October 24, 1945
Ben stepped up on the porch of the Beech Fork Center and knocked on the door. He should have sent Woody. Not come himself. He’d been staying away from Francine since Woody got shot. It was better that way. His mother had said it all. Francine wasn’t mountain, and he was. Even if he left the mountains behind and lived in the biggest city in the country, he’d still be mountain. And no doubt, miserable.
Inside he heard Sarge bark, but just once. Then Fran called that she’d get the door. That was good. Better to not see Nurse Dawson’s frown if she opened the door to see him standing there.
Nurse Dawson’s voice came from farther back in the house. “Tell whoever it is we’re closed.”
Francine laughed. “But we’re never closed.”
That was true. The nurses were always ready to help. But he hadn’t come for help. He wasn’t sure why he’d come. Not really. He had a reason to tell her. He was going to offer to keep her dog. Becca told him Francine was going to the city.
That might be why he’d come. She was leaving the mountains. Supposedly only for a few days, but who knew if she’d come back? Mountain life was hard. And that was why he was standing there on her porch with his hands sweaty, waiting for her to open the door. He didn’t like to think about her perhaps not coming back. Not that there was anything he could do about it. But he couldn’t let her leave without seeing her one more time.
She was still smiling when she opened the door, but her smile faded. “Mr. Locke. Is something wrong with Woody or Becca? We were just up there.”
“Nothing’s wrong.” He stepped back from the door. He twisted his hat in his hands and pushed a smile out on his face. Mr. Locke. Nurse Howard. Why couldn’t they be Ben and Francine?
“That’s good.” Francine’s smile came back when Sarge pushed past her to nuzzle Ben’s hand. “Looks like Sarge remembers who rescued him, even if it’s been a while since he’s seen you.” She gave him a questioning look.
Ben was grateful for the distraction of the dog. “I’ve been busy.” He stroked the dog’s head and down his back.
Sarge’s tail thumped against Francine’s legs. She stepped out on the porch. “It’s a busy time of the year.”
“Yes.” Ben straightened up from rubbing the dog and looked directly at Francine. “If you aren’t too busy right now, how about taking a walk down to the creek? There’s still a little daylight before the edge of dark.”
She hesitated and looked over her shoulder. He was ready to pull back the invitation when she grabbed her jacket from a hook inside the door and called back to Nurse Dawson. “I’ll be back in a little bit. Go ahead and eat if you want. I have to see to the horses and chickens.”
“You want to do that first?” Ben asked as she shut the door behind her.
“No. The horses would be surprised to see me until almost dark.” She smiled up at him. “The edge of dark. I love the way you say things here.”
“It’s just talk to the folks up here.”
“I suppose so, but to my ear it sounds poetic.” She led the way down off the porch and across the yard to the path that led down the hill to Beech Fork.
He followed after her without saying anything. The air was cool as the sun dipped behind the hill and cast shadows across them. When the path broadened next to the creek, she paused to let him step up beside her.
“Are the winters here as bad as Nurse Dawson keeps warning me they are?” She started walking again.
“They can be, but I would take them anytime over the ones overseas. Leastways I knew what to expect from winters here. Over there it could be cold rain or snow. The rain was the worst. Everything wet and no way to dry out for what seemed like weeks. The old-timers tell me we had it good compared to when they were in the trenches during the First World War.”
“My father was in the First World War, but he never talked about it much.”
“I guess that’s the best way. Just leave it all behind.” He couldn’t believe he’d talked about the war with her. He hadn’t talked to anybody about how it was over there. Then, here she asked a simple question about winter and he was dredging up memories she probably didn’t even want to know.
“Could be. If you can.” She glanced up at him and then away. She stopped and stared out at the water sliding past them. “I became a nurse with the intention of going overseas to serve, but after my father died, my mother couldn’t bear the thought of being alone.”
“But isn’t your mother alone now? With you here?”
“Things changed. She remarried. I needed a new start.”
He wanted to ask why she needed a new start, but he bit back the question. He didn’t know her well enough to pry. “I guess this is pretty different from what you knew back in Ohio.”
“Very different.” She bent down and picked up a rock to throw in the stream. Sarge perked up his ears and she put her hand on his ruff to keep him from chasing after the rock. “I don’t know that I’ve thanked you properly for Sarge. He is the best dog.” She turned toward Ben.
“No thanks needed. As my sergeant used to say, I saw his potential and wanted him to have a chance to exercise it.”
She was so close that he imagined he could feel her breath. He could put his hand on her shoulder and pull her an inch or two closer. Then he could tip up her chin and drop his lips down on hers. He could, but instead he turned away to look out at the creek. Maybe he should just wade out in it. The water would be cold and he definitely needed to cool down. Best to get to why he had come calling.
“Becca says you’re going to the city.”
“I am. I have to take an exam to be fully qualified in midwifery.”
“You be gone long?”
“Until next Monday. I’m going to visit my mother, since it isn’t that much farther to Cincinnati from Lexington by train.”
“I reckon your mother is anxious to see you. You haven’t been home in a while.” He was sorry he said “home.” He wanted her to be home here.
“Not since I came here in May. In some ways that doesn’t seem long, but in other ways forever. So much has happened with all the people I’ve met and the babies I’ve helped deliver.” She started walking again and he fell in beside her.
