Читать книгу Second Chance at Love - Irene Brand - Страница 12

The sun rose brightly the next morning, and the water had receded enough so that two kitchen vans had come across the West Virginia border into the flooded area. One van had set up in the parking lot of Mountainview Church, and the cooks would have hot food ready to deliver by noon.

Other volunteers had arrived, too. When Amelia learned that a route was open northward, she told Rick Smith she wanted to go to Charleston to get her Buick, when space was available in a vehicle to take her there.

Chase heard the conversation, and offered, “I’ll be going that way tomorrow. We’re taking the church’s truck home. I’ll stay in Worthington for a few days to get my work organized so others can carry on for a few weeks, and then I’ll come back. You can ride into Charleston with us, Amelia.”

Wishing heartily that he would leave her alone, she said, “We’ll see.”

Water had receded from the hollow where Josh and Mandy Newberry lived, and since the old couple wanted to go home, Rick asked Chase and Amelia to take them. It wasn’t an assignment Amelia welcomed. For one thing, she didn’t want to spend another day with Chase. And if the Newberrys’ home had been destroyed like those she’d seen yesterday, what words could she find to comfort Mandy and Josh?

Amelia helped Mandy choose cleaning necessities from the supplies sent from Chase’s church and by many local churches. Then she packaged the items Mandy chose and carried them for her. Instead of the Jeep, Chase was assigned to drive a four-seat pickup truck, and he helped Amelia pack the supplies in the truck bed.

The prospects of going home had brought smiles of pleasure to the work-worn faces of Josh and Mandy. They settled into the back seat of the truck, their hands clasped.

When Chase started the truck’s engine, Rick Smith peered in the open door and shook hands with Josh and Mandy.

“Staying in a damp building can make you sick, so after you clean the house, come back and stay at the shelter for several days until the house has time to dry.” Before he closed their door, Rick turned his attention to Amelia and Chase. “Don’t leave them out there.”

Chase nodded, but Amelia made no comment. One glance at the satisfied expressions on the Newberrys’ faces convinced her that it wasn’t likely they’d leave their home again.

After several miles of travel on a paved road that occasionally provided a view of the swollen Tug Fork River, following Josh’s instructions, Chase turned the truck into the narrow hollow where the Newberrys lived. At first, the elderly couple silently observed the devastation of the countryside. A lump built in Amelia’s throat when Josh started singing in an unsteady tenor voice that must have been strong and melodious in his youth. “God is so good, He’s so good to me.”

Amelia believed that her faith was strong, but if there was a possibility that her home and all her possessions had been destroyed, could she sing “God Is So Good”? In spite of her disappointing marriage, Amelia knew she’d been extremely fortunate, but how would she react if another tragedy struck her life? She started singing with Josh, trying with all her might to believe in the goodness of God, regardless of the circumstances.

Only ten families lived in the hollow, and Chase and Amelia came first to the property of the Newberrys’ neighbors. All of the mobile homes had been washed off their foundations, and many of the frame buildings leaned precariously toward the creek.

“Our home is next, at the head of the holler,” Mandy said excitedly.

They rounded the bend, and Josh shouted, “Praise God, the house still stands! Mandy, the house still stands!” He threw his arms around his little wife and hugged her tightly. When Chase stopped before the flooded house, Josh opened the door, jumped sprightly to the muddy ground and reached inside to lift Mandy out.

With Josh’s arm firmly around Mandy’s waist, they stood and surveyed the house as if it were a mansion. Unable to comprehend their joy, Amelia glanced at Chase with incredulous eyes. Precipitous mountain terrain surrounded the little farm. Even before it flooded, their acreage couldn’t have been comfortable, at least by most standards. And now, blooming daffodils and tulips had toppled to the ground, covered with mud. The posts of the yard fence had been washed out by the rushing water and the wire was flattened.

She considered her apartment to be small, but this house would easily fit into her apartment, with room to spare. Amelia assumed that the small shack behind the house, with a half-moon carved in the door, was the plumbing system, unless the lean-to with an air vent, attached to the house, was a bathroom. Several outbuildings, some washed off their foundations, were scattered around the clearing.

“Sad, isn’t it?” Chase murmured, his deep sympathy revealed in his eyes. “We might as well see what we can do to help them.”

Josh explained that the flood had come at night, and the Newberrys hadn’t known the creek was rising until their nearest neighbor pounded on the door.

