Peter shrugs. He’s clearly over this teenage drama. “So Susan’s headed home?”
“Yeah. I’m going to go set out some food. They’ll be starving. Oh,” I stop in the process of climbing up from the lounge chair. “What should I do about the shower at Crossings tomorrow?”
Nobody around me has any answers, so I follow Savannah’s path up the stairs as I reason out loud. “Well, I’ll talk to Susan about it.”
As I turn onto the upper deck, which is outside the kitchen, I look down to the pool. While most everyone left in the past few hours, the Kendrick family is still having itself a regular pool party. Grant and Bryan are in the deep end, jumping off the diving board, but the shallow end belongs to Zoe and the younger Kendricks. The baby is playing on the wide first step, with Zoe sitting beside him. Kathryn and K.J. have on water wings and are staying where they can mostly touch, near the bottom steps. Kimmy and Kyle are standing near a table, when a sudden burst of movement attracts my attention.
Kyle’s hand grips his wife’s upper arm. Just as their movement caused me to look, the jerking of my head causes Kimmy to look up at me. Her eyes catching mine makes his eyes follow, and as he sees me watching, he drops her arm and backs away.
“Kids, time to go. Get out of the pool,” he announces. Once. One time and the kids get out of the pool. That’s not normal. We all know that’s not normal.
Kimmy waves and shouts my name. “Carolina! Have you heard from Laney? So worried about her.”
Waving back, I tell her that all is well and Susan will be home soon.
“Wonderful!” she exclaims and grins. “We sure have enjoyed her pool, but we’re going to head home now. Maybe we’ll see her on our way out.”
I nod and stare at the back of Kyle’s head, willing him to turn around so I can shame him with a stern look. However, he doesn’t look in my direction at all. Pretty sure my stern look wouldn’t stir up any shame, anyway. Especially the way Kimmy is rubbing his back and laying against his arm. What’s he got to feel shame for? His wife is so obviously happy.
Obviously.
Susan lifts her wine glass for a refill, which I provide. Seated on the upper deck, the woods and mountain below us are in solid darkness now. It feels like we are on the prow of a spaceship. Muted lights from the house provide a soft glow behind us. The air is humid and close, but ceiling fans stir the air from open rafters above. It’s down to me and Jackson, Susan and Griffin, Peter, and Scott, who is Susan and Laney’s brother. Grant and Bryan are hunkered down in the basement with a plan to play video as long as anyone will let them. They’d already been told that as long as they know they have to get up in time to go to church, nobody cares how late they stay up.
I admonish everyone to wait before taking a drink. “We need to toast.” We lift our glasses together, and I nod at Susan to do the honors.
“To Cayden Shaw Conner.”
We all touch each other’s glasses, take sips, and relax back in our seats.
Jackson releases a deep breath as he repeats what we’ve all said so often in the short time Susan and Griffin have been home. “I was really scared. Can’t believe they are both fine.”
Griffin agrees. “She looked so pale and helpless when they loaded her in the ambulance, and I was really afraid of what we’d find once we got to the hospital.”
Susan starts laughing, chokes on her wine, and has to sit up to cough. “Then to get there and find out she was delivering in the back of the ambulance at the curb. Instead of sitting in a waiting room like normal, we all ended up loitering in the parking lot.”
Griffin reaches for her hand. Their eyes meet as he says, “Then we heard him cry. Shout almost. We were having a party right there at the E.R. entrance.”
Scott tips his beer bottle at his brother-in-law and shares, “Yeah, I’m making like ninety running into the hospital, and then I hear my mother shout, ‘Praise the Lord!’ Stopped me right in my tracks. What was my mother doing having a prayer meeting in the parking lot? So I turn around and there y’all are. Hugging and laughing. Leave it to Laney to make a scene.”
At the same time several of us say, “Laney does love a scene.” We laugh, and then I stand up.
“Come on, Jackson, we need to let these folks get some rest.”
