“I understand.” About her going into the schoolhouse, at least. Birdy’s response otherwise puzzled him. Something had changed since the pleasant start to their meal last night—actually, something changed the moment he told her Clem was staying in town.
She’d been so protective last night, willing to battle against Clement because of his threat against Drew … but was there more to it than that? Could she forgive Clement? Or was Clement’s status as a former Confederate more than she could forgive?
Drew turned from the schoolhouse, his heart sinking to his boots. He’d come to Kansas for a fresh start. So, it seemed, had Clement.
Kansas was big enough for all of them to start over. But maybe not big enough for Birdy, and if that was the case, her heart might need some healing, too.
Chapter 6
Birdy picked at her supper, although her stomach ached from emptiness.
Minnie leaned into her shoulder. “Can I have your cornbread, if you don’t want it?”
“May I,” Birdy corrected without thinking. “Sure.”
“So we’re really having a Confederate in the house tonight?” Polly toyed with her ham. “And you’re fine with it, Ma?”
Birdy had warned Frieda about their evening callers, but Frieda didn’t agree with Birdy that they should keep the visit brief and formal. Frieda set down her knife. “The Good Book says to love your enemies. Mr. Cooper’s brother is no longer our enemy, though. And when Mr. Cooper stopped by today, he told me his brother wants a fresh start. Let’s welcome him, shall we, girls?” Frieda’s question was for her daughters, but her eyes fixed on Birdy.
Birdy’s lips smashed together.
The kitchen was cleaned and the coffee brewed when the knock sounded on the door. Frieda smoothed her brown homespun dress over her waist and admitted their guests. “Good evening, gentlemen.”
Hats in hand, Drew and Clement stepped inside and were immediately set upon by Diggory. The group exchanged greetings, although Birdy couldn’t quite smile for Clement.
Diggory’s pink tongue lolled over his teeth while Clement bent to scratch him. “Now this is a fine looking pooch.”
“He’s a good rat-catcher, too,” Mary Ann noted.
“Come into the parlor,” Frieda invited. “Sorry about Diggory’s excitement.”
“I don’t mind a bit.” Clement’s smile was warm.
Minnie grabbed Drew’s sleeve. “Opie McGee tried to hide his lunch under the floor again, but he couldn’t becau-th you boarded it up, Mr. Cooper.”
“I can’t help but pity poor Opie that his hiding place is gone.” Drew laughed, but his eyes crinkled in concern when he looked at Birdy. “Are you all right?”
The truth was, she wasn’t sure. Tonight she was confronted by guilt—over not wanting to forgive a Confederate like Clement, and over being so happy to see Drew again.
Both of the feelings were wrong.
So she offered Drew a polite smile, even though her innards quaked like a can full of worms heading to the fishing hole. “Tired after a long day, that’s all. You must be, as well, working new property. How was it today?”
“There’s a lot of work to do, but Clem and Jeb Washburn are helping, and it won’t be long before everything’s settled.”
Interesting, since she felt more unsettled tonight than she had in a long time. She stepped backward. “I’ll get the coffee and cookies.”
Drew took a step. “I’ll help.”
“No, enjoy your visit. I’ll be but a moment.”
He looked disappointed at her response, but she needed a moment to collect herself. Change me, Lord. Help me forgive Clement and not think of Drew as more than a friend.
From the kitchen, she heard the conversation easily. “Do you girls know how to play jackstraws?” Clement’s drawl was sweet and thick as molasses, like Drew’s.
“Of course.”
“How about Find the Penny?”
“What’s that?” Mary Ann’s voice went higher.
“You take this penny here, and one person hides it while the others aren’t looking. Then the others hunt for it. May we try it now, Mrs. Lomax?”
“By all means.” Frieda laughed.
The girls ran into the kitchen, bright eyed and pink cheeked.
“Mr. Cooper’s gonna hide a real penny for us to find!” Mary Ann twirled in a circle.
“In the parlor!” Minnie hopped up and down.
“I wonder how hard it will be to find.” Polly chewed her lip.
“That’s wonderful, girls.” It was good to see them happy, even if it was at the hand of Clement Cooper. Birdy held out the plate of cookies to them—
“Ready,” Clement called. The girls dashed out, never having glanced at the cookies.
