by Merry Farmer
“Are we ready to begin?” she asked.
“I am if you are,” Howard answered.
“Let’s get a move on,” Ginny echoed.
Carl Brannon, who had come back with his son, Deno, nodded to them both. “Well, I won’t ask to borrow Mrs. Piedmont’s revolver today, but on your mark, get set, go!”
The first half hour of Alice being in charge of a crew of five men building a fence was spent working with them to strategize how best to clean up the mess that had been made yesterday. Jarvis and his crew were in the exact same boat. They had to reorganize the supplies and figure out which portions of the fence could be kept and which needed to be entirely rebuilt. As his men set to work getting things back to where they needed to be, Jarvis kept a sharp eye on Alice.
She was beautiful. Even hard at work, with her sleeves rolled up and a dowdy old bonnet covering her hair and shading her face, she was the most dazzling sight he had ever seen. Guilt and contentment waged a war in his chest over everything they’d done the night before. He was stupid to have let himself get carried away so completely, but from the moment she’d started stroking him, he knew he would lose control. It didn’t matter how many times he tried to scold and berate himself for it, the intensity of Alice’s reaction and the pleasure he was able to give her wiped away any sense of wrongdoing. It wasn’t wrong when the two of them were so right together.
On the other hand, he wasn’t about to shirk his responsibilities. He watched Alice intently as she motioned to two of Howard’s men as to where she wanted the next bit of fence to be built, and then as she carried one of the heavy rails to the spot herself. She’d run off so fast last night after hearing those noises that Jarvis hadn’t had a chance to drop to one knee and pledge his life to her. He wasn’t sure if he had scared her, in the end. He really had lost control and made love to her like a starving man at a feast.
His chance to set things right came when both crews stopped work for lunch. Hattie was in charge of the refreshment wagon now, and when she arrived and served up plates of fried chicken, potatoes, and corn, everyone took a plate and found a spot in the shade to eat. Jarvis strode right up to Alice’s side as she was fixing her plate, took it from her, and carried it to the foot of a small tree away from the others.
“I didn’t ask you to carry that for me,” she scolded him once he’d taken a seat.
“You didn’t have to ask,” he smiled. He set the plate on his lap and patted the ground beside him, inviting her to sit.
For a moment, Alice chewed her lip, but seeing as her eyes only flickered to his and spent far more time focused on the plate piled with food, Jarvis figured hunger would win in the end.
He was right. Alice let out a breath and sat beside him, reaching for her plate and digging in.
He let her eat for a few minutes before saying, “You ran off so fast last night that I didn’t have a chance to say a few things.”
Her cheeks splashed pink as she worked her way around a corn cob. She reached the end of a row, swallowed, and said, “I’m not sure there’s anything to say.”
“There are a hundred things to say,” he contradicted her, taking a bite of his chicken.
Alice took advantage of his full mouth to shake her head and say, “Last night was a mistake. I got carried away. We both did. I think I just missed the feeling of a man’s arms around me.”
That admission filled him with a strange mix of uncertainty and pride.
“I’d be happy to remind you what that feels like any time you need it,” he said, body already heating at the implications. “In fact, I’d like to remind you on a regular, official basis.”
That wasn’t exactly how he’d intended to propose, but if she took him up on it….
But no, her expression sank to something anxious and wary.
“Don’t think that you have to do something noble because we slipped in a moment of passion,” she said. “I’m… I’m not some ignorant young miss who has never experienced those sorts of things. I’m a widow, which means I’ve… done things.”
Jarvis arched an eyebrow. “You’ve done things like that before?” The only thing that stopped the stab of jealousy in his chest was the logic that she probably hadn’t had the opportunity before.
“Well, not that.” She confirmed his suspicions, but wouldn’t meet his eyes. “My point is that you don’t have any sort of responsibility to make things right.”
