Jones, Beverly R Read online

  So why did he seem to abruptly lose interest in visiting the hospital? Why did Kendall seem to be of such little importance to Jackson now? Casey could think of no reason why he would no longer care to see her or take a more active interest in her progress. Unless he had begun to feel he shouldn’t trust her, this stranger about whom they knew nothing, really. Did Jackson perhaps have reason to believe that Kendall was faking the amnesia, that she had some ulterior motive? No, Casey didn’t think that was possible. But something was bothering her brother and she intended to find out what it was.

  Chapter 5

  >Kendall sat in the passenger’s seat as Casey drove them away from Athens General Hospital. Casey had sounded apologetic when she’d told Kendall they had a seventy-mile trip ahead of them, but Kendall had assured her that she was simply grateful to be out of the hospital. She was actually enjoying the ride, though her left leg, still in its cast, was a bit of an encumbrance. Casey had pushed the car seat back as far as it would go and with the help of the hospital orderly, they had managed to get Kendall seated as comfortably as possible.

  Rather than travel the interstate, Casey took the shorter route through backcountry highways, toward Logan City. The scenery enthralled Kendall. As they turned onto Highway 42, there were miles and miles of open fields interspersed with dense forests of tall pines. The fields were alive and green with rows of cotton, corn and tobacco, in various stages of development.

  “Most of this is Coley land,” Casey said to Kendall as she gazed out of the car window, “though we don’t farm it all. A lot of it’s rented out to other farmers. In about another ten miles you’ll see where we’ve planted our own crops, which runs just about all the way to the farmhouse. We should be there soon.”

  “It’s beautiful out here,” Kendall exclaimed. “You must really enjoy living in all this open space with so much greenery and fresh air.” Kendall rolled down the car window and breathed in deeply. “This sure smells better than that hospital.”

  Casey laughed as she said to her, “You might not want to keep that window down too long. It’s almost July and it’s 97 degrees out there.”

  As the hot air engulfed the interior of the car, Kendall rolled the window back up and said, “I see what you mean. How in the world do your husband and brother stand it out there?”

  “Oh, they’re used to it. You’ll get acclimated, yourself, soon enough. Well, as soon as you’re able to get out of that cast, anyway.”

  “You know, I’ve been thinking a lot about that. I realize there’s not much I can do right now, but I want to help out as much as I can. As soon as I’m able to get around on crutches, I’d like to do what I can to earn my keep. Housecleaning, maybe?”

  “Can you cook?” Casey asked her.

  “I don’t know,” Kendall turned to her, looking somewhat lost.

  “Oh, sorry. I wasn’t thinking. Well, later on, when you’re up to it, you certainly have my blessing to give it a try. Tom and Jackson hate my cooking.”

  “Oh, it can’t be that bad.”

  “No? Jackson says the horses are better off than he is, that if he came equipped with the same set of teeth, then he might be able to chew on one of my biscuits.” Casey laughed heartily. “Lord, I can clean out the stables, take care of the horses, the cows, the chickens, even kill a chicken snake when one gets into the henhouse, but my culinary talents are really lacking.”

  Kendall was trying to imagine blonde, petite Casey going into a henhouse after a snake when Casey announced, “Here we are.”

  As Casey turned off of the highway onto a wide gravel road, Kendall gasped at what she saw. A large wooden gate stood open at the entrance to a gravel road. Green Pastures dotted with livestock flanked the path, seeming to extend forever on either side. Kendall could only faintly see the roof of a large home off in the distance.

  As they continued farther she saw beyond the house more pastures and open fields, which abutted dense forests on the horizon as far as the eye could see. Approaching the end of the gravel road, which opened up onto wide yards of lush green grass, there stood a colossal two-story Southern plantation home. It was painted a pristine white with forest green shutters. The massive front door was bordered by vertical glass insets and on either side stood huge ceramic planters verdant with neatly clipped foliage. From the exterior of the second floor, two doors opened onto a balcony that surrounded the top floor of the house.