Birdy didn’t want to follow, but she’d hidden long enough. She set the cookies with the coffee on the tray and carried it to the parlor, pausing at the threshold. The girls scrambled, laughing and running, with Diggory at their heels. Maybe she should wait a moment, so she wouldn’t collide with one of them and drop the tray.
“Found it!” Polly shouted.
“Where?” Minnie was breathless.
“Under Ma’s elbow.”
“Ma!” Mary Ann fisted her hands on her hips but laughed. “You helped Mr. Cooper!”
“Of course I did, but the penny wasn’t all the way under my elbow.”
“I saw the glint of copper,” Polly added. “That was fun. Can we play again?”
“You may, another time. Tonight’s a school night.” Frieda’s tone was indulgent and happy. Happier than Birdy had heard it in a long time.
Birdy chewed her lip as she marched in to set the tray on the table. Drew smiled at her as she sat beside him and started pouring cups of fragrant coffee.
“Only one more week of school, and then we have all summer to play.” Mary Ann’s voice was joyful.
“And pull weeds and feed animals and help me tend corn,” Frieda added.
“How many farmhands do you have, ma’am?” Clement bent to scratch Diggory’s neck, and the dog curled atop his feet.
“Only a few. We do a lot ourselves.”
“Drew told me he’s seen to a few chores around your homestead. I reckon I can help, too, when we’re done for the day on the ranch.”
“I can’t pay you.” Frieda looked down, her fair lashes fanning against her cheeks.
“I don’t need pay for bein’ neighborly.”
“Then you must stay for supper when you help us. You and Drew. Tomorrow, if you like.” Frieda’s voice held no hesitation. “It’s the least I can do to thank you.”
Birdy clutched the cup she was about to hand to Frieda. Frieda well knew Clement threatened to kill Drew, and that he’d fought against the North. Yet here she was, inviting him to supper?
That was a bit too much to bear.
Right or wrong, she felt relieved for having an excuse tomorrow. “I’ll be at the Kents’ tomorrow. Bob’s parents are helping me plan graduation.”
“Oh that’s right.” Frieda leaned toward Clement. “Four graduates on Friday evening—”
Minnie looked up at Birdy, a sign she didn’t wish to interrupt her ma. “Can we look at the piglet-th?”
“You may, but be careful.” Advice she should heed, the way her pulse thrummed at sitting beside Drew.
He took a cookie. “Isn’t Bob the young man I met?”
“Yes, his father, Phil, is an amputee.” She glanced at Clement.
“Sounds like a busy week ahead.”
“It is. Exams and then fun. Friday we’re having a picnic. I’ll also be meeting with the eighth graders’ families all week. Last night I dined with Leonard Tumbleston’s family, and tomorrow, I’ll be at the Fosters’.”
Diggory abandoned Clement for Drew, and he set down his coffee to attend to the dog. “So I won’t see much of you this week.”
“Probably not.”
He nodded, but he seemed disappointed. She didn’t like that, but she couldn’t have
supper with him at the restaurant again. A thank you was one thing, but a second supper looked like courting, and she was not free.
If she were, she’d say yes to Drew faster than it took to blink. He was honorable, hardworking, and when he looked at her like he did now, he made her stomach turn inside out. Sometimes he even made her forget about Emory and Pa’s instructions.
But forgetting was a luxury she couldn’t afford.
It was a relief when the girls stomped in. Frieda broke from her conversation with Clement. “Girls, you didn’t wipe your boots.”
“We saw eyes, Ma. From the brush on the rise, and there were paw prints by the barn.”
Drew stood, followed by Clement. “I’ll take a look.”
“What is it, Ma?” Mary Ann curled by Frieda on the chair as the men hurried out, Diggory dashing ahead of them.
“I’m afraid there’s a coyote visiting us. They’re normally afraid of people, but this one must be young or curious. No more going outside at night without me or Aunt Birdy.”
Birdy hugged Minnie, and they spoke quietly until the men returned.
“Coyote,” Drew confirmed. “It’s gone now, but I secured the barn. Make sure you keep the animals inside, and tomorrow afternoon I’ll ensure there are no loose places where a coyote can get in.”
