Chapter 35 – The Storm

The following morning, Patrick comes flying into their room like he usually does if he is the first one up. Only this time, he sees Rosemary sleeping on one side of the bed and Lee on the other side with a pail next to him. Rosemary stirs, whispering, "Good morning, bud. How are you feeling?"

Patrick whispers back, "I feel good. Is Papa sick?"

"Yes, I think he has the stomach flu, too."

"Am I going to school today?"

"No, I think you should stay home one more day. Just to be safe."

"Safe from what?"

"You could still be contagious."

"What does contagious mean?"

"It means you can still give it to the other kids. You don't want Vincent or Allie or Opal to get sick, do you?"

"No, ma'am."

"Why don't you read more of your comics? I believe you have about ten more to read. I'll check on you in a little bit. I need to get up and make myself presentable." Patrick nods and runs out of the room. Rosemary glances over at Lee, who is still sound asleep. She forces herself out of bed and gets dressed even though every part of her body hurts. Rosemary looks at her face in the mirror with horror, mumbling to herself, "Several nights of no sleep sure does a number on your face." She doesn't have the time nor the energy, so she goes downstairs to make some more chicken broth and Nathan's yummy drink for Lee. Rosemary comes back upstairs, checking on Patrick. She suggests to him, "I left you some breakfast downstairs if you are feeling well enough."

Patrick jumps up and hugs her, saying, "Thank you, Mama. I love you."

"I love you too. I'll stay here with Papa if you want to join us when you finish." He nods and runs downstairs. Rosemary walks into their room as Lee finally opens his eyes. Lee tries to smile but then groans.

"Can you help me get up, Rosie? I need to get to work."

"Oh, no, you don't. You are staying right here. Besides, I want to see if you can hold down this broth and yummy drink." Rosemary helps him sit up and places a tray on his lap. Lee grabs the glass and gulps it down, and then spoons some broth into his mouth. Lee immediately throws it back up, laying back down in frustration.

"I never get sick, Rosie. Why now?"

"Why do any of us get sick?"

"Good point. Where's Patrick, anyway? Is he feeling better?"

"You were right. Patrick made a full recovery. He even asked if he could go to school today. I told him I wanted him to stay home one more day, and he seemed okay with that decision."

"I'm sorry you have to take care of me now. I know you must be tired of cleaning up vomit."

"It's okay. It's the least I can do. You are always there for us."

Lee groans, "I wish I could kiss you right now, but I don't want to get you sick."

Rosemary chuckles, responding, "You can make it up to me after you get well."

Lee says, "You have a deal," and they both laugh.

Rosemary remarks, "Open up, Lee," and she puts the yummy drink to his lips. She grins when he reluctantly drinks. Then, Rosemary mentions, "You need to take a couple more sips, and then you can sleep some more."

Rosemary shoves the drink in his face again, and he holds his hands up, offering, "I can drink it myself. Thank you, though." She rolls her eyes and grabs the tray from Lee's lap, and puts it on the bedside table. Rosemary then collapses into the settee and props her feet up on a chair.

Patrick finally comes into Lee and Rosemary's room after Lee falls asleep. He is soaked from head to toe with red streaks all over his shirt. Rosemary questions, "Why are you wet, and what is that red stuff, bud? Let's go to your room so we don't wake up Papa." Patrick follows her to his room and changes clothes while Rosemary sits on the settee.

"I wanted to help you. I brought in some water for the washtub so you can do laundry," answers Patrick.

Rosemary quickly but hesitantly asks, "You didn't heat the water, did you?"

"No, ma'am. I wanted to, but I know I am not supposed to touch the stove."

