She looked over to the table by the door, seeing the four framed portraits of their fathers, still lined up in order of Iva Mae’s to Luella’s. Iva Mae remembered when they unpacked their carpetbags in this very room thirteen years ago and reverently set the portraits on the table. Their mother only talked about the good in the men, keeping positive memories alive for her daughters.
Iva Mae remembered Avalee and Luella’s fathers, but her own father died in the War before she was born. The photo representing Maridell’s father was a stranger, rather than the man who tormented her mother. But the smiling portrait, whoever he was, gave Maridell a father figure to look up to.
Frank’s picture showed a smiling man with lighter color hair. He looked to have his teeth and a full head of hair without a receding hairline. His clothes looked nice and well cared for.
“But by his name, he’s a Czech from Bohemia. Can he speak English?” Avalee asked.
“The Czechs settled here over a decade ago. Of course, he can. Look how nicely his letter is written in English,” Maridell declared.
“Someone could have written it for him,” Avalee loved arguing with Maridell and they could keep going all afternoon.
“So should I write him back?” Iva Mae asked. And if they agreed, she’d go somewhere away from the trio to write her letter. The dining room? The office? Maybe bundle up and walk over to the schoolhouse.
“Yes,” three sisters answered together.
“And invite him to visit,” Maridell added.
Maybe Iva Mae would do that…and corner him in the schoolhouse to see if any sparks ignited between their kisses. But first, she needed to do that with Gabe, so she’d have someone to compare Frank’s kisses with.
Could she be that bold? Yes, she had better be, because she was picking the man she’d spend the rest of her life with. And Luella already testified kissing was very important.
Chapter 6
Gabe paused a second from his work when the front door bell rang. It probably wasn’t Iva Mae since she’d be teaching at this hour, but he couldn’t help thinking about the last time she came with letters for him to read.
Conversation between the man and his father, Reuben, told Gabe who the visitor was, so Gabe put down his carving tool and walked up to the front counter.
“Hello, Gabriel. I have a project for you.”
“Hello, Grandpa Isaac. What do you want me to do?” Few people called him by his full name, but it was all right when Isaac Connely did so. Isaac wasn’t his actual grandparent, nor anyone’s actually, but kids in town felt honored to call him, and his wife, Cate, their grandparents. Even though Gabe was fourteen when he moved to Clear Creek, Isaac eased his uprooted transition from New York to Kansas by being an elder Gabe could count on.
“The triplets have outgrown their chaps, so I’d like you to make new ones.”
“Already?” Gabe’s father asked. “Thought we made them pairs last year.”
“The boys are not fourteen yet, but going on six feet tall. They will pass up Marcus before their next growth spurt.” Isaac shook his head, but smiled at the same time.
Cate’s daughter, Sarah, had married Marcus Brenner, Isaac’s nephew, back in ‘73 and adopted eight orphan children, including newborn triplets.
“Want these chaps plain, or fringed? Tooled with their names on them?” Gabe asked, thinking that this would be a good project for Tate to work on too.
“These should last them a while, so you can make them a little fancier, plus you better put their names, Matthew, Mark, and Micah, on them so they will take care of them better.”
“So they can’t ruin their chaps and swap them with their brothers’?” Gabe’s father asked, knowing there probably was a story behind Isaac’s comment.
“Exactly. I know Moses—or maybe it was Marty—caught one of his brother’s wearing his chaps one day and there was a fist fight over that incident.”
“Having five boys so close in age had to be a challenge for Marcus and Sarah.”
“But Sarah has loved every minute of being a mother to the orphans. If they don’t start producing grandbabies as soon as they are able, Sarah’s liable to find more orphans to take into their home,” Isaac chuckled, and Gabe knew the older couple would help raise them too like they did the eight Brenner children.
“Have you heard from Maggie or Molly lately?” Gabe asked. The oldest Brenner girls were in Boston at a finishing school.
“Oh yes, we get letters regularly. Both have beaus, and I bet they marry and stay back East. Cate and I plan to take Sarah and Maisie out for a visit in May. Maisie misses her older sisters, especially being home with her five brothers.”