Then Minnie yawned, long and loud, breaking the tension and signaling an end to the evening. Birdy’s shoulders slumped in relief, and it wasn’t because Clement was leaving, although she was glad for it, or because she had exams to grade, which she did.
It was because when Drew came back in the house after seeing to the barn, he looked at her with such protective compassion she almost hugged him. She cared for him and appreciated his work on behalf of people she loved.
It would be easy to add Drew into that group of loved ones, which was one thing she could never, ever do.
The rest of the week passed quickly for Drew as he cleared land and built a temporary shelter for him, Clement, and Jeb, but the evenings were long when they were spent without Birdy.
He knew she had supper plans each night, but on Wednesday when he and Clement stopped by to see to the Lomax animals—a habit that had become routine—he’d hoped to at least catch a few words with Birdy before her supper with her student’s family. She never came home, however, and Mary Ann informed him that Birdy stayed late to tutor the rascally Stevens boys. Thursday night, Birdy decorated the schoolhouse before her supper with the Andersons, according to Minnie.
But he’d get to see Birdy tonight.
She didn’t come home after school, but Frieda fed the rest of them an early supper in advance of the graduation ceremony. Drew had donned his Sunday shirt and tie for tonight’s event. The sun was low in the sky, but bright, when they arrived at the schoolhouse, where light and happy chatter spilled from the open door.
The familiar space looked different tonight, with a congratulatory banner hung over the blackboard, benches replacing the desks, and the teacher’s desk topped with a red-checked tablecloth and plates of refreshments.
While Frieda dashed toward it with a plate of cookies, Drew took his seat in the back row between Polly and Clement, who saved Frieda a seat beside him. Birdy’s back was to them as she chatted at the front of the room with a smiling, gray-haired man. She wore the blue dress she’d worn to church last Sunday that swayed around her ankles like a graceful bell.
Her fiancé, Emory, had been blessed to have had her love. Could she ever feel that way about Drew? Even a little?
Polly shifted beside him, drawing him to the present, so he smiled at her. “Next year, you’ll be the one graduating.”
She pinked. “Maybe I’ll be a teacher like Aunt Birdy.”
“I won’t.” Mary Ann sighed. “I don’t use adverbs right. I mean rightly.”
“Correctly,” Polly amended.
Mary Ann puffed out a breath. “See?”
Drew laughed. At the sound, Birdy spun, her blue skirt swirling around her at the sudden movement. Her gaze met his and—she blushed. There was no denying it, not with her fair skin reddening from the top of her lacy collar to the tips of her ears.
She may not care for him like he cared for her, but she wasn’t indifferent to him. Drew sat up straighter and grinned.
Birdy bent to ring a small bell on her desk, and the crowd went silent. She folded her hands at her waist, looking every inch the proper schoolmarm. “Welcome, one and all, as we honor our eighth-grade graduates.”
Drew applauded along with the rest of the audience, but movement behind him captured his attention. Late arrivals tiptoed into seats, including Opie McGee, his siblings, and a woman who must be their ma, escorted by none other than Jeb Washburn. One of Jenny McGee’s hands tucked into the crook of Jeb’s arms, and the other rested on his bicep—flashing a shiny, new-looking gemstone ring.
Drew didn’t know Jenny McGee, but Birdy had mentioned she’d been struggling to feed her family. Jeb wouldn’t let them go hungry from here on out, though. Happy for his friend, Drew couldn’t hide his grin as he returned his attention to Birdy.
Birdy extended her hand to the gray-haired gentleman she’d been speaking to earlier. “I’d like to invite Mr. Spivet, president of the school board, to open us in prayer and share a few remarks.”
After the prayer and a speech about character, Birdy led a choir of schoolchildren, including the Lomax girls, in “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Even from Drew’s spot in the back row, he could make out Birdy’s melodious voice as she joined in.
Clement clapped enthusiastically when the choir finished. “The Lomax girls are something, aren’t they?”
Drew nodded, but his eyes were on Birdy, who’d gathered four sheaves of paper.
