Later in the day when it was time to do the shopping, Nettie and Goldie walked down to the mercantile and went past the storefront where the numbers men were gathered. She let her gaze linger on the interior longer than usual.
The storefront was set up to look more like a living room, since it was designed for a man’s comfort. However, the back end of the space was roomy, with a wooden platform on one end. It would be easy to get wooden chairs from somewhere and line them up. It was the answer she had been looking for. She was no teacher but this was the way she could find a way out of Jay’s life and back to her own, to the familiar and what she knew.
At the mercantile, she bought the ingredients for a good dinner—beefsteak and green beans—then took up the small bag to carry them home. When she and Goldie went past the window again, she got another look at the place. It would do perfectly for her needs. However, Jay’s return gaze at her lingered, burning through her.
She gave him a small wave. He nodded, but kept up his intense scrutiny from afar. Nettie had to refrain from leaning on the glass like a child looking in the candy-store window at something she wanted but knew she couldn’t have. She wanted Jay as much as he wanted her. That feeling was new, but warmed her insides in a way she’d never thought possible.
She had never, she knew, been looked at that way before. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a frantic Lem waving at her like a lovesick boy. Jay’s gaze was the aware, sustained interest of a man, and that made her nervous and excited, all at the same time.
Nettie had decided to make a chocolate pie when she saw the ingredients on sale in the store. She and Goldie passed the afternoon working on making a good dinner. They reviewed Goldie’s reading and math until her father came home.
When Jay walked in the door, her heart turned upside down at the sight of him dressed in his expertly cut suit.
“Staying for dinner, Miss Nettie?”
“I am.”
“You aren’t afraid of what your sister will say?”
“You’re the one who told me I was grown.”
“I did. How grown are you?”
He stood next to her chair and she knew that the heat of his closeness had nothing to do with the stove. She stood and willed her legs to be straight.
“Grown enough. Let me get dinner. Excuse me.”
Lord, keep me standing, she prayed as she brushed past him. Thankfully, God listened to her prayers. She at least appeared to be a woman who was in control. Although sometimes, being near him, she didn’t feel that way.
When she sat to dinner with Jay and Goldie, they had the appearance of being a family, and the feeling made her heart soar.
“I’m sorry that you aren’t working in the church kitchen. You might have told us.”
“I’m sorry.”
She cut into her beefsteak with the edge of her fork, showing Goldie how to eat it. It was tender enough, she was proud to note, and it was good for Goldie who should not have to wield a sharp steak knife.
“I forgot to tell you.”
“Or you thought it wasn’t my concern.”
A piece of the tender beefsteak went in between his lips and she had to look down at her own food to keep from swooning.
“I didn’t want to make it yours. It was my decision to stay here with Goldie.”
“Yet, it was my being here too that made people decide you are a fallen woman. And I didn’t even get the fun of helping you fall.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I think I have shared my concerns about Freedom Christian’s congregation. I knew it could not be my church home here. However, I’m upset at not having the Easter pageant. The children worked so hard. We only would need a few more rehearsals. A shame we have to cancel it.”
Jay cut another piece of the steak off, dipped it in gravy and brought the piece to his mouth, chewing thoughtfully and carefully. “Maybe not.”
“Why not?”
“When would the children perform?”
“Sunday school. Before the service.”
“So as long as they perform before the service, it’s okay?”
“That would be ideal.”
“There are other places where the pageant could occur.”
“That would cost money. I don’t have much.”
“There is the park, but it could rain.” Jay put down his fork. “Unless you used the store.”
“What?” The good dinner was about helping him to come up with a solution, but she had not expected Jay to offer his store. For an Easter pageant.
“I said the store. It’s closed on Sundays. On Saturday, you can come in and clean, decorate or whatever. You can have the pageant there.”
It was a solution. However, it had problems. Nettie didn’t mind cleaning. The store, as he called it, looked like it could use a woman’s touch. Her fingers itched at the prospect. And the process would teach Goldie a lot.
“What about chairs?”
“I can rent chairs from Samson’s Funeral Parlor. How many?”
“There are sixteen children in the pageant. Maybe forty chairs.”
“I think fifty. I can get word around over the next two days if you want the children to come and practice before the pageant.”
“After dinner on Saturday?”
“Yes.” Easter Eve, which was typically a quiet time. If the children just came for two hours, they could get everything set up.
“I don’t want them to miss Sunday school.”
“Let them come before that.”
She hesitated, but then spoke her hope. “Could it be at sunrise?”
“Sure. We could give them breakfast before they go on to church.”
“Really?”
“There’s a kitchen in the storefront. An extensive one. It used to be a restaurant.”
Her heart lightened. The pageant could really happen. “It would be a lot to do, but maybe we can.”
“Of course we can! I’ll help. So will Goldie.” Jay reached over and tweaked one of his daughter’s braids lovingly.
“Thank you. I was so sad the pageant seemed to be lost. Because of me.”
