And the greatest of these is Love

Chapter 5

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Grace Coulter was such a little princess with Rosemary as her mommy who was the precise definition of a helicopter mother. It was just wonderful when Susanna was staying with them and Rosemary could spend all her waking moments doting on little Grace. The two sister-in-laws were getting to know each other quite well and although Susanna was a very level-headed woman she not only tolerated Rosemary's extravagant ways, but grew to enjoy her dramatic demeanor. Not that Susanna would ever act like Rosemary, but there was something to be said about Rosemary's bubbly nature that brought out the fun locked up deep inside of her.

They laughed a lot which Lee was truly enjoying since he had so much work that was overwhelming him.

Lee was in the process of training Harper about the details of publishing the paper, and he thanked God he was a fast learner and showed great promise. Harper seemed to be a natural and so was Lucia. Lee was so glad that Carlotta had suggested Lucia. She went out to town and interviewed the shop owners as to what was new this year. Her first article was on Dottie's Apparel Shop. There she talked to Debra Blakely per Dottie's recommendation.

"Hello Debra," Lucia greeted her, "it looks like you have a challenge ahead of you with your new job as Dottie's assistant."

Debra was quiet as usual until it came to talking about the fun she was having with displaying the merchandise. "It seems to be my niche. In college I studied business, but I never was given the chance to use my creative side. So, this is the fun part."

Lucia hadn't gone to college but she was old enough to and was curious. "I always stayed home as my mother home-schooled us. She did her best with all of us children, but except for singing engagements, town festivities, or church, I haven't ventured out. Tell me what college is like please, off the record of course."

Debra was quite comfortable with Lucia as she was on the quiet side too, so she hoped she had found a confidant and decided to tell her about her fiance leaving her alone and not coming back for her. "College opens a whole new world to you. It's so different from Hope Valley. There's definitely more boys than girls, so the possibility of dating is pretty good." Debra laughed.

"I'm not sure about dating, I just want to learn more about journalism. My mother taught us creative writing and it was so much fun. I remember writing a little play when I was young. I had my siblings act out different parts as I directed it. We used the attic to practice and my parents and my aunt and uncle came up there to see it. We all bowed at the end to their applause," Lucia giggled.

Debra joined in the laughter, "That does sound like fun."

"Yes, my mother and her sister, my aunt and their family, are very close so it was always joyful. My aunt and uncle own the Romano's restaurant in Brookfield, so they don't have much time off, but we always got together for Baptisms, 1st Communions, Confirmations, birthdays, Christmas, and Easter. My aunt and uncle always made the food of course, and we often times went to their restaurant for sacrament celebrations," Lucia shared.

"Sounds like a busy family life," Debra commented.

"Yes, never time for boys and dating," Lucia sighed.

"You're lucky though to have a big family. When my father died in the coal mine, mother was by herself raising us. I have a brother, Paul Jr. but he left to live with my grandparents to help around their farm. I haven't seen much of him, especially since I went off to college," Debra sniffed.

"Oh, Debra, that is sad. I'm going on and on about a big family and didn't know about your situation," Lucia apologized.

"It's all right, I've accepted it. But, that's why it hurt so much when Greg left me. Here I thought we'd get married and I'd have a big family like I never had, but it wasn't meant to be I guess," Debra forced a smile on her face, "so, now it's a new direction for me. I'm here and really do enjoy this new job."

As the young ladies continued the interview, Debra suggested to Lucia that she get involved with the Hopefuls. "My half-sister, Katie brought me to a gathering recently and it's been nice to meet people my age who are friendly and caring. They're going to be hosting a moving picture after Easter, so you'll have to come with me!"

"That does sound fun! Sounds like they plan entertainment for the town."

"At least at Billees. Bill Avery is part owner with Lee Coulter. Usually, Lee's wife, Rosemary works with the Hopefuls about hospitality and entertainment. She just had a baby, so Molly, Bill's wife, is helping out when she can, but Rosemary has a definite knack for it. She works with Sam the manager and Maggie, the assistant manager to have the best fun ever, at least according to Katie," Debra shared.

