All thoughts of marrying Douglas vanished when Tyler entered the back door. Her breath caught in her throat. His hair was a mass of unruly curls that he raked his fingers through to brush back from his sky-colored eyes. He grinned as if they were intimate friends, and her gaze paused on his lips as fond memories of what a mere kiss from them could do to her resolve. It would take a lifetime to grow weary of looking at his handsome face.
“The buggy is ready when you are.”
Adelaide handed him a basket. “Where did you sleep last night?”
“The Red Pony Tavern,” Tyler and Cory echoed.
“I see you have your stories straight.”
“I have the fleas to prove it,” Tyler remarked. “If Edward wasn’t staying at Darrow Falls Inn, I’d sleep there. The beds are cleaner.”
Adelaide turned to Cory. “Is Mr. Raymond taking you to the picnic?”
“One of his students delivered a note.” Cory glanced at Tyler. “He was needed at the college and will meet me later on the square.” Cory finished loading her basket. “Any sign of Clyde or Buck?”
“No, and that’s bad,” Tyler remarked. “I hope Noah and Tess are all right.”
“Can’t help them by worrying,” Adelaide said. “We can find out about Edward and his men from Paula. She’ll know when they left the inn and what direction they took.”
“Is Mrs. Stone part of the Underground Railroad?”
She frowned. “First rule of the Underground Railroad is not to ask.”
****
The games were already under way when Cory, Tyler, and Adelaide arrived at the town square. Cory’s family gathered around the buggy.
“How are you feeling, Addy?” Maureen asked.
“Show me to a shady tree with the other old people, and I’ll be fine,” Adelaide replied.
“The men are bringing out the benches from the church.”
“Miss Adelaide baked some pies for the contests,” Cory told her mother. “Where do we put them?”
“The pies for the contest go in the church,” Maureen said. “You can take mine.”
Cory grabbed the two square pie baskets.
Tyler took one, and they crossed the square to the church. The white structure was three stories high not counting the steeple where a bell signaled Sunday services or hid runaway slaves from chasers.
Pies filled the table in the foyer. The kitchen door was open. Cory saw more pies arranged on the oak table where she had dined with the Davis family the day before. She removed the pies from the baskets and placed them with the others.
On their way out, they saw two men carrying a bench down the stairs. Tyler held open the church doors. “Need any help?”
“Check upstairs.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Cory and Tyler climbed the stairs to the meeting room on the second floor. Nearly all of the benches had been removed and the pews moved along the walls. Pillars supported a balcony on the third floor above them and along the sides. The dome ceiling had a huge brass chandelier, but it was only lit when the wall sconces and stained glass windows failed to provide enough light.
The pulpit had been removed from the raised dais at the far end of the room. The band would play there for the dance later in the evening.
“Do you attend church here?” Tyler asked. “I thought all Irish were Catholic.”
“Grandma is German and Protestant, and Grandpa gave up religion a long time ago. Papa and Mama started coming here after I was born.”
“Hello!” The Reverend Davis came out of a back room. “I’m afraid there’s nothing left to remove.” He lowered his voice. “I heard you had some visitors. Are they gone?”
“Yes,” Cory answered. “Do you know where Beth is? I’d like to thank her.”
“She’s busy doing whatever needs done. No idle hands on that girl.”
Cory wanted to talk to Beth before she met with Douglas, and she didn’t want Tyler to be around for the conversation. If she wanted a husband, she could accept Douglas, but if she wanted love, she would have to gamble on whether Tyler loved her and wanted to build a future together. Her thoughts were interrupted by her three youngest sisters running into the room. Their voices echoed in the emptiness.
“I need your help, Cory!” Jules took her hand.
“What’s wrong?”
“I want to win the sack race, and you need to help me.”
Cory looked at Jess. “Why don’t you help her?”
“I can’t. I’m the competition.”
“When is this race?”
“Now,” Jules and Cass said in unison.
