“Does everyone know how he feels?”
“He doesn’t make a secret of it, if that’s what you’re asking.” Tucker’s gaze narrowed. “What is it, Richard? Is somebody giving Anna Louise trouble?”
“She’s had some calls. They’re not from Orville. I’d have recognized his voice. I was thinking, though, that he might know who’s responsible.”
“I’ll get him right over here,” Tucker said, reaching for his phone, his expression as grim now as Richard’s.
“Don’t. I’ll take a drive over to Jasper Junction. I want to catch him off guard.”
Tucker nodded. “If there’s anything I can do, let me know.”
“Just don’t tell Anna Louise I’ve been asking questions. She’s determined to handle this herself and she won’t thank me for interfering.”
“Then you’d better get a move on. She’ll be by for her morning coffee any minute now.”
Richard reached for his wallet, but Tucker waved off the money. “It’s on the house. Just go give that son of mine what-for.”
Richard found Orville in the parsonage over in Jasper Junction. His welcoming smile faded at once, when he caught Richard’s sober expression.
“What is it? Maisey’s okay, isn’t she?”
Richard nodded, studying his old friend. Orville might be a preacher like Anna Louise, but he didn’t have her aura of serenity about him. If anything, he looked uptight as the dickens. Feeling guilty, maybe.
“I wanted to talk to you about Anna Louise,” he said.
Orville’s expression changed, instantly became wary. “I heard you’ve been spending time with her.”
“That’s not the point. Someone’s harassing her. He claims to have a direct line from God telling him she has no business being in the profession she’s chosen.”
“She doesn’t,” Orville said curtly. “If you’d like to take a look at the Bible, I can show you the exact passages—”
“I don’t want to see the Scripture. I’ve heard enough of it from this caller. You have your point of view. She has hers. I don’t even want to say who’s right, because I have no idea. I just know that Anna Louise doesn’t deserve to be tormented this way, not by anyone. It’s certainly not the charitable behavior I’d expect from one claiming such lofty ties.”
His gaze pinned Orville. “I don’t suppose you’d be egging this person on?”
“I would never deliberately do that,” his old friend said, though his voice lacked a certain amount of convincing indignation.
“And if you discovered who did, you’d set ‘em straight, wouldn’t you?”
“You know I would.”
Richard shook his head. “Sorry. I’m not so sure about anything where you’re concerned. Just do what you can to see that this stops.”
Orville nodded. “If the opportunity arises, I surely will.”
Even though the words came from a preacher’s lips, Richard didn’t quite believe him. That made him sorrier than he could say.
* * *
As Richard struggled with his conscience and his heart, knowing that the day was coming when he could no longer remain detached and uninvolved, his grandmother took a turn for the worse. He came back from a long, quiet walk to find her short of breath and having chest pains.
“I’m taking you to the hospital,” he said at once.
“Just call the doctor.”
“Not this time.”
“Please,” she said, clinging to his hand. “If it’s my time, I want to die here.”
Richard’s heart began to thud dully as he contemplated the matter-of-fact statement and its terrible implications. Still, he couldn’t go against her wishes. In her own way, Maisey was every bit as strong-willed as Anna Louise. Maybe Doc Benson would have better luck persuading her that her chances were better in an intensive care unit.
“I’ll get the doctor over here right away,” he said, terrified by the prospect of leaving her side even long enough to make the call. “I’ll be right back. Will you be okay?”
“You’re only going to the parlor,” she said, forcing a smile.
He made the call, listened anxiously to the endless ringing and very nearly panicked. “Where the hell have you been?” he snapped when Jonathan Benson finally answered.
“Coming back from delivering a baby,” he said quietly. “Is it Maisey?”
“She’s having a lot of pain and she can’t catch her breath.”
“And she won’t let you take her to the hospital,” the doctor guessed. “I’m on my way. I’ll call for an ambulance.”
“She says she won’t go.”
“She’ll go this time if I have to knock her out,” Benson vowed so heatedly that Richard had to grin.
“I take it you’ve had this discussion before.”
“Endlessly. I’m on my way.”
An hour later Richard was in the back of the ambulance as it raced toward Charlottesville. Maisey glared at him the entire trip. He tried to tell himself it was a good sign, but all he could think about was how cold and frail her hand felt in his.
“I want to see Anna Louise,” she said as they roared into the emergency entrance.
Richard regarded her worriedly. “You’re going to be okay. Didn’t you hear Doc Benson tell you that?”
“I want to see her,” she insisted.
His heart thumping unsteadily, he nodded. “I’ll call the minute we get there.” He couldn’t bring himself to admit how badly he wanted Anna Louise there, as well, how much he had come to depend on her commonsense approach, on her laughter, on her quiet strength.
Maisey’s admission was a blur. All he remembered was Doc Benson muttering reassurances as they wheeled her from view. A nurse directed him to a waiting room outside Cardiac Intensive Care, told him where he could find coffee and left him to his frantic thoughts.
He tried to sit and couldn’t. He paced. And cursed. And, finally, he prayed. It was all he could think of to do. Whether his prayers for Maisey were heard, he had no way of knowing, but Anna Louise did appear by his side just when he thought he’d go crazy from the waiting.
“How is she?” she asked, slipping her hand into his and leading him to a chair.
“They haven’t said a thing since we got here. They have this drug now that’s supposed to burst clots, if it’s given soon enough.
