by Bree Cariad
“Marcus, please,” he said as she turned away. Turning to look over her shoulder as Nana pulled her away, she smiled as Vanna threw her head back and laughed at something he said and he began to tickle her. It was nice to see him having fun with his little girl.
When they had lost sight of him, she slowed down and so did her grandmother. “Nana? You don’t like Marcus Hotham?”
“Oh, no dear. He’s fine. But he’s not for you.”
“Well, of course not. He’s married.”
“Widowered,” her grandmother corrected sadly. “His wife died six months after that cute little girl was born. He’s raised her himself. I think highly of the good doctor. But not for my granddaughter. Come. Let’s meet some more Hyacinth men.”
Chapter 2
Finding the Lava Lamp was easy enough. As it was on the main street through town, all Celie had to do was walk down Lancaster Avenue until she saw the large coffee cup that kind of resembled a genie’s lamp. “Cute.”
It was just before eleven and the café seemed to be in a lull as she walked in. Not spotting Jaylee, she walked up to the counter to order. A girl around her age with a beaming smile walked up. “What can I get you today?”
“Caramel macchiato sounds good,” she said, pulling out her wallet.
“Tall, grande, or vente?”
“What, what, or what?” Celia asked in confusion.
The barista laughed, though not unkindly. “Not from Washington? Small, medium, or large?”
“Oh, large is good.”
After getting her drink in an actual real cup, a real large cup, Celie chose a small table in the corner where she could observe the comings and goings of Hyacinth’s citizens as they came in for their coffees. There was a small trickle of them and then a huge rush about five minutes after eleven. The noise level jumped and she watched the teenage girls laugh and order a myriad of coffees before taking them back out. Before she could wonder where they were all going, the door opened and her cousin walked in.
Jaylee waved and walked over, putting her bag down. “Sorry I’m late. Let me order and we can get to know one another.” She walked up to the counter and the barista beamed at her. “Julienne, congratulations on your courting.”
“Thanks, Jaylee. I don’t know why someone else didn’t go all ga-ga over Gregory years ago. He’s such a sweetie. I mean, he writes me poetry! It’s like being in a romance novel. Your regular?”
“Yep. Well, I’m happy for you.”
A few minutes later Jaylee returned with a cup of something white.
“What’s that?” Celia asked.
“The closest I can get to coffee right now,” she sighed. “Hot milk with caramel in it. I’ll be glad when this little one is born. I miss caffeine.”
“I didn’t know pregnant women couldn’t drink coffee.”
“I don’t know that it’s a hard and fast medical thingy,” she admitted. “But it is Dirk’s rule.” She took a sip of her milk and hummed, obviously enjoying her non-caffeinated drink. “So, tell me about yourself. Granny says you’ve travelled a lot.”
Slightly startled by Jaylee’s easy reference to her husband’s head of the household status as if it was the norm, Celie took a moment to sip her drink before answering. “Since Momma and I left, that’s all we’ve done is travel. Town-to-town, motel-to-motel. There were exciting things about it, but it was tiresome as well.”
“So you’ve been everywhere?”
Laughing, Celia shook her head. “Not quite. It just feels like it. Mostly large cities and dingy motels with thin walls. It’s nice to be in Nana’s house.”
She smiled. “Granny was so excited when you elected to come for your courting year. I think she has a couple men she has her eye on for you. And she has good taste. But don’t let her railroad you,” she said, her eyes sharpening. “Jude Compton has her own ways of doing things, but that doesn’t mean they’re right. She didn’t like Dirk and tried to get me interested in three other guys when we were courting. Dad finally had a word with her after the courting banns were posted and next thing you know, she was firmly in Dirk’s corner. I still think she wishes I’d ended up with one of her choices, but I love Dirk and am very happy.”
Taking that as an invitation, Celie asked, “What has she got against Marcus Hotham?” Ever since seeing him at the picnic, she hadn’t been able to get him out of her mind. Yes, he was good looking, but there was something else there. She had always been able to pick out her kind of guy from a crowd and at this moment, she had to admit he would make the cut.
