The Sound of Rain Page 15

  Chapter

  21

  Judd was beginning to find the silence uncomfortable when Maude burst in, hair frazzled and eyes wild. “Oh, my stars. Preacher, you’d better come quick.”

  Ben leapt to his feet and hurried to take Maude’s hands in his. “What is it? What’s the matter?”

  Tears pooled in the older woman’s eyes. “Granny Jane sent for me this morning, which is why I wasn’t here to make your breakfast.” She cast a glance at the table and seemed relieved to see the remains of the meal Ben prepared. “I went quick as I could, and she’s pitiful to see. Says she ain’t much longer for this world.”

  Ben’s brow furrowed. “I saw her two days ago and she was spry as I’ve seen her in a long time.”

  Maude hung her head. “They say some folks take a fit of good health right before the end. Anyhow, she says she wants to see you quick. Oh, and she said to bring that sister of your’n. She reckons this might be her last chance to lay eyes on her.”

  Ben squinted at Maude. “Uh-huh.” He clasped the older woman in a quick embrace. “Well, we’d best head on over there then. Judd, you come too. I have a feeling you’ll be wanted.”

  Judd felt his eyebrows climb his forehead. Why would an old woman he’d never met want him to see her on her deathbed? He shrugged at Larkin and grabbed his jacket. He didn’t quite know what else to do.

  “Maude, will you watch Kyle?” Ben asked. Then he bent to the boy’s eye level. “Soon as we get back, Larkin will take you for a walk in the sunshine.” Kyle’s eyes lit and Ben tousled his hair. “Alright then, let’s load up. Granny’s house isn’t but fifteen minutes away.”

  As soon as the threesome walked into the front room of the cabin clinging tenaciously to the side of a mountain, Judd felt right at home. He’d known a dozen houses like this one over the course of his life. It was exactly right, from the tilted porch to the smell of smoked meat clinging to the rafters. He looked around and saw three jobs he’d like to tackle, but supposed it didn’t matter if the owner was indeed dying. Still, he longed to nail down that top step that rattled as they crossed it.

  The cabin was little more than one big room with blankets for partitions. An old woman lay in a bed in the far corner, a quilt tucked snug around her solid form. Judd eyed her neatly braided hair coiled on her head like a crown. Her veined hands were folded over the covers, and her eyes were bright. Somehow he thought someone who was dying would look worse off.

  “Granny,” Ben said and stepped lightly to her side. He pulled a wooden chair around and sat, taking one of the old woman’s hands in his. “What’s this Maude tells me about you dying?”

  Granny Jane half smiled. “Is that what she told you? Law, I don’t know where she got that idee. I may not be as good as I once was, but I might be around another day or two yet.”

  “Un-huh. You probably thought I wouldn’t come if you just sent for me to bring my unexpected guests over to parade in front of you.”

  Granny gave Ben a stern look. “Don’t sass me, young man. I’m not too old to whop your behind.”

  Ben laughed and shook his head. “Granny, what have I told you about gossip?”

  “You’ve told me to keep shy of it. Which is why I wanted you’uns to come over here and let me get the truth firsthand. Them folks down at the store had six different tales to tell and probably ain’t none of ’em true.” She looked over Ben’s shoulder. “Now, is she your sister or not?”

  Ben gave up. “Yes, ma’am. This is my sister Larkin, all the way from South Carolina.”

  Granny motioned for Larkin to come closer and grabbed her hand as soon as she could reach it. Then she tugged until Larkin had no choice but to perch on the side of her bed. “Lean on in here, girl. I cain’t see as good as I once did.” She reached up and grasped Larkin’s chin, turning her head one way and then the other. “I see the resemblance. ’Course, she’s a sight prettier than you.”

  Laughter burbled out of Larkin, Granny cackling along with her. Judd found himself smiling and noticed that Ben was, too. Soon they were all laughing, which felt like sunshine in the dark of winter.

  Larkin wiped her eyes and took Granny Jane’s hands in her own. “I’m so glad to meet you. Ben wrote home about you and I just knew I’d love you the minute we met.”

