“Braxton-Hicks?” Alice asked.
She shook her head. “Not really. Not right now. At least, I don’t think so. I did have some last night. Actually, it was most of the night. I’m so tired. Probably contributed to my little meltdown.” She felt her face go hot. “I’m sorry about that. I’m not sure what came over me. Hormones, I guess.”
Alice gripped her hand again. She seemed almost as upset as Henry. “Don’t be sorry. I’m glad you did. I should have been more aware―”
“It’s not your job to make sure I’m okay.” Now Henry felt guilty. Alice was a mother, but even before kids she’d been the one to make sure her friends were happy. She was the kind of person who solved problems and brought people together. Now she felt like she’d failed because she hadn’t predicted that Henry was going to have a crying fit in her playroom. “You really have enough on your plate. It’s not your fault.”
“No, it’s not my fault or my job, but you’re my friend and I should have been listening closer. This flood has taken up all my worry time and that’s not okay.”
“This bookstore has brought so many people together. We’re worried, too.” When she thought of how she’d fallen in love with Gideon, she thought of this place, with its volumes of poetry and beautiful décor.
“I know it’s just a building and they’re just books but the flooding has me on edge. I can’t imagine…”
Henry nodded. “I feel the same way.” She looked around the play area, with its black and white coloring page décor and the bright play bakery. “But even if it does flood, it would just be cosmetic damage, right? The bones of the place will still be intact?”
“I don’t know. See, they have to strip everything down to the studs when it floods, otherwise it’ll mold. But there are no studs here, really. Just brick walls and wood floors. The newer portions have some drywall, but the rest is just…” She looked around, eyes filled with worry.
Leaning back to take some of the pressure off her stomach, Henry thought of how the bookstore would change if the large fireplace and the ironwork were gone. It would still be a beautiful store full of books, but the charm of the place would be changed forever. “I heard that it might snow,” Henry said. “Of course that help a little, wouldn’t it?”
“It would,” Alice said. “Charlie told me that yesterday and I couldn’t help thinking what a gift that would be. Not just because of the flooding but because of the wedding. As long as it wasn’t a blizzard and no one could attend. I feel so bad for those two already. She should be having a spa day before the rehearsal dinner and she’s out there in the mud.”
Henry thought of her own wedding, and how she’d been so nervous it had been hard to walk down the aisle. Gideon had stood there near the altar, looking at her like she was the moon on a dark night, like she was his northern star.
A sharp pain made her wince and she rubbed her side. Her stomach looked enormous. Earlier that month she’d had a nice little basketball tummy. Now the baby seemed to have dropped into her pelvis and she felt like she was carrying twenty pounds sideways across her middle. It was hard to walk without waddling and impossible to sleep comfortably. Poor Gideon probably got as little sleep as she had, although he never said anything. As she tossed and turned, she could tell by his breathing that he was awake. Sometimes he would reach out and rub her back or her shoulders, hoping to soothe her to sleep. Bilbo slept by their bed and even the dog seemed tired lately, probably from spending his nights being disturbed by Henry’s thrashing around.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Alice asked. “That’s three contractions in a row, all a few minutes apart.”
“Oh, they’re not contractions,” she said. “Just… twinges. And not all in the front. They move around. I keep feeling these aches around my lower back.” She shrugged. “I’m a mess.”
Alice laughed a little but didn’t seem convinced. She was watching Henry carefully.
“Maybe it is labor and I can go hang out in the hospital where it’s nice and dry,” Henry said.
“The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house. All that cold, cold, wet day.” Alice sighed. “And now I quote Dr. Seuss instead of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
“You’re in a Seuss mood,” Henry said, motioning to Aurora. Her little shirt had a familiar green face on it and read ‘Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store’. Elizabeth was wearing a soft cotton dress with what looked like Truffalu trees on it.
“I’m always in a Seuss mood,” Alice said. “You should see Emily Jane’s shirt. She’s―”
Blue popped his head into the doorway. He looked cold, wet, and exhausted. He was in his socks, probably because he’d left his muddy boots at the door, but the legs of his pants were soaked with dirty water.
“Hi, ladies. Rose is still upstairs?” Henry saw how his gaze flicked past her, then came back for a moment, clearly noting her swollen and red eyes.
Alice nodded. “If Emily Jane is awake, maybe they can come down here for a bit?”
“I’ll let her know,” he said and started to leave.
“How is it outside?” Henry asked.
Blue glanced at Alice and seemed to be trying to find the right words. “We’ve got more people coming to help with the sandbags,” he said. A moment later he was gone.
The women exchanged worried looks, and then sat in silence, listening to Aurora’s chatter as the rain continued to fall outside. (())
Chapter Fourteen
“Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold.”
― Zelda Fitzgerald
Roxie felt the phone buzz in her pocket and ignored it. Her arms were aching with the strain and she didn’t know how much longer she could work without taking a break. The phone buzzed again and she felt her stomach drop. Stepping out of the line, she wiped the mud from her hands and dug her phone from her pocket.
