“Darcy’s having her baby?” Beth shot to her feet, her napkin floating to the floor. “We’ve got to go. I mean…” Her hand fluttered in the air.
Jesse pressed her down into her chair. “Finish eating your dinner. It will still be a while and it isn’t every day you eat at Andre’s. You know Darcy wouldn’t be too happy with you if you cut your date short.”
“We’ll be along as soon as we eat.” Samuel picked up Beth’s napkin and gave it to her, amused by her flustered expression. “Thanks for telling us.”
Beth began eating fast.
“You certainly are excited for Darcy, but you might actually want to chew your food and taste it.”
Beth stopped for a few seconds, then swallowed slowly what she had in her mouth. “She’s one of my best friends and she’s wanted this baby so much. I think I’ve been through this pregnancy with her.”
“Right about now she’s probably wishing you were the one delivering the baby.”
“I don’t doubt that, but I’m glad I’m not the one having a baby.”
“You don’t want any children? You’re so good with them.”
“I’m no spring chick,” she said with a gleam dancing in her eyes.
He nearly spewed out the water he was drinking. “Spring chick! You’re only thirty-eight. That isn’t over the hill. You’re not even near the top. Please, no more talk of how old you are.”
Beth forked the last of the steamed broccoli. “I have already raised three children. I’ve never been on my own and not had children to take care of.” She slid the utensil into her mouth and took her time chewing.
To Samuel, Beth was the perfect mother, so her declaration surprised him, and yet he understood. Most nineteen-year-olds didn’t have to raise three siblings all at once. Beth had, and from all he had heard from the people at church, she had done an excellent job. She deserved some time to do what she wanted.
“But that doesn’t mean I won’t help Darcy out with baby-sitting. I don’t think she’ll have trouble getting any of us to help her. Zoey, Jesse, Tanya and I will be fighting over it in no time.”
After Samuel paid the bill, he pulled out Beth’s chair and escorted her from the restaurant. The whole way to the hospital she tapped her fingers against the door handle as though that would speed things up.
As he neared the hospital, he slanted a look at Beth. He and Ruth had wanted more children. He still did. He tried to picture Beth with child. The image came easily to his mind. She would be a good mother. Her loving, caring way was such a natural part of her. Any child she raised would be lucky. And thirty-eight wasn’t too old to have a baby!
Baby? Children? He put a halt to the direction his thoughts were going in. That wasn’t in his future. He was still trying to handle the family he already had.
Samuel pulled into a parking space near the front door of the three-story hospital. He climbed from the car, intending to go around and open Beth’s door. She exited more quickly than he did and hurriedly made her way to the sliding glass doors. Chuckling, especially when he thought of her comment earlier about not being a spring chick, he entered the building a few paces behind her. Beth Coleman exhibited a youthful spring to her step.
She stopped at the reception desk to ask about Darcy. Watching her talk to the woman behind the desk, Samuel noted Beth’s flushed cheeks, the smile that brightened her whole face and a liveliness that gave her a fresh, wholesome look. He knew she discounted her appearance as being plain, unappealing, but she didn’t see herself through his eyes. She was full of energy and enthusiasm that made her very appealing. He didn’t understand why some man hadn’t snapped her up.
Beth turned to him, her eyes twinkling with excitement. “Darcy’s in the delivery room right now. It won’t be long. Let’s go to the waiting room. That’s where everyone else is.”
“Beth Coleman, I should have known you wouldn’t be more than a few steps behind us getting here,” Jesse said as Beth and Samuel entered the waiting room.
Samuel scanned the faces of his parishioners—a roomful of them, all here because of Darcy Markham. If it had been announced on the news, he wouldn’t have been surprised to find half the town waiting to hear about the new baby. That was the way Sweetwater was. The town took care of its own. He was counting on that, because he needed to feel as though he belonged somewhere. He needed to reconnect with God and why he had become a minister in the first place. If not—he shuddered to think of what he would have to do if he didn’t.
“You didn’t think you would drop that bomb on me and I would cheerfully go on eating as though nothing was happening.” Beth hugged Jesse, then Zoey and Tanya.
“You finished your meal, didn’t you?” Jesse asked, stepping back against her husband, who brought his arms around her.
