Loving Eliza

by Ruth Ann Nordin

  He shook his head.

  Pretending she didn’t notice, she turned around and headed for the wagon. “We don’t want to be late. I have a feeling that things will go fine today.”

  He closed the door behind him and walked after her.

  She waited for him to get the horses hooked up before she hopped into the wagon. When she saw his exasperation, she giggled. “I know. I should have let you help me in, but I didn’t want to wait.”

  That was a lie, and by the expression on his face, she knew he realized it. Oh well. Let him realize it. As long as she didn’t have to say it, it didn’t matter. The truth was, she didn’t want him to help her in again because last time, he actually kissed her on the cheek and held her in his arms before he let her get in. She really had no business enjoying that either. For all reasonable purposes, he was practically married to Daphne.

  But what if Daphne doesn’t come? It has been two months since she was supposed to arrive.

  She sighed and forced her attention to the scenery as he urged the horses forward. No, it was best if her thoughts didn’t drift in that direction. It was enough that she agreed to go to the gathering the town was putting on that evening. She wasn’t originally going to go, but when Troy and Willy asked her, she figured she’d better go with John. If nothing, it got the two men to back off. Never mind that it was nice knowing that she’d go with John. She sighed again. She was getting to be as bad as he was!

  He nudged her in the arm.

  She looked in his direction.

  He tapped his temple.

  “You are much too curious about what I’m thinking. Most men don’t want to hear women yap on about their thoughts, you know.”

  He gave her a sweet smile and waved for her to speak.

  “You are an odd man.”

  Shrugging, he motioned for her to continue.

  “Is that what you want to hear? That you’re odd.”

  He pointed to his lips.

  “Oh. You just want to hear me talk. It doesn’t even matter what I ramble on about.”

  He nodded and scooted closer to her.

  “Alright, Mister. Don’t think I don’t notice when you do that. I wasn’t born yesterday. You need to keep your distance. I’ve come to learn that I can’t trust you. And don’t flash that smile at me. You won’t charm me that easily.” She paused for a moment. “Not that you can charm me. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not the kind of woman you can charm.”

  He didn’t look convinced.

  “Think of it what you will.” She gave him a nudge. “You need to get back to your rightful position.”

  He stuck out his lower lip.

  “What am I going to do with you?” Before he could point to his ring finger again, she held up her hand to stop him. “Don’t answer that. Now look here. If you don’t move over to your side, I’m going to be forced to jump out of this wagon. Then I’d land on the ground, and I might get hurt. Do you want that to happen?” She steeled herself against his puppy dog eyes. “Alright. Fine. Here I go.”

  She started to stand, but he quickly stopped her. Then he scooted back to his side of the seat.

  Satisfied that her bluff had worked, she settled back down. “You should be happy enough with the fact that I’m going to town with you tonight. That means I won’t dance with anyone but you.”

  His smile widened.

  “Don’t take that to mean I’m going to marry you.”

  He didn’t stop his foolish grinning.

  “I’m serious, John.”

  He just shrugged.

  She huffed and shook her head. “You know, for a man who can’t talk, you sure do say a lot.”

  Deciding it was time to change tactics, she spent the rest of the way into town discussing what she planned to make for lunch and what she’d wear that evening. She figured such topics might bore him, but she was at a loss on what else to discuss, and he had said that she could talk about anything. To her surprise, he actually seemed to enjoy listening to her. Odd. That word didn’t even seem to describe him. He was more than odd. A man who willingly listened to topics that would only interest a woman just couldn’t be right in the head.

  When they reached town, she allowed him to help her down. It wouldn’t be right to out-smart him in front of other people. Men, no matter who they were, had their pride to protect.

  Upon entering the church, she noticed that his steps had slowed to a pace that would make a snail seem fast. “I’m with you,” she whispered. “It’s alright.”

  He didn’t look convinced but lumbered to the pew they had been sitting at every Sunday.