Slight confusion settled on her cousin’s face before her eyes twinkled. “He’s a looker, isn’t he? It almost isn’t fair how a man can go gray and it makes him appear distinguished and a woman goes gray and it makes her look old. As for what Granny has against him? She likes Dr. Hotham, but she would automatically be against him as an option because he comes with a little girl. From what Mom says, when Uncle Martin decided to look for a new wife, Granny wanted him to look for a divorcee or a widow. She was rather ticked when he entered the courting pool and married Brenda.” She took a sip of her drink and shrugged. “Old-fashioned, she is. I think she blames Kern’s quirks on the fact his new mother was only eight years older than he was. When the plain fact is that Kern is Kern. He likes being odd. Brenda adores him just like she does Derrick and Kern loves her as well. Mostly Granny doesn’t want you marrying a man who already has baggage.”
“Wow. And I’m not saying I’m interested, but that little girl didn’t look like baggage. She was sweet.”
“Oh, she is,” she agreed. “Vanna Hotham is a sweetheart. Very shy around most people, but I’ve seen her with her daddy and she has the most delightful laugh. Don’t laugh, but I think when she’s eighteen, she and Drake Covington would make a fine looking couple.”
Coughing, as she had just taken a sip of coffee as her cousin spoke, Celia grinned. “He’s a looker, too.”
“Oh, all the Convingtons are that way. It almost doesn’t seem fair that they should all be so good looking. Drake’s cousin Gaelic is gorgeous too. You won’t meet him because he and his wife travel. Over the world not just the US,” she explained with a grin. “He does something for multinational corporations and they fly the two everywhere. You should have been here when Xander Covington was courting. Ooh, girl. Every eighteen-year-old was drooling. I was only seventeen at the time and hoped he would wait one more year. But Kathy moved to town and wham! He was head over heels.”
She paused and a soft smile covered her face. “I’m glad now because I love Dirk to pieces. I really do.”
“Do you know what you’re having?” Celie asked, nodding toward the large baby bump.
“Yep, but we aren’t telling anyone. We even decorated the baby’s room so that nobody could tell. It drives his mother nuts. She so wants to know. We even call the baby, little baby Cornick so we don’t slip up.”
It was easy to sit and talk to Jaylee, almost as though they had been friends for years. There was a relief in it as Celie had never really had friends. Travelling as much as she and her mother did, it wasn’t feasible. They talked for two hours and in that time, Celia learned a lot more about the town and courting system. “Well, it’s good to know that I have a say,” she admitted as they got ready to leave. “I was kind of worried Pappa would just agree and I’d have to put up with whomever he chose.”
“Oh, dear lord, no,” she said with horror. “It might have been that way years ago, but not anymore. No, we get final say in whom we court. But between the council and their testing, I don’t know them to get it wrong very often.”
“Testing?” Celie asked as they walked out of the café.
“Oh, you haven’t gone through testing yet? You will. It’s how they make sure you’re ready for marriage. They won’t allow a girl to court without it.” She glanced at her cell phone. “I’d best be off. I have a doctor’s appointment soon. It was so great to get to know you, Celie. How about next week, same time?”
After agreeing to a weekly coffee get-together, Celia walked down Lancaster, gazing at the small shops on each side, while slowly making her way home. There was a part of her, after living the last decade in large cities, that wanted to put on her city-face, her don’t-mess-with-me face, but she kept forcing herself to lighten up and just enjoy the small-town feel of the place. There was a peace to Hyacinth she wasn’t used to. And she liked it.
“Can I have an ice cream, Daddy?”
The voice drew her attention across the street where Vanna Hotham was looking up at her father. As the girl was facing away from her, she couldn’t see her face, but Celie would have been willing to bet money the girl had on the look all girls reserved for their fathers. She had been told by her mother she used to do the same with her own father and he would melt each time.
