A Gathering of Memories (17 page)

Preston was over 20 years older than his brother Roy, Peter’s father. He’d never married and until two years ago, worked for nothing but his bank account, which was plentiful. But a few years ago he developed a severe ulcer, which he didn’t recognize as such, and believed himself to be fatally ill. In the weeks of panic before he saw a doctor, he came to grips with the fact that if he died, he was headed to a lost eternity.

Extremely ill and coughing up blood, he made the trip to Reedsburg to his brother’s home. Roy, who had prayed for Preston for years, was given the privilege of talking with him and seeing his older brother give his life to God.

There was no anger in Preston when he was told that he was not going to die if he adjusted his eating and work habits. He praised God at having come to Christ and at the chance to live out the rest of his life serving Him.

About a year after Preston’s conversion, Peter expressed a desire to move to Baxter. Preston was delighted to take him under his wing. Pete was extremely bright and getting him a job with the bank would have been easy even if Preston hadn’t owned the building.

From the day Peter arrived in Baxter, he had lived with Preston in his spacious home on Main Street. But today was moving day for both him and Ross, and Preston was on hand to see the boys off to a good start in their new home.

Ross and Peter had met at church on Ross’ first Sunday in town. They had hit it off right away, and when Preston heard their plans to get a place together, he told them he believed he would have a house coming vacant if they would hold off.

Preston, a changed man with the indwelling of Christ, generously gave them a good price on the rent and had the house painted inside and out as well as necessary repairs made before they moved in.

The house was rather compact, with two bedrooms upstairs and a parlor, dining room, and kitchen with a large pantry on the first floor.

Moving began first thing in the morning with two borrowed wagons and many hands to help. Ross had purchased some bedroom furniture from Preston that had to be moved out of the house, along with Pete’s belongings and the furniture Preston had given him.

“Uncle Preston, I feel funny about this. You won’t have anything left in your parlor.”

“No doubt you’ve noticed how often I entertain,” he said sardonically. “You know I’m always in the living room or my study. Now, not another word about it. You boys need this furniture more than I do, and that’s the end of it.”

Peter and Ross exchanged a shrug over the sofa table they were carrying and continued on to the wagon. It wasn’t as if they didn’t want the furniture; it just felt a little strange to be clearing out some of the rooms in this man’s home.

They worked through the morning until Ross reminded everyone that Grandma Em was expecting them for lunch. No one could argue with that plan. It was a bunch of hungry men who converged upon Grandma Em’s.

Sitting around the dining room table they partook of roast beef, potatoes with gravy, peas, hot biscuits, applesauce, and pitchers of ice water and tea. Dessert was strawberries over shortcake, covered with fresh cream.

Ross teased Grandma Em as they rose and said their thanks. “No one will be able to work when we get back to the house, but
if I have to finish moving by myself, it was worth it.” Kissing her cheek he headed out the door. She turned to find Preston smiling at her.

“Thank you, Emily. Everything was delicious.”

“The pleasure was all mine, Preston. And please allow me to thank
you
for what you’re doing for the boys. I’ve begun to think of Ross as my very own, and knowing that he’ll be living with Peter and in one of your homes, well, it’s a comfort.”

“They’re good boys and I think they’ll be good for each other.” Laughing softly before he continued, his dark, expressive eyes sparkled. “Pete has told me that all the girls forget he’s there when Ross walks into the room. What I think is so funny is that Ross says the same thing about Pete.” They both laughed then and Preston reached out and briefly touched Grandma Em’s arm before he joined the men in the wagon.

The work continued a few more hours before Ross and Pete were settled. Excitement radiated from them over this new adventure, and Preston shook his head over their boyish delight.

“Why don’t you let me send Cora over here to help you settle? You know she could set things up twice as fast as you boys.”

“No, we’re fine,” they assured him as they headed to their own bedrooms with linens donated by the family.

Again Preston shook his head. These boys had never lived on their own, never cooked or cleaned or taken care of themselves. Although money was no longer a driving force in his life, he said a prayer of thanks that he could afford his housekeeper, Cora, who saw to his comfort.

Ross and Pete couldn’t have understood Preston’s thoughts until the next morning when Pete could barely swallow the coffee Ross had made. Ross found his eggs raw on one side and nearly burned on the other.

“How did you manage this?” Ross inquired of Pete. But Pete only smiled and said, “Try the coffee.” He laughed uproariously at the grimace on Ross’ face and the two agreed, in great humor, to walk down to the hotel for breakfast.

