Edna Petunia

by Kirsten Osbourne

  Edna Petunia

  Book Nine in Suitors of Seattle

  By Kirsten Osbourne

  Copyright 2015 Kirsten Osbourne

  Kindle Edition, License Notes

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  After her father died in the 1880s, Edna Petunia Blue spent many years alone. Although she'd given up on ever finding love due to her advanced years, she was grateful to have become an honorary member of the Sullivan family. When the youngest of the Sullivan girls, Iris, moved to Texas to start her medical practice, Edna Petunia went with her and did it happily.

  Cletus Sanders was the man who lived in the woods outside of Nowhere, Texas. Everyone just assumed he'd always lived there alone and always would. When Cletus spotted Edna Petunia shortly after she moved to town, he followed her around relentlessly. After a rocky start, he convinced her she should let him court her. Could a woman in her seventies give up the freedom she'd become accustomed to and marry? Could an old man give up his tent in the woods to marry the woman he loved? Could Edna Petunia finally find her happily ever after?

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  Prologue

  Seattle, 1867

  Edna Blue stood over the grave of her fiancé, tears rolling down her face. It was her fault that he was dead. She knew it with everything inside her. If she hadn't suggested they anticipate their wedding vows, he would still be alive, telling her he loved her. Why, they would have been married in just a few days. Her wedding dress was still laid lovingly over a chair in her bedroom. She hadn't had the heart to put it away. She'd never have another chance to use it. She was too old to marry.

  Harry had been everything she'd ever wanted in a man, but who could have guessed he had a heart condition? She knelt beside the grave, thankful her father had allowed her to stay on alone after the others had left. She was glad he'd gone home without her, giving her a few minutes to mourn in peace.

  "Oh, Harry. I never should have suggested we meet in the woods that day. I didn't think I could wait another minute to have you touch my petunia, and then—well, you know as well as I do what happened then. I don't care if it means growing old alone. I know that I'll be a spinster for many more years. God provided me with a wonderful man, and I ruined things. I won't go against His will in this again."

  As Edna walked away from the grave, she made a vow that she would not marry again unless she was an old, shriveled woman. Harry had been the man she needed. How could another ever take his place?

  Her heart grieved for not only the man she'd lost, but also for the children she would never bear. For the life that she would have had that was now buried in the ground. She knew that after that moment, she would never be the same woman again.

  Chapter One

  Thirty-nine years later

  Edna Petunia peered over her shoulder and spotted the old man again. She didn't know who he was, but he'd been following her since she'd come to town the week before. He had a long white beard and wore old faded brown pants with suspenders and a dirty white shirt. Why he was following her all over Nowhere, Texas, she didn't know, but she needed to find out.

  She sped up her walk, hurrying around the corner of the mercantile, and flattening herself against it. Her breath was erratic. At her age, she shouldn't be half-running around town, but she also shouldn't have a man following her everywhere in Nowhere. She'd set him on his ear, and then she could get back to walking where she needed to go like an old woman should.

  He turned the corner, not noticing her, but his eyes were scanning the street. Why, he was looking for her! What is that old coot up to? "Looking for someone?" she asked. Edna had never been one to hide from her troubles. No, she took the bull by the horns.

  The man all but jumped out of his skin and headed out of town. Edna Petunia ran after him. He wasn't going to get away before she found out what his problem was and why in tarnation he was following her. He was obviously a lunatic.

  It wasn't long before she realized her mistake. She'd slowed down more than she would have liked in the last couple of years, and she couldn't keep running. "Slow down, old man!" she insisted.

  He glanced over his shoulder, slowing down a smidge but not stopping. He seemed to want her to follow him.

  Edna followed him until they were out of town, and then she tried one more time. "Turn around and talk to me like a man."

  He stopped and turned around. "Why are you following me?" he asked her, his blue eyes sparkling with humor.

  Edna blinked a few times, wondering if the man had lost his ever-loving mind. "Why am I following you? Because I want to know why every time I turn around, you're behind me. You've been following me, you crazy old codger!"

  He stood and stared at her for a moment. "No I haven't," he finally said, but his voice was weak, as if he knew he didn't have a leg to stand on.

  "You have been! If you're looking to rob me, I have no money. I like and work with the new doctor in town, but we're not related." Edna Petunia crossed her arms under her chest, her peppermint sticks poking out of her cleavage as a result.

  The old man caught sight of the peppermint sticks and gaped. "Are those peppermint sticks?"

  Edna Petunia did something then she hadn't done in forty years. She blushed. "Stop looking at my peppermint sticks, you old coot!" How dare he?

  "I—"

  "What is your problem? Have you never seen a woman before?" Edna turned around and bent over, lifting her skirt up in the process. "There, now you've seen my petunia. What do you think of that?" The action was a bit crazed, even for her, but he was making her crazy.

  The man just gaped at her, a look of astonishment entering the bluest eyes she'd ever seen.

  "What's your name, old man? I'm Edna Petunia Blue." Edna felt contrite over the way she'd shocked the poor man. Sometimes things that seemed like a good idea at the time came back to bite her in the—well, in a portion of her anatomy she'd just shown him, since she'd stopped wearing drawers twenty years before when she realized she liked to feel freer under her dresses.

