“Thank you, Thad.” Julie kissed him on the cheek.
“Tarnation!” Roy said with disgust. “He’ll be gettin’ a swelled head sure as shootin’, with all this kissin’ and hand-shakin’.”
Jill got up from the table and went to the tall boy. “Thad, can I kiss you, too?”
He grinned. “Why, shore, Miss Jill. I ain’t gone plumb loony yet.”
Later, when the undertaker arrived, Julie and Evan stood on the back porch and watched the activity going on in the lit barn.
“What do you think, honey? Are you satisfied with its being handled this way?”
“I’m glad I don’t have to wonder anymore. I’m glad he’ll never see Joy again. Lordy, when I started out on this day, I never dreamed it would end like this.”
“If I hadn’t been sure he was going to die, I’d have been tempted to kill him for what he did to you.”
“It was a terrible experience, but I’ve got a sweet little girl out of it.”
“Correction! We’ve got a sweet little girl.”
Julie turned in his arms and looked up at him. “Evan Johnson, may I kiss you?”
“Why, shore, Miss Jones. I ain’t gone plumb loony yet.”
Epilogue
December 15, 1922
WELL, MRS. JOHNSON, WHAT DO YOU THINK?”
“About what?” Julie stretched, then snuggled against him. She hadn’t been prepared for the warmth or the strength of his hard, muscular body, the long legs against hers or the enormous arms under and around her.
“About our getting married today. About being my wife. About what we just did.”
“Oh, that.” She pressed her nose against his neck. “I’ve not decided about that. Maybe if we did it again, I’d be able to decide.”
“Ah, sweetheart, you are a treasure.” He kissed her tenderly, nudging her lips, stroking them. “I thought you were afraid of me. I could feel your trembling and the frightened pounding of your heart.”
“I wasn’t afraid of you, my wonderful man,” she whispered. “I was excited.”
The loud clanging of a bell and shouts of male voices broke the silence.
“I thought they had gone,” Evan groaned.
“Evan!” The shout reached into the upstairs bedroom. “We’ve got an old girlfriend of yours down here.”
“Yeah, Evan, she wants to see you!” Bang! Bang!
“I hope they don’t shoot someone,” Evan whispered.
“Give us a dollar, Evan, and we’ll take her away.”
“A dollar! I’m not taking that witch away for a dollar!”
“Throw out five silver dollars, Evan, and we’ll go home.”
The bells clanged, then more gunshots. Evan swore.
“I’m going to smash your brothers’ heads tomorrow for this and for putting that fresh cowpie outside the door for me to step in.”
“Joe said This and That Humphrey and Roy Taylor put it there.”
“And you believe him? Bull-foot! Jethro’s in on it, too.”
“You can pay him back when he and Eudora are shivareed.”
“If those lunkheads don’t leave soon, I’m going to start boiling oil to throw on them. I want to love my wife in peace and quiet,” Evan complained, his lips nuzzling her breast.
“They’ll get tired pretty soon and go away.” Julie consoled him with small, quick kisses. “Isn’t it wonderful that Papa and Eudora are getting married? She says they should wait at least a month. Her mother died only last week.”
“Yes, wonderful… .” His voice drifted. Evan had difficulty grasping the fact that this woman was his wife. Wife. She was his, to love and to protect forever or until death parted them.
“Evan, Papa knew that we would take Joy, but he was a little hurt that Jason wanted to come live with us.”
“Don’t worry about it, honey. Jason will have two homes. When the newness wears off, he may want to go back.”
“I thought of that. Jill has grown up since what happened to her in the woods. She’s tickled that Papa is going to marry Eudora. Don’t you think he seems years younger? He smiles all the time.”
“That’s nice,” Evan murmured, his lips nipping at the smooth line of her jaw. Beneath her nightdress, his hand found her buttocks and pressed her tightly to the part of him that strained to go inside her again.
“Evan, did I tell you that I just love the new stove? The oven will hold a big, big turkey if you can find us one. Christmas Day I’ll fix a dinner and we can have the whole family over here. That is, if it’s all right with you.”
“It’s all right with me, love. Humm … you taste good, smell good.” He pushed back her hair so that he could nibble at her earlobe and caress the soft flesh in the curve of her neck.
“Why do you suppose Mr. Wood sold the bank and moved away? Zelda wasn’t happy about where they were going.”
Evan grunted something about not caring where they went and continued to caress her.
“Did you know Shirley Poole’s brother came to help her with the store? It was nice of Chief Appleby not to want her humiliated because of what her husband had done.”
“Oh, yes, he’s a great guy….”
Julie wrapped her arms around Evan’s neck and rubbed her cheek against his. “I’m so glad I’ve got you, Evan. I love you to distraction.”
“It’s about time you paid some attention to me.” He placed a hard kiss on her lips.
“Did I thank you for the beautiful kitchen cabinet? It’s got a tin flour bin and a place to roll out dough. I can put all the everyday eating utensils in one of the drawers. The beautiful silverware you got from your grandmother will go in the buffet along with the lovely dishes. Do you think we should use them for the Christmas dinner? They’ll be pretty on the crocheted table cloth Mama—”
“Julie Janet Jones Johnson,” Evan said in an exasperated tone, “if you don’t run down pretty soon, I’m going to gag you.”
eBook Info
Title:The Edge of Town
Creator:Dorothy Garlock
Publisher:A Time Warner Company
Date:2001-09-12
Rights:Copyright © 2001 by Dorothy Garlock
Identifier:0-7595-9259-4
Language:English
The Edge of Town Page 43