by Kari Trumbo
“The same. They’re spiffing the place up for the wedding. The oldest daughter, Beatrice, she’s marrying Zachary Carlson this summer.”
“They were just kids when I left town.” James shaded his eyes and looked at the massive roof of the Jefferson home.
“That’s what happens when you leave for so long. People grow up.” O’Malley smiled and handed him a hammer.
“Yes, they certainly do.” He tucked the hammer in his belt.
James carried the ladder over and leaned it against the Jefferson house. This part would be easy; it always was. Work made him forget his problems, and he had more than his fair share of them to forget. Like how Lily Donaldson knew Gwendolyn was a bad choice. That ate at him. Had been eating at him for six months. He’d seen in dreams both asleep and awake the pretty young lady scream from the back of the chapel as he stood there holding Gwendolyn’s hands. Since the divorce, it hadn’t been Lily who ran out of the chapel, embarrassed. It was him.
Chapter Four
Lillian pinned her hat to her head and picked up her market basket. Sitting at home while her mama was in this mood would only lead to more hurt. She crept down the stairs on her toes, taking the kitchen in in a glance. Mama was nowhere in sight. She let out a small sigh of relief, pausing for a listen to make sure no one would see her.
Once outside, she gave her skirts a slight swish, smiled, and descended the few steps of the porch into the dusty street. A tapping sound stopped her short. She looked around to find the source of the noise. Penny waved from inside her house and held up a hand for Lillian to wait. Lillian nodded and moved toward her friend’s home. Penny popped outside while pinning on her hat.
“Oh, Lily. I’m so glad to see you! I didn’t get a chance to talk to you yesterday before Mr. Cahill came in. Wasn’t that quite the surprise?”
“Well, yes. I suppose it was. I certainly didn’t think I’d ever see him again.”
“Oh, don’t be a ninny. No one remembers what happened anymore and, frankly, I think it was rude of Mr. Cahill to remind everyone. You were just a girl at the time.”
Lillian lifted her chin. “Some women are married at the age I was when it happened. Some would say that I am silly. Plus, you hadn’t moved back here yet, so you weren’t there to witness how awful it was.”
Penny squeezed her friend’s hand. “Those people would be wrong.” She linked her arm with Lillian’s. “Do you have any plans? I’m going to the mercantile to order fabric for my wedding gown. Mama is so happy!”
“Your Josiah is a good man, and a lucky one. I had planned on going to the mercantile, too. Let’s go together.” She moved her basket to her left hand. “As to Mr. Cahill…let’s not speak of him again. Mama and Papa had only just stopped mentioning him, and now here he is again. Supper last night was an unpleasant event.”
Penny scowled. “Ugh. The gossips. They just can’t help themselves. If only there was more to do in Cutter’s Creek.”
“And if only Mr. Cahill would leave well enough alone.”
Penny’s eyes gleamed. “So, you’ve finally gotten over him? You can move on, find a man, and we can start families at the same time…Lord willing.”
Oh, if only… “I’m really not concerned with finding a husband right now. Mama and Papa need me and—”
“You do realize you’re a terrible liar, right? You couldn’t lie to save your life.” Penny opened the door to the mercantile for them both, and they walked into the dark building. Penny grabbed her hand and led her back to the fabric catalogues. She grabbed the one with gown fabric and flopped it down on a back counter with a few chairs. She yanked Lillian down in the seat next to her.
“Here we are.” She flipped open the large book.
“Have you talked with Mrs. Lewis yet? To see when she’ll have time to sew your dress?” Lillian pointed to a white silk and Penny shook her head, turning the page.
“No. I was going to sew it with my mother. Her dress was perfect, but…it was borrowed.” She frowned.
“Oh no!” Lillian’s eyes grew wide. “Though I’m sure your mama looked lovely in it.”
