by Delia Parr
Charlene was so taken aback that the encounter had contained neither gossip nor complaint, that by the time she murmured “Happy Easter” in reply, Mrs. Withers had already gone back inside her house.
Charlene dragged herself, her purse and her five bags into the living room, along with her remorse for misjudging her aunt’s neighbor, and shut the door. She immediately glanced over to the sofa. She saw her aunt lying there resting with her lap shawl across her legs, and returned her smile. “Well, I’m finally back, and I’m not stepping a foot out of this house again until tomorrow morning,” she announced, removing her coat and laying it across the back of a chair.
Her aunt chuckled, started coughing and propped herself up on her elbow until she stopped. After grabbing a tissue and wiping her lips, she added the tissue to a pile already on the coffee table, and lay down again.
“Let me get you some water,” Charlene offered, worried that all the running around they had done over the past few days had been too taxing for her aunt.
Aunt Dorothy waved away Charlene’s offer. “I’m okay now. I’m just plain tuckered out. I thought I’d get a nap in earlier, but Agnes stopped by to see me. Daniel’s still working out back. I tried to tell him he didn’t have to get the rest of the backyard done by tomorrow, but he’s as stubborn as you are. Did you remember to drop off my note to Max Duncan?” she asked.
“I did. He wasn’t home, but I gave it to the receptionist in the Towers office. She said she’d give it to him as soon as he gets home. If he’s not back before she closes the office, she promised to slip it under his door,” Charlene explained.
She tried not to sigh, but adding a stop at the Towers to drop off a note to the man who had yet to call on Aunt Dorothy seemed very odd and completely unnecessary. Since he had called several times this week, she could not imagine why Aunt Dorothy couldn’t tell him on the telephone whatever she had written in the note, but Charlene didn’t want to pry or deny any request from Aunt Dorothy, who asked for so little.
“Good girl. You didn’t run into Agnes on your way in, did you?”
“As a matter of fact I did,” Charlene said. She plucked the brown sandwich bag out of her shopping bag and carried it over to her aunt. She had suspected there might be a plastic baggie with a treat Mrs. Withers had brought home from some event, but the bag felt too light. “I’ll set it here so you can look at it after your nap,” she said, and set it on top of the coffee table.
To her surprise, Aunt Dorothy sat up again, shoved the lap shawl off her legs and slowly swung her feet to the floor. “There’s something in here for you and Daniel, too,” she said. She opened the bag and neatly laid out the contents on top of the table: three sticks of balsa wood, maybe five inches long and as wide as a drinking straw, three smaller pieces half that size and long, thin strands of something that looked remarkably like strips of palm.
“These are for sunrise services tomorrow. Since we couldn’t get to Good Friday services yesterday because I had that doctor’s appointment, Agnes was kind enough to pick all this up for us.”
Charlene furrowed her brow. “What exactly is that for?” she asked. Although she assumed the materials would be assembled into crosses, she didn’t know how they would be used during the service.
“Crosses,” her aunt replied. “Come sit next to me. I’ll show you how to make them so you can show Daniel.”
Charlene sat down next to her aunt.
Though her fingers trembled a bit, Aunt Dorothy managed to lay a smaller stick across a larger one to form a cross. She held it together with one hand, selected a strand of palm from the table and wrapped it around the two pieces of wood where they crossed. When she finished, she laid the cross in the palm of her hand and held it up. “See? It’s easy enough to make a cross for tomorrow. It’s the prayer that comes after making your cross that’s harder sometimes, but that’s the most important part.”
“What prayer?” Charlene asked.
“Oh, dear. I keep forgetting that you and Daniel haven’t been to our sunrise services before. I guess I jumped ahead a little. Our sunrise services are held in the park down by the river. When we first get there and it’s still dark outside, we get to lay our crosses on the ground at the base of the big cross that’s been erected for the service. But we can’t do that until we look back over the past year and pray to God to forgive us for what we’ve done wrong, and for all the things we didn’t do that we should have done.”
