Inside the Beauty Read online

  An unexpected noise caught her attention, pulling her away from her thoughts. It sounded like footsteps not far away. Trying not to become apprehensive, she waited.

  They came closer and she could make out the silhouette of a man nearing the porch. Who could he be? No one used the back door and all the guests were inside. Perhaps she should be wary. Maybe she should go back inside before he got any closer.

  Curiosity got the better of her. "Who’s there?”

  “Mom?”

  She sighed deeply. It must be Jess, looking for Judy. “Judy’s inside, Jess. She’ll be out in a few minutes.” It was then she noticed the uniform the man was wearing, even though she still couldn’t make out any of his features. Jess wasn’t in the service. It had to be Crew. Oh, my goodness! Judy was going to be thrilled!

  He put one boot clad foot onto the first step, but then stood still. “Are you Sharris? I’m Crew.”

  She couldn’t stop the huge smile that formed on her lips. All she could think of was how happy Judy would be when she found out he was there. “Judy said you’d be home soon, but she sure didn’t think it would be tonight. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you. Come on up.”

  Before he could take another step, the kitchen door opened and Judy appeared. When she saw the young, uniformed man, she shrieked and started running toward him, immediately flinging her arms around him. “Oh, my goodness! I had no idea you’d be coming tonight!”

  Sharris waited as the two embraced. Maybe she should go back inside and give them some privacy. She tried to slip away quietly, but Judy saw her.

  “Oh, Sharris! Don’t go in! You have to meet my son.”

  She stepped closer, just as the tall man pulled away from his mother.

  Then she gasped. She would never have done it if it hadn’t come out automatically. She couldn’t help it. It just happened. The man standing there with his loving black mother –was white!

  ∞ THREE ∞

  The porchlight came on unexpectedly and the door opened. “Sharris! I’ve been looking all over for you,” came the voice of Marna, as she stepped outside. She looked first at her sister, then at Judy, then at the soldier. Her eyes immediately turned quizzical when she saw him.

  Sharris knew she was staring but couldn’t help it. No one had told her that Judy’s son wasn’t black, like her. She’d never considered – even once - that he might not be, but automatically assumed he was of the same race. Not that it would’ve mattered then and it made no difference now. She was just caught off guard and surprised.

  Oblivious to anything being amiss, he took off his cap to reveal wavy blonde hair. He wasn’t as tall as he’d first appeared. He wasn’t what you’d call handsome, but he certainly wasn’t ugly. At first glance, he appeared rugged looking, with light eyes (possibly blue, but it was hard to tell), and his nose was a little crooked, almost as if it had been broken. He had a pleasant smile that displayed white, even teeth.

  Marna walked closer, waiting for an introduction.

  Judy was beaming. “Sharris. Marna, I’d like you to meet my son Crew.”

  Marna’s surprise was every bit as evident as her sister’s had been, but she quickly smiled, hiding it. “Crew, it’s so nice to meet you. I’ve heard lots of good things about you from your mother.” Like Sharris, she had just never known he had white skin.

  Sharris finally got over her initial shock and smiled. What was she going to do, stand there and stare at him all night? “We both have.”

  Judy looked at them and grinned. “But you’re both very surprised. Now that I think about it, even though I told you Jimmy and I took Crew out of an abusive home when he was twelve and raised him, I never mentioned that he was white, did I? I guess I assumed Jackie had already told you.”

  Other than making Sharris aware that she knew Crew, Jackie had never talked about him. Sharris recalled how she had started to say something about him when they were interrupted by the arrival of the first guests. Was this what it was?

  Crew looked at Judy, grinned and hugged her again. “But I never felt like I wasn’t their true son, except for the color of my skin. I had the best parents ever.” He paused momentarily before he turned to Sharris again and then to Marna. “I had no idea there was a party here tonight. I almost left when I saw all the cars, but thought I’d see if I could catch Mom in the kitchen. That’s her favorite place, you know.” He turned to Judy. “I’ll be staying with Jess. I’ll come back and see you tomorrow, okay?”

