Magnolia Creek by Jill Marie Landis

Author:Jill Marie Landis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BelleBooks Inc.
Published: 2017-09-04T00:00:00+00:00

24

LOUZANNA SAT IN the rocker in the upstairs guest room hugging Lissybeth tight long after the child had fallen peacefully asleep. The girl’s plump cheek was so soft and comforting against her shoulder that Lou let herself pretend, just for a little while, that Elizabeth was her own. Lou closed her eyes and smiled as the warmth of the little body spread through her, giving her a sense of tranquility she rarely knew.

She smoothed her hand over Lissybeth’s shining curls. Wood on wood, the rocker creaked against the floor. She glanced over at the broken windowpane Sara had crudely mended. Dru had tried to order more glass, but was told that it was still hard to come by and that it would take weeks before a new pane arrived. Perhaps the shortage was caused by the war, or perhaps the local storekeeper was making life hard for them. Dru said they would never know for certain.

Lou stopped rocking when she thought she heard a knock at the back door. Her heart immediately started hammering in her ears. Her hands were shaking by the time she carefully lowered Elizabeth into the crib then closed the door quietly behind her before she tiptoed from the room.

At the top of the landing, a stained-glass window in a dogwood pattern scattered pale ivory petals of light across the carpet runner. Lou paused, definitely hearing a knock this time, knowing that someone besides Sara or Dru was there because either of them would have walked right in.

She reached the kitchen, peered into the conservatory, and saw a tall Negro man standing outside with his hat in his hand. When he saw her, he waved and smiled.

“Jamie!” Lou took a deep breath and swung the door open, using it as a buffer between her and the yawning outdoors.

“Come in, Jamie! Come in.” Once he was inside and the door was closed tight, without thinking of anything but how happy she was to see his familiar face, Lou threw her arms around him and squeezed him tight.

“Welcome home! Oh, dear heaven, if this hasn’t been a month! Why, now everyone has come back home to roost. I can’t believe my eyes! When those Yankees marched you off, I thought I’d seen the last of you, too, but now here you are big as life, standing right here in the kitchen again.”

Her arms were still locked around his broad shoulders, and she was patting him on the back when she suddenly realized what she was doing. Jamie had gone as still as deep water and was barely breathing.

Abruptly, Lou let go, shot back three steps, and pressed her hands to her flaming cheeks.

“I’m so sorry, Jamie. I . . . I don’t know what came over me. I was just so . . . relieved to see you alive and well.”

As he stood there speechless, Lou dropped her gaze and focused not on him but on the front of her skirt, arrested by a stubborn piece of lint.

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