Waterfalls by Robin Jones Gunn

Author:Robin Jones Gunn [Gunn, Robin Jones]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-82467-7
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2012-12-05T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Meredith hadn’t prayed a lot for her parents over the years. That seemed to be their job—to keep the church running and to pray for everyone, especially their four daughters. Mom was a capable woman. The only time she had hinted at needing prayer was when she had had a hysterectomy during Meredith’s second year of college. Megan had come home for a week to help around the house, and Meredith had helped for a long weekend. Aside from that, her parents had never “needed” prayer for anything she could remember. They never needed anything.

“Would you like me to be there tomorrow when you make the announcement at church?” Meri asked.

Dad thought a minute. “Yes, I think that would mean a lot to your mother.”

As Meredith shuffled through the pebbles along the lake trail, her head down, her heart heavy, she thought of how irritated she had been with her mom these past few weeks. It made sense now. Mom had been under an unusual amount of stress. Her natural response would be to try to fix or control the few areas of her life where she felt she still had some power. Meri, as the youngest and only unmarried daughter, probably seemed the logical choice of someone who needed “fixing.”

Now that Meredith realized how much tension her mom must have been feeling, she understood why she had been so overbearing. After all, how do you go about everyday life knowing that with a show of hands “the board” has altered your life forever? Why couldn’t they have let Mom and Dad stay a few more years as her parents had planned? They could have retired joyfully, with a big party and their future goals set. Now the church would be transitioning out of the old, and the big party would be to welcome the new pastor and his fresh, young family.

“I will be praying for you, Daddy,” Meredith said when they reached the Tulip Cottage and started up the steps. “If I can do anything else, anything at all, you let me know, okay?”

“Thanks, Meri,” her father said warmly. He reached over and took her hand in his to give it a squeeze. It startled her to feel the crooked roughness of his aging fingers and the thinness of his wrinkled skin. When was the last time she had felt her hand in his?

She squeezed his hand and gave him her biggest, most comforting smile. “I love you,” she said softly.

For half a second he looked as if he might shed a tear at her words. But he composed himself and said, “I love you, too.”

They entered the house. Meredith looked around, feeling like a girl in a fairy tale who had stepped into the wrong cottage. The place was clean.

“Mom?” Meri called out, noticing that the counters were cleared and wiped off and the dishwasher was making its happy, whirling sound. Even the table had been returned to its usual position.

“In here,” Mom called from the back of the house.

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