“Papa won’t be so easy to reel in,” Jesse said firmly. “He still keeps Mama’s picture beside the bed and her things in the dresser.” She said the words to convince herself as much as to convince Susan. The fear was there in the back of her mind that her father would wake up too late to see Mrs. Lindstrom for the greedy, manipulating woman she was.
“I remember how sad he was when Mama died. I was just little bitty then, but I remember. It about killed him to lose her,” Susan said.
Pauline grasped Susan’s hand. “Just be patient. Doctor Forbes will see through her sooner or later.”
“With our help it could be sooner.” Susan giggled happily and imitated Louella’s voice. “Oh, Miss Anthony, I’m so glad you’ll be staying with us this summer.” Then in true Susan fashion she turned to her sister with a complete change of subject. “Do you think we’ll see Wade Simmer, Jess?”
“I think so.” Jesse tried to keep the eagerness out of her voice. “I want Pauline to meet him and Jody.”
Jesse looked at her friend and saw the tension on her face. She had lost weight during the past few weeks, but it only enhanced her beauty. Her pale hair was pulled back and tied with a lavender ribbon that matched the one at the neck of the white shirtwaist. Her blouse was tucked neatly into a tan skirt. A wide belt cinched her small waist. She was pretty—so pretty. Just looking at her made Jesse feel gauche and… plain.
Susan continued to chatter, jumping from one subject to the other.
“If Ichabod got wind that you were teaching a darkie he’d go straight to Mr. Harper and raise a stink.”
“And if Mr. Crane got wind that you call him Ichabod, you’d have a rough time next term,” Pauline retorted.
“He’s got his nose buried so deep in his books, he’ll be the last to know.” Susan giggled. “Anyway he brought it on himself by reading The Legend of Sleepy Hollow aloud to his class. The description of the school teacher fit him perfectly.”
Jesse was so occupied with her own thoughts that she hardly heard the conversation. They had passed the turnoff that led to the clearing beside the creek $$$re she and Wade had picnicked. Her mind was busy$$$sg to decide how she should act when she met him. Should she be cool and businesslike? She certainly didn’t want to act as if the kisses they’d shared meant anything to her.
Her mind was suddenly cleared of all thought when Wade, on his big black horse, appeared in the middle of the road. It was just as it had been before. If her mind had been able to sustain a thought, it would have been to wonder how the man could move through these hills like a phantom. Molly stopped on her own accord because Jesse was too befuddled to pull back on the reins.
Wade sat quietly on his horse and looked at Jesse, his eyes beneath the pulled-down brim of his hat devouring her face. He was hungry for the sight of her. Just looking at her spread a feeling of peace over him. He slowly moved his horse up beside the buggy.
“Mornin’.” His hand went to the brim of his hat. His eyes flicked over Susan and Pauline and came back to Jesse.
“Morning, Mr. Simmer. This is my sister, Susan, and Miss Anthony, the teacher Papa told you about.” Jesse was proud of the way she was able to control her voice despite the heavy thumping of her heart.
“Ladies.” Wade put his fingertips to the brim of his hat again.
“H-H-Hi, Mr. S-S-Simmer.” Todd called from the back of the buggy.
“Hello, Todd. I wondered why poor old Molly was working so hard to get this buggy up the hill.” A genuine smile of pleasure lit Wade’s face when he spoke to the boy.
“W-We got a p-picnic.”
“That’s good news. I left Jody at the house to watch a turkey I put on to cook. If it’s burnt up we’ll have something to fall back on.”
“Oh, but we can’t impose—” Jesse said hurriedly. “I have rounds to make. I wanted Pauline to meet you and Jody so she can—” Her voice trailed.
“He was expecting us,” Susan exclaimed.
“Todd left word with Ike last night.” He winked at the boy and looked back at Jesse. “I promised him a ride on Samson. Now is a good time if it’s all right with you.”
“G-G-ee whill-liker!” Todd was already standing on the platform reaching for Wade.
Jesse watched while Wade lifted her grinning brother to the horse. Snug against Wade’s back, both arms about his waist, he turned shining eyes to his sister.