“It was pretty; we’re going to try to make a dress just like hers, only the skirt won’t flare so much. I want a princess-cut bodice, too. We’ll have to see what we can do… Not that I don’t think Mrs. Lewis could handle it. I just want to do this. Since we get the fabric wholesale with Holston running the shop…”
Lillian touched the page to see a fabric a little better. It was a soft satin in cream. “Oh, it’s as soft as butter.”
Penny wrinkled her nose. “It would be pretty on you, not on me. Do you think I could have a light lavender wedding gown?” She laughed.
“You’ll want it white. What about lace?”
“No, not that. Machined lace is so rough and makes my skin itch.”
The bell above the mercantile door jingled and Penny looked past Lillian’s shoulder. Her eyes rolled heavenward and she groaned. “You’d think he was following you.”
Lillian’s neck tensed as the trudging footsteps approached. It had to be Mr. Cahill. Mama would be furious if he did not stop seeking her out.
“Miss Donaldson, care to introduce me to your friend? I don’t think I was properly introduced yesterday.”
Lillian turned, her cheeks flaming hot. She saw, behind Mr. Cahill, at least three old women by Penny’s brother, Holston, talking behind their hands and shaking their heads. Mama would hear about this latest infraction before Lillian would have a chance to explain, again.
She cleared her throat with a tiny cough. “Mr. Cahill, this is my closest friend, Penelope Hanover.” She turned to Penny. “Penny, I believe you know Mr. Cahill.”
“Mr. Cahill.” She held out her hand and he took it and patted the top.
“We’d love to stay and chat, but Penny and I were just leaving. Busy day, you know. Good day, Mr. Cahill.” Lillian scooted past him and rushed for the door, leaving Penny behind.
Chapter Five
James watched her back as Lillian rushed from him yet again. He frowned. How would he ever find out what he had to know if she continued to elude him? He turned back to her friend…what had Lillian said her name was? He hadn’t paid attention. Lillian certainly had grown into an enchanting woman.
“Between you and me,” she said in a whisper and dashed a glance to the front of the store over his shoulder. “Her parents give her a difficult time whenever she gets within a hundred miles of you. If you stop mentioning your wedding day, the town might forget it and so might her parents. I don’t know why you keep seeking her out, and it’s none of my business, but you might want to convince her parents that you don’t hold her responsible for what happened back then.”
“Why would I lie to them? I do wonder what she knew back then. Why she tried to stop me. She may not have ruined my marriage, but if I had listened to her back then I wouldn’t have had a marriage to ruin.”
The look she gave him made him wince down to his toes.
“Mr. Cahill, if you continue to say things like that, you will never get to say more than a howdy-do to Lillian. She tries to do right by her parents, and they have forbidden her from seeing you. They will not change their minds until you convince them that you were not wounded by what happened.”
“How could they hold a grudge for so long? Why wouldn’t they forgive their own daughter? It makes no sense.” He folded his arms over his chest.
“All I can say to that is, you don’t know her parents. They are strict and cold. How Lillian could have come from two such people, I don’t know.”
He looked down at the catalogue still on the table. “Gown fabric? Is there to be a ball in the near future?” He searched her face. If there was, he could try to get Lillian away from the group for just a moment to talk.
The young woman laughed. “Ball? No. I’m getting married and I need to order fabric, but we didn’t find anything today.”
He nodded. “Congratulations. Oh, and don’t forget your basket.”
>
“Oh. That’s Lillian’s!” She reached for it.
He was faster. “I’ll get that to her.”
“Mr. Cahill, I’m not joking with you. Her parents will not allow you near her.”
“I’m just going to return a forgotten basket, Miss. Nothing rude.”
The little imp harrumphed and sashayed past him. “Good day, Mr. Cahill.”
He laughed to himself and looked at the basket, then followed the young lady out into the street. He had to remember just where it was that Lillian lived. Their families had never been close. He’d write to his mother later and ask her why. He felt light, as if a weight had been lifted from him, but he couldn’t figure out why. His demons still lurked just under the surface, but talking about the lovely Lillian had made him feel closer to cured than he’d felt in a long time.
