Small Town Girl (21 page)

Jay backed up to lean against the car. The night wasn’t going well. He really should have stopped to clean up before he came. Then maybe the kid would have been in bed and he could have made his excuses to Kate or Mrs. Merritt. Neither of them would have cried about him not coming. He might have hoped one of them would, but Kate was too tough for that. And now he was alone with her but smelling like a cow barn and feeling like a bum for making the kid cry.

She stopped a little away from him. He hoped it wasn’t because of the smell, and then he hoped it was. Better that than just not wanting to be close enough for him to touch her.

“I wasn’t aiming to make her unhappy. I told her I’d take her to the movies on Saturday.” When she just kept looking at him without saying anything, he shifted a little against the car. He should have let Graham tell them tomorrow he wasn’t coming. After a minute, he added, “I don’t know what else to say except I’m sorry I upset her. Maybe I’d better head on up the road.” But he didn’t move to get in his car.

“Why aren’t you coming?”

“It’s a family thing for you. I’d be in the way.” Jay made excuses.

“It’s Mike, isn’t it?”

She knew. There wasn’t any reason pretending with her. “I don’t want to mess up his first Thanksgiving as part of your family.”

“Mike’s been part of the family for a long time,” Kate said. “That’s not really it. Why don’t you try telling the truth?”

“The truth.” He let out a deep breath. What truth did she want? That just looking at her made him want to pull her into his arms and never let go, and how at the same time that feeling scared him senseless. But she meant Mike. The truth about Mike. He could tell her that. “He told me to go away, Kate. He doesn’t want me around you or Birdie. He thinks I’m bad for you.”

Again she was quiet for a long moment. Then she stepped nearer to him and he could see her face in the waning light. It would be completely dark soon. She pulled her sweater tighter around her as though she’d suddenly felt the chill of the night air.

“Are you? Bad for me.”

In the distance a dog howled. A lonesome sound. A car passed out on the road, its lights playing over them and plainly showing Kate as she waited for his answer. “I don’t know, Kate. I don’t want to be.”

“Then prove it and come tomorrow.” There was challenge in her voice.

“That won’t make Mike change his mind.”

“Don’t worry about Mike. Prove it to me.” She reached out toward him. “Please.”

He captured her hand in the air and pulled her close enough to kiss, but instead he just looked down at her. “All right. I’ll come, but I don’t know if that will prove anything.”

“Maybe that you’re not a coward,” she said softly.

He frowned. “Nobody’s ever called me a coward.”

“Are you trying to say you’re not afraid of what you’re feeling right now?” She tightened her hand on his and stared up at him. “I am. And nobody’s ever called me a coward either.”

“I like you, Kate Merritt.”

“Is that the best you can say?”

He stared down into her eyes, but he couldn’t change his words. Not yet. Instead he said, “Maybe I am a coward.”

“Maybe you are,” she agreed, but her lips were turning up into a smile. “Maybe we both are.”

Then she was tiptoeing up to kiss him. A bare brush of the lips that sent ripples of heat through him and made him want to grab her. But she pulled her hand away from him and stepped back. He sensed she didn’t want him to reach for her, so he forced his hands to stay by his side.

She smiled fully then and touched his cheek. “Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart. Both our hearts.”

“That’s Scripture,” he said, too surprised by her quoting Scripture to grab her hand before she pulled it away. Mike quoted Scripture at him. His aunt and uncle had quoted Scripture at him. But no girl had ever pulled out Bible verses when she was standing alone with him in the near darkness.

“Some of it,” she admitted. “It’s a good verse for when you’re not sure what to think. The first part of it says to wait upon the Lord.”

“I’ve never had a girl quote Scripture to me.”

“You’ve never had a girl like me.”

“That’s for sure,” he said. “How about we elope?”

She laughed, the sound sending almost as much of a thrill through him as her lips touching his had moments before. “Somebody would need a bath before that could happen.” She turned away from him and headed back toward her house.

“Birdie warned you that I was malodorous.”