“I-I-I won’t f-fall, Jess. I sat on Samson before.” The happiness on his face brought mist to Jesse’s eyes when she smiled up at the man who was the cause of it.
“And when was that?”
“Only a time or two at Ike’s.” Wade commanded the fidgeting horse to stand still. “We’ll turn off just before we get to the Mill Store and take the shortcut home.” Wade moved the horse out ahead of the buggy as if previous arrangements had been made for them to go to his place. Molly followed.
Take the shortcut home. The words echoed in Jesse’s mind. She could hear her brother’s chatter and the low tones of Wade’s voice. He liked her brother… he liked children. He’d had a special look on his face when he looked and spoke to them. In her heart she knew that he was a special man regardless of what anyone else said or thought about him.
Jesse looked around Susan to Pauline. There was a slight frown on her face. In the excitement of seeing Wade again she had forgotten how disturbing the meeting must have been for her friend.
“Pauline? Do you mind going to his house?”
Pauline turned and smiled. A silent message passed between the two friends. Pauline no longer suspected it was Wade who had subjected her to such appalling indignity.
“No, Jess. I don’t mind at all.”
Jesse’s shoulders slumped with relief. She felt as if a weight had been lifted, and she could fly as free as the butterflies that darted amid the wildflowers alongside the road. She was eager to get her friend alone and ask her what it was about Wade that had caused her to change her mind. Jesse had been sure that Pauline would come to that conclusion once she had met Wade, talked to him, but she hadn’t expected it to be quite so soon.
“So that’s him. This is the first I’ve seen him up close.” Susan rolled her eyes toward her sister. “Imagine that little stinker leaving word at Mr. Spangler’s that we would be up here today. Jess, do you think Mr. Simmer asked Todd to let him know when you would be coming up here again?”
“I don’t know about that. He and Todd are better acquainted than I thought. I wonder why Todd never said anything before about riding his horse.”
“Todd likes him a lot.” Susan chattered on. “He’s handsome as all get out, but kind of scary too, isn’t he, Miss Anthony?”
“And too old for you,” Pauline said.
“But not too old for Jess. He looked at her as if he could eat her.”
“Susan, you say the most outlandish things!” Jesse could feel the heat rise to her face. “And don’t talk so loud. He might hear you.”
They turned off the main road and onto a trail cut through a thick stand of oak and ash trees, the well-worn trail began to slope gradually upward. It was quiet and cool in the woods, the only sound being the creak of the buggy and the soft thud of the horses’ hooves. Even Susan had stopped chattering.
“I want to tell you something before we get to Wade’s house.” Jesse spoke in a low murmur. “I don’t want you to be shocked.” When she was sure she had Susan’s and Pauline’s complete attention, she continued. “Wade treats Jody as if he were his son. He’ll eat at the table with us.”
“Is Mr. Simmer a Yankee?” Pauline asked. “He didn’t sound like a Yankee.”
“No, he isn’t a Yankee. He was born and raised right here in these hills, but he spent quite a few years as a stevedore and traveled all over the world.”
“How exciting!” Susan exclaimed. “Well, if he wants his nigger to eat at the table it’s all right with me.”
“Susan! You know how I hate that word. Don’t you dare use it again.”
�
�I’m sorry. I meant Negro.”
“—And Wade doesn’t consider Jody his. He treats him as his equal.”
“It’s strange,” Pauline said, shaking her head. “I’ve heard of that being done up north, but not here in Tennessee. Hill people are clannish. I can’t imagine them accepting a colored in their homes.”
“I got the feeling, although Wade didn’t say so, that the people here are less than kind to Jody. I think that those who are especially fond of Wade, like the Lesters and the Fronys, just ignore Jody’s existence.”
“Wouldn’t it be a lark if he ran in the Olympics and won?” Susan chortled. “Wouldn’t that put some folks’s noses out of joint?”
“I don’t know the rules,” Pauline said. “But I doubt they would let him enter the races.”
