Honeysuckle Season

by Mary Ellen Taylor

  Miss Olivia stared at her a long moment. “I do admire you, Sadie.”

  Color warmed her cheeks. “Why? I’m just a poor girl from the country.”

  “You are brave. And I respect that.”

  “I’d say you were pretty brave.”

  “I had no choice, and now I have fled my country when it needs me most, and I am hiding out in a glasshouse filled with pretty plants that serve little purpose. That’s hardly brave.”

  “I thought you liked this greenhouse?”

  “Edward built it for me. He says it’s where I belong. And it’s a good place for me to hide.” Clearing her throat, she turned toward a pot filled with another green fern. “I can’t imagine being all alone and driving your truck at night, running from the law. I’m scared enough as it is.”

  Sadie came around and picked up the pot, filled with lavender. “What do you have to be afraid of?”

  “Everything,” she said softly. “This new life. Losing another baby. Disappointing Edward.”

  Sadie was silent for a moment. “Mama always said if you aren’t a little afraid, then you aren’t living.”

  “What are you afraid of?” Miss Olivia challenged.

  “Never getting out of Bluestone. Living and dying here, and never getting a chance to see the world.”

  “As I said, I predict great adventures for you.”

  Sadie liked hearing the words, and she wanted to believe them even as her thoughts turned back to the girl at the hospital. For her, there was no getting out of Bluestone.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  OLIVIA

  Thursday, March 5, 1942

  The Woodmont Estate

  “I want to learn how to drive,” Olivia said from the back seat.

  It had been two days since Olivia and Sadie had visited the hospital, and Olivia could still not shake the memory of the wailing woman being dragged inside. Edward had asked her to trust him, and of course she did, but as they now approached Woodmont she realized she needed more independence from him at this place.

  “We’ve been through this. I could lose my job,” Sadie said.

  “I know. And I appreciate your concern, but I’ll not tell Edward. I know he wouldn’t approve. He’s quite protective. I would hope in the last few weeks that I have gained your trust.”

  “I trust you just fine,” she said. “But if someone sees us, then it will get back to Dr. Carter.”

  “I feel helpless,” she said. “I’m as trapped in my house as I was in that rubble.”

  “What are you talking about? It’s the biggest house I’ve ever seen.”

  Olivia smoothed out a wrinkle in her skirt. “It can feel very small. So can this county.”

  Sadie could not argue with her on that score. “I don’t know.”

  Olivia scooted to the middle of the seat and leaned forward. “My mother says that it’s good for marriages if they have a few tiny secrets. She, for instance, used to go to the movies every Friday with her friend. She never told Father about it because she said details like that bored him. She said the movies made her a better wife.”

  “You think driving will make you a better wife?”

  “Yes.” She would not feel so trapped or lost or useless. When she had worked at the hospital in London, she had felt alive and excited about each day.

  “Don’t you have all those plants and trees coming to the greenhouse soon? Won’t that make you feel better?”

  The greenhouse was Edward’s idea of what she needed. And though she was touched by the gesture, she realized now that plants in a greenhouse were more of an excuse to keep her on the property.

  “There are times when I feel like that girl we saw at the hospital,” she said.

  Sadie frowned. “You aren’t like her.”

  “I’m trapped in my life. Please. I’ll never tell Edward.”

  Sadie slowed the car and turned into the estate’s driveway, and as Olivia stared down the long dirt entryway, she thought she might cry.

  Instead of pressing forward, Sadie stopped the car. As the car idled, she twisted around in her seat. “This is our secret from Dr. Carter?”

  “Of course. I won’t breathe a word.”

  “What about Mrs. Fritz? She might see.”

  “I’ll speak to her.”

  “I’m going to be sorry I did this.”

  Olivia clapped her hands. “Then you’ll do it!”

  “I suppose.” Sadie slowly shook her head and shut off the engine. “It ain’t as easy as it looks. There’s a trick to working the clutch and the accelerator. You don’t get do-overs.”

  “Nothing I can’t master.”

  “All right, then; get out of the car, and come around.”

  Olivia bounded out the back seat as Sadie climbed out from behind the wheel and waited for her to sit. She closed the door and came around to the passenger side and got in.

  Olivia smoothed her gloved hands over the steering wheel and felt her heart beating fast, as it had when she had been on the merry-go-round in Piccadilly.

  “You’ll find that I’m the best student you’ll ever have met. The doctors at Holy Cross in London said as much. I was on the floor less than two days before I was bandaging wounds.”

  “Good. Those three pedals on the floor all have a job.” Sadie explained the purpose of the accelerator, the brake, and then the clutch. Next, she talked about the key, the choke, and the starter. By the time she was finished, Olivia’s brain was spinning.

  “Best way to learn is by doing,” Sadie said. “Turn the key, and let’s get this car moving.”

  Olivia turned the key, and when the engine roared to life, a tiny nervous giggle bubbled out. She pressed the pedal on the right, and the engine roared. She immediately let off it. “What have I done?”

  “Nothing yet. Now for the tricky part,” Sadie said.

