Jewel (22 page)

Maddie’s voice softened. “I’d heard women talk of meeting a man they seemed to have been waiting for their entire lives, and that’s how I feel about him.”

“I’m glad you’re happy.”

“I truly am.”

“Has he been married before?”

“Yes. Late wife died of pneumonia about ten years ago. They didn’t have children and it was an arranged marriage. Not a love match.”

“Do the dogs like him?”

“Not particularly, and he doesn’t much care for them either, but I’m not giving them up and I’m not giving him up, so they’re going to have to learn to coexist. What about you and Eli? I saw him yesterday after he confronted Cecile. He didn’t look very happy.”

“He wasn’t.” She told Maddie the story of why.

“And Cecile had the nerve to say that to you just now? ‘Tell him I’ll be waiting for him in the moonlight,’” she mimicked. “You should have knocked her into the mud.”

“Maybe next time.”

“I’m holding you to that.”

Jewel was grateful to have such a supportive friend. “He and I are fine now.” And they were. Jewel couldn’t remember being so happy. “I’ve decided there’ll be no divorce.”

“No?”

She shook her head. “Can’t divorce a man I’m in love with.”

“Do tell?”

Jewel met the humor in Maddie’s eyes. “He’s in love with me, too.”

“Funny how things work out, isn’t it.”

Jewel agreed. Everything had worked out. “I couldn’t ask for a finer man.”

Maddie raised her cup. “To love.”

Jewel raised hers, too. “To love.”

T
wo weeks later, on a beautiful early June afternoon, the cleared grounds around the Graysons’ new house were filled with people come to celebrate the finished product. The newlyweds would be moving in that day and their guests had been invited to witness the long awaited event.

As with all Grove gatherings, there was food, fun, horseshoes, and gossip swirling around Cecile. Word was, now that G.W. was no longer footing the bill for her room at the Quilt Ladies’ boardinghouse, she’d been forced to move out, and was now the houseguest of Reverend Anderson, of all people. His wife, Ida, a friend of Gail’s and Edna’s was not happy.

But Jewel was in too good a mood to let musings on Cecile intrude on one of the happiest days of her life, so when she heard some of the women whispering that the reason Cecile was at the reverend’s place was because Lenore Wilson refused to have the father’s paramour set foot in the Wilson home, she politely excused herself from the table
holding the food and walked the short distance to the house.

Seeing it all spruced up with its green paint on the wood and creamy white gingerbread trim made her smile. On the big front sitting porch sat the gleaming rocker she’d built, seemingly waiting for her to come and sit and watch the sunset over the bluff.

Her father walked up beside her and for a moment the two filled their eyes with the spanking new home.

“It’s beautiful, Pa. Thank you.”

“Nothing but the best for my best girl.”

She snaked an arm around his ample waist and hugged. “Eli and I are hoping to spend the rest of our years here.”

“No divorce?”

“No, Pa. I love him and he loves me.”

“Well, hot damn.”

She grinned in response. “Are you ready for grandchildren? Not that I’m expecting yet, but maybe soon.”

He turned and looked into her face. “Your mother would be so proud of you, Jewel. You filled her shoes and then stepped into your own. The boys and I will always be grateful for the way you took care of us.”

His praise put the sting of tears in her eyes. “You provided the home, Pa. I just kept it picked up.”

He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Be happy, my Jewel.”

“I am, Pa. I really and truly am. Thanks again for the house.”

“You’re welcome. We’ll add more rooms next spring. If you’re talking about grandchildren, you’ll need them.”

He headed off to return to the main celebration and left her standing there gazing contentedly at her new home.

The highlight of the gathering was the Opening of the Door. A large ribbon with a big bow was tacked across the front entrance. Jewel and Eli would cut the ribbon together and officially take possession, but first they had people to thank.

Eli stepped up first. Looking out at the smiling faces of families and friends, he felt his heart swell. “I’m not really sure what to say, “he said, hoping his voice was loud enough to be heard. “I know I want to say thank you to everybody who helped with the building, especially Adam and my brothers-in-law. This is very special to me. At one time in my life, I wasn’t worthy of so many blessings”—he looked at Jewel with unabashed love in his eyes—“but God is good,” he whispered over the lump in his throat.

Men nodded solemnly. Women dabbed at their eyes with handkerchiefs. Abigail had tears running down her cheeks, and Adam slipped his arm around her waist and squeezed her gently. Standing next to them were a gleaming Maddie and G.W. Hicks.

Jewel, as grateful as her husband for her own blessings, gave her thanks as well. “To my Pa, my
brothers, and everybody who worked. To Abigail and Maddie.” She turned to Eli, “And to the
former
Colored Casanova of Cass County….”

