“Come on, sugarfoot. I’m not a boogyman.” Ethan winked at the doctor as he put his hand in the small of Pauline’s back and gave her a gentle push.
“I’m not so sure—and stop calling me that stupid name.”
“You don’t like sugarfoot? All right, I’ll shorten it to sugar. How’s that?”
The screen door slammed behind them. It was dark and cool on the porch. The sweet smell of honeysuckle was in the air. Pauline hurried to the swing and sat down in the middle.
“Move over, sugar, and make room for me.”
“You can sit in a chair or on the railing.”
“I’ll not do either. I going to sit in the swing with you. If you don’t move over, I’ll sit on your lap.”
“Oh, all right! You’re an insensitive boor or you’d not go where you’re not wanted.”
“I never go where I’m not wanted, sugar. I know you were hoping and praying that I would come to take you to the ball game.”
“Ha!”
“You’ve said that three times tonight. What does it mean?”
“It means I don’t believe you.”
“Well, never mind that now. I’m going to kiss you, sugar.”
“No you’re not!”
“Yes, I am.”
“I’ll bite you.”
“I’ll risk it.”
Ethan pulled her up close and held her chin in a firm grip. With a wide-eyed gaze she watched as his face came closer to hers. He tilted her face up to his and fastened his lips on hers. At first her mouth was as tight as a miser’s purse. Ethan’s lips were firm; and when she didn’t resist, they gentled and he placed small kisses on her mouth, her chin, her cheeks. When he returned to her mouth it had softened. He no longer held her chin in his hand and she didn’t move.
His chest was firm against her breasts, his hip and thigh pressed tightly to hers. His hands began to caress her through her clothes in desperate seeking. Pauline shuddered uncontrollably at the wonderful sensation that passed through her. A hot, delicious feeling coursed though her and a pleasure-pain curled in her stomach.
When her arms slid around his neck, a low growling sound came from his throat, and then his warm, wet lips claimed hers again. Pauline felt a sweet singing in her blood. He lifted his head and looked down at her. Her lids fluttered open. He was looking at her with so much love and passion that she was speechless for a moment. When she spoke it was low and breathless.
“You do strange things to… me.”
“Honey, you are as sweet as honey—” Ethan murmured as he placed soft kisses on her face. “Please… don’t fight me. I hung around because I knew what was beneath all that bluster—the sweetest, dearest girl in the world.”
Tears came to Pauline’s eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Ethan was surprised to feel the wetness.
“Honey, you’re crying!”
“I… am not!”
“I’ll never hurt you. Don’t you know that?”
“You’ll honey up to me. Make me like you and you’ll… leave.”
“I won’t leave. I’m going to marry you.”
“I’ll not marry a smart-mouthed lecher who probably has women in every town.” Her delivery was not convincing and Ethan smiled into her hair.
“Honey, whatever gave you that idea?” If this moment hadn’t been so important to him, Ethan would have laughed.
“ ’Cause you’re so… smooth. You’ve got a quick answer for everything.”
“You bothered and confused me so, sweetheart. I didn’t know of any way to talk to you. And besides, you gave me a cold shoulder every time I came near you.”
“I didn’t want to… like you.”
“But you do, don’t you?”
“I… guess so.”
“After we’re married, I’d like to start a newspaper in a town about this size.”
“What do you know about the newspaper business? Setting type and writing stories is only a part of it.” Her head was resting on his shoulder and his arms were around her. Her palm rested at the base of his throat. Pauline had never felt so loved, so protected.
“I could learn everything I need to know. Sweetheart, why have you been giving me such a bad time? You knocked me right out of my socks that first day when I met you and Jesse on the sidewalk. You looked so beautiful and so… sad. Did you love someone who left you?”
“No. I’ve never been in love.”
“You are now. Tell me you are.”
“I don’t know. I… like you a lot.”
“I love you, Miss Pauline.” As Ethan said the words he tightened his arm around her and placed a ge$$$ kiss on her lips. “I love you so much. I know I sound $$$ of myself, but I’ve been scared to death that you’d never love me back.”
