Reverend David Grantland had never intended on coming to Asheville so quickly. But he missed Christy. And, truth be known, David was uncertain how much longer he could stand Ruby Mae's chatter. Ruby Mae was staying with Bessie Coburn so David did not worry about her. He simply worried about what Christy would say when she saw him in Asheville.
David looked around the train station. It was developed beautifully and it reminded David of home. Boston. The thought made him wish for the finery of his home town again. Cutter Gap simply did not satisfy him. Maybe he could deal with Christy about staying in Cutter Gap if she said yes. Christy would want to make him happy, wouldn't she? He stepped to the edge, trying to find the postage desk. The clerk would be able to tell him where the Huddlestons lived.
David glanced across the wide, bustling road then snapped his gaze back. Who else but Christy? David grimaced as he saw the doctor. They were standing awfully close to each other, he thought. They were, apparently, talking pretty deeply. David wondered why they chose the street. He also wondered what Dr. MacNeill was doing there. Was this where MacNeill and Margaret disappeared earlier?
David stepped down the staircase, weaving between people. He saw MacNeill take two steps then look back at Christy. She paused as David continued working his way through the crowd then started walking, going to the doctor's side. David feared he would lose them if he did not catch their attention somehow.
"Christy!" David called.
They both turned and David saw the shock written all over their faces. He wondered if he was doing the right thing.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Christy saw David and sucked in a breath, irritated. She had come to Cutter Gap to escape the doctor, David, Miss Alice, and Margaret. To escape the pressure the mission and the Cove brought. Yet, here they all were, and all going to be in her house, too. It was worse than in Cutter Gap. Again, Christy considered leaving for the Cove without a word. Again, she decided against it.
"David, what are you doing here?" Christy asked when he reached them.
Neil noticed the slight aggravation in her voice. He guessed things were not going all that well in their relationship.
"I came to see you, of course," David said. He turned to the doctor. "I didn't know you were here."
"Would it have kept you away?" Neil returned.
"Who's watching Ruby Mae?" Christy asked, not about to let them get into another 'discussion.' She remembered well when they spent hours and hours at simply arm wrestling, which she found hysterical to this day. Right now, though, the rivalry was not the least bit funny.
"She's with Bessie Coburn," Grantland said.
Christy looked at David, a little angry he would come after her. She thought she had made it clear she wanted some time to herself. To think. Apparently, David was not getting that message.
"Where's your things?" Christy asked, resigned to be hospitable.
"At the station," David said. "Where's the nearest hotel?" David did not want to assume anything.
"No, you're staying with us," Christy said. She turned to Neil. "Coming?" she asked quietly.
"Go ahead," MacNeill declined. "I should get to the hospital and check on Margaret."
Christy nodded and farewelled him. Christy turned to David and they began walking back across the street. She led him to where he needed to collect his luggage. "David, what are you really doing here?" Christy asked after they brought his two bags to the street. They could get a taxi.
David saw one waiting and pointed. They began the walk. "I came to see you, Christy, exactly what I said," Grantland replied.
Christy found it hard to believe. "I came here because I needed to think, David," she told him. "Now Dr. MacNeill's here, Margaret's here, Miss Alice is here, and you are. I might as well have stayed in Cutter Gap." She had not meant to say all that but her pent up frustrations with the situation got the better of her.
David looked at her. "Christy, if you want me to go, then just say so."
Of course she wanted him to go. Christy wanted to be alone, for the time being. She needed to be. Miss Alice was the only one who would be someone Christy would like to be around. Miss Alice was Neil's mother-in-law, which was the only thing that made Christy feel insecure bearing her soul to her. But it was not in Christy's nature to tell someone to turn around and go home, even when she was so disorientated and stressed.
"No, stay, of course," Christy said. There was a trace of a sigh of resolution in her voice. "We have plenty of room."
"Miss Alice is here?" David asked after Christy had given her parents' address to the cabbie.
Christy and David slightly jerked simultaneously as the driver snapped the reins at his horses. They were a fine pair of Morgans, so Christy thought. She was terrified of them but she liked how they looked. Christy nodded, answering David's question. "Dr. MacNeill wired for her," she said. "Mrs. MacNeill isn't doing very well." Christy forced the words 'Mrs. MacNeill' out of her mouth. It was hard to admit to the doctor still being married. Christy shoved those thoughts quickly out of her mind. Foolish girl, the teacher mentally rebuked.
"I'm sorry," David said.
