Except from “The Mourning Dove’s Secret”; book one in the Mourning Dove Cove series.

The phone rang at 8am, waking Esther up from her fitful sleep.

“Hello,” a calm, husky female voice said.

Esther knew right away that it was Lily Ward, her business partner. Although she now drove a Jeep Wrangler, not much had changed about her old friend. She still treated the world nonchalantly, still had long black hair, although it was streaked with white these days. When she was young, Lily had let her hair fall down her back, but she was prone to pinning it in a bun on the top of her head now. Esther always thought that suited her round native face.

“Did I wake you?” Lily asked when she was met with silence on Esther’s end of the line.

“No, no,” Esther lied. “I was just getting up.”

“You are such a terrible lier. Still waking up in the middle of the night I see,” Lily said, fully aware of what Esther was going through.

“I had an epiphany last night. It occurred to me that I might be grieving the loss of my sanity,” Esther half joked.

Lily snorted. She was one of the few people Esther could joke with about what had happened to her.

“We are all grieving the loss of our minds, you know?” Lily said.

Esther knew that was a placation. Not everyone had lost their memories and ended up wandering around the woods like she had. But, it was just Lily’s way of saying this could have happened to anyone.

Esther struggled to believe that, although she knew it was probably true. She still felt like there was a reason it had to have happened to her.

“Mr. Groves died last night,” Lily went on.

Esther already knew she could count on Lily to keep her updated on their  business; however, she was still irked that Lily had taken Jeremiah’s side and advocated for her leave of absence. Being a death doula was Esther’s life’s work. She had started Hope Doulas eight years ago and invited Lily to join her as business partner three years ago. They made a great team, with Lily’s calm demeanor and Esther compassionate drive. They were the only death doulas in all of Mourning Dove Cove. Sitting with the dying was a bit of a niche service. Despite having hospice, most of their patients found that having an extra support person was tremendously helpful and comforting.

Sitting with the dying wasn’t all they did though. They also helped their clients create legacy projects, which was one of Esther’s favorite things to do. With her own Townsend legacy always in the background, she loved to champion the legacies of the other Mourning Dove Cove residents. It was a special time with their patients were they got to capture life reviews in a creative way. The life reviews were another thing that Esther really loved about her work. Letting their patients pinpoint all the major turning points of their lives was incredibly therapeutic for the patients. Everyone had a life story, and everyone’s was worth listening to, in Esther’s opinion.

Lily was far more pragmatic, which is why Esther had brought her on in the first place. She was gifted at bereavement care and educating the families on what to expect during the dying process. She, of course, could calmly handle all of what it took to be a death doula, but they both found it beneficial to split up the work. Currently, Lily was handling all of it herself, as Esther was still on leave. She never complained and championed Esther’s time away. Esther knew that they both knew that she needed it.

“He had some terminal agitation before he died,” Lily went on matter of factly. “The family was pretty upset.”

Esther knew that terminal agitation could be a shocking part of death. Not everyone had it but a large portion of people did. It could be very unsettling for families to watch. Patients could become delirious and agitated, or hallucinate and pick at their bed clothes. Some might even moan or express discomfort.

“The dim lights and soothing music didn’t really seem to help this time. He was very fitful,” Lily said. “Hospice increased his pain meds to help cover any pain he was having and that seemed to help a little. You could tell he was fighting it though.”

Mr. Groves hadn’t been ready to go. He was a middle-aged man that was suffering from kidney failure. He had been on dialysis for years and then had a kidney transplant 10 years ago. That kidney had reached the end of it’s longevity and had stopped working. He had gone on dialysis again but his body was worn out. They finally put him on hospice care last month. He had been a fighter, but Esther knew that everyone’s body had to give out at some point. It was time for Mr. Groves to go last night. Esther knew the pain that his family would be experiencing. Death was a shock no matter how it happened. That was one of the reasons she felt so passionate about her life’s work. Everyone was going to die, and Esther wanted to make that transition more peaceful and less frightening for their patients. Education was one key to that; the more informed people were about the dying process, the more at peace they were about it.

Esther also knew that Lily would have some work to do supporting the family while they grieved, even more so knowing that the death was not a peaceful one. 

“I’m sorry Lily,” Esther said, but they both knew that she was more sorry that she could not have been there with Mr. Groves. Ever since Rosie’s death 26 years ago, Esther had had a particular passion for being at the bedside. That was her calling in this life’s work. What she wanted more than anything was to comfort those transitioning from this life, and she did believe it was simply a transition and not the end. Although, Hope Doulas worked with patients from all religious backgrounds, Esther brought her faith to the work. She was adamant that she be able to serve authentically; however she never pushed her faith on those who were dying. She had her ways, though, of giving them hope, the kind of hope that only Christ could give them in the end.

