A Treasure of Gold

by Piper Huguley

  “You’re too sheltered. I should take you down Kirkpatrick Street sometime to see the crowded apartments where I have to collect stakes.”

  “Why would I do that?”

  “So that you can see women who have to have children endlessly until they die.”

  “Ruby tells me some things from her nursing.”

  “It’s tragic. Some folks say, ‘Why do they keep on when they know it will kill them?’”

  “Why do they?”

  He should have known. Nettie didn’t understand. She was coming at this from an entirely practical perspective. “Children are the result of a man and a woman loving each other.”

  “Oh. Yes.”

  She almost understood what he was saying. He could see it in her eyes. “Someone who couldn’t have children wouldn’t have to worry about those things. They could do whatever they want. However many times they want.” He touched Nettie’s arm, moving a step closer to her, and knew the exact moment when what he was talking about clicked in her mind.

  She pulled away from his touch. “Oh. Mr. Evans, I don’t think you should say those things to me.”

  “I’m sure that you don’t. Because it would require you to think about it in a different way. A way that you like.”

  “I was saying what you imply isn’t proper. Now I’m saying I don’t think it is any of your business, sir.”

  “I make ignorance my business when I see it.”

  “Oh, I see. I’m a little, ignorant country girl, as you call it, and you’re going to set it right?”

  He moved closer to her. He had meant to overwhelm her, just to see what she would do to match him. Yet, he was the one who felt overwhelmed. By all of this. “I sure could.”

  This time Nettie didn’t pull away. She was quivering with anger and that pleased him. He didn’t like it, of course, when her anger was directed at him, necessarily, but he could see that she had fire and will and determination. How dare Nettie’s family tell her that she wasn’t as good? If he were standing in front of Mrs. Morson right now, he might tell her a thing or two.

  “My life isn’t your concern and we shouldn’t discuss this.”

  “Your life is my concern because it is touching my daughter’s life. I don’t want her growing up with some country mind-set about what makes someone of value.”

  “It’s not a country mind-set.”

  “It is. Women have the right to vote now. Women can do things, and be things, not just a mother to children for a man. I want that for Goldie. I want someone who believes in all those things to be her mother.”

  The thought of finding someone else after Clara had not occurred to him until this woman had come into his life a few short weeks ago. Now, finding someone seemed entirely possible. If only he could convince her.

  Nettie nodded. “I think that would be good for her.”

  “I want her to go to college and to think for herself and not go along with stuff that’s other people might think about a Negro girl.” He looked down at his feverish little girl, realizing that what he’d said sounded like a prayer. The more he did it, the more it seemed natural to him after so many years.

  “That would be nice for her.”

  “But if someone came along for Goldie, I would want her to be valuable to him as more than just the mother of his children. I named her Goldie for a reason.”

  “I see.”

  He turned to Nettie. “Do you? Really? Or are you still thinking in that country way of yours?”

  She opened her mouth. She shouldn’t have done that. He didn’t want to hear her response just then. He didn’t know if Nettie would say the right thing, and there was only one way he knew to stop her.

  It had been such a long time since he had kissed a woman. Still, once he put an arm around her waist and drew her in, there was no going back. Nor did he want to. He pulled her close and touched his lips to hers.

  He had only intended it to be a short kiss. One that was just a peck, like how someone might kiss his sister. However, when Nettie’s soft lips touched his, he nearly came undone. He had been a man wandering in the desert. How dare he believe that he could do without this, without the touch of this amazing woman and all that came with her? He needed Nettie. Goldie needed her.

  Now the battle was to convince her of their need. That would be tough.

  So Jay kissed Nettie since he couldn’t bear to hear her say no.

  Nettie had known his lips would feel this wonderful, ever since she had found him in the gutter near Ruby’s house. They were like a whirlpool drawing her in farther and deeper. These tingly feelings she had were what her mother, Sister Jane, her father, Brother Carver, Ruby and Mags, called sinful.

  They had all warned her against this very definition of the devil. So why did she, not feel the evil when Jay held her so tightly Why did it make her feel that she understood what life was about? All the time she had spent on the road, touring and helping people to the church—why did that feel fake all of a sudden? As if she had been living in a dream world? His kiss firmly placed her in reality as a woman, not as the shy girl who had to stay inside while everyone else got to go out and play all the time. The one who could pitch some of the time.

  Oh my. That was what sin was all about. It was tricky. It was deceptive. And as he was kissing her, she now understood why it was such a big deal about Asa and Adam not be left alone with her sisters while they courted. She knew what it was like to want to stand before a man without any clothes on and desire to share herself with him. Nothing but sin. The realization made her remember, and in an agonizing way. She put her hands to his delicious chest—which for a split second made it all worse—and pushed Jay from her, forcing him to stop.

  She backed away, blinking, not knowing what the protocol was at such a moment. Nettie felt that she should reach up and draw her wrist across her mouth, but she knew that would be rude and a real repudiation of Jay. Besides, she didn’t want to. If it was to be the only kiss that she would ever have with him, she would keep it, and remember it as something to dream on, something never to be indulged in again.

