Love Finds You in Maiden, North Carolina

by Tamela Hancock Murray

  “Serves us right for waiting until the Friday before Easter,” she shouted.

  Thankfully, Hestia had tied the hat she already wore tightly enough that the wind wouldn’t whip it off her head. The open air felt brisk, but the sun shone and with a spring wrap, she felt protected enough to enjoy invigoration without feeling chilled.

  “Glad you could come out today,” Judith yelled. “Daddy doesn’t let me have the motorcar often.”

  Soon they arrived in town and Judith found a place to park. Hestia rejoiced in the chance to speak in a normal volume.

  “I can’t wait to see the new hats. I hope I can find something to match my new dress.”

  Judith jumped from behind the steering wheel. “I love what you did with your aunt’s dress pattern. You inspired me to try a linear number, too.”

  “I can’t wait to see it. We’ll be the most stylish women in church.” Hestia got out of the Studebaker and shut the door. “Do you think Peter will notice?”

  She blushed. “I hope so. He sent me a card for Valentine’s Day, you know.”

  “That’s making progress, I’d say.”

  “I’m glad I took you up on your suggestion to invite him to our Thanksgiving dinner. I couldn’t believe he accepted.” The two women walked past a pharmacy.

  “And why wouldn’t he? He’s getting the prettiest girl in town.”

  They stopped in front of a milliner’s shop and admired the window display. “Look at how close to the head the new styles are.”

  “For shorter hair.” Judith’s voice told of her mixed emotions. She touched her wavy locks.

  In empathy and feeling adrift herself, Hestia patted her own hair, which was pinned into a chignon. “Sometimes I wonder if Selene is right. Am I behind the times?”

  “We’re behind the times together.” Judith peered not at the hats, but at her reflection in the window. “Once you go back to Haw River, I wonder if we’ll be behind the times alone in our respective towns.”

  “Maybe the new styles are starting to gain acceptance. They wouldn’t be displaying these hats if no one was buying them.” Hestia noticed a brown hat trimmed with white rickrack. She didn’t favor it for spring. Instead, she preferred the pink one with a crystal rhinestone and perky yellow feather. “I have noticed more of the girls our age getting their hair bobbed. Respectable girls, at that.”

  “Maybe fashion has gotten to the point that if you get a bob it doesn’t have to mean you drink bathtub gin.”

  “We certainly don’t have to wear Ox Blood lipstick,” Hestia pointed out.

  “Or dye our hair.”

  “Let’s go in.” Hestia just had to try on the pink hat.

  As they entered, Hestia noticed a buxom woman of short stature giving her image in the mirror a critical eye. “I don’t know if this is really me or not.”

  A tall saleswoman surveyed a broad-brimmed hat overburdened with an array of wax fruit—bananas, grapes, apples, and pears. “Oh, but it is, Mrs. Williams. It’s even more beautiful than the hat I fashioned for you last year. I worked on it for so long, making it just as you said you wanted.”

  Mrs. Williams cut her glance to Judith. “What do you think, my dear girl?”

  Judith looked like an ill-prepared student. “Uh, I don’t know. What do you think, Hestia?”

  Hestia did her best to resist giving Judith a dirty look. The customer tilted her head in doubt, while the saleswoman’s clasped hands and hopeful expression told her that Hestia could make or break the sale. Why did she have to be stuck in the middle? The hat overwhelmed the woman, and the fact that she was voluptuous and wearing fruit made her look as though she couldn’t go anywhere without food. Hestia pictured her plucking a banana off her head and eating it in the middle of worship service. The image amused her so much it took all her discipline to hold back a giggle.

  “Don’t you think it’s beautiful?” The saleswoman’s eyes widened. “I spent all night on it, fastening the fruit in place, just so it would be ready in time for Easter Sunday.”

  “This is the hat you ordered?” Hestia looked at Mrs. Williams.

  She examined herself. “Yes, it is made to my specifications.”

  Hestia searched for what to say. “I think it shows a remarkable degree of talent. And the colors are very nice.”

