by Lena Hart
Everything in that instance moved in a blur.
A strong hand snaked around her arm, then jerked her back. Madeline found herself staring at James broad back as he ripped the shotgun from Eldridge’s hands and had it pointed at the other man.
Madeline had never seen him move so fast and in that moment, she realized just how much the war had changed him.
“You have some nerve pointing a gun toward a defenseless woman.” James kept the gun levelled at Eldridge, his hard tone low and even.
Despite the tense situation, Madeline couldn’t help sending James an annoyed glare. She was far from defenseless.
“I would never raise a gun to Miss Madeline,” Eldridge said tightly. “I was aiming at you.”
“Then give me one good reason why I shouldn’t shoot you now.”
Madeline gasped at his harsh words. “Jimmy!”
After a few short tense seconds, he lowered the gun but didn’t return it to Eldridge.
Madeline rushed between the two men. “Eldridge, this is all a big misunderstanding. Jimmy doesn’t mean anyone any harm. He’s my…” Madeline stared at him, lost. Five years ago, before he had enlisted in the war, he was supposed to have been her husband. Just yesterday, he had been a nostalgic memory, a ghost.
What is he to me now?
“I’m Maddie’s betrothed,” James said frankly. “Now would you kindly leave us be?”
He held out the shotgun to a stunned Eldridge, the grim lines around his mouth not hiding his reservations, but he took the weapon from James.
“We were just worried about you, Miss Madeline. A few residents mentioned a white man snooping around here, asking for you. We just wanted to be certain this stranger meant you no harm.”
Madeline offered Eldridge a reassuring smile. “You have nothing to worry about, Eldridge. Jimmy’s just visiting and will be heading back home shortly.”
Behind her, tension radiated from James in waves but Madeline kept her attention on Eldridge, hoping he and the others would not force the matter. Eldridge glanced from her to Jimmy and then back to her. With a small incline of his head, he turned to leave.
“Sorry again for the misunderstanding,” she called after him before shutting the door to her small cabin. Madeline leaned against it and turned her attention to James. “You could have apologized to him.”
James cocked a brow. “The man threatened to shoot me and I should have apologized?”
“You’re a stranger here, Jimmy. They haven’t had the best experience with outsiders, particularly those who look like you. Of course, you made them nervous.”
He stared at her searchingly. “And is that why you want me gone, Ladybug?”
Her heart wrenched at his words. Of course, she didn’t. God had granted her a miracle and brought the love of her life back to her. How could she turn him away?
Yet, knowing she wasn’t the same woman he fell in love with, how could she let him stay?
Moved by an inexplicable need to touch him, Madeline pushed away from the door and went to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and his mouth met hers for a searing kiss. She kissed him with all the love and desire she had locked away inside herself for so long. All her grief, all her longing, poured out in their simple embrace and in its place came a slow, delicious warmth that spread throughout her limbs.
They were being given a second chance. She couldn’t take that for granted.
His arm tightened around her and he drew her close. “I’ve missed you so much, Maddie,” he murmured against her lips.
Madeline, however, tensed at the unmistakable hardness pressing into her belly. She wanted him like she had never wanted anything—or anyone—in her life, but she didn’t think she was ready for that kind of intimacy between them again.
What if you’ll never be ready?
As if sensing her sudden worry and doubts, James pulled away from her. There was a love and understanding in his gaze that reminded her why she had fallen in love with him those many years ago.
“I take it that kiss means you don’t really want me to go.”
It was a statement, not a question, and Madeline couldn’t lie to him. She never could. Her gaze fell briefly to his chest and she drew in a weary breath.
“You’re right. I don’t want you to go.”
“But I can’t convince you to leave here with me tomorrow, can I?”
She slowly shook her head. She wouldn’t walk away from something this important. “I’m sorry. You can’t.”
James sighed. “Then I guess I need to go apologize to the reverend.”
She tilted her head to the side. “Why?”
“I may have misled the poor man into offering me a job. Seeing as I don’t plan to leave here without you, I’m going to need that job after all.”
“You’re staying?”
“You would have to force me out.” He cupped her chin. “But just so you know, I’m not giving up on us without a fight.”
Madeline’s heart fluttered, though she couldn’t decide if the tears prickling in her eyes were from joy, or from the possibility that this miracle was all just a dream. Because if life had taught her anything these past two years, it was that there was no such thing as miracles.
James watched the mirage of emotion move across Madeline’s face.
Now that he had a moment to process everything, he could understand why his sudden presence was still a shock for her. She had been told he was dead and he couldn’t imagine what that news had done to her.
He also wasn’t oblivious. As much as he wanted her and as much as she wanted him, there was a tension in her that wouldn’t be relieved after a few minutes of reuniting. Things wouldn’t just immediately return to the way it had been between them. It would take time, and if that meant starting from the beginning, and giving her the space she needed to adjust to the idea of a life together again, he would give that to her.
