The Peculiar Miracles of Antoinette Martin

by Stephanie Knipper

  “How could I have told you?” Rose’s voice went up a notch in both pitch and volume. “You wouldn’t have believed me until you saw it for yourself. Seth didn’t even believe until he saw Antoinette heal me.”

  She was right, but Lily couldn’t admit that. “You should have told me.”

  “And you shouldn’t have left in the first place,” Rose snapped.

  Lily stepped back as if slapped. “I called you every day. You never answered. You didn’t want me here.”

  “You’re right. I didn’t want you here; I needed you here. I was sick, and I had a special-needs kid. You think you were scared? You have no idea what fear feels like.” Rose was yelling now. “Antoinette’s special ability shouldn’t change anything, but if you’re leaving you might as well go now.”

  Lily wanted to say she wasn’t running away, but wasn’t that exactly what she had been planning all morning?

  There was a sharp knock at the door. It was probably Seth—someone else Lily was angry with—but she yanked the door open, grateful for the diversion. “What?” she snapped, then stepped back in surprise.

  Will stood on the porch, his dark hair meticulously combed and his blue oxford shirt wrinkle-free despite the two-hour drive to Redbud.

  “Lily Martin,” he said as he opened his arms. “Just the girl I’m looking for.”

  “What are you doing here?” she asked. In her shock, she was abrupt.

  “Do I need a reason beyond missing you?” he asked. He grinned, but something in his eyes said it was more than that.

  “To drive two hours south without telling me you were coming? Yes, you need a better reason than that.”

  “Who is it?” Rose asked. She came up behind Lily and opened the door wider.

  “Will Grayson.” He pushed past Lily and held out his hand. “Lily’s friend. You must be Rose.”

  After a hesitation, Rose took his hand. “I’m sorry. I don’t remember Lily mentioning you.”

  Will shrugged. “Keeping me all to yourself, hmm Lils?” He smiled at Rose. Then he leaned down as if confiding a secret. “Can’t blame her. Women have trouble staying away from me.”

  Rose gave a shocked laugh. “I can see why.”

  Lily took his arm. “Why don’t I show you around the farm?”

  “Wait.” Rose pulled Lily into the family room. As soon as they were out of earshot, Rose said, “You can’t tell him about Antoinette. The fewer people who know about her ability, the safer she is.” She squeezed Lily’s arm.

  “You’re hurting me,” Lily said as she disentangled herself. She was angry, but a small voice in the back of her head said Rose was right. She closed her eyes and counted to ten. “Fine.”

  Rose didn’t look convinced.

  “I won’t tell him,” Lily said. “Besides, what am I going to say? ‘Meet my niece, the miracle worker?’ ” She looked over her shoulder. Will stood in the middle of the kitchen, his hands still in his pockets, whistling. “I’m just showing him the garden.”

  A pained look flashed across Rose’s face. “I would have told you. Eventually. I just wanted you to get to know Antoinette first.”

  There was a loud thump from upstairs. Rose glanced at the ceiling. “Antoinette’s awake. I’d better get her.” Before leaving, she said, “I know I’m asking a lot. But I need you. We need you. Please don’t go.”

  She didn’t wait for Lily to answer. Which was just as good, because Lily had no idea what to say.

  Will was still standing in the middle of the kitchen. When he saw her, he smiled. “Surprised you, didn’t I?”

  “You could say that.”

  “Rose doesn’t look scary,” he said, continuing the conversation they had started several days ago on her deck. “No horns—not that I can see anyway. No cloven hooves. Just your average run-of-the-mill sister.”

  “You never answered me,” she said as she held the back door open for him. “Why are you here?”

  Will followed her onto the porch. “Simple. You sounded scared on the phone. I’m here to help you feel better.” He leaned in to her. “Whatever it takes.”

  She shoved him.

  “Hmm, into the rough stuff.” He raised his eyebrows and rubbed his shoulder. “That’s all right. I meant what I said. Whatever. It. Takes. I’m your man.”

  “Seriously, why are you here?”