  “You don’t have to leave, Crew,” Sharris said. He couldn’t just walk away from Judy and leave her again when she’d waited so long to see him. “Come on in and have some refreshments. I’ll introduce you to my friends.”

  “Oh, no, I couldn’t intrude.”

  Marna said softly but seriously, “I always thought if you were invited, you weren’t intruding.”

  “Okay, but I’ll just stay for a few minutes.” He started following them toward the door. “I heard some music a few minutes ago. I enjoyed listening to it.”

  “My son loves music,” Judy told them.

  “Do you play an instrument?” Sharris wanted to know.

  Judy answered for him. “No, but wait til you hear him sing!”

  “Mom, I’m not going to sing!”

  They entered the house and crossed the kitchen. The minute they were in the den, Sharris said loudly, “Hey, everybody, we have a guest singer!”

  Crew looked at her with a grimace on his face, but he didn’t look upset or angry. Or embarrassed. Apparently, he was used to such attention. Judy must show him off a lot. She couldn’t resist grinning at him.

  Everything became quiet, until Jackie ran over to them. “Crew! When did you get home?” Flinging her arms around him, she hugged him. “Oh, just look at you in that uniform!”

  “Little Jackie Carter. I can’t remember when I saw you last, but you still look exactly the same. You’re still no bigger than a minute, you still have no hair and you’re wearing the same tire-size earrings!”

  “Tire-size? They’re no bigger than a tuna can.”

  Laughter sounded from all around.

  Everything became quiet when Judy introduced him as her son.

  An unexpected thought came to Sharris. Was this how Marna felt when strangers saw her scarred face for the first time? That she was different? Was the reason they often turned away or didn’t speak not because they found her looks disturbing, but because they simply didn’t know what to say? She pushed aside the question of her mind. Crew’s situation wasn’t anything like Marna’s.

  Reaching out, Crew put his arm around Judy and grinned. “Yep, I’m her son. Maybe not by blood, but every other way.”

  He had a really nice, genuine smile. And he made it clear he was very proud of his mother.

  “What’s this I hear about you singing?” Jackie asked then. “I didn’t know you could sing.”

  “Mom thinks I can.”

  “Well,” came the voice of Conrad, “if Mom thinks you can, then you can! Come over here, boy, and let’s see what we can do together.”

  Sharris couldn’t believe the sound of his voice. She’d never heard an honest-to-goodness famous singer do any better. By the middle of the first song, she was smiling and clapping along with everyone else.

  Conrad slowed the tempo. This time, when Crew started singing an old country hymn the others joined in.

  The evening wore on. Crew had no trouble socializing and appeared to be comfortable in the crowd of people he’d just met. Sharris remembered Judy saying her husband loved parties. Could he have gotten it from him, even though they weren’t blood related?

  She couldn’t help noticing how Crew and Jackie stuck together. Of course, she’d known him for a long time. Why hadn’t her best friend ever talked about him? They looked good together. Made a nice couple. Maybe, since she’d seen him again, sparks would fly. She smiled. The thought made her happy. Just because she didn’t want a man in her life didn’t mean Jackie didn’t. Crew would be
perfect for her.

  Still, when Jackie wasn’t with Crew she was with Donovan. Sharris told herself her friend was just being friendly with everyone, but she couldn’t help wondering if she might have a crush on both Donovan and Crew, since she’d seen him again. She sighed. One man would be enough to handle without having to choose ‘which one’.

  She noticed Ottie sitting alone and starting to nod off and walked over to him. “You can’t fall asleep at my party,” she teased. “It isn’t allowed.”

  The silvery-haired old man looked up at her and grinned. “I’m just so contented and happy that it’s making me sleepy. Sit down and talk to me a minute, Sharris.”

  She pulled a chair close to his wheelchair. “Where’s your son and his wife?”

  “Somewhere socializing. I don’t want them to think they have to be with me every minute. I don’t want them getting tired of me.”

  She laughed. “Nobody could get tired of you.”

