Beneath the Honeysuckle Vine

by McClure, Marcia Lynn

  “It…it doesn’t mean he feels anything for me,” Vivianna mumbled.

  Savannah laughed. “Oh, darlin’! My sweet Vivianna!”

  Vivianna frowned. She saw nothing amusing in what she’d said.

  “Viv…what do you think has been keepin’ that boy here?” Savannah asked. “Surely ya don’t think he enjoys fixin’ up the barn and weedin’ out the garden, do ya?”

  “He…he only feels an obligation, I’m sure,” Vivianna said. “He feels beholden to you for takin’ him in, to Justin for savin’ his life…however he saved it.”

  “Is that what you really think?”

  Vivianna shrugged. “I’m afraid to think otherwise.” She paused and then whispered, “After all…I loved Justin, didn’t I? And he loved me once…at least I thought he did. Justin wrote professin’ he loved me. And still…”

  “Johnny Tabor isn’t Justin, Vivianna,” Savannah firmly reminded. She inhaled a deep breath, and suddenly, her eyes lit up with a rather mischievous light—the same light of mischief that Vivianna had so often seen in Nate’s and Willy’s eyes. “I’ll tell ya somethin’,” Savannah began. “Why don’t you just give Johnny a little test?”

  “What do ya mean?” Vivianna asked.

  “I daresay he’s kissed ya, hasn’t he?”

  Vivianna blushed—but nodded.

  “Kissed ya good, I bet, too.”

  Vivianna smiled—and nodded.

  “Well, see if he’ll kiss ya again, Viv,” Savannah suggested. “Let him know you want him to kiss ya…and see if he’ll kiss ya again. My guess is he most certainly will.”

  “I don’t know. Today, he—”

  “Oh! Today, was it?” Savannah giggled. She shook her head and clicked her tongue. “That poor boy must be knowin’ a world of confusion. First he brings Justin home to you…knowin’ you were meant for Justin. Then finds out he wants ya for himself…at the same time knowin’ Justin’s got mud between his ears. I’m guessin’ that’s the only reason a man like Johnny Tabor would try for a girl that supposedly belongs to his friend. My guess is Johnny knows Justin’s changed. He probably doesn’t care for the way Justin’s treatin’ you. Still, I’m sure it’s tearin’ him up in one way or the other.”

  “I don’t want him torn—not between me and Justin…not because of me,” Vivianna said. A sense of panic was rising in her. She didn’t want Johnny to feel guilt—or confusion—or anything unpleasant.

  “Don’t worry, darlin’. I’m sure Johnny won’t linger in feeling guilty over it. Not when Justin’s changed so. Johnny’s got a strong character…and a powerful will. He’s his own man,” Savannah said. “So what do ya say? Will ya tempt him into kissin’ ya once more? Pardon me for bein’ vulgar, Viv, but a woman can tell by a man’s kiss whether he’s in love with her…or simply havin’ a moment of overwhelmin’ want.”

  Vivianna inhaled and closed her eyes. Justin had claimed he needed time to heal. It was then that Vivianna had begun to realize it was Justin’s letters she loved, not Justin—not the man he’d become. Thus, she’d decided to put them away, and Johnny had offered to help her. They’d gone to her home—to where she’d once laughed and played with her brothers, once known the loving comfort of her parents—and there Johnny had finally succeeded in entirely unlocking her heart. It had been in those precious moments—no matter how painful accepting the loss of her family was—that she’d first consciously realized she’d fallen in love with Johnny. For weeks and weeks before, she’d simply thought he was simply too attractive to be ignored. Yet she realized that morning that she’d begun to fall in love with him the first night he’d arrived—the night she’d kissed him in thinking he might not live to see morning. Suddenly, the memory frightened her—even terrified her! To think that Johnny might have died—that she might never have known the wonder of his character, the bliss of being in his arms, the ecstasy of tasting his kiss. She might never have talked with him, laughed and walked with the man who had so stealthily, yet so easily, stolen her heart. She wondered for a moment if perhaps Johnny did love her—if perhaps it was why he was so determined she put Justin’s letters away. Perhaps it was why he accompanied her to the house—to make certain the letters she’d pined over for so long were tucked away in the attic. Further she wondered if this was why he knew she had not mourned her family—because he loved her and had somehow seen her deeply imprisoned pain.

  “Vivianna,” Savannah said.

