Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

No doubt this would be more fodder for the salon gossip mill. At least three of my regular clients came in the coffee shop this morning and spotted Pastor Robert and me sitting together. I couldn’t call him Bobby or Brother Bobby or whatever. It was too familiar, and I wasn’t ready for that yet.

He’d called the salon yesterday afternoon and asked if I’d join him for a cup and to talk a bit. Today was my day off, but I had some errands I wanted to get done, so I still left Pearl for a few hours at Lori’s daycare with one of the other mothers who ran it. She’d told me Lori was in labor, and I hoped it would go well.

“I have a staff meeting later and a prayer group this afternoon,” he stated while dumping three packets of sugar into his coffee. “Wednesday is my longest day with all the youth activities, but today I just have the two tasks. I take off Fridays and Saturdays as my weekend, since my work week starts at eight o’clock Sunday morning.”

He was a nice man, good-looking, and stable. Some women would give their eyeteeth to be at a table across from him. I wasn’t sure I was the right one for this.

My head was still full of my panic attack and encounter with Weatherman a few nights ago.

How did this happen? I thought I was immune to bad boys.

But is Weatherman a bad boy just because he wears biker colors?

“What made you decide to cut hair?”

Robert’s question broke into my musings, and I quickly took a sip of my coffee to cover my inattention.

“I always liked doing hair and makeup when I was a teenager. I guess it just made sense to become a stylist.” There was more to my story, but he didn’t need to know that.

He stirred the sweet brew and sampled it. His mouth turned down, and he added another sugar packet. “What makes hair and makeup appealing? I’ve never understood why women have this need to adorn themselves like that.”

I hesitated before speaking, not sure how to take that statement. Was he saying he didn’t like different hairstyles or colors or all the different ways makeup could be applied?

He looked up from his cup as if realizing how his words sounded. “I don’t mean that in a bad way. I think all women are beautiful the way they are. They have no need for anything but themselves.”

“Some women want a little extra, I guess.”

He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry if I offended you. I haven’t been on a date in a while.”

This is a date? “No worries. I haven’t either.”

“Let’s not get into the heavy stuff for now. You like movies?”

“I don’t go out much. Most of my nights are spent at home with my little girl. I’ve never taken her to a movie theater.”

“But what do you do for fun?”

That was a tough question, considering everything I did now centered around my daughter. “Not a lot, I suppose. I take Pearl shopping on my day off, or we go to the park. We read a lot of books and play with her toys.”

He smiled and leaned forward. “That sounds wonderful, but what do you do for fun?”

Again, I didn’t know how to respond. Thankfully, a loud voice interrupted us.

“What do you mean, you don’t have banana nut muffins? Everyone has banana nut muffins!”

Burna Jones made her presence known, and with her volume, everyone in the coffee shop had become unwilling witnesses to her complaints.

The poor man behind the pastry counter turned red. “We ran out earlier this morning. We have blueberry or cinn?—”

“If I wanted blueberry, I would have asked for blueberry. With what you charge for a cup of coffee, you ought to be serving it in gold cups. Deplorable service!”

I glanced from the show at the counter back to Pastor Robert, wondering if he would get up and de-escalate the angry woman. He seemed indifferent.

My phone rang, interrupting my thoughts, and I didn’t bother to check the ID before answering.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Opal, it’s Weatherman. Are you off today?”

“I… well… yes. Why?”

“My mom fell. I’m too far away to get to her, and I don’t have any other people around. Would you mind going by and checking on her for me?”

I was so going to hell, as my first thought was what a perfect excuse this would be to end this… um… date. “You bet. Text me the address. I’ll go there now.”

“Thanks. Please call me when you see her, would you?”

“Got it.” I hung up and smiled. “A… friend of mine is in trouble and needs my help. I’m sorry, but I need to go.”

Concern filled Pastor Robert’s expression. “Anything I can do?”

“I don’t think so, but thanks for offering.”

He handed me his business card. “Here, take my number.”

I took the white rectangle and stood up to go.

“I’d like to see you again,” he started as he scooted back his chair. The squeal was loud enough to drown out Burna’s tirade, and I wondered if he did it deliberately. “Please call me when you can so I’ll have your number too. If you need me, let me know.” His boyish grin was kind of cute. “Maybe we can go to the Halloween festival together, and I can meet your little girl.”

I nodded, figuring agreeing might get me out of there faster. “You bet.”

As I left, I heard a big exclamation of “Pastor Bobby!” come from the irate woman. It almost made me want to go rescue him, but Natalie needed me more.

