by Lisa Cooke
“I suppose dying would get tiresome after a while, though of course, I’m envious of you sometimes. My family has gone through so much, I think sometimes dyin’ would be easier than living through all this.”
Oh Lord, now it was time for Eunice to bemoan her family’s ills, as though she were the only one with difficulties to endure. Grandma allowed her mind to wander to more important things, like finding Katie a man. It was going to be hard to do since all this dying made it difficult to get around. If only she had someone to do the legwork for her.
Hmmm. She glanced back at Eunice, still rambling about her infirmed. “Eunice?” Grandma said as soon as Eunice stopped for a breath. “I was wondering if you could help me out.”
Eunice blinked in surprise and leaned closer with intense seriousness. “Of course I would, Mable. You and me go back a ways. What do you need?”
Sighing deeply, Grandma laid her hand against her heart. “I’m worried for my Katie.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, there ain’t nothing wrong with her directly, but she’s turning thirty soon, and she still don’t have a husband. I’m afraid she’s too busy to look, and I can’t get around much to find her one.”
“Is she wantin’ to get hitched?”
“Of course she does!” Grandma snapped before she remembered she wanted Eunice’s help, not her anger. “She wants younguns,” she added with as much humility as she could muster.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Who are some of the eligible men around here now? I ain’t been out for a while.”
Eunice wrinkled her brow in thought. “Well, I can’t think of too many the right age except my Randy.”
“Randy?”
“My grandson. He just moved back here from Williamson.”
“How old is he?”
“Twenty-six.”
That was close enough. “Is he handsome?” Grandma didn’t want any ugly grandkids.
Eunice giggled. “That’s his biggest problem. All the girls down there set their cap for him and chased him something awful.” She leaned forward to whisper, “A couple of them actually claimed he’d got them with child.” She sat back and shook her head. “Of course, that’s ridiculous. He wouldn’t do such a thing. They just wanted to force him into marriage.”
“Why didn’t he marry one of them?”
“None of them girls were good enough for him. That’s why he come on home.”
“My Katie is too good for most anybody. I don’t know if she’d want him.”
Eunice bristled. “Randy’s a handsome young man, strong and virile. If Katie’s wantin’ strapping younguns, my Randy can give them to her.”
Strong, good-looking grandkids were appealing, but that would make Eunice family. Grandma glanced askance at Eunice. The woman was a fine cook, and if her grandson was as robust as she made him sound, he could do quite a bit of work around the cabin. With any luck at all, Eunice wouldn’t live much longer anyway. She was an old bag and as unhealthy as they come.
“Have him come on out on Saturday, and if I—I mean if Katie approves—we’ll get ’em hitched.”
Chapter Five
Drumming his fingers on the desktop wasn’t very productive, but he’d adjusted the damn diplomas so many times, there was a danger of wearing holes in the wall.
John shoved away from his desk and paced across the room to the window. The street was just as empty as it had been five minutes ago. He could go to the store again, but he’d been there every day this week since Monday and still no one had come to him for treatment. At this rate he didn’t need a medical degree…he needed a hobby.
His nose caught the whiff of something wonderful drifting from the kitchen. John knew if he went there he’d find Julia elbow deep in biscuit dough and Mrs. Adkins humming while she cooked. Domestic pleasures weren’t important in the large scheme of things, but he was a little hungry. Maybe there was a muffin left over from breakfast.
“Tell me about the baby,” Julia was saying, as John stepped into the room.
“What baby?” He only asked the question out of politeness, so why did Mrs. Adkins suddenly seem uncomfortable?
“I have a new grandbaby. He was born just last night. I was hoping after I got dinner started I could go to Sally’s home to help her tend to him.”
“She lives nearby?”
“Yes.” Mrs. Adkins set a kettle on the stove. “He’s a dandy, but the delivery was tough. Katie had to work real hard…” She froze and the look on her face would have been comical if it had been put there under other circumstances.
“Katie?” Was he doomed to be in that woman’s shadow even in his own home?
“Sally’s known Katie most her life, and I knew you was busy…” Mrs. Adkins continued to work, rattling pans in an attempt to hide her answers. “It was just a baby after all.”
But it wasn’t just a baby. It was the final straw. His own housekeeper’s daughter had gone to Katie instead of him.
He left the kitchen, no longer interested in muffins or domestic bliss. Something had to be done, but what? He couldn’t force the people to come to him any more than he could force Katie to stop tending to them.
Hiding in the bushes to tackle the infirmed as they sought Katie’s help was tempting, though not practical. Perhaps he could tie Katie on the end of a stick, like the proverbial carrot, and dangle her in front of the ill until they followed her to his home.
Shaking his head, he returned to his office in hopes of finding a better solution. There was no way Katie would stay on the end of a stick, leastwise not without paying her.
Then it hit him.
A beautiful solution flashed in his mind, like the brilliant light of a divine revelation. He smiled, refusing to feel guilty for his planned deception. After all, what harm could come of it? The sick would receive real medical care. Katie would be compensated financially, and as for John?
Well…
Perhaps he would get the chance to finally put his demons to rest.
