THE HOMEPLACE

by Gilbert, Morris

  “I was just there,” Roger said, aware of the displeasure that had come to mar Louise’s smile, “and she needs a doctor.”

  “Well, why didn’t Lanie bring her in?”

  “She says she doesn’t have the money.”

  “Well, what foolishness that is!” Owen exclaimed. “She ought to know better than that.”

  “She’s very proud, Dr. Merritt,” Roger said, “and, as a matter of fact, I want to pay you for your call.”

  “Forget about it, Roger. I’ll go right over. There’ll be no fee for this.”

  Louise glared at Roger and set her lips in a prim line. “You’ve lost your balance, Roger! Father will be unhappy over your obsession with that family. He already is.”

  “What’s all this about?” Owen demanded, turning to face Louise.

  “Roger got into a fight with Father about his foreclosing on the mortgage on the Freeman place. After all, he is responsible to the stockholders of the bank and didn’t have any choice.”

  “He had plenty of choice,” Roger said grimly.

  Owen saw the trouble brewing between the two. “Well, I’m going out to see Corliss.”

  “Could I go with you, Doctor?” Roger asked.

  “Sure. Let me get my bag.” Owen began equipping his bag.

  “I’ll be going now,” Louise said.

  “I’ll see you later, Louise,” Owen said in a preoccupied fashion.

  He closed his bag and started out the door, followed by Roger.

  “Don’t forget. Supper’s at seven.”

  “I may be a little late, Louise. I have several calls to make. Start without me if I don’t make it on time.”

  Louise Langley stood there with a petulant look on her face. Her eyes narrowed, and she formulated a plan. “Wait until Father hears about this. He’ll really have a fit!”

  Lanie opened the door and saw Owen Merritt and Roger standing there. “Roger, I told you not to do this.”

  “I’m glad he did. Don’t be foolish, Lanie. You’re too wise a girl for that. Where’s Corliss?”

  “She’s in her bedroom.”

  “I’ll wait here,” Roger said. “I usually don’t interfere, Lanie, but I was worried about her.”

  Lanie passed a hand over her forehead. “That’s all right, Roger. I’m sorry I was so short. It’s just that, well, I’ve been real worried.”

  She led Dr. Merritt down the hall into the bedroom on the first floor. Merritt went in, put his bag down, and rubbed his hands together to warm them. “I hate to put cold hands on her, but I need to examine her.”

  “Here, let me help you.” Lanie slipped off Corliss’s gown, and the little girl woke up and began crying. “It’s all right, sweetheart,” Lanie said. “The doctor’s going to help you.” She held the baby while Merritt examined her.

  “It’s some kind of upper respiratory problem, but I’m not sure exactly what,” he said.

  “She’ll be all right, won’t she?”

  “I’m sure she will be. We just have to take very good care of her. I don’t have exactly what she needs, but I’ll go down to the drugstore and pick it up.”

  Lanie finished buttoning Corliss’s gown and held her against her chest. “I . . . I hate to be such a bother.”

  “How could you be that?” Dr. Merritt said gravely. He studied the young woman’s face. She had a beautiful face, all its features generous and capable of robust emotions, all of them graceful. He saw a hint of her will and her pride in the corners of her lips and eyes and felt a sudden sense of possession. I’ve got to take care of these kids, but I’ve also got to let Lanie keep her pride. She hates charity. “I’ll be back later on in the evening. In the meantime, keep her out of the drafts. She’s got a fever now, and we may have to do something about that.”

  “What is it?”

  “It could be something just passing, but there’s always a chance of flu. And the one thing we want to avoid is pneumonia.”

  “I’ll do anything you say, Dr. Merritt.”

  “I know you will.” He closed his bag. “That young fellow is pretty determined, isn’t he? Roger, I mean.”

  “I’ve always thought he was the best of that family.” She suddenly caught herself. “I didn’t mean to say anything against Louise.”

  “That’s all right.” He smiled. “It’s only natural that a young girl would think highly of a good-looking chap like Roger. I imagine half the girls in the high school had a crush on him.”