“I’m going to win it!” Jess didn’t wait for her sisters. Her footsteps echoed down the stairs. The door slammed.
“Help us, Cory,” Jules begged.
“Family crisis.” Cory handed him the empty baskets. “Do you mind taking them back to Mama and Miss Adelaide?”
Cory and her sisters gathered in the center of the square where about a dozen girls were lining up for the sack race. The boys had already raced. Cory searched through several burlap sacks and handed them to her sisters.
“Help me get in the bag,” Jules begged.
“Put it on the ground.” Cory helped Jules and Cass step into the sacks and pull them over their skirts.
Cass started to hop toward the starting line but tripped over the bag and fell down. Tyler picked her up in the sack and set her down on the ground. “Keep your feet together when you hop.”
“You came back?” Cory had expected him to join the men gathered around the beer wagon to talk about war and politics.
“I didn’t want to miss the fun.” He chewed on a chicken leg.
Most men had no interest in children, but she could easily see Tyler as a father who played games with his children the way he had amused Adam.
Tyler was studying her. “You want some of my chicken leg?”
“No.”
“You look hungry.”
Her hunger wasn’t for food. She opened her fan and waved the painted screen in front of her face. Cory forced her attention toward her sisters. Cass fell down, struggled to stand, and joined the others at the starting line.
A gunshot signaled the start of the race. “You’re ahead, Jess! Hold onto the sack, Cassie! Both feet together, Jules!” Cory jumped up and down like she was in a sack.
Cory grabbed Tyler’s arm when Cass tumbled. “Get up, Cassie! Get up!”
Jess had gained the lead while Jules had fallen behind. She collided with another girl and fell after Jess crossed the finish line to win.
Jules remained on the ground. “Looks like Jules is hurt,” Tyler said.
Cory was surprised he already knew her sisters’ names.
“She’s crying,” he said.
“She’s the dramatic one.”
“Are you going to ignore her?” His frantic tone made her smile. Other men thought her sisters were pests. And they were most of the time, but they were her sisters. She loved them. A good husband would love them, too. Now she had to convince Tyler he’d make a good husband.
“I’ll take care of Jules,” she said. “See if you can untangle Cass from her bag.”
Cory led Jules to the blanket near the bench where Adelaide and Maureen were seated. “Our first casualty.”
“It hurts,” Jules complained. “Where’s Papa?”
“He’s talking politics, and all this cut needs is a little cleaning,” Maureen said.
Cory took her lace edged handkerchief from her purse.
“You’ll ruin it,” Maureen said. “Pa’s bag is in the wagon under the bench. Do you mind fetching it?”
“Where did you leave your wagon?”
“Near the Darrow Falls Inn. Pa put the horses in their pasture.”
“Might want to see if anyone is missing the festivities,” Adelaide said. “Paula said the two chasers headed north before dawn, but Edward is still in town.”
Cory headed toward the inn. She saw Edward smoking a cigar whi
le he watched the celebration from a distance.
Tyler joined her. “What are we going to do for fun now?”
“After I fetch Papa’s bag, I’m going to invite Edward to the picnic.”
He frowned. “Why would you want to do that?”
“It’ll be easier watching him on the square than trying to track him down every hour to find out what he and his chasers are doing.”
They reached the Beecher wagon. “Clyde and Buck have had plenty of time to search Adelaide’s place.” Tyler boosted Cory up, and she searched behind the seat. “They should be back by now.”
They were both worried. But the Cassell brothers wouldn’t take Tess to Virginia without informing Edward. By watching him, they’d know if she’d been captured. Cory removed the doctor’s bag and handed it to Tyler. “Here, take this to Mama.”
Tyler hesitated. “Maybe I should ask Edward to join us.”
“We want him to come,” she argued. “Now go. And when he comes to the square, play nice.”
“Should I invite him to a sack race? I think he’d look good tied up in one.”
Cory shook her head. “There’s virtue in everyone.”
