Sorting Through Life's Puzzle Pieces

Chapter 4

          Tom simply stood next to the simmering woman and dried dishes. Two days of trying to get her to speak to him and he has been hit in the face with the towel as soon as he entered the kitchen today. She had been muttering under her breath about others neglecting the completion of their duties and the like, which tickled him a bit.

"You know, Darling, it may help your predicament if you posted a duty list for every shift to follow. Not everyone knows how a kitchen runs." Her glare would have withered a smaller man.

"You need to pay more attention to your surroundings." She pointed at the opposing wall, that showed a duty list in both English and French as to what must be finished before closing the kitchen. "Maybe if you were paying attention to more than me, you would have seen it before I had to show it to you."

"Ouch. You know if I hadn't seen you with the kids, I would have pegged you for an Ice Queen." Her hand splashed in the water as she tried not to dunk him into it. Maybe, annoyance and hostility is a step up from the numbness I've felt, but this man is really pushing the boundary.

Maeve moved away and started her prep work, leaving Tom to his own devises as to completing the large stack of dishes from the night before. Others started filing in to help with the cooking, and a couple of the women brought large bushels of vegetables from the green house to prepare for the kids in the hospital. Tom was lucky he hadn't sliced a finger, the number of times he had been watching her with them rather than what he was holding was enough to make a rom-com overly sappy.

A scream came out from somewhere outside and all the women stopped. It was when a second one came that he saw his angel be the first one out of the room, closely followed by the other women. He looked the few men who were left and they had very solemn expressions on their face, but returned to work. With out a second thought he snatched up a towel and ran after them, hoping to catch up so as not to lose them. Tom saw the last woman turn a corner towards the infirmary and slowed. Through the closing door he could hear sobbing and women speaking in consoling tones.

When he stepped inside the doorway, he was greeted by the sight of  a group of women huddled around a young woman holding a small child in her arms. It became clear to him that she had just lost her child to the illness they had brought him to be treated for. What he also saw was Maeve in the very center with her, holding her and speaking in hushed tones with one of the women translating for her. She had one arm around the woman and the other caressing the child's head, not bothering about contagions.

The women took the young mother away and Maeve slowly got up from the floor. As she brushed off her clothes from the dust, he saw a chain come out from inside her shirt and catch the light from the window for just a moment. She was looking down, wiping the tears from her face and sniffling. The agony on her face was evident of her reliving a highly painful memory, pulling at his heart for her.

"Maeve," he questioned softly. His arm came up to come around her shoulders and she stiffened in them. "Are you alright?" His eyes then saw what was hanging on the hidden chain around her neck. Her glare and shaking off his hands from her back didn't stop him reaching towards it and touching the simple loops on it. Fingering them gently he looked over to where she had been with the other women and then back at her, contemplatively. Then he realized, "You're married."

His simple statement had her tearing up anew and she whispered angrily at him. "No. I'm not. Now leave me alone." She backed away from him and quickly fled back to the other building.

"I'm telling you, Ben. She had a wedding set on a chain around her neck. How could she not be married?"

"I don't know, mate. Why haven't you asked her this?"

"She barely speaks to me. It's like I have the plague." Tom heard Sofie laughing in the background. "You have me on speaker don't you?"

"I did tell you it was my night to put Parker to bed. Right now, he is carefully dressing in his pajamas. It's worse than when he's screaming."

"How so," he asked. Envious of the part of life his friend was living. He had hoped to have the same by now. Or at least the start of it.

"He has to pick a set and then he refuses to ask for help until he's got them on the correct way. It's fascinating really." A small voice interrupted them. "I'm ready for my story, Daddy."

Tom couldn't help the smile that lifted his lips. Parker was the sweetest child he had ever met. Even with his incredible volume. "I'll talk to you later, Ben. Sorry to have disturbed bedtime with the wee lad."

"It's alright, Tom. Seriously, though, just talk to her. She can't be that immune to you, I remember, all too well the Ice Queen."

"Please don't bring that up." Tom cringed at his friends' opinion of his last girlfriend and hoped that they would understand someday. Just because you don't work out doesn't make the parting any less regrettable.

"I'm not going to apologize for listening in. You want my help now?" Shawna was just sitting in a chair nearby the empty corner of the room he had occupied to make his call. He looked around but she waved his worries off. "Don't be skittish, I kept everyone else away while you were busy."

"Thank you, I appreciate that. Just how much did you hear?" He blushed as she smirked at him, telling him she had heard nearly all of it. "Discretion would be deeply obliged."

"Considering the way she tries to pass off her language towards you, I'd say she was in the same boat as you. So...you ready for my help yet?"

"I think at this time it would be a good option."

Shawna extended her hand towards him. "Welcome to my side of the field, my friend." Tom accepted it but he was little uneasy. Please God, don't let me regret this.