“Everyone in town knows. There are no secrets in Crossing.”
Hannah tried to listen. She really did, but her mind wandered back to that delicious little stirring in her heart, to the stillness in her soul, to the lack of guilt that she should be feeling for both. Going in circles, dancing from one topic to another, it was hard to control excitement that she hadn’t felt in years.
She was jerked back into reality when the preacher asked Andy Bob Richards to deliver the benediction. She’d tuned the preacher out after his opening statement when he opened the Bible and read, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.” His opening statement solidified the whole idea. To see a child with a happy spirit and no fear would make every bit of her service a pure joy.
Her stomach growled loudly, and Travis laid a hand on her shoulder. “Andy Bob’s prayers are short. We’ll get home for dinner before we starve plumb to death.”
Travis moved his hand away only with a great deal of willpower. Knowing now that Marty had actually bruised Hannah made Travis’s gut draw up in knots. He wanted to draw her close and assure her that he’d never ever hurt her like Marty had done. That anyone could ever say a bad word to his Hannah, much less abuse her, put vengeful thoughts in his head.
She looked absolutely stunning that morning in her pink-and-white sundress. Her toenails were polished in a shade darker than her dress, and her hair floated down her back in big waves. He shut his eyes for the benediction, but a picture of her was branded in his mind.
As he’d predicted, the words between Andy Bob’s “Our Father in heaven” and his “Amen” were pretty scarce. Immediately folks began to stand and shuffle their way out to the aisles. Travis had done his duty and been in church. He’d sung songs whose titles he couldn’t even remember, and he’d tried to listen to the sermon, but other than something about children that reminded him of Sophie, it had basically gone in one ear and out the other.
“See you at Aunt Birdie’s for dinner, right?” he asked as he stood to one side of the pew and let the ladies all file out.
“Just have to run by the house and pick up the pudding,” Liz answered.
“And we have to go get the salad and bread at my house. Damn, ‘my house’ sounded good to say,” Hannah said and then clamped a hand over her mouth. “Aunt Birdie, you are a bad influence. I just cussed in church.”
“The devil made you do it.” Aunt Birdie smiled.
“In church?”
“Oh, darlin’, this is his favorite place on Sunday morning. He’s here to steal souls,” Aunt Birdie whispered and changed the subject. “I love it when the pew is full and when Liz is free to join us for our Sunday potluck. Only person missing is Calvin. I keep prayin’ that he’ll come on back to Crossing someday so you kids will all be together again.”
“When angels set up snow-cone stands in hell, he might come home,” Darcy said seriously. “Calvin Winters is too big a name in clothing to be based out of a little backwater town like Crossing.”
Travis’s phone buzzed in his hip pocket. He checked the ID and frowned. “Hello,” he said and nodded several times before he handed the phone to Hannah.
“Hello,” she said cautiously as she made her way slowly toward the church doors.
“This is Gina from the shelter in Gainesville, and I thought if you had time this afternoon I’d come by and bring some papers to get things started.”
“Okay,” Hannah said. “What time?”
“Two o’clock all right with you?”
“Yes, ma’am. I will have the coffee on, unless you’d rather have sweet tea?”
“Coffee is fine,” Gina said. “Filling out the paperwork will take about an hour, and I will have to fingerprint you and check the house to be sure it’s safe. But the house could wait.”
“No secrets hidden in my place. You can check it today if you have time,” Hannah said.
“That would be good. Then I could send in my whole report in a day or so and we’d be ready in a couple of weeks, maybe sooner. See you at two, then. Thanks again for all you did for us, but most of all for what you are offering,” Gina said. “Have a lovely Sunday. ’Bye now.”
If Hannah had had doubts about what she was about to do, they vanished that second. She was standing in church. God had spoken and given her his blessing.
Hannah handed the phone back to Travis. “How did she get your number?”
“I gave it to her when we delivered the stuff, because I knew you were going to change your numbers. Are you absolutely sure about this, Hannah? I’ll worry about you even if I’m in the house.”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything,” she answered.
