Tenderness

by Dorothy Garlock

  “I thought he was hanged for killing old Harper’s brother.”

  “You can bet yore boots there was a woman mixed up in it somewheres.”

  “Was you around then?”

  “Hell no. It was twenty years ago. The old timers is still talkin’ ’bout it.”

  “He ain’t comin’. It’s been more’n a hour. I’m callin’ it quits. I gotta work tomorrow.”

  “Guess he pulled a fast one,” the other man said. “Let’s roll up that wire and get the hell outta here.”

  “There’ll be other times,” Secory said. “Ya can bet yore life on it.”

  The next day Jesse hugged her happiness to her, having told no one but Pauline that she and Wade were in love and that they planned to marry. When she wasn’t busy with patients in the surgery, she was preparing the vials of smallpox vaccine to be used the next day. Just before noon Doctor Forbes was called away to tend a man who had been kicked and trampled by a mule. With fluttering concern over the doctor’s missing a meal, Louella hurriedly prepared him a light lunch to eat on the way to the farm south of town.

  Usually when the doctor was away, the conversation at the dinner table, with Mrs. Lindstrom presiding, was limited to “pass the butter,” bread, or whatever was being served. Today, however, Mrs. Lindstrom brought up the subject of Jesse and Wade Simmer.

  “Jesse, I feel it my duty to tell you that being seen on the arm of that man… Wade Simmer, will certainly harm your reputation in this town.”

  Jesse looked at her for a long moment. “Why do you feel that it’s your duty?”

  “Why, my dear, I’ve been training young women to meet their social obligations for years. I’m speaking now on behalf of your father. The dear man is so wrapped up in his medicine that he couldn’t possibly know what harm you are doing to yourself and to this family.”

  Susan’s eyes were as big as saucers, and Pauline was holding her breath as they waited for Jesse to explode. They were surprised when Jesse spoke calmly.

  “It’s very thoughtful of you, Louella, to be so concerned about my reputation.”

  “I was sure you’d understand. Todd, dear, you have gravy on your chin.” Louella blotted her own mouth with her napkin. “This family has a unique position in this town. The doctor is highly respected and his family should be beyond reproach.”

  “And in the short time you’ve been here, you consider yourself qualified to make decisions regarding whom we should and should not associate with?”

  “Well, yes. My experience at the girls’ school has given me an insight on character.”

  “Supplemented, of course, by the advice of Roberta Harper.”

  Rage was boiling up in Jesse and she made no attempt to allay it.

  “I bet you can hardly wait to discuss my latest indiscretion with Roberta and Edsel. I’m sure they know by now that Wade Simmer called on me.”

  “You can’t keep something like that quiet in this town,” Louella said with authority.

  “I was certainly not trying to keep it quiet.” Jesse’s voice shook with anger. “And for your information, Mrs. Lindstrom, I don’t give a tinker’s damn what the Harpers think or what anyone else in this town thinks, especially you. You are an employee here and that is all. In the future you had better remember that and keep your nose out of this family’s business.”

  With Jesse’s words, it was plain that open war had been declared between the two women.

  Louella’s white face turned a brick red. “I can see, Jesse, that your education was sadly neglected. Your lack of refinement appalls me. If you have no care for your reputation, think of your father.”

  “My education is far broader than yours, Mrs. Lindstrom. Beside my schooling and my nurse’s training, I learned from my father and my stepmother to have compassion for those less fortunate than I. And that all persons are indeed created equal and that each has the right to express himself. I learned to stand up for myself, make my own decisions, choose my own friends and honor the right of others to do the same.” Jesse scarcely paused to take a breath before continuing.

  “As far as my father is concerned, ma’am, I think you do enough thinking about him for both of us. Todd, will you please pass the pickled peaches.”

  Todd couldn’t keep the grin off his face, and Susan barely supressed a giggle.

  The meal was finished in total silence.

  Doctor Forbes returned from his call in the middle of the afternoon. Jesse waited for her father to say something about Wade calling on her; but the afternoon waned, suppertime came, and he had not mentioned it.

