by Emily Woods
Jackson turned to admire himself in the mirror. His sleeves did look ridiculous with their three rolls, but the adjustments Anna had made to his trousers looked fetching. Jackson grinned at his reflection, then gave Anna formal bow.
“Thank you, madam,” Jackson said, mustering his most elegant accent as he bent at the waist.
Anna tucked a stray blonde hair behind her ear and rolled her eyes.
“You are a character, Jackson Creek!”
Jackson shrugged.
“I hope my future wife likes characters, then! I reckon I ain’t gonna please her with my figure, so my spirit will have to do.”
Anna shook her head, but reached for Jackson’s hand. Having known Jackson since the day she arrived in Pinecone two years ago, Anna could sense that her husband’s closest friend was anxious. She gave Jackson’s hand a gentle squeeze and looked into his green eyes.
“You’ll be just fine, Jackson Creek,” Anna said softly. “The Lord is walking with you, just as He walked through my first meeting with my husband. He is watching you, and He knows how to guide you through this. Just breathe. Don’t be nervous. You look nice, Jackson.”
Jackson’s eyes widened.
“All it takes are some nerves and the pretty lady gives me compliments? Had I known this all along, I would have been nervous more often, Anna!”
Anna playfully smacked Jackson on the shoulder.
“You are truly dreadful! It’s a wonder anyone is traveling all the way from Charleston to marry you!”
Jackson’s eyes sparkled.
“My own little Southern Belle! Ain’t I lucky?” Jackson replied in a fake southern accent, using his hand to fan himself in jest.
There was a loud thud from downstairs. Anna and Jackson both heard heavy footsteps on the staircase leading up to Anna’s sewing room.
“Jed! Jed!” Anna called to her husband, hearing the familiar trudge of his feet carrying his large body. “Jed, come look at this friend of yours!”
Jed entered Anna’s sewing room. He smiled at his wife and kissed her on the mouth.
“My wife,” Jed said tenderly as he looked lovingly down at Anna. “You are too sweet to help this fool today! And on such short notice! Jackson, shame on you for taking away my wife’s time this morning.”
Jackson shrugged. “I just got word of her arrival last night, Jed,” Jackson pleaded with his friend. “I had no idea she would be arriving so soon! The last letter she dispatched said that she wouldn’t be here until next month!”
Jed stepped away from his wife and clapped his best friend on the back.
“I ain’t being serious. It’s all fine, Jackson,” Jed said, his voice filled with kindness. “I’m just joking. We’re happy to help you get ready for her arrival. Anna and I know this is a special day for you.”
Jed turned back to his wife and pulled her close. He wrapped his muscled arms around Anna’s waist and kissed her forehead.
“Stop, you two! You ain’t newlyweds anymore!” Jackson said as Anna and Jed leaned into each other.
“You’ll understand in a few hours,” Jed said to his friend, winking at Jackson over his wife’s shoulder.
Jackson closed his green eyes. He thought about the evening two years ago when Jed had married Anna after only knowing her for a few hours.
“Do you two really think this is going to work?” Jackson asked quietly.
Anna and Jed broke apart, each placing one hand on Jackson’s shoulders.
“Jackson,” Jed began. “You were the one who encouraged me to place a marriage advertisement two years ago. If it ain’t for you, I reckon I never would have had my happy ending with my pretty wife.”
Anna gave Jackson’s shoulder a gentle squeeze.
“Jackson, if you didn’t urge Jed to place the advertisement, I never would have come to Pinecone! I would never have met the love of my life, or worked to open our business, the Pinecone Inn, together! Jackson, believe in the power of the Lord, and believe in yourself. We know that you are nervous, but if you trust in Him, it will all work as He planned!”
Jackson smiled at Jed and Anna. Their advice was wise, and Jackson knew that if he placed his faith in God, the situation would work out.