"You'll have to come to the Hope Valley Worship and Praise song fest by the pond next to the community church this Easter. My family will be singing along with others from both congregations. It's being arranged by Mrs. Grant, Mr. Landis, and Dr. Scholl," Lucia invited Debra.

After interviewing Debra, Lucia was excited for more interviews, but first she went back to the Coulter office to begin writing up her article. Before she started, she sat down and wrote in her journal what she just learned and who was who.

When the door bell jingled, she looked up to find a very handsome and well dressed man stepping inside. Dr. Scholl. She was about to get up when he nodded at her, but Harper quickly swept in to greet him.

"Hello Dr. Scholl, I was waiting for you," Harper said as he shook his hand, "Step over here and show me what you have for me."

"Thank you Harper. I just want this notice about the Easter Worship and Praise song fest to be in the paper, as many times as Mr. Coulter allows. We're hoping for a big turnout," James said.

"Sure thing. We'll take care of it right away," Harper guaranteed.

Lucia's eyes never left Dr. Scholl. Ever since she had first met him she knew she had never seen a finer specimen of the male race, except for Sargent Grant, but he was married! She didn't see a ring on Dr. Scholl's hand, and had to fan herself to cool off.

The door bell jingled again and in walked Mayor Fiona. "Hello Lucia! How nice to see you."

"You too, Mayor, how can I help you?"

"I'm just waiting for Dr. Scholl, it's lunchtime and we have a date," she smiled.

Just then James walked over to Fiona, and opened the door, nodding at Lucia, "Good day!" He then offered his arm to Fiona and asked, "Are you ready?"

Lucia sighed, maybe she needed to get out more she thought.

Page 14

Dee was really enjoying working on the Worship and Praise committee with James Scholl and Mr. Landis. It felt great to feel needed for her musical talent, but she did miss little Christopher as he had been attached to her hip for weeks. Leaving Christopher with Emily left her somewhat worried that he would be too much for her, but she had nursed him to sleep before she left and tucked in his bassinet. Hoping she'd be home in an hour, she hesitantly left even with Emily urging her to get out of the house and relax.

Dee was planning that the children who sang in her choir with Karen Landoch as the lead, would sing while the school band played. It would have been nice to have Angela and Mr. Landis play the piano, but there was no way they could move a piano outside. Anyone else who could play an instrument were also invited to join in. Fiona who played the flute as well as Carson, Bill, Allie, and Nathan playing on their guitars, Cooper on the drums and Harper on the horn happily accepted the invitation.

While the three were brainstorming the concert together at Billees, Maggie walked over and joined them offering to practice her violin. "I haven't played it in quite some time, but if I get it out, dust it off, I'm sure it wouldn't take long for me to crank out some music. It would be fun, so let me know what songs you're thinking of," she grinned.

"Violin! Now that is really a nice addition," Mr. Landis grinned, "thank you!"

"Your welcome, in fact most of my family have learned to play music on one instrument or other. Ronnie, my brother, was learning the trumpet, but I'm not home long enough to know for sure. I could ask," Maggie offered.

"He never said anything at school," Dee was surprised.

"That's because he is very shy," Maggie nodded.

"Come to think of it, he is. This might be something that would help him feel more confident, do you think?" Dee asked Maggie while looking at Mr. Landis.

"Maybe. I think the whole thing with Christy being shunned by our father when she discovered she was pregnant with Timi Anne, really bothered Ronnie. He was intimidated to speak up back then, but now that my father apologized and welcomed Christy, Rick, and Timi Anne, he's a different man and Ronnie is relieved," Maggie explained.

"Hopefully, he'll feel more confident now," James suggested, "I hope you can encourage him to talk to one of us and we can help him develop his ability."

"That would be great. I think he feels he failed as the oldest brother for not standing up for Christy. He needs something to help him feel more self-assured."

"We sure hope we can help!" Dee smiled with care and concern.

With that, they continued to select the songs for the worship and praise concert. Tossing around favorites from both churches, they certainly had enough to choose from. Molly and Bill came in to have lunch and asked how the plans were coming.

