Miss Janie’s Girls

by Brown, Carolyn

  “To start with, you’d have to have a place,” Noah answered.

  “And money to get things going,” Teresa added. “And I’m not laughing at you. If we had the money and a place, I’d do that in a heartbeat. I love working with old folks, and together we could do the cooking.”

  “I can’t imagine you two working together every day,” Noah said.

  Kayla shook her spoon at him. “Miracles do happen.”

  Teresa slid a sideways glance over toward Noah and hoped that Kayla was right.

  Chapter Ten

  Noah thought he could sleep for at least twenty-four hours when he went to bed at nine o’clock on Friday night. Things had been going so well, he’d been sleeping like a baby, but not last night. He awoke at five thirty the next morning. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t force himself to get back to that dream he had been having. He and Teresa had been sitting at the kitchen table looking over a legal document that had to do with a business. At one time she’d leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. No matter how tightly he shut his eyes, he couldn’t figure out what was on that piece of paper. He didn’t care as much about that as he did going back into the dream to kiss her again.

  Finally, he got out of bed, went downstairs, and put on the first pot of coffee for the day. As soon as it dripped, he poured a mugful and carried it to the back porch to watch the sunrise. Later, he would go into the small office he’d set up in his upstairs bedroom and begin to take care of all the legalese of starting a new business, but that could wait.

  Teresa padded barefoot out to the porch with a cup of coffee in her hands. “Good mornin’. What are you doin’ up so early? I figured you’d sleep until noon.”

  Her black hair looked like a messy haystack piled on top of her head. Her pajama pants and faded red T-shirt hung on her body.

  To Noah, she’d never looked sexier.

  His breath caught in his throat, making his voice come out a little hoarse when he said, “Guess my body got enough rest.” He motioned toward the chair right beside him. “Have a seat and watch the sunrise with me.”

  When she sat down, he caught a whiff of coconut and vanilla mixed together and realized that her hair was still damp. A vision of her in the shower popped into his mind. He could imagine her light-brown skin, all slick with soap, and her head thrown back to show her long, graceful neck as she rinsed the shampoo from her hair. He blinked several times before the picture in his head disappeared.

  “Do you always get up this early?” she asked.

  “Usually not before daylight, but I am an early riser. Since I’ve been in Birthright, things have been a little crazy,” he replied.

  “I sure enough understand that,” Teresa said. “Kayla and I have decided to take turns sleeping in the same room with Miss Janie. She tries to get up by herself at night to go to the bathroom. When she could walk, it wasn’t a big deal, but now someone has to help her. That new bed we set up in there has been great, though. I stayed with her last night. Kayla is with her now. I never thought I’d say this or feel this way, but I’m glad Kayla is home.”

  “Don’t know how I’d survive without y’all. No way would Miss Janie let me do personal things for her, and strangers terrify her nowadays.” Noah would rather be talking about anything other than his great-aunt’s privacy.

  “We owe her that much and more. We made some very bad choices in life. That’s on us, but she gave us a good home and did her best to steer us right,” Teresa said.

  “Are you talking about your marriage?” he asked.

  “That and staying with him when I knew he wasn’t faithful. Looking back now, I realize I figured all men were like him since that’s what I’d grown up with.” She shrugged. “Some of the men that visited ”—she put the last word in air quotes—“our trailer were married. I even saw them dropping their kids off at school the morning after they’d stayed the night with my mama. When I finally realized that wasn’t the way things should be”—she paused long enough to take a sip of her coffee—“I told Luis to go live with his latest fling.”

  “What brought you to that conclusion?” he asked.

  “There was this old couple in the nursing home who’d been married more than sixty years. They had so much love and respect for each other that I asked them to tell me their story. They even had a king-sized bed in their room instead of two twins because neither of them could sleep without the other. They’d had struggles in their life, but they’d always had enough love for one another to get them through the tough times. I’m talking raising three kids and living on a shoestring part of the time—without any cheating or abuse. That’s when I decided if I couldn’t have what they’d had, I’d do without,” she answered.

