Well This Is Just Swell
Chapter 20: Ruth
Hilery was released from the hospital several days later, a day after her 21st birthday. She was still swollen, but there was no more swelling in her throat and her airway was clear; as such, the doctor felt confident about letting her go home. He did, however, give strict instructions that she was to return if the swelling recurred in her throat or mouth.
The same day that Hilery was released, Cooter had come to a very difficult decision. There were things Hilery needed to know, things no one had ever told her before. He feared she would hate him, but it was important she learned the whole story. He had to tell her about Ruth.
Cooter inhaled deeply as he stirred the stew he was making for dinner. Normally his creations needed rescuing before they became inedible, but Jesse Duke had been teaching him how to cook. The meals he was taught to fix by the elder man were more than just palatable; they were delicious… but this wasn’t one of Jesse’s recipes. It was a recipe which he’d kept tucked away in the middle of an old diary that he kept in his nightstand. It wasn’t his diary, but it meant a fair amount to him.
He took a little taste of the gravy and nodded before adding a little more pepper. He tasted it again and smiled. It tasted just like how he remembered. Finally he turned the heat off on the stove and placed the pot on a potholder on the table. He had been cooking the stew for most of the day.
After setting the table, he went to the living room. Hilery sat curled up on the couch, watching an old movie. He watched her, thinking how much she was like Ruth. He blinked away the threatening tears before clearing his throat. “Dinner is ready, Hil,” he said gently.
She blinked and looked at him, her face slightly puffy. “Since when do you cook,” she asked. She had been smelling the stew for much of the day, but was almost afraid to taste it.
“C’mon,” Cooter said, “I promise, it’ll taste okay.” He studied her as she got up. He knew she was having a rough day; he could tell just by looking at her. Together they walked to the kitchen and took their places at the small table. Cooter ladled a little stew into a bowl for Hilery, and placed a roll on the edge before handing it to her. He followed the same procedure for his own bowl.
After grace was said, Hilery tried the stew. She didn’t want to offend her cousin. It was actually quite tasty, which surprised her… and she realized almost immediately that it wasn’t a Duke recipe. She looked at him questioningly.
Cooter smiled back sadly. “What’s wrong?” The question came from the younger Davenport.
“Hil, there’s so much that…” he paused to take a deep breath, “that you don’t know.”
“Cooter, are you alright?”
He hadn’t eaten any of his food, just moved it around with his fork. “This recipe comes from a woman I loved a long time ago.” His voice was soft as he spoke. “That I still love. I loved her long before I loved Beverly, long before Nancy Lou was born.”
“Oh Cooter…” Hilery said softly, placing her hand on his. “You don’t have to say anymore.”
“Yeah I do Hil.” Cooter got up and went to the fridge. Hilery was alarmed when he pulled out a beer. She knew he’d had some drinking problems in the past.
“I love her even now, and I see part of her looking at me everyday. We started dating when we were just kids. She was 13, I was 15.” He opened the beer and sniffed it, but didn’t drink it at first. When he did, it was only a sip.
“Cooter…”
“Hilery, I need to tell you about her,” he said gently. After that, she was quiet.
Cooter stood in the church. His hands were sweating, and he was trembling. He was scared to death. He wore a dark colored, rented suit, and his father stood beside him, a hand on his shoulder. He was just 18.
“Cooter, relax son,” his father told him gently. “It’ll be worth every butterfly you feel right now.”
It was, because at that moment, the most beautiful sight Cooter had ever seen entered the church in Chicamahonny. A slender young woman in a white dress was coming down the aisle, carrying a red and white bouquet of roses. The dress was satin and lace, with delicate beading. She had made it herself. The veil she wore obscured her face and hair, but Cooter knew who it was. His heart started beating faster. He felt his father squeeze his shoulder.
The woman was being escorted by her father who, like Cooter, wore a black suit. To the young groom it seemed like they were walking in slow motion. He swallowed when he felt a knot form in the back of his throat.
When they finally reached the altar, the young reverend smiled. He waited until the bride had given her mother the bouquet to hold. “And who gives this young woman away on this beautiful, God given day?”
“I do,” her father said gently. He placed her hand in Cooter’s, tears running down his face. Then he took his seat.
When the vows were over the reverend finally said, “you may kiss the bride,” Cooter shakily lifted the veil to see a sight even more beautiful than her coming down the aisle. Gently he stroked her cheek as he smiled.
“Don’t cry,” he said gently before pressing his lips to hers.
“I’m just so happy,” she whispered.
“So am I Ruth, so am I.”
“So Ruth was your wife?” Hilery asked. When Cooter nodded, she squeezed his hand.
“She was my wife, and the only woman I’ve ever really loved. It was hard to lose her.”
“Where is she now?”