  He met her eyes. “I see a couple eligible young men here tonight. I’ve seen both of them giving you an approving eye several times.”

  “I don’t want either one of them.”

  “Why not?”

  “I’m not interested in having a man in my life.”

  “Why not?”

  “Sorry, but there isn’t enough time left this evening for me to tell you all the reasons.”

  “Well, I have only one reason why you need someone special in your life.”

  She waited.

  “When you get old like me, you don’t want to be alone. If I’d never married and never had my children – and especially when I outlived almost all of my best friends - that’s what I would be. Alone. And it would be an awfully sad existence.”

  She left him not long afterward, but his words stayed with her. No matter how she tried to forget them, it was like trying to forget you had a terrible itch that constantly needed to be scratched. With a sigh, she started mingling again. She clearly needed a distraction.

  It was nearly midnight before the last person left. Sitting down on the sofa, Sharris kicked off her shoes and leaned back. It had been fun, but she was exhausted. When she heard Judy in the kitchen, she called in to her to let everything go and come rest a while.

  Judy appeared in the doorway, with Crew by her side. Sharris thought he had already gone. “My son’s helping me and we’ll be finished in no time.”

  “It was a great party,” Crew said. “For not being invited, I sure had a good time.”

  “When we’re done out here,” Judy went on, “we’ll probably sit and talk awhile longer before Crew leaves. It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other. I promise we won’t make any noise to disturb you.”

  “It’s really late,” Sharris said. “He can stay here. Taryn’s room is just sitting there empty.”

  “Are you sure?” Judy asked, at the same time Crew said, “I couldn’t do that.”

  “I’m sure. Judy, show him which room it is.”

  They retreated back to the kitchen and Sharris leaned back again. She smiled, then yawned. It had been a great party. She was going to have to plan another one very soon.

  ∞ FOUR ∞

  SHE HEARD JUDY and her son laughing as she walked toward the kitchen the next morning. The sound was delightful, but brought on an unexpected sensation of melancholy. Until that moment, she hadn’t realized how much she’d missed the camaraderie she and her sisters always had. Their most enjoyable times had been shared around the kitchen table.

  She stopped just outside the doorway when she heard her name.

  “Sharris?” It was Crew speaking, apparently in response to something Judy said that Sharris had missed. “I think she’s lovely, beautiful, in fact. She seems very confident, and I think she’d be in control in any situation that might arise.”

  She couldn’t help smiling.

  “She’s been really good to me,” Judy said. “I’ve been here over a month now and I feel comfortable and at home. Not to mention how generous she is with my salary.”

  There was a slight pause before Crew said, “Ahh, this coffee is hitting the spot right now.”

  “Does that mean you want to change the subject?” Judy asked, the smile in her voice unmistakable. “You’re afraid I’m going to try to match up the two of you if you say too much, aren’t you?”

  “Surely you know me better than that.”

  “I know you’re single and unattached. You are still unattached, aren’t you?”

  “I’d have told you if I wasn’t. I’ve never kept any secrets from you.”

  “But I haven’t seen you for three years.”

  “I’ve written you lots of letters and we’ve talked on the phone. If anything as important as someone special coming into my life had happened, I’d have let you know.”

  “Why hasn’t it happened?”

  “I’m happy the way I am. My life is devoted, first, to God and, second, to my country. I’m not sure anything else could fit in between those two priorities that wouldn’t cause unnecessary pain that I neither want nor need.”

  “So you plan to stay single forever?”

  “Probably – unless the Lord has something else in mind for me.”

  He seemed to have the same life plan as hers. Sharris couldn’t help smiling. He would be the perfect man to spend time with, to talk to and enjoy being in the company of. They could be friends with no demands for anything else. Her thoughts stopped immediately when she heard his next question.

  “Is Sharris a Christian, Mom?”

  Sharris waited, surprised to find her heart beating a little faster. Would her faith show through or not?

  “She’s never missed a Sunday of church,” Judy responded.

