With Maryellen unable to work and contribute to their finances, their budget was stretched to the breaking point. Jon was working as hard as he could to fill orders and make new photographs available. It was tax season, though, and sales of nonessential items were notoriously bad at this time of year.
When Jon wasn’t developing and printing his photographs, he’d been cooking whatever hours Seth Gunderson could give him at The Lighthouse. Until last weekend, when it burned to the ground in the biggest fire in Cedar Cove’s history. Everyone in town was sick about losing The Lighthouse. The money from Jon’s job at the restaurant was gone now, too. They were back to first base financially.
As it was, Jon was working constantly to support the family, plus taking care of her, Katie and the upkeep on the house. Her husband was worn out, and Maryellen didn’t know how much longer he could continue this killing pace. The baby, the fire and now this problem with her sister.
Kelly was pregnant, too, but unfortunately she’d been experiencing terrible bouts of morning sickness. She spent the first half of every day bent over a toilet. Paul had put his foot down; taking care of Katie was simply too much for her, he’d said. Maryellen understood. Her sister wanted to help and felt dreadful about letting everyone down, but she just couldn’t look after Katie anymore.
Now Maryellen had to tell her husband that, in addition to everything else, he’d have to supervise their two-year-old daughter. At best, he’d have a ninety-minute reprieve when Katie went down for her nap. Most afternoons she only slept an hour.
As Jon walked downstairs from his small office, he entered the living room—and obviously realized that something was wrong.
“What is it?”
Maryellen patted the empty space next to her on the bed.
“That bad?” he said as though this was a joke.
“You’d better sit down,” she said, trying to smile. She suspected the effort was unconvincing. “That was Kelly on the phone.”
“Katie’s all right?”
“Katie’s fine.” It was everything else that wasn’t.
Jon sank down on the foot of her makeshift bed. “The baby?”
Maryellen rested her hand on her stomach. “If all the kicking is any indication, I’d say this baby has more energy than the two of us combined.”
Jon relaxed and reached for her hand. She’d seen little of him while she was pregnant with Katie, and they both wanted him to share as much of this pregnancy as possible. Maryellen wished it could be a more positive experience.
“Things will improve soon,” he reassured her.
“I know,” she whispered, struggling with what she had to tell him.
He took her gently in his arms. “Do I need to remind you how much I love you? Without you and Katie, I’m nothing.”
Maryellen leaned back and took in a deep breath. “Kelly’s pregnant.”
“I know,” Jon said, his voice puzzled. They’d talked about the two cousins being born within a few months of each other. Paul and Kelly were ecstatic about this second pregnancy. She’d had difficulty getting pregnant the first time and there would be almost six years between the two children.
“She’s been suffering from severe morning sickness again.” Kelly had the same problem when she was pregnant with Tyler. “So…”
Jon tensed, as if he knew what was coming. “She can’t watch Katie anymore.”
Maryellen nodded wearily. “She hated to tell me. Kelly feels terrible about this. But chasing after a two-year-old while she’s feeling so sick—she just can’t do it.”
Silently Jon stared into the distance. This was one more burden. Maryellen didn’t dare make the obvious suggestion. In their last letter, his father and stepmother had offered to help. Yet the one time she’d brought up the subject, Jon had rejected the idea in no uncertain terms. She couldn’t, wouldn’t, do that again.
“I’ve been trying to think of what we can do,” she whispered, attempting to focus on a solution. “I could keep an eye on Katie in the mornings. It won’t be easy, but I’ll manage.”
“Katie is walking and exploring and into everything,” Jon muttered. “There’s no way you can watch her and protect this pregnancy.”
“But you—”
“I’ll take her with me. I used to do that, remember?”
Maryellen nodded, but they both knew Katie had been an infant in those days. He’d had a special backpack to carry their daughter when he went on his photographic excursions, and young as she was, Katie had loved those times with her daddy. Maryellen could still picture it.
“My mother can help.” Even as she spoke, Maryellen knew that wasn’t possible. Grace was a newlywed with a demanding job. Her mother already came to the house two or three times a week. It was the best she could do, but it wasn’t enough. She and Cliff had arranged for a cleaning crew one day the previous month, plus some prepared meals, and Maryellen had been so grateful. But they couldn’t expect that kind of gift again. Cliff and especially Grace had done enough for them.
“We can’t ask Grace to do any more than she already is.” Jon said aloud what Maryellen had been thinking.
“I know….” Tears filled her eyes. The worry and stress were more than she could handle.
“Maryellen…”
She covered her face with both hands and bent her head.
“Sweetheart, it’ll be all right.”
“No, it won’t.”
“I’ll get a mortgage on the land.”
“No!” she insisted. This land, an inheritance from his grandfather, was everything to Jon. If they lost it, he’d be devastated.
Her husband was silent for a long time. Finally he stood up and walked away.
“Jon?” she said when she saw that he was returning upstairs. “Where are you going?”