Saying hello, Molly stood at the table briefly and asked Dee how she and baby Christopher were doing. "It's good to see you out and about more often. How's your little boy doing?"

"Just fine, he's been sleeping longer now, so I feel somewhat normal," she laughed, "but I don't know about Nathan, he needs his sleep, or he's a bit grumpy."

"Of course, some men need their beauty sleep," Molly laughed, "I won't bother you, I see you're busy, but you might want to call on Rosemary sometime soon, she could use a friendly face," Molly suggested, and then leaned down and whispered to Dee, "I shouldn't say, but she's been seen by Dr. Faith and I think she's having trouble with postpartum depression."

Dee looked up at Molly with a sadness taking over her face, "Oh no. I will stop by on my way back home. Thanks for telling me. Poor thing."

Dee couldn't concentrate much after that and asked if they could make a decision on the music right then. "I need to go soon, so let's settle on the song choices and schedule our first practice. Easter is fast approaching and we need to get practices in shortly."

"You're right," James agreed.

After the final decision selecting the songs was completed, they scheduled their first practice in a few days. Mr. Landis was going to see that everyone had the music sheets for the songs to practice on before they met as a group. Maggie had also reminded them that the Moretti family would be singing too, so James offered to stop by their home and discuss with them what they would be singing.

When Dee left, she knew she should get back home, but the Coulter's house was the next home to theirs in the country, so she planned on visiting for a short time only. When she arrived, she saw the drapes were drawn and it was very quiet except for the whimpering of the baby crying. Dee hesitantly knocked on the door and waited quite some time before Rosemary answered.

Rosemary peeked around the corner of the door and barely said, "hello."

"Hello Rosemary, it's Dee, may I come in?" Dee was straining to see around the door.

Rosemary sighed, "Hello Dee, is there something I can help you with?"

Dee was surprised that Rosemary didn't open the door for her to come in. Dee put one of her feet inside the door frame so Rosemary couldn't shut the door. "Yes, I'd like to see you and little Grace, if I may."

Rosemary told her, "Maybe later Dee, I'm tired and Grace is cranky."

Dee heard the baby whimpering again. "I won't stay long," Dee assured Rosemary as she pushed inside.

Rosemary was in her nightgown and her hair hadn't been brushed. Looking around she saw a very messy house. Laundry was on the sofa that needed to be folded, and dishes were stacked in the sink. Looking back at Rosemary she saw she was crying. Giving her a hug, she heard baby Grace. Rushing to the bed that was in the living room lay Grace. She was whimpering and her little face was squished against the side of the bed. When Dee picked her up she felt how wet Grace was, so she grabbed her blanket that she had kicked off to the bottom of the bed and wrapped it around her trying to warm her up.

"Rosemary?" Dee was very worried, "where are Grace's clean diapers?"

Rosemary shook her head, "they're upstairs, but it hurts too much to go up the stairs, so I've been staying down here."

Dee took Grace upstairs to change her diaper and clothes. Grace stopped crying as Dee attended to her, but Dee was shocked to see the nursery. Everything was strewn around with dresser drawers left open and the diaper pail over flowing. Talking soothingly to Grace she soon calmed down and Dee brought Grace back downstairs.

Rosemary was sitting on the sofa drinking coffee. Barely awake, she looked up at Dee. "Thanks," was all she said.

"We need to talk," Dee smiled sadly.

Page 15

Dee looked at the disheveled Rosemary and tried not to feel pity for her, but to inspire her to look at life with little Grace as a gift from God. Still holding Grace, Dee sat down right next to Rosemary. Grace was watching her mother as if she wanted Rosemary to hold her, so Dee handed her over to Rosemary who did smile at her little baby girl, but nothing more.

"Rosemary, when I saw your sister-in-law Susanna, she told me how nice it was to be with you, Lee, and Grace. You know she hated to leave you," Dee started.

"I hated to see her go too. With the Cesarean section I was too sore to do much of anything with housework and all. She was a huge help and I do miss her so," Rosemary looked with despair around the house.

"Is Lee helping you?"

"No, he can't Dee. He's too busy and burning the candle at both ends now. Not all of us have a mother-in-law and daughter helping out," Rosemary chided.

