Del tilted his head, surprised. “Well. All right.”
Rae Lynn would never admit she’d been paying attention to Del Reese. She’d observed how he was careful, methodical, and particular in how he went about his work. He was always watchful and had snatched Joey out of the way of the corn picker when Amos missed seeing him one row over, playing at hiding from Norma. Over time, like a pond that’s been frozen all winter, the spot gone numb in her after Warren died started to thaw. She began to want to spend more time with him, and Cornelia eyed her knowingly while Del washed his hands at the kitchen sink. Rae Lynn ignored the look and dumped buttery new potatoes into a bowl.
He said, “Amos is bringing in some workers. We could get you a horse. You’d be one of the first female woods riders I ever heard of. You care about doing that?”
Rae Lynn sprinkled salt and pepper and said, “I think that would be great.”
“When Peewee comes next week, we might take us a little ride to Rockfish to see about getting the gum into Wilmington. You want to come along?”
Sudie May made a noise as she sat crocheting a small blanket, her belly full term, the baby due any day.
Then she said, “Oh my,” and Rae Lynn assumed she was reacting to what Del had asked, like Cornelia was always doing.
She went to the stove, smiling to herself, and stirred the gravy.
Sudie May said, “Oh. Oh. Oh,” in such a way, it was clear what was happening.
Cornelia said, “How about that? It’s time. Rae Lynn, can you put some water on? Be sure to put them scissors in when it starts to boil. I’ll get a few old sheets out of the closet.”
Rae Lynn hurried to do what Cornelia asked, and then remembered what Del had asked her.
She turned to him and said, “Yes, I’d like to go.”
Norma and Joey started arguing over who wanted what, girl or boy.
Sudie May said, “Oh, gosh, the pains are coming quick. Hurry!”
The children, hearing the different tone in their mother’s voice, quit fussing. Cornelia put her arm around Sudie May’s waist and helped her up the stairs. Amos and Del took Joey outside with them and disappeared into the barn. After the water boiled, Rae Lynn carried it upstairs, and Norma followed with the rest of the items on a tray. Cornelia had drawn the curtains to keep the evening sun from heating the room too much.
She took what Rae Lynn brought and said, “It’s her third, so hopefully it ought to be quick. Considering how she’s doing, I’d say before midnight, we’re gonna have us another little Whitaker.”
Rae Lynn couldn’t hardly believe it. In a few hours a new human being would become part of this family. She felt a pang. Any child who benefited from having a family was the luckiest child in the world to her mind. The evening wore on with the occasional cry of pain and distress from the upstairs room. Rae Lynn was in and out often, bringing cold sweet tea and anything else she could think of to help. She thought Sudie May’s color was quite good considering, but Cornelia looked tired.
She said, “You all right?”
Cornelia nodded and said, “It won’t be long now.”
They watched as the miracle of birth unfolded before them. Cornelia was skilled, and a few minutes later, the baby was laid on Sudie May’s chest. Cornelia went to cut the cord, but her hands shook.
Rae Lynn said, “You want me to do it?”
Cornelia stepped aside and said, “I’m feeling light-headed. I didn’t eat much supper.”
Rae Lynn said, “Tell me what to do.”
Cornelia directed her where to cut and how to tie it off with some string.
When Rae Lynn was finished, Cornelia said, “She’s got to deliver the afterbirth yet.”
Rae Lynn said, “Oh.”
Cornelia swiped at her forehead, then said, “Law, it’s been a while since I helped with a delivery. It ain’t no easy thing, is it, Sudie May?”
“It sure ain’t.”
Rae Lynn said, “Congratulations. He’s a fine baby boy.” “Amos said if it was a boy, we ought to name him after his great-granddaddy, Darren. Darren Boyd Whitaker.”
Rae Lynn said, “It’s a fine name. I’ll send Amos up.”
As she went downstairs she ran a hand down her flat belly. Could she ever have a baby? She and Warren had tried, but it never happened. Naming it after a relative must feel real special, like honoring family history. This brought another twinge of longing. Warren’s death had given her a sense of detachment, as if she was isolated and alone. She now had Cornelia’s friendship she cherished, but she had no blood relatives, and being among this family had left an impression. She entered the kitchen and found Amos and Del sitting at the table, expectant faces turned to her.
Rae Lynn smiled at Amos and said, “Congratulations, it’s a boy.”
Del said, “How about that!”
Amos said, “She’s all right? Sudie May?
“She’s tired, but perfectly fine.”
Amos jumped up from his chair, grabbed Rae Lynn in a big bear hug, and spun her around the room. When he set her back on her feet, it was so quick, she had to catch hold of a chair for balance. He rushed from the room, and she started to tidy the kitchen while Del wandered about, as if he had something to say. Rae Lynn stole glances at him and wondered what he was thinking. Norma appeared, rubbing sleep out of her eyes.
When she heard she had a baby brother, she said, “Shoot. Now him and Joey’s gonna gang up on me.”
Rae Lynn said, “Well, you’ll just have to show them they can’t.”
“Yeah.”
Norma grabbed Rae Lynn’s hand and held on to it. She stared at the little girl’s hand in hers and raised her eyes to find Del watching them before he turned away abruptly.
The following day, right after supper, and after most everyone had gone to bed, Rae Lynn stepped out onto the porch and sat in a rocker. She pushed it into motion and gazed at the stars sprinkled like salt across the sky. The air was cool yet, but before long the heat of summer would be back. She heard the screen door open, and Cornelia came over and sat in the rocker beside her.
She said, “It’s a nice evening.”
“It sure is.”
“You know, I couldn’t have children.”
Rae Lynn stopped rocking. “You couldn’t?”
“No. Something else Otis didn’t let me forget.”
“Is it hard delivering someone else’s baby?”
Cornelia sighed. “It don’t bother me too much.”
Rae Lynn said, “Me and Warren tried, but it didn’t never happen. He was older, but he’d had Eugene, so I figured it must be me.”
“Maybe not. Only one way to know.”
Rae Lynn laughed and said, “Now, don’t you start.”
They rocked for a bit, and after a while, Cornelia reached over and held Rae Lynn’s hand. At first, Rae Lynn thought nothing of it. It was only a grateful, shared moment passing between the two of them for how things had turned out. But Cornelia didn’t let go and when her thumb began to lightly stroke the back of Rae Lynn’s hand, she grew uncomfortable. She wanted to pull away, but didn’t want to hurt Cornelia’s feelings. A tiny noise, like a hiccup, broke the silence.
Rae Lynn said, “Nellie?”
“I’m fine. I’m fine.”
Rae Lynn didn’t push, but she knew good and well Cornelia was crying.
She pulled her hand from Cornelia’s and said, “Ain’t you happy? At least happier here than before?”
Cornelia wiped her eyes.
“Some days, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. I get these moments, though, when I get to thinking too hard on things.”
“What things?”
Cornelia wouldn’t meet Rae Lynn’s eyes when she said, “You ever think back on what happened at Swallow Hill?”
“Every day. Why I thought I could pull off that harebrained idea. The only good thing to come out of it was meeting you and Del.”
“I’m talking about a particular thing.”
“The sweat box?”
“No, though I think a lot about that too, how you almost didn’t make it. I’m talking about what happened in the kitchen, why Otis went nuts.”
“Oh.”