Love Comes Home Read Online Free Page B

porch surrounded by you beautiful Merritt women.” He reached for Evie’s hand.
    They were turning to go inside when Kate’s mother and father came down the road, big smiles on their faces. Mama claimed she couldn’t wait a minute longer to see if Mike was home. Some things were more important than selling another loaf of bread or gallon of gasoline. More hugs allaround. More smiles. A long hand clasp with Daddy and a look exchanged that said more than words could.
    The news that Mike was home swept through Rosey Corner and people started showing up to see him. Since the day was sunny, Mike stayed out on the porch to greet them. Graham came down with his new dog. Aunt Gertie and Uncle Wyatt drove down in their car.
    Fern showed up without Aunt Hattie, whose rheumatism was acting up. Her steel gray hair, in desperate need of a comb, bushed out around her face, and she wore a man’s faded flannel shirt under her bib overalls. While Fern’s harsh edges had softened a bit the last few years, she still preferred the company of trees over people any day. So she wouldn’t come up on the porch but said what she came to say from out in the yard. “Hattie prayed you home.”
    “I counted on her prayers. Thank her for me.” Mike stepped over to the edge of the porch. “It’s good to see you, Fern. You haven’t changed a bit.”
    “Some changes don’t show on the outside.” Fern narrowed her eyes as she stared up at Mike. “But you know that.”
    Mike looked so somber Kate worried he might cry again. Evie reached toward his arm as though to pull him back from the edge of the porch. Back from Fern. But she let her hand hover in the air and didn’t touch him.
    “I do know,” he said.
    “Hattie will pray some more.”
    “Good. Aunt Hattie can pray down the power.”
    “Couldn’t pray everybody home.” Fern slid her eyes over to Tori, then turned without another word to leave.
    A strange silence fell over the porch until Lorena rushed out of the house and down the steps after Fern. “Wait, Fern.”
    Fern stopped in a patch of sunlight halfway across the yard to let Lorena catch up with her. Kate wished for her camera, even though the picture wouldn’t be one for the newspaper. But the sight of Lorena hugging Fern with the abandon of a child would have been worth the cost of the film. That Fern stepped into Lorena’s embrace was one of those changes that couldn’t be seen. For years, Fern hadn’t bothered to love anybody until Lorena found a place in her heart. And Aunt Hattie prayed for her.
    The odd feeling that Mike might want to follow Fern and head off by himself to get away from too much too soon disappeared as Fern went on out to the road. Lorena ran back up on the porch to let Kate know Mama needed help in the kitchen.
    “You know Mama.” Lorena made a face. “She has to feed everybody who shows up on our doorstep.”
    Evie stayed beside Mike on the swing until the deacons let out prayer meeting and showed up in force to welcome their former pastor home. In the kitchen, Evie watched impatiently as they fixed drinks for the men. The minute Lorena and Mama picked up the glasses to carry out to the porch, Evie grabbed Kate’s arm and yanked her out the back door.
    But once they were outside, Evie just stared at the chicken house at the end of the yard and didn’t say anything. The sun had gone down and daylight was fading. Kate needed to start back to Lexington soon. She hoped Evie and Mike intended to stay the night in Rosey Corner, but that moment didn’t seem the best time to ask their plans. Her sister was either about to blow up or break down in tears.
    Whichever it was, better to get it over with. “Since I don’tthink you pulled me out here to see if the chickens had gone to roost, out with it before you explode.”
    Evie blew out an angry huff. “They’re just out there taking turns praying. If we wanted to go to prayer meeting, we’d have gone up to the church.”
    “Those men have said a