“That’s not fair, is it, Jess?”
“Not it isn’t, but many things in life are not fair.”
Jesse was getting nervous. Her hands inside her gloves were damp. Wade and Todd had gone on ahead and were out of sight. The image of Wade’s sun-bronzed face with its high cheekbones, well-formed nose, and sharp but kind green eyes floated before her. His kissing her did not mean he had any serious interest in her, she told herself sternly. He had been in town several times since they met and had not called on her and she wasn’t sure she wanted him to. She could easily get to liking him too much and she was too young to live with a broken heart.
Jesse had not seen the stone-and-log house in the daylight and was surprised that it was larger than she had remembered. Almost all the houses in the hills had tin roofs. Wade’s house was roofed with cedar shingles. It was neat, the grounds surrounding it well tended. The barnyard was on a lower slope than the house. The runoff went downhill and away from the clear creek that at one time had been the occupants’ only source of water. The house sat there among the trees, amid railed fences and wild rosebush hedges, as if it had always been there.
“This is nice. Not at all what I expected.” Susan’s eyes were bright. “I thought everyone up here lived in tumbled-down shacks.”
Wade was waiting when they reached the yard behind the house. He patted Molly on the rump as he passed to help Jesse from the buggy. His hand clasped her gloved one tightly; his eyes looked directly into hers. She was so breathless that she just barely managed to speak.
“Where’s Todd?”
“In the barn with the new pups.”
Pauline got out on the other side, but Susan, flirt that she was, moved over so Wade would lift her down.
“I’ve heard all sorts of untrue things about you, Mr. Simmer. That you were ugly and mean—”
“From your sister?” Wade’s smiling eyes lingered on Jesse’s face, which was turning a light pink.
“Not that you were ugly or mean. She said that—”
“Susan. You’re making me wish I hadn’t brought you along.”
Wade chuckled. “That would have been a shame. I can’t have a pretty girl thinking I’m mean. I need all the friends I can get in Harpersville.”
“You’re not ugly either.” Susan tossed her head and smiled up at him.
“It’s kind of you to say so.” Wade reached for the picnic basket. “Come in the house, ladies. Jody and Todd will tend to Molly.” Then to Jesse, “I hope you intended for me and Jody to share what’s in this basket.”
“Why do you think she packed so much?” Susan, ahead, turned to walk backward so that she faced them and saw the “wait until I get you home” look on her sister’s face. “Uh-oh,” she murmured, and turned to walk ahead with her chin lowered and her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle.
Jesse could tell that Pauline was pleasantly surprised when she stepped into Wade’s house. She looked with interest at the scrubbed wooden floor, the table covered with an oilcloth, the neatly arranged cookpots that hung over the stove, and the rows of books in a glassed-in bookcase.
Susan, with unabashed curiosity, went to the bookcase to look at the book titles. She touched the heavy glass pitcher and goblets that sat on the oak buffet, looked closely at the picture of the Dutch windmill on the handsome wall pocket. After touching the high-backed rocking chair and putting it in motion, she went to the doorway to look into the other part of the house.
“I like your house,” Susan said. “Old Ghost-face has got ours so gussied up we can’t even sit in the parlor anymore.”
“Thank you, but who is Old Ghost-face?” Wade had hung his hat on the peg beside the door and had set the basket on the counter between the kitchen cabinet and the sink.
“That’s a story that will take some time to tell.” Jesse moved to halt Susan’s recounting of the family situation.
Wade didn’t like the fluttery uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. He blamed it partially on the fact that he seldom had people in his home other than a neighbor who dropped by occasionally. Having three women in his kitchen was unnerving, especially if one of them was a woman who had been constantly in his thoughts and dreams for days, weeks, for a year or more.
He felt as if he were standing on the edge of a high cliff. One false move and all he yearned for would be lost to him forever. He would know before the end of the day if he had a chance with Jesse. His eyes constantly strayed to her even as he removed a large baking pan from the oven.
“This old fellow didn’t burn up after all.”
Susan came to stand beside him and peer in the pan when he lifted the lid.
