Till Dirt Do Us Part Read online

  “Yes. It must’ve just been a muscle pull after carrying around the extra weight.” She bent over again, this time with a squeal. “Now that was different.”

  I grabbed her other side. Leo piled out of the car with Zack and Tyler behind him. He took one look at Susie and said, “Oh boy, it’s coming.”

  “How do you know?” Susie asked.

  “I make my living predicting storms based on scientific facts. You, my dear, are a cumulus cloud full of rain and ready to downpour. Let’s get you to the hospital.”

  “What about the girls? Daisy won’t be back for another hour,” I said

  Susie bent over again in pain.

  “Betsy, you have to come with me. I can’t do this without you,” Susie gasped.

  I cast a serious glance at Zack and Tyler. “Take care of the girls. When they wake up, give them some milk and never take your eyes off them until Daisy gets here.”

  “You know I’ve been studying up on driving. I can bring Zack and Coco to the hospital after we finish babysitting,” Tyler was getting close to taking his learner’s permit and always volunteered to drive now, even without the legal parent escort.

  “No,” I answered flatly.

  “If you’re worried I don’t know the way, we can pull up the map on my phone.”

  “Uh huh. Have fun explaining that to your grandfather when he pulls you over for not having a license.”

  Tyler smiled sheepishly, “Just trying to be helpful, Betsy.”

  “Sure, you were. Someday I’ll be happy to let you drive Zach and Coco everywhere, but for right now I’d like you to learn about it the proper and legal way before you take my children’s lives in your hands.”

  With Susie settled in the car, we rushed to the Pecan Bayou hospital. She called her parents, and after a bit more yelling at their daughter, they promised they were on their way. I couldn’t wait to meet her father.

  I reached over and held Susie’s hand. With the next contraction, she squeezed my hand so hard I was afraid of pressure fractures. It didn’t matter. With all the pain and drama going on, there was nothing like the excitement of delivery. A new life was about to start in Pecan Bayou.

  CHAPTER 16

  When we arrived at the hospital, I was happy to see my obstetrician was on call. As Susie lay in the bed with a monitor strapped to her bulging middle, I attempted to assure her everything was going to be all right. It was easy for me to say, having had two children. Right now, Susie was the proverbial deer in the headlights.

  She reached out for me over the wires they had her hooked up to, “What did my parents say when you called?”

  “Not much, just that they would be here as quickly as they could. Don’t worry.”

  Susie’s blood pressure monitor began registering elevated numbers. It was evident that even though I told Susie not worry, the arrival of her parents was causing her stress. I had to keep her calm.

  “It’s okay. If they come, I’ll keep them out until after you have the baby. After that, you’re on your own. Did you tell them any more about Wade?” I remembered her hasty call to them at the Gazette. Hopefully, she had made a second call to fill them in on all that had happened. It was a lot to dump on them, true, but they deserved to know.

  Susie bit her bottom lip. “Not really. I thought it was better to keep this to myself for now.”

  “Susie.”

  “You don’t know my dad. He would have a conniption fit to know that Wade’s dead and that the insurance money he always promised him isn’t going to be there for us.” She started to gasp as another contraction came on. She squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to breathe.

  I did not look forward to Susie’s parents’ arrival. Not only would they find out their daughter had given birth but that their son-in-law was no longer alive. It was a crucial bit of information to keep from them, but I couldn’t go there. I pushed it back on my priority list and tried to focus on Susie. She needed me right now, and the mystery of her husband’s death would have to wait. Three hours later Pecan Bayou’s newest resident was born. I walked out to the waiting room and found Ruby and Maggie bookending two people that had to be Susie’s parents. It was as if they were under house arrest.

  “It’s a girl,” I said, taking off the blue paper cap they gave me in the delivery room. I felt just like a real doctor, too bad I didn’t do too well with all that blood. If anybody else ever asked me to be their coach in the delivery room, I would really think it through. Seeing a birth from that end of it is a totally different experience.