Everybody laughed at the emphasis she’d placed on the word
former
.

“Thank you, Eli, for making me the wife of one of the finest men in the country. “

Affection glowing, he took her hand. He looked back out at the crowd and asked his mother, “Do you have the shears?”

Abigail, aided by her cane, stepped forward and handed them over. Eli passed them to Jewel. He placed his hand atop hers and together they cut the big blue ribbon in half. It fluttered down, freeing the door while cheers and applause greeted the official opening of the new home belonging to Mr. and Mrs. Eli Grayson.

Later, sitting on her husband’s lap on a blanket spread out on the bluff so they could watch the fiery sunset, Jewel said, “This was a wonderful day.”

“That it was.”

“Liked your speech.”

“Spoken from the heart.”

“I think I’m going to go into our new house, wash up in my new washroom—with indoor shower.”

He jostled her at the jab.

“And then find something very sultry to wear that my husband will enjoy removing.”

He waggled his eyebrows. “Sounds like your husband’s in for a good time.”

“So is his wife.”

Fresh from her shower, Jewel picked out the gown she wanted. Drawing it on and looking at herself in the mirror via the soft light of the turned-down lamp, she was instantly embarrassed, but that soon gave way to a smile The lace-edged white gown with its strategically placed ribbons was guaranteed to please, and she couldn’t wait to see his reaction. Granted, Eli would probably make certain she didn’t have the gown on for very long, but wasn’t that the whole purpose?

That aforementioned purpose fueled her steps as she left the bedroom to seek him out. Tonight she planned to give as good as she got and more, because she wanted this first coming together in their new home to be as sensual as it was memorable.

Eli was outside on the porch looking up at the stars when she stepped out to join him. He turned. Upon seeing her in the thin white silk and the way it shone under the shadowy moon, all he could say was, “Oh, my.”

His manhood instantaneously throbbed to life. The breezy night air played with the edges of the silk just enough to offer him teasing flashes of her skin, alerting him to the fact that his prim little jewel didn’t have a stitch on underneath. The realization made him hard as the wooden banister he was holding on to. “Nope,” he told her with a mesmerized shake of his head, his voice certain. “You’re not going to have that on very long at all—but long enough…”

Pleased, Jewel eased closer and he leaned down and nuzzled her neck. “You smell sweet,” he whispered.

She was already spiraling and they were just getting started. His hand was moving over her silk-covered breast, the nipple already hard. “I like the gown.”

Jewel liked it, too especially the way his hands were sliding it up and down, and over and around.

“Like this little ribbon, too.”

The thin silk ribbon positioned beneath her breasts was the gown’s only closure. He undid it without a word, then eased his warm palms inside to cup her hips and bring her flush against the strength of his desire. “I hope you don’t have anywhere to be tomorrow, sweetheart, because I’m planning on making love to you until dawn.”

His mouth found her breasts and she drew in a shuddering breath. The hand playing a sweet night song between her thighs was expert and bold. Because he was so scandalous and made her so shameless, she widened her stance so he could make her senses sing. And they did; arias, cadenzas, soprano, and descant. By the time he knelt in front of her, his bold touch plying her, she was already in the beginning throes of the orgasm. “You’re very wet, Jewel.”

Braced against the banister, legs spread to receive his caresses, Jewel was in another world, one where she didn’t care how she looked or what anyone thought of what she and this wantonly
gifted man were doing. All she knew was that she was his, and because she was, he drew her forward and worshipped at the gates of her soul with a lingering, red-hot devotion until she was reduced to a strangled scream.

He picked her up and took her into the house. The little death had her arching and twisting and riding the waves as he carried her to their bed. She didn’t remember being lain down, but when he entered her so magnificently she moaned with pleasure and greedily raised her hips to feast on all he had to give.

“Lord, woman!” he growled unable to do anything but stroke. Her sweet body fueled him faster and faster. There’d be time for dallying next round, the male in him reasoned. Right then, he couldn’t have slowed if there’d been a gun to his head. She was too tight, too delicious, too tantalizing. If forced to stop he’d explode. He exploded anyway. The orgasm was staggering and he clutched her hips roughly while he stroked and roared, and stroked and roared.

In the silence that followed they could hear the call of insects through the open windows. The room was pitch-dark and they lay smiling next to each other on the bed.

“I guess you were pretty eager.”

He turned his head her way. He could barely make out her face in the darkness, but he knew she was looking at him, too. “Didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“Not in the least.”

“Good. Wouldn’t want that. I do want you again, though, soon as I catch my breath.”

“Was hoping you’d say that.”

He chuckled in the dark and slid a finger over a nipple that obediently tightened at his command. “Randy woman.”

