A Groom to Come Home To

“My paternal grandmother was a rather famous midwife, and I may have inherited the desire to follow in her footsteps.”

“We’re currently launching a program of health care and are anticipating your help in getting it started out. We plan to establish an outpatient clinic—which we want you to organize and manage—with a major focus on service to women and children. Our miners’ families can come there, at minimal cost, for their health needs. And you would also be available for assisting at home births if the women prefer that.”

“There wouldn’t be a doctor at the clinic?”

“Yes, in a supervisory role. Wesley Andrews, a notable doctor in the area, would be at the clinic a few hours each week, but you will take part of the heavy load he carries by monitoring blood pressure and similar problems, giving immunization shots, and treating colds and flu. But maternity care will be your major focus, with prenatal and postnatal instruction as you can fit those classes into your schedule. Later on, if this proves successful, we will build other clinics. This will be a pilot project, and your success will greatly influence our plans for expansion. What do you think?”

She stared at the man for a few minutes—incredulous that he would expect one person to do all that work. And a person with so little professional experience, besides.

“It sounds rather overwhelming, but I’m hardly in a position to refuse,” she replied honestly.

Shriver laughed lightly. “I’ll admit I would be disappointed if you refused this assignment, but I also know that if you aren’t willing, aren’t excited about the project, it won’t be successful.”

“Of course, I’ll accept it and do the best I can. It sounds as if it could be a great benefit to the miners and their families. Where’s the clinic located?”

“Near Shriver Mine No. 10 in Harlan County.”

Beth clutched the arms of the chair as dizziness swept over her, and the face of Milton Shriver faded before her eyes.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, as he rose to assist her. “Are you ill?”

She waved him back to his chair, swallowed with difficulty, and tried to force a smile. “You gave me quite a shock. I was born in Harlan County and lived there until I was sixteen years old. Memories of my childhood aren’t pleasant, and I’d hoped that I would never have to live there again.”

Shriver’s face showed his surprise. “When you graduated from high school in Prestonburg, we naturally assumed that was your home. I didn’t know that you had any connection to Harlan County.”

“It’s been home to the Warners for over two hundred years, but I moved to Prestonburg with my maternal grandmother after the death of my parents.”

“Under these circumstances,” he replied kindly, “I won’t hold you to your agreement to take over the clinic, but I would like for you to take a week to look over the situation before you reject it completely. I’ll have one of our executives accompany you to Harlan County and show you the clinic and the area where you would work. He’s an expert on conditions in the coalfields of eastern Kentucky. Just a minute, I’ll have him come in—he’s planning to take you to lunch.”

Shriver walked to a door that opened into an adjoining office.

“Will you come in now, please?” A man then appeared in the open doorway, and at first, Beth didn’t recognize him; he looked so different from the man she had once known.

“Beth, I want you to meet Clark Randolph, although Clark tells me that you’re already acquainted. Clark will be your supervisor—your contact with the company.”

Again, dizziness assailed Beth, but she struggled to her feet, wanting to run away, and the face she had once known so well blurred before her. This couldn’t be Clark—no longer a miner, but a well-groomed executive, dressed in a dark business suit, silk tie, and white shirt, looking right at home in the headquarters of Shriver Mining Company.

But when he walked toward her, she knew it was Clark. Clothes couldn’t change his graceful, easy tread, and his steady and serene gaze, which held her spellbound when he held out his hand. “Hello, Beth.”

“Hello,” she squeaked, and her voice sounded unnatural. Desperately needing some link to steady her nerves, she gripped his hand tightly, and even in the trauma of the moment, she noticed that his hands were not rough to the touch as they had been the last time she’d seen him.

Why had she ever come back to Kentucky? If she had taken a job elsewhere, she could eventually have repaid Shriver Mining the amount of the scholarship.

Milton Shriver looked from one to the other, his eyes keen question marks. Try as she would, Beth could not control her emotions. Clark had expected to see her, and he seemed to be at ease. In such a short time, how could Clark have progressed from an underground miner to the position he held here? Beth felt as if her face had a plaster cast over it, and she could hardly move her lips when she turned to Shriver.

