Heir of Hope: Return to Ironwood Plantation (Ironwood Plantation Family Saga Book 2)

by Stephenia H. McGee

  She opened the top drawer and pulled out a heavy-looking stamp and pushed it into the wax. She stood, holding the papers in her hand for a moment, then, as if making up her mind, she whirled around and headed across the room.

  I stepped back, pushing against the wall on the other side of the doorway. There was a soft creaking sound, barely audible over the sound of my own raspy breathing.

  I pushed my ear against the wall. A grunt, then a grating sound like someone moving furniture. Then more creaking, followed by another grating sound.

  I shuffled back to the crack in the door. What on earth was she doing in there? I couldn’t see anything. I adjusted my position. Where could she have gone? I knew she couldn’t have left the—

  An eye came level with mine.

  I screamed.

  I turned and ran down the dark staircase, tripping over my own feet but somehow managing to maintain my balance.

  “Wait!”

  The voice echoed behind me. I kept running. Through the foyer. Out the front door.

  No car. I whirled around and looked at the house. Great. Somehow this crazy house had transferred me back in time to yet another place where I didn’t belong. My sides heaved with exertion and fear. Somewhere in the distance an owl called in the darkness. I looked up at the second story window.

  Lydia looked down at me, her hand on the glass.

  I gasped and shot up in bed, sweat dripping from my forehead. I was back at Dee’s. A dream. Just another all-too-real, super-freaky dream. I drew a ragged breath, wiggling out from under the covers and stepped across the thick carpet to the bathroom to splash my face with water.

  I studied the reflection across from me. Finding nothing profound, I went out to the balcony for some fresh air. I breathed in deep, the dampness coating my lungs. What was happening to me? Why did I keep having these strange dreams?

  The night offered me no reply. One thing I knew for sure. The more I read that diary the more it got under my skin. The old pages led to the dreams and hallucinations. I should just put it back where I found it and forget it.

  I clenched my fists and pounded them on the rail, which did nothing for my frustration and only added sore hands to my troubles. Call it a character flaw, but I had to finish the story. Only a few pages remained. I needed to know what had happened to her. Then I could get out of here. The house neared completion, and if Gloria wanted it so bad she could have it.

  I slid my hand along the white rail, mulling over the idea. Aside from the nosey people and the small-town drama, I really enjoyed it here. I loved the good food and Dee’s grandmotherly role, Kristin’s easy friendship and the depth of Luke’s ocean eyes pooling with charm.

  Maybe southern life was just in my blood. Or in my head. Fantasies of a simple life with a loving family could be what really held me here.

  With no real reason to stay in Jersey, I thought about what it might be like to find somewhere a little more southern to settle down. Maybe buy myself a small place in the mountains and take a year to write. With the money left in Adela’s account and the profit from the house, it should be an easy enough dream to accomplish. What was the harm in it? I’d give myself a year. A year to make this writing thing work.

  Having made up my mind to leave Oakville’s drama behind, I crawled back into bed to await the dawn. I dozed a few times but finally gave up on sleep. Fingers of light spread over the floor and I stepped out on the balcony to watch the morning sun streak the sky in pink and gold. I lingered, admiring the beauty and dreading the time when I would have to face Dee. When the bright oranges settled into soft blues and the sun rested among the white wisps of clouds, I knew I could stall no longer.

  I found Dee downstairs in the kitchen, frying bacon. I started grabbing plates like usual, not saying anything. Dee hummed, but didn’t say anything to me either. At least she appeared to be in a good mood. Maybe that would help.

  Breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs, bacon, biscuits, and a sliced tomato from the garden. I’d found I rather liked a slice of tomato on a biscuit. A suggestion of Luke’s—one of his favorites.

  I went to take a bite when Dee lowered her head to pray. I begrudgingly put my fork down and followed suit.