Fifteen minutes before

Patrick takes the water bucket and a stool outside to the pump. He steps up and struggles to get the pump to work. After much effort, he finally fills up the bucket and carefully walks inside, spilling as he goes. Patrick pours what's left into the washtub sitting on the table and goes back out and does it again. It gets heavier and heavier each time, and more and more water ends up on Rosemary's pristine floor. Once he fills it up, he thinks, "Oh, Mama will want the water heated up." Patrick looks for the matches and sees them on the top shelf in the corner. He gets a chair and climbs onto the counter, reaching for the box of matches. Patrick grabs them and accidentally knocks over a porcelain pitcher that falls to the floor and shatters into countless pieces. Patrick picks up as many as he can and hides them in a lower cabinet, feeling a prick as he hides the last fragment. Patrick looks down, and his finger is bleeding. Patrick tries to stop the blood with his nightshirt and ends up smearing it all over. He manages to stop the bleeding before opening the box of matches and remembering he's not supposed to touch them or the stove, for that matter. Patrick stops himself, climbs back on the chair, and puts the matches back. He sweeps the rest of the pitcher pieces too small to pick up out the back door and slowly walks upstairs to his parent's bedroom.

Present time

Rosemary places her hand over her heart, mentioning, "Oh, goodness. Thank you for wanting to help Mama out, and thank you for not using the stove. But next time, why don't you find me, and we can get the water together."

"Okay, Mama. I'm sorry I got everything wet. I was trying really hard not to spill any."

Don't worry. I'll clean up the mess later. But, in the meantime, "Do you want to tell me what the red stuff is?"

Patrick replies with a guilty look, "I cut my finger, and I used my shirt to stop the bleeding."

Rosemary says, "Come here. Let me look at your finger." Patrick hesitantly walks up to her and shows her his finger. "Patrick, it's still bleeding."

Patrick whines, "I know, Mama. Can you make it stop, please?" Rosemary gets up and finds an old wash rag that she wets.

Rosemary wraps it around his finger, instructing, "Hold this here until I say so." Patrick nods, and Rosemary watches as he squirms. She can tell something is going on with him, other than his finger hurting. Rosemary inquires, "Is there anything else you need to tell me?"

Patrick quietly answers, "No, ma'am."

"Are you sure?" questions Rosemary.

Patrick whines, "Yes, Mama."

"Okay. You can take the rag off now," mentions Rosemary. Patrick carefully unwraps his finger and shows it to Rosemary. She responds, "Great. I think you are good to go. If it starts bleeding again, we'll try something else. By the way, how did you cut your finger?"

Patrick shouts, "I don't remember," and he rushes out his door. He stops halfway down the stairs and immediately runs back in, confessing, "I'm sorry, Mama. That's not true." Rosemary motions for him to sit on her lap, and Patrick tells her the whole story from spilling water everywhere, climbing on the counter and getting the matches, breaking her pitcher, and cutting his finger when he hid the pieces.

Rosemary inquires, "Why weren't you honest with me, Patrick? You always have been, and I love that about you."

"I don't know, Mama. I wanted to be a big boy and help you. I know it is hard for you to do things because of my baby brother or sister." Patrick turns around and wraps his arms around her, which is becoming harder to do each day. He whimpers, "My arms don't reach anymore," and he starts to cry. Patrick sniffles, trying to hold back the tears, continuing, "But instead of helping, I made another mess you have to clean up. I'm sorry." Rosemary holds him tight, and he looks down, revealing, "I guess I didn't want you to be disappointed in me or worry about all the extra work you have to do."

Rosemary squeezes him and kisses him on the top of his head. She remarks, "I could never be disappointed in you or love you any less. I may be sad you chose not to be honest with me, or you did something you knew was wrong, but it could never affect the love your Papa and I have for you or Baby Coulter." Rosemary rubs circles around her belly and continues, "Thank you for being a big boy and letting me know what happened. I am proud of you for coming back and telling me. Unfortunately, because you weren't truthful in the first place, we will have to punish you."

Patrick looks down in sadness, saying, "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, too. It's not fun for me either. I'll talk to Papa, and we will figure out your punishment. Why don't you stay in here and play for now?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'm really sorry, and I promise I'll always tell the truth no matter what."

