Читать книгу In God's Own Time - Ruth Scofield - Страница 9

“Meg, don’t use that Spode bowl for the corn. Take down the ironstone, the green ivy leaf pattern,” Meg’s mother, Audrey, directed from the living room the following Wednesday night. “Kathy’s kids are just too rambunctious when they help clean up.”

Meg ignored the way her mother always referred to her brother’s children as “Kathy’s kids” instead of her own grandchildren. Audrey Lawrence didn’t quite approve of the girl her son, Jack, had married, even after nearly ten years of marriage, and some of that distaste fell on the children.

Privately, Meg sometimes wondered if her mother would’ve quite approved of anyone her brother might have chosen With Meg, Audrey seemed content enough with the men she dated and was even hopeful over Clive. But then, she’d never really come close to actually marrying one of them, she reminded herself

“At least they help, Mom, and don’t grumble when they do,” Meg remarked as she dutifully took down the ivy leaf bowl and set it on the kitchen counter before taking the stainless flatware into the dining room to finish the table setting. The good silver only came out for special occasions, preferably without children.

“I’d think you’d just be happy to see Andy and Sara at all, since you usually complain Jack and the family don’t come to see you very often.”

“Jack could manage more than he does,” Audrey said with a sniff. “St. Louis isn’t that far ”

“Jack has a busy schedule, Mom,” she said, refraining from mentioning that her brother might come more frequently if their mother were more gracious toward his wife. “He came as fast as he could when you needed him, didn’t he? And Kathy has been wonderful to park Andy and Sara with her mother this last week to come and help take care of you.”

At the moment, Kathy was out getting milk.

“Yes, but it took a heart attack for Jack to make the first trip in three months.”

Meg closed her mouth on the suggestion that her mother could’ve made the three-hour trip to St. Louis just as easily. The truth was, before the heart attack scare, Audrey was so busy with church activities, her women’s clubs and social engagements, she’d scarcely had time for her children They’d teasingly called her the “merry widow” more than once.

“It wasn’t a full-blown heart attack, Mom. You’re lucky that way, because now maybe you’ll pay more attention to taking care of yourself properly.”

“It was real enough!”

Meg hid a sigh. Her mother had always been a hard woman to please, but since her illness, she was more disgruntled than usual.

Even though the doctor had assured Audrey that her attack had been slight, and she was recovering nicely, her mother hadn’t regained her self-confidence in the things she could do.

Meg decided to turn the subject.

“Why don’t you come into the kitchen and supervise icing the cake. Jack and the kids will be here any min—”

Andy and Sara swung through the back screen at that moment, and the phone rang Meg picked up the kitchen extension just as Jack, following the children in, called, “We’re here. Hi, sis.”

She glanced up to smile a welcome at her brother and nearly dropped the phone when she heard Kelsey’s deep voice.

“Sounds like I called at a busy time. Am I interrupting dinner?”

“Oh, Kels.”

Jack looked up, raising his brows. She turned her back on him. He knew her too well, and she didn’t want to risk his reading anything into her expression while her heart pounded into her throat at the very sound of Kelsey’s voice. Her face had always given her away where Kelsey was concerned, anyway.

“No, we haven’t begun yet,” she said.

“Good.” He paused. “About tomorrow…”

Kathy came in with the milk, and joyous shrieks followed when Andy and Sara threw themselves at their mother.

“Hi, munchkins.” Kathy laughed, hugging them close.

“Hmm…a few days absence makes Mommy popular, huh?”

“Definitely does with Daddy,” Jack replied with a wicked grin over his children’s heads, then leaned to kiss his wife.

Meg’s heart always warmed at the love she saw between her brother and his wife, and she even owned up to a bit of envy of it. But now she plugged her ear with a finger against the happy noise.

“I hope my plans with Lissa and Aimee are still on,” she said into the phone.

“Jack,” her mother called from the other room.

“No problem there, Meg,” Kelsey assured. “The girls are so excited, they’ve talked about it all week. They’re trying to make up their minds what to wear.”

“Oh, tell them nothing formal,” she said as Jack landed a kiss on her forehead, leaned into the phone to give a “Hi, Kelsey” before going on his way into the living room. “Shorts, T-shirts and sandals are fine.”

“Okay.” Another pause ensued from his end while a brief knock sounded on the back door.

“May I pop in for just a minute?” Sandy Yoder called through the screen. “I’m not here to stay.”

“Sounds like you’re really busy,” Kelsey said, turning her attention. “Tell old Jack and all hello, and my best to your mother. I’ll, uh…I’ll see you tomorrow, Meg. Bye.”

“Yeah, Kels.” She hung up the phone feeling like Kelsey hadn’t given her the real reason for his call.