  “A lot of them did.”

  “What about you?”

  Lanie fussed with Corliss’s gown. “Oh, I was too busy to think about things like that.”

  “He’s a fine young fellow.” Owen started to say something about the quarrel but immediately knew it would not do. “I’ll be going now.”

  “Thank you for coming, Doctor. I appreciate it.”

  “Now, Lanie, you let this be a lesson to you. Anytime any of you get sick, you call me at once. You forget about money and things like that. I wish you’d think of me as a member of the family, a dad, perhaps, or an older brother.”

  Lanie smiled. “All right, Brother Merritt.”

  Merritt picked up his bag and walked from the room, and Lanie followed him.

  “Is she going to be all right?” Roger said.

  “Oh, yes. With good care, which she’ll get, she’ll be fine. I’ve got to make some more calls. Where can I drop you, Roger?”

  “I’ll just walk home.”

  “Stay a while, Roger,” Lanie said suddenly. “I want to hear some more about what you’ve been doing at school.”

  Roger looked surprised. “All right, I will.”

  “I’ll see you later,” Merritt said.

  As soon as the door closed, Lanie said, “I made some gingerbread, and we’ve got coffee.”

  “That sounds good. I can resist anything except temptation and gingerbread.” Roger smiled.

  Lanie led him into the kitchen, and he ate several slices of gingerbread and drank the rest of the coffee, talking mostly about his time at school. “Where are all the kids?” he asked.

  “They’re all at school.” She was standing beside a window, and the sunlight coming in from the side illuminated her face.

  “I hated that you had to drop out of school, but I admire you for it, Lanie.”

  “It was something I had to do.”

  “Most girls wouldn’t have looked at it that way. You’ve missed out on so much.” He came over to where she was standing. “Most girls would get bitter if they had to give up school and parties and all that sort of thing.”

  “I didn’t mind missing the parties, but I hated missing the classes. I’ve been studying a lot at home. I get all the books I can from the library, and I get to read a lot when I’m not working or taking care of the others.”

  Roger studied Lanie. “You know, I got mad when you beat me out for that grand prize award.”

  Lanie looked up, her eyes wide. “Why, I didn’t know that! You didn’t act it.”

  “Well, I’ve got a little pride, I guess, and to be beaten out by a girl, especially a freshman! You’ll never know the ribbing I took.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  Roger laughed. “Didn’t hurt me a bit, and I’m proud you won, Lanie. If you had finished, I’m sure you’d be delivering the valedictorian address.”

  “Oh, no, I could never do that.”

  Roger looked at her so closely that Lanie became nervous. “What is it?”

  “I was just thinking how you’ve changed.”

  “Well, I’m older.”

  “Yes, you’re older. You were just a kid then, and now you’re a grown woman.” Roger suddenly reached out and put his hands on her shoulders. Lanie looked up, shocked and surprised. He studied her with such an odd expression that she could not imagine what was on his mind. She waited for him to speak, and finally he said, “You’re the finest young woman I’ve ever known, Lanie. You’ve given up everything for your family, and I admire that.”
>
  Lanie was so overwhelmed she could not say a word. She was shocked when he said, “And furthermore you’ve flowered into one of the most beautiful young women in town, or anywhere else for that matter.” He leaned forward and without warning kissed Lanie on the lips. “There,” he said, grinning. “Now that’s all the kisses you get for today.”

  Lanie saw that his eyes were dancing, and she could not help but laugh. “You’re awful, Roger, just awful!”

  “No, I’m not. I’m really a fine chap. You’ll like me a lot better when you get to know me.”

  The two talked lightly, and finally Roger left. She went to the window and watched him as he walked down the sidewalk whistling, his hands in his pockets. He stopped once to look up in a tree at something. As he stood there, she examined his clean, sharp profile. I got a kiss from Roger Langley. That’s something, I guess.