  “Lord, we thank you for this day and for all the many blessings of your hand. Help us to lean on you for understanding and guidance. You know all our thoughts and actions. Nothing is hidden from you. You speak to us in whispers and dreams, always with us. We thank you for that, Father. I ask that you forgive us where we have wronged you and others. Thank you for the meal you have provided, and please bless it to our bodies and our bodies to your service. Amen.”

  I looked up at Dee. She looked at me expectantly. “Amen,” I grumbled, picking up my fork. I wondered if adding my amen to the end put my name on the prayer, too. I guess I was okay with asking God to forgive me for hitting Gloria McCrae. The other parts—not so much.

  We ate in silence until I couldn’t stand it anymore. I put down my fork and stared at Dee. “All right, come on. I know you’re mad at me. Go ahead and tell me how awful I am so we can just get this out in the open and be done with it.”

  Dee cocked her head. “What are you talking about, dear?”

  I huffed. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. Don’t act like you don’t. I’m sure the whole town is talking about it.”

  Dee smiled. “No doubt they are. You gave them enough fuel for the gossip fire to last them a good month. But don’t worry, it’ll settle down eventually.”

  “I’ll be long gone by then.”

  Now Dee laid down her fork. She wiped her mouth with a paper towel and narrowed her eyes. Just enough for me to grow more uncomfortable. If that was even possible. “So now that things are difficult, you’ve decided to go?”

  I made a face. “Things have always been difficult. I did what I came here to do, and now that it’s almost done, it’s time to move on.”

  “But just the other day you said you were going to take your time and go through the house, then think about selling.”

  That one stopped me. The diary talked about hiding things in the house if the soldiers ever came. Based on what I’d gathered, those soldiers would eventually come and set up a lookout in Lydia’s ballroom. I wondered if she actually did start hiding things around the house and if they were still there. I would have to finish the diary and try to find out. “That won’t take but a few more days. Then I’m going to let Kristin hand it over to the auction house and let them take care of everything else.”

  Dee looked sad. “And just when I was growing rather fond of you.”

  “Even after I hit an old lady at church?”

  Dee giggled. It was a delightfully youthful sound. “Come now, she’s not that old. I have to tell you, I’ve wanted to sock her once or twice myself.”

  I stared at her, astonished. “But you’d never actually do it.”

  “I might if she threatened one of mine. You should have let me handle her, dear. There are better ways to settle things like that.” She winked at me.

  “I know,” I said on a sigh. “I feel awful. I really do. I let my temper get the better of me.”

  “You’ve been through a lot lately, and Luke says she hit a raw nerve.”

  So they’d been talking about me. “That still doesn’t excuse it.”

  “You’re right, dear. It doesn’t. You are still going to have to go ask her for forgiveness.”

  Dee’s gentle but corrective tone left no room for argument. I conceded. “All right.”

  “I’ll go with you, if that would make it better.” She grinned. “Or Luke. I’m sure he’d be glad to go.”

  No way. The look on Luke’s face did me in the last time. I didn’t want to see his disappointment in me again. “No, I don’t want to bother him. It would be nice if you went, though.” I might need sympathetic backup.

  “No problem. We can go as soon as we finish breakfast.”

  “Today?” The word came out whinier than I intended. />
  “Yes, Ma’am. Today. We are going to take care of this whole thing and get it behind us.”

  “Fine.” I pushed the eggs around my plate. I wasn’t hungry anymore, and I felt no urgency to get over to Gloria’s house, either.

  Dee patted the corner of her mouth with her napkin. “You know, Luke cares for you.”

  I froze. “Huh?”

  “I’ve known that boy a long, long time. I’ve never seen him look at a girl the way he looks at you.”

  My heart fluttered. “I don’t… I can’t.” I stopped and collected myself. “Dee, Luke’s a great guy. The kind of guy I’m sure every girl in town is after. But he’s not for me.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Oh? And why’s that?”

  “For one thing, he’s a preacher. And that’s a big thing… a really big thing. Second, we are too different.” She continued to stare at me. I shifted in my seat. “Besides, like I said, I’m not staying.”

