by Faye Sonja
“Except Robert,” Eve said.
“And Eddie,” Florence added.
“Not Eddie,” Eve and Clara said in unison.
They all laughed and the night only brought on more laughter and joking from there on. Time just flew by, but when the sun began to set, Florence and Eve went back to the reason that had brought them over; a letter for Joe. Clara had no idea what she would write him, but before they left, she promised that she would write something and have it done by the end of the week. Clara went to bed wondering if that promise had been a good idea.
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5
Chapter FIVE
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“ Joe wasn’t waiting for a good woman. He
wasn’t waiting for anyone, but Clara Cain. ”
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Joe watched Clara walk down the aisle of the theatre and smiled. She had a bag in her hand. Joe and some other men were on the stage holding up one of the backdrops for some of the artists to make a few final changes. The backdrop was from the first scene; painted and dressed up to look like a city street. It was a beautiful backdrop, but nothing could turn his eyes from the gorgeous girl that was walking towards him. Clara was wearing a black dress. It had a lace upper part and went down her arms to make sleeves. It matched the perfect jet black of her hair and the lashes that surrounded her striking eyes. She caught his eyes and a smile parted her pale lips. Her beauty outshined the red chairs and bronze walls of the theatre.
The theatre wasn’t a really grand place, but it was big enough to host most of Haines’ city hall meetings. The room sat about six hundred people, which meant the play would have to do encores in order for most of the people in town, and its outside visitors, to get a chance to see it. Right now there were people shouting to one another from the balcony. Some of the actors were pacing through the pews; going over their lines, one after the other. Joe stood still until he got the okay to move. The backdrop was finally tied up and in place at the rafters, and would slide in and out when necessary. No one was a professional in theatre, but the town came together to create quality entertainment.
He met Clara right before she touched the stage. He hadn’t seen her in a few days and had been worried about her, but seeing her now, he felt excited. He had so much he wanted to share with her. So much had happened in the last few days.
Clara held the bag out for him. “Lily wanted me to make sure you had your lunch.”
Joe took the bag. “C.C. Reed wrote me.”
Clara smiled. “That’s nice.”
Joe frowned. “Don’t you want to know what she said?”
Clara’s eyes went wide. “Oh, she’s a she, is she?”
Joe nodded and then leaned over to whisper to Clara. “But I’m only allowed to tell you; no one else.”
Clara narrowed her eyes. “Really? Why do you think that is?”
Joe shrugged. “Maybe she thinks people won’t read her books if they knew she was a woman.”
Clara nodded. “Sounds like a good reason to me. I say you should definitely keep her secret.”
Joe looked off. He smiled. “Definitely.”
Clara gave a single nod. “Good.”
Joe smiled. “I’m going to write her again.”
Clara frowned. “Why?”
Joe shrugged. “I don’t know. I just want to know more about her, I guess.” The letter C.C. Reed had written back hadn’t said much, but it had been enough to peak Joe’s curiosity. He couldn’t believe that Jack Adams had been created in the mind of a women. Though a hero, Jack lived in a very lonely world. “She interests me.”
Clara’s frown grew. “She does?”
Joe’s smile got even wider. He swept a finger over Clara’s nose. “What’s that face for?”
Clara’s eyes went wide. “What face?”
Joe narrowed his eyes. “I don’t know. A face of disapproval?”
Clara crossed her arms. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Joe Dawson. You can do whatever you want.”
Joe looked into his bag. “I will.” He looked at Clara. “There’s enough here for two. Did you eat?”
Clara shook her head. “No.”
Joe nodded. “Come on.” He led her to the front of the hall and into the spacious lobby area. There were others milling about; eating and carrying on. The first rehearsal was scheduled for this afternoon, and the nervousness was thick in the air. Joe leaned against a wall on the side of the room and slid down to the floor; keeping his knees up. Clara joined him. He pulled out sandwiches. Clara took one. Joe was biting into his own when he finally said, “What do you think she’s like?”