  Over the next two days, Corliss did not improve. Instead, she grew steadily worse. Lanie was almost out of her mind. So were the boys and Maeva. They asked Lanie a hundred times a day, it seemed, “Is she going to be all right?” and finally she grew short with them.

  On Wednesday, a cool March evening, Dr. Merritt came by very late, almost nine o’clock. As soon as he stepped inside, he did not need to ask how Corliss was. “I’m glad you came,” Lanie said, and there was fear in her voice. “She’s worse.”

  “Let me take a look.”

  Dr. Merritt followed her into the living room, where she had been rocking Corliss. The boys had built a fire that was now a glowing bed of hot coals with yellow and red flames flickering occasionally. From time to time the wind outside drew the flames up and seemed to utter a wailing cry.

  After Dr. Merritt made his examination, he said, “We’ve got to get this fever down.”

  “What can we do?” Lanie asked.

  “We’ll have to put cold cloths on her. I’ll hold her while you get a pan and some cool water.”

  “What time is it?” Dr. Merritt said sleepily.

  Lanie looked at the clock on the wall. “It’s almost four in the morning.” She was exhausted. Bringing down the stubborn fever had taken all their efforts. Lanie laid her hand on Corliss’s brow. The girl slept on the couch. The fire had gone out, and Lanie shivered.

  “I think she’ll be all right now, Lanie. The fever’s broken.”

  “I’m so worried about her, Dr. Merritt.”

  “Well, I was, too, to tell the truth. There’s not much we can do for things like this. The old herb women have about as much success as all of us doctors.”

  Lanie turned to him. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come by,” she whispered.

  Owen Merritt did not answer. He was studying her as he had several times before, but now by the dim light of the single lamp, he admired the richness of her lips. She had a ripe and self-possessed curve in her mouth, and he was, without being conscious of it, comparing her to other women he had known. Where her blouse fell away from her throat, her skin was a smooth ivory, and her auburn hair gave off glints of gold. She had clean-running physical lines. Her shoulders were strong and rounded, and he admired the lines of her throat. He remembered when he first met her. Her hips had been straight as a boy’s, and now they were rounded, and his awareness of the lovely curves of her body gave him a start.

  She thanked him again, and her lips made a small change at the corners and softened. She made little gestures with her shoulders as she spoke to him. He had thought much about this girl, especially lately, and now he saw in her face an expression that he could not name, though it stirred his curiosity. It was something like the gravity that comes when someone has seen too much. She was looking at him silently, and a great compassion rose up in him. He saw that she was exhausted, and he said gently, “Lanie, you’ve had too much for a young woman to bear.” He was shocked when he saw the tears start in her eyes and then run down her cheeks. “Oh, Lanie, there’s no need to cry.” He put his arms around her, and she laid her head down on his chest. He felt the tremors in her body as she wept. She was utterly vulnerable then, and when she lifted her face it was only inches from his.

  “It’s all right,” he said. And then almost without volition, out of the compassion that he felt for her but also something more, he leaned forward and kissed her. A shock ran through him for her lips were softer than he had dreamed, and he felt her arms tightening as she clung to him almost fiercely. It was not the kiss that he had meant to give, and as he held her, the heat of something thoughtless brushed against his spirit. Then she suddenly pulled away from him, and he saw that she was trembling. “You shouldn’t have done that,” she whispered.

  “I . . . I’m sorry.” But inwardly he knew that he did not in any way regret what he had done. The caress had shaken him, for he had stepped across a line that he had not known existed. “I didn’t intend to do that.” He struggled to find the words. “It’s just that I admire you so much.”

  “You must never do it again. You’re a promised man, Dr. Merritt.”

  He felt the sting of her words and saw that somehow he had hurt her deeply. “I’m sorry, Lanie. Just forget it.”

  He left the Freeman house, but he knew that he would carry the memory of that kiss for longer than he might have wished.

  C H A P T E R 31

  The quarrel seemed to explode without warning. Owen arrived at the Langley household for dinner and noticed that a cool air pervaded the household. Roger had devised plenty of schemes to avoid the family since his run-in with his father, and Helen was visiting a friend. Louise and her parents spoke mainly to one another. He tried to join in the conversation but got little response.

