“Miss Cleta, you ain't got no cause to worry about me walkin' home in broad daylight.”
“Don't go tellin' me what I can and cannot worry about, Jessilyn.”
“Yes'm.”
“Well then . . .” She looked around at everyone like she'd suddenly tired of her audience. “Get on with you, all of you. I'm sure you've got better things to do than watch an aged woman deal with a case of indigestion.”
“We'll be goin' then, Miss Cleta.” Luke leaned down and planted a kiss on her cheek. “You get some rest, and I'll be back for Jessie later.”
“Land's sake, boy. Don't go givin' me palpitations!” She laughed out loud, a sound that brought a little more peace to my heart.
They all left us, and I sat and stared at Miss Cleta so hard, she reached over after a few minutes and whacked my leg.
“I ain't got to be watched like an egg 'bout to hatch, for heaven's sake. Get up and find somethin' to do, else you'll freeze up in that position like some statue.” She picked up the stack of magazines and plopped them in my lap. “Here, find some place for these infernal things. Don't know why I even buy them, all full of silly stories and girdle advertisements and foolishness like that.”
I did what she asked, but it didn't keep me from eyeing her every chance I got. Whether it was taking a glance while she wasn't looking or studying her reflection in the curio glass, I couldn't stop thinking about her well-being for two seconds together.
“I can see you starin' at me, Jessilyn!” she finally said in a huff. “I got eyes, you know.”
“Miss Cleta, I'm worried about you, is all.” I sat next to her and took her hands in mine. “You're family to me; you know that.”
She pulled one hand away to cup my cheek in it and looked me sternly in the eyes. “Honey, you're like the granddaughter I never had, that's true enough, but I don't want you concernin' yourself over all this. The rate I'm goin, I'm likely to live till a hundred.”
Her words came out with conviction, but I spent the rest of the day mostly hovering over her, even though she scolded me for it every five minutes. By the time Luke came whistling up the sidewalk, I was a bundle of nerves.
He came inside, took one look at my face, and said, “Everythin' okay here?”
“Everythin's fine. I ain't had even an itch all day, but this girl of yours hasn't been able to keep her eyes off me. I couldn't so much as breathe without her rushin' to my side.”
“Oh, that ain't true.” I touched her forehead to check for a fever, but she was cool as a cucumber. “I only did my job.”
She gave my hand a push. “I ain't got no fever. I ain't had a fever in thirty years. All you do is fuss over me.” I pulled my hand away, but she grabbed it in her frail hand and held it to her face, suddenly meek. “And I love you for it, dear girl. Don't you ever doubt it.”
Luke put a hand on Miss Cleta's shoulder. “We don't plan on knockin' off that fussin', neither, Miss Cleta, so you best get used to it.”
Tal and Gemma came in and looked at our little huddle.
“Everyone all right here?” Tal asked.
Miss Cleta waved them in. “We're fine and dandy. Ain't doin' nothin' but gettin' sentimental. Come on in and make yourselves at ease.”
Gemma set a basket by the door. “Jessie's momma sent some supper with us, so we'll be eatin' fine.”
“Sure enough.” Miss Cleta sniffed the air. “That momma of yours does magic in the kitchen, Jessilyn. You tell her so when you get home.”
“Yes'm.” I kissed her cheek. “You get some good sleep tonight, you hear? I'll be by bright and early to check on you.”
“You ain't got to check on me bright and early. Either I'll be fine or I'll be dead, and there ain't no excitement in neither. You just get your sleep and take your time gettin' over here, Jessilyn.”
Luke gave me his arm as we walked down Miss Cleta's steps. Clouds had gathered in the sky and the sun only peeked out for quick glimpses.
We were quiet as the grave for the first half of our walk until I got tired of the silence and decided to get our minds on something else. “You see the way Gemma and Tal looked at each other?” I asked, even though I knew full well he had. “You'd think there weren't no sick person in the room at all, for mercy's sake.”
“They got eyes for each other, no doubt. Leastways they won't get tired of lookin' at each other after they get married.”
“Well, I hope Tal keeps his eyes on Miss Cleta, too. She is the patient, after all.”