  Olivia scooted forward in her seat, gripped the steering wheel, and pushed the clutch against the floor. She struggled to move the gear into the first position. Sadie finally laid her hand over Olivia’s and guided it into place.

  “Was that the tricky part?” Olivia asked.

  “No, ma’am. That would be now. Lift that clutch up slowly, and press on the gas slowly.”

  Olivia let the clutch up quickly and pressed on the gas slowly. The car lurched forward and shut off. “What did I do? Did I break it?”

  “No, ma’am. It takes practice; that’s all. Let’s go ahead and try it again.”

  The second, third, and fourth results were not much better, and with each new failed attempt, Olivia’s face burned hotter and hotter. Edward would call her silly and foolish for having tried.

  “You’re doing real well, Miss Olivia.”

  “How can I be? We haven’t moved ten feet!”

  “The first time I tried to learn on that old truck, it just about hopped all the way to Charlottesville.”

  “You were twelve. I’m a grown woman.”

  “First time is hard no matter what. You’ll get the hang of it.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe I’m not cut out for country living. My mother feared I wouldn’t last.”

  “Why would she say such a thing?”

  “Because I love the city. I like the theater, the shopping, the restaurants, and all the sounds that come with it.”

  “Then why are you here?”

  “Because I love Edward. I’m his wife. Besides, London was not safe.”

  “You ready to quit, then?” Sadie asked.

  There was the challenge in that girl’s voice again. She’d dared her once before right in front of Edward. “I’m not quitting.”

  “Looks like it to me.”

  She had survived almost nine hours in the rubble, her body pressed so tightly between the debris that she could barely breathe. Water and filth had dripped on her face as more bombs had dropped nearby, shaking the very rubble that trapped her.

  Olivia tightened her grip on the wheel and raised her chin. She pulled out the choke and pressed t
he starter button.

  Drawing in a breath, she gently pressed on the accelerator and very slowly let up on the clutch. The gear caught, hopping only a little before the front wheels moved forward.

  Olivia looked in shock at Sadie before she grinned broadly. “I did it.”

  “You sure did.”

  “Why won’t the car go any faster?”

  “Because we’re only in slowest gear. We need to shift again.”

  “Can’t we stay in first?”

  “You can walk faster than you can drive in first gear.”

  Olivia put her hand on the gearshift. “I’m ready.”

  Sadie laughed. “You ain’t facing down a mountain lion. It’ll be okay.”

  Again, the clutch went in, the gear shifted with just a little bit of choppiness, and soon the two were picking up speed. By the time they had reached the main house, they had been through the first three gears.

  Mrs. Fritz came out on the porch, smiling and nodding as Olivia drove around the circular driveway and brought the car around to the barn. She shut off the engine and climbed out, her chest puffed out as if she had slain a beast.

  Sadie glanced toward Mrs. Fritz, who offered a slight nod of approval before she vanished back into the house. “That was really good, Miss Olivia.”

  “Can we do it again?” Olivia asked. “Next time I’d like to drive on the roads.”

  “Dr. Carter is sure to find out if you go out on the roads.”

  “Maybe, but better to ask for forgiveness than get permission.”

  “Did your mother tell you that too?”

  “Yes she did.”

  Olivia lay curled next to Edward, drawing comfort from his warmth, as she had since the first night they had slept together.

  That night had been a scandalous three weeks after he had pulled her from the carnage. She had been home, alone in the dark, listening to the distant rumble of heavy bombers flying over the city. The room had suddenly felt painfully small, and she had risen and dressed in the dark.

  Since the war and its bombing had begun, London residents had grown accustomed to living and moving in the dark. She’d made her way to his tiny apartment and knocked on his door. When he opened it and saw her bathed in shadows, he did not say a word or move a muscle. She was the one who stepped toward him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Their kisses were never tentative when they were in London. They had always held pent-up passion that had come from the stress of war.

  Olivia thought she knew Edward. She had followed this brave man to America, knowing she was driven by her love and fear. Love for him and their unborn child but also fear of the bombs in the darkness. And when she had lost the child she was carrying on the voyage to America, he had cared for her with such tenderness. “There will be more babies,” he had whispered.

  But in the last week since Olivia had seen how he had dismissed the suffering of that woman, she’d wondered.

  She quietly slipped out from under the covers and put on her slippers. Moving carefully to avoid the floorboards that creaked, she left the bedroom and made her way down the stairs. She put on her coat and walked down the cobblestone pathway toward the greenhouse. The plants had begun to arrive; she, with Sadie’s help, would soon arrange them in the glistening space, filling the greenhouse with green, white, purple, and red blossoms.

  She opened the door, greeted by the fragrant scents and the warmer air. Carefully she closed the door and crossed to the small sofa in the center. She curled up on the soft cushions and, hugging the folds of her coat close, stared up through the glass ceiling toward the clear night sky. When she was younger, she had known the constellations so well, and when the bombings had begun, plunging the city into darkness, she had become reacquainted with the stars.

  Tonight, her guides were a waxing moon near the constellation Lynx and, to the east, Cassiopeia. Her hands slid to her belly, and she sat as still as she could, trying to calm her fear so that the baby growing inside her would flutter and move, reminding her he was going to be all right. “Just a small kick, my boy,” she whispered. “And then you can get back to sleep.”

