Woodlands

by Robin Jones Gunn

  “We need two greeters at the main door,” Shelly was saying now.

  Jessica and Lauren simultaneously signaled that they would volunteer.

  “Okay, good.” Shelly held up a packet of seeds. “This year I thought it would be fun if we used these for name tags. The permanent markers work well on the front and that way the women can take the seeds home and plant them. I got a great deal on the packets. They’re mostly flowers, but I have some vegetables as well.”

  “I love it!” Lauren said, taking the sample packet from Shelly and examining it more closely. “How many women are we expecting this year?”

  “Around two hundred.”

  “And only the four of us to run it?” Lauren asked.

  “My mom and my sister Meredith are coming for the weekend. I know they’ll pitch in and help us.”

  “How’s Meredith feeling?” Jessica asked.

  “Better. She thinks she’s over the morning sickness now that she’s out of the first trimester.”

  Leah wondered if Shelly found it hard to talk about her younger sister’s pregnancy—especially since Meredith had gotten pregnant only a few months after she and Jake were married. Leah tried to imagine how Shelly must feel about not having children when all her married friends and sisters seemed to have no problem getting pregnant. Considering Shelly’s situation made Leah realize everyone has her unique challenge in life.

  “Is that okay with you, Leah?” Shelly asked, drawing Leah back to the meeting.

  “I’m sorry. What did you say?”

  “I asked if you would be willing to oversee the maypole event like you have the past two years.”

  “Sure,” Leah said. “Is Jonathan going to have it up the day before?”

  “We’ll have it up at least the day before,” Shelly said.

  “Good, because I think some of the vinyl streamers tore last year when those kids were hanging on them. I’ll check it out and see if we need to replace any of them.”

  “That would be great,” Shelly said. She continued through to the end of the list and asked if anyone had questions.

  “The food?” Leah asked, noticing there was no list like last year’s of what everyone was supposed to bring.

  “We were able to have the event catered this year,” Shelly said. “Some of you may have met Genevieve Ahrens and her daughters at church on Easter. They just moved here, and Genevieve is starting up a catering business from her home. She’s going to take care of all the food for us.”

  Leah guessed that Genevieve’s daughters weren’t toddlers, otherwise Leah would have had them in her Sunday school group.

  “That’s a huge relief,” Lauren said. “Remember all those egg salad sandwiches we made last year?”

  “And the fruit cups?” Jessica added. “I think Kyle and I were up until midnight filling those little pastry shells with pudding and fruit cocktail.”

  “Those were a big hit,” Lauren said. “Are we having those again?”

  “I don’t know,” Shelly said. “I’m leaving it all in Genevieve’s capable hands. Her talent in the kitchen is surpassed only by her talent in the garden.”

  “That reminds me,” Lauren said. “Do you want us to bring in cut flowers like we did last year?”

  Shelly went over the instructions for the cut flowers, the craft table that offered a glue-it-together birdhouse or a clay pot for each guest to paint and to plant the seeds from inside her name tag. That brought them to the end of the list.

  “Are you sure you don’t need to delegate anything else to the rest of us?” Leah asked.

  “I believe that’s it,” Shelly said, checking her list one last time. “Why don’t we pray together about all this before you go?”

  Shelly led them in a heartfelt prayer, thanking God for the opportunity to have a day they could celebrate together. She asked for his blessing on the event and asked that the time would encourage many of the Glenbrooke women.

  As Leah listened to Shelly’s prayer, she felt as if she were praying every word with her. Leah was no longer an outsider, listening and observing while others communicated with God. She felt connected. The sensation was overwhelming, and she found uninvited tears tumbling down her cheeks as Shelly said amen.

  “Are you okay?” Jessica asked, reaching over and giving Leah’s arm a squeeze.

  “You guys,” Leah said, encompassing Lauren and Shelly in her answer to Jessica, “I have something I want to tell you.”

  The three women waited in a united silence.

  “Jessica knows part of this, but I wanted to tell all three of you what’s been happening in my life lately.” The tears kept coming, but Leah didn’t care. They were like a gentle spring rain and seemed necessary to water the fresh seeds God had been planting in her heart.

