Morning Glory (16 page)

"You are wrong about Briar," Clara insisted.

Olivia giggled and held the screen door open for
Clara. "Methinks the lady protests too much. Age
before beauty"

"Sense before ignorance," Clara shot back.

Olivia just giggled again. Clara couldn't help but do
the same.

Holding Libby by the hand, Briar marched up to the
front door of the Morning Glory Inn. Blue blossoms
unfurled slowly, bending their fragile necks toward the
sun. The vicious summer heat had abated slightly and
the trees had begun to put on their fall colored coats of
crimson, tangerine and lemon yellow.

Libby didn't say a word and Briar could actually feel
her nervousness. He was more anxious than he'd been
back when he was fourteen and walked all the way
across the barn to ask Janey Jones to dance with him.
Libby squeezed his fingers as if she were telling him in
her four-year-old way that being apprehensive was her
job as a child. His, as an adult, was to be calm and collected. It was a good thing no one was paying him for doing his job that day or they would have fired him on
the spot.

She doubled up her fist and pounded on the door. "I
can knock"

"Yes, you can, but they might not hear you," Briar
nodded.

When no one answered, Briar knocked heavily on
the door frame.

Dulcie appeared and motioned him inside. "Mr.
Briar, what're you doin' out and about this early? Folks
is still eatin' breakfast, so if you're lookin' for Miss
Clara she's in the dining room"

"Thank you, Dulcie. This is my daughter, Libby. And
Libby, this is Dulcie. She can cook the best cobbler in
the whole state of Oklahoma. Dulcie, I came at this
time of morning because I want to talk to the whole
bunch of the ladies, not just Clara," Briar said.

"You got a pretty little girl there, Mr. Briar." Dulcie
followed behind them.

Olivia raised an eyebrow when she saw him coming
through the dining room door. "Briar, what are you
doing out and around this early in the morning?"

"I've come to talk to all of you. Good morning. This
is my daughter, Libby. And this is Nellie, Cornelia,
Bessie, Beulah, Olivia and Clara," he said, pointing out
each person.

Libby eyed them seriously. To her, they looked like
the ladies in Judy's Sunday School class. All old.

Clara arose from her chair and went over to bend down in front of Libby. "How nice of you to come see
us. Are you going to work with your daddy today?"

She stuck a thumb in her mouth and hid behind
Briar's leg. "Who are you?"

"I'm Clara," Clara said softly as she lost her heart.
Not to a man like she'd hoped to do someday, but to a
little girl with dark curls and big, round, blue eyes.

"I'm here to ask for some help," Briar said. "My sister, Judith, and Cecil want to marry next week. I've
asked Cecil to move down near Wichita Falls, Texas,
where our company will be buying leases soon. So this
is the situation. I need a place to leave Libby in the day.
She's never had a babysitter. Judith has lived with me
and cared for her since she was a tiny baby. You folks
are the only ladies in town I can ask. Do you have any
idea who might be available?"

"Of course she can stay right here," Bessie said. "Me
and Beulah can watch her in the mornings. Dulcie is
here all day. Clara is in and out. And Nellie and
Cornelia are home by four. Don't expect you'd pick her
up until five, would you?"

"It could be as late as six," Briar said.

"Well, those days she can eat supper with us,"
Beulah said.

"Clara?" Briar expected opposition.

"Where is Judith this morning?" Clara asked Libby.

Libby sucked harder on her thumb.

"She's at the store picking up a few things," Briar
said.

"I want Judy," Libby whispered.

Clara touched Libby's free hand. "Of course you do"

"We're going to get Judy in a few minutes. We just
needed to talk to these ladies first." Briar squatted down
on the other side of Libby.

"Will you stay with me and let Judy come after you
in just a little bit?" Clara asked.

Libby stared at her, then slowly nodded.

"You will?" Briar was amazed.

Libby nodded again.

Clara eased Libby's hand into her own and carefully
led her away. "Your daddy will stay, too, this time.
We'll go in the other room and read a book. Do you like
books?"

"A book about a duck?" Libby asked.

"A yellow duck that floats on the water in the lily
pads," Clara said.

"Clara, are you sure?" Briar whispered as he followed them.

"Of course. The room you stayed in is still empty and
that can be her room during the day if she wants to take
a nap or play. You might bring some of her things to
make it more like hers."

441511 pay-"

"You'll pay the price of a room. I don't think a fouryear-old child will eat enough to make a difference in
our food bill. I suggest you bring her every morning
and let her stay a little longer each day. A sort of weaning away process and getting used to us at the same time. It will give Judith some time to do the same. It
can't be easy for her."

"Judith and Cecil want to get married on Saturday,"
he said.

"That's fine. Shall we shake on it?" Clara extended
her hand. What she really wanted to do was lean forward and kiss him to seal the deal.

Briar took the proffered hand, wishing the whole
time that he could use it to pull her to his chest for a
hug. He'd never dreamed Clara would take care of
Libby. He'd just hoped one of the ladies could recommend a sitter. The only difficult thing would be seeing
Clara twice a day, five days a week, but he could even
weather that for Libby's sake.

Libby pulled at his pant leg. "Do they have a cat?"

"Not right now, but if you want a cat I'll find one,"
Bessie said from the doorway.

"Clara?" Briar asked.

"We'll find a kitten. That way it can grow up with her
and won't be so prone to scratching." Clara was fully
captivated the minute she bent down and looked into
those light eyes and in the twinkle of a child's big blue
eyes knew she could never refuse her anything. She
was so mesmerized that she'd even see Briar Nelson
twice a day to get to keep Libby every day. Perhaps it
would be a good thing anyway. She'd find out right
quick that Briar had lots of horrible qualities that she
couldn't abide. After all, there were two sides to every
story, and surely his ex-wife would have her tale of woe to tell. Did his work consume too much of his time?
Did he not pay enough attention to her? The days when
a man treated his wife as chattel was long since gone
and there was more progress on the wind called liberation and equal rights.