  “Oh, child. It’s good to see someone who doesn’t hoard their love like so much gold. It weren’t quite right of me to trick you’uns into coming over here, but I’m surely glad I done it.” She shifted her gaze to Judd. “Now, who’s that good-lookin’ feller? I heard your pa was here, but that can’t be him.”

  Larkin grinned. “Good-looking? I thought you didn’t see so well.”

  “I can still spot a fine specimen of a man, and he’s too dark to be kin to the pair of you fair ones.”

  Ben chimed in before Judd could get any more embarrassed. “That’s Judd Markley. He’s from over in West Virginia, and Larkin here has tricked him almost as good as you tricked us.”

  Granny nodded and tapped the back of Larkin’s hand. “Be careful, girl. Sometimes getting what you think you want makes you realize what it was you really wanted all along.”

  Larkin glanced at Judd, a confused look on her face. “Yes, ma’am. I won’t ever try to trick him again.”

  Granny Jane nodded and turned her attention back to Ben. “So where’d your pa go? I heard he stayed the night. Is he back at the church afraid to come see a dying woman?”

  “He went back to South Carolina this morning,” Ben said. “I guess things haven’t worked out the way he hoped.”

  “Mmm-hmmm. That’ll frustrate your average man and right quick. Of course, they’s only one way for things to work out and that’s the Lord’s way.” She grabbed Larkin’s hand. “Is your father a believer, girl?”

  Larkin’s face went blank. “I . . . well, I think so.”

  “If you only think so, then he probably ain’t. We’ll pray for him, though. Won’t we, Ben?”

  “Yes, we will. We will indeed.”

  “All right then. You children go on now and let a tired old woman rest. I may not be dying today, but all this excitement has plumb wore me out.”

  Ben stood and took Larkin’s hand, drawing her toward the door. “Granny, you know this visit has been pure tonic for you.”

  Granny cackled. “You’re smarter than you look, preacher. Now, send them two back by here at dinnertime. That purty sister of yours can make me dinner while her feller does a few of those chores you’ve been after me about.”

  Ben grinned. “Is that what it takes? Well then, if it’s all right with Judd and Larkin, they’ll be back around in a few hours.” He looked a question at Judd, who shrugged. He ought to be getting on back to Abram’s, but he’d be glad to fix this place up a bit before he went. Larkin practically bounced with excitement, so he guessed it was fine with her, too.

  Back at the church, Larkin prepared to take Kyle out for his promised walk. Kyle picked up a coal hod on his way to the door.

  “I’ll show you the old mines and we can fill this here bucket for Pastor Ben.”

  Judd’s ears perked up. “What old mines?”

  “It’s alright,” Kyle said. “My ma sends me there sometimes when we’re short of coal. Anybody can take it if they don’t mind it not burning clean. ’Course, it’s getting kind of scarce.” He puffed out his chest. “Might have to go inside a little ways to find anything good.”

  Judd took the bucket from Kyle. “It’s not the coal I’m thinking of,” he said. “Abandoned mines are dangerous places. I don’t want you or Larkin anywhere near one.”

  Kyle deflated, and Judd felt a little bit bad about spoiling his fun, but the notion of those two anywhere near the overwhelming blackness of a mine—especially one that was abandoned and likely unstable—made his hands shake and his knees go weak. “Larkin, promise me you won’t go near those mines.”

  She wrinkled her brow but nodded. “We won’t, I promise.” She turned to Kyle. “Besides, there are probably
lots of other good things to see, right?”

  Kyle perked back up. “Sure thing. We can go down to the creek and see if the high water washed anything good up on the bank. I found an inner tube one time that we patched up and used for a sled.”

  Judd watched the pair amble off through a pasture, worry needling his mind. “Which direction are those mines?” he asked Ben.

  “Other way entirely. Don’t worry. Kyle’s a smart kid. Now come help me stack this firewood before I let Granny work you to death.”

  The men worked in silence for a while, Judd lost in his own thoughts and wishing he could keep the people he cared about safe from harm.