“Now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for. Ethel Anderson, Gertrude Foster, Robert Kent, and Leonard Tumbleston, will you stand, please? I have been honored to be your instructor the past few years, and you’ve inspired me by your fortitude and dedication to your studies despite enduring a difficult, challenging time for our nation, our town, and for your families. You have done us all proud.”
Minnie wiggled. “I can’t th-ee.”
“Here.” Clement pulled her onto his lap. “Better?”
She nodded, leaning against his chest.
Frieda’s damp eyes glowed in the lamplight.
She wasn’t alone, as far as damp eyes went. Tears of pride, joy, and yes, even sadness over those who weren’t present to celebrate fell as Birdy called the students up for their diplomas. Ethel, Trudie, Bob, and Leonard all shook her hand, and then the hand of the school board member. The ceremony was brief, but heartfelt, and when it ended, Drew hopped to his feet along with everyone else to applaud. Clement hoisted Minnie in his arms.
“Hooray!” Minnie cheered. Clement bounced her in his arms.
Then Bob gestured to Birdy. “To the finest teacher in Kansas!”
The applause swelled. Birdy swiped her eyes.
Folks swarmed the graduates and Birdy, but Drew followed Jeb to the cookies. “Is that a ring I see on Mrs. McGee’s finger?”
“You don’t mind having a married foreman, do you, boss?” The creases in Jeb’s leathery features deepened as he grinned. “I proposed right before supper, not just to her but the young ’uns, too. They all said yes.”
“I’m thrilled for you, Jeb. Truly. You all are welcome at the ranch.”
“Thanks, Drew, but Jenny’s got a good house.”
Mrs. McGee glanced up at Jeb, her features aglow. Would Birdy ever look at him like that?
Drew congratulated Jeb, his new fiancée, and the graduates. The sun was setting when Clement nudged Drew’s shoulder. “I’m walking Frieda and the girls home. I don’t suppose you’d mind staying to escort Birdy home, would you?” He grabbed a piece of fruit from the table and tossed it to Drew. “Maybe you’d like an apple to give the teacher?”
Was he that obvious? “Go on, now.” Drew mock punched Clement’s arm and waved goodnight to Frieda, w
ho’d retrieved her cookie plate and hugged Birdy.
“G’night, Mr. Cooper.” Mary Ann waved at him before taking Clement’s hand.
“Good night, all.”
When Birdy bid the last of the parents farewell, he started stacking benches. She shook her head at him. “You don’t have to do that. A few of the boys are coming back tomorrow to move out the benches and bring back the desks.”
“No school board inspection, then?” He kept stacking.
She laughed and unpinned the banner on the blackboard. “No.”
“Did you see my friend, Jeb, with Mrs. McGee?”
“I did.” Birdy’s grin widened. “Jenny is a dear, and so are her children. Jeb seems like a caring man. I’m happy for them.”
She looked it, but would she be as happy if Frieda married Clement? They were getting friendlier every day, but she hadn’t been around to see it. “It was a nice ceremony, Birdy.”
“Thank you. The students worked hard for this.”
“You worked hard, too. I’ve missed seeing you this week.”
Birdy froze, gripping the banner. Then she swallowed loud enough he could hear it from ten feet away. “Is it—Do you need to borrow a new book?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.” He shoved the last bench to the side of the room. “But I had a question.”
She turned away and gathered the red-checked tablecloth from her desk. “About your reading?”
“About Emory.”
Her fingers immobilized. After a pause, she nodded.
He wished he could see her face. “Is he the reason you didn’t participate in the auditions for a husband?”
“Yes.” It was a strangled whisper.
“Because you still love him?”
She spun around, her lips bloodless. “A body doesn’t just wake up one day and stop loving someone.”
“I know that, especially not someone as special as Emory must have been, for you to love him.” Drew licked his dry lips. “Do you feel you’d betray him if you found love again?”
Her eyes dampened. “Not exactly.”
Drew reached for her hand. It was cold, soft, the bones tiny. He pulled her to sit on one of the benches, and he dropped down beside her. “Emory can’t be replaced, Birdy, but is there room in your heart for anyone else? Like me?”
Seven Brides for Seven Mail-Order Husbands Romance Collection Page 21