“It hadn’t rained much right here, so I hadn’t been worried. But there was a cloudburst up on the mountain. I pulled on a pair of britches, and Mandy put a dress over her nightgown, and we climbed in his truck,” Josh said. “The creek was already runnin’ in the kitchen door, and it chased us all the way down the holler. God only knows how we made it to the high road before the water caught us.”

About five feet of water had rushed through the house, but it wasn’t as muddy as Willie’s house had been. The Newberrys did have antiquated plumbing inside, but the well house had flooded and the electric pump was probably ruined. All electricity in the area was out of service, so the lights wouldn’t work, either.

Mandy wiped tears from her eyes as she picked up two soaked picture albums. The memories of a lifetime had been destroyed in a matter of minutes.

“One of our daughters sent us word while we were in the shelter, and she said she’d replace as many of the pictures as she could. But I ought not to mourn over pictures when all of my family is safe.”

With water carried from a spring on the mountainside, the four of them scrubbed the floor of the house with disinfectant and strong soap. Except for the kitchen table and chairs, the rest of the furniture was ruined. Josh and Chase carried it outside. A wood-burning stove in the living room was cleaned, and, bringing wood from a stack near the barn, Josh started a fire. After scrubbing a metal pan, Mandy heated spring water so they could have a hot drink with their lunch.

“Let’s go up on the hill and have a picnic,” Mandy said, “and give the house a chance to dry out a little.”

Go on a picnic when all their household possessions had been destroyed! Amelia and Chase exchanged wry smiles as they gathered sandwiches, cookies, drinks and disposable cups from the truck and followed the Newberrys up the mountain to a fairly level spot under a gnarled oak tree. A few boulders littered the area and, following the Newberrys’ example, Chase and Amelia sat on the rocks.

Josh removed his battered hat and lowered his head. “Lord, for Your goodness we thank You. You’ve been good to us—brought us safely through the flood, just like You did ole Noah. We’ve got so much to thank You for, God, that I don’t know where to start countin’. Right now, thank You for this food and for Chase and Amelia, who’re so good to help us. Amen.”

Amelia wiped away tears before she passed sandwiches and fruit to everyone. “But what are you going to do?” she asked. “You’ve lost everything.”

“No, no, my dear!” Mandy said, patting Amelia’s hand. “We ain’t lost everything. The house is still here, and so’s the barn. I see my flock of chickens scratchin’ around the farm. The cows and sheep are safe. We’ll come around all right.”

Josh laid a caressing hand on Mandy’s shoulder. “And we have each other,” he said tenderly.

“How long have you been married?” Chase asked.

“More’n sixty-five years. Mandy was only fifteen when I married her. I was two years older.”

Waving his hand to encompass the Newberrys’ home, Chase said, “You couldn’t have had an easy life, yet you seem happy. Do you have any regrets?”

“Only a few,” Josh said. “I worked on the railroad most of my life and retired with a good pension. I was away a lot of the time, but Mandy took care of our home and raised the kids. I missed a lot of time with my kids when they were growing up. Thanks to their mama, they’re good young’uns, too. Soon as they can, they’ll be here to help us rebuild. By the time I retired, the kids had all left home, so Mandy and me had time to ourselves. Been just like a second honeymoon.” He winked at Mandy.

“How could it be a second honeymoon when we didn’t even have the first one?” she said pertly.

Their evident affection baffled Amelia. In this isolated hollow, she was witnessing marriage at its best.

Chase must have been as perplexed as Amelia, for he said, “Haven’t you ever had a fight?”

Josh’s hearty laugh echoed around the hollow. “Oh, sure! Now and ag’in we’ve fought.”

With a sly grin, Mandy said, “But it’s always so much fun to make up.”

“Either of you been married?” Josh asked.

A soft gasp escaped Amelia’s lips, and Chase glanced her way. Her head was bowed, and her face colored in embarrassment.

“Yes,” Chase answered easily. “Both of us have been married, but we’re divorced.”

“Aw, that’s too bad,” Mandy said. “A good marriage is one of the best blessings God can give.” She shook her head sadly. “Too bad.”

Perhaps sensing Amelia’s discomfort, Josh said, “Let’s get back to our work, Mandy. There’s a lot to be done before nightfall.”

“Surely you’re going back to the shelter with us,” Chase said.

“No, we’ll do fine here,” Mandy said.

“You don’t have a bed, and the floor is cold and damp,” Amelia protested.

