Playing by Heart Read Online Free PDF Page B

classroom at the university. Nor at Mrs. McInnish’s boardinghouse. Nor while trying to solve a difficult equation or explain a basic concept. Jewel stared back at me from the faces of my students. Her crying echoed in my head as my pencil scratched across the page.
    â€œYour mind is elsewhere, my girl.” Professor Clayton peered down at my paper. I followed his gaze. The square root of six is three? For heaven’s sake! I pushed an eraser over my error. Calculated again. 2.44948974278.
    â€œThese have been some rough days, Miss Bowman.” His face drooped with understanding. “Why don’t you put your work away for now? Go home early. Get some rest.”
    He was right. I’d been pushing myself, trying to banish Jewel’s need from my head and my heart. But I was tired. So tired. I gathered my things. “I’ll be ready to finish this tomorrow. I promise.”
    He smiled at me as if he didn’t quite believe my words. To be honest, I didn’t believe them, either. If only I could knowhow Jewel and the kids were getting along. Maybe I could go to Dunn on the weekends. Give her a break from the children, the housework. But to arrive late Friday night and leave again on Sunday wouldn’t do much to help her. Or me.
    What if I paid someone to help her? I chewed my lip and toyed with that idea. It would require economy on my part. A cheaper boardinghouse. Turning my dresses, resewing them with the faded fabric to the inside, instead of buying new ones. Surely I could find enough extra in my pay to relieve her of the need to find work, at least for a little while. Not that she’d find much in the way of employment. Not in a small town like Dunn. Not with her eighth-grade education. Maybe in nearby Lawton?
    Trudging into Mrs. McInnish’s, I sought out the newspaper to put my plan in motion. But Mrs. McInnish handed me a letter instead.
    Miss Lula Bowman was penned across the outside in Jewel’s elegant hand. I tore it open, eager for news to relieve my anxiety, more determined than before to enclose a generous gift in my reply.
    The front door slammed shut behind Miss Frank and Miss Thompson, their laughing chatter filling every crevice of the room. I angled my knees toward the wall, hoping they’d read my need to remain undisturbed. As they climbed the stairs and their voices faded, my eyes drank in Jewel’s words.
    Dearest sister,
    I hope this finds you well and happy. In spite of the reason for your visit, know that your presence here is greatly missed. The girls still can talk of nothing but Aunt Lula. You truly stole their hearts during your short stay. JC spends much of his free time at the livery stable. Mr. Timmons haskindly allowed him to help with the horses, but I fear that he needs more of me than I can give right now.
    My heart clenched. Jewel, the one who’d set aside her own grief over Mama to help me through mine, shouldn’t have that guilt. Of course, back then she’d had Davy to help shoulder her burden. Now she had no one. I cringed.
    Send someone to help her. Please, God? Someone besides me.
    I devoured Jewel’s words about Daddy, but she had nothing new to report. He remained the same. Stricken in body, active in mind. I should have made time to go see him. Don would have driven me to Chickasha. But the thought of Don and Audra hounding me to stay with Jewel had overpowered my need to see my father. My champion. Or maybe it gave me the excuse to remember Daddy as he’d been before the stroke.
    I returned to Jewel’s letter. Janice’s daughter, my twenty-year-old niece, had given birth to a son. Nothing from Ben in Texas, of course.
    And then there is my own news, Lula. The news I suspected when you all were here but didn’t know for certain. The sweet, sad secret I’ve told no one but you, even now.
    I closed my eyes, but only for a moment.
    I’m going to have a baby, Lula. In March. Davy’s final