“Not right now,” he said kindly. “We’re on our way to lunch. After lunch, if you’re still hungry, we’ll get some ice cream.” The little girl nodded and slipped her hand into his. Marcus happened to look up and catch her gaze, his eyes softly crinkling in a smile. “Well, hello, Miss Compton.”
“Celie,” she corrected, smiling back.
“Enjoying Hyacinth?”
“So far, so good,” she answered wryly making him chuckle. “I had best let you two get to lunch. I’m on my way to my grandparents’ house.”
“Have a great rest of the day, Celie. Vanna, can you say hello?” he asked, looking down at his daughter. She moved slightly behind her father’s leg and peeked out, waving. Celia smiled. The girl looked like a cherub.
“It’s good to see you again, Vanna,” she said and the girl disappeared behind her dad.
He sent her an apologetic smile. “She’s shy around people she doesn’t know.”
“That’s okay. I used to be the same way.”
“Daddy, I’m hungry.” Celie had no doubt it was supposed to be a whisper, but as it travelled across the street, it didn’t come out that way.
“We’ll go in a second, pumpkin,” he assured her.
“You’d better go. Don’t want a little girl with a growling tummy.”
The smile he sent her made something flutter again in her stomach, but before she could figure out what it was, he nodded. “You are correct. No growling tummies. Would you like to join us?”
Startled, she almost said yes. Until she remembered her Nana’s warning about how a girl in Hyacinth was supposed to act. Going to lunch with a widower was probably against all sorts of rules. “Thanks for the offer, but I’m still filled with coffee.”
A sardonic smile crossed his face quickly before leaving and she had the feeling he knew why she had said no. Feeling the heat enter her cheeks, she was once again glad her skin tone rarely showed it. “All right, Vanna. Shall we go eat?”
“Yes!”
“And what do you want?”
“Hamburger!”
The girl’s shout made Celia laugh and he winked at her before lifting Vanna onto his arms and walked down the street.
“So, what does the testing do?” she asked her grandmother a few days later as Nana drove her to the mostly deserted high school where she was to take her tests.
“Well, this is a relatively new invention, just within the last decade or so. So many high school seniors are now eighteen that the council wanted to make sure they were mature enough to be ready for matrimony and children. So this test looks for your maturity as well as your personality and what makes you tick. They take the answers into account when someone officially asks to court you to make sure that you are a good fit.”
Sounded like computer dating to Celia, but she didn’t mention that fact.
The battery of tests they had her take was extensive and as each one was timed, there was no time to think about her answers. Instead she had to go with the first answer off the top of her head. When the eight tests were complete, she was tired, a little irritable, and ready to go home. She figured it would take them a few days to a few weeks to match her up with someone but as it turned out, there must have been a waiting list just waiting for her to test, because when she went down to breakfast the next morning, it was to a bit of a surprise.
“You have your first suitor tonight!” Nana said in excitement before she had even sat down at the table.
Startled, she half fell into her chair. “Really?”
“Mmhmm. His name is Larry Longley. I don’t know him well but his grandmother Sally is one of my best friends. So we’ll need to look through the cookbooks and find something you want to make and run to the grocery store.”
“But, Nana, you’ve seen me. I can barely boil water without your help.”
“Oh, I’ll help,” she said with a pleased smile.
Celie looked up at her grandfather to see what he thought of this. He was watching her with interest. “What do you think, Pappa?”
“It’s just dinner,” he said calmly. “If you aren’t interested, it won’t last much beyond an hour. The dinner begins right after he arrives and as soon as dinner is over, he leaves. But you have to start somewhere. Have you dated at all?”
“A bit. Dinners, the movies, that kind of thing.”
“Well, here you won’t be able to go out with a suitor unless he’s officially courting you. These dinners are a way for you to get to know the men on an easy basis. We will always be here. If he’s interested afterward, he’ll ask for a second dinner. After each dinner, I’ll ask you how you feel. If you like him, I would accept that second dinner, if not, I wouldn’t. Nothing to be afraid of, though most of the girls in town get hyper. It’s normal.”