  As Casey drove the car around to the rear of the house, Kendall saw an in-ground swimming pool, surrounded by a deck and patio that led into a screened porch on the back of the house. Casey parked the car near the side of the house under an immense live oak that covered an area almost as large as the house itself. Beyond that were various outbuildings, a barn, stable, packhouse and the infamous henhouse, all sectioned off with either split rail or wire fencing.

  Kendall sucked in her breath. “My God, this is what you call a farmhouse? I was expecting a little clapboard home with a pig pen out back.”

  Casey laughed as she turned off the ignition and opened her door. “Stay right there and I’ll get one of the guys to help you into the house.”

  Before Kendall could protest, Casey was out of the car and bounding toward the back porch. Unwilling to play the helpless invalid, Kendall began her own attempt at extricating herself from the car. Besides, she thought, these people had already been so kind and generous to her. She didn’t want them to feel it was necessary to wait on her hand and foot. She wanted to pull her own weight as best she could, even if that weight did include extra pounds of plaster cast.

  Kendall opened her car door, planted her good right foot on the ground outside, then leaned out and placed her hands on the roof of the car to support herself as she pulled herself up to a standing position, her left leg with its cast still inside the car. She wobbled for a moment and then balanced herself by moving her right hand to the top of the open car door. With one hand on the roof of the car and one on the car door, Kendall gingerly began inching her left leg out of the car.

  With her back to the rest of the yard and outbuildings, Kendall had not noticed during all of her hobbling and wobbling that Jackson had emerged from the barn. He stood looking at her for a moment, shaking his head, then began walking toward her. Oblivious to his approach, she began hopping on her good right foot as she moved backward to allow her stiff left leg to ease out of the car. Without warning, the heel of the cast became wedged into the space between car seat and door as she hopped backward. The momentum sent her reeling with a gasp, her cast still caught inside the car. Instead of the thud of a painful landing she expected, she felt strong hands grasp underneath her arms and pull her back up to a standing position. With her back still leaning into his chest, she turned to look up at her rescuer. It was Jackson.

  “Oh,” was all she could say.

  Without a word, Jackson leaned over her and removed her wedged cast from inside the car, still holding onto her back with his left arm. He then grabbed her underneath her knees with his right arm, picked her up, shut the car door with his foot and began carrying her toward the back porch.

  “It really isn’t necessary for you to carry me,” Kendall said, embarrassed.

  “Yes, I can see you were doing just fine on your own,” Jackson answered, still carrying her toward the porch.

  “I have crutches.”

  “Well, we all have some sort of vice, I suppose. How many do you have, exactly?”

  “What? No, I mean, crutches, the kind that, you know, help me get around.”

  “I know what you meant. But they don’t do you any good stashed in the car.”

  “If you’ll just let me get them out of the back seat,” Kendall tried again.

  “Should have thought of that before you decided to take a backwards flip out of the car.”

  At that moment, Casey emerged from the house. She held the screen door open as Jackson walked toward her carrying Kendall.

  “There you are,” she said to Jackson. “I thought
you were going to wait at the house until we got back.”

  “I was in the barn,” Jackson answered her. “And it’s a good thing. Or else we might be making a return trip to the hospital. Your friend here was trying to make a crash landing out of the car.”

  Casey frowned at him, not only because Kendall had obviously almost fallen out of the car, but for his use of the words ‘your friend.’ She thought it rude under the circumstances.

  “Where do you want me to put her?” Jackson asked as he carried Kendall into the kitchen, as though he were delivering a sack of potatoes.

  Casey squinted her eyes at him, then looked at Kendall, smiled and said to her, “We thought you’d be most comfortable in one of the bedrooms downstairs. I’ve got one all ready for you. It’s closest to the kitchen and den and has its own bath, so you won’t have too much traveling to do with that cast on your leg.” Casey turned and began leading them out of the kitchen down the hall.