  Mrs. Williams’s expression lightened. “Yes, they are. I’ll take it.”

  “Thank you!” The saleswoman’s posture relaxed and she threw Hestia a grateful look. “I’ll be right with you girls.”

  “No hurry,” Judith said. “We’ll just browse.”

  Hestia looked at every hat in the store. Mrs. Williams’s was notable for being the only one sporting a broad brim. All the others were fashioned in the new style, made to fit close to the head. A white hat with white roses struck her, but she decided it looked too much like a bride.

  A bride. Something she wouldn’t be anytime soon. She swallowed.

  “Look at this one.” Judith pointed to a felt hat. “Don’t you love the color?”

  “I think the beige would look very well with your hair, but I would look sick in it.”

  “Well, if you wouldn’t look sick in it, would you like it?”

  Hestia studied the hat, with its cream-colored ribbon and orange rose. “Yes, I would.”

  A green hat caught Hestia’s eye, but upon closer inspection she realized the hue wouldn’t do a thing for the shimmering pink dress she had sewn for herself. If she bought a hat from this milliner, it would be the pink one with the rhinestone and yellow feather or nothing.

  The bell on the door tinkled, signaling the exit of Mrs. Williams. The saleswoman approached them. “Thank you for encouraging Mrs. Williams for me. She does the same thing every year—orders an elaborate hat no one else would want. Then when she sees it, she acts as though it’s the most hideous thing ever. Honestly, she’s a trial. Oh, I don’t suppose I should say that. I’m sorry.”

  Hestia realized that frustration had overtaken the woman’s better judgment. But who didn’t have a bad day? “You did a wonderful job with it.”

  “I can’t say I’d wear it, though.” Judith giggled.

  Hestia elbowed her in the rib. “Judith!”

  “That’s okay. I wouldn’t wear it, either.” The saleswoman picked up the pink hat Hestia had been admiring. “Now this is my favorite.”

  “Is it?”

  “Yes, and I think it would look lovely on you.” She handed it to Hestia. “Try it and see how it looks.”

  Hestia happily complied. Only, the hat didn’t fit well over her hair.

  “Do you like it?”

  “Yes, but...”

  “It’s made for shorter hair.” Judith’s voice sounded with regret.

  “It’s true that a lot of the girls are getting bobs.” The saleswoman nodded.

  Hestia looked at her more closely and noticed she didn’t have a bob, but then again, girlhood had passed her by long ago.

  “A lot of the girls?” Judith tilted her head.

  “Yes.” The woman nodded. “Just about every one of them coming in here now has a bob. I think they’re taking the plunge for Easter.”

  “Let me try on the beige hat.” Judith reached for it.

  “That is a good choice for you. It will look well with your dark hair.”

  “That’s what I told her,” Hestia said.

  Judith tried on the beige hat. Indeed, it did look well with the color of her hair, but like Hestia, she sported too much of a mane for the hat to look right. She set it down. “I don’t think I should take it.”

  “Oh, but it’s lovely on you.” The saleswoman’s voice sounded only a tad less pleading than it had when she spoke to Mrs. Williams. “I have an idea. Why don’t you set your hair in a low bun so it won’t get in the way of your hat? I think that will work just fine.”

  Judith brightened. “That is an idea. What do you think, Hestia?”

  Hestia visualized Judith wearing a low bun with her new hat. “I think that
just might work.”

  “All right. I’ll take it.”

  “And the pink one for you?” The saleswoman pointed to it.

  Looking at the hat, Hestia hesitated.

  “Oh, come on,” Judith prodded. “You can wear your hair in a low bun, too. We’ll look wonderful together in church.”

  “I don’t know....”

  The saleswoman went for the kill. “Don’t wait too long. Two other women have already been in here eying that hat, and Easter Sunday is only two days away.”

  “She’s right,” Judith pointed out. “If you wait, it’s liable to be gone when you get back.”

  Hestia couldn’t remember ever seeing a lovelier hat. “I’ll take it.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Selene thumbed through one of Hestia’s copies of National Geographic. Expecting no one, she ignored the knock on the front door, so when Artie entered her room a few moments later, she registered mild surprise.

