"No.
"It's not a question, my dear cousin. It's an order. I'm the only one who knows that he kissed you so get off that bed and-"
Clara threw up her hands in defeat. "Okay, okay. Just shut up"
"That's more like it," Tilly said.
"It was a shock seeing him there with his family. Am I never going to be attracted to a man who's not already married? I thought my problem with him was that he was an oil man and I find out that is the least of his faults."
Tilly motioned out into the hallway and Clara followed. "Just let it all go. Stay out of his room. Forget him."
Clara stopped dead. "Out of his room?"
"Oh, come on, I know you go in there every morning before breakfast," Tilly said. "Girl, if you sneezed in the attic or coughed in the basement, I'd know within an hour that you were coming down with a cold."
"That's ridiculous," Clara snapped.
"There's my cousin with the fire and stamina," Tilly told her.
"And there's my cousin who keeps the fire stoked and the stamina fueled up real good," Clara said sarcastically. "Oh, by the way, thank you."
"You are very welcome," Tilly said with just as much acid in her tone. "And after lunch I'm taking you to go out to the farm for the afternoon and evening. I'll bring you home after supper, up near bedtime. That way you won't have to spend the whole afternoon listening to talk about how pretty his wife and daughter are."
"Or thinking about how much his wife was flirting with Cecil all during the sermon."
"Guess you noticed that, too. I feel sorry for Briar," Tilly said.
"Briar?! I feel sorry for her. He's the one out kissing on other women. Maybe she's got a right to flirt," Clara said.
Nellie called out from the dining room table. "Would you two get on in here and find a chair? Rest of us are hungry. We were just talking about that Briar Nelson and his wife. Cute little girl. Guess he must've liked the area to bring his business here. We must have all been real good company. Wonder if he'll bring the little lady around for us to visit with. Strange though that he never told us he was a married man. There I was trying to pawn him off on Tilly or even you, Clara, and him with a family. All goes to show how well I know menfolks"
"I should hope he'd bring his wife around. I'd like to get to know her," Olivia said. "When Danny proposes and we have our own home, I intend to invite them for supper."
Tilly almost snorted.
Bessie chuckled.
Clara said a silent prayer as she filled her plate with chicken and dumplings, giving thanks for Olivia for the first time. That girl did manage, in her inexperienced way, to lighten the mood around the table.
Lightning zig-zagged across the sky. Thunder boomed. Rain fell in sheets. Black clouds fluttered overhead, but they weren't all evidence of a storm. Some of them were billowing bubbles of smoke from the fire at one of the Crystal Oil wells. It was a well owner's worst nightmare, one that had happened in that very location more than once. Fires. Difficult to contain. Even harder to completely put out. Yet, it seemed to be the only thing that drew everyone together. Rich. Poor. Oil man. Townspeople. When fire threatened the wells or the buildings, everyone worked hand in hand. The oil men and the townspeople rallied together to put out the demon fires and to save their town and the other wells from total destruction.
A tent had been set up at the edge of town for the firefighters to get something to drink or eat or even to rest for a few minutes. Clara moved from one table to the next, pouring iced tea, serving ham sandwiches. Tilly had awakened her from a dead sleep at midnight and she'd hurriedly gotten dressed in her oldest, darkest skirt and blouse.
She'd done this job before, back in August of 1914. Twice in one month, oil wells had caught fire. The first one had been the result of lightning striking Crystal Oil storage tanks. The fire raged and the rain fell. By morning, so much soot had mixed in with the raindrops that the house roofs were literally painted black.
Clara had barely gotten rested from that catastrophe when the next one happened, exactly fifteen days later. The driving rain made the firefighting equipment near impossible to move. Electrical bolts danced around storage tanks like demons, teasing the whole area with their power. Clara and Tilly worked non-stop that time for two days in the tents trying to keep the firefighters fed and rested so they could continue their efforts.