  Louella was charming during the evening meal. She asked about the patient the doctor had visited and seemed to be genuinely concerned. If the doctor noticed that the rest of the family and Pauline spoke only when spoken to. he didn’t acknowledge it. At the end of the meal, however, he stood and beckoned to his elder daughter.

  “Come to the surgery, Jesse. We have a few things to go over before tomorrow.”

  Jesse glanced at Mrs. Lindstrom. She had a satisfied smile on her face. The woman was sure that Doctor Forbes was going to give Jesse a good dressing down for her behavior. Jesse lifted her chin and followed her father.

  The doctor slumped tiredly in his chair and Jesse closed the door.

  “What the hell is going on between you and Mrs. Lindstrom?”

  “She criticized me at the dinner table in front of Todd, Susan and Pauline because I was seen walking with Wade Simmer. “Jesse crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the door.

  To her surprise her father laughed. “That got your temper up, did it?”

  “It certainly did. I reminded her that she was an employee in this house and nothing more.”

  Her father was thoughtful for a moment, then asked, “Do you like Simmer?”

  “I love him.”

  “Does he love you?”

  “He says he does.”

  “You plan to marry?”

  “Someday.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means I’ll not go off and leave Todd and Susan with Mrs. Lindstrom.”

  “Good grief. I thought you’d get over being so possessive about this house and your brother and sister.”

  “You see only the side she wants you to see, Papa. I relieve her to be a cold, calculating woman.”

  “I enjoy her company, Jesse. Give her some credit for being able to put up with the opposition she has faced here.” The doctor leaned back and hooked his thumbs in his vest pockets. “My fondest hope for both my girls has been that they meet strong men who will love them and whom they will love in return.”

  “You have no objection to Wade?”

  “Why should I? I’m not going to marry him.”

  “Oh… Papa—”

  “I’m glad for you, Jesse. Wade is a good man. Better than most. He’s had a $$$ time, but it’s only made him stronger. He’ll take good care of you.”

  “You don’t care that the town hates him and calls him hill trash? Mrs. Lindstrom thinks that my seeing him puts a blight on your reputation.”

  He chuckled. “I’ve had blights on my reputation before and survived.”

  “We’re going to the ball game together on Sunday. It’ll create quite a stir.”

  He chuckled again. “This blasted town needs shaking up.”

  “Oh, Papa. I love you.” Jesse crossed the room and put her arms around his neck. “How was I so lucky as to have a papa like you?”

  “You’ve not been a disappointment to me either, girl,” he said as if he had a frog in his throat, and patted her back.

  “That’s what Wade said the day we first met.”

  “He did, huh? Somehow I knew that you two would hitch together. I ran into him a couple years ago and liked him from the start. He’s a man who stands on his own two feet and depends on no one but himself. Just like you, daughter. For choosing him you’ll take some guff. You know that. But you’ll weather the storm.”

  “Thank
you, Papa.” She kissed his cheek.

  After Jesse left the surgery, Doctor Forbes rocked for a while in his rolling desk chair. Things were working out just as he had hoped. His Jesse had met a good man and fallen in love.

  On Saturday, Jesse, Pauline and the doctor were at the schoolhouse at seven o’clock preparing for the mass smallpox vaccinations.

  Jody had been vaccinated the evening before, after Susan had teased him for being a coward and a crybaby. She and Todd had been vaccinated several years earlier and proudly displayed the scars on their upper arms. By morning Jody was running a slight fever which was sure to rise during the day. Doctor Forbes had sent him back to Ike’s with orders for him to take it easy for the next two days.

  The number of people who came for vaccinations far exceeded what the doctor had expected. The townspeople came early. Wagons loaded with families from outside of town started coming in by mid-morning. Some came later after the farmers had done their day’s work. The doctor welcomed all in the same manner whether they could pay or not. Most everyone dropped a few cents into the donation box.

  By late afternoon Jesse was tired of hearing the sound of her own voice saying the same words over and over.

