“Look, ma’am, I’m sorry I was so rude. You caught me by surprise, is all. And, well, I don’t believe in fancy speeches or anything, but I want you to know I admire you for agreeing to my brother’s scheme and coming out here on your own the way you did. I’m sure it wasn’t an easy decision.”
At least the whole situation made more sense now. It was exactly the kind of grand gesture Lanny would make.
Her smile warmed a bit. “You’d be surprised.” Then she brushed at her skirt. “Now, if you don’t mind, I think I’m ready to pay my respects to my—our—family.”
Jack recognized her desire to change the subject. “Agreed.” He helped her rise, then offered his arm as they made their way across the churchyard.
Once through the cemetery entrance, he led her around the inside perimeter, past the graves of his parents, to three freshly turned mounds with markers. Nell and Jed rested side by side, and Lanny was buried a few yards away, next to Julia’s grave.
Jack stopped in front of Nell’s grave while his companion trudged the last few steps to Lanny and Julia’s resting places.
Somewhere nearby a blue jay squawked his displeasure. A heartbeat later Jack caught a flash of movement as a squirrel raced down the trunk of a nearby pecan tree.
Other than that, everything was hushed, still.
He frowned at the half dozen or so pink roses someone had placed on his sister’s grave. That wasn’t right. Daisies were Nell’s favorite flower.
The memories pelted him, one after the other, piercing him with their clarity, battering his attempts to hold them at bay.
He could see his little sister, skipping along the fence row, pigtails bouncing, picking armloads of the yellow blooms. Then she’d sit under the oak tree in their yard and make braids and crowns and other little girl treasures for hours on end.
Ah, Nell, I’m so sorry I didn’t come home sooner like you kept after me to. You always warned me I’d be sorry I waited so long, and as usual, you were right.
He twisted his hat brim in his hands.
I’ll find you some daisies tomorrow, I promise. Bunches of them.
A leaf drifted on the breeze and landed on the grassless mound. Jack stared at it as if memorizing the nuances of color and the tracery of its veins were vital.
About those young’uns of yours. You know I don’t know anything about being a father. And they sure deserve a lot better than me. But I swear to you, whatever happens, I’ll do my level best to see that they’re taken care of proper.
He wasn’t sure if mere seconds or several minutes passed before he finally looked up and took his bearings again.
The woman, Callie—easier to think of her as Julia’s friend than Leland’s wife—stood between the markers that served as Lanny and Julia’s headstones with her head bowed and her eyes closed.
Was she feeling faint?
Or praying?
As if she felt his gaze, she looked up and drew in a deep breath, then let it go on a sigh. Jack joined her and stared silently at his brother’s grave.
Lanny, the big brother who was good at just about everything he attempted, who could be bossier than the day was long, but who bent over backwards to lend a hand where it was needed.
Regret threaded itself through Jack’s feeling of loss. Why hadn’t he come here sooner, made peace with Lanny, offered him the apology he deserved?
Now he would never have that chance….
Movement drew his gaze to Julia’s grave. He watched as a butterfly, its wings the same deep blue that Julia’s eyes had been, landed briefly on her marker, then fluttered toward them. It rested momentarily on Callie’s bonnet before drifting away on the breeze.
When he looked back, he found her watching him. He straightened and shoved his hat back on his head. “Ready?”
She nodded and took the arm he offered. Their silence was companionable this time, all of the tension that had been there when they marched through town earlier having evaporated.
He was surprised to realize how glad he was that she’d been here these past few minutes. Somehow it felt right to have her share this graveside visit, to mourn alongside him for a few moments over their mutual loss.
“Those poor little ones,” she said softly. “They must be so confused and frightened by what’s happened.”
The mention of the children brought back his earlier worries. Was he up to the job of playing nursemaid to three confused and frightened young’uns?
“Who’s been looking out for them since the accident?” she asked.
“Mrs. Mayweather.” At her questioning look, he elaborated. “Sweetgum’s schoolteacher. She offered to take them in until I could get here.”
“How kind of her. Does she have children of her own?”
Jack smiled at the thought of the major general of a woman that was Alberta Mayweather having a husband to “take care of her.” “The ‘Mrs.’ is more of a courtesy title,” he explained. “She never married. But Mrs. Mayweather’s been schoolteacher here since before I was born, and she knows what she’s doing when it comes to watching over young’uns.”
Unlike me.
Jack’s gut tightened. He had quite a tangle to deal with, and it kept growing. He still hadn’t figured out what he was going to do about the three kids, and now he had to add Lanny’s widow to the mix.
Of course, he probably wouldn’t have that added worry for long. Now that Lanny was gone, she’d likely head back to Ohio where she’d be amongst people she knew.
“Then they’re lucky to have someone like her looking out for them.” Her steps quickened slightly. “But the sooner they can settle into a permanent home again with family around them, the better it’ll be.”
Hah! Easy enough for her to say. She didn’t have the responsibility of making it happen.
Her sigh interrupted his thoughts. “I just pray that, with God’s help, I can be a good mother to Annabeth.”
Mother? Jack stopped in his tracks.
“Wait just a minute. You can’t honestly believe you’re going to take charge of my niece.”
He might not know how to be a father, but he’d just made a solemn promise to Nell and Lanny to give it his best shot. And there was no way he’d break a promise like that. No sir, he wasn’t about to hand any of those kids over to a stranger.
No matter who she’d been married to.
Her eyes widened, but she didn’t back down. “In case you’ve forgotten, helping to raise Annabeth was the reason Leland asked me to come here. I’m still Annabeth’s stepmother. Of course I’m going to take care of her,” she said as if it was the most logical thing in the world.
“Stepmother!” He rubbed the back of his neck, more to keep himself from reaching out to shake some sense into the woman than anything else. “You were married to my brother for less than half a day. Why, I’ll wager you’ve never even laid eyes on Annabeth, have you?”
She crossed her arms and he saw a flash of temper in her eyes. “Have you?”
He didn’t much care for the ring of challenge in her tone. “I’m her blood kin,” he argued, sidestepping the question. “It’s my responsibility to—”
She yanked the marriage papers from her handbag and held them in front of his face. “Not according to these documents.”
The woman was downright maddening. If she thought for one minute he was going to let her lay claim to Annabeth, she was going to be mighty disappointed.
He