by Barbara Goss
“Thank you, Martin,” Eden replied before turning to Catherine. “What time was he supposed to be here?”
“Seven,” she said between her teeth.
“It’s only half-past,” Eden said. “I’m sure he’ll be along any minute.”
A buggy came barreling down the lane and Catherine sighed. “Finally,” she said. As the buggy drew closer, she threw her reticule down on one of the kitchen chairs. “It’s just Addie.”
Martin pushed his empty bowl toward Eden with a boyish look. “Can I have seconds?”
Eden smiled. “Of course.”
Addie walked into the kitchen. “Are you still here, Catherine?”
“Yes!” Catherine barked.
“Why don’t you have some soup while you wait?” she asked, patting Catherine’s shoulder. “It smells so good.”
“I think I will—I’m starving,” she said, removing her reticule from the chair and sitting beside Martin.
“This is better than you’d get at Rosie’s,” Martin said, winking at Catherine.
Despite her anger, Catherine smiled at Martin. “Then I’ll join you.”
Addie went to the stove and peeked into the pot. “I know we recently ate at Rosie’s but I think I have room for a small bowl, Eden.”
Eden was washing the dishes and Catherine was drying them when they heard a carriage pull up to the house. Addie peeked out through the window.
“Why, there’s Andrew now. It’s eight o’clock. Are you sure he said seven o’clock, Catherine?”
“I’m positive, and now I’m no longer hungry.” She looked at Eden. “Your soup was delicious, and I’m not sorry I missed Rosie’s at all. Thank you.”
Andrew appeared at the screen door, knocked, and walked in, smiling. “Hello, everyone.”
Catherine gave him a stern look and kept drying the dishes.
Eden was scrubbing the soup pot and didn’t turn around. She didn’t want to see Andrew all dressed up for his courting.
“Are you ready?” Andrew said to Catherine.
“Ready?” she asked. “I was ready an hour ago.”
“Why? I said eight o’clock, and here I am.”
“You said seven,” Catherine said with arms folded over her chest.
“No…Did I?”
“I believe Rosie’s closes at eight, so I think Catherine’s right,” Martin said.
“It does?” Andrew asked. “Well, dagnabbit—I’m so sorry.”
“I had a very delicious dinner right here,” Catherine said. “Eden makes a great pea soup.”
“It smells heavenly,” Andrew remarked. “Is there any left? I’m starving.”
Eden turned around slowly, dried her hands on her apron, and said, “There is a bit left. If it’s all right with Catherine, I’ll heat it up.”
“Oh, I don’t care one way or the other,” Catherine said. “In fact, I’m going up to my room and work on the Bible lesson Martin gave me. I do love his quizzes.” She threw the dishtowel at Andrew and left the room.
“Uh oh,” Martin said. “What’s going on, Andrew?”
“I really thought I was supposed to be here at eight.” He scratched his head. “I supposed I’m still weary from my long trip.”
Eden set the bowl of heated soup in front of him.
Andrew sat down and devoured the soup.
“I think you owe Catherine an apology,” Martin said.
“I agree. I’ll stop by after church tomorrow and apologize. Boy, she really looked upset,” he said between spoonfuls of soup. “This is delicious, Eden.” He winked at her.
She quickly turned back to the sink. He looked so handsome, and she dared not converse with him or it would be evident to everyone that she loved him. Had he missed his outing with Catherine on purpose? She knew his memory was sharper than what he'd made it seem. It was very puzzling.
“Martin,” Addie said, “I need you to unhitch the buggy for me, and I want to show you something. There’s something wrong with the right front wheel. Come on out, and I’ll show you. Bring the lantern.”
Addie and Martin left, and Eden felt Andrew standing closely behind her. She could smell his manly scent and feel his body heat.
All he said was, “Eden,” in her ear, and the hairs on the back of her neck tingled.
She spun around. “I don’t think you should be this close to me. What if Catherine comes in?”
“I wish she would,” he whispered.
