Читать книгу The Matchmaking Pact - Carolyne Aarsen - Страница 12

“He’s not coming.” Lily stood by the door, clutching the plate of cupcakes she had made for her father’s birthday.

“He’ll come, honey. Don’t worry.” Josie stroked Lily’s hair, shooting an anxious glance down the street.

It was 6:36 p.m. The rest of the parents had come and gone, but no sign of Silas. A phone call to his home netted her a terse request to leave a message from the answering machine. So she did, but here she was, half an hour after class and still waiting.

Anxiety clawed at her. Her grandmother had been complaining all last week about how long she had to wait for supper. As it was, Josie couldn’t leave her grandmother alone too long.

“Is Mr. Marstow coming?” Alyssa asked, her voice surprisingly perky in the circumstances. Josie was glad the children hadn’t picked up on her worry.

What if something happened to him? As far as she knew he was all alone on his ranch.

Another quick glance at her watch: 6:37 p.m. She had to get going. Now. “Are you sure you don’t know your dad’s cell phone number?”

Lily furrowed her brow, her nose curling up at the same time. “I’m sorry. I forgot. I used to know it.”

Josie thought for sure Silas would have drilled that information into his daughter’s head.

“I’ll write a note for your father and leave it on the door. I also left a message on his home phone. Stay right here and don’t move one inch,” she said, adding a stern note to her voice so the girls knew she was serious. “I’m getting some paper.”

The girls were exactly where she had left them when she returned with the note. She pinned it to the door, hoping it would stay. “Okay. Let’s go.”

She slipped her purse over her shoulder and held her hand out to Alyssa.

“Lily wants to hold your hand, too,” Alyssa said. “She doesn’t have an aunt’s hand to hold. Or a mother.”

Josie glanced down at the mismatched clothes Lily was wearing and felt a touch of regret for the young girl. Though Josie had taken the liberty of brushing Lily’s hair and fixing up her ponytail, it was obvious to Josie the little girl had chosen her own clothes.

“I can carry my cupcakes in my other hand,” Lily said, shifting them and holding out her free hand.

Josie took it and smiled down at the young girl. “Then let’s get going.”

The walk along the river to their temporary home was quick. Thankfully the girls were willing to step up the pace and they got there in a few minutes.

“Is that you, Josie? What took you so long?” was the first thing Josie heard when she opened the back door to the cottage.

“Sorry, Gramma,” she called out, dropping her briefcase on the floor and helping Lily set her cupcakes on the counter. “One of the parents hasn’t come yet.”

She hurried to the living room. Betty Carter was sitting in her wheelchair, looking out over the river, her hands clenched over each other in her lap. Josie paused when she caught a fleeting glimpse of sorrow in her grandmother’s face.

What went on behind those sharp blue eyes? Did she have regrets? Did she miss all the people she had lost in her life?

Josie would probably never know. Her grandmother never opened up to her. Never showed anything that might be construed as weakness. And never told Josie that she loved her.

“I would have liked to know if you were coming,” Betty said, the condemning tone in her voice sweeping away the moment. “A simple phone call would have been considerate.”

Josie pressed back a reply. Her grandmother didn’t like answering the phone, as she had often told her granddaughter. “I see Sally got you set up nicely,” she said, her eyes skimming over the table beside her grandmother. A teapot, cup and plate of cookies sat within easy reach as did a book and a couple of magazines.

While Josie was at work, a few women from the church took turns stopping by to check on her grandmother. Sometimes they had to help her out of bed.

“That Fenton woman doesn’t know the first thing about helping invalids. She jostled me so bad, my pain came back.”

“Did you take the pills the doctor gave you?”

“They don’t do anything.” Betty flapped her hand in a gesture of dismissal. Then she straightened as Lily and Alyssa slipped past the doorway. “It’s not polite to ignore your Gramma, you know,” she called out with a sharp tone. “And who is that with you?”

Alyssa stopped, and Josie saw her give Lily an apologetic look. Then she turned and trudged into the living room, holding Lily’s hand.

“Gramma, this is my friend Lily Marstow. Lily, this is my Great-Gramma.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Lily said.

“Is your dad Silas Marstow?” Betty turned her chair around to face the girl.

Lily nodded.

“Your mother died two years ago?”

