Closest to Your Heart-Chapter Five

CHAPTER 5

The seasons changed, and summer gave way to autumn. The leaves on the trees turned and began to fall to the ground, and the air carried the sweet scent of them rotting.
May still visited Abel  every day. It was difficult, having to visit him by herself. Sometimes Ruthie would come with her, and Oliver would stay for a little bit when he would pick up his mother. But it was still lonely.
Then one day, Abel and May had a special visitor. As May was reading out loud to her husband, someone knocked on the door. May called for them to come in and when the door opened, she was stunned to see who was there.
"Evelyn!" May said excitedly. She got up from her chair and hurried to her daughter. "Oh, honey, it's so good to see you!" She continued as she wrapped the young woman in a hug.
"Ma, I've missed you so much!" Evelyn said, returning the hug. "How's Pa?"
May sighed a little."He's doing all right. He's still 'asleep', but he's not getting any worse."
"That's good news."
"Is David here?" May asked about Evelyn's husband.
"Yes, he's parking the car. He didn't want me to walk too far." Evelyn gestured to her round stomach.
"When're you due?"
"I still have about three more months 'til the baby comes. I don't know why he's so worried." Evelyn shrugged.
"New daddies always are."May chuckled. "You don't seem to be scared, this baby being your first one and all."
"No, I figure to just take it in stride."
"You always were like that; not afraid of anything.You remember that time when you broke that filly?"
"I sure do." Evelyn eased herself into a chair.
"It was real warm that day,"May continued," a nice Indian summer day.I was in the kitchen making molasses cookies, watching you three out the window."
"Yeah," Evelyn interrupted, "I remember. We were hanging around the corral where Pa had that new filly he'd bought."
"Yup. I told you to be careful around her. Ya'll were sittin' on the top rail of the fence, just watchin' her. She was walking around, buckin' a little. I saw you talking. What were you sayin'?"
"Will and me were making a bet. He said he could break her and I said 'Not before me!'. We'd decided that when Pa came in for dinner, we'd ask him if we could try and break her." Evelyn smiled.
"That meal you were so excited because your Pa said yes, if an adult was watchin'. Shoo, I had a hard time getting you to eat your food! Ya'll were rarin' to go and try.
"When dinner was finally over, ya'll ran outside, grabbing ropes and little sets of spurs on the way. I watched out the window while your Pa made Oliver stand close enough to the window so he could see if I was there or not.
"Your Pa'd already gotten the filly used to wearin' a saddle and bridle, so he had no problem putting that on her. Then he went back to the fields, telling you to be careful. I decided the dishes could wait. I walked out onto the back porch to watch and told Oliver he could sit on the fence if he wanted."
"I remember you watching us. And I remember us flipping a coin to see who'd go first." Evelyn smiled again, "I won."
"You looked so small."May said. "You were just a slip of a girl.  But you set your mouth determinedly. You marched into that corral, and you went right up to the filly and grabbed the saddle horn. Then you swung into the saddle, but you weren't there for long. That horse was buckin' so hard I figured she'd snap your neck. Soon you hit the dirt.
"Then it was Will's turn. He ran in and jumped in the saddle before the filly had time to realize what was happening. He stayed on her for a good while, trying to rake her sides with his spurs, but soon he was on the ground, too. I recall that this went on for several times, with you and Will taking turns."
"We were stubborn!" Evelyn laughed.
"I remember once when it was Will's turn and the horse bucked so hard that it threw him off right away. He landed on his back and he didn't move for a while. I ran in there and got down beside him while you took the filly away from him.' Will! Will, son , are ya okay?' He was stunned, and he was holding his chest, trying to get his breath. ' Got... wind knocked....outta me.' he panted. 'Don't worry. You'll be fine, just lie still and try to catch your breath.' I told him. ' Try breathin' shallow until you can breathe deep. It'll probably ache.' He finally did get his breath back, but her couldn't work on the filly anymore. I took him to the porch and sat him in one of the rockers."
