Blossom Street Brides (Blossom Street #10)(84)

“I think she might be able to go back to her apartment this afternoon. Would you like to talk to her?” Casey asked.

“Oh, sure.” During the last conversation with her mother, Lydia had the disheartening impression her mother didn’t have a clue who she was.

“Grandma, Lydia is on the phone.”

Lydia heard Casey tell her grandmother, and then the teenager added, lowering her tones, “Lydia is your daughter.”

“I know who Lydia is,” Mary Lou Hoffman insisted.

A moment later, her mother’s voice came over the cellphone. “Hi, honey. I’m feeling much better today.”

“You sound great, Mom.”

“Are you coming by to visit?”

“I’ll be there as soon as Cody’s baseball game is over.”

“Cody?” her mother repeated.

“That’s my brother,” Casey whispered in the background.

“Oh, of course, Cody and Brad. You married them.”

“You got it, Mom. I’ll see you later.” She hung up the phone, and, after chatting briefly with her sister, Lydia headed toward the ball field.

When she arrived, she found Brad sitting in the bleachers. He had saved a spot for her next to him. She joined her husband and settled in. The opposing team was up to bat, and Cody played shortstop.

Their son was athletic and enjoyed sports. In the fall, he played on a select soccer team. Having Cody or any child involved in sports was a major commitment for their family, requiring travel to other cities and even other states. To this point, because Lydia often worked weekends, Brad had taken over transporting Cody from one event to the other.

“How’d your morning go?” Brad asked, while keeping his attention focused on the field.

“Evelyn Boyle stopped by.”

Brad’s gaze momentarily left the game. “Did you mention how bad Casey’s nightmares have gotten?”

“I did.”

“And what did she say?”

Lydia mentally reviewed the conversation. “Well, it’s what you and I came up with originally. We need to get Casey into counseling.”

Brad took a couple of moments to digest this. It wasn’t an idea they’d overlooked.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Lydia said, remembering their earlier concerns.

“It isn’t the cost, Lydia. Somehow we’ll find the money. If Casey needs to talk to a professional, then we’ll make it happen, no matter what sacrifice we have to make.”

Lydia leaned her head against her husband’s shoulder. How she’d been able to marry such a wonderful man she would never know. All she could figure was that God in His goodness had decided to bless her with Brad in an effort to make up for the brain cancer she’d suffered in her youth and then later as a young adult.

“I love you, Brad Goetz.”

He chuckled. “Heaven knows I’m crazy about you. I was from the first moment I delivered yarn to the store.”

That was how they’d met. Brad had been her UPS delivery man.

“My only concern,” Brad continued, “is if Casey won’t talk to us about these nightmares, what makes Evelyn think she’d discuss them with a complete stranger?”

He had a point. “I don’t know.”

“They are professionals,” Brad added, as though thinking this through.

“Right. Counselors are trained for just this sort of thing. And …” She paused, uncertain how best to mention the change in the yarn store situation.

“Yes?” He glanced her way.

“I have good news.”

“Great. Are you going to share it?”

“With pleasure. I was going over the figures for the yarn store in the last month, and business is up substantially.” She didn’t want to sound overly optimistic. They were heading into summer, when customers didn’t think as much about knitting in hot weather as they did during the colder months of the year.

“Really? The shop is doing well financially? Lydia, that’s great news.”

“It is,” she agreed. “And I think it’s all due to those yarn baskets someone has set out. All the publicity those baskets have generated has been a huge boost.”

“I’m sure that the newspaper article helped, too.”

“You’re right, it did. Because people are curious, they’ve made a point of stopping in and asking about charity knitting. Several have purchased yarn. A handful have signed up for beginning knitting classes.”

“Sweetheart, that’s fabulous.”

“I might even be able to help finance Casey’s counseling sessions.”

Brad took a moment to assimilate the news. “I guess we need to thank the person who came up with this brilliant idea—that is, if we ever find out who is responsible.”

Lydia agreed.

Now all Lydia had to do was figure out who’d come up with this plan and find a way to thank them.

Chapter Thirty-one

Bethanne sat in her office, but her mind wasn’t on the email in front of her or business matters. It’d been almost three weeks since Annie had left. Three long, torturous weeks. Never once did she suspect her daughter would stay away this amount of time.

This had gone on far too long, and over nothing. Despite the fact that Bethanne missed Max and wanted to be with him, she wouldn’t be moving to California. On the flip side, it didn’t seem likely that he would move to Washington State, either. Bethanne felt as if she were in a no-win situation, complicated by her own daughter.