“I’m aware. Please, go to my parents’ farm and see that she’s all right. She’s in shock, but I expect her to be doing better now. Mum has a way with calming a person.”
“That she does. I’ll swing over to your farmstead and have a long talk with Ida Mae.”
“Sheriff. . .” Olin looked down at his dusty boots. “She doesn’t know about today’s note.”
“I’ll be sensitive. But she’s a grown woman and has a right to know.”
“Aye. Who would say such horrible things about Ida Mae?”
A slow smile creased the leathered cheeks of John Thatcher. “You fancy her, don’t you?”
“Aye. When all is settled I shall tell her of my feelings.”
John slipped his hat back on his head. “I reckon she probably already knows.”
Eight
“Would you wash those spinach leaves, Ida Mae?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Ida Mae went to the kitchen pump, pumped out a small amount of water, soaked the bright green leaves in the bucket, and shook out a handful. Preparing a meal for a small army hadn’t been a part of her life for many years. She enjoyed it and she missed it.
“Bobby says ye be a fine spinster. How’s your weavin’?”
“Fair. Mother was the best.”
“Aye, that she was. Did ye know that my clansmen brought the flax to this country a hundred years ago?”
“No.”
“Well, it be a fact, darlin’. Me maiden name is Steele. In 1718 Thomas Steele sailed from Ireland with a group of others to the New World, seekin’ a place they could worship God and make an honest wage. The governor told them to head north. The French and Indian War was heating up at the time and the governor thought sending me clan out there would make a great first line of defense. What the governor didn’t know was that the reverend was an old classmate with someone in the French army. I used to know who, but I don’t keep these things straight.”
Ida Mae watched the delightful woman work as she talked, quickly preparing the dough for the bread. Her own family lines came to America later but had moved away from the clans. She had many ancestors who were not Scots-Irish, unlike the Orr family.
“The Frenchman told his Indian friends to leave this group of people alone and they were never attacked during the war.”
Ida Mae giggled. “I reckon the governor wasn’t pleased.”
“I always pictured him just standing there scratching his wig, trying to figure out what these Presbyterians did to keep the Indians away. The Puritans considered our people a rowdy sort. In the end, it was that ship of people who brought the potato and linen flax to the New World. Many say that without us the War of Independence would not have been fought.”
“How do you know so much about your family?”
“Me mum and pa passed it down. There’s another story about the Great Wagon Road, but we’ll save it for another time.”
Ida Mae wanted to hear it now. It had been so long since she’d been around a real family. Her stomach flipped. Memories resurfaced. Ida Mae dipped her hand back in the bucket and shook out some more of the leafy greens. The Orr farm was already producing peas, beans, spinach, and radishes. Cyrus hadn’t even started to plant the seed yet. What had she gotten herself into letting him rent the farm and house?
“Ida Mae, I told ye that story about my family because we come from good stock. Ye can trust Bobby—Olin,” she amended.
Bobby, she mused. He didn’t seem like a Bobby to her. Olin fit him better.
Mrs. Orr went on and on about her family’s history. While the facts were interesting, the information wasn’t enough to keep Ida Mae’s mind from drifting back to seeing that rock come through the front window. If she had taken one more step she would have been hurt, if not killed. Who was so angry with her for letting Olin rent her father’s shop? It didn’t make sense.
“Ida Mae?”
“Sorry, my mind drifted.”
“That’s all right, dear. I can rattle on a bit about family history. It goes back hundreds of years. . . .”
Hundreds. Ida Mae raised the corners of her lips and hoped the smile appeared genuine.
Mrs. Orr giggled. “I won’t be putting ye through all that. I’m just trying to distract ye from dwellin’ on your shop. Which I be doin’ rather poorly.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t understand why someone would be attacking me in such a way.”
“Rumors. And mind ye, these are just rumors. Word was that someone deliberately attempted to start a fight with Bobby all those years ago. His father and I decided we needed to remove him from the area and arranged the apprenticeship. I reckon we figured enough time had passed and no one would hold a grudge for seven years. Mayhap we be wrong. I’m so sorry.”