  “I thought we’d say hello to Charity and her aunt. Then we can say good morning to a few others.” Fortunately, Troy made it a habit of coming a few minutes after the service started. She didn’t feel like dealing with him. At least not yet. She motioned for John to follow her. “Come on.”

  Looking as if he were facing a death sentence, he joined her.

  “Good morning, Charity!” she greeted, pasting on a friendly smile. “Good morning, Bethany.”

  The two women turned from talking to Willy and Ralph Custer.

  “Of course, good morning to you too, gentlemen,” Eliza quickly added. “You’re all looking fine. Why, Charity, I do believe you’re glowing.”

  Bethany gave a satisfied nod in Charity’s direction. “You see. I told you that it was obvious.”

  Eliza’s gaze shifted to Ralph whose chest puffed up with male pride. Eliza stopped Bethany before she could continue. “Let me guess. Charity, are you expecting?”

  Charity blushed.

  “That’s wonderful! Isn’t that wonderful, John?”

  John looked as if he wished he were anywhere but there.

  Eliza returned her attention to the group. “Well, that is wonderful. You’ll make a terrific mother.”

  “We just found out yesterday,” Ralph added. “The baby will be here in April.”

  “Good. That gives me plenty of time to make a gift. Is there anything special you need?”

  Charity shrugged. “I don’t even know what a baby needs, except for clothes and diapers.”

  “I’ll think of something then.”

  Bethany patted Eliza’s hand and leaned forward to whisper in Eliza’s ear. “You do know that we don’t think there’s anything inappropriate going on with you and John. I know we haven’t had a chance to talk to you the last couple of times you’ve been here, but I wanted to clear the air. Charity and I misunderstood the situation. We know better now.”

  Right. Because Ralph explained that John was incapable of having a single sexual thought. Eliza supposed that this worked in her favor. No one assumed anything was going on, which there wasn’t. She did like the respect people were finally giving her, and the last thing she wanted to do was to ruin it.

  Eliza nodded and smiled. “It’s good to have things resolved.” Then she took a step back. “I better say hi to Addy. Last time she said she had some recipes for me, and I’m anxious to check them out.” She turned but glanced over her shoulder. “Congratulations, Charity and Ralph.”

  She led John over to Addy and Frank, so they could sit next to them. Of all the people in town, she felt most comfortable with them.

  As Addy pulled out a couple of recipe cards from her purse, Aaron came up to John. And Aaron didn’t look too happy. “John, I need to talk to you outside for a minute.”

  John shook his head and motioned to Eliza, Addy and Frank.

  “They’ll keep your seat,” Aaron insisted.

  John shook his head again and crossed his arms.

  Aaron leaned down so that he could speak low. “It’s about Troy and that thing you did. I didn’t give you that paper so you could write a letter on Troy’s behalf like that.”

  If John did have a voice, he would’ve groaned, for Eliza recognized the exasperation on his face as he stood up and motioned for Aaron to go outside.

  Eliza turned to Addy as John and Aaron left. “You said you have
recipes for me?”

  Addy seemed curious about the exchange between John and Aaron but turned her attention back to her purse. “Yes. I wrote everything down for my three favorite dishes. The best part is that they are simple too.”

  “Good.” Eliza didn’t care much for cooking. It was alright, but she’d rather be doing other things. She’d never be a gourmet chef, but at least John could eat her food without getting sick. “The simpler, the better. I’m still learning.”

  “Really? Didn’t your mother teach you how to cook?”

  “A long time ago. I don’t remember much of what she did teach me.” Her lessons had been basic up to the time her parents died. And after that, well...there was no need for cooking. “But some of it’s coming back to me as I go along.”

  That was true. She didn’t like to lie, especially in church where she could feel the eyes of the Lord bearing down on her. But He understood that she needed to keep her past a secret. At least she hoped so.

  John returned as the first hymn started, and she frowned. He didn’t look happy. In fact, he looked downright grumpy. She wondered what happened between him and Aaron. She glanced at Aaron who seemed equally upset as he stood next to his wife and sang the words to the familiar song.