“Well, I’ll let you go. I know you have the church picnic today,” Lily said.

Esther knew better than to invite Lily to the picnic. Lily wasn’t a believer, which didn’t phase Esther. They had worked out their differences years ago. That didn’t stop her from praying for Lily. Esther knew prayer could work miracles in people’s lives, so she continued to pray that Lily’s life would be blessed by God no matter what.

She said her goodbyes and hung up the phone.

__________

Esther yawned as she stepped out of the shower. Jeremiah had already beat her to the church. He tended to get there earlier than she did because he liked to pray in the gardens out back before the day started. Esther loved that about him. He really did put God first, which is what he preached from the pulpit more often than not. Faith and the Christian walk really was almost as simple as that – put God first and everything else will work itself out. Esther would have to remind herself of that the next time she found herself greeting the dawn. Once she was finally ready, Esther got in her car and drove to church to help prepare for the picnic.

Grace Church was a nice sized church. Esther liked to say it was the perfect sized church, not too big but growing. Seats were full but they had yet to move to two services. Everyone knew each other and new faces were immediately spotted in the crowd. Grace Church was a friendly place, a place where people truly showed the love of Christ to their neighbors. There was of course the occasional issue that needed pastoring, but that was normal. Both Jeremiah and Esther tried to meet problems in the church head on with authenticity and the congregants did the same for them. Esther really couldn’t complain where the church was concerned; it’s just that Hope Doulas kept her busy. 

“Mrs. Rose.”, a quiet voice interrupted her thoughts. “It’s so lovely to see you this morning.”

“Ava, it’s good to see you too”, Esther said, as a tall woman stepped around the corner into the church kitchen. Ava Cameron was the church treasurer, and both Esther and Jeremiah owed her a great deal for keeping the church finances on track. It was probably one of the most taxing church council positions, and Esther was grateful for this women. Ava was a tall, dark-haired beauty, and Esther chided herself for the smallest amount of jealousy she felt toward the woman. Esther liked to think it was a harmless amount of jealously, but no amount of jealousy is ever harmless she reminded herself. Ava was about Esther’s age and aging beautifully. You could hardly tell that she was approaching fifty-years old. Her hair was still a dark curly brown that cascaded down her shoulders. She was tall and slender with well endowed hips, dressed in slightly revealing, but professional attire.

“Are you ready for the picnic, Mrs. Rose?” Ava asked. But before she could answer, she interrupted Esther. “Oh! Yes! Before I forget; I have a question about one of last month’s church expenses.”

“Yes? What is that?” Esther responded.

“There was a purchase of some plants from the nursery on your business card last month, and I was just wondering how you wanted me to categorize that?”

Esther was grateful that this woman took such a diligent interest in their every purchase. Jeremiah and she tried very hard to keep all of the church purchases to the minimum and all completely above board. She appreciated that Ava cared to clarify with her. Running a church with impeccable finances was one of their greatest achievements as a pastoral couple.

“Ah, Yes! That purchase was a Cherokee Rose bush that we planted on the church grounds as a memorial for Teresa. You can put that expense in our memorial fund, Ava. Thank You.”

“That’s such a nice thing, Mrs. Rose,” Ava said. A tiny tear was welling up in the corner of her eye. “Teresa was such a sweet girl!”

Both women stood in silence for a moment. It was hard to talk about Teresa. She was such an important part of life at Grace Church. Sadly, as a nineteen-year old, she passed away in a tragic car accident. Everyone saw so much potential in that sweet, God-fearing young woman. She was a beautiful blond, with a smile that could capture the world and a genuine and lively personality as well. She lit up the whole church. Now, her parents came to church with a little less light in their lives, but still they came. The whole church rallied around the Bannons when their daughter died, just like they did when Esther was found in the woods. But, Esther had to admit that it was more excruciating to see her parents sitting alone, when they had once had their daughter. Now, they were childless. Suffering can always be kept in perspective, Esther thought. Dave and Rebecca could understand Job more than she could, but again she wasn’t comparing. 

Finally, Ava sighed and said, “It was such a loss loosing Teresa.” That is what everyone said at church when the topic of Teresa’s death came up. No one knew what to say, which was normal when it came to grief. Being an expert on grief, Esther knew it was perfectly fine to not say anything. Compassionate silence was often better than saying the wrong thing. The fact of the matter was that the whole church was being honest when they shuffled around the topic of Teresa’s death. It truly was a loss, and you couldn’t understand that loss if you had not known Teresa. There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven…A time to weep and a time to laugh.  And, weep the church did, especially because Teresa’s laughter could no longer be heard.

“Teresa is missed so dearly,” Esther responded. “I hope people will remember her whenever they see her memorial roses and that those roses will, in time, bring people joy – the way Teresa did.”