“But that’s what is odd. Why haven’t they attacked Olin’s shop? Why mine? If someone were truly out to ruin Olin, wouldn’t they send rocks through his windows?”
Mrs. Orr raised her right eyebrow.
“There aren’t any glass windows in his shop, but still.”
“Ye might be right. But why would anyone want to hurt a bonnie lass such as yourself?”
“I don’t know. I wish I did, but nothing has made sense since Olin came to town.”
“Then marry my boy and be done with it.”
“Pardon?”
❧
“Afternoon, Sheriff, what can I do for you?” Olin put the hammer down and walked over to meet the sheriff.
“I had a visit from one of Ida Mae’s neighbors. They say they saw you out last night behind Ida Mae’s and setting the fire.”
“What?”
Sheriff Thatcher held up his hands. “Hold on. That’s what they said. I pushed them further and they admitted that they didn’t see you start the fire. They just assumed that Ida Mae caught you and you put it out.”
The vein on Olin’s right temple started to pulse.
“Seems to me someone is anxious to get you out of town, or at least far away from Ida Mae.”
Olin crossed his arms and leaned back on the beam holding the corner of the loft. “I feared that be the case. I’ll move my business out today.”
“Lawrence McGillis at the Grain and Feed store says he has a back room where you can set up shop. The only problem is it isn’t within eyeshot to watch over Ida Mae’s. My wife won’t appreciate it, but I’ll spend the next couple of nights here in the loft. I should be able to sneak in early enough so no one will know I’m inside.”
“There’s a secret passageway between her private quarters and my shop. I don’t know how to get into her place from here, if there is a way, but on her side it’s a door in the back of the closet.”
“Show me.”
Olin pointed out the opening and together they went around to the front and then inside Ida Mae’s shop. Olin leaned over and pulled out two thin rods, one with a small hook on the end. He inserted them into the keyhole and jiggled them into place, then opened the door.
“How many folks know you can open a lock like that?”
“Ida Mae does. Apart from her, I don’t think there’s anyone else.”
“Let’s keep it that way, or you’ll be blamed for every crime in the area.”
“Yes, sir.” Olin slipped his tools into his pocket. They went past the counter in her shop and entered Ida Mae’s private quarters. The sheriff scanned the orderly room. He appeared quite at ease being in someone else’s home when it was vacant. Olin felt as uncomfortable as a man sitting in church with wet clothes. It didn’t seem right for him to be standing in the room without her. In the full light of day he saw that she’d taken the small area and made it quite warm and welcoming.
“Where’s the secret doorway?”
“Over here.” Olin pointed to the door in the back of the large storage closet against the wall of the smithy.
The sheriff examined both sides of the entryway. “While I’m keeping watch I’ll want this doorway open. But if I don’t catch who’s behind all this red-handed I’ll want
you to nail your closet door shut in these corners. If the thief has been using this passage to sneak out through the barn, maybe we can trap him in your closet.”
“I don’t want Ida Mae in any danger.”
“Nor do I. The best thing to do is to keep things as normal as possible. What concerns me is the note on the rock this morning. By now the entire town knows you brought Ida Mae to your family farm. Let’s keep it that way. Tomorrow, bring her back and I’ll watch over her all night. Those two nights should give me a chance to catch this guy. If he is simply taking things out of her place, then he’ll want to come in while Ida Mae isn’t home and while the building is vacant. I’ll be there ready and waiting. If, however, they are after her, they’ll wait until tomorrow night when she appears to be vulnerable.”
“I don’t like it. What if something happens to her?”
“You’ll have to trust me. Don’t try takin’ the law into your own hands again, son. You know what happened the last time.”
Olin’s stomach soured. “Fine.”
“Olin.” The sheriff placed his hand on Olin’s shoulder. “Trust me.”