“We have turkey only on special occasions like Thanksgiving and Christmas.”
“This is a special occasion.” Wade spoke quietly, and over Susan’s head his eyes met Jesse’s in silent yearning.
“Let’s go see the puppies, Susan.” Pauline had seen the look that passed between Wade and her friend.
“Now? I was goin’ to—”
“Now.” Pauline pushed Susan gently toward the door.
CHAPTER
* 11 *
Arosy flush flooded Jesse’s face and her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. Her mind groped like a bat in bright daylight for something to say.
Wade saved her from trying to erase the sudden silence.
“I’m glad you brought the teacher.”
“She’s a good teacher and likes a challenge. Knowing that Mr. Harper would be furious if he knew she was teaching Jody makes it all the more exciting for Pauline.”
Wade came close to her. All his senses were focused on the woman standing before him. He remembered the day he had stopped her in the road. She had smiled at him, the sun shining on her glorious hair. Before the day was over he had known that she would be his only love, his only joy, the all-consuming factor in his life. He was not half good enough for her, and God knew he had tried to get her out of his thoughts. She had stuck there like a burr; whether he was awake or asleep, she was there in the back of his mind.
“Right now the teacher is the farthest thing from my mind.”
Jesse’s heart began to surge wildly; she couldn’t speak, but she smiled up at him. With his dark unruly hair and his dark skin, he was good-looking as all men are who have character stamped on their faces. His air of competence set him head and shoulders above other men. It was hard for Jesse to use these words even in her mind. She just knew that when Wade was around everyone was aware of him, even if he was standing still and not saying anything.
Her eyes found his, and they were soft with amber lights. When he smiled back at her, his face was younger and free of the somber expression it usually wore. She knew immediately that this was a turning point in her life. Nothing would ever again be the same.
“I’m glad you’re here, Jesse.” His hands gripped her shoulders. It wasn’t what he had meant to say, and he held his breath as he waited for her to say something.
“I’m glad to be here. We’d better get dinner on so I can make my rounds,” she whispered, her lips barely moving, her eyes lost in his. The hands on her shoulders tightened and he stared at her.
“You’re really glad you’re here?
”
“Yes.” Jesse felt her heart jump out of rhythm. When he lowered his face and pressed his lips reverently to her forehead it was so sweet that she wanted to cry. This big hill-country man was capable of incredible tenderness. Her eyes were moist when they met his.
He gripped her hand and led her to the door, then stopped. “I’ll take you on your rounds. I take it you didn’t intend for your brother and sister or the teacher to go with you.”
“I’d planned to leave them with Mrs. Frony or Granny. Todd hasn’t had scarlet fever.”
“It would be a good time for Jody to get acquainted with them. This is his territory. He’s more comfortable here.”
“Do you want to send him north someday?”
“He can’t stay here in these hills and amount to any more than what he does now. He’s heard about track meets and he wants to compete. He also wants to learn. He’s got to get in there and fight for what he wants. I need to find a place where he can get the education he needs.”
“Jody is lucky to have you. You’re a very special men, Wade Simmer.”
Jesse walked beside him. They were at the barn door before she realized it. Inside the cool, dim barn, he gave her fingers a gentle squeeze and released them.
Todd came from one end of the barn holding a fat, wiggling pup in his arms.
“Looky, Jesse. Jody s-says maybe I c-can have him when he don’t need his mamma any m-more.”
“I’ve been after Papa to let you have a dog.” Jesse stroked the puppy’s head.
“Susan s-said old Ghost-f-face won’t l-l-let m-me h-have him.” Todd’s stuttering always became worse when he was upset.
“Don’t worry about that now. Enjoy the puppy. It will be a while before he can leave his mamma, and in the meantime I’ll talk to Papa.”
When Jesse and Wade reached the stall, Pauline was holding one of the pups and Jody was on his knees beside the mother, stroking her head and crooning to her.
“Hello, Jody.” The boy’s glance was brief, but Jesse saw his scowl.
“Howdy,” he mumbled.
Tenderness Page 13