“Please, Ethan. If you don’t mean what you say… don’t say it. Don’t break my heart. I don’t think I could bear it.”
“Honey, I won’t do that. I just want the name of the bastard who hurt you and caused you to close your heart against me.”
“I don’t know who he is, but we’re going to find out.” Pauline hid her face in his neck. “He… he stripped me… naked and looked at me. I felt like a piece of meat lying there. Like I was… nothing but a curiosity.” She began to tremble violently.
“Godamighty! The Looker got to you? Oh, precious girl. Nothing like that will ever happen to you again. I swear it!” Ethan held her tightly until she calmed.
“No one knows about it except Jesse and the doctor. It happened just before school was out. I was going to leave town, but Wade asked me to tutor Jody. The only way I could do it was on the sly. I’d not get a recommendation from the school board if they knew I was teaching a darkie. This town and everyone in it, with the exception of Doctor Forbes’ family, are run by the Harper’s, and they hate darkies.”
“If you don’t like this town, we won’t stay here when we’re married. We’ll go wherever you want to go, just so we stay together.”
To Pauline it was a wondrous dream come true to have someone of her own. To Ethan it was like a new beginning. He knew deep in his heart that he would love this spunky, daring, mouthy woman for the rest of his life and not a day of it would be dull.
CHAPTER
* 19 *
On the following Saturday Jesse, Doctor Forbes and Susan went to Frony’s store and vaccinated the few people who came in. By mid-morning they had treated fewer than two dozen children. As noon approached, Wade arrived in a wagon that held Mrs. Merfeld and her children. He helped Mrs. Merfeld down and she waddled into the store followed by Wade and her brood.
Jesse’s eyes caught his the instant he filled the doorway. She smiled and blushed with pleasure at the sight of him. Her face glowed. Wade had a moment when his mouth went dry, a moment when he knew that this woman was dearer to him than life. He couldn’t stop looking at her. She was starchy clean in her blue dress covered with the white nurse’s apron. The little round cap was perched atop her head. Lord, she was lovely. And she loved him!
Jesse talked to the children while she worked, soothing their fears. Once she looked at Wade and mouthed, “Don’t leave.”
He grinned at her and nodded. He had waited all week for this day, knowing she would be here at the store and that he would have a chance to be alone with her.
After the children were vaccinated, Doctor Forbes took Mrs. Merfeld to the back room to talk about her pregnancy. It was only then that Jesse had a chance to speak to Wade alone. She went to him, took his hand and pulled him outside. They stood beside his wagon.
“I’m so glad to see you. I was afraid you’d go before I had a chance to talk to you.”
His green eyes smiled down at her. “I’m glad to see you too. I wasn’t going to leave. I’m hoping to take you away for a while this afternoon. Do you think you can come?”
“We’re not nearly as busy as we thought we’d be. Why haven’t more people come in?”
“It might be the distance they have to come. The doctor might want to go ove
r to Violet, the colored town. People over there get sick too, and they would welcome him.”
“I’ll tell him. Where did you want to take me?”
“For a little ride so we can talk.”
“Talk?” A worried frown came over her face. “What about, Wade?”
At that moment the sound of a rifle shot split the silence. Wade looked quickly toward the direction from which it had come and saw a straw-haired man run out of the woods and jump upon a mule A rifle was in his hands. Otis Merfeld! He ought to have killed the son of a bitch today when Otis had threatened him for taking his family to get their vaccinations.
“Wade—” Jesse gasped.
He turned to Jesse and in horror looked down at the blood that had blossomed on her dress. Her knees began to give way. Terror clutched at Wade’s heart.
Godamighty! His love had caught the bullet meant for him.
“No!” he shouted.
“Wade… I think… I’ve been… shot—”
“No!” he shouted again. Then, “Oh God, sweetheart. My love—”
“Take me to Papa—”
He swung her up in his arms and headed for the store.
“Doc!” he shouted. “Doc!”
Doctor Forbes came hurrying out through the door with Susan not far behind. She ran past her father.
“What’s the matter with Jesse? Oh… she’s all bloody!”