Mandy smiled tenderly at Amelia. “Thanks for worrying about us, Amelia, but we’ll manage. We’ve got some clean, dry bales of hay in the barn. We can cover them with the blankets we brought from town. With the fire, we’ll be warm enough. We’ve been separated for several nights—women in one part of the gym, men in the other. I’d rather stay here—I just don’t rest well if Josh ain’t by my side.”

“You go on now and help others who need more’n we do,” Josh said. “If you’ll carry some wood and put it on the front porch, we’ll be all right. We’ve got enough food and water to do for a few days. By then, our kids will be here to help us.”

In spite of Josh’s urging, Amelia and Chase didn’t leave until after they’d piled several days’ supply of wood on the porch and had scrubbed the table and chairs, the kitchen sink and cabinets.

“We’ll be back in a few days,” Chase promised as they got in the truck.

Waving to the Newberrys, who watched their departure from the littered yard, Amelia said, “They look very lonely. I’m sorry to leave them.”

Chase laughed, and with an impish gleam in his eyes, he glanced at Amelia. “Frankly, I think they’re glad to get rid of us.”

“What?”

“I mean it. They’re used to being alone. Probably days go by and they see no one else. For almost a week, they’ve been penned up with lots of people, day and night. They don’t need anyone except each other.”

“Probably you’re right. I spend a lot of time alone, too, and I feel crowded sleeping in the same room with Vicky.”

They traveled in silence until they’d cleared the hollow and were on the paved highway headed for Williamson.

“The Newberrys prove that marriages can be successful,” Chase said. “We should have asked for advice on how to make a marriage work.”

Tension tightened the muscles in Amelia’s stomach. She didn’t know where Chase was going with that comment, so she didn’t answer. Instead, she examined her hands. The nails were broken, and a blister had formed on her right palm when she was scrubbing the kitchen table. While she was carrying wood, she’d gotten a splinter in her left hand. Chase had tenderly removed the splinter and applied ointment to the injury, but an angry-looking wound remained. Amelia hadn’t gotten weekly manicures since she’d started supporting herself, but she always gave daily attention to her nails. If her hands looked like this after two days, what condition would they be in at the end of three weeks?

Apparently reading her thoughts, Chase said, “We should have worn rubber gloves—for safety, if nothing else. Maybe you should see a doctor about that wound—you don’t want to get an infection.”

“I’ll watch it, and put some antibiotic ointment on when we get back.”

When they approached a pizza restaurant, Chase said, “Shall we stop here and eat?”

“I’m so tired, all I want to do is go to bed, but some hot food might refresh me.”

Chase parked the truck, but before he turned off the ignition, he said, “Amelia, we can’t go on acting like strangers. We were married and lived together for five years—we can’t erase those memories.”

“I have,” she said bitterly, knowing in her heart that she wasn’t being completely truthful. “And since you’re planning to continue working here, I’m going to tell Rick to separate us. He can think whatever he wants. The emotional turmoil between us is upsetting. I can’t give myself wholeheartedly to disaster relief when your presence keeps reminding me of things I thought I’d forgotten.”

“I can’t believe you have nothing left except bad memories. We had some good times together.”

She turned on him and unleashed the hurt that she’d bottled up for years. “Yes, but the humiliation and degradation I endured while you openly had an affair with Rosemary wiped out any happy memories I had. How do you think I felt to have you destroy our wedding vows in front of the whole town?”

“But you didn’t even act like you cared. You wouldn’t talk about it.”

“What did you expect me to do, grovel at your feet, beg you to be a faithful husband? After I learned about your infidelity, I didn’t have much pride left, but I still had some. I loved you and thought you loved me—at least, you made a good pretense of it.”

“I did love you. But when I asked your forgiveness, you turned frigid and wouldn’t let me touch you.”

She cast a scornful glance at him, her breath came in gulps and her hands shook. “It’s obvious we can’t continue working together. If two days with you has upset me this much, I can’t bear three weeks of it. Let’s go. I don’t feel like eating.”

Amelia was appalled at the viciousness pouring from her mouth. She couldn’t stop. The words had accumulated for years and had suddenly burst forth like an artesian well. Even in the final weeks of their marriage, when they’d lived apart under the same roof, they’d never quarreled.

“You made me the laughingstock in town. How you could expect me to welcome you home with open arms when you’d been sleeping with Rosemary is something I could never understand.”

“You could at least have listened to an explanation.”