Slowly, James pulled her into his arms and held her. “We don’t have to rush things, love. I know this is all still very new. I’ve waited this long to have you, I can wait a bit longer.”
She wrapped her arms around him and he was delighted by that simple return of affection. They stayed like that for a moment longer before he pressed his lips against her hair then pulled away.
“Where are you going?”
“Back to the church,” he reminded her. He reached for his hat and started toward the door. He paused and threw her back a crooked smile. “But don’t worry. This won’t be the last you see of me.”
When James arrived at the church, he was surprised to find the reverend still in the cellar. The man didn’t bother to look up from the crates he was searching through when James walked in.
“I trust your appointment went well, James.”
“Please call me Jim, Reverend. And yes, everything went as well as I could expect.” It hadn’t been the reunion he had dreamed of, but it was the best he could hope for. “About the work you need done around the church, I was wondering—”
“Help me carry these out of here, will you?” Reverend Linc interrupted. “I need a closer look through them.”
James swallowed the rest of his words and carried three heavy crates into the back office of the church. It was all done under the careful command and direction of the good reverend. If James weren’t mistaken, he would have sworn the man was testing him—both his strength and endurance, along with his patience.
But James was used to taking orders, and in this instance, he took Reverend Linc’s incessant commands all in stride.
On his final trip to the church with the last of the crates, James dropped it down with a heavy thud.
“Careful, son. We don’t want these floors to give in too.”
James stamped his foot on the floor board beneath him, to the reverend’s horror and dismay.
“I think you’re fine here, Reverend. These boards are nice and sturdy.”
“Well, I’d like to keep them that way!”
Jam
es grinned. “And I can help you do that. I’m ready to get to work today. After I’ve gotten to assess everything, I can get a better sense of how much work will be involved. Whatever supplies we might need, I can go in to town and get tomorrow.”
“Well, don’t let me stand in your way, son.”
James shifted where he stood, not sure how to broach the subject of compensation with the man. With his work building the veteran homes, much of his payment had come in the form of donations or exchange of other benefits like room and board. But now that he had a future bride to think of, James would need to start making some income. His small veterans’ pension wouldn’t be enough.
In the end, he came right out with it. “Did Oliver mention anything about the pay for this job?”
“Pay? There is no pay. Isn’t this your contribution to the church? You know, charity work.”
James stared at him, stunned disbelief pulling at his brow. Charity work?
What the hell had he gotten himself into?
“I think the terms will need to be renegotiated, Reverend,” James said. “I think twenty dollars a week is fair, considering my experience and that I’ll be working alone.”
Reverend Linc pondered his request for a while before he said, “Five dollars a week plus room and board. That’s the best I can offer.”
James frowned. For the amount of work and repairs the church needed done, he would be a fool to agree to such a low wage. Maybe that was all the church had to offer, but he couldn’t be certain. With his skill set, he could go elsewhere and make considerably more. Then again, he would have to leave Maddie to do so.
James sighed. “Why do I have a feeling I’m being took?”
The reverend laughed and patted his shoulder. “Perhaps you’ll think twice before lying in the house of the Lord.”
James winced, realizing the old man knew about his ruse. “I didn’t mean any disrespect, Reverend. I just wanted to find my lady.”
Reverend Linc nodded. “I get it, son. And I can see that you’re not a bad man, which is why I’m offering you the work. Now, do we have a deal, Jim?”
James had to give it up to the reverend—he had just hustled his hustler. Perhaps he could have pushed for higher pay, but guilt over his earlier deception made him drop the matter.
Wiping the dirt and grime from his hand onto his pant leg, James extended his hand. “Deal.”
Chapter Six
“G-O-W-N. Gown.”
Madeline beamed. “Very good, Raymond. Now that wasn’t so hard was it?”
The young man, one of her quick learners in the evening class, gave her a wide smile. “No, ma’am.”
Madeline took her ruler and moved it down to the next word. “Anita, do you want to give this next word a try?”
The woman hesitated, then nodded. “T-O-W-N.”
Madeline nodded encouragingly. “Can you read what it says?”
“T…town?”
“Excellent.”
Madeline moved her ruler to the next set of words and on it went—brown, crown, drown, frown. She called on many of her quiet students, wanting to encourage them to be active participants in their education. Her evening class students hadn’t advanced as much as her noon class, but she had faith they would soon catch up, which was why she continued to push them harder.
Except tonight, her thoughts weren’t focused on her lesson as they should have been. They kept wandering to the man who had just rocked her world not too long ago. She hadn’t seen James since he’d left her cabin that afternoon, and Madeline wondered when he would come back.
And if he did, would he want to spend the night with her?
Her cheeks warmed at the thought of the last time they had seen each other completely bare…
“You’re the loveliest thing I’ve ever seen.”
Madeline stared up at James’ flushed face as he gazed down at her nude body. He cupped her breast and her taut nipple pressed against his warm palm. A carnal hunger unfurled inside her as he gave her plump flesh a gentle squeeze before he brushed his thumb across the firm point. She couldn’t stop the quivering moan that escaped her parted lips, no more than she could stop her back from arching and seeking more of his delicate torment.