  Aunt Maggie clapped her hands together. “Wonderful.” She turned to the woman on the couch. “You see, I told you everything would be fine. Now you have a beautiful granddaughter, Lulene.”

  Susie’s father spoke up, “Can we go back and see our daughter now?” His cheeks had stubble on them, and it sparkled over his round chin. He was a big man but did not seem to be the imposing ogre that Susie made him out to be. He was simply a father concerned about his daughter’s decisions. She was of age, and no matter what stupid thing she did, he was powerless to stop it. As Zach and Tyler became more independent, Leo and I would be facing the same conundrum.

  “Sure. They were taking her to her room when I left.”

  Aunt Maggie gave a sad smile. “It’s just such an awful shame that little girl’s daddy wasn’t here to see her coming into the world.” I shot her a glance. Susie hadn’t told them anything yet, and now we were risking a blowup right there in the waiting room. Aunt Maggie shook her head before I could shush her. “It’s okay. They know already.”

  Susie’s father stood up and stretched a bit and then addressed the issue. “Of course, we are extremely sad about the news of Wade’s death. I’ll be the first to admit I wasn’t Wade’s biggest fan, but I wouldn’t wish a death like that on anybody. Right now, what we should concentrate on is getting our two little ladies back home. It’s the least we can do. That’s what family is for, after all.”

  Lulene put her hand on her husband’s arm. “Enough talking, John, let’s go check on them.”

  “Come on then, I’ll take you there.” I guided them down the hall to the room number I had been given in the delivery room. Her mother held tightly to a pink diaper bag that was covered in little giraffes smiling up at us. There was nothing like the smell and feel of new baby items to put a smile on anyone’s face.

  “We brought these things for Susie. The bag is for the baby, but we brought her some clothes. I’m not even sure if they’ll fit her now. I just wish she hadn’t left us so suddenly. I really wanted to be here with here in her last weeks and in the delivery room if she needed me.” I was silently wishing that it could have been her and not me in the delivery room.

  “Yes, I gave her some clothes for the baby too. I have a little girl of my own, and I was glad to give her baby clothes to Susie. She’s going to need them.” I told her as we entered the elevator and I pushed the button for the maternity floor.

  “I never met you before today, but I’m awfully glad my daughter found you.”

  “She had me pretty worried there for a while. I kept trying to get her back to you, but she just wasn’t having it. Your daughter can be stubborn.”

  “I wonder where she got that from?” Lulene had a slight smile playing on her lips as she glanced at John.

  “Did our daughter happen to share with you what she’s going to name the baby?” he asked.

  “Not yet. I think she was waiting for you.” John’s chest puffed out. She might have ditched him last week, but this week she needed him.

  “Well then, we’ll be happy to help her out with that. I have a few ideas ...”

  We left the elevator, and as we rounded the corner to Susie’s assigned room, we heard Susie’s laughter echoing down the hall. When we entered, Nick stood next to the bed with a bouquet of flowers that held a white teddy bear nestled in the blossoms.

  “Mom, you made it!” Susie held out her arms, and Lulene ran to her side. John hung back in the
doorway. “Come on in, Dad. I’m glad to see you too.” He stepped over and kissed her on the forehead.

  Lulene took Susie’s hand. “We heard about Wade. I’m so sorry.”

  Susie turned to her dad. “I guess you were right, Dad. There was something he wasn’t telling us.”

  “It’s a terrible thing that somebody shot him, but I have to say I’m not surprised.”

  I started wondering if Maggie and Ruby had shared with John and Lulene Wade’s current wife count. How would they react if I brought it up?

  I leaned forward and gave Susie a hug. “Daisy wants to visit you, and I left Emmie a message. They are excited to see the baby.”

  “I’m really glad to hear that. I’m also glad that I got to have the baby here in Pecan Bayou. There’s just something about this place. Oh, Mom, Dad—this is Nick.”

