“I’d rather have it and not needed it than need it and not have it,” he answered only half paying attention to her.
Emmie pushed back the covers and let her bare feet drop to the cold ground. She walked over to him with her arms crossed tightly around her chest. She was freezing. Leaning up on her toes she gave him a quick kiss. He rubbed her arms and leaned into the hug.
“That’s not a real answer, you know.”
He ignored her jab and tossed her the quilted robe draped across the chair on her vanity. “Put that on before you come down.” Then he headed downstairs without another word.
She quickly shrugged into the robe and followed him down the stairs. Just as he promised there was a cup of coffee waiting on the kitchen table. She noticed the place was quiet. “Trick still asleep?”
“Nope he’s gone to meet Gabe.” Silas refilled his cup.
“Gabe. I didn’t think of him last night. Did he stay at his father’s?” Emmie asked, choking out the last two words of that question.
“Yeah,” Silas answered. If he noticed the uncertainty in her voice at the question, he didn’t say it. She was thankful he wasn’t one to pry.
“He would have been welcome to stay here too.” She ran her finger along the rim of the cup.
This time Silas did look up. He walked over and put his hands on her elbows. “He knows that Emmie. Just give all this time. It will work itself out. The wound is still fresh.”
Emmie nodded.
“Are you and Trick going to stay with Gabe?” she asked.
“Will you stay there with us?” He answered with a question of his own.
“No. I can’t stay in that house.”
“Then no. I’ll be here. Trick can make up his own mind.”
“Walter made some comments about me staying with you at Ava’s. Bo mentioned it too. Do you think folks will talk if you stay here alone with me?”
“Bo and Walter, huh? Do you care if they talk?”
She thought for a minute. “No. I guess not.”
“Then you let me take care of what people say,” he said with a grin.
Silas walked over and folded the newspapers that were spread on the table. “Why are my papers out?”
She wondered. “No. I just saw them all rolled up when I hung up your coat. I would never go through your things.”
He nodded and put the newspapers back in his pocket.
“Are they important?” she asked, pointing to them.
“I don’t want you messing with this, Emmie. I don’t want you around that Bo Johnson kid either,” he said gruffly.
“Silas.” Emmie laughed. “I made it clear last night he never saw my flour sacks.”
“This isn’t about your flour sack. There’s some stuff going on with the Johnson’s that I don’t want you messing with. And I know you well enough that if there is trouble in a ten-mile radius you have a way of putting yourself at the epicenter.” He walked forward and put his finger her chin.
“We’ll I’m not making any promises. Bo is a friend. I don’t tell you whether or not you can wear those guns everyday. You don’t tell me what to do either.”
Silas sighed. “This conversation is not over. I’ll be back around six or so. I’m going to need to pick up some clothes from the DeCarmilla house… unless you’ll change your mind.”
“Keep talking about staying somewhere else and I’m going to get the impression you don’t like my house,” she said snidely.
He put his hands up. “I like it fine.”
“Good.” She pointed a finger into his chest.
“I like where you are.” He brushed a kiss on her forehead. “I’ve got to go.”
She followed him to the door and handed him his hat. The phone started to ring on the wall. He waved and headed to the car. She ran to the phone, unprepared for the message she would receive.
“Hello.”
“Miss Emmie.” It was Max and he was winded.
“What’s wrong, Max?” she asked, panicked.
“Paw’s on the way to your house. He’s real mad about something. Did you tell people I needed to go to that hospital and we didn’t have no money?”
Emmie couldn’t think of how to answer that, so she said nothing for a moment.
“Thanks for letting me know, Max. It’ll be fine.”
“I don’t know Miss Emmie. He’s real mad. Mamaw couldn’t stop him,” Max said quickly.
“It’s just a misunderstanding. I’ll work it out,” she said before hanging up the phone.
Chapter Twenty-six
Even though Emmie didn’t want Max involved in the argument, she was glad he’d called. When Walter arrived, she was ready for him. Before his truck made it up the drive she had the door open and was waiting on him. He made it up to the house quicker than usual. She’d never seen him move in such a huff.
He stepped over the threshold; she shut the door behind him. The way he was moving she’d half expected him to start yelling before he even made it in the house. Emmie was thankful Silas had left before Max had called. That would have made this conversation even harder.
She pulled the quilted robe tighter around her shoulders and stared Walt right in the eyes. It was better to get this over with.
“What kinda right you got telling people my life?” he shouted.
“Walter this isn’t just about you.” She kept her voice calm.
“The hell it isn’t. It’s me that needs the money. It’s my grandson that’s the cripple. It’s my choice what kinda doctor he does or does not see,” he yelled. “It ain’t nothing to you.”
“You aren’t the only one who cares about Max. Mae wants this too. It’s not just me,” she said. “I will not stand by and watch him hurt if there is a way I can help.”
Walter hooked his thumbs under his overalls and made his way to warm his hands at the fireplace. She followed in behind him.
“Well you ain’t got no right telling people my business. We ain’t never been no charity case and I don’t intend to be one. All charity comes with a debt,” he said, facing the fire.
“You are not a charity case. No one thinks that.”