“I think her word was stinky,” she called back over her shoulder without slowing her pace.

“So it was.” He hesitated a moment. “Tell her I’m sorry I made her cry.”

“You can tell her yourself tomorrow. At one.” She stopped to look back at him when she got to the porch. “Plenty of time for that bath.”

“Then we can elope?”

She didn’t answer him. Only laughed again as she ran up the steps and into the house. He stared at the closed door for a long minute, the very air filled with her presence. He had to make himself get in his car to head back up the road. He was still grinning like a lovesick idiot, and he didn’t even try to talk himself out of it. Some things felt too good to chase away.

The moon, fading toward a quarter, was slipping up over the horizon as he headed around the blacksmith shop for the steps leading up to Graham’s room, but the shadows were deep in behind the building. He stopped at the pump and filled the bucket there. The night was cool, but not bad for November. While Graham had obviously lost all sense of smell after so many years of sharing space with Poe, Jay didn’t want the dog to growl at him. He stripped off his jacket and shirt and splashed the water over him to get rid of the cow barn smell.

“Hello, Jay. I’ve been waiting for you.”

J
ay whirled around, cracking his elbow on the pump handle and knocking over the bucket, sloshing water on his shoes. He couldn’t see the girl clearly in the deep shadows next to the building, but he didn’t need to see her face to know who it was.

“Alice, what are you doing here?” He grabbed his shirt off the ground and jammed his wet arms into the sleeves.

“You know the answer to that.” Her voice sounded strange, raspy.

She had to be imitating some actress she’d seen making a move on a man in a movie. But it wasn’t a movie he wanted any part in. She stepped away from the side of the blacksmith shop and moved slowly toward him, swinging her hips so outlandishly that he worried she might dislocate something. Her brain was obviously already dislocated. She stopped in a shaft of moonlight edging down between the buildings and struck a pose as though she’d found a spotlight. She didn’t have on a jacket and her blouse had too many buttons undone for modesty.

Jay didn’t know whether to laugh or run. “You better go on home, Alice. Your mother will be worried about you.”

She moved toward him again. “My mother thinks I’m
spending the night with a friend.” She was close enough now that he could see her eyes glittering. “Am I?”

For a couple of seconds he considered sending her running and screaming by grabbing her and planting a kiss on her. But then he decided he was the one who needed to be running scared from her. He eased back a few steps. “I don’t know, Alice. You’d better go ask your friend.”

“I just did.” She smiled, and suddenly she didn’t look like a high school kid. She had obviously studied that movie actress too well.

She reached to touch his chest, but he blocked her hand with his. After moving back another step, he pushed the buttons of his shirt through the buttonholes. He didn’t want to get caught half dressed in the dark with Alice Wilcher.

“Look, Alice.” He didn’t try to soften his words. “Nothing is going to happen between us. Not now or ever. You need to head on home. And when you get there, you better write in your diary that you promise never to sneak up on a man in the dark so you’ll remember this was not a good idea.”

“Don’t treat me like a child.” All trace of her smile vanished as her bottom lip came out in a pout. “I’m almost as old as Kate Merritt with a lot more to offer a man.” She turned sideways and ran her hands down over her full figure.

He took a deep breath to pull up some patience with the girl and then realized too late she might think his heavy breath was because of her figure instead of her foolishness. “Go home, Alice.” He turned away from her and headed for the steps that led up to the room over the blacksmith shop.

“But I’m afraid of the dark.” She sounded more like herself now.

“You should have thought of that before you came.” He didn’t look back at her.

“No, really. I’m afraid to walk home by myself. Fern’s probably out there waiting to jump out at me.” She dropped
all the way from her sultry woman impression to a little girl ready to cry. “She likes to scare people just for fun. You have to walk me home. If you’re any kind of gentleman, you have to.”

He didn’t want to cave in to her, but she really was nothing but a stupid kid and probably right about Fern. He could believe she was honestly afraid. He was hesitating when a door opened up above his head and Poe came lumbering down the steps, directing a few booming bays toward them.

