"How many are there?" Olivia asked.
"I have no idea. There're thirteen of us children. Count in eleven in-laws. Then the children. When I was born, my oldest brother was in his mid twenties so he has grandchildren. Anyway, they were all willing to come to the wedding if I'd rent a train to bring them and put them up for three days. Might be close to a hundred of them."
"Why didn't you and Judith just go to them?" Clara asked.
"Because she has her heart set on marrying Cecil right here. On the farm, as a matter of fact. Under the shade tree out back where he proposed. And you are all invited. The women will be getting food and a party ready tomorrow. I'd like them to meet you"
"Why?" Bessie asked.
"Because you were the first folks I met when I came to Healdton."
"No, why is she wanting to get married here and not at her home in Kentucky? Healdton ain't nothing but a wide spot in the road," Bessie said.
"Where we live in the hills, Healdton would be a big place," he told her. "I don't know why womenfolks do what they do or want what they do, but if Judith wanted to get married on the white clouds of heaven and I could find a way to get the family there, I'd do it. She's been my life saver for four years. And Cecil is my best friend."
"You are a good man, Briar Nelson," Bessie said. "And me and Beulah will be glad to come to the wedding. We got a nice tablecloth we've just finished embroidering, and it'll make a wonderful wedding gift."
"Thank you" Briar smiled at the two B's.
Clara shook her head at that many people traveling that far for only three days. "A hundred?"
"Or more," he said.
"Tucker has two barns that are empty right now. If you got some of your employees to sweep them out, I bet they'd house nearly all your family. All you'd need would be pillows and bedding," Clara said. "If you'd be good enough to drive me out there and ask him, you could have your answer tonight. Then he could bring me back"
"Thank you. That would solve a big problem," Briar said.
"But your family might not want to be in a barn. Good Lord, I'd hate to stay in such a place. Much less, try to get all dressed for a party. I was thinking more like the Hotel Ardmore. That's the place to put up fancy folks," Bessie said.
Clara blushed. If the family could rent a whole train to bring them from Kentucky to Oklahoma, they surely would not want to bed down in barns. She'd just made the social blunder of the year.
"My family would rather be close to the wedding preparations than driving twenty-three miles back and forth every day. The barns will be wonderful if Tucker doesn't mind. What about Tilly? Think she'd be interested in renting one of her barns?"
Bessie giggled. Beulah slapped her napkin over her mouth.
"Tilly's barns aren't empty right now," Clara stammered.
"Well, I suppose with my house, two barns and whatever we might talk Tucker out of, we could find a bed for the whole bunch of Nelsons," Briar said.
"Is a hundred this many?" Libby held up all her fingers.
"More than that," Briar told her.
"Can I keep some of the kids?" Libby asked.
"You can ask their mommies and daddies, and any of them you can talk their parents out of can come here with you every day" Clara dared Briar to cross her. Give the child a hope, at least.
After supper, Clara took off her apron, brushed her hair back with her fingers and followed Briar and Libby out to his car. He held the door open for her and helped Libby into the back seat. Tucker was sitting on the front porch when they arrived, a glass of tea in his hand and a puzzled look on his face when he saw who was getting out of the car. He walked to the edge of the porch and shaded his eyes to be sure it wasn't a mirage.
He cocked his head off to one side. "Clara?"
"Yes, it's me. I've got a favor to ask, Tucker." She crossed the grassy lawn and stood at the bottom of three steps leading up to the house, which had a wide front porch all the way across the front.
"Is that Briar?" he asked.
"Briar and his daughter, Libby, but I told them to stay in the car until I talked to you. That way you wouldn't be embarrassed to say no if you've a mind to," she said.
"What are you doing with them? Thought you hated him?"
"Thinking gets you in trouble. I don't hate anyone. I might still be upset with the way things are changing and life is getting so fast, but I can't do a blessed thing about it, so I guess I'll have to accept it. I'm keeping Libby for him. His sister, Judith, is getting married Saturday and his family is coming to the wedding. You are invited to go to the wedding, too. Who knows, there might be a woman amongst them who'll steal your old heart. It's looking like you're going to be the only one who'll ever have children in the Anderson family."
