Chapter 4
Chapter four
On Friday, we’re pulling up to Miss Barbara’s, all seven of us packed into the minivan.
It’s been a while since we’ve been out all together in the evening, gussied up and good to go.
Thanks to Josh’s broken leg and my pregnancy, life has been pretty quiet, even as it has remained chaotically busy.
Funny, how those two things can go together.
Now, I’m wearing a forgiving dress in jersey—my bump on prominent display—and my dad’s brought out his bow tie. Also, one of the boys has gone a little overboard with the Lynx body spray, and I’ve been struggling not to sneeze since we got in the car.
“Ew, what is that smell?” William demands, sounding disgusted. “Jack, did you bathe in that stuff?”
In the rearview mirror, I see my youngest son blush, which is certainly something new. I’m glad he’s made an effort, at least. In the past, he’s insisted it’s perfectly reasonable to attend a social function in sweatpants.
As we pull up to Miss Barbara’s ranch house, the whole place is ablaze with lights—fairy lights and paper lanterns are strung through the garden—and even though it’s a little nippy out, people are mingling among the raised beds, drinks in hand.
Music from what sounds like a live bluegrass band filters through the air.
“Looks pretty fancy,” Josh murmurs as we park in the drive with a dozen other cars. Getting out of here is going to be a nightmare, but that’s not something I have to worry about just now.
“Miss Barbara wanted to go all out,” Bethany says as she scrambles out of the backseat.
“I bet this party is going to be epic.” Then she’s off, no doubt looking for Ben, who said he would meet her here.
After the Obadiah-sized blip in the fall, those two have been closer than ever, a fact which could cause me a little worry, since Bethany is only nineteen, but she’s matured a lot in the last year, and she’s basically an adult, so I’m choosing to go with it. Mostly.
“Ready to get your dancing shoes on, Dad?” I extend a hand to help him out of the car.
He takes it with a slight grimace. He’s not as steady on his feet as he once was, thanks to a series of mini-strokes, but at least it turned out it wasn’t the Parkinson’s that was making him shaky.
The PT has been helping, but I can’t resist the urge to step in even when I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want me to.
“I don’t know about dancing,” he tells me with a crinkly-eyed smile, “but I sense some mighty foot-tapping in my future.”
“I think that’s where I’m at these days,” Josh responds, slinging an arm around his shoulders in a way that is far more relaxed than my taking his hand, but which achieves the same purpose, and I know Josh knows it.
As they walk off, my dad leaning a little on my husband, I turn to my other three children, all of who are still hanging back by the van, looking a little anxious for various reasons I’m pretty sure I can guess.
William is reluctant because his ex-girlfriend, Alice, is here, and while he was the one to break it off, he’s still feeling fragile about it, not that he’s told me as much, but a mother knows.
Jack is feeling uncertain because he’s thirteen and has overdosed himself in body spray and is probably worried he’ll make a fool of himself without even realizing he’s doing so.
And Rose is reluctant because she’s eight, and it doesn’t look like there are many kids her age here.
“Come on, you three heartbreakers,” I say cheerfully. “Let’s go check out this shindig.”
William rolls his eyes, softening it with a smile. “Ew, Mom, don’t ever say that again.”
“What,” I ask innocently, “shindig?”
“Any of it.”
“Wow, muzzling me.” I put my arm around his shoulders for a quick squeeze. He’s so much taller than me, I have to stand on my tiptoes, and even then, it’s an awkward angle.
William glances down at me, his expression full of affectionate bemusement. “Shortie.”
I roll my eyes. “Looby,” I fire back, which is a Scrabble word my mom and dad used to use for a tall, awkward person.
William grins, shaking his head. He’ll be seventeen soon, and he seems like a man. It’s scary and heartening all at once.
Inside the house, Jack melts away with some boys he knows from church, and William saunters off with Peter Wilson, Alice’s younger brother. Rose goes to find her Grandpa, who’s always good company. I eye the makeshift bar with its many bottles of wine longingly, then settle for a seltzer.
There are lots of people here I know from church and the neighborhood, but also lots of people I don’t.