A year later, Ardmore suffered from a huge fire caused when casing head gas in a railroad car exploded. That's when the rumors began. God was cursing the whole area for its wicked ways. Clara didn't believe any such thing. God had a little more on his list than worrying about whether or not oil was found in Carter County. But that didn't mean she'd changed her mind about the oil boom. Not one bit. She still wished for the old days when Healdton was cotton-growing and cattle producing country and life was slow. When she knew everyone in the area and hoboes didn't camp out in tents and roam the streets. A time when her father drove the family out to the farms on Sunday afternoon and she played with her two cousins, Tilly and Tucker. On Wednesdays they came to town with their mothers to do the week's shopping and would stop at the house for lunch and visiting. Then later, when the three of them were in high school they began the poetry club. Dreamers. Such a silly name, yet it was the one that stuck instead of the glamorous one they'd chosen. One that they'd fought about for weeks and yet not a one of them could remember now. Those days were just words in a history book now, but it didn't stop her from wanting them to return.
"Thank you, Miss Clara." Danny looked up from where he'd been sitting. His face was black with soot and his eyes tired from a whole night of fighting fire.
"You're very welcome," Clara said.
"Olivia around anywhere?"
Clara glanced around and spotted Olivia on the other side of the tent. "Over there," she nodded.
Danny moved slowly, as if his feet weighed a ton.
"Hello," a voice said at her elbow.
When she turned around she was face to face with Judith Nelson. Clara's stomach knotted up. Her throat tightened up until she thought she'd never be able to swallow again. How she ever muttered a simple "Hello" was a sheer miracle.
Cecil was suddenly beside her. "Judith?"
She gazed up into his eyes. "You look worn out. Sit down and I'll pour you something to drink. Are you hungry?"
"I'd love something to eat and drink, too. What I'd like even more is sleep. Lord, this is the worse fire I've ever seen" He followed Judith to a chair and pulled it close enough that only she could hear his words.
Anger boiled up in Clara. They were flirting and right out in public. She flipped around, refusing to look at the sight of them shoulder to shoulder, staring at each other as if they might begin kissing right there in the corner of the tent. What kind of woman was Judith anyway?
Clara made more sandwiches. She poured tea. Then she realized the rain had stopped so she stepped outside for a breath of fresh air, only to find that there was no such thing. Smoke still filled the air. Thank goodness though, it wasn't as heavy as it had been and the latest men who came through the tent thought it was finally under control. Healdton wasn't going to burn to the ground because of the oil wells.
"Hello," Briar said right at her elbow.
She whipped around to face him. There he was, not a foot away. And there they were, over his shoulder, not ten feet away, practically touching. Illegal, indecent passion flowed thickly through the night air. It was her first meeting with Briar since that kiss that had rocked her world. And there was his wife and best friend, cheating on him.
Briar frowned and stepped closer. "Are you all right?"
All color drained from Clara's face and she looked as if she had just witnessed a killing. "I'm fine," she gasped.
"You sure don't look fine. You look whooped, lady. You and these other women have been working all night and it's almost dawn. You need rest" His heart sank at the sight of her. Not one detail of his memory had failed him, but in her tired, fragile state, she was e
ven more desirable than ever. He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her until neither of them could breathe.
Cecil went back into the tent and Judith fairly well bounced over to Clara and Briar.
She patted Briar on the shoulder. "Hello. I just found out it's almost under control. We can go home now?"
"As soon as I get a drink. I'm so parched, I'm spittin' dust. Judith, this is Clara Anderson, the lady who owns the boarding house where I stayed," Briar introduced them. "Clara, this is Judith."
Judith extended her hand. "I'm so glad to meet you. We spoke briefly in the tent but it was so busy"
"I'll be back. My throat is parched. I'll get something to drink and then we can go home," Briar said.
Clara's jaw worked in anger and her blue eyes
flashed. "How could you treat him like that?"
"Who? Cecil?"
"No, Briar," Clara exclaimed.
"Briar? What's he got to do with anything?"
