Bluegrass Dawn: Bluegrass Single #2 (Bluegrass Singles) (3 page)

CHAPTER THREE

Jake was still tossing bales of hay when the door to the barn shuddered with the force of being thrown open. He dropped the bale of hay and looked at Marcy outlined by the cold gray sky. Flurries had begun to fall from the clouds and had dusted her coat.

He pulled off his gloves and dropped them on the hay bale. He knew something was wrong by the way she stood. She was probably here to chew him out for not talking to her sooner. Jake knew he shouldn’t have left her out of his decision process, but he needed to make this decision on his own. Luckily, he had gotten out of his own way and he knew he was going to do what his heart had been telling him to do since their one night in jail.

“Marcy. I’m so glad you’re here. I’m so sorry,” Jake began to grovel before he even reached her.

“Unfair! It’s unfair I tell you. They can’t make me. They can’t!” Marcy screamed in frustration as she slammed the heavy barn door closed.

“What’s happened? Are you okay?” Jake grabbed her arms and looked into a tear-stained face.

“No, I’m not okay. My parents are making me move to South Carolina to babysit my brother’s new wife.”

Jake felt his world fall away. The farm disappeared, the worry of going to Vietnam . . . everything dropped off the face of the earth. “What?”

“My mom just told me,” Marcy broke free and started pacing. “We leave January 8th.”

Jake dropped onto the bale of hay. He hardly registered the fact that Marcy kept walking back and forth. He couldn’t let it happen. He couldn’t let her leave. She was sunshine in the darkness of this tense time. She was the only thing that was keeping him going at this point.

“I mean, am I so worthless as to be moved like a pawn just because my brothers want it? Don’t I have a say in my own life?”

“Not until you’re eighteen.”

“One more month,” Marcy said with a sigh as she collapsed next to him.

“One more month!” Marcy and Jake said excitedly as they looked at each other.

Jake slid off the bale of hay and onto one knee. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a thin gold band. He had saved money for a year to afford it and had bought it months ago. It was a part of him now, just like she was. Every morning he put it into his pocket hoping that day would be the perfect day to propose.

“I have been waiting for the right time to give this to you, but I realized something earlier today. The perfect time is meaningless. It’s the person who matters. I have loved you since you hit me in the head with a cheese ball and I promise you this: I’ll never stop loving you. Marcy, will you marry me?”

Jake held his breath. It wasn’t the grand romantic gesture he had been trying to pull off, but it was from his heart and that was the important thing. He could see the emotions running wild in her eyes as she stared at the ring he held in his fingertips.

“Can I decide what to make for dinner half the nights?”

That wasn’t what Jake had expected her to say. “Of course. If you're cooking, then I don’t care what it is. I’ll eat it.”

“And if we have a girl, will you let her do anything the boys do and treat her equally?”

Jake shook his head. “No. I can’t do that.” Marcy’s face turned pale and he almost laughed. “If we have a little girl, then I’ll teach her to shoot, ride a horse, and anything else she wants to do. But I’ll also spoil her just a little more.”

Marcy launched herself at Jake. She knew they would have the happiest of lives together because they had each other. They could handle her parents and the war, as long as they were together.

He caught her as they fell back against the hay. “Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you!” She answered as his arms held her tight. She wanted nothing more than to have a little girl for him to spoil.

Marcy laughed as Jake rolled her onto the hay and claimed her mouth in a celebratory kiss. She didn’t care that straw was in her hair or that her parents would probably be relieved to get her off their hands. She didn’t care that the possibility of this move was to push Jake in to asking her to marry him. She didn’t care that in one month she would marry the man of her dreams and then watch him leave the next day. All she cared about was their love.

*     *     *

“Oh! This is wonderful news!” Marcy’s mother clapped her hands and gave her and Jake a hug. Marcy stood stiff as her parents celebrated. It would have been more of a celebration if her parents hadn’t been so relieved. It was like they were glad she wasn’t going with them to South Carolina.

Her mother then reached into the kitchen drawer and pulled out a list. She handed it to Marcy to read. Marcy had always thought she was grown up, but as her parents started talking about all the things she and Jake needed to do before getting married her head started to spin. There on the piece of paper was a list of things she needed to do before they left next month. She was only seventeen. What did she know about being a wife, running a house, or budgeting? She’d never grocery shopped in her life. She always wrote out a list and her mother got it for her.

