steak, drenched in a butter sauce. “I have to admit that I wasn’t the one who insisted the children learn to do their own laundry. It was Aunt Mae. She whipped our household into shape.”
“She’s doing a good job at the church, too. She has volunteered to help Tanya with the Sunday-school program and she’s helping Jesse and Zoey with the auction, not to mention taking over producing the recipe book.”
“I thought Darcy was going to be on the committee to help with the auction.”
“Darcy will help some, but with having a baby any day now, we all thought it might be better if Zoey is the other cochairwoman.”
“Let’s see, what other jobs do I need to find a replacement for before you leave?” Samuel held up his hand and ticked them off. “One, the budget committee, two, the ladies’ retreat in the fall and…” he frowned. “I’m forgetting something.”
“The bookstore.”
He shook his head. “What are we going to do without you?”
She cut a piece of her pork. “Carry on.”
“I’m not so sure about that, Beth. You’re an important part of the church.”
Suddenly she wished she was an important part of his life, and that thought shocked her. She nearly choked on the piece of meat she was chewing and had to gulp down some water. She had no business even thinking something like that. He still loved Ruth, still wore his wedding ring, had pictures of her all over his house. How could she compete with his beautiful, deceased wife? Besides, she had her own life planned—had planned for years—what she was going to do when her sister and brothers finally left their childhood home.
“Nick would be perfect for the budget committee, and by fall I think Darcy would be able to help with the ladies’ retreat. Her baby will be six months old by then.”
“And the bookstore?”
“Check with Felicia. She’s the town librarian. She loves books and cats.”
“On top of everything else, you know everyone so well. You’re a fountain of information and I’ve come to rely on you for advice on more than how to deal with my daughter.”
She’d thought her cheeks had reddened before, but nothing like they were now. She was afraid if she touched them, her fingertips would be burned.
“Your absence will leave a gaping hole in this town.”
Beth held up her hand. “Stop. No more compliments. I won’t know what to do if you continue.”
He bent forward, again placing his hand over hers. “That’s your problem. You don’t know your own value to the people in Sweetwater.”
Speechless, she stared into his eyes. So intent was she on Samuel, she jumped when someone stopped next to her. She slipped her hand free and brought it up to cover her heart. “Jesse, you scared me.”
“Sorry about that.”
Beth could tell by the impish expression on her friend’s face she wasn’t sorry one bit.
“I wanted to tell you before we headed out that Joshua called to tell me he was at the hospital. Darcy is in labor and should have the baby soon, according to the doctor. I told him I would let you know.”
Chapter Six
“Darcy’s having her baby?” Beth shot to her feet, her napkin floating to the floor. “We’ve got to go. I mean…” Her hand fluttered in the air.
Jesse pressed her down into her chair. “Finish eating your dinner. It will still be a while and it isn’t every day you eat at Andre’s. You know Darcy wouldn’t be too happy with you if you cut your date short.”
“We’ll be along as soon as we eat.” Samuel picked up Beth’s napkin and gave it to her, amused by her flustered expression. “Thanks for telling us.”
Beth began eating fast.
“You certainly are excited for Darcy, but you might actually want to chew your food and taste it.”
Beth stopped for a few seconds, then swallowed slowly what she had in her mouth. “She’s one of my best friends and she’s wanted this baby so much. I think I’ve been through this pregnancy with her.”
“Right about now she’s probably wishing you were the one delivering the baby.”
“I don’t doubt that, but I’m glad I’m not the one having a baby.”
“You don’t want any children? You’re so good with them.”
“I’m no spring chick,” she said with a gleam dancing in her eyes.
He nearly spewed out the water he was drinking. “Spring chick! You’re only thirty-eight. That isn’t over the hill. You’re not even near the top. Please, no more talk of how old you are.”
Beth forked the last of the steamed broccoli. “I have already raised three children. I’ve never been on my own and not had children to take care of.” She slid the utensil into her mouth and took her time chewing.
To Samuel, Beth was the perfect mother, so her declaration surprised him, and yet he understood. Most nineteen-year-olds didn’t have to raise three siblings all at once. Beth had, and from all he had heard from the people at church, she had done an excellent job. She deserved some time to do what she wanted.
“But that doesn’t mean I won’t help Darcy out with baby-sitting. I don’t think she’ll have trouble getting any of us to help her. Zoey, Jesse, Tanya and I will be fighting over it in no time.”