  “Your aunt said you were awake and wouldn’t mind seeing me.”

  Selene set aside the periodical. “I never mind seeing you, Artie.”

  Always the gentleman, he asked after her and they exchanged pleasantries. Pulling a chair up next to her bed so he could sit beside her, Artie wasted little time in changing the subject. “Finally.”

  His one-word observation piqued her interest. “Finally what?”

  He took in a breath and hesitated. She’d never seen him appear nervous in the past, but he rubbed his hand on his thigh and didn’t seem to realize what he was doing.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I think so. It’s just that, I’ve been waiting to ask you something, and now that’s it’s been over a month since you accepted the Lord and I can see you growing closer to Him each day, I think I finally can.” At that moment, she noticed his eyes appeared especially green. He wasn’t matinee-idol handsome, but his face was pleasant to behold. She imagined his features would age well.

  “What is it, Artie?”

  “Now, I don’t want you to answer right away. I know you’re used to the big city, and Maiden isn’t a big city by any stretch of the imagination. But I have a house and a job here, and I’ve made it my home.” He cleared his throat. “And I guess Miss Olive, and maybe some other people, have been more than happy to tell you that a lot of folks around here don’t want much to do with me.”

  She remembered the first day Miss Olive realized Artie was visiting their house and how she had told Aunt Louisa that she shouldn’t let Hestia or her have anything to do with him. The same day, Hestia realized Selene was in a family way. She cringed at the memory. “I’ll be honest. She did say something about your past. But who am I to criticize? You’re a good man today. That’s the Artie I know…” Should she say it? “…and love.”

  “You have just made me very happy. Very happy.” He swallowed, obviously overcome with emotion. He took a moment to recover his composure. “I’m trying to be a good man. Some people, especially people at my church, realize that. Even they had doubts at first. They took me into their fold because of Granny. Out of respect for her, they got to know me. I’ve finally lived down my past, as least as far as they’re concerned. But I might never live it down with some of the people here in town.” A thoughtful look, as though he pictured some of those people in his mind, crossed his face, but then he shrugged. “I’ll just have to live with that.”

  “I’m sorry. Are you telling me this because you think I’ll have trouble when I go back to New York? Because if you are, I appreciate it, but I know I won’t be as popular as I once was.” She tried to send him a cheerful smile, but she knew the halfhearted crooked grin she made hardly fit the bill. “I’ll have to live it down, as you say.”

  “It sounds as though you’ve got a hard row to hoe after this wherever you end up.”

  “Don’t try to make me feel any better.”

  “I’m sorry. I’m making a big mess of this, aren’t I?”

  “A big mess of what?” Whatever it was, she wished he’d get to the point.

  “The question I have for you. I just don’t want you to think everything would be—copacetic—as you say, if you married me.”

  Selene was glad she hadn’t been holding one of Aunt Louisa’s prized china figurines, because if she had, it would have dropped out of her hands and shattered into a million pieces. “Wha–what did you say?”

  “I said, if you married me.”

  “Marry you? Are you sure?” Her heart beat so hard she could feel it in her ears. That such a man would ask her to marry him, after everything, amazed her.

  “I am.”

  “What about the baby?”

  “I have prayed about this and thought about it every night. If you want to know the truth, the thought that you could be the one for me crossed my mind when we first met, but I had to get to know you better first. I want to be a husband to you and a father to your baby. But at first I wasn’t sure you wanted to keep the baby. I was always told you planned to give him up for adoption.”

  “That–that’s still the plan.” Selene wished she could keep her tears from falling.

  “I’m sorry. The last thing I want is to upset you. Forgive me.” He patted her hand.

  She concentrated on the bed post, unwilling to look him in the eye. “You haven’t done anything wrong. I just wish things were different.”

  “I know. And things can be different, largely because I can see you really do love your baby.” He took in a breath. “I think I have reached a place in my life where I can offer the woman I have grown to love a good home. I’ll admit, I didn’t think I’d fall for a woman who already had a child on the way, but my feelings for you are undeniable.”

