a big house. I was lonely”—she hesitated—“and you both had brown skin like the babies I gave away. I was looking for redemption.”
“Did you find it?” Kayla asked.
“Yes, darlin’, I did. I love you both, and I think I found a measure of peace in getting to raise y’all for a few years.” Miss Janie smiled.
“Did you never fall in love?” Teresa asked.
Miss Janie shook her head slowly. “There was a teacher”—she paused—“and we . . .” The light was fading fast. “I’d like some cookies and milk now.”
Kayla wanted to know more about the teacher. Had they had a relationship? Was he her age? Why didn’t they commit to each other?
“How old are you?” Teresa asked.
“I’m seventeen, and I’ll be a senior next year at the Sulphur Springs High School. Are you friends of Aunt Ruthie’s?” She pursed her lips.
Kayla realized more in that brief moment than ever before how miserable it must be to constantly move from time to time. Two minutes ago, she’d been seventy-five, and now she was seventeen.
“What are you studying?” Noah asked.
“Home economics is my favorite class. I’m hoping that when I graduate, I’ll get a job with Aunt Ruthie in the lunchroom at the school,” she said with pride.
“Would you like to go to college?” Noah asked.
“Of course I would, but that costs a lot of money, and Daddy says that girls don’t need to go to college. He says that they don’t need an education to rock a cradle or cook a fine supper.” She leaned forward and lowered her voice. “Don’t tell Aunt Ruthie, but I’d like to design clothes for rich people, but folks from Birthright don’t do those kinds of things.”
“I liked home economics because I love to cook.” Kayla hoped that by mentioning that she liked the class, maybe Miss Janie would remember back when Kayla took it at school.
“That’s nice,” Miss Janie said. “Would you get me some cookies and milk and push me out to the back porch? I’d like a little fresh air now. Tell Aunt Ruthie to come join me.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Kayla got up and pushed the wheelchair outside. “Is this spot all right?” she asked.
“No. I like it over there by that little table, so I have a place to put my milk,” Miss Janie answered.
Kayla rolled her to the right spot and sat down beside her. “It’s going to be a pretty day. Do you remember the first day you were here?”
“Of course,” Miss Janie said. “Aunt Ruthie made a pot roast and hot yeast rolls. She thought Daddy and Mama might come to see me after all, but they didn’t. They were packing to move to Mexico and be missionaries for five years.” She picked up her milk and drank all of it.
“Think you’ll ever see them again?” Kayla asked.
“Right now I don’t care if I do or don’t. I feel like I’ve been abandoned,” she whispered. “Aunt Ruthie says that she’s glad they didn’t come to dinner and that she’s really mad at her niece for the way she’s treated me. You should go on inside and help Aunt Ruthie with the dishes now.”
“I sure will. You holler when you want to come back in, and one of us will come out and get you,” Kayla said.
“I can roll myself.” Miss Janie almost snorted. “I’m not a baby.”
“I bet you can,” Kayla agreed.
When she got back to the kitchen, the table had been cleared and she was alone. She leaned against the sink and thanked God that Miss Janie had seen something in her to warrant taking her in when not even her own mother wanted her.
Chapter Eleven
Teresa took a deep breath and let it out slowly when she found her pink diary still hidden away in her desk drawer. The little book had never left the desk except for one time when she was a freshman in high school. She had taken it to school because after Miss Janie had given it to her, Teresa had vowed that she would write in it every single night, and she’d forgotten to put anything down the night before. She’d had some free time after the English test that morning, so she had taken out the diary and written that she wanted to be a nurse after she finished high school. She had sat beside Prissy Wilson in that class, and the girl had jerked it out of her hands and read what she had written.