Just Above a Whisper (38 page)

“Tell them about the time you helped old Mrs. Hyde,” Douglas urged Dalton once the adults had finished dinner and settled in the large parlor.

“With her dog?” he clarified.

“Yes, that one.”

Dalton rolled his eyes, and Conner’s shoulders began to shake.

“Mrs. Hyde was the meanest woman in Linden Heights. It’s true!” Dalton declared when the group began to smile, sure he was exaggerating. “She watched out her window to make sure we stayed out of her yard, and when we didn’t she’d send the dog out after us.”

“And he was mean,” Conner put in.

“He certainly was. Well, anyway, my father had been talking to me about doing good works and thinking of others, so I went to Mrs. Hyde and offered to cut down an old tree she had in her front yard. At first she seemed pleased, so I went to work. The tree wasn’t that large, and I could reach all the branches from the ground, but my work only lasted about ten minutes before she sent the dog after me.

“I heard this terrible growling and barking, so I climbed the tree I was cutting, but it was old and rotting, and I wasn’t small. On top of that, this dog could jump. Every branch sounded like it was going to break with me on it, so I kept moving and yelling for help, and all this time the dog was going crazy, jumping up and trying to bite me.”

Dalton shuddered with the memory. “I thought I was a goner.”

“So what happened?” Alison asked.

“It gets worse,” Dalton said. “The branch I was on gave way, and both the branch and I fell on the dog.”

“Was he hurt?” Reese asked this time.

“He was more than hurt—he died,” Dalton revealed, still horrified at the memory. “Mrs. Hyde must have been watching from the window, because suddenly she came out with the broom and chased me off the property.”

Every mouth in the group was open with shock and laughter. Dalton was in his element, recounting the old story.

“I ran all the way to the bank and told my father what had happened. He went to see Mrs. Hyde, and we buried the dog for her, but she never forgave me. Thankfully she didn’t replace the dog, but I still gave her yard a wide berth until she died about five years later.”

“Is that all true?” Reese asked, still laughing at Dalton’s voice and antics.

“Every word. You can ask Dooner.”

“Where were you in all of this, Conner?” Douglas asked. “I can’t remember.”

“Probably at home. I remember hearing about it at tea that night and being relieved that the dog couldn’t bite me anymore.”

Voices could be heard just then coming down the hallway from the small parlor where the three boys played. Douglas got up to check on them, and Reese, not thinking about whether or not it was her place, offered coffee and dessert.

Dalton was all for that, so she went off to do the honors, cutting the pie she’d made as well as the berry crisp that Alison had brought. Hillary went to help her, and the Muldoons stayed for another two hours.

Reese walked as far as their house with them and then continued on home, looking forward to spending the evening with her landlady and even telling her some of Dalton Kingsley’s stories.

That night when Reese climbed into bed, she realized that life had taken on a pattern that varied little. Reese liked change, and even enjoyed the unexpected, but she was not discontented right now with her schedule.

The days were predictable, seeing the same people all the time, but she wasn’t the same person she was a year ago. How many years did she stand in Doyle’s store and never once think about praying for him? Such a thing had never occurred to her. But now God’s Spirit lived inside, and she was aware of people, how much God loved them, and how important His death was because of them.

Fatigue finally set in. Remembering the words from the sermon just that morning, Reese drifted off to sleep with the Psalm 25 verses on her mind and her nightly prayer that God would save Mrs. Greenlowe.

“I need to tell you something,” Jace said to Maddie as soon as they were back at the house. “I’ll put these two up,” he referred to the horses, “and be right in.”

“All right,” Maddie agreed, wondering at the odd expression on her husband’s face. He looked excited and tense at the same time.

Maddie didn’t want to go inside but forced herself into the kitchen and waited right next to the door for Jace to come. The wait felt longer than it was, and even more confusion set in when Jace stepped in the door and hugged her, holding her tightly.

“Come here,” he said at last, taking her hand and leading her to the parlor sofa.

“What is it, Jace?”

“It’s Doyle. He believes in Jesus Christ.”

Maddie’s hands came to her mouth, and tears filled her eyes. She had so many questions but couldn’t speak one of them.

“I regret lying and saying I needed to look at boots, but your Aunt Cathy is having a hard time with Doyle’s questions, and I knew he wanted to see me alone.”

“And he prayed with you?”

“Yes. He was terrified of dying in his sin.”

Maddie wanted to throw her arms around Jace, but something in his face held her back.

“What is it, Jace? What’s bothering you?”

“I don’t know enough, Maddie. What if I told him the wrong thing? What if I didn’t present it right?”

Maddie did hug her husband then.

“It’s all right. You don’t have to save him. God does that. I’m sure you just told him what you did, and he understood, didn’t he?”

“Yes,” Jace agreed, relaxing a little.

“Now tell me,” Maddie moved away a little. “What’s this about Cathy not wanting to hear Doyle’s questions?”

“He didn’t go into detail, but he didn’t want her to know we had talked.”

Maddie nodded. This made sense. Cathy would not want to think about death or someone not being good enough to go to heaven.

“I’m busy right now, Maddie,” Jace suddenly said. “The fields own me at this time of the year. I need you to go to town this week, maybe Wednesday, and see how he’s doing.”

“I’ll do it. Maybe he’ll have told Cathy by then.”

“Maybe,” Jace said, needing to hold his wife again.

They sat, just holding each other, neither one speaking for a long time. Eventually, Jace began to pray, but it was brief, his heart overwhelmed with what had happened that afternoon. He asked God to let Doyle’s heart be real and to keep his and Maddie’s hearts forever His.

“Good morning,” Conner said as soon as he tracked Reese down. She was working on breakfast but also bringing some things up from the buttery.

“Good morning,” she greeted him on the stairway, stepping aside so he could go down.

“I’m not going down. I’m looking for you.”

“Oh?” Reese questioned, her eyes watching him. Conner backed against one wall so she could pass and then followed her back to the kitchen.

“Did you want something specific for breakfast?” Reese asked, knowing this was not the case.

“I’m sure I’ll enjoy whatever you’re making.”

“Something special cleaned?” Reese now suggested, not quite able to hide a glimmer of a smile in her eyes.

“No.” Conner was fighting his own smile. “Something more serious than that.”

“I have to go outside to do my work,” Reese said, coming right to the point. “You can see that, can’t you?”

“I can see that you need to stay visible. You can still do your work, just not at the back.”

“That’s the best place for some jobs,” Reese began, but Conner shook his head.

“I can move all of my work home until we know what’s going on.”

“I don’t want you to do that,” Reese returned, becoming very sober. “And I’ll do as you ask, but you’re still not listening to me.”

“Tell me again what I’m not hearing.”

“I’m not the one in danger. It’s you and Troy.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do. I didn’t do anything to Mr. Jenness. You, on the other hand, seem to have taken his bank from him.”

“You might be right, but I’m not willing to take that chance. If you’re not inside, stay where you can be seen from the green. Please, Reese.”

Reese nodded and turned back to the oven. Conner watched her, guessing she wasn’t very happy with him. Leaving her to do her work, Conner wondered if she was upset with him or just getting back to business. He hoped he would know before he left for the bank.

“Hello, Maddie,” Reese said when she answered her knock. “Come in.”