Susan stands, too. “Thanks so much for cleaning everything up. And for making us these plates. We were starving. I’d figured on dinner from a vending machine and a long night at the hospital, but Cayden and Laney surprised us all. He’s only six pounds, but they said everything was good. And Laney was placing her order for takeout when we left. Scott, you’re welcome to stay the night here.”
“Thanks, sis,” Scott says, “but I’m going to get on home. I bet we all sleep good. Well, except for Laney and Shaw. Their long nights are just beginning.”
We all groan as we enter the kitchen. Jackson says, “We all remember those days.” And we laugh, until Peter speaks up.
“I don’t. Remember those days, I mean. I always thought I’d enjoy being a dad.”
Awkwardly, Jackson starts to apologize, but Peter stops him. “No, man, no. Don’t apologize; it just kind of hit me.” Then he smiles and tilts his head. “But guess it’s not too late, me and Shaw are the same age, right?”
Scott claps him on the back. “That you are. You just gotta find a woman that wants a young’un. You might have to go younger for that.” He winks. “Me and you will go out looking sometime.”
The men walk on towards the front door. Susan and I hug, and she nods towards them. “Guess that means Scott and Abby Sue are on the outs again.”
“Shannon has her hat set for Peter. You think they’d be good together?” I ask.
Susan wrinkles her nose and sighs. “She’s so immature that I always think she’s younger than she actually is. And who knows, her father might throw in a dowry to get her out of the house.”
As we get to the foyer, I say, “Oh yeah, I wanted to ask you about that. It’s her stepfather? She’s really put out with him. He’s refused to take her and her sister on family vacation this year. I guess he’s kind of mean? He didn’t seem like it, but I only met him once.”
Susan twists her mouth into a frown. “Don’t believe her. He’s so sweet. He raised those girls just like his own. He might’ve been too good to them, pretty much spoiled them.”
I nod as I open the front door. “That’s what I was wondering. Guess he’s putting his foot down finally, but it’s making my life less fun. Shannon’s been a pill.”
Susan leans her head against the side of the door. “I bet if you get her and Peter together, she’ll get a whole lot happier.”
We laugh, and I wave to her with directions to get a good night’s sleep. Griffin and I hug at our car, and soon Jackson and I are headed down the mountain.
The bugs drone outside and the air conditioner hums inside, and I don’t even remember passing the country club because I was fast asleep.
Chapter 34
Sometimes I sit down in church, and I’m just happy to get to sit still for a whole hour. But not today. Today I can’t stop fidgeting. My mind is whirling around, not like a spinning top, that would be too focused. More like a ballerina on a big stage—spin, then put a foot down to stop the spin, and leap over to another place to spin for a bit, then suddenly I’m lifted up and completely off the ground by some guy in tights. Only to end up somewhere completely different on the stage. One thought doesn’t get good and started before another begins.
Peter. He’s doing the scripture reading today, so he’s sitting up front facing the congregation behind the pastor. Each time my eyes light on him, I look around to find a woman to match him up with. But then as I look for the single women, I wonder how Missus got Anna and Will to sit together. Then I replay the argument this morning getting Savannah to church, well, not exactly church, but this church. She wanted to go to the Catholic one in Collinswood today with Alex. Her obsession with him is over the top, and she’s not going to use God to get a bett
er grip on him. She’s sitting next to me, almost as fidgety as I am. She never sits with me, must be she thinks she’s punishing me. She’s right, it’s killing me to have to sit here mad at her and not be able to tell her about it. On the front row with the youth, where Savannah also usually sits, is Bryan. However, that’s not a safe place for my thoughts to land because he’s sitting with Brittani. No, wait, he’s draped around her, and she’s squished up under his arm. That can’t be comfortable for either of them. Yet, do they move? Oh no, joined at the hip is a well-known description for a reason.
Then Susan gets my attention from the choir loft. Her eyebrows are high, and she’s pointing for me to look at – Oh, Beau has a new beau? Beau is my hairdresser and friend, at least when her niece Brittani is not accusing Bryan of stalking her—and Beau has four children by four different men. Apparently she only likes men when she’s in need of a baby daddy. Let’s see, how old is her youngest? Okay, I guess it’s time. The new boyfriend is quite good-looking. Wonder if he knows the deal? That he’ll be pushed off the stage once he’s done his part. Wonder how folks would react if she showed up for church with a girlfriend?