"Never turned down an invitation to a wedding in my life. Lets me go see some other sucker make a fool of himself," Tucker said.
"That's not my favor. I need your two empty barns from tonight until Sunday morning. Briar's men will come and sweep them out, but he needs a place nearby to put up his family until the wedding."
"Well, hell's bells, Clara. They don't have to stay in my barns. I'll put them up in the house. Got seven bedrooms I never use," he said.
"There's more than a hundred of them coming. There were thirteen kids. Briar's one of the youngest ones, so some of the older ones already have grandchildren. I don't think your house will take care of it. They'd stay at the Hotel Ardmore if they could, but they want to be closer to the wedding doin's. They can go across the stile in the back pasture and not even have to run cars back and forth between the farms."
"A hundred! Good Lord! Yes, of course, he can use the barns, but a hundred of them? Whatever can fit in the house are welcome. What can't fit in the bedrooms could bed down in the living room. Maybe the boys could sleep out in the barn and the ladies in the house. I'll go to Tilly's so they won't be embarrassed to stay in the house with a man about"
Clara motioned for Libby and Briar to get out of the car. "Thank you. Go fix us up some lemonade and we'll sit a while with you. Then you can take me back to the inn."
"Bossy little critter, ain't you," Tucker grinned. Who said he'd be the first one to start another generation of Andersons? Looked to him like Clara was digging a hole called love and had one foot already in it and the other one on a boiled okra pod.
But he's divorced, a little voice reminded Tucker as he did Clara's bidding.
"And she's the crazy woman who sat on a bench. One ain't no worse than the other," he whispered as he squeezed lemons. Someday he was going to have to force Clara to learn to at least make lemonade and tea.
"He said he would be glad to help out," Clara told Briar.
"Look Clara. A puppy. Can I play with it?" Libby saw one of a litter peeking around the end of the porch.
"You can go play with it if you want, Libby. There's five or six of them. The momma dog is gentle. Don't worry, Briar. She won't get bit," Clara assured him.
"I wasn't worrying about that," he said.
"Then why the wrinkles around your eyes?"
"I'm usually the one, even with Judith in the house, who she asks permission. I'm not sure I like sharing," he said.
"Me, either. I don't like her leaving when Judith comes to get her. Today was wonderful. She got to spend the whole day. She's brought more life back into the house than it's ever had. The two B's have fallen in love with her. Dulcie has me learning to cook just so I can be with her. I understand how you feel. Just please don't take her away now that she's fit so well in with all of our crazy tribe."
"Wouldn't think of it." He patted Clara's hand.
There's no better place to get lost than in the midst of a huge family. Everyone is busy. No one takes notice of who's staying around for a whole conversation or moving from group to group. A few words here. A couple of sentences there. A quiet corner to watch the people. A bit of strategy to keep out of the way. A nod here. A smile there. Everyone visited with Clara, yet no one had really gotten to know the love
ly lady Briar had hired to watch Libby.
Clara caught bits of conversation as she moved around through the people. In the kitchen, women fussed around a huge three-tiered cake, which would be decorated the next day with the marigolds, zinnias and the last few yellow roses of summer. Giggles sounded through the air as children ran through crispy fall leaves. Several men tuned up fiddles, guitars and banjoes under a shade tree where the wedding would take place. Sounds of pounding hammers hitting nails rang out as another group of men worked on a dancing stage for the party after the wedding. The aroma of roasting pork wafted across the whole area. Sweet smells of baking bread floating through the open kitchen windows. It was as if an entire village had come to Briar's farm: the butcher, the baker and the musicians.
