Six
Marcus tried to concentrate on the conversation of the men around him, but all he could think about was Victoria seated underneath a tree across the picnic grounds. He glanced at her every chance he got so that he could memorize what she looked like today. It would give him something to think about as he drifted off to sleep tonight.
With a sinking heart, he realized the conversation around him had halted and that all the men stared at him as if they waited for him to speak. He had no idea what had been said during the last few minutes or what was expected of him.
He darted a pleading glance at Dante. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”
Dante’s mouth twisted into a grin. “We were discussing our crops. How many acres would you say your tenant farmers will plant this spring?”
Marcus swallowed back the panic that had risen in his throat and cast a grateful smile in Dante’s direction. “Altogether I think we’ll probably have about a thousand acres in cotton and corn. We’ll leave the rest of the acreage for livestock forage.”
Dante nodded. “Last summer was so hot the fescue didn’t do well in the pastures. Maybe this year will be better.”
The men mumbled their agreement. Dante opened his mouth to say something else but stopped when his son ran up beside him. “What is it, Vance?”
Vance closed one eye, tilted his head to the side, and stared up at his father. “Mama says it’s time for us to be going home.”
Dante patted the boy on the head and laughed. “Go tell her I’ll be right there.”
“Yes, sir.” The boy scampered back toward his mother.
Dante watched until Vance stopped beside Savannah before he addressed the group again. “I suppose I’d better get going.” He shook hands with each man. “Have a safe week, and I hope to see all of you next Sunday.”
Marcus turned to look back at Victoria, but she was no longer sitting under the tree. She walked toward the church beside Savannah, who held Vance’s hand. He fell into step beside Dante. “I’ll walk back with you.”
As they ambled across the picnic grounds, Dante pulled a watch from his pocket. “It’s later than I thought. I was having such a good time I forgot all about the chores waiting at home. Livestock don’t take Sundays off. They expect to be fed on schedule.”
The words surprised Marcus. “You don’t feed your own livestock, do you?”
Dante laughed. “Of course I do. Who else would?”
“Your tenant farmers. They feed mine.”
Dante frowned. “Even on Sundays?”
“Yes. Why should Sunday be any different?”
Dante stopped and faced Marcus. “At Cottonwood, I like for my tenant farmers to have Sundays with their families. They have chores at their homes that have to be done, and I don’t want to take up their time doing mine, too. Everybody works hard all week, including the women and children. I believe they deserve some time to be together and enjoy the day.”
Marcus stared at Dante in amazement. “But you have so many cows, not to mention the hogs and horses. How do you feed all of them by yourself?”
“During the week, some boys whose fathers are tenant farmers do the feeding for me. On Sundays, Savannah, Gabby, and Vance help me.”
Marcus’s mouth gaped open. “You make your family work?”
Dante laughed. “You make it sound like it’s something horrible. There’s nothing wrong with honest work, Marcus. Savannah and I have struggled to bring Cottonwood back, and we want Gabby and Vance to understand the value of hard work and to appreciate the people who help to make their life more comfortable.”
“You make it sound like the tenant farmers are your equals. Surely you don’t believe that.”
“Oh, but I do, Marcus. The Bible tells us that we’re all God’s children. No one is more important than another. I want my children to understand that.”
Marcus shook his head. “You certainly have some strange ideas, Dante.”
Sadness flickered in Dante’s eyes. “I tried to talk to your father many times about my beliefs, but he always dismissed me. I hope you’ll be more open to what God teaches about loving each other.”
He glanced at Victoria’s retreating figure and smiled. “I’m certainly open to love.”
Dante followed his gaze and turned to frown at him. “I’m not talking about the romantic love a man feels for a woman. I’m talking about the kind of love that is voluntary and unconditional. It allows a person to look at his enemy and love him because God does.”
“That sounds impossible. I couldn’t love an enemy.”
“Maybe you have to start closer to home, Marcus. I’ve heard rumors that some of your tenant farmers are looking for somewhere else to go next spring. They say living at Pembrook is a lot like slavery.”
Marcus’s heart pounded from the temper that flared inside him. “So they’re looking for somewhere else. Who are they? Tell me, and I’ll take care of them.”
Dante shook his head. “I don’t know any names, and I wouldn’t tell you if I did. I’ve only told you this because I know how difficult it will be to farm your land if you lose tenants. Think about how you treat the people who work with you, and try to make them feel like they’re an important part of your success. In reality, they are.”
Marcus straightened to his full height. “They’d better realize how good they have it at Pembrook.”
Dante put his hand on Marcus’s shoulder. “I don’t want you to be angry. My only reason for talking like this to you is to help you. Please believe me. I know it hasn’t been easy since your father died. You have big responsibilities that require great strength of character. I want you to be successful.”
No one had ever spoken to him in such a forthright way before. Yet Dante’s words were tempered with compassion. A few days ago, Marcus had told Victoria he’d never had a friend in Willow Bend. He realized now that wasn’t true. Dante Rinaldi had been there all the time, but he hadn’t recognized the friendship he offered.
Marcus swallowed and nodded. “Thank you for speaking so frankly with me. I’ll think about what you said.”