“I hope I am as happy as you two are,” Jackson said, casting his eyes down at the floor. “I reckon you two have it all. Anna is a beauty, and you two reopened the Pinecone Inn together after it sat here in disarray for several years. You love each other, you have healthy children, and you ain’t worried about your livelihood. I just hope that I can have the same things when she arrives.”
Jed turned to his wife. They nodded knowingly at each other, and together, they drew Jackson even closer. The three adults were huddled together in Anna’s sewing room, and the room was so quiet that Jackson could hear his own heart beating loudly in his chest.
“We will pray,” Jed announced as his wife nodded in agreement. “I reckon that’s all we can do now, Jackson.”
“She’s coming here to be with you, Jackson,” Anna said gently. “She is traveling all the way from South Carolina to be your bride! The pair of you wrote letters and agreed on this match. Now, you have to trust in the Lord to write the rest of your love story.”
Jackson’s eyes filled with tears. Jed had been such a wonderful friend to him, and despite their teasing, Anna had been a good friend to Jackson as well. Jackson was thankful for their support, and as they huddled together in the sewing room, Jackson’s heart was filled with peace.
“I’ll pray for us,” Jed said. “Lord, please watch over our Jackson today. He ain’t doubting You, Lord, but he is nervous. His bride-to-be is arriving in Pinecone today, and Jackson needs Your strength and guidance as he gets to know her. Jackson is a good man, and he will be a good husband to this woman.”
“And help him love her children,” Anna chimed in and Jed grew quiet. “His bride-to-be is arriving with two little boys. Give Jackson the love and patience that it takes to love children that are not his own.”
Jed nodded as Anna prayed, thinking of his wife’s strong, loving bond with his own daughters, children that Anna adored but did not give birth to.
“Lord, you brought me to Pinecone in the same way that this woman is arriving. I showed up here not having met Jed, and he is the love of my life! Give Jackson that same kind of deep, Godly devotion that my husband shows me, and please help him as he settles down with his bride-to-be.”
Jackson grinned. Jed and Anna were perfectly articulating his hopes, dreams, and fears, and he could not be more thankful for their friendship.
“And, Lord? We know our friend Jackson ain’t tall or handsome,” Jed said, his voice tinged with silliness. “But please don’t let his wife turn around and run the other way when she sees him in the train station later!”
“Jed!” Anna hissed, reaching over to give her husband a sharp pinch in the side.
“It was just a joke! I ain’t serious!” Jed whispered. “Lord, Jackson is a good man. He has agreed to marry a woman with two children, and he is faithful to You. Please, God, fill his life with the love You have given to me and Anna, and let Jackson find the one his soul loves.”
2
“He’s gone?” How can he be gone?” Julia Hendricks cried out as the police officer shook his head. His words were serious, but he appeared casual as he leaned against one of the enormous white pillars of the two-story house.
“Ma’am, I’m sorry, but I must inform you that your brother-in-law has been mixed up in some bad things. Our investigation uncovered his involvement in a series of serious crimes up and down the Eastern Seaboard.”
Julia stared at the police officer in disbelief as she stood in the doorway. The police officer had to be joking. Mark, her brother-in-law, was a good man. He and Addilyn, Julia’s older sister, had taken Julia into their magnificent Charleston mansion when her parents died. Mark had been a good husband to Addilyn, and when she had gotten so sick last year, he had been by her side until Addilyn had taken her very
last breath. Mark was a good father to his two little boys, and even allowed Julia to remain in his home after her sister had passed away. Mark was a good man! He could not have committed serious crimes, and Julia was unable to speak as the police officer watched her with narrowed eyes.
“Ma’am? Your husband’s disappearance is no coincidence. When you reported him missing, we had been aware of the situation for several days. We have been planning his arrest, and unfortunately, he beat us to the game.”
Julia shook her head.
“He is my brother-in-law, not my husband,” she said tersely as the police officer studied her face. “He was married to my sister. She died, but I still live here and help mind their young sons.”
