“I would love to see the inside. Are you going to take that dog that wandered up to our place?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I want something smaller when I adopt a dog, and I’m thinking about an older animal instead of a puppy. Not many people want the old dogs, but they need love, too. Besides, Noah’s already named the critter, and when a man names a pet, it’s hard to give it up.”
A wide smile spread over Kayla’s face. “I think that Teresa is already attached to her, too.”
“Then all’s well that ends well,” Will said.
See his house. Pick out a pet with him. This all sounded too serious to Kayla, and she felt herself taking two steps back.
Will Barton is a good man. Miss Janie popped into her head and scolded her. He’s not rushing you. He’s grateful for new friends and happy that he’s moving to Birthright. Don’t be afraid to enjoy the move with him.
That settled the angst in her heart. Miss Janie knew everything, maybe even the future, from where she was sitting these days. Listening to her had never proven wrong in the past.
Kayla had almost calmed herself down when Will parked right in front of a lovely stone place. “Be right back,” he said as he opened the door and slid out of his seat. “Guess they’re eager to get away today.” He grinned and pointed to two smartly dressed people coming toward the SUV.
“Good mornin’, Mama and Daddy.” He waved and then went to give them both a hug.
Mr. Barton was as tall as Will, and his wife was only slightly shorter. His hair was totally gray, and her close-cut natural hair had a good amount of salt sprinkled through it. Other than his height, Will looked nothing like either of them.
“Of course he doesn’t,” Kayla whispered.
“Hello, I’m Dulcie,” Mrs. Barton said as she got into the back seat. When she was settled, she reached up and laid a hand on Kayla’s shoulder. “You are a very lovely woman, Kayla.”
“Thank you.” Kayla wondered if she’d died and this was heaven. “I’m very glad to meet y’all.”
“I understand you graduated with our boy.” Mr. Barton got into the seat behind Will. “I’m Thomas. I hear you’re puttin’ in a senior citizens place in Birthright. That will be good for the old folks down there. Mama and I were regular visitors at the one in Sulphur Springs until we moved here to Colonial Lodge.”
“We hated to leave our friends, but it was time for us to downsize our house,” Dulcie said. “What we hated most was leaving our church family, but Will said he’d come and get us every Sunday for church so we could see everyone.”
“We knew Miss Janie through the school when Will went to high school, and we are very sorry for your loss,” Thomas said.
“Thank you.” Kayla wasn’t prepared for conversation. When she’d worried about this day, she’d thought the only time they would visit would be over dinner.
“I was hoping that after we have our usual pizza Sunday, we might drive through Birthright on the way back to Paris and take a look at the house you’ve bought,” Dulcie said.
Oh, great, now she would be seeing the house for the first time with his parents.
But at least you don’t have to worry about using the right fork. Miss Janie’s giggles bounced around in her head. You can eat pizza with your fingers, and there will only be one fork.
“Oh, hush!” Kayla said under her breath.
“What was that?” Will was absolutely beaming.
“I was arguing with myself,” Kayla answered.
“I do that all the time,” Dulcie chuckled. “Most of the time when I want my way and the Good Lord is telling me that’s not the way to go.”
“She gets cranky on those days.” Thomas laughed with her.
The forty-five-minute drive back to Sulphur Springs seemed to speed by, and when Will parked beside a small church, several folks were making their way inside. Dulcie was the first one out of the vehicle and opened Kayla’s door for her. “Come on, darlin’. I’ll introduce you to some of our friends before services start. We’re always glad to have new folks, especially young ones, join us.”
“Mama, you’re steppin’ on my gentleman’s toes,” Will said.
“Oh, be quiet. You get to spend time with her all week,” Thomas scolded him. “Let Mama have her day. This is the first time you’ve ever brought a girl to church.”
Kayla met dozens of folks that morning, and even more at the pizza place. Names and faces were a blur in her head by the time they’d started back north toward Birthright and Paris. She could remember a few things about church—the beautiful singing, that Will shared a hymn book with her like his folks were doing, and that he held her hand all through the preaching. Everything was entirely too perfect, and she’d learned from experience that life was not like that. There had to be a hidden bomb somewhere, and when it went off, everything, including her heart, would be shattered.
She was still deep in her thoughts when Will parked in front of the house on the east end of Birthright. The house was set back on a lane a good eighth of a mile and wasn’t even visible from the road. Big oak trees lined the lane leading up to it, and there was a circular drive—gravel but still in good shape—in front of the place.
“Needs some paint on the outside, but you got time to have that done before winter sets in,” Thomas told him as he got out of the vehicle. “Did you have the plumbing and wiring checked out?”
“Is the kitchen in good repair?” Dulcie added before he could reply. She went straight to the porch and then turned around. “Come on, Kayla. Us girls would rather see the inside.”
Kayla couldn’t imagine ever living in such a quaint little home. She felt at peace when she walked inside and could easily picture a sofa in front of the stone fireplace and bookcases on either side. “This is amazing,” she whispered.
“It’s a lot of house for one man,” Dulcie said, “but he sure is taken with it and this area. It is closer to where we live now, and you are here in Birthright.”