Clara held the sandwich by her mouth. “Who?”
“C.C. Reed.” Joe looked straight ahead, watching the people in their various groups. He turned towards Clara, realizing she hadn’t answered him. “Clara, did you hear me?”
Clara was sitting straight-legged. The sandwich sat on her lap; barely touched. She was staring at him now. Joe waved a hand in her face. He frowned. “Clara?” Clara’s eyes fluttered. “Yeah?”
“What do you think C.C. Reed is like?”
Clara shrugged. “Old and wrinkly.”
Joe laughed. “Yeah, me too.”
Clara’s eyes went wide. “You do?”
Joe nodded. “I mean, only someone with a little bit of age and wisdom could write books like this.”
Clara frowned. “So, nobody who was twenty or thirty could pull this off?”
Joe shook his head. “Definitely not.”
Clara shook her head. “First, you say she can’t be a woman. Now you say that if she is a woman, she must be old.”
Joe looked at her, resting his arms on the tops of his knees. “You said she was old first.”
Clara opened her mouth and then closed it. She opened it again. “But I believe that there is an equally likely chance that she is a young woman as well.”
Joe sighed. “Okay, Clara,” he mocked.
Clara narrowed her eyes. “I think she’s young.”
Joe shrugged. “I’ll ask her.”
Clara went back to her sandwich. “You do that.”
“I will.” Joe sighed. “I have to get back in there.”
“How’s it coming along?”
“Fine, but I’ll be happy once Jimmy is well.”
Clara wiped her hands and mouth with the napkin that Joe offered. “You don’t like helping with the play?”
Joe wiped his own hands. “It’s not my favorite thing.”
Clara frowned. “Then why did you say you’d do it?”
He shrugged. “Because I could.”
Clara shook her head. “You let people use you too much, Joe.”
Joe met Clara’s eyes. “You think so?”
Clara nodded. “You should start saying no more often.”
Joe shook his head. “When someone needs help, if you can say ‘yes’, then the answer should be ‘yes’.”
Clara smiled, sadly. “You have such a good heart. My father would have scammed you one hundred times over, Joe Dawson.”
Joe sighed. “Or, his daughter could have shot me.”
Clara rolled her eyes upward. She laughed. “Will you ever let that go?”
Joe smiled. “Nope.” He stood up and then helped Clara up. They were still holding hands when Amy came into the room. She took one look at them and paused. She then started over to them. Joe tried to drop his hands, but Clara held on to them tightly. Joe looked at Clara and wondered what she was up to, but couldn’t tell from her face. Clara’s face looked completely neutral; almost pleasant, though without a smile.
Amy looked at their hands and then at Joe. Her face turned red. “Joe, I hope you aren’t planning on leaving just yet. We still need you.”
Joe tried once again to take his hands back, but Clara held on to them. “No, I’m not going anywhere.”
Amy nodded and then loo
ked at their held hands. She visibly swallowed and then fled the room. Once she was gone, Clara dropped Joe’s hands. Joe frowned. “Why’d you do that?”
Her striking pair of turquoise eyes looked up at him. She shrugged. “I don’t know, because I could?”
Joe crossed his arms. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Clara shrugged again; but kept her eyes on Joe. “It means that I wanted to drive Amy mad, so I did. I always want to upset her, but I usually don’t. However, today I decided to feed on my impulse to say, ‘yes’ to my inner voice.” She smiled a very cynical smile.
Joe narrowed his eyes. “Well, your sudden impulses to upset people for no good reason should seriously be ignored.”
“Why?”
Joe’s eyes roamed over Clara’s delicate face. They touched her eyes, travelled down the bridge of her dainty nose, and stopped at her lips. Clara’s lips parted. Her eyes widened. Joe took a step towards her. Clara scrambled backwards until she hit the wall. Joe took another step, bringing himself closer, looming over her. Clara’s chest began to lift and fall quickly. Her hands went to the wall. “Joe?” she whispered. She looked around the room before looking back at him. Joe leaned his face towards Clara and then stopped a few inches from her face. Clara paused. Joe smiled. “You see? Good people ignore bad impulses.”
