The Miracle, page 21
“You never know,” Lanie said bleakly.
Brent studied her for a moment. “The doctor will pull out of it, I’m sure. People realize we all make mistakes.”
“People have long memories in little towns like this. They’ll never forget.”
“Sooner or later they will. But listen. I’ve got good news for you.”
He moved over to a table and picked up an envelope. “Look at this.”
“But it’s addressed to you.”
“It’s for you, though. Look at it.”
Lanie opened the envelope and pulled out two slips of paper. She stared at one. It was a check for ten dollars and made out to her.
“Your poem’s going to be published in Poetry Journal, a national magazine. They don’t pay much, but they’ll send you ten copies of the magazine and you’ll have lots more contracts too. Once you get involved with Poetry Journal everybody wants to publish you. Congratulations, Lanie.”
Lanie stared at the check and then at the letter, which said that the editor was pleased with her work and would like to see more. For a moment she stood there unable to speak, staring at the check. She whispered, “Brent, I can’t believe it.”
“I can.” He smiled.
“It’s all your doing.”
“I didn’t write the poem. You did.”
Lanie finished her tea and could not seem to take her eyes off the check. Finally she said, “I’ve got to go home and tell my family about this.” She put out her hand suddenly. “Thank you, Brent. I owe you so much.”
“Always glad to encourage young talent.” He held her hand and his grip tightened. “Try not to worry about Doctor Merritt. These things have a way of blowing over.”
“Do you think he did it, Brent?”
“No. I only met him twice, but he just doesn’t seem like that kind of man.”
“But why would she lie?”
“I can’t say about that. Now, go home and write more poems.”
Lanie went out to the truck. She got inside, stared at the envelope, and stared at the check. If it were not for Owen’s plight, she would be bubbling over. But the sadness for him took away the joy of getting a poem published in Poetry Journal.
She started the engine and sped home. As soon as she pulled up in front of the house, she saw Colin Ryan’s motorcycle. Quickly she shut the engine down and ran inside. She found Aunt Kezia talking with the minister, and she could tell by one look at her face that she was angry.
“What’s wrong, Pastor?”
“I been talking to Amelia Wright,” Colin said. Colin, who usually had a smile on his face, was now deadly serious. “She won’t change her story. She insists that Owen seduced her.”
“That hussy!” Aunt Kezia snorted. “She’s lying, Preacher.”
“If she is, she’s doing a good job of it,” Colin Ryan said grimly.
“Can’t we do anything?” Lanie said.
“I’m going to talk to her again, but I must tell you I’m not very hopeful. She’s a vindictive woman.”
“She ought to be shot,” Aunt Kezia said.
“I guess it’s not that bad.” Colin grinned briefly, then immediately grew serious. “I’ll do all I can. I did talk to Doctor Givens. He told me that Owen is planning to leave as soon as Givens can find a replacement.”
“He can’t do that!” Lanie cried.
“No. The worst thing a body can do is run from trouble,” Aunt Kezia said emphatically.
“I’m going to talk to Owen,” Colin said. “You’re right. He does need to stay. You two pray, and if you have a chance, encourage Owen not to run away.”
With heavy hearts, the two women watched as the pastor started his motorcycle and roared off in a cloud of dust.
Chapter 20
Tuesday afternoon Lanie opened the screen door to find Nellie Prather standing there twisting his straw hat in his hands.
There was always a certain bashfulness about this man, but now he shifted his feet and looked even more ill at ease than ever.
“Why, hello, Nelson. Won’t you come in the house?”
“I don’t want to interrupt nothing, Miss Lanie.”
“Why, you wouldn’t do that. I’m just washing dishes. Come on in.” She stepped aside and when Nellie came through, she closed the door. “I’ll bet you could drink a cup of coffee or maybe some iced tea.”
“Yes, ma’am, a glass of tea would be nice.”
Leading the way to the kitchen, Lanie wondered about Nelson’s visit. He had dropped by twice since Cass’s visit to his farm, bringing her tomatoes from his garden.