Nodding as she let that sink in, Celia hoped it wouldn’t feel uncomfortable with her grandparents there. Why had she never considered that this whole dating thing would be more nerve-wracking than she planned? It had sounded like a fairy tale. Come to Hyacinth, be courted, marry your prince, and live happily ever after. Turned out there was more to it.
“…and we should go through your clothes to find just the right outfit,” her grandmother was saying, pulling her out of her head.
“Oh, I’ll just throw on one of my dresses.” After all, she had several skirt/blouse combinations that would work.
“Oh, no, Celie. You can’t just throw on something. You—”
“Jude, let the girl be. She’s worried enough. I’m sure she’ll choose something appropriate.”
Celie sent her grandfather an appreciative smile but her grandmother obviously wasn’t to be deterred. “But the first dinner is so important, Leyton,” she reminded him with something close to a whine. “She needs to put across the right combination of coo—” She stopped speaking as Pappa placed a hand on hers and spoke.
“Study.” That was all he said, and it was in a quiet every day tone, but it obviously had meaning to Nana because she flushed, stood up, and left the room quickly.
“Is Nana okay?”
“She’s fine, Celia. I don’t want you to worry about this evening. It’s a simple dinner. Nothing more. Just a meet with some food thrown in.”
Snickering at his description, she nodded.
“Now, finish your breakfast. I’m going to go have a talk with your grandmother and make sure she doesn’t hound you about it today.”
He stood up and left the room while she poured some cereal into a bowl. It was as she was adding the milk that his words came together in her mind with her grandmother’s scuttle out of the room. Discipline. It was a nasty word to her mother, but Celia had become fascinated with the concept from books and, being her, had done a lot of study on it. People who were in discipline relationships said it helped them in tons of ways. Of course, that was all academic. She had only one memory from her childhood of being spanked. The actual spanking she didn’t remember, but Celia could remember her behind burning and yet feeling safe, cuddled in her father’s arms afterward.
The realization Pappa might be spanking Nana was a surprising one and made her a little embarrassed. What had she gotten herself into? This whole town was cr
azy about discipline. The one part Celie didn’t understand and wondered if she ever would, was her craving for it. Sometimes Celia went a little nuts. She thought too much and hid too much and then it would all explode in a fit of fury or tears. It was exhausting and when she was honest with herself, Celie recognized that she hoped discipline could curb that kind of thing before it grew into the kinds of explosions that made her feel unbalanced.
Well, she guessed tonight was the beginning of it all. Her first suitor.
All day long, Nana would start to say something, catch herself, and then go along as if she hadn’t been about to speak. Celie assumed it had something to do with whatever Pappa had said to her that morning. She let Celie choose a simple roast and vegetable meal—something Celia hoped she couldn’t ruin—and a pre-made cake from the store. However, when she came upstairs to find her granddaughter standing in front of her mirror in black jeans and a lace blouse, she didn’t seem able to contain herself.
“Honey,” she said, walking into the closet, “why don’t you wear this?” She came back out with one of Celie’s dresses, a tan shirt-waist dress with a full skirt.
“I thought about it,” Celie admitted. “But I realized I would feel more comfortable in pants. After all, it’s just a dinner, right?” With a man she didn’t know and Celie planned on keeping control of the situation until she felt more comfortable. Letting some unknown man take control? Wasn’t going to happen.
“Well, yes, but Celia, it’s still important. You’re showing Larry your best side, making him want to see you again.”
“But, Nana, shouldn’t he see the real me? I mean, it would suck for him to fall for a fake side of me, wouldn’t it? To imagine me in dresses all day, fixing dinners and saying ‘welcome home, honey’, when I know that’s not gonna happen.”
Her grandmother looked startled. “Celia, living the Hyacinth life is a different way of thinking. Being in a loving discipline relationship is about handing one part of the relationship to him while you make up the second part. It’s—”