  The man swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing. "Cletus. Cletus Sanders, Mrs. Blue, ma'am."

  "Oh it's not 'Mrs.' I'm just plain old Miss Edna Petunia Blue from Seattle."

  Cletus looked as if he wasn't certain exactly what to say. Finally he found his voice. "It's nice to meet you Miss Blue from Seattle."

  "Call me Edna Petunia. Everyone else does. I'll call you Cletus." Edna Petunia wasn't about to stand on propriety. She didn't get to be a woman in her seventies by following all the rules. She dug into her pocket for her cough tonic and took a swig, offering the flask to Cletus. "Thirsty?"

  A slow grin transformed Cletus's face. He took the flask and downed a huge gulp. "Is that how you stay so beautiful? By drinking whiskey?"

  Edna gaped at him. "Beautiful? I'm a wrinkled old woman, you old coot! You need to get your eyes checked. I work for a wonderful young doctor. She could help you out." She'd never seen Iris cure blindness, but she had absolute faith the young lady could do just about anything.

  Cletus shook his head. "My eyes are fine. I just think you're the most beautiful woman I've ever met. Wanna get hitched?"

&n
bsp; Edna glanced over her shoulder when she heard a wagon coming close. Dr. Iris Sullivan, her employer, was seated beside a cowboy she'd never seen before. Edna was glad Iris hadn't come by a few minutes earlier. She would definitely not have approved of Edna showing her private parts to this stranger. "That's my boss."

  "Edna Petunia! We have a patient with a broken arm!"

  They'd only had a couple of patients since they'd arrived in Nowhere, and both had been expectant mothers. Edna ran for the wagon as fast as she could. "You may have seen my petunia, but you're not going to see my peppermint sticks," she called back over her shoulder to Cletus.

  She climbed into the wagon beside Iris, her mind going a mile a minute. Cletus Sanders had been following her around town. Now why would he do that? And how could she get him to keep doing it?

  *****

  After Iris set the little girl's broken arm, the girl's father, Mr. Harvey, gave Iris and Edna Petunia a ride back to town. Edna had a lovely time with the girls' younger sisters while Iris worked on her arm. She had taught the girls to make coronets out of flowers in the field. It was nice to be in Texas. Early March was much too soon for flowers in Seattle, but they were blooming everywhere in Texas.

  Edna didn't listen to much that was being said on the way back, because she had a feeling the two young people wanted their privacy. Mr. Harvey was a widower, and he would be a perfect husband for Iris. She'd let them both know she felt that way on the way out to the Harvey ranch, but now she was lost in her own thoughts.

  Why, she had a man who was interested in courting her for the first time in ages. How could she concentrate on anything else?

  She spotted Cletus lurking beside the mercantile, which was just a few shops down from the doctor's office as they climbed from the wagon. She gave him a little wave before following Iris into the office. Had he really asked her to marry him or had she imagined it?

  Edna took her turn cooking supper that evening, and just as she was putting it on the table, she spotted Cletus out the window. Was he standing there waiting for her to come out? Or did he have nowhere to go? She had no idea, but she'd go find out as soon as supper was done. She wasn't one to shirk chores, but she'd cooked supper. Iris could deal with the dishes.

  As soon as supper was over Edna Petunia jumped to her feet. "I think I'll go for a walk. It's too nice a night to stay in." She hurried out the door before Iris had a chance to respond.

  Rushing across the street, she found him lurking beside the livery. "Why don't you go home?" she asked, looking at him curiously.

  "I don't want to be anywhere that you aren't, Edna Petunia. That's a beautiful name, by the way." He leaned close, and she could smell the whiskey on his breath. She wondered if it was from earlier, or if he'd had another nip since. "I liked seeing your petunia earlier," he whispered against her ear.

  Edna grinned up at him. "You did?" No one had seen her petunia since poor Harry died. She closed her eyes and refused to think about him. She'd been faithful to him for almost forty years. Surely he wouldn't need her to keep that going. "Let's go for a walk, old man."

  Cletus held his arm out to her, and she took it. He was strong under the flannel shirt he wore. It was nice touching a man again, even if he was an old coot. "So you just up and left Seattle with the little lady doctor?"

  "I did. I worked for her older sister for a while, but she was just keeping me on to be nice. I like to feel needed." Edna walked with him on the road she'd followed him down earlier, toward the edge of town. "I retired from hat making about seven years ago. I've been with the Sullivan family ever since. I even added a middle name so I'd fit in with them better."

  "Petunia, you mean?" Cletus hung on her every word. There was something very special about the lady on his arm, and he wasn't about to let her get away.

  She nodded. "I was just plain old Edna Blue before that, but I think Edna Petunia sounds a lot more refined, don't you?"

  Cletus nodded, willing to agree to about anything to get her to agree to marry him, or even just let him court her. He'd take that as well. "I like Edna Petunia."

