Kate had never seen Mike cry, but his tears shouldn’t have surprised her. Samantha, with her daddy’s red hair and freckles, had to make Mike remember Sammy, a kid he watched grow up in the church. It didn’t matter that Sammy had been gone over a year now. For Mike, it had to be like just showing up at the funeral.
Beside Mike, Evie looked bewildered, with tears brimming in her eyes too, whether for Sammy or Mike or herself, Kate couldn’t be sure. Tears came easy to Evie. And to Tori too. But then Tori did the unexpected. She didn’t cry as she handed Samantha to Mike. The child had seen so many tears in her two years that she wasn’t a bit bothered by Mike’s. She was more interested in the shiny buttons on his jacket.
“Button.” She touched the button and flashed such a smile at Mike that he laughed.
He held Samantha closer. “Yes, indeed. Button.” He rubbed his cheeks on his shoulders to wipe away his tears. “I can see you’ve inherited the Merritt girls’ charm.”
“Mike!” Lorena’s long legs flashed as she raced across the yard, home from school, and practically leaped up the porch steps.
He stared at her. “Lorena?”
Kate had to smile at the look on his face. Lorena wasn’t the little girl he’d last seen. Kate couldn’t wait until Jay got home to see how his little “sister” had grown up. She’d sent him pictures, but pictures didn’t do Lorena justice.
“Lonie.” Samantha held her hands out toward Lorena.
Lorena’s smile slid off her face as she took Samantha. “What’s the matter? Why are you crying? Has somebody else died?” She looked from Mike to Kate. “I don’t want anybody else to die.”
“A man can shed a few tears when he comes home and meets his niece for the first time, can’t he?” Mike swiped the last of his tears off his cheeks. “If you really are Lorena Birdsong, come here and give me a hug.”
“It’s me.” Lorena’s smile exploded back across her face. She handed Samantha to Tori and threw her arms around Mike. “Maybe I should ask if it’s really you, Mike Champion.”
“In the flesh.” Mike pushed Lorena back to look her up and down. No tears now. “I can’t believe how tall you are.” He glanced around at the others. “I can believe how good it feels to be here on this front porch surrounded by you beautiful Merritt women.” He reached for Evie’s hand.
They were turning to go inside when Kate’s mother and father came down the road, big smiles on their faces. Mama claimed she couldn’t wait a minute longer to see if Mike was home. Some things were more important than selling another loaf of bread or gallon of gasoline. More hugs all around. More smiles. A long hand clasp with Daddy and a look exchanged that said more than words could.
The news that Mike was home swept through Rosey Corner and people started showing up to see him. Since the day was sunny, Mike stayed out on the porch to greet them. Graham came down with his new dog. Aunt Gertie and Uncle Wyatt drove down in their car.
Fern showed up without Aunt Hattie, whose rheumatism was acting up. Her steel gray hair, in desperate need of a comb, bushed out around her face, and she wore a man’s faded flannel shirt under her bib overalls. While Fern’s harsh edges had softened a bit the last few years, she still preferred the company of trees over people any day. So she wouldn’t come up on the porch but said what she came to say from out in the yard. “Hattie prayed you home.”
“I counted on her prayers. Thank her for me.” Mike stepped over to the edge of the porch. “It’s good to see you, Fern. You haven’t changed a bit.”
“Some changes don’t show on the outside.” Fern narrowed her eyes as she stared up at Mike. “But you know that.”
Mike looked so somber Kate worried he might cry again. Evie reached toward his arm as though to pull him back from the edge of the porch. Back from Fern. But she let her hand hover in the air and didn’t touch him.
“I do know,” he said.
“Hattie will pray some more.”
“Good. Aunt Hattie can pray down the power.”
“Couldn’t pray everybody home.” Fern slid her eyes over to Tori, then turned without another word to leave.
A strange silence fell over the porch until Lorena rushed out of the house and down the steps after Fern. “Wait, Fern.”
Fern stopped in a patch of sunlight halfway across the yard to let Lorena catch up with her. Kate wished for her camera, even though the picture wouldn’t be one for the newspaper. But the sight of Lorena hugging Fern with the abandon of a child would have been worth the cost of the film. That Fern stepped into Lorena’s embrace was one of those changes that couldn’t be seen. For years, Fern hadn’t bothered to love anybody until Lorena found a place in her heart. And Aunt Hattie prayed for her.
The odd feeling that Mike might want to follow Fern and head off by himself to get away from too much too soon disappeared as Fern went on out to the road. Lorena ran back up on the porch to let Kate know Mama needed help in the kitchen.
“You know Mama.” Lorena made a face. “She has to feed everybody who shows up on our doorstep.”
Evie stayed beside Mike on the swing until the deacons let out prayer meeting and showed up in force to welcome their former pastor home. In the kitchen, Evie watched impatiently as they fixed drinks for the men. The minute Lorena and Mama picked up the glasses to carry out to the porch, Evie grabbed Kate’s arm and yanked her out the back door.
But once they were outside, Evie just stared at the chicken house at the end of the yard and didn’t say anything. The sun had gone down and daylight was fading. Kate needed to start back to Lexington soon. She hoped Evie and Mike intended to stay the night in Rosey Corner, but that moment didn’t seem the best time to ask their plans. Her sister was either about to blow up or break down in tears.
Whichever it was, better to get it over with. “Since I don’t think you pulled me out here to see if the chickens had gone to roost, out with it before you explode.”
Evie blew out an angry huff. “They’re just out there taking turns praying. If we wanted to go to prayer meeting, we’d have gone up to the church.”
“Those men have said a lot of prayers for Mike while he’s been gone.” Kate picked her words carefully, not sure why Evie was upset.
“Well, haven’t we all?” Evie sounded ready to fly apart.
“Yes, of course we have, and now we’re thankful those prayers were answered.”
“I know.” Evie shut her eyes and clamped her jaws together.
“They just want to see him with their own eyes. That’s all. To know he’s okay.”
“That’s all I want to know too.” Evie’s mouth trembled and a tear slid down her cheek.
Kate put her arm around Evie. “What’s wrong, Evie?” She didn’t know how Evie could be unhappy two days after Mike came home, but she obviously was.
More tears spilled out of her eyes as she looked at Kate. “He’s not the same.”
Kate fished her handkerchief out of her pocket. “Mama warned you to expect that. He’s been through things we can’t even imagine. The same as Daddy did when he was in the war.”
“But Mike’s not like Daddy.” Evie snatched the handkerchief, but didn’t put it to any good use. She stared at Kate. “Is he?”
“I don’t think he’ll turn to drink, if that’s what you mean.” Kate couldn’t quite keep the irritation out of her voice.
Evie didn’t notice. She looked a little like an abandoned puppy. So Kate pulled in a breath and summoned up patience. “He’ll be back to the guy you remember soon.” With the tips of her fingers, she brushed away Evie’s tears.
“How do you know?” Evie jerked away from her and gave her nose an angry swipe with the handkerchief. “How could you know? You don’t know how it is.”
“You’re right. I don’t. Jay’s not home yet, but he will be soon. And he could be changed too.”
“It won’t be the same for you the way it is for me and Mike. You barely knew Jay before you married him. I doubt if you’ll be able to tell if he’s ch
anged or not. But Mike . . .” Her voice trailed off.
Kate drew in another breath to stay calm. Evie was just being Evie who thought the world revolved around her. Besides, she could be right. Kate and Jay had only known each other a few months before they married and some of those months were pretty rocky. Nothing at all like Mike and Evie, who had dated for years with Mike doting on Evie the whole time.
Evie had no clue she’d said anything that might upset Kate as she went on. “Well, you know what I mean.”
“No, I’m not sure I do.”
Evie gave her a look as if she couldn’t believe that. “You saw him crying.”
“Men cry sometimes.”
“But Mike’s a preacher. He’s not supposed to get all blue and depressed. Not once he’s back home with me.” Tears started down her cheeks again. “It wasn’t supposed to be this way.”
Kate didn’t know whether to hug her or slap her. She settled for grabbing Evie’s shoulders and giving her a little shake. “You stop all this crying. Mike’s home. He’s the Mike you love. The Mike who loves you. That hasn’t changed. Not one little bit. His homecoming might not be the fairy tale you were imagining, but it’s good and it will get better every day.”
Evie choked back her tears. “How do you know, Kate?”
“Because you are going to make it better. You are going to be sweet and understanding and loving.”
“He says he doesn’t know if he can preach again. That he doesn’t know what the Lord wants him to do next.” Evie wiped the tears off her cheeks, but her eyes were even more distraught. “What if he decides to be a missionary or something? I can’t go to Africa, Kate. I can’t.”
“Good heavens, Evie. You sound like me, thinking up such crazy things.”
“It’s not crazy. God calls people to be missionaries all the time.”
“Did Mike tell you God wants him to go into the mission field?” Kate asked.
“No, but what if he does?”
Kate shook her head at Evie. “Then you’ll figure out something with the Lord’s help. But maybe the Lord is just calling him to be a bus driver or something.”
“A bus driver?” Evie’s forehead wrinkled in a frown. “Whatever are you talking about?”
“Might be a good place to reach people. You have to admit, he had a great time driving us here.”
Evie put her hand up to her head. “Absolutely ruined my hair.” But the corners of her mouth twitched up.
“It just released the curls. You look great. You always look great.” Kate put her arm around Evie. “Now, drag that smile back across your face. Mike will be missing you.”
And he was. When they went back inside, Mike was in the kitchen, looking for Evie. “There’s my girl.”
Those words were no different than he might have said before the war, but Evie was right. Mike was different. They all were. Fern had told them. Some changes didn’t show, but they were there all the same.
5
The week after Mike got home was filled with the kind of October days that were a gift to someone who liked to fish. On Thursday, Tori begged a day off from the store, packed a picnic, grabbed her pole, and headed to Graham’s pond with Samantha. After Samantha wore herself out chasing butterflies, she fell asleep on a blanket in the shade. Tori could hear her soft breathing, a sound her mother’s ear continually noted. And needed.
While her cork drifted undisturbed on the sparkling water, Tori raised her face toward the sun. Her skin didn’t tan easily, but neither did it freckle. Samantha’s would. She was that much like Sammy. Tori used to try to count the freckles across his nose and cheeks, but he couldn’t sit still that long. She turned her mind away from that memory before tears spoiled the day. Better to think about Mike being home instead.
She hadn’t expected Mike to cry, but who knew what to expect after a war? Tori hoped he could feel the sun in Louisville, but the narrow backyard of the house where Evie had an upstairs apartment was a drab place that wouldn’t even grow crabgrass. The houses, piled in close together, blocked the sun. Evie said the yard didn’t matter if the inside shined.
She did have a nice place with showroom furniture and color-coordinated pillows and drapes. Closed drapes, since in the city one couldn’t leave windows uncovered for people to peep through. When Kate pointed out she was on the second floor, Evie bristled and reminded Kate there were such things as ladders. Sometimes, when those two were together, all Tori could do was stay back out of the way.
Kate’s tiny apartment in Lexington above one of the downtown stores spilled right out on the street. No yard at all. Kate wasn’t worried about how things looked outside or inside. A brick replaced the broken leg on her couch and a wobbly card table served as a place to grab her meals. She had salvaged a desk from the trash heap behind the newspaper building and put it back together with screws and glue.
That’s all she needed, she told Tori. “It’s not like I’m going to have a party or anything. I couldn’t anyway. Not with only two plates and three glasses.”
A dime store was right down the street where Kate could buy more dishes, but she said she’d buy things when Jay got home and they found a place to live. When Jay gets home. Kate was always saying that as though she needed the words in her ears to believe it.
Tori understood. She’d said the same. When Sammy gets home. And now he wasn’t coming home. Sorrow pressed down on her so heavy she didn’t even try to hook the fish when her cork bobbed.
“That might’ve been a whale.” Graham came out of the trees. When he saw Samantha asleep, he snapped his fingers to keep Chaucer next to him as he settled down on the pond bank beside Tori.
“You need to teach me that trick for Samantha.”
“Dog tricks and kid tricks might be some different.” He stroked Chaucer’s head and the dog’s tail brushed back and forth on the ground. “This one’s learned a few things, but he’s no Poe.”
Tori smiled and looked over her shoulder at Samantha, who hadn’t so much as moved a toe. Tori stared back out at her cork. Her worm was probably gone, but she didn’t pull in her line. “I’m surprised Chaucer doesn’t growl whenever he hears you say Poe.”
“No, no. He knows he’s no Poe. Poor Chaucer here doesn’t know the difference between a raccoon and a squirrel. Ready to chase anything that crosses his path.” The dog lowered his ears and dropped his head down on his paws as though embarrassed by Graham’s words.
“Do you miss hunting raccoons?”
“Some.” Graham looked up at the clear sky. “On a night like this one’s going to be, it’s a fine thing to be out in the woods with a good dog to sniff out trails and tree a few coons.”
“You could get another coonhound.”
“I could.” Graham plucked a grass stem. “But he wouldn’t be no Poe either.”
“I guess you’re right. Some things can’t be replaced.” To keep from thinking about what she couldn’t replace, she asked, “Where’s your fishing pole?”
“You haven’t been over here at the pond for a while, so I figured I’d give you first crack at the fish today.” Graham leaned back on his elbows. “Besides, this old sun is making me too lazy to fish.”
“Sammy used to say that.” Tori kept her eyes on her cork. She was surprised when a smile lifted up her lips and no tears raced to her eyes at the memory. “But he wasn’t really lazy. Just bored with not catching anything. Then he’d be throwing rocks in the water or making grass blades whistle.” Or kissing my neck, she added silently.
“The boy had a surplus of energy. That’s for sure.”
“I miss him so much.” Tori sighed.
“You’re supposed to. That’s the natural thing.” Graham looked out at her line. “You’d best pull that in before it gets hung up over in that moss.”
Tori reeled in her line. She was right. No worm. She dug through the dirt in her can for another one. “This is why Kate hates fishing. Worms.”
“She don’t have any fondness for them. That’s fo
r sure. Even Lorena can’t change her thinking on that.”
Tori cast her line back out in the pond. Silence fell over them as they watched the cork. The sun seemed to be dissolving her bones and it felt fine.
“It was good seeing Preacher Mike last week,” Graham said after a while. “I thought maybe they’d be back Sunday what with Lorena singing at church. The girl was some disappointed.”
“I know, but Evie had reservations at a fancy hotel. To celebrate Mike being home. You know Evie.” Tori watched the soft ripples slide across the pond. “She likes things going according to plans. Her plans.”
“Evangeline does like keeping her ducks in a row.” Graham plucked another grass stem.
“Mike’s not a duck.” Tori glanced over at Graham.
“No, course not.” Graham studied his grass stem. “But he’s always wanted Evangeline to be happy.”
“He joined the Army. That didn’t make her happy.” Tori checked her line. Still not the first tug on her hook. The one she let get away might be her only bite. “Actually she didn’t seem all that happy last week when she came home.”
“So you think she might have a happiness problem.” Graham stuck the stem in his mouth.
“Kate says Evie was worried about Mike being restless when she thought he should be happy at home with her.”
“Sounds like happiness problems going around. But could be Mike just needed to see some Rosey Corner trees.” Graham spit out a piece of the grass. “That car Wyatt found for him should help. The boy looked happy as a kid at Christmastime when they took off for Louisville Thursday.”
“I’m thinking about getting a car.” She kept her eyes on the pond.
“Are you now?”
Love Comes Home Page 3