  I couldn’t help but notice that Nick had placed his hand on her shoulder. From the color in her cheeks, she liked more than our quirky little town. What was going on in this hospital room had to be the strangest first date in history.

  “I can’t believe you’ve already made friends here,” Lulene said as she stowed the baby bag in the slender closet provided by the hospital. “What are their names again?”

  “Emmie and Daisy are more than friends, Mom. They were also married to Wade.”

  “What?”

  “Wade had three wives at the same time. That’s why he was never around. He was in three different relationships.” It came out so suddenly I feared how Susie’s father would react. She had been so worried about telling him before, but now she seemed almost relieved it was all out in the open.

  John stepped forward and slapped his knee as all his suspicions had just become founded. “I knew it. I knew that man was cheating on you.”

  A nurse stood in the doorway with a tiny baby in her arms. “Would you like to see your granddaughter?”

  Susie had been so worried about her father’s reaction and how she would handle it. She told me once he got on a tear, sometimes it was hard to get him calm again. I never could have predicted what happened at that moment. John’s anger over being right about his son-in-law instantly quieted as he observed his granddaughter for the first time. Susie Atwood’s daughter, as small and innocent as she was, had just saved the day.

  The next morning, after leaving Coco at Chickadee’s, I visited the hospital. Susie was shining when I came into her room. Motherhood suited her. There were a dozen red roses on the windowsill by the bed.

  “Are those from your parents?”

  “Nope.”

  “Are they from somebody in Pecan Bayou?”

  “They’re from Nick,” she beamed as she spoke of him. This had to be the strangest boy-meets-girl on the planet. Boy meets girl. Boy helps the girl have a baby. Boy sends flowers. Ruby Green told me she had sent at least three ladies Nick’s way and none of the potential matchups had been a success. I drew closer to Susie.

  “Are you and Nick going to go out sometime?” I winked at her.

  She giggled. “Get serious. I barely know the man.”

  “Ha. You barely know Nick, and he sent you a dozen roses. The language of love.”

  “Who sent her a dozen roses?” Daisy and her mother, Naomi, stood in the door. Naomi walked over to the vase and adjusted the glasses on her nose to look at the card.

  Susie clapped her hands together in happiness. “You came.” Daisy gave Susie a stuffed pink teddy bear that was holding a balloon. I had seen the very same item in the gift shop just ten minutes earlier as I walked by.

  “Of course, we did. I was very curious to see how much your baby would look like Anna. They are stepsisters, after all.”

  “She should be along anytime,” Susie said, looking toward the door.

  “Do you have a name for her yet?” Daisy asked.

  Susie played with the satin edge of her hospital blanket. “I have had some thoughts. My father wants to name her after my grandmother. Irma Jean. Somehow I just can’t stick that name on a little kid.”

  “It is a mouthful.” Naomi pulled up a chair. “You want to have a unique name, but one that’s not too trendy. You don’t want her to be in the first grade and have three other little girls with the same name.”

  “You are so right. You know, when I came here, I really needed help, and for the first time, I was seeking it outside of my parents. Then I found Betsy, and she made me see that there was life outside of Blakely. That’s why I’m settling on the name Elizabeth.”

  Naomi smiled and took Susie’s hand. “That’s beautiful, dear. Elizabeth Atwood. I like the sound of it.”

  I was shocked and honored at the same time. Yes, I was a Betsy, but I had been born an Elizabeth. Betsy isn’t exactly a popular name anymore, unless of course, your favorite song is “Sweet Betsy from Pike.” No one had ever named a baby after me. I was touched.

  Susie batted her eyes and then looked at me. “Yes, Elizabeth is beautiful and my way of saying thank you. I want my daughter to grow up and be kind, smart, and independent.” I brought my hands to my heart, moved by Susie’s gesture.

  “Are you sure?” I whispered. “I mean Elizabeth is kind of an old-fashioned name too.”

  “It is, but it’s one I like. I really need to thank you for all you’ve done in helping me get through this tough period in my life. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t taken me in that day. You showed me great kindness, and I would like to thank you for that.”