“Robyn MacDonald, does your mother know where you are?” Mac towered over the small, naked form of his daughter and tried not to laugh. Robyn had meticulously spread her clothing on a nearby rock so as not to get it wet while she played in a round tub that had half filled with rain water during the night.

“I didn’t get my dress wet.”

“I can see that. But you know better than to take your clothes off when you’re outside, Robyn.” Trying to sound stern, he knew he was failing. Her little hands fluttered over her tummy, and she kept putting her fingers in her belly button.

“Robyn.” Mac heard Julia call just then so he took his daughter’s hand to lead her around the corner of the house to her mother. Julia’s eyes widened a little at the sight of her unclothed daughter, and she threw her hands out in exasperation.

“She’s only been out here a few minutes, Mac. What am I going to do with her?”

Mac didn’t answer and Julia saw that he found it all very amusing. His eyes sparkling with mirth nearly started her own laughter, and that would have been a disaster. Calvin and Charles had no such control, and as they came out of the house behind Julia the air was filled with their glee.

“Alright, boys,” Mac said when it looked as though they were going to laugh all day. “That’s enough. Charlie, will you please go around the house and get Robyn’s clothes? And Cal, you go around and get that tub. Don’t dump the water, just put it here in front of the house.”

The boys did as they were asked, and when Mac had Robyn’s clothes in his hands he bent down and put her small cotton underdrawers on her. Charlie went to help with the tub and when he and Cal set it on a level spot of ground, Mac spoke.

“Alright, Robyn. Climb in.”

They watched her shiver for an instant as the cool water hit her skin, but the day was a scorcher and she was laughing and splashing within seconds.

Mac had work waiting for him and the boys, but he settled onto the front steps next to his wife and watched his daughter play. Charlie was bent over the tub trying to get Robyn to swim in the shallow water. Cal sat beside his mother.

“I can’t get Carrie off of my mind, Mac,” Julia said. “April and Pastor Chad must be floating on air.”

“I’m sure I would be. You should have seen Si’s face when he told me. ‘My girl Carrie knows Christ now.’ That was just the way he said it.”

“I can understand how he feels—all five of them have become a part of us so quickly. It scares me a little because their father isn’t back and I just can’t think what we’ll do if they go away now.”

“We’ll praise God for the time we’ve had them and the work He’s done in Carrie’s life. It’s not as if we’ll never see them again. We’ll have them over, and we’ll try to get them to church.”

They were quiet for a moment, and then Cal asked, “What time are we supposed to go to the birthday party tonight?”

“Six-thirty.”

“Are you all ready, Julia?” The question came from her husband.

“I think so. I wrapped the necklace, and I’ll start frying the chicken in a few hours.”

“I thought Christine was frying the chicken and you were doing one of the cakes.”

“It was that way, but Christine is miserable. The baby has dropped, and she feels like she can hardly move. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had that baby at Carrie’s party tonight.”

“I thought the birth was a few weeks away.”

“It is, but babies have this penchant for making doctors look silly, and they do that by arriving when they want and not when they’re supposed to.”

They talked a bit more and then the afternoon sped by as they prepared for Carrie Jackson’s fifteenth birthday party.

“Well now, don’t you smell nice.” Ross ignored him as Pete came into Ross’ bedroom. Ross continued to brush his hair into place. Pete reached over and tapped a brightly wrapped package on the dresser. “What did you get her?”

“A brush and comb with a matching mirror.”

“That’s not very exciting. She’s probably been getting hairbrushes on her birthday for years now.”

“Not according to Amy. The five of them have one that they all share.” The men looked at each other for the space of a few heartbeats. They had both been raised in homes of considerable means, and going without something as mundane as a hairbrush was beyond their realm of comprehension.

“Tell Carrie I said happy birthday.” Pete left on those softly spoken words and Ross stared for a few seconds at the empty doorway. It wasn’t long before his thoughts turned back to the evening ahead and, as he was coming to expect, Amanda.

It was the strangest sensation, he thought, this odd feeling that God wanted him to befriend Amanda. “Don’t You know how vulnerable I am where she is concerned, Lord?” Ross had asked the question out loud one day during his prayer time. But it was still the same—“Get close to Amanda, Ross.”

He had no more time to ponder the thought. He knew that if he didn’t get to Grandma Em’s right now to pick her up they would be late. With a final check in the mirror he picked up the present and descended the stairs.

“How’s this, Mandy?”

“Oh, Carrie, you look so pretty!”

The two girls stood in front of the mirror in Mandy’s room and looked at the changes in each other. They were considerably filled out from head to foot. Their faces were fuller and shining with health.