The police officer shrugged. “Ma’am,” he began in his thick southern drawl. “Do you have any other family in Charleston?”
Julia tilted her head. “No… Mark and Addilyn were my only family. My parents died in a terrible accident, and I have been living with Mark and Addilyn ever since. They took me in, and they both agreed that I would live here until I married someday.”
The police officer bit his lip. He removed his hat and nodded at the front doorway where Julia was standing.
“Ma’am, may I come in?”
Julia nodded. She moved aside, and the police officer stepped into the foyer of the mansion.
“Real nice place Mark had here,” the police officer muttered to himself as he glanced around the opulent foyer. The room was grand; life-sized portraits of the family hung on the walls, the gleaming floors were covered with expensive patterned rugs, and a grand staircase was at the center of the room.
“Mark was in business! He and my sister did quite well,” Julia responded sharply, running her hand over a framed black and white photograph of her sister and her husband.
The police officer jerked his chin to gesture at one of the thick violet couches posed in the corner of the room.
“May we sit?”
Julia lowered herself onto the couch and pointed daintily at the mahogany chair adjacent to the couch.
“Please, Officer, have a seat.”
The policeman sat down and cleared his throat awkwardly. Julia adjusted her silk robe over her pale blue nightgown and blushed as she looked at her slippers. She had been preparing for bed when her maid informed her that the authorities were at the front door, and Julia had not had time to properly dress herself to receive the unexpected visitor.
“Ma’am,” the police officer said, his voice softer than it had been when he first arrived at the mansion. “This investigation into your brother-in-law’s activities is ongoing, and I regret to inform you that you and the children will have to leave the house.”
Julia’s mouth dropped open in shock.
“What?” Julia asked, clasping a hand to her mouth. “Leave the house? Why? Where will we go?”
The police officer shook his head.
“The investigation is ongoing, and we cannot have you, the staff, or the children on the premises.”
A lone tear fell from Julia’s large brown eyes.
“Can you please send for the family lawyer? If we have to leave the house, we will need to draw funds from the bank. Mark and my sister assured me when they took me in that I would always be taken care of, and I will need to access funds immediately if we are to leave the house!”
He looked down at his boots, sighing and fidgeting with his belt.
“Sir?”
“His accounts have been frozen. Mark’s accounts have been frozen, and there is nothing you can do to touch the money.”
Julia stared at the police officer. A moan threatened to emerge from her lips, but Julia caught herself before the unattractive sound could escape. She sat tall against the back of the violet couch. In spite of the circumstances, she was a southern lady from a good family, and she tried to muster all of the manners and grace that her mother had taught her as the police officer delivered some of the worst news she had ever heard.
“Sir,” Julia began calmly. “You are telling me that my brother-in-law is a criminal, and that he has run off to escape arrest, leaving me, his sister-in-law, alone with no money and his two little boys?”
The police officer bobbed his head up and down.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Julia could no longer maintain her composure. She threw the back of her hand across her forehead, closed her eyes, and collapsed across the couch as the police officer’s eyes widened in horror.
Two weeks later, Julia could hardly make sense of the reflection she saw in the grime-streaked mirror as she finished preparing for church. At eighteen years old, Julia was one of the most sought-after girls in the city. With her waist-length black hair, slender waist, and womanly bosom, Julia had blossomed into a great beauty. She had been educated by private tutors, and she had come out to society in a grand debutante ball hosted by Mark and her sister. Julia knew that she would marry well. With her good looks, sharp mind, and inheritance from her wealthy parents, Julia had been enjoying the company of the sons of Charleston’s most powerful families as she mixed and mingled in the months following her debutante ball.
“Auntie Julia? Where’s Daddy?”
Julia’s heart dropped. Her twin nephews, Danny and Timmy, had been asking for their father constantly since the night they were escorted from the mansion. The boys were only five years old, and with no mother to comfort them, Julia was doing her best to shield them from the terrible news of their father’s disappearance.