After Samuel paid the bill, he pulled out Beth’s chair and escorted her from the restaur
ant. The whole way to the hospital she tapped her fingers against the door handle as though that would speed things up.
As he neared the hospital, he slanted a look at Beth. He and Ruth had wanted more children. He still did. He tried to picture Beth with child. The image came easily to his mind. She would be a good mother. Her loving, caring way was such a natural part of her. Any child she raised would be lucky. And thirty-eight wasn’t too old to have a baby!
Baby? Children? He put a halt to the direction his thoughts were going in. That wasn’t in his future. He was still trying to handle the family he already had.
Samuel pulled into a parking space near the front door of the three-story hospital. He climbed from the car, intending to go around and open Beth’s door. She exited more quickly than he did and hurriedly made her way to the sliding glass doors. Chuckling, especially when he thought of her comment earlier about not being a spring chick, he entered the building a few paces behind her. Beth Coleman exhibited a youthful spring to her step.
She stopped at the reception desk to ask about Darcy. Watching her talk to the woman behind the desk, Samuel noted Beth’s flushed cheeks, the smile that brightened her whole face and a liveliness that gave her a fresh, wholesome look. He knew she discounted her appearance as being plain, unappealing, but she didn’t see herself through his eyes. She was full of energy and enthusiasm that made her very appealing. He didn’t understand why some man hadn’t snapped her up.
Beth turned to him, her eyes twinkling with excitement. “Darcy’s in the delivery room right now. It won’t be long. Let’s go to the waiting room. That’s where everyone else is.”
“Beth Coleman, I should have known you wouldn’t be more than a few steps behind us getting here,” Jesse said as Beth and Samuel entered the waiting room.
Samuel scanned the faces of his parishioners—a roomful of them, all here because of Darcy Markham. If it had been announced on the news, he wouldn’t have been surprised to find half the town waiting to hear about the new baby. That was the way Sweetwater was. The town took care of its own. He was counting on that, because he needed to feel as though he belonged somewhere. He needed to reconnect with God and why he had become a minister in the first place. If not—he shuddered to think of what he would have to do if he didn’t.
“You didn’t think you would drop that bomb on me and I would cheerfully go on eating as though nothing was happening.” Beth hugged Jesse, then Zoey and Tanya.
“You finished your meal, didn’t you?” Jesse asked, stepping back against her husband, who brought his arms around her.
“Yes, but I’m not sure what I ate after you left.”
Jesse captured Samuel’s attention. “I’m sorry about that. I stayed away as long as I could, but I couldn’t wait any longer.”
Nick laughed. “You can say that again. I had to practically hog-tie her to keep her in her chair after the phone call from Joshua. She wanted to run right over that very second and announce the news to you two. Fifteen minutes was all I could persuade her to be quiet and let you eat in peace.”
Jesse placed one hand on her waist. “Honestly, Beth, I’ve never seen you eat so slowly before.”
“I wish I could have seen that,” Zoey said, taking her chair again between Tanya and Darcy’s father.
“Why’s it taking so long?” Darcy’s dad asked, his brows coming together.
Liz, his new wife, took his hand and patted it. “Babies come in their own time.”
“You can say that again. With my last one I barely got to the hospital, but with my oldest I was in labor for over a day.”
Having made a point of finding out about his parishioners, Samuel noticed the faraway look that appeared in Zoey’s eyes as she spoke, and he realized she was thinking back to the birth of her baby daughter, a birth she’d had to go through without her husband because he was missing in action while on assignment for the DEA. He could imagine the pain she had gone through—pain that had nothing to do with delivering a baby—because he’d gone through the same kind of pain when he’d lost Ruth to breast cancer.
“Thankfully the doctor doesn’t think it will be a day.” Jesse plopped down across from Sean, Darcy’s son. “Are you excited, kiddo?”
He nodded, but his eyelids were drooping. Liz drew him against her and rested his head against her shoulder.
At that moment Joshua came into the waiting room and everyone turned their attention toward him. “It’s a little girl. She’s seven pounds, eight ounces and has a great set of lungs. The doctor says she is one healthy baby.”
Relief mixed with thankfulness flowed through Samuel as the room filled with everyone talking at once. He raised his hands, palms outward, and said, “I think this would be a good time to say a prayer.”
“Oh, yes, let’s join hands.” Zoey stood and stretched out her arms on both sides of her.