~~~
Lillian strode to her house. Mama sat on the porch, but didn’t give her the telltale scowl of passed-on gossip. She approached the steps.
“Mama, would you like to come inside for a cool drink?”
She looked up from her mending. “Why, Lily, it isn’t even that warm out here.”
“Yes, well, I just thought you might like one.”
“I’ve been in that house all morning. I’m enjoying a little time on the porch in the breeze. What has gotten into you, girl?”
She sat on the edge of the chair next to her mother and clasped her hands in front of her. “I didn’t seek him out, Mama. I was at the mercantile, looking at fabrics with Penny, when he just walked in. I didn’t do anything and he just came over and started talking to me. I wanted you to hear it from me. I don’t want you to think I was intentionally disobeying you.”
Mrs. Donaldson’s lips sank into a frown. “If I can’t trust you to stay away from him, I will have to just have you stay in the house until he moves on. I won’t have this.”
“Mama. How can I find out what he wants if you won’t let me talk to him? He is not going to leave me be until you do.”
“Don’t you dare, young lady. My mind is made up and your father agrees. This discussion is finished.”
James interrupted. “Good day, Mrs. Donaldson.”
Mama shot him a glance over her knitting. “It was. What can I do for you, Mr. Cahill?”
“Your lovely daughter left her basket at the mercantile.” He handed her the basket full of cut flowers.
“Oh!” Lillian stood and her mother yanked her back down in the seat.
“My Lillian knows how I feel about wasting God’s creation by cutting flowers, so I can assume this was your doing. I don’t know what you think you’re trying to prove, pestering her, but I’ve told her to stay away from you. Now, I’ll tell you to stay away from her. This town don’t need more to talk about.”
“Mrs. Donaldson.” He spoke to her mother, but looked at Lillian. “I assure you. I have no intention of hurting your daughter’s or your reputation. I am no longer married, and I would never seek her out in an unsavory way.”
“I don’t care what way you want to seek her. You will stop it this instant.”
Mama leveraged herself out of the chair and yanked the basket from his hands, spilling many of the flowers. Lillian looked down at them and felt a longing so deep to gather them up put them in water, and coax them to open. Mr. Cahill picked up a pink azalea and handed it to her. His gaze traveled from the toes of her boots, peeking out from her navy skirt, up to her flushed face, then held on to her eyes for dear life.
“For you, Miss Donaldson.”
She stepped forward, tossing a glance over her shoulder at her mother, and took the flower from him. She touched his hand briefly; it was warm and made her skin tingle where his skin touched hers. He released the flower, still holding her gaze.
“I do hope I can speak to you soon, Miss.” He touched his hat and turned away, leaving her to lean against the railing and watch his retreating form.
Chapter Six
James approached his parents’ house. He’d been staying there since his return, even though they no longer lived there. A buggy sat parked in the street out front, and he picked up his pace to see who was at his home.
He reached his front step to find the door unlocked. Pushing it open, he peeked inside.
“James, so glad you’re home!” His mother rushed from the kitchen and embraced him in the doorway.
He hadn’t seen her since the wedding. Her love for him poured through her attention and voice, something that had been sorely lacking in Lillian’s mother.
She pulled back from the embrace and held his shoulders. “Let me look at you. You haven’t changed a bit.” She smiled and turned from him, leading him further into the house. “Your father is back here with me. We heard you were home and thought we would come back for a while.”
James smiled to himself, glad he hadn’t changed anything when he’d returned.
“So what is this I hear about Gwendolyn? I see she isn’t with you… does that mean the rumors are true?”
“Well, Mother, that would depend on what the rumors are. It’s strange; when they involve you, it seems people are less likely to share them with you.” His lips flattened as he entered his kitchen, nodding at his father.
“James, good to see you.” He glanced at his son from behind his paper.
“Now,” his mother interrupted, “please, tell us what happened. We had always worried you hadn’t made a love match, and we defended you for some time, but when the rumors kept coming…Well, it became too much to deny.”