  Still embarrassed about being held in Jackson’s arms, Kendall said nothing as he turned into the first door to the left off the hallway and carried her into the bedroom. Her hands still clutched around his neck, he leaned down and deposited her on the bed. The nearness of him sent a strange sensation throughout her body that she could neither define nor explain. She looked at him nervously and said, “Thank you,” then added, “Hopefully, you won’t have to carry me anywhere again.”

  “Hopefully, you won’t try another stunt like that. If you need help, just ask for it. That’s what I’m here for.” Jackson admonished her as though she were an errant child.

  Kendall lowered her face in embarrassment. Casey shot her brother a look of indignation.

  “I’ll get your things out of the car,” Jackson announced and turned and left the bedroom.

  Though she said nothing, Kendall wanted to stop him, for that was an embarrassment, as well. ‘Her things’ consisted of her crutches, a bag of incidentals the hospital had allowed her to take with her and the torn and dirty jeans and tee shirt she had worn when she arrived at the hospital on that long-ago day. The exception to her meager belongings were two pairs of shorts and three knit tops that Casey had purchased for Kendall, things that would easily accommodate her cast and would be comfortable while she recovered in the humid heat of a Southern summer.

  Casey had also purchased Kendall a dress for her departure from the hospital. It was a simple cotton dress that buttoned all the way up the front, one that would be easy to get in and out of and allow plenty of room for her cast underneath. It had a scoop neckline and tiny blue flowers on it. Kendall looked down at the dress now, her hands in her lap.

  Casey, sensing Kendall’s unease and attributing it to Jackson’s less than hospitable mood, said, “Don’t mind him. I think he’s spent too much time in the sun today.”

  “Oh, no, he has every right to be upset with me. I might have really made a mess of things if I’d fallen. You’ve all been so kind and generous. It was stupid of me to risk re-injuring myself and causing another trip to the hospital. Not to mention adding to the already enormous hospital bills.”

  “The hospital bills are not even a concern. We just don’t want you to hurt yourself. Although I think my brother could have been a little more tactful about it.”

  “Well, I intend to pay you back for every bit of the medical costs, as soon as I possibly can,” Kendall said.

  “Oh, no you won’t. Consider that our way of thanking you for what you did for me.”

  “That’s way too much of a thank-you, Casey.” Kendall gave a little laugh and then added seriously, “Besides, now you’re even letting me stay with you until I get on my feet. You’ve all been so kind and gone out of your way to help me. I’ll never be able to repay you for everything you’ve done, but I certainly intend to try.”

  “You owe us nothing. I’m the one who’s grateful to you. And I’m reminded of how grateful I am every morning when I open my eyes.” Casey smiled at her, then added emphatically, “So case closed. You’re welcome to stay here as long as you need, or for as long as you want.”

  “I really do appreciate everything you’re doing. I’ll try not to get in the way too much.”

  Casey reached over and squeezed Kendall’s hand. “You’re not a guest here. I want you to make yourself at home and think of yourself as part of this family. Just consider that we’ve sort of adopted you.”

  At that moment Jackson entered the room carrying the crutches and plastic bag and laughed. “Although I don’t know why anyone would want to be adopted into this family.” He set the bag on the bed, leaned the crutches against the wall and added, “But Casey’s right. Consider this your home.” He looked at Kendall with honest appreciation.

  Casey, happy to see that Jackson’s mood had improved, changed the subject to dinner. “So, is anyone hungry?” She turned to look at Jackson. “And where is Tom, by the way? I thought he was going to stay near the house this afternoon.”

  “He had an emergency.”

  “What?” Casey looked at him suspiciously.

  “He went in search of a cook.”

  Casey shook her head and rolled her eyes.

  “Okay, he’s out in the north pasture,” Jackson said. “John discovered about thirty feet of broken fencing out there, so Tom took a bale of wire out to help him fix it. Should be back soon.” He then winked at Casey Anne and said, “And as for dinner, we’ve been handed a reprieve. Darlene called. She knew you were driving to Athens this afternoon, so she’s bringing us dinner from the café. I told her to make sure she threw in some of those good biscuits of hers, real biscuits.”

