by Megan Besing
“Let me help you with those.” Josiah grabbed several glasses and set them on the counter.
“Don’t you and Mr. Yates have business to take care of? I’m assuming that’s why you’re here.” Oh dear, it wasn’t any of her concern why he’d shown up this morning.
“That can wait. Wade, if you need to get started without me, go ahead. I’m going to help Miss Green dry these dishes, and then I’ll be out.”
Wade shrugged and left.
Nora bent over her task so she didn’t have to look Josiah in his warm brown eyes. He’d spent half the meal staring at her, sending her heart into palpitations. If this kept up, she’d have to take to her bed, just like Maude. “Really, you don’t have to help. I have everything under control. You must have better things to do than wipe plates.”
“I was sorry to hear about what happened to you.”
“Really, it’s fine.” She waved away Josiah’s words. “Honestly, I’m glad I found out about the kind of man J. M. was before I married him.” Better than how she’d found out about Robert—when he was dead and the money he’d bragged about was nonexistent. “I’d rather remain a widow and live in this house than to live with a husband such as J. M. It was the Lord’s gracious provision to me.”
Beside her, Josiah sputtered and coughed.
“Are you all right? Let me get you a glass of water.”
He shook his beet-red face. “No, that’s fine. I’d better get out to Wade.” And still grasping the dish towel, Josiah fled the house.
Wade was harnessing Mac, his stallion, as Josiah rushed from the house. Nora despised him, no doubt about it. She harbored no love for the man who had left her alone at the train station. Well, not quite alone, but alone enough.
Wade waved Josiah over before he leaned down to buckle a strap under the horse’s stomach. “Would you care to inform me what went on in the kitchen this morning? Why are you even here?”
“I came to see her.” He turned to glance at the house. Was there movement behind the kitchen curtain? Was it Nora?
“Why now? And why did you say you weren’t at the play last night?”
“I—I…” Oh, he certainly had made things worse by coming. “I’m being ridiculous, but I’m a little embarrassed about the performance. Really, I played a jester. And it was a nothing role. Let’s just keep it between the two of us.”
“Not a very good reason, if you ask me, but I’ll do as you say.”
Josiah blew out a breath. “I thought Maude was feeling better. Didn’t I see her last night?”
“You did. She was better until she demanded we leave. Wouldn’t even let me get a word in edgewise. That woman.” Wade pulled off his hat, smoothed back his black curls, and replaced the cap. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with her.”
“She hates me.”
“I don’t think Maude even knows you.”
“Not Maude. Nora.”
“I beg to differ. She stared at you through most of breakfast.”
“Not me. Me. J. M. Griffin. She hates him for not holding up his, my, end of the bargain and marrying her. And I can’t say I blame her. I was a real coward. But now what can I do? She’s beautiful and intelligent, and more than I ever imagined her to be. She can never find out that I’m J. M. Never.”
Wade leaned against the fence rail. “Are you planning on wooing her?”
Josiah scuffed the dirt with the toe of his boot. “I don’t know.” His wooden leg rubbed against his stump. “No. I can’t. She’d never have me. Not once she knew.”
“She doesn’t seem the kind of woman who would be bothered by that. She’s sensible and levelheaded. Real tender with the kids.”
“That would change once she saw the leg. And me without it.” He stared at the green cotton field beyond them, the sharecroppers hard at work in the early-morning heat. “I’ve gotten too many pitying looks from too many women. No, I will not be courting Nora Green.” He’d have to keep his distance. No more dropping in on Wade. No talking to her at church. If he stayed far away from her, he wouldn’t fall for her. He fingered the lacy handkerchief in his pocket where he’d put it for safekeeping. And for reminding him of all he could have had.
Chapter 6
Come on, boys, don’t forget your hats.” Nora worked to spur the children out the door. “Alice, I’ll get your bonnet. We’re going into town.”