“Doc says she's fine, and I think so too. Her color was comin' back when we left, and I ain't never seen a body feisty like that in the face of death.”
“You can't judge Miss Cleta's health by her feistiness. I wouldn't be surprised if she reached out of her coffin and gave me one last scoldin'.”
He laughed and pulled my arm closer, but we walked on in silence after that. Beautiful silence. The cicadas sang sonnets, and the clouds that had rolled in were carried along by a soft breeze. I closed my eyes and drank it all in, my footsteps guided by Luke's arm, and I didn't open them up until I felt him slip his arm away from mine. My heart sank when he pulled away, but it skipped the moment I felt him grab my hand with his own. His grasp was gentle and tight all at once, and the way his touch made my heart turn somersaults, you would have thought he'd declared his undying love for me right there in the middle of the dusty road. Neither of us said a thing.
There weren't really words that would work, anyway.
* * *
The next morning I got to Miss Cleta's by six thirty and found Gemma cuddled up next to Tal on the porch. IÂ held my hand up to shield my eyes from the sun and smiled at them. “Lookin' right energetic this mornin',” IÂ said in a voice laced with more than a little suggestion. “Guess things are fine here, then?”
Tal stood up like a gentleman and returned my smile. “The patient's doin' fine, Jessilyn. Probably just a bad case of indigestion. The way I see it, she'll live to be a hundred. Maybe more.”
“I have no doubt she will. She's got too much to live for, bossin' me about and all.”
“Then get on in here, Jessilyn Lassiter, and let me start today's bossin'!” Her voice made me jump, the strength of it confirming the doctor's clean bill of health.
I rolled my eyes and opened the door. “Yes, Miss Cleta.”
Tal and Gemma followed me in, and he took Miss Cleta's pulse one last time. “Good and steady. Miss Cleta, I wish all my patients were as good off as you.”
“Don't you go takin' too good care of me, now. I ain't too keen on bein' long on this earth.”
Tal looked at me sideways.
“She figures she's better off in heaven,” I said. “But I wouldn't worry about her jumpin' off any bridges or anythin', if that's what you're thinkin'.”
“Land's sake. I ain't goin' to do myself in, boy. 'Course, drinkin' that potion you gave me yesterday was near about kin to it.” Miss Cleta waved a hand at him. “You can get on your way now Jessilyn's here. See to it Gemma gets home safe. And don't forget your fee. It's on the table.”
It was clear Tal had known enough cranky patients in his day, and he took her instructions in stride, tipping his hat in a gesture of compliance. “Yes'm. You let me know if there's anythin' more you need, you hear?”
Once they'd left, I settled Miss Cleta in with a nice, fresh cup of tea. She took a few sips and then tapped her toe like she did when she was thinking about something particular. “Seems we have a weddin' comin' up, then.”
I busied myself straightening things that didn't really need straightened so my feelings wouldn't show when I answered. “Yes'm. Right soon, too, I reckon.”
“Mm-hmm.” She set her teacup on the side table. “And just how're you feelin' about that?”
I only shrugged. “Just fine.”
“Just fine!” She made a little hissing noise between her teeth like something a cat would say. “If you're fine about it, then I'm Eleanor Roosevelt.”
“Well then, we'd best get you back to the White House.”
She wagged a finger at me. “Don't you go gettin' fresh with me, Jessilyn Lassiter. You know good and well what I'm talkin' about. You ain't never been fond of the idea of lettin' go of Gemma, and I figure rightly you're feelin' none too good about it just now.”
I gave the framed picture of Sully on the piano one last push to get it where I wanted it and then turned to face Miss Cleta with a bit of sass all my own. “Well, what's a girl supposed to feel when she's losin' her best friend? You tell me.”
“Lots of things.”
“Like what?”
“Like sadness, frustration, happiness.”
“They don't much go together.”