Eden saw the sparkle of amusement in his eyes. He smiled at her. “I miss you,” he whispered.
“Well, Catherine missed you, too, for an hour. Did you do that on purpose?”
“Me?” he gave her a mischievous smile. He rubbed his knuckles on her cheek. “Just remember one thing,” he said in a hoarse whisper, “I miss you like mad.” He stared at her lips while he spoke, and then turned and walked outside. Moments later, she heard him rumbling down the lane to the main road.
Eden held her hand over her heart. He'd missed her! Dare she hope? What about poor Catherine?
The church was filled to capacity as usual. Eden was crushed on a bench with Addie on one side and Catherine on the other. Martin’s sermon had barely ended when Catherine sighed and said, “Wasn’t that the best sermon? He’s such a prodigious orator.”
Eden agreed. “I enjoyed it, as well. He’s surely a gifted speaker.”
Addie looked on proudly. “He always was a talker.”
As they left the church, Andrew called out to Catherine, but his eyes were on Eden, and she frowned at him, hoping he’d look at Catherine before someone noticed, and he finally did.
“I’d like to apologize for my lateness yesterday,” he said contritely. “I’d like to make it up to you. Would you like to go for a buggy ride?”
“I suppose. I’ve nothing else on my schedule,” Catherine said with dignity. “And I accept your apology.”
“Great. Why don’t you come with me right now? I’ve packed a picnic lunch.”
“That sounds enjoyable,” Catherine answered. “All right.”
Eden quickly turned her back as Martin helped her into the Jordans' buggy.
“Say, I have a great idea!” Andrew said, loudly. “Why don’t we all go? I have plenty of food.”
Martin looked at Eden and raised his eyebrows as if waiting to see what she’d say. The fact is, she didn’t know what to say. She certainly didn’t want to go and watch Andrew fawning over Catherine, and she didn’t want to show her feelings, so she waited for Martin to refuse first, and then she would, also.
“I think that’s a wonderful idea,” Addie said. “We’ll go on a family picnic.” Addie turned to Catherine. “Unless you two would rather be alone.”
Catherine gave Andrew a guarded look. “Of course not. Join us,” she said with little enthusiasm.
“Why don’t you and Andrew follow our buggy,” Addie said. “I take it we’re going to the green area by the river?” she asked Andrew.
“Exactly where I’d planned,” Andrew said.
Eden had no choice—she had to accompany them.
Addie helped Andrew spread the large blanket out and empty the basket. “My, Andrew, who packed all this food?”
“My housekeeper,” he said.
Eden looked at the amount of food Addie was removing from the basket and knew he’d planned to invite everyone all along. When Andrew noticed Eden observing the food, he said, “My housekeeper overdoes everything.”
They sat down on the blanket to eat, Addie in the middle, in charge of the food, and Catherine and Andrew on her right, and Eden and Martin on her left.
Martin was nibbling on a sweet pickle when Eden asked, “What is that, Martin?”
“It’s a pickle. You’ve never had one?” he asked.
“I’ve never even seen one before,” she said.
“Here—have a bite,” Martin said, offering her the other end of his pickle. Eden backed away a bit and Martin laughed as he tried to force it into her mouth. At first she was going to rej
ect it, but its sweet aroma persuaded her to open her mouth and take a bite.
“Hmm, that’s good!” she exclaimed. “I like it.”
She glanced at Andrew who was frowning, while Catherine looked indignant at the casual fun she and Martin were having. Addie smiled.
Martin took another pickle and was poised to feed it to her when Andrew spoke up. “I think she can eat by herself, Martin.”
Eden took the pickle from Martin and nibbled on it, smiling at Martin.
“Don’t they have pickles where you come from?” Andrew asked.
“I can honestly say I’ve never seen one before.”
“Where are you from originally?” Catherine asked.
“Defiance, Ohio,” Eden said. “We lived out in the country. We had a large garden but we didn’t grow pickles.”
Catherine laughed. “You don’t grow pickles, Eden. They’re made from cucumbers.”