“You haven’t gotten over the trauma of divorce yet. What if she sends you an abused woman with a teenage son? Will you be comfortable with a boy of that age with abuse issues being around Sophie? There’s a lot to think about.” Travis’s brow furrowed deeply.
“You will be there, and it feels right.” She stuck out her hand to shake with the preacher. “Nice sermon.”
“Thank you, Hannah. If you need to talk, please call me. I know that you are going through a tough time.” He smiled.
“Thank you,” she said.
Travis quickly shook hands with the preacher, and then they were outside in the bright sunshine. Birds chirped in the pecan trees surrounding the little white community church. Kids were still chasing after one another, expending all that pent-up energy from sitting still for half an hour’s preaching. Old folks made their way to their vehicles, stopping along the way to visit with one another or give a few hugs.
Sophie tucked her sweaty hand into her mother’s. “I beat Josh in a race. He’s slower than an old grandpa. I got to the tree and back before he even made it to the tree.”
“Well, I wouldn’t race against someone as fast as you. Who is Josh? Is he like Anna Lou?” Travis asked seriously.
Sophie giggled. “Oh, Uncle Travis. You got long legs and you can run fast. Josh has short legs like me, and he’s in my Sunday school class. Anna Lou don’t go to this church. Neither does Nadine. I’m hungry. Can we go to Aunt Birdie’s now? Is Miss Rosie coming to dinner with us?”
“Yes, she is, and I heard that she might be bringing pink cupcakes,” Travis whispered. “But it could be a surprise, so don’t tell anyone.”
Sophie pulled at Hannah’s arm. “Hurry, Mama. Miss Rosie makes the best pink cupcakes in the whole world and she puts a strawberry right on the top.”
The church was four blocks from her house, and when the weather was pretty, she and Sophie often walked, but that morning they’d been rushed so they’d all ridden together in Darcy’s car. Hannah would have liked a five-minute walk back to her house to clear her mind so she could think about what Gina Lawson had suggested. But that wasn’t happening today, not when there were pink cupcakes and a little dark-haired imp who’d have to be coerced into eating her dinner before she could have one.
“The lady from the shelter called me.” She slid into the seat and went on to tell Darcy what she’d said.
“And can you afford extra mouths to feed?” Darcy asked.
“I own the house free and clear, so I can live on what I make as a teacher’s aide and still help women who weren’t as lucky as I was. Maybe it will even help Liz,” Hannah said.
“You consider yourself lucky?” Darcy frowned.
“I’m alive,” Hannah answered. “I have a home, good friends, and food on the table. I’m really lucky, considering where I could be.”
Darcy backed out of the parking lot and drove right to Aunt Birdie’s. When she saw the extra car in the driveway, she slapped the steering wheel and squealed with excitement. “It’s Calvin’s car. He must have had business in Dallas. Dammit! I should have worn something nicer.”
“You look great. Stop fretting.” Hannah grinned. “You need to tell him how you feel. None of us are getting any younger.”
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“Don’t remind me.” Darcy flipped the rearview mirror around so she could see her reflection, fluffed out her hair, and reapplied lipstick. “Oh, God! I see crow’s-feet around my eyes.”
Sophie had been sitting quietly, but now she propped both elbows on the back of the front seat and peered at Darcy. “You’re jokin’ me. There ain’t no bird feet on your eyes. Besides, how would they get there? The windows were all rolled up.”
“It’s just an expression.” Darcy laughed.
“And little girl, you might be big enough to give up your car seat, but you do have to use a seat belt, so scoot on back there and get it fastened,” Hannah said.
“Okay.” Sophie sighed. “Y’all are doing that big-people talk, aren’t you?”
“So?” Darcy parked the car in front of Aunt Birdie’s, dropped the keys in her purse, and opened the door.
“You look beautiful,” Hannah answered. “Dammit! I forgot that we have to get our food from my house. Sophie, do you want to go on inside and see Uncle Cal?”