Clara meandered through the kitchen and up the stairs. She leaned against the doorframe leading into the Judith's room. Several women had their needles out, attempting to alter the wedding dress, laid out in all its glory on the bed. It was a gorgeous creation of silk crepe de chine over net, with a yoke and sleeves of richly embroidered heavy Oriental lace and silk messaline ruching. Small silk and velvet rosebuds complimented the yoke and waistline, which was roped down with a velvet girdle held in place with rhinestone buckles. Their job was to cinch in the girdle to fit Judith's smaller-than-normal waist. Clara went on into the room and fingered the soft full skirt, made by pulling the hem up with larger rosebuds, letting the accordion-plaited silk crepe slip peek out at the bottom. It was the sort of thing she would have chosen if she'd been the one getting married. Not a full lace wedding gown, but something elegant and mature. A tear formed at the back of Clara's eyelids, but she forced it away before it could drip down her cheek. She wouldn't be jealous and she wouldn't begrudge Judith her happiness, either.
"Clara, voice your opinion. Do we cut the velvet right here and tuck the ends in so that the seam doesn't show?" one of the women asked.
Clara shook her head. "I'm not the seamstress. I do well to stitch up aprons and hem tea towels. You'd better ask someone a lot more adept with a needle than I am"
Judith threw her arm around Clara's shoulder and drew her deeper into the room. "Oh, I bet you're just being modest. I know there's one thing Clara does beautifully, and that is play the piano. Will you play for the ceremony, please?"
"Who told you that I play?" Clara's cheeks slowly turned crimson.
`Briar did. Said he could have listened to you all day. Will you play? I should have asked before now, but I forgot. Just the traditional wedding song and maybe some soft music for half an hour before the wedding? Please?"
"Of course. Where are you going to put the piano?" "On the front porch. The menfolks are going to lug it out there for me. I told them they'd better recruit a bunch because if they knock it out of tune, I'll pitch a fit," Judith said seriously. "And thank you, Clara. I'm hoping you can interest Libby in playing. I tried about six months ago, but she was just too young"
"I'll try. I didn't take lessons until I was five, so maybe she'll be more receptive to the idea after her next birthday." Clara smiled.
One of the needle-toting women motioned to Judith. "Now, come here one more time and let me measure your waist. Lord, I'd give half my husband's paycheck every week for a waist this small"
"Darlin', I'd give half of Cecil's paycheck for those four kids you've already got, and you are six years younger than I am," Judith told her.
Clara slipped out the door and meandered down the stairs, taking in the pictures down the staircase. Family photos. Dozens of them.
"I didn't want Libby to grow up thinking she didn't have family, so through the years they've kept me in pictures," Briar said from a bedroom doorway where he'd watched her for several minutes.
"Then come and tell me about them," Clara said.
"That's my mother and father, taken just before Daddy died. Far as I know, it's the only one around. My brother Richard had it and gave it to me. They tried to keep me in touch with everyone through the years with letters and pictures." He ran his hand lovingly down the gold gilt frame holding the picture of a tall man looking right into the camera and a small woman looking down at a cat in her lap.
"Did your mother live long after your dad died?" Clara asked.
"Dad died the year after I left home. I was so poor and broke I couldn't go to the funeral. Didn't even know about it until I got the letter. He was buried before I knew he had passed. Mother died a month before Libby was born. My ex-wife wasn't able to travel and didn't want me to go. They sent a telegram, but I didn't go home"
Clara could hear the unforgiving remorse in his voice. "I can see where you get your good looks. Your father was quite a handsome man"
"Well, thank you, Clara. I've always thought my eyes were too deeply set and my mouth too firm. At least that's what ... never mind."
"What was it you told me that night? `Yesterday is gone and nothing but a memory. Maybe a bad one, but there's no way to call it back or change it. Tomorrow is just the whisper of a hope. Today is all you got.' You'd do well to take your own advice. Why would you listen to a woman who left her tiny baby and doesn't even want to see her again?"
"You remembered," he said, amazed.
"Of course I did. I'm not stupid. Besides, it made perfect sense. I needed to let go of the past. So do you," Clara said. "Now, who is this?"
"That would be my oldest brother, Matthew, his wife, Dora, and their kids back about five years ago. They've got a couple more now," Briar explained and started on to the second one.