Chapter Six
“Do you think that’s enough taters and beans?” Grandpa asked, poking his nose over Katie’s shoulder while she added onions to the sizzling skillet.
“It’s the same amount I always fix, why?”
“I sort of invited someone over for supper.”
“Sort of?” She didn’t really care about guests for supper, but a little warning would’ve been nice. “Who?”
“Harold.”
“Oh.” Katie added a dash of salt to the potatoes and onions, before she gave the beans a quick stir in the kettle. Mr. Crowley was an old friend of Grandpa’s, but she couldn’t remember him coming to supper before.
“Uh, there’s something I been meanin’ to tell you—”
“Make sure you fix plenty tonight, Katie,” Pa said, interrupting Grandpa’s confession, as he ambled his way into the kitchen. “I’ve invited some company.”
“Who did you invite?” She hoped whoever it was didn’t eat much. Two extra guests might stretch dinner a little thin.
“Freddie Powell.”
Good. As skinny as Freddie was, he wouldn’t eat more than a sparrow.
“Freddie’s a fine young man,” Pa said, hiking up his britches as he walked to the stove to taste the potatoes. “Real respectful and politelike.”
“That’s nice,” Katie replied hesitantly. “But why did you invite him to dinner?”
“Uh, you see—”
“Katie?” Here came Grandma dressed in her Sunday best. “Is that what you’re wearin’ for supper?”
Katie glanced down at her brown everyday dress and shrugged. “I always wear this dress.”
“That’s my point. We’re having special company tonight, and I think you ought to pretty up a little.”
Oh no. Grandma must have invited a suitor.
Muffled voices from the front porch stopped Katie’s attempt to find out more. Pa, Grandpa, and Grandma hurried from the room, each struggling to reach the
door first. She wasn’t sure, but she could have sworn Grandma tripped Grandpa with her cane.
Katie stood in the kitchen, debating whether she should “pretty up” or run for the hills. Evidently her family had been busy this week.
Sighing, she dried her hands on her apron before untying it and laying it across the back of a chair. She couldn’t get too mad at Grandma since she had agreed to let her find a match. But it would have been nice if she’d had some warning that a prospective husband would be arriving tonight.
She stepped into the front room amongst the commotion of two guests arriving at once.
“Katie, dear,” Grandma said, ushering a handsome young man in her direction. “This here is Randy Kopp. He’s Eunice’s grandson, and he’s just moved back from Williamson.”
Thick, dark hair brushed over the man’s forehead, drawing attention to bright blue eyes. One of which, winked at her as he reached his hand out in greeting.
“Pleased to meet you, Katie.”
She shook his hand and smiled, finding it impossible not to respond to the sparkling, white teeth flashing at her, complete with a rather attractive set of dimples.
“Yes, I—”
Grandpa grabbed her shoulders and spun her around where she almost collided with Harold Crowley.
“You remember Harold, don’t you Katie?”
Harold cleared his throat. She shook his hand, wondering why Grandpa had invited Harold out on the same night she was to meet her prospective husband.
“Good to see you again, Katie.” Harold turned and glared at Grandpa. “I thought you said Katie and me were getting hitched.” He jerked his head toward Randy. “Who’s this pup?”
Married? To Harold?
“Wait just a minute!” Pa said, wading into the middle of the pack. “I done found Katie a beau, and he’ll be here any minute now. You other fellers can go on home.”
A knock on the door gave Katie a second to catch her breath. Pa hurried to let in yet another intended suitor.
“Katie,” Pa said, hurrying his choice to stand before her. “You remember Freddie Powell, don’t you?”
She remembered Freddie, but she didn’t think she’d ever had a conversation with him. Mostly because he always looked like he was about to swoon. “Hello, Freddie,” she said, and his face turned scarlet.
“Good evening, Katie.” A cracking voice and bobbing Adam’s apple added the final touch to Freddie’s expression of total terror.
Freddie’s hair was slicked with enough pomade to slide him through a gopher hole. And like the others, he was dressed either for courtin’ or for a funeral. In Freddie’s case, the funeral could be his own. She couldn’t recall ever seeing a young man look so scared.
“Now, this is the feller you need to marry,” Pa said, grabbing Freddie’s shoulders and giving a good-natured shake. “He’s hardworkin’ and respectful—”
“He ain’t no more respectful than Harold!” Grandpa interrupted. “This young generation don’t know nothing about respect.”
By the time Grandma jumped into the fray, Katie thought her head was going to explode. They were all talking at once, each touting the good qualities of their suitors, though they seemed more intent on convincing each other than Katie. Their dedication was so focused, in fact, they failed to notice when she left the cabin for the relative quiet of the front porch.
The huge autumn moon loomed just above the horizon, and the brisk night air cooled her heated skin, if not her temper. They could have warned her. Three beaus, each as different as night was to day, each with good qualities, she was sure. But how was she supposed to make a decision when she didn’t really know any of them?
Maybe marrying wasn’t such a good idea after all.
“Katie?” Pa stepped out onto the porch. “What you doing out here?”
“Hidin’.”
“Now, Katie, there’s no reason for you to sound so forlorn. You’re wantin’ to get hitched, aren’t you?”
