Ruth Scofield - In God's Own Time

“Daddy,” Heather called. “See my new sneakers? And I got Sunday shoes, too.”

“Phillip. Thad. Wait till you see what we brought you,” Aimee crowed. “Royal’s shirts and caps. Aunt Meg spent a fortune.”

Lissa gathered two big shopping bags from the back seat. “I’ll take these in and be right back, Aunt Meg.”

“All right, hon.”

Following Aimee into the house, Lissa called, “Heather, come on and put your stuff away right now and change out your new things. I don’t want to see them all stained.”

“Meg, tell me you didn’t!” Kelsey both laughed and protested as he hung an arm over the half-opened driver’s door. “You’ll spoil them for sure.”

“Occasional spoiling won’t hurt them, Kels. Besides, I think the girls were long overdue for a little shopping spree.” She didn’t mention how awed Lissa and Aimee had been at her letting them pick out a whole outfit apiece, including shoes and under things, or that she’d bought Lissa a few cosmetics.

“Well, I hope you didn’t deplete your savings.”

“Hardly.” She smiled into his green eyes and wanted to melt. “And I loved every minute of it.”

“Generous as always.” He straightened, bringing the door completely open, and dropped into a falsely aggrieved tone. “Get out and come in, ma’am. We fellahs cooked up a mess of beans and hot dogs out in the backyard while you girls have been rompin’ through the stores. We’re hot and starved, waitin’ for our women folk to wander on home.”

Meg climbed out, laughing, and matched his tone. “You mean you men folk’ve been slavin’ all day while we was out galavantin’?”

“You got the picture, lady,” he said, in a mock growl. “You’ll stay, won’t you?”

“Please, Aunt Meg,” Lissa urged, returning to the car for the last shopping bag. Then in a near whisper, she said, “I need to talk to you, anyway.”

Kelsey raised a brow at his oldest daughter. “Seems to me you girls have had Meg to yourselves all day. Aren’t you all talked out?”

“But, Dad, that’s different. I wanted. oh, never mind.”

As Lissa turned away, Meg noted the shy mixture of emotions shining from her lowered eyes, her lashes blinking as though to keep sudden tears at bay.

“What is it, Lissa?”

“I just wanted a chance to talk to you alone, Aunt Meg. You know, girl talk. Not kid talk.”

Hadn’t there been anyone at all for the child to share her feelings with? A woman with whom she felt comfortable? Meg remembered all too well her own emotional roller-coaster adolescence and imagined Lissa was facing the usual uncertainties. Without a mother

Meg glanced at Kelsey and caught an expression of arrested curiosity, a glimmer of pain and guilt. And a touch of helplessness.

It was a different side of Kelsey, she’d never seen him helpless before. He glanced her way, drew a deep breath and held it, his lips pursed, before saying low, “Stay…please.”

Meg’s heartstrings definitely felt a tug. More than one, actually, and more like sharp little jerks. “I think we can manage that. Let me call Mom and Kathy and see how things are at home, all right?”

“Super. I’ll be back in a sec, okay, Aunt Meg?”

“Sure, honey. Take your time.”

Kelsey watched Lissa walk away, his eyes thoughtful. “Are you sure you want to, Meg? Get more involved, I mean. My youngsters are a demanding lot.”

“Girl talk is a favorite indulgence for the females of the species, don’t you remember, Kels?” she said, making light of the situation. “I don’t mind.”

“All right. At least you’ve been warned. Now come on round back.”

Meg had been to the small farmhouse many times, but it seemed a lifetime ago now—when Dee Dee had been a part of it all. The old house had taken on a personality of its own, she decided, and lost some of Dee Dee’s precise touch Children’s clutter decorated the tiny front porch and straggly ivy and begonias peeked from a huge overgrown pot on the step. Beyond the screen door, she spotted the edge of a TV set crowding the opened living room door.

Kelsey, however, guided her to the backyard. An old charcoal grill smoked gently near the weathered picnic table under the oak tree, the smell of wieners and beans permeated the air.

The back screen opened and all five kids ran out.

“Dad, Thad’s hogging the last of the dill pickles,” Aimee complained “Make him share ”

“I called ‘em the other day.” Thad hugged a jar close against his chest.

“That’s enough, Thad. Put the pickles on the table and get the cordless phone for Meg.”

“Dad, that’s not fair. I called—”

“No arguments tonight, and do as I asked. We have a guest,” Kelsey reminded.

Thad opened his mouth to protest; at his Dad’s expression, he changed his mind. But not before he sent Meg a silent glance of resentment. It hurt just a little. Meg wondered what she’d done to trouble the boy. But how could he be upset with her when they barely knew each other?

Maybe that was it; she’d made a fuss over the girls but not the boys. Something she’d have to remedy

Meg made her call and relaxed when Kathy told her that Audrey had a couple of friends visiting and assured her she wasn’t needed at home Audrey, though a little petulant, accepted her explanation, and Meg promised to look in on her mother before retiring

The children urged her to the barn to see the 4-H projects.

Meg oohed over the boys’ bull, Fred, and listened to all his finer points and did the same for the girls’ sheep, Betsy Ross, dutifully patting and admiring.

“I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know much about farm animals,” Meg said for Kelsey’s ears only as they trooped back to the house.

Kelsey chuckled. “And you actually admit to such shame after growing up in America’s heartland?”

“Well, I have only a cat. Besides, I’m a town girl. I didn’t grow up with farm animals if you recall.”

Meg’s father had been an unassuming man content to be a small-town lawyer, never expanding his practice beyond himself and one clerk But when he died just after she’d graduated college, he surprisingly left her mother well enough provided for, and she and her brother Jack each had a small nest egg for their futures.

“What of those visits to your grandparents’ farm you and Dee Dee used to talk about? They had animals, surely. And all those state fairs you attended with Dee Dee and me, visiting the animal exhibits? I seem to remember you loved the fair.”

“Oh, I did. It was one of summer’s highlights. But then, it would be, in a small town, wouldn’t it?”

“Big-city girl now, huh? Only a cat?”

“Umm-hmm. Jasper. The only four-legged animal in my life.”

“Well, back then, you sure made the rounds of the animal pens and sat through endless hours of judging as if you knew a thing or two.”

“Fooled you, didn’t we?”

“We?”

“Dee Dee and I only sat through all that to please you. We really liked the carnival rides best. And the lop-eared rabbits. They always resembled story book creatures from Winnie the Pooh.”

“You insult me, Meggie! How could you lead me on so?”

Meg couldn’t help it She giggled as though she were Lissa’s age.

“It was easy You were always so excited about everything to do with farming and working the land. The newest animal breeds, the newest machinery, the latest methods.”

“Now wait a minute. Didn’t you even like the homemaking stuff? The cooking and sewing and all that? You won something or other one year, didn’t you?”

Meg grinned. “You got me there. Yes, I did get a blue ribbon for my fudge. Grandma Hicks’s recipe. But I haven’t made it in years ”