"Miss Alice has been having such a hard time," Christy said. "She's gone to the hospital with Dr. MacNeill but I don't think she sees her." 'Her' was easier to say than 'Mrs. MacNeill.'
"How have you been doing?"
Miss Huddleston turned to him. His voice was so quiet. Christy could tell something deeper was implied in his question. She only wished she had an answer. Christy decided to dodge the question, wanting only that she could put aside all this stress and just think.
Pray. She needed to pray. A lot.
"I'm not the one with a wife or daughter in the hospital," Christy said, keeping to her decision to avoid the implied question.
David knew she was not going to answer. He felt that *was* her answer.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
David was readily welcomed. Alice had a slightly disapproving look on her kind face but it disappeared as quickly as it showed. Christy looked tired, Miss Alice, noticed, and went after her when Christy retreated to the garden.
"Miss Huddleston."
Christy turned around at hearing her mentor's voice. She managed an obscure smile. "Hello, Miss Alice," Christy greeted warmly. "It's a beautiful evening, isn't it?"
"How has thee been?" Miss Alice queried, getting straight to the point. Her tone was so quiet, so caring. Warmth spread through the younger woman at feeling so cared about in that one instant. "I have been so occupied with Margaret, I have not asked about thee."
"I'm OK," Christy said quietly, a faint smile in her deep blue eyes. "I have no excuse to have been so wrapped up in myself. I'm sorry I haven't been there for you."
Miss Alice shook her head. "God is there for me," Alice said. "As is Neil. I do not need thee to abandon whatever made thee escape to thy home. That is what thee needs to concentrate on, Miss Huddleston. I believe that thee needs to speak with God, get some direction in thy life." Christy looked at Alice in awe. The older woman always seemed to know exactly what to say, even if she did not know everything. Alice smiled tenderly, catching the look in Christy's eyes. Alice cherished the distraught young woman before her. Alice engulfed the young woman in a brief, comforting embrace. "If thee ever wants to talk, come find me. Thee always has a caring ear with me."
Christy clung for a moment longer to the first person to hug her in longer than she wanted. "Thank you, Miss Alice," Christy said, her voice barely above a whisper. Christy felt her eyes welling up as Miss Alice left her. She cleared her throat and gazed at the yellow roses. The flower of friendship. How appropriate. The dusky sky highlighted the bright color. It struck Christy as one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen.
I made this for you to see.
Christy had the sudden thought. Was it her own mind? Or was it God speaking to her? Christy stared at the roses, all bunched together and trimmed neatly. That was how her mother did things. Neat and concise. Peace swept over Christy. Friendship. Beauty. Jesus Christ. They were comforting thoughts.
Christy returned to the house. She slid in the back door, as she had that morning, and slipped up to her room. She could hear her father and George talking animatedly from somewhere in the house. The back parlor, probably. The front parlor was for company. The back parlor was usually where they had their talks. She heard George laugh, her father's follow and it brought a smile to her lips. They were happy.
Silently, Christy stepped down the hall. She opened her door with hardly a sound and slipped inside her bedroom. It was also comforting, this bedroom was. Familiar. Familiarity eased Christy's tense spirits in such a foreign situation. Christy had dealt with death, guilt, spiritual and emotional torture before. Never to such degree and never like this. Christy could not contain her emotions forever.
She muffled the sound of her tears with her pillow. She cried like she had when she lost Amelia. She laid, face down, on her bed and held the feather pillow close. It was scented with rose pedals. Something her mother always put in sachets. She stored linen and clothes with them. Christy breathed in the fragrance, sniffing after a moment.
Christy had not been crying for long. The scent had stopped her. She thought of crying, then hiccoughing, in her mother's arms as a child. Her clothes had smelled of this. Christy allowed a small smile. It was almost like she was being wrapped up in her mother's arms again.
Christy pulled herself to a sitting position then blew her nose. She walked to the other side of the room and splashed her hot face with contrasting cool water from the pitcher. Removing the towel from her face, Christy gazed at her reflection. Her eyes were red and a little puffy. Her cheeks were flushed from the heat of her tears and the slight suffocation the pillow allowed.
She turned away. The first thing her eyes landed on was the Bible laying on her night stand. Christy stared at it for a moment. Her parents had given it to her on her thirteenth birthday.
God. He had given her that Word. That Book. He had given it to her so she would have something to consult when in tough situations.
Christy crossed the room quickly and picked it up.