  She let out a breathy laugh and wiped her cheeks with her fingers. “Seth told me that tears wash the windows of our souls, helping us to see ourselves more clearly. I think the windows of my soul must have needed a lot of cleaning because I’ve been crying more these past few weeks than I’ve cried in years.”

  Her three friends all looked at her with understanding smiles.

  “The thing is,” Leah continued, “I don’t know if I’m seeing myself more clearly, but I’m definitely seeing God more clearly. Is it possible to be a Christian for a long time and then suddenly have this breakthrough, and you feel as if it’s all brand new, and all you want is to know God more deeply and completely?”

  All three women nodded with shared understanding.

  “I experienced a huge change in my life about five years ago,” Shelly said. “I was supposed to be helping with food service at a woman’s retreat, but my sister tricked me into going to the chapel and listening to the speaker. I think Meri knew I needed to get my heart set back on the Lord. Do you feel as if God is pursuing you?”

  “Yes,” Leah said, straightening up in her chair. “That’s exactly what I feel.”

  “Your soul is mingling with God’s,” Lauren said. “Don’t hold back. Let your heart echo back to him all the messages of love he’s sending you.”

  “Okay,” Leah said, absorbing Lauren’s advice.

  “God is the relentless lover,” Shelly said with a knowing smile. “You’re his first love. He will never stop pursuing you because he wants you back.”

  Leah nodded.

  “ ‘Delight yourself in the Lord.’ ” Jessica quoted the Scripture softly. “ ‘See! The winter is past … the season of singing has come.’ ”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Leah didn’t sing a lot during the next week. But she found herself humming. And praying. She prayed more often and more openly than she remembered ever praying before.

  At work every day that week Mary talked about the cruise and thanked Leah for giving her the tickets. She kept telling Leah how excited her sister was about going.

  On Wednesday night, the Glenbrooke Rangers won their game, and even though Seth wasn’t there to help her out in the Snack Shack, Leah felt content. She had posted several of her three-by-five cards inside the small building, and in between customers she was absorbing verses from 1 Corinthians 13 and 1 John. Any and all passages she could find on God’s love seemed to feed her soul.

  She ran into Seth on Thursday afternoon when she went past Ida’s house to pick up her muffin tins. He was standing on Ida’s front steps, politely sipping a glass of her lemonade while the delivery van was double-parked with the motor running.

  When Ida ducked back into her house to get Leah’s muffin tins, Leah told Seth, “I’ve been praying for you every day this week. I wanted you to know that. I’ve been praying that God would give you strength and that he would be merciful and heal you.”

  Seth smiled appreciatively at Leah. “Thank you. Ida was just telling me that you won a cruise to Alaska and that you gave the trip away to a friend at work.” He tilted his head and looked at her closely. “What happened to the Amelia I met two weeks ago who was going to take off to see the world?”
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  Before Leah could answer, Ida appeared with the muffin tins and a glass of iced lemonade for Leah. Ida was chuckling to herself as she said, “And here I thought the Glenbrooke Zorro had left these muffin tins for me.”

  Seth and Leah exchanged a quick look and then both began to speak at the same time.

  “I need to get going,” Seth said.

  “Thanks for the lemonade,” Leah said. She took a gulp as Seth nodded his good-bye to both the women and hurried to his truck.

  “Such a fine young man,” Ida said. “I’m not surprised Franklin changed his will last week.”

  Leah lowered her lemonade glass and turned to Ida.

  “Mavis told me,” Ida said. “She’s been a might concerned about him lately. Seems Franklin has it in his mind to go to Hamilton Hot Springs for some reason.”

  “It was a special place for him and Naomi,” Leah said, defending her old friend. “He probably wants to relive some of the memories.”

  Ida shook her head. “He’s a crazy old man. With his poor health, he has no business traveling. I told Seth that, and he agrees with me. He said he wouldn’t be taking Franklin to the hot springs and that was that.”