“Your mother must be proud of you.”
Francine laughed. “Not really. She was totally against me coming to the mountains.”
“Oh.” He didn’t know what to say to that.
She put her hand on his arm. “My mother is nothing like your mother. She wants people to take care of her instead of being the one to take care of others. But she is my mother and it will be good to see her.”
“But you’ll be back.”
“God willing and the creek don’t rise.”
“The creeks always rise, but not too much in the fall of the year. Especially this year, since it’s been dry. The tides come mostly in the spring or late winter.”
“Tides? That’s floods, isn’t it?”
“I guess that does sound strange. Tides are in oceans. I’ve seen some of those now. Not much like flash floods.”
She stopped and looked at the peaceful creek again. “Betty says this creek can turn into a torrent, but that Mrs. B made sure the center was on high enough ground that the waters don’t reach it. She says sometimes you need a boat to get across. That’s hard to imagine, since right now we could wade to the other side. Even Sarge wouldn’t have to swim.”
“When the rains come, you need to stay clear of rushing water. Folks can get swept away and drown.”
“Does that happen often?”
“Not often, but sometimes folks are caught unaware.”
“It can be a hard place here.” Francine sighed a little. “Beautiful but hard.”
She was what was beautiful, with nothing hard about her. Again, he reminded himself to stick to his excuse for being there as she turned back toward the center.
“Anyhow, when Becca said you were going, I thought maybe you needed me to take Sarge up to the house. I told you we could see to him if you needed us to.”
“That’s right. You did.” She smiled at him. “But I think Sarge is winning Nurse Dawson over. And he has definitely already made Jeralene a lifelong friend. She’s staying at the center to help out while I’m gone. She promises to watch out for Sarge.”
“Then I guess you don’t need us to take care of him.” It was silly to feel rejected, but he did.
“Not this time, but I appreciate the offer.” She laughed again. “Besides, I’m not sure Sarge would enjoy sharing space with Woody’s Bruiser several days in a row. When we’re up there, he growls whenever the pup gets close.”
“Rufus has the same opinion. He hides out in the barn or under the porch most of the time these days. But Woody and Sadie love their pups.”
“Sadie’s been much better since you got back. I’m so glad about that. And Woody is doing fine too. Nearly healed. That could have been so much worse.”
“Yes.” Ben didn’t want to talk about Woody. He still hadn’t come to terms with the sheriff’s accidental shooting determination.
They were almost back to the center where Captain patiently waited in the shade of the tree out front. Ben hadn’t seen the need in driving the truck.
She put her hand on his arm again to stop him. “What about you? Are you all right?”
His muscles tensed under her touch. “What do you mean? Why wouldn’t I be all right?”
“I don’t know.” She didn’t shrink from his angry tone. “No reason or maybe a dozen reasons. You seem a little on edge.”
He narrowed his eyes on her. “You mean because somebody shot my little brother and nobody seems concerned about that. Not even my little brother. Or because my sister’s husband left her at our mother’s house and hasn’t even bothered to write. And she doesn’t seem bothered that he hasn’t. Or because I sent in to go to school in January but can’t see any way it can happen with two women, a boy, a girl, and a baby to get through the winter.” He didn’t add, because I’m in love with a woman who would never consider loving me. He’d already said too much. Again.
She didn’t look away from him. “Some good reasons. I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have any call to be sorry. I’m the one sorry that I unloaded all that on you.”
“No, no. I’m a nurse. People are supposed to tell me things.”
“Not everything.”
“Maybe not everything, but then I doubt you did tell me everything.”
“So do you have a cure in your medicine bag?” Ben tried to lighten the moment.
“No. But I do have something my grandmother told me once. When things are the most confused in our lives, that’s when the Lord can work best.”
“I don’t like confusion. I like things laid out in straight rows with everybody knowing which rows belong to them.”
“But life is rarely that way. We make squiggles and turns and sometimes things work out and sometimes they don’t. But either way the Lord has a plan and a purpose.”
“If that’s true, he hasn’t let me in on what it is. That plan and purpose.”
She smiled. “He will. When it’s time. That’s another thing she said. His time is not our time.”
“You sound like a preacher.”
“Oh heavens, I don’t mean to. Mrs. B has rules against sounding like a preacher. No religion talk.” She put her fingers over her lips.
“Don’t worry. I won’t tell on you.”
“Or listen to me?” Her smile was back.
“To you? Or your grandmother?” He let his lips curl up to match hers. “She sounds like she might have been somebody worth listening to. Like my pa. He used to tell me to think about today and not to be reaching way ahead to borrow trouble. He claimed it had a way of coming soon enough. That’s something you can count on.”
“But good things happen too. Sometimes they go hand in hand.”
“Trouble and joy.” He stopped beside Captain and watched her walk on toward the center. He wasn’t sure which she was. Trouble or joy. He just knew he didn’t want her to disappear from his life until he found out. “Hope you do well on your exam.”
She turned and waved. “Thank you.”
Then she headed toward the barn. There was nothing for him to do but mount Captain and start for home. The same as her, he would have some nightly chores if his mother hadn’t already done them.