  Ben finally spoke. “I’ve been trying to get Granny to let me fix her place up since we met,” Ben said. “She’ll convince other folks to let me step in but won’t have any of it herself. Says she’s old and it doesn’t matter if her place falls down around her ears. Of course, she’s been threatening to die for as long as I’ve known her, and as you can see, she’s healthier and sharper than some women half her age.”

  “I’ve run into one or two like her,” Judd said.

  “Sure as shootin’, she’s playing matchmaker between you and Larkin.” Ben paused and stretched out his lower back. “How do you feel about that?”

  Judd flushed but kept working. “I’m pretty sure your father wouldn’t approve, so I’m not sure it matters how I feel.”

  Ben laid a hand on his arm. “Judd, my father is a determined man who often loses sight of important details in the pursuit of what he wants. As far as I’m concerned, the only thing that matters is how you and Larkin feel. I don’t suppose you’ve driven her all this way and then stuck around just because you’re a gentleman.”

  Judd straightened and watched a crow fly across the cloudless expanse of sky. “I’ve never met anyone like her. She’s brimming over with joy and light. Sometimes I think I could stand a dose of that every day for the rest of my life, and other times I think I’ll go blind if I look at her too long.” He scrubbed his hair, which was getting too long and starting to curl over his ears. “Guess what I’m saying is, I don’t quite know how I feel.”

  Ben laughed. It was a bass note of delight that startled a rabbit and sent it leaping for the edge of the woods. Judd looked at his new friend blankly. Laugher didn’t seem the right response.

  Ben slapped him on the shoulder. “I think that’s the best answer I could hope for as Larkin’s big brother. Sounds to me like your intentions are good, and from what I’ve seen and heard, you’re a man to be trusted. My mother may have her heart set on a doctor or a lawyer, but I say Larkin couldn’t do much better than you.” He bent to pick up more wood. “So you have my blessing to try and figure out how you feel.”

  Judd blew out a breath. This whole family left him feeling like he was skating across a frozen pond in his stocking feet.

  “Nail that top porch step down for starters, then you can climb up onto the roof and see if you can’t get that corner over there to stop leaking.” Granny Jane was sitting in a rocking chair near the cookstove, quilts tucked all around her. She hardly gave Judd a moment to get his bearings before she set him to work. “Girl, you know how to make biscuits?”

  Larkin’s eyes went wide as she looked from Granny to the wood-burning stove. “Um, not really.”

  “Well then, I’ll teach you. If’n you’re gonna catch that man or any other, you’d best learn how to cook. We’ll fry up some fatback, too. Both of you need some meat on them bones.”

  Judd hid his smile as he headed out to the porch with tools he’d borrowed from Ben. Larkin was in for an education and he wished he could just sit and watch. Maybe he’d get clearer on his own feelings if he could see how this Southern flower handled mountain life as taught by an old woman born to rough ways.

  Larkin stared at the monster of a stove. It was hot and black and there were no knobs to tweak. She hadn’t the least notion what she was supposed to do. Neither Mother nor their sometimes housekeeper Liza let her help with the cooking, and she hadn’t paid nearly enough attention when she had the chance. Judd was already out front, hammering away, so he wouldn’t be any help right now. She cast a nervous glance Granny’s way.

  “Never used one of them before, have you?”

  “No, ma’am.”

  “Likely you’ve used one of them fancy gas stoves.”

  Larkin nodded, not wanting to admit she hadn’t much used the modern stove in the kitchen back home, either.

  “See that bowl on the table with the cloth over it?” Granny pointed. “Spoon those greens into a pot and set it over on the right corner of the stove—they’ll warm slow there.”

  Larkin did as she was told, appreciating the warmth radiating from the already-fired stove. She wasn’t sure she liked the look of the grease congealed on the top of the greens but told herself it would be more appetizing once it was warm.

  “Now open the oven door and stick your hand inside. Count slow until it gets too hot to stand.”

  This procedure made Larkin nervous, but again, she did as she was told. She grasped the handle and screeched as it seared her delicate skin.