Marcy let out a shaky breath as the realization hit her. She’d treated her mother the same way her father had. They had been taking advantage of her for years. No wonder her mother didn’t care what Marcy wanted.

“Your brothers will be so happy for you. Of course, they won’t be able to make your wedding,” her mother clucked as she started tying an apron around her waist.

“Why not?” Marcy asked. “I’m going to Scott’s wedding.”

“You are?” Her mother asked innocently. “And how are you going to get there? You don’t have a car. You don’t have any money for a plane ticket.”

Marcy felt her mouth fall open. Her parents were leaving the day after Jake shipped out. She had thought she could drive out with them to see her brothers, but obviously she was wrong.

“Mother…” her father started, but her mom cut him off.

“No. She‘s going to be a married woman now. She’s no longer our worry. If she wants to see her brothers, then she can find her own way. But it won’t matter really. They’ll be too busy getting ready for the wedding. They won’t have time to occupy a little sister trailing after them.”

“Marcy won’t be able to go anyway,” Jake said with a hardness to his voice. “My mother will be too busy spoiling her rotten. She’s always wanted a daughter.”

Jake smiled down at her. “Let’s go tell Mom the good news.”

Marcy gave a distracted nod of her head and let Jake usher her out of the house she’d grown up in. She would never step foot in it again after her wedding. The “For Sale” sign was already in the yard and a good portion of her room was now in boxes.

Jake didn’t know what to say. He had had a wonderful relationship with his parents. They had taught him the meaning of hard work, good manners, and family. He knew his mother would welcome Marcy with open arms. Unlike Marcy’s parents, his had been older when they had him. They didn’t think they would be able to have children. But his mother had gotten pregnant at the age of forty-three. They had showered Jake will all the love and attention a boy needed.

Jake hoped the prospect of a new generation of Davies would cheer his mother up. When his father died of a heart attack the year before, his mother had lost her spark. They had been married for almost forty-four years. The small farmhouse came into view as he drove up the long driveway through the family farm. Someday it would be his. Someday it would be filled with his and Marcy’s children. Someday it would be her walking out of the screen door and onto the porch. He hoped that he could expand the house and give her a beautiful wraparound porch where their children would play.

His mother waved a dish towel in greeting before slinging it over her shoulder. Marcy finally relaxed a bit. “Thank you for earlier, Jake.”

“I’d do anything in the world to protect you, Marcy. For now and always, I will love you.”

She smiled and his heart melted. He leapt out of the old truck and hurried around the hood to open the door for his fiancée. “Mom! I have some exciting news.”

His mother smiled and he felt time roll back. She was happy again. “I can’t wait to hear it. Come inside and tell me. I just made an apple pie.”

“You have to teach me how to make it,” Marcy smiled as she slipped her arm around his mother. “I love your apple pie. And your fried chicken.”

“If this news is what I’m hoping, we’ll have plenty of time for me to teach you everything I know.”

CHAPTER FOUR

Marcy sat on her bed with a pen and circled the only “help wanted” ad in the
Keeneston Journal
. The end of the semester had taken up all of her time. The spare time she did have was spent making her own wedding dress. Now she only had a week until she was to be married and she needed to find a job and a place to live. Jake’s mother, Helen, had told her she could stay with her. But Marcy wanted to stand on her own two feet. So they’d reached an arrangement that pleased them both. While Marcy finished high school, she would live with Helen and work after school. She’d save money and find a place of her own after graduation. If only she could get that job.

The bell to the cheery Blossom Café rang as Marcy stepped through the door. The place was full of high school kids getting milkshakes and burgers after school. Marcy smiled and waved at her friends as she stood looking for the owners.

“Can I help you, hon?”

Marcy turned and saw Daisy Mae Rose standing with a pad in her hand and a pen stuck in her long, straight mahogany hair. She wore a sheath dress covered in large daisy flowers, green tights, and black knee-high boots.

“Hi, Daisy Mae. I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m Marcy Faulkner.”

“Sure do. You’re the lucky broad who nabbed Jake Davies. I hear congratulations are in order. What can I do for you?”

“Um. I’ve come to apply for the waitress job you advertised for,” Marcy said quietly as some of the kids from school looked on.

“Don’t you have school?”