  “You want serious. Okay. I can do that.” He stopped smiling. “When you called me and said you couldn’t take care of Antoinette, I was afraid you’d leave. I’ve known you long enough to know that if you did you’d regret it for the rest of your life.

  “It might seem easier to walk away, but one day you’d wake up and realize that abandoning your niece was the biggest mistake you’d ever made. I left Covington at five this morning and drove here to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

  Was her fear that obvious? She stared at him, not sure whether she should be grateful, or angry, for his interference.

  Will jogged down the porch steps. At the bottom, he said, “Well, aren’t you going to show me around the farm?”

  Lily counted to ten before joining him.

  “So where are the pigs?” he asked.

  “It’s not a pig farm.” She stopped at Will’s sharp intake of breath. Without looking up, she knew what had captured his attention. The oak and birch trees had blocked his view of the land from the porch, but as they walked Eden Farms spread out in front of them.

  Lilacs bloomed around the farmhouse. Daffodils nodded from beds framing the house. Beyond that, the commercial flower fields stretched. They were striped red, pink, and purple as flowers sprouted from the soil. Pink clematis, blooming a month early, grew over the drying barn.

  “You grew up here?” Will rocked back on his heels. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m city through and through, but how could you leave this?”

  “No pigs,” she said, and she smiled for the first time that day.

  Chapter Fifteen

  A strange man leaned against the kitchen sink. Antoinette tried studying his face, but when she did it fractured into pieces like the Picasso painting she’d seen, Weeping Woman. Focusing on faces was always difficult, but today was worse than normal. She cocked her head to the right and squinted at a spot on the wall above the man’s left shoulder.

  He was tall and had dark hair like Seth, but that was the only way they were alike. This man was thin and lanky. Seth was covered with a hard layer of muscle. Unlike Seth’s warm brown hair, this man’s hair was so dark it was almost black. But the biggest difference was the way they spoke.

  Seth was quiet, his movements controlled. Sometimes Antoinette thought she heard him thinking before he acted. This man’s gestures were big. His voice loud. He held a blue coffee mug and waved his hands as he talked.

  “The air smells sweeter here,” he was saying. He pointed at Lily with his cup. Antoinette waited for coffee to splash over the edge. “Why didn’t you tell me? Trying to keep this place all to yourself? I want to see all of Redbud’s finest establishments. The grand tour.”

  Lily laughed. “I’ll give you a tour, but there’s nothing grand about it.” She sat at the table across from Antoinette’s mother. The air between them felt tense; neither woman looked at the other one.

  Antoinette stomped her feet. New people kept arriving at the house. First Lily and now this man. She tucked her hands in tight against her shoulders and paced in a tight circle. The house was too loud. The refrigerator hummed. The faucet dripped. The coffeemaker hissed.

  “How long are you staying?” her mother asked the man. She seemed anxious. That morning, when she told Antoinette about the new man, she had said, “You can’t touch him. Do you understand?” She wouldn’t let Antoinette go downstairs until she bobbed her head yes.

  “As long as you’ll have me,” he said. He crossed his legs at the ankles. His shoes were shiny and black, with no mud on them at all.

  Her mother glanced at Lily and frowned slightly as if she didn’t like his answer.

>   “Will’s a doctor,” Lily said. “He could help if Antoinette—”

  “Lily told me she has seizures,” he said. “Is there a trigger? If you isolate the trigger and remove it, the seizures might stop.”

  “That’s what I’m trying to do,” her mother said, but her voice was so soft Antoinette didn’t think he heard.

  He crouched in front of Antoinette. “I met you once before. You were a little thing. Only three?” He looked to Lily as if for confirmation. When she nodded, he continued. “Your mom rushed you home before we could be properly introduced. My name is Will.” He inclined his head toward her in an odd little bow.

  Antoinette was captivated. She stole a glance at his eyes. They were a paler blue than the sky at dawn. What would his song sound like? Bright and fast, she decided, like creek water bubbling downstream. She reached for his cheek, but Lily pulled her back.

  Antoinette growled. Lily ruined everything. Go home!

  Lily sighed. “She’s never going to like me.”

  True. Antoinette stomped her foot. Don’t like Lily.

