Tender Love

by Irene Brand

“It’s not as big as the one we saw today,” she said, “but it does have three floors, and when we add them to the furniture in your Richmond house, it has enough Larkin family heirlooms to furnish the Ferguson place.”

  “Will you sell the house in Alexandria?”

  “No. Transitory government officials, many in the diplomatic service, like to rent houses close to D.C., and I can keep it rented all the time. It’ll provide an extra income for us. After John died, I considered moving into an apartment and renting the house, because it was much too large for my needs, but I didn’t know what to do with the furniture, so I stayed where I was.”

  Mark ruffled her hair, and his eyes were merry. “I always wondered what it would be like to be rich as Croesus, and I suppose I’ll find out.”

  “Not unless you marry someone with a lot more assets than I have.”

  “Well, my dear, I have no intention of marrying anyone else. You’re stuck with me.”

  “I believe I can handle that.”

  A week later Mr. Haycraft telephoned that he and a contractor had checked out the Ferguson property and considered it a well-built and stable house. It was their opinion that the property would be a good investment.

  “Can you and Mark arrange to meet the contractor and me at the Ferguson home tomorrow? I’ve gotten a good deal on the estate, but you should discuss anticipated renovations with the contractor and learn how much it will cost before you agree to buy. We have a ten-day option to close the deal.”

  “Since it’s Saturday, I think we can be there. My aunt and uncle are visiting in Richmond, and I’m sure they’ll stay with the kids and Gran. Mark and I need to agree on what we want before we talk to the contractor, so we’ll try to consolidate our ideas. Why don’t we go a couple of hours before you do, so we can look around? We can get a key from Mr. Tatum, I suppose?”

  “Yes, if he’ll let you have it.” Haycraft chuckled. “He certainly is bemused that a preacher can afford the Ferguson property. I think if he’d known for sure that you were the purchasers, he might not have lowered the price when I approached him, but he didn’t want to lose a sale. He seems to believe that all preachers should live just above the poverty level.”

  “He knows that Mark has been in a financial bind for a couple of years, and he doesn’t know anything about my money.”

  “Is Mark as taken with the property as you are?”

  “As long as Mark can provide a decent shelter for his family, he’s not concerned much about where it is. And right now, he’s busy finishing up some projects he initiated at the bank. He’s hoping for a call to a church soon, and he wants to be free to resign his job when that call comes. He has no objections, and if I want to tackle the renovation of the house, he’ll leave the matter up to me, but he’s supportive.”

  “I think you’ve made a good choice in a husband, Alice, but I wonder if Mark has any idea how fortunate he is.”

  “I know how fortunate I am, and that’s the only thing that matters to me.”

  Haycraft laughed. “Unless you hear differently within the next hour, we’ll meet you at the Ferguson property, eleven o’clock, Saturday morning.”

  Alice went by the real estate office to pick up the key on Friday afternoon, and perhaps it was Mr. Haycraft’s comments, but she, too, detected a difference in the Realtor’s attitude.

  While he fished in his desk drawer and pulled out the key to the Ferguson property, he said, “That house is going to take a lot of money to fix up.”

  “Probably so, but we’ll find that out tomorrow.”

  “Seems funny for a preacher to have that much money.”

  “Of course, Mark hasn’t been preaching for two years now, and he’s had a good salary at the bank.”

  “Hear he’s thinking about going back to preaching.”

  “He’s trusting the leadership of the Spirit in that matter.” Changing the subject, Alice said, “Eddie has mentioned that your son, Don, is taking riding lessons, and we want to get Eddie and Kristin enrolled at a stable. Do you recommend the instructors where your son goes?”

  “Yes, I do,” Tatum said grudgingly. “Don is an insecure child, and riding the pony has given him more confidence in what he can do.”

  “That’s one reason we want to buy this home in the country—so we can have a place for the children to keep ponies.”

  Alice knew that the old house would be cold and damp, so she searched in the boxes she hadn’t unpacked for a long insulated coat, and she found a heavy jacket in the closet that she’d brought along for Mark. When they entered the hallway, Alice didn’t sense the welcome that she had the first day they’d come here, when the sun was shining and penetrating the cold interior. She shivered, and Mark put his arms around her.

  “Be sure and put a furnace on your list,” he said with a grin, as he pointed to the clipboard she carried.

  “And some insulation for the walls,” she agreed.

  Each carrying a large flashlight, they made a survey of the two main floors. Alice opened the door to the third floor and flashed her light on the stairs. “I can’t see a thing wrong with those stairs,” she said. “I believe Mr. Tatum didn’t want to take the time to show us the whole house.”

  “Remember, he thought he was dealing with a poor preacher. He couldn’t see a pending sale.”

  Mark tried his weight on the bottom step. “Seems all right to me. I’ll go up first just to be sure.”

  The steps did creak, and dust stirred around Mark’s feet, but he reached the third floor without mishap, and Alice followed him. There was one long room that stretched the length of the house, and it was cluttered with boxes, trunks, and discarded furniture. Alice marveled at the breathtaking view from the dormer windows of the river valley to the west.