Clara's hands knotted up into fists. "You are some piece of work, lady"
Judith cocked her head to one side. "What is your problem? What I do with Cecil has nothing to do with Briar and really it's none of your business."
Clara's fist unwound and she had the hardest time keeping her open palm from reaching out and slapping Judith's face. The woman was truly a harlot and deserved to be whipped publicly and ridden out of town on a rail.
Briar wiped his mouth with the back of his hand as he came out of the tent. Tension thicker than smoke and crackling worse than fire filled the air. Clara looked as if she might actually hit Judith any minute and Judith had an expression that dared her to do so.
He stopped in his tracks. "What is going on here?" "She's crazy, Briar. You said nice things about her, but you were wrong. The woman is a lunatic," Judith said. "She's the tackiest woman I've ever met"
Briar turned on Clara. "What on earth did you say?" "Why don't you ask her? Ask her what was going on not ten feet from you. What was going on in church on Sunday morning? Ask her when you get her home what's she's been doing behind your back with Cecil." Clara's finger quivered when she pointed.
"Why would Briar care about Cecil? He knows about him," Judith said.
Clara was totally bewildered. "You give your consent for her to be flirting with another man?"
"Yes, of course, I do. Cecil is my best friend. I'll gladly share Judith with him," Briar grinned.
Clara shook at the idea of such a sinful way of life. "You are all horrid!"
"Why?" Judith asked.
"Where is your daughter?" Clara asked bluntly.
"She's at home asleep. We've got a guy who got hurt on the rig and he's staying at the house with us for a few days until his leg heals. She's fine, Clara. Honest. I wouldn't leave my four-year-old at home alone. But what has my daughter got to do with this?" Briar said.
"If you've got to ask, then you are more stupid than this town thinks I am" Clara stormed back toward the tent.
The giggle began as a faint sound. It grew into a full fledged guffaw that Clara could scarcely believe could come out of a woman as pretty and refined as Judith. Why would a harlot be laughing at her? She turned quickly to look back and see Judith actually bent over at the waist, laughing so hard, tears were washing her face.
Judith pointed but had begun to laugh so hard she couldn't catch her breath enough to talk. "You thought ... I just figured it out. You thought-"
"I thought what?" Clara growled.
"You thought-" Judith tried desperately to get it under control and finish the sentence without breaking into more laughter.
"What I think is that you are all depraved. It just proves what I've said all along. These oil wells bring in nothing but riffraff."
"I. Am. Briar's. Sister." She said each word distinctly and loudly. "I'm not his wife."
"Sister? But they said Judith Nelson in church and-" Clara stammered.
"You thought Judith was my wife?" Briar frowned.
"Yes, I guess I did." Clara said.
"Then you thought when I ... when we were in the kitchen ... you... " Briar looked at Clara and then at Judith, who was grinning. "I'm not Percy. You were thinking I was just like that man, weren't you?"
"We'll talk about this another time. I'm tired and I'm going home" Clara turned abruptly and went back into the tent.
Tilly was at her elbow the moment she was inside. "You'll talk about what? Fire is under control. We can pack it up and go home. It's not like the one three years ago where we took shifts and stayed for days. Rain's even stopped. Let's go home and get some sleep. I declare, I could sleep on a bed of rocks or in a mud puddle, whichever one I found first."
"I'm ready" Clara followed Tilly to her car and climbed inside, her body glad to sit down, her mind still a jumble of frazzled, raw emotions.
"So are you going to tell me what happened out there with Briar and his wife?" Tilly asked as she started up the engine and drove toward town.
"Judith is his sister," Clara told her flatly.
"Sister! Well, that explains the flirting, doesn't it? But if she's not his wife, where did the little girl come from and where's her mother?"
Clara threw up her hands. "I have no idea."
"I'm going home, taking a bath and sleeping all day. When you figure it out, you can tell me all about it." Tilly parked in front of the boarding house.