Charles glanced up from the game of jacks he had spread over the kitchen floor. Nora had stepped on two already this morning. “I don’t wanna go.” He stuck out his lower lip.
“That matter is not up for discussion. All four of you are coming.” Nora tied her bonnet’s ribbon under her chin before bending down to do the same for Alice.
James swiped Charles’s ball as it bounced up in the air. “Our real momma didn’t make us go to town. She didn’t make us do anything we didn’t want to do.”
Nora suppressed a very unladylike snort. “I doubt that very much. I’m sure she made you eat your green beans and scrub behind your ears.”
“No she didn’t.” William scooped up all of Charles’s jacks.
“Hey, give my stuff back.”
Nora stomped her foot. “That is enough from all of you. We are going into town. I don’t care what your mother did or did not make you do. I have some business there, and as I can’t trust you out of my sight for a second, you’ll be coming with me.”
Maude’s weak voice floated down the stairs. “Hush up, all of you. How is a woman supposed to nurse a headache with all that hullabaloo?”
“If you behave yourselves, you’ll get a peppermint stick from the store. That’s our last stop. And only if you mind me without complaint.” Though the tactic smacked of bribery, if it worked for Mrs. Turnbull, Nora was willing to give it a try.
With the carrot dangling in front of them, the boys grabbed their hats and ran to hitch Mercy to the wagon. Nora came behind them, holding Alice by the hand. “Why would anyone call a horse by such a name?”
“Charles told me. When Daddy brought him home, Momma said, ‘Mercy, mercy, mercy.’ ”
Nora chuckled. The ride to town passed in a peaceable manner. Mrs. Turnbull was right. These children would do anything for a piece of candy. That was a nugget of information she would have to keep tucked away.
Sweat ran in rivulets down Nora’s back by the time they arrived in the speck of a town. At least Virginia had trees to shade a person from the unrelenting heat. The open prairie held no such respite from the sun. “First stop, the parsonage.” With little trouble, Nora found the white house with blue shutters where the pastor and his wife resided.
She reined the team to a halt and climbed down.
“Morning, Mrs. Green.”
Josiah stood in front of her, hat in his hands. Was he even bowing slightly? “Good day, Mr. Abbott. I was just about to pay a call on the Mileses.”
“What for?”
She pulled an envelope from the pocket of her violet-sprigged cotton gown. “Mr. Yates forgot to pay the preacher for performing the wedding ceremony. I offered to bring it in, but I do have an ulterior motive for being here.”
Josiah raised his eyebrows. “What might that be?”
“Well, I didn’t want to say anything in front of Wade, but I did go to the play the other night. Don’t worry, Mrs. Turnbull came and watched the children. She even lent me her brooch and her buggy. I spoke to a man there.” She fanned her face. “He played the jester but never took off his mask. I’d like to find him.”
Josiah’s face turned redder than a ripe strawberry. “Well, you can’t speak to the pastor right now. He’s…he’s…uh, he’s taking a nap.”
“At nine o’clock in the morning?”
“Ah, you see, that is, he gets up very early in the morning for prayers and study. So he’s ready to rest just about this time.”
Nora peered at him sideways. What odd behavior. “What am I supposed to do with the payment?”
Josiah snatched it from her. “I’ll make sure he
gets it, right away today, after his nap.”
“I don’t know. Wade was pretty adamant that I deliver it. Seems J. M. was supposed to pay the minister, but…” Would that one day haunt her forever?
“No worries there. Don’t you think you can trust me?”
She flashed him her I’m-not-sure-about-this-but-I’ll-go-along-with-it smile. “Fine. We also need to stop at the livery and the store. I can ask about the jester there.” Nora moved to climb aboard the wagon, but Josiah stepped in her way.
“What do you need at the livery?”
“Seems Wade didn’t bring enough money with him when he had Mercy shoed last week. I’m to pay the rest of that bill, also.”
“I can save you the trip, since I was headed over there just now myself.”