  “Lucky you,” Casey responded with a little laugh. “If I didn’t absolutely suck at cooking, I’d take offense to that.” She jumped up from the bed then and said to Jackson, “Come on. Let’s get out of here and give Kendall a chance to get settled in.”

  After they had left, Kendall looked around the room. It was enormous, with high ceilings. A Queen Anne bed of deep mahogany, topped with an ivory colored plush down comforter and hand-crocheted coverlet, took up the center of the room. Heavy ivory drapes, caught with satin brocade tiebacks to allow sunlight to filter through the sheers beneath, hung from the tall windows. A mahogany dresser and a highboy stood against the opposite wall. At the farthest end of the room, situated between two windows, sat a small settee with mahogany side table and lamp, perfect for reading. A gleaming mahogany writing desk stood in a little alcove at the farthest corner of the room.

  Kendall reached out and grabbed her crutches from the wall next to the bed and pulled herself up to a standing position. She hobbled over and opened a door near the dresser. It opened onto a hallway that led from the front door all the way back to the kitchen. Directly across from her room was an arched opening that led into a large den. Closing the bedroom door, she headed toward the adjacent wall. Two doors stood about ten feet apart on that wall. One of these doors she had entered through from the back hallway that also led to the kitchen. She tried the other door and was amazed, yet delighted, to see a large bathroom with white ceramic tile walls and floor. On the far right wall was a large square bathtub big enough to swim in. A separate ceramic tile shower stood at the opposite wall. In between was situated a seven-foot vanity with double sinks and beyond that was a large walk-in closet and dressing area.

  Kendall frowned for a moment, worried that she had deprived someone in the house of a bedroom and bath. Surely this wasn’t a guest room. Had Casey and Tom, or Jackson maybe, moved out of this room to allow her more comfort and easier access with her crutches? She doubted it was Jackson’s room. The décor didn’t seem suitable for a man.

  She learned the answers to her questions later that evening at dinner. Darlene had brought an enormous meal for them. She remembered Kendall from that fateful day at the diner and later finding both her and Casey on the roadside. After everyone exchanged pleasantries, Darlene offered Kendall wishes for a speedy recovery and announced that she had to get back to the café. She had left her
husband Howard in charge, and that was always a risk to her customers, she laughed. Kissing everyone on the cheek, Darlene said her goodbyes and walked briskly out the back door.

  They were all seated around the table in the expansive kitchen, Kendall’s left leg propped in a chair opposite her. Tom and Casey sat in the two chairs next to that and Jackson sat at the head of the table adjacent to Kendall. Casey had explained that they almost always ate in this room, preferring the coziness and easy access of the kitchen table to the formality of the dining room. The food was delicious, a paradigm of country cooking at its best. As if to confirm Casey’s earlier declaration of her inadequate cooking skills, Jackson picked up one of Darlene’s biscuits and gently pressed it in the center between his thumb and forefinger. When it sprang back, he uttered a moan of satisfaction and immediately cut it open and began slathering the insides with butter. Casey rolled her eyes and they all laughed.

  After Kendall spooned gravy onto her mashed potatoes, she turned to Casey and said, “I hope I haven’t put someone out of a bedroom. You know, I could certainly do with a smaller room.”

  “Nonsense,” Casey responded from across the table. “That used to be my bedroom. After Tom and I got married, we decided we’d rather have the upstairs to ourselves.” She leaned into Tom and looked up at him as she said it. He put his arm around her shoulders and they gave each other a quick kiss.

  “Newlyweds,” Jackson mumbled, looking down at his plate with a cocked grin.

  “Anyway,” Casey continued, ignoring him, “Jackson’s room is across the hall from yours, so if you need anything or run into trouble during the night, just holler for him.”

  Kendall couldn’t imagine what trouble she might run into that she might ‘holler’ for Jackson. After the fiasco of her arrival that afternoon, she hoped not to repeat any need for his assistance. “I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Kendall responded. “As long as you’re sure I’m not taking anyone’s bedroom. It is a beautiful room.”