“Yes, I do, and I won’t even tell Miss Rosie that you said a bad word, Mama.” With those words, Sophie marched across the lawn.
“I’ll go with you,” Darcy said. “I’ll support you in this shelter thing, my friend, but it doesn’t mean I won’t worry about you.”
“I love you, Darcy.” Hannah laughed.
“More than your new blue bedroom?” Darcy teased.
Hannah bumped her with her hip as they started up the porch steps. “More than chocolate, darlin’.”
They quickly gathered up the salad and bread and toted it across the road. Calvin swung Aunt Birdie’s door open with a dramatic sweep. “What’s this I hear about you putting in a shelter for crows or birds of some kind? Sophie said it was big-people talk, but that you were going to do something with a shelter because the crows were attacking Darcy’s eyes.”
Travis stepped around from behind Calvin and took the bowl of salad and bread from their hands. “I’ll take those things to the dining room so y’all can get your huggin’ done.”
Calvin drew Hannah to his chest tightly. “How have you been?”
“I’m better than I was on Wednesday, and Travis promises that by the end of the summer I will be really good,” she answered and took a step back. “I wasn’t expecting you to come back this soon, but I’m so glad to see you.”
Calvin pulled her in for one last squeeze before he said, “Darcy, darlin’, you dyed your hair back to its natural color! Now let it grow out by December and you can model my spring line for me.”
“Yeah, right!” She wrapped her arms around him and winked at Hannah.
“Y’all going to stand in the foyer all day gawkin’ at one another while the lasagna gets colder than a dead skunk in the middle of the road, or are you goin’ to come on in here and eat dinner?” Aunt Birdie asked.
“I intend to eat dinner. I’m finished gawkin’ for a little while.” Calvin headed into the dining room. “This looks awesome, Aunt Birdie.”
Miss Rosie carried a basket of thick-cut french bread to the table. “Don’t go givin’ her all the credit. I made the noodles. Those dried-out things you buy at the store ain’t fit to feed the hogs.”
“Miss Rosie, darlin’,” Calvin said, “I’m absolutely sure this will outdo the lasagna they serve in Italy. Here, let me seat you.”
“That’s better.” She sniffed the air in a pout, but her blue eyes sparkled. “You can say grace and then you will be forgiven for leaving me out.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Calvin nodded.
Aunt Birdie and Miss Rosie had the two end seats on either side of the long oak dining room table. Liz and Sophie flanked Calvin on one side, with Sophie at Aunt Birdie’s right hand. Travis was between Darcy and Hannah on the other side of the table. After grace Aunt Birdie asked Liz to serve the lasagna and Hannah to start the salad around the table.
Sophie started to hum “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and wiggled her small shoulders to keep time with the notes. “This is a happy song, Mama, for a happy day.”
“And we shouldn’t hum or sing at the table, remember?”
“That’s Father’s rule, but he ain’t here.” Sophie smiled brightly.
“And it is a happy song.” Miss Rosie broke into the full song in her lovely soprano voice. When she got to the fourth verse, Aunt Birdie harmonized with her as they sang, “Then the traveler in the dark / Thanks you for your tiny spark / He could not see which way to go / If you did not twinkle so.”
Every single thing, even the lyrics of the song, kept telling Hannah that she was doing the right thing. She would keep a house for that weary traveler in the dark, the woman who couldn’t endure another beating or who was taking her children away from a horrible home. Every poor soul who’d been abused needed one tiny spark to give her hope, to show her which way to go, and Hannah was going to do her damnedest to be just that small light at the end of the dark tunnel.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Calvin began the applause when the song ended, and everyone else joined him. He paused and took a bite of the lasagna. “Oh. My. God. You ladies should start a restaurant.”
“At our age!” Miss Rosie giggled. “Eighty is too old to start a new business. You come on back to Crossing and we’ll give you our recipes, and you and Travis can build a fancy café. We’re too damned old for that shit.”
“Rosie Johnson! This is Sunday,” Aunt Birdie scolded.
“Then we’re too old for that holy shit.” She smiled in all innocence.