The sun was a sliver of orange on the far horizon when Clara walked up on the porch. She slid down in the white rocking chair and sighed. Dulcie arrived and, without seeing her in the shadows of the porch, opened the door and soon the aroma of coffee and bacon wafted out the door. Clara stood up, stretched and started for the door when a car screeched to a halt beside the curb.
Briar got out, marched up to the porch and stopped right in front of Clara.
"I don't want to wait until later to talk about this," he said.
"There's nothing to talk about," she whispered.
"Oh, yes there is. You thought I was married and that was the reason I left"
"I didn't know why you left without a word," she said stoically.
"It wasn't because I'm married" He defended himself.
"Then where did Libby come from? Did she just fall out of the clouds and land on your doorstep?"
"I was married," he said. "Can we sit down and talk sensibly?"
She claimed the white rocker again. "Sure, go ahead and talk."
He pulled the brown chair close to hers and sank into it. "Libby's mother left me the month after she was born. She went back to New York City. She is an actress. It's a complicated thing. Lorianne loved acting and she couldn't live without it."
"But what about Libby?"
"We got married six weeks after we met. I figured she'd give up acting and she figured I'd give up the oil business and follow her career. Neither of us were willing to give up anything. It lasted eleven months. She had Libby ten months to the day after we were married"
Clara couldn't fathom a woman leaving her child. Not when she'd wanted a family so badly. "Doesn't she ever see Libby?"
"Like I said, it's complicated. Hard to explain," Briar said.
"Okay, then why did you leave Healdton without a word or a note or anything?" Clara asked.
"Because I liked that kiss, Clara. But you are a good person, a woman with standards and who's never been married. I'm blundering," he sighed.
"Yes, you are. What's me never being married have to do with it?"
"I'm divorced. I have a child. But mainly I'm divorced. Good women don't marry divorced men. Not even in our modern-day world. You'd be the talk of the town," Briar said.
The corner of her mouth twitched in a smile. "Is that a proposal?"
"Good Lord, no. I kissed you. I shouldn't have. It meant nothing. It can mean nothing. You deserve better. But it's not a proposal"
"Good, because I would have said no. But it's because I don't know you well enough to marry you, not because you are divorced. Now go home. The ladies will be coming
down for breakfast in a few minutes. As you well know, I am the village crazy lady. That should even scare away divorced men, but I don't want to explain to the ladies why I'm sitting on the porch talking to you before the sun is up"
"Clara, I should have left a note or something. I knew when I left that I'd be moving to the area if Cecil could buy that farm where we got the first gusher. I'm sorry."
"Apology accepted"
"Have a good day, then. I plan on doing the same if Libby will let me" he left her sitting alone in the new light of day.
Clara hugged herself. It hadn't been her reputation as an oddball that caused Briar to leave without saying a word. It was because he was divorced. And he said he'd liked the kiss, too.
The kiss awakened me to realize I'm not an old maid. It made me start thinking about a life with someone. Not Briar Nelson. Not an oil man. But someone.
"Why was Briar here?" Olivia asked from the edge of the lawn.
"It's really none of your business why Briar was here. What are you doing just coming home?" Clara asked.
"I was out there with the bunch of you, fighting fire, too. Was he here to set you straight about Judith? I asked Danny why Briar put up with her flirting with Cecil and he told me that Briar is her brother, not her husband. Can you believe that? Here I was thinking Cecil had thrown me away for a married woman he could never have. I feel much better now. Of course, he'd go for the president of the company's sister before he would a mere bank teller. Anyway, I thought you ought to know that Judith is just a gold digger, not a wife. So Briar is free if you want to go after him again."
"Again! I never went after him the first time."
"Oh, come on, Clara. A blind man could see that you were attracted to each other when he was here before. I smell bacon and coffee and I'm starving. I'm going to breakfast, and thank goodness it's Saturday and I don't have to work. I'm sleeping until supper and going dancing with Danny."
Morning Glory Page 10