  “I might take him,” Leah said. “He asked me to. If Seth won’t, then maybe I will. If I were ninety-two and wanted to go somewhere, I’d like to think I had a friend who would take me.”

  Ida blinked, showing her surprise. “Why, Leah Hudson! I’d never expect such brashness from you. Mavis said that Franklin called a lawyer last week, and he came to the house and charged Franklin a good deal of money to change his will.” Ida stood her ground as if she had just made a bold declaration, and Leah should be shocked by the news.

  Leah finished her lemonade and said, “I’m sure Franklin has the right to change his will whenever he wants.”

  Ida squinted at Leah and said, “Doesn’t it make you a tad suspicious that he changed it right after that amiable young nephew came to town?”

  Leah knew it wasn’t her place to tell Ida that Seth had another reason for coming to Glenbrooke besides finding a way to appear in his great-uncle’s will, not that Ida knew any of the specifics of how the will had been changed. Ida, of all people, didn’t need to know about Seth’s scheduled surgery with Dr. Norton.

  Handing Ida the emptied glass, Leah said, “You certainly make the best lemonade in town, Ida. One of these days you’ll have to tell me your secret ingredient.”

  “It’s the fresh fruit, of course,” Ida said with a snap in her voice. “I told you that before. Six fresh lemons and just a squeeze of fresh lime. Not too much sugar.”

  “It sure is good. Thanks. I need to be going,” Leah said before Ida realized that she had been sidetracked from the conversation about the lawyer and Franklin’s will.

  “Your irises are beautiful this year,” Leah said, as she headed down the front steps.

  “I’m overrun with them in the backyard. Why don’t you cut some and take them home with you?” Ida said.

  “We could sure use them for the May Day event,” Leah said. “Would you mind if I came over early Saturday morning? That way the flowers would be fresh.”

  “Heavens, no, I don’t mind! Cut all you want. And help yourself to tulips by the back door. They need to be thinned out something awful. I don’t seem to be getting all my gardening done as quickly as I should this year.”

  “I’ll come by around 7:30 Saturday morning. If you would like a ride to Camp Heather Brook, I’d be glad to take you.”

  “That would be wonderful.”

  Leah hurried to her car, glad that she had successfully diverted Ida’s attention off Franklin’s will. It occurred to Leah that she was the only one who thought Franklin should take his trip. She hadn’t been in favor of it when he first asked her, but now she felt as if she was his only advocate.

  Instead of turning right on Pine and heading for her house, Leah turned left and drove to Franklin’s. She let herself in and called out her usual greeting, but Franklin wasn’t in his recliner. Mavis met Leah in the entryway and said Franklin was lying down in his bedroom.

  “Is he feeling okay?” Leah asked.

  “He’s running a slight fever,” Mavis said. “I think he’s been overdoing it the last few days. He’s had company nearly every day this week, and it takes a lot out of him.”

  “Do you think I should pop my head in or let him rest?” Leah asked.

  “It’s up to you. You always cheer him up. Might be just what he needs today.”

  Leah followed Mavis into Franklin’s bedroom. He was sound asleep on top of the bedspread with a patchwork quilt pulled up over him. Leah slipped into the chair beside his bed and held his frail, wrinkled hand. “Hi, Franklin. It’s Leah. I stopped by to see you for a few minutes.”

  The old man’s eyelids fluttered, but he didn’t perk up the way he usually did when she caught him napping in his recliner. He smiled when he saw her and said in a clear voice, “I’ve made all the plans, Leah.”

  “Good,” she said, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. “Mavis told me you’ve had a busy week. Why don’t you sleep, and we’ll talk another time.”

  Franklin didn’t let go of her hand. “You know,” he said in a weakened voice, “it’s the blessing of the Lord.” His eyelids fluttered closed, and he said, “That’s all it is.”

  Leah wasn’t sure what he meant. “You rest up, Franklin. I’ll come see you later.” She leaned over and kissed his warm cheek. A smile came to Franklin’s thin lips, and the steady sound of his deep breathing returned.

  “He said the same thing after the lawyer left the other day,” Mavis told Leah on her way out. “He said, ‘The blessing of the Lord makes you rich.’ Now what do you suppose he means by that?”