  I put my arm around this young woman who had stumbled into such a mess. Somehow, I knew that little girl would be all that her mother dreamed for her, and it would have very little to do with me. “That’s very nice of you, Susie.”

  “And I hope that you’ll always be a part of little Elizabeth’s life.”

  “Well, you will be two and a half hours away, but I’ll sure try.”

  “Who knows what the future holds for me. And, like I told you, I kind of like Pecan Bayou. I could probably get a job at Sprouts, same as Wade did.”

  “With knowledge like yours, maybe you can open your own garden store,” I assured her.

  Susie folded her arms and then looked up. “Wouldn’t that be great? Now I just need to win the lottery to finance it.”

  Naomi jumped. “Oh. I almost forgot. I brought something I made for you. I know this hospital food is wretched. Here you go.”

  Naomi pulled a Ziploc bag out of her oversized purse and handed Susie an item wrapped in tinfoil inside the bag. Susie quickly uncovered it. “Wow. Are those burritos?”

  “Yes. These are a little spicy, though. Just in case you’re nursing, go easy on the baby. This was one of her father’s favorites. I thought, in a way, maybe his daughter would enjoy them.”

  I eyed the burritos, always on the lookout for a new recipe to put in the Happy Hinter. “Those look delicious. Is that a little bit of spinach in there?”

  “Just a touch. We need to get our fiber wherever we can.”

  Susie took a bite of her breakfast burrito. “Delicious.”

  The sound of creaking wheels came down the hallway. The babies were being delivered to their mothers.

  “Here she comes.” The nurse pushed the crib in on cue, and little Elizabeth looked so sweet with her chubby hands waving in the air. She didn’t have her father’s black hair, but there was no mistaking the dimple.

  “Who would like to hold her first?” the nurse asked.

  Daisy stretched out her arms. “May I?”

  The nurse handed the baby over, and then Daisy sat on the bed with Susie. The two of them made faces at the baby. If Wade Atwood had been alive today, I think this picture would have made him happy.

  CHAPTER 17

  By the time Susie was preparing to come home from the hospital, my garden was due for another round of judging in the contest. I had to admit the garden looked much better than it did the last time they were there. With Susie’s tips, I was beginning to feel like a regular farmer. My critter was still out there steppin
g on plants, and if it was Butch, he was doing it with great stealth. I had yet to see him in the planting boxes. Maybe it was something in the wild. I had one plant down this morning, but luckily it was near the edge of the planting box, so the hole it made in the overall garden design didn’t stick out. My tomatoes were starting to blossom, as were my beans. My cucumbers, plants that started out small, were getting stronger and healthier every day.

  “What have you done? This can’t be your garden,” said Enid as she stood with the gardening crowd as they judged my planting boxes.

  “I’ve been trying to learn all I can about gardening. We all know what a novice I was when I began. I’ve also been getting some advice from some incredible gardeners.” I smiled at Maggie who stood a little straighter at her diminutive five feet.

  Enid huffed. “There’s a difference between learning something and having somebody else do it for you. Did your Aunt Maggie do this?”

  “I did not!” Maggie bristled. Maggie might suggest buying seedlings out of town, but she would never cheat.

  Enid signaled the judge. “I think this garden should be disqualified.”

  Glory McGiver, the gardening judge, raised her tweedy gray eyebrows in surprise.

  “I don’t think we’ve ever disqualified a garden. Why? It seems perfectly lovely to me.”

  “Because I think there has been some dishonest gardening going on.”

  “Hey, wait a minute,” I protested. “I haven’t done anything dishonest.”

  “Look at how she has the dirt stacked in piles around the plants. How would she know how to do that?”

  “I took advice from someone who works at a garden store.”

  The gardening judge gave me an affirmative nod. “That sounds perfectly within the rules to me. Enid, if I didn’t know better, I would think you were jealous. We all wish we could be the gardening grand champion all the time, but then that wouldn’t be fair, would it?”