“Yes, but I’m not sure what I ate after you left.”
Jesse captured Samuel’s attention. “I’m sorry about that. I stayed away as long as I could, but I couldn’t wait any longer.”
Nick laughed. “You can say that again. I had to practically hog-tie her to keep her in her chair after the phone call from Joshua. She wanted to run right over that very second and announce the news to you two. Fifteen minutes was all I could persuade her to be quiet and let you eat in peace.”
Jesse placed one hand on her waist. “Honestly, Beth, I’ve never seen you eat so slowly before.”
“I wish I could have seen that,” Zoey said, taking her chair again between Tanya and Darcy’s father.
“Why’s it taking so long?” Darcy’s dad asked, his brows coming together.
Liz, his new wife, took his hand and patted it. “Babies come in their own time.”
“You can say that again. With my last one I barely got to the hospital, but with my oldest I was in labor for over a day.”
Having made a point of finding out about his parishioners, Samuel noticed the faraway look that appeared in Zoey’s eyes as she spoke, and he realized she was thinking back to the birth of her baby daughter, a birth she’d had to go through without her husband because he was missing in action while on assignment for the DEA. He could imagine the pain she had gone through—pain that had nothing to do with delivering a baby—because he’d gone through the same kind of pain when he’d lost Ruth to breast cancer.
“Thankfully the doctor doesn’t think it will be a day.” Jesse plopped down across from Sean, Darcy’s son. “Are you excited, kiddo?”
He nodded, but his eyelids were drooping. Liz drew him against her and rested his head against her shoulder.
At that moment Joshua came into the waiting room and everyone turned their attention toward him. “It’s a little girl. She’s seven pounds, eight ounces and has a great set of lungs. The doctor says she is one healthy baby.”
Relief mixed with thankfulness flowed through Samuel as the room filled with everyone talking at once. He raised his hands, palms outward, and said, “I think this would be a good time to say a prayer.”
“Oh, yes, let’s join hands.” Zoey stood and stretched out her arms on both sides of her.
With hands clasped together, Darcy’s friends and family stood in a circle with their heads bowed.
Expected to lead the prayer, Samuel took a deep, cleansing breath and said, “Heavenly Father, please watch out for this newest addition to the Markham family and Sweetwater Community Church. Help us to guide her in Your ways and to bring her into Your fold. Amen.”
There were a few seconds of silence then voices erupted with questions, all directed at an exhausted-looking Joshua.
“When can we see her? What is her name?” Beth asked, shifting from one foot to the other.
Joshua gave a smile so big that it seemed to encompass his whole face. “Her name is Rebecca Anne Markham, and Darcy has been asking for you, Jesse, Zoey and Tanya after she sees her father, Liz and Sean for a few minutes.”
The family went with Joshua while the rest stayed in the waiting room. Beth stood by the entrance, watching the door into Darcy’s room.
“You would think she was a member of your family,” Samuel said as he planted himself next to her.
“As we were growing up, I was like a big sister to her, Jesse and Zoey. So, yes, she does seem like a member of my family.”
“That role came easily to you, didn’t it?”
She tilted her head toward him, a question in her eyes. “As a big sister?”
“Yes.”
“I guess so. That’s really the only one I know except being a teacher.”
“I bet your siblings think differently, especially Daniel. You were more a mother to him than a big sister.”
She thought for a moment, her brow furrowed. “You’re probably right. I am all he knows, since my mother died in childbirth. So my roles have been teacher, mother, sister.”
“How about friend, leader, organizer—”
Beth laid her fingers against his lips. “Please, no more. I get the picture.”
“Do you? You are invaluable to this town and the church. I don’t think you realize that. You just go and do the things that need to be done and never really think anything about it. With your departure this summer you’re trying to fill all your positions before you go. Most people don’t do that. They walk away and don’t look back.”
Her cheeks tinged pink, Beth glanced toward Darcy’s room. “Oh, I see the family leaving.” She started forward, then stopped and turned back to him. “I appreciate what you said. Really I do. But if I hadn’t done those jobs, someone else would have. That’s the way Sweetwater is. We take care of what is ours, and that includes you and your family.”