  “Maybe it’s a verse,” Leah ventured.

  “That’s not a verse I’ve ever heard preached about,” Mavis said.

  Leah opened the front door and said, “Let me know if he needs anything or if his fever goes higher. I’d be glad to help out if you need me.”

  “I’ll let you know,” Mavis said, sounding as if she had everything under control as usual.

  Leah thought about Franklin all evening as she was doing laundry and cleaning up her neglected kitchen. The bottom of her oven was sprinkled with charred pizza dough crumbs. That explained why Lauren had turned off the oven the night Leah was trying to bake the spinach for Seth and herself.

  As she scrubbed, Leah thought about Seth. She wondered how he was feeling about his surgery tomorrow. Her emotional response to that man had changed so much in the past two weeks. But one thing remained the same from the start: She felt drawn to him. Connected with him. He held her secret, she held his. Leah wondered if she would feel the same way about a brother going in for cancer surgery. Since she didn’t have a brother, she didn’t know. It felt different from how she had handled concern for sisters and friends, young and old, who had gone in for some type of surgery. And Leah had seen them all. This time, with Seth, she wanted to be there for him in anyway she could. She didn’t know exactly what that meant, but she knew she could pray, and she did.

  Chapter Nineteen

  On Friday Seth arrived at the hospital at ten o’clock for his surgery. Leah treated him as she would any other patient she admitted for day surgery. Seth responded as any other patient would. A little nervous. A little self-conscious.

  Leah didn’t leave the hospital for lunch. She wanted to hear the results as soon as they were available, and she let Shirley, the nurse in charge of day surgeries, know that she was waiting for news. By one o’clock there hadn’t been any news. Dr. Norton had been with Seth for almost two hours. It didn’t look like a good sign.

  At 1:15, Shirley called Leah’s desk to tell her Dr. Norton had completed the diagnostic check of Seth’s back where the previous procedure had been performed. Those samples had been sent to the lab. Three other areas, however, appeared suspicious, and Dr. Norton was testing them as well.

  Her heart racing, Leah said thanks to
Shirley and hung up. Leah sat at her desk numbly staring at the phone. This was not good. She knew that, if Dr. Norton had found so many suspicious areas, the chances of the melanoma spreading were greater than Seth may have suspected.

  After trying unsuccessfully for almost an hour to catch up on her paperwork, Leah finally told Mary, “I’m going upstairs to day surgery. I need to check on something. Call me up there if you need me.”

  “Sure,” Mary said. “Could you take this file up to Shirley? She called about it a little while ago, and I told her I didn’t have it, but it was buried on my desk.”

  Leah took the file and went to the elevator where a number of people already were waiting. She decided to take the stairs and dashed up them as if she needed to beat the elevator. The urge to do something to help felt overpowering and yet there was so little she could do.

  Shirley gave Leah a curious look after she breathlessly handed Shirley the file. “You didn’t have to bring it up,” Shirley said.

  “I wanted to check on Seth Edwards. You said Dr. Norton was exploring several suspicious areas.”

  “Yes. The lab results won’t be back for awhile. Did you need to check with the patient on something? He’s still heavily sedated. I don’t think he’ll be able to answer any questions.”

  “I’ll check back,” Leah said. “Could you let me know when the lab results come in?”

  “Sure,” Shirley said. “I’ll call you right away.”

  “Thanks.” Leah returned to the elevator and pushed the button three times. The brutal inevitability of disease and death angered Leah. She thought of how she dealt with death every day. She filed the papers for death certificates and directed grieving family members to the hospital chapel. When her own parents had passed away, Leah was so immune to the sting of death and so conditioned to handling it as a step-by-step paperwork procedure that she had made all the arrangements for her parents with barely a tear.

  The tears seemed to have been catching up with her the past few weeks and now they came again, rushing up her throat and fleeing her system through her eyes. Covering her face with her hand as she stood in the elevator, Leah tried to make it appear as if she had something in her contact. Which she did. Tears. An ocean of them.