Her brows twitched together almost imperceptibly in a frown, and I didn’t miss the look she cast Whit’s way.
“The song?” I said, explaining the reference. “The one June taught Addie and Henry? I don’t really know the words. Sorry, bad joke.”
Pearlie’s chuckle sounded forced. “Oh, that! Yes, I’d forgotten she’d already started teaching the children.”
Unsettled for some reason, I hurried down the hall to help Henry. He was on his hands and knees, lifting up the comforter to look under his bed when I came in.
“No luck?” I asked.
He stood and frowned at me. “No, ma’am. Where did it go? I put them together in my closet just like you told me, Mama, I promise.”
“I believe you, baby,” I told him, tousling his hair. “We’ll find it.”
But another thorough search of his bedroom still didn’t reveal the shoe’s mystery location.
“What the heck?” I mumbled. “Henry—”
“It was in my closet!” he said, his face twisting in frustration. “I know it was! I’m not lying!”
I stared at him, too stunned at his uncharacteristic behavior to respond. But my expression must’ve revealed the words that were sitting on my tongue.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” he said in a rush, running to me and gripping my shirt with his fists, his eyes wide with fear. “I’m sorry, Mama!”
“Henry!” I soothed, prying his fists loose from my shirt. “What’s wrong, baby? Why are you so upset?”
“Everything okay?”
I turned at the sound of Whit’s voice to see him standing in the doorway. “Yeah, I think we’ve all just had a rough morning.” I smoothed Henry’s hair out of his eyes and kissed his forehead. “We just can’t find Henry’s other shoe.”
Whit strode into the room and went to Henry’s bookshelf. “Is this it?” he asked, pulling the shoe from where it had been wedged in among some of the books the previous tenant had left behind.
“I didn’t put it there,” Henry insisted. “I promise!”
I picked him up and sat him on his bed, helping him put his shoes on. “I know. It’s okay. The important thing is we have it now, right?”
“I think David hid it from me,” Henry grumbled. “He’s mad at me for playing with Addie more.”
“I’m sure he’s not mad,” I assured him. “He needs to understand you have other friends.”
“Ihave other friends,” Henry told me. “Buthedoesn’t.”
That made my heart ache. Did David not have anyone else to interact with? Was being dead really so lonely, so dependent on the notice of the living for any interaction at all? The poor boy…
My musings were cut short when I entered the living room and found Pearlie had gone. “Where’s Ms. Pearlie?”
Whit’s jaw tightened at the question. “I assured her that I was more than capable of taking care of my future wife.”
“Oh, Whit,” I admonished. “I hope she wasn’t offended. Pearlie’s been more of a mother to me than my own mother ever was!”
He sighed, his expression contrite. “I’m sorry, baby. It’s complicated. None of them had much faith in me taking over for my father, so I’m probably overly sensitive to their criticism, even if it’s only my perception.”
I hadn’t thought about Whit’s side of things. I rested my palm on his chest and turned my eyes up to him. “I have complete faith in you,” I told him. “There’s no one I would trust more to take care of us.”
The look in his eyes told me how much my words meant. He dipped his head and brushed a brief kiss to my lips. “I love you.”
“I love you, too. Now,” I added, my tone light, “about that lunch…”
The next few days were a steady stream of hot meals and June’s special teas and drop-in visits from all the neighbors. Even Billy Wayne stopped by to see how I was doing. And although there was still an unspoken, inexplicable tension simmering between Whit and the others, he was more welcoming. But watchful.