Rosemary hugs him and reveals, "I love you more than all the stars in the sky."

"I love you to the moon and back," responds Patrick.

Rosemary goes back to her room, sits on the settee, and watches Lee sleep. She wants to talk to him about what Patrick did and about what to do next. They had never had to punish him, so this is a first for them. And she didn't want to deal with it on her own. Rosemary already has too many other things on her mind. When he finally wakes up thirty minutes later, Rosemary is there with an awkward grin. She speaks, "Good. You are awake. Here drink some of this, and then we need to talk."

Lee frowns, wondering why she needs to talk to him. He takes a couple of sips and gives her back the glass. Finally, Lee asks, "Is everything okay, sweetheart?"

"I don't know if I did the right thing, Lee. What if I messed up, and he hates me forever? I can't handle it if he hates me," mentions Rosemary as she starts to work herself up.

Lee reaches for her hand, questioning, "What on earth are you talking about?"

"I am talking about Patrick."

"Patrick? What about, Patrick?" inquires Lee. Rosemary explains to Lee what happened, and how he lied to her but then told her the truth, and then how they would punish him.

"Honey, I think you did a great job. You handled it how I would have. Have you thought of a punishment?"

"No, I'm hoping you will."

"Well, let's see. How about for the rest of the week, Patrick comes straight home or to our office after school? You can pick him up like usual, but there'll be no playing with his friends. Also, he has to do more chores around the house."

"Do you think it is too much for his first punishment? I don't want him to hate us," states Rosemary as one lone tear runs down her face.

"No, I believe this is fair. Why don't I call Patrick in, and we can tell him together? Sound good?"

Rosemary answers, "If you are sure, then I one-hundred percent agree with you. Why don't I get him?" She goes across the hall, calling Patrick's name. Rosemary tells him to come with her. They have something to say to him. Patrick agrees and follows her into his parent's room. Rosemary sits on the settee, and Patrick sits next to her. She reveals, "I told Papa what happened, and we talked about your punishment."

Lee chimes in, "Telling the truth and telling the truth the first time is very important to us. We expect and hope you will always speak the truth. We love you and want you to be the best Patrick you can be. Rosie?"

"We have decided that for the rest of the week, you will do some extra chores around here. You'll bring in the wood, clean your bedroom, and mop downstairs in addition to your other chores. There'll be no playing with your friends after school, so I'll pick you up, and we'll go straight home or to the office. Do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am, sir. I'm sorry," replies Patrick.

Lee remarks, "We love you, buddy. Always." Rosemary wraps her arm around Patrick and kisses him on his forehead. Then, Patrick lightly pats Rosemary's tummy, talking to his little brother or sister. "I'm getting tired again. Do you mind if I go back to sleep?" inquires Lee.

"Please do. A nap sounds fabulous right now. So, maybe we will join you. Patrick?"

Rosemary walks Patrick to school the next day, telling Elizabeth what Patrick did. She waves goodbye, turns, and walks away. Patrick calls out her name and runs back, hugging her and telling the baby to be good for Mama. Rosemary ruffles his hair and scoots him towards the school before she loses control of her emotions. She fights the tears as she watches her amazing son walk into the schoolhouse, followed by Elizabeth. On her way home, Rosemary starts doubting their decision, thinking it's too much. Patrick is just a little boy, and he admitted he lied right away. Rosemary goes back and forth in her mind until she finally decides she and Lee were right the first time. Before she knows it, she is already home. Rosemary steps inside and goes straight upstairs to a sleeping Lee. She grabs the dirty pail sitting beside him and brings it downstairs to wash out. Rosemary has to repeat this several times during the day, giving Lee a blanket when he is cold or removing it when he gets hot. Lee also insists on her fluffing his pillows or re-wetting the rag she places on his forehead. Rosemary ends up using those requests as bargaining chips for drinking water or yummy drink. She thinks to herself, "Patrick was much easier to take care of than Lee. All he wanted was to be held by me, but Lee is outright needy, which is odd because he's usually pretty laid back. Lee's requests were starting to touch a nerve for some reason. Maybe it's because she's tired, or perhaps it's because of the constant ringing of the bell she gave him the day before." In any case, Rosemary grins and gets him whatever he wants, no matter the demand.