  “There will be a festered sore on the arm. Cover it loosely so that air can get to it. You may wish to have one of those little celluloid bubbles to put over it. The druggist has them for two cents each. There will be a fever for a few days. Be sure the patient gets plenty of rest and drinks plenty of water. Should the fever be very high and you cannot bring it down with a sponge bath or if the sore should become infected and you cannot bring the patient to the surgery, send word. The doctor or I will come out.”

  Mothers held screaming younger children. Boys and girls of school age tried to act nonchalant about the vaccination but cringed when the doctor approached them with the instrument he used to scrape their arms. Fathers shuffled their feet and talked crops with the other farmers as they waited for their families.

  Finally the day ended.

  Tomorrow, Jesse thought, as they trudged home after having inoculated more than three hundred people, she would see Wade. All day long, as busy as she was, eagerness for the sight of him had crept into her bones like an ache.

  Pauline’s thoughts were also on the morrow. She wondered, as she walked beside her friend, if Ethan would show up to go with them to the ball game after she had pointedly told him she did not want to go with him. Frustration throbbed in Pauline’s throat. That damned man had skin as tough as an elephant’s and didn’t know how to take no for an answer.

  Sitting on the porch of the rooming house, Ethan saw Jesse and Pauline come down the street at the end of the block, then turn to go toward the doctor’s house. It was a puzzle to him why he was so attracted to the blond beauty who was so cold to him. It was irritating too. He was here to do a job, but she was constantly in his thoughts. Inside that cold exterior he was certain there was a passionate woman; if only he could break down the barriers she put around herself, she would be warm and loving in his arms.

  After the women were out of sight, Ethan mused about the conversation he’d had that day with the postmaster. Ralph had assured him that Dick Efthim was a trustworthy man and that he and his wife Patricia ran the post office and store completely free of Harper control. The Emporium across the street from the store was Harper-owned and-operated.

  After introducing himself, Ethan had shown Dick his credentials and said that if he wanted verification he could talk to Ralph at the paper. After that they had talked quietly for several minutes.

  “I’ve never done anything like this.” Dick was a careful man. His being a competitor of the Harpers and the fact that the Postal Department had refused Harper’s request to have the post office moved from Efthim’s store to the one Harper owned had put Efthim in a precarious position.

  “It’s important, or I wouldn’t ask you to do it.”

  “What’s she done?”

  “I can’t tell you that. The less you know the better off you’ll be. If she gets a letter or if she mails one, lay it aside and get word to me. There’s a reward out for information about this woman. I’m not sure of the amount, but if she’s who we think she is, you’ll be in for a slice of the reward.”

  “I’m just worried I’ll lose my job.”

  “I can assure you that you won’t. I’ve been with the Bureau for nine years. They take care of their own.”

  “All right, Mr. Bredlow, I’ll do as you say. The woman seems nice enough, but kind of snooty for my taste. She comes in and talks to Patricia, but she buys very little. Asks a lot of questions as if she plans to stay in town for a long time.

  “Not a word to your wife.”

  “I won’t.” He shook his head vigorously. “I don’t want her involved in this. Not that she’d say anything, mind you. I just don’t want her to worry. She’s expecting.”

  Ethan thought over his conversation with the postmaster and felt he was on the right track. Louella Lindstrom would have connections, and they would try to get in touch with her, or her with them. He needed just one little thread to tie her in and his job would be done.

  His thoughts turned again to Pauline. He’d never had to fight so hard for a woman, and he relished the challenge. One day she would goad him too far, and he would kiss that defiant look off her face. He grinned. Damn the woman. Maybe it would happen tomorrow.

  CHAPTER

  * 17 *

  Supper was scarcely over when the knocker sounded on the front door. Louella answered and after a few minutes came into the dining room to announce that Jesse had a caller.

  Thinking that surely it was Wade, Jesse hurried to the parlor. Much to her disappointment and surprise, Edsel Harper rose from the settee to greet her.

  “Evening, Miss Jesse.” Edsel was dressed as he was each day when he went to the bank: dark serge suit, white shirt and high stiff collar. He looked hot and uncomfortable.

