“Why haven’t you gone to your meetings more often?” she asked.
“Couldn’t leave Miss Janie,” he answered. “Sam came over every week and sat with her for a couple of hours for me to go to the grocery store, but I couldn’t ask him to do more than that. I might start going to one a week since y’all are here.”
They watched the sun rise over the horizon. Then it became a round orange ball sitting on the top of the tall trees. For the first time since she could remember, contentment twined its way into Teresa’s heart and soul—she was home right here in this tiny little Texas town with a population of forty.
“You know, Miss Janie’s daddy, Arnold Jackson, was also a preacher,” Noah said. “One of them hellfire and brimstone kind that preached against liquor of any kind, women working outside the home, and for the man being the absolute boss. As often is the case, my grandpa, Miss Janie’s brother, Luther, rebelled. He joined the army right out of high school, wound up getting his girlfriend pregnant, and married her. She was a career woman who never missed a day of work except for the few weeks she took off to have my father. Grandpa loved his whiskey. He told me once that Great-Gramps Arnold threatened to disown him, like he’d disowned Miss Janie, if he didn’t stop drinking.”
So, Noah’s grandmother had been a nurse? That was interesting, Teresa thought.
“So, her brother knew about the babies?” Teresa asked.
“No one talked about it, but he had to have known since they banished her to Birthright and seldom even came to see her,” Noah answered.
“What happened to Luther?” Teresa asked.
“Grandpa died of cirrhosis of the liver,” Noah said. “He always had liquor in the house. According to what my dad told me, he grew up thinking that everyone had a few drinks before dinner each night. My dad followed in Grandpa’s footsteps and joined the military. The same disease that got Gramps killed him, and Granny died soon after from a heart attack. I grew up an army brat and Daddy used to bring me here when we had time between moves to visit Miss Janie since she was the only relative we had left.”
“Bet that was tough since Miss Janie didn’t drink,” Teresa said.
Noah chuckled. “An alcoholic is challenged but never defeated. Daddy brought it inside a second suitcase. I snuck my first drink of bourbon when I was thirteen. By the time I went to college, I was drinking every day.”
She could have gone to parties and drank every day in college, too, but she’d wanted to study hard and make something of herself.
Don’t get too self-righteous, the voice in her head scolded. After you met Luis, your grades fell and you didn’t even finish the first semester.
“How did you ever pass your classes?”
“Drinking was a big part of me—I don’t know.” He raised both shoulders in a shrug. “But I had good grades, got into law school, and passed the bar exam. My dad wasn’t real happy with me, since I was supposed to be a third-generation soldier, but at least I wasn’t a preacher. I like to think that brought him a little comfort.”
“What changed all that?” She leaned in closer to him.
“I hit bottom,” he answered.
Kayla stuck her head out the door. “Good mornin’. Miss Janie had a good night and is still sleeping, so I had a great night. I went ahead and made breakfast. Waffles and sausage will be ready in ten minutes.”
Teresa jerked upright with a surge of the fight-or-flight adrenaline rush. She’d been so engrossed in what Noah was telling her that Kayla scared the bejesus out of her. When she caught her breath, she asked, “Need some help with breakfast?”
“I never turn down help. You can fry the sausage,” Kayla answered.
“To be continued?” Noah asked.
“Our hour of therapy is up, but we can always book another time,” she teased, and wished that they really had more time.
“Sunrise tomorrow?” he asked.
“Depends on whether Miss Janie has a good night or a bad one.” She headed into the house.
“What was that all about?” Kayla whispered. “Seemed pretty intense out there, and you were talking therapy? Do you and Noah have something going?”
“We were just teasing.” Teresa wasn’t ready to share. “He got up early and made coffee. I couldn’t sleep, so we were watching the sunrise.”
“Nothing as romantic as watchin’ a sunrise together, is