Graham stepped out behind the dog. “That you, Jay?”

“It is.”

“Then how come Poe’s acting like you’re a coon?”

The dog made it to the bottom of the steps and went right past Jay toward Alice, who shrieked as she scrambled back from the dog. Old Poe could be quick when he had reason, and he bounded across the space between them and stuck his nose up against her.

She let out another shriek and froze where she was with her hands up in the air. “Get him away from me.”

“Who’s out there?” Graham asked.

“Alice got a little sidetracked on her way home from a friend’s house,” Jay said. “She was just going, but it appears she forgot she was afraid of the dark and should have gone home earlier.”

“Is that a fact?” Graham clomped down the steps.

“Make your old dog stop poking his nose against me.” Alice backed up with the dog keeping pace every step. “Please.” Her voice was trembling for sure now.

Graham snapped his fingers and Poe went back to sit by him. “Looks to me you’ve got yourself in a fix, Miss Alice.”

“Graham, you tell Jay he has to walk me home.” Her voice got steadier as she regained some of her courage, now that Graham had called off Poe. She shifted her eyes from Graham to Jay. “Or he could take me in his car. It’s the only gentlemanly thing to do.”

“Could be the boy is some like me in not holding all that much store by gentlemanly things, but even if that’s not so, there ain’t a bit of use burning gasoline to take you down the road a half mile.” Graham looked from the girl to Jay and back at her again. “Even if he wanted to, which I’m guessing from the evidence available that he don’t. But you’re in luck. I was just going to take Poe for a little stroll, so we’ll go along with you to be sure nothing bothers you. Or nobody.”

Graham started across the yard toward her, but she held out her hands to keep him back. “I don’t want you walking with me anywhere. Mama says you’re about as crazy as Fern.”

“Your mama always did see things pretty straight.” Graham stopped in the middle of the yard and rubbed his chin like he was in deep thought. “That being so, I guess we’ve got ourselves a dilemma. Or more accurate, you’re the one with the dilemma. The boy here and Poe and me, we’re already home. And not a bit afraid of the dark.”

She glared at Graham, who gave no sign of being bothered at all by her displeasure. She ignored him then as she began pleading with Jay. “You have to take me home.”

“How about we all go?” Jay said. “You first and we’ll tag along behind to make sure you’re safe.”

When she saw he was serious, she stomped her foot. “Never mind. I can find my way home.” With a disgusted huff, she spun away from them to disappear around the side of the building.

Graham started after her. “We better go watch to be sure she makes it. Her mama might miss her if something were to happen to her. Not sure I could say the same.”

“She’s just a stupid kid.”

Graham looked over at him. “Don’t you be fooled. I’m not arguing that she don’t rank high on the stupid scale, but I am pointing out that she’s trouble. Plain and simple.”

“You don’t have to tell me that. But it’s trouble I’m staying far away from.”

Graham stopped a little past the store building. They could see Alice angrily stalking down the road in front of them. “We can see her house from here. No need expending any more effort than necessary. Right, Poe?” He laid his hand flat on the dog’s broad head. “Not for the likes of her. And Fern won’t be jumping out at her now. Not that close to her house.”

“Does Fern wander every night?”

“Naw, she’s probably tucked in at Hattie’s, snoring away. Like I’m wishing I was.” Alice slipped in her front door and Graham turned back toward the blacksmith shop. “But then again, you can’t never tell about Fern. She might be wandering.” He looked around him. “But she won’t hurt nobody. Least ways, she never has. Not even when she had cause. But she does watch what’s going on. Keeps people here in Rosey Corner on their toes.”

“Is she going to be at the Merritts’ tomorrow?”

“If Hattie has anything to do with it, she will. And she’ll go for the girl. She’s right attached to that little Lorena. She can probably get Fern to stay long enough to eat.” Graham looked over at Jay. “How about you? You going to be there?”

“Like Fern, at least long enough to eat. Mrs. Merritt made me a brown sugar pie.”