  All of her life, Eliza had wished for a brother or sister. Now she was glad she never had one. It seemed to be more trouble than it was worth.

  Chapter Nine

  John adjusted his tie for the tenth time. He hated this. He didn’t want to go to the social gathering in town where people would eat and dance and talk. His parents used to drag him to those things when he was a child but let him stay home when he turned fifteen. And now someone else was dragging him. Well, that wasn’t necessarily true. He asked Eliza to go with him and she agreed. It was his choice.

  He sat on the edge of his bed and pulled on his nice boots. No. It hadn’t been a choice. Not really. Troy and Old Willy wanted to take her. Then there was Buck who usually farmed so much he rarely came to town. Funny how he managed to make it to church to talk with Eliza after the service.

  John adjusted his tie again. It felt too tight. Frustrated, he yanked it off and threw it on the hardwood floor. He’d be fine in his green shirt, black vest and denim pants. He rubbed his eyes. He still remembered when he was at the social gatherings as a child and the other kids made fun of him. The adults didn’t do anything to stop it, but they had to have known. He ended up spending all of his time in the corner of the room, watching the ascent of the moon and judging when the gathering would be over. Back then all of his brothers had joined in the rounds of pulling jokes on him and laughing at his expense. As they got older, things changed. It wasn’t until after their parents died that Aaron, Guy, and Shawn shaped up.

  But then this morning when Aaron talked down to him as if he were a child...John didn’t want to have anything to do with any of them. So what if he wrote to a mail-order bride on Troy’s behalf? He picked one of the best ones that Aaron read to him. If Troy would just leave Eliza alone whenever they went to church, he wouldn’t have bothered writing that letter anyway. Not that it was much of a letter. He kept it simple because he was still learning how to read and write. The words he had used, he showed to Eliza, but she had no idea what he was doing it for. She thought he was just practicing.

  Sighing, he stood up and took the ring from his dresser. It had been too big for Eliza, but he made the necessary adjustments to it. Now it would fit right. Only if she’d put it on! He tucked it into his pocket. Ever the optimist. What made him think that tonight she’d say yes? Still, she was right about him. He didn’t give up easily. He sensed that she enjoyed being with him. Just not enough to commit to him...yet.

  He left the bedroom and walked through the kitchen. His stomach protested, but he mentally reminded it that there was plenty of food at these social gatherings in town. His stomach growled again, obviously not believing him. He shut the kitchen door behind him and looked up to see Eliza fiddling with the blue bow in her hair that went with her nice blue dress.

  He smiled. She looked so pretty. Then he frowned. No doubt the other men would think so as well. And that was a problem.

  She turned and saw him. “Are you ready?”

  He shrugged and went to get the horses. They looked healthy. Too bad. Now he couldn’t claim they were sick. After he hooked them to the wagon, he checked the wheels. Too bad the wagon was in good shape. Now he had no excuse to stay...and keep her safely away from Troy, Old Willy or Buck.

  Once again, she managed to hop in the wagon before he got around to her side. She spread her skirt around her and glanced at him. “I’m not dancing with anyone but you. I promise.”

  Alright. That helped him feel better. He nodded and joined her. On the way, she talked about how she looked forward to talking to Addy.

  “Frank will be there too, so we can talk to both of them. You like Frank.”

  It was true, so he nodded.

  “It won’t be so bad, John. Not if you look on the bright side.”

  Well, she was going with him. That was good.

  “That’s what I try to do. Look on the bright side. No matter how bad things get, there’s always a bright side.”

  Then she rambled about things that he tuned out. The closer to town they got, the more tense he became. When he finally pulled the wagon to a stop a block from the town hall where the festivities occurred, he gave one last look at the road out of town. Four hours. He just had to go through four hours of this.

  Reluctant, he stepped down from the wagon and wondered why she bothered to let him help her down from it. As they strolled up to the group of people entering the building, Old Willy waved to them.