  Will walked over to Lily and kissed the top of her head. “Don’t forget what I said. She’s just like everyone else.”

  That wasn’t true. Antoinette knew she was different and she didn’t like it.

  The kitchen door opened and Seth came in, not looking at anyone. He went straight to the coffeepot and poured a cup of coffee. With his back still to them, he said, “It’s going to be hot today. I thought I’d get started early. Lily, I could use your help. And I’d like to talk to you about last night.” His voice turned up at the end, as if he was asking a question instead of making a statement.

  Antoinette stretched up on her toes and walked over to him. Pick me up! She tapped his back.

  “Okay, okay. I’ll pick you up.” Seth set his mug down and finally turned to face the room. When he did, his body stiffened.

  Antoinette turned to see what he was looking at. Will had his hands on Lily’s shoulders, his mouth bent low to her ear.

  Pick me up! Antoinette bounced on her toes. For the first time, Seth ignored her.

  Lily shifted sideways, away from Will, but he moved with her, his fingers twitching slightly against her shoulders.

  “This is Lily’s neighbor, Will,” Antoinette’s mother said. Her voice seemed loud in the silence. “Will, this is Seth. He owns part of the farm. We all grew up together.”

  Antoinette patted Seth’s hand. He always picked her up when he came over. Up! Up, up, up.

  “Ah,” Will said, “so you’re Seth.”

  “You have company.” Seth’s words were precise and clipped. “Lily, forget I asked. I’m sure you’d like to spend time with your friend.” Then he walked out the door, leaving Antoinette standing alone in the center of the kitchen.

  WILL’S CAR WAS a black so shiny Antoinette could see her reflection in the door. She crawled into the back beside her mother. After Seth left, they had spent the day driving through Redbud. They stopped at the farmers’ market and the library. Now they were headed for Teelia’s to go over preparations for the garden show.

  Will drove fast. Each time he rounded a curve, Antoinette listed sideways into her mother. Once, she tried to catch her mother’s hand, but she pulled away.

  “Time moves slower here,” Will said. “I don’t even need my watch. I stopped wearing it somewhere past Lexington. Tucked it into my suitcase.” He held up his left wrist. A white band of skin showed where his watch used to be.

  Maybe he drove fast to catch the time he lost, Antoinette thought.

  “Lily tells me you’re an artist,” Will said to Antoinette’s mother.

  “I used to be,” her mother said. “I gave it up after Antoinette was born and I took over the farm.”

  “Do you miss it?” he asked. “I’ve seen the paintings around Lily’s house. The Kentucky landscapes. The yellow lily on blue china. You’re good.”

  “I miss it sometimes, but I have other compensations now.” She smiled at Antoinette before turning to Lily. “You kept those old paintings?”

  “They reminded me of home,” Lily said. “And you.”

  “It’s the only art she has in her house,” Will said. “Aside from your paintings, the place is barren.”

  Antoinette’s mother released some of the tension in her body. She leaned forward and tentatively squeezed Lily’s shoulder.

  Will rounded another bend. This time, Lily touched his leg. “Slow down.”

  Antoinette didn’t want him to stop. She liked the sense of flying along the road, of being thrown suddenly against her mother.

  “Turn here.” Lily pointed to the string of refurbished houses that made up the Main Street shops. Art’s Floral, Knitwits, and several small antiques and craft stores. The Bakery Barn was next to Teelia’s. Antoinette bounced with excitement. If she saw MaryBeth again, she would fix her for good this time.

  “Park here.” Lily indicated an open spot in front of Teelia’s shop. “Every grand tour of Redbud includes a stop at the local yarn store.”

  Will pulled the car in and cut the engine. He squinted as he looked out the front window. “It’s just like Mayberry, R.F.D. I didn’t think places like this still existed.”

  “It has its share of issues,” Lily said as they left the car.

  For once, Antoinette agreed with her aunt. She thought of the old ladies who stared at her in the grocery store, and the kids who teased her at the library playground.

  “We won’t stay long,” her mother said. “I just need to know when Teelia wants us to come out to her place to load up her stuff for the show.”