Dante smiled. “Good. Now why don’t we catch up with the ladies? I’m sure Victoria would like to say good-bye to you before you leave.”
Marcus followed Dante as he headed toward where his wife and Victoria had stopped. When they reached the two women, Savannah smiled at her husband. “I have everything in the buggy. If you’ll hold on to Vance, I’ll see if I can find Gabby.”
Dante cocked an eyebrow and grabbed the boy’s hand. “You heard your mother. Let’s go wait in the buggy.” He turned to Victoria. “Let me welcome you to Willow Bend again and tell you how glad we are you’ve come to live in our town.”
She reached out and grasped Savannah’s hand. “Thank you for planning this wonderful gathering. I feel much more at home now that I’m getting to know folks.”
Savannah squeezed her hand. “Good. I’ll try to get into town this week and stop by the store.”
Dante rolled his eyes and grinned. “She’ll be there Wednesday afternoon, Victoria. I believe that’s the day the Montgomery Belle is expected on its trip back downriver. Savannah will make sure she gets to see the boat.”
Vance put his hand over his mouth and snickered, but Savannah only squared her shoulders and sniffed. “I’m going to find Gabby,” she said and disappeared around the side of the church.
Marcus watched Dante head toward the buggy with his son before he glanced back at Victoria. “They’re quite a couple, aren’t they?”
Victoria smiled. “Yes, they are.” She shaded her eyes with her hand and stared toward the picnic area. “Now where did Mama go?” she murmured.
A slight frown pulled at her eyebrows, and her mouth opened just enough to expose her white teeth. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. She had to be the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
His eyes grew wide. What was wrong with him? His father had warned him that women would beguile a man and make him believe the
y offered love. All they ever wanted, he had said, was a man’s money. If that’s what Victoria wanted, maybe he should stay away from her for a while, just until he had rid himself of the spell she had cast on him. He cleared his throat. “Victoria.”
She lowered her eyelids and smiled. “Yes, Marcus.”
“I know I came to call on you last Tuesday and Friday nights, but I don’t think that’s going to be possible this week.”
The lips that made his heart race drooped into a pout. “Don’t you want to see me, Marcus?”
His heart pricked at the sight of moisture in her eyes. Was it possible that his words had hurt her to the point of making her cry? He felt as if her tears had seeped through his pores and flooded through his body. He was drowning in the need to be with her, and there was nothing he could do about it.
He took a deep breath. “Of course I want to see you. I wondered if your mother would mind if I came three nights this week.”
Victoria smiled, and she inched closer to him. His heart soared. “My mother wouldn’t mind, and it would make me very happy. In fact, I’d like it if you came every night.”
At that moment, her mother and uncle stopped beside them. “It’s time to go, Victoria,” her mother said. She turned to Marcus. “We hope to see you again soon.”
He glanced down at Victoria and smiled. “I’ll probably come to visit tomorrow night if that’s all right.”
Victoria flashed him a big smile. “That sounds wonderful. We’ll see you then.”
He didn’t mount his horse until Mr. Perkins’s buggy had pulled away from the church. Then he climbed on and turned the mare toward Pembrook. It had been an unsettling day. The problems at Pembrook that Dante had warned him of were troubling enough, but he also found himself beginning a relationship with a woman he’d only known for a week. He had no idea how to address either matter.
❧
Two months later on a Sunday afternoon, Victoria sat in a chair underneath a tree in back of her uncle’s store. She’d hoped the shade would provide some relief from the heat that stifled her in the upstairs living quarters, but it hadn’t. If it was this hot in the middle of June, she dreaded what July and August would bring.
There wasn’t a leaf stirring on any of the trees today. The still air pressed down on her like a great weight. She closed her eyes and listened—for a bird’s call, the laughter of children playing up and down the main street, the nicker of horse—but she heard nothing in the quiet afternoon.
She swished her hand fan in front of her face and let her mind drift to the church service earlier today. Over the weeks, she’d learned the names of all the families in the congregation and which pew they sat in each Sunday. Uncle Samuel liked to be about halfway back, and she could spot where they would sit the minute she walked in the door. She doubted if it took Reverend Luckett but a few minutes to make a mental note of who was absent from the service.
A smile pulled at her lips as she thought of Marcus, who had sat beside her for the past month at church. It had taken him a few weeks to get up the nerve to ask if he could join them, and she had been thrilled. His presence beside her made her pulse race, but she tried not to let her facial expression show what was happening inside her.
This morning as they shared a hymnal, his finger had accidentally brushed hers on the back of the book. He gasped and glanced at her as if begging her pardon. She smiled at him, slid her hand across the back of the book, and stroked his knuckle. It was a brazen gesture, and her mother would have fainted if she’d seen it. The reward of his blue eyes sparkling at her had made her overture worth it.
“Good afternoon.”
Her eyes flew open at the sound of Marcus’s voice, and she jerked up straight in her chair. The book in her lap tumbled to the ground, and Marcus knelt in front of her and scooped it up. He smiled as he handed it back to her.
“Marcus, you scared me. I didn’t hear your horse. Where is it?”
“I tied my mare to the hitching post out front and walked around here.”
