Endless Chain. Emilie Richards

peas.”

      She smiled at Sam when he laughed. His eyes were warm, and he reached out to fluff Reese’s hair.

      “What do you think?” he asked. “Could you live here comfortably?”

      She’d only had a chance to glance around, but she nodded. “It’s a lovely house, filled with character.”

      “At one time it was filled with trash. That’s one of the things you’ll have to watch out for if you move in. Helen has a fondness for collecting. It took Nancy and Tessa a whole summer to get the house in shape.”

      “They did a good job.” The living room where they stood was tastefully decorated in an uncluttered country style. She had not lived anywhere so inviting in many years.

      A woman with short blond hair appeared on the stairs. “Sam?”

      “Come down and meet Elisa.”

      She came down the steps at a fast clip. She was dressed casually, but Elisa recognized good quality clothing. She was moving through middle age, but she was a woman who clearly took care of herself.

      “Nancy Whitlock,” she said, thrusting out her hand in greeting. “Helen’s daughter.” They exchanged the requisite remarks before Nancy turned to Sam and spoke in low tones.

      “I’m sorry we weren’t in church yesterday, but you can see what we’re up against here. I hope you explained to Elisa that Mama probably isn’t going to go for this?”

      “I did.”

      “I’m sorry,” Nancy told Elisa. “They invented ‘stubborn old coot’ to describe my mother.”

      Sam defended Helen. “She just wants a say in her life. I think she might consider Elisa. She practically ordered me to hire her at the church.”

      “Good thing you did, then, or you’d never hear the end of it.”

      Elisa brought them back to the real point. “I like your mother, but if she doesn’t want me here, I don’t want to be here.”

      “That’s a good start. As long as she thinks you’re listening to her, she’ll be a lot more cooperative.”

      A noise on the stairs announced Helen’s arrival. She was not spry, but she managed the steps with little difficulty. “Nobody told me we had company.”

      “I was just coming to get you,” Nancy said. “Did you finish packing the baby’s things?”

      “I did, but I can’t say I’m happy about it.”

      “They’ll be back.”

      “Well, at least it’ll be quiet here for a change.” Helen nodded at Elisa, then at Sam. “You two here for a reason?”

      “Do I need one? Couldn’t you use a good minister every now and then?”

      “If we had one in the vicinity.”

      Nancy poked her mother in the arm. “I can hear the devil stoking up his bonfires, Mama. For heaven’s sake!”

      “She doesn’t like a thing I say,” Helen told Elisa.

      “Maybe not, but I think she likes you.”

      Helen’s lips twitched. “Nancy’ll go back to Richmond soon enough, I guess. We can get along until then if we have to.”

      “Helen, I wanted you to know I hired Elisa the way you told me to,” Sam said.

      “What are you all standing around for? Sit down and I’ll get coffee. There’s a pot warming in the kitchen.” Helen gestured to Reese, still contented on Elisa’s hip. “You’re spoiling her.”

      “I hope so.”

      The corners of Helen’s mouth twitched again.

      Once she’d gone, Nancy’s shoulders slumped. “Well, she likes you,” she whispered. “I can’t tell you how much better we’d all feel if you were here. Sam says you work at Shadyside, too?”

      Elisa nodded.

      “Mostly Mama just needs company and somebody to bar the door if she tries to start a recycling center in the living room.”

      Helen returned with a tray of mugs, and a pot of coffee with cream and sugar, which she set on the table. “Nobody’s sitting down!”

      Taking a seat, Elisa tried to pull Reese up on her lap. The baby decided she’d had enough togetherness and wriggled free, sliding off the sofa and starting toward the stairs. Helen reached her before Elisa could even stand.

      “Oh, no you don’t,” she said, scooping the baby into her arms. “Cissy!”

      Cissy appeared at the head. “Well, I got a break. It was nice, too. Unusual.”

      “Oh, stop complaining. We can keep her down here, but you’ll need to bring the baby gate down.”

      “No thanks, I’ll just bring her up with me. Tessa says she’ll hold her while I finish packing my clothes.” By the time the speech was finished, Cissy had arrived to whisk the baby away.

      Helen made herself at home in a flowered armchair. “So you just came to tell me you got smart and hired Elisa? Or maybe you have another idea in that holy head of yours?”

      “We won’t ask you to spell holy.” Sam poured coffee for Elisa and passed it to her. He held out the pot toward Nancy, who shook her head, as did Helen.

      Without fanfare, he moved on to the reason for their visit. “Elisa is looking for a place to live. It’s that simple, Helen. Her roommate’s getting married and needs Elisa’s room. You know how little rental housing there is in the area.”

      “I know all about your plan. You people think I’m deaf and don’t know what all this whispering on the phone’s been about?”

      One look at Helen’s expression and Elisa dismissed the possibility that she would be moving here. She could see that the family had made too much out of hiring a companion and completely antagonized the old woman in the process. Helen had no choice now but to assert her independence and refuse Sam’s request.

      Elisa stood before Helen could deliver the bad news. Setting her mug on the table, she wandered over to a quilt rack in the corner. “I’m sure you don’t want a stranger in your house. I don’t want to trouble you about this. I’ll find another place, but I’m glad I had a chance to visit. Is this one of your quilts?”

      Helen was silent a moment, as if she had to reorient herself before she answered. “Just something to take off the chill. I never got cold in the summer before Nancy went and put in an air conditioner.”

      The quilt was red and yellow, with bright splashes of blue in some of the symmetrical blocks. Elisa discovered several more quilts underneath.

      “Oh, they’re all beautiful. Such fine workmanship.”

      “I’ll show you more.” Nancy got up.

      “You don’t have to bother the girl none.” Helen sounded flustered. “It was a simple compliment, not a request for one of your quilt shows.”

      “Elisa, would you like to see a few more quilts?” Nancy asked.

      “I really would.”

      Nancy opened a wooden trunk beside a comfortable armchair. “I keep some of my favorites down here. If Mama had her way, she’d pile them in a corner upstairs, where nobody could look at them.”

      “I sure didn’t teach you enough about vanity, did I?” Helen demanded.

      “There’s vanity,” Sam said, “and then there’s good old-fashioned self-respect.”

      Nancy pulled out a quilt and held it in front of her. “This is a new one. Mama calls it ‘Oklahoma Made a Monkey Out of Me.’”

      Elisa