Mountain Homecoming

by Sandra Robbins

  Granny nodded. “And you’ll find the great things God has planned for you.”

  Rani took a deep breath and pushed to her feet. “I think I’ll go sit by my fire pit out in the field and look at the mountains. Maybe when I’m out there alone, I can hear His voice.”

  Her mother stood up and hugged her. “I know you can if you listen.”

  Granny reached out and squeezed her hand. “And we’ll be a-prayin’ for you, darlin’.”

  She kissed her mother’s cheek, then leaned over and kissed Granny. “Thank you. I love you both so much.” At the back door she turned back toward her mother. “When David comes back, tell him where I am.”

  “I will.”

  She stepped outside and headed into the field toward the fire pit she’d first dug when she was a child and the other one she’d dug to fire the bricks for Matthew’s cabin. The spring rains had brought the grass around the pits back to life, and it looked as if a green frame had been placed around the holes.

  She dropped down and stretched her legs out in front of her. It felt good to be back where she’d spent so many hours. A rustling beside her alerted her to another presence, and she smiled as Scout lay down beside her. He looked up and whined before he laid his head on his outstretched paws.

  “We’ve spent a lot of time out here, boy,” she said. “I’m glad you’re here today instead of off with Stephen and David. But then you’ve always preferred hunting your own rabbits instead of helping anybody else.”

  Scout whined again, and she stroked his head. “Maybe you knew I needed you more than they did.”

  She stared at the mist-covered mountain peaks in the distance and thought about what her mother and Granny had said. Could it really be as simple as what they’d said? Be still and listen. That’s what she’d do, and she wasn’t leaving this spot until she felt God speaking to her heart.

  Her fingers smoothed the soft fur on Scout’s head, and he gave a contented whimper. Her hand froze in place, and her heart pounded at the memory of walking a dusty road a year ago. Then she heard it—a small voice that whispered, “Remember the promise you made.”

  The sun had climbed higher in the sky, and the temperature had grown warmer. Neither Rani nor Scout had stirred from their positions beside the fire pit. Her stomach rumbled with hunger, and she remembered she hadn’t eaten any breakfast. It had to be almost noon by now.

  She heard footsteps approaching, and she turned to see David striding toward her. Scout raised his head and growled. Rani put her hand on his head. “No, Scout. Be still.”

  David smiled as he neared and then dropped down beside her. “Your mother said you were sitting out here.” He glanced down at Scout. “Do you think he’ll bite me today?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

  “Good.” He pointed at the pit. “Is this where you fired your pieces?”

  “Yes. I dug my first pit here when I was a child. Over the years it’s gotten bigger, and I dug another one last year to fire the bricks for the chimney at Matthew’s cabin.”

  He stared into the hole again. “Well, you won’t have to use a pit when we get to New York. You’ll be able to use any kiln you want to.”

  She turned to him. “David, what did you really think about the pieces I made for the show in Knoxville?”

  “I thought they showed a lot of promise. You still have a ways to go, but they were very good.” He leaned over and nuzzled her neck. “I’d buy anything you made.”

  She twisted away from him and looked into his eyes. “Did you think they were unique?”

  He frowned. “What are you asking, Rani?”

  She shrugged. “I had the feeling that they were more like copies of your work, not what I would have produced if I’d pit-fired them.”

  He laughed. “Of course they didn’t look like pit-fired pieces. That’s not the kind of pottery we’re going to develop for our buyers.”

  She frowned. “But why not?”

  He sighed and reached for her hand. “Because those type of pieces are more primitive. They won’t sell in the markets we’re planning to produce art work for. We need to concentrate on making our glazed works the main focus.”

  “I see,” she said. She stared toward the mountains again. “Aren’t the Smokies beautiful?”

  “They are,” he said. “I’ve never seen another range like them. They seem to roll on forever.”

  She smiled. “I’ve always called them my mountains, but they’ve been here since time began. The Cherokee lived here before anyone else, and they called them Shaconage. It means ‘place of the blue smoke.’ I love these mountains. And the valley.”

  He nodded. “I understand that. I promise you we’ll visit often.”

  “My father’s family goes back generations here. They scratched out a living for years and planted a deep commitment to the land in their children. I’d forgotten until I came back that I’m a child of the Cove, and my roots run deep in the earth here. My pottery is a part of the land too. I dug the clay from a hollow not too far from here and fired it in a pit in the dirt God placed here. It’s as much a part of the Cove as I am.”

  His face had turned pale. “What are you saying, Rani?”

  She took a deep breath. “I’m saying I can’t marry you, and I can’t go to New York. My heart is here with the land and the people I love.”

  He shook his head. “No, you’re not thinking rationally. You’ve come home after being gone for months, and you’re about to move hundreds of miles away. It’s natural that you should be scared. You’ll be fine once we’re settled in our own home. You’ll be so busy you won’t have time to think about Cades Cove and what’s happening here.”

  “You’re wrong. I thought I had put it out of my mind, but I was only fooling myself. I belong here, not in New York.”

  He swallowed hard. “Is it the Cove you want, or is it a man named Matthew?”

