Hearts Awakening by Delia Parr Page B

garden, if only to keep some healing herbs handy.
    “You’ve got some good blisters and more comin’,” Gram quipped and edged past Ellie to sort through a basket Ellie had not noticed before that was stored close to the window on the lowest shelf. “I’m afraid I didn’t help matters much by squeezin’ those hands of yours like I did, which means I should make amends.”
    “There’s no need. Truly,” Ellie argued.
    “Every wrong should be made right, and no right should be forgotten. And no woman should have to cook on a pile of iron plates, which is why I won’t let Michael put one of those contraptions in that kitchen of his for Alice,” Gram countered with a crooked grin.
    After she moistened several diamond-shaped pigweed leaves she had selected from the basket, she placed them, one at a time, on the tender, reddened flesh on Ellie’s palms with hands gnarled by more than ten decades of use. Cool sensations took the sting away almost immediately. “Leave them sit a spell. You’ll still blister some more, but not as bad. You’ll heal quicker, too.”
    “That feels much better. Thank you.” Ellie was curious as to how Gram knew where Rebecca had stored her healing herbs. “Did you visit here often?”
    “Often enough to know Jackson as well as I know my own grandson,” Gram replied before she frowned. “Where’s your ring?”
    “My ring?”
    “Your wedding ring.”
    Ellie lowered her gaze. “Oh, I . . . I don’t wear it when I’m doing housework.”
    Gram put a finger under Ellie’s chin and tipped up her face. “Don’t tell me Jackson didn’t take the time to buy you a proper ring and gave you one of those rings Charles Burke whittles for somethin’ to do.”
    Ellie swallowed hard. “We didn’t exactly . . . that is, we decided to get married fairly suddenly. He didn’t really have time to buy a ring.”
    Gram plopped herself into the chair next to Ellie. “Good girl.”
    Ellie cocked a brow.
    “Defending your husband, regardless of which busybody tries to malign him, is a good and proper thing to do. I always defended all three of my husbands, bless their souls, at least until we got back home behind closed doors again. Still, I wouldn’t let that man of yours off too easily. He can afford a proper ring. Make sure he gets one for you, one you can wear no matter what you’re doing. It’s important for other folks to see.”
    “I try not to put much stock in what other people think,” Ellie replied. Recalling the images of women who had looked at her with pity for years, she shook her head. “That’s not entirely true. What other people think matters to me . . . sometimes.”
    “Good girl.” Gram patted her arm. “Honesty seems to come naturally to you, although there are times when I believe the good Lord forgives a lie, ’specially when it’s done to keep from hurtin’ someone who doesn’t need hurtin’. Just don’t tell Reverend Shore I said so. He gets a bit touchy sometimes, especially if you interrupt his dinner. Acts like he’s the only one who knows the real meaning of the Word sometimes, too, but he’s young yet. He’s only sixty-seven.”
    Giggling, Ellie shook her head. “He had to leave his dinner to marry us a few days ago, and he did seem to rush through the ceremony.”
    Gram laughed, revealing the few yellowed teeth left in her mouth. “Let’s take a look at those hands of yours again.”
    Ellie lifted up the leaves. “Most of the redness is gone.” She wriggled her fingers. “The skin isn’t as taut as it was before, and the blisters don’t appear to be anything that will last more than a day or two,” she said. “I don’t know how to thank you for helping me.”
    Gram smacked her lips together. “You could try cutting me a big wedge of one of those apple pies I spied up on that top shelf before the others get back and start digging into them.”
    Ellie chuckled. “I’ll do more than try, and I’ll even top it off with a thick slice