Cooter gave a sad smile. “There’s more,” he told her before taking another swig of the beer. He knew drinking was a bad idea, it always was with his history, but it was something he felt he needed at the moment. When he put it down, Hilery pulled it out of his reach.
“You don’t really need this, cousin. I know it’s hard, but talkin’ is the best medicine.” He nodded. The beer wouldn’t even have been in the house if it hadn’t been for a visit from LB and BB the day before.
Cooter sat on the edge of the bed rubbing Ruth’s back. She had periodic stomach problems, but somehow this seemed different. She’d had an episode during their wedding night, but it had gone away after a few days, and it was to be expected. Stress seemed to be a trigger for those problems.
When the heaving into the waste basket stopped, Cooter gently grabbed a glass of water from the nightstand and handed it to his wife, who rinsed her mouth out before taking a sip and swallowing it.
“Are you in any pain, darlin’?” Cooter was still rubbing her back gently as he asked the question. He knew her belly problems usually brought bouts of uncontrollable pain. It tore him up every time he witnessed it.
“Oddly, no. I just… I just can’t seem to keep anything down,” she replied. He helped her lay down on her side, facing away from him before joining her, an arm wrapped around her. The smell of ham and eggs drifted into their room and she groaned. “Cooter, shut the door. If I have to smell anymore of your father’s cooking, I think I’ll be sick again.”
He did as she asked before lying back down. As he lay there, he gently stroked her shoulder-length blonde hair.
“Cooter, Ruth, breakfast!” Mr. Davenport called up. “Ruth, if you don’t hurry up, you’ll be late for school!” They both groaned but complied. Ruth wanted to stay home, but she had already missed a week for her honeymoon. Cooter wanted to stay at home and take care of his wife rather than go to work on the farm with his father.
Marriage at their ages wasn’t uncommon in that day and age… but a woman continuing her education after marriage was. Cooter and his father both wanted her to finish school.
“So Ruth got sick like I do?” Hilery was surprised.
Cooter nodded. “She did, but it was more often… and… she would have the same issues of swelling.” He didn’t look at her. He was busy staring into his bowl of stew. He still hadn’t touched it.
Ruth sat in the exam room of the doctor’s office. Doc Appleby was young, but he was a kind doctor. She had been sick for a week, almost non-stop. Not many folks knew she had gotten married a few weeks prior, but the doctor did.
The kind man entered the exam room after knocking and looked at her, his eyes kind, and somewhat excited. “Well doc?” she asked. Her voice was a little raw.
“You seem to be a little dehydrated, Ruth,” he told her. “And I went back over your files to see if there was anything I was forgetting about your episodes, and it seems you haven’t had an episode quite like this, nor have they ever lasted this long. You say you’ve been in pain?”
“That’s just it, I haven’t been. I’ve just been throwing up. No diarrhea, no pain, no cramping, no bloating… just throwing up.”
He nodded and made a few notes in her chart. “Ruth, now I need you to be honest with me. How long have you and Cooter been married?”
“A month.” She was puzzled about what that had to do with anything.
He nodded. “I know your menses has never been regular… but… have you had it since the wedding?” She shook her head no and he wrote more in her chart before shutting it. Then he turned and faced her, his hands folded in front of him.
“I would like to run a blood test.”
Three days later, Ruth was in the kitchen fixing dinner when the phone rang. She put the spoon down on a napkin and picked up the phone. It was Doc Appleby.
“Ruth, I have the results of the blood test, and it confirmed what I suspected,” he told her. “As you know, there are a few responsibilities which usually follow a wedding.”
“Yes, housekeeping, raising a family…. Oh my.” She was quite surprised. She had thought it would take more time.
“Yes, Ruth,” the doctor told her. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you, Doc.” Ruth hung up the phone and nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand touch her side. She turned around quickly and then relaxed. It was only her husband. “Cooter, don’t do that!” she giggled.
He gave her a gentle kiss. “What did the doc need? You okay?”
She gave him a shy smile, taking his hand and placing it on her lower belly. When she looked back up into his eyes, they were wide, but the surprised look slowly melted into a smile. “Ruth…” he breathed gently.
“Oh Cooter,” Hilery said softly, placing her hand on his again. She knew about Nancy Lou, but hadn’t known he’d had another child. “Did she take the baby and leave?”
Cooter shook his head. “If only it were that simple, Hil.”
Eight months later a baby girl was born. She had her mother’s blue eyes and blonde hair, but her father’s round face. She was the fusion of both of her parents. When they looked at her, they didn’t see themselves, but rather, they seen each other in her features.
Ruth hadn’t had any stomach problems or swelling during her pregnancy, outside of the morning sickness. To her, it had been a relief. It was also one of the perks that both she and Cooter had enjoyed during the ordeal.
Due to Ruth’s propensity for swelling, Doc Appleby had recommended the baby be born in a hospital. Because the local hospital had burned down sometime before, and another had yet to be built, they went to the Capitol City Hospital.