"Will getting hurt just made me all the more determined to break that filly." Evelyn said.
"You were relentless! When you finally decided that jumpin' her wasn't gonna work, she was about wore out. I remember you just had her stand still and you just stood there and stepped into the stirrup, then stepped out, in and out. Then you finally stood in both stirrups for a bit, and you eased yourself into the saddle. Well, she didn't like that none! She started buckin', but you stuck it out. Finally she calmed enough to walk around the corral, but she still bucked a little. You had won the bet."
"Too bad my competition had been taken out." Evelyn commented.
"Anyway, if I remember right, after that the filly only let you ride her, and Oliver sometimes. So your Pa just let you have her. You two sure did have lots of adventures together!" May chuckled.
"Yeah, I miss Cass. She was the best horse I ever had."Evelyn said.
"You've had a lot of horses."
"Mm-hmm. But Cass was my favorite."
The conversation ended when David came in the room. May stood up and hugged her son-in-law, then sat on the bed beside Abel so that David could sit down.
"Well, David, are you ready to become a daddy?" May asked.
"Not entirely. I don't know if I ever will be."
" Oh, don't worry." May  laughed. " You and Ev will make wonderful parents. I remember one time when I couldn't find Evelyn. I called her name as I walked through the house, and when I went in the living room, she came runnin' up to me and grabbed my hand. 'Shhh! My baby's seepin'.' she sad, then led me to the couch where her doll was laying. She was always motherin' something ; her dolls when she was a toddler, critters when she was a little older, and then other people's kids when she was a teen. "
"I know she'll make a good mother. I just don't know if I'm ready for fatherhood." David said.
"Don't worry. It comes naturally. You can't get training for it." May replied.
"Tell 'im, Ma. I've tried." Evelyn said.
"God will help you with it."May assuredly told David.
"I'm sure He will." David said.
"Well, I'm not." Evelyn stated.
"Evelyn!" May cried, shocked. "What do you mean?"
"I mean what I say, Ma. If God is so good and helpful, then why has our family had such a hard life?Why have I had to be so tough? And why is my pa, the most God-fearin' man I know, layin' in a bed unconscious?" Evelyn angrily said.
May's heart ached." Oh, Evelyn. Sometimes the Lord does things that we don't understand. But they are always good for us. If I hadn't had all those hard times, I wouldn't be the person I am today. The Lord put them into my life so that I would grow towards Him, and grow to be like Him." she explained.
"I'm having a hard time accepting that." Evelyn said.
"I don't know why, but I suppose you'll have to figure it out. Just please, Ev, don't blame God for all this." May raised her hands,palm upward, and shrugged her shoulders. " He knows what is best for His children. Who am I to judge Him?"
"I'm sorry, Ma. I'm just confused right now."
"I think angry is the word you're looking for."
"What?"Evelyn quirked her eyebrow.
"You're angry about your Pa being like this and you're looking for someone to blame, so you're blaming God." May was gentle yet firm." Don't get bitter against Him. It will be the worst mistake you'll make. And I'd advise you to get rid of the anger, too. Anger only pushes those you love, including God, away from you."
"Aren't you being a little harsh, Ma?"Evelyn asked.
"If you wanna call it that, sure. I'm just being honest."May answered. "I love you, and I don't want to see you hurt."
"I know you love me." Evelyn sighed.
"I hate to leave on a bad note, but Evelyn has an appointment in a half hour, so we'd better go." David interrupted.
"All right." May stood and hugged her daughter." Just think about what I said, Evelyn."
Evelyn nodded and turned to go out the door. May embraced David and told him she would be praying for them. Especially Evelyn, May thought.
After David and Evelyn had left, May knelt by Abel's bed and began to pray.
"Dear Father, thank you for bringing Evelyn and David here to visit me today.But Lord, my heart is aching for that girl of mine. I don't know why she's suddenly lost sight of your love. I know it's still there! Please draw here heart back to you.
"Lord, I also ask once again that you heal my husband and bring him back to me. Amen."