  Noah hadn’t seen that kind of love in his grandparents or his parents. Sure, they’d stuck together until “death parted them” like they’d promised in their marriage vows, but it hadn’t always been with love and respect. Knowing Miss Janie like he did now, he could understand her whole family so much better. It had all stemmed from her father and mother being so religious that their son rebelled and joined the army. Then his son followed in his footsteps, which meant that Noah was supposed to do the same. In his own way, he had rebelled by not serving his country. Maybe that’s why, even with his law degree and PI license, he couldn’t find his place in the world. He put all that on a back burner to think about later and returned his attention to Teresa.

  “So how did Luis react when it was over? Did both of you cry, or were you angry?”

  “He was relieved and told me if he could stay in the house we were renting and keep the furniture, he would give me a couple thousand bucks to find a new place. I was glad to let him have the place. I rented an apartment, and for the past year, I haven’t had to come home to clean up full ashtrays and empty beer bottles.”

  “Did your mama drink a lot?” he asked. “You don’t have to answer that. I don’t mean to pry.”

  “Yes, she drank a lot. Cheap men bought her cheap wine or whiskey or tequila. Those with more money bought her better wine, good whiskey, and top-shelf tequila. She seldom bought it for herself because she didn’t have the money to do so, unless she caught me doing something, punished me, and made me pay her whatever I was earning at the time to show me the ‘responsibilities’ of life.”

  “How about you?” Noah asked. “Did you drink?”

  “Nope”—she shook her head—“never even been drunk. I had the occasional beer at Luis’s family reunion, or a margarita on New Year’s, but I’ve always been determined not to be like my mama. How about you?”

  Teresa waited several minutes for him to answer. Maybe he was tired of all this heavy talk and she should steer the conversation toward the beautiful sunrise coming up over to their left. Trees that had been nothing but dark blobs had begun to have details like limbs and leaves. The sky turned shades of pink, orange, and lavender against a backdrop of blue sky with big fluffy white clouds drifting back and forth as the wind carried them.

  She wished she could take the question back when his expression went blank. He’d gone into a dark place, and she had caused it. “I’m sorry. That was me prying. Let’s talk about something else.”

  Finally, he cleared his throat and said, “I’m a recovering alcoholic.”

  That shocked her speechless for a full minute.

  “How long have you been sober?” she asked.

  “More than six years,” he answered without looking at her.

  She had vowed to never, ever get involved with a drinking man again, but more than five years sober was a good testimony.

  “As you pointed out—we’ve all brought baggage back to Birthright with us.” She shrugged.

  He jerked his head around, and their eyes locked. “You aren’t going to pry like I did?”

  “Nope,” she answered. “If you want to talk, you will. If you don’t, then it’s not my place to force it out of you. Since I got back here, I’ve talked to Kayla, and it’s helped me a lot t
o know I wasn’t the only one with a horrible past.”

  “Have you told her everything?” he asked.

  “Some things are so painful that it’s hard to talk about them.” She finished off her coffee and set the mug on the wide arm of the chair. “Maybe someday she and I will trust each other to tell it all, but not yet.”

  “Do you know the difference between an alcoholic and a plain old drunk?” He reached across the narrow distance and laid a hand on hers.

  “Yes, I do.” She smiled. “Mama said it often enough that it’s burned into my brain.”

  “Drunks don’t have to go to those damned old meetings,” they said in unison.

  He removed his hand and took a sip of his coffee. “I take it that your mother never went to the meetings?”

  “Not while I was living with her.” Teresa wished that he hadn’t taken his hand away. She liked the way it made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. “I hope that wherever she is now, she’s realized she has lots of problems and has done something about them. That is, if she’s still alive. With her lifestyle, she could be dead.”