  Granny shook her head. “Don’t you know to use a rag? If’n you had an apron on, that’d be just the ticket. Get that cloth over there and use that.”

  Larkin blinked back tears and stuck her blistered finger in her mouth. She used her left hand to open the door, likely frustrating Granny when she had to try twice before growing bold enough to touch the metal, even with a cloth over her hand. She tucked the rag under her arm and held her uninjured hand inside the cavity.

  “I counted to thirty and maybe I could have stood it a little longer.” She wondered if this was a test to see how tough she was. She didn’t feel very tough.

  “Not hot enough. Grab them dry logs on top of the pile and throw ’em in.”

  Larkin wrapped the cloth around her burnt hand and picked up a stick of firewood. She considered where she was meant to throw it in. Surely not inside the oven compartment?

  Granny cackled and handed Larkin a sort of metal stick. “Pick up that eye there and toss the wood in on the fire.”

  Larkin fit the bit of metal into a notch in one of the circles set in the top of the stove and found she could lift it up. Flames crackled inside. She added wood, jumping when the fire flared up. She clapped the eye back into place wishing she could quit this nonsense and nurse her hand.

  “It’ll take more than that. Add two more and we’ll get to mixing.”

  Larkin repeated the process, flinching each time she put pressure on her burn. Then she fetched out a bowl, a blackened pan, flour, baking soda, salt, and a crock of lard. Granny sent her out to the springhouse for some buttermilk and finally walked her through the process of making biscuits.

  “Now, don’t knead that dough overmuch. Makes your biscuits tough.” She pointed out a jelly jar and told Larkin to use it to cut out rounds of dough to tuck into the pan. “Stick your hand back in that oven and count some more.”

  Larkin stuck her burnt hand in and yelped, then switched to her left hand. “Twenty and that’s all I can stand.”

  “Oughta be right. Stick that pan in there and wait seven or eight minutes, then we’ll turn it around so’s it doesn’t get too done on one side. Now, go on out there to the smokehouse and cut us some fatback.”

  Larkin walked outside and looked around. She didn’t see Judd and she didn’t quite know where to find the smokehouse. There were several outbuildings, so she started trying doors. The first one was the privy, but the second had to be right since there was what appeared to be a big hunk of meat hanging from the rafters. Larkin stared. What in the world was she supposed to do with that?

  “Need a hand?”

  Larkin jumped a foot and whirled around to see Judd, a lazy grin making a dimple show to the right of his mouth. “Granny said to bring in some fatback and I don’t quite know . . .”

  Judd smiled bigger and a second dimple appeared. “I’ll fetch you do
wn some.”

  He lifted a squared-off piece of what looked mostly like fat and cut several long slices with a knife that must be for that express purpose. He handed the meat to Larkin, who wished desperately for a platter or a bowl. Although the cool fat was soothing against her burnt finger.

  His touch lingered and she became aware of how close he was, how tall and how solid. He reached around her to hold the door open, and his nearness left her breathless. She was afraid she was staring but couldn’t seem to tear her eyes from his.

  “Larkin, I . . .”

  Whatever he meant to say died on his lips as she stood on tiptoe to press her mouth to his. As soon as she did, she felt shocked at her boldness. This was a world away from the casual kiss she’d shared with Wayne on the dance floor. She drew back, ready to run, but Judd caught her with two fingers laid along her cheek.

  “I was about to say I’m glad you’re here.” His eyes darkened, and Larkin thought she could gaze into them forever. He leaned toward her again just as Granny Jane hollered for her to hurry up.

  She whirled around, turning back long enough to say, “Dinner’ll be ready shortly.”

  Judd nodded, and the look in his eyes made Larkin feel like she could melt into a puddle right there in the smoke-heavy, none-too-clean shed. She turned and scurried back inside.

  “What in the world took you so long? Check them biscuits.”

  Larkin almost touched the stove again before remembering. She used the hem of her skirt to flip open the compartment and saw the biscuits blackened on one side.