The next day, Lee starts feeling a little better between bouts of sickness. Lee starts bugging Rosemary to call Jesse and ask him to drop off some work at home since she won't let him go into the office. Against her better judgment, she relents and has Jesse bring what Lee wanted. He is happily surprised when he wakes up from his nap, and he sees his briefcase on the chair next to the bed. Lee smiles and remarks, "Thanks, sweetheart." Rosemary smiles back and helps him spread out all the papers on the bed, and he gets to work. Lee brags, "See, I am all better now, Rosie."

Rosemary responds, "Mmmhmm. If you say so." Not ten minutes later, she sees his face turning white. So she passes him a bucket, and he vomits again. Lee does this a couple more times, and it never fails. Lee brings out his work because he thinks he's okay but then subsequently throws up again. Rosemary can never figure out how the vomit always makes it onto his paperwork, even with a pail in his lap. She starts regretting letting him work, but she knows how it felt when Lee made her lay in bed with the chickenpox. Rosemary thinks to herself, "What did he say? Oh, yes. He said resting your mind is just as important as resting your body." She laughs, imagining him turning into Mister Grumpy-Pants if she didn't let him work and thinking about all the times she wanted to toss her hands up in the air and let him fend for himself. Then she would look at his handsome face and gaze into the ocean blue eyes she fell in love with not that long ago. Rosemary knows he'll move heaven and earth for her, so she'll gladly do the same for him. Rosemary is beyond relieved when Lee makes a full recovery by Thursday evening. She doesn't have to clean any more throw up, or at least not for the time being. Both her boys are healthy, and she has successfully made it without getting sick herself.

Lee finally feels good enough to return to work on Friday. Jesse had fulfilled his wood order, inquiring, "What is this wood for, Lee?"

"I'm only telling a few people about this because I want it to be a complete surprise to Rosemary. But, instead of building her the indoor theater, I promised her; I'll build her one outdoors, an amphitheater. I found the perfect spot on a hill not too far outside of Hope Valley. The stage will be at the bottom, and all the spectators will sit or stand on the hill. People can bring chairs or blankets or whatever they want to sit on. The hill should be big enough to fit the whole town if needed."

"Rosemary doesn't know?"

"No. Rosemary has been so busy providing for Patrick and me to catch on to my secret. And I would like to keep it that way. I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner. I think it is a perfect solution, and I hope she'll agree with me." Lee claps his hands together, continuing, "What's great about it being outdoors is we can use it for more than the occasional play. We can have concerts, talent shows, graduations, or maybe even a wedding. You'll have to see it for yourself. It is a beautiful piece of land."

"Why am I just hearing about this? Did you need help?" asks Jesse.

"Well, the whole thing has happened pretty fast. The idea came to me while you were on your trip. I stumbled upon the best location, and Bill tracked down the owner. The owner ended up being the nicest man and transferred the deed over to me for free. The original plan was to start building the stage right away and complete it before going to Chicago. Regrettably, I got sick for a few days, which brings us to now. Jesse, I could use your help building the stage and keeping this a secret from everyone. I would love to finish before we leave in two weeks." Lee grabs the drawing out of his locked desk drawer and shows Jesse the plans.

"It doesn't look too overly complicated. I think we can get it done if we can get some help. Maybe Kurt, Richard, Bill, Nathan, and Michael can help in some capacity."

Lee pats Jesse on the back, saying, "Thanks, Jesse."

