Jewel (14 page)

“Sally Lyle. My wife, Jewel Grayson.”

She blinked. “Your wife?”

Jewel saw dismay flash across the woman’s eyes, but it vanished quickly and was hidden behind her smile. “I’m pleased to meet you, Jewel.”

“Same here.”

Sally turned back to Eli. “What can I help you with today, Eli, or did you just stop by to introduce Jewel?”

“Jewel needs a trousseau.”

“Really?” she asked with genuine interest. “Then let’s see what we can do. Eli, you go do something somewhere else and come back in an hour.”

“What?”

“Leave. This is women’s work.”

“But—” He looked to Jewel who was a bit caught off guard herself.

Sally waved. “Goodbye. She’s in good hands, I promise.”

He stood for a moment as if torn, then finally acquiesced. “Okay.” He reached into his inner pocket and extracted some of the bills he’d withdrawn from the Grove bank that morning and handed them to Jewel. He saw her eyes widen at the large sum, so he cautioned with amusement, “No frugality allowed. Treat yourself.”

Her stunned eyes raised to meet his.

“I’ll be back later.” With a smile on his face he exited with a tinkling from the bell.

Silence settled over the shop and Sally said, “I’ll bet Rona blew her bustle when she found out about the marriage.”

Jewel looked up from the startling amount of money in her hand and, upon seeing Sally’s grin, decided she was going to like Sally Lyle after all.

She followed Sally into one of the back rooms where the torso mannequins were outfitted in items obviously designed to catch a man’s interest. Gauzy, lacy camisoles, some so thin they ruffled when the awed Jewel walked by, were posed next to daring, nearly transparent nightgowns held together by tiny ribbons. Some of the gowns were long and flowing, others only waist high. Everything in sight was far finer than the plain cotton items folded neatly in her wardrobe drawers back home.

“See anything you like?” Sally asked.

Jewel glanced around at the sensual confections. She realized she was in over her head and wished she had Maddie or Viveca with her to help with selecting. “I’m not sure. To be honest, I don’t wear this sort of thing.”

“It’s never too late to start. Will you let me guide you?”

Jewel studied the kind angular face. “Sure.”

With Sally’s help, Jewel soon had a small trove of gossamer items. Sally seemed to know what would fit best and what to overlook. Most of the selections left Jewel embarrassed at the thought of Eli seeing her in them, but she swallowed her
discomfort and let Sally continue the choosing.

Sally held up an ankle-length, long-sleeved gown made of black lace that Jewel couldn’t help but gawk at. It was made of silk, and there were no closures or fasteners. It was designed to hang loosely on the shoulders and the scalloped edged halves would gently billow with each step. Sally said, “If I may be so bold, your husband will adore this.”

Jewel fingered the expensive fabric. “You think so?” She thought it was as beautiful as it was sensual.

“I do.”

Jewel turned her attention from the gown for a moment. “May I ask you a question?”

Sally nodded and replied, “Yes, Eli and I were lovers. It was years ago and it didn’t last very long.”

A bit floored that Sally had read her mind, Jewel asked. “How’d you know I—?”

“I saw you watching my reaction when he introduced you as his wife. My mask slipped, didn’t it?”

“Yes it did.”

“It was quite a shock.”

“Did you break it off or did he?” Jewel knew it was a nosy and personal question, but being Eli’s wife, she claimed the right to be nosy and personal. Sally didn’t have to answer if she didn’t want to.

“I broke things off. I have a fairly high opinion of myself,” she admitted proudly, “and I don’t like to share.”

Jewel responded with a quiet, “Good for you.”

Sally’s eyes were sad but still sparkled with light. “I’m betting you aren’t the sharing type, either.”

“No.”

“I knew that the moment I looked into your eyes. And good for you, too.”

“Thanks.”

Sally folded the gown and laid it on the counter with the other choices Jewel had made and continued the conversation. “I was selfish enough and, yes, arrogant enough to believe I should have been enough for him, but he was of a different mind.” She paused for a moment and stared off unseeingly as if remembering the past. The silence lengthened until she said, “He’s a good man, though. Funny, attentive, generous. Not many women would have the fortitude to ask the questions you have.”

“Not many women would have the graciousness to answer.” Jewel stuck out her hand, “Pax?”

Sally nodded, her smile soft. She clasped Jewel’s hand in response. “Pax.”

Jewel never thought she’d make peace with one of Eli’s old mistresses, but she had with Sally, and now, on the way home, packages filling up the boot in the buggy, she thought about the day. First a wedding ring and now a wealth of gowns that she might be too modest to wear. She’d made a conscious decision not to relay the conversation she’d had with Sally out of respect for Sally’s kindness and for the sadness Jewel sensed she carried. Eli didn’t need to know.

She looked his way, taking in his sure hands holding the reins. Sally had described him as funny, attentive, and generous. Jewel could only agree. “Thank your for the purchases, but did you rob a bank?”

