“How many pups did Delilah have?”
“Six.”
Jesse saw the frown on Wade’s face. No doubt he had instructed Jody on how to act toward her and Pauline and the boy was pouting. It suddenly occurred to her that Jody was jealous and frightened that she was a threat to his security here with Wade. She made a mental note to speak to Wade about it.
“Where’s Susan?”
“I’m up here, Jess. Up here in the hayloft.” Susan’s head appeared over the edge of the loft floor. She had lost her hair ribbon and spikes of straw stuck to her hair. “I’ve wondered what a hayloft was like since Mary Sue told me it was where she and Jeff Stealy… uh-oh—” She paused when she saw the stern look come over her sister’s face. “I’d better come down.”
Jesse had stepped back to look up at her sister and had come up against Wade’s chest. She could feel his silent laughter.
“Mercy me,” Jesse murmured. “What will I ever do with that girl?”
“She’s a corker, isn’t she?” His hand moved up and down her arm, and Jesse’s thoughts scattered like dry leaves in a windstorm.
Not wanting to leave the touch of his hand, but knowing she must because she saw her sister watching from the loft, she moved away from him to speak to her brother.
“Take the puppy back to its mother, Todd. Maybe Jody will let you hold it again after we eat. I must get started on my rounds.”
“Where do you plan to go?” Wade asked as they left the barn.
“I want to visit the little Gordon girl; she was very sick. Papa wants me to urge Mrs. Merfeld to come in when it’s time for her baby. Then I’ll see Granny and Mrs. Bailey. Papa also wants me to put a notice in the store. Two weeks from now we’ll be there to vaccinate for smallpox.”
“Would you like me to take a notice to Coon Rapids? The school is closed for the summer, but I could leave word at the church.”
“It would help. I’ll ask the Gordon and the Merfeld children to spread the word. We want to inoculate as many as we can that day. Papa thought two weeks would be enough time to get the word around. He’s getting the vaccine from the Public Health Department.”
Jesse and Pauline set the table and laid out the contents of the picnic basket: deviled eggs, bread, cheese, sliced ham and several dozen cry-baby cookies.
As Wade sliced the turkey, he watched Jesse out of the corner of his eye. He had never even touched her hand until three weeks ago. Now all the beauty he had ever dreamed of was summed up in her. He had to be careful or his rough ways would scare her away.
“I told Todd to wash, but he didn’t do it very well. And… he threw water on me.” Susan came storming into the kitchen, letting the screen door slam.
Jesse glanced at the few wet spots on Susan’s dress. “You’re not hurt. Come fill this pitcher and fill the water glasses.”
Todd came in wiping his hands on his pants. The front of his shirt was wet. He looked at Susan and poked out his tongue.
“S-Susan threw w-water on me.”
“You did it first, bird-brain.”
“I-I-I didn’t.”
“Hush, both of you,” Jesse said. “Where’s Jody?”
“On t-the porch.”
Jesse saw the worried look on Wade’s face. He was afraid of what the others would do when Jody came to the table. She imagined that Jody was worried too. She went to the door.
“Hurry, Jody. We’re ready to sit down.” When she turned, Wade was holding out a chair for her. He indicated for the others to sit down and went to the head of the table. Pauline and Susan sat on one side, Todd and the empty place was on the other. “We’ll wait for Jody.”
The boy came in with a rebellious look on his face. Jesse recognized it as a defense against what he was afraid would happen when he sat at the table with Wade’s white guests.
“Sit down there by Todd, Jody,” Wade said.
“It’s a good thing you’re not eating at our house,” Susan sat primly, her hands in her lap. “Papa makes us wait if we’re late.”
“T-This ain’t our h-house, blabber-f-face.”
“I’m just telling him… block-head.”
Jody looked down at his plate and said nothing.
Jesse sent Wade a look of apology. He was gazing at her. On his face was a look of patient waiting, and in his eyes a shadow of longing. It was as if he was unaware of what was going on around him.
“My granny always said the blessing.” He spoke quietly about the pleasant memory. His eyes held Jesse’s.
“Would you like me to do it?”
