“Not constantly,” Ruth mumbled and then turned to Natalie. “Tess’s place for now. Is that good enough for you, Natalie?” Ruth asked.
“No rent, she cannot afford what the bank president paid,” Natalie reminded her.
“I think the bank president squeaks when she walks, she’s so cheap. But I can wave it for a while,” Ruth explained and pointed at Tess.
“Will she even move?” Mia entered the conversation for the first time. Her question was valid. Hazel was stubborn.
“We will have to make her,” Ruston stated. He wasn’t taking no for an answer.
“This place is trapped in the past. She cannot get away from the past if she lives it every day,” Natalie informed them. Not telling them about the upstairs, it probably was just as hard for her to see as Hazel.
“She needs to move out anyway. She’s almost twenty-four and has a kid. When is her birthday again, Natalie?” Mia asked.
“Two weeks from now, Monday,” Natalie informed her.
“I knew it was close. In the early fall,” Mia said.
Ruston left the women in the kitchen plotting and planning Hazel’s move. He only hoped that she would be willing to move out of the house she had been raised in. He headed out to the field to talk to her because he needed to go see her grandfather in the hospital. After all, he was the man’s minister, even if he was having a difficult time with the man’s attitude toward his granddaughter.
When he saw her, she was getting out of the cab of one of the big combines. She saw him and walked toward him, smiling as she came. Meeting in the middle of the field, she indicated she was heading toward the house. And to his surprise, she took his hand as they walked.
Looking down at her, he couldn’t see her face because she was wearing a blue hat; one of the men must have given it to her because it looked like it was way too big for her. Probably because she had such fair skin, and she would burn easily.
“How are you doing?” he asked her as they walked.
“Good. It’s fun with all the guys out there. It would have taken forever for me to do it myself. They’ll be done by mid-day,” she said with confidence, her eyes sweeping the field of mostly stubble.
“I’m going to town while everyone is here because I have to visit your granddad in the hospital,” he told her so that she didn’t think he was leaving for something that wasn’t as important as her.
“Okay.”
“Are you going to visit him?”
“I don’t like hospitals,” she said matter-of-factly.
“You should still go.”
“I don’t know if I can. The nightmares will come back.”
“Why don’t we try tomorrow? Just try. He would like to see you.” He wondered how often she had nightmares without even visiting the hospital. She’d never said anything about them, but they hadn’t been together all that long. Were they even together now?
“Will you come back tonight?” Her eyes were on her tennis shoes. Slowing, he lifted her chin with a finger as he promised, “I will plan on it.”
“Good,” she said on a sigh, but to Ruston, it was a step in the right direction. She wasn’t pushing him away.
When they got close to the house, she let go of his hand and went inside. He could hear the women greet her and start chatting more loudly.
Ruston went into the house and motioned for Natalie to come out. Laughing, she left the group, and Ruston asked, “Can I get a lift into town?”
“Sure, since I abandoned you here yesterday.” She yelled at the others that she would be right back.
Getting into Natalie’s car, he was less anguished than the trip here. But she drove just as fast, far faster than was needed or recommended.
“Thanks for showing me the upstairs. I understand a lot more now than before. For me, it was six years ago, and other than the scars, I have few memories about it.” Natalie didn’t take her eyes off the road, which was a good thing with the speed they were going.
“I thought you should know so that you would understand what she’s going through. She needs our help.” He tried not to show how tightly he was holding onto the door.
Natalie let out a breath. “We’ve been trying, but she doesn’t let anyone in.”