“It’s pretty quiet around here,” Nelson said as he seated himself at the table. “Where is everybody?”
“Oh, they’re in school, and Aunt Kezia, Cass, and Corliss are taking naps.” She put the two glasses on the table. “I don’t have any lemon, but there’s plenty of sugar.”
“I don’t use lemon, thank you, Miss Lanie.”
Lanie watched Nelson drink thirstily. When he put down the empty glass, she said, “I’ll get you some more.”
“No, ma’am, that’s all right. That’ll do me fine.” Nelson shifted in his chair and said, “How’s Miss Cass doing?”
“Well, she’s doing real well. The doctor says she’s healthy as any young woman he’s ever seen. She’ll be sorry to miss you. Maybe I ought to go get her up.”
“Well, not right now. There’s something I have to talk to you about first.”
“What’s that, Nelson?” Lanie saw that Nelson was twisting the empty glass around, leaving wet circles on the top of the table. “Is something wrong?”
“I guess you’re kind of the head of the family around here what with your pa being — ” he broke off suddenly and cleared his throat — “being your pa’s not with you.”
“Well, I guess I sort of am. What did you want to talk about?”
Nelson took a deep breath, and for a moment he looked as if he might get up and run out of the room. “What in the world’s wrong with you, Nelson?”
“Well, something’s happened that I’ve got to talk to you about.
I’ve been thinking real hard about Miss Cass and the trouble she’s in, and I want to do something to help her.”
“To help her? How could you do that?”
“Well, here’s what I could do — I could marry her.”
Lanie’s eyes flew open with astonishment. “Marry Cass? Why, Nelson, I never even thought of such a thing, and I don’t think Cass has either.”
“Well, I have. But I don’t ever do anything just because I think of it.” He smiled, his broad lips turning upward at the corners. “I think of foolish things sometimes, Miss Lanie. I really do. So I don’t act on anything until I get a sign, and I got one.”
“You got a sign that tells you you’re supposed to marry Cass?”
“That’s right.”
“What was it?” Lanie asked cautiously. She knew, as did everyone in the county, of Nellie Prather’s superstitious nature. If a bird got in the house, to Nelson that was a sign that bad luck was coming. When you moved to a new house, if you moved the cat, bad luck was certain to follow. Most people had some superstitions, but Nellie ran his life according to them.
“Well, here’s what happened,” Nellie said slowly. “I dreamed about Miss Cass three nights in a row, and you know what that means.”
“No, I don’t know what it means.”
“Why, I thought everybody knowed that. If you dream about somebody three nights in a row, it means you’re going to marry them. My grandma taught me that when I was no bigger than Miss Corliss.”
For a moment Lanie sat there wondering how in the world she could approach this issue. She studied Nellie Prather carefully. She had known him all of her life, and his reputation in the county was excellent. He was a tall, good-looking man in his early thirties, and everyone knew how he had given up his life to raise his younger brother and sister and take care of his mother through her long illness. When finally his mother and siblings died, almost everyone expected Nelson to get married. Many young women and mothers with eligible daughters had tried to bring this to pass, for Nelson had a good farm and was a hard worker, but he had not been interested. He was also a fine, Chris tian man who could always be depended upon to do the right thing.
Still, Lanie was somewhat shocked at his proposal. “Well, I think you need something more than dreams before you ask a woman to marry you, Nelson.”
Surprise washed across Prather’s face. “I don’t see why. It’s as plain as the nose on your face. It’s a sign, Miss Lanie. There ain’t no doubt in my mind.”
Wishing desperately that someone else were present to handle this situation, Lanie knew she had to be extremely careful. Prather was as sensitive as a woman in many things, and she was determined not to hurt his feelings. Still, marriage was too big a thing to be entered into with no more evidence than three dreams.
“Nelson, marriage is a very serious thing. Two people need to love each other, and I’m not sure that you love Cass or that she loves you.”