  Knitwits occupied the first floor of a redbrick house with a large white porch. Bradford pear trees lined the property, their branches heavy with puffy white flowers. Antoinette could detect a whisper of music, but she didn’t try hard to capture it. Her mother had stopped her from healing MaryBeth, and Antoinette wanted to finish what she started.

  MaryBeth’s name went through her mind like a song. She started on a high note, then slid down, flapping her hands with each syllable: MaryBeth. MaryBeth.

  “We’re not going to the Bakery Barn today,” her mother said as she steered Antoinette toward Knitwits.

  This was a dilemma. Antoinette wanted to see MaryBeth, but she liked Teelia. Once, at the farmers’ market, Teelia had handed Antoinette Frank’s lead line. The alpaca had hummed softly, then nuzzled her cheek with his soft nose.

  Thinking of Frank helped Antoinette decide. She would follow her mother into Knitwits. She could visit MaryBeth when they left.

  Teelia bustled out from behind the counter. Bead bracelets and bamboo knitting needles hung from a metal counter display. “Who might this be?” She nodded at Will.

  “Will Grayson. At your service.” He executed a little bow.

  Teelia bobbed her head. “A gentleman. We don’t get much of that around here.”

  “Will’s my neighbor,” Lily said. “He’s down here visiting for a few days.”

  “Days. Weeks. Months,” Will said. “Who knows, maybe longer. This place is growing on me.” He looked at Lily as he spoke.

  “I thought we’d drop by and finalize plans for the show,” Antoinette’s mother said.

  “I have my yarn ready,” Teelia said. “I just need Seth to transport some things to the farm.”

  While her mother and Teelia discussed details about the show, Antoinette wandered off. The shop was filled with cubbyholes holding yarn in every color imaginable. A group of women sat at a table in mismatched chairs, knitting and chatting. Their voices formed a soft hum.

  “The shop hasn’t changed since I was little.”

  Antoinette was surprised to look up and see Lily standing behind her. Anxiety rolled off of her aunt in waves.

  “Teelia tried to teach me to knit once,” Lily said, “but I kept dropping my stitches. Your mom was good. I think I still have a scarf she made when she was just about your age.”

  Antoinette didn’t like standing so
close to Lily, but she didn’t walk away. She liked hearing stories about her mother.

  “We used to come here after school when the growing season ended. Our mother would sit with Teelia while Rose and I picked through the yarn. In the time it took me to cast on a row of stitches, your mom would be halfway finished with a scarf or a hat.”

  To Antoinette’s consternation, her anger toward her aunt softened. That couldn’t happen, not if she wanted everything to go back to normal. She stomped to the corner of the room, as far away from Lily as she could get.

  She would not like her aunt. She sat in the corner and twisted her hands in front of her face, letting the voices from the women sitting at the table wash over her. She didn’t budge even when she realized they were talking about her.

  “Is she okay?” a woman wearing an orange flowered shirt said.

  “Does she need help?” another said.

  Antoinette growled.

  Then Lily was there. She stood in front of Antoinette, shielding her from the women. She counted to ten and then said, “Rose, it’s time to go.”

  “I’ll be right—” Her mother stopped abruptly as the shop door snapped shut.

  “I thought I saw you come in here,” Eli said. The scent of cinnamon floated through the air as he hurried over to them.

  Antoinette flapped her hands. Eli would take her to MaryBeth. She pushed herself up and walked toward him, but her mother, with Will following, blocked her path.

  “Can’t stay to talk today,” her mother said to Eli. Her voice was artificially bright. “We have to get Antoinette back to the farm. She’s not herself right now.”

  That wasn’t true. Antoinette was fine.

  “Take Antoinette to the car,” she whispered to Lily. Her mother was usually gentle, but this time she shoved Antoinette into Lily’s arms.

  No, no, no. Antoinette screamed and reached for Eli. She needed to see MaryBeth.

  “It’s not my place,” Will started, “but maybe—”

  “You’re right,” her mother said. “It’s not your place.”

  “Will, why don’t you help me?” Lily said. She grabbed Antoinette under the arms.