Chapter 17

Peanut woke with a start, heard a rhythmic beep, felt the blood pressure cuff beginning to tighten around his arm to take another reading, and thought—hospital.

Through the glassed-in front of his room, he could see the circular nurses’ station in the center of the unit and the nurses who came and went. He wondered if he knew them from before, or if they were only familiar now because they were the faces he’d seen most recently.

He groaned as he closed his eyes, trying to get past the pounding headache, but when he did, he began to see other faces flashing before his eyes. People sitting in chairs in two rows, one row elevated above the other. Some of the people were motionless. Some were frowning. But they were all staring at him. He didn’t know what that meant, and he didn’t recognize any of them.

A nurse opened his door and came in to check his vitals and readjust the drip in his IV.

“How do you feel?” she asked.

“Head hurts.”

“I’ll get you something for that.”

“Can I have water?”

“Yes, of course,” she said, and poured a little from his water pitcher into a glass and held the straw as he took a couple of sips. “Enough?” she asked, when he stopped.

“Yes. Thanks. What day?” he asked.

She smiled. “It’s Sunday…early Sunday morning.”

“Church,” he muttered. The thought made him anxious, like there was some place he was supposed to be, and then he let it go and fell back into the void.

The nurse left to get his pain meds. He was asleep when she came back. She injected the medication into his IV, and then closed his door on her way out.

* * *

Ruby was dressed except for her shoes and taking one last look at herself before leaving the house. As far as she was concerned, her new hair color was a success, and the bruises on her face had faded enough that makeup concealed a good portion of them.

She’d pulled her hair back from her face and fastened it to the top of her head, leaving the rest in a jumble of loose curls. She frowned a bit with regard to the pantsuit she’d chosen to wear, afraid she’d jumped the gun on spring, but then she decided she didn’t care. It looked good with her hair and her complexion, and that was what she was going for.

After dinner at Granny’s with the twins, she was going to see Peanut, and she wanted to look pretty for him. Even if he didn’t remember her, he could still appreciate her appearance.

She straightened the collar on her white turtleneck sweater, picked a piece of lint from the sleeves on the hot-pink jacket, then left to go get her shoes—dressy flats as black as her hair. She grabbed her purse and keys, and headed out the door.

The sun was shining. The air was still as she started down the steps. A few houses up and on the opposite side of the street, Arlene Purejoy came out of her house, also on her way to church. She saw Ruby about the same time as Ruby saw her.

Ruby smiled and waved.

Arlene lifted her arm to wave and then zeroed in on Ruby’s hair and that hot little body in the hot-pink pantsuit and forgot what she was going to do. She was still standing in the yard with her arm in the air when Ruby drove past.

Ruby waved again, then giggled all the way to church.

The reactions as she walked into church were no different. Between the frowns, the double takes, and a few thumbs-up, she made it to the pew where she always sat, slid in beside Vera Conklin, and then poked her.

When Vera turned to say hello, Ruby winked.

Vera’s eyes widened, and then she began to grin. She elbowed her sister, Vesta, whose reaction was the same.

Ruby leaned in and lowered her voice. “Dr. Quick called me last night. They think the swelling is going down in Peanut’s brain, and I get to go see him now.”

“Oh, honey! That’s wonderful!” Vesta said. “I wonder what he’ll think of the new you.”

“He doesn’t remember the old me, so I doubt it’s going to make a difference one way or the other,” Ruby said. “I did this for me.”

The woman in the pew behind them leaned up, tapped Ruby on the shoulder, and whispered in her ear,“ Love your hair.”

Ruby turned around and smiled.

Rachel Goodhope was grinning at her from ear to ear.

“I also love your spirit,” she said, and then settled back as the organist struck a chord—the signal that services were beginning.

Ruby sang with the others, bowed her head in prayer, sat at perfect attention as the pastor delivered the sermon, and when it was all over, didn’t remember anything that had been said. She’d been having her own conversation with God about giving Peanut back to himself.

Ruby checked on the clothing drive, but there had been no more donations. Unwilling to entertain anyone else’s curiosity, she made a beeline for the parking lot and went to meet the twins at Granny’s. Her entrance made heads turn, but she wasn’t interested in their opinions as she slid into the booth.

“We already ordered you sweet tea,” Vera said.

Ruby gave her a thumbs-up.

“I know Peanut doesn’t remember us, but tell him anyway that Vera and Vesta Conklin send their love and prayers,” Vesta said.

“That is so sweet. I will do that,” Ruby said.