  That word—dead—sounded harsh in Teresa’s ears, and yet it was the truth. Suddenly, she felt guilty because she’d never tried to contact her mother after she’d disappeared from Sulphur Springs. If as an adult, she’d found her, was it possible that Teresa could have helped her turn her life around?

  “Your mother was in California working in a bar a few months ago. I don’t know where she is now, but . . . ,” he said. “But I did find her if you ever want to reach out.”

  “Thank you, but I don’t think I’m ready to open up that can of worms. I do think it’s ironic that Kayla’s mother and stepdad went there, too.” Teresa grinned. “Makes me wonder how many deadbeat parents head west. We were talking about you, though.”

  “I have a sponsor in Houston that I still check in with every week, and there’s a meeting in Sulphur Springs I attend a couple of times a month,” he said.

  “Why haven’t you gone to your meetings more often?” she asked.

  “Couldn’t leave Miss Janie,” he answered. “Sam came over every week and sat with her for a couple of hours for me to go to the grocery store, but I couldn’t ask him to do more than that. I might start going to one a week since y’all are here.”

  They watched the sun rise over the horizon. Then it became a round orange ball sitting on the top of the tall trees. For the first time since she could remember, contentment twined its way into Teresa’s heart and soul—she was home right here in this tiny little Texas town with a population of forty.

  “You know, Miss Janie’s daddy, Arnold Jackson, was also a preacher,” Noah said. “One of them hellfire and brimstone kind that preached against liquor of any kind, women working outside the home, and for the man being the absolute boss. As often is the case, my grandpa, Miss Janie’s brother, Luther, rebelled. He joined the army right out of high school, wound up getting his girlfriend pregnant, and married her. She was a career woman who never missed a day of work except for the few weeks she took off to have my father. Grandpa loved his whiskey. He told me once that Great-Gramps Arnold threatened to disown him, like he’d disowned Miss Janie, if he didn’t stop drinking.”

  So, Noah’s grandmother had been a nurse? That was interesting, Teresa thought.

  “So, her brother knew about the babies?” Teresa asked.

  “No one talked about it, but he had to have known since they banished her to Birthright and seldom even came to see her,” Noah answered.

  “What happened to Luther?” Teresa asked.

  “Grandpa died of cirrhosis of the liver,” Noah said. “He always had liquor in the house. According to what my dad told me, he grew up thinking that everyone had a few drinks before dinner each night. My dad followed in Grandpa’s footsteps and joined the military. The same disease that got Gramps killed him, and Granny died soon after from a heart attack. I grew up an army brat and Daddy used to bring me here when we had time between moves to visit Miss Janie since she was the only relative we had left.”

  “Bet that was tough since Miss Janie didn’t drink,” Teresa said.

  Noah chuckled. “An alcoholic is challenged but never defeated. Daddy brought it inside a second suitcase. I snuck my first drink of bourbon when I was thirteen. By the time I went to college, I was drinking every day.”

  She could have gone to parties and drank every day in college, too, but she’d wanted to study hard and make something of herself.

  Don’t get too self-righteous, the voice in her head scolded. After you met Luis, your grades fell and you didn’t even finish the first semester.

  “How did you ever pass your classes?”

  “Drinking was a big part of me—I don’t know.” He raised both shoulders in a shrug. “But I had good grades, got into law school, and passed the bar exam. My dad wasn’t real happy with me, since I was supposed to be a third-generation soldier, but at least I wasn’t a preacher. I like to think that brought him a little comfort.”

  “What changed all that?” She leaned in closer to him.

  “I hit bottom,” he answered.

  Kayla stuck her head out the door. “Good mornin’. Miss Janie had a good night and is still sleeping, so I had a great night. I went ahead and made breakfast. Waffles and sausage will be ready in ten minutes.”

  Teresa jerked upright with a surge of the fight-or-flight adrenaline rush. She’d been so engrossed in what Noah was telling her that Kayla scared the bejesus out of her. When she caught her breath, she asked, “Need some help with breakfast?”

  “I never turn down help. You can fry the sausage,” Kayla answered.