  Dee took a long drink from her glass. “You know, I heard a preacher say something one time that’s always stuck with me. He said if you have two people in a relationship that always agree on everything and do all the same things the same way, then one of them isn’t needed. It’s our differences that make each other grow. I believe it’s one reason God likes to put very different people together. It helps us grow to be more than we were on our own.” She grinned. “The other reason is because he has a sense of humor, and he likes to see how we’ll figure it out.”

  I chewed my lip and thought a moment. Dee watched me like she could read the thoughts tumbling around in my head. Maybe she could make sense of them. Heaven knows I couldn’t.

  “Dee, I just don’t think it would work. I’m not the kind of girl he needs,” I said softly, staring at the delicate floral pattern lining the edge of my plate of now-cold food.

  She tapped her finger on the table. “Now we see the truth of it. Before you said you didn’t think he was right for you. I never believed that. These old eyes have seen enough to recognize when a woman is taken with a man. The real problem here is you don’t think you’re good enough for him.”

  Dee’s knack for candor never ceased to amaze me. “I… I never said that.” I knew my cheeks were flaming red, I could feel them burning all the way into my ears.

  Her face softened. “You didn’t have to, dear. I could read it all over you, plain as words on a page.”

  I slumped in my chair, wishing I could just melt all the way through the floor. Somehow she had managed to see right through me once again. So much for my solid wall of mystery.

  Dee traced the wrinkles in the edge of the tablecloth, her voice soft and laced with sadness. “I can see it because it was the same way I felt about my Douglass. He was a good man, respected in the community. I didn’t think there was any way he would be interested in me. Not if he really knew who I was.”

  I tilted my head and waited for her to continue. I would have never pictured Dee with a colorful past.

  She smiled, once again reading my thoughts. “Oh, I was a wild one back in my day. Always felt like I had this emptiness in me. Maybe because I grew up without a daddy, and I always craved the affections of a man.” She waved her hand. “Anyway, I took their attentions any way I could. It wasn’t long until I ended up pregnant.”

  I frowned. I didn’t know Dee had any children.

  “Back then there were fewer… treatments for such things. I was alone, unwed, and without any family to support me. I thought I couldn’t take care of that baby on my own, and I was utterly terrified. I went into town and bought myself a bottle of whiskey. I drank the whole thing sitting on a park bench. I was so sick I vomited until there was nothing left in me, and then I tried to heave up more.”

  She took a deep breath, and I could tell she was trying to control her emotions. I waited, but she still traced the tablecloth with one finger, not looking at me. When she composed herself, she continued. “It wasn’t long after I quit throwing up that the bleeding started. I lost the baby. I felt both ashamed and relieved. For more than a year I had no more boyfriends. Then I met Douglass.

  “Oh, Lord, my Douglass was a sweet man. Way too good for me. Yet, I fell for him despite my best efforts not to. He treated me like the most important person in the world. But still I resisted him because I knew he deserved better. If he really knew what I had done he would never be able to love me.”

  She looked at me then, her eyes brimming with emotion. I swallowed hard, trying to push the lump down in my throat. “But he did love you. You got married.”

  “Yes. But only after I let God take all the hurt out of me. Only then could I give my heart to Douglass. I told him what I’d done. To my surprise, he loved me anyway. I was blessed with a wonderful, kind man with a heart bigger than the sky. He was always good to me, even after we tried for several years and I still couldn’t have a baby. He loved me just the same. Polar opposites we were, that’s for sure. But we fitted together perfectly.”

  I let a tear slide down my cheek, unable to be contained any longer. “Oh, Dee. I’m so sorry.”

  “Why should you be sorry, dear? I was blessed with a long, wonderful marriage. I’ve lived a very full and happy life, surrounded by many children I’ve mothered throughout the years. Little ones who might not have a mother of their own to look after them.”

  “Like Luke?”

  She sat back in her chair. “So he told you, then.”

  “Yes.”