The waiting had been hell for Cooter and his father; Mr. Peters, Ruth’s father, had been there too. Mrs. Peters had been in the room with her daughter to witness the birth.
At 19 years old, Cooter was a first time father. He couldn’t have been happier.
Cooter placed his hand on top of Hilery’s and patted it gently. The tears had already begun to fall as he mentioned the next part. It was hard to revive the memory. It was downright hell.
When the baby was six months old, the phone had rung in the middle of the night. The baby had an ear infection so both of her parents had been awake when it did. Cooter was the one to answer it. What he heard on the other end was nothing good. A two o’clock in the morning telephone call was never good.
“Cooter?” Ruth asked when he hung up.
“Ruth, honey… it’s your father….”
“What…?” She sat down slowly at the table, the baby in her arms. The little one, no longer being rocked by her mother, started to cry.
Cooter chewed his lip for a moment before answering. “He had a heart attack earlier… Ruth honey, I’m so sorry. He didn’t make it.” As he told her the news, he gently took their daughter, their flesh and blood, from her.
Ruth immediately broke down crying as her husband rocked the baby in his arms, moving from one hip to the other. The infant calmed down and rested her head on her father’s chest.
“C’mon, let’s go upstairs.” His voice was gentle as he spoke. She barely heard it through her crying.
She nodded. Together they went up the steps. Ruth lay down on their bed and Cooter sat down in the rocking chair. His wife cried herself to sleep over the course of about an hour. He couldn’t blame her.
Her husband stretched out in the rocking chair, the baby lying against him. She eventually fell asleep with the gentle swaying of the chair and the beat of her father’s heart. Cooter stayed up for a little while longer until the gentle rocking motion lulled him to sleep as well.
“When I woke up the next morning… she wasn’t breathing.” Tears were steadily rolling down Cooter’s cheeks. “The medical examiner said her throat had swelled shut during the night.” He was going to spare her further details about his wife’s death. “I spent the hours that followed… just rocking my little girl.”
“Oh Cooter,” Hilery whispered. “Whatever happened to her?”
“I started drinking heavily. My father started to take care of her more and more. He died a few months later. I just… I couldn’t take care of her. Her grandmother was grieving the loss of her daughter and husband, and living in a nursing home because she broke her hip… I… I had a cousin once removed whose wife couldn’t have children. They adopted her.”
Hilery made a puzzled face as the ramifications of what Cooter was saying dawned on her. “Are you saying…?”
“You look just like Ruth. I see her in you everyday, when you smile, when you’re sad…. I’m scared to death Hil, ‘cause you have the same thing your mother had, and they never found out what it was.”
“The dresses, necklace, and purse… they were hers…” she said softly. Cooter nodded.
“I still have all her things in the attic.”
Hilery took a few bites of her stew, slowly and quietly. She had so many swirling emotions deep within her. She felt fear, some abandonment, hurt, sadness, pain for her cou… father.
“You don’t have to call me Dad, Hil.” Cooter told her as he finally took a bite of his meal. He had gotten the tears under control. “Legally I’m not your dad, because you were adopted… and I’m sorry I got stuck in the bottle like I did. If I hadn’t, I would never have had to give you up. I would have been able to take care of you…” he took a deep but shaky breath, pausing for a moment. “After I lost your mom, I just… it was a string of women, a different one every night. I became rowdy, rough. I eloped with a woman, but the marriage was doomed before it began because her parents immediately had it annulled. It caused me to drop further into the bottle… It took me a total of five years to get out of it, to wake up and live life again. I… opened the garage in your mother’s memory. She had always said I was good with cars. She liked watching me work on them.”
Hilery finished her stew before looking at Cooter again. “I’m not mad Cooter… I’ll admit I feel like you abandoned me, but, you found me again and made up for it when my parents died. You may be my biological father, and that means a lot to me, but you’re also my cousin, who took me in and gave me a home when I needed one. You’re the man who finished raising me when no one else could. You’re my best friend. I just… I need some time to process all this, and figure out how I feel beyond…well… you know.”
Cooter nodded, slowly chewing a piece of beef. He wasn’t looking at her, but rather picking at his stew again.
“Look at me, Dad,” she said gently. Cooter complied, a little surprised but also joyous to hear the word ‘dad’ come from her lips.
“I will not always call you Dad, as it seems strange to do so, but believe me, I’m not mad. I just… I’m glad you told me, but I wish you would have told me sooner.”
Cooter’s reply was a small smile.
“When we’re done eating, I’ll clean up, and you can head up to bed. You look like you haven’t really slept in ages.”
“Hil… what if…”
“I’ll be fine Cooter.”
He nodded. He hadn’t put much stew in his bowl so he finished it and went up to bed.
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