  “To be continued?” Noah asked.

  “Our hour of therapy is up, but we can always book another time,” she teased, and wished that they really had more time.

  “Sunrise tomorrow?” he asked.

  “Depends on whether Miss Janie has a good night or a bad one.” She headed into the house.

  “What was that all about?” Kayla whispered. “Seemed pretty intense out there, and you were talking therapy? Do you and Noah have something going?”

  “We were just teasing.” Teresa wasn’t ready to share. “He got up early and made coffee. I couldn’t sleep, so we were watching the sunrise.”

  “Nothing as romantic as watchin’ a sunrise together, is there?” Kayla’s green eyes twinkled.

  “Nope,” Teresa answered honestly. There wasn’t a thing romantic about alcoholism. She could preach sermons about the effect it had on the children of drunk parents.

  “So . . . changing the subject, since you evidently don’t want to tell me what y’all were talkin’ about,” Kayla said, “have you thought about the idea of a senior citizens place?”

  “That’s the reason I couldn’t go back to sleep this morning,” Teresa answered. “I doubt that Miss Janie is going to leave us enough to start up something like that, but it would sure be a dream come true. I’ve loved working with elderly folks, and Sam was right when he said this community could use a place like that. It’s hard to be housebound in Texas.”

  Something had been going on out there on the porch. Kayla would bet every freckle on it. The air was almost too heavy to even get a breath when she’d stuck her head out the door. Both Noah and Teresa had looked like they’d gotten news that someone had died. Teresa might be telling her the truth about it not being romantic that time, but Kayla had seen and felt the sparks between them in other situations. Still, she wondered what they’d been talking about. If Teresa needed time to think about whatever they were discussing, she would give her the room to do just that—and then she’d get the whole story out of her.

  They put breakfast on the table without any more conversation, right up until Miss Janie yelled out for the nurse. Teresa started in that direction, with Kayla right behind her. Then she heard the back door close, and Noah joined them in the bedroom.

  “I need to go to the bathroom, and I’m hungry,” Miss Janie said. “Are
you the doctor, young man?”

  “I’m Noah,” he said.

  “Well, I don’t care if you built the ark or not,” Miss Janie said. “You need to get out of here so I can go to the bathroom.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he chuckled, and left the room.

  Kayla was better at getting her out of bed, and in a few seconds she had her turned around and sitting on the potty. While she did that, Teresa straightened the sheets, folded the throw that Miss Janie was partial to, and got everything squared away.

  “When I’m done, I want to go to the kitchen in my new chair. Eating in bed don’t seem right. Mama never allowed such things, not even when I was sick. She said the table was made for meals.” Miss Janie was careful to keep her gown pulled down to cover her knees.

  “Your mama’s not here, so we can do whatever we want,” Kayla told her.

  “I’m all done.” Miss Janie reached for the toilet paper on a nearby table.

  “How old are you today?” Teresa asked as she handed her a wet washcloth for her face and hands when she’d finished.

  She drew her eyes down as if she was trying to remember, and then she smiled. “I was seventy-five on my last birthday. I’m glad you girls came home to help Noah with me. I’ve got cancer, you know, and he can’t take care of me proper-like—not like you girls can. How long can you stay? Do you have jobs that you need to get back to? Lordy, Lordy, it’s been years since I laid eyes on y’all.”

  Kayla could hardly believe her ears. Miss Janie was lucid! “We’re glad to be here. You took care of us when we needed it, and we want to be here with you.”

  Hearing Miss Janie say “Lordy, Lordy” brought back good memories.

  “We can stay as long as you need us.” Teresa brushed Miss Janie’s wispy hair and added a little hair spray.

  Kayla helped move her over to the wheelchair and tucked a throw around her legs. “And I’m here for as long as you need me.”

  Miss Janie sighed and smiled. “We can catch up on everything at breakfast. Teresa, you can push me into the kitchen. Do I smell sausage? I love waffles and sausage.”