  Olivia had realized she was expecting again the day she and Sadie had driven to Lynchburg to see Edward. That had been part of her reason for going. She had wanted to share herself with him in the bright sunshine and share the exciting news with him. She was always calmest and happiest throughout the day.

  The news had been on the tip of her tongue until the girl had captured their attention. Her screams had been so loud and agonizing. The sounds had transported Olivia back to London and the nights when similar screams were often heard in the rubble.

  Edward’s response to the girl’s plight had taken Olivia aback. She sensed her husband did not see the girl for who she was but instead as a clinical problem to be dealt with.

  The door to the solarium opened, and she turned toward it to see the shadow of her husband. “I can hear your thoughts all the way back at the house,” he said drowsily.

  She moved over on the sofa, making room for him, and when he stretched out beside her, she nestled close to him. “It’s the night. You know I don’t sleep well any longer.”

  “Do the stars help?”

  “Yes, they’re peaceful.”

  He smelled of clean soap from the bath he always took when he came home from the hospital. His hand slid softly to her slightly rounded belly. “Are you pregnant?”

  She looked up at him, remembering his face had been the first she had seen while trapped. “Yes.”

  His face broke into a wide grin as he hugged her closely. “When?”

  “Christmas, I would say.”

  He buried his face in the loose curls of her hair. “God, I’m so happy.”

  “Me too,” she said.

  As much as she wanted to surrender to the joy of this moment, her mind kept returning to that woman she had seen in Lynchburg.

  “I can’t get that woman’s face out of my mind.”

  “What woman?” He seemed genuinely confused.

  “The day I brought you lunch at the hospital.”

  “Ah, yes. What about her?”

  “She was so upset.”

  “Many of the women we treat are easily upset. Many aren’t right in the mind, and they need our help. It’s unsettling. I’m sorry you had to see that.”

  “I was buried alive for nine hours, but it paled to her terror.”

  He was silent for a moment. “I’ve no doubt her life is never going to be easy.”

  “What did you do for her?” Olivia asked.

  “I did what was right for her. I saw to it that her suffering wouldn’t be passed on to the next generation.”

  She felt his steady heartbeat under her fingertips. “What does that mean?”

  “The girl’s mother is as troubled as she is. It’s hereditary. The father did not want his daughter to have children that were bound to suffer.”

  “What did you do?”

  “A very quick and easy procedure that ensures she won’t have children. She’ll live a happy life that will be as normal as she can manage, but there won’t be children.”

  “How do you know they would suffer?”

  “Her father was certain that she should have no children.”

  “Why was he so certain?”

  “He knows his child.”

  “Are there others like her?”

  “Too many sometimes.” Edward pulled Olivia closer to him and tightened his hold around her slim waist. “I don’t want you to worry about her or that place. Focus on the baby and how you can make the plants in here grow. I was down here earlier, and I’m impressed at their beauty.”

  Some of her worries drifted away at the sound of his soothing voice.

  “I haven’t asked, but has Sadie worked out?”

  “Yes, she is a great help.”

  “I like and respect her brother. Johnny is a hardworking young man. The other brother, Danny, not so much. And Sadie is strong willed and spirited.” />
  “Is that why you hired her as my driver?” she asked.

  “I thought she would bring you out of yourself. Not someone who would always try to ingratiate themselves to you. I also know how you like to help others. Maybe you could raise her up a bit.”

  “You were right about that.” She drew her finger over his chest, drawing a heart. “She has been a breath of fresh air.”

  “Should you slow down on your driving adventures now that the baby is on the way?”

  “It’s good for me to get out. I think the ship was too confining, and the stress of crossing the Atlantic took its toll. I feel different this time. Hopeful.”

  He kissed her on the forehead. “I want the three of you to be careful,” he said with a grin.

  “Absolutely.”

  SADIE

  Six days later, Sadie drove Miss Olivia into Bluestone and parked in front of the general store. She was aware that the folks standing about noticed the car’s beauty. Sadie puffed up her chest, stepping out with her used new coat on. She was used to being noticed but never for good reason. She was Johnny and Danny’s wild little sister who wore dirty coveralls and ran barefoot most summers. She was the girl who did not do so well in school and struggled to read passages in books assigned by teachers. She was the girl who ran shine and was rumored to be drinking the brew as young as twelve. A backwoods hellion.

  But today, she was the girl who worked for Mrs. Olivia Carter and got to wear a fancy coat.

  She watched as Miss Olivia walked inside the store, her head held high and her gaze just a little cool as it swept over the interior. Mr. Sullivan stood a little straighter and welcomed her as she tugged off her gloves and then took a piece of gingham fabric between her fingers and felt it for softness.

  “What can I do for you today?” Mr. Sullivan asked.

  “Miss Sadie has a list for you,” she said with her proper English accent. “Supplies the cook needs for supper.”

  Sadie removed the carefully folded note from her pocket and handed it to Mr. Sullivan. A slight smile curled the edges of his mouth as he looked at the long list. Knowing Mr. Sullivan, he was already calculating the profit he would make today.