Holding Her Hand

Sylvia Mintz

Description

This novel tells the coming-of-age story of a family trying to raise children during the 1960s and 1970s, a time most families were struggling to make it to middle-class.

With one child already at home, Valerie Branch is surprised when she delivers twins on Labor Day of 1961 with her second pregnancy. Rod is predestined to be a mighty hunter, while his sister Carla, is born with the gift of healing. With a strong connection to her brother, she senses when he is in pain or trouble, a gift he doesn’t reciprocate—even when she needs him most.

 

Challenges arise when this over-protective mom and simplistic father Daniel don’t always see eye-to-eye on raising their free-spirited children. But the family bond holds tight through every new trial and their faith grows stronger even when tragedy brings them to their knees and evil invades their community.

 

Holding Her Hand narrates a family saga that takes place in rural North Carolina when tobacco farms still ruled the South, when attending church on Sunday morning was the norm, not the exception and when most families were struggling to make it to middle-class status.

Sujets

• Emotion
• Sagas
• Christian
• Emotional
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Archway Publishing
• Date de parution: 28 octobre 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781480811706
• Langue: English

Extrait

Holding Her Hand
 
 
 
 
SYLVIA MINTZ
 
 
 

 
 
Copyright © 2014 Sylvia Mintz.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
 
Archway Publishing
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.archwaypublishing.com
844-669-3957
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.
 
ISBN: 978-1-4808-1171-3 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4808-1169-0 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-4808-1170-6 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014918643
 
 
 
Archway Publishing rev. date: 07/21/2022
Contents
Chapter 1 Labor Day, 1961
Chapter 2 Tweety Birds
Chapter 3 Outhouse Blues
Chapter 4 Fort Summer
Chapter 5 Food for Thought
Chapter 6 Boys, Boys, Boys
Chapter 7 Wacky Jackie
Chapter 8 Show and Tell
Chapter 9 Soulful Noise
Chapter 10 Solid Ground
Chapter 11 Time for Change
Chapter 12 Snip-Snip
Chapter 13 Fair Judgment
Chapter 14 Holiday Blessings
Chapter 15 Snowman Meltdown
Chapter 16 Extra Special Delivery
Chapter 17 Grandma Margaret
Chapter 18 Motorcycle Mania
Chapter 19 First Cycles
Chapter 20 Homework Is a Bear
Chapter 21 Bearly Wrestling
Chapter 22 Tobacco Fields Forever
Chapter 23 T Is for Turnips and Tomatoes; C Is for Coons
Chapter 24 The Lake Is Coming, the Lake Is Coming
Chapter 25 Sadie’s Hands
Chapter 26 Alex
Chapter 27 Girl Rules
Chapter 28 One Red Cup
Chapter 29 One Ugly Field
Chapter 30 First of the Last
Chapter 31 Reason to Hug
Chapter 32 Sunshine on My Shoulder
Chapter 33 Christmas as Usual
Chapter 34 Prom Night Favor
Chapter 35 Bearable Parable
Chapter 36 Holding Her Hand
Chapter 37 Saying Good-Bye
Chapter 38 Comfortably Numb
Chapter 39 Secrets
Chapter 40 Promises
Chapter 41 Out in the Open
Chapter 42 The Up and Down
Epilogue
Chapter One
LABOR DAY, 1961
5:30 a.m.
V ALERIE SAT LOOKING straight ahead, one hand on her enormous belly and the other braced on the dash of the truck. Although she wasn’t complaining and was trying not to show any signs of discomfort, it was obvious she was in pain.
Val, as Daniel like to call her, let out a slow breath as the contraction eased off and then asked the question she had been asking for months—one last time. “So what have you decided for the boy’s name?”
When Daniel didn’t answer right away, it was more than Val could take. “Daniel, you promised! I picked out a girl’s name. You’re responsible for the boy’s name. Davis will be the middle name after my side of the family. All you had to do was pick out his first name. We even narrowed it down to a biblical name. How much more help do you need? What if it’s a boy? Should I just say his father needs more time? ‘We’ll get back to you’?”
When another contraction hit, Val pressed harder on the dash. A bead of sweat trickled down the side of her face. She knew Daniel’s body was probably tightening up right along with hers. As they rounded the Appleton courthouse, two blocks from the clinic, Daniel said, “Kind of funny you going into to labor on Labor Day, huh?”
Val sensed the nervousness in his voice. “Yeah, first day of dove hunting season too. I wonder what kind of omen that is.”
Daniel pulled up to the curb of the Appleton clinic. The building itself was rundown, but they would take good care of her. Daniel got out of the truck, grabbing her bag out of the back, and walked her to the bottom of the steps leading to the main entrance. “Are you sure you don’t want me to go in with you?”
“No, I’ll be fine. Your mom called and told them I was coming. Someone should be coming out to get me. She’ll be here herself, after she drops Will off at your sister’s house.”
A nurse came out the front door and looked their way. “Are you Mrs. Branch?”
Val nodded. “Yes, that’s me.” Turning back to Daniel, Val placed a tender hand to the side of his face. She knew he was worried. “I’ll be fine.”
Daniel kissed her on the cheek and then turned back to the truck. Val watched him hesitate before climbing in. “Nimrod,” he said.
Val returned his stare, puzzled.
“Nimrod might get him picked on a bit so, I figured we would just name him Rod. We’ll know where the name came from.” He opened the door, and as he settled behind the wheel, he said, “Genesis 10:8–9. Look it up.” And with that, he winked and drove off.
Val stood there holding onto the rail with one hand and the other placed over her belly. She watched the truck until it turned down a side street and out of sight. Then, with the nurse by her side, she bent over and let out the gut-wrenching scream she’d been holding for Daniel’s sake for the last hour.
“That’s okay, Mrs. Branch. You just let it all out.” Nurse Ann waited for the contraction to pass, and then she gently supported her elbow. Next, she grabbed Val’s bag and slowly helped her up the steps. When inside, she quickly got her into a wheelchair and they made their way down the hall to the reception area. “You still doing okay, Mrs. Branch?”
Val grabbed her arm. “I need a Bible right away!”
Ann patted her hand. “There will be one in the bedside table. I know at times like these it sure does a body good to call upon the Lord. You’re going to do just fine though. I’ll say a prayer for you myself.”
In a matter of minutes, Val was changed into a hospital gown and in her bed. As soon as she was alone, she took the Bible from the nightstand and turned to Genesis 10:8.
She read, “And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.”
Val smiled and whispered to herself, as she closed the book, “He wants a mighty hunter, huh?” Her smile was soon wiped away as another contraction hit.