The plump woman set a huge cherry pie on the kitchen table. “I just knew you’d have need of a little extra something with Jack and the children in the house for a few days.”

“That’s really nice of you, Mrs. Yoder.” Meg picked up the big ivy leaf platter and dished up the pot roast, her mind only half engaged in what she was doing. What had Kelsey really wanted? “Shall we set a plate for you at the dinner table?”

“Oh, no, dear. I’ve had my supper. Don’t like to eat so late, y’know, and I’m on my way to meet with the church building committee.”

“Why don’t you go on in and say hello to Mom, then,” Meg suggested. The next few minutes bustled by as she made gravy from the pan drippings while Kathy finished getting the other food on the table.

“Well, I’ve got to go,” her mother’s friend said, walking back through the kitchen a few minutes later as Meg filled the iced tea glasses. “The committee is meeting at seven-thirty. Was that Kelsey on the phone a moment ago?”

“Mmm…” Meg answered, concentrating.

“Poor man. He hasn’t been the same since Dee Dee died, y’know,” Mrs. Yoder continued, shaking her head. “Too bad he hasn’t any folks to help with that brood he’s got. They need a mother.”

“I suppose so,” Meg answered automatically.

“He should get on with marrying Linda Burroughs and be done with it. Linda’s good at managing a household, y’know, and she’d put some discipline back into those children.”

Kathy made a quick pass through the kitchen, picked up the bowl of corn and basket of bread rolls, slanted Meg a speaking glance and headed once more for the dining room.

“Oh?” Meg murmured. “I didn’t think they were so badly behaved. Just kids.”

“And Linda’s girl—can’t think of the child’s name—but she’s Lissa’s age. They make a matched pair, I’m thinking.”

Meg had forgotten that Linda had a girl Lissa’s age, and she wondered why Lissa hadn’t bothered to mention it on Sunday. If she and the girl were friends, wouldn’t she have said so? But Lissa hadn’t appeared at all eager to go to the Burroughs’s house, Meg thought.

“I hear you’re taking Lissa and Aimee for a day out tomorrow.”

“Yes, I am.” Now how did Sandy Yoder hear that? From her mother, no doubt.

“That’s very sweet of you, Meg. I’m sure Kelsey will appreciate it as much as the girls. But do you…well, do you honestly think it the best thing? You came home to take care of your mother, after all, and you’ve been home only a week.”

Meg almost laughed aloud at both the sweet patronizing and the gentle reproof. Her mother’s friend meant well, but she still thought of Meg as a youngster who needed a guiding hand. Meg guessed that in the face of her mother’s illness, Sandy Yoder thought she should be the one to offer it.

“Thanks for worrying about Mom, Mrs. Yoder.” She went back to stir the bubbling gravy, then turned off the stove. “But Kathy and Jack are staying till Saturday. Mom won’t miss me tomorrow.”

“Well, if you really think so, I suppose. But Meg, dear, don’t let yourself get too, y’know…involved with Kelsey Jamison. He…well, he’s the kind of man who’s totally self-involved, if you know what I mean. And that farm of his needs so much—”

“Mrs. Yoder…” Meg drew a long breath to keep her temper from rising like the simmering gravy. Her thought of Sandy Yoder being sweet in giving her unsolicited advice just burned to a crisp. The woman wasn’t sweet at all, Meg decided—she was just an old-fashioned busybody.

“Sis, we’re ready.” Jack stuck his head around the old-fashioned swinging kitchen door and threw an unrepentant, pointed grin toward Mrs. Yoder. “Are you?”

“Yes. Yes. Everything’s done in here,” Meg answered in gratitude; another moment and she’d have been very rude indeed. Everyone accepted Jack’s occasional mild rudeness with a shrug, but if she’d cut the woman short, her mother never would’ve heard the end of it, and then Meg in turn would’ve had to hear about it for days.

“Oh, dear. Well, you run along. I’ll pop in again in a few days.”

“Sure, Mrs. Yoder. See you then.” Meg decided she would be very busy the next time her mother’s friend called in to say hello. It would be the truth, anyway. On Monday she had to make contact with her office in London; she’d left two clients in the air about investments She just hoped Clive had been watching their accounts. And she’d postponed a decision on recommending a resort compound for the Neels, her firm’s oldest client. Also, she’d turned over to Clive a new client, an important European hotel chain that sought investors. Another wanted her services in expanding their holdings, wanting to include a strategic piece of real estate in Hawaii.

At eight-thirty Meg tucked her tired mother into bed, and Jack and Kathy did the same for their children before sneaking off to the front porch swing. By nine-thirty Meg looked at her watch and wondered what to do with herself for the next hour. She was restless. The house was quiet.