The care home’s number flashed on the screen and her worry turned to dread. Her worst nightmare might have come true. Maybe Mamere had wandered away and was lost in the storm. Maybe she’d tried to find her way back to the bakery, which was right near the river. The place was closed and surrounded by sandbags. Roxie imagined her climbing over the little walls and trying all the doors, convinced she’d lost her key and needed to get in the bakery. Please, Lord. Please, keep her safe.
She answered and a cheerful young woman greeted her as if there wasn’t a flood threatening most of the city.
“We just wanted to let y’all know that the water hasn’t come anywhere near us over here. Your grandma is playing cards with her friends, and they’re nice and warm by the fire.”
Roxie nearly slumped to the ground. She knew the water wasn’t anywhere near the care facility. She’d been checking all day. An overwhelming urge to berate the young woman passed over her and Roxie swallowed it back. She’d only been trying to help. She never could have known a simple phone call would cause her so much worry.
“Thank you,” she managed. “I appreciate knowing.”
“Anytime,” the young woman chirped. “Y’all take care now.”
“You, too.” Roxie disconnected the call and stood there for a few seconds, trying to calm her pounding heart. She looked up to see Andy watching her, a questioning look on his face. She flashed him a thumbs up sign and he nodded. As she trudged back to her place in line, she looked at the people around her. It seemed as if the whole community had turned out to protect the bookstore.
She whispered a prayer of gratitude and took her place in line, feeling as if she could go another hour or two. Together, they would be okay.
Flannery looked up, “Everything okay?” She was out of breath and covered in mud. Roxie wondered if she should insist she get inside to change. The temperature had been dropping all afternoon.
“Just the care facility calling to let me know Mamere is playing cards.”
Flannery snorted softly. “Bet that gave you a small hea
rt attack.”
“Basically,” she said. “And you know, I think you should get inside. You’re going to catch your death out here.”
She shrugged and passed another sandbag.
Roxie started to comment on Flannery’s response but noticed a young man walking by, the hood of his sweatshirt concealing his face. He paused, glancing at Roxie, then moved a few more steps. He looked young, maybe only fourteen or fifteen, and very thin. His hands were stuffed in his pockets and his clothes looked dirtier than one day in the rain would make them. Roxie accepted the sandbag from Charlie and caught her eye. She cut her gaze to the kid and then passed on the bag.
Charlie frowned, squinting at the boy. “I know him. That’s Perry, one of Austin’s kids.”
Roxie noted how she didn’t call him a patient or an inmate.
“Do you think he’s looking for Austin?” Flannery asked.
Their questions were answered in the next moment as Perry spotted Austin by the truck. He headed his way, not hurried and almost as if he wasn’t going in that direction for any particular reason.
Austin glanced up and his face went blank. The sandbag in his hands dropped to the ground.
***
“Perry?” Austin could hardly believe his eyes. The kid looked thinner and paler than he had just a week ago. His face was dirty, there were circles under his eyes, and his jeans were dark with dirt.
“Hey,” he mumbled.
Austin grabbed the sandbag from the ground and passed it off, then quickly left the line. “Where have you been?”
He shrugged. “Around.”
“We’ve been looking for you. Everyone has.”
“I know.” He looked around and for the first time, Austin noted fear in his eyes.
“Do you need help?”
He shrugged again. “I didn’t know where else to go.”
“Come on,” Austin said. “Let’s go inside where we can talk.” As they passed Charlie, she gave him a questioning glance.
As they stepped inside, Perry started to shiver.
“There are some dry sweatshirts in the lost and found.” Austin was afraid to walk away. If he turned his back, Perry might disappear again, never to resurface.
“That’d be real good.” He hesitated. “Anything to eat in here?”
“Sure. They’ve got a kitchen in the back. Sit down. I’ll be right back.”
Perry looked at the plush red chair by the window and the overstuffed couch by the fireplace. He walked to the fireplace and sat down on the floor.
Austin went to grab the dry clothes and one of the sandwiches that Alice kept stocked in the coffee room, but when he returned, Perry was asleep. The young boy’s head was pillowed on his arms and he was curled up like a child. Austin draped the sweatshirt over his shoulders and sat down beside him. Of all the worries that had been plaguing him before the wedding, Perry’s disappearance had been the biggest.
He didn’t know the full story, and maybe he never would, but as Austin sat beside the sleeping boy, he was thought he could handle anything else that happened in the next few days. If the reception was canceled, if the wedding was only attended by the few who were able to trek through the rain, or if the pictures were ruined, it didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.
He reached out a hand and gently rested it on Perry’s dirty shoe. Once was lost and now am found. His prayers had been answered.
***
Blue let himself in the door and blew out a sigh. He’d removed his boots downstairs but he was still covered in mud to the knees. His jacket wasn’t any too clean, either. His office was in as much danger as the bookstore, being right next door, but for some reason he was more worried about Alice’s building. It had been in his home in more ways than one and he hated the idea of it being coming to harm.
Rose appeared, carrying a sleeping Emily Jane. “I keep trying to lay her down,” she said. “It’s like she knows there’s something going on and doesn’t want to be left out.” She took a moment to take in his clothing. “Oh boy. I’m betting you need a hot shower and some food.”
