by Annie Lane
Speaking of which...
Earl had seemed to find a reason to visit the Ackerman ranch more than he stayed away these last few weeks. Beth couldn’t quite put her finger on it. A cup of rice one day ... a misplaced book the next. When he wasn’t desperate for eggs or in dire need of fresh parsley for a stew, he was returning tools he’d borrowed so many years ago Thomas had forgotten they were even his in the first place.
Beth fell more enamored with Junior with every visit and she dreaded the day when she’d have to say goodbye once and for all. Junior felt much the same way. He’d bonded with Beth in a way he’d never expected. He loved her with all his heart and it made his eyes brim over with tears every time he thought of her boarding that train and leaving their lives forever.
Not once on these visits did Earl speak to Beth though, making himself scarce as soon as she entered the room or stepped out into the fields, but his eyes never failed to find hers and when they did, just for that briefest of moments, a current ran through each of them, yanking at their hearts and tugging at their senses until there was nothing left to do but break the stare and go their own separate ways again.
Today was no exception.
Earl pulled his horse to a stop right outside Thomas's stables and let him drink there a while before he fixed the reins. Junior swung his leg over the back and jumped straight off in one clean movement. Earl couldn’t help but be impressed by the boy’s natural ability. He’d make a fine horseman some day.
“Here, take this flour inside for Miss Charlotte. Tell her there were only a few bags left on the shelf so I picked her up an extra just in case.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Junior’s arms dropped with the weight of the bag and he shuffled his feet toward the house, calling out as loud as he could before he spilled the thing completely, “Hey, Miss Beth, you home? My Pa bought you flour.”
Earl cringed. He ducked his head and scurried toward his son, whispering in the most worried of voices, “Noooo ... why would ya...” He only just managed to catch the back of Junior’s shirt, but not before the front door swung open and Beth stood right there in the middle of the doorway, looking as beautiful as he’d ever seen her. Like she’d just stepped straight out of a salon with her hair all pinned up into place on one side of her head. Her hourglass figure — accentuated by the dress she wore and the apron cinched tight around her waist — made Earl’s mouth dry and he could barely swallow as he took in the perfect view.
“Hey, Miss Beth,” squealed Junior, always pleased to be in her company “Look what we got for ya. My Pa bought it especially so’s ya got an extra bag. We ran out last week but he didn’t think to get us any...” Junior suddenly scrunched up his face, completely confused.
Beth took in the unusual picture before her and then exhaled.
Flour. The boy had said flour.
She’d thought for one split second that Earl had bought her a bouquet of flowers, and while a sense of hope bubbled up through the despair, she was as relieved as she was disappointed to find it simply wasn’t the case. Flowers weren’t all that special to her anyway, so if Earl was trying to win her over with some grand gesture, a bouquet of dead plants uprooted from the ground wasn’t the way to go about it.
Earl forced himself to look at Beth. He only permitted it once a day and although it was something he so often found himself looking forward to, it was also something that completely gutted him once it was over. “Sorry ‘bout all the shoutin’, the boy’s easily excited is all.”
“That’s fine, thank you for the flour.” Beth took the bag from Junior and nodded politely. “Will there be anything else?”
With all his might, Earl tried to think of something else, something that might extend his stay, but just at that moment Grace’s beautiful face popped into his mind again and the guilt of it all washed through him like rainwater through a ravine. He just couldn’t win. “No, I guess we’ll be heading off home now.”
“Good day, Mr.Mason.”
Beth knew she was being short with the man, but for the life of her she couldn’t work out why he was stopping by so often — it wasn’t like his intentions had changed any or he suddenly had a world of conversation to offer — so she really had no choice but to protect herself and keep things brief. She put her hand on the timber door and began to close it over. Keeping her guard up was a coping mechanism. One she’d learned from a very early age. Earl Mason had hurt her once before, worse than any other man ever had and no matter how badly she wanted him to notice her, to fall in love with her and tell her he couldn’t live another day without her by his side ... she wasn’t about to be made a fool of again.