“What if nothing happens in the next two days?”
“We’ll decide what to do then, agreed?”
“Agreed.”
They left Ida Mae’s shop. Olin checked the boards he’d put up to cover the broken window. All was secure. Back in the smithy he packed up his tools, then went over to the Grain and Feed shop to speak with Mr. McGillis. They agreed on a fair price, and the rest of the day Olin spent moving and setting up his shop in the new location. He drew up a note telling folks where to find him. Anything to put Ida Mae in a safe position.
“So, you’re leaving town?” Percy stood in the doorway with a smug grin.
❧
“Ida Mae, sit, please.” Mrs. Orr rubbed her hands on the skirt of her apron.
Ida Mae sat down at the small kitchen table. “Mrs. Orr, Olin and I aren’t—”
“Ye have eyes for one another. Anyone can see.”
Ida Mae cast her eyes toward her apron.
“Darlin’, ye and Bobby—Olin—snatch glances at one another all the time. If ye love him. . .”
“We haven’t spoken of such matters.”
“Ah, me boy is takin’ his sweet time. I thought with him having his brothers out all night, watchin’ over your place, that ye and he were closer.”
“No, ma’am.”
“Do ye love him?”
Ida Mae’s fingers started to shake. She laced them around the hem of her apron. “I’m attracted to him, but love? It is too soon to tell.”
“Aye, I understand. Ye love him, but ye don’t know it yet. That’s fine. What I was thinkin’, and mayhap it be an old woman’s need for more grandchildren, is ye and Olin could marry and perhaps this would stop the person.”
“I can’t marry Olin.”
The screen door to the kitchen slapped shut.
“Mum, what are ye suggesting?”
Mrs. Orr’s face turned a brilliant shade of crimson. “Foolish thoughts, an old woman’s foolish thoughts. Forgive me, son. Forgive me, Ida Mae.”
“Forgiven.” Ida Mae grasped the hem of the apron so tightly her fingers started to numb.
Mrs. Orr scurried out of the kitchen. Olin sat down beside Ida Mae. “I’m sorry.”
“Olin, she was just probing.”
“Aye. I daresay something she is quite proficient at. I had a talk with Sheriff Thatcher. He’s going to stay in my shop overnight and hope to catch whoever is slipping in and removing items from your shop and personal quarters.” He went on to explain in greater detail about moving his business and the two-day plan to watch the place. He concluded with, “Percy came to see me as I was getting ready to close up the shop.”
“Oh?”
“He heard I was leaving town.”
Ida Mae shook her head. “The gossip in this town can be incredible.”
“Yes, and today a couple of your neighbors came to the sheriff to report that I had attempted to start a fire last night.”
A wave of doubt instantly rose and fell in her stomach.
“Ida Mae, the sheriff questioned them thoroughly and found they never saw me start the fire. They just saw me when I ordered you back into the building and put out the fire.”
“What did the note say?”
“Ye don’t want to know.”
“Olin, tell me.”
Olin jumped up and walked away from her. “No. It was rude and something a fine lass should not see.”
“Olin.” She stood up. “I will not have you treat me as a child. Give me that note.”
Olin came behind her and wrapped his arms around her. His lips were mere inches from her ears. Gooseflesh rose down her neck to her arms. “Ida Mae,” he whispered, “please trust me.”
She twisted in his arms and faced him. “I do trust you. Please trust me. I can handle it.”
He released her and stepped back. Looking down, he swept the floor with his right boot. “It was a single word meaning a lady of ill repute.”
Ida Mae’s nerves kicked in once again and her stomach twisted like a lemon being wrung out of all its flavor. Taking in a deep breath, she let it out slowly. “More than one saw us last night.”
“Aye, I’m afraid so. Ye and the good Lord know nothing inappropriate happened between us last night, but someone doesn’t see it that way.”
“Did Percy mention that?”
“No. He only knew I was moving out of the shop. He didn’t even know I was moving into McGillis’s Grain and Feed store.”
