The Widow's Choice (12 page)

“That’s settled, then. Thanks for the lunch. I’ll fill your woodboxes, and then I’ll be going.”

He left the house, and Alona sat at the table thinking about how different the brothers were. Jason made one trip in to fill the woodbox in the living room and another trip for the kitchen.

“That’ll do you for a while. I’ll see you later.”

“Thanks so much. I really appreciate all you’ve done—especially bringing the doctor.”

“You’ll have to thank Oscar for that. It was his idea. But I did enjoy chopping the wood. At least I’m good at that. When Tim gets home from school, tell him I’ll come by later with the paints and stuff.”

She watched him go, walking away with a quick stride. “Tim will like it so much,” she whispered aloud.

CHAPTER EIGHT

A New Voice in Choir

“Oscar, I wanted to thank you for what you did for my boys—sending Dr. Roberts over.”

Oscar Moran had been about to enter the Sunday school room for his class. He smiled at Alona. “I hated to think about them being sick and not getting any medicine.”

“I’m afraid I wasn’t very nice to Jason at first. I practically ran him off. That’s my foolish pride, of course.”

“I wish you wouldn’t take it that way, Alona. I’ve got plenty of money. You know that, and I spend more on all kinds of foolishness than a doctor’s visit costs.”

She laughed. “I can’t imagine you doing anything foolish.”

“Well, I spend way too much money on cigars, for one thing, which the doctor doesn’t even want me to smoke. I sneak around at times, though, and have one.”

Alona laughed and put her hand on Oscar’s arm. “I can’t imagine you
sneaking
around to do anything. You’re the most straightforward man I’ve ever known in my life.”

He grinned. “I guess I’ve been called worse things than straightforward.”

“I’ve got to get to the nursery now.”

“Jason told me about how he had to promise Dr. Roberts he’d join the choir in exchange for his making the visit.”

“I think that was a good idea the doctor had.”

“I suppose so. He hasn’t been in church since he left the navy. I’ve tried to persuade him to join me, but he can be a
pretty stubborn fellow at times. And, of course, you can’t make a person go to church.”

“He does have a fine voice, the doctor says.”

“Oh yes, he’s always been a great singer! He took after his mother in that respect. She had a beautiful voice. As a matter of fact, he’s a great deal like her in appearance, as well as in personality. I’m more like our father.”

“Well, we can always use some good, strong male voices in the choir. I have to go now. I think we might have a full nursery this morning. Thank you again, Oscar. It was very generous of you.”

“It was nothing at all,” he said and waved.

Alona turned and went directly to the nursery, where she found the pastor’s wife manning the fort. Since Hazel always came to church early with her husband, she was always there when the first babies arrived. Alona and Hazel would leave the nursery to another pair of ladies when they went to sing in the choir during the worship service.

Alona went over and looked in one of the cribs, where a baby girl with a ribbon clipped into her hair stared owlishly up at her. “Hello, you sweet little thing.” Alona leaned over the crib and let the baby grasp her finger. “I wish I had three just like you.”

“What in the world would you wish that for, Alona?” Hazel asked.

“That’s what my husband always said. He wanted three girls to go with the three boys. He always said we needed a matched set.”

Hazel knew how much Alona still missed her husband. “How are the boys?” she asked.

“They’re absolutely fine now. They’re completely over that bug. Did you hear what Oscar did?”

“No. What was that?”

Alona told her how Oscar had sent Jason to take her boys to the doctor, and how she had refused and then Jason had simply brought the doctor to her. “I think he’s got some of
Oscar’s stubbornness in him. He simply wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“I’m glad Jason’s going to sing in the choir. Paul told me that he’ll be coming. We’ll have to pray for him.”

Alona picked up a chubby baby boy who was fussing and sat down and began rocking him. “Oscar’s been so helpful to me, but I guess he is to everyone.”

“No, not really.”

Alona looked up with surprise. “Why would you say that?”

“I’m sure he’s generous with his donations to the church, but he’s rather tight with his workers. I suppose with this depression he has to be. Everyone says that he saved his business when others went down by being tight and hard.”

“I never see that in him, but of course I don’t work at the foundry.” She rocked the baby for a few moments. “I wonder why he never married again.”