“A fitting reminder of Teresa!” Ava acknowledged.

Before they could carry on with their platitudes, they were approached by Dave and Rebecca themselves. Mrs. Bannon was dressed in a neat little skirt with pink and white flowers on it; her white shirt easily tucked in. Mr. Bannon was in his usual dress shirt and slacks. Dave and Rebecca were probably the best dressed couple in the whole church. Sloth had not consumed them after the death of their only daughter. Esther admired that about them. It was as if their clothes indicated the state of their inward composure. Of course Esther knew that it wasn’t really about their clothes but that they had not fallen into total despair. The Bannons walked by faith and on more than one occasion, Dave and Rebecca could be heard talking about their daughter in heaven. There was no doubt in their minds that she was in heaven. 

“How are you two today?” asked Dave.

“We were just talking about the rose bush the church planted in honor of Teresa,” said Esther, not skirting around the topic.  “I hope the two of you will go take a look at it sometime today.”

“Oh! Thank you for doing that in honor of Teresa.” Rebecca said. Tears welled up freely in her eyes and she did not try to keep them at bay. “Your kindness after Teresa’s death means so much to us. You are helping to keep her memory alive for the whole church, not just us.” There was a free and unencumbered way Rebecca spoke about her daughter as the tears flowed. The Bannons were still very raw with emotion. 

“We all loved Teresa,” Ava said. “I was just chatting with our dear pastor’s wife about how to categorize the church’s purchase of the rose bush. You know how they like to stay on top of the finances.” 

Esther smiled to herself, suspecting Ava Cameron’s comment was a way of shifting the conversation away from Teresa. Death was a hard subject for everyone at church and Ava was no different. The arrival of the Bannons had shifted her ease in talking about Teresa. Esther suspected that the Bannon’s knew that people at Church avoided talking about their daughter with them, feeling uncertain as  to how to handle their emotions.

There certainly was nothing new under the sun, Esther thought. Death and grief was hard no matter how you looked at it, even if you had the faith of the Bannons. 

“Miss Townsend!” An old, deep male voice interrupted the group’s conversation.

There was only one person in the world that still called Esther that, and that was Wiley Townsend, her father’s cousin. A man in his eighties approached her and she smiled on him graciously. Everyone in town knew Mr. Townsend, the last of the living Townsends. He was somewhat of a legend, taking after her great grandfather, John Townsend. He had been chief of police in Morning Dove Cove for 50 years. Although retired, he still fancied himself somewhat of a sleuth around town. Whenever something was out of place, sure be it that Mr. Townsend was certain to notice. 

Wiley Townsend wasn’t really a parishioner at Grace Church but had a way of showing up at church events. Esther suspected that is was because he liked the attention of the people and couldn’t resist telling his stories of when he was police chief of Morning Dove Cove.

“Miss Townsend, it’s a lovely day for a picnic,” Wiley said. 

Esther noticed that the bucket of fried chicken tucked into the crook of his arm was steaming hot. Wiley Townsend was notorious for his fried chicken. 

“Mr. Townsend, it’s lovely to have you with us today!” Esther said. “And it was so good of you to bring your fried chicken! You know how much everyone at church loves it.”

“You know it’s my secret recipe. I came up with it a long time ago when I was police chief of our delightful town.”

Esther knew the story but she let Mr. Townsend continue.

“It was one of those late nights and I was working the Chambers case…”

Esther remembered the Chambers case as well. A father had been killed in his bed. The mother was ultimately implicated and charged with murder. She had apparently taken out a life insurance policy on her husband not days before. It was such a devastating and sad ordeal. The woman was definitely not in her right mind, which made Esther a little uncomfortable. She knew what “not being in your right mind” felt like. The mind was an intimidating thing, and still not many people had good answers for the Chambers case. At least there were no satisfactory answers, which is how Esther felt about her own mental health.

“If I remember correctly,” Esther interrupted. “You stumbled across the recipe while making a late night snack for yourself.”

“Nothing gets the brain turning like fried chicken,” said Wiley. “It’s what ultimately helped me solve the case. Mrs. Chambers had made one simple mistake. She overlooked my commitment to bring her to justice, and she overlooked my fried chicken!” He laughed, mostly to himself.

Esther knew the case was more complicated than that, as most cases were. She did, after all, love a good Agatha Christie novel. But, that by no means qualified her for solving crimes. As much as the town may have poked fun at Mr. Townsend, he was certainly good at what he did. Mourning Dove Cove was in debt to him for his many years of service. 

Esther had to admit to herself that she also was more interested in his stories than she let on. While she was a “Rose” through and through, there may have been more to the Townsend legacy than she was willing to acknowledge. She found herself fascinated by crime stories and the detective process. If only she could unearth how in the world she ended up in the woods north of town…