Bride's Dilemma in Friendship, Tennessee

by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

  “How’s your ankle? I saw you trying to hold that scream inside when you tripped over me.”

  “It’s fine, a bit tender is all.” She looked past him and brightened. “Looks like Jake and his mother are here. He can help, too.”

  He stepped down from the porch.

  She brushed past him, rendering him invisible, as she rushed to the arrival of her intended.

  She hadn’t asked him if he’d slept well. She didn’t seem to care that he’d had a miserable night sleeping out in the open watching over her. He should have known better than to believe she would ever marry him. She wasn’t exactly like Mary. She wasn’t betraying him outright, though it felt that way. Jake had claimed her first, and it appeared that he intended to keep his promise to Heaven, unlike Mary’s to Travis. His stomach soured at the memory of finding his fiancée with Mort, his best friend. Mort’s arm wrapped around her shoulders and their lips mashed together.

  Heaven hoped her face wasn’t flaming red as she raced past Travis. She had to get away from him and his ability to make her want to throw herself into his arms. Again the memory of him carrying her into the cabin yesterday sent tingles throughout her—and they weren’t undesirable.

  But there was Jake and his mother standing in front of her. She’d made a promise, and she would keep it. It was what both families had wanted since she and Jake were small. No matter that Ma and Pa could no longer make those choices for her. A promise was a promise. But what was she going to do with these feelings for Travis?

  “Morning, Mrs. Miles, Jake. Glad you’re here, Jake. A few men from town are here to help put the bedroom back on the cabin today.” Travis stood behind her, close enough that if he were a cattle brand, he’d burn his initials into her back.

  Needing less heat, she stepped forward. “Mrs. Miles, it won’t take long to get some tea ready. Would you like to go inside?”

  Mrs. Miles nodded. “The tea in town was dreadful, very weak. I hope yours is stronger. It has been so long since we’ve had good tea.”

  “It’s passable, but not like we used to have. I pray someday soon the prices will come down and we’ll be able to make it sweet and dark like before.”

  “I can swing a hammer, though I’m not dressed properly to be pounding nails,” Jake said.

  “I’m sure I can find something of Pa’s for you to wear, Jake. He didn’t take everything with him.”

  “I had hoped to spend time speaking with you, Heaven.”

  “There will be time for that later.” She offered her best southern girl smile. “I would feel much safer having the cabin put back together.” She shot a look at Travis. “Then I’d know for sure there wouldn’t be any way for predators of any kind to get inside.”

  “Then I’ll be happy to assist in what ways I can.”

  “Mrs. Miles, would you mind if I held your arm to help to steady myself? I reinjured my ankle this morning, not seriously, but I’d rather not take a chance on twisting it on the rough ground.”

  “My dear, that’s understandable.” She took Heaven by the arm, and they started a slow walk to the porch.

  “Heaven, you’re favoring that leg. Do you still have the ankle wrapped?” Travis asked.

  “No, it was loose last night, so I slipped it off.”

  “Then that’s the first thing I’ll do this morning. It should be rewrapped to give you support and contain the swelling.”

  Her eyes locked onto his. Mercy, what was she going to do with these feelings? She was still engaged to Jake. Why didn’t she have the same bacon-sizzling excitement when he looked at her? If Jake hadn’t been standing there at that moment, she shamelessly would have felt disappointed if Travis didn’t carry her to the cabin.

  “Now, sir, you don’t mean to be touching my fiancée’s … um … personal—?” Jake stopped and faced Travis.

  “I’m a doctor, and it needs to be done.” Travis took a step closer to Jake. “Do you have any medical experience, sir?”

  “No I have not. But Mother will be watching.” Jake strode toward the cabin, his feet striking the ground and sending up shards of mud.

  “Really, Jake, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Mrs. Reynolds, the preacher’s wife, was here the last time, and so was Angel.”

  Jake’s jaw clenched. “Then I suppose it will be fine.” He yanked the canvas covering to the side and waited for the women to pass through.