Linking her arms around his neck, Madeline coaxed him down above her. But instead of the heady kiss she was so desperate for, he dipped his head toward her breast and drew her sensitive bud into his mouth. Another soft cry was wrenched from her throat at the molten need burning between her thighs.
Running her fingers through his hair, Madeline tugged lightly at the wavy strands. “Jimmy, please… Stop your teasing and make love to me. Now.”
He chuckled low and pressed a light kiss between her breasts. “Not yet, love. I want to savor every minute of tonight…”
Madeline blinked away the memory then realized she had a dozen or so pairs of eyes staring back at her. Her face flooded with heat.
She couldn’t believe she would let herself think of that night when his nude body had pressed so intimately against hers—in the middle of her lesson, no less! Trying to ignore the mortification that now made her hand shake, Madeline rested the ruler down on her desk.
“That will be all for tonight, thank you. You all did wonderful.”
As they each filed out of the classroom, Madeline busied herself with stuffing her books and papers back into her bag. She also fought her wayward thoughts from returning to places it shouldn’t.
“I’m glad my trip wasn’t in vain.”
Madeline glanced up with a start to find James standing at the door, a teasing smile on his lips. Seeing him even now was jarring. Despite his eye patch and the scar running along the side of his face, he was every bit the man she remembered.
Yet, she couldn’t understand of all the places he could be, how was it that he was with her here in Dunesville? This time Madeline fought the urge to run to him and hold him close again.
He came into the room, carrying with him a large crate. “Is there someplace I can put this? It’s heavier than it looks.”
Madeline shook her head at herself. Sooner or later, she would need to get over her shock.
“You can leave it here.” She gestured to the empty space beside the desk. “What is all that?”
“Old school supplies the reverend found in the church cellar. Said it must have been left behind when they had been setting up the school.”
“Oh. I’ll let Mrs. Ophelia know. She’s the headmistress and should probably be the one to look through them.”
“Well, I found something I think you might like.” James opened the crate and pulled out a short book. There was a mischievous sparkle in his eye when he handed it to her.
Madeline took the book from his grasp and read the title—Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects by Frances Ellen Watkins.
Something in Madeline’s heart fluttered. “You remember?”
“How could I forget? I think on our first meeting, you practically recited every line of her speech to me on the rights of women.”
Madeline couldn’t stop the smile that tugged at her own lips. “I didn’t know then that you were intentionally provoking me with your infuriating thoughts on women and their appropriate place in the household, as you had put it.”
He chuckled. “It worked. I got you to talk to me, even if it was in a tone that would have frosted the sun.”
Madeline smiled at the memory. She had just turned seventeen that spring, but one would have thought she was approaching thirty with the way she spoke to him with such authority, embodying the words of Mrs. Frances Ellen Watkins Harper as she did so.
Madeline was a huge admirer of the activist and suffragette, and she was excited to have a collection of her poems in her possession. Not only was Mrs. Harper a brilliant writer who spoke out against the sins of slavery and rights of women, she was also the first Negro woman to have her short story published. It had been years since Madeline had read Mrs. Harper’s works, but she was already eager to begin incorpor
ating them into her lessons.
“Thank you for this,” Madeline murmured. “I think my students will enjoy learning about her and her work.”
James inclined his head. “It’s probably I who should be thankful. If it weren’t for her, you probably wouldn’t have anything to lecture me with that night, and thus we might have never met.”
“Oh, I’m sure I would have found a way to educate you, Mr. Blakemore,” she teased.
But in many ways, he was right. If it hadn’t been for that speech Mrs. Harper had given at the Philadelphia abolitionist club, Madeline wouldn’t have encountered an overbearing Canadian by the name of James Blakemore the third, who she would later come to fall madly in love with.
James closed the crate and straightened, slowly glancing around the schoolroom. “So this is where it all happens? The education of a freed people?”
Madeline studied him, wondering just how much the war had changed him and his beliefs. The James she knew before—the one that had placed his own freedom and life at risk with his involvement in Philadelphia’s vigilance committee, who had helped set up safe homes and hideaways for the underground—had always had a deep commitment to freedom and liberty for all men, well before the war.
But Madeline knew firsthand just how many soldiers had come back embittered—even those who had fought on the right side of the war. Looking at James now, at the evidence of what he had endured, she wondered if it had left him resentful. Like it had so many others.
“Yes, this is the room where change is happening. Thanks to you and those who fought for this moment.”
James ran his hand over the wood desk, his gaze remaining fixated on a spot there. “Then I am glad it truly wasn’t all in vain.”
She took his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. “No, it wasn’t.”
Before war had been declared, there had been many who had fought and killed and died for the same cause. It had taken more loss and heartache before an end would come to a vicious enterprise that forced people into bondage and purposefully kept them illiterate.
No, a fight for freedom could never be fought in vain.
