I'll Stand By You

by Sharon Sala

  “I’m glad you’re not either,” Johnny said and then realized that’s why Beep had stumbled and why Dori had stopped to talk to him.

  He glanced at her, intending to say thanks, but there was something about the way she was sitting, like she was holding herself still so she wouldn’t fall into pieces, that told him to let it go.

  He kept an eye on her as they drove back through town. She was pale and too silent, and there were dark circles under her eyes. He knew she hadn’t eaten enough today but understood why.

  It had taken him all day to figure out why he had a knot in his belly that got tighter every time she cast a glance his way—or why the brush of her hand against his arm when she leaned on him for support made him think he could fly. With very little effort, he could fall hard for Dori Grant.

  * * *

  Dori had been silent ever since they’d left the cemetery. She was grateful for the fact that Luther was a good traveler. Between the sound of the car engine and the gentle movement of the seat, he was lulled into a semiconscious state.

  She kept thinking back over the day; the incident in the bathroom with Pansy was far overshadowed by the kindness of everyone else. And then there was Johnny. Watching him moving among the people during the day had been eye-opening in more ways than one. It was obvious he had the regard of many and seemed far older than his years. He’d gained character through responsibilities, sacrificing everything a young man his age might have wanted to do just to keep his family intact.

  Now it was time for her to set aside her own feelings too. Luther had to come first. But where would they go? She needed to finish her college courses, so she could set up her website business and begin generating some income. What Granddaddy had left her was wonderful, but it wouldn’t last forever if she wasn’t putting anything back.

  Still, thinking about where to go was frightening. The way it was now, she would not be able to work and make enough to pay a babysitter and pay her bills. Being with the Pines felt safe. It felt good to think she wasn’t entirely alone.

  She glanced over her shoulder. Beep’s eyes were closed and his head was nodding, and Marshall seemed transfixed by the sight of the sleeping baby. When she looked at Johnny, her heart tightened. He’d become so dear to her in a very short time.

  She touched his arm, an innocent gesture that got his attention.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  She nodded. “I just want to thank all three of you for helping me through this awful day. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

  “We were happy to do it,” he said.

  “Can me and Beep go to the park when we get home?” Marshall asked.

  The park he was referring to was an empty lot a couple of houses down where some of the neighborhood kids played ball.

  “Can Beep and I,” he corrected, “and we’ll see. It looks like it might rain.”

  “Oh shoot,” Marshall muttered.

  Dori glanced at Johnny again and then offered up a suggestion. “If it does rain, you could make a cave indoors. That’s what I used to do when I was little.”

  Marshall’s eyes widened. “How do you make a cave?”

  Dori was surprised. “You mean you guys never made a fort or a cave in the house when the weather was bad?”

  “No.”

  Johnny frowned, surprised by the answer. Surely that wasn’t true. Then he thought about the shape his mother had been in after they were born and sighed. The last few years of her life had been spent chasing a drug high, not teaching her children how to play.

  Unaware of Johnny’s revelation, Dori kept talking. “Then I’ll show you, but once the cave is built, you have to figure out who you are and why you’re in the cave, and that’s how the game starts.”

  “I don’t want to go to the park,” Marshall said. “I want Dori to show me how to make the cave.”

  Johnny grinned at her. “You’ve done it now,” he said.

  Dori shrugged. “No, no, I want to. It will be a good way to change the focus of this day. Besides, it used to be my favorite thing to do when I was little.”

  “Well, we’re home, so prepare yourself,” Johnny said as he pulled up into the drive and parked by the house. “Beep, wake up, buddy. We’re home.”

  “Dori’s gonna show us how to make a cave,” Marshall said.

  Beep woke abruptly. The thought of playing something new was intriguing. The boys jumped out and raced to the front door, then waited impatiently until Johnny unlocked it.

  “Go change out of your good clothes and hang them up,” Johnny said.

  “Okay,” they echoed and ran inside giggling and pushing.

  Dori was unbuckling Luther from the car seat when Johnny came back.

  “You take the baby. I’ll get the rest of the stuff for you,” he said.

  A rumble of thunder sounded in the distance.

  “Sounds like your prediction was right,” she said and carried Luther inside and put him to bed. He stretched to full length, as if glad to be out of the seat, and poked his thumb in his mouth.

  “Mama’s sweet boy,” Dori whispered and tucked his blanket around him.

  When she turned around, Johnny was coming in the room with the diaper bag and her purse.

  “Just put them on the bed,” she whispered. “I’m going to change clothes before we begin cave construction. I hope you don’t mind that I offered—”

  Johnny put a finger to her lips.

  “You don’t apologize for being kind to my brothers,” he said softly and then ran the tip of his finger along her chin and smiled. “You better change fast. They’ll be swinging from the ceiling fan if you don’t show up soon.”

  “I’ll hurry, but I have one request. I need two of the biggest and oldest blankets or bedspreads you have in the house, something you wouldn’t mind getting a little dirty. I’ll wash them up for you when they’re through.”