The drive wasn’t long, as she lived only a few miles away. I pulled up to a small, quaint house in an older neighborhood that had seen better days but was still cute. The front yard was full of garden boxes that hadn’t been tended in a while. I wasn’t much on growing plants and stuff, but even I could tell these needed weeding.

I knocked on the front door, and a weak voice called out to enter.

The first time I got to lay eyes on Natalie Turner was when I found her on the floor of her living room. She was in a zipped-up navy blue robe with thick socks and fuzzy slippers on her feet. Her skin was sallow, and she had a floral-patterned scarf tied around her hairless head.

“Bryce called me and said he sent you over here. Sorry for the trouble.”

My heart bled a little. “No trouble, ma’am.”

She huffed a shallow laugh. “Land sakes, I ain’t been called ma’am in a long time. I’m Natalie. Nice to meet’cha.”

She extended her hand from her position on the floor. “Can you help me up and get me to my chair? I’m usually not this poorly, but I started the chemo again yesterday, and it took more out of me than usual.”

I reached down and took the woman’s frail hand to assist her in standing up. She weighed next to nothing, but it still took almost all my strength to lift her, as she had none. It was a real challenge, because I didn’t want to accidentally hurt her either. “Nice to meet you too. I’m Opal. Weather—Bryce is a client of mine.” I guess I can say that, right?

She sat in her chair, breathing hard from the effort of getting off the floor, and worked the remote to put it into a reclining position. “Lord in heaven, this sucks. I’m guessin’ Bryce done told you I got cancer. It’s kicking me hard, but I’m not gonna let it win. I want to see my grandbabies grow up. That’s when I get me some.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that. “Uh, I have a daughter. She just turned two and discovered the joys of running circles in the apartment, but she still prefers for me to carry her most of the time.”

Natalie attempted to laugh, but it ended with a coughing fit. Alarm raced through me along with a feeling of helplessness. There was nothing I could do but wait and listen. Eventually, the woman cleared her throat, her voice rough when she spoke again. “Would you mind gettin’ me a glass of water? I got one a’ them fancy fridges with the spigot in the door.”

I found the glasses and filled one halfway with crushed ice and water. Natalie drank most of it as she reclined in the plush chair. The piece of furniture dwarfed her. “Thank you, dear. So, you have a little girl? I was hoping for more children, but my husband and I divorced before that could happen. In some ways, that was a good thing. I cain’t imagine being a single mom with more than one child.”

Mama J came to my mind. “I have a friend back in Minnesota who has six kids and is a single mom. Well, not anymore. She met a man who loves her and big families. They’re planning on getting married soon.”

Natalie’s eyes opened wide, and she let out a low whistle. “Six kids and one mama? That woman deserves combat pay. Are you going up for the weddin’?”

I shook my head. “They’re keeping it simple and just going to the courthouse.”

Natalie pursed her lips and nodded. “That’s usually best in my opinion. Lord knows all that shit gets real expensive. My friend Emma told me one of her daughters spent almost five thousand dollars on her weddin’ dress. Five thousand dollars! Can you imagine such?”

I perched on the sofa near the chair, as it seemed I would be there for a while. Truthfully, it was kinda cool hearing the woman talk with her thick accent. It made me wonder how Weatherman didn’t have one like his mom. “No, I can’t. I have a lot of things I’d rather spend that kind of money on than a dress I’d only get to wear once.”

She winked at me, and I clearly saw her son in her. “I like your way of thinkin’. You got any pictures of your little girl on that phone of yours?”

I smiled. “Oh, you bet.” I pulled up the album file I’d amassed of Pearl and handed the phone to Natalie. Delight showed on her face as she scrolled through the images. Pearl as a newborn baby, curled up on my chest. Pearl meeting her favorite alligator toy for the first time. Pearl with her toothless grin, sitting in a sandbox. Pearl laughing and clapping her hands.

Natalie stopped at the video I took when Pearl was learning to walk and taking tentative steps before plopping onto her bottom. She looked at the camera, gave a frustrated “Gah!” and tried standing again. The older woman’s eyes grew wet.

“I remember Bryce just after he started walking. He did it early. Lord, he was a pistol. Smart as a whip and beat the development curve every time. I’d take him to the playground in the apartment complex, and he’d climb up on everythin’ he could. No fear, that boy. I didn’t have to worry ’bout him runnin’ off, though. He’d get up on top of whatever he was conquerin’ and turn around to make sure I was still there on the bench. Mama’s boy for sure, but in the best way.”