“Do you have any updates on the Conroy family?” Vera asked.

“Yes. I saw them yesterday when I took fresh milk and the donated clothes. They were so appreciative of the help. I still can’t get over that boy, Charlie. He’s going to do something special with his life. I can feel it.”

“We kept that flyer,” Vesta said. “I’m thinking about framing it and hanging it in the kitchen to remind me to be grateful every day for what we have.”

Vera leaned across the table and lowered her voice.

“We’ve decided we’re going to take a cruise this summer. It’ll be one of those five-day ones, so we won’t be gone all that long, but after what happened to you, we realized how quickly a life can end. We don’t want to have regrets.”

“That is a wonderful idea,” Ruby said. “Where are you going to go?”

“We don’t know yet. We’re still deciding. Oh, here comes our waitress. Mum’s the word,” she hissed.

Ruby laughed.

“My favorite hairstylists ever!” Lila said as she swung her tray around and put their drinks on the table, along with a basket of biscuits. “A little something to get you started. Do y’all know what you want?”

“What’s the Sunday special?” Vesta asked.

“Turkey and dressing, two sides and dessert.”

“We’ll have that,” Vesta said.

“Me too,” Ruby added, and then grabbed her little bread plate and reached for a biscuit as Lila left to turn in the orders.

The food came quickly as the cafe filled up, then spilled over into the extra dining room, which usually happened on Sundays.

Ruby picked at her food, stirring it around some to make it appear that she’d eaten more than she had, grateful for the company. But there was a knot in her stomach that wasn’t going to go away anytime soon. The truth was that Peanut was where he was because he’d taken the bullet meant for her.

* * *

Ruby’s hard-soled shoes made little clip-clop sounds on the tile as she entered the hospital, moving at a speed just shy of jogging on her way to the elevator.

When she finally got to critical care, she paused long enough to take a deep breath, and then entered the double doors and headed straight to the nurses’ station.

Rhonda Bailey was on duty again and glanced up, then did a double take.

“Ruby! I love your hair!”

“Thanks,” Ruby said. “Okay if I go in?”

“Yes. He’s in and out, so don’t worry if he falls asleep. He’ll wake back up if he hears a voice.”

“Okay,” Ruby said, and circled the station to get to Peanut’s room.

She could see him even before she entered, and said a quick prayer that whatever happened today gave him some measure of peace. Then she pushed the door inward and went inside. Her heart was hammering as she reached his bedside. She put her purse on the chair, eyed the bandage pad on the side of his head, and then touched his arm.

His eyes opened almost instantly. Again, she recognized his confusion, but she wasn’t backing down from her role in his life as she leaned over the guard rail and kissed his forehead.

“Hello, you. I’m Ruby,” she said, and then took him by the hand.

His fingers tightened instantly. “Are you my girl?” he asked.

She nodded.

“I don’t remember,” he said.

She cupped his cheek. “It’s okay. I remember for the both of us.”

He kept looking at her face, at her hair, at the bright pink color she was wearing.

How the hell did I forget someone like this?

“What’s my name?” he asked.

She’d prepared for this before she left home. She pulled his business card out of her pocket and handed it to him.

He read it aloud. “P. Nutt Butterman, Esquire? What kind of a name is that?”

“It’s the one your parents gave you,” she said.

“This isn’t a joke?”

“No joke. You go by the name Peanut.”

“I thought they were kidding me,” he muttered, and then his eyelids closed as he took a deep breath. “That’s not even funny. What the hell were they doing, smoking pot when they named me?”

She laughed, and the sound pulled him back.

“That’s what you always say,” she said.

“Really?”

She nodded, then tapped a finger lightly on his chest. “See, you’re still in there. You’re just waiting until it feels safe to come out.”

He touched her forehead, then very gently beneath her eyes.

“What happened here?”

“Oh…it’s all tied to what happened to you and for another day, and we’re moving on to a better subject. Dr. Quick said you’re getting better.”

He looked at the business card again. “Esquire? Am I a lawyer?”

“Yes, the only one in Blessings and very well-loved. And speaking of love, Vera and Vesta Conklin said to tell you to get well and they’re sending their love.”

“Who are they?”

“Two stylists who work in my hair salon.”

His gaze went straight to her hair again. “You make a good advertisement for your salon.”

She smiled. “Why, thank you, kind sir.”

He was quiet again.

“That felt strange.”

“What did?” she asked.

“Like I just flirted with a stranger.”

“But I’m not a stranger, and your heart already knows that.”

His eyes closed again, and his fingers went limp around her hand.