  “I’ll get them. Where do you want to erect this magic place?”

  “Do you mind if they play in the kitchen?”

  “Honey, I don’t mind where they play in this house. The fact that you’ve made them happy is all that matters. So I’ll leave them in the kitchen and the rest is on you.”

  He left Dori by the bed and closed the door on his way out.

  She closed her eyes and took a slow breath. He’d called her honey, and the imprint of his finger was still warm on her lips. It made her anxious and achy—and at the same time, a little leery.

  “Oh, Granddaddy, I need to talk to you. I wish you were here.”

  But there would be no more warm chuckles or wise words of advice. Right or wrong, the decisions were on her now. She began taking off the pretty dress, the nice shoes, and the tights. Cinderella had gone to a funeral, not a ball, even though she had come home with the prince. Now the real world beckoned. It was time to get back to work.

  A few minutes later, she was in the kitchen with the boys. They pulled the kitchen chairs a few feet away from the table but still surrounding it, the boys bouncing on their toes with every step.

  “Beep, you take this quilt and crawl under the table and make a good nest. Marshall and I are going to build the roof and walls with this one.”

  Beep’s smile was from ear to ear as he went down on his hands and knees and crawled under the table, dragging the quilt with him.

  “Marshall, you take this side and I’ll take the other, and we’re going to spread this quilt over the table and then drape it over the backs of the chairs and let the rest fall on the floor, understand?”

  “Yeah, yeah, like making a tent only better.”

  She grinned. “Yes, like a tent but better.”

  After a few adjustments of the chairs, and centering the quilt on the table and weighting it down to keep it from slipping, the cave was almost done. All they had to do was leave
the short end of the table that was closest to the wall uncovered. It would be the doorway and also make it appear that the opening was concealed.

  “So they can’t sneak up on you,” Dori said as she showed Marshall how far to pull down the quilt and how much to leave open. “There. So, what do you think?”

  Marshall dropped to his knees and crawled inside with Beep.

  Dori squatted down and peered in.

  “It’s good and dark in there, don’t you think?”

  “Yeah, it’s great!” Beep said.

  She could tell by the look on Marshall’s face that he was already moving into imagination mode. As she watched, the first ripple of thunder rolled across the sky.

  Rain, just like Johnny predicted.

  “I’ll get your camping supplies, and then you guys are on your own,” Dori said.

  She made a quick raid of the refrigerator, then pulled a plastic bowl out of the cabinet and began piling it high. She cut up an apple into several chunks, made celery sticks and carrot sticks, added a handful of crackers, and then slipped the bowl in front of the cave without a word.

  She stood there long enough to see one little hand slip out of the opening and pull the bowl inside.

  “Mission accomplished,” she whispered.

  She could already hear the boys planning their strategies and smiled to herself, remembering what all she’d played. When she turned around, Johnny was standing on the other side of the table. He took her hand and led her out of the kitchen and into the living room.

  “You rock the world, Dori Grant. In the middle of a very sad day for you, you went out of your way for them.”

  “Truth? It is as good for me as it is for them. And you were right about the rain.”

  He wanted to put his arms around her but saw the exhaustion on her face.

  “Go to bed, Dori. At least sleep until the baby wakes up. We have leftovers and pie. No cooking. Just a chill-out evening, okay?”

  The thought of sleep was enticing.

  “You talked me into it,” she said. “See you later.”

  “Yeah, later,” he said and watched until she disappeared into her room.

  * * *

  Pansy Jones stood at the window, looking out at the burned remnants of what had once been Meeker Webb’s home, watching the rain come down and thinking about what had happened at the church. Bottom line, she was in a sticky situation. Dori Grant had given her a verbal slap down in front of one of the biggest gossips in Blessings. What had happened would be all over town by morning, and then she’d have to go to church and face everyone in her Sunday school class without a way to deflate Dori’s accusations.

  Besides all that, Bart wanted biscuits and gravy for supper, and she wasn’t in the mood to cook. If only she could take back what she’d done the night of the fire, then none of this would be happening. She thought about taking her licks and admitting she was wrong, but then worried about how she’d be received afterward. In the end, maintaining her reputation was more important to her than feeling guilty for ruining Dori Grant’s.

  She turned away from the window, went to the desk, and began digging through five years’ worth of phone books before she found the one she was looking for.

  She’d gone to school with Ethel Carter; she’d been Ethel Justice then. Ethel was a caseworker for their county’s Division of Family and Children Services. DFCS. The same dreaded department that tried to take Johnny Pine’s brothers into state custody.

  Pansy Jones was about to open up a great big can of worms.

  * * *

  Runoff from the downpour flowed through the streets in dirty rivulets. The rain blew against the windows and hammered the roof in a steady, repetitive drone. It was music to sleep by, and Dori slept, exhausted by the day and the emotional toll.