With hands clasped together, Darcy’s friends and family stood in a circle with their heads bowed.
Expected to lead the prayer, Samuel took a deep, cleansing breath and said, “Heavenly Father, please watch out for this newest addition to the Markham family and Sweetwater Community Church. Help us to guide her in Your ways and to bring her into Your fold. Amen.”
There were a few seconds of silence then voices erupted with questions, all directed at an exhausted-looking Joshua.
“When can we see her? What is her name?” Beth asked, shifting from one foot to the other.
Joshua gave a smile so big that it seemed to encompass his whole face. “Her name is Rebecca Anne Markham, and Darcy has been asking for you, Jesse, Zoey and Tanya after she sees her father, Liz and Sean for a few minutes.”
The family went with Joshua while the rest stayed in the waiting room. Beth stood by the entrance, watching the door into Darcy’s room.
“You would think she was a member of your family,” Samuel said as he planted himself next to her.
“As we were growing up, I was like a big sister to her, Jesse and Zoey. So, yes, she does seem like a member of my family.”
“That role came easily to you, didn’t it?”
She tilted her head toward him, a question in her eyes. “As a big sister?”
“Yes.”
“I guess so. That’s really the only one I know except being a teacher.”
“I bet your siblings think differently, especially Daniel. You were more a mother to him than a big sister.”
She thought for a moment, her brow furrowed. “You’re probably right. I am all he knows, since my mother died in childbirth. So my roles have been teacher, mother, sister.”
“How about friend, leader, organizer—”
Beth laid her fingers against his lips. “Please, no more. I get the picture.”
“Do you? You are invaluable to this town and the church. I don’t think you realize that. You just go and do the things that need to be done and never really think anything about it. With your departure this summer you’re trying to fill all your positions before you go. Most people don’t do that. They walk away and don’t look back.”
Her cheeks tinged pink, Beth glanced toward Darcy’s room. “Oh, I see the family leaving.” She started forward, then stopped and turned back to him. “I appreciate what you said. Really I do. But if I hadn’t done those jobs, someone else would have. That’s the way Sweetwater is. We take care of what is ours, and that includes you and your family.”
Samuel watched her enter Darcy’s hospital room with the other members of her circle of friends. Her parting words washed over him and for a long moment he didn’t feel so alone in the world.
Samuel entered the front door of the church and walked toward the sanctuary. He had begun to visit with God daily again, and he cherished this time before the day really started. Normally this was his day off, but he felt compelled to visit, to check and see if everything was all right. Inside, light streamed from the stained-glass windows to illuminate his path. He headed for the front pew and came to a halt halfway down the center aisle.
He wasn’t alone. Tanya sat on the front pew where he often did, with her head bowed, her body shaking with sobs. He hurried forward.
“Tanya, what’s wrong?” He slid in beside her.
She lifted her tear-streaked face, a piece of paper crumpled in her hands. “Tom has asked me for a divorce. I…” Sobs racked her body again as she turned away.
Samuel drew her against him. “I’m so sorry, Tanya. Have you been able to see him lately, talk to him?”
She shook her head. “He refused to let me come after that time I went when he was injured. He was furious that I ignored his wishes then. What am I going to do?”
“Let me go visit Tom and talk with him.”
Tanya latched on to Samuel’s hands. “Please do. I know if he wants a divorce there is nothing I can really do to stop it. Please talk to him, make him understand I love him no matter what he did. He’s Crystal’s father. She needs him now more than ever.”
As Samuel bowed his head to offer a prayer, he felt this was the right thing to do. He might not be able to talk Tom out of divorcing Tanya, but he had to try. Not only was Tanya hurting, but it was obvious Tom was, too.
“A picnic! What a lovely idea, Samuel,” Beth said into the phone.
“Good. I’m glad you like it. Allie and Craig want to see some of the lake now that it is getting warmer. I’m counting on your preparing the food, since Aunt Mae is busy with Zoey and Jesse on the Fourth of July auction. You know how helpless I am in the kitchen.”
“They’re meeting without me?”
“Aunt Mae said something about you had great notes on each step of the planning and didn’t want to bother you with the details, since you wouldn’t be here for it.”
“But still…” Beth couldn’t voice aloud her dissatisfaction at not being asked to help, at least until she left Sweetwater. Yes, she had turned her duties over to others, but still she hadn’t wanted to be totally out of the loop.
Gold in the Fire and Light in the Storm Page 27