Dee was taken aback by her stinging remark. "What are you saying?"

"Oh, never mind Dee, I don't know why I said that. It's just that Lee and I don't have family close enough to help us. So, when Susanna left, I fell apart," Rosemary started to cry again, so she put Grace covered with a blanket on the sofa right next to her. As Rosemary cried, Grace sensed her mother's unhappiness, and started to fuss.

"It seems Grace knows you're upset, maybe she's ready to nurse," Dee suggested.

"Of course, she always is," Rosemary shrugged.

"Rosemary, I'm going to straighten Grace's nursery for you while you nurse her. I'll bring a fresh bed sheet for the little crib down here too," Dee said.

It didn't take long and Dee was done and back downstairs shortly. Sitting back down, this time across from Rosemary Dee told her, "Honey, I wish I could stay longer, but I must be getting home to my own little one, as I'm sure Christopher is also ready to eat, he's like clockwork. I'm going to find you some help, and I'm sure the Chickadees will be more than happy to."

"Please don't bother them, they have their own plans with Easter coming soon."

"They will take turns and don't worry, they are all very sweet ladies, so once I ask and the word gets out, they'll be volunteering. Let's see what talents the Chickadees will offer to help!" Dee reassured her, "it'll be a cooked dinner, or someone to do your laundry, or clean the living room, little chores here and there will add up and be helpful."

"Thank you Dee," Rosemary hugged her friend, "Now that Grace is content and ready to nap, I better get changed before Lee stops by for lunch."

"Great idea! Call me if you need to talk," Dee reminded her.

When Dee got home, she found Emily just about finishing changing Christopher. Dee told Emily about the plans for the Easter concert while nursing her little bun. Soon Nathan came home for lunch, and as they sat around the table, Dee shared with them all about Rosemary's depression.

Nathan was surprised that Lee hadn't said anything to him about it, "I can't imagine Lee being so busy that he hasn't seen what was right before his eyes."

Emily suggested that Lee might not be willing to share their personal business because he might be embarrassed, "Sometimes, men might not want to tell another man what he can't control because he thinks it'll make him look weak and powerless."

Dee nodded, "You're probably right, but at least Molly told me and I saw with my own two eyes that she needs help, so I'll be in touch with Minnie. Minnie will talk to the ladies at Bible Study on Tuesday, and I'm sure we can make up a schedule."

Nathan was concerned asked, "Of course, Dr. Faith is aware of it or Molly wouldn't know, so I wonder if there's some medicine she can give her to help?"

Emily always the wise woman explained that it was probably hormonal, "Some women's bodies have a hard time adjusting back to the way it used to be before the pregnancy. I've seen it before, and it can take months. Let's pray that Faith knows of something she can give her to help."

Dee reminded them that when Archie needed help he had ladies coming every day to tidy up his room at Billees or play cards or go for a walk with him. Archie looked up and grinned, "Ha! Nathan you would have enjoyed all the attention I got from those lovely ladies."

That had the table all laughing. Christopher was cooing in the playpen letting everyone know he was laughing too and wanted his daddy. Nathan picked up his little boy and danced around the room singing to him and that made Christopher giggle! His giggling was contagious so when Archie started to laugh it boomed throughout the house. Dee just smiled to herself as she cleared off the table. She was blessed, that was for sure.

Molly couldn't help herself, and also told Minnie about Rosemary's depression. So, when Dee contacted her about requesting volunteers to help her, she was already on it. By the time they had their Bible Study, most of the ladies already had an idea what they would do and when.

When Dr. Faith heard about that, she had a talk with Molly. "Molly, you just can't tell anyone about someone's health problems. I know your heart was in the right place, but please respect their privacy."

"I'm sorry, but it wasn't gossip, I am actually very concerned about our good friend. What was I suppose to do, keep quiet?" Molly questioned.

"It's true, this time it turned out good as now Rosemary will have help. I don't know though Molly, as her physician I have to keep this confidential," Faith responded.

"You do yes, but blame me if you must, when it comes to my friends, I'll always do what I can to help them," Molly said confidently, with a wink.