Ida Mae paced. “Then Percy didn’t throw the rock.”
“No, I suppose not.”
“Olin, I believe someone is out to get me. It isn’t you they are after.”
“Perhaps, but I believe there is more than one person behind all this. It is obvious someone didn’t want me renting your father’s shop. Hopefully, my move will stop that issue. Are ye up for staying in your place tomorrow night with the sheriff hiding in my shop?”
“No. . . Yes. . . I suppose I have to be. I want this to end and I want it to end now.”
“Do ye know ye are beautiful when ye are determined?”
His smile melted away her anger over the situation.
“You’re incorrigible.”
“Aye, but that’s why ye love me.” He winked.
Heat blazed across her checks and down her neck. “I care, Olin. I don’t know if I love.”
He closed the distance between them. The touch of his fingers brushing the stray strands of hair from her face excited and calmed her all at the same time. “I care, too.”
She closed her eyes, willing him to come closer and kiss her.
“May I?” he whispered.
Nine
“Bobby. . .” His mother’s voice skidded to a halt.
Olin’s heart thumped. Ida Mae buried her face in his chest. The raw emotions mixed with the memory of her lips doubled his determination to help this woman.
“I’m sorry,” his mother mumbled. She silently slipped out of the room.
Olin pulled back from Ida Mae. He gave her a wink, then called out to his mother. “Mum!”
She reentered the room. “Ye know I’m not sorry. Here ye be claimin’ ye ain’t in love, and what do I find? Ye young’uns best learn what love is.”
Ida Mae pulled his shirt around the edges of her face.
His love for her deepened a hundredfold. “Hey, sweetheart.” He nudged her chin with his forefinger. “Mum won’t bite.”
“Aye, I might take ye over my knee, but I won’t bite ye.”
Ida Mae moaned.
It took all of Olin’s strength not to laugh at her embarrassment.
“Your father was on my heels. Ye best come apart or you’ll be even more embarrassed.”
Ida Mae released his shirt and stepped back, turning away from him, away from his mother.
“Mum, would ye excuse us for a moment?”
He took
Ida Mae’s hand and tugged. She resisted for a moment, then followed him out the back door. He led her to the shade tree and the swing his father had built years ago. “I’m sorry to have embarrassed you, but I’m not sorry for kissing you.”
Her eyes glistened. “It was wrong.”
“Why?” He sat down on the swing and patted the seat for her to join him. She continued to stand.
“Because it isn’t proper. You and I haven’t courted.”
“Ida Mae, I’d ask yer father for your hand in marriage, but he’s not here. This has to be your decision.”
“Marriage? It was just a kiss.”
“Was it?” He couldn’t argue with her. It was simply a kiss. But the moment their lips met he knew beyond any human reason this woman was made for him, that God designed them to be together one day. She had to feel it, too.
“There’s too much going on right now for me to know whether I love you or not. My emotions have gone from one extreme to another. How can I know what I’m feeling is real and not the result of all the turmoil I felt before we kissed?”
“Sweetheart, please sit with me. I promise not to kiss you unless ye ask.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
Ida Mae let out a strangled laugh and joined him.
He wrapped his arm around her but didn’t draw her close.
“We can hold off on marriage for a while.”
“You’re worse than your mother.”
“Aye, I suppose I am. Before I kissed you I knew I cared for ye deeply. But when we kissed my love for you grew.”
Ida Mae sighed. “I can’t trust my emotions. Look what happened after the fire and my foolish trust in Cyrus. I don’t know what that man is doing on my farm, but he isn’t farming. I think he’s found a free place to live and I let him.”
What does this have to do with the kiss? “Did ye kiss Cyrus?”
“No. I mean I trusted him because of how he helped me after the fire. He took care of so many things. But he wasn’t the man I thought him to be. I reckon I shouldn’t have let him farm the land when I caught him and Rosey out at the farmhouse, but it made sense at the time.”
Corduroy Road To Love Page 7