Junior swiftly slipped through the small gap left between Beth’s body and the solid timber frame. He wrapped his arms around Beth’s middle and held her there for the longest time, squeezing her tight and nuzzling his face against her stomach. “Can I please stay for a while? Please, Miss Beth? Thomas told me that once you’re done sweeping up Zeke’s floor mustaches and washing all the hair cutlery, then you’ll just disappear ... poof ... like magic!”
Earl’s eyes twitched. He dared to glimpse Beth’s way for a second time. It was dangerous territory. He knew once he started doing it he’d never want to stop. “Is that true? I got the impression you’d be stayin’ put with the Ackerman’s a while. Why ya quittin’ ya job so soon, you only just started?”
Beth shrugged her slim shoulders. “I’m not quitting, Mr. Mason. It was never a permanent arrangement to begin with. I arrived under false pretenses, so as soon as I’ve earned enough money to make the journey back home again, I’ll be leaving.”
Regret washed through every inch of Earl’s body. He couldn’t stand the thought of causing someone so much pain, and pain was what he could see shining clear in Beth’s eyes. He wanted more than anything else for Beth’s home to be in Conrad with him and Junior, but he didn’t know how to tell her that yet. He just needed more time. “Where will you stay when you get back to Seattle?”
“I’ll work something out.”
“What will you do for employment?”
Growing tired of the questions, Beth grunted, “How is that any of your business, Mr. Mason?”
“I was just asking ... no need to get snippy about it.”
Beth closed her eyes briefly to calm herself down. Having a conversation with this man without getting into an argument seemed near impossible and she wasn’t in the mood to fight. There was relish to make and bottles to boil and ribbons to tie into pretty country bows. “Like I said, Mr. Mason ... is there anything else I can do for you today? I’m needed in the kitchen and don’t have time to waste with idle chitchat.”
Earl took a step forward then, deliberately narrowing the space between them. He couldn’t stand it any longer. He wanted to see Beth’s reaction to his closeness. He needed to know if she felt the same way about him. If she didn’t ... then he would simply walk away and bury his blossoming feelings right along with the rest of him, but if she did, well that was another story all together.
Right as his chest moved up into her personal space, a quick breath pulled between Beth’s lips and her eyes set to fluttering in a way Earl knew wasn’t normal. The bright flush of her cheeks told him more than any word she’d ever said before. “Why don’t you ever call me by my first name?”
“Pardon?” asked Beth, a little giddy. The man was standing so close to her now that she could feel the heat radiating from his body. “I’m not sure what you mean?”
“You never call me by my first name. It’s always Mr. Mason or sour sack or abomination.” Earl smiled then in a teasing way and rested both hands on the doorway beside Beth’s face. He had an overwhelming urge to snatch her up in his arms and never let her go. He wanted nothing more than to tell her the truth. To explain in explicit detail just how much he’d grown to care for her and how badly he wanted her to stay. “Once in a while it wouldn’t hurt for you to just call me by my Christian name.”
Beth sighed. “I do
n’t really see the point in that, Mr. Mason. Once I’m gone I doubt I’ll ever think of you again. Or you, me for that matter.”
Junior wriggled his way between the two bodies and looked up, first at his father and then over at Beth, his eyes wide in anticipation of what was about to happen. He really wanted his Pa to kiss Miss Beth in that moment, square on the lips, the sort of kiss that husband’s give their wives. The sort of kiss that makes one’s eyes shut and their mouths pop open a little ... but he knew that wasn’t about to happen. Good manners wouldn’t allow it and his Pa was a stickler for good manners.
“Pa, Can I please stay a while ... I won’t be a bother and I’ll help with whatever chores need doing?”
Beth was the first to break the spell. She took a small step backwards, leaving Earl instantly cold in her absence. “We’re making relish this afternoon. I’d be delighted to have you join us, Junior, but it’s up to your father.” Her eyes met eyes so warm, so pleading, so expressive that it took all the willpower Beth contained not to melt into a puddle right there on the floor and beg him to marry her. “I really enjoy spending time with Junior, and I’ll miss him terribly when I leave. May he visit a while ... Earl?”