Gabe inwardly cringed when Isaac said back East, thinking of his mother in New York. The woman had never visited him and Mary since leaving them here in Kansas, nor had they been back East to see her. Gabe hated to admit it, but his mother’s actions affected him to this day.
“I’m sure Maisie, and Sarah, will enjoy their visit to Boston then.”
Gabe grabbed the order book off the counter, and pulled a pencil from the broken-handled ceramic cup that held several pencils handy for their use.
“Okay, let me write this up. Besides their names, what else do you want on the chaps?”
The three of them talked about several options before Isaac decided what he wanted and Gabe recorded it.
“When do you want these by?” Gabe inquired as he poised to write the date on the order.
“Whenever you can get them done. No special occasion. Boys don’t get excited over Valentine’s gifts like the girls do.”
“Need something for the girls?” Gabe finished Iva Mae’s tooled leather bookmark and thought it turned out well. He could make more bookmarks if Isaac wanted some.
“I already ordered three dozen fancy lace handkerchiefs to hand out to my ‘special Valentine’ ladies. Besides Maisie and Faye’s daughter, Violet, I have honorary granddaughters in the county and town I’ll give a Valentine card and handkerchief to.”
“You better give Iva Mae something this year too,” his father suggested.
“Why?” Gabe fidgeted as his father stared at him.
“If you want to marry her, you need to start giving her presents now.”
“You’re interested in marrying Iva Mae, Gabriel? I heard Iva Mae wrote to a matrimonial agency and has heard back from several prospective grooms.”
“Uh, two men have written to her,” Gabe mumbled but didn’t look at Isaac when he said it.
“You and Iva Mae could have a wonderful life together, Gabriel. She’s from a good, loving family. Great with children and would be a whiz at managing your household,” Isaac praised Iva Mae. “Why the hesitation, Gabriel?”
“Not sure. I like my life as it is. Living with my family, my job, friends...” Gabe shrugged his shoulders.
“If you need money for a house, Gabriel, I’d be glad to help you out.”
“He has money, but he won’t touch it,” his father revealed to Isaac. “When he turned eighteen he inherited money from his step-father.”
Gabe wished his father wouldn’t have revealed that to Isaac, but the man wouldn’t gossip about it to others.
“Consider your inheritance a blessing, Gabriel, and use it for your future. Will it cover a house and furnishings?”
“Yes.” Between the original twenty-five hundred he’d received from Reginald Ringwald, he’d saved nearly every paycheck he’d earned in the saddle shop. Gabe wore clothes out until Darcie tossed them in the ragbag and ate nearly every meal at home.
“Then Reuben, I suggest you start charging your son rent or throw him out.” Gabe’s eyes shot up to meet the look between the two men.
“And Gabriel, start courting Iva Mae in earnest so she’ll forget about the other men. You need a good wife by your side, and I can’t think of a better match for you.”
“I know, she’d say yes in a heartbeat, but—”
“Don’t hesitate and put it off like I did wi
th Cate. She married Moses Wilerson because I didn’t declare my intentions to her. Moses’ early death from cancer gave me another chance with Cate, but I had almost thirty lonely years before it happened. Don’t put it off, Son. You’ll regret it now and for years to come.”
Gabe knew Isaac was giving him sound advice but he worried about marriage anyway. What if it didn’t work out, just as his parents’ marriage had failed? It would tear him up to have children go through what he and Mary had to because of their mother.
“Son? What’s the real reason you’re hesitating?” His father’s stare meant he had an inkling of his worry.
“When Iva Mae uses her ‘school voice’ I...just cringe.”
His father didn’t reply but Isaac suddenly laughed aloud. “Oh, Gabriel, your wife will use so many ‘voices’ with you and your children.” Isaac stopped talking to wipe his eyes. “You should have heard Sarah last Sunday morning when Micah dropped a baby mouse on Maisie’s head.” Isaac starting laughing again, smiling and shaking his head at the memory.