“I don’t blame you, Mother. If I had known, if I had seen her for what she really was… But what’s done is done.”
“But a divorce? How will you ever find another bride? The stigma…”
“It was not my choice. I suspect that she was being unfaithful with the lawyer who filed the case. Not only am I divorced, but I have nothing left to my name. I must start all over.”
Mrs. Cahill handed her son a cup of coffee. “Don’t worry, James. The good Lord has a plan in all of this. I know it doesn’t feel like it, or seem so, but He does. He will turn your mourning into dancing.”
James sipped the coffee his mother had made. No matter how often he made it himself, it was never quite as good as when she did it.
“Mother? You are not close to the Donaldsons. Did something happen?”
Mrs. Cahill sat next to her husband and questioned James with her eyes. “Candy and I were friends many years ago, good friends. We both were married and did many church functions together as new wives. When I had you, she changed. She’d spoken to me many times about how her husband wanted a boy, someone to pass his name to. I began to see then that some things were not right with Candy. She insisted I would have a girl; when I would joke that I could also have a boy, she would get angry. When you did finally come, she was enraged.” James recalled the woman who had yanked her only daughter back in her seat before she’d let her accept flowers, and cringed.
“Candy was having difficulty getting in the family way. They struggled for another five years, as you know.”
He blinked. He hadn’t considered how much younger Miss Donaldson was, but yes. She had been so young sitting there in the back row of the church, all alone, on his wedding day.
“She came to my wedding alone?”
“Who? Candy? She wasn’t there.”
James sipped his warm coffee to hide his smile. He shook his head. “No, her daughter.”
“Oh, yes.” His mother laughed. “Yes, she did come alone that day. I’m not even sure why she was there, come to think of it. I don’t know her at all.”
“She seems like a nice young lady.”
His mother leaned forward and regarded him through narrow eyes. “I didn’t know you knew her.”
“I wouldn’t say I know her. I want to find out what she knew about Gwendolyn. Why she tried to stop our wedding.”
“James. She couldn’t have been more than seventeen. Only the Lord knows for sure what she was thinking. I know
Gwendolyn wouldn’t have spent time with Candy’s daughter; she isn’t wealthy enough to warrant attention from Gwendolyn.”
“Perhaps you’re right, but I’d still like to hear it from her.”
“You know, son,” his father looked up from his newspaper, “your position is still available at Cahill Lumber. You were always our best bookkeeper. I never felt right about hiring anyone else.”
“You would let me come back? Just like that?”
“Of course.”
Perhaps his mother was right. He simply had to wait for the Lord to do a work. He certainly hadn’t left the Lord much to work with, though.
~~~
“Lillian! You know how I feel about these flowers. They’re everywhere. Get them out of this house, right now!”
“Yes, Mama.” Lillian pulled the flowers she’d rescued off the front porch and put them in her basket, all but the one azalea. That flower was in a vase on her windowsill. Mama never went in her room that she knew of; it was the one place she felt solace within her home.
Tucking the basket on her hip, she left for the little chapel. Even if Mama didn’t appreciate the flowers, ironically, anyone who used the chapel probably would. She walked the short distance and pushed open the heavy door.
Along the back wall of the church were cabinets full of jars and vases for weddings or funerals. She chose three of them, filled them with water from the pump outside, and arranged the flowers as best she could. Taking a last critical glance at them, she put them on the ledges of the south side, so the flowers would get sun most of the day. She smiled at the colorful sight.
“Miss Donaldson, good to see you. Did you bring in the lovely flowers?” Reverend Bligh strode in from the back of the chapel.
“Yes, someone brought them by and Mama doesn’t like them. Do you think flowers insult God’s creation?”
“Why, no. I don’t. As long as flowers are cut properly, they usually come back the next year. I don’t think God minds one bit if we take a bit of His creation to enjoy. And remember, He doesn’t place the importance on flowers or even animals that He places on us. He gave us all of these things to use and enjoy.”