  “Little Country, you’ve never been kissed before, have you?”

  The anger she had felt before came rushing back. “Who would kiss me, the sick girl? Yes, you’re right, I suppose. I had them lined up back there in Winslow.”

  She thought he would be angry, but instead he started to laugh, a deep bass kind of laugh that made her smile in spite of herself at the serious thing that had happened between them.

  Goldie shifted slightly in her bed and Jay squelched his laughter.

  “I mean, really, Miss Nettie? No one?” It was too serious a question to reply with a lie, even though she was very embarrassed by her own lack of attractiveness. She shook her head, unable to speak.

  “Those country boys in Georgia are a bunch of fools, for sure.”

  “No…” she moved past him, to the chair, and sat down to quiet her quivering knees, “…I’m the fool. That cannot happen again, Mr. Evans.”

  Jay moved next to the chair, standing over her. “Can’t you even call me Jay after that kiss?”

  “No.”

  “And I cannot call you Garnet? Your real name? A precious name?”

  “Garnets are only semiprecious.”

  He reached down and pulled her up by her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. “We are all precious and special in every way. Especially you.”

  Please give me strength.

  She drew on the special connection that she’d had all of her life. She shrugged out of Jay’s hold and stood as firmly as she could on her own. “I think we should have some lunch, don’t you, Mr. Evans? We need to maintain our strength for Goldie’s sake. I think you should give her some more ice chips and I’ll pull something together for us to eat.”

  She stepped around Jay—not an easy task, given ho
w broad he was—and walked out of the door, still glad that she’d had the good sense to wear a corset. Too many young women today did not wear one. This time, the 1920s, was loose and immoral. The corset, Nettie could see, had served its purpose in holding her up when she wanted to be a puddle on the floor at Jay’s touch.

  When Goldie was well, she needed to do something about it…to correct the situation.

  But what could she do when Jay’d already captured her heart?

  Chapter Thirteen

  Nettie’s lunch of pea soup and a beef sandwich was delicious. After she fixed it, Nettie set it on the table and announced someone should check on Goldie. She then went back upstairs before Jay could say anything.

  He sat alone in his dining room and ate, but he forced the food down. The bread from the sandwich stuck in his throat. Was Goldie feeling better? Should he have kissed Nettie? Taken advantage of her under these circumstances?

  Kissing her was pure fire. One best avoided.

  When Adam and Ruby Morson came to the door, inquiring after Goldie, they looked around to see where Nettie was. Adam stepped over the threshold, confident in his welcome, but Jay felt the intense gaze of the petite woman with Nettie’s brown eyes. It was as if Ruby knew of his desire for her sister. He counteracted her looks with good thoughts about the right intentions.

  The thoughts of a life with Nettie made him feel better, so much better he could eat again. Still, the way that he felt about Nettie was pure torture. He would rather face being shot again. There had to be a better way.

  Adam lifted his head as he listened to Goldie’s chest. “She seems to be improving. She still bears watching, though.”

  Once Adam stepped back from his examination, Nettie caressed Goldie’s limbs as she washed her down with a cool cloth. Her motions were that of a mother, so loving and gentle.

  The lump was still in Jay’s throat. Goldie needed that loving.

  When Nettie stood next to Jay during the examination, tall and dignified, she made him believe that Goldie could have a mother again. It was like believing in Santa Claus. This time though, the thing called love really did exist. Now that Jay knew love was there, he was eager and willing to partake of it.

  How did Nettie feel?

  Nettie lifted a nervous, slightly shaking hand to her throat as she watched Adam examine Goldie. His heart swelled with pride and affection as Nettie showed her concern for his child, as if she were her own. Why couldn’t Goldie be hers too? Jay was perfectly willing to share his daughter with a fine woman like Nettie, but she would have to take them both, and Jay knew that he fell far short of what she wanted.

  “She still needs close attention,” Ruby came over to Nettie and whispered. “We left the children at Mrs. Caldwell’s, but we have to get back.”

  “Of course.”

  “You come on with us and Adam can call some night nurses to come here now that church is over. I know some who would be glad of this work opportunity and will take very good care of her.” Ruby put a hand on her sister’s shoulder, as if to push Nettie to the door.

  A flame sparked within him. He didn’t think it was appropriate to be angry any woman, but Ruby had gone too far.

  How could she just assume that he would want to call in a stranger to look after Goldie? She was all he had. His feelings would have spilled into rage, except when he refocused his attention on Nettie, he could see she shared the same flame that burned in him. The flame reached her eyes and she met her sister, gaze for gaze, there in Goldie’s darkened room.

  “I’ve promised to care for her. I’ll take care of her. There’s no need for a night nurse.”

  Ruby pointed. “Out in the hall. Now.”

  “No, Ruby. I’ll not be bossed by you on this. I have been charged to take care of this little girl, and I’ll do it.”

  “There are others, professionals, who can do it,” Ruby hissed, her eyes darting between Nettie and Jay.

  He knew why Ruby said what she did. It had nothing to do with Nettie’s capability and everything to do with him. He was the one who was the problem. The realization hurt him, and he hurt worse for Nettie. But Nettie could take care of it and his heart warmed at the thought.