  Heaven stopped, let go of Mrs. Miles, and glared at Jake. “Dr. Logan has done nothing improper.” Except for kiss me. “He’s treated me like a lady.” Except doctors ought not make a lady stir up embers of feelings inside. “He was very gentle and didn’t hurt me in the least.” Except he’s taking my home from me.

  His eyes narrowed. “I’m glad he was here to help you, Heaven. It must have been a terrifying experience for you.”

  Annabelle and Angel were busy in the kitchen. “Heaven, we wondered where you took off to. I see you’ve found the Mileses. Good morning.” Annabelle bent down and opened the oven door. “I’m reheating some biscuits. Would you like some?”

  “We have tea, too,” Angel said. “Why don’t you have a seat, Mrs. Miles, and let us serve you this morning.”

  Heaven wanted to hug her sister. She was using her hospitality skills well. “Travis, would you mind asking the men outside to come in for some as well, before they get started. It will take a bit of time to apply the wrap.”

  Travis nodded. “I’ll be right back. It might be best to do that out on the porch steps, with Mrs. Miles in attendance, while the men are inside.”

  “I’ll get the bandage strips and meet you there.”

  “Mrs. Miles, would you like some tea, or maybe some milk?” Angel offered.

  “I’ll have mine as soon as Heaven is medically attended to. Jake will be honored to have his now.” Mrs. Miles turned then stopped. “Then Jake is going to work on the cabin with Dr. Logan.”

  “Are we getting it put back together?” Angel slid into a chair.

  “Yes Angel, isn’t that wonderful? God is providing us with men to help Jake and Travis with the rebuilding. They said there’ll be women coming around noon with lunch.” Heaven could feel the tightness of her pasted smile. God had provided for them. But why did her free will seem to be stripped away as decisions were made without her saying a word?

  “Annabelle, would you mind helping me get ready for them after Travis is finished with me?”

  “Of course I will help you.”

  Chapter 26

  Heaven surveyed the cabin, which was overflowing with the men who came to help and the women serving food. Mrs. Reynolds had brought Mrs. Tate. They hadn’t come empty-handed either. There would be enough food for Heaven to feed her guests for a few days.

  Mrs. Reynolds had requested a trade of green beans in exchange for canned pumpkin and orange marmalade. Heaven felt awful about her first judgment of the woman. She truly had a kind heart.

  The men had finished their afternoon meal, and Heaven was collecting plates from the table. “What I don’t understand is how you came to be at the Wharton’s, Travis,” Jake said.

  “I was with Heaven’s father when he died en route to Chicago. He sent me out here. Made me promise.” “Promise what?”

  “Caleb wanted me to take his home, said it would be a good place to raise horses.”

  “Just like that? He gave you the place?” Jake stared at him. “So this is your cabin we’ve been putting back together today, not Heaven’s?”

  Travis sent Heaven a glance she didn’t quite understand. “That, and he told me he wanted me to have Heaven.” The log behind him popped.

  “He what?” Jake’s face was full of fire.

  “I imagine he was concerned about his daughters being left alone. He shouldn’t have been, since Heaven shot me before I had a chance to explain my arrival.” His boot tapped loudly under the table.

  Mrs. Miles gasped. “Oh Lord have mercy!”

  Annabelle squealed. “You shot a man?”

&nbs
p; “He was the first one I hit. Not the first I shot at.”

  Angel sat eating her warm bread with the jam Annabelle had brought. She had made herself a sandwich and hoped to enjoy the bursting blackberry flavor alone. A chair scooted out from under the table. She knew it wasn’t Travis, because he took great care not to scrape the floor. She could hear her sister’s voice and then Annabelle’s soft laugh along with Mrs. Miles’s throaty one. It had to be Jake, and he hadn’t said a word to her. She hated that. He was probably staring at her, trying to look at her eyes. She lowered her head so he couldn’t see them. Heaven said sometimes blind people put patches over their eyes. She didn’t want to do that. Heaven said she didn’t have to because her eyes were still pretty. She wondered if they would stay that way or if they would fade. Did eyes need to work for the color to stay?

  Jake touched her arm as if she couldn’t hear him sit down at the table like a bear in the general store. “How did you go blind, Angel?”