  A tear trickled down her cheek. “I’m sorry, David. I haven’t been honest with you. I thought I was over him, but I’m not. I gave him my heart a year ago, and he still has it.”

  “But I love you, Rani. I can give you a life so much better than what you can have here.”

  She nodded. “I know you love me, and I’m honored. I love you too, but not in the way a wife should love her husband.” She slipped his mother’s ring from her finger and held it out to him. “Please take this back. Someday you’re going to find a woman who deserves to wear it. I’m not that person.”

  She dropped the ring in his open palm, and he closed his fingers around it before he slipped it in his pocket. “Is there anything I can do to change your mind?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “Are you going to marry Matthew?”

  “I don’t know. I’m letting God lead me today. I have no idea what He has planned for me tomorrow or the next day. I’ll have to see what He intends for me in the future.”

  “If you need more time, I’ll wait. I can go on to New York, and you can join me later if you decide you made the wrong choice.”

  She shook her head. “I won’t come to New York, but I wish you the best in your new venture. Truly I do. Maybe someday you’ll send me one of your pieces.”

  He stared at her for a moment before he leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I love you, Rani. I hope you’ll be happy.”

  She blinked back tears. “I hope you will be too.”

  He cleared his throat and pushed to his feet. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go ask your father if there’s any way I can get back to Townsend this afternoon. If I can, I’ll check the trains for the first one going east and be on it.”

  “You don’t have to leave today, David.”

  “I think I do. It will be too uncomfortable being around you.”

  She nodded. “If that’s the way you want it.”

  A sad look crossed his face. “None of this is the way I wanted it, Rani.”

  He turned, and she watched as he strode across the f
ield. Tears streamed down her face, and she closed her eyes. “God, please forgive me for hurting David, and I pray someday he’ll find it in his heart to forgive me also. Be with him and take care of him.”

  Scout whined again, and she stroked his head. Now she had to decide what she needed to do next. Should she go to Matthew and tell him about her broken engagement or not? She sat still and waited for the answer.

  She had no idea how much time had passed when she heard someone approaching. She glanced around and saw her father walking toward her. He dropped down beside her and put his arm around her waist. “David told me what happened. How are you feeling, darling?”

  She laid her head on his shoulder and sighed. “I feel awful about hurting David, Poppa, but I would have hurt him much worse if I had married him.”

  “Yes, you would have. I realized at supper last night that you didn’t love him.”

  Surprised, she straightened and looked into his face. “How did you know?”

  He grinned. “Because you didn’t look at him the way your mother looks at me.”

  She threw her arms around her father and hugged him. “You remembered I said that’s what I wanted when I married.”

  He nodded. “Yes. I was shocked last summer when I found out you and Matthew had fallen in love. But as I thought about it, I realized I shouldn’t have been. You looked at him that way all the time.”

  Tears filled her eyes. “Oh, Poppa. I tried to hate him, but I couldn’t. I still love him. What should I do?”

  “Maybe you need to go talk to him. Your mother said he came here today.”

  “He did, and I was rude to him. I’m afraid he may not want to see me.”

  He put his finger under her chin and tilted her face up. “Where’s that girl who wanted to tackle Little River Lumber singlehanded? She wasn’t afraid of anything.”

  Rani wiped at her eyes. “I don’t think I know her anymore.”

  Her father laughed. “I hope you can find her because I really liked her. Maybe if you took a short ride in the buggy, you could find her somewhere.”

  Rani frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  “When David got back to the house from talking with you, he asked if we could take him to Townsend. He didn’t want to wait until morning. John was at the house, and he volunteered to drive him there. It gave John an excuse to spend the night at Annie’s house. He and David left a few minutes ago for Townsend.”

  “So he’s gone.”

  “Yes, and I thought you might like to take a drive in our buggy. Maybe you need to go check out those bricks you made. Matthew’s chimney is something to see. So, I hitched up the buggy for you. It’s waiting back of the house.”

  She threw her arms around her father and hugged him. “Thank you, Poppa. Don’t you want to come with me?”

  He shook his head. “In this case I think three would be too many people. Besides, you’ve been handling that horse and buggy since you were a child.” He chucked her under the chin. “Every Cove girl can handle a horse.”

  She grinned and jumped to her feet. “You’re right. As I told David, my roots run deep here, and I’m never leaving this place again.”

  She ran to the waiting horse and buggy behind the house and jumped in. As she guided the horse onto the road, she turned her face up to the sun and welcomed its warmth on her face. She was on her way to Matthew.

  Chapter 21

  There were chores waiting, but Matthew couldn’t make himself get outside and do them. All he’d done since he’d returned from seeing Rani was to pace the cabin floor or to sit in his chair and stare into the fireplace. He couldn’t shake the image of her from his mind.

  He stopped in his latest trip across the floor and grabbed a cup from the shelf on the wall. Some coffee might give him the boost he needed to get on with his work. With his mind still focused on the things Rani had said earlier, he reached into the fireplace for the coffeepot and wrapped his hand around the handle.

  Too late he realized what he’d done. The hot metal seared the palm of his hand, and he dropped the pot at his feet. Coffee poured out the spout and the open top across the floor.