“Plenty of women have wanted to marry him but none of them have succeeded. Do you know about his heart trouble?”

“No, what’s the problem?”

“He had a heart attack about a year ago. He seems to have gotten over it, though. Dr. Roberts pulled him through. Put him on a strict diet, made him quit smoking, and tried to get him to exercise.”

“I didn’t know that. He looks healthy enough.”

“He still weighs too much. Dr. Roberts keeps trying to get him to lose more weight.” Hazel looked at Alona with one eyebrow raised. “Everyone’s talking about how much Oscar seems to care for you. I’ve heard rumors of wedding bells.”

“Really! That’s foolishness! It’s nothing like that.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I am. He’s just interested in my kids.”

“Has he ever asked you out?”

“No. Not in the way you mean.” To change the subject, she said, “Jason is very different, isn’t he?”

“Yes, he is. You’d never know he and Oscar are related. After Jason’s plane crash, he started drinking. He nearly
drank himself to death. Oscar went searching and finally found him living in a run-down shack some forty miles away. Practically pulled him out of the gutter and convinced him to come here. Gave him a roof over his head and put him to work at the foundry.”

“From what I understand, he led a good Christian life until the crash,” Alone said. “I guess that took all the strength out of him.”

“I don’t think a thing like a crash would have fazed Oscar.”

“No, it wouldn’t. Oscar would have stood up and gotten into another plane that same day. Some people are strong and some aren’t. I guess Jason just doesn’t have that kind of strength.”

****

“Alona, I’d like to take the boys to my hunting camp for a few days. I’m getting a group of guys together.”

Alona invited Oscar in and led him into the living room. “Your hunting camp?” she asked. “What’s that?”

“I own some land out north of town. I built a pretty nice cabin on it. I used to go to it more than I do now, but it’s not much fun going alone.”

“And you want to take the boys?”

“Yes. And I’ve also invited the pastor and his boys, Mike and Roger. James Glover is going to be there with his son Leon. They’re all about the same age as your boys.”

“It sounds wonderful! What would they do?”

“We’ll try to get a deer or two and do some fishing.”

“You go fishing in January? That doesn’t sound like fun to me.”

“I don’t go often, but you can usually catch something if you can stand the cold.”

“It sounds like a wonderful adventure for the boys. How long would you be gone?”

“We’d leave Friday afternoon after school and come back Sunday night. It’s a nice cabin, tight and warm. I’ve taken
the pastor and his boys before. We always have a good time.” He suddenly looked down at the floor and was silent for a moment. He continued with a wistful note in his voice. “I’ve let the men of the church take their boys to the camp many times, but this time it’ll be almost like having three boys of my own along.”

“I’ll let you tell them, Oscar. They’re playing in Zac’s bedroom. It seems like I spend my life thanking you.”

“No need to thank me. It’s something that I’ve wanted to do, and I consider it a privilege that you’ll let me spend time with your boys.”

****

“Are you ready to go, fellas?” Oscar Moran asked. “We’re going to meet up with the other men in just over an hour, but I want to stop at a store and get you some warmer clothes first.”

“These are the warmest we have, Mr. Moran,” Tim told him.

“It’ll be cold out there sitting on a deer stand. You fellows need to be fixed up.”

Oscar drove downtown with the boys packed in the car along with all their supplies. “Boys, I want you to have fun on this trip.”

“We will, Mr. Moran,” Zac said eagerly. “You bet we will!”

“That’s the idea, but I have to tell you now there are rules. It can be dangerous in the woods. You’ll be handling guns, and there’ll be other people out hunting. You have to do everything I say, and I mean
everything.
Your mother would never forgive me if anything happened to you, and I’d certainly never forgive myself. Whatever I tell you, you must do it instantly as a matter of safety. Understood?”

“We’ll listen to you, Mr. Moran,” Tim said quickly. “We’ve never gotten to do anything like this before, so we’ll do what you say.”

“That’s good. Carl and Zac, do I have your word too?”

They all agreed that they understood the rules.

Moran drove to the sporting goods store and fully equipped the boys with warm boots, heavy socks, pants, and bright orange wool mackinaws and hunting caps. They all strutted around in the store in their new getups.