Wildflower Valley and its environs seem to have more aging hippies than I ever realized.
Not that Miss Barbara is an aging hippy, despite her yoga and her herbs.
She’s pretty mainstream now, with her Lululemon separates and elegant silver bob, but she seems to know a few of them, at any rate.
“Miss Abby!” Hooch comes up to me with a big grin, his ever-present hip flask evident in his pocket.
His fiancée, Jessie Mae, is by his side, her bright red hair in its usual sticking-out braids, her expression smiling but stubborn.
It’s already become abundantly clear who is going to call the shots in their marriage.
“Hey, Hooch. Jessie Mae,” I greet them both warmly.
“How’s the wedding planning going?” They’re getting married in July, but Hooch is moving to Buckholt by the end of the month, something that saddens me.
I’ll miss him dropping in whenever he had the notion, usually bearing some homegrown gift and offering his well-meaning advice.
“We’re getting there,” Jessie Mae says with a swift glance for her beloved. “I’ve picked out my dress. Hooch still needs to get his tuxedo.”
“A tuxedo! Fancy,” I remark, impressed.
“We’re doing things proper, Miss Abby, we surely are,” Hooch assures me as he rocks back on his heels. “I’m all moved out of my house now—and I even got a buyer for the place!”
“You did?” I didn’t expect all that to happen so quickly, even though Hooch basically told me it would. Still, I think some part of me hoped Hooch might change his mind about moving, or maybe that Jessie Mae would. Why live in Buckholt when you can live in Wildflower Valley?
“I surely did.” Hooch nods solemnly. “It’s a single lady all the way from Chicago. Comin’ here for a new start.”
“Really?” I can’t hide my surprise. Hooch’s house is just about as ramshackle as they get, homey enough, but…
also pretty dilapidated. It used to belong to his mother and his grandmother before that, back after the coal miner uprising at Blair Mountain, when her husband was arrested for his part in the affair.
Hooch told us all about it, with plenty of gory details, when we first moved in.
I’m surprised someone is moving all the way from Chicago to live in that house, although maybe I shouldn’t be, considering we moved all the way from New Jersey, and when we bought our place, it wasn’t all that much better.
“She’s arriving at the end of April,” Hooch says, then wags a finger at me. “Make sure to welcome her!”
“Of course, I will, Hooch,” I assure him. Another new neighbor! There have been quite a few recently for such a small place.
“And visit us in Buckholt!” Hooch insists. “Y’all can’t be strangers now.”
I glance at Jessie Mae, who smiles and nods. “Yes, you’ll have to visit after the wedding, once we’ve set up housekeeping. We’d love to have you over for dinner.”
“And we’d love to come,” I reply, even though I’m still saddened by the thought of Hooch living so far away.
“And now it’s time to kick up our heels!
” Hooch hoots before pulling Jessie Mae away to the makeshift dance floor in the dining room, the table and chairs cleared away so they can get a Virginia reel going.
I nurse my seltzer, my feet already starting to ache.
Being pregnant at a party? Not my favorite thing.
As I move through the room, I say hello to various friends and neighbors—first, Lily and Robbie Pepper with their sweet baby, Anna, who I helped to deliver.
Well, actually, Bethany did the delivery.
I just tried not to pass out. For someone who has birthed four children and is going to birth another before too long, my response to that situation was not encouraging, to say the least.
Robbie is scowling a lot less than he used to, now that he has an armful of smiling baby, and Lily looks tired but radiant. They had a rough start to their married life here in the valley, just a couple of kids in a one-room cabin, but they’re doing much better, and I’m pleased for them both.
Next, I say hi to Joelle, a friend from my Bible study, who I’m just getting to know.
She and her husband run a poultry farm nearby, and they very kindly gave us a free turkey last Thanksgiving when money was tight.
I really appreciated her kindness, and I’ve hoped that we could get to know each other better, although we haven’t yet, at least not that much.
Now, however, Joelle’s smile falters, and her eyes widen as she catches sight of my pregnant belly. Admittedly, the dress I’m wearing is pretty clingy and shows off my burgeoning bump to its advantage.