“Sarah could have rung Micah’s neck if she could have caught him. She’d just finished fixing Maisie’s hair for church and Maisie tore all the hairpins out getting the tiny crawling creature out of her hair.”
Gabe looked at his father, who was trying not to smile or laugh, because it reminded them both of a few stunts Tate and Amelia pulled on each other growing up.
“And then Sarah was yelling at Maisie because she’d wrestled a giggling Micah down to the floor and stuffed the poor mouse down his shirt.”
Gabe chuckled because he could see Maisie doing that. She didn’t take any guff from her brothers.
“So my point is, you’ll have quiet talks, laughs and screaming matches in your house. You’ll still love each other and work out any problems that arise. Isn’t it that way with you and Darcie, Reuben? It is with me and Cate.” Isaac asked, now with a more serious tone.
“Yes, with Darcie and me, but you’re thinking of Mattie and your step-father, aren’t you, Gabe?”
His father hit it square on the nail head now that he said it. Everyone cringed when Mattie Ringwald raised her voice, because she had a mean and vindictive temper, which lasted for days.
“Iva Mae is not—and never will be—anything like your mother. Yes, Iva Mae will sometimes make her point with a raised voice, but it will never be malicious. And I’ll bet nine out of ten times her point of view may be right anyway. Men can miss an obvious problem but women can spot it immediately.” His father made good points.
“Like last month when Kaitlyn Reagan shot the man kidnapping Iris Reagan?” Isaac snickered. Iris’ former fiancé was pulling her out of the marshal’s office, at gunpoint, with the marshal, Fergus, and Pastor standing there watching. Kaitlyn stepped up and shot the man in the upper arm, without even taking her peashooter out of her reticule. She didn’t take the time to pull the gun out to save the purse, for fear the second might mean life and death for Iris.
Gabe couldn’t help smiling. “Yeah, I could see Iva Mae doing that same thing. She’s got a bunch of rowdy boys at the school who keep her on her toes.”
“So my point is, married life isn’t always easy, but it’s worth it—with the right person. I might be muttering ‘for better, for worse’ ten times under my breath when Cate takes her time doing something I don’t like anyway, but I’m still so happy we exchanged wedding vows. She makes my life complete.”
Gabe took a deep breath, realizing he’d miss so much if he didn’t have Iva Mae in his life.
“Got anything to add, Reuben? I should leave so you can get back to work.” Isaac turned to ask his father.
“Iva Mae may come on a little strong at times, but it will balance you as a couple, because you’re a little on the shy side. But that’s all right. Marriage is about give and take, forever a seesaw of who needs to take the lead or who needs to step back at the moment. And who’s in charge of a task can vary several times a day depending on the situation.” His father laid his hand on his shoulder.
“Darcie and I would be proud to have Iva Mae be our daughter-in-law.” He slapped his hand down twice. “And we’d be happy if you moved out of the house too.”
Chapter 7
Iva Mae heard the front door of the schoolhouse open and close just as she threw the eraser at the chalkboard. It had better not be Mr. Krehbiel because Iva Mae was itching for a fight. She took a long breath, stood up straight, and dropped her shoulders before turning to face her after school visitor.
Gabe gingerly walked up the aisle between the wooden desks. He must have seen her rear back and heave the eraser as hard as she could throw it.
“Uh, bad day in school?” Gabe had his hat off but left his coat on and buttoned. Probably ready to flee back outside if erasers started flying in his direction.
She went to the front of the room and picked up the two erasers she’d flung earlier off the floor and slapped them together, causing white chalk dust to coat the front of her dark green calico dress.
“Oh, just the usual mayhem I see during a full moon.” Iva Mae tossed the erasers on her desk, sat her fists on her hips, and started to walk around the room.
“Jennie Barclay vomited her breakfast—beside the trash can, not in it—and down the front of her dress.” Iva Mae pointed to the trashcan, then made a hand sweep to indicate the front of the girl’s dress.