“Well, don’t say thank you yet.” Jay picked his fork back up. “The parents haven’t said yes. They may not want to come. Isn’t Solomon in the pageant?”
“Yes, he plays Jesus.”
“A critical role.”
Would Ruby and Adam let him come?
He had a point. How would she convince everyone to come for the pageant at sunrise? The key was breakfast. It had to be a good breakfast. In two days.
He had said that he would be willing to help. There was so much about this plan that was generous and good. And it had come from him—a promising sign.
Maybe her life was not as proscribed as she had believed. Something existed in the air she had not felt before.
Hope.
Now, she was allowed to have some of her own, and Nettie embraced the feeling with everything that was in her.
Chapter Fifteen
“You play the piano?”
Nettie had taken a break from frying eggs for sandwiches for the sunrise service in the morning. They would assemble the sandwiches there at the house and take them down to the empty storefront in the morning.
“Pianos aren’t decorations,” Jay said. “Seeing as there is one at the house and one here in the storefront…”
“I just…I didn’t know.”
Jay played a hymn this time and she refrained from bumping into the box of eggs in shock.
“I did have some home training, once upon a time.”
“That’s not what I meant, Mr. Evans.”
“You should call me Jay.”
“No I shouldn’t. Christian names are for—”
“And I’m not?”
“We all are.” She didn’t want
to seem as if she were judging him, but she still wanted to know his mind. If she could.
“Of course. But you don’t believe it about me. Since I take people’s funds and put them in a safe place for a rainy day. Then the rainy day comes, and I pay out.”
She shook her head. “It’s all nice for you. You get to say when the rainy day is.”
“Maybe. But how else would I know about everyone in the Hill District?”
“It all sounds like a weighty responsibility, however.”
“You said it, Miss Nettie.”
Jay’s eyes met hers. His intense gaze reminded she of their kiss, so she bustled about, getting ready to fry four more eggs. “You are a good person. And you have enough. You can retire now.”
“At twenty-seven? Mighty young.”
“You can do something else. What about baseball?”
Jay’s jaw was set hard. “That’s nothing that will pay. I have a particular talent that has no other use other than this one. If I were born in a different race, I would be able to wear these suits to the bank and make money off of the interest I charged. I can’t do that here.”
“Why not? You’re a smart man. I’m sure you can put your talents into doing something else.”
Nettie’s question resonated with him the entire weekend. Being with her, Jay couldn’t remember when he’d had more fun than giving out ham-and-egg sandwiches on Easter morning. Why was that something fun to do?
He got reacquainted with several of the children who remembered him from their fun percentages lesson and several of the parents whom he took numbers from. He had been happy to help Nettie spread the word on such short notice because his runners usually got around to see everyone in the neighborhood at some point or another, and so it was easy to let them know about this impromptu performance. And people had turned up.
Nettie had directed things over the last couple of days with the precision of a drill sergeant. He had fun helping her fry the eggs. Nettie had baked a huge ham the day before and Goldie had helped with wrapping the sandwiches in brown paper for the next morning.
Way before sunrise, they’d woken up and came to the store to warm the sandwiches in their stove in the back and to pour juice. It was a good thing he had recommended to Nettie that they make some extra sandwiches because the little storefront was filled with people on Easter Sunday.
Nettie stood up and made a pretty speech about how glad she was to see everyone there. Then she said, “We’ll begin our program now, and adjourn afterwards for breakfast.”
It was good her family had shown up. He didn’t know what they might do. With some satisfaction, he observed Dr. Morson and his petite wife had to stand to see the performance. They had run out of chairs.
Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell had come late with Mags Caldwell weaving from side to side, carrying the heavy burden within her belly. Not wanting her to stand, Jay went to pull two more chairs out of a closet for the sisters. Mags gave him a bright smile that reminded him of Nettie’s, except there was weariness in it. However, Ruby Morson sat down as if it were her due.
Goldie had uttered her particular line without a hitch. With only a few little errors, the play was well done. When it was over, Jay went to the front where the stage was and spread his hands.
“Miss Nettie, thank you for that wonderful production. I have brought something on behalf of myself and the other parents to thank you for your efforts.”
He went into the back part of the storefront, where there was a storage area, and saw the Easter lily he had smuggled in yesterday morning. It was still looking quite pert, thank goodness, and he brought it out.
All of the parents smiled and clapped as he handed the pot to Nettie, who held it up and put it next to the piano.
“Thank you, Mr. Evans. We have sandwiches now for those who would like a bite of something to eat as you make your way to praise God for the sacrifice he made. Glory that he has risen. Amen.”
Nettie’s words functioned like a benediction and Jay could see how people were blessed by her service. He was blessed by it. People spoke to one another pleasantly. It was a different world.
Several coffeepots had been loaned to them from the diner down the street. The coffee in them bubbled and made the air smell fragrant. The children drank milk from tin mugs. The numbers game had never made the place feel this way, but Nettie had. The storefront had never seemed so warm or homelike as it did now.What a miracle.
