Her words had taken on a defensive tone, and there was an unmistakable hint of desperation in her voice. She looked used and worn, and she did not look well. Nest suddenly felt the cold and grayness of the day more acutely. The sun had slipped all the way west, and darkness hung in the bare-limbed trees like a shroud.
“Of course, it’s all right,” she told Bennett softly.
The smile returned. “I knew it would be. You were always my big sister, Nest. Even when I was back with Big Momma and the other kids, moved to that southern Indiana redneck farming town…”
Her voice tightened, and she shivered with more than the cold.
“Mommy?” the little girl at her side said, tugging on her sleeve.
Bennett reached down and touched her round cheek. “Hey, pumpkin, it’s okay. This is your Aunt Nest. Nest, this is my baby girl, Harper.”
Nest came forward and dropped to one knee in front of the little girl. “Hello, Harper.”
“Say hello to Aunt Nest, baby,” Bennett encouraged.
The little girl lifted her eyes doubtfully. “Lo, Neth.”
Bennett picked her up and hugged her close. “She’s kind of shy at first, but once she gets to know you, she’s real friendly. Talks all the time. She can say a lot of words, can’t you, baby?”
Harper dug her face into her mother’s shoulder, entwining her tiny fists in Bennett’s dark hair. “Appo juss.”
Nest straightened. “I might have some apple juice in the fridge. Come on inside.”
Bennett picked up a small satchel sitting to one side and, still carrying Harper, followed Nest through the back porch door and into the house. Nest took them into the kitchen and sat them down at the table. She accepted a baby cup from Bennett and filled it with apple juice. The baby began to suck the liquid down with steady, hungry gulps.
Nest busied herself with emptying the dishwasher while Bennett bounced Harper gently on one knee. Every so often Nest would glance over, still trying to convince herself that it was really Bennett Scott. Piercings and tattoos aside, the young woman sitting at her kitchen table didn’t look anything like the girl she remembered. All of the softness and round-ness was gone; everything was sharp and angular. Bennett had been full of life and bright-eyed; she had been a repository of fresh possibilities. Now she looked hollowed out, as if her life had been reduced to harsh truths that boxed her in.
“Would you like something to eat?” she asked impulsively, still worried about the way Bennett looked,
“What have you got?” Bennett Scott asked.
“How about some chicken noodle soup for you and Harper? It’s only Campbell’s, but it might take the edge off the chill.” She looked over. “Are you hungry?”
“Sure.” Bennett was looking down at Harper. “We haven’t had anything to eat…”
Nest put on a can of chicken noodle soup, made some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and peeled an orange. She didn’t take any for herself, which was just as well. Harper and Bennett ate everything.
As she watched them eating, Nest found herself recalling how long it had been since she had seen Bennett. Bennett had lived with her for almost two years while her alcoholic mother drifted in and out of rehab facilities and struggled to get her life together. Fifteen years ago, when Nest was fourteen, Enid Scott’s boyfriend had beaten her oldest boy, Nest’s close friend Jared, so badly he had almost died. The result was a court action that stripped Enid of her children and put them in foster homes. Old Bob was still alive then, and Nest had begged him to bring little Bennett, who was only five, home to live with them. Old Bob, perhaps remembering Gran’s promise to Enid to do what she could for her, applied for temporary custody of the little girl, and the court agreed to give it to him.
It was a hard time in everyone’s life. Nest and Bennett had gone through a traumatic and life-altering experience over a Fourth of July weekend that saw John Ross come and go from Hopewell like a one-man wrecking crew. Gran was dead. Enid was in recovery. All of the Scott children were in separate homes. Something of what they had survived brought them closer together. They became like sisters in the weeks and months that followed, and Nest remembered even now how happy Bennett had been living with her.