“Yeah, well Johnson called me asking all these questions on why I sold him Ole Maizy, if my family needed the money that bad. He was sticking his nose in my business. Do you know what a man like Johnson can make of a desperate man?” he asked quietly.
Emmie thought about his words. What did that mean? Emmie thought he and Johnson were friends. “Well, I thought he’d care about Max. He doesn’t think you’re a desperate man.”
“You think you know Johnson just because his boy’s been flattering you?”
“Walter,” Emmie warned. “I know you are speaking out of anger but really, this is the answer. He’s already asked for me to help. I was just taking him up on his offer.”
“Well you could have left me outta it. I made a promise to that Yank of yours that I wouldn’t be subjecting you to anymore moonshining. I don’t back outta my word.”
“I’m going to talk to Silas about it. I figure he can help me out.”
“And you think he’s just gonna say he’s good with you being all mixed up in this again?” Walter smirked. “You’re a fool-hearted girl.”
“I’m not a fool. How many times have you made shine? This’ll just be one more time,” she said. “And this time it’ll be to help Max.”
“I don’t have a still no more, so you’re talking to the wrong fella.” He looked down at his boots.
“Why did you sell her?” Emmie asked quietly.
“I ain’t got to answer to you,” he spit.
“Fine. Whatever you say. Yell at me till you feel better. Maybe you’re right. I shouldn’t have told Johnson your affairs but you know my intentions were good. I can help you if you’d just let me.” She threw up her hands. “But be mad at me all you want.”
A long moment passed between them. Only the sound of silence prevailed.
“I trusted you,” Walter said, hi
s voice quiet.
What? That hurt worse than his yelling. That’s what this was about. It wasn’t about her moonshining. It was about the fact he felt like she’d betrayed his trust. She felt like she’d been punched in the stomach. She’d hurt Walter. Emmie paused a moment and let that fact sink in.
“You can trust me Walt. You know I’d do anything for y’all.” She wrapped her arms around her middle.
“Yeah, I know. But you also ran your mouth.”
“No. That’s not what I meant to do.”
“I know. But it don’t change things.”
“What can I do to fix this?”
He didn’t answer. She could tell he didn’t have a solution in mind.
“I’m sorry that I betrayed your trust. I just made a mistake.”
“I guess I can live with that. Just don’t be telling them anything else when you’re out at that farm. I want Max’s business to stay Max’s business.”
“Understood. I really am sorry,” she repeated. “And I don’t really plan on spending much more time out on that farm.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that.”
Emmie frowned. “What’s that mean?”
“It means maybe you’re right. You ain’t been the only fool in this room.”
Emmie looked at him with wide eyes. “Does this mean we’re a team again?”
“It means I’m putting my pride aside to accept help from a friend. I don’t like that you’re mixed in this. But I ain’t got no right to stop ya. And I know how ya are when ya set your mind to something. You’d do it with or without me.” He looked down at her as he spoke.
She started to argue with him but realized he was right. Hadn’t she been thinking about going to Silas for help since Walt wouldn’t? Silas. Where would he fit into all this?
“Are you sick girl?” Walter asked.
“No. Why?”
“Because it’s afternoon and you’re still in your robe.”
“Oh.” She looked down taking in her clothes. She bit her lower lip and thought of how to answer. “Well, Silas and Trick came in late last night and I didn’t get to bed until after…”
Walter put her hand up to stop her from talking. She quit midsentence.
“I ain’t really got to hear the rest. Will they be staying here?” he asked, picking at his fingernails.
“Yeah.” She figured short and to the point was the best way to answer this question.
“Well, I’ll leave it to you to break the good news to him that you’ve gotten back into the business. I’m sure that’s going to make him happy judging by the kinda things he promised to do to me if I ever had you working for me again. Don’t worry though. I ain’t scared of him.” Walter grinned.
“Yeah, well. I haven’t’ really worked out how to tell him yet. But I will. Do you mind if I tell him about the doctor?”
“I guess not considering you already told everybody else.” He grinned.
She didn’t like the words but was glad to see he was smiling. She couldn’t think of much worse than how she felt when Walt was disappointed in her. Of course, she would feel the same if Silas found out from someone besides her. She would make it a point to talk to him first thing tonight when he got home from work.
“You better head on up there and get changed.” Walter nodded toward the stairs.
“Why?”
“Cause you’re heading out,” he answered cryptically.
Emmie walked toward the stairs. She started to ask where she was going but thought better of it. Instead she turned and asked, “What do I need to be dressed for?”
“A hike.”
Emmie made quick work of putting on an old work dress and farm boots and grabbing a heavy wool coat before she made her way back down to Walter. She sat across from him on the couch and fastened her hair in a long braided.
“Ready,” she said.
“Lord have mercy on me for getting you all into this again.” He frowned.
“I make my own choices Walter. What do I need to bring?”
“Nothing. Just your recipe.”
She tapped her forehead. “Got it.”
“Well let’s get going then.” He sighed.
“It’s for Max,” she said, trying to reassure him.
“I know.” He nodded, put on his hat, and walked out the door.