“Of course I do,” he chuckled. She was so sweet in her modesty, but if she didn’t start giving herself permission to really live soon, he might have to do something drastic. More drastic than he’d already done in the barn.
“Jarvis.” Alice sighed. “You have no idea how much I value your friendship and how grateful I am for everything you’ve done for me.”
“But?”
“But I keep telling you, I’m not ready. I don’t know if I’ll ever be.”
He took his time, finishing his corn and then setting his plate aside to turn to her.
“I keep telling you that I’ll wait until you are ready,” he began. “Last night, you were ready. Very ready. If you truly weren’t, none of that would have happened.”
“I know, but—” She stopped and blinked, as though listening to the words she’d actually spoken. Then she shook her head. “I don’t know what it is, but something is holding me back.”
He wanted to ask what it was, to find a way to fix it or crush it, whichever would be best for Alice. But none of that would have worked. This was her battle to fight. The best he could do was to say, “Do you think Harry wants you to be happy?”
The question caught her off-guard and she flinched. Her usual blush faded.
“I don’t know,” she said and stood. “We have work to do.”
Jarvis clenched his jaw, wondering if he’d just made a big mistake, and watched her leave. They did have work to do. Some of them more than others. If only helping Alice break through whatever was holding her back was as simple as hauling rails and building fences. He wasn’t going to figure out how to help her if he hounded her, though.
The mood among the men in the afternoon was better than it had been the day before. They seemed to think Alice was an amusing diversion at first as she asked questions and pitched in, and eventually took over Howard’s fence-builders, just like she said she would. But after lunch, as she hauled rails and lifted sections of fence right along with the best of them, that amusement turned to admiration.
“That’s some fine woman you got there,” John nodded across the stream at Alice when he and Jarvis paused to wipe their sweating faces on their sleeves.
“She’s fine, all right.” Jarvis smiled with pride, both because of the effort Alice was putting into the competition and because John had just called her his. “She’s tougher than she looks and tougher than she thinks she is.”
He was proven right a few seconds later. A loud rip sounded, followed by a quick gasp from Alice.
“What? What happened?” Franklin asked, rushing forward from where he’d been leaning against a tree, watching the progress with a sullen expression.
“It’s nothing,” Alice told him, lifting the end of the rail she’d been carrying along with another of Howard’s workers. “I only ripped my dress.”
“That’s awful,” Franklin protested. “You should stop this nonsense at once and go sit in the shade, or better yet, go back to the house.”
To her credit, Alice barely acknowledged him. All she said was, “I’m sorry I ripped your sister’s dress. I’ll find some way to make it up to her.” She moved on with her work.
John chuckled and slapped Jarvis on the back. “At least you don’t have to worry about the competition.”
“Not that competition,” Jarvis agreed.
The fence competition was another matter. They’d done most of the cleaning up work in the morning, and as afternoon wore on, they were back to racing to build new sections. The finish line was still half a mile away, but the men worked with every int
ention of getting there first. They were neck-in-neck for the most part. Until supplies began to run low.
“Where’s Micah with the next wagon of rails?” Jarvis asked late in the afternoon, straightening and stretching his back. They were down to their last half dozen rails, which wouldn’t take them far.
“He was supposed to be back fifteen minutes ago,” John said with a shrug.
“Maybe he got lost on the way,” Franklin called across from where he now sat in the back of Hattie’s refreshment wagon.
The way he perched there with a smug grin as he sipped lemonade didn’t sit right with Jarvis. He had the look of a kid who was waiting for the teacher to open her desk drawer to find the frog he’d hidden there. There was nothing Jarvis could do about it.
They worked for another ten minutes with what they had, until the sound of hoof beats caught Jarvis’s attention. He glanced up to find Micah galloping toward them on the back of one of Ginny’s horses.
“What are you doing?” John asked.
As Micah slowed his horse, he said, “You’re never going to believe this. I loaded up the wagon with rails and got about ten feet out of the yard when the axel broke.”