Lem stood in the back. What was he doing here?
Jay should not have been surprised. As a single man who lived in a boardinghouse, Lem would not have minded getting up early to come down to have something to eat before the breakfast bell, but Jay did not like the way Lem’s eyes followed Nettie as she poured cups of coffee and handed them out to parents.
He made his way to the back when he overheard Mags speaking from chairs he had pulled forward for them.
“Nettie pulled all of this off very well.” Mags acknowledged.
“I don’t like the way she is behaving. It’s not her,” Ruby Morson said.
“She managed it anyway.”
“At the expense of her reputation.”
“People will forget that. Nothing happened.”
Ruby snorted. “I don’t think so. How many people in Winslow do you think have forgotten that you were gone for a whole night with Asa? The only thing that made it better was that you all got married.”
“That was different.”
“Was it? Why?”
“This man isn’t going to marry Nettie. No man will,” Mags pointed out.
The offhand way Nettie’s sisters spoke about her made his blood burn throughout his veins. They did not seem to understand the special treasure that their sister was. He was about to step up to them and say so when Lem came up to him.
“What are you doing here?” Jay’s countenance soured at the thought of those gossipy sisters.
“Dag, Boss, I’m just having a good time watching the children.” He held up a sandwich. “Breakfast ain’t half bad either.”
“Your eyes seemed to be taking in more than the children and the breakfast.”
“Oh, you mean the nanny? Very impressive, Jay. If I were a holy man, well, just count me among the converted.”
“She’s for real, Lem. It isn’t a joke.”
The younger man regarded him carefully and Jay was almost taken out of his comfort zone for a second. But just a second.
“Yeah, I can see that.” Lem stuffed the rest of the sandwich in his mouth and balled up the wax paper, tossing it in a garbage receptacle. “Or maybe I’m just a lonely bachelor looking for a place to spend Easter.”
“Hey,” He clapped him on the shoulder, “You looking for a place to eat dinner?”
“Naw. I’ll be at the boardinghouse.”
“Let me know.”
“Will do. See you tomorrow.”
He watched Lem leave and then he turned to see that the Bledsoe sisters had moved from their perch on the back davenport to where Nettie was. He could see that they were talking to her, making her upset because she kept patting her bun. He did not like that at all. Nettie had left that snooty church to avoid this kind of judgment, and he did not like that her sisters were making her feel that hypocrisy again. On Easter Sunday, of all days. Maybe Nettie needed his help.
He strode over to the group of ladies and all of sudden the three of them disbanded. Nettie had shut down and her sisters were in the process of leaving.
“Thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Evans,” Mags Caldwell’s pleasant voice told him.
“You’re welcome, ma’am. Watch your step now.”
Ruby Morson said nothing to him, but just fixed him with a sharp look. He nodded to her and her husband, who’d come up behind Ruby.
“Mr. Evans.” The good doctor nodded, escorting his wife and children from th
e storefront.
“Dr. Morson.”
Bright tears lit Nettie’s eyes and he offered his handkerchief.
“Thank you.” Nettie took it, wiping at her eyes, and blew her nose.
“If anyone—I mean, anyone—gives you a hard time, you know that I’m here to help you.”
“Thank you, Mr. Evans. But the more that you help, the worse it becomes. I’m afraid that my sisters are quite rigid about what I should have done.”
“I appreciate what you did to help my little girl. It was the right thing.”
“Was it?” Her brown eyes sought his. “Maybe everyone is right and our interest in one another is not suitable.”
“What makes it unsuitable? I’m a man and you’re a woman. So far, so good.”
“True,” Nettie acquiesced. “But my sisters don’t see us together.”
“Are you willing to fly in the face of what your sisters say?”
“That’s a good question.” Nettie raised her head to study him. “I just want to say that this was a big success, and I appreciate what you have done to make it one. Thank you for your help.”
“You’re worth it, Miss Nettie.”
His lips whispered those words so softly Nettie was sure that she was the only one who could hear them.
And he was the only one who believed them.
“We’ll see you at Mrs. Caldwell’s,” Ruby’s voice boomed over the rest of the room as people got their wraps and coats and were ready to leave the storefront. Freedom Christian was only a block and a half away, but the beginning of April in Pittsburgh was still cold. She had never known a spring to come this late—it was so different from Georgia.
“Okay, Ruby.” Nettie waved her sister on. She had to step around Mr. Evans to make sure she was seen and heard—his chest was so broad. Her knees felt a little weak, and she focused on cleaning up wrappers from the sandwiches, saying goodbyes until the storefront was cleared out and it was just the three of them.
“That was fun!” Goldie exclaimed.
“Even though we have a sink full of dishes to clean up?” She pointed back toward the kitchen.
Goldie made a little face, but then brightened. “That’s okay. We’re together.”
A Treasure of Gold Page 17