  Vivianna was pulled from her thoughts and musings. She opened her eyes to see Savannah looking on her with a mother’s loving gaze.

  “I want you to be happy. I do love you like my own daughter, Viv. I want you to be happy and loved…passionately loved. Johnny loves you, I’m certain of it. Don’t be afraid. Don’t worry that I might mind that my boys aren’t gonna win your heart…because I don’t. Let Johnny know ya love him, Viv.”

  Vivianna nodded. “Maybe…maybe I’ll try,” she said. “It’s been such a long day already,” she sighed. “It’s only midday, and already I feel wrung out.”

  “Oh, mercy!” Savannah exclaimed. “My poor boys! They must be starvin’ by now!” Savannah lovingly squeezed Vivianna’s hands once more. “Now…you just take the rest of the day to gather your thoughts and feelin’s, Viv. I’ll get somethin’ together for the boys and run it on out there myself.” She shook her head. “I swear, if Charles Maggee is still out at the cemetery…well, somebody oughta run over and save Johnny from four more hours of the tales. Charles does drag on!”

  “I can run it out there,” Vivianna offered, though she did feel an incredible weight of fatigue.

  “And now we’ve got us another little wild boy to watch out for, Viv!” Savannah continued. She giggled. “I swear, he looked just like someone had smashed a pumpkin over his head when he arrived! I just had to get that hair whittled down to somethin’ manageable. He’s a darlin’, isn’t he?”

  Vivianna smiled. “Yes,” she said. “I suppose Justin will be surprised to see him.” She thought of Justin’s last letter—of his obvious affection for the boy. No doubt he’d be happy to see him safe.

  “Yes, he will!” Savannah shook her head with disbelief. “And to think he made his way all the way from Georgia.” She laughed. “I bet that orphanage he run away from didn’t even raise an eyebrow about missin’ a handful like Lowell seems to be. The way he kissed you, Viv! Mercy! I’ll have my hands full with that one. But what’s one more when you have four already? Isn’t that right?”

  Vivianna nodded. Yet in truth, she thought Lowell Wheeler seemed more than likely to equal two or three boys when it came to mischief, rather than just one.

  

  “What’s takin’ Justin so long?” Nate asked.

  Caleb shrugged his tired shoulders. “He just said he had somethin’ to do in town is all,” he said.

  “At suppertime?” Willy asked. “What’s more important than supper?”

  “Diggin’ worms maybe,” Lowell suggested.

  Vivianna and Savannah giggled. Johnny smiled, and even Caleb grinned.

  “Diggin’ worms?” Nate exclaimed. “This late in the day?”

  “Oh yeah!” Lowell said, his blue eyes wide with sudden excitement. “Don’t y’all have them big ol’ earthworms ’round here? The kind that come out mostly at evenin’ and night? Them’s the best kind for fishin’.”

  “Well, I suppose Justin could be out diggin’ worms,” Savannah said. “But I’m guessin’ he just had some things to finish up in town.”

  Caleb had come home for supper as usual. He’d been quite astonished to find Lowell Wheeler there—especially once he’d heard the tale of how Lowell came to be in Florence. Justin, however, had not returned for supper. Furthermore, Caleb seemed irritated concerning the fact. Vivianna wondered what could have kept Justin in town too. All afternoon, she’d wondered what Justin’s reaction would be when he saw Lowell. She’d wondered if perhaps Lowell could touch Justin’s heart—help him to find a thread of the man he used to be.
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  “I heard you got work with the railroad, Johnny,” Caleb said, rattling Vivianna from her thoughts.

  “Yes, I did,” Johnny affirmed. “I figure I better start doin’ somethin’ before Miss Savannah tosses me out.”

  Savannah reached over and affectionately squeezed Johnny’s arm. “You’ve done so much around here, Johnny…so much for us in so many, many ways. And I know Caleb’s grateful to have you here to help me and Viv and the boys durin’ the day.”

  “Thank ya for endeavorin’ to make me feel better about stayin’ on, Miss Savannah,” Johnny said.

  “I hear railroadin’ is hard work,” Caleb offered.

  Johnny shrugged. “Hard work is good for a man…the way I see it.”

  “Yes, it is,” Caleb agreed. “It keeps a man’s mind busy and his body wore out.”