His news was greeted with swearing and complaints from the other men on Ginny’s crew. Even Alice and her crew paused what they were doing to check on their adversaries.
“It broke?” Jarvis asked. His back itched with suspicion.
That suspicion only grew when he checked on Franklin, only to find him still sitting in the refreshment wagon, trying hard not to laugh.
“Broke clean through,” Micah went on. “That’s what gets me. When I say ‘clean’ through, I mean like someone sawed almost all the way through the axel so that all it took was a little jostling for the whole thing to snap.”
A loud snigger escaped from Franklin. A couple of Ginny’s men heard it and glared at him. Warning bells sounded in Jarvis’s mind.
“That’s awful,” Alice said, crossing the stream to join them.
“That’s sabotage, ma’am,” John told her, swiping his hat off his head to show her respect.
Jarvis let out half a breath of relief. At least Ginny’s men wouldn’t blame Alice.
Alice shook her head. “Howard would never let something like that happen.”
“He would if he didn’t know about it,” an older man from Howard’s side called Isaac murmured to Alice, loud enough for everyone to hear. Isaac glanced behind him at Franklin.
Alice followed his gaze. She frowned, pursing her lips. “He wouldn’t,” she said in a voice that said she thought he had.
“What’s the matter?” Franklin called to them from his perch in the wagon, looking entirely too pleased with himself. “No rails? Well isn’t that a shame.” He turned to those of Howard’s men who were still working. “Looks like we’re going to pull ahead, boys.”
Three of those men laughed along with Franklin, as if they didn’t mind his shenanigans. Alice huffed out a breath, and Isaac shook his head.
“That’s cheating.” Ginny’s man dropped what he was doing and came over to join the group in the space between the fences.
“Who are you accusing of cheating?” one of Howard’s men who had laughed said. He dropped what he was doing and marched to stand toe-to-toe with Ginny’s man.
In a flash, everyone left what they were doing and charged into the space between the fences.
“Cheaters!” The accusation flew from one man to another, and in seconds half the men were roiling with fury.
Accusations of cheating quickly devolved into name-calling.
“This is the stupidest idea anyone here has ever had,” one man yelled.
“I got better thing to do with my time than soothing some old bag’s hurt feelings,” another of Howard’s men shouted.
Jarvis had half a mind to find him and pummel him for insulting Ginny. He didn’t get a chance.
“You chicken, Larry?” one of Ginny’s men challenged the insulter.
“Like hell I am,” Larry shouted back.
A few of the men rolled up their sleeves and made fists, threatening the other side. Franklin stood in the back of the wagon, laughing as if the whole thing were a comedy staged for his benefit. Hattie danced from foot to foot, flustered and anxious.
Alice pushed her way into the middle of it all, trying to calm men on both sides.
“It’s just a prank,” she assured one of Ginny’s men. “A childish prank. Don’t let it get the better of you.”
When one of Howard’s men started toward the man she was trying to soothe, she turned and held a hand out to him.
“You’re a fine worker, Tom, and you shouldn’t let a trick like this bother you.” She told him.
Jarvis was ready to jump to her defense or drag her away from whatever fight seemed like it would inevitably take hold. He shoved his way through Isaac and John, who were about ready to spit in each other’s eyes, to get to Alice’s side. By the time he made it there, though, Alice already had things well in hand.
“Please, gentlemen, settle down,” she shouted above the din of arguing and posturing.
Whether it was because she was a lady or because it was such a shock to hear her raise her voice, the grumbling and grousing settled. Once the men piped down to listen to her, all that could be heard was Franklin laughing and snorting. That was almost enough to start the whole thing over, but once again, Alice took charge.
“Franklin.” She turned and shouted at him like a schoolmarm about to scold a wily prankster. “You’re not helping the situation. Go home.”
Franklin shut up so fast Jarvis thought he might lose his balance. His mirth changed to anger.
“Who are you to tell me what to do?” he snapped.