When he nodded, she held her hand out to Pauline on one side and to Jody on the other. When Jody didn’t respond, Todd reached down and clasped his hand and brought it up to rest on the table and held his other hand out to Wade. Hesitantly, Jody put his hand in Jesse’s. She bowed her head.
“Dear Lord, we thank Thee for this food, and for allowing us to be here today with our friends, Wade and Jody. Bless this house and keep it safe. Amen.”
Silently, Jesse thanked God for her little brother’s compassion and understanding.
“I-I want turkey. I g-get those old d-deviled eggs at home. Wait’ll y-you eat Jesse’s cry-b-baby cookies, Jody. They’re r-r-really good.”
The dishes were passed. Susan chattered about the colt she had seen in the pasture behind the barn. Todd asked questions about the geese and the pups. Wade answered all questions patiently. Pauline watched and listened as if she could hardly believe she was here in the hills in a comfortable home.
Jody did not utter one word until they had almost finished the meal. “We got a pet deer,” he said suddenly.
Both Susan and Todd looked at him with astonishment.
“Ah… you don’t,” Susan scoffed.
“We do too.”
“If Jody s-says he’s g-got a pet deer, he’s g-got one. S-so shut-up, S-Susan.”
“I won’t believe it till I see it.” Susan reached for a cookie. “I never heard of such a thing.”
“It comes and licks salt.” Jody glared across the table at Susan. “Ya don’t know nothin” bout deer, white girl..”
Jesse glanced quickly at Wade. He didn’t seem to be perturbed. His green eyes went from one to the other. Jesse could almost read his thoughts. This exchange with the Forbes children was good for Jody.
“At least I know enough not to run down the middle of Main Street and thumb my nose at the marshal… smart-mouth.”
Jody lifted his chin proudly. “Yeah, I did that. I’ll do it again.”
Susan giggled. “Everyone in town laughed about it. Old Man Harper had a fit and fell in it. He wanted to have you arrested.”
“How’d ya know that?”
“I get around. I hear things. Now about this pet deer—”
“It ain’t a real pet like Delilah.” Jody admitted. “Wade says if we tame it, it’ll not be scared of folks ‘n’ they’ll kill it. But we got a pet coon.”
“That’s more like it. When can I see it?”
“D-Don’t s-show her, Jody. She’s just a-a s-silly g-girl.”
Wade burst out laughing. “I guess I’m out of touch with the younger generation. Miss Anthony, is this what goes on in your classroom?”
“Some of the time. The rest of the time I’m cracking the whip.” She saw the startled look on Jody’s face and said quickly, “What I mean is, I assign them so much work they don’t have time for getting into mischief.”
“Ya think ya can learn me?” Jody asked.
“No. But I can teach you if you want to learn.”
“I gonna be like Wade. I gonna be smart ‘n’ read ever’ book in dis world.”
“Oh, Lord.” Wade shook his head. “That’s not a very high goal to set for yourself. You’ll have to learn a lot more than I know in order to get into a good school.”
“I’ll write to the colored colleges and ask about the entry exams and what classes are offered,” Pauline said. “We’ll have to plan a course of study for Jody.”
&
nbsp; “I’ll help you with your homework.” Susan rolled her eyes upward. “Miss Anthony pours on the homework.”
“I ain’t needin’ no help from you. I ain’t no dumb nigga!”
“Maybe not, but right now you’re actin’ like one.”
Jesse stood. “Pauline, if you want to change your mind about staying with us this summer, I’ll not blame you.”
Pauline laughed. “Not on your life. It would make Mrs. Lindstrom too happy.” She took the teakettle from the stove and poured hot water into the dishpan.
“You can see what you’re in for. Three smart-mouthed kids.”
“I’ve handled twenty smart-mouthed kids. I can certainly handle these three.”
“Lou… el… la—” Susan drew out the housekeeper’s name dramatically—“won’t let her dress tail touch her hind end until she tells Mrs. Harper the goin’s on in the doctor’s house.”