“Just doing a wife’s duty.”

He reached over and coaxed her on top. A second later he was slowly and sinuously filling her. She moaned.

He asked, whispered, “Better?”

Her reply was soft as the night. “Much.”

They took things slow. While she rode him in the age-old dance of Eve, he kissed, touched, and suckled. Thrusting into her rhythm languidly, he met her blazing eyes and dragged his palms down over the hard points of her breasts. The last time they’d made love this way, they’d been in the middle of the kitchen floor, and she’d come away with floor burns on the edges of her knees. Not this time. With the mattress beneath them offering her soft support, and the springs beneath helping them mark time, Jewel Crowley Grayson was in heaven. The pictures in the
Kama Sutra
may have accurately portrayed the positions, but she didn’t think any drawing could equate the bliss and joy.

And for the rest of the night, he gave her plenty of both. At one point, a shower was needed, and after the lusty interlude in the steam-filled stall Eli learned to sing the praises of indoor plumbing.

They initiated the house’s beginnings well, and when the birds began to chirp and dawn pinkened the sky, the lovers shared a final kiss then slept in each other’s arms.

It took Jewel a few days to get all their newly purchased furniture where she wanted, but when it was done she was pleased. Thanks to her father, brothers, and everyone else who’d helped raise the house, she had a good-sized front parlor, a large, well-set-up kitchen, a washroom with a shower that she couldn’t pry Eli out of now, and two bedrooms: one large, one small. She and Eli used the larger room as their bedroom.

They turned the smaller bedroom room into Eli’s office, giving him a space he could keep as cluttered as he liked. If Jewel didn’t want to see the mess, she simply closed the door. It worked out perfectly for both of them.

Monday morning after breakfast, Eli headed off to town and Jewel began her chores. It was washday. As she stripped the sheets off the bed, she smiled remembering last night’s lusty play. Eli gave her so much pleasure she couldn’t believe she’d wanted to sleep alone when they first married. Now, she couldn’t be pried out of bed with him with a crowbar. He’d professed to know all there was about making love and she had to admit, he did.

She was outside hanging sheets on the clotheslines erected behind the house when Abigail appeared. “Morning, Jewel.”

Pleased by the visit, because she hadn’t seen her mother-in-law in a few days, Jewel said with affection, “Morning, Abigail. How are you?”

“I’m fine, dear. How are things with you?”

“No complaints. I’ve coffee on the stove if you’d like some.”

“No, thank you,” she said taking a seat on the wooden bench that had been a wedding gift from Zeke and Noah. “I drink so much, that if I bleed, it’s black, no cream.”

Jewel loved Abigail’s wit, but as she placed the last clothespin in the edge of the last sheet on the line she saw that Abigail’s face was lined with worry. “Something the matter?”

“Yes. Cecile. She has turned this sleepy little place upside down. Now even Reverend Anderson seems caught up in her madness.”

It was true. Two weeks had passed since Cecile had slithered her way into Reverend Anderson’s household. Jewel asked, “Do you know if Miss Ida made it to her mother’s in Indiana?”

“Edna received a letter a few days ago. She got there fine, but I still can’t believe the reverend took Cecile in.”

Everyone in town was talking about Ida Anderson going home to her mother. Gossips and non-gossips alike were pointing fingers at Cecile as the catalyst.

Jewel said. “At least Lenore Wilson had the good sense not to let her into her home.”

“Amen to that, but at the store this morning I heard her father has shipped Lenore off to his sis
ter’s in St. Louis, so who knows where that terrible woman will build her web next?”

“I know it won’t be here,” Jewel responded emphatically.

“Amen to that, too,” Abigail echoed, then paused for a moment before saying, “I’m really worried about Reverend Anderson. Is it my imagination or have his sermons been especially lurid the past few weeks.”

“They have. All of this fire and brimstone about Eve tempting Adam, then Jezebel, and Bathsheba, and Salome dancing and the beheading of John the Baptist; there isn’t a fallen woman in the Bible he hasn’t condemned. And then he let Cecile get up and sing on Sunday? I was stunned.”

“I know. Personally I was surprised that she even had the brass to attend the service. And wearing all white, too.”

“And,” Jewel added, “sat in Miss Ida’s seat.”

“I know. I was so dumbstruck I couldn’t tell you whether she had a passable voice or not. My heart was pounding so loud, I don’t believe I heard a note.”

The congregation had been just as dumbstruck, at least most of them. Jewel spied a few of the men smiling and looking on as if Cecile were a lurid actress on the stage, but Jewel supposed that was who Cecile was in reality. “Did you notice the Widow Moss stand up and walk out?”