  Tears streamed down her cheeks. “No one has ever made me such an unselfish offer.”

  “Please don’t say anything now. I’ll return for my answer in a day or two. What I am proposing is a name for your baby, yes, but together we’ll have to overcome many obstacles. We might not be welcomed into every home in Maiden, but I have a feeling your aunt Louisa and Booth will stand behind us, and I know the people at my church will support us.”

  “Don’t forget Hestia.”

  “Of course she’d love you through everything if she were to stay here, but isn’t she going back to Haw River soon?”

  The thought left Selene feeling depressed. But after the baby arrived, she couldn’t depend on Hestia any longer. She would be in neither Maiden nor New York. “Yes, she’ll be leaving.”

  “If you decide to accept my proposal, we’ll invite her to visit often. I promise.” He squeezed her hand. “Good night, Selene. I’ll see you again soon.”

  “Okay.” She wished he didn’t have to go. But he did. She had much to contemplate. She knew she had made the right decision about the Lord. She could only hope her next decision would be the right one.

  Later, after Judith dropped her off at the house, Hestia carried in her packages with pride. Not only had she bought the hat, but she had splurged on a pair of satin shoes with rosettes attached. Maybe she shouldn’t have made such bold moves, but she had been impulsive. Impulse wasn’t something she allowed herself often. She’d blame it on the spring air.

  She went into her bedroom, where of course Selene waited. “Oh, there you are. I have news.” Parted lips and wide eyes showed more optimism than Hestia had seen from Selene since her arrival.

  “What is it?”

  “You’ll never guess.”

  She paused, wondering if she should verbalize her thought. “Um, you want to keep the baby.”

  “I do, but that’s not my news.” She looked down at the quilt covering her body. “Although this would give me a chance to keep the baby.”

  “Huh?”

  “Artie came to see me today.”

  “That’s nice. Did you discuss your latest Bible reading?”

  “Oh, you! Can’t you figure it out? Artie asked me to marry him.”

  Hestia gasped. “Marry him? Did you tell Aunt Louisa?”<
br />
  “Not yet. I wanted you to know first.”

  “What did you say?”

  “I haven’t said anything yet. His offer’s tempting. Very tempting.” Selene looked down at her midsection. “I have come to love Artie over these past months, but…”

  “You don’t want to stay in Maiden.”

  “That’s not it.”

  Hestia knew her face registered shock. “It isn’t?”

  “I can’t say I thought I’d settle here, but because of Artie, this town has much more to offer than I ever thought it could. And I want to keep the baby, Hestia. Is that so wrong?”

  Hestia considered how no one thought living with distant relatives would be ideal for the child. “No, it’s not. But what if the baby looks like Ned? Will you still love him?”

  Selene rubbed her abdomen. “Yes. Yes, I would. I forgave Ned long ago. But I hate to think of the sacrifice Artie would be making to marry me. Everyone will know the truth about the baby.”

  “All three of you would face some gossip, no doubt. But I also think people will have enough common sense not to blame the baby. And even though the baby would be getting a legitimate name belatedly, he’ll never remember anyone else as his father. Before you know it, the whole situation will be ancient history. You’ll seem like any other married couple.”

  “You really think so?”

  “It will take time, but I think so.” Hestia pondered the man who asked Selene to be his wife. “I admire Artie.”

  “I do, too. I think I could make him a good wife. I’d really try.”

  “I know you would. Anybody who can change as much as you have while you’ve been here can do most anything.”

  Selene’s sigh sounded her contentment, a peace that she had resolved her quandary.

  “Let’s call in Aunt Louisa. She needs to know that Artie proposed.”

  “No.” Selene shook her head. “I’m not ready to tell her yet.”

  Hestia understood that their aunt could be intimidating, so she didn’t press. Instead, she started unpacking her goods.

  “Did you have fun shopping with Judith?”

  “Yes. At first I thought you might resent me for getting out of the house, but I’d say your afternoon was much more exciting than mine.”