  “Evening, Edsel. Did you come to see my father?”

  “No. Oh, no, Miss Jesse. I’ve come to take you for a ride. After such an exhausting day, you are in need of some relaxation, I’m sure, and I have the means to provide it.”

  “I’m glad you’ve a buggy of your own, but I’m not really interested in a ride. Thank you anyway.”

  “Let me be the judge of what’s best for you. That’s a man’s role, you know. My buggy is waiting. Shall we go?” He reached to cup her elbow in his hand.

  Jesse stepped out of his reach. “I said no, Edsel, but thanks again for the kind thought.” That is if it was your thought, she wanted to add. “I do not want to go.”

  “Oh, but a ride would cool you off.”

  “A bath will do the same thing.”

  “Then will you sit on the porch with me for a while?”

  “No. I have things to do—”

  “Just for a while,” he coaxed. His eyes had a brightness to them as they roamed her face and lowered to her breasts. His red lips turned down in a pout. Jesse couldn’t help but compare his lips to Wade’s wide firm mouth.

  “I told you I have things to do,” she said in a firm, no-nonsense manner.

  Her words wiped the smile from Edsel’s face and a flush of red covered his cheeks. He straightened his shoulders and threw back his head just as she had seen his father do when he was talking to a farmer who was asking for a loan.

  “Miss Jesse, maybe you don’t realize it now, but your reputation has suffered a severe blow. I’m here to help you recover it. You have very few friends left in this town. If you’re seen riding or sitting on the front porch with me, the gossip will soon die down.”

  Anger caused Jesse’s cheeks to flush, but she spoke calmly.

  “I appreciate your willingness to sacrifice your reputation to help me, Edsel, but I can’t allow you to do it. Gossip is like the poisoned fangs of a rattler. It leaves its venom to work in the wound. It may be years before my name is even mentioned by the decent women of this town because I am considered… flaw
ed.” She finished dramatically but her sarcasm failed to register with Edsel.

  “I’m willing, Miss Jesse. I’ll do whatever it takes to see that you are vindicated. It wasn’t your fault. You were trying to be kind and gentle as you were raised to be. A refined young lady is no match for that hill trash. Why, there’s no telling what harm you could have suffered. Heaven forbid”—Edsel lifted his hands palms up—“in that dark ball park he could have ravished you.”

  Anger, with a full head of steam, boiled up in Jesse. With her hands on her hips and eyes blazing she cast aside all pretense of politeness to a guest in her home.

  “Don’t you dare call Wade Simmer hill trash, you… you mealy-mouthed worm!” The words exploded from her mouth in a high screech of indignation.

  Edsel’s face registered first shock and then disbelief. But it didn’t stop Jesse’s tirade.

  “You snooped and found out we went to the ball park. How dare you spy on me!” She stepped up to him and thumped his chest with her forefinger. “Wade is worth a hundred of you. What have you ever done for your fellow man? You think you’re better than anyone else because your name is Harper. You sit in your bank lording it over the poor souls who come in seeking a loan so they can keep body and soul together. Wade Simmer is the most decent man I’ve ever met. He cares about his neighbors. He cares about those less fortunate than he is, and he’s had to tolerate this town’s hostility because you Harpers keep stirring up things that happened years back.”

  Edsel backed toward the door and Jesse followed.

  “Now, just a minute, Miss Jesse, I didn’t spy—”

  “Don’t Miss Jesse me, you… you… sappy, stuck-up jackass.” Her voice was loud enough to be heard all over the house.

  “Now just a minute—”

  “Just a minute is all you’ve got to get out of this house. But before you go, I want you to know that as far as my reputation in this prissy, small-minded, Harper-controlled town is concerned, I don’t give a hoot and a holler about what anyone thinks, and that includes the almighty Harpers. I love Wade Simmer. Love him, love him, love him,” she repeated in a high screech. “I’m going to marry him. Now go home and tell your mamma and papa that the doctor’s daughter is going to hell in a hand basket. Then you can cry on your mamma’s shoulder.”