Waking Up In Charleston

“But Reverend Webb told me your husband died,” Mary Louise said. “What if you hadn’t had that time together? Aren’t you glad you had that?”

Caleb saw the unmistakable sadness in Amanda’s eyes. It was always there when Bobby’s death was mentioned. It was always there, as well, when anyone mentioned her father. That loss ran just as deep.

“Yes,” Amanda whispered. “I’m glad for every minute we had. No one can live their life, though, based on what-ifs. You have to be smart and base your decisions on what is.”

“Danny and I are having a baby,” Mary Louise said. “That’s what is.” She aimed a fiercely determined look at Caleb. “And I’m not giving the baby away. It might be hard and scary, but this is what I’m doing and nothing you say will talk me out of it.”

Caleb recognized that level of determination and knew that Amanda had hit the nail on the head. He, too, had to deal with things the way they were.

“Okay, then,” he said. “I’m going to see you and Danny again on Sunday and then afterward I’m going to ask your folks to join us. Let’s see where we stand and what we can do to make sure this baby has not just two parents who will love it, but a whole support system.”

“Really?” Mary Louise said, her eyes wide. “You’re going to marry us?”

“One step at a time,” Caleb warned. “Let’s get Danny and your folks on board first. You don’t want Danny to feel like he’s been backed into a corner, do you?”

“No, of course not. He wants this as much as I do. You’ll see,” she insisted.

Caleb had his doubts about that, but maybe there was a way to bring him around, especially if he could come up with some way to ensure Danny didn’t lose his career dream in the process.

Once Amanda had gotten over her case of the jitters, thanks to that untimely and provocative conversation with Maggie, she’d been able to focus on the young woman Caleb had brought over. She’d totally empathized with Mary Louise’s unshakable optimism in the face of an unexpected pregnancy that threatened to change her life forever. She’d done what she could to explain the harsh realities of marrying and having a family too young, but a part of her had been rooting for Mary Louise to stick to her guns and fight for what she wanted. It was that sort of spunk that would be needed if she and Danny were to have even half a chance of making it.

As soon as Mary Louise and Caleb had left, she’d wilted as she considered the confrontation that awaited with her own squabbling children. With no siblings of her own, she was always taken aback by the battles among her three children. She’d always had this rosy picture of them loving one another through thick and thin. The reality was that there were plenty of times when they barely tolerated one another.

Before she gave them permission to leave their rooms, she fixed a quick dinner of spaghetti and meat-balls, one of the few meals they all loved. Maybe that would facilitate peace.

When the food was on the table, she went to the boys’ room first. “Okay, you two, dinner’s ready, but I want you at the table only if you can promise me that there will be no fighting with your sister. You know how I hate it when you gang up on her.”

Larry and Jimmy regarded her with tear-reddened eyes.

“I’m sorry, Mom,” Jimmy said first.

“Me, too,” Larry added. “We really weren’t being mean. We were scared she’d fall out of the swing like she did yesterday.”

Amanda’s mouth gaped. “Susie fell out of the swing yesterday?”

Jimmy nodded. “Twice. She made us promise not to tell, ’cause she was afraid you wouldn’t let her get on the swing anymore.”

Amanda sighed. “Then you were trying to protect her?”

Both boys nodded solemnly.

“Then I’m the one who’s sorry,” she told them. “I should have given you a chance to explain.”

They wrapped their arms around her waist and leaned into her.

“It’s okay, Mom. You were kinda busy with Caleb and that lady,” Larry said.

She looked down into their upturned faces. “How about I make it up to you with ice cream after dinner?”

“We have ice cream?”

“No, but we’ll take a walk and get cones,” she said.

“Susie, too?” Larry asked indignantly.

“Something tells me she’s learned her lesson,” Amanda said. “She was sent to her room, too.”

Both boys seemed to consider that for a moment.

“Okay,” Larry said eventually. “But we get double dips and she only gets one, ’cause we’re bigger.”

Amanda laughed at the twisted logic that gave them a triumph over their little sister. “That sounds fair.”

Caleb returned to Amanda’s just in time to meet her and the kids on the sidewalk.

“We’re going for ice-cream cones, Mr. Caleb,” Susie announced, holding out her arms to be picked up. The red band holding her hair in a ponytail had slipped and curls were poking out in every direction. There was a streak of spaghetti sauce on her cheek and another on her purple T-shirt.

He scooped her up just as Larry tugged on his shirtsleeve.

“We get two scoops, but she only gets one,” he told Caleb.

“Because you’re older,” Caleb guessed.

“And because Mom’s’ pologizing to us,” Jimmy added.

Caleb glanced at Amanda. “Oh?”

“Long story,” she said. “What brings you back?”

“I was hoping we could talk some more about the Mary Louise and Danny situation.”

Amanda looked vaguely uneasy. “Sorry I wasn’t more help.”

“Actually you were a huge help.”

She seemed startled by that. “Really?”

“Seems I’m the one who came away from the talk with a whole new perspective,” he admitted. “Have you ever considered going back to school and getting a degree in psychology, so you could counsel young people?”

She stared at him as if he’d grown two heads. “Me? No way. I barely have my own life together. I certainly don’t want to tell anyone else what they ought to be doing.”

“That’s just it, you weren’t telling Mary Louise what to do at all. You were showing her what lies ahead and letting her draw her own conclusions.”

“She came to the wrong one, according to you,” Amanda reminded him.

“No, I suspect she came to the right one for her. Or, if she didn’t, at least she’s moving ahead with her eyes wide open. That’s the best we can hope for.” He met her gaze. “I’m serious, Amanda. I think you could do this. I could certainly use someone like you to work with the kids at church. Maybe you could do that on an informal basis.”

“How?”