I stand because everyone around me stands. Jackson pushes the open hymnal at me, and I reach out to hold my side of it. We sing something, and before the last chorus is finished, I fold the hymnal back over to Jackson and turn to pick up my purse. My name being whispered gets my attention, and I look behind us. Two rows back is Laney and Susan and Scott’s mother.
She give me a thumbs-up and smiles. When the last note of music stops, she says, “Everything still good for this afternoon?”
Oh, so we are still doing that. The shower. But I try. “Oh, Mrs. Troutman, are you sure it’s still a good idea? Laney won’t even be there.”
She nods and waves a hand at me as she dashes my hopes. “Of course. Everyone is coming, and the food is all prepared. I will get there at 1:30.”
I turn back to Jackson. “Shower is on.”
He rolls his eyes at me and says, “Told you. You’ll have fun once they all get there. I, of course, will make myself scarce.”
Savannah slumps and bites her lip. “Is this that thing you wanted me to help with? I don’t have to come, right?”
I nod firmly. “Yes, you said you would. Think it was last week when you were trying to make me forget about that late-night trip to Alex’s apartment. Remember? And just because you’re being punished doesn’t give you the right to act miserable.”
She pushes past me to get out of the pew and says, “I’m not acting.”
When Jackson laughs at her, I punch him with my shoulder and growl, “It’s not funny.”
He pulls away from my shoulder jab and sighs. He points to the front of the church. “And neither is that.”
There, standing just to the side of the altar, with people milling all around, Bryan and Brittani are locked in a fierce kiss. All that matching of pressure points during the sermon must’ve caused a flare-up. Jackson takes some long strides up there and jerks on his son’s arm.
Bryan steps back, grinning. “Oh, Dad. Me and Brittani are back together.” He loops an arm around her shoulders, and they walk up the aisle to the back of the sanctuary.
Jackson meets me in the aisle as the newly reunited couple pass. We begin walking behind them with the small remainder of the crowd.
You know, if I can’t concentrate on the sermon because of what I know is going on in just a few lives of the folks sitting there, I bet God is plum exhausted with what all he knows is going on with the folks sitting in the pews each week.
“Well, you know why she feels that way, right?” Gladys Troutman says as she pours another cup of pineapple sherbet punch. Her crowd of listeners grows, and it’s not for the sweet, cold punch laced with maraschino cherries frozen in a ring of pink ice.
I sip my cup and, well, listen. Yes, I’m in the crowd, and yes, I want to know what made Missus go off like that. When Jackson and I got to the front door of the church to leave earlier, we weren’t only hit with the bright sunshine of a July noon, but the dressing down of Kyle Kendrick like only Missus can, or would, do.
“If I ever hear of you intimidating your wife or either of your daughters – for that matter your sons, and extend it to your employees, too – if I ever hear of it, you will know all the wrath a godly woman like myself can muster. And if you think I can’t muster enough to scare you straight, you just take a good look around. Any man, any real man, and this town is full of them, would be delighted to teach you how to treat a woman. I’m counting on you not getting caught so far out of line that I need to call the police, which I would not hesitate to do. However, I’m pretty much counting on you stepping across the line I’m lying out for you right now in front of God and everyone here. And when you do? You will not fare well. You push or grab your wife, and one of these people will let me know. You shout at my granddaughter or one of your other employees, and I’ll find out. You strut around like the cock of the walk you believe yourself to be and say the wrong thing to the wrong person. I have no doubt you will not learn your lesson from this little talk. Oh, no. You’re far too arrogant for that. And you just be aware, I will call on the men of Chancey to put you in your place.”
She took a breath, straightened up, and looked around at the crowd that had gathered. Men had stepped to the front, and they were all staring at Kyle. Some nodding. Jackson moved past me to fill a spot beside Griffin.