Clara picked a thick book of children's stories from
the bookcase and read through the index to find the
right page. "Okay, sweetheart, here's the book lyin'
right here."

"These women are all very nice, Libby. They will be
your new friends." Briar sat on the settee and picked
Libby up and sat her on his lap.

"Will you come back?" she asked around the thumb
in her mouth.

"Not today, but I'll be home in time for supper tonight. Today Judy will come and get you," he said.

She nodded.

"Then you will stay here with all these ladies?" he
asked.

She nodded again. "Read to me?" she asked Clara.

"I sure will. You know if you would sit in my lap, I
could read and you could look at the pictures," Clara
said.

"Okay." Libby almost smiled.

Briar moved her and stood up. "Do you think it
would be all right if I go to work now, Libby? Or should
I stay until Judy comes today?"

"Judy will come?" she asked.

"In just a little while," he said. "Clara will read to
you and then-"

Dulcie stepped into the room. "And after you read a
little while, Clara can bring you in the kitchen and you
can help me make cookies. Have you ever made sugar
cookies?"

Libby looked at Dulcie for a long time before she
answered. "Aunt Judy and me makes cookies."

"Briar, don't worry about Libby. Dulcie will dote on
her. Bessie and Beulah will think they have a new toy"
Clara stopped reading a moment when she realized he
was leaving.

"What about you, Clara?" Briar asked.

"I will enjoy a child in the house."

"She's a handful at times," Briar admitted.

"Does she get that from her father?"

"Probably. I think I'll go to work, on that note" He
almost smiled. Was Clara flirting or starting a fight? He
wasn't going to risk his good luck by finding out which
mood she was in that day.

"Have a good day, then" Clara's heart was lighter
than it had been in years. For a moment, she wasn't a
crazy old maid. She was a wife sending her husband off
to work and going back inside to make sugar cookies
with her daughter. Even if the bubble did burst before it
was fully blown, she basked in the glory of it for a split
second.

"So now you'll be seeing him every morning and night. That's more than I get to see Danny," Olivia said,
peeking in before heading out to work.

"Oh, hush. I'm keeping his daughter, not dating
him."

"Well, I'm not going to argue with you. I'm off to
count money. See you this evening." Olivia pushed the
door open and prissed off toward the bank.

"So?" Bessie said from a rocking chair she claimed
every morning after breakfast.

"What?" Clara asked.

"So are you already whipping yourself for this decision to have a child underfoot all day?"

"No, I'm looking forward to it," Clara said.

"Good. It'll be good for you and all of us. That child
will be a breath of fresh air for this old place," Bessie
said.

"Tell me that when you're taking your afternoon nap
and she's squealing up and down the stairs," Clara
whispered, then went back to reading.

"I can sleep in heaven," Bessie smarted off.

"It might be the next chance you get at a nap." Clara
actually laughed, her eyes aglitter.

And well worth it, Bessie thought as she picked up
the newest edition of Woman's Home Companion. The
cover depicted a man holding a child up in the air while
his wife looked on. Bessie read an article about wives
who were left behind as the menfolks went off to fight
in the war across the seas. President Wilson had called
for a draft of all eligible men back last spring and it had taken a few months for the magazines to find out they
had a market in articles concerning the women who'd
be left behind. Bessie sent up a silent prayer that they
wouldn't want Briar Nelson. Take however many of
those hoboes out there in tents and cardboard towns
beside the railroad tracks that they wanted. They could
hold a gun and fight the Germans all day, but Briar was
needed in Healdton, Oklahoma, to rid the village of its
famous idiot. Besides, with America getting ready to
send troops over there, it surely wouldn't last long.

When Clara finished reading the story, she asked
Libby if she'd like to go watch Dulcie make cookies.
The child actually smiled that time when she nodded.
They'd no more than left the room when Beulah shuffled in, carrying a bag with her crochet in one hand and
a newspaper in the other.

"You look like the cat that just found the bird cage
door open and the parakeet sleeping." Beulah settled
down beside Bessie.

"Well, you look like a frog about to eat up a buzzing
fly. It's working out and we didn't even have to meddle," Bessie told her.

"Yes, but if we hadn't bought that farm and then sold
it to Cecil, where would they be? We set it in motion,"
Beulah reminded her.

"Well, Titus Lester's widow wasn't going to sell to
anyone who hadn't lived in Healdton since the sixth
day of creation. The only way Briar was going to get
that land was for us to buy it and then sell it to Cecil. We might be old, but we ain't dead. We can still hear
rumors and we can still meddle a little bit. I heard
Titus' widow is still fuming. Never did like that woman.
I'm glad she's mad"

"Good thing Olivia said what she did about Cecil
wanting to buy a farm, ain't it?"

"God works in mysterious ways. That girl is a thorn
in my flesh most days, but she does bring in a bit of
something useful on some days. Now let me read what
President Wilson is going to do about sending our boys
off to be killed. Never did agree with war, but if they
want it to end, they need to make a law that old women
could go. We'd get it taken care of a lot quicker than a
bunch of eighteen-year-old boys. We're already so
close to death that nothing could scare the bejesus out
of us"

"Ain't it the truth" Bessie turned to a page in her
magazine that had a recipe for pumpkin bread using
cold black coffee as the liquid. She'd have to show it to
Dulcie before Thanksgiving.

Clara found Dulcie washing the breakfast dishes.
She remembered another little dark-haired girl who
stood on a stool beside Dulcie. And she remembered
when she begged and begged until she was allowed to
help dry dishes.