Eden blushed in embarrassment. “Oh. We had cucumbers in our garden, but no one ever turned them into pickles.”
“They’re canned in a vinegar-based sauce and after a few months, they turn into pickles. There are dill pickles, too, the same thing but without the added sugar,” Catherine explained.
“Thank you for explaining, Catherine. I feel very naïve,” Eden said.
“Nonsense,” Martin said. “At the last church picnic, someone made a dish of pickled artichoke hearts. I’d never heard of an artichoke before. While Mrs. Harding was explaining to me what they were, a little boy was listening, and with a straight face, he asked, “Did you have to kill the artichoke first? I think he thought it was some kind of animal.”
They all laughed. Eden felt better having the attention drawn away from her. She gave Martin a thankful smile.
Addie sighed. “You youngsters go for a walk while I clean up this mess.”
“Oh, I’ll do it. You go for a walk, Addie,” Eden offered.
“No, this is your day off, Eden. Now, off with the others.”
Andrew took Catherine’s hand and Martin guided Eden by the elbow toward the river. Eden sighed. Things were all mixed up!
Chapter 15
Andrew and Catherine walked to the left and Martin led Eden off to the right. As soon as they were out of the view of the others, Martin pulled Eden aside and led her to a large rock upon which they sat.
“Can we talk, Eden?”
“Certainly,” she said, but it scared her a bit because his face looked worried.
“What’s going on between you and Andrew?”
“What do you mean?”
“You get off the same train, pretend to be friends, but suddenly Andrew's treating Catherine badly and he can’t keep his eyes off you. He failed the pickle test as well,” Martin said.
“The pickle test?”
“Did you see how angry he was when I fed you the pickle?” Martin asked. “He’s in love with you, and I think you love him, too, so what does he plan to do with poor Catherine?”
Eden clamped her lips together and simply shook her head.
“He sent for a mail order bride, but now, he suddenly doesn’t want one after all?” Martin seemed a bit angry.
“Andrew and I disliked each other when we first met, but then we sort of grew on each other,” Eden said.
“So, you didn’t just meet on the train?”
Eden shook her head. “No. He bought my train fare to Kinsey to help me get out of town when someone was chasing me with bad intentions. Out of the kindness of his heart, he gave me, a stranger, a ticket. Then, when we got to Kinsey, I had to confess I had no money to repay him.” Eden paused to take a deep breath. “He was furious with me. How was I to know it was the last of his money?
“We rode all the way to Great Bend together, hardly speaking. It took a whole week. He slept on one side of the fire and I on the other. During a rainstorm, we had to share a bedroll, and we accidently kissed—it was my fault, because I'd initiated it while I was still partially asleep. We decided to pretend it never happened but neither of us really forgot it.”
“And that’s it?” Martin asked.
“No,” Eden said slowly. “In Great Bend, while awaiting the money, we sold the horse, got a hotel room, and had to share a bed.”
Martin sighed and rolled his eyes.
“Nothing happened…well, just another kiss—which was my fault again,” she confessed. “I think that’s when we both knew we felt something deeper for each other.”
“I get it now,” Martin said. “So, he’s acting like a donkey so Catherine won’t want him, right?”
Eden nodded. “I think so.”
“And I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if my mother somehow played a part in all this.”
“I don’t know,” Eden said. “I just know that when he marries Catherine, I’ll have to leave Hays. I can’t stay here and watch them together.”
Martin started to answer but was interrupted by Andrew, who came charging around the large rock to where they were sitting.
“What’s going on?” he said, gazing intently at them both.
“Calm down, Andrew,” Martin said. “We’re just talking.”
“When I didn’t see you two—”
“Where’s Catherine?” Martin asked.
“She’s collecting rocks that she thinks might be fossils or something.” Andrew shrugged. “I’m not into rocks. I tried to skip water with one of them and she was downright furious with me.”
“I’ll go and help her then. I love that kind of thing,” Martin said. “Maybe you could keep Eden company while I help Catherine.”
