“Is the baby just too cute, Mama?” Lauryn asked. The thought of a baby nearby caused her heart to flutter with delight. Her own little niece to dote on!
“Well, of course!” Georgia exclaimed. “What kind of a silly question is that?”
“I take it that you like babies, Miss Kensington?” Brant chuckled. It was obvious he’d noticed the thrill in her voice, as well.
“Does Lauryn like babies?” Patrick exclaimed as if it were the most ridiculous question he’d ever heard uttered. “Why do you think I thought y’all was married and gonna have one, Mister?”
Again Brant chuckled and Lauryn’s face turned crimson as her grandmother giggled as well. Reaching over she pinched Patrick’s knee in retaliation.
“Ouch! Mama! Lauryn pinched me!” the child tattled.
“That’s enough! And Patrick…you shouldn’t say such things. And Lauryn…quit pinchin’ your brother.”
Brant was still enjoying a chuckle when Lauryn looked over to him. Though he tried to restrain it out of respect for their mother’s reprimand, it was obvious that he was deeply amused.
If the train ride had seemed long, the mere 5 miles home from the station seemed even longer. Lauryn’s mother continued to pop out questions to Brant, and Patrick continued to be completely tactless in his interruptions. Several times, Nana reached back from the front seat and patted Lauryn reassuringly on the knee. But all Lauryn wanted was escape. And she kept wondering why Patrick was sitting between her and Brant. And it bothered her that he was…which also bothered her because, why did she care?
At long last, they reached Connemara House and a sweetly familiar warmth and calmness sifted over Lauryn’s tired mind and body. There it was…lights beckoning from the windows. Mindy, a baby in her arms, peered out anxiously through the large window in the parlor. And Sean stood against one column on the porch, waiting on his own terms.
“Nana!” Sean exclaimed helping the elderly woman from the auto and hugging her tenderly. “You look even more beautiful than the day you left.”
“Oh, go on with you boy,” Nana giggled, kissing his cheek affectionately. “Where’s that great-grandbaby of mine?” And she toddled off toward the house, seeming to forget everything else. Lauryn smiled to herself. That was another thing she adored about the elderly…the way they were drawn to little ones and the way the little ones seemed to recognize the great worth of their old folks.
Lauryn stepped out of the car and into Sean’s warm embrace as well. “My, my, my!” he whispered. “Haven’t we all but blossomed?”
Lauryn shook her head. Sean was the sarcastic member of the family. “You haven’t changed an ounce, I see,” she told him as he kissed her cheek.
“I’m serious, Lauryn!” he assured her. “You’re so grown up and pretty that I can’t believe you didn’t come home on the arm of a man.” Sean stopped his teasing when Brant stepped awkwardly out of the car with Georgia’s assistance.
“But she did, Sean,” Patrick corrected. “A blind soldier!” Lauryn buried her face miserably in her hands even though she heard Brant chuckle.
“Well, how do you do, sir,” Sean greeted, raising his eyebrows daringly in Lauryn’s direction as he took Brant’s hand and gave it a firm shake.
“Well enough, sir,” Brant answered, smiling.
“You up and married a soldier already, Lauryn?” Sean asked.
“Mother!” Lauryn whined.
“Sean!” Georgia scolded.
“I see you and young Patrick here know how to properly tease a sister,” Brant chuckled.
“We try our best to make her life as miserable as we possibly can,” Sean affirmed, smiling at his sister and pinching her cheek affectionately. Brant chuckled and placed his hand on Lauryn’s shoulder.
Again his touch thrilled her but, somehow, she felt the need to escape into the loving embrace of Connemara House.
“Well, let’s get this mob in the house, Mama,” Sean ordered. “Mindy’s beside herself with waitin’ to show Junie to Lauryn and Nana.”
As Lauryn walked toward Connemara’s front entrance, she marveled at the ancient, winterly barren vines that covered the columns and most walls of the house. In a matter of a few months they would be heavy with green leaves and their flowers’ heavenly perfume. She couldn’t wait! The wisteria was something she’d adored, treasured, cherished since she could remember. And when she entered the house, Brant at her heels, she sighed, brushing tears of joy from her cheeks. Home! At last! It had been far too long.
“Lauryn!” Mindy exclaimed. She held her baby safely propped on one hip but she threw her free arm around Lauryn and hugged her tightly. “I’m so glad y’all are home.” Then looking past Lauryn and up to Brant she added, “And who’s this dashin’ young man with you?”
“He’s a blind soldier that Lauryn drug home. Only, they ain’t…isn’t married or havin’ a baby,” Patrick explained.
“Hello,” Mindy greeted taking Brant’s hand. “I’m Mindy Kensington, Sean’s wife.”
“It’s a pleasure, Mrs. Kensington,” Brant greeted. “I’m Brant Masterson.”
Immediately the color drained from Mindy’s face. “The Captain?” she whispered.
“Oh, no,” Georgia assured her startled daughter-in-law. “This is a relative of the Captain’s. His grand-nephew.”
Mindy sighed with relief. “Oh. For a minute there I thought I was…” she stopped and swallowed, trying to regain her composure. “Well, it’s a pleasure to have you here, Mr. Masterson.” Brant nodded, still grinning. Obviously very amused by all that had transpired with Lauryn’s family.
“Just look at this little angel!” Nana exclaimed, taking the baby from Mindy’s maternal possession.
Lauryn’s eyes brightened. Sean’s baby. His own daughter! And she was, indeed, an angel. Her eyes were green, her curly hair as dark as night. It was very apparent who her father was.
“Hey there, Junie baby,” Lauryn cooed holding her hands out toward the baby. Junie, being but eight months old, paused, shyly looking toward her mother for encouragement.
“It’s okay, Junie. That’s your Auntie Lauryn,” Mindy assured her.
“Don’t you want to come to your auntie, Junie?” Lauryn coaxed. And in the next moment the adorable child stretched her arms out toward Lauryn. Lauryn’s heart swelled as she propped Junie up comfortably on her hip and studied her intently.
“Aren’t you a pretty girl?” Lauryn asked. Junie smiled and nodded and everyone, except Brant, laughed.
Suddenly, anxiety washed over Lauryn as Junie looked up to Brant, his eyes bandaged, his hair long and rather unkempt. Lauryn was so afraid Junie would be frightened by Brant’s appearance that she found herself to be, once again, struck mute. What could she say to assure the child without making Brant uncomfortable?
“That’s Mr. Masterson,” Mindy told the baby. “He’s come for a visit, I gather.”
Amazingly, Junie held her arms up toward Brant, wanting him to take her.
“There now, Mr. Masterson. Junie wants to make friends with you,” Mindy told him.
“What?” Brant asked as Junie began tugging at his shirt.
“She wants you to hold her,” Sean explained.
“Me?” Brant questioned.
“Come on now, sir,” Sean said, taking Junie from Lauryn and handing her to Brant.
Brant took the child in his arms, awkwardly at first. But after a moment he had her neatly arranged, cradling her against his chest with his arms.
“Owee,” the baby cooed, touching the bandages on Brant’s eyes.
“Yes. Owee,” Brant mumbled. And Lauryn was delighted when Junie then planted a slobbery kiss on Brant’s cheek and threw her arms around his neck in a warm baby hug. Then she turned and held her arms out to Lauryn once more. She took her and lovingly kissed the top of the sweet smelling little head.
“She is a beauty, Sean,” Lauryn complimented her brother.
“I know. She takes after her mother,” Sean agreed hu
gging his wife.
“What is wrong with all of y’all?” Patrick exclaimed suddenly. “We have here, in our very own house, a blind soldier! And all anyone can think about is how cute Junie is!”
“Patrick,” Georgia scolded, again. “Go out and feed your dogs. This minute!” she added when Patrick paused.
“You and me…” Patrick told Brant in a hushed voice. “We’ll have our time later.”
Brant smiled. “We will,” he assured the boy. Once Patrick had left, Brant spoke once more. “I…I don’t mean to seem rude or ungrateful to all of you,” he stammered. “But…but there’s things a man needs to tend to and…”
“Say no more, sir,” Sean said, placing a hand on Brant’s shoulder. “Lauryn will be glad to take you to the water closet.”
“Sean,” Lauryn whined.
Brant chuckled and so did Sean. “Follow me, sir. I’m not one to leave a fellow soldier in need.”
Once out of hearing distance, Georgia and Mindy immediately began casting out a string of questions directed at Lauryn and her grandmother.
“For Pete’s sake, Lauryn!” Mindy exclaimed in a whisper. “How in the world did you end up bringin’ home such a fine man as that? A relative of your Captain, no less?”
“We met on the train,” Lauryn answered simply.
“Today? Y’all just met him today?” she asked, astonished. Lauryn nodded. “And he’s blind. How sad,” Mindy mumbled sympathetically.
“He’ll be with us a week,” Nana explained. “His brother, who I do need to try to telephone, will be out here in a week. As far as his family knows right now, Brant’s on his way to Memphis. I need to let them know we’ve kidnapped him.”
“I’ll need to freshen the sheets up in the guest room,” Georgia mumbled to herself. “And get a fire goin’. We don’t want him to catch cold.” Then looking to Lauryn, her eyes filled with tears. “Oh, my sweet darlin’ daughter. How I have missed you!” Lauryn returned her mother’s loving embrace.
“I’m so sorry I wasn’t here when Daddy…” Lauryn began. But she couldn’t speak another solitary word for the pain was so deeply stabbing at her heart.
“I know, Honey,” Georgia whispered. “But you let it all go now. We can’t be a house of bawlin’ women with this new man here who so desperately needs encouragement. Now can we?”
Lauryn released her mother and inwardly recognized that Brant’s coming home with her and Nana may be just what her own mother needed for now. A welcome adventure, someone to dote over and care for. Something to ease her thoughts of loss.
“Now, you run along upstairs, Lauryn,” her mother encouraged. “I’m certain you’re needin’ to get out of those travelin’ clothes. You too, Nana.”
“In good time,” Nana said, taking a seat near the fire with Junie on her lap.
However, without another moment’s pause, Lauryn was up the stairs and in her room. Closing the door behind her, she nearly burst into tears again at the familiarity of the room. Her own bed draped in the quilts stitched by her grandmother’s gentle hands. Her window…the window with the seat that overlooked the wisteria-drenched gazebo. It was heavenly! Her wardrobe, her vanity, her books and other treasured things placed lovingly on the wall shelf. And there was the overwhelming feeling of anxious anticipation at seeing her dearest friend.
“Captain?” she called softly. “I’m home!”
It wasn’t even an entire instant before he was there, standing before her, his arms outstretched beckoning her to embrace him.
“Oh, Captain,” she sighed as she threw herself into his familiar embrace. “How I have missed you!”
“And how you’ve changed,” the Captain chuckled. “All grown up, my little Lauryn.”
Lauryn lingered in his embrace savoring the familiar scent of his clothes. That soothing scent of wool mingled with the fragrance of burning cedar. It was always the same. So warm and comforting. Ever since she had met the Captain, she’d loved the smell that accompanied him. Oddly however, it wasn’t until this very moment that Lauryn even realized she had. It wasn’t until she had returned home from being away so long that she had actually identified what the aroma about him was; the comforting scent of a well-worn, woolen uniform that had spent many a long, cold night around a campfire.
“And bringing home strangers, too,” The Captain added, playfully.
“He’s no stranger,” Lauryn giggled looking up into the mischievous eyes of the Captain. “Not to you. He’s your blood kin.”
“And almost as handsome as me, I might add,” the Captain chuckled. “Now…you sit here and tell me the tale of this Brant Masterson.”
Lauryn paused, uncertain whether or not she should tell him everything about Brant. Should she tell him that Brant had spent his life with Lauralynn, all the while the Captain was being miserable without her?
“He sees Lauralynn,” she blurted out surprising herself. “He’s known her since he was a child.”
Immediately, the Captain’s face paled, his grin disappeared, an overpowering sadness seemed to envelope his countenance. Instantly, Lauryn regretted this should be the first thing she told him after returning from being away so long.
“The way I appear to you?” he asked.
“Yes…and no,” Lauryn answered. “He sees her…but she can’t talk to him.” The Captain sighed heavily, the sigh of defeat. Lauryn scolded herself again for blurting out the information she had. And why, she wondered, had she chosen to tell the Captain about this instead of simply how she met Brant and how she felt about it? “But don’t you see, Captain?” she pleaded. “This is what we’ve been needin’! It must be meant that he should enter our lives. Because…somehow I know this will help us find Lauralynn.”
“But why would she be there…with my family? Instead of here where…where…with her own?” the Captain asked.
Lauryn shrugged and again tried to encourage her dear friend. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to him about it all,” she began. “But I know he can help us. I know he can! With Brant’s help…we’ll find her, Captain. We will!” And she did know it. Something in her soul knew it! Her heart even seemed to beat differently since she’d met Brant. Of course, the fleeting thought breezed through her mind that maybe her heart being lighter had something to do with Brant’s handsome features and otherwise overall attractiveness, rather than the knowledge he may hold a secret that would help find Lauralynn.
Quickly, however, Lauryn shook her head to dispel the notion. No! Brant had been a gift from Heaven to help her heal the Captain.
The Captain reached out and caressed Lauryn’s cheek adoringly. Smiling he whispered, “I’ve missed you, you little runt.”
“Well, I’m home now. And more determined than ever.” Lauryn smiled at him.
“And what about your trip to New Orleans?” the Captain asked. “What grand adventures did you have?”
Lauryn could only shrug her shoulders once more and shake her head. “None. None more wonderful than today’s!”
“What?” The Captain gasped, exaggerating his astonishment. “No handsome young man endeavored to steal your heart? No returned soldier tried to woo you into his arms?”
“Not really,” Lauryn answered honestly. “None of them…of the men I met were….none of them were him.”
The Captain chuckled once more. “You mean none of them were Mr. Perfectly Imperfect? This dream man you’ve invented? Or do you mean none of them were this Brant Masterson?”
Playfully Lauryn glared at him for a moment. How dare he tease her about her dream man! And how dare he tease her about this stranger that now sheltered at Connemara. Then, she realized something. “Either one,” she told him. He smiled with understanding.
“Well, you’ll have a lot you’ll want to talk to your family about. And, no doubt, you do need your rest. And so my girl, I’m off.” The Captain bowed respectfully kissing Lauryn’s cheek as he’d done since she was a little girl. “Good night.”
“Now? You’re leavin’ now?�
� Lauryn exclaimed. She didn’t want him to leave! She’d been away for nearly a year. She had missed him desperately. She had longed for conversation with him. And yet, somehow the feeling of wanting him to linger began to be overshadowed by fatigue. “I guess…I guess…I should go down with the family. And sleep will do me some good, too. But when will we talk? First thing in the mornin’?”
The Captain shrugged. “We’ll see. Your mother has had a bad few months, peach. She needs you. My life…my existence hasn’t changed. I have no news to report. But you…you’ve had such adventures. And your mother needs you.”
“Brant will help us, Captain,” Lauryn whispered with conviction. “I know it!”
“Then I’m certain of it, too.” The Captain kissed her cheek once more.
“Good night,” Lauryn sighed as he disappeared leaving only the faint aroma of worn wool and cedar.
Once she’d freshened up and tidied her mane of wavy hair, Lauryn returned to the parlor. She found everyone, including Brant, sitting around the hearth enjoying light conversation. Brant sat to the right of her grandmother, Nana’s hand resting reassuringly on the young man’s knee. Baby Junie was crawling around on the carpet giggling as Patrick pretended to chase her about. For all of Patrick’s whining about Junie getting all of Sean’s attention, it was obvious Junie’s young uncle adored her. Mindy sat elegantly on the floor next to Sean. Lauryn’s mother looked up from her seat near the hearth, smiling as she caught sight of Lauryn entering the room.
“There you are, my angel,” Georgia chimed. “Do you feel quite refreshed?” she winked at her daughter . No doubt Lauryn’s mother knew to whom she’d been talking.
“I do,” Lauryn answered with a nod and a pleased smile. “And yet, I’m tuckered out.”
“I imagine you are,” Mindy sympathized. Then nodding toward Brant she added, “Mr. Masterson has just been tellin’ us all about his family’s orchards and cattle up in Vermont.”
“Oh! I bet it’s cold up there this time of year,” Georgia exclaimed.
“Yes, Ma’am,” Brant confirmed. And somehow the tone of his voice caused a delightful shiver to travel through Lauryn. It was so deeply smooth and rich. She felt that if she just opened her mouth she would taste the honey of it. “And I’m certain it surprises you to be told that I miss it,” Brant added.
The Fragrance of Her Name Page 7