She might as well pull out some work; she hadn’t touched her briefcase since arriving home. At the very least she could review that real estate proposal and the report on the financial stability of the firm making the offer.

Instead, she walked into the kitchen and dialed Kelsey.

It rang five times. Six. He wasn’t there, and neither were the children. Seven. No answering machine, even. She chewed her lip with unreasonable disappointment.

But she shouldn’t feel so, she chastised herself. Kelsey was a busy man. He had a life of his own, and his children—

“Hello.”

The receiver was an inch from the disconnect button when she heard his voice. She yanked it back to her ear.

“Kelsey?”

“Yeah?” He sounded preoccupied. Almost short-tempered. Maybe she shouldn’t have called.

“It’s Meg.”

“Meg?” A curious relief entered his tone. “Oh, hello.”

She relaxed “I called because…” Why had she? She couldn’t very well say she’d phoned simply because she wanted to hear his voice. “I’m sorry, Kels, about earlier. About rushing you off the phone.”

“That’s okay, Meg. I understand. Sometimes things are in total chaos here, too. I should’ve picked a better time to call than suppertime, myself.”

“No, you’re welcome to call anytime.” In the background she heard laughter and what sounded like a bleat. “Now it sounds as if you’re the one who’s busy.”

“Not really. We’re out in the barn. Thad and Phillip have a young Hereford bull they’ve been raising for two-year-old class in 4-H this year. Fair’s coming up, and they’re counting their chances at winning the Grand Champion.”

“Oh. Do they really have one?”

“Mmm. They might.”

“Well, I wish them luck. Did the girls raise anything?”

“Lissa didn’t seem to want to do it this year. Aimee has a lamb she’s babying, but I don’t think she’s put her best into the effort. Too impatient, I guess.” His voice suddenly grew quiet.

Too impatient. Like Dee Dee. Quick, vivacious, passionate-about-life Dee Dee.

Nostalgia waved over Meg, and she wondered if Kelsey’s thoughts centered on remembering, too.

It was almost her undoing.

“I guess I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Yeah. I was about to shoo the kids to bed.”

“No, Daddy,” she heard Heather in the background. “I don’t wanna.”

“Lissa,” she heard Kelsey order in a muffled aside. Lissa answered, but Meg couldn’t hear what was said.

“I’m keeping you,” she said apologetically.

“No, it’s okay. I shouldn’t have let them stay out this late, anyway, since tomorrow’s a big day for ‘em. Lissa can get Heather to bed, and the rest of the kids are on their own.”

Meg frowned. It seemed to her that Lissa was doing a lot of mothering. Did Kelsey depend on her too much? Who did Lissa have to turn to?

“Kelsey, was there something else you wanted when you called earlier? I had the feeling you were about to ask me something when we had to end our conversation.”

“Um, as a matter of fact, I wanted to ask a favor.”

“Ask,” she prompted, when she heard the hesitation in his voice. “I can only bite your head off through the phone lines if I don’t like it. Tearing you limb from limb would have to wait for personal contact. And then again, I might just say yes.”

His rich, deep chuckle shot through her like a sugar high. Oh, how she’d missed hearing it. She craved more.

“You’ve taken to biting off heads while out in the big bad world, have you Meg? Like the Queen of Hearts?”

His amusement delighted her. “That’s it. Cross me, buddy, and I’ll send out my black knights. Now what’s the favor?”

She heard his sigh. Kelsey didn’t like to ask for anything, she recalled.

“Would it be possible for you to take Heather with you tomorrow? I know it’s a lot to ask.”

“No, it’s not. I intended the invitation to include Heather, anyway. I’m sorry if I didn’t make myself clear.”

“Great!” The relief in his voice was substantial. “Really great. I have to run up to K. C. to pick up new tractor parts. I’ll take the boys with me, but it’s not the kind of thing the girls—well, you know. Anyway, there’s no need for you to run all the way out here. I’ll drop the girls off on my way, if that’s all right with you?”

“Sure, Kels, that’ll be fine. At ten.”

They said good-night, as longtime friends would, neatly and with the warmth of long association.

She wouldn’t wish for more. No…it would be foolish.

“Boys, stay in the car,” Kelsey instructed as they pulled up in front of the Lawrences’ white two-story house. “We’ll only be a minute.”

Aimee was out of the car before he’d opened his own door, and Lissa quickly followed.

“C’mon, Heather,” Lissa urged.

“I wanna go with Daddy.”

Kelsey held his impatience down. Heather, even though excited to be going on the shopping trip just five minutes before, liked to indulge in possessive streaks. This one had been brewing all morning. He didn’t always know what to do about them; he didn’t remember the other kids acting so dependently. But the other four’d had their mother, too.

“No games this morning, little sprout,” Kelsey said, holding her door wide, insistently. Heather reluctantly unbuckled her seat belt and slid out of the car.

“Why can’t I go with you?”

“You’d be bored in two min—”

Meg stepped out onto the front porch dressed in a black-and-white swingy-skirted outfit that stopped inches above her knees. Kelsey couldn’t help himself. His attention was caught in how attractive her long legs looked—and he looked all the way down her well-shaped calves to her feet, elegantly encased in black sandals, and back up again. The sight of those long limbs hit him squarely in the middle and with a force to equal a tightfisted punch.

It surprised him. A lot.

He yanked his gaze back to her face. Meg’s skirt wasn’t any shorter than most women’s shorts, so it must be the sophisticated combination of garments, he guessed. Meg always did have pretty legs—he just hadn’t imagined those curves would ever cause him such a disturbance.

“All ready?” Meg sang out, aiming her comment toward the girls as she came toward them.

“Oh, yes,” Lissa said, enraptured.

“Uh-huh,” Aimee agreed, already three steps up the drive.

“I wanna go with Daddy,” Heather began again, her eyes tearing.

“Don’t be such a baby,” Lissa said with a long sigh.

“I’m not a baby,” Heather protested, the pooling in her eyes growing by the second. She edged against Kelsey’s leg, locking her knees as though she didn’t plan to budge.

“Heather, we don’t have time for this.” Kelsey held his impatience under a tight lid. He gave in to his youngest child too often, according to Linda, but it was easier sometimes to make life run smoother. “If you don’t want to go with the girls, then just get back into the car. But I don’t want any gripes later. Understand?”

“Troubles?” Meg asked as she came up to them

“Only the usual kind,” he told her in a resigned tone.

“Hmm,” she acknowledged in sympathy.

As Meg crouched down to look into the little girl’s face, her chin-length hair swung forward. Kelsey noticed the honey streaks mingling with the sunny gold and light brown, all shiny like a shampoo ad.

“I’m sorry you don’t want to go with us today, Heather,” Meg said with sincerity. “We’re going to shop and have lunch and shop some more. Who knows, maybe we’ll find the latest Disney video somewhere to bring home.”

Meg glanced up at him, gave him a lightning grin, then pushed a strand of hair behind an ear as she turned back to his youngest child. He thought her actions were designed to lift Heather’s mood. Her smile certainly lightened his own.

“But that’s okay,” Meg continued. “We can pick it out without you.”

Meg rose and turned her back. “C’mon, girls.” She hung an arm around each of the older girls’ shoulders as she steered them toward a late-model brown compact car. “Lissa, I think you’d look fabulous in something green to match your eyes.”

Lissa looked back at him as though to ask, Is it okay to leave Heather? He nodded her on.

Meg captured the exchange, then turned a quizzical gaze his way. The expression smote his conscience; he guessed he did ask too much of his oldest girl. She’d been stuck taking care of Heather for most of the summer.

Meg resumed her escort. “And, Aimee, you’d look darling in one of those denim outfits. The boys, now—What’ll we get the boys?”

Meg tossed her hair and looked at him over her shoulder with a conspiratorial smile. “See you whenever, Kels Don’t expect us early.”

“Bye, Dad,” Lissa barely remembered to say. Aimee didn’t bother to look back at all.

“No-o-o…” Heather cried. “Lissa…don’t leave me.” Heather launched herself forward.

Lissa stopped and turned just in time to catch her little sister. “Dad?”

Her gaze entreated him to do something. Kelsey thrust out his chin in guilt. He’d really been careless to let too much responsibility land on Lissa’s shoulders. She was losing her childhood altogether too soon. “Don’t worry, Lissa. Heather can go with me.”

“I wanna go with Lissa,” Heather protested.

“Does that mean you want to go shopping with us?” Meg asked, emphasizing us so the child would understand who was in charge of the outing.

“Uh-huh.”

“All right. We’d love for you to join us.” Meg tipped her head, engaging the child’s full attention. “But, Heather, this is a grown-up girls day. We’re going to have lots of fun, but not the kind of fun that babies like. So what do you think?”

Heather considered her for a long moment. “I’m not a baby!”

“Oh, I’m so glad to hear that. You had me worried there for a minute. I really didn’t want to leave you behind. Shall we go now?”

The girls scrambled to get into the brown compact Meg gave him a last wave. And a wink.

She’d handled his daughter very well—certainly better than he did sometimes. Linda Burroughs would have advocated a spanking with tight-lipped disapproval.

“Okay, I reckon that’s settled,” Kelsey said, hoping his relief was well hidden. Somehow, though, he expected Meg knew all about it. Her smile was too angelic.