“Shhhhh,” Julia said soothingly as the boys watched her from the narrow twin bed. “It’s all going to be fine, boys. Auntie Julia knows that Daddy is safe. He surely wants you boys to be good while Auntie Julia finishes preparing for church! Why don’t you boys play with your blocks while I finish dressing?”
The boys nodded. They climbed down and reached under the small bed for Julia’s leather valise. Timmy held the bag as Danny worked open the buttons with his tiny fingers, and both boys squealed in delight as they removed the set of blocks that Julia had stowed in the front pocket.
Satisfied that the boys were occupied, at least for a short period of time, Julia returned to her reflection in the mirror. There were deep, dark bags of blue skin under her eyes that had not been there before the news about Mark had come out. Julia smoothed the skin with her index fingers, but it fell back into place immediately after she let go. She cringed. She looked weary, and old. She ran a hand through her dark hair and cringed again. Her hair was greasy and tangled, and she sighed as she struggled to run her comb through the mess.
“No one will even recognize me in this state,” Julia murmured as she faked a smile in the mirror. “A lady must smile, even in the worst of times. That’s what my mother always said, at least! What would she say now as I stand here, filthy as a pauper? Would she want me to smile now?”
Julia glanced down at the simple gray shift dress she had chosen from a pile of castoffs given to her by the ladies’ group of the church congregation. The night the police had led her and the boys from the house, she had asked them to deliver her to her church. The church was only a few blocks away from the mansion, and Julia knew she could seek refuge from the city streets. Reverend Alsip, the trusted family minister, welcomed Julia and the boys in with open arms.
“I cannot believe he would do this,” Reverend Alsip muttered as Julia told him her story. “Mark was a loyal, consistent member of this congregation! He was a father to those boys, and a caretaker to you! I am terribly disappointed!”
Julia had nodded in agreement. She too was disappointed in her brother-in-law.
“You and the boys are precious members of this church. There is a small room in the west annex. You three will be welcome to stay there until you get on your feet, Julia.”
Julia had thanked Reverend Alsip. It was dark when she had shown up on his doorstep, and as she and the reverend had spoken, the boys had been taken upstairs and put to bed by the reverend’s wife.
“You look exhausted.
I’ll have my wife show you to the annex. You can get a good night of sleep. The little ones can stay here with us.”
Julia’s dark eyes filled with grateful tears.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Julia was left without a dime to her name, and now, as she adjusted the skirts of her simple second-hand dress, she shuddered at her reflection in the mirror.
“I am truly a poor church mouse,” Julia whispered to herself as the boys played with their blocks on the floor. The police had only allowed Julia to bring one bag of belongings from the house, and in the small valise, she had to pack for the boys as well as herself. The days of donning beautiful, lace-trimmed dresses and dainty white gloves for church were long over, and Julia itched and scratched in the poorly-made second-hand dress that she would have to wear to the morning service.
“Boys? Are you ready?”
Danny and Timmy smiled at Julia from their places on the floor. The boys had been a challenge for Julia to handle. She had typically only spent a few hours a day with them, and their nannies, nurses, and tutors handled the rest of their care. Julia now spent every waking hour with her two nephews, and she had no confusion as to why she looked so exhausted. The boys were clever and adorable, but they were also wild and stubborn. They were spitting images of their father, with bright blue eyes and thick blonde hair, and Julia had to control herself when she imagined Mark’s face as she gazed into the boys’ eyes.
“We’re ready, Auntie Julia!”
“We’re ready for church, Auntie Julia!”
Julia smiled. Despite the hardship of the last few days, she truly loved her nephews. The boys were all she had left of her beloved sister, and Julia enjoyed their little laughs and happy chatter. Their bright spirits brought joy into the dark days of their new life, and Julia was thankful that Mark had not snatched the boys and taken them with him when he disappeared.
