The Summer of Bells: The Essences Saga - Book #2

Summer: Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

The next morning, I took Nicole to meet Nell Bosier. When Dr. Moore said she was kooky, he wasn’t kidding. She lived in a trailer on the outskirts of town, and Nicole shot me a look of terror as I stopped the car outside of it. Garden gnomes, pinwheels, bird feeders, and wind chimes ate up every inch of space not occupied by the small driveway. A sign next to the screen door read, “If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.”

“It’ll be fine,” I assured her without feeling the sentiment. She sensed that and didn’t move from the car.

“Come on,” I urged her. “Nell came highly recommended.”

“By who?”

“Mrs. Baker and Dr. Moore.”

She shook her head. “Then I won’t trust either of them ever again.”

I smiled. “Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”

Nicole eased her body out of the car. “If she does some kind of voodoo chanting, I’m out of here.”

Nell greeted us both with a pleasant smile, and Nicole visible relaxed. The older woman was dark-skinned and had a mass of black curls cut short. She was tiny, shorter than Mae, and skinnier than a rail. But she had a warming demeanor, regardless of the stinging shrewdness in her dark eyes.

“Well, let me have a look at you,” Nell said, circling Nicole and looking her up and down. “You’ve got four weeks left, and you’ve been having your curse for about two years now.”

Nicole’s cheeks flushed through the scrutiny. I sat quietly on the chair offered me, keeping my inner eye on Nell. She seemed to know what she was doing. Her soul told that she was focused on Nicole and not the least bit at odds to how young Nicole was.

“Any problems? Back aches, bad bowels, pain in your woman parts?”

“Uh, no,” Nicole answered.

Nell nodded her miniature head and waved Nicole to the sofa. “Well, have a seat, young lady.” She watched how Nicole gingerly cradled her belly as she reclined back into the cushions, her dark eyes not missing anything.

“You’ve been to see the doc?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Nicole answered.

“You know what you’re having?”

“No, ma’am.”

Nell squinted. “You want to know?”

I blinked rapidly. “You can tell what the baby is just from looking?”

Nell turned those dark eyes to me for the first time. “’Course I can. You the grandmother?”

“Heavens no,” I laughed. “Did Mrs. Baker tell you anything about Nicole?”

“Didn’t ask,” she replied. “Not my business on how she’s in the family way. I’m here for what happens next.”

“And what happens next?” I asked.

Nell looked back at Nicole. “You want to know your baby’s sex, or not?”

“I’d rather not, if you don’t mind.”

“Don’t mind?” Nell’s voice roared. Them she barked a raspy laugh. “Honey child, it don’t make a difference to me. You the one that’s gonna care for the babe. But girls and boys are different creatures. They don’t come screaming into this world the same way.”

“Ms. Bosier,” I interrupted. “We’d like to know how you can help us. I’ve never had a child myself, and Nicole can’t do this blindly.”