Samuel watched her enter Darcy’s hospital room with the other members of her circle of friends. Her parting words washed over him and for a long moment he didn’t feel so alone in the world.
* * *
Samuel entered the front door of the church and walked toward the sanctuary. He had begun to visit with God daily again, and he cherished this time before the day really started. Normally this was his day off, but he felt compelled to visit, to check and see if everything was all right. Inside, light streamed from the stained-glass windows to illuminate his path. He headed for the front pew and came to a halt halfway down the center aisle. He wasn’t alone. Tanya sat on the front pew where he often did, with her head bowed, her body shaking with sobs. He hurried forward.
“Tanya, what’s wrong?” He slid in beside her.
She lifted her tear-streaked face, a piece of paper crumpled in her hands. “Tom has asked me for a divorce. I…” Sobs racked her body again as she turned away.
Samuel drew her against him. “I’m so sorry, Tanya. Have you been able to see him lately, talk to him?”
She shook her head. “He refused to let me come after that time I went when he was injured. He was furious that I ignored his wishes then. What am I going to do?”
“Let me go visit Tom and talk with him.”
Tanya latched on to Samuel’s hands. “Please do. I know if he wants a divorce there is nothing I can really do to stop it. Please talk to him, make him understand I love him no matter what he did. He’s Crystal’s father. She needs him now more than ever.”
As Samuel bowed his head to offer a prayer, he felt this was the right thing to do. He might not be able to talk Tom out of divorcing Tanya, but he had to try. Not only was Tanya hurting, but it was obvious Tom was, too.
* * *
“A picnic! What a lovely idea, Samuel,” Beth said into the phone.
“Good. I’m glad you like it. Allie and Craig want to see some of the lake now that it is getting warmer. I’m counting on your preparing the food, since Aunt Mae is busy with Zoey and Jesse on the Fourth of July auction. You know how helpless I am in the kitchen.”
“They’re meeting without me?”
“Aunt Mae said something about you had great notes on each step of the planning and didn’t want to bother you with the details, since you wouldn’t be here for it.”
“But still…” Beth couldn’t voice aloud her dissatisfaction at not being asked to help, at least until she left Sweetwater. Yes, she had turned her duties over to others, but still she hadn’t wanted to be totally out of the loop.
“Beth, you have to learn to turn it over to the ones doing it.” Samuel lowered his voice. “Enjoy some of the free time with me and my family. It’s the last week in March and spring break. You need to play some.”
“Well, when you put it that way… Any orders on what you all want?” Beth stared out the picture window at the pear trees laden with white flowers and the red tulips and yellow daffodils gracing the length of Felicia’s house across the street.
“I’ll let you surprise us. I’ll bring dessert and my two youngest children and pick you up in an hour.”
“How about Jane?”
“That’s the best piece of news I have. She’s meeting some friends at the church to help clean up the garden. Joshua organized it.”
“Maybe we should help them.”
“Have you forgotten my black thumb? Besides, I think Jane wants me to stay away. Ryan is one of the group. He’s been calling here the past week every night.”
“Then I’ll see you three in an hour.”
When Beth hung up she sighed heavily, still bothered that she was left out of the planning for the auction. She’d done it for the past ten years. But with the letter she had received yesterday, she knew for certain she wouldn’t be here come the Fourth of July. She would be in Brazil working at a mission along the Amazon River. She still couldn’t believe how fast everything was proceeding. In the next few months she had a lot to do—getting her passport, getting a physical and a whole series of shots.
But for the moment she had a picnic to plan and an afternoon to spend with Samuel and his children. She noticed a bounce to her step as she walked into the kitchen. What was next—whistling while she worked? But she couldn’t contain her excitement. For the trip or for seeing Samuel? She didn’t know the answer and didn’t care.
Opening the refrigerator, she inspected its contents, trying to decide what two young children would want to eat on a picnic. Remembering back to her picnics with her brothers and sister, she quickly settled on making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with sliced fruit and chips. Nothing fancy, but then children rarely wanted that.
She set about preparing the food, then put on a new pair of jeans she had bought with Jesse the past weekend after their get-together at Alice’s Café with Zoey, Tanya and Darcy, who had brought along her baby daughter. Wearing her new orange blouse and tennis shoes, Beth tied her curly hair back with an orange silk scarf, a few strands of hair escaping. She was ready to go when Samuel rang the doorbell exactly an hour after his phone call.
