Daddy don’t let me have coffee, but Aunt Ruthie says anyone who can give birth to babies is old enough to drink it. I wanted to add cream and sugar to it the first time I had a cup, but Aunt Ruthie said life didn’t come all sweetened up, and neither did her coffee.”
Truer words have never been spoken. Teresa’s nightmare came back, and her hands shook so badly that she almost dropped the fork she was using to turn the bacon. Teresa’s life hadn’t simply been black coffee—it had been bitter, burnt espresso. She took down plates from the cabinet and got silverware from the drawer.
Miss Janie frowned. “Why are we having bacon for supper?”
In the blink of an eye, Miss Janie had jumped into the time machine.
“This is morning,” Teresa gently reminded her, “and we’re about to have breakfast.”
“I get confused. Of course it’s morning. The sun is coming up in that window.” She pointed. “And it goes down in my bedroom window. Have you found Kayla? I need both you girls to be home with me. I need to die, but I can’t until y’all are here with me like I was with Aunt Ruthie and with Delia.”
“I’m doing my best,” Noah said.
“Well, do better,” Miss Janie said sternly. “I want to see what she’s done since she left me. Before Mama and Daddy sent me away, I dreamed about being a nurse, but I went to work at the school with Aunt Ruthie and never did do that. I’m glad one of my girls grew up to be a nurse, and I need to see what Kayla has made of herself.”
A nurse’s aide was a long way from what Miss Janie had said, but if she wanted to think like that, Teresa wasn’t going to correct her.
“Hello!” Sam’s gruff old voice rang out as he came in through the back door. “I’m letting myself in. Is breakfast ready?”
“You bet it is,” Teresa answered. “Come on in and help yourself.”
“I hate to cook, and you said I was welcome over here anytime, so I decided to take you up on it.” Sam went to the stove and filled a plate, then took a seat next to Miss Janie. “How you doin’ this mornin’?”
“I’m pouting because I hired those two to find my other baby, and they ain’t doin’ their job.” She crossed her arms over her chest and pushed her plate back.
“Well, maybe she’ll feel that you’re lookin’ for her and will come home on her own.” Sam dove into a stack of four pancakes.
“You think so?” Miss Janie’s eyes lit up.
“I believe that if we pray hard enough and long enough with our whole heart, anything is possible,” Sam answered between bites.
“God didn’t hear my prayers to heal Aunt Ruthie and Delia, so why should I trust Him now?” Miss Janie asked.
“We can’t blame God for our old bodies wearin’ out,” Sam told her. “That’s the way of things, but He might lay it upon Kayla’s heart to come home if you really want to see her. Never hurts to try. I read in the newspaper that the Sulphur Springs High School is havin’ their ten-year class reunion the weekend of the homecoming football game.” Sam glanced over at Teresa. “You goin’ to attend?”
“No.” Teresa shook her head. “I’ve been out eleven years, and they only have reunions every five. This would be Kayla’s ten-year class get-together. If she was here, I doubt that she’d go.”
“Why not?” Sam asked.
“We were nobodies at school,” Teresa said.
“My girls weren’t nobodies,” Miss Janie argued. “They were beautiful and popular, and they were both cheerleaders. Maddy Ruth was the president of the student council. I was proud of them.”
Teresa almost choked on a bite of bacon. Neither she nor Kayla had been anything other than a couple of outcasts. They certainly didn’t hang out with the popular girls. Miss Janie’s mind wasn’t only having trouble sticking around in a single time frame—now she was flat-out rewriting history books.
Sam caught Teresa’s eye and winked. “I bet when Kayla comes home she’ll want to go to the reunion for sure. The kids will miss you not being there this year, Miss Janie. They always looked forward to you making the rounds and telling them all hello.”
“They always have cake at every reunion.” Miss Janie smiled. “Do we have cake, Teresa? I could sure use a piece and some good cold milk to go with it.”