“You were? It’s in the same direction you came from.” What was going on with this man? Was there some reason he didn’t want her to be seen in town?
Josiah’s heart raced faster than a locomotive across the prairie, and sweat covered his entire body. Why did Nora insist on searching for the jester? He couldn’t let her do it. He had to keep her from asking around. Not everyone knew he played the part, but enough did. It only took one to tell the tale and ruin everything.
There had been something special between them that night. A connection he’d never experienced with anyone else. He’d never forget. Would always cherish that one, special memory. Oh, to be able to relax and be himself around her like he had then. But he couldn’t open himself up to that kind of rejection and pain.
He’d had enough of it in his life. A vision of Susanna flashed through his mind. His fiancée before he left for the war. The woman who spurned him when he returned to Virginia with one less limb.
He had to keep Nora from finding out who he was. Somehow keep Paul Wilson, the store clerk and the man who played the role of the king’s guard, from spilling his secret.
At least no one else in town other than Pastor Miles knew about his role in the mail-order bride fiasco. He’d been wise to keep that between himself and Wade. This was a whole new problem. “Let me walk you to the store.” He’d figure out how to keep her in the dark on the way.
“I thought you were going to the livery.”
“That can wait. I imagine you’ll have your hands full keeping this bunch in line while making your purchases. Unless there is something I can pick up for you?”
“Alice requires material for a new dress, and James’s pants are much too small.”
“Ah, yes, those are items you’ll have to choose for yourself. But let me accompany you.”
She sighed as the children scrambled from the wagon bed. William tugged on Josiah’s shirt. “We’re gonna be real good. Miss Nora promised us candy if we didn’t cause no trouble.”
“Glad to hear that you’ve decided to mind her.” The group of them trooped down the street and marched into the mercantile. “You’ll find the bolts of cloth over there.” Josiah pointed them out for Nora.
She busied herself with making her selections while he sauntered over to the counter where Paul Wilson stood tallying Mr. Zimmer’s bill.
“I’ll be right with you, Josiah.” Paul shoved his wire-framed glasses up his nose.
Josiah pushed by Mr. Zimmer. “Sorry for the interruption. I need to borrow Paul for just a moment. He’ll be right back, and you’ll be on your way.” He leaned over the counter, grabbed Paul by the elbow, and tugged him away from his addition problem.
“What are you doing?” Paul wrenched himself free from Josiah’s grasp. “I was with a customer. One who was here before you, I might add.”
“I need a huge, huge favor.”
“Not another one. You won’t have me writing to every confectioner in the country looking for your favorite licorice again, will you?”
“Nothing like that. A very simple favor this time.”
Paul glanced at the heavens. Or at least at the ceiling. “What?”
Josiah lowered his voice to a whisper. “Just don’t tell Miss Green that I was the jester in the play the other night.”
“Why not? You were the best part of it.”
“The jester is a fool.”
“Ah, and you don’t want to be a fool in the eyes of a beautiful, young, and from what I hear, available young woman, is that it?”
“Something like that.” The tips of his ears burned.
“No problem. She won’t hear it from me. Can’t guarantee that no one else won’t let the word slip.”
“Only you and the others involved in the production know. I want it kept that way.” Though Paul did have a point. Somehow, Josiah would have to catch each of the cast members and warn them not to say anything to Nora.
How long would he be able to keep up this charade?
Chapter 7
I can’t believe they’re giving an encore performance of the play.” Nora almost skipped across the kitchen to place the plate of fried eggs in front of Maude.
She turned up her nose. “The edges are burned, and the yolks aren’t runny.” She pushed the dish away. “You know how I like them. You have your mind too much on going to the play and not enough on what you’re doing.”
That old, familiar headache returned with a vengeance. Nora had to go, just had to. This was her one opportunity to find the jester. No one else in town knew who played the part. He was as mysterious as the yet-to-be-seen J. M. Griffin. “Please, I’d like to attend. You went last time. Why would you need to see it again?”