  “But anyone can go to church. It’s the condition of our hearts that matters to the Lord.”

  “I believe she’s a Christian, but she’s not exactly come out and told me she is.”

  There was a long silence, during which time Sharris heard the clinking of a fork on a plate. They must be eating. It would be a good time to stop eavesdropping and make her entrance known. Eavesdropping? She sighed. That was exactly what she’d been doing.

  She walked into the kitchen. “Good morning!” she said with the largest, most genuine smile she could muster. “I think it’s going to be a beautiful day.”

  The first thing she noticed was that Crew looked much more casual than he had the night before. Although he was still wearing his uniform pants, he’d discarded the tie and jacket and rolled up the sleeves of the shirt.

  He smiled.

  He really did have a beautiful smile. And the prettiest blue eyes. Funny, she hadn’t noticed them the night before. They were the exact color of a brilliant summer sky.

  “Sit down and let me get you a cup of coffee,” he said, starting to stand up.

  He was also a gentleman. Judy had raised him right. She watched as he crossed the room and pulled a mug from the tree. “You look like a teddy bear cup this morning,” he said. “I have a feeling this is your favorite.”

  “What makes you think that?”

  He laughed. “It says Sharris on it.”

  They all three laughed together.

  He set the cup on the table and reseated himself.

  “I’ll fix you some eggs,” Judy said.

  “Oh, no, I’m not hungry. I just want coffee.” She took a sip and sighed deeply. “Delicious. Judy, you make the best coffee.”

  Judy grinned. “I can’t take credit for that cup. Crew beat me to the kitchen and had it already brewing when I got here.”

  One thing Sharris had learned since Judy had been there was that no one had ever gotten up before she did. “You mean you actually slept in?”

  “I did. I guess knowing my son was home all safe and sound relaxed me more than I realized.”

  “And you were also worn out from the party. I appreciate everything you did to make it so perfect, Judy. Marna and Taryn always said they didn’t want birthday parties, but they bot
h seemed to enjoy it. Taryn was absolutely glowing. I can’t imagine being quite so excited to know a third child is going to join her family.”

  Crew said, “So she’s the sister with Ricky and Evie?” He grinned. “That little girl is the prettiest little thing I’ve ever seen! She and Ricky both look like John. Now, your sister Marna, she’s the one I met on the porch. I can’t help wondering what happened to her.”

  “She was the victim of a terrible explosion four years ago. She was lucky. It killed both our parents.”

  “I’m sorry. Only God could make it possible to get through something like that.”

  After a brief silence, Judy spoke. “I’m so happy for Taryn and John.”

  “John will be preaching soon,” Sharris said, then chuckled. “I can’t believe Taryn is actually taking piano lessons. She can’t get over the thought that a minister’s wife should be able to play. I think Conrad’s trying to help her.”

  Crew grinned. “Now, Conrad can tickle those ivories!”

  “He never had a lesson. Taught himself.” Sharris took a sip of coffee.

  “That’s amazing. He is truly gifted. Now, who was the old man in the wheelchair?”

  “That’s Ottie Monroe. He’s been a special friend for a long time.”

  “I heard several people calling him the miracle man. You’ll have to tell me about that.”

  Her phone rang, interrupting the conversation. Looking at the caller ID and seeing Donovan’s number, she excused herself and went into the other room to answer.

  “The party was wonderful. Thanks for inviting me, Sharris.”

  She waited.

  “I was wondering if you might be up to taking a little ride with me. I have to make an unplanned trip to Asheville for some supplies and that drive’s so much shorter if you have someone to talk to along the way.”

  She didn’t want to go to Asheville and she didn’t think it was a good idea to spend that much time with Donovan. It occurred to her that the party invitation might have made him think she was more interested in him than she was. “I’m sorry, but I have a big job I need to get started and it needs to be today.” It could’ve waited until the next day, but it was a convenient excuse. An idea struck her. “I just thought of something. It’s coincidental, but Jackie mentioned needing to go to Asheville really soon for something or other. I could call her and see if she’d like to go today.”