“I don’t disagree. Even the most heinous murderer may love his mother, but life is a struggle between good and evil.” He looked at Edward. “And sometimes evil wins.”
Cory watched Tyler cross the street before calling to Edward. “Mr. Vandal, why don’t you join us on the square? There’s plenty to eat.”
“I don’t think so, Miss Beecher.”
“Don’t you celebrate Independence Day in Virginia?”
“Yes, we do, but don’t you think Tyler Montgomery will object?”
“It’s not Tyler’s town.”
“We don’t like each other.”
Cory wasn’t ready to give up. Maybe if she understood Edward more, she’d understand Tyler’s dislike of the man. “Why not?”
“I was Cyrus Vandal’s son, and he was a poor bastard.” Edward blew a puff of smoke. “He doesn’t belong in the company of decent folk.”
It was the same argument he’d shared before. She was glad Tyler had shared the information about his family, but it wasn’t enough to explain Edward’s hatred. Why did Edward want Tyler ostracized? She chose a topic he might want to brag about. “Tell me about Cyrus.”
He struck a pose. “My father was rich and powerful. Men looked up to him. Women sought his attention.”
“Like Miss Olivia?”
Edward tossed his cigar in the dirt and grinded it with his boot. “Miss Olivia thought she could seduce him into marriage.”
“You didn’t think Miss Olivia could make him happy?”
“Any whore can make a man forget who he is in bed. Tyler was the son of a whore,” Edward said. “He pretended to belong, but he was a fraud.”
“And you made sure everyone knew it.”
He scowled. “So he told you. I didn’t expect him to admit the truth.”
“Like he did when he stood up for her?”
“I thought he’d run away in tears.” Edward gave a short laugh. “Who defends a whore?”
“A son who loves her.”
“She used her ill-gotten gains to pay for his education, but he’s still a guttersnipe.” Edward wiped his brow with a kerchief. “He’ll never have my respect.”
“Respect is important to you,” Cory realized.
“No one laughs at a Vandal. My father demanded respect from everyone. I don’t accept any less.”
“What happened to your father?”
“He died. I was twenty-two when I became owner of the Silver Pheasant. Suddenly I was a young man of wealth and power. Those traits make you popular, especially with the ladies of town.”
“Reggie, too?”
“I didn’t even notice her at first,” he admitted. “She worked in a little shop in town. She was quiet with the manners of a lady. When Tyler graduated from Harvard, Regina made him a vest. He strutted around town in it. They were a popular pair that summer. He didn’t deserve it. He didn’t deserve her. I started calling on her, and she married me.”
“So you beat Tyler again.”
“Did I? I bought Regina. She was a miner’s daughter, and I made her the mistress of the Silver Pheasant. Her heart still belongs to Tyler.”
Cory wondered. Tyler believed Reggie had showered him with attention to attract Edward. Reggie had to know Tyler could be wealthy someday, but she had refused his proposal on her wedding day. Yet Edward believed she had married him for his wealth. “Is your wife a smart woman, Mr. Vandal?”
“Why do you ask?”
“You admit you didn’t notice Reggie until she made Tyler a vest. Her poverty and your wealth may have made her insecure. A smart woman would keep her husband close and attentive by creating an imaginary threat.”
His brow furrowed. “Are you saying Regina lied to me?”
“She doesn’t need to lie. It seems to me, your imagination does most of the work.”
Edward studied her. “You don’t know how close they were growing up.”
“They were friends. He was kind to a poor, frightened child, and she was grateful. Don’t mistake loyalty for love. After all, she married you.”
“Are you in love with Tyler?”
Cory hesitated to answer. It might give him ammunition to use against Tyler, but she didn’t like to lie. “Yes. But more importantly, he’s in love with me.” At least she hoped so.
Edward put on his hat. “I think I’ll join you, if you don’t mind.”
Cory introduced Edward to her mother and Adelaide, who kept him busy with a barrage of questions. Edward deflected the inquiries about the Cassell brothers by saying they were on an errand in Cleveland. Tyler had distanced himself from Edward by joining Sterling and some other men near the beer wagon. One of the men was Douglas.