“It makes me sad to talk about her,” Lily said. “But someday I’ll get a new mother.”

Her assertion made Josie wonder if Silas had a girlfriend, which then made her wonder why she cared.

“If you’ll excuse me, Gramma, I have to go make supper.” Josie felt bad leaving Alyssa and Lily with her grandmother, but she had to start.

“We’re going, too,” Alyssa said, grabbing Lily by the hand.

“Don’t you want to stay and talk to me?” Betty asked, sounding peeved.

“I want to show Lily my room before her dad comes.” Alyssa beat a hasty retreat, giggling with Lily as they scurried down the hallway and into the room she shared with Josie.

Josie paused in the doorway, feeling a moment’s sympathy for her grandmother. Betty had never been a pleasant person, and Josie was sure her injuries gave her a lot of pain. However, she didn’t blame the girls for not wanting to spend more time with her. Betty was unfailingly critical. While her grandmother might have just cause to criticize Josie, given her wild past, Betty had no right to reproach Alyssa.

“Alyssa is turning out to be more and more like you all the time,” Betty snapped.

“Alyssa is a good girl, Gramma.”

“You better hope so” was Betty’s only reply.

Josie sighed and returned to the kitchen, her brief moment of sympathy melting in the heat of her grandmother’s glare and reinforcing, for Josie, the need to stick to her plan of leaving. That Betty disapproved of Josie was one thing, but to turn that disapproval to Alyssa, Josie couldn’t allow. And she knew her grandmother wasn’t going to change.

She got the rice cooking, made some more tea for her grandmother and was stir-frying the vegetables when a truck rumbled to a stop in front of the house.

Josie glanced sidelong out the window in time to see Silas Marstow come striding up the walk. Beneath the brim of his cowboy hat, she saw his face set in the same grim lines she had seen that day of the tornado.

Why did she feel a rush of guilt? It wasn’t her fault he was late.

“Lily, your father is here,” she called out, rinsing her hands and drying them off on her apron as she walked to the door. When she pulled it open, Silas stood on the step, one hand raised to knock on the door, the other on his hip, his eyes narrowed.

She had a feeling of déjà vu as his disapproval swirled around her.

“I thought this thing went until seven” were the first words out of his mouth.

Josie slowly shook her head. “No. I was sure I told you six.”

Silas pushed his hat back on his head, scratching his chin with his forefinger. He hadn’t shaved and his finger made a rasping noise against the stubble shadowing his jaw. “Lily told me seven. I wouldn’t be so irresponsible as to leave my daughter waiting for an hour.”

Josie bit back her next response, trying not to get baited by his anger. “You’re here now. Come in, and I’ll get Lily.”

The cabin was an adequate size for Josie, her grandmother and niece, but as soon as Silas entered the kitchen, it seemed to shrink.

“Have a seat, I’ll be right back,” Josie said, pulling out one of the chairs she and Alyssa had managed to salvage from their home.

Lily and Alyssa were perched on Alyssa’s bed when Josie entered the room.

“Your dad is here,” Josie said again.

“Okay.” Lily glanced at Alyssa who lifted her hands in a pushing motion, then Lily turned to Josie. “I like supper, you know.”

Alyssa poked Lily and frowned.

Lily slapped her hand on her mouth. “Umm—I mean, I’m really hungry.”

“Of course you are. It’s supper time.” Josie glanced from Lily to Alyssa trying to read the unspoken messages flashing between the two. Because, sure as kittens grow up, they were planning something.

“Let’s go see your dad,” Alyssa said, jumping off the bed and dragging Lily along behind her.

“Auntie Josie, can Lily and Mr. Marstow stay for supper?” Alyssa was asking as Josie entered the kitchen.

Josie was momentarily taken aback. Talk about putting her on the spot.

“I don’t think we can,” Silas said.

“But I’m so hungry,” Lily said, glancing over her shoulder at Josie. “I don’t think I can wait until I’m at the farm.”

Josie hesitated, convinced Lily and Alyssa were up to something and not sure she wanted to be a part of it.

“Oh, don’t be so rude, let the man and his little girl stay,” Josie’s grandmother put in.

Somehow Betty had worked her way to the kitchen and had decided to add her voice to the fray.

Josie felt torn between appearing to be rude and feeling as if she was being manipulated.