“You need to go back to church,” Aunt Birdie said staunchly.
“Me? I didn’t cuss in church this morning, but I know someone who did.”
“Ladies, that was lovely dinner music,” Calvin interrupted. “And while I have all of you together, I have to tell you a couple of very well-known New York clothiers for plus-size women have approached me for a spring line.”
Darcy clamped a hand over her mouth. “You weren’t joking about me walking on the runway.”
Calvin nodded. “You and Liz both.”
It took three big gulps of sweet tea to get the chunk of lettuce to go down when Hannah choked. After a few seconds, her eyes stopped watering, and her ability to speak returned.
“Are you serious?” Hannah asked. “Does this mean you’re going to move your business closer to us and we can see you more often?”
“Yes, I am,” Calvin said. “And Darcy and Liz, it’s only walking down a long stage, making a graceful turn and going back to get dressed again.”
“And Hannah?” Travis asked.
“Sweet Hannah is too small for this line. Later I might contract for a petite line or, I’m hoping, a children’s line so I can feature our Sophie, but this year it will be for women size sixteen to twenty-six,” Calvin answered.
“Have you started designing?” asked Hannah.
Calvin’s head bobbed up and down. “I’ve been working on this for a couple of years. I have a request, Hannah.”
“I told you I’m too short to model for you.”
“Not that. I want to buy your land. Not your house. I’ll leave you a nice-size yard, but I want the rest of your property plus the airplane hangar. I’ve talked to Travis, and he said as soon as he’s finished helping you, he can take on the job of turning that hangar into my studio. We’ll turn the loft into living quarters, the old office will be my new office, and the hangar is going to be my sewing factory. The new showing will be in Dallas, of course, but I’ll have more space and time to work if I live in Crossing.”
“We can have it done in a month,” Travis said. “It’s not hard to get summer help when school is out and teenage boys are looking for jobs.”
“And if you’ll sell me your land, I plan to beg Aunt Birdie to let me rent one of her upstairs rooms to live in so I can help Travis with the remodeling and keep sketching out new designs,” he said.
Hannah was totally speechless, and then the tune to the English lullaby started playing in her head, t
he fourth verse playing over and over on a continuous loop. Finally, she nodded. She’d gotten the message. The money from this sale would allow her to run a shelter for women for a long time.
“Well, you’ve got sh—crap for brains if you think I’d charge you a dime to stay with me,” Aunt Birdie huffed. “You can move in today or next week or whenever you want to, but don’t insult me by trying to rent a room. You are family, boy, and don’t you forget it.”
Calvin got up, rounded the table, and bent low to give Aunt Birdie a hug. “Thank you so much. I could live in a hotel, but it would mean driving back and forth every day. And besides, I like your cooking much better than fast food.”
“You’ve always been a sweet-talker. Now eat your dinner and pretend that you are in a fancy restaurant with violins playin’ over there in the corner. Besides, all this business of movin’ to Crossing ain’t a done deal until Hannah agrees,” Aunt Birdie said.
“I agree,” Hannah said simply.
A deep frown created furrows in Liz’s forehead. “Don’t you want to think about it, Hannah?”
“No, I do not.” She shook her head. “Gina is coming today at two to start the procedure to use my place as a safe house,” she said and went on to tell them what she’d decided, even adding the bit about the song that had been sung that very morning. “I’m going to do this, because it’s been laid on my heart and I want to help others get away from abusive spouses. And Travis, I don’t expect that women in those kinds of circumstances care if those upstairs bedrooms are gorgeous. They want a safe haven, not a five-star hotel, so after you get Sophie’s room done, please go on and help Calvin.”
“And when you have guests, Travis will be staying over at your place. You never know when a crazy husband or boyfriend might find his way to your place,” Aunt Birdie said authoritatively. “It’s either him or me and my shotgun. Take your pick.”
“Okay, then,” Hannah said. “But Aunt Birdie, Travis and I already discussed this and decided that he would stay with us during those times.”
The Lullaby Sky Page 8