Nellie Prather suddenly grew still. “Well, I don’t know much about love. I never did read romances or listen to them on the radio. It seems like those people are just out of one mess and into another one. But I know how to take care of people,” he said simply. “I took care of my ma and my brother and sister until I lost them, and now I’d like to take care of Cass and her baby. I don’t know if that’s love or not, but it’s what I want to do.”
“You’ve always been a good man and everybody I know admires you for what you did for your family, but marriage is different. Husband and wife, that’s a whole new world. Let me ask you this,” she asked. “Does Cass care for you?”
“She likes me. She told me that.”
“Well, I like you too, but I can’t marry you just because I admire you.” Lanie could not help smiling. “There has to be more to a marriage than just a liking.”
Silence fell across the room, and Nellie looked down at the glass in his hand. He twisted it around slowly for such a long time that Lanie began to grow nervous. Finally he looked up, and goodness shone in his blue eyes. “Well, tell me what to do, Lanie. I want to take care of Cass and her baby. I want it to be my baby too.”
Lanie swallowed hard. “I’ll tell you what,” she said quietly. “We’ll pray about this, and we’ll ask God to show us His will. You know Jesus said, ‘My sheep hear my voice and they follow me.’ That’s what you’ve got to do, Nellie. You’ve got to know that this is God’s will, and then you’ve got to ask Cass if she wants to marry you. She may not.”
“Well, I know she could get a better man than me, but I don’t think she could get one that could take better care of her and the baby.”
Lanie’s heart warmed toward the big man. She put out both her hands and took his hand in hers. “Let’s just pray right here.” The two bowed their heads, and Lanie prayed a simple prayer asking God to give them wisdom and to guide them in the way that was right.
Finally she looked up and said, “Amen.”
“Amen,” Nellie said. He waited and said, “What do we do now?”
“You go home and pray about it some more. If you still feel strongly for Cass in a few days, you ask her and accept her answer.
We’ve asked God to be in this thing now, so it’s in His hands.”
Nelson suddenly smiled broadly and chuckled deep in his throat.
“I guess trusting God is better than going on three dreams in a row, ain’t it, Miss Lanie?”
After supper, Lanie went to her room and shut the door. She took her journal out at once and wrote an account of what had taken place. It always helped her to put things down in print, and she finally gave her conclusions:
It would be a wonderful thing for Cass to have a husband like Nelson Prather. He’s one of the best men I’ve ever known, and he’d be good to her and the baby. But it won’t work unless she loves him. It’s hard to tell about Cass . She’s a sweet girl really, but she never talks about things like this. She has said a time or two that no man would ever love her baby because he wouldn’t be the daddy, but that’s not true of Nelson. So I’m going to —
Suddenly the door opened, and Maeva burst in.
“Don’t you ever think about knocking before you barge into somebody’s room?” Lanie snapped.
Maeva grinned, plumped herself down on the bed, and looked over at her sister. “Are you writing in that journal again? I think you ought to let me read it. I might be able to help you with some of your problems.”
“Why aren’t you doing your homework?”
“I heard you moving around in here, and I wanted to know what’s wrong with you. You’re worried about Owen would be my guess.”
“Of course I am. He’s in terrible trouble, but that’s not what’s bothering me right now.”
“I bet it is. Let me see that.” She reached for the journal and laughed when Lanie snatched it away and gave her an angry look.
“Don’t bite my head off. I don’t want to read your old journal.
Wouldn’t be nearly as interesting as a True Romance.”
Lanie always had difficulty dealing with Maeva. Now that she had come to talk about Owen Merritt, Lanie knew she would not leave until her questions were answered. Finally she said, “I’m worried about Owen. I heard he’s talking about moving away.”
“Well, you’ve got to go to him and tell him he can’t do that,”
Maeva said simply.
“Why, I can’t do that.”
“Sure you can. I think he’s stuck on you, Sister, and you’ve been in love with him since you were fourteen. So I want you to scoot over there and tell him.”