  “You cannot stay here alone at night.”

  “I’m here to take care of Goldie. If other people want to think other things, I’ll not stop them. Jesus washed the feet of the fallen woman, too.”

  “Nettie, this is insanity.” Adam closed his bag after examining Goldie. “Come on home with us.”

  Nettie turned from her brother-in-law back to Goldie. “I love this little girl. And she needs love right now to pull her through, not just care.”

  “What about the school tomorrow?”

  “I want to make sure that Goldie is all right. I can leave from here in the morning to go to the school.”

  Adam’s hand went to his wife’s shoulder and he nudged her toward the door. Ruby’s eyes practically glinted in the dim light of the cloudy March afternoon, but Nettie matched her.

  Still, he didn’t want to be the cause of trouble in Nettie’s family. “Maybe you should go with them.”

  “I know what I am doing.” Nettie sat down in the wooden chair by Goldie’s bed.

  He stood at the foot of Goldie’s bed, facing her. “I just don’t want you to be hurt by any talk or scandal. I know what folks say about me, let alone you.”

  “This is my work, and it’s not for you or me to fight it.”

  “If you stay here, you will be like the fallen woman in the Bible.”

  “If it means that the tears of Jesus will wash my feet, then it will have been worth it.” Nettie turned to him as he stood in the corner. “I’ll not leave her.”

  “You aren’t just doing this to show your sister something?”

  “Everything has always been about doing what Ruby says. She’s not right in this. I am. If she wants to kick me out, then she will, and I’ll find somewhere else to live or go home.”

  He sank down next to her, sitting on the floor. “Do you really think she would do that?”

  “I have no idea. I only know snooty churchgoers may have something to say about me being here. And I don’t care anymore.”

  He was almost lost when Nettie reached for his hand and gripped it. “We can face whatever we have to. The main thing here is Goldie. Let’s pray.”

  He did not feel the least bit awkward or strange as he rearranged himself on his knees and listened to Nettie’s words. That electric charge between them sparked when she took his hand and squeezed it intensely as she spoke her heartfelt words.

  “Amen.” When he opened his eyes, her gaze was on him.

  “How do you feel?”

  “Been ages since I have prayed.”

  “I know.”

  “How did you know?”

  “Your knees creaked when you knelt on the floor.”

  His heart turned over at her genuine goodness—tempered with a slight touch of teasing.

  “They did.” He smiled back at her, “I’m not even going to lie. But I feel fine.”

  Nettie gazed back down at the sleeping Goldie. “That is God’s peace. There are so many who are trying to reach that peace. Even at Freedom, where they’ll be willing to call me a whore for staying here with you tonight to fight for Goldie’s life. But I don’t care. Let them say what they will. My work is here, to see that she gets well.”

  He squeezed Nettie’s hand and tried not to feel disappointed as she slid her grip from his. “We’re glad to have you here.”

  “She’s a very special child. And thank you for speaking to me truthfully earlier. It has given me a lot to think about.”

  He touched Nettie’s arm and once more rested his hand in hers. Touching her was so natural, and so right—how could anyone say that what he felt was wrong? She did not withdraw from him this time and they sat i
n comfortable silence all night long, both of them consumed with love for the child sleeping before them.

  With the dawn came a realization. He was in love with Nettie Bledsoe. If he wanted to be worthy of Nettie, he had to turn his whole life upside down to make room for her.

  He was willing.

  Goldie’s moan woke Nettie from her sleep. She reached for the jar of water that was kept by Goldie’s bed, poured a glass and sprinkled some droplets of water on Goldie’s parched lips. When she touched Goldie’s hand, it was cool, not warm. Thank you, God. Her fever had broken.

  Nettie turned to Jay, who had laid his head down at the foot of Goldie’s bed. “Jay,” she shook him slightly, careful to avoid his sore shoulder, “her fever has broken.”

  He was up in an instant, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and holding Goldie’s hand. “Thank you, God. Thank you.”

  She stood up and stretched, feeling old in the same wrinkled shirtwaist and skirt. “I’ll make you all some breakfast, maybe try to get her to eat an egg. Then I’ll go and get Adam to come and visit her, as I go by the church to tell them there is no school today.” She faced Jay. “She’s going to be better.”

  “Thank you.”

  His intense hazel gaze threatened to undo her. The feeling of wanting to take off her corset came over her again.

  “I’ll be back soon.” She practically ran from the room to do all that she said before Jay could rattle her again.

  When Goldie woke, she ate about half an egg.

  When Nettie was satisfied that it would stay down, she put on her suit coat and left in the chilled Pittsburgh dawn. She would stop at the church first to leave the message about not having school today and then go get Adam to see about Goldie.

  As usual, Nettie was one of the first workers in the charity kitchen, but when she walked in, there was dead silence. The usual sound of the children gathering for breakfast did not greet her. The sight of the nearly bare basement stunned her. No children were gathered in there.

  “Good morning,” she said to another staffer, but the woman did not return her greeting.