“Abby…” Her voice is faint. “You’re… pregnant?” Her face is pale, and belatedly I remember that she and her husband don’t have any children, even though they’re in their forties, and although she’s never said as much, it’s seemed like something of a heartache.
“Well… yes.” I pat my bump self-consciously as I give her a semi-apologetic grimace. “Coming up to twenty weeks.”
“I had no idea.” She bites her lip, giving a little shake of her head. “Sorry I seem so surprised. It’s just… I thought you were my age!”
“I’m forty-four,” I say, like a confession.
“This wasn’t exactly planned.” She flinches, and I curse myself for my thoughtlessness.
If Joelle has been trying to get pregnant, there’s nothing worse than someone basically saying they didn’t want to be.
“Unexpected blessings,” I half-mumble. Joelle’s eyes are glassy, and I feel awful.
“They are blessings,” she murmurs, looking away.
“Congratulations.” She moves off quickly, and I feel like I’ve lost a friend before I even truly made one.
I’m pretty sure I could have handled that a lot better, and I’m sad to think that a pregnancy and baby might come between us being friends, even as I understand it.
I sigh and sip my seltzer, wishing I could get a little more in the party mood.
Across the room, William is laughing with Peter and a couple other guys, his heartache seemingly not an issue.
Rose and my dad are doing a clumsy Virginia reel, which makes me smile, although I make sure he’s steady enough on his feet as he dances.
Josh is deep in conversation with Ed Wilson, probably talking shop, or really, homestead.
It occurs to me that our new neighbor, Mike—I am trying not to call him the Prepper, even in my own mind—isn’t here.
I doubt Miss Barbara has even met him, but I feel sorry I didn’t think to walk over and mention the party to him.
I really do think he might be lonely, and he could have met the whole neighborhood here—and talked all their ears off, I acknowledge wryly.
I let my gaze wander around the room until it rests on Bethany and Ben, who are looking very much like a couple.
I know they’ve been dating for a while now—admittedly a little on and off—but for some reason, I am jolted to see them from a distance, looking very together and loved up.
Ben has his arm around Bethany, and she is cooing at little Anna Pepper.
Robbie says something to Ben, who laughs, and Lily giggles while Bethany also laughs, resting her head briefly against Ben’s shoulder.
I find myself imagining the gist of the conversation—it’ll be you two next, with a little bundle of joy! Oh not just yet, ha ha…
My body floods with adrenalin at the thought. Bethany is nineteen. She’s way too young to be thinking of marriage and babies, and she’s only known Ben for a little over a year.
Of course, she might not be thinking that way. This could absolutely be all in my head. Knowing me, it very well might be.
“What a lovely young couple.”
I turn to see Miss Barbara coming up to me, smiling as she nods toward Ben and Bethany.
“Nothing like young love, eh?”
I chuckle weakly. “Right.”
“I’m so glad Bethany is taking over my business,” she continues. “And it will be wonderful to have someone living here, as well. I definitely wasn’t ready to sell this place, so it’s all worked out beautifully.”
For a second, I can only stare because her remarks seem so disjointed, and they are definitely not computing. I know Bethany is semi-taking over Miss Barbara’s business, with Josie’s help, but living here? What?
Miss Barbara clocks my flummoxed expression. Her lips purse; she looks regretful but also a little amused. “Oh dear, has Bethany not told you yet?”
“Told me what?” I ask like it’s a line from a script. Obviously, she hasn’t told me, whatever it is.
“Bethany has agreed to move in here,” Miss Barbara explains. “To keep an eye on the place, of course, but also to have her own space.” She glances meaningfully at my daughter and Ben. He still has his arm around her shoulders, and right now, I feel like ripping it right off.
Bethany is moving out to live on her own and hasn’t said a word about it to me? And just how does Ben the Boyfriend fit into that picture? Because I’m pretty positive that Emmy will not approve of any remotely unconventional living arrangements.
“She hasn’t mentioned it,” I force out.
Miss Barbara lays a hand on my arm. “I’m sorry, I thought about asking you first, but Bethany is an adult.” Her smile is sympathetic but also shrewd. “It’s so hard to let them grow up, isn’t it?”