  “We won’t have to renovate this floor before we move in, but we can eventually make this area into two rooms and a bath. In a few years, Eddie may want to have his room on this floor. What do you think?”

  “When I was a teenage boy, I’d have liked such a room.” Mark was checking the structure of the house by looking at the exposed beams. “It seems that this house is structurally sound. I don’t see any indication that the roof has ever leaked, nor any termite damage. I’ll enjoy living here, and I don’t have any objection to buying it, but I won’t be of much help to you in the renovation. I don’t even have any good ideas.”

  “Right now, I want you to make commitment to God’s will your first priority. I’ll take care of the family, the household and the renovation.”

  “I’ll support anything you want to do, and I’ll give any suggestions I’m capable of making.”

  Back on the first floor, they decided that they’d retain Miss Ferguson’s apartment as a kitchen, a family dining area, and television room. The four large downstairs rooms would be turned into a bedroom for Gran, a company dining room, living room and an office for Mark. The rooms on the second floor would provide a guest room, and rooms for Kristin, Eddie, and the two of them.

  “We’d better have two bathrooms upstairs,” Mark said. “Kristin is getting to the primping stage, and I don’t want to fight her for the bathroom all the time.”

  “We can make a private bathroom from our room, and one at the end of the corridor. We’ll put a bathroom downstairs for Gran, and keep the small lavatory near the kitchen.”

  “Alice, you cannot take care of all of this property alone.”

  “I don’t intend to. The housekeeper I have in Alexandria has agreed to come here, and she’ll do all the cleaning. Her husband will be the outside caretaker, and all I’ll have to do is cook, look after the family, and keep my husband happy.”

  He lifted his eyebrows and kissed her. “And that will take a lot of time. But where is the housekeeper going to live?”

  “Let’s check outdoors. There’s a two-story log building that looks as if it might have been a garage. That could be made into a delightful home.”

  When they went through the garden on their way to the b
uilding, Alice paused to say, “We’ll have this fence repaired, too. Can’t you envision this full of flowers and shrubbery? We’ll have a gazebo built in one end.”

  “Right now, I can’t envision anything but a cold, winter morning, with the wind blowing and my nose getting cold.”

  “And I thought you were a romantic!”

  “Oh, I can be romantic enough, but not when my feet and hands are cold. Let’s check out this building and then go find a cozy restaurant with some hot food.” He smiled at her. “I have no doubt that you’ll make this into the coziest home in Virginia, where all of us will be content.”

  Alice rubbed her hand across his cold face and kissed his cheek.

  The log house was in good repair, and both of them agreed that it could be made into a lovely home. The downstairs could be living and kitchen quarters, and the upper floor reached by an open stairway would make a cozy bedroom and a bathroom.

  “Pretty small for a residence, isn’t it?” Mark asked.

  “The housekeeper will be working in our house most of the day, and she won’t want a large home to care for. They wouldn’t have much company, for they don’t have any children, but if any of their extended family comes to visit, they can always use the guest room in the big house. We’ll build to suit their needs.”

  Mark laughed at her. “I’ve never seen anyone more generous with money than you. I believe you like playing Santa Claus.”

  “It does give me a satisfying feeling,” Alice admitted.

  “What better way to fulfill the command of the Scripture, ‘Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously…for God loves a cheerful giver’? I’ve been given money that John and his ancestors accumulated—I really don’t feel as if it belongs to me, only that I’m the steward. John was very generous with those who worked for him or wherever he saw a need. I learned the example from him, not from my parents.”

  Mark’s eyes were glowing and he pulled Alice close. “I know a few verses of Scripture, too, and one that I believe applies to you was when Jesus said, ‘Give and it shall be given to you.’ I don’t know what God has in mind for you, Alice, but it’s bound to be a great life. He’ll reward you for your generosity.”

  “The day God gives you to me, I’ll have everything. You and your children are all I want.”

  “Don’t you want a child of your own?”

  “Very much so, but I’m in my midthirties, and it may not be a good idea.”

  Mark bent his lips to hers, and both of them forgot the cold, blustery winter weather buffeting them. They didn’t mind at all the half-hour wait for the contractor and Mr. Haycraft. Now that they’d definitely agreed to be married, the two of them had relaxed the strict hands-off policy that they’d stuck to so rigidly during her first months in the house. Even yet, they held their emotions in check, but they found no reason to refrain from occasional hugs and kisses. Alice hadn’t doubted that the emotional relationship between her and Mark would be fulfilling, but she hadn’t expected the camaraderie they enjoyed. Not only were they sweethearts, they were also best friends.

  The contractor agreed with most of their plans, and they took his suggestions about changes in the house to make it more livable and economical on utilities. The price he quoted for repairs was reasonable, according to Haycraft, and Alice and Mark relied on his advice.

  “And how long will it take you to do this work?” Alice said.

  “Six months, if I don’t run into any trouble.”

  Alice groaned. “That seems like a long time.”

  “Now, Mrs. Larkin,” he said, “you want this work done right, and it will take longer to renovate than if you had me build a new house. By the time we remove the old plaster, insulate the walls and ceilings, install new walls, sand the floors, and repair and refinish all of the woodwork, it takes time.”