“Is that a fact?” Graham said. “Appears several of those Merritt girls is taken with you.”

They were climbing the steps up to the door before Graham said more. “You aren’t gonna let them down, are you? Those Merritt girls.”

Those Merritt girls. In his mind, as he followed Graham through the door, he saw Kate smiling at him, saying he’d never had a girl like her. And he hadn’t, but he couldn’t promise things wouldn’t go wrong. Things were always going wrong for him. Without looking around at Graham, he said,
“I don’t want to. I’m doing my best not to let anybody down here in Rosey Corner.”

“Good.” Graham went through the door ahead of him and pointed toward the table. “I saved you some beans. We’ll eat some better on the morrow.”

Jay spooned the beans out of the can and wondered if his best was going to be good enough. He wanted it to be, but it never had been before. He pulled in a deep breath. He still smelled like a cow barn.

Birdie insisted on sitting by Jay at the table the next day. Fern was on her other side. Jay hoped Kate would sit beside him, but she sat across from him next to the old woman who’d doctored his black eye and told him to call her Aunt Hattie. The other sister, Victoria, sat between him and her tall, skinny boyfriend. Graham was at one end of the table with Kate’s father at the other. Mike and his bride and Mrs. Merritt filled out Kate’s side of the table.

Jay avoided looking straight at Mike, even though he felt Mike eyeing him. Jay didn’t need to see Mike’s face to know disapproval was there. Or maybe “worry” was a better word. He couldn’t be any more worried than Jay himself. Graham’s words kept circling in his head.
You aren’t gonna let them down, are you?
That was what made sitting there at the table with Mike hard. Mike thought he would. He knew Jay. These people here around the table didn’t. They liked him, but they didn’t know him. They liked who they thought he was. Even Kate.

He bowed his head with them while Mike prayed over the meal, but even after the amen, nobody reached to start passing the food. Instead Mr. Merritt looked at Jay and explained how they had a tradition of each speaking a reason for thanksgiving.

“I’ll start off,” he said. “I’m thankful for life and new beginnings and a new son-in-law. Among many other things.”

“Nobody can mention ever’thing,” Aunt Hattie said with an approving nod. “Nadine, you go next.”

Mrs. Merritt reached over and grasped her husband’s hand for a moment. “For Victor.” Then she looked around the table. “And all of you here to share with us today. Aunt Hattie, your turn.”

“My Jesus.” She held her hands up in the air and looked toward the ceiling. “Praise his loving name.” She dropped her hands and looked at Mike. “What you got to say, Pastor Mike?”

“That’s easy. My new wife and her family.” Mike reached for his bride’s hand.

“My wonderful husband,” Evangeline gushed back toward him.

Everybody smiled. Jay peeked toward Kate, but she looked as glad for them as everybody else. The only one not smiling was Fern, who looked ready to push back from the table and leave the food behind, but she stayed in her seat. Maybe because Birdie had her hand on her arm. Fern looked different sitting stiff and straight at the table in a print dress than she did appearing out of the moonlight shadows in overalls. More like a regular spinster aunt.

They kept on around the table. Victoria blushed and said her family but she was looking at Sammy. Sammy wasn’t as shy. He came right out and claimed Victoria and being a senior so he’d graduate soon. They all knew what he was hoping would happen after that.

Graham was next. He got that look Jay had come to know meant he was going to say something out of the way. “Getting that blamed house painted. And chocolate bars. What about you, Kate?”

She stared down at her plate and ran her finger along the handle of her knife as though searching for what to say.

“Come on, Kate. Say something,” Evangeline goaded her. “Or we’ll have to put everything back on the stove to heat it up again.”

Kate made a face at her sister before she smiled and let her eyes touch on everyone at the table. “All of you,” she said. “Living in Rosey Corner with all of you.”

Jay wanted to imagine her eyes lingered just a second longer on him. Then she was saying, “Fern, do you want to say something this year?”

Mrs. Merritt spoke up. “You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to, Fern.” Her voice was soft and kind. “We can skip over you to Lorena.”