Promises to Keep - Ann Tatlock [87]
When he put her down, Tillie cupped the man’s face with her hands and said, “Let me look at you, son. How are you? Are you all right?”
The man nodded and laughed. His breath came out in little puffs of cloud. “I’m fine, Mother. Just fine. Jiminy, but it’s good to be home.”
“Come on in out of the cold, both of you boys,” Tillie said, and in another moment they were in the front hallway, where Tillie, about to burst wide open with excitement and pride, introduced Mom and me to her son Lyle Monroe. A few more minutes and we were seated at the kitchen table drinking steaming cups of coffee and hot chocolate while Lyle talked about his journey back from Bolivia.
He was a friendly, cheerful man, with a dry wit and a quick laugh that sank into your bones like something warm and comforting. He must have taken after his father in appearance, because he didn’t look at all like Tillie or Johnny. Where their faces were round, his was narrow; where they were short and plump, he was tall and lean. He had thick unruly hair and brown leathery skin that had no doubt been darkened by the South American sun. But the eyes . . . now those were his mother’s. Blue and bright and flashing with a gaiety and a certain gentleness that I didn’t often see.
About thirty minutes into the conversation, Lyle took Valerie onto his lap, where she settled easily. He patted her head and sighed. “Yes, sir, it’s good to be here. That’s not to say I didn’t love Bolivia, because I did, loved every minute of my years there, but once I made up my mind to leave, I was ready to do it. I actually felt homesick for the first time ever, so I knew I’d made the right decision to come back. I’m not completely sure what God has planned for me here, but I’m ready to find out.” He sighed again and looked around the room. “You know, there were days when I was sick with malaria that I thought I’d never see this old house again. It sure is good to be home.”
Mom’s eyes widened in alarm. If Wally were there, I knew he’d be jumping in right about then to make sure everyone understood this house belonged to Janis Anthony, and that while we had made room for one Monroe, we were hardly going to make room for another.
But Wally wasn’t there, and Tillie was pouring Lyle yet another cup of coffee, and Lyle and Johnny were talking about the improvements Johnny had made to the house before he sold it, and I figured if Mom wasn’t going to say something then I’d better go ahead and do it. Because if Lyle Monroe planned on moving in like his mother had, there wouldn’t be any room left at all for Daddy when he finally decided it was time to come back home.
“You don’t plan to live here again, do you?” I blurted.
Lyle and Johnny fell silent, both looking as though I’d asked a question in a dead language. Lyle tapped one finger on the table and finally said, “You mean, live in this house?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Because we really don’t have room for you here.”
A smile spread across his face slowly, like molasses oozing over pancakes, and when the smile had reached as far as it could go, Lyle Monroe burst out laughing. “Of course I’m not going to live in this house with you,” he said. He glanced at Mom, then looked back at me. “Why, that wouldn’t even be proper. No, right now my bed is the couch in Johnny’s living room, but I plan to move into Miss Charlotte’s place temporarily, until I can find something more permanent.”
“Miss Charlotte’s place?” Mom asked. I noted the relief on her face, and congratulated myself on confronting this possible intruder when Wally wasn’t there to do it.
Lyle Monroe nodded. “It’s a boardinghouse way up on the north side of town. Not many such houses left, but Miss Charlotte, she’s a fixture around here. Like I say, I plan to take a room there for a little while, till I can get myself settled into a teaching job.”
“I see,” Mom said. “What do you teach, Mr. Monroe?”
“Elementary ed, which means I teach a little of everything – math, science, reading. That’s what I was doing in Bolivia on the mission compound. Teaching the missionary kids.”
“You like