  He cradled his burned hand in his uninjured one and rushed across the floor to the water bucket. He plunged his hand into the cold water. Berating himself for being so distracted, he reached for a cloth to clean up the mess, but he hesitated. A buggy had rattled to a stop in his front yard.

  He wrapped the cloth around his hand and headed to the door. A knock sounded before he could reach it. He opened the door and gasped at the sight of Rani standing on the front porch. He tried to speak, but his throat had suddenly gone dry. He swallowed and tried again. “Rani, what are you doing here?”

  “I came to talk to you. May I come in?”

  His gaze swept over her, and his heart pounded at the sight of her hair cascading around her shoulders. He nodded and stepped back for her to enter. She moved past him into the cabin, and he struggled to keep from touching her to see if she was real and not a dream. She stopped inside the door and glanced around before she turned back to him and looked at the cloth dangling from his hand. “What happened?”

  He frowned and glanced down at his forgotten injury. He shook his head. “I burned it on the coffeepot, but I’ll be all right.”

  “Let me see.” She stepped closer, took his hand, and unwrapped the cloth.

  When she bent her head to study the burn, he raised his other hand to caress her hair, but he let his arm drift back to his side. “It’s really nothing,” he said.

  She straightened to her full height and smiled at him. “This doesn’t look too bad. I’m sure Mama has something to take the pain away.” She let go of his hand and smiled. “You have to be more careful when you’re cooking in a fireplace.”

  His mind whirled with questions, and he narrowed his eyes. “Rani, what are you doing here?”

  “I wasn’t very cordial this morning, and I’m sorry. I thought we needed to talk some more.”

  He shook his head. “What’s left to say? I think you said it all.”

  She inched closer to him. “No, there’s something else I’ve never told you. I should have this morning.”

  “What’s that?”

  “It’s a promise I made to Scout.”

  He arched his eyebrows. “You made a promise to your dog?”

  Her dark eyes stared at him. “Last summer when we met, I had been to my friend Josie’s cabin to tell her goodbye because she was moving out of the Cove. That afternoon while we were talking she told me for the first time that she had married Ted when she was really in love with someone else. I couldn’t imagine how she could do that.”

  His heartbeat quickened. “Rani, what…”

  She held up her hand to stop him from speaking. “On the way home I told Scout I would never have that problem. I promised him that I would never settle for second best even if it meant I would never get married.” Tears filled her eyes. “I forgot that promise until after you came today. When I remembered it, I knew I could never marry David, not when my heart belonged to the man I met that day at the mountain laurel bush.”

  His mouth dropped open, and he stared into her eyes. “Rani, are you saying you love me too?”

  “I was so angry with you when I left the Cove that I told myself I didn’t love you, but I knew it wasn’t true.” She began to cry. “Oh, Matthew, I’m so sorry for the things I said today. I love you so much, and all I want is to be with you.”

  “That’s all I want too.” He pulled her to him, and she wrapped her arms around him. She raised her lips to meet his, and he thought his heart would explode with happiness. He’d dreamed of kissing her night after night, and he had to almost pinch himself to believe the lips pressed against his were real. He released her mouth and stared down at her. “Don’t you ever leave me again.”

  “I promise I won’t.” Her face lit up with happiness. “I can’t believe this is happening. I thought we’d lost our chance.”

  He
hugged her tightly and pressed his cheek against hers. “This is just the beginning. I want you by my side when I wake up in the mornings, and I want you here every time I walk in this cabin. Marry me, Rani. I need you.”

  “Yes, yes,” she whispered. “I’ll marry you.”

  A sudden thought struck him, and he pulled back from her. “What about David?”

  “David’s gone. I realized I would hurt him more in the long run if I married him when I didn’t love him. Uncle John has taken him to Townsend to catch the train to New York.”

  Matthew held her at arm’s length and frowned. “But what about your pottery? Are you sure you’re willing to give up the opportunity to work with him?”

  Her fingers stroked his cheek. “I want to create mountain-made pottery that visitors to the mountains will buy. I’ve learned a lot working with David, and I think I can create a market for pit-fired pottery right here in the Smokies. I already have a name for my line—Mountain Laurel Pottery.” She grinned. “If it doesn’t work out, I can always open a brick factory.”

  He laughed, picked her up in his arms, and whirled her around in a circle. “I love you, Rani. We’re going to have a great life together.”

  She threw back her head and squealed with delight. “Put me down, and let’s go tell Mama and Poppa we’re about to have a new member of the family.”

  He stood her in front of him and cupped her face in his hands. “A member of the Martin family? That’s too good to be true. I can’t believe how God has blessed me. I have the woman I love, and I’m finally going to have a family.”

  She raised her lips to his. “We’re going to have a great life, Matthew.”

  He leaned forward to kiss her but froze in place at the sound of a shout from outside the cabin. “Jackson, you in there? Come on out. I got somethin’ for you.”

  Matthew looked down into Rani’s startled face and saw fear in her eyes. She recognized the voice too. He stepped back from her, and she grabbed his arm. “No, Matthew,” she cried. “Don’t go.”