The next few days are a blur to Lee. He spends every minute he is not with his family working on plans for the build and driving the lumber out to the site in the sawmill wagon. Lee also lines up people to help and make sure he has everything they will need. Kurt, Richard, and Nathan offer to sneak away with Lee and Jesse after church on Sunday. They will start building the stage while the girls get together at Lee and Rosemary's house for the afternoon. As soon as they get there, they remove the tarps and get to work. Richard and Jesse dig the holes for the posts while Lee, Nathan, and Kurt start measuring and cutting the wood for the frame and the posts. Right as they put them in the ground and fill the dirt back in, the north wind picks up, and the low, thick, grey menacing clouds roll into the area. The temperature drops about twenty degrees in a matter of minutes, and even though nobody brought gloves or hats or anything to keep warm, no one wanted to stop working. They know how important this is to the Coulters. Lee finally calls it a day when the snow starts to fall thirty minutes later. He announces, "Okay, gentlemen. I think this is our cue to go home to our families. Thank you for helping today. It means a lot to us and will eventually to the town. Now, let's get everything covered up and drive back into town before we get stuck out here."

Kurt states what everyone is thinking, "I can't believe how fast this storm came rolling in. It was such a beautiful morning." The five guys laugh and get into Lee's car, driving back towards town. Unfortunately, within a few minutes, it's already snowing so hard it's a whiteout condition. Lee can hardly see out of his windshield, so he slows down, making sure he doesn't run them off the road. Suddenly, they roll over something and come to a screeching halt. Lee and Nathan hop out of the car, looking for what they just ran over.

It's not hard for Nathan to find a large tree branch under the front right tire, covered in snow. Nathan yells, "Over here. It looks like you ran over a branch." He motions for everyone to get out of the car and help him lift the tire off the branch. Jesse, Kurt, and Nathan easily lift the car while Lee pulls it out. Unfortunately, Jesse loses his balance as they are putting the car back down. He lands on a rock, rolling his ankle pretty badly. Nathan insists on examining Jesse's ankle while Lee scrapes the snow off of the tire and inspects the wheel as a whole. Sadly, the wheel is damaged, and Lee can't find his jack, hubcap wrench, and extra axle nut.

Lee apologizes, "I'm sorry guys, I can't believe I got us caught out in this snowstorm with no way to change a tire and now no one in sight." He pauses for a minute, collecting his thoughts, "Unless someone can think of a way we can change out this tire without the proper tools, I am going to get us some help. I believe we are only about three miles away from Hope Valley, so I shouldn't be too long."

Nathan offers, "I'll go with you, Lee. Nobody should be out in the snow alone. Besides, I know a place where we can borrow some horses. Nathan looks in the back of the car and grabs the first aid kit Lee had in there. Then he rifles through his bag, making sure he has one too, the one he learned to carry everywhere, as a Mountie. He hands Lee's kit to Kurt, suggesting, "You and Richard should stay in the car with Jesse. Keep this handy in case you need anything while we are gone. I have another one for Lee and I, so don't worry."

"Thanks, Nathan," responds Kurt.

Nathan recommends, "Let's try to push the vehicle over, so it is out of the way." They slowly push the car to the side of the road, allowing enough room for others to maneuver around them. "Kurt, Richard, and Jesse, are you three good with staying here?" They all nod yes in concurrence. Nathan continues, "Jesse, you don't need to walk on your sprained ankle, and I don't want them leaving you here by yourself. I think the best-case scenario is if Lee and I find the horses or someone else comes along and picks us up. We should get to the horses and be back in about an hour. Otherwise, if we have to trek back to Hope Valley, we'll be back closer to two-and-a-half hours." Kurt and Richard help Jesse into the car while Lee and Nathan start hiking in the direction of town with just the sweaters they were wearing and a couple of canteens of water. Luckily not a whole lot of snow is falling at this point. It is primarily the wind blowing the snow around, causing the visibility to be so low.

Lee says, "I appreciate you coming with me, Nathan. I still can't believe I let this happen. Rosemary is not going to be happy, and neither is Elizabeth. I am not sure how to explain this to Rosemary because I can't exactly mention why we were out in the woods."

"Where does Rosemary think you are today?"