“Can we wear these and put our old clothes in a bag?” Zac asked.

“I don’t see why not.” Oscar grinned. “You’re certainly colorful enough. Nobody would mistake you for a deer. That’s why you have bright clothes like that.”

“Gosh, Mr. Moran,” Tim said. “Thanks so much for these clothes. They feel great and they’re so warm.” The other boys chimed in, and Oscar waved his hand and cut them off.

“I’m glad to do it, boys. It makes me feel young myself to be around you fellows. Let’s be on our way.”

****

Paul Root, the music director of First Baptist Church of Jonesboro, had big ideas for the music program. Usually his ideas were bigger than the talent he had available, but he never grew discouraged. He loved his work, no matter the skill level of the people. He had invited Alona to meet him at the church on Saturday afternoon before choir rehearsal while the boys were on their hunting trip. Normally the choir practised on Wednesday night, but he had called a special rehearsal in order to read through the new music.

After the two exchanged greetings, Alona told him about the trip and how excited all three of the boys had been before they left.

“It’s good for Oscar too,” Paul said. “He told me all about it. I think he was at least as excited as the boys.”

After a little more talk, he said, “I was hoping you would help me with the Easter cantata. It’s going to be quite an undertaking, Alona. It’s more difficult than most of the music we do. I was wondering if you would mind working with the sopranos and altos for part of each rehearsal. I’d like
to have sectionals to help each group feel more comfortable with the music.”

Alona was pleased that he had asked her. Now that she wasn’t working, she had plenty of time on her hands, and she was confident that she would do a good job. It would also give her an opportunity to use her piano skills, which were getting a bit rusty. “I would enjoy that, Paul. Thanks for asking.”

He showed her a few of the pages that he thought would be most difficult for the women while she marked the spots with bookmarks.

“What do you think about Jason joining the choir?” Alona asked curiously

“I think it’s great. Have you heard him sing?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“You’ll be surprised. I think he could have been a professional singer if he’d wanted to.”

“Have you heard people talking about the way he lives? I’ve heard that drinking is a real problem for him.”

“Yes, I’ve heard that too,” Paul said reluctantly. “I guess he gets to thinking about what he could have been and it gets him down. But I think it’s a good thing for him to be in church.”

“That’s exactly what I think.”

“You encourage him all you can, Alona, and I’ll do the same. And we’ve got to recruit some more people for the cantata.”

“Maybe we can get some of the Methodists to come, or the Pentecostals.”

“I’d even take an Episcopalian,” Paul said, then laughed. “I’ll take anybody who can sing.”

As the choir members started arriving, Paul greeted them each enthusiastically.

Alona was keeping an eye out for Jason, and when he arrived, she went up to him at once. He was already being greeted by two of the other tenors. “I’m glad to see you, Jason.”

“Gosh, I feel like I’ve been ambushed.” He looked around nervously. “I’m as out of place here as a bullfrog on a highway with his hopper busted.”

“You shouldn’t feel like that.”

“Yes I should. I’m not living for the Lord, and I know it, and everybody else knows it too.”

Alona felt sorry for the man. She did not know him very well, but she knew his talent and even his life were being wasted. “We all have our problems. Some people’s are just easier to see than others’.”

Paul Root called out that he was ready to start and asked everyone to take a seat. He asked them to pause for a moment of prayer and then he passed out the new music. “We’re going to have the best Easter cantata we’ve ever had!” he exclaimed, excitement glowing in his eyes. “I’m going to count on all of you to come faithfully to practice and recruit anybody who has any talent at all, whether they come to this church or not. We’ll sing together and we’ll pray together, and we’ll show this town what Easter should be like—at least in music.”

They started sight-reading the new cantata, and Alona was surprised to hear the clear, powerful tenor of Jason Moran’s voice.
Why, he’s great!

After the rehearsal, as they were putting their music folders on the shelves, Alona said, “You have a beautiful voice, Jason.”

“Thank you, Alona. I like the cantata we’re working on.” They went to the coatrack and Jason held her coat for her. “Have you eaten any supper yet?” he asked.