  After dinner they all moved into the drawing room and listened to the radio, but Otis and Martha soon found an excuse to leave. Louise got up to turn the radio off and put a record on. “I seem to be in the doghouse, Louise.”

  Louise was holding a gramophone record in her hand, and she put it down and then clasped her hands together in an angry motion. “My parents are very unhappy with you.”

  “About what?”

  “I think you know. You’ve been spending entirely too much time at the Freeman house.”

  Surprise washed across Owen’s face. “What are you talking about? They have a sick child over there.”

  “This is a small town, Owen,” Louise said. “It doesn’t look right for you to spend the entire night at a patient’s house, especially a woman patient.”

  “A woman? Corliss is not even three years old!”

  Louise made a frustrated gesture. “I’m not talking about the baby! I’m talking about Lanie!”

  A touch of anger brushed across Owen Merritt. He was being punished by the Langleys for doing his job. He got to his feet. “Louise, I’m willing to listen to you and your family when you have something to say about my personal life, but when it comes to my profession, I’m not.”

  It was the strictest tone he had ever taken with Louise, and she knew that she had gone too far. “Well, it’s just that—”

  “We might as well settle this right now. If what my job requires bothers you—and your family—so much, then it wouldn’t be a good idea for us to marry.” His voice was even, and Louise knew she had stirred up a side of Owen Merritt she had not known existed.

  “But, Owen, can’t you see—”

  “I can see that you’re jealous of one of the finest girls I’ve ever known. She’s straight as a string, Louise, and she’s got enough character to stock a seminary. There’s nothing going on between Lanie Freeman and me and there never will be, but as a doctor I will be calling on homes, and there’ll be women in those homes. I’ve seen some good marriages break up because doctors’ wives couldn’t understand that this is part of our responsibility.”

  “I’m sorry, Owen,” she said, and forced herself to speak gently. “I was wrong.”

  Owen studied her. “Yes, you were, and I think you’d better consider what it would be like to be married to a doctor. There are some unpleasant
sides to it for wives. Doctors aren’t their own masters at times. They’re the servants of their patients. I’ll be gone for long periods of time. I’ll be called out at night. At times you’ll have to attend parties alone.”

  Louise sought some way to repair the damage. She put her hands on his shoulders and lifted her head. “I am sorry,” she whispered and put herself against him. This had always worked before, but now he was unyielding.

  “I’ll be going,” he said. “You think about what I’ve said. Good night, Louise.”

  Louise stood there unable to think of a single appeal that might make him stop. She heard the front door close and found herself trembling, for she was a proud woman and had always been able to control the men she liked. But she understood that Owen was deeply hurt by her behavior. She knew she would have to speak to her family, and she knew also that she would have to, in effect, win him back. She made her way upstairs and knocked on her parents’ bedroom door. When she walked in, her parents were getting ready for bed. “I have to talk to you. It’s about Owen.”

  Aunt Kezia looked at the kitchen calendar, at the circle around March twenty-sixth. Lanie was seated at the table staring listlessly at her hands. The house was quiet. The boys and Maeva were outside and Corliss was asleep. “Well, it ain’t the end of the world, Lanie.”

  “It seems like it to me.” Lanie looked around the kitchen with longing. “This is the only home we’ve ever known. Now we’ll have to be split up. I don’t see any way out.”

  “It irritates me,” Aunt Kezia said as she sat down across from Lanie. “If that idjit husband of mine hadn’t spent all our money on that hussy, I could pay off that note!”

  “I know you would, Aunt Kezia.” Lanie enclosed her aunt’s hands in both of hers. “I was looking at an old house that we could have for only ten dollars a month. It’s not much, but we’ve got to go somewhere.”

  Aunt Kezia felt Lanie’s strong and capable hands. “We’re gonna be all right, honey. I don’t know how, but God’s done give me a promise.”

  “What kind of a promise?”