“I thought so, but I figured I’d have some say in who I was going to marry.”
“You do get a say in it, but you’d be crazy not to pick Freddie. He’s a good boy, and he’d work real hard at tryin’ to please you.”
Shrugging, she kept her focus on the moon. “I can’t marry a man I don’t know.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to, but you can give Freddie a chance, can’t you?”
Katie didn’t answer. She was still peeved and didn’t really know what to say anyway. Pa took the hint and slipped back into the cabin. She wondered who’d be next, but she didn’t have to wonder for long.
The door creaked as the next of her family members came to convince Katie of his or her choice.
“Katie?” Grandpa called to her from behind.
She groaned. “What do you want, Grandpa?”
He hobbled closer, wearing the expression he always wore when attempting to give sage advice. “I know you probably think Harold’s a mite old for you, but that’s what makes him the perfect match.”
This should be interesting. “How?”
“He’s got a boatload of money and that big old house in town. Why, he’d spoil you rotten and then make you a wealthy widow to boot.”
Katie’s jaw dropped. “You want me to marry him, then hope he dies?”
“Now, now, I didn’t say that.”
Pursing her lips, she glared at him. “I think you need to go back inside and send Grandma out for her turn.”
“Her turn?”
“To convince me that Randy is the best match. I must admit I’d love to know her reasons, though I suspect I already do.”
Grandpa nodded, then headed back into the cabin. In a blink, Grandma was on the porch.
“All right,” she said tugging her shawl around her shoulders, her cane dangling from the crook of her arm. “I’ll tell you why you want Randy.”
Katie folded her arms across her chest and raised her brow.
“A man like that will keep a smile on your face.”
Her mouth gaped again. “Grandma!”
Grandma harrumphed. “Don’t grandma me. You think I was always this old? You said you were wantin’ younguns, and I can’t imagine a feller that would be more fun to make ’em with. If you’ve got any sense at all, you’ll marry Randy and whelp lots of little ones, all with dimples.”
With that bit of advice, Grandma returned to the cabin, leaving Katie fanning the cool air against her face. Randy was handsome, but there was more to a good husband than just looks, wasn’t there?
Of course it might not matter anyway. Apparently none of her suitors had been aware that others were going to show up. They might have all changed their minds by now, leaving her just as much of an old maid as she was when this evening began.
With resignation, she left the privacy of the porch—it wasn’t very private anyway—and returned to the lion’s den. The chattering stopped as soon as she entered the cabin. Her three intendeds stood with their perspective champions, each facing her as though they expected an answer on the spot.
Harold’s face was red, and the fists clenched at his sides led her to believe he was about to hit someone. Freddie’s face was also red, imagine that, but it appeared to be caused by a lack of air. Maybe Pa ought to remind the boy to breathe every once in a while. And then there was Randy. Confident, a casual grin turning up one side of his mouth, he winked again as though he already had this contest won.
“Gentlemen,” she said, “I want to apologize for the confusion. It appears as though my family has decided to take my future into their hands without filling me in on the details.”
“Now, Katie—”
She held up her hand to stop her grandpa from interrupting her. “If any of you would like to go on home, I understand and there’d be no hard feelings.” She waited for the men to respond, but all stood their ground silently, darting glances at each other, then back to her.
“Well, in that case, I reckon I’m going to have to make a decision.”
&nbs
p; With a cock of his handsome head, Randy chuckled. “Come on, Katie. Do you really have to think about this?” He raised his brow and glanced at the other two men. His expression indicated he clearly felt she would be a fool not to choose him. Which might have been the case, but fools rush in, and after waiting nearly thirty years, rushing at this point seemed more than foolish.
“Yes, Randy, I certainly need to think about this. I don’t know any of you gentlemen, and I have no intention of marrying a man until I’m sure I want to live with him the rest of my life.”
“How—how are you going to pick?” Freddie finally gulped enough air to speak.
Good question. “I’m not sure just yet. I’m going to need some time.”
Harold puffed up his chest and cleared his throat. “I think you should pick the man who can provide for you the best.”
“That’s a fine idea,” Grandpa said, immediately throwing in his opinion.
Pa stepped forward. “I think respect and a good heart should be the most important thing.” He smacked Freddie on the shoulder, nearly sending him to the floor.
Randy snorted. “She don’t need none of that. She needs a man that can protect her and work hard. I think we should fight it out, and the last one standing, wins her hand.”
He took the opportunity to flex his arm, patting the muscle that bulged beneath his shirtsleeve. His gesture triggered another eruption of opinions and arguments, all six talking and pointing fingers at each other.
“Just a minute,” Katie said, but she might as well have been talking to the wall.
“If y’all will get quiet…” A deaf wall, at that.
She took a deep breath. “Quiet!” she shouted, and all eyes riveted to her, with brows raised in surprise. “I have no intention of using fighting or bribes or any other lamebrained ideas to pick my husband.” She lifted her hand again to cut off the protests from each mouth currently gaping at her.
“I will pick my husband based on my own reasons.”
It was a fine speech, and she was proud of it as she marched from the room with the pretense of setting supper on the table. Truth of the matter was, she wanted to leave before any of them asked her for more details.