Clara shook her head; her cheeks red. “No, good people are never tempted to do such things.”
Joe widened his eyes. “You think good people don’t want to do bad things?”
Clara nodded. Joe shook his head. “Even Jesus was tempted, Clara.”
Clara frowned. “You watch your mouth, Joe Dawson.” She pointed a finger at his chest. “Jesus was a good person. The devil failed to tempt him.”
“Yes, but the devil did tempt him. Could you really tempt someone with things that they don’t already desire? Jesus was hungry. Did he not want bread? Jesus had great power. Was it not a temptation then to take control of the Earth or prove Himself Lord by jumping from a cliff?”
Clara looked away. “I don’t understand.”
“Everyone is tempted, Clara, but Jesus set an example of how to overcome those temptations. Being tempted is natural, giving into them is what we’re taught to avoid.” Joe waited for Clara to meet his eyes again before he continued. “Everyone has a choice. You can do bad or you can do good. I do good.” Joe stepped back. “It stops me from doing bad.”
Clara’s face was red. “I don’t know who you are, Joe Dawson.”
Joe frowned. “Yes, you do. You always have, Clara.”
Clara shook her head. “No. My friend Joe would never try to kiss me.”
Joe lifted a brow. “I didn’t try to kiss you, Clara. I could have kissed you if I wanted to. What I was doing was making a point.”
“And what point was that?”
“Don’t play with me again.”
Clara frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean.”
Clara crossed her arms. “No, I don’t.”
Joe crossed his own. “Oh no? Holding my hand in front of Amy? What did you want her to believe about us?”
Clara looked away. Joe shook his head. “It wasn’t nice to do that to Amy, and it wasn’t nice for you to do that to me, either.”
Clara turned back towards him. “What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean.”
Clara tilted her head, giving him a hard look. “If I did, I wouldn’t ask.”
Joe narrowed his eyes. He sighed. “You know how I feel about you, Clara.”
They were quiet for awhile. Clara sighed. “Joe, let’s not do this again.”
Joe nodded. “Okay, that’s fair, so long as you never do what you just did to Amy again.”
Clara narrowed her eyes. “Do you like her?”
“What if I do like her?”
Clara scoffed. “Well, what if I just like to drive her crazy?”
“Well, the next time you use me to do it, I’ll kiss you.”
Clara’s eyes widened. Joe struggled to keep his face neutral. “Would kissing me pain you that much?”
Clara started for the door. “I’m not doing this today, Joe.” She walked around Joe and the impulse to stop her almost made him move, but he stopped himself for many reasons: the first one being that Clara had had an awful past. He wouldn’t touch her like that. He’d never touch her like that, but again, the temptation was there. The second reason was more selfish. He wanted her to go; he needed her to leave. Ten years and she skirted away from his every touch. They’d finally gotten somewhere a few years back, when Clara had started to voluntarily touch him; a hand hold here, a touch of a finger there. They’d been simply gestures, but for a woman like Clara, they’d been a lot. She didn’t touch people; ever. She’d made an exception for Eve and Florence, but even that had taken years. Joe thought he’d made progress with her too, but Clara’s anger just proved that he hadn’t. She didn’t want his touch and had told him that the thought of it made her sick. Well, fine. If she didn’t want it, then he wouldn’t give it. Joe shook his head. He loved Clara; probably always would, but they’d just be friends and it was time for Joe to move on, finally.