What do I say to that? “He is a nice man.”

“Yep, my boy has turned into a fine one.” Natalie paused as she dashed at her eyes. “I know he’s all for being there for me, but sometimes I feel like I’m such a burden to him. I begged him to keep that job in Tennessee at the TV station, but he’s got a stubborn streak wider than the Mississippi.”

I leaned forward. “I don’t know Bryce that well, but I think if he really wanted to stay there, he would have found a way to do that and take care of you. I don’t think you should feel guilty or bad for letting your son help you. It’s what he wants to do, and anything different would make him feel guilty or bad.”

Natalie sighed. “I reckon you’re right, but I still don’t like it much.” She slapped her hands on the arms of the recliner. “Well, time’s a-wastin’ while I’m sittin’ here. I was fixin’ to put on a Crock-Pot of root vegetables and sausage for supper tonight. Want to help me with that? We can make enough for you and your little girl if y’all stop by later. Least I could do. Ever cut up a butternut squash?”

“A what?”

She laughed. “Help me to the kitchen. I’ll sit at the table and show you.”

I held her arm as she shuffled slowly into the eat-in kitchen, which was easily the largest room in the house. I noticed she had a duck theme going on. Duck curtains, duck salt and pepper shakers, duck dish towels, duck canisters, and other duck-ware were scattered across the long counter.

She sat with a grunt in one of the wood chairs at the round table. “Oh, Lord in heaven, I’m so sick of not havin’ any energy. Cain’t do my gardens, cain’t do my house, cain’t keep up with nothin’.” Her faded eyes came to mine, and she grinned. “It sucks big donkey balls.”

I slapped a hand over my mouth to keep from laughing out loud. I’d never expected a frail older woman to say something like that. “I’m sorry you’re going through this. I wish there was something else I could do.”

She lifted her hand and waved me off. “Thank you for your kind thought, but this is somethin’ I gotta do alone. Yeah, there’s people in my corner—my beautiful Bryce, Betsey and all her crew with the club, my church people—but you know somethin’? When it comes down to brass tacks, it’s me who’s gotta walk this path an’ see where it goes. Some things in life you gotta face by yourself. Childbirth is one of ’em too. There may be a bunch of people around you, but when it happens, it’s just you and your baby. Know what I mean?”

My mind flew back to when I was in the hospital in Minnesota, in hard labor and pushing my child into the world. I’d called Pearl’s father repeatedly, but he never answered. Never came to see me or his daughter. That was the beginning of my new life as a single mom. “Yes, I know exactly what you mean.”

She sighed. “Bryce says I’m gettin’ too maudlin these days. I apologize for being such a bad hostess, but I’m not gonna apologize for asking you to get me a soda from the fridge and takin’ out the vegetables. Got turnips, butternut squash, parsnips, and carrots. I like to roast ’em in the Crock-Pot all day with some garlic and onions and a little olive oil. Throw some browned sausage in there later, that’s good eatin’.”

For the next half hour, Natalie instructed me on how to cut up and prepare these unfamiliar foods. It was kind of therapeutic in a way, the peeling and chopping. After the last vegetable went in the big black Crock, she placed her hands on the table. “You did all the work, but I’m pooped. Can you help me back to the livin’ room? I might just take me a nap. You probably got things you gotta do too.”

I helped her stand up. “I’m gonna get my little girl and go to the grocery store. I’m not sure what I’ll do later. If you need me, I’ll leave my number here.”

“That’d be nice. I’d love to meet your baby. Please come by for some food later, even if you only pick it up and take it home. Cuttin’ up them vegetables takes a lotta time, so you should get the reward, right?”

I smiled as Natalie settled into her big recliner and leaned back. “You bet.”

She tucked a colorful crocheted afghan around her legs and gave a big sigh as she closed her eyes. “Nice to know my boy has friends like you. Thank you for taking care of me and him.”

Friends? When did that happen?

I hadn’t really thought about it, but something had definitely changed between Weatherman and me. Any anger or hatred I had toward him wasn’t there anymore, but I couldn’t call us friends. Acquaintances? That didn’t sound right either. I didn’t have a word to describe the relationship between us and couldn’t really define it.

I put it out of my mind, as I had things to do. I’d started my day with coffee and Robert, did a favor for Weatherman, met Natalie and helped her for a while, and still had my errands to run. “No problem. You have a nice day, and I’ll see you soon.”