  “Caleb!” Willy exclaimed. “Ya oughta see the mice bones and such me and Nate and Lowell here dug outta them owl pellets Johnny give us!”

  “Were there an awful lot?” Caleb asked, smiling.

  “Oh yes!” Willy said.

  “It was fun diggin’ through the fur to find ’em too,” Lowell added. “It’s so soft and all.”

  “And we boiled up that fox,” Nate said. “It smelled right rotten when we started. But once we strained out the stomach and all—”

  “May I remind you boys that we are tryin’ to have our supper?” Savannah gently scolded.

  “Sorry, Mama,” Nate said.

  “Sorry,” Willy added.

  “Me too, Miss Savannah,” Lowell offered. “I don’t rightly like to think about all them fox innards boilin’ around in that pot when I’m eatin’ neither.”

  Johnny and Caleb chuckled.

  “Johnny says you were out at the old place today, Viv,” Caleb said then. “Is everything still in order out there?”

  Vivianna nodded. Her emotions were close, but she managed not to tear up. “Yes. It’s a little closed up…needs a good airin’ out and some dustin’. But everything is just fine.”

  “I’m glad,” Caleb said, folding his napkin and placing it on the table beside his empty plate. “It’s a fine house.” He leaned back in his chair and sighed, satisfied by finishing up a good meal.

  Johnny folded his napkin as well. “Thank you for supper, Miss Savannah,” he said. “I ain’t just flatterin’ when I say your fried chicken is better than my own mama’s.”

  Savannah smiled. “Why, thank you, Johnny! A woman cannot receive a kinder compliment than bein’ told she’s cooked up somethin’ better than a man’s mama’s.”

  All through supper, Vivianna had tried to keep her gaze from lingering on Johnny. She was afraid that if Savannah had been able to see her affection for him, then perhaps others could too. She remembered that Caleb suspected too, for he’d told her, only the night before, what a fine man Johnny was. He’d told her he’d seen her light up whenever Johnny was around. Still, Vivianna was not so certain that Johnny lit up whenever she was around. Oh, his kisses caused her to think that perhaps he did. Still, she was uncertain. The day had been trying, even for the wonder she’d known in Johnny’s arms. Her newly unleashed emotions were yet confusing—overwhelming—and caused a great weight of uncertainty. Just as she’d had to accept that they’d been imprisoned and lately freed, she now had to sort them—order them out before she could reason properly.

  Still, though she tried not to look at the handsome man she’d fallen in love with, eventually she could not resist. Johnny was smiling—smiling as he watched Lowell trading elbow-nudges with Nate and Willy.

  Vivianna felt breathless. Just gazing at him had caused her heart to begin hammering—sent butterflies to swarming in her stomach! She thought of all he’d done since he’d come home with Justin—all the chores and fixing up, all the hard work. She thought of his kindness to Nate and Willy also. It seemed Johnny was never too tired to go hunting for bones, never too tired for playing with pollywogs and frogs. She thought of the day she’d come upon him in the cemetery, of how he’d taken the time to tell the young Turner boys his stories of war and the scars it leaves. He would be a wonderful father—an ideal father! The perception entered her mind that she would delight in having his children—in being as good a mother as he would be a father.

  The contemplation caused her to blush, even for the fact she knew no one could read her thoughts. The warm pink on her cheeks deepened to a hot crimson, however, as Johnny glanced up to find her looking at him.

  Instantly, his smile faded, replaced by an expression of concern. “You feelin’ all right, Vivianna?” he asked.

  Naturally, everyone’s attention fell to her. Still, she simply nodded and said, “Just a little warm, I suppose.”

  Savannah began to fan herself with one dainty hand. “It does feel rather still and hot here,” she said. “Why don’t you leave the dishes for me and the young boys, Viv…and go on out for a walk? It’s cooler outside, I’m sure. Or at least there’s a little breeze.”

  “I’m fine,” Vivianna assured her, attempting to fan away her own blush.

  She might truly have done as Savannah suggested—if it weren’t for the fact that she was entirely unwilling to leave Johnny’s presence. She’d missed him when he’d been with the younger boys that afternoon. She fancied she’d never be able to easily leave him again!

  “No, I think ya need a little air,” Savannah argued. “You look like a ripe tomata! Now you go on and take a little walk. Find a bit of shade and cool off a bit. Ya won’t sleep a wink if ya don’t.”