“I’m the woman your father put in charge,” she answered without hesitation. “Go home.”
That only made Franklin angrier.
“I don’t have to listen to you,” he said, jumping down from the wagon, like a boy half his age. “If you can’t take a joke, then you deserve what you get.” He sniffed, lifted his chin, then stomped off.
“Good riddance,” someone muttered.
Jarvis couldn’t tell if it was one of Ginny’s men or one of Howard’s, but everyone seemed to agree. Franklin sulked over to where his horse was tied, closer to the point where they’d started the day’s work, then mounted, kicked its flanks, and rode off.
“Well I’ll be,” Isaac said to Alice. “The pipsqueak actually listened to you.”
A few of the others laughed. A few continued to grumble. The fight may have been avoided, but the mood was far from cozy.
“I tell you what,” Jarvis said, stepping even closer to Alice’s side. “Let’s call it a day.”
“You’re just saying that because you’re out of supplies and we stand to get ahead,” one of Howard’s men who had initially laughed at Franklin’s prank said.
“You want a taste of this?” Micah offered the man his fist.
“Gentlemen.” Alice held out her hands to settle them. “I think quitting for the day is a good idea. It’s nearly quitting time anyhow. We need to get to the bottom of this before we go on.”
“There’s no bottom to get to,” one of Howard’s men barked.
“Says the cheater,” one of Ginny’s men answered.
“If we quit now,” John said, “who’s to say there won’t be more cheating?”
“Yeah,” a couple of men echoed.
“Who’s to say your side won’t retaliate?” Isaac added.
“Yeah,” a few more men shouted.
“I told you this whole thing was stupid,” another man said, and in an instant, the group bubbled over with complaints and threats again.
The fight they’d avoided seemed likely to come back. Jarvis exchanged a glance with Alice. She looked as put out as he’d ever seen her. He couldn’t help but feel like he’d created a monster. It was up to him to do something.
“All right, all right,” he shouted over the top of eve
ryone, holding up his hands to silence then.
Slowly, the men all settled, and Jarvis was able to go on.
“How about this,” he began. “I agree with Mrs. Porter that we should call it a day.”
A few people mumbled in agreement.
“I’m as worried as the next man about cheating,” he went on. “So I’ll volunteer to sleep out here tonight to make sure no one interferes with the work we’ve done.”
“But you’re on Mrs. Piedmont’s side,” Isaac complained. “How do we know you won’t cheat?”
Frustration coiled in Jarvis’s gut as a few men agreed with him. He weighed the possibility of just letting a fight break out so he could punch some people in the nose.
“I’ll stay the night out here too,” Alice piped up. Her declaration brought Jarvis’s frustration to a screeching halt, along with the rest of the conversation. “Jarvis is Mrs. Piedmont’s crew leader,” she reasoned, “and I’m Mr. Haskell’s team leader. It seems cut and dry to me.”
“But… but you’re a woman,” Micah pointed out.
“So?” Alice stood straighter, staring down any of the men who looked like they might protest.
Jarvis didn’t know whether to kiss her or protest along with the rest of the men. The only thing that kept him silent was the prospect of sleeping out under the stars with Alice close by. That would help the other task that he found himself racing to complete. That would help him win her.
“All right,” Alice conceded at last. “We’ll ask Mr. Brannon or one of his sons to sleep out with us tonight too. That way the leader from each side and a neutral party will keep watch to make sure there’s no cheating.”
Most of the men hummed and murmured in agreement. Jarvis couldn’t help but be disappointed. It would be that much harder for him to spend time alone with Alice if a third man slept out there with him. Still, it was better than nothing.
Enough of the workers from both sides agreed to the idea that it went forward. As they all headed back to their sides of the stream and gathered their things to return home for the night, Jarvis slid closer to Alice.
“You sure you want to sleep out?” he asked her.
She turned to him with a look that would have laid him flat if he were a lesser man.