Chapter Twenty-seven
Emmie sat in the cab of Walter’s truck in silence as she swayed with the rhythm of the gravel road. Her fingers wrapped around the barrel of the shotgun resting between her legs. Staring at it made her stomach turn. Walt had grabbed it from her house on the way out the door and without a word handed it to her before they stepped into the car. What was going on with all the guns? Last time they’d done this there hadn’t been guns and her stepfather had been murdered, for goodness sake. What had Walter spooked?
She started to ask him why he felt the shotgun was necessary but he turned on a gravel path that she’d never been down before. She’d really never even noticed it, so she chose a different question instead.
“Where are we going?” Her eyes were peeled to the farmland and wooded area in front of her.
“I told ya, a hike.”
Walter drove until the path ended and the truck couldn’t make it any further into the woods. When he turned the car off and looked around.
“I don’t think nobody could see it from the field out there, do you?” he asked her.
Emmie shook her head no and her hands started to tremble. Walter’s question scared her. Not the words. Not the fact they were hiding their car from open view but the fact his voice was unsure. He’d asked her for advice. It was like he’d asked her if they were safe enough. She brought the shotgun up and laid it across her lap. She ran her hands down the wooden handle. Who might she have to shoot? Would she be able to pull the trigger if it came to that? She wasn’t sure.
Emmie wished she had been able to tell Silas where she was going before he’d left that morning. When she looked up at Walter he was rubbing his whiskers in thought. He took a deep breath before he spoke. He put his hand on her trembling fingers.
“If you was thinking of changing your mind, now’d be the time to do it.”
She’d mailed the money back to her father before she went to the grocery but they could still count on Silas for the loan. “Are you sure you won’t just take Silas’s money? Would that be easier?”
He was glad she was showing fear. It meant she was finally realizing this wasn’t a game. “I’m not taking his money. But that don’t mean I expect this of you.”
Emmie laid her head back on the seat and thought a moment. This was just her nerves getting to her. It was the gun, the hidden car, the fact she wasn’t at the familiar cave, and seeking out a hissing Ole Maizy. It was the newness of the situation that felt scary. All she was going to do was make some apple pie. That’s it. A little shine, some apples, this would be done and Max would be on his way to Louisville.
“Thank you for caring for my boy.” Walter’s voice was weak. “I got enough money from Maizy to send ’em there for a couple weeks. Got them a train ticket and everything. Johnson thinks we’ll make enough here to keep ‘em up there through Christmas and New Year. I ain’t got the words to thank you. If my daughter hadn’t met her maker so early…” He stopped, clearing his throat. “Well, I bet she’d have been like you. I’m thinking she must be one of your angels.”
Emmie didn’t know what to say. Walter never talked about personal stuff with her. He had done a one eighty. She thought he was gonna hate her when he came over and now it had turned to this. He had compared her to his daughter, Max’s mom. Is that how he thought of her? Emmie’s throat tightened. It really wasn’t until that moment that she realized that family was about more than blood. It was about this. Helping each other. Hard times. Love. She reached over and wrapped her arms around the older man.
“That’s about the nicest thing anyone’s ever said. You know she’d be proud of you too and the way you’ve take
n care of her boy,” Emmie said, pulling back to her spot.
Walter put his shoulders back and cleared his throat. He reached under the seat and pulled out his own shotgun. His had been sawed off much shorter than hers. When she frowned he answered her unspoken question.
“Can’t see as well as I use to. You ain’t gotta be much of an aim with one sawed off like this.” He grinned.
Emmie nodded. Walter turned and hopped out of the cab. “We best be ready.”
She followed his lead. Stepping down from the truck she carried her gun. It was heavy and felt like a foreign object in her hand. “So, where do we go from here?” she asked.
“We wait,” he said, staring out into the woods.
Emmie couldn’t say how long they waited. Thirty seconds. Thirty minutes. Hours. Time stood still in the woods. She felt the bitter cold even through the wool coat. The sound of a truck was startling. The other truck came in from the west. It was full. Bo was driving, Mr. Johnson was a passenger and there were others in the back. Emmie recognized one as his brother, Brett but she didn’t know the other boy. He was a little younger, maybe eighteen, but was definitely a Johnson. He had the telltale dark eyes and hair.
They piled out and made their way over to Walter and Emmie. Bo was grinning, as usual. Walter and Mr. Johnson exchanged a handshake and hello. Emmie tried to hear their words but couldn’t make them out. Their voice was barely above a whisper. She was surprised to feel the shotgun jerked from her hand.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll be keeping up with this for ya… since you look scared as a cat out here.” Bo laughed.
“Give me that back Bo Johnson,” she warned.
He gave a deep laugh and tossed it to the youngest Johnson boy.
“So what happens now?” she asked Bo.
“We hike.” He smiled.
“Why does everyone keep saying that?”
“Because there ain’t roads to take us down to the holler. Unless you got a horse hitched to that truck.” He looked around her.
Emmie was thankful for his jokes. He had lightened the mood. Her hands were no longer shaking. Bo was a welcomed distraction.
Rise and Shine (Shine On Series, Book 2) Page 14