Charlene swallowed hard. Even at a quick glance back over the past year at her relationship with Daniel, she saw things she regretted doing, as well as others she should have done to make their marriage stronger.
Her aunt folded her fingers around her cross and sighed wistfully. “When the sun first rises and shines on that big old cross and all those little crosses piled beneath it, you can almost see the light of Jesus shining down on us, and you know that through His death and glorious resurrection, He’s fulfilled His promise to lift us all from the darkness of our sins and from death itself.”
She paused and took Charlene’s hand. “I sure do like the way Daniel’s eyes twinkle again when he looks at you, and I’m real proud of how you two worked together at Sweet Stuff. But you both need better glue than that to keep your marriage strong. Make your crosses together tonight. Pray together,” she urged.
Charlene squeezed her aunt’s hand. “I’ll ask him,” she said, adding that promise to one she had already made to herself after she and Daniel had talked about working together to revive their marriage the day of the accident at her store.
Between all the preparations for her open house and watching over Aunt Dorothy last week, Charlene and Daniel had not had any real private time together before he had gone back home again last Sunday night. Since then, he had spent the entire week back at work, and she had spent her week either at the store making sure her customers got their gift baskets, or running Aunt Dorothy around.
Daniel had driven straight here from work last night in order to finish Aunt Dorothy’s yard, and he and Charlene had had no time or opportunity to discuss the next step in their efforts to revive their marriage. But Charlene knew that unless they asked God to guide them, those efforts were doomed to fail.
Aunt Dorothy, however, had just given Charlene a very fitting way to broach the subject with Daniel—one she hoped would bring them together again through their faith.
Aunt Dorothy tried to stifle a yawn, but failed. “I think I’ll take that nap now,” she said.
Charlene moved off the sofa and helped her aunt by lifting her legs onto the cushions and covering them with the lap shawl again.
Still clutching her cross, Aunt Dorothy laid her head on her pillow and closed her eyes. “You won’t forget to ask Daniel, will you?”
“I won’t forget.”
“Good. It probably wouldn’t hurt to dab on a little toilet water, too,” she murmured, and drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Between wrapping her gifts after Aunt Dorothy went to bed and cooking ahead for tomorrow, Charlene did not finish up in the kitchen until after eleven o’clock that night. By then, the refrigerator was stuffed—fuller than the small turkey would be tomorrow when she put it into the oven to roast. The cake she had baked and iced was on top of the refrigerator, stored under an old-fashioned aluminum dome. And the Easter basket Charlene had made for Aunt Dorothy was on the counter, covered with a shopping bag, just in case Aunt Dorothy woke up and wandered out into the kitchen before morning.
While Daniel finished packing the car with everything they would need for tomorrow’s sunrise service, Charlene lifted the bag, peeked at her aunt’s Easter basket again and grinned. She had had to look through dozens of supply catalogues before she had found the tiny, gray stuffed elephant wearing an Easter bonnet. Thanks to express delivery, the elephant was now snuggling between two raspberry donuts from McAllister’s. An elephant pin and matching earrings were wrapped in separate boxes, and dietetic candy from Sweet Stuff co
mpleted the assortment of goodies.
Satisfied, Charlene let the bag drop back into place to cover the basket. She had one wrapped gift for Daniel on the kitchen table, but there was another one tucked in her pocket. She couldn’t decide whether or not to give it to him. She was setting out the wood and strands of palm Aunt Dorothy had given to her earlier when her husband came back inside.
“I think we’re finally all set for tomorrow morning. The three lawn chairs all fit in the trunk. I put new batteries in the flashlights and left a note taped to the steering wheel to remind us to bring along Aunt Dorothy’s lap shawl,” he said as he removed his coat and hung it on the back doorknob before walking over to the table. “What’s all this?” he asked, frowning. “Where did you get—”
“The present is from me to you for Easter. The rest is for something Aunt Dorothy asked us to make,” she replied. After taking a deep breath, she repeated what her aunt had told her about making the small crosses. She also explained that during services in the morning, the individual crosses would be an opportunity for them to set aside their sins and find forgiveness, as well as renewal, as Easter dawned.