“Then Miles Dunn farted so loud, long, and smelly I thought we’d all be gassed. Turned out he was having diarrhea in his pants.” She pointed to the chair, which had been covered with the foul mess, besides the poor boy’s pants.
“So that was the first graders’ problems this morning. Now for the second and third graders, I could see Lila and Lonnie Miller scratching their heads like crazy. Checking their heads revealed the siblings’ hair teeming with lice.”
Gabe stepped back down the aisle, as if he was scared of what went on in the room today, as he should be.
“Fifth grader Jimmy Krehbiel dipped—and painted—six inches on both of fourth grader, Nina Hamman’s pigtails.”
“Oh, all boys do that.”
“Six inches. It was so saturated her mother will have to cut off her hair six inches.”
“That is a lot of hair for a girl to lose. What was his punishment? I’m guessing it wasn’t cleaning the chalkboard after school.”
Iva Mae gave Gabe a tight grin. “I told Nina and the girls they could plan their revenge during recess, and they came up with a doozy.”
Right now, it felt good to see Gabe squirm. It had been one of those days when the male species had vexed her.
“What did they do to the poor boy?”
“Tied him in his chair with a jump rope. Carefully covered his shirt with some washrags I use here. Then poured ink down the middle of his head and used a paint brush to be sure the ink saturated his scalp and coated his blonde hair for a two-inch stripe from forehead to neck.”
Gabe gasped in horror.
“You’ll be fired by the school board for letting that happen!”
“Nope. I notified both Mrs. Krehbiel and Mrs. Hamman and they came here to supervise the punishment. It seems Mrs. Krehbiel had a bad week of Jimmy’s antics at home, and she’s the one that suggested Nina paint a full stripe instead of just a spot on the back of the head like the girls had planned.”
“Do I dare ask how the sixth, seventh and eighth graders behaved today?”
“No. But after I exploded at the students this afternoon, it should be a peaceful day tomorrow.”
Iva Mae turned to walk back to her desk and lean against it. “I don’t know which grade to blame for the bar of soap left on my desk during our noon recess outside. Seems someone thinks I stink.”
She picked up the bar of soap thinking about throwing it in the trash, but it was a new bar of Castile soap, so she’d keep it.
Iva Mae looked up to see Gabe staring at the soap and looking guilty. Oh, oh. Was this Gabe’s attempt to give her a gift?
The air w
ent out of her temper and she felt terrible hurting Gabe.
“I’m sorry for my remark. Was this a gift from you?” Iva Mae picked up the soap and held it in front of her as she walked toward Gabe.
“Yeah. Sorry I didn’t pick out a scented bar, but I was embarrassed that Mrs. Taylor was watching me. I just grabbed a bar, paid for it and brought it over here while you all were outside for recess.”
“Well, now that I know it’s a gift, rather than a hint that I smell, it made my day much better.”
“Good enough that I get a hug and a kiss?” Ah. Iva Mae blushed at his words. Shy and timid Gabe was trying to court her—after getting advice from his little brother, no doubt.
Iva Mae slowly walked up to stand in front of Gabe. “Let’s see… You put your arms around my waist and I’ll wrap mine around your neck.” She waited as Gabe tentatively did so, then leaned against his chest so he could feel hers.
“Then you tilt your head down one way while I tilt my head up to meet your lips.” Iva Mae parted her lips but watched through hooded eyes, hoping that Gabe wouldn’t chicken out this time.
His first kiss was soft and short, but his next was firm and longer, assuring he liked it as much as she did.
“Gosh, I liked that. Made me feel tingly inside just as Tate described it.”
Iva Mae couldn’t help the giggle that erupted out of her mouth. “Luella said the same thing. I think we need to catch up with our little siblings on the number of kisses they’ve shared. Don’t you?”
“Boy, I’m game,” Gabe agreed as he lowered his head to meet Iva Mae’s lips again.
Maybe Iva Mae’s New Year’s resolution to marry this year would be fulfilled.
Gabe's Pledge (Grooms With Honor Book 3) Page 5