Lizzie Jane was a little scared, not knowing what to expect -- meeting people that knew her, but she was sure that she would not recognize them. Also, her old boy friend, Jake, would probably be there, too. She prayed that he would be off fishing or something.

Chapter 15

Thinking they would probably have more visitors than they could handle, Jed and Maudie kept the return of Lizzie Jane quiet. It was just a couple of days until Sunday and they had thought that would be the proper time for everyone to learn the good news.

Aunt Maudie, Carol, and Lizzie Jane were planning to prepare a large lunch and invite everyone to Jed and Maudie's home. (Actually, Lizzie Jane just went along with the idea.) Since a large crowd was expected, they were going to start cooking and getting things ready on Saturday.

Meanwhile Sam Henderson spent much of his time searching for a good location for his new restaurant and making plans to sell the other one. Although driven somewhat by his and Carol's love for Lizzie Jane, he realized an enormous financial advantage in placing a business in Carter's Bend. That would give Sam a chance to enjoy monopoly status, simply because there wasn't any other restaurant nearby, only an ice cream parlor (owned by another man named Sam.) Nancy, the woman who had owned Nancy’s Café, moved to take care of her invalid sister.

He looked at available sites, but none seemed sufficient. After much study, he came to the conclusion that the best site was located on the edge of Uncle Jed's property.

Sam needed about two acres to provide ample space for the restaurant with a huge parking area and to build a house with a large yard where he could have a vegetable garden. Also, he thought about trying to employ Uncle Jed and Aunt Maudie as garden keepers to supply his restaurant with fresh produce. He hoped to employ Lizzie Jane as a cook.

However, he did not want Jed to think that his friendship with Lizzie Jane were reasons to give special favors. So, he had to be careful to present the idea to Jed as a business venture and nothing else.

Sam made contact with a real estate agent to sell his old restaurant and home. He needed top dollar because he was going to use the proceeds for his new venture. Sam had always been conservative and managed to save some money, but he could not be considered wealthy. So, everything had to fall into place financially for his plans to work.

The women were busy all afternoon Saturday, purchasing items from the general store to prepare for the lunch (referred to as 'dinner' by country folk). They were planning to invite the church and others in the community.

They decided to make desserts Saturday evening since they could be held overnight and prepare the main course Sunday morning.

Puddings were the first thing -- banana and pineapple. The women decided on cakes -- chocolate, coconut, and strawberry. Although strawberries were out of season, Aunt Maudie came up with the idea of using strawberry flavoring and strawberry jam which, when prepared through the expert hands of the area's best cook, would be delicious. Maudie had some dried apples and canned peach halves, so the suggestion of apple and peach fried pies seemed appealing.

It was three very tired ladies who, after deciding they had enough dessert, literally passed out as soon as they hit the bed. It was very late in the evening and morning would come all too soon. It was true that the weary soul can rest the best.

Sunday morning, the females were at it again, preparing the vegetables and meat before church. That meant getting up very early after only a few hours rest, but Aunt Maudie and Carol were excited, so the early hour wasn't a problem. Lizzie Jane was a little scared, not knowing what to expect -- meeting people that knew her, but she was sure that she would not recognize them. Also, her old boy friend, Jake, would probably be there, too. She prayed that he would be off fishing or something.

Getting ready at the last minute, the girls piled into Jed's old pickup truck -- the girls in the cab with Jed and Sam in the back. Carol tried to drive, but she had always been used to an automatic transmission. The truck jerked every time she let out the clutch and she had to restart the engine often. Finally, it was decided that Sam would drive his truck and Carol would ride with him. Uncle Jed would drive his vehicle with Maudie and Lizzie Jane as passengers.

"Someday you need to learn how to drive," teased Sam as they made their way to church.

"Oh, shut up," laughed Carol.

Needless to say, surprise and smiles were abundant when the congregation saw Lizzie Jane. Aunt Maudie had spoken to the pastor and he made the announcement that Lizzie Jane still had not regained her memory, but everyone was welcomed for dinner at Jed and Maudie's place to get reintroduced.

After the service, there were tears and neck hugs as everyone tried to meet Lizzie Jane again. Aunt Maudie kept trying to hurry Lizzie Jane home where everyone would have opportunity to express their feelings.