The smoke-black eyes held hers. “I wondered when you’d bring that up.”

“It’s not every day somebody fills my hands with so much money.”

He told her about the visit from his mother and the whys and reasons surrounding his new-found wealth. “You’re married to a fairly wealthy man.”

“Better than a fairly poor man, I suppose.”

“Having been a fairly poor man as recently as yesterday, I can only agree.”

Smiles met and they went back to enjoying the drive.

Jewel kept thinking about Sally and wondered if after the divorce the memory of Eli would haunt her the way it seemed to haunt the other woman. Three days ago, had someone asked Jewel if she’d ever pine for Eli, she would have laughed in his or her face. Now she wasn’t sure. Being with him was enjoyable. He kept her on her toes with both his banter and potent kisses and she would be the first to admit that she now cared for him in a way that she hadn’t when she’d been just plain old Jewel Crowley. Her fourteen-year-old self aside, what seemed to be blossoming inside now were the feelings of a grown woman for a man, and that was a bit
unsettling, only because she didn’t want to give him her heart and maybe end up second-guessing her decision to go through with the divorce. However, she was honest enough to admit that a portion of her heart was already his. There wasn’t a woman born who could resist Eli’s charms—but she kept seeing Sally staring off into the distance. Jewel didn’t want to be that woman so she planned to keep the rest of her heart hidden away.

“How did you and Sally get along?” he asked.

“Fine. She has some beautiful things and I treated myself, just as you suggested.”

“She’s an outstanding lady. She’s also a former mistress.” He looked her way. “You need to know that.”

“Oh.”

“She called it off when I wouldn’t agree to see her exclusively. I was real stupid back then.”

Jewel’s soft chuckle fell between them. “Do tell.”

“Yeah. Contrary to popular belief, my swelled head is much smaller now than it was in those days. I’m surprised I didn’t topple over myself.”

He went silent as if he were remembering, too, then said, “I want you to know about my past so that you can’t be hurt by it.”

The sweetness of his words was moving. “Fore-warned is forearmed?”

“Something like that.”

“Thank you, Eli.”

“You’re welcome.”

And as Jewel went back to admiring the country she felt another piece of her heart become his.

A
s Jewel rode to church with Eli Sunday morning, she looked down at the gold band gleaming on her finger and smiled. She had no idea what being married was supposed to feel like, but for some reason she did. Maybe it had to do with the ring or with the fact that she and Eli were getting along so famously. Whatever the reason, she was content being Mrs. Eli Grayson.

“This will be our first Sunday at church as man and wife,” he pointed out, interrupting her musing.

“I know. I just hope we aren’t assaulted by a slew of impertinent questions. It would be very unchristian of me to have to shoot someone during the reverend’s sermon.”

He flashed a smile. “Yes it would, so let’s hope everyone behaves themselves.” Eli was content, too. He was proud to be her husband. The rough patches that had plagued their union initially seemed to have smoothed over. Now they could concentrate on enjoying each other.

The Grayson Grove African Methodist Episcopal Church was packed. Usually such crowds were reserved for the first Sunday of the month, but on this, the second in May, the small whitewashed church with its new steeple was filled to capacity and Jewel assumed they’d all come to see her and Eli.

Seated up front in the Grayson-family pew beside Eli, Abigail, and Adam, she saw the smiles on the faces of people like Maddie, Miss Edna, and Vernon Stevenson. In contrast was the burning disapproval of people like Widow Moss and James Wilson and his family, but she forced herself to ignore them and concentrate on the reverend’s sermon.

Before being married, Jewel’s seat in church had been on the Crowley pew with her brothers. Now that her status had changed she wasn’t sure she liked sitting so close to the pulpit. The reverend, although a fine man, wasn’t the best preacher. Known for being long-winded, he sometimes lost his place in the sermon and therefore had to preach longer in order to get back to the message he was originally trying to impart. In the past if her mind began to wander, her former seat in the middle of the church kept her from being overtly noticed, but up here on the Grayson pew she had to pay attention, or at least pretend to because not only could she be seen by the entire congregation, the reverend standing right above her could see her as well. However, that didn’t seem to deter her father. He habitually
drifted off to sleep just as soon as the reverend began to speak. Gail countered by jabbing him in the side with her elbow, startling him awake as if silently reminding him that if she had to listen to the sermon, so did he.

After the reverend finally wound down, the rest of the service seemed to go quickly, and a short while later, she and Eli and the rest of the congregation were out in the sunshine heading to their buggies and wagons for the drive to the Crowleys and the reception—everyone except the Widow Moss and a few others like the Wilsons, who got into their vehicles and drove off in the opposite direction.