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6
Chapter SIX
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“ Joe wasn’t waiting for a good woman. He
wasn’t waiting for anyone, but Clara Cain. ”
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Clara walked quickly down the street to Haines Press. She saw nothing and talked to no one on her way. Once inside, she paused and turned, looking at her book that was still on display. Tears threatened to break from their place in her eyes. A hand touched her shoulder and she jumped. It was Eve. Eve held up her hands. “What are you doing here, Clara? What’s wrong?” Clara shook her head, but didn’t back away when Eve touched her again. Eve started towards the back of the building. “Let’s go to my office.” They’d just closed the door behind them when the first tear slid down Clara’s cheek. She hadn’t cried in years and here she was, crying for the second time in less than a week. She wiped at the tear, wondering why her life was what it was.
Florence came through the door, closing it behind her. She went to Clara. “I saw you come in. Are you alright?”
Eve helped Clara into a chair that sat in front of her desk. The office was small, and outside of the plaques that hung from the walls, it was dull, even more so to Clara’s eyes. The room needed more color.
Florence came to kneel in front of Clara’s chair. “What happened?”
Eve knelt on the other side, but didn’t speak. Eve wasn’t a woman of many words unless she was fighting a man. Clara choked on a laugh. Eve barely did that anymore; fight men. Robert made Eve happy to the point that Eve was barely Eve anymore. “Joe tried to kiss me,” Clara said.
Florence and Eve shared a look and then turned back to her. Florence grabbed Clara’s hand. “So, why are you crying?”
Clara frowned. “I just told you.”
Eve looked down and then back up again. “Clara, please. Tell us the whole story.” And so she did, not leaving anything out. The two women before her knew all of her terrible secrets; what was one more? When she’d finished, Florence and Eve were both sitting with their legs crossed on the floor. Clara felt awkward looking down on them so she pushed the chair back and joined them there. Robert walked in. Eve said, “Leave.” He didn’t ask questions. He just smiled, spun on his heels and left.
The women smiled. Clara said, “I like Robert.”
Florence laughed. “Yeah, he makes it easy.” She frowned.
Clara looked at her. “Thinking about Ben?”
Florence narrowed her eyes. Her lavender eye color was vivid today with her purple flapper dress. “We’ll talk about your life before we talk about mine. Joe is right. You can’t use him like that; especially when he’s so in love with you.”
Clara sh
ook her head. “He’s not in love with me.”
Eve sighed. “You’re going to ruin this, aren’t you?”
“Ruin what?”
Eve threw her hands up. “You and Joe. You’re going to miss your chance. You’re going to let your father ruin the rest of your life from over a thousand miles away.”
Clara stood. “I didn’t come here for this.”
Eve and Florence stood. It was Florence that hugged her. Florence had always been touchy. “Oh, Clara. Don’t be upset. We love you.”
Clara let Florence hug her, but was glad when the girl stepped back. “I can’t be with Joe.”
“Then let him go,” Eve said. She was giving Clara a very serious look.
Clara frowned. “Aren’t you supposed to be on my side? I don’t know if I can even be around Joe after today.”
Eve placed a hand on Clara’s shoulder. “I’ll always be on your side, but now that I have Robert, I know what it’s like to love someone. I want you to have that, but I also want Joe to have it too. He’s been waiting for you for ten years now. He shouldn’t have to wait any longer.” Eve dropped her hand. “Let him date Amy.”
Clara felt a pain start in her chest. She didn’t want to let Joe go. There was that part of her that had always known how Joe felt about her, but there was another part of her that was afraid he’d change once he got his hands on her heart. Today, Clara had seen that other side of him; the side of him that was all male, and all scary. She didn’t know what to do about that. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”
“Fine,” Florence said. “Are you going to write him back?”
“Huh?” Clara asked. She wrapped her arms around herself.
“Is C.C. Reed going to write him back?”
Clara blinked a few times. “I don’t know.”
Eve scoffed. “Well, we can’t leave the man thinking that only an old woman could write those mysteries.” She crossed her arms; heat showing on her tanned face. “His thinking is all kinds of wrong.”
Florence crossed her arms as well; as if it were possible, her eyes glowed an even darker color. “Yeah. We women can do whatever we want and we are just as smart as any man out there.”