The pie eating contest was announced, and Cory volunteered to help in the church kitchen. She found Beth standing at the table neatly slicing pies. Cory grabbed an apron and knife and joined her. The other ladies lifted the slices onto plates and loaded them on trays. Others carried the trays outside.
“That’s it.” Beth stacked a few empty pie tins and wiped her hands on her stained apron. She sighed and sat down. The other women headed outside with the remaining trays of pie slices.
Cory remained behind. “You look tired.”
“Nobody realizes how much work a holiday activity can be for those making sure everyone else is having a good time,” Beth said.
“Your work is important.” Cory lowered her voice. “Thank you for all the help you gave our friends.”
Beth glanced around. “We don’t need to talk about it. My reward is in heaven not here on Earth.”
Cory sat next to her at the table. “I want you to know how much I admire your courage.”
“My knees were knocking the whole time I was in the woods. I don’t know what I would have done if I ran into one of those awful chasers.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Beth’s confession didn’t deter Cory’s admiration. She wanted to do something for her. She glanced around, saw no one, and voiced an idea she had considered since she found out about Beth’s abolitionist support.
“Is your role helping others why you didn’t accept Mr. Raymond’s proposal? He made it clear he believes in colonization.”
Beth looked started. “You know about his proposal?”
“Miss Adelaide said you turned him down.” She watched Beth’s expression closely. “She said he was looking for a wife.”
Beth gasped. “Has he proposed to you?”
“No.” Cory cleared her throat. “But I’m afraid he might.”
Beth frowned. “Don’t you want to marry him?”
Cory shook her head. “I don’t love him. I wish I knew someone who did. It might help him with any disappointment he might have when I tell him how I feel.”
Beth blushed. “Have I been so obvious?”
Cory took her hand an
d made up a slight fib. “He spoke highly of you. Was it politics that made you refuse him?”
She shook her head in denial. “His politics would have been a perfect cover for my own.”
Her confession surprised her. “You’re a sly one, Beth. He insisted I change my views to match his. I know couples should have a few things in common, but not everything.”
“Faith, morals, and how to raise the children,” Beth said. “That’s all I ask.”
“Did Douglas meet those requirements?”
She nodded.
Cory hesitated but needed to ask. “Then you didn’t love him?”
She shook her head, unable to answer as she choked on the words.
She had to be patient. Beth reminded her of Cass, who had to be gently coaxed to reveal her inner thoughts and feelings. She smiled kindly. “Why did you turn him down then?”
Beth looked up, tears brimming in her eyes. “I was a fool.”
Cory couldn’t imagine anyone as level-headed as Beth acting like a fool. “Because you said no?”
She nodded in agreement.
Cory guessed the reason. “Because you’re still in love with him.”
She nodded in the affirmative.
“If it wasn’t politics or lack of love, why did you reject his offer?”
Beth removed a handkerchief from her shirt sleeve and wiped her tears. “I didn’t think he loved me.”
Cory didn’t want to speculate. “Why not?”
“He was so analytical about marriage. You heard him the other night,” she said. “When he proposed he didn’t even say he loved me.” Beth blew her nose. “I always wanted a proposal of marriage to be romantic like in a Jane Austen novel. I know it was foolish of me, but I dreamed he would declare his undying love and promise to cherish me forever. Instead he said how practical marrying a preacher’s daughter would be. We could save money on the wedding ceremony.” She burst into tears.
Cory bit her lip to keep from laughing as she patted Beth’s shoulder. No wonder Beth had turned him down. “Maybe you’re better off without him. After all, you’d have to play mother to his students.”
“But that’s what I like,” Beth confessed. “I’d be part of his work like Mother is part of Father’s work. They say a woman marries a man like her father. Douglas may not be as loud as the Reverend, but he certainly believes every word he speaks is the gospel truth like him.”
Impending Love and War Page 20