“My word, Susan!” Jesse glanced at Wade. He was trying to keep the grin off his face. “Papa talked to Mrs. Lindstrom and he assured me that she understood the situation and would say nothing about it.”
“She’d say anything to keep on Papa’s good side. She’s got her eye on him. If he marries that bossy, dried-up old prune, I’ll run away from home.”
“I swan to goodness, Susan—”
Hiding behind a casual attitude because she knew her sister would lecture her on the way home, Susan reached for another cookie. Her hand collided with her brother’s.
“J-Jody hasn’t h-had hardly any. You’re a p-p-pig!”
“Go on, Jesse.” Pauline carried dishes to the pan of hot water. “Susan and I will clean up.”
“What about Todd and Jody?” Susan complained. “They ate too, and a heck of a lot more than I did.”
“W-We got work o-outside, ain’t we, J-Jody?”
“Ain’t? You said, ain’t?” Pauline exclaimed. “If you were in my class, Todd Forbes, you would write ‘we don’t say ain’t’ on the blackboard a hundred times.”
“B-But we ain’t… we’re not in s-school.” Todd giggled and grabbed the last of the cookies from the plate. “Come on, Jody. Let’s g-get out of here. Can you s-spit through your t-teeth, Jody? Will you s-show me how?”
Jesse knew her friend well enough to know that she was comfortable here, that she had accepted Wade and Jody without the slightest qualm.
“It shouldn’t take us more than three hours, Pauline. We’ll be back so we can start home before sundown.”
“Don’t worry about us. Have a good time.” She lifted her brows and laughed when Jesse’s pink cheeks told her she had caught her meaning.
“Oh… you!” Jesse said as she went out the door.
Wade was hitching a lively young mare to the buggy. She was a beautiful golden color with a white mane and tail.
“She needs a good workout,” he explained.
“What’s her name?”
“You won’t believe it. I let Jody name her.”
“Tell me. I’ve got to call her something.”
“Christmas. Jody couldn’t decide so I suggested something he liked. I should have kept my mouth shut.”
“Christmas. I must admit that it is an unusual name for a horse. She’s pretty though.”
“So are you,” he said softly and helped her into the buggy.
The young mare was frisky and wanted to run. Wade held her to a fast trot and the buggy rolled smoothly down the road toward the trail that would take them to the Gordons’.
Now that she was alone with him, Jesse could think of nothing to say. Wade was silent also. He drove with one foot on the footboard, both hands on the reins.
“Papa has always encouraged my brother and sister to say what’s on their minds,” Jesse finally said. “They did a good job of it today. I hope you don’t think they’re brats. They’re really good kids.”
He turned to look at her. “They accepted Jody. That’s what’s important to me. He accepted them, but not quite so much. It will take time.”
“Susan is a freethinker. That’s what Papa calls her. If Jody is her friend, she’ll look out for him.” Jesse laughed into his eyes and almost forgot what she was going to say. “Just the other day, our new housekeeper said some unkind things to the woman who comes to do the wash. Susan was furious. I held my breath for fear she would kick Mrs. Lindstrom’s shins.”
“She’s Old Ghost-face?” Wade chuckled. “It fits. I saw her the couple times I went in to talk to the doc.”
“Papa hired her while I was up here. Susan named her because she puts buttermilk on her face to bleach her skin.” Jesse’s laugh rang out. “It’s a habit of Susan’s to tack nicknames on people. She swears she caught her putting egg white on her face, and later she sneaked around to see what it was like when it dried.”
“And?”
“The way Susan described it, her face looked as if it was all drawn up tight and if she smiled it would crack.”
“She could have named her Old Egg-face.”
They laughed together, then smiled into each other’s eyes. Soon the smile left Wade’s mouth and eyes, and a look of pure longing took its place. He turned his attention back to the mare and pulled her over into a stand of oak trees. He loosened the reins so the mare could lower her head and crop the grass, then wound them around the brake handle. It was cool and quiet in the woods except for an occasional birdsong.