A little girl a year or two older than Libby came thundering up the stairs with Libby right behind her. The first little girl sped past Clara and Briar and went straight into the bedroom where the alterations were taking place. "Momma, Momma. Momma, can I stay in Libby's room tonight. Can I, Momma?"
Libby stopped midway up and grabbed Briar's hand.
"Daddy, where's my momma? I want a momma, too. Tansy has got a daddy and a Judy and a momma and I want one. Can Clara be my momma?"
"We'll talk about it later," Briar said. "Go on and play with Tansy"
"Okay," Libby said, and the two of them ran off to the backyard.
"Sorry," Briar apologized.
"What for? She's just a little girl," Clara said.
"Hey, Briar, we need an opinion on the roasting pigs," a man called from the back door. "You got time to come on out here?"
"I'll be right there," Briar hollered, then turned back to Clara. "Sorry again. I'd like to stay and tell you about the rest of the pictures."
"You've got duties," she said.
She took time to study each picture on the way down to the living room, then wandered out onto the far end of the porch and sat down, letting the aura of family surround her like a warm blanket on a cold winter night. Libby came running around the corner of the house with two other little girls, laughing as they scampered across the lawn. The child had been ecstatic all day, coming to find Clara periodically like the other children who went to assure themselves their mothers hadn't disappeared. Clara smiled when she thought about Libby wanting to know if she could be her momma.
A woman wiped her hands on a stained apron tail and claimed a chair beside Clara. "I'm Franny, Richard's wife. He'd be the middle brother. The seventh child. Six before him. Six after. And you are the lady who's taking care of Libby now"
"I'm glad to meet you, Franny. Have to admit I'll never remember everyone's names" Clara tried to fix a name with the round-faced woman who couldn't be much older than she was.
"Of course not. It's easier for us. We've met Cecil and you and Tucker. We only have a handful of new faces and names to remember. Couldn't expect you to remember all our names. Not this first time. But we'll be back now that we know how easy it is to get on a train and go," Franny said. "And Clara, we're glad you're keeping Libby. Briar hasn't had an easy life since he left Kentucky. Had a lucky life, but not an easy one. That's all I'll say. Woman doesn't need another woman to pry"
..Pry?"
"About you and Briar?" Franny winked.
"There is no me and Briar. I just keep Libby." Clara blushed again.
"I see. Well, guess I'd best get on back in the kitchen. We talked the men into putting a couple of pigs into the pit for supper, but us women have to fix the rest of the vittles," Franny said.
"How do you do it? Fix for so many?" Clara asked.
"We're used to it. After church on Sunday, we all go back to Junior's for dinner and the afternoon. Used to be Momma's house. Habits are hard to break. We missed Briar when he left, and Judith, too. They'd be the only two of us who didn't settle right there in Kentucky. It's good to have us all together. Briar even said he'd come back home maybe next year," Franny said.
"Oh?"
"He left before his sixteenth birthday. Got crossways with Janey Jones and, besides, he hated the mines. Hasn't been back. Guess he's got over Janey and the mines ain't a threat to him no more. We are so glad you came out today. Judith told us all about you last night."
"Thanks, Franny," Clara said
The lady went back inside to work with the other women in the kitchen, a place foreign to Clara.
It seemed like all the women cooked and sewed and took care of children. It was hard to know which kids went with which parents. Clara was reminded of what Granny Anderson had said about it taking a village to raise children. Well, the Nelsons certainly proved that even if none of them were Indian. She wondered what they'd all think if they knew Granny Anderson was a quarter Cherokee? Somehow she couldn't see it making a bit of difference to any of them.
So Judith had told them about her, and Briar had mentioned that she played the piano. That sure didn't create anything that a woman could pry about, now did it? It was the wedding fever attacking everyone in sight. They were finally seeing Judith happy and settling down, and they'd like to make the same pretty little nest for Briar. Only it would have to be feathered with someone other than Clara Anderson because she and Briar could never have a relationship. No matter what he said, he was much too important to be saddled with Healdton's odd old maid.
Morning Glory Page 12