Beth grabbed a navy blue sweater in case she got cold from the breeze off the lake and went to answer the door. “Hi! I’m so glad you asked me to go with you all. I needed a reason not to do some yard work.”
“I work hard to avoid yard work. Glad we think alike.” Samuel pointed to a basket on the table in the foyer. “Is this the food?”
She nodded. “What’s for dessert?”
“Nothing. The kids want to come back to the ice cream parlor on Main and have some after our picnic. Is that okay with you?”
“Ice cream. Let’s see. Next to banana cream pie, vanilla ice cream with hot caramel topping is my favorite dessert, so I guess it’s okay with me.”
“I hear Miller Point is a nice place to have a picnic.”
“There are several places around the lake that are nice. Miller Point is fine with me.”
“With spring break the kids have been eager to do some things outside. Craig and Allie brought some fishing poles to see if they can catch anything. Do you fish?”
“Nope, but I don’t mind watching.”
Samuel lifted the basket and allowed Beth to go first. He shut the door and made sure it was locked before descending the steps. Beth slid into the front seat and turned to greet Allie and Craig.
“Will you help me pick some wildflowers? I’ve seen some pretty ones from the road,” Allie said as her father started the car.
“Sure. There was a time I knew the names of a lot of them. But I haven’t gone wildflower picking in years.” She’d been so busy doing other things she’d forgotten how much she liked doing something simple like that. She and her sister used to walk along the lake and collect wildflowers to put in a vase on the kitchen table. They had always tried to get as many different colors as possible. Her sister had called it a rainbow bouquet. “Miller Point is perfect for that. There’s a meadow not far from the lake’s edge.”
Craig screwed up his face into a frown at the very mention of flowers. Beth added for his benefit, “You are welcome to help us, Craig. I don’t want you to feel left out.”
“No way. That’s for girls.”
“Son, when you get older, you’ll realize giving flowers to a girl becomes very important to a guy,” Samuel said with a smile.
“Not for me,” Craig muttered, staring out the side window as his father drove toward Miller Point.
“What about Susie? Mary Ann says her older sister likes you and you like her,” Allie said in a singsong voice.
“No, I don’t!”
“Yes, you do. You talk to her when she calls.” Allie stuck her tongue out at her brother, who returned the gesture.
Samuel slowed his car, pulled over and said, “If you two are going to fight, we can go home to do that.”
Both crossed their arms, lifted their chins and turned to look out their respective car windows. Beth bit the inside of her cheek to keep a straight face. This little skirmish between brother and sister brought back bittersweet memories of raising her siblings. There had been times when they had been constantly at each other’s throat and she had wondered if she would ever have any peace in the house again. Now she had more peace than she knew what to do with.
Samuel resumed driving. “Sorry about that, Beth.”
“No problem. I’m used to it. You ought to hear some of the students at school.”
Five minutes later Samuel pulled into a parking area near Miller Point. Allie and Craig were out of the car the second he turned off the engine. They raced toward the water, one going east along the sandy shore and the other west.
“I knew I was going to have a problem when I found out Allie’s new best friend’s older sister liked Craig. Allie is constantly teasing him and he isn’t taking it very well.”
“Sort of like he teases Jane about Ryan?”
“Yep. There are times I sneak out of the house and seek some quiet at the church.”
Beth laughed. “I’ve been there. I know what you mean.”
Samuel opened his door. “Let’s spread the blanket under that maple over there.” He gestured toward the largest tree in the area.
Carrying the blanket while Samuel took the basket, Beth walked beside him to the maple. Craig ran back to the car to get his fishing rod while Allie explored the shoreline, picking up some stones to examine and pocketing one.
After setting the blanket down and spreading it out so only part of it was shaded, Beth tossed back her head and let the warm rays of the sun bathe her face. Inhaling lungfuls of the rich air, she let the peacefulness of her surroundings seep into her. The chirping of the birds and the soothing serenade of the insects combined with the water lapping against the sandy beach to complete the ideal picture.
She turned toward Samuel, who had already opened the basket to peek inside. “Again I want to thank you for this wonderful suggestion. It’s beautiful. Today no one should spend any time indoors.”