  “Douglass and I loved him like our own. I still do. I think I never had any children of my own so I could have plenty of love to give to the ones who needed it. Like Luke…” She took a deep breath. “And your daddy.”

  My mouth dropped open. “What?”

  “I loved your daddy, too. He had a momma, yet he didn’t really have one, and he never knew his daddy. He’d come by and do odd chores around the house for us, and we’d take him in when things got bad enough at home. I wanted to call the state and try to have him come live with us, but Adela insisted her sister would get better and would go to rehab.” Dee’s face clouded over. “I told her I would wait. I would wait a little longer. But Jonas, he’d waited long enough. He ran off and none of us ever heard from him again. I prayed for him for years, hoping he’d found a good life.”

  I didn’t know what to say. A boulder descended into the pit of my stomach. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Dee let out a long breath. “I’ve been waiting for the right time. When Buford said he found you, I couldn’t believe it. I would have never imagined you would end up here with me. I know I should have told you sooner. I’m sorry.”

  I wanted to scream, I wanted to cry, and I wanted to run. Not knowing which to do, I dropped my head to the table and tried to sort it all out. Dee came to stand beside me, rubbing her hand on my back. Before I knew it I was in her arms, sobbing. Dee stroked my back and whispered, “Everything happens for a reason.”

  I pulled back and wiped my face. “All this time. All this time I thought I missed out on family, and you were all right here and I never even knew.”

  Dee patted my shoulder. “But you know now, dear. And we are all still here. We might not be your family by blood, but there are people here who love you. And love is what makes a family.”

  I offered a weak smile. “Thanks, Dee. I’ll remember that.” I picked up my plate and carried it to the sink, wiping the moisture from my face with my free hand. Dee followed behind me.

  “I’ll take care of the dishes. Why don’t you head upstairs and get washed up, then we’ll go on over to Gloria’s.”

  I said a weak, “Yes, Ma’am,” and ascended the stairs. I combed my hair and washed the tear-streaks from my face. All this time, Dee had known my father. Of course, it made perfect sense. In a town as tiny as Oakville, she probably knew everyone within a ten mile radius. My grandmother had grown up in the same house with Adela. Why hadn’t I put the pieces together?

  I brushed my teeth and tried to brace myself for what lay ahead. I wanted
to see Gloria McCrae again like I wanted to experience the excitement of descending into the ocean in a shark cage smeared with chum. But Dee was right. This time I had to face my problems and not run away.

  I found Dee waiting for me by the front door. “Ready?”

  “As ready as I can be. Are you sure this is a good idea? I’m supposed to go to court Thursday morning. Maybe we should just wait until then to talk to her.”

  Dee held the door open. “Nope. We’re going to do it now.”

  I groaned and marched out the door, Dee on my heels. When we drove past Buford’s office, I glanced at my surrogate grandmother. “Hey, Dee, aren’t you supposed to be at work today?”

  “Took the day off.” She winked at me. “I figured you might need me.”

  I didn’t know what to say. “Thank you,” was the best I could do.

  We turned onto Main Street and passed the little white courthouse before entering a picturesque neighborhood of older, but well-maintained homes. Dee turned into the driveway of a brick house with a wide front porch. The yard brimmed with an array of bright flowers, the lawn perfectly manicured.

  We got out and knocked on a blue door with a magnolia wreath. In a few moments the door swung open and Gloria frowned at us. The bridge of her nose sported the yellow tint of a bruise, but it didn’t look nearly as bad as I thought would.

  “Hello,” she said, eying us with suspicion.

  I opened my mouth to comment on how lovely she looked and that you couldn’t see anything at all wrong with her nose when Dee stepped in and stopped me.

  “Good morning, Gloria. We have come to have a little chat with you. May we come in?”

  “I think it would be better if we spoke out here on the porch.” She gestured toward several rocking chairs flanking the doors. She slipped past us and chose the one at the farthest end. Dee followed her and sat in the next one, leaving me the final one closest to the door. Fine by me, let Dee be the one next to Gloria. I knew I was acting like a child, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself.