“Back from the park so soon?”
Bree shrugged. “The puppy’s little. I was afraid she was getting cold.”
“Honey, she’s wearing her fur coat and that silly one you bought her, too. I’m sure she’s warm enough.” Sophie looked past Bree to the garden gate. “Where’s Calvin?”
“He went home. I told him I wanted to speak to you privately.”
“Uh-oh. Here comes another lecture.”
Bree set the white dust mop of a dog on the ground, then shook her head. “I am not going to lecture. I merely intended to point out that you and Ezra seem to be made for one another. I just think this separation is something God can work with. Maybe it’s supposed to show him how much he needs you and the girls.”
“Well, maybe so.” Sophie stabbed the shovel into the dirt, then leaned on it. “But if He is so keen on working this out for us, why isn’t He bringing Ezra back? You know why he left, don’t you? About his father?”
“Calvin shared a little bit about that. Just that he left Ezra as a young teen, and Ezra’s felt a need to prove himself to the guy ever since.”
“Yes, well, Ezra is out proving a point to someone who doesn’t care, and I’m here feeling like I was left at the altar again. It’s crazy, I know, because he never told me he loved me, but I thought. . .” Tears threatened, and Sophie swiped at them with her sleeve. “I’m sorry, Bree. This is a happy time for you. You certainly don’t need to listen to my complaining.”
Bree picked up the puppy and began to scratch his ears. “You’re not complaining, Soph. And you have every right to be upset.”
“I just wanted this to work out, you know? I mean, it’s only been a short while, but I thought Ezra was the one. It was nothing like the first time around back in Lake Charles. I even got past the fact that Ezra was a marine, too. This really felt like God was behind it. And the way he was with the girls—oh, Bree, it was as if they were his own flesh and blood.”
“I liked that about him,” she said softly. “He treated Amanda and Chloe so well.”
Sophie met her friend’s gaze. “Can I admit something to you? I told him I loved him. Well, in a roundabout way. I asked him if my saying I loved him would be enough to keep him here.” She sniffed and wiped her eyes with her sleeve again. “It didn’t.”
“Maybe not, but you have to believe it will be enough to bring him back.” Bree set the dog down again, then embraced Sophie. “Honey, I think God is behind all this. It’s just that sometimes people have to go to all sorts of trouble proving themselves before they figure out they’ve got nothing to prove.” She held Sophie out at arm’s length. “Change of topic. Tell me what you have written for the Founders’ Day speech.”
“It’s inside. Let’s go in for coffee, and I’ll let you see what you think.” Sophie dried her eyes and gave her friend a hug. “Thank you for helping me by speaking on Founders’ Day, Bree. I just couldn’t have, especially now.”
She shrugged. “It was nothing. I do this all the time in court, remember? At least this time I don’t have to worry which way the jury will vote.”
❧
November 16
Founders’ Day dawned cold and clear. Ice dusted Sophie’s windshield, very much like the layer her heart wore.
She’d written and rewritten the speech honoring Nell Landry until she could say it in her sleep. Now all that remained was to listen to Bree read it.
If only Ezra were there. He should be in attendance today. A nagging thought pricked at her conscience. If only you’d answered the phone when he called.
She shifted positions and pushed her doubts away. No, she’d done the right thing. When a man leaves, you let him go.
Somewhere along the tenth or eleventh day after he left, Ezra finally stopped calling. Sophie didn’t know whether to be offended or relieved. Her current state of numbness wouldn’t allow her to make the decision.
The parade complete, Sophie sat in the front row of the high school auditorium and waited for Bree to emerge from behind the red, white, and blue curtain Miss Emmeline had fashioned to hide the plaque from view. To Sophie’s mind, the contraption looked more like a patriotic voting booth.
Chloe had borrowed a pen and was drawing flowers all over the program while Amanda leaned against Sophie’s arm, her eyes half closed. Someone coughed; then the stage lights went up, and the high school band played a patriotic song.
When the music ended, Miss Emmeline stepped up to the microphone and tapped it. The resulting squeal made Sophie cringe. The girls stuck their fingers in their ears and made faces until it stopped.
“Ladies and gentlemen, our first-ever honoree. . .”
Sophie let her mind wander as Miss Emmeline began to describe Nell. Her dear friend might have complained about all the fuss, but in her heart Sophie felt Nell would be pleased.
Miss Emmeline had showed her the plaque yesterday. Under a picture of Nell taken in her prime was the fifth verse from Psalm 68: A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. Following the verse was a simple tribute to the woman who’d loved so many:
Nell Landry lived her life in service to others, especially those orphaned by chance or choice. In her life she brought orphans into families and shone the light of the Lord into a dark world. She will be remembered as the mother of many and the defender of all who searched for a dwelling place.
Miss Emmeline wound down her speech, then looked over at Sophie. “The people of Latagnier honor her today as the woman who was always ready to offer love and comfort to a neighbor or an orphan. Miss Sophie Comeaux, Nell’s dear friend, has written a tribute that Miss Bree Jackson was to have read to you. Instead you will find the tribute framed beside the plaque at city hall.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Sophie caught sight of Bree coming toward them to sit beside Chloe. “What’s going on?” she asked Bree.
“Pay attention,” Bree said as Calvin appeared through the crowd and took the seat next to her. “You, too, girls.”
Miss Emmeline continued. “If I have your permission, Sophie, I would like to introduce someone else who will read a portion of what you wrote, along with some personal comments.”
The curtains parted, and out stepped Ezra in full dress uniform holding the bronze plaque. His back ramrod straight, he marched to the easel and placed his grandmother’s award on it, then took a moment to stand at attention before it.
He looked to be praying, and Sophie felt the tears gather. Until she saw Ezra, Sophie hadn’t admitted to herself how much she missed him. He gave a salute, then turned on his heels to make his way to the podium.
The microphone was far too low for a man of his height, so Ezra had to lean forward to be heard. He greeted the crowd, then looked over at Sophie and the girls. “I want to read something that someone very special wrote about Nell Landry, my father’s sister and the woman who raised me.”
Tears glittered and blurred the stage until Bree handed Sophie a handkerchief. It smelled of Nell’s favorite perfume, which made her cry harder.
“There is a point in our lives where God takes us by the hand and asks us the hard questions,” Ezra read aloud. “We all must answer those questions. When God asked Nell if she understood that sometimes being a mother means mothering others whose lives you did not create, I believe she answered with a hearty, ‘Yes.’ ”
Ezra set down the page and paused. “I know there are many people present today whose lives were touched by Nell Landry. Many of you lived in her home. She loved her work with the orphans, so some of you may have been blessed by knowing her through the state children’s home. By a show of hands, how many of you found families because Nell Landry took an interest in you and matched you up with friends or family willing to welcome you in?”
Sophie looked around the auditorium, astounded at the number of hands raised. Then she looked down at her own girls and saw they, too, had their hands in the air. Onstage, Ezra had set the paper down and now held his hand high.
Smiling, Sophie, too, held up her hand. If she hadn’t met Nell, she would never have been part of a family. She might not be an orphan in the conventional sense, but she qualified as one of Miss Nell’s success stories all the same.
“That is the legacy of a woman of God,” Ezra continued. “And it shows how one person can make a difference. I challenge you all to leave here today changed because you know now that no act is too small and any person can leave a legacy for future generations.”
When the applause died, Ezra turned his attention to Sophie. “Some of you may know Sophie Comeaux and her daughters, Amanda and Chloe. I’d like to bring them up on-stage now.”
What happened next was a blur. Bree rose and pulled Sophie to her feet. The girls took her hands and practically dragged her up onstage. Then somehow she stood in the glare of the spotlights with all of Latagnier watching.
Ezra knelt to envelop the girls in a hug then rose, holding one of the twins in each arm. He lifted them into the air and addressed the crowd. “Meet four of Nell Landry’s success stories.”
Again the applause was deafening. Sophie held tight to the podium to keep from falling over. If this man thought he was going to convince her to read the rest of that tribute, he was crazy. At this point she couldn’t have spoken her name properly, much less give a speech.
“Sophie doesn’t know this, but I’ve called her up here for more than just to give honor to Nell. You see, I was an idiot; I need to tell her that, and I don’t care if the whole town hears it. I thought that what I needed was a promotion and a job in the Pentagon when what I really needed was waiting for me back here in Latagnier.”
He set the girls down and rose to turn to Sophie. When his gaze collided with hers, Sophie felt the breath go out of her. She gripped the podium tighter.
“Sophie, this is going to sound crazy because I never even admitted that I love you.” He turned to the audience. “I do love her, by the way. I’m just an idiot and didn’t tell her.”
Chloe giggled while Amanda grasped Sophie’s hand.
He looked back at her. “Anyway, as I said, this is going to sound crazy, but I sat in an office in the Pentagon for three weeks with everyone calling me Lieutenant Colonel and treating me like I was a big shot. I thought it would make me happy, but it didn’t. You know when I was really happy?”
She shook her head.
“Remember when we jumped on the trampoline? When we walked along the bayou? When I showed you the old schoolhouse?” He paused to smile at the girls. “Watching movies and eating popcorn with Chloe and Amanda? I could go on, but I think you get the idea.”
Sophie nodded.
“Sophie, I know in my heart that God and Nell Landry put us together. I don’t know why, but I do know it’s a fact. Do you believe that?”
This she knew for sure. “Yes,” she managed.
“I’ve resigned from my job to take a teaching position at the base. I’m coming home to Latagnier.”
“But your promotion.”
Ezra waved away her concern. “Believe it or not, they let me keep the title. I’m still a lieutenant colonel.”
She smiled.
Then he dropped to one knee and took her hand. “Sophie Comeaux, I want to be the man who makes your family complete. I want to dwell with you wherever the Lord says, and I want to make Chloe and Amanda my own daughters. Will you take this orphan into your family? Will you marry me?”
Thirty
Four months later
The wedding was a full-dress affair at the chapel beside Bayou Nouvelle with Calvin and Bree as best man and maid of honor and Chloe and Amanda as flower girls. As Sophie waited for her cue in the dressing room off the main foyer, she reached for the handkerchief with the picture of the Raffles Hotel in Singapore that she’d brought from home.
Touching it to her nose, she inhaled deeply. The scent was still there—barely. Closing her eyes, Sophie thought of Miss Nell.
“Oh, how I wish you were here,” she whispered as the sounds of the “Wedding March” drifted beneath the closed door. She tucked the handkerchief into her bouquet and smiled as Bree opened the door, Chloe and Amanda a step behind her.
“Mommy, you look so pretty,” Amanda said while Chloe nodded.
“Yes, you do,” Bree added with an approving nod. “You ready to do this?”
“Yes, I’m ready,” Sophie said. “Girls?”
“Ready, Mommy,” they said in unison.
The girls linked arms and followed Bree down the aisle. Sophie waited until the music rose to crescendo before stepping out of the room.
She followed his smile and her daughters to the altar where Ezra waited beside a nervous-looking Calvin. Before they spoke their vows, Ezra went down on one knee and motioned for Chloe and Amanda to join him.
“Girls,” he said, “before I marry your mom, I want to ask you something. Will you be my daughters?”
“Yes,” they squealed, climbing into his arms as Sophie’s heart melted with love for this amazing man.
Ezra rose, one girl cradled in the crook of each elbow. He held them that way until Calvin pulled the ring from his pocket. Placing the girls on the floor, Ezra handed each of them a small wrapped box.
Amanda looked up at Sophie. “Can we open it?”
Somehow she managed to nod while the girls tore into the lovely paper.
“Look, Mommy—it’s a charm bracelet.” Chloe held the silver bracelet up for Sophie to inspect. On the bracelet were three charms: a house, a cross, and a wedding cake.
“The house is to remind us we are a family,” Ezra said. “The cross tells us that Jesus is our Lord, and the wedding cake. . .” He shrugged. “I guess that one’s pretty obvious.”
The girls donned their bracelets with the help of Ezra, then showed them off to the guests. After a moment Bree ushered the girls to their places beside her, and Ezra reached for Sophie’s hand.
“Shall we make this family complete, Sophie?”
The pastor cleared his throat, and Sophie swung her attention in his direction. “I believe that’s where I come in,” he said. “Now, Sophie, do you take this man to be your husband?”
In short order the “I dos” were done, and she was Mrs. Ezra Landry.
❧
One year later
Sophie had cut back on her hours at the hospital, and Ezra had settled into his teaching position on base. Already the general was pushing him to consider getting his qualification to teach outside the military. Ezra had even begun to pray about working toward becoming a college professor after retirement from the marines, while Sophie knew the time was drawing near to retire from nursing for a while.
Sophie had those items on her prayer list along with a few others. Chloe and Amanda were growing out of just about everything in their closets, but she could barely find the time or energy to take them shopping. Bree had answered that prayer by taking them on an all-day shopping extravaganza that included a fitting for a set of flower-girl dresses.
Just last week the carpenters had finished the renovations, and Sophie could finally breathe clearly. The months of dust and disturbances were well worth the results, though, as the old house now boasted its original configuration again, along with a few modern updates.
The extra space had been a blessing as the girls were begging for their own rooms. Funny how now that they had the privacy they requested, they never seemed to sleep anywhere but together. One night she would find the pair curled together in Amanda’s room, and the next they would be in Chloe’s. It made Sophie smile to see the girls so close.
“Soph, what are you doing? We have the afternoon off. How about we enjoy it?”
“I’m just unpacking the last of the books. I’d love a walk, maybe down by Bayou Nouvelle? Just let me empty this box, okay?”
Ezra padded into the room, the one they’d set aside as his home office, and took the book from her hand. “What’s this?”
Sophie smiled. “That’s Nell’s journal. The one she had
the girls give you.”
He shook it, and glitter fell on his sneakers. “Yes, it’s coming back to me. Calvin made me vacuum the back of his car to get all the glitter out. He claims he’s still finding it in his spare bedroom.”
She leaned against his shoulder and touched the leather cover. “Did you ever read it?”
“Some of it. Never finished it, though.”
“Oh, could we do that now? Look at it, I mean?”
“Sure. Come on over here, Mrs. Landry, and let’s see what Granny Nell has to say.” He settled on the overstuffed chair and pulled Sophie into his lap. “Are you comfortable, honey?”
Sophie kissed her husband, then maneuvered her pregnant self into a comfortable position. “I’m fine,” she said. “You spoil me, you know?”
He nuzzled her cheek and kissed the tender spot on her temple. “This marine’s on duty, so get used to it.”
“Yes sir, Lieutenant Colonel, sir.” She gave him a mock salute, then waited while he opened the journal.
“Oh, look,” she said. “The story about the purple elephant really was true.”
“Yes, I remember reading that. Leave it to Granny Nell to take a disaster and turn it into a great memory.”
Ezra chuckled and turned the page. There, between a verse from Isaiah and a crayon drawing of stick figures, was a photograph taped to the middle of the page.
“Oh, look,” Sophie said. “It’s the picture of the girls and me the day I signed the adoption papers. She told me she was taking the picture as a reminder of how God had finally brought the girls home to her. I never understood what she meant by that.”
“Oh?”
She snuggled closer and inhaled the soap and aftershave scent of her husband. “Yes, it was as if there was some sort of reason she wanted me to adopt the girls. Like she picked Chloe and Amanda out especially for me. I can’t explain it.”
Ezra lifted the photograph to reveal the writing on the back. “Honey, I think I found the explanation.” Eyes glistening, Ezra removed the tape and handed her the picture. “Turn it over.”
Dwelling Place Page 16