She let him go and quietly pulled the chair up to his bed. The fact that he didn’t know her didn’t daunt her one bit. That one comment about his name just confirmed that he was still Peanut.

A few minutes passed and then he opened his eyes, saw her watching his face, and almost smiled.

“You’re real. I thought I dreamed you.”

She stood. This time he reached for her hand.

“Where do I live?”

“In a very pretty house here in Blessings.”

“Do we live together?”

“No, but I have spent time at your house when I was first healing from this.”

He was silent again as he studied her face. Then he spoke abruptly, as if he’d been holding in the thought too long. “Have we made love?”

She leaned close, whispering near his ear. “Yes. We are quite wonderful together,” she said softly, then kissed the side of his cheek.

His eyelids fluttered again, but he was smiling.

“You need to rest now. I love you, Peanut, and I’ll come back tomorrow.”

He opened his mouth as if to speak, and then couldn’t stay awake long enough to say anything.

She backed away from the bed and left his room, more at peace than she had been since this whole awful thing began. On the way home, she stopped off at the Piggly Wiggly, for the first time in two days buying for herself and not someone else.

She started down the fresh produce aisle, looking for inspiration as she shopped, and then she sensed she was being watched and turned around.

Luwanda Peoples was staring at her.

Ruby waved, and went back to looking at lettuce. Moments later, Luwanda had pushed her shopping cart right up beside Ruby’s.

“I swan…I almost didn’t recognize you,” she said. “After your past came back to haunt you and all.”

The comment was hurtful, but not surprising. Luwanda considered herself part of the Blessings elite since her second husband was on the city council.

“My past? You surely aren’t referring to my ex-husband because you have an ex-husband too. Right? The one who went to Vegas and lost your home in a poker game?”

Luwanda’s neck broke out in red splotches that spread to her face. She was mad, but so was Ruby, and she kept on talking.

“I cannot imagine why I am suddenly so unrecognizable. I know it’s not because of my hair because I change my hair color at least twice a year, and you know it.” Then Ruby took a step closer, lowered her voice, and said, “Remind me next time you come in, and we’ll trim up your nose hair again.”

Luwanda felt her nose, then moaned beneath her breath and scurried off, pushing her cart toward the checkout at breakneck speed.

Ruby rolled her eyes, muttering to herself as she put a head of lettuce in her cart. “You brought that on yourself, Luwanda Peoples. I do not have the patience for hatefulness.”

She added a bunch of green onions, a carton of grape tomatoes, and a yellow squash to her basket, along with a sack of red potatoes, and then she moved to the baking aisle. Tomorrow was Monday, which meant the shop would be closed, but come Tuesday, she was going back to work and wanted some food on hand at home that was already cooked. After adding a brownie mix, she got eggs, a couple of different cuts of meat, and a gallon of milk, then went to check out. She purposefully went to Gladys Farmer’s line because she was such a nice person.

“Good to see you out and about, and I just love your hair color,” Gladys said. “How’s that sweet man of yours?”

“Thank you, and Peanut is doing okay.”

“Well, you tell him we’re all rooting for him to get better.”

Ruby smiled. “I sure will,” she said, watching Gladys scan her purchases.

Then she paid and left, anxious to get home before she ran into any more critics.

* * *

Melissa Dean had moved everything she wanted to take to her new home, and now she was done. She’d waited until the last trip to bring the food from her pantry and refrigerator and was in the kitchen putting it all away. Once she was finished, she stopped in the middle of the kitchen floor and hugged herself in thanksgiving.

“Oh, Andy, just look at this beautiful old home. I can’t believe it’s mine,” she said, and then moved to the kitchen window to look out at the overgrown garden in the backyard. “It is a mess out there, but nothing that can’t be fixed.”

She sat down at a chair by the kitchen table and called her old landlord, Niles.

“Hello, this is Niles.”

“Hi, this is Melissa. Just wanted you to know I am officially moved. I took my clothes and personal belongings. Everything else I owned is still in the house except my linens, the dishes, flatware, and cookware. I cleaned out the refrigerator and pantry, so you’re good to go. I’ll get the utilities changed tomorrow when everything opens up, and I left my house keys on the kitchen counter.”

“Have you decided what you want for all of your household stuff?”

“I think five thousand is a fair price. If you had to furnish it yourself, the kitchen appliances alone would be more than that.”

“Yes, that’s fair. I’ll put a check in the mail to you tomorrow at Elmer’s address.”