“Maeva, you have no sense of — of what’s respectable.”
“I sure don’t, but I know what works. You just go over there. Put on some of that perfume you got for Christmas. When you talk to him, just lean on him a little bit. Tell him how much you admire him and that you just couldn’t live if he left. Why, you can wrap that doctor around your little finger if you just work at it a little bit!”
Lanie flushed, just as she always did when Maeva spoke to her about Owen Merritt. She thought of every reason possible to prove her sister wrong and, arguing steadily, listed each one.
Maeva paid no attention. She leaned forward, her expression serious, and said, “I don’t mean to always be teasing you, but I know you care for Owen. It’d be terrible if he ran away and left this mess. You go on over there now and tell him you’re on his side. He probably needs somebody. He’s heard enough of the other side.”
Suddenly Lanie made up her mind to do exactly what Maeva said — for once. “All right, I will.”
“Good!” Maeva got up and went to the door. She turned around and winked. “Don’t forget. Put on that perfume.”
Lanie at once made preparations to go. She went down the hall and told Aunt Kezia that she was leaving to go to town but did not speak of her mission. She needed no further advice about what to do with Owen Merritt!
When Lanie reached Doctor Givens’s house, her nerve almost failed her. I can’t be doing this! He’ ll think I’m meddling in his business — which I am. For several moments she stood there struggling and once almost turned and fled back to her own house. Then getting a grip on her emotions, she walked up the sidewalk and knocked on the door. She expected the housekeeper, Mrs. Satterfield, to answer, but instead it was Doctor Givens who stood framed in the door.
“Why, Lanie, what in the world are you doing here? Who’s sick?”
“Nobody’s sick. I need to talk to Owen.”
“Come on inside,” Doctor Givens said at once. As soon as she stepped in, he turned to face her. “I hope you’ve come to talk him out of leaving. I’ve tried my dangdest, but he won’t listen.”
“He can’t leave. It would be wrong.”
“In that you’d be right. I’m not a Christian myself, but I wish God would speak to that young man. I’m glad you’ve come. He thinks a lot of you.”
“Where’s Mrs. Satterfield?”
“She’s gone over to visit her sister at Cloverdale. You come on into the parlor. I’ll go get Owen.”
Lanie went at once to the parlor but was too nervous to sit down. She went over to the window and stared outside. When she heard footsteps she turned and waited. Owen stepped into the room, and she had absolutely no idea what to say.
“Hello, Lanie,” Owen said. His clothes looked rumpled as if he had been lying down in them, and lines of worry crossed his forehead.
“What’s the matter? Is someone sick?”
“No. Not this time, Owen.” Lanie’s lips felt dry. She licked them and said, “I – I want to talk to you.”
“Why, sure. Here. Let’s sit down on this sofa.” He motioned toward the sofa, and when Lanie seated herself, he sat down beside her. “Now tell me what’s going on.”
“I don’t know how to say this, Owen, except I think you’d be making a big mistake to leave.”
Owen shook his head with disgust. “Everybody in this town knows my business, it seems.”
“I know it’s terrible. The gossip system works very well here. Better than anything else, I think, sometimes. But you can’t go, Owen, you just can’t!”
“I have to, Lanie. I can’t face the shame of this thing.”
“You haven’t done anything. There’s no shame involved.”
Owen studied her carefully. “You’re sure about that, are you?”
“Of course I am!”
“Well, that makes at least two people in this town that don’t think I’m guilty.”
“There are a lot more than that, and you know it. You’ve made a place for yourself in Fairhope. People love you. They trust you and they need you.”
“I just can’t face it, Lanie.”
“But you’re innocent.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do. I know you. You’ve been such a help to me and to my whole family.” She took Owen’s arm and shook it gently, her voice insistent. “You just can’t leave, Owen. God is going to protect you.”
Owen sat very still, then he reached over and covered her hand with his own. “I just don’t know what to do,” he muttered.