For the first time Kayla felt uneasy. “We are just starting to date, ma’am. I hope he’s not buying a place here because of me.”
“Honey, I didn’t mean to spook you.” Dulcie patted her on the shoulder. “But we’re glad he’s finally got to date you and that you’re part of both our worlds.”
“Thank you,” Kayla said, and meant every word.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Birthright didn’t see fall many years. Usually the weather went from scorching-hot summer one day to icy-cold winter the next. But the year when Kayla and Teresa came back to town, the hot weather gradually got pushed into the history books by lovely, cool sweater weather. The morning of October 17 was an absolutely perfect day for Miss Janie’s Senior Citizens Place to have its grand opening. The leaves had begun to turn colors and fall from the trees. A crisp breeze blew them around in circles, but it wasn’t so cold that the old folks couldn’t get out that day. Sam had spread the news, and he and about twenty other folks were waiting in their vehicles, or on the porch, at eleven o’clock, when it was time to open the doors for the first day.
When news got out about what they were doing, folks began to call to ask what they needed. One lady donated two bookcases—one for each of the gaming rooms. Others sent over boxes of dominoes, Monopoly, Chinese checkers, and other games. Then someone brought about forty jigsaw puzzles.
Eight tables for four had been set up in what was now the dining room, and the first day’s meal of tossed salad, hot rolls, and pot roast cooked with potatoes, carrots, and onions was ready to serve. Dessert was chocolate sheet cake, and there were cookies and some sugar-free treats, too, for those who wanted to snack that afternoon while they played games. Carafes of lemonade, sweet tea, and water were already on each table, along with four red plastic cups of ice. “The countdown begins.” Kayla pointed at the clock.
“Ten, nine, eight . . .” Teresa counted off the seconds.
Kayla crossed the floor, and when Teresa said “one,” Kayla opened the door.
“Come right on in here. We’re so glad to see you,” she said with a smile.
Sam was the first one through the door, and he stopped right inside to take a deep breath. “Is that hot rolls? Sweet Lord, I’ll be here every day if y’all are making fresh bread.”
Car doors began to slam, and soon the room was filled with elderly folks, all seeming to talk at once about how much they’d looked forward to this day.
Sam ate dinner, made six deliveries to folks who were shut in, and then came back to play dominoes for a spell.
“Anyone need a ride home?” he called out in the middle of the afternoon. “I’m taking my golden chariot to the house, but I’ll be glad to give anyone a lift.”
He wound up with three elderly women who’d had their kids drop them off, and it was a few minutes after four when the last elderly person left. Teresa locked the door and sat down at one of the tables. “It went well.” She beamed.
Kayla poured two glasses of lemonade and sat down on the other side of the small card table. “How do you feel about today? Not just that we managed to serve lunch and visit with everyone, but how did it make you feel?”
“Oh, honey! I feel so good about today that I’d dance a jig in a pig trough if I wasn’t too damned tired to move. I’m so glad you got this idea.”
“Me too.” Kayla nodded. “I could feel Miss Janie patting me on the back all day.”
“I could, too,” Teresa agreed. “I felt like she was right there beside me when we were rolling out the pie dough for tomorrow’s cobblers, and Sam was fairly well strutting when he showed the folks the other rooms.”
“Yep.” Kayla took a long drink of her lemonade. “We should get on home now, though. Will is picking me up right after five. We’re going to Sulphur Springs to look in his storage place at the furniture his folks stored there when they moved to the assisted living center. He wants me to help pick out the furniture for his new house.”
“Would you have ever thought things would fall into place like they have?” Teresa asked.
“Not in a million years.” Kayla pushed up out of her chair. “We’ve only reconnected for two months, but I think I’m in love.”
“You just now figuring that out?” Teresa teased. “I knew it weeks ago. You’ll be moving into that house with him before long.”
“Nope. I’m not living with any man again until I have a marriage license in my hand,” Kayla declared. “Besides, I have a nice warm nest in Miss Janie’s house that I’m in no hurry to leave.”
“Perfect weather. Perfect day,” Teresa said when they stepped outside. She turned when they reached the car and pointed to the sign that Noah had paid to have painted on the picture window. Welcome to Miss Janie’s Senior Citizens Place was in the middle of a wreath of multicolored flowers.
“Doesn’t that sign give you all the good feels in the whole world?” she asked.
“I agree.” Kayla got behind the wheel. “Did you say that about me moving in with Will so I’d get out of the house to give you and Noah more privacy?”
Teresa air slapped Kayla on the arm. “I figured you’d be of the same mind I am. I do not ever intend to marry anyone again until I’ve lived with them at least a year. That way if it doesn’t work out, I might have a broken heart, but I won’t have to go through a divorce.”
“I’m right the opposite.” Kayla started the car. “Like I said, I’ll never just live with another man. If he can’t commit to the whole nine yards, including a ring, a marriage license, and a wedding cake, then”—Kayla shrugged—“he’s out of luck with this girl.”
“I had a cheap ring and a marriage license. Didn’t have the wedding cake—maybe that’s why it didn’t work out,” Teresa said with a laugh. “I want to be certain the two of us are compatible before we make it permanent, and I’ve already told Noah that.”