Jewel wasn’t sure how the reception would go. It was obvious that some of the attendees had come strictly to be nosy, like Mrs. Rumble, the former Sunday-school teacher, who stopped Jewel on the way to the food tables and asked, “Is it true you and Eli eloped in the middle of the night?”

“Yes ma’am,” Jewel lied without batting an eye.

But to Jewel’s surprise she had a good time. There were spitted pigs, fried chicken, lemonade, pies, and ice cream among the many food offerings. Children ran here and there playing tag, glad to be outside in the sunshine after being cooped up in church all morning. The men threw horseshoes and talked politics, while the women saw to the food, played croquet, and shared the latest news. During the first hour, Eli never left her side. The two of them went from group to
group thanking folks for coming and graciously accepting congratulations on their marriage.

Later, while he went to play a few rounds of horseshoes, she drifted through the celebration, pausing here and there to talk to family friends and neighbors. She spotted Abigail and Anna Red Bird seated under the shade of a big elm and waved to them as she walked by. The salacious gossip that had caused her marriage in the first place seemed to be a thing of the past, now that she was wearing Eli’s ring. The change in attitude didn’t make her feel any better about the sullying of her name, but because the day was so perfect, she chose not to dwell on it.

She found Maddie dishing up ice cream.

Maddie greeted her appearance with a smile. “Enjoying yourself?”

“I am,” Jewel replied as she took a seat on the bench. Maddie stuck the big spoon in a pot holding water and sat down next to her.

“That’s a fine ring.”

Jewel looked down at it and nodded. “It is, isn’t it. Eli and I went to Niles yesterday to buy it.”

“Still enjoying your lemonade?”

“I am—more than I ever thought I would.”

“Then I assume you’re going to be moving to his place sometime soon?”

Jewel quieted. The thought had crossed her mind. “I was going to wait until the house was built, but I don’t really have to, do I?”

“No, and it will make the marriage look more real, if you know what I mean.”

“I do.” The idea of living with Eli made her a bit breathless even as it set off an uncertainty she wasn’t sure she could name.

A few children ran over to Maddie and asked for ice cream. While Maddie set about the task, a still-pondering Jewel rose to her feet, gave Maddie a smile, and moved on.

The wooden swings her father had built for her and her brothers during their childhood had been taken out of the barn and hung from sturdy branches. The children on them were happily swinging away while a line of their peers anxiously awaited their turns. She stood there for a moment remembering how much fun swinging had been when she was their age, then saw Creighton Wilson watching her from a short distance away. He nodded emotionlessly. Unsure about whether to approach him, she settled for nodding in return, then went to seek out Eli.

He was at the horseshoe pit watching her father go against one of the Patterson twins, and when she walked up he smiled. “Hello, Mrs. Grayson. Would you like to accompany me to the punch table?”

Her brother Noah called out. “Getting the pants beat off of you tends to make a man real thirsty.”

The men laughed and Eli smiled.

He and Jewel began to walk away and once they were out of earshot, he said, “Missed you.”

Jewel’s heart pounded just as it did each time
he told her that, and she didn’t know how to make it stop or whether she even wanted it to. “You’ll always know where I am.”

He responded with a look so intense it seemed to reach into her soul. “As will you.”

Jewel hooked her arm into his and let him escort her to the table.

Doing duty at the punch table were Miss Edna and Lenore Wilson, daughter of James and sister of Creighton. Jewel and Lenore had been fast friends growing up and had shared a schoolgirl adoration of Eli. However, as they grew older, they drifted apart because Jewel was focused on keeping house for her father and brothers and Lenore was focused on gossip, fripperies, and landing a husband. She’d chased after every eligible bachelor in town including Jewel’s brother Noah, only to come away bitter and empty-handed.

“You want punch, I suppose?” Lenore asked tightly.

Miss Edna shot her a look.

Jewel kept her tone light. “Yes, please.”

Lenore splashed some of the liquid into two cups and handed them over. “I’d offer congratulations but it’s a sin to lie on Sundays. I heard what you did to get him.”

Jewel shot back mildly, “Was this before or after Noah told half the town he wouldn’t marry you because he had boots more intelligent?”

Eli spit punch.

Miss Edna turned away and smiled.

Lenore’s eyes blazed.

Jewel’s were sardonic. “Thanks for making the punch, Miss Edna.”

“My pleasure.”

“Ready, Eli?”

“Oh, yes, ma’am.”

As they threaded their way back across the crowded grounds, Jewel told him, “If I hear she’s spreading lies, she’s going to need new teeth.”

An amused Eli put his arm around her waist and gave it a loving squeeze.

The final event of the gathering was the jumping of the broom contest, a tradition made popular in the southern contraband camps during the war. Its origins were murky, but many people were convinced it had either African or Native roots because of the trickster element involved. The contest was to decide who would wear the pants in the family—the husband or the wife. It was all good-natured fun, but neither the bride nor the groom wanted to lose.