  John inwardly groaned but followed Eliza as she approached him.

  “I didn’t realize there were so many people in this town,” she told Old Willy.

  “Whenever there’s food, people come scurryin’ out of their holes to find it.”

  She laughed. “You have a real sense of humor, Willy. That’s refreshing. Life can get too serious sometimes.”

  Willy blushed and waved his hand as if to dismiss the compliment. “Oh shoot, Miss Sweet. That’s awfully nice of you to say. Hello there, John. The Kendells like that bed frame you made for their little girl. They’ve been braggin’ on it so much that the Carsons are thinkin’ of askin’ you to make them a cabinet for their kitchen.”

  Eliza turned to John. “That’s wonderful. I told you that was a gorgeous bed frame, and all you did was shrug as if it wasn’t anything important. You do beautiful work.”

  “A true statement,” Old Willy agreed. “You folks comin’ in to eat?”

  “You bet. This is a good excuse to get out of cooking.” She glanced at John. “Not that I mind cooking, but it sure is nice to have a break from it.”

  “You work her too hard out there, John.” Old Willy chuckled and patted his shoulder. “Just kiddin’. I know you wouldn’ overwork anyone.”

  John was too nervous to smile to show his friend that he understood he was joking. He really wished Old Willy would find someone other than Eliza to like. This town needed more women. He shifted from one foot to the other.

  “I think John’s more ready to eat than I am,” Eliza said.

  John followed her into the building. He was relieved when he realized that they’d be sitting with Frank and Addy. At least he could relax during the supper. Afterwards however was another matter. Troy came up to them and asked for a dance.

  “Oh, I told John that I’d dance with him,” she replied as she took John’s hand.

  Troy’s gaze met John’s, and John narrowed his eyes at him.

  “Come on, John,” she said and pulled on his hand.

  He obeyed and lumbered to the area set aside for couples to dance. He spotted the corner where he used to sit and hide. He used to watch the people dance, noting the way they laughed and smiled. Even now, people enjoyed themselves. The only thing different was that he was out in open for all to see, and as muc
h as he hated that, he did like holding Eliza without her trying to find a reason to get out of his arms.

  If he hadn’t noticed the way Troy glared at him or how a couple of people in the room snickered and shook their heads at him, it wouldn’t have been so bad. But he was aware of them. Acutely aware. He stepped on her foot and nearly tripped her. He quickly caught her by the arms and steadied her.

  She flung her hair over her shoulder. “It’s alright. Maybe we should get something to drink.”

  He nodded and walked over to the table where a big bowl of punch and ladle waited for them.

  “How quaint! I heard of these but I’d never seen such a grand display.” She picked up one of the cups by the bowl. “Whoever set out all these lovely flowers and lacy napkins did a marvelous job.”

  “Charity did that,” a woman spoke.

  They turned to see Bethany.

  “She learned to do this where we came from,” she continued.

  “She did a fine job of it.” Eliza scanned the room. “Where is she anyway?”

  “The poor thing is sick to her stomach. It’s because of the child, you know.”

  “Oh, yes. Well, it’s a shame she’s missing this, especially when she took the time to set this out.”

  “It’ll be worth it. Next year, she’ll be holding her own baby. There’s no better joy than that.”

  John thought he caught a flicker of sorrow in Eliza’s eyes.

  “I suppose you’re right,” Eliza softly replied before she picked up the ladle. Her hands slightly shook as she poured the red liquid into the cup.

  John took the cup and ladle from her so no more would splash onto the table. What had caused her unease? The talk of a baby? If she wanted a child, she could marry him and then have one of her own. He paused. He hadn’t tried that angle yet. Maybe he needed to get her thinking of babies.

  Eliza wiped her hands on a napkin.

  “She’s already decided on a name,” Bethany said. “Patrick for a boy and Patricia for a girl. Aren’t those wonderful names?”

  “Yes. They are.” Eliza took the cup John offered her and drank a sip. “She is blessed.”