When he turned sideways in the seat and opened his arms, Jesse went to him willingly. He gathered her to him gently, carefully, as if she were the most fragile thing in the world. A warm protective feeling slowly filled him. He felt her hand on his face and his body became one silent groan of pleasure. He longed to crush her to him, plunder her mouth with his own. Instead when she turned her face for his kiss, it was, in a way, an innocent kiss—soft, generous, uninhibited and incredibly sweet.
Wade closed his eyes and whispered, “Jesse.” His lips touched hers as he whispered again. “Sweet Jesse.”
Whatever it was that had happened when he first saw her over a year ago had been growing steadily. Now it almost consumed him. She was so open, so giving, as unrestrained as a summer breeze when she responded to his kiss. Her mouth parted beneath his, yielding and vulnerable to the invasion of his lips and gentle tongue.
Wade had saved his love, stored it away, sharing it only with his granny and, to a certain extent, with Jody. Now all the love he had to give was hers; this wonderful, beautiful angel of a woman who had come into his life and turned it upside down. His heart was drumming so hard that he could hardly breathe; his love for her was choking him. He burrowed his face deep into the fragrance of her hair and felt his whole self harden and tremble.
Jesse abandoned herself to the heavenly feeling of being in his arms. Her fingers touched his hair and his nape and felt along the hard line of his jawbone. A low moan escaped from her lips when they were freed, and she clung to him as if she could merge with his body.
“Wade… I didn’t know… kisses were like this.”
Half-laughing, he locked his arms around her more tightly. He smoothed her rumpled hair and traced along the side of her face with his lips and gently kissed her trembling mouth. His whispered words came against her lips.
“Neither did I, love.” His lips moved to her hair. “I’ve been crazy about you for a long time,” he said with a touch of desperation. “The feel of you in my arms is like no other feeling in the world. I’m so damn scared that I’ll lose you and we’ll never get to know how wonderful our lives together could have been.”
Jesse pulled back and cradled his face with her hands. “I understand what you mean. I was scared to come up here again, afraid I had read too much in the kiss we shared and would be disappointed. We have the power to hurt each other, Wade, simply because we care about each other.” She felt the tremors rippling through his body. “We must wait and see if what we feel is just mutual attraction or something more.”
As he looked into her blue-gray eyes, soft with caring, the fear wen
t out of him, and strength flowed in to fill the hollows that fear of losing her had dug. Seeing her smile and the flash of a dimple in her cheek made Wade feel as if he could take on the whole world. A surge of love for her flowed through him like a river. How was it possible that this woman, and only this woman, with her soft smile and calm words could make him feel like this?
“Right now we’d better get on up to the Gordons’.” Her mouth curved into a wanton little smile that grew into low, throated laughter.
He kissed her with lusty delight. “Yes, ma’am.” His eyes, shining green between a hedge of thick lashes, danced over her face. “Your cheeks are pink,” he teased. “Everyone will know it was my rough whiskers that scratched your soft skin.”
“Oh, no!” She put her hand on his cheek. It was dark, but not rough. “You lied, Wade Simmer. You lied to scare me.”
“I don’t care if the whole world knows I kissed you.” He turned the buggy out from under the trees and once again they were on the road.
For the first time in years Wade asked God for something. Please, God, make me worthy of this woman.
CHAPTER
* 12 *
They made two stops before they reached the Gordons’. Wade turned off down a lane to the Prestons’, then to the Fosters’ so Jesse could tell them about the inoculations coming up in two weeks.
“The vaccine is being furnished by the Public Health Department,” she explained. “By vaccinating everyone the world’s health organizations are hoping to eradicate the disease that kills millions of people each year. A sore will appear on the arm where the serum has been rubbed into the skin. My father will explain the treatment it will require. Spread the word to your friends and neighbors.”
Before she left, Jesse passed out stick candy to the children and promised another when they came to get their smallpox vaccinations.
The Gordon home was as neat as Jesse remembered it. The children playing on a swing in the yard stopped to stare at the buggy as it approached. One ran to the house yelling, “Maw.”
Wade helped Jesse from the buggy. She smiled into his eyes and squeezed his hand. Happiness sang in her heart like the lark they had heard the day of the picnic by the creek. He stood beside the buggy while she went to the house.
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