Pepper drove her van along the crowded freeway, unable to erase what had to be one major perky smile off her face. From the passenger seat, Kenzie chirped away, apparently voicing every happy thought that entered her mind.
When the girl slowed long enough to take a breath, Pepper said, “If you don’t mind my saying—”
“If I don’t mind? Now that’s a salty thing to say!”
She laughed. “Not the usual blast of opinion with both barrels, huh? I guess I’ve lost my peppery edge, so I guess that means prayer works. Anyway, if you don’t mind my saying, you seem more at peace after the slumber party than you did going into it.”
Kenzie flashed her impish grin. “I guess that’s because I am!”
“What happened?”
“I had a surprisingly good time. Everybody was so totally relaxed. So totally real, even my mom.”
“She set the tone for the whole event.”
“Yeah? Yeah. I guess she did. Aunt Nattie helped, but she kept saying how this and that was Mom’s idea.”
“It’s very mature of you to be able to give her the credit.”
“It’s easy to when she’s not hung up on looking perfect. Wow. She has come a long way since I told her I was pregnant.”
From the corner of her eye, Pepper noticed Kenzie slip a fingertip into her mouth and bite on the nail. “Kenzie, I think God is using your situation to show her she doesn’t need to be perfect, but it’s not your fault, not the tough stuff.”
“What’s going to happen to them?”
“Your parents?” Pepper steered down an exit ramp. “They will get through this. Your mom wants reconciliation. Why wouldn’t your dad want it too? They’ll find their way.”
“He’s as bullheaded as a mule.” She lowered her hand and smiled. “Kind of like me.”
“What do you think would get through to him? When you’ve been bullheaded, what’s made you change your mind?”
“Morning sickness.” She laughed. “I guarantee a good dose of barfing would give him a new outlook.”
Pepper chuckled with her. “So maybe we pray he gets stomach flu?”
Kenzie giggled again.
“Seriously, morning sickness made you view things differently?”
“Sort of. The thing was, I couldn’t control it. Yuck. Constant nausea. That made me realize I couldn’t really control anything anymore.” She shrugged, all traces of smiles gone. “But I dug my heels in deeper, like he’s doing now. Like he will do with this boycott thing.” She shook her head and touched her abdomen. “Then the fluttering started and Mom told me it was the baby moving. All of a sudden, I got tired of trying to control things. Aidan and this baby need me. They need me to be the best me I can be. If I’m behaving like a brainless mule insisting on my own way, thinking that’s control, I’m not really much good to them at all.”
Pepper blinked away tears, reached over, and patted Kenzie’s arm. “Okay. So we pray your dad experiences a fluttering of new life inside of him.”
Kenzie sighed dramatically. “I don’t know. I kind of like the upchucking visual better.”
Pepper held her breath as long as she could. Then the laugh rumbled and burst forth.
So much for being salt-like.
Still grinning, Pepper braked at the curb, a loading zone outside Aidan’s apartment building. “I’ll get your backpack.” She hopped from the van and hurried around to the other side.
“Pepper, I’ve got it.” Kenzie was already out and sliding open the back door. “I’m not an invalid.”
“Stop trying to control things.”
She smiled and backed away from the car. “Touché. You get my bag.”
“Thank you.”
“Sure. Will you carry it upstairs for me too? Maybe even unpack it while you’re there?”
“Sorry, no. I don’t want to get a parking ticket.” She wrapped her arms around the girl. “I only got out so I could give you a proper hug.”
Kenzie laughed and returned the embrace. “You are too funny, Pepper.”
“Mom!”
Pepper turned and saw Aidan jogging toward them, down the short sidewalk from the building’s front door, a gym bag bouncing at his side. He must have spotted them from a window and hurried outside. Reaching them now, he puffed. There was no welcoming smile on his face.
“Aidan? What’s wrong?”
“It’s Dad. There was an accident.”
Life drained from Pepper. Like receiving a giant shot of instantacting novocaine, her body went numb from head to toe. Aidan, Kenzie, the bright blue sky, and the apartment building faded from view.
Mick!
“He’s in the hospital.” They were holding her arms, steering her into the van, up onto the front passenger seat.
“What happened?”
“Somebody hit him. A car. A small car.”
She moaned.
“George called.” He named Mick’s boss. “Dad told him to call me first. So Dad was okay enough to tell him that. Which is good, right?” Aidan crouched in front of her, brushing his hands up and down her forearms. “The doctor’s doing X-rays and stuff now. George didn’t know anything else yet.”
Pepper started to cry.
“I talked to the girls. We all agree I should drive you up there right now. We’ll be with him in three hours. Do you need to go home for anything?”
She shrugged.
Kenzie said, “You’ve got your toothbrush and pj’s. Go.”
Still paralyzed with fear, Pepper sensed only one thing. “Pray. Kenzie, you’ll pray?”
“Of course.” She hugged her. “I’ll even get word to the Marthas. One thing I know for sure about them, they know how to pray up a storm.”