Daniel and his father sat quietly on stumps, guns lying across their laps at the edge of the cornfield. The hunters had only two birds by their side.
“I guess ya ain’t much got ya mind on hunting today, do ya, son?” Edgar nodded and shifted his legs. “Yeah, neither do I.” After another long pause, he continued. “Don’t tell any of the men folk, but I’m kinda pulling for a little girl this time. Always did like to imagine myself with a little granddaughter hugging my neck and crawling up in my lap, calling me Grandpa.”
Daniel smiled at the thought. “That’s fine with me. I just want to bring ’em both home safe and healthy.” He stared out over the field, still deep in thought. “Val’s been after me to give up farming. She likes the idea of a regular paycheck, maybe taking that job at Sears department store.” He smiled. “You know how she is, needs everything to be planned out.” Daniel glanced back at his dad. “What do you think?”
“I think that’s a big decision to make on a day when you’re not all worried about other things.” Edgar got up and gently patted Daniel on the shoulder. “What’d ya say? Let’s give up on hunting for today and head back to the house for a cup of coffee. Just don’t tell your ma I drunk a cup this late in the day. She’ll tan my hide. Can’t enjoy anything around that old woman!”
Daniel nodded and bent down to pick up their birds. “Well, we only got two. Not much of a meal or bragging rights, but I got ’em both with one shot.”
Little did he know that at the exact moment of Daniel’s monumental, two-bird kill, Val gave birth to twins. Rod Davis, the great and mighty hunter, one with the earth, had arrived. His sister, Carla Marie, came a few minutes later. The doctor joked that she seemed to be allowing enough time for Rod to be taken care of first, before making her appearance.
Chapter Two
TWEETY BIRDS
W ILL AND ROD sat side-by-side on the back door steps, BB guns in hand, with a coffee can full of extra ammo between them. They had been shooting at tin cans all morning and other random targets at will. They were surprisingly responsible for their age and never shot at any object not approved by Daniel first. He had been strict on the ground rules when he presented them with their first real guns last Christmas. Val, of course, worried about it but accepted it as a boy’s rite of passage into manhood.
Annie Mae came out the door, cup of coffee in hand. “Will, honey, go take this to ya daddy. It ain’t but half-full, but you be mindful not to spill it.” Will carefully leaned his gun up against the house and gingerly took the cup from Annie Mae. Enough cream had been added to the coffee to give it a smooth mocha color that matched Annie Mae’s dark skin.
Daniel and Leroy had been tinkering on the Massey Ferguson all morning and welcomed the break when Will walked up. “Here, Daddy, Annie Mae sent ya some coffee.”
Daniel wiped his hands on a greasy rag hanging out his back pocket and accepted the cup.
Leroy looked down at Will. “I reckon she didn’t send nothing out here for ole Leroy, did she?”
Will just shrugged his shoulders and climbed up on the wheel of the tractor to check out t