“When do you want to see me again?”

“This afternoon or tomorrow, after you and Clark have had an opportunity to talk over your work.”

“I guess I’ll need to check into a motel if I’m going to be here a few days.”

“That will be at our expense, Miss Warner. Clark will take care of it for you.”

“Thank you.” Without looking at Clark, Beth turned and walked out into the hall, but she could hear his footsteps behind her, and when they reached the front office, he said to the receptionist, “Stephanie, I’ll be out of the office for a few hours.” The woman favored Beth with a sharp glance, and Beth wondered if Stephanie could sense the tension between herself and Clark.

Clark opened the door for Beth, then took her arm as they went down the steps. Her nerves tightened at his touch.

“We’ll go in my car,” he said, and he led her to a red sport-utility vehicle, which had Shriver Mining Company emblazoned on the door. When she stepped inside, the last vestige of control to which she had so tenaciously held, deserted her, and she dropped her head on the padded dashboard and sobbed—hard, wrenching sobs that shook her entire body. As far as Beth could remember, she hadn’t cried since she’d left Kentucky, but now she couldn’t stop as she sobbed out the frustrations and disappointments of a lifetime. Clark remained silent, though from time to time she felt his strong hand tenderly touch her shoulder or stroke her hair.

Last night, she had determined to forget the past, but as Clark drove quietly out of the parking lot and accessed Interstate 64 heading east, Beth’s thoughts turned to the tumultuous incidents that had taken her away from Warner Hollow.

After the Christmas when Clark had declared his love for her, eastern Kentucky had been plunged into two months of inclement weather that closed the schools for weeks, and when they reopened, Beth was marooned at her home in Warner Hollow for an additional two weeks.

Consequently, she fell behind in her studies and her grades weren’t nearly as good as they had been the first semester. She rarely saw Clark. They exchanged a few words on the school bus and passed an occasional note, but there was no opportunity to discuss what had happened between them on Christmas Eve.

When spring came, Clark signed up for the softball team, and he practiced after school and played on Saturdays. He took his father’s car to school so he could have transportation home after ball practice, so he didn’t often ride the bus.

One Friday afternoon in late April, however, Clark boarded the bus, and he sat beside Beth and slipped a note into her hand. She secreted the note in the pocket of her jacket, but she went to her bedroom as soon as she could and read his words: “Meet me at the tree stand, Sunday afternoon.”

Beth was excited to have the opportunity to see Clark again, and she thought about it constantly until it was time to meet him. She hurried up the mountain, and she was panting when she reached their rendezvous, disappointed to find that she was there ahead of Clark.

He came before too long, apologizing. “We were late getting home from church this morning, and we have another meeting tonight, so I can’t stay long.” He drew her into his arms. “I’ve missed you.”

“Same here. I thought the winter would never end.”

They climbed the ladder and sat on the platform. The sun shining through the tree branches showing the first signs of foliage was warm and relaxing.

“Looks as if the squirrels used our place as a kitchen table this winter,” Clark said as he brushed acorn hulls and hickory-nut shells from the wide boards.

He sat beside her, with his arm around her shoulder, and Beth leaned against him.

“Beth, will you go to the prom with me?”

She drew a quick breath. “Oh, I wouldn’t dare. It might start the feud again.”

“Who’s left to fight? Hardly any Randolphs live around here except my family, and we aren’t going to be involved in a feud.”

“My half brothers would pick a fight with anyone. As you may have gathered, I’m not very proud of my relatives. My sister, Luellen, doesn’t like me, and the two boys are always in some kind of trouble. They would sue you in a minute if they thought they could make any money off you.”

“We don’t have any money, so I’ll risk it. Will you go with me?”

“Let me think about it.”

Wanting very much to attend the prom, Beth asked her mother for her permission, omitting the fact that freshmen couldn’t go unless they went with an upperclassman.

“You’d need a new dress, I reckon.”

Her heart lightening, Beth said, “I can send a letter to Pam, and she could pick out something suitable at that secondhand store. I’ve gotten through this year with the clothes she helped me to buy. She’ll know what I need, and it won’t cost much.”