  Johnny lay stretched out on the living room sofa, listening to the excitement in his little brothers’ voices as they played in the other room, and he felt like crying. They’d missed so much of what being a child was all about, and he’d been so busy trying to keep a roof over their heads that he hadn’t seen it. Dori was good for them—for all of them. He didn’t want her to go. He killed time by watching television and catching up on paying bills, then popped some corn and shared it with the little animals beneath the table.

  Along about a quarter to six, Johnny went into the kitchen and began digging through the refrigerator to make supper. The boys heard him and emerged from their play long enough to make a request.

  “Hey, Johnny, can me and Beep eat supper in our cave?”

  Johnny grinned. “Yeah, sure, as long as you don’t throw the bones down on the floor.”

  “We won’t! We promise!” Beep yelled and began leaping about the kitchen on his hands and feet.

  “What are you doing?” Johnny asked.

  “I’m a baby wolf playing in the rain.”

  Johnny chuckled and started picking out a couple of pieces of leftover fried chicken to heat up for the boys.

  “I want mine cold,” Marshall said.

  “Yeah, I want mine cold too,” Beep said and then stopped hopping and looked at Marshall. “Why do we want it cold?”

  “Because we’re wild animals, remember? They don’t eat their food cooked.”

  Beep frowned. “I don’t want no raw chicken.”

  “You don’t want any raw chicken,” Johnny said.

  “I already said that,” Beep cried and bounced all the way back into the cave.

  While he was digging through the leftovers, the baby woke up, which got Dori out of bed. She changed him and carried him to the kitchen to heat up a bottle.

  When Johnny saw her coming, he got one out of the refrigerator and put it in her hand.

  “Thanks. You are handy to have around,” Dori said as she took the bottle to the microwave.

  Johnny smiled, but she didn’t see it. She was playing peekaboo with Luther while she waited for the microwave to ding. As soon as it was ready, she cradled Luther in her arms and poked it in his mouth, then leaned against the counter to let him drink while she watched the boys crawling in and out of the cave in an obviously pretend foray for food.

  “They are having so much fun,” she said softly.

  Johnny stuck a spoon in the leftover baked beans and then got plates from the cabinet.

  “You’re really good with them,” he said.

  Dori shrugged. “It’s not hard to like good kids.”

  “Seeing as how we no longer have a dining table tonight, why don’t you and Luther go into the living room, and we’ll eat in there? I’ll bring you a plate if you trust me to fix it.”

  “Sure, but don’t put much food on it. I’m not very hungry.”

  “Okay,” he said and fixed food for the boys and set it down in front of the cave. “Wolf food is ready,” he said. “Put your dirty plates in the sink when you’re through.”

  They howled in unison, took their plates, and crawled back in the cave.

  He was still chuckling as he took their food into the living room, set her plate on the sofa beside her, and went back to get drinks.

  Dori took a bite of the chicken and then licked her fingers as Johnny put a glass of iced tea on the end table.

  They ate in silence for a few minutes while Luther finished his bottle. It wasn’t until Dori put him on her shoulder to burp him that Johnny put down his plate and leaned forward.

  “I’ve been thinking about this situation,” Johnny said.

  Dori stifled a groan. He’d probably heard Pansy Jones’s gossip. This was where he told her she needed to find someplace else to be.

  “I know I need to start looking for a place for Luther Joe and me. I’ll get a newspaper and check out the rental properties,” she said quickly.

  “No, no, that’s not what I meant at all,” Johnny said. “I want to run something
by you and see what you think. Keep in mind it’s totally your call, and I’ll be cool with whatever you say, but it would benefit me as much as it might help you.”

  “I’m listening,” Dori said and kept patting Luther’s back.

  “First off, we like having you here,” Johnny said.

  Dori smiled. “I like being here too. You were a lifesaver.”

  “I know the funeral is over, but you said Butterman has yet to file all the probate papers, so you really can’t make final decisions on anything until all of that’s over, right?”

  “As far as I know, that’s correct,” she said.

  “School will be out in a couple of weeks. I always have a really hard time finding people to keep the boys during the summer, because Miss Jane doesn’t do all-day day care and she also takes the summer off. I don’t believe you will be able to find a job that pays enough for rent, day care, and living expenses. Believe me. I know what they pay people our age.”

  She sighed. “I’ve already been worrying about that. What I have to do is finish my college courses so I can set up my design website and start taking clients. Eventually, I would hope to make enough to work from home full-time.”

  He shifted nervously, trying not to sound too desperate.

  “How would you feel about staying here, maybe through the summer or however long it takes you to finish your classes? And in return, you could take the boys to school and pick them up for the two weeks until it is over, and then this summer, you would be here with them while I’m at work. You wouldn’t have to be paying rent, and I would save money not paying day care.”

  Luther burped.

  Johnny grinned. “If that was his opinion, I’m not sure if that was a yes or a no.”

  Dori was still trying to come to terms with what Johnny had just asked while thinking about Pansy’s accusation.

  “You know what people will say,” she said.

  He shrugged. “They’re already saying it.”

  She sighed. So he’d heard the gossip too.

  “You don’t mind?”