“Yes, but I can work the after-school and dinner shifts. I can start next week. The wedding is on Friday and Jake leaves Saturday morning.”

Daisy Mae tapped the pad with one finger as she thought. “And your parents leave for Charleston on Saturday as well. That’s a lot of change in your life right now.”

“How did you know about that?”

“Honey, I know everything that goes on in this town. You wouldn’t believe what the customers talk about over their milkshakes and fries. Anyway, my sweetie Robert is over in Vietnam so I’ll give you the job. Women of soldiers need to stick together. Violet!” Daisy screamed out.

“Hold on. I don’t want to burn this pecan pie,” Marcy heard Violet shout from the kitchen.

“Come meet my sister. She’s the cook in the family. My other sister, Lily Rae, just started a bed-and-breakfast in the house we grew up in.”

Marcy smiled. They’d heard all about Miss Lily’s new place. Apparently she was rather strict with manners even though she was a known flirt. Marcy’s classmates couldn’t get over how uptight she was. They just wanted “love” . . . with anyone. Miss Lily wouldn’t allow single people of the opposite sex to stay on the same floor. She also wouldn’t allow drugs or hippies. Not that Keeneston was overrun with either, but the few in town were definitely not
diggin’
her rules.

“Violet Fae, meet our new waitress, Marcy Faulkner. Well, by the time she starts working next week, she’ll be Marcy Davies.”

Violet Fae’s shapely round bottom was up in the air as she bent over to pull her pies from the oven. Violet was the opposite of Daisy. Where Daisy was tall and svelte, Violet was short and curvy. Men overseas would be posting pictures of her ample assets all over their barracks. Her hair was lighter than Daisy’s—more golden like her sister, Lily.

“That’s wonderful! Lord knows we need the help. We had no idea this place would take off like it did.” Violet put the pies on the counter and slid two French silk pies into the oven. “Did you tell her the rules yet?”

“Not yet.” Daisy turned to her. “No drugs, no hippies. Same rules my sister Lily has. If the hippies would stop stealing my flowers, then I'd have no problem with them. They’ve ruined my garden with all their ‘flower power.’ Show up on time and if a customer gets grabby,” Daisy put a wooden spoon in her hand, “bop them on the head with this. Works every time.”

Violet smiled and bobbed her head. “A spatula to the face also works. But the most important rule of all—if you hear any good gossip, you have to tell us.”

Marcy went from astonishment to laughter in a split second. The three of them shared a conspiratorial smile. Even though these ladies were older than she was, she knew they'd all become good friends.

“Thank you so much. I need the money to find my own place after I graduate.”

“Aren’t you going to be staying with Miss Helen?” Violet asked as she sliced her pies.

“Until I graduate. But I want to know what it’s like to take care of myself. I have to learn to do my own laundry, pay my own bills, and do my own shopping. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s something I have to learn before Jake gets back.”

They all ignored the obvious
if
Jake gets back hanging in the air.

“There’s a place above the café if you want to rent it from us. We lived there for the past year, but just got our own places as well. We understand what you mean.” Daisy smiled and then looked into the seating area.

“Hey, you!” Daisy grabbed her wooden spoon and stalked out of the kitchen. “Stop stealing my flowers!” The sound of a spoon being cracked over the shaggy head of the young man reverberated through the café.

*     *     *

Jake Davies stood tall at the front of Saint Francis in his best black suit as he watched his bride walk down the aisle on the arm of her father. Her white velvet gown had a blue ribbon under her breasts that wrapped around and tied in the back. Trailing behind her was a long veil she’d told him had been her great-grandmother’s. She’d talked her mother into allowing her to have the family heirloom instead of her brother’s fiancée.

His own mother stood happy in the front row. She’d changed in the past month. Every night she and Marcy made dinner together. She showed her all the old family recipes and even helped her with her gown while Jake prepared the farm for his absence as best he could.

Marcy stopped and her father placed a kiss on her cheek before handing her over to Jake. Father James, the new priest who couldn’t have been much older than Jake, started the ceremony. Jake was now responsible for this woman. It settled him. He felt it standing there in church. His life just changed and he’d actually felt it. He felt the maturity slide over him. He felt his chest expand with pride. He had a beautiful wife to care for, a partner in life, and someone to love. Jake experienced a happiness he’d never known as he kissed his new wife.