“Which reminds me,” Melissa said. “I also need to stop by the post office and fill out a change of address so my mail will get forwarded.”

“Enjoy your new home,” Niles said, and disconnected.

Melissa laid down her phone, then picked up the framed photograph at the end of the table and took it upstairs to her new bedroom.

“This is it, Andy,” she said, as she put their wedding picture on a dresser, then gestured toward the elegant old sleigh bed with the royal-purple comforter. “What do you think of this bed? Isn’t it amazing? We could have made such wonderful love here.”

Then she poked about in the closet, eyeing all of the things of Elmer’s she would have to donate. It was going to take a while to move one life out and another life in, but she was grateful Elmer had given her this opportunity.

* * *

Alice Conroy was in the kitchen finishing Sunday dinner. She turned off the fire under the Hamburger Helper version of beef Stroganoff she’d just made, and then gave her sweet tea a final stir to make sure the sugar had all dissolved.

She had opened a can of corn and heated it on the stove to go with it, and dinner was done. The fact that she had food to cook was such a blessing that she had enjoyed the task.

“Dinner is ready! Go wash your hands,” she called out, then grinned at the sound of running footsteps as Charlie and Pitty-Pat bolted toward the bathroom at the same time. She knew Charlie would end up making sure Pitty-Pat actually washed.

She took their plates to the stove to fill. She didn’t have bowls to dish up the food, and only had these three plates because May at the Blue Ivy Bar had given them to her when they first moved in, along with one paring knife.

Charlie came into the kitchen carrying his little sister piggyback, then plopped her down in her chair.

“Can I help you, Mama?” Charlie asked.

“You can put some ice in the glasses for the sweet tea.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Charlie said. After he dropped the ice into the glasses, he filled them with tea before carrying them to the table, putting them down beside their old forks and spoons.

Alice put a plate of food at each chair, then sat down with her children.

“Who wants to say the blessing today?” she asked.

Pitty-Pat’s arm went up.

Alice nodded, then they all bowed their heads.

The little girl’s voice rose on one word and fell with the next, just like the pastor at their old church used to preach.

“Thank you for our dinner, God, ’cause lasterday we didn’t have nothin’ to eat. Amen.”

Alice sighed. “Amen,” she echoed.

Booger woofed.

They laughed at the timing. It made it seem as if the dog had echoed his own version of an amen. And then they began to eat, quietly at first because hunger was still a scary thing and the urge to fill up that well was part of self-preservation. But after a bit, the urgency eased.

“Mama, now can we enroll in school tomorrow?” Charlie asked.

“Yes, but we’ll have to walk. Once I get you enrolled, they’ll be able to bring you home on the bus, and then you two can catch it from here every morning after that.”

“I don’t mind, Mama. Don’t worry. If Pitty-Pat gets tired on the way, she can ride on my shoulders.”

Pitty-Pat frowned. She was a first grader and was just getting used to being in a school when their house had burned down.

“Mama, how will I know which bus to ride?”

Charlie reached over and tickled her ear. “You don’t have to worry about that because you have me. I’ll find you every day after school, and we’ll be on that bus together.”

“I can sit with you and everything?” she asked.

“Sure. But I bet you’re gonna make new friends so fast that you’ll be sitting with them instead of me.”

She giggled and took another bite. “Mama, this hamburger stuff is good,” she said.

“Yes, Mama, everything is good. Thank you for making it for us,” Charlie said.

“You’re welcome,” Alice said. “We have some kind ladies to thank for this food, don’t we?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Charlie said.

Pitty-Pat giggled. “I’m thankful for food and for Baby Sue.”

They smiled, and there were a few moments of silence, and then Pitty-Pat spoke up again. “Mama, I want to wear those new jeans and my new blue sweater tomorrow.”

Alice grinned.

“And so it begins. The bane of all women every day of their lives… What am I going to wear?”

* * *

Jarrod was still in jail in Atlanta, awaiting transport to a federal prison. A preacher had showed up early this morning and preached a little sermon in the walkway between the cells, then asked if any of them wanted to confess their sins and get right with God.

Jarrod thought about it, but the truth was, if he confessed all of his sins, he might wind up with more charges added to his case, so he sat on the side of his cot staring down at the floor instead.

The morning passed slowly. With absolutely nothing to do, he stretched out on his cot and fell asleep. He woke up a while later with his belly growling and was wondering what passed for Sunday dinner here, when he heard the footsteps of several people. Curious, he sat up, then was surprised when they stopped in front of his cell.

He saw the jailer and a man in a suit who looked suspiciously like a fed.