“We’ve both been really busy getting ready for Easter and we haven’t really been able to talk more about what we’re going to do next to…to make our marriage really work, but unless we start now, I’m afraid we never will,” she admitted. “I know it’s late, but Aunt Dorothy was hoping we could make our crosses tonight. Together. If you want to,” she added, hoping and praying that he, too, would want to celebrate the joy of Easter tomorrow truly as one again.
When he glanced away, her heart trembled, but just when she thought he was going to break her heart, he looked back at her. His gorgeous blue eyes were glistening with tears. “I’ve been afraid all week that maybe you’d changed your mind about…about us.”
“I wouldn’t do that. I couldn’t,” she insisted, blinking back tears of her own.
“Is making those crosses really something that you want us to do, or are you doing this just to make Aunt Dorothy happy?”
“I want us to make our crosses together and I want us to pray together. You said we could do that again, but we never did,” she whispered. “If we’re both serious about rebuilding our marriage, I think we need to start right now by asking God to help us. With prayer.”
“Show me how to make the crosses,” he said, and moved closer to stand beside her.
She nodded, unable to speak for the lump in her throat. After she picked up two pieces of wood, she wrapped a strand of palm around them until the little cross was secure. Then she closed her fingers around it.
Following her lead, he made a cross of his own, which he clutched in one hand.
Impulsively, she opened his hand and laid her cross atop the one he had made, and covered them both with the palm of her hand. When she looked up at him, she saw his love staring back at her. “Pray with me,” she whispered, and bowed her head.
He cleared his throat. “Father, we come to You together to ask that You forgive us both for taking one another for granted. Through Your beloved Son, You have shown the world the meaning of pure love, and through Your spirit, You have given us all the strength to follow Your Word.”
When he paused, Charlene added to her husband’s prayers. “Guide us, Father, as we rebuild our marriage. Keep us close to You when we wander apart. And tomorrow, when the sun rises in the east to announce the glorious victory of righteousness over evil, fill our hearts with Your love, that we may share that love with one another. Amen.”
“Amen,” Daniel whispered, and pulled her into his arms.
He hugged her so tight she had to pull away to draw a breath, then he leaned forward and stole a kiss. And then another.
She chuckled, wondering what would have happened if she had had time to dab on that perfume behind her ears, and remembered the present for him she had stuck in her pocket. “Here,” she said, handing him a Turkish Taffy that she had salvaged from her store. “Happy Easter, Daniel,” she said, hoping he would remember the first time she had offered him the candy.
Grinning, he took the candy, but immediately shoved it into his own back pocket. “Since I’m not wearing a helmet, I think it’s better if I put it away before you get any ideas about using my head to crack it into pieces,” he teased.
Delighted that he remembered, she grinned back at him. “I’ve got something else for you,” she said, and leaned over to get his present from the table, handing it to him. “Open this.”
Looking a bit surprised, he backed away. “Hold on to that. I’ll be right back,” he said, and rushed out of the kitchen and through the dining room. When he returned, he handed her a gift that was identical in size and wrapped in the same pink-and-purple-striped paper as the gift she had picked out for him.
They opened their respective presents simultaneously, but she was the one who laughed first when she saw that he had bought her the same book she had bought for him—a collection of scripture verses meant to be shared by couples. “I don’t believe this,” she whispered as she ran her fingers over the cover.
“I do,” he replied. “Great minds think alike.”
“Great couples think alike,” she corrected. “What should we do now? We really don’t need two copies of the same book.”
“Maybe we do,” he said, and set his book on the table. “We can keep one copy here to read together on the weekends, and I’ll take the other one home. That way, during the week after I get home from work, I can call you and we can pray together over the phone.”