“Out of the way, Susan,” Wade said sharply. “She’s been shot, Doc. The bullet was meant for me.” The anguish in Wade’s voice transferred to Susan and she screamed.
“Jesse! Jesse! Papa do something—” Susan began to sob.
“Get hold of yourself, girl,” Doctor Forbes said crossly. “You’ll have to help me. Go clear off a place on the table and spread it with one of the cloths from our bag. Go!” he shouted when Susan hesitated.
“Open the door, Doc, and I’ll carry her inside.”
Wade kissed Jesse’s forehead and her lips as he carried her into the store. He didn’t care who witnessed the caress. His heart felt like lead in his chest. He placed her on the table and moved out of the way to allow her father to examine her. It was then he realized that Doctor Forbes’s face was deathly pale and his hands shook.
“Move over by the door, Wade. I’ve got to take down her dress.”
Wade moved away and Susan, with bandages and the doctor’s bag, came to take his place. Still sniffing, she opened the bag for her father and placed it where he could reach it easily.
“Who did it?” she asked.
“That’s not important now,” Doctor Forbes snapped. “I’ll lift her shoulders and you pull off the dress. I want to see the damage before she comes to.”
Knowing that there was nothing he could do, but determined to stay close by, Wade went to stand in the doorway and answer the questions of the curious and concerned folk who gathered in the yard.
“Who done it, Wade?” Mr. Frony asked.
“Otis Merfeld. He was shooting at me. We had a set-to a few weeks ago about him beating his kids, and when I went to get them this morning we had another. He didn’t want his kids to be vaccinated. Mrs. Merfeld did, so we loaded them in the wagon. I intend to beat the son of a bitch to within an inch of his life when I get my hands on him. If anything happens to Jesse, I’ll kill him and save the law the trouble.” Wade spoke with rock-hard certainty, and none who heard his words doubted that he would do exactly what he said he would do.
“Is she bad?” Mrs. Frony asked.
“I don’t know. The bullet went in about here”—Wade put his hand on his chest—“and came out the back.”
It seemed hours before Doctor Forbes told Wade he had done all he could for Jesse here and that they had to get her home.
“She’s going to be all right, Wade. We were lucky that I was close by.”
“A wagon will be too bumpy. That buggy of yours has good springs. I’ll hold her, if Susan will ride in the boot.”
“Then let’s get going.”
Wade and Susan wrapped a blanket around Jesse before Wade lifted her off the table. Susan looked anxiously at her sister’s pale face and began to cry again.
As he was carrying Jesse to the buggy, she moved her head.
“Wade…”
“I’m here, sweetheart—holding you. You’re going to be all right. Your Papa said so, and you told me that he’s the best doctor in Tennessee.”
“Wade…” she said again, and lapsed into sleep.
Wade held her as the doctor drove. The precious bundle in his arms was his life. His mind raced ahead. If the bullet had been a few inches lower, she would be dead now. Dear God, there was no way he could have lived if he had been the cause of her death. Wade held her tenderly. Her head rested on his shoulder, and, unmindful of her father, he kissed her forehead again and again.
“Why did Merfeld shoot at you?” Doctor Forbes asked.
“He didn’t want his kids vaccinated. Mrs. Merfeld did, so I brought them.”
“That’s a pretty flimsy reason to shoot someone.”
“There’s a little more to it than that. I’ll tell you sometime. As soon as I know Jesse will be all right, I’ll go to Marshal Wright and let him handle it. Although if I know Merfeld, he’s scared that he’s killed Jesse and he’ll hightail it out of the county.”
“What will his family do?”
“They’ll get along. The kids do most of the work anyway, and the neighbors will help them some.”
The main street of Harpersville was filled with wagons, buggies, bicycles and farmers who had come to town on Saturday night. All gawked at the doctor’s buggy as it passed.
What was Simmer doing in Doctor Forbes’s buggy? And whom was he holding?
Wade had flipped the blanket over Jesse’s head. He was sure that she wouldn’t want her pale face and loose hair exposed to the curious.