Kyle shrugged and turned away as he said, “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Missus lifted her chin and said, “Prove me wrong. Quit being a bully, and you’ll not have one problem with any of these folks. Now, your kids are in the car, as I asked Zoe to do, but your wife is standing there hearing every word.” Missus then called out, “Kimmy? You have my number in your phone. Hopefully there will not be any trouble, but if there is, do not hesitate to call me.”
Kimmy is standing with her back to us, as she leans on the hood of their car. Her head bobs a couple times at Missus’ directive.
Kyle had been walking towards his car, but when Missus called his name he turned around. Her voice was softer, pleasant actually. “Mr. Kendrick, we are happy you brought the Dollar Store to Chancey, and we are all happy to shop there, right?” She looked around, just as she had only a moment ago, except this time she’s smiling at everyone. “And as long as you live here peacefully, we will make your store a true success. Probably a bigger success than any other store you’ve ever opened.” Around her heads nodded and people spoke their agreement with her. She took a step towards him and held a hand out to him. “We can all live here and be very successful. It’s up to you.”
Kyle’s jaw clenched even tighter, then it relaxed. He lowered his eyes, then grudgingly took the two steps forward to shake her hand. As their hands met, I noticed Missus’ white gloves.
I’m thinking I might just get me a pair of them.
My memory of the afternoon and contemplation of purchasing white gloves is interrupted by the Gloved One herself. She’s just arrived and is standing between the front door and the dining room, behind the crowd gathered at the punch bowl.
“Please, Gladys, do tell us why I feel as I do about men who bully women and children. Why I think a community has an obligation to protect the vulnerable and oppressed. We’re all riveted to hear how you were planning on stepping in and resolving this issue. I’m—” Missus breaks off and turns away from the dining room where the food for the shower is sitting, and she goes straight into the kitchen.
Gladys has turned almost as red as the cherries floating in the punch bowl. She closes her eyes and screws her lips tightly closed. One of the other ladies says something about how delicious the punch is, and the others take their cue from that. Suddenly everyone is chirping, loudly, about the table of homemade cakes. It is impressive, and I give it one more look as I rise from my seat. A tall coconut layer cake with a sprig of blue tinted daisies centers the table on a blue cake plate. There’s a carame
l cake, a red velvet cake, cheesecake with strawberries covering the top, and a dark chocolate cake. All are arranged around nosegays of blue daisies. Some of the arrangements have propped-up pictures of Cayden, printed out today from texts Laney sent.
Instead of fighting through the crowd, I go back into the living room to enter the kitchen. It’s a busy place, but no one is talking. Everyone is focusing on what they are doing and keeping their heads down. Yep, Missus has been here. But she’s here no longer, and an older lady filling coffee cups finally looks up at me and motions with her head to the back deck. I smile and whisper thanks as I pass her and open the glass door.
Missus is standing in the backyard looking at my garden. She has on a lavender dress and white pumps with a sensible heel. Her white gloves are still in place on her hands, and her hat still sits on her weekly hairdo from Beulah Land Hair Salon. That tells me she had just come in the front door when she heard Gladys’ comment. If only she’d been a minute or two earlier.
She cocks her head and looks at me from underneath the brim of her hat. “Who did all this?”
“The garden?” I ask.
She sighs because I’m so dense. “Of course the garden. You obviously didn’t do this. Any fool can see that. Jackson travels too much and your children, well, your children have been too busy making fools of themselves this summer, so… who did this?”
“Why are you being so mean? I came out here to tell you how I admire what you did after church today, but now? Never mind.” I cross my arms and intend to pout, but then she bends her head down and brings one hand up to cover her mouth. She turns away from the house and me, and I watch in horror as her back begins shaking like she’s crying. Missus crying?
I step ahead of her and point to the far end of the garden. Softly I say, “Come down here. We’ll be out of view of the house.” A tall, full bush with shiny green leaves sits at the corner of the garden, so we stroll behind it. There’s a skinny wooden bench from an old picnic set, so we sit down.
Kids are Chancey Page 24