Chapter 27
IVAN AND MAGGIE DID NOT attend church on Sunday morning.
After getting her and the baby settled into the guest room six days ago and offering an explanation to his siblings who were old enough to understand, Ivan had been too exhausted to even get out of bed this morning, much less attend church, where he would have had to see Emma.
There was no way he could do that yet. Besides, if Maggie had gone with him, he would have needed to offer some explanation to those who would have no doubt given them curious looks and probably plenty of questions concerning Maggie and the baby.
Fortunately, Maggie had also been willing to remain at the house this morning while the rest of the family went to church. Ivan could only hope that none of them would say anything to anyone in attendance about why he’d stayed home.
Mama had brought a tray up to Ivan’s room before they’d all left for church.
There was toast, cereal, and orange juice on the tray, but he hadn’t touched a thing.
The food still sat on top of his dresser, where his mother had placed it almost two hours ago.
Ivan figured either Maggie had joined the family in the kitchen for breakfast or Mama had taken her a tray too.
All Ivan could manage this morning was to lie in his bed, staring at a string of cobwebs hanging from the ceiling. It wasn’t like him to refuse to face his challenges head-on or to lounge around in bed all morning, but this new test had hit him harder than a runaway horse going at full speed.
Ivan reflected on how when Emma had come for her quilting lesson on Wednesday, his mother had met her at the door and said she wouldn’t be able to teach her this week.
Fortunately, Mama had offered no explanation, and thankfully Ivan had been at work when it had occurred.
He was not up to speaking with Emma yet about Maggie and the baby.
When he’d heard that Emma had been to the house and his mother had explained that there wouldn’t be a quilting lesson this week, he’d been afraid that Emma may have met Maggie.
But Mama had assured Ivan that Maggie and her baby were resting in the guest room when Emma came to the door.
That was a relief, as Ivan needed to be the one to tell Emma the situation, and he knew it needed to be soon. He’d put it off long enough.
Ivan heard the baby crying from downstairs, filling the home with the reminder that his life before Maggie’s arrival no longer existed. The infant’s piercing wails traveled all the way up the steps and made Ivan want to plug his ears.
Some father I’ll make, he thought while rolling onto his side. I can’t even stand to hear a baby’s cry.
Ivan wondered if Maggie had gotten any sleep last night and whether she felt as miserable as he did right now.
He figured Maggie probably was more miserable since she had gone through the ordeal of giving birth to Stephen and had taken care of the boy all this time, while Ivan hadn’t been the wiser.
The poor girl had been forced to leave her parents’ home, and now she was here, living with people she didn’t know.
That includes me, Ivan told himself. Just because we met at a party and did something we shouldn’t have doesn’t mean we know each other at all.
We’re just two people who made a mistake, and now we are both paying the price for it.
Everyone in our lives has been affected by our mistake.
Not Emma yet, though, Ivan reminded himself.
Releasing a shallow breath, Ivan got out of bed and began pacing the floor. His bare feet led him toward the window, and then he flattened his palm against the cool glass as the child’s wail overlapped with the other thoughts Ivan had rummaged through while lying on his bed.
I must let Emma know what’s happened, before it’s too late and someone else tells her. And I need to do it before this day is out. After my family returns from church, I’ll take a drive over to Emma’s grandparents’ house and see if she’s available to take a ride with me.
One thing Ivan knew for sure: He didn’t want to tell Emma about Maggie and the baby in front of Marlin and Luellen. The two of them needed to talk about this in private, and Ivan knew that telling Emma why they couldn’t be together would be the most agonizing thing he had ever done.
In the meantime, however, Ivan decided that he should get dressed, go downstairs, and see if he could do anything to help Maggie. She didn’t deserve to be alone right now and might even need his assistance with the baby.