She nodded, squirmed a bit, and Del opened his mouth, then closed it.
Then he said, “Was Butch Crandall around?”
“Yes.”
“Did he bother you?”
It was such a direct question, it caught Rae Lynn off guard. She first focused on the scene out the window, the pastures dotted with cows, the sky with not a cloud in it. She remembered how Butch acted, and it made her face go hot. She didn’t want to lie about it, she wanted to forget it.
Del gave Amos a look, while Sudie May pointed to a chair and said, “Sit.”
Rae Lynn said, “I’m fine, I’m fine!”
Cornelia said, “Um-hmm. You can’t hardly walk worth a lick.”
Del said, “Amos, want to go for a ride with me? I got to go into town and get something.”
Amos said, “Sure.”
The men left while Cornelia filled a tub with water, pouring in Epsom salts.
She said, “Stick your foot in that.”
Rae Lynn did as she was told, and a bit later, Cornelia rubbed turpentine on it and wrapped her ankle in strips of old sheets.
She said, “See now if you can’t walk a bit.”
Rae Lynn stood and took a step. “Better. Thank you.”
Del and Amos came back later on in the afternoon and when Del got out, he held a wood crate. In the back of the truck she thought she heard clucking. He brought the small crate to her as she sat on the porch, her foot propped on a stool.
He said, “I picked up some things for you.”
Puzzled, she pulled aside newspaper to find Ida Neill Cobb’s milk glass dinnerware. Shocked, she lifted her eyes to Del’s, and he winked.
Amos plopped into the chair beside her and said, “Funny how some find they can be reasonable with only a little persuasion, ain’t it right, Del?”
Del said, “Works every time. I got your laying hens too. I’m going back with the trailer to get the mule, while we’re cleaning house, so to speak.”
Rae Lynn hid her smile as she pressed a plate close to her chest, her chin touching the edge. It was like hugging an old friend. She rose from the chair and hobbled over to the truck to look at her hens.
She turned to the men and murmured, “Thank you, the both of you.”
*
In mid-spring that year, 1933, Del began working the longleaf on the back acreage behind the farmhouse. He’d told her how his granddaddy and his pap always wanted a turpentine farm. She had finally started talking to him some about Warren. Not much, but when certain things came up, she offered a little bit of information.
One evening in the kitchen as she was getting supper on the table, she said, “Me and Warren tried to run a small operation too.”
Del said, “Is that how you learned how about turpentining? ”
“Yes. We couldn’t never seem to get it going like Warren wanted, though. I could help you,” she offered.
Del tilted his head, surprised. “Well. All right.”
Rae Lynn would never admit she’d been paying attention to Del Reese. She’d observed how he was careful, methodical, and particular in how he went about his work. He was always watchful and had snatched Joey out of the way of the corn picker when Amos missed seeing him one row over, playing at hiding from Norma. Over time, like a pond that’s been frozen all winter, the spot gone numb in her after Warren died started to thaw. She began to want to spend more time with him, and Cornelia eyed her knowingly while Del washed his hands at the kitchen sink. Rae Lynn ignored the look and dumped buttery new potatoes into a bowl.
He said, “Amos is bringing in some workers. We could get you a horse. You’d be one of the first female woods riders I ever heard of. You care about doing that?”
Rae Lynn sprinkled salt and pepper and said, “I think that would be great.”
“When Peewee comes next week, we might take us a little ride to Rockfish to see about getting the gum into Wilmington. You want to come along?”
Sudie May made a noise as she sat crocheting a small blanket, her belly full term, the baby due any day.
Then she said, “Oh my,” and Rae Lynn assumed she was reacting to what Del had asked, like Cornelia was always doing.
She went to the stove, smiling to herself, and stirred the gravy.
Sudie May said, “Oh. Oh. Oh,” in such a way, it was clear what was happening.
Cornelia said, “How about that? It’s time. Rae Lynn, can you put some water on? Be sure to put them scissors in when it starts to boil. I’ll get a few old sheets out of the closet.”
Rae Lynn hurried to do what Cornelia asked, and then remembered what Del had asked her.