Doctor Forbes drove the buggy to the door of the surgery. Susan ran around and yelled for Jody and Todd to come take care of the horse. The doctor got down and opened the surgery door.
“Need help, Wade?”
“No.” He didn’t want to surrender his precious burden before he had to. He wanted to hold her for the rest of his life.
Jesse’s father directed him to a small room off the surgery where there was only a washstand and a single bed placed on blocks so that it was waist-high. Wade laid Jesse on it. She appeared to be in a deep sleep.
“Doc,” Wade said anxiously. “Is it normal for her to sleep this long? It’s been a mighty long time.” His worried face turned to the doctor.
“Sometimes. She’s lost a lot of blood. I’ve got to be careful that she doesn’t go into shock.”
Pauline came rushing into the surgery. “What happened? What happened to Jesse?”
“She was shot, but Papa says she’ll be all right,” Susan answered.
“Oh, my goodness. Who did it? And why?”
“It was Otis Merfeld. But Wade will have to tell you why. Don’t ask him now,” Susan whispered. “He’s wound as tight as a fiddle string. He even kissed Jesse right in front of everyone.”
Louella, her dress and apron freshly ironed and without a single strand of her high-piled hair out of place, stood in the doorway to the surgery. When she saw Wade, she looked at him as if he were manure on her white shoes, then tilted her nose and went past him to the doorway of the small room where Jesse lay. She clucked her tongue in a gesture of sympathy, returned to the surgery and surveyed Susan’s tear-streaked face with a small grimace.
“Is Jesse’s condition serious, Hollis?” Louella asked as the doctor was checking Jesse’s bandages.
“Gunshots are always serious.”
“Well… she’s a strong girl. Worrying won’t help. Supper will be at the usual time,” Louella announced and placed her hand on Doctor Forbes’s arm to get his attention. She spoke the last sentence in a confidential tone as if to exclude Wade.
“All right. Thank you, Mrs. Lindstrom.”
Still Louella l
ingered as if reluctant to leave for fear she would miss something.
“What happened, Hollis? What in the world has that girl got herself into now? My, my, it’s just one thing after the other with her. She just can’t seem to settle down, act her age, and learn the ways of a lady as befitting her station.”
“She didn’t get herself into anything of her own making,” Susan spoke in a heavy sarcastic tone. “Someone shot her.”
“Well, what can you expect with her going up there and traipsing around with that kind of… folks?”
Wade had to bite his tongue to keep from telling the old biddy where she could put her opinion of hill people. Godamighty! He would never fit in here. Why in God’s name had he ever imagined he would?
Susan had no such restraints about expressing her feelings. Her temper erupted with the force of a tornado.
“You nasty, mean old thing!” Susan blurted in a loud and angry voice. “You’ve no right to come in here shootin’ off your bazzoo about my sister or what she does or does not do! You’ve been trying to make it so miserable for Jesse that she’d marry that sissy old Edsel just to get away from home. Flitter! We know what you’re up to. You’re after Papa.” Susan’s voice rose even higher. “You plan to feather your nest right here and you’d be glad if all of us kids got shot!” She paused to take a breath and saw the grin on Wade’s face. It goaded her to say more. “I’d rather have Wade and Jody as my friends than a hundred bigoted, mean old women like you and the Harpers. So there!”
“Well, my land! Someone should take a hand to this rude undisciplined child. You need to be taught some manners.” Louella’s usually white face was red with anger. She longed to slap the silly girl’s face, but didn’t dare. She had pressed too hard already.
“It won’t be you,” Susan replied nastily. “I’ll leave home first.”
Doctor Forbes came from Jesse’s room. “That’s enough, Susan. Go back to the kitchen, Mrs. Lindstrom.”
“You’re right, Hollis. I’m terribly sorry about Jesse. You know that. Susan, I’ll expect your apology before you come to dinner.”
After Louella left the surgery, Susan continued to sputter. “Cows will fly before I apologize to that old hen. I’m sick of her, Papa. She’s a mean old white-faced fart-knocker.”
Tenderness Page 24