“Sure they do. When you love people, there's always a mix like that. You think lovin's easy? It ain't. It's hard work. Awful hard work. But if you find good folks to love, it's worth all the feelin's you get from it.” She patted the chair next to hers, and I slid into it reluctantly. “Now listen here, ain't nothin' wrong with you feelin' sad about Gemma leavin' your house. Nothin' at all. Ain't nothin' wrong with you wantin' things not to change, neither. But fact is, they do.” She gave my chin a little flick. “Anyhow, what d'you figure on doin' once Luke gets up his nerve to ask for your hand? You plannin' on stayin' with your momma and daddy? or with Gemma?”
I tipped my head sideways to acknowledge what she was gettin' at. “No, ma'am, you know I ain't.”
“Well then, you need to find that part of you that can accept the changes as necessary. And you got to find that part of you that's happy for Gemma 'cause she's happy. I know that part's in you somewhere because you ain't a selfish girl.”
A surge of guilt at how I'd felt of late filled me up when she said that. I laced my hands in front of me, staring at them. “I wouldn't say that, Miss Cleta. I think I'm likely to be good and selfish.”
“No, you ain't. Not like I'm meanin' it. If you were really selfish, you wouldn't want what's best for those you love. But I believe you do, else you wouldn't fuss and bother over me like you do. Nor would you fight so hard for people who have a hard time of it, like you do for Gemma, or how you did with Mr. Poe, rest his soul.” She lifted her cup to her lips again, pursing her lips as she swallowed. “No, ma'am. You ain't a selfish girl, leastways no more'n most of us are. Ain't a body on this earth that don't feel a little possessive about ones they love when push comes to shove. But once you get over the shock of it, you'll feel right fine for Gemma. You like Tal, don't you?”
“Ain't many better, Miss Cleta. If I'm goin' to think thataways, I can't pick a better match for her.”
“I reckon I'd agree with that from what I've seen.”
“He's a good man, and Gemma will make him a good wife. I'm sure they'll be happy together.” I leaned back in the chair and stared at the ceiling. “I reckon I just wish she could do bothâmarry Tal and still live with me like my sister. But that's child's talk.”
Miss Cleta let out one of her short, hooting laughs. “Land's sake, honey, once you got a weddin' ring on your finger, you won't want no sister livin' with you!”
I could feel my cheeks blushing, but I just waved her off. “I ain't even got a proposal yet.”
“You will. And once you and Gemma are both married, you'll be livin' no more'n a stone's throw away, and I reckon you'll end up sittin' on one another's porches, watchin' the children play together and talkin' about life. Things likely won't be as different as you're thinkin' they'll be, and more likely than not they'll be better.”
I laid my hand over hers and gave it a squeeze. “IÂ reckon so, Miss Cleta. You always make more sense than most of Calloway put together.”
Chapter 13
There was a table full of girls in the corner of the diner that kept casting hopeful glances in Luke's direction and then giggling. I knew full well that Luke had been pick of the litter since the day he came to Calloway, and his soaring business had only made him more so. I knew that well enough to know the sting of jealousy like an old friend.
Other girls had always had more feminine ways than I did, and they could flirt better than I could ever know how. But I just scooted a little closer to him and ignored all those fluttering eyelashes and ridiculous giggles because today I figured I had one thing they didn't.
Luke Talley.
We'd come to the diner after church with our old friends Buddy Pernell and Dolly Gooch, but they were so lost in each other, it was like having the table to ourselves. Those two wouldn't have noticed a tornado two feet away. They certainly didn't notice a table full of gawking girls.
I could tell by Luke's pointed resistance to look their way that he knew full well what was going on, and to his credit he paid no attention to anyone outside of our table. When the girls finally left, they sashayed past our table like a row of beauty contest hopefuls, but Luke kept his eyes on his peach pie.
Luke tossed back the last bite and pushed his plate away. Then he smiled and leaned close to me. “Did I tell you that you look pretty today?”
Heat crept up my neck, but I willed it to stay away from my cheeks. I looked away, feigning hurt. “No. Guess you had your mind on other things.”
“Ain't had my mind on nothin' else. Couldn't even tell you a word the pastor said in church.”
It was a little piece of magic, the two of us sitting there, sharing a look that nobody else could ever share in a million years.
That is, until a dollop of whipped cream landed square on the tip of my nose.
I rolled my eyes. “Buddy Pernell, you're such a child!”