No doubt it was the fanciest home she'd ever been in. A moment later I saw her eyes travel to the paintings that lined the walls. My ancestors, so to speak. As with many southern families, my entire lineage could be traced in the dozen faces that lined the walls. She stared at them, looking for a resemblance, I think, then turned her attention to the furnishings, which still looked practically new, even after twenty years. The furniture had been handmade, assembled or carved from mahogany and cherry, and designed specifically for each room. It was nice, I had to admit, but it wasn't something I really thought about. To me, it was just a house. My favorite part of it was the window in my room that led to the porch on the upper level. That was my escape hatch.
I showed her around, though, giving her a quick tour of the sitting room, the library, the den, and the family room, Jamie's eyes growing wider with each new room. My mom was out on the sun porch, sipping a mint julep and reading, and heard us poking around. She came back inside to say hello.
I think I told you that every adult in town adored Jamie, and that included my mom. Even though Hegbert was always giving the kinds of sermons that had our family's name written all over them, my mom never held it against Jamie, because of how sweet she was. So they talked while I was upstairs rifling through my closet for a clean shirt and a tie.
Back then boys wore ties a lot, especially when they were meeting someone in a position of authority. When I came back down the stairs fully dressed, Jamie had already told my mom about the plan.
'It's a wonderful idea,' Jamie said, beaming at me. 'Landon's really got a special heart.'
My mom—after making sure she'd heard Jamie correctly—faced me with her eyebrows raised. She stared at me like I was an alien.
'So this was your idea?' my mom asked. Like everyone else in town, she knew Jamie didn't lie.
I cleared my throat, thinking of Eric and what I still wanted to do to him. It involved molasses and fire ants, by the way.
'Kind of,' I said.
'Amazing.' It was the only word she could get out. She didn't know the details, but she knew I must have been boxed into a corner to do something like this. Mothers always know stuff like that, and I could see her peering closely at me and trying to figure it out. To escape her inquisitive gaze, I checked my watch, feigned surprise, and casually mentioned to Jamie that we'd better be going. My mom got the car keys from her pocketbook and handed them to me, still giving me the once-over as we headed out the door. I breathed a sigh of relief, imagining that I'd somehow gotten away with something, but as I walked Jamie to the car, I heard my mother's voice again.
'Come on over anytime, Jamie!' my mom shouted. 'You're always welcome here.'
Even mothers could stick it to you sometimes.
I was still shaking my head as I got in the car.
'Your mother's a wonderful lady,' Jamie said.
I started the engine. 'Yeah,' I said, 'I guess so.'
'And your house is beautiful.'
'Uh-huh.'
'You should count your blessings.'
'Oh,' I said, 'I do. I'm practically the luckiest guy alive.'
Somehow she didn't catch the sarcastic tone of my voice.
We got to the orphanage just about the time it was getting dark. We were a couple of minutes early, and the director was on the phone. It was an important call and he couldn't meet with us right away, so we made ourselves comfortable. We were waiting on a bench in the hallway outside his door, when Jamie turned to me. Her Bible was in her lap. I guess she wanted it for support, but then again, maybe it was just her habit.
'You did really well today,' she said. 'With your lines, I mean.'
'Thanks,' I said, feeling proud and dejected at exactly the same time. 'I still haven't learned my beats, though,' I offered. There was no way we could practice those on the porch, and I hoped she wasn't going to suggest it.
'You will. They're easy once you know you all the words.'
'I hope so.'
Jamie smiled, and after a moment she changed the subject, sort of throwing me off track. 'Do you ever think about the future, Landon?' she asked.
I was startled by her question because it sounded . . . so ordinary.
'Yeah, sure. I guess so,' I answered cautiously.
'Well, what do you want to do with your life?'
I shrugged, a little wary of where she was going with this. 'I don't know yet. I haven't figured that part out. I'm going to UNC next fall, at least I hope so. I have to get accepted first.'
'You will,' she said.
'How do you know?'
'Because I've prayed for that, too.'
When she said it, I thought we were heading into a discussion about the power of prayer and faith, but Jamie tossed yet another curveball at me.
'How about after college? What do you want to do then?'
'I don't know,' I said, shrugging. 'Maybe I'll be a one-armed lumberjack.'
She didn't think it was funny.
'I think you should become a minister,' she said seriously. 'I think you're good with people, and they'd respect what you have to say.'
Though the concept was absolutely ridiculous, with her I just knew it came from the heart and she intended it as a compliment.
'Thanks,' I said. 'I don't know if I'll do that, but I'm sure I'll find something.' It took a moment for me to realize that the conversation had stalled and that it was my turn to ask a question.
'How about you? What do you want to do in the future?'
Jamie turned away and got a far-off gaze in her eyes, making me wonder what she was thinking, but it vanished almost as quickly as it came.
'I want to get married,' she said quietly. 'And when I do, I want my father to walk me down the aisle and I want everyone I know to be there. I want the church bursting with people.'
'That's all?' Though I wasn't averse to the idea of marriage, it seemed kind of silly to hope for that as your life's goal.
'Yes,' she said. 'That's all I want.'
The way she answered made me suspect that she thought she'd end up like Miss Garber. I tried to make her feel better, even though it still seemed silly to me.
'Well, you'll get married someday. You'll meet some guy and the two of you will hit it off, and he'll ask you to marry him. And I'm sure that your father will be happy to walk you down the aisle.'
I didn't mention the part about having a big crowd in the church. I guess it was the one thing that even I couldn't imagine.
Jamie thought carefully about my answer, really pondering the way I said it, though I didn't know why.
'I hope so,' she said finally.
I could tell she didn't want to talk about it anymore, don't ask me how, so I moved on to something new.
'So how long have you been coming to the orphanage?' I asked conversationally.
'Seven years now. I was ten years old the first time I came. I was younger than a lot of the kids here.'
'Do you enjoy it, or does it make you sad?'
'Both. Some of the children here came from really horrible situations. It's enough to break your heart when you hear about it. But when they see you come in with some books from the library or a new game to play, their smiles just take all the sadness away. It's the greatest feeling in the world.'
She practically glowed when she spoke. Though she wasn't saying it to make me feel guilty, that was exactly the way I felt. It was one of the reasons it was so hard to put up with her, but by then I was getting fairly used to it. She could twist you every way but normal, I'd come to learn.
At that moment, Mr. Jenkins opened the door and invited us in. The office looked almost like a hospital room, with black-and-white tiled floors, white walls and ceilings, a metal cabinet against the wall. Where the bed would