The way Beth’s lips wrapped around his name made Earl’s head spin. He’d never reacted in such a way to his own name before, but the sound it coming from Beth’s mouth, all musical and sweet and angelic like, made the dizzy feeling more intense. “But ... uh, but it’s going to be dark soon and he doesn’t have a jacket.”
Beth sighed. “It’s hardly cold this evening. Besides, if the weather changes I’ll make sure he stays warm.”
“I don’t know ... I’ll have to come back out to collect him later.” Earl rubbed his furrowed brow. “I don’t have time to be making trip after trip over here.”
“Oh, really?” Beth offered the smallest of smiles in return. Self-righteous as it was, she just couldn’t help herself. “It seems you’ve found plenty of time every other day this week. Can’t seem to keep away from the place from what I can tell.”
“You’ve noticed my whereabouts then?”
“Don’t flatter yourself Mr. Mason. If it’s such a problem I’ll walk Junior home myself.”
“And who’ll walk you back?”
“I’m perfectly capable of walking a few acres by myself. I’ve been alone my whole life so I’m pretty sure a few more miles won’t kill me. I’ve been knocked down time and time again and I’ve learned how to bounce right up again.”
“Alright he can stay ... but on one condition.” Earl wanted to pat himself on the back for his quick thinking. “I’ll walk you home once he’s safely tucked away into bed."
His thoughts drifted to a possible detour. A stroll over by the creek; it was pretty over that way when the moon was shining.
Beth sighed, but Earl cut short the unspoken dispute he knew was coming. “What kind of man would I be to let a lady walk about after dark? It’s not safe ‘round these parts. Don’t know what sort of critters are lurking around.”
Chapter 19
Charlotte Ackerman was up to her armpits in syrupy, messy, horrible tasting ... yellow goop.
The small town of Conrad was all aquiver with excitement. The inaugural Harvest Bazaar had been set for a fortnight’s time and Charlotte understood expectations of her relish were high. She’d heard on the grapevine that this year’s apple chutney entry was looking set to be one of the finest batches ever produced.
The kitchen had been transformed into a production line of military precision, Charlotte barking orders at Beth, Thomas and Junior – More sugar! Too much sugar! Why’s it so runny? What are the brown bits? This is ridiculous!
A sea of yellow covered every surface, dribbling down onto the floor and seeping into the crevices between the floor boards. When Rosy stuck her head through the side door, her snout twitching in the hope of a tasty reward, Charlotte threw her hands up in the air and finally surrendered.
“Might as well come join the party Rosy, I give up. It’s impossible.”
Rosy scurried inside then and set about cleaning the place up in a matter of seconds.
Thomas recoiled as he licked his fingers. He refused to let Charlotte notice, but they weren’t quite as delicious as he might have hoped. Instead they were sour almost, like sucking on a lemon, but he wasn’t about to mention that to his wife. She’d been slogging away for over a week trying to perfect the recipe and she was still no closer to getting it right. Beth, for the most part, tried to just stand back and watch.
She knew Charlotte too well.
Charlotte had always been stubborn and was about as competitive as anyone Beth knew. But the vanquished expression on Charlotte’s face — as she wiped her cheek with the back of her hand and blew her bangs up off her forehead with an exhausted breath — said it might be time to wave the white flag and accept some help.
“Give me a look at that thing,” said Beth, pacing across the room to swipe the recipe from the window sill. The late afternoon sun shone through the back of it and lit the words so as they looked like poetry right there on the page. “I’ll be gone before they know what’s happened, so what’s a little tomfoolery between friends? I’ll make you up a batch of the finest Thanksgiving Day relish these parts have ever seen. We’ll put your name to it and no one will ever know the difference.”
