The Blessing Read online

  “I always liked Billy,” Jason said softly.

  “I know you did, and you were always good to him. And that’s why I came by to see how you and Amy were getting along. Amy is the best. She sees the good in people. Don’t get me wrong. She’s not one of these idiots who thinks that everyone who doesn’t have a tail and horns is a good person. It’s just that Amy can see good in a person when others can’t. And her belief in them makes them try harder. Maybe if Billy hadn’t died, she’d have made something good out of him. But then . . . Oh, well, it’s better not to speak ill of the dead. Billy left behind a beautiful wife and Max.”

  Her head came up. “So now, you want to tell me what’s going on and why you’re living with my daughter-in-law in this falling-down old heap?”

  Jason ignored her question. “You want to baby-sit tomorrow? I have to go somewhere.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “You know, a lot of odd things have been happening lately, like someone buying Baby Heaven and Candlelight Gowns and—”

  “What? Someone bought a dress shop?”

  “Yeah. That shop in Carlton that put on the drawing today for that Dior gown. Now, we may be pretty country in Kentucky, but we do know that a place like Candlelight Gowns doesn’t carry a one-off Dior gown. Do you know what that dress cost?”

  “I imagine I’ll be told,” Jason said heavily. “Tell me, did you hear the name of the buyer for this dress shop?”

  Mildred smiled at him as she shook a rattle for Max. “Only that he was from New York. Did you know that the owner of the shop was an old football rival of yours? I seem to remember one game where you were to pass him the ball, but you didn’t. Instead, you ran with it, and made the touchdown that won the game. What was that boy’s name?”

  “Lester Higgins,” Jason said heavily.

  “That’s it. He married a girl whose father owned that shop, and Lester tried for years to make a go of it but couldn’t.” She was watching Jason’s face and her smile was broadening. “So now maybe he finally found someone to take that shop off his hands. Someone who can afford it.”

  “Don’t look at me. I used to be rich, but then I came to visit Abernathy and my resources have plummeted.”

  “Can’t make a profit on a dress shop in Kentucky even when you give away twenty-thousand-dollar gowns as a sales gimmick?”

  Suddenly, Jason grinned at her. “You are still the nosiest gossip in four counties. You want to baby-sit tomorrow?”

  “So you can go to the Bellringers’ Ball? I hear that that jet of yours is paying so much to Jessie Green to use his landing strip that he’s thinking of retiring.”

  Jason groaned. “All right, you win. You get your gossip, but I get someone to take care of Max tomorrow. Deal?”

  “Sure. You call and order pizza while I get the bottle of bourbon from the car. It’s no use looking to see if Amy has any in the house. She’d probably be afraid that Max would drink it.”

  “You haven’t changed, Mildred. Not one bit.”

  “Neither have you,” she said, smiling. “And you were always my favorite.”

  “Along with all the other boys in town,” he said, smiling as he picked up the phone.

  “And you should see him play with Max!” Amy was saying. “He’ll spend twenty minutes encouraging Max to crawl; he has endless patience. And everything good seems to happen when he’s around. I win things, find great bargains, and did I tell you that he does the ironing and lets me sleep?”

  “Twice,” David said, looking down at his salad.

  “Oh, sorry. It’s just that I’ve never lived with anyone so unselfish. Not that I’m really living with him, but, you know . . .” She trailed off, moved her fork around in her lettuce, and wondered what Mr. Wilding and Max were having for dinner.

  “Amy, would you rather go home?” David asked, leaning across the table to her.

  “No, of course not. I’m having a wonderful time. It’s great to get out of the house.”

  “You certainly look nice. That color suits you.”

  “Mr. Wilding bought this for me,” she said before she thought. “All right, that’s it. I promise not to mention his name again. Tell me, did you save any lives today?”

  “Half a dozen at least. Would you like to go dancing after this?”

  “Can’t,” she said, stuffing her mouth full, trying to make up for lost time, since David was nearly finished and she had been talking too much to eat. “Milk,” she muttered.

  “What did you say?”

  Amy took a drink of her lemonade. “Milk. I have to feed Max. I told him that I should work in a dairy, since I can’t get a job anywhere else.”

  “You told Max that?”

  “No, uh, I told . . .”

  “Jason. I see.” For a moment David was silent; then he looked up at Amy. “Did he tell you about the ball tomorrow night?”

  “Yes, but not until after I’d won a dress by Dior.”

  “You won a dress? And by Dior, no less. You have to tell me about this.”

  Amy couldn’t help herself as she rattled off about the whole day, starting with Jason’s ironing, then seeing Julie Wilson in the mall and how Jason bought Max all those clothes. “Of course he has to take them back,” she said, her mouth full of steak, “and he will, but he hasn’t done it yet. We just have to talk about it.”

  “What about the dress?”

  “Oh, yes, the dress.” Amy told him what Sally had said about the store in Carlton going out of business, then having been bought by a new owner, so they were giving away a dress. “And I won it. And a makeover, so tomorrow I should look presentable.”

  “You always look presentable,” David said, but Amy didn’t seem to notice the compliment.

  “In my case I’m glad the dress is strapless, as it makes for easy access.” She had meant that as a joke, but when she looked up at David’s intense stare, she turned red. “Sorry. I’m forgetting where I am. I make breast-feeding jokes all the time and I shouldn’t. They’re tasteless.” Heaven help her, but she couldn’t stop herself. “Well, maybe not tasteless to Max. Especially after I eat something hot and spicy.” She gave David a weak smile. “Sorry.”

  “Do you and Jason share jokes?” David asked softly.

  “Yes. He’s a good audience, and he laughs at my jokes no matter how tasteless they are.”

  “But not to Jason.”

  “I beg your pardon.”

  “You just said that your jokes weren’t tasteless to Max, and I said they weren’t tasteless to Jason either.”

  Amy looked at him blankly, still not understanding. “Yes, of course. This is good; what is it?”

  “Beef.”

  “Ah, yes. Did I tell you about Charles?”

  “This is another man?”

  “No, silly, he’s the one who makes the baby food you gave me. He’s a beautiful man, and you should have told me the truth.”

  “Yes, I should have. Why don’t you tell me the truth?”

  “You’d be bored.”

  “No, honest,” he said. “I’m beginning to find this whole story fascinating. I’m meeting new people I’ve never met before. There’s the very funny and unselfish Jason. And there’s Max the Huggable. And now there’s Charles the Beautiful. Who else is in your life?”

  Amy jammed a piece of meat the size of a golf ball in her mouth, then made motions that she couldn’t talk until she’d chewed it.

  “Amy!” came a masculine voice from beside them. “Don’t you look divine? Are we still on for New Year’s Eve?”

  Amy waved her hands and pointed toward her full mouth as she looked up at Ian Newsome.

  “I think Amy is going to be busy on New Year’s Eve,” David said firmly, glaring up at the man.

  “Is that so? Did you get my Christmas gift, Amy?” Ian asked, smiling down at her.

  Amy, still chewing, shook her head no.

  “Oh? Then I’ll have to bring it over myself on Christmas morning. Or maybe I should say that I’ll drive