"I told her we were going to work on a new project out in the woods for a special customer, which is not a complete lie. But, Nathan, I have to admit. I hate keeping secrets from her, but I know her reaction will be worth the wait. I can't even count the times I almost let it slip. I get so excited thinking about it, and I want to share my excitement with her."

"I know what you mean. I find it's happening more and more with Elizabeth. Although, the only surprise I've had to keep from her was the proposal."

Lee chuckles, mentioning, "Rosie and I are so in sync with each other, it is hard to keep things from her or even get things past her."

Nathan jumps in, "Wait, we need to turn here. Bernard's cabin should be half a mile up. You know Bernard, right?"

"Bernard Walton?"

"Yes. I look after Bernard's horses when he is out of town."

"I had no idea he lived out here."

"It's a good thing we're out here today. We need to get the horses to the livery with this crazy weather. And I can borrow coats, hats, and gloves from inside."

Kurt is on the watch for cars driving up the road. Although with all the blowing snow, it is hard to see. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he sees a flash of light through the white. Kurt gets out of the car, hoping he didn't see something that's not there. Kurt cheers when he sees someone pull up in a red Buick like Henry's. Jesse and Richard get out of the car, trudging through the snow that has fallen so far. The gentleman rolls down the window and introduces himself, "My name is Max. Are you all okay? What happened? Where are you headed?"

Kurt replies, "We got caught out here in this crazy storm, and we ran over a branch, damaging our wheel. Right now, two of our friends are on foot. They're hoping to find some horses for us to ride back, or if the horses aren't there, they will be walking back to our town, Hope Valley. Jesse sprained his ankle, so a few of us stayed with the car hoping a nice person such as yourself would happen to drive by and help."

"Did you say Hope Valley? I am on my way there myself. Would you like a ride?" Richard, Kurt, and Jesse nod their heads up and down.

Jesse remarks, "Thank you so much, Max. We appreciate the ride. Hopefully, we'll find our two friends."

"I am glad I can help," mentions Max. They pile into the back seat of his car and head down the mountain. Max drops Richard off at his house before getting into town with everyone else.

When they pull up to the café, Jesse gets out and offers, "Thanks for the ride. Are you sure you don't want some coffee or hot chocolate? We can help you clear the snow off of your windshield and windows."

Max responds, "No, it's okay. I only need to get to my sister's house on the edge of town."

Jesse inquires, "If you don't mind me asking. Who is your sister? Hope Valley is so small we know pretty much everyone in town."

"Her name is Bertha Hayford."

"Oh, you're Anna's uncle?"

"Yes. Wow. You do know everyone."

"Thank you so much for driving us back to town. I don't know how we missed Lee and Nathan. Maybe someone from the opposite direction gave them a ride. Have a good day, Max."

"Good luck finding your friends. If you need any more help, you can find me at the Hayford place." Jesse nods and opens the door for Max. Jesse calls out to Clara, but there is no answer. So he hobbles over to the mercantile, hoping it is still open. Luckily it is, and he calls the Coulter house.

Jesse speaks, "Hello, Rosemary. Is Clara still there?"

"Yes, I thought she should stay since it's snowing so hard. Wait, why are you calling? Aren't you supposed to be with Lee?" inquires Rosemary.

Jesse answers, "Good. Can you please let her know I'll pick her up after we find…" He stops himself before finishing his thought."

"Where's Lee? What aren't you telling me?"

"Well, we got separated from each other. Kurt, Richard, and I got a ride back, but I don't know if they made it back yet," remarks Jesse.

"Jesse, what do you mean? And who are they?"

"Oh, never mind. I am sure Lee will be back soon. I'll call you in a little bit." Jesse hangs up the phone and starts panicking. He thinks to himself, "If they didn't go home to get jackets, gloves, and hats for everybody, where could they possibly be? They aren't on the main road. We didn't see any footprints or tracks veering off. What if they got lost or hurt? What will I say to Rosemary and Elizabeth if they did get hurt or worse?"