“Good idea.”
He grinned. “I thought so.”
“Aunt Dorothy still needs our help, although none of the doctors seem to be able to tell us how much time she has left,” she said. “While living apart during the week isn’t exactly a good way to rebuild a marriage, I don’t see that we have much choice.”
“Maybe we won’t have to be living apart. At least, not for long,” he responded, to her surprise. “I was thinking about having both of us move in with her. Permanently.”
She furrowed her brow. “Both of us? How? You can’t commute back and forth. Not after working ten hours a day.”
He pecked her cheek. “I’ll make some coffee. Why don’t you get that cake you hid up there on top of the refrigerator and cut a few slices. I don’t know about you, but I need a snack. We can talk over cake and coffee.”
She gasped. “I can’t cut the cake now. It’s for Easter.”
He grinned and turned her around to face the clock. “See? Easter is only five minutes away. Before the coffee is even ready, it will officially be here,” he teased.
She leaned back against him, looked up and kissed his cheek, knowing that the promise of a new day for them had already begun.
“That clock’s running awfully slow,” Aunt Dorothy announced. “Happy Easter!”
Startled, Charlene felt her husband jump, too. When she stepped out of his embrace and turned to look toward the dining room, Aunt Dorothy was shuffling toward them. In addition to a broad smile, she was wearing the ankle-length winter coat she had laid out for the sunrise service, with a scarf tied around her head and slippers on her feet. She was also holding Charlene’s coat in one hand and a flashlight in the other.
Aunt Dorothy grinned at both of them. “I’m glad to see you two so happy.”
“We are, but it’s hours too early to leave for the service,” Charlene said, hoping Aunt Dorothy had merely misread the digital clock next to her bed, and wasn’t disoriented.
Aunt Dorothy handed Charlene her coat. “We’re not leaving for services. We’re going out back. I’ve been lying in bed watching the clock for hours. I’ve been so excited about seeing what Daniel did back by the creek that I haven’t been able to sleep a wink. Once I saw it was just about midnight and I still heard your voices in the kitchen, I decided to get up and see if you wanted to come outside with me.”
Chuckling, Daniel grabbed his coat from the back doorknob. “I’ve got the other f
lashlights packed in the car already. I’ll be right back,” he told them before slipping outside.
“You two seem to have patched up your troubles. I’m proud of you both,” her aunt whispered.
Charlene blushed, wondering how much her aunt had overheard. “We really have. Thank you. We—”
Daniel opened the back door, interrupting her. “Ready?”
Aunt Dorothy took Charlene’s arm. When they were outside, their flashlights guiding their steps, they followed Daniel, who used a larger flashlight to spotlight their surroundings.
The air was cold, but there was no wind. Dazzling stars splashed across the night sky and a half-moon cast a wan light upon the earth. The woods were thick with trees, but the bushes along the wide pathway leading to the creek had been trimmed back. Their steps crunched as they walked side by side on a thick bed of stones toward the sound of moving water.
When Daniel raised his flashlight, illuminating a concrete bench that faced the creek, Aunt Dorothy yelped excitedly: “Look! There’s the bench. You found it, Daniel!”
“Actually, that’s a new bench,” he said. “I only found the base for the old one, and it was pretty much ruined.” As they approached the bench, he moved his flashlight to the right, revealing a white wrought-iron table with matching chairs. “Now that the weather is about to warm up, I thought you might want to sit out here with your friends when they visit.”
“What a lovely idea. It’s perfect. And if the day warms up, we can have brunch right here, too. Thank you,” her aunt murmured, and plopped herself down in the middle of the bench. She sat still for a few moments, looking straight at the creek, where a narrow strip of moonlight stretched across the surface of the water. She let out a sigh. “I’ve been dreaming and dreaming about sitting out here again for a very long time, but I never thought I would,” she admitted in a low voice.