“You’re welcome to stay, Mr. Marstow,” she said, giving him a polite smile that let him know she didn’t expect him to.

“Thank you, but I should get going.” He read her perfectly.

“But I’m so hungry, Daddy. I can’t wait.” Lily tugged on Silas’s hand, rubbing her stomach with her other hand.

Silas glanced from Josie to his daughter and she was convinced he was feeling as manipulated as she was.

“And it’s your birthday,” Lily added. “And I don’t want to eat hot dogs again. Not for your birthday.”

Now Josie felt like a real cad. Making the guy go home and make hot dogs for his birthday meal. “Please. Stay. I insist. We’ll have more than enough.”

“Auntie Josie always makes enough so we can have leftovers,” Alyssa put in. “And we had leftovers yesterday even though Gramma doesn’t like it.”

Josie shot her a warning glance. Mr. Marstow didn’t need to know the minutiae of their everyday life.

“Please, Daddy,” Lily pleaded, sensing her father’s weakening.

“Alyssa, why don’t you and Lily set the table. Make sure you have five place settings put out,” Josie said, putting an end to the awkward discussion. She gave Silas a cautious smile. “Now, you have to join us.”

“And we have birthday cupcakes for dessert,” Lily added.

“You come talk to me in the living room,” Betty put in from the doorway. “I remember your wife.”

And so, step by step, Silas and his daughter were pulled into the Cane family dinner.

As Josie directed the chattering girls, she put the finishing touches on supper. While she worked, her own emotions veered from annoyance with Alyssa and Lily for putting her on the spot and a curious sense of muted anticipation.

It had been six years since she had a man over for supper.

Six years since her responsibilities completely altered the course of her life.

Six years since she carried Alyssa away from the hospital, a little, confused girl of two, an orphan, with only her aunt to take care of her.

An aunt who, up until then, had lived life on her own terms and in her own way. Josie’s life had taken a 180-degree turn and there were many times, since then, that she thanked God for a second chance to redeem herself. Both in His eyes and in the eyes of the community.

But she was determined to be a good mother to Alyssa, to focus solely on the little girl and her needs. As a result she seldom dated and, in the past three years, had only gone out a handful of times.

Now a man’s voice reverberated from the living room, answering questions posed by Betty. A man was joining them for dinner.

“Tell Gramma and Mr. Marstow dinner is ready,” Josie said, setting the pot of rice on the table. She glanced over the settings, a feeling of self-pity loomed. The extensive china collection, inherited from her sister, had been reduced to a few chipped plates, a couple of cups and four bowls she and Alyssa salvaged from her broken house under the watchful eyes of a crew who was sent to remove debris.

The plastic chairs hunched around the rickety table had been donated, scrounged from various households whose possessions were still intact and who had extra to spare.

Her dining room had once boasted an antique dining room set, also inherited from her sister, a hutch that her parents used to own and a living room set that Josie had saved up for dollar by precious dollar.

All gone, she thought with a pang of remorse as she straightened the faded tablecloth she had bought at a rummage sale put on by the town for the tornado victims. Sure she had the insurance money, but dollars could never replace what she had lost.

She pushed her emotions aside, struggling to count her blessings. She had Alyssa. She had her health. She had the enduring presence of God in her life.

And Gramma? a tiny voice questioned.

Well that was another ongoing story.

“We’re here,” Alyssa said, leading the mini procession into the kitchen with a grin of pride.

“Smells good,” Silas said, pushing Betty’s wheelchair into the kitchen. “Where do you want us to sit?”

Alyssa directed traffic and a few moments later, they were all settled around the table.

“Shall we pray?” As Josie glanced around the full table, a curious sense of well-being sprung up inside.

It felt good to see new faces around the table. And as Josie’s eyes met Silas’s, she felt the faintest hint of possibilities.

Which she immediately quashed as she bowed her head. She had her plans. They had only been put on hold until her grandmother was settled.

“Thank You, Lord, for food. For a roof over our heads. For the blessing of Your love,” Josie prayed, “and thank You for the company that could join us this evening. May we be a blessing to each other. Amen.”

Josie waited a moment, then looked up.

Directly across from her, Silas was looking past her, his mouth set in grim lines. As if he was disapproving of something.