Mourning Wood by Heather M. Orgeron

Author:Heather M. Orgeron [ORGERON, HEATHER M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: novel
Publisher: Heather M. Orgeeron
Published: 2021-03-01T16:00:00+00:00

“Hello future father of mine.”

The corners of my mouth give a little tug as I set down my drill and rotate my body toward the chapel entrance, where I see Prissy twirling a blue Tootsie Pop in her mouth.

“What’s up, Miss Priss?” At Whitney’s request, I don’t encourage this father business. I just don’t exactly discourage it either.

“I’m bored.” She plants herself on the top step of the brand-new altar. “How much you got left? Looks like you’re almost done in here.”

“Just gotta finish installing these windows and do a few touch-ups, then she’s good to go.” I wipe my hands off on my jeans before taking a swig from my bottle of water.

She pouts. “What are you gonna do when you’re done?”

I shrug my shoulders. “Finish fixing my house, most likely. Probably pop in three or four times a day to annoy your momma.” My eyes meet with hers. “See if a certain little heathen needs help with her math homework.”

That brings a satisfied smile to her face. It warms me to know she’s dreading my not being around as much as I am.

Speaking of… “What’s your momma up to? I haven’t seen her yet this morning.”

“Making arrangements for Jimmy and June’s baby girl.” She folds her arms over her knees, resting her head on top. “They been in there for hours.” Her eyes widen to further express the amount of time that’s lapsed before she gets real quiet, staring off into space for beat. “Hey, Wyatt?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you know that roughly 350 children under the age of five drown in home swimming pools each year?”

“I didn’t.” My chest becomes tight as the final memory I have of my own baby sister in that little white casket flashes through my mind. Suddenly I’m filled with alarm, thinking about what happened to Jimmy and June’s toddler. “Hey, Priss?”

“Yeah?”

“You ever had swimming lessons?”

She shakes her head. “Where you think I’m gonna drown? The bathtub? We ain’t got no pool.”

“No, but my property meets up with the bayou, and if I have anything to say about it, you’ll be spending a lotta time there. Everyone should know how to swim, anyway.” I scratch the back of my head. “I’m gonna mention it to your mom.”

“You do that.” She jumps up from her perch. “Think I just heard Paw and Mr. Rusty pull up in the van. I’m gonna go see if they need help unloading.”

“You do that.”

I, myself, plan to stay as far away from that retrieval van as humanly possible.

Rather than jump right back into work, something tells me I should pop in and check in on Whitney. My intuition is spot on. When I reach the lobby, I peek through the front window to see the only unfamiliar vehicle out front pulling away.

“Everything, all right in here?” I tap lightly on the door frame before peering into Whit’s office to find her with her head bent over a stack of papers, deep in thought.

“Not really,” she answers, lifting her gaze. Her normally vibrant blue eyes are red-rimmed and swimming in tears.

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