  The bread stuck in her throat, and she coughed.

  “Are you all right?” her sister called, panic in her voice.

  “Fine.” She cleared her throat. “I’m okay. Just went down the wrong pipe is all.”

  She jutted her chin toward the direction Jake’s voice had come. “I got real sick the same time as Ma. Heaven saved me, but the fever made me blind. At least that is what me and Heaven think happened.”

  “So do you see anything, or is it just all black behind those eyes?” Jake snickered.

  Angel’s shoulders tightened. He was like those town boys. She could just feel it. She remembered him pulling her pigtails a time or two, and she didn’t like that. He had called her pipsqueak when her sister was not around.

  Once he had offered her a stick of candy to leave him and Heaven alone in the parlor, but she wouldn’t take it. She didn’t trust him then, and she decided she wouldn’t trust him now. Dr. Logan was going to marry Heaven, so the sooner they sent Jake Miles packing, the happier Angel would be. But first she would finish this delicious jam sandwich. She wouldn’t even answer his dumb question.

  “So Monkey, your mama and your papa took sick and died. You Whartons don’t have much luck do you?”

  “We don’t need luck. We have God. Our family is better off in heaven than living here. But now that Travis is here, it is much better. He brings us rabbit meat for stew.” She took another bite of her sandwich. It wasn’t blackberry jam but blueberry, and it was almost as good as blackberry jam. She wished Jake would go so she could enjoy her treat without his sour attitude wafting across the table at her. And she really wished he wouldn’t call her Monkey like he did when she was four.

  “Hmm, seems to me like God’s forgotten about the Wharton family. Here you two are stranded out here. God has to know Heaven isn’t worth anything in the kitchen. Why she probably never even used a stove before coming out here, much less chopped wood.”

  Angel stiffened her back. “My sister can do more than you know.” She put her jam sandwich down on her plate. It no longer appealed to her. She knew one thing, and that was she didn’t like Jake and she planned to do what she could to send him back to Nashville, away from her sister. And she decided to start right now.

  She fluttered her hand in front of her as if trying to find her glass of milk. She knew where it was. Dr. Logan had placed it at two o’clock from the top of her plate. Satisfaction almost made her smile when her hand hit the side of the glass, sending it sailing across the tabletop. She could imagine the white liquid pooling in the middle.

  Jake scooted his chair back. “Watch what you’re doing! You almost doused me with your drink.”

  She heard Dr. Logan’s heavy footsteps and Heaven’s lighter ones. Dr. Logan reached her first. “How did that happen, Little Miss?”

  “I don’t really know. I thought the glass was where it always is, but maybe Jake moved it.” That was a lie, and she would have to ask forgiveness for saying it, but it had snuck out across her lips before she had barely thought it. But it did help move her plan along to make Jake look bad.

  She heard the towel swish the liquid across the table. Her sister said, “It’s okay, Angel. It wasn’t a lot of milk spilt. Did any of it get on your dress?”

  Angel patted her skirt. It was dry. She hadn’t even considered she might have made a mess of herself. Angel felt guilty then for making her sister clean up, especially when her ankle hurt so much. “I’m sorry, Heaven. Let me finish cleaning the table.”

  “You didn’t finish your jam sandwich, and you were so excited about it.” Dr. Logan stood next to her with his hand on her shoulder. “I’ll get you another glass of milk and make sure it doesn’t get moved.”

  “Will you sit next to me?” Angel asked. “Then I know it won’t happen again.”

  “I didn’t move the monkey’s glass. Maybe she ought not be living out here, but in a home where they can take care of her and she can learn some skills.” Jake sputtered. “Really, it is uncivilized to have someone who can’t see try to feed themselves.”

  Angel hadn’t considered that she might be viewed that way. She would have to be careful so Heaven didn’t come to the same conclusion as Jake.

  Heaven sucked in her breath, and the sound made Angel feel secure. She would never put her in a home for blind children.

  “Jake Miles, her name is Angel, not Monkey. In fact, I think she is old enough to be addressed as Miss Wharton, so please do so. It seems the war has erased some of your fine gentlemanly manners.”

