A Rose Revealed by Gayle Roper

laid him gently on her bed, placing him in the indentation her head had left on her pillow. He rested there a minute before he resumed his thin cry. She sat on the bed, leaned against the headboard, and picked him up. He began to nurse with more energy than I expected.
    We sat in silence for a few minutes, the only sound that of Trevor’s suckling.
    “Rose, can you do something for me?” Becky asked suddenly.
    “If I can,” I said.
    “I need to contact my Uncle Davy and tell him his father died. All I have is this address that Grandmother Annie gave me.”
    I looked at the scrap of paper she handed me and saw that Davy and Lauren Stoltzfus lived in Denton, Texas.
    I nodded and took my phone out of my backpack. I dialed 411 and got Information. I felt certain the number would be unlisted. After all, Davy was a race car driver. Wouldn’t he have fans he was trying to hide from? I was surprised when I got the number immediately.
    I dialed, knowing it was an hour earlier in Denton than here, and it wasn’t even dawn here yet. A woman’s voice answered, remarkably pleasant for being wakened.
    “May I speak to Davy Stoltzfus?” I asked.
    “I’m afraid he’s out of town. May I take a message?”
    “Am I speaking with Lauren?” I asked.
    “Yes.”
    “Lauren, I’m going to hand you over to Davy’s niece Becky who has some news for Davy.”
    I handed Becky the phone and listened as she told Lauren about Old Nate’s death.
    “I don’t know when services will be,” Becky said. “Probably Tuesday.”
    “Tell her I’ll call her when we know,” I said. “And give her my number.”
    Becky did so, hung up, and looked at me in surprise. “She said to tell Annie she loves her.”
    “That’s nice,” I said, missing the implications of that innocuous comment.
    “But how does Lauren even know Annie?” Becky asked. “Davy met her after he left home. At least that’s the gossip I heard. She’s from Texas. Is that far?”
    I blinked. “Yes, it’s pretty far.”
    “Do you think…” Becky’s eyes narrowed in thought. “Do you think maybe Grandmother Annie has been in contact with Davy and Lauren all these years? I mean, how else would Lauren know Annie well enough to say she loved her?”
    “Would your grandfather have allowed it?”
    Becky shook her head emphatically. “Absolutely not.” Her hand flew to her mouth. “Grandmother Annie’s gone behind his back!”
    “Now you don’t know that,” I cautioned.
    “But she had the address right at hand.”
    We looked at each other and grinned. Wicked, wicked.
    Trevor gurgled and Becky looked down at him. She smiled and ran her finger softly over his nearly bald skull.
    “All I ever wanted was to have a baby,” she said. “Lots of babies. To be a mutter .”
    “But you’ve done it the hard way, honey.” I sat on the edge of the bed, filled with regret on her behalf.
    “True,” she said. “And I’m sorry about that. But I’m not sorry about you, Trevor, my sweet. You are just wonderful.”
    I smiled at them. “You’re wonderful, Becky. You do far more than any fifteen-year-old could be expected to do, and you do it so capably.”
    Becky cleared her throat. “You need to know something, Rose.” She looked at me, her brown eyes filled with resolve and something I read as trust. “I’m not fifteen. I turned eighteen last week. They said I was fifteen when I came because it made everything look less like a willful sin and more like the foolish mistake of an ignorant girl. But I knew what I was doing, and I know what I’m doing now.” She paused. “And I know my baby is going to die.”
    My heart skipped a beat at her quiet statement. I wished with all my heart that I could tell her she was wrong, but in truth I thought Trevor had survived this long due only to the extraordinary love of his mother.
    Becky looked at me with a sad smile. “Denki for not lying to me.”
    I squeezed her hand gently. “I wish I could tell you differently,