On the way home, Lizzie Jane asked, "Was Jake there?"

Uncle Jed answered, "No. Someone said that he took off the weekend to go fishing."

"Well," replied Lizzie Jane. "A prayer answered." She had been afraid of a spectacle when the couple met again.

All the ladies pitched in and helped get the meal ready. Uncle Jed had constructed a long table from used 2 x 4 boards and plywood that he had stored away. He did not have much money to spend. In fact, he was worried about the cost of the food preparation. Aunt Maudie had assured him that all the extra cost came to $18.30, but that was quite a bit of money in the 50's.

However, he was thankful that summer was getting near so that Maudie's canned goods could be replaced from the garden. He wasn't too happy about the women's raid on the smokehouse for meat, particularly since he had caught so many chickens in the yard for that purpose.

Lizzie Jane meal was interrupted continually as visitors mentioned events in their lives to Lizzie Jane, hoping that she could remember. She did not have enough time to consider any because of the constant stream of concerned friends talking to her. A few, like Sally, the school teacher, decided to wait until a more opportune moment. Even with all the confusion, a few things were brought to remembrance, mainly because Lizzie Jane had dreams about them.

As the church ladies began to help clean up, Lizzie Jane was told to sit on the porch since she was the center of attention and was not needed in the kitchen. As the women wandered around trying to help and getting in each other's way, Lizzie Jane finally had a few moments to herself. Sitting in a rocker not too far from the men, she listened to them as they discussed her.

She was startled to hear the name, Jake. She listened closely and discovered that it was not her boyfriend that they were talking about, but an older Jake -- whose house they went to once when she became lost in the woods.

"Yeah," said one of the men. "If it had not been for Big John, she would have been in big trouble. I heard that he shot a panther just as it leaped toward her."

"What do you think about what Big John saw in the woods?" asked another man.

"Oh, you mean the woman he saw in white -- the one who pointed Big John toward Lizzie Jane being in trouble."

"Yeah, she claimed that the woman Big John saw was her mother who had died before Jed brought her here."

"I don't know about that. Do you believe in ghosts?"

As Lizzie Jane listened, she remembered the event. Her mother had always appeared to her in a dream, but John saw her mother in person -- and was warned about the danger just in time to take a shot at the leopard as it jumped.

A ghost? Maybe. Whatever she was, it was just enough to save Lizzie Jane's life. Aterwards, she remembered Big John escorting her out of the woods and riding on his big, broad shoulders across the field to the elder Jake's house.

As she thought about it, that event began a series of thoughts which moved through her mind for an undetermined amount of time, similar to watching a movie on a screen, only faster, and causing her to remember events in proper order.

The string of thoughts finally lead up to the time that the younger Jake had proposed. She remembered being surprised and not knowing how to answer, she had fainted. That must have been when she had hit her head on the concrete floor. In a dazed state, she remembered telling Jake, "Yes, I will marry you." She didn't know why she said that. It just seemed like the thing to say at the time.

She sat there stunned. Her complete memory had returned, from the time Big John had rescued her from the panther until the present -- or as complete as it had normally been. Now, she remembered what Jake looked like. But, did she love him? She did not know. She remembered his sweet kisses and how he had refused to leave the waiting room when she was in the hospital, recovering from a gunshot wound, until she got better.

Why had she accepted his proposal? Because she did not want to hurt his feelings? He had been so good to her, stood by her in troublesome times, and she felt that possibly he really loved her. Maybe the fall had not caused the amnesia, but her brain could have just shut down because she could not handle the thought of marriage -- not now. She did not want to hurt Jake's feelings, so forgetting everything may have been the way out.

As she considered the matter, Lizzie Jane began to realize that whatever she did would affect her future the rest of her life. Would she want to marry someone that she may not love other than as a friend? Suppose she married Jake and "Mr. Right" came along? She believed marriage was for life and she would be miserable as a wife if she found true love in another man.

Lizzie Jane had a lot to think about.
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To Be Continued...

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Copyright by Starla Anne Lowry
Under the pen name of Billie Sue Pilgrim
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