“I sure will,” Andrew said, winking at Eden.
Martin shook his head and walked away.
“What’s eating him?” Andrew asked, taking a seat on the rock beside Eden.
“He knows what you’re doing to Catherine and he isn’t happy about it,” she said.
Andrew rested his elbows on his knees and said, “I can’t marry that woman. What else am I supposed to do? She isn’t my type.”
Eden patted Andrew’s hand. “I know, but couldn’t you tell from her letters that you wouldn’t suit?”
“I can tell now, but I couldn’t then,” he said. “She’d write about the latest classic she’d read, but I didn’t pay much attention. She mentioned going to an opera—I knew I’d never go to one, but I didn’t realize she was so…so independent and bossy.”
“You knew she was a teacher and well-educated,” Eden reminded him.
“Yes, and she even corrects my English! I feel like a schoolboy in her presence.”
“What will you do?”
“I guess I’ll just keep being myself and she’ll have to see that we aren’t a good match.”
“What will you do if she does break off the relationship?”
“That’s easy: I’m going to marry you, Eden.” He lifted her chin and kissed her lips until she responded. “I’m praying so hard, Eden.” He kissed her again. “I don’t want to hurt her feelings, but I just don’t feel a thing for her. It’s you, Eden.” He kissed her again, more passionately this time.
“Someone might see us,” Eden said, pulling away.
“Do you feel the same as I do?” Andrew asked with a worried look.
Eden smiled. “I do, but I won’t hurt Catherine in order to be with you. It’s not right, Andrew. You have to marry her since you proposed, and I plan to leave Hays.”
Martin walked over to where Catherine was digging in the sand with one hand, her other already full of stones.
“Are they fossils?” Martin asked.
“I’m not sure, but I think two of them might be. I’d have to polish them and study them more,” she said, standing.
“What’s going on with you and Andrew?” Martin said.
“Oh, Martin, it’s just not going to work. I’ve tried, but we have absolutely nothing in common, and he’s so…so simple.”
“Simple?”
“Yes. His interests are so rudimentary: he likes horses and his job, perio
d. He isn’t into reading, poetry, opera, science, or anything,” she said.
Martin smiled at her. “Come walk with me,” he said.
Catherine looked up at him and then down at her two fists, full of stones.
“You can put them in my pocket, if you'd like,” Martin said.
“But they’re dirty.”
He took out his handkerchief. “Drop them in here.” She did, and he folded the handkerchief and put them into his pocket.
“Thank you. I can’t wait to clean them and study them.”
“How are you coming with your Bible studies?”
“I finished all the questions, and I know I got them all right. I cried when I read how the Romans put the crown of thorns on Jesus’ head and made him carry that heavy cross. I understand the meaning, too,” she said. “I just can’t get enough of learning the Bible; it’s pulling me to it like a magnet.”
“Is there any part you don’t understand?”
“Yes. The part about being born again. That’s impossible.”
Martin felt drawn to her each time she expressed excitement for the Bible as it was the most important thing in his life. They had so much in common, and he felt the need to defend her from Andrew’s boorishness. Could he be attracted to her himself?
“Come over here,” he said. “Let’s sit on this log and discuss it.”
When the two couples returned with different partners, Addie smiled. “If we go home now, we won’t miss our Sunday night Bible Study, Martin.”
“It’ll be special tonight, Mother,” Martin said. “Catherine just said the Sinner's Prayer with me.”
Addie went to Catherine and hugged her. “I’m so glad.”
Eden congratulated her also.
Andrew heard and thought it was nice Catherine had found God, at least now they had one thing in common. “Congratulations, Catherine,” he said.
“I might as well ride with Martin since I’ll have to gather up my notes for the Bible study. Do you mind, Andrew?”
“Not at all. It’s fine.” Andrew wished he could make some excuse to take Eden with him, but he knew he couldn’t—at least not yet. Only a miracle would put her back in his arms.