She reached up and smoothed her hair back into the bun at the nape of her neck. “I wasn’t expecting you this afternoon.”
He glanced around. “And I didn’t expect to find you alone without your mother or uncle around.”
“They decided to take a nap, but I couldn’t sleep. It’s so hot upstairs, and there are only a few windows. Every once in a while we get a breeze off the river, but not often.”
He dropped down on the ground beside her and stared at the back of her uncle’s store. “I’m glad my grandfather put a lot of windows in the big house. It helps a lot in the summertime.”
“That sounds nice. The summers in Mobile are hot, too, but our house had a small garden with some large shade trees. I spent a lot of time outside.”
He stared at her for a moment. “You must miss Mobile a lot.”
She shook her head. “I would have missed it more if I hadn’t met you.”
He directed his gaze to a sprig of grass and pulled at it. “I just happened to be there when you arrived. Now that you feel more comfortable in Willow Bend, I’m sure there are a lot of young men who would like to get to know you better.”
A retort that she had no wish to see other men hovered on her tongue, but she bit it back. Marcus had been calling on her for the last two months, and his actions told her he liked her. She didn’t know why he couldn’t say the words. Was this going to be their relationship forever? They’d sit in her parlor with her mother and uncle in the next room while he talked about his crops and what he planned to do at Pembrook?
If that was all he wanted, she might do well to move on. The thought made her sad. Marcus had come to mean a lot to her, but she had no idea how he felt about her. He had sought out her company and had called on her at least twice a week and sometimes more, but he never spoke of personal feelings. Maybe he never would.
She had to do something with her life. If her relationship with Marcus was going to lead nowhere, perhaps she needed to follow through on her threat to return to Mobile. If Uncle Samuel would loan her enough money for passage and living expenses for a few months, she felt sure she could stay at the boardinghouse where she’d worked. Maybe her old job would be available. If not, she’d look for other employment. That’s what she would do—she would return to Mobile and put all thoughts of Marcus Raines out of her mind.
She sighed. “If there are any young men who want to get to know me, they’d better hurry.”
He tilted his head to one side and frowned up at her. “Why?”
Her hands trembled. She flattened them on her skirt and smoothed out the fabric. “Because I probably won’t be here much longer.”
His eyes grew wide, and his mouth dropped open. “Why? Are you going somewhere?”
She nodded. “I told my mother when we came here I didn’t expect to stay long. I think it’s about time for me to go back to Mobile.”
He jumped to his feet. “I had no idea you were thinking of leaving.”
She stood and faced him. “I’ve been thinking about it ever since we got here. I can’t see anything here for me except ending up as an unmarried woman who’s spent her whole life working in a general store and living above it. I want more than that.”
“And you don’t think you can find what you want here?”
She let her gaze wander over his face. “Not if it means living above a store.”
“Victoria,” he said, “I don’t want you to leave. I would miss you.”
She eased toward him. She opened her mouth and touched the tip of her tongue to her upper lip. “I’ll miss you, too, Marcus. I think about you all the time.”
He couldn’t take his eyes off her lips. The longer he stared, the redder his face became. After a moment, he shook his head and backed away. “I have to go. I’ll come back one night this week. Please consider your choices carefully before you make a final decision.”
“I will.”
He turned and strode around the side of the store. Vic
toria stood still until she heard his horse gallop away. Then she dropped down in her chair.
What had she done? As she thought back to what she’d said, her face burned. Her words sounded like she dared Marcus to do something to make her stay. Her mother had often warned her she was too impulsive, and she certainly had been today. If Marcus thought she was pressing him for a commitment, she’d probably never see him again. She had just scared off the one man who had ever shown any attention to her. All she could do now was follow through on her threat and begin making preparations to leave for Mobile.
The thought of being away from Marcus crushed her heart, and tears filled her eyes. She sank down in the chair and covered her face with her hands. What had she done?
❧
Marcus dug his heels into the horse’s side and galloped out of Willow Bend along the river toward Pembrook. He couldn’t believe it. Victoria was going to return to Mobile.
There had to be something he could do to keep her here. For the first time in his life, he’d met someone who made him glad to be alive, and he didn’t want to lose her. He gritted his teeth and groaned. If he’d never gone to see her that first time, he wouldn’t be so unhappy now. He should have kept his distance and not discovered how her very presence made his pulse race. But he had chosen to go. Now he was going to pay for that choice.
If only he knew what to do. She said she didn’t want to end up an unmarried woman still working in a store. He didn’t know why she should worry. As beautiful as she was, some man would be happy to make her his wife. Anger roiled in his stomach at the thought of Victoria with another man.
What was it she had said? That when she arrived at Willow Bend it was as if he was waiting for her. He’d had the same thought many times.
He pulled back on the reins, and the horse stopped in the road. Marcus leaned on the saddle’s pommel and frowned. She’d said she wanted more out of life than what she had at her uncle’s home. But what if he could give her more? Maybe it had been decided the day something made him go to the riverboat landing to wait for his cotton planters. He’d had no idea he would encounter a beautiful woman, but he had. Was there some way he could control her decision about leaving?
Blues Along the River Page 6