Kayla could well understand her sister’s reluctance. “Do you really think if you and Luis had lived together, it would have made a difference? I think he would have been nice to you no matter where you lived, right up until you were legally married.”
“Maybe so, but I’m not taking chances,” Teresa said. “You better get on inside and grab a quick shower. You smell like onions.”
“So do you,” Kayla shot back. “I’ll save you some hot water. It might not be easy to seduce Noah with that smell all over you.”
“Maybe he likes onions,” Teresa teased.
Kayla parked the car, got out, and jogged across the lawn to the house, leaving Teresa alone in the vehicle. She sat there for a long time thinking about the past few months and what a life-changing experience it had all been. Will and Kayla were getting more serious with each passing day. Teresa and Noah were learning to live in the house with Queenie, the big blondish-white pup that Noah declared grew a foot a day. The first time it rained, the puppy had shivered, and the idea of her being an outside dog came to an end. Except in bad weather, her place was on the back porch at night, but other than that, she could go where she wanted in the house.
A good man. A spoiled dog. A home. A business—everything that Teresa had ever dreamed about. She shivered at the thought of losing it all now that she’d found it, and then she felt Miss Janie’s presence right behind her. She glanced over her shoulder to be sure the old girl wasn’t really there.
“What?” she asked.
Be happy. Miss Janie’s voice was loud and clear in her head.
“What if happiness is jerked out from under me? I know you had it taken away from you when me and Kayla left home and didn’t come back to see you, and when you had to give up your babies,” Teresa argued.
But I died a happy woman. Make each day happier than the one before and you’ll die the same way.
“I hope so,” Teresa said as she got out of the car.
Noah had finished working on his first pro bono case. He’d poured himself a glass of sweet tea and was settled down on the sofa when Teresa and Kayla came home that evening. Teresa kicked off her shoes and snuggled down beside him.
“How did the first day go?” he asked. “I really wanted to come down there and have lunch with Sam and meet all his buddies, but I was tied up with this case all day.”
“I understand, and, honey, it went well enough that my feet hurt,” she told him. “I didn’t have time to sit down for even a minute all day. We had an amazing day, and Sam and the old folks thanked us for everything and even tried to pay us for the dinner, but we told them it was taken care of already.” She stopped to catch a breath and went on. “And I feel like I’m floating on clouds and nothing can ever go wrong.”
“That’s great.” He tipped up her chin and kissed her. “You taste like lemonade, but you smell like onions.”
“Kayla and I both do. We chopped about five for tomorrow’s lasagna. You can come eat with us anytime you want, too. Today was just the beginning,” she said.
“Are you telling me that I’m old?” He put his arm around her and drew her closer to his side.
“I’m not saying you’re old, but you can come eat with us anytime you want. You might even get some business while you’re there. I heard Sam telling one old guy that he should come talk to you about his will,” she said.
“Lay down and put your feet in my lap,” he told her.
“Why? I’d rather be snuggled up right next to you,” she argued.
“I give a wonderful foot massage.” He grinned.
She had heard of such things but had never had one, so she did what he asked. He removed her socks and began to rub her left foot.
“Sweet Jesus and all the angels in heaven!” she groaned. “I’ve sure enough been missing out on something amazing. You have six hours to stop that.”
“I’m leaving,” Kayla called out. “Will is pulling up in the driveway right now. See y’all later.”
“Be safe, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Teresa yelled.
“That gives me lots of freedom right there,” Kayla giggled, and then the door closed.
&n
bsp; Freedom.
The word stuck in Noah’s mind. At one time, he wouldn’t have given up his freedom for a million dollars, but that day he gladly would’ve handed it to Teresa on a silver platter, along with a wedding band.
She’d told him that she’d never really commit to a man until she’d lived with him at least a year, and he didn’t want to rush her. If it were up to him, he’d propose to her on the spot and ask the preacher to marry them the very next day, but Noah was a patient man.
When he’d finished with both feet, Teresa shifted her position to sit in his lap. “I love moments like this, when it’s so quiet I can listen to your heartbeat,” she said softly. “It’s like hearing drums beckoning to me.”
“What do you think my heart is telling you right now?” Noah ran his hand down her bare arm.
“It’s sayin’, ‘Take me to bed or lose me forever, Noah Jackson,’” she said.
Noah could hardly believe what he’d heard. “Say that again.” He pushed her back a little so he could look into her eyes.
“I want more than kisses. I want to go to sleep in your arms and wake up with you beside me every morning, to have a relationship with you that goes all through this life and into eternity. That’s what I want for the long term, but tonight I want to know that when I go to sleep, you will be right there beside me and that we will open our eyes together when the alarm goes off tomorrow morning,” she said. “What do you want?”
“Everything that you just said.” He stood and scooped her up into his arms, carried her up the stairs, and stopped in the hallway. “Your room or mine?”
“It doesn’t matter to me,” she whispered.
He was still thinking he might be dreaming, but if he was, he hoped no one would wake him up for a long time. If he wasn’t walking in his sleep, then his patience had finally paid off. He stepped into his bedroom with Teresa in his arms and kicked the door shut with his heel.
Miss Janie’s Girls Page 27