“Thank you.” Kayla wasn’t prepared for conversation. When she’d worried about this day, she’d thought the only time they would visit would be over dinner.
“I was hoping that after we have our usual pizza Sunday, we might drive through Birthright on the way back to Paris and take a look at the house you’ve bought,” Dulcie said.
Oh, great, now she would be seeing the house for the first time with his parents.
But at least you don’t have to worry about using the right fork. Miss Janie’s giggles bounced around in her head. You can eat pizza with your fingers, and there will only be one fork.
“Oh, hush!” Kayla said under her breath.
“What was that?” Will was absolutely beaming.
“I was arguing with myself,” Kayla answered.
“I do that all the time,” Dulcie chuckled. “Most of the time when I want my way and the Good Lord is telling me that’s not the way to go.”
“She gets cranky on those days.” Thomas laughed with her.
The forty-five-minute drive back to Sulphur Springs seemed to speed by, and when Will parked beside a small church, several folks were making their way inside. Dulcie was the first one out of the vehicle and opened Kayla’s door for her. “Come on, darlin’. I’ll introduce you to some of our friends before services start. We’re always glad to have new folks, especially young ones, join us.”
“Mama, you’re steppin’ on my gentleman’s toes,” Will said.
“Oh, be quiet. You get to spend time with her all week,” Thomas scolded him. “Let Mama have her day. This is the first time you’ve ever brought a girl to church.”
Kayla met dozens of folks that morning, and even more at the pizza place. Names and faces were a blur in her head by the time they’d started back north toward Birthright and Paris. She could remember a few things about church—the beautiful singing, that Will shared a hymn book with her like his folks were doing, and that he held her hand all through the preaching. Everything was entirely too perfect, and she’d learned from experience that life was not like that. There had to be a hidden bomb somewhere, and when it went off, everything, including her heart, would be shattered.
She was still deep in her thoughts when Will parked in front of the house on the east end of Birthright. The house was set back on a lane a good eighth of a mile and wasn’t even visible from the road. Big oak trees lined the lane leading up to it, and there was a circular drive—gravel but still in good shape—in front of the place.
“Needs some paint on the outside, but you got time to have that done before winter sets in,” Thomas told him as he got out of the vehicle. “Did you have the plumbing and wiring checked out?”
“Is the kitchen in good repair?” Dulcie added before he could reply. She went straight to the porch and then turned around. “Come on, Kayla. Us girls would rather see the inside.”
Kayla couldn’t imagine ever living in such a quaint little home. She felt at peace when she walked inside and could easily picture a sofa in front of the stone fireplace and bookcases on either side. “This is amazing,” she whispered.
“It’s a lot of house for one man,” Dulcie said, “but he sure is taken with it and this area. It is closer to where we live now, and you are here in Birthright.”
For the first time Kayla felt uneasy. “We are just starting to date, ma’am. I hope he’s not buying a place here because of me.”
“Honey, I didn’t mean to spook you.” Dulcie patted her on the shoulder. “But we’re glad he’s finally got to date you and that you’re part of both our worlds.”
“Thank you,” Kayla said, and meant every word.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Birthright didn’t see fall many years. Usually the weather went from scorching-hot summer one day to icy-cold winter the next. But the year when Kayla and Teresa came back to town, the hot weather gradually got pushed into the history books by lovely, cool sweater weather. The morning of October 17 was an absolutely perfect day for Miss Janie’s Senior Citizens Place to have its grand opening. The leaves had begun to turn colors and fall from the trees. A crisp breeze blew them around in circles, but it wasn’t so cold that the old folks couldn’t get out that day. Sam had spread the news, and he and about twenty other folks were