“You mean droning on about history?” Hazel teased her. “Does talking about the Revolutionary War turn him on?”
Just then, Natalie’s cell phone rang, and she looked at the screen, then looked up at Hazel with a grin on her face. “Sam, we were just talking about you.”
Hazel heard Sam respond to her, “Nothing but good things?”
“Always good things, but Hazel says that Ruston is better in bed than you. So, we were thinking that we have to switch partners so I can decide if he is actually better than you.” Hazel watched her friend keep a straight face as she said the words.
Hazel did not hear Sam respond to the statement. But maybe it was because Natalie slammed the phone to her chest so she could laugh out loud. The happy tears were coming from her eyes.
Controlling the laugh, she pulled the phone back to her ear. “Hazel says that you’re crazy to put up with me. She thinks I was mean to you in high school. Was I mean to you?”
“Yes, Natalie,” Hazel heard from the phone.
Hazel said so he could hear, “I will send her home if you promise to ground her.”
“I will definitely punish her, Hazel.” Sam was laughing as Natalie hung up on him.
Natalie rolled off the bed and said, “I have to get home. Punishment time.” But she couldn’t control her smile.
Hazel got up and picked up John Henry to follow her through the house. In the living room, she turned and hugged John Henry and, of course, called him Beckett. When she was gone, Hazel was surprised that she had fun with their talk. It reminded her of the past, but in a good way. The good times Hazel usually forgot had happened.
John Henry brought her a book to read to him, and as she read it, she wondered if she could let her friends clean out the bedrooms. Could she let someone else remove their things from their rooms? But maybe it was something she could do for her son. Maybe it was time to put him above her dead siblings.
She was going to let them do it, she decided. Once Grandpa was out of the hospital, she would let her friends do what she could still not do herself. But before that, she needed to find a future for herself and her son.
CHAPTER14
It wasclose to midnight when Ruston finally headed for home. But even though he knew he should be heading home, he was driving toward Hazel’s house. Toward Hazel. It was late, and he would have to be home by seven in the morning, but he was willing to do anything to have her in his arms for a few hours.
All day she had been on his mind. After he had left her grandparents, he had gone down the hallway to visit another parishioner who was losing his battle with cancer. It had been a long, hard fight, and it showed on the man. His wife had asked Ruston to stay, and he had. There was no place he would rather be. Well, there was one place, but it would have to wait.
Once the man had died, Ruston had sat and prayed with his wife and kids. This was the part of the job he hated, but he always did it willingly. It was painful but rewarding.
Picking up his phone, he called Thomas as he drove. He needed someone to talk to.
“Why are you calling me so late? Are you out partying? It’s Saturday night.”
“No, I’m going home from the hospital. Cancer,” Ruston told him.
“You?” Thomas sounded instantly awake.
“No, a parishioner,” Ruston said quickly, hating that he had scared his friend like that.
“Lead with that, man,” Thomas demanded.
“Next time, sorry,” Ruston said, glad his friend was concerned about his health.
“So why are you calling at midnight?” Thomas relaxed into the call, it seemed.
“I needed to talk to someone.”
“Your dad busy?” Thomas was right; he usually talked about the tough stuff with his dad. But this time, he didn’t feel right about it.
“I don’t want to talk to my dad about this.”
“Sex?” Thomas asked, and Ruston could tell he was smiling. He was glad they were not in the same room because Thomas had a way of getting details from him others couldn’t.
“Yes.”