  “Miss Savannah, I—” Vivianna began.

  “I’ll take ya strollin’ if ya like, Miss Vivianna,” Lowell offered. He smiled at her, and she was reminded of the rather brazen kiss he’d applied to her lips earlier in the day.

  “That’s all right, darlin’,” Savannah said, patting the boy’s hand. Savannah nodded to Johnny then. “Johnny…would you be a dear soul and see Vivianna on a walk for a little while? I think she’s overdone it today. Would ya mind findin’ her a bit of shade to linger under for me?”

  Johnny grinned as Vivianna’s blush deepened again. “It would be my pleasure, Miss Savannah,” Johnny said.

  “Well, I just know it will be, Johnny. Thank you so much,” Savannah said.

  Savannah looked to Vivianna, smiling with such entire mischief twinkling in her eyes that Vivianna felt her mouth fall agape for a moment.

  “Now you go on, Viv,” Savannah said, silently shooing Vivianna with one hand. “You go on and get some nice fresh air in ya.”

  All at once, Vivianna was nervous. All at once, the blissful memories of the time spent in Johnny’s arms—the moments of their blended lips—nearly overcame her with a trembling, nervous anticipation.

  “I’m sure I’m fine,” she told Savannah.

  “You are awful red, Viv,” Willy said.

  “Like a radish,” Nate added.

  “Mr. Johnny,” Lowell began, “you best take her out before her supper comes back up or the like. I can’t take the sight of someone’s supper comin’ back up!”

  Savannah gasped, and Vivianna covered her mouth with one hand as Lowell heaved a little.

  “Honest, Miss Vivianna,” Lowell moaned. “If you lose your supper…I just know I’ll lose mine!”

  “Viv!” Savannah exclaimed, holding her apron wide under Lowell’s chin. “You go on with Johnny. Have yourself a nice walk.”

  Johnny stood, hurried around the table, and helped Vivianna from her chair.

  “Go on now,” Savannah waved, smoothing Lowell’s forehead with one hand and holding her apron under his chin with the other.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Vivianna said as Johnny took her arm.

  Savannah lowered her voice to a calm, soothing tone and asked Lowell, “When’s the last time you had such a big supper, Lowell honey?”

  “A might some time, ma’am,” Lowell said, heaving again.

  “Caleb, darlin’…would you fetch me a bucket?” Savannah softly asked her eldest son. She gla
nced to Vivianna. “Go on. Take my Vivianna strollin’ for some air, Johnny. We’ll have Lowell all settled by the time y’all get back.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Johnny said, tugging at Vivianna’s arm.

  “Hold it down, Lowell!” Willy encouraged. “You can do it. You just ain’t used to eatin’ so much.”

  “Come on, Vivi,” Johnny said, taking her hand and leading her out of the house.

  “Oh, I hope he’s all right,” Vivianna said as she followed Johnny to stepping off the porch.

  “He’ll be fine,” Johnny said. “He just ate too much. Ya gotta let your stomach get used to the food again.”

  Vivianna nodded and winced at the memory of Johnny the day he’d arrived. She remembered how she’d had to feed him his first few spoonfuls of broth. He’d been so weak—so near to expiring. She couldn’t think on it, not after the many painful thoughts she’d already endured that day. Besides, Johnny was well—strong and healthy now. That’s what mattered.

  “You did seem awful pink for a moment, Vivi,” he said. He reached up, placing the back of one strong hand to her cheek. “You sure you’re all right? After all, you’ve been over the washboard and wrung out today.”

  “I’m fine,” she told him. “Truly.”

  He nodded. “Good.”

  “Still,” she ventured timidly, “I could do with a little fresh air…if…if you’re still willin’ to go for a little walk with me.”

  He smiled, his dark eyes smoldering with sudden and irresistible allure. He didn’t speak—simply gripped her hand more tightly and began to lead her away from the house.

  She was wildly excited—near to trembling! The excruciating pain she’d known earlier in the day—as she’d accepted and begun to mourn the loss of her family—had softened to a dull ache. Thus, her utter delight in Johnny’s touch and company was able to find her joyous in that moment, not sad and despairing.

  Still, she felt nervous. They’d shared such intimacy—such an exchange of mutual passion that morning. Yet they’d not spoken of it since, and Vivianna was not quite sure how to think or feel. She was grateful when it was Johnny who spoke first.