  She smiled, and her whole face lit up. It was nearing dark, but she didn't seem to care. He knew he could take care of her anyway. He'd lived in this part of Texas his whole life, and he knew how to take care of himself. Why, his pa even fought for Texas's independence from Mexico. He'd keep her safe.

  When they reached the edge of town, where there were no prying eyes, she turned to him. "Why did you ask me to get hitched earlier?" Edna Petunia wasn't one to mince words. When she wanted to know something, she asked. There was no point beating around the bush.

  Cletus reached out and stroked her withered cheek. "Why? Because the moment I saw you, I knew you were the woman I'd been waiting my whole life for."

  Edna's eyes met his in the fading light. "I've been in love before," she whispered.

  "That's all right just so long as you're not in love now."

  Edna shrugged. "A small part of me will always love Harry. We were supposed to get married, but he died a week before the wedding." She didn't mention that he'd died atop her in the woods. Cletus really didn't need to know that the day she met him.

  "I'm really sorry to hear that, Edna Petunia. How long ago did that happen?" He hoped it had been long enough that she didn't feel like she still needed to be in mourning. Why, he wanted to marry her immediately. That night if he could talk her into it, but if she insisted, they could wait until the following day.

  "It's been about forty years," she said softly. "I still miss him every day."

  "I won't try to take his place," Cletus told her, his hand moving down to her shoulder. "I would like the chance to prove to you that love can come twice in the same lifetime."

  Edna Petunia nodded slowly. "I would like that," she told him. "I'd like that a lot."

  Cletus let out a loud whoop that sent some birds ascending from the trees near them. "Let's go find the preacher then!"

  "The preacher? No, you old goat. I'm going to give you a chance to court me. We're not getting married tonight. Are you crazy?" She felt the coronet of flowers she still wore in her hair slip down further and completely obscure one eye. She pushed it back up.

  He shrugged. "Maybe a little. Folks around town sure say I am. Is that a problem?"

  Edna shook her head. "Not at all. It's been said about me too." She reached up and carefully removed her dentures from her mouth, slipping them into the pocket of her sweater. She reached up and cupped his cheek in her hand, feeling his whiskers prickling her palm. "Kiss me, you old coot."

  Cletus grinned, his hand reaching up to remove his false teeth as well. He didn't want anything getting in the way of kissing this woman. Not even teeth. "C'mere then." He slid his hands around her waist, pulling her close to him. His lips descended on hers.

  When they finally came up for air a few minutes later, they were both grinning. "You're a good kisser for a crazy old man," she told him.

  "Well, I think you're a fine kisser for a whiskey toting old woman," he retorted. "Wanna get hitched now?"

  She shook her head. "I gotta get to know you first. You're not the first to ask, you know." And he wasn't. There'd even been a couple of men after Harry, but her fiancé had still been so fresh in her mind that it hadn't seemed right. Now, though? This with Cletus felt right.

  Cletus shrugged, putting his teeth back in. "That's fine. I'll just keep asking until you say yes, just to shut me up."

  Edna smiled up at him, wondering what the old man saw in her. She wasn't going to think about it too much, though, because she wanted to be happy. She slipped her dentures back into her mouth. "It's late, and I've got to work in the morning. We need to head back to town."

  Cletus slipped his arm around her waist and walked toward town with her. "That's fine. I can wait until tomorrow to see your petunia again."

  Edna Petunia blushed. "You're not seeing my peppermint sticks until our wedding night."

  "Tomorrow night then?" He grinned as they wal
ked. "I like the flowers in your hair, Edna Petunia. Will you wear flowers in your hair when we get married?"

  "Only if you can find me some petunias. In the Sullivan family, it's a tradition to wear the flower you're named after in your hair."

  "But you're not a Sullivan," he said, a bit confused.

  She shrugged. "Might as well be. I'm so close to the Sullivans that if someone wrote a book about all the sisters, they'd have to write one for me as well."

  "If someone writes your book, it better be a love story, and I'd better be the hero."

  Edna shook her head. She could easily fall in love with the old codger, but she wasn't going to rush anything. Her last name wasn't Sullivan after all.

  Chapter Two

  On Sunday morning, Iris tried to talk Edna Petunia into leaving her flask at home during church, but Edna was having no part of it. She couldn't figure out why Iris was so dead set against her drinking anyway. She was seventy-some-odd years old. (She didn't admit her real age even to herself.) If she was going to die from liquor, wouldn't it have happened long before? Why, she was healthy as a horse, and she was certain the reason was the regular nips she took from her flask.

  She wasn't about to go to church without her flask. She was meeting up with Cletus afterward, and they were going for a walk in the woods and having a picnic. She couldn't wait to spend more time alone with the man. He made her heart beat faster, though she didn't know why. The old goat wasn't exactly handsome, but to her? He was almost as good as Prince Charming.

  Iris held her flask during church, and after the service she immediately wandered off. Edna Petunia waited for a few minutes, but she didn't want to be late to meet Cletus. He'd told her he didn't go to church often, because people tended to complain about him. He told her he worshipped God in his own way. Every time he looked up at the sky or saw one of God's creatures, he praised him. How could God care if he spent time in a building with people who didn't appreciate him?