“It’s one of those perfect spring days that reconfirms God’s presence.” He closed the lid.
“Does the meal meet with your approval?”
“You could have brought just about anything and I wouldn’t have cared less. I’m not a picky eater, as opposed to my daughters. One is a vegetarian and the other only likes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, any kind of sweet and spaghetti.” He snapped his fingers. “Oh, I almost forgot, and hamburgers and French fries.”
“Not your healthiest food.”
“Nope. I’m only hoping it’s a brief stage she’s moving through.” He flipped his hand toward the basket. “But I can see you must have read Allie’s mind. You have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. How did you know?”
“Not many children their age hate PB and J sandwiches.”
“True. You know children well.”
“Raising three and teaching hundreds does have its advantages.”
Allie raced toward the car and retrieved her fishing rod. She joined her brother, who sat on a large rock jutting out over the water. Passing her pole to Craig, Allie watched as he baited the line.
“What’s he fishing with?”
“Bologna.”
“Grant you, I’m not a fisherman—or is that woman? Oh, well, I’m not one of those, but I’ve never heard of bologna being used to lure fish to your hook.”
“Allie screams if we use anything live like worms.” Samuel moved back to sit on the blanket. “Surprisingly they have caught some using bologna, so Craig goes along with it.”
Beth eased down next to Samuel, everything about the day feeling so right. It seemed natural to her that they were sitting and watching the two children fish as though they had for years. Samuel was easy to talk to. He made her feel important, special, very much a woman. If she hadn’t had her life planned, it would have been easy to fall for him. Why had someone come along when she had stopped looking for a husband, a man to love? She had to keep focused on her trip in the summer.
Samuel rested one arm on his bent knee, never taking his gaze off his children. “How are your plans coming along? Have you heard back from the organization?”
“Yes,” she said with less excitement than she would have thought. “I received my acceptance a few days ago.”
“Where are you going?”
“Brazil.”
“Where the dart landed?”
“Yes, that was as good a way to decide as any. The world is full of places I haven’t been to.” Beth crossed her legs, stretched out in front of her. “I’m going to be assigned to a mission at the upper reaches of the Amazon just before the border with Peru.”
“The Amazon! That’s a far cry from Sweetwater.”
“Yes, but what an adventure. I’ve decided to keep a journal of my travels. I may write a book one day. I’ve always wanted to, and this will be my chance to do good for God and fill pages and pages with the new things I’ve learned.”
“I wish I could capture your enthusiasm and give some to Jane.”
“Her grades are improving. She doesn’t complain to me anymore while we’re working.”
“That’s good, since you’re doing her a favor. Have I thanked you in the past week?”
Beth smiled. “Yes, every time I come over.”
“Okay, I’ve probably carried the appreciative-dad role just a little too far, but because of you Jane is doing better and she doesn’t complain like she used to about going to school.”
“Soon I’m going to approach her about using the resource room when she needs help. It’s staffed with two special ed teachers who assist students on IEPs with their class work, any long-term assignments and taking tests in a quiet environment where there aren’t very many distractions.”
“She won’t do it.”
“She’ll need something after I’m gone if she runs into any trouble. Right now she’s using me, but next year I won’t be here.”
Samuel flexed his hands, then curled them into fists. “I know.”
The tight edge to his voice caused Beth to angle her head to look him directly in the eyes. “I want her to learn to advocate for herself and not to be ashamed of needing help with certain projects. We all need help from time to time.”
“From where I’m sitting you look pretty together.”
“Well, I’m not all the time.”
“When?”
“The night you took me to Andre’s. I was a basket case.”
He quirked a brow. “You were?”
“I haven’t dated much. Not very good at it when I have. If you haven’t noticed, I’m shy.”
“You could have fooled me. Of course, I haven’t dated much either.”
“So neither one of us is an expert at dating.”
“I know a solution to that.”
“What?”
“Go out on another date with me.”
Her heart skipped a beat, then began to pound. “I…” She was at a loss for words.
“If you don’t say yes soon, I’m liable to be set back years with this dating.”
“By all means, we wouldn’t want that.”
“Then it’s a yes?”
“Yes,” she said with a laugh.