Marcy looked into Jake’s hazel eyes as he lowered his lips to hers. She was married! He looked so handsome in his suit and he’d held her hand through the whole ceremony, letting her know how much he wanted this. His lips met hers and her body tingled in response. Tonight there would be more. Tonight she’d finally become a woman in every single way.

He pulled back and smiled down at her. She smiled back and he ran with her down the aisle. Betsy and the other attendants walked out after them to sign the marriage license.

Before she knew it, they were hurrying out of the church. Rice rained down on them as their friends cheered. Jake opened the door to his truck for her and they waved goodbye to their friends and family. With so little time together, they had decided against a reception. Lily Rae had graciously gifted them her largest room for their one-night honeymoon. Jake had to leave in twelve hours. But Marcy refused to think about it. Instead she had much more pleasant things to think about.

“We’re here, Mrs. Davies,” Jake grinned as he stopped outside the white Victorian bed-and-breakfast. The rose bushes that were always so beautiful during the summer were now covered in a dusting of snow.

Jake hurried around the truck and opened her door. “Thank you, Mr. Davies,” Marcy giggled.

Instead of holding out his hand for her to take, he stepped toward her. In a quick move, he had her out of the truck and into his arms. He kicked the door closed with his foot and carried her to the front porch. His eyes never left her and even someone as inexperienced as she was knew what the extra spark meant.

Lily Rae opened the front door as Jake carried her up the steps. Marcy couldn’t tell you what she was wearing or what she said. All her attention was on Jake. She felt Lily shove a key into Jake's hand and maybe some laughter as Jake carried her up the curving staircase to the top floor.

He shifted her in his arms and opened the door. With a solid kick, it slammed shut. When Jake placed her on the large four-poster bed, Marcy didn’t need to worry about undressing. The fire in her new husband’s eyes would burn any clothes right off of her.

*     *     *

It was still dark when Jake looked down at the bed his new wife was sleeping in. Her hair was wild and spread out in every direction on the white pillowcase. It was the most erotic image he’d ever seen and one that would carry him through this war.

Hell, the whole night would be relived many times over the next two years. He bent over and placed a kiss on her smooth cheek. Two full years apart from her. He didn’t know how they were going to do it. He’d just have to learn how to write long letters and was already anticipating the ones she would send him. Those letters and these memories would keep his spirits up.

“Sweetheart, it’s time,” he whispered as he pushed a lock of hair from her face.

Marcy’s eyes shot open. “It can’t be,” she said sadly. “It’s still dark. Surely we have hours left.”

“I’m sorry. It’s time. William is outside. We’re driving down to Fort Campbell together. Betsy’s there, too, and will take you to my mom’s house.”

There was a tightness in his chest that wouldn’t go away as he watched her dress. This could be the last time he saw the love of his life. It was almost too much to handle. He gritted his teeth. He wasn’t a coward. He wasn’t going to shirk his duty. He wasn’t going to like it—in fact, it made him mad as hell. But the world was in chaos and it was his turn to do what he could.

Marcy slid naked from bed and stepped into the outfit she’d brought with her. She hung up her wedding dress and Jake helped her get ready in silence. Too soon she was walking outside in the morning darkness. No one spoke. Betsy stood quietly, wrapped in William’s arms. Jake similarly had his arm around her as he came to a stop a short distance away from the couple. With a silent acknowledgment between the two men, William turned and started whispering to Betsy.

Jake took his bag and tossed it into the back of William’s truck and then placed Marcy’s bag in Betsy’s car. Marcy stood silently and watched him. Was this going to be the last time she ever saw him? Ever touched him?

As soon as he was in front of her, she ran her hands over his wide shoulders, down his chest, and over his tight abdomen. She willed her fingers to remember every detail as she tried to memorize every aspect of his face—the gold flecks in his eyes, the curve of his jaw, the taste of his lips.

She didn’t know what to say so she just kissed him. She begged him to come home safe with her tongue. She pleaded with him to be careful with her hands. And she told him he was loved with her lips.

And then he was gone.

The sound of the front door opening broke the silent spell she and Betsy were under. They both turned and found the three Rose sisters standing there with tears in their eyes. Lily held out brownies, Daisy held out two boxes of tissues, and Violet held open her arms. Somehow, with the town’s help, Marcy and Betsy would survive this. She just prayed their husbands would, too.