  “Pardon me, Miss Wharton. Your sister surprised me is all.

  It seems that I may have misspoken.”

  Annabelle giggled. “Jake, you sprung up awfully fast. One would never know you’ve been shot at the way you were trying to skedaddle away from that river of milk.”

  Angel laughed. “Milk doesn’t hurt anyone Jake, I promise.”

  It was quiet for a moment, and then Jake laughed. “I supposed when you look at it that way, it was rather funny. I do apologize, Miss Wharton. I seem to remember you being such a sport when you were younger, never minding my teasing. I’ve grown fond of thinking of you as my little sister.”

  “I accept your apology, sir. While you thought the teasing was fun, I never enjoyed it.” She heard the plunk of the glass on the table and knew that Travis had refilled it for her. He whispered in her ear, “It is in its usual place; let’s make sure it doesn’t get moved from there.” She heard the creak of his knees as he bent and lifted the chair from the end of the table and set it next to her. “I will be right beside you from now on when you eat.”

  “Thank you, Travis.”

  “My pleasure, Little Miss.”

  Angel took another bite of her sandwich followed by a long drink of milk. Yes, she had some work to do. Jake Miles had to go.

  Jake brushed away the line of sweat on his forehead that threatened to drip into his eye. He picked up another log and gave it a whack with the ax. He’d been trying to get Heaven alone all afternoon. After that embarrassment with Angel, he wanted to assure Heaven that he cared for her sister. As his mother had pointed out to him later, Heaven and Angel had become more than sisters during these trying times. He wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but he didn’t have a desire to have her explain it to him. He had figured out enough to know that from the way Heaven treated Angel, she wouldn’t hold his past against him.

  He lifted his chin and stood taller than he had in months. Heaven would help him find his way back to being a man, not a coward. Though he didn’t think he’d tell her about that until after they were married, just in case.

  Choosing to chop wood rather than put Travis Logan’s house back together seemed childish to him, but he couldn’t see his way to putting the cabin to rights. He’d come outside and discovered the low wood pile. Chopping wood would help Heaven stay warm and cook if she refused to marry him right away. And if she decided to marry him, then Travis was welcome to the wood, because Jake would have won the prize.

  On the chopping block,
he set a log on the cut edge, balanced it, and then swung the ax against it. The sharp split of the wood filled him with strength. This was something he could do well while avoiding conversation with the other men about his war experience.

  He reset the log and let the ax fall again. What was Heaven doing now? Earlier she’d been mixed up in the middle of the women who’d come to help. He was feeling a bit thirsty. Maybe he’d see if she was available to talk to him while he satiated his thirst.

  He set the ax next to the pile of split logs and ran a hand through his sweaty hair. Not much he could do about his mussed appearance; it wasn’t what he’d ever consider a desirable courting look. But with Logan around, he didn’t want to waste time preening. He had a feeling he might have already lost Heaven, but he wouldn’t quit without trying. She’d meant a lot to him before the war, and someday—if he ever felt whole again—he’d want her with him.

  Determined to speak to her, he headed for the cabin.

  In the root cellar, the candle flickered and spat. The light cast a warm yellow over the multitude of jars of green beans. The color didn’t add appeal to the vegetable. Heaven picked up another jar of canned green beans. It was the third one that had an odd color and weight about it.

  She held it to the candlelight. It was more than the hue from the candlelight. The color seemed sickly. She set it to the side with the other two she’d found the day of the tornado. She’d meant to discard them. While not sure they had gone bad, the likelihood was they had. She still had plenty of beans to trade. She thanked God again and asked for forgiveness for her worry about not having food. God had certainly provided through the good women of the Baptist church.

  She plucked another can from the shelf and wiped the dusty top with her apron. It didn’t have the dull green look and felt the right weight, so she placed it with the others in her basket.

  “Heaven, are you down there?” Jake’s face appeared at the top of the ladder.

  Her breath sucked in as she backed up. “Jake, I almost dropped my basket. Good thing it was looped on my arm, or there would have been another mess to clean up. What do you need?”