by Lilah Rivers
“She needs time away, Martin.”
He gave it some thought, then nodded. “I will give you my blessing, Jodi. But there are conditions.” Jodi clutched tighter to her mother's hands. “Firstly, you promise to wire us upon your arrival, and regularly thereafter… so your mother doesn't have to worry for your wellbeing.”
Jodi cracked a smile and nodded. “Secondly,” Martin went on, “You will represent the family with the greatest decorum at all times.”
“Of course she will, Husband.”
“Thirdly,” Martin pronounced, “I do not want you to simply run away from your difficulties with your cousin and Giles.”
“She’s already had to do with Giles, Husband.”
“But not Alice.” Jodi’s heart sank a bit with a cold knot in her stomach as her father persisted. “If you wish to go to New Mexico, you will first go to your cousin and give her your blessing to marry Giles.”
“Oh, Husband.”
“I will not be moved on the issue,” Martin declared, turning his attention to Jodi. “Trust me, Daughter, though you will not look forward to it, I promise you will look back on it with a considerably warmer feeling.”
Jodi knew he was right, at least in part. She was most certainly not looking forward to it.
Chapter 6
Jodi took the family carriage across Providence to the small home owned by her cousin, Alice Tremont. The place was quiet, the property echoing with the loneliness which had haunted Alice her entire life. But even weeks in the glow of her new premarital bliss with Giles didn't seem to have lifted the shadow looming over the property.
Alice must have seen Jodi coming, as she stepped out of the front door to greet her as the carriage rolled up. She looked well enough to Jodi's eyes; face aging a bit more than her twenty-four years would suggest, hair black and pulled back from her big, brown eyes. She smiled as Jodi rolled up, but Jodi could tell it was a forced, awkward expression.
“Jodi, hello.”
“Alice,” Jodi said, pulling the horse to a stop and climbing down from the carriage. She took Alice’s hand. “I… I’m sorry I haven’t come sooner.”
“No, please,” Alice replied clumsily, pointing at her house. “Come in.” Jodi followed her into the pleasant little house, nicely decorated with local artifacts and paintings.
Jodi said, “The house looks good, much the way your... your parents left it.”
Alice looked around, nodding. "It helps me to feel that they're still here, somehow.”
A long, sad silence filled the big living room as Alice led her to the sofa and they both sat down. “We’re coming up on the anniversary of the accident, aren't we?”
Again, Alice nodded. “I try not to think about it. Every time I smell burning wood, I… Well, I won’t even burn a fire in the fireplace. Can you imagine?” Alice cracked a sad and embarrassed smile.
“I can,” Jodi responded, sorrow and sympathy welling up in her. Alice was vulnerable and lonely, and all at once Jodi could see what Giles was attracted to, at least in part. She’d been orphaned, married, and then widowed all in the course of almost two years; parents to a fire, husband to consumption.
Truly,Alice had reason to be sad and lonely. More so than I, Jodi had to silently admit. How can I begrudge whatever happiness she may find in this world? Perhaps Giles was right and this truly is God's intention for us all, at least for them.
“Why I’m here, Alice—”
“No, Jodi, you needn’t explain. I’ve dreaded your coming, the shame of having to face you. Whatever your feelings, about me or Giles or our union, I do not contradict or deny or refute them. You have every right to be upset, unforgivingly so. And if you've come to chastise me, with however much vigor, I will accept it. You have that right, at least.”
Jodi sighed, unsure of how much to say, how honest to be with that fragile soul sitting next to her. “Well, at first, I was a bit... taken aback, I cannot lie.”
“Please don’t,” Alice encouraged, “promise me your rage, your fury!”
“No, Alice, no, I have no rage nor fury. I've come to give you my blessings, you and Giles both.”
Alice leaned forward a bit. “Jodi?”
Jodi’s words came to her brain and tongue almost more quickly than she could control them. “I admit, there is a lot to take in with all this, but… that’s the nature of life, I suppose. It's not always what we expected, but it is often quite a delightful mystery to watch unfold.”
Alice turned away and murmured, “Quite often not.”
“That’s true, Alice, but if this is your opportunity for happiness, then I want you to have it, and to savor it. And if Giles is in love with you and not me, then I insist you be married and I would refuse him outright. I cannot nor will I marry a man who does not love me, or whom I do not love.”
“Nor should you,” Alice agreed.
“And any two who do love really ought to be married, must be married.”
Alice shrugged. “It’s a matter of respect, to each other, to society, to God—”
“It is, Alice, quite so. And I'd never have you disrespect God… or anyone.”
Alice smiled, and it seemed uncomfortable, unfamiliar to her. “Jodi, I can't tell you how relieved I am to hear this. These weeks, I've dreamed of your contempt, it’s haunted me every second.”
Jodi tapped her hand reassuringly. “Then be haunted no longer, Alice. Be free to be happy, to be married; and know that, after all, we still are and will always be family.”
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