Her eyes darted seriously around the room, landing first on Thomas, then on Charlotte, and then on Junior – and she pointed a finger at each of them in turn. “Not a word leaves this room.” Rosy grunted then as her long tongue took one almighty swipe right up over her nose and Beth didn’t take any chances. “That goes for you too, pork chop.”
Junior burst out laughing, but not one thing about the situation did Beth find amusing.
She swiped a bucket from the floor and shoved it firmly into Thomas's chest. “You ... more corn, now!”
She turned to Charlotte and pointed at the pantry. “Bring me all your spices and some raisins, yes I said raisins.”
Snatching an apron from behind the door, Beth glanced at Junior. “You come with me. Time to measure out the vinegar. Things just got serious.”
Chapter 20
The first blood curdling scream filled the valley right on dusk.
Earl jumped at the sound, dropping his pipe to the ground as he raced to the window and peered out. The twilight sun cast an eerie shadow across the glass and he couldn’t make out where the sound had come from at first, but he knew for sure it was a woman crying out in pain and didn’t waste more time trying to work it out.
His heart leapt up into his throat and he flew through the front door with such strength that it near snapped clean in two. Taking the stairs with one almighty leap, he landed on the ground with a thud and stumbled over his own feet a few times before he found his footing again and raced around across to the barn. Why he thought he’d need his rifle he wasn’t sure, but Earl Mason had a strong instinct when it came to matters of danger and he decided that today wasn’t going to be the day he chose to ignore it. It’d never let him down before so he wasn’t about to play devil’s advocate now.
Earl loaded the gun and snapped the barrel together in one clean movement. He tucked it tight under one arm and then hurried back outside, racing across the paddock toward the urgent shouts for help that echoed across the basin.
Earl narrowed his eyes in one direction only.
The creek.
Off in the distance he could make out two murky shapes hunched together on top of a rise, but the long grass hindered his view some. There was no denying who it was though ... it was Beth and Junior. Earl raced over the rocky gorge. His legs moved as fast as he could force them too and for a split second he considered turning back to get Lightning, but that would only waste more precious time.
With icy veins and sweaty brow, Earl didn’t stop once until he skidded across the last few inches of land and slid on his backside all the way into the two crumpled bodies writhing around on the ground.
“Junior!” he screamed, desperately shaking the boy’s body. The most colossal sense of relief rushed through him when Junior jumped to his feet and wiped his eyes. He was sobbing but seemed otherwise unharmed. “Don’t let her die, please Pa.” Junior panted the words out desperately. “Please ... please don’t let Miss Beth die.”
Shocked more than anything else, Earl finally steadied himself and looked down. Beth was near passed out on the ground, but he scooped her up into his arms and supported her head, whispering words into her ear that she’d never remember. She was still crying and whimpering like her life depended on it, but the shrill sound from earlier had lessened some and now her voice was growing weaker with every passing breath.
“What happened, Junior?” he asked frantically, running his eyes over his son, who, thank goodness,looked to be perfectly well. Through the hysteria of Junior’s tears, and his trying to climb up onto his father’s back, all the while twisting and turning like he was frantically looking for something, Earl finally calmed the boy down enough so that he might make sense of his blubbering.
“Take a deep breath and start slow ... I need you to be the brave boy your Ma asked you to be and tell me exactly what happened.” Just then Beth groaned and her eyes clouded over like she was about to lose consciousness. It was too much for Earl to bear. “Hurry up. Tell me what happened?”
“We was … Miss Beth was walking me home and I was just showin’ her how good I can skim them rocks in the creek … and then … next thing I know she’s tellin’ me to stand back. See the grass is taller this side … and I didn’t see it, Pa. I know ya always teach me to be careful, but I just didn’t see it lying there, Pa.”
“See what?”
“A Prairie rattlesnake, Pa! Looked like one of them tigers on the back and all scaly and brown … and when it reared its ugly head and took a swipe at my leg, Miss Beth jumped right in front of me. She threw herself on the ground and shoved me clean out of the way. That’s when the snake braced itself again and bit her. Got her a beauty right on the forearm and she went down like a sack of spuds.”