“Jarrod Dye?” the stranger asked.

“Yeah, that’s me,” he said.

“Step forward,” the jailer ordered.

Jarrod got up and walked all the way to the bars. The man in the suit was staring at him.

“What’s going on?” Jarrod asked.

“Did you send a message by your lawyer to call your brother?”

Jarrod’s belly roiled. All of a sudden he wasn’t hungry anymore.

“I asked him to notify my brother of my situation, that’s all. We’re close, and I didn’t want him thinking I’d gone missing or something,” he said.

“What else did you tell him?”

Jarrod shrugged. “I don’t think I said anything else. What are you getting at?”

“Your lawyer is in trouble for carrying a message from an inmate to the outside. Partly because it’s not allowed, and partly because somehow after that phone call, your brother wound up right back in the town where you kidnapped your ex-wife and tried to kill her. It leads us to assume you asked him to finish her off, because he tried and it got him killed.”

Jarrod moaned. Ruby was still alive and Gary was dead? That wasn’t supposed to happen.

“Gary’s dead?”

“Yes, and you have not been truthful with us, have you?”

Jarrod was crying now. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Then let me refresh your memory. Of course the police were bothered by the fact that a kidnapper’s brother showed up in the same town and tried to finish off the ex-wife who got away. So they began going through Gary’s phone for clues. Imagine their surprise when they found a call from your lawyer on his phone. So one thing led to another, and they had a little talk with your lawyer, Mr. Alan Young. Now, imagine his dismay in learning what had happened. To his credit, he was very up-front and helpful. He said he passed on the message you asked him to deliver…about telling your brother where you were and why, and then to tell him Ruby was all right.”

Jarrod groaned.

“We thought it a bit strange that you would want to reassure your brother that the ex-wife you kidnapped with malicious intent was okay. Do you have anything to say about that?”

“Uh…well, uh…when we were still married, Gary always thought a lot of Ruby. I just wanted him to know.”

“You are asking me to believe that he thought so much of her that he took a gun and drove from Nashville, Tennessee, all the way to Blessings, Georgia, and tried to kill her? Is that what you’re telling me?”

Jarrod swiped the tears off his face and glared. “I’m not telling you anything. I want my lawyer.”

“Well, you don’t get the one you had. He’s in trouble with the Bar Association right now. Another court appointee will be assigned to you, and this information will be added to your file for the judge to review.”

“Well, hell’s fire!” Jarrod said.

“Very sorry for your loss,” the man said, and then nodded to the jailer. “I’m done here.”

Jarrod threw himself onto the cot, so mad that he didn’t have enough left to grieve. It was all Gary’s fault for screwing up.

* * *

While some lives were in a mess, and others were smoothing out, little Gertie Lafferty’s life was winding down. The doctors had done everything they knew how to bring Gertie back to consciousness, but it never happened.

They didn’t know that her sweet Bennie had come for her right after she’d fallen against the tree and taken Gertie home. She was already where she had longed to be—with Bennie—and she didn’t want to come back. It’s just that Gertie’s little heart was far stronger than her will to quit, and it was taking it a while to wind down.

The workers from the nursing home were all the friends she had left, and one by one, they were taking turns coming to sit with her. No one could bear the thought of Gertie passing alone.

It was just after three p.m. when the monitor hooked up to her heart began to register an erratic beat. It went from skipping a beat now and then to a flat line.

Nathan Rose, the administrator of the nursing home, two of Gertie’s nurses, and the attending doctor were at her bedside when it finally happened. The doctor checked for a pulse, then looked up at the clock and called it.

“Time of death, 3:16 p.m.”

“Go with God, Miss Gertie,” Nathan said, and then stepped out of the room.

He had the responsibility of calling the funeral home to follow through with Gertie Lafferty’s last wishes. They didn’t amount to much.

No funeral.

No viewing.

“Put me in my blue church dress and lay me beside my Bennie,” she always said, and that’s what he intended to make happen.

* * *

After Alice Conroy put the kids to bed, she spent the evening washing her hair and picking out nice clothes to wear to enroll her kids in school. It wouldn’t take long for people to figure out they were hard up, but she didn’t want to leave a bad impression that would fall back on her children’s shoulders. People were often unkind, and children were no different. It took life experience to learn true empathy.

After she’d done all she could in preparation, Alice went to bed with both anticipation and anxiety, scooting her daughter from the middle to her own side of the bed so she had room to lie down, then covered them both and cuddled Pitty-Pat close as exhaustion finally claimed her.