“Sounds great.” He unzipped his jacket. “Anything in the oven?”
She shook her head. “Sorry. They kept me hopping today.”
“No problem. I can make myself something.” He dropped his coat by the door and stripped off his pants. “Let’s see if I can get through the apartment without ruining the rug.”
“Why don’t you drop your dirty things in the laundry room on the way?”
There was something in her tone that gave him pause. “Sure.”
“You left your boots downstairs?”
“At the front door.” Again, her voice held a note he didn’t hear often. She was irritated and he wasn’t sure why. Of course, he was standing in his underwear so he didn’t want to spend too much time thinking about it. He gathered his clothes and started toward the laundry room. Rose followed him.
“I can try to make you a sandwich when you get out of the shower. You’ll have to hold the baby.”
He glanced back at her. “If someone has to hold the baby, I should just make my own sandwich.” He smiled, hoping to get one in return.
“Well, maybe I’d like to make the sandwich so I’m doing something useful for once. Plus, I’d get points for making my man a sammich, right?”
She was laughing but her eyes were hard.
Blue turned at the laundry room door. He had never been one of those guys that expected a woman to make his meals. He probably cooked more than Rose did. Maybe she was frustrated because she wanted to help with the flood barrier. He said, “You don’t have to make me a sandwich and you do useful things all the time. I can hold the baby, and you can go out and sling sandbags with the crew.”
He knew as soon as he said the words that he’d chosen the wrong tactic. He’d only meant that if she was jealous of the volunteers outside, they could switch places.
“Because that’s all I’m good for. Manual labor and sandwiches.”
Blue took a full five seconds to respond, weighing several answers. “I’m sorry,” he said.
Again, the wrong response. If anything, it made her angrier.
“Why?”
He looked up at the ceiling as if the answer would be written there. If there was ever a time he needed a friend to come walking through the door and cause a distraction, this would be it. He didn’t care who saw him in his boxers. He needed to be rescued from the conversation.
“Because you’re angry and I don’t know why. Maybe if I say I’m sorry, everything will get better?”
To his shock, Rose started to cry. “No, it’s not going to get better. Not now. Everything is ruined.”
Blue dropped his muddy clothes and took her face in his hands. “I don’t know what that means, but I want to help. Tell me what to do.”
“You can’t help. You can’t.” She was making little gasping sounds. “If I don’t even have time to shower, then how are you going to fix the fact I can’t get a real job? I used to work eighteen hours a day and have a high powered job. When I got disbarred, I didn’t care what I did because I needed the money. Now I work a lot less, but I feel like my brain is shriveling. All I do is change diapers and look out the window. It’s like the world is going on without me. Everybody is doing important things but me.”
Blue gently took the sleeping Emily Jane from her arms. “Go take a shower. Or a bath. Take as long as you need. When you’re done, we can talk about it. There are plenty of other things to do. You’re not trapped here.”
For a moment he thought she was going to argue with him, but she wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded. “Okay.” On her way out of the room she looked back. “Sorry about the sandwich comment.”
“Not a problem.”
He waited until he heard the bathroom door shut and then he looked down at little Emily Jane. “You didn’t hear any of that. And don’t wake up until I put my pants on.”
He started toward the bedroom when there w
as a knock at the door. Blue stopped, trying to remember whether he’d locked it, and realizing as it swung open that he had not.
Bix and Patty came in first, followed by Paul, Andy, Fr. Tom and Gideon. Paul raised an eyebrow. Andy laughed out loud. Fr. Tom snorted and Gideon frowned.
“Do I want to know?” Paul asked.
“Not really.”
“Know what?” Bix asked.
“Nothing important,” Paul said, taking the baby from Blue.
“Yeah. Not a big deal. Just let me get my phone…” Andy reached for his pocket and swiped at the screen.
Fr. Tom plucked it from his hand. “The rain stopped and we decided to take a quick break. We tried to call but nobody answered.” He glanced at Blue’s pantsless state. “Probably should have knocked louder.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Blue was too tired to be embarrassed. He felt like he’d been giving a lot of passes lately and hoped he was going to get some in return soon. “Come on in. I’ll go change. Feel free to make yourselves coffee or whatever you need.”
“Hold Emily Jane for me? I’ll make the coffee.” Paul nudged Bix’s arm and the old man gratefully received the baby. Bix rocked from side to side, staring down at her as if he could see her little face.
“Is the rehearsal dinner still on?” Blue asked as he headed for the hallway.
“As far as we know. The weather says no more rain for a bit. Might as well take our opportunity to celebrate. Who knows what the weekend will bring,” Fr. Tom said.
As he passed the bathroom, Blue paused, wondering if he should let Rose know there were people in the apartment. He stood there, his knuckles against the door. Somehow he had missed the signs but Rose was deeply unhappy. Her outburst didn’t look like a woman under stress. He’d seen her under the worst circumstances before and she’d kept her cool. Her tears were the tears of a woman who felt undervalued and invisible.
Until Winter Comes Again: (An Inspirational Contemporary Romance) (Cane River Romance Book 6) Page 13