  “And we shouldn’t move in until it’s completely finished,” Mark said.

  “You mentioned that you’d refurbish the third floor at a later time,” Haycraft said. “May I suggest that you do that now? It won’t delay you much longer, and if you do it later, think of all the dirt the workers will make carrying supplies up to that area.”

  Alice threw up her hands. “I didn’t think of that— I was mostly interested in time. That’s the reason John told me I could rely on you to set me straight.” To the contractor, she said, “Go ahead and finish that floor—make two rooms and a bathroom.”

  “We can decide about fixtures and other ideas as we go along,” the contractor said.

  “I’m sorry that I won’t be of much help to you or Alice,” Mark apologized, “but Alice has a better head for business than I do anyway.”

  “She had a good teacher in John Larkin,” Haycraft said.

  Acting on the advice of Mr. Tatum, Alice and Mark took Eddie and Kristin to a riding stable a few miles from their home. Eddie was enthusiastic about the idea of learning to ride, but Kristin was reluctant.

  “You don’t have to participate in this, Kristin,” Alice assured her as they drove to the stables. “We’re simply giving you the opportunity. Perhaps you’d like another activity, and that will be fine. You can make up your own mind about it.”

  “Can I really have my own horse when we get moved?” Eddie asked.

  “It will have to be a pony for a few years, but if you learn to ride and take care of the pony, you can have one of your own,” Mark said. “The contractor will be renovating the barn into a riding stable as soon as he finishes with the house. You’ll have plenty of space to ride on our property.”

  “Will you have a horse, too, Daddy?”

  “I will, according to Alice,” Mark said, with a tender smile in Alice’s direction. “She thinks riding will be a good family activity, but I haven’t ridden a horse for years.”

  “Neither have I,” Alice said, “so all of us can learn together. It will be relaxing pastime for you after the pressure of your job.”

  “Kristin is a sissy if she doesn’t want to ride.”

  That comment convinced Kristin, that if the rest of the family had horses, she was determined to have one, too. She wasn’t going to have her daddy doing something with Eddie that she couldn’t do.

  The lessons did go well, and Alice was impressed with the academy’s instructors. Noting the children’s rapid progress, she thought the two-hour lessons each Saturday morning were well worth the time and money they spent. The children rode Shetland ponies, and Alice and Mark were mounted on American quarter horses.

  And then the murmurings started!

  Friends whom Alice had made at Tyler Memorial started avoiding her, many dropping their gazes when she entered the church with Mark and his family. After this went on for a few weeks, she went to see Betty.

  “What’s going on, Betty?”

  Betty didn’t pretend that she didn’t know what Alice meant.

  “I wondered how long it would be before you found out. I should have told you, but I’ve been so angry I couldn’t talk about it.”

  “Talk about what?” Alice demanded.

  “Ethel Pennington! She’s spreading rumors that you and Mark are having an affair ‘right under the same roof with his kids,’ to quote her exact words, and when she accused him of it, Mark ordered her out of the house.”

  Alice slumped down in a chair. “I knew this would happen. I should have left months ago. I’ll go back to Alexandria until we’re married.”

  “And send Eddie into a decline that might kill him?”

  “I’ve only stayed for Eddie’s sake, but he’s stronger now. He’ll be all right.”

  “Don’t be hasty in that decision,” Betty advised. “Perhaps this will blow over as most gossip does.”

  Chapter Eleven

  A few nights later when Mark came home, after he’d checked the day’s mail that Alice always placed on the hall table, he came immediately to the kitchen with a letter in his hand. His face was gray as ashes.

  “Wh
at’s wrong, Mark?” Alice said and went to his side.

  He dropped down in a kitchen chair and handed her the letter.

  “It’s a letter from the ordination committee of our state convention, asking me to appear before them to answer charges of gross immorality. If they find the charges to be true, they’ll withdraw my ordination.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means I would never get another position of any kind in our denomination. I’ve wondered why I haven’t been approached by any churches after I submitted my name as a pastoral candidate. This must be the reason.”

  “This accusation has apparently originated from rumors that Ethel spread about our relationship.”

  “The pastor of Tyler Memorial mentioned the rumors to me, but I hoped you wouldn’t hear anything.” He put an arm around Alice’s waist and pulled her close to him.

  “There’s only one thing to do—I’ll go back to Alexandria and stay until we can be married, Mark, but not until you’ve dealt with this.” She lifted the letter and read it. “That meeting is next week. I won’t leave until after that, for I’m going to the meeting with you. My reputation, as well as yours, is at stake. I see the meeting will be held at the local church.”

  “Yes, but the board members are from all over the state.” Mark laid his head against Alice, and she bent over and kissed his forehead. “I want you to go with me, but I wouldn’t have asked.” He shook his head, “I don’t see how Ethel’s suspicions could have influenced the state ordination board, but one never knows. Be in prayer about the situation. If there’s any doubt about our relationship, we have to put it to rest now, or it will follow us wherever we go.”

  “‘If our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases Him,’” Alice reminded him.

  “That’s true. The months you’ve been in this house, it hasn’t been easy to keep my distance, but I was as determined as you that our relations would be open and aboveboard.”