Maude sniffed. “Well, it certainly wasn’t as good as any of the productions we saw in Virginia, not by a long sight, but it is a way to get out of this insufferably stuffy house and away from those wretched, unruly children.”
Nora clamped her lips shut before she said something she would regret. If Maude ever got out of bed, she could step outdoors and work in the garden. And, while the children were a handful, they could be sweet and even charming if they tried. They needed a firm hand and loving arms. They needed a mother.
“It’s just for a little while. I’ll go right before it starts and come home as soon as it’s finished.” As soon as she discovered the jester’s identity.
“You’re a single woman. You can’t strut about town unaccompanied.”
“This isn’t Virginia. Things are different around here. Nothing will happen to me.”
“No, I forbid it.”
“Wade could come with me.”
Maude peered down her hawkish nose as her face turned as red as a poppy. She scraped back her chair. “Are you after my husband? So jealous of me because yours doesn’t want to have anything to do with you? Absolutely not. You stay away from him. If I so much as catch you looking at him, I’ll cast you out of this house so fast, it will make a train look like a turtle.” With her skirts swishing, Maude swept out of the room.
“You wouldn’t, because then you’d be left alone with the children.” Lucky for Nora, Maude was too far out of the room to hear her whispered words.
She sat in a chair with a thunk, the cold eggs staring back at her. What had become of her life? How could she ever meet anyone, fall in love, and escape Maude’s crushing thumb if she couldn’t leave the house?
The back door swung open, and Josiah entered the kitchen, a grin across his round, boyish face. “Morning, Mrs. Green.”
“Good morning,” she mumbled, unable to find the strength to speak out loud.
He pulled out a chair and sat across the table from her. “You look like your favorite kitten died.”
She sighed and wrung the corner of her apron. “Almost as bad. Maude has been on a tirade, all because I asked if I might go to the play’s encore performance. I don’t wish to complain, because she and Wade have been so good to take me in, but one night out would do me a world of good.”
“You’re a godsend to Wade. He’s told me so on more than one occasion. Without you, he’d be no better off than before, except he’d have someone else to have to care for. Maude may not be appreciative, but Wade sure
is.”
A warmth spread through Nora’s middle. “Thank you. That’s just what I needed to hear at this moment.”
He patted her hand, his own cool and work-roughened. Tingles shot up her arm, much like they had when the jester touched her. He, too, had calloused fingers. Could it be? No, most of the men in the area worked hard on their plantations. Many of them had fought in the war. That would toughen any hands.
His features softened. “Nora, I…” And then he jerked his hand away and sat back.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just, well, never mind. I’ve taken too much of your time. Have a good day.”
He stood. Winced. Stumbled.
She hurried to him and grabbed him by the elbow to steady him. “Are you hurt? Sit down. Let me help you.”
He trembled beneath her touch. “No, no, let me go.”
She did as he asked. Why was he leaving in such a hurry? But, more intriguing, why had he come in the first place?
Once again, Josiah stood behind the curtain on the small stage, waiting for his entrance cue. Another chance to play the jester.
He performed the part well the other day in front of Nora. When he stood, his stump pained him, as it did from time to time. The sensation caught him off guard. But he didn’t want to let her know. Refused to tell her what was wrong. He’d worked so hard and long to hide his wooden leg, practicing until what was left of his real leg bled so that he could walk without a limp.
All to no avail. Susanna never got over the sight of him missing a limb. Nora never would either.
The king spoke his cue, and Josiah entered the stage. Even as he stumbled around and played the part, he scanned the audience. Wade and Maude were there, so Nora must not be. Good. How could he face her after that embarrassing incident, even with the mask hiding his identity?
Wait. There she was, in that brown gown that highlighted the red in her auburn hair. Like last time, she stood in the back of the room, pressed against the wall, casting furtive glances at Wade and Maude every few minutes.