The length of wood serving as the broom was held by Jewel’s brothers; Paul on one end and Abe on the other. Everyone was crowded around calling out encouragement to the contestant they were supporting—women for Jewel, men for Eli. It being a Sunday, no gambling was allowed, otherwise people would have been challenging each other to put their money where their mouths were.

As everybody in attendance eagerly waited for the game to begin, Adam stepped forward. In his hand he held a coin. He flipped it in the air. “Call it!”

“Heads!” Jewel yelled.

It hit the ground. Heads. Jewel would take the first jump.

Eli bowed graciously. “Ladies first.”

Jewel nodded regally and turned her attention to the wood held up by her brothers. It was about three feet off the ground, a height she doubted she would have trouble clearing. Confidence high, she moved back a few steps and took off at a run. Her supporters were yelling and cheering. She cleared the wood and they roared their approval.

“Not bad,” Eli told her as she joined him on the starting line again. “Not bad.”

He took his turn. He had no trouble jumping the wood either and this time his side cheered.

The bar was raised incrementally higher as both Eli and Jewel continued to clear it. Then it reached four feet.

“You’re in trouble,” Eli told her as the crowd looked on and laughed.

Jewel didn’t deny it. The height of the bar was now above her waist and she was going to need wings to stay in the competition. She gave it a try anyway. Backing up, she raised her skirts to the tops of her half boots and flew toward the goal, but as she reached it she stopped short. It was too high. She couldn’t make it. Her supporters groaned. She gave a mock pout and stomped back to the starting line where a smiling Eli waited.

“It’s those short legs of yours,” he teased. “They’re pretty legs, but they’re short.”

“Long enough to kick you to Kalamazoo. Take your turn.”

Chuckling at the light in her eyes, he eyed the bar, took a short run and would have cleared it if Abe and Paul hadn’t suddenly raised it over their heads, which brought him to an abrupt halt.

“Foul!” Eli called over the erupting laughter of the crowd.

Clapping her hands happily, an ecstatic Jewel ran up and gave each of her brothers a big kiss on the cheek while Eli threw up his hands. “I want an
apisaci
!” he demanded with mock outrage.

Apisacis
enforced the rules during a lacrosse match, but since this was not lacrosse, there was no one on hand to judge his complaint.

Adam stepped up and declared, “It’s a draw. No one wears the pants in this family!”

People fell over laughing.

“Adam!” Gail yelled scandalized.

Jewel shook her head at her father’s antics. A happy Eli put an arm around her waist and squeezed her tight and said for her ears only, “I say we have a rematch. Kisses this time.”

“Think you can win that one?”

“Are your brothers cheats?”

She grinned.

The reception was now officially over. The pleased crowd began to gather their families and belongings for the ride home. Before leaving, however, they all made a point of telling Eli and Jewel how much fun they’d had and wishing them well in their marriage—all except for Lenore Wilson,
who’d left before the broom jumping began.

After everyone’s departure the Crowleys and Graysons cleared the fields of the tables, chairs, and other leftover items. Once the grounds were pristine again, they toasted the clean-up effort and the marriage with chilled tumblers of the last of the lemonade.

They then took seats on the wide Crowley porch.

Eli looked to his cheating brothers-in-law and promised, “I will get you two.”

Chuckles followed, and Noah said, “I wish you could have seen the surprise on your face.”

“Bunch of cheaters,” Eli grumbled with amusement. “And to think I’m related to you all.”

Jewel grinned over her drink. “You could do worse.”

Adam cracked, “And so could you, so go up and pack some clothes. You’re going home with your husband.”

Jewel spit lemonade.

Smiling, Abigail handed her a napkin.

Eli waited and watched, eager to see how this would play out.

She met his eyes but he kept his face expressionless.

Jewel turned to her father and, upon seeing his arm-folded stance, said with mock humility, “Yes, Pa.”

Keeping her smile hidden, she went into the house.

After she left, Adam said, “That was easy.”

Eli drawled, “Maybe for you. I’m the one taking her home.”

That brought on a few smiles and nods of agreement, but everyone knew this was for the best.

Jewel did, too. Upstairs in her room, she had no problem with her father’s edict because she’d already made up her mind. True, she hadn’t intended to be moving so soon, but going to live with Eli wasn’t anything she was averse to. In fact parts of herself were giddy at the prospect, but she was also nervous and a tad uncertain. Setting all that aside for now, she finished her packing and went outside to join the others.

The only person on the porch was Eli. “Where’s everybody?”

“They thought you might come back with your bird gun, so they scattered.”

She laughed. “No bird gun. Just a valise. I’ll retrieve the rest of my belongings later.”

“You sure you want to do this.”

She gave him a nod. “Yes.”

“Would you have agreed if I’d asked you earlier today.”

“Yes.”

He was surprised. “Really?”

“Maddie and I talked about it, and I’m ready.”