An Unexpected Groom

by Nerys Leigh

  Louisa went with them to walk Nancy home and his sister held her hand all the way, chatting animatedly. It filled him with happiness to see the two of them getting along well. Nancy had been so excited for Louisa’s arrival that he worried she might have been disappointed if Louisa didn’t spend as much time with her as she wanted, but he needn’t have been concerned. Louisa seemed to enjoy being with Nancy as much as Nancy enjoyed being with her. It made Jesse like her even more, but at the back of his mind he couldn’t help feeling a little uneasy. Nancy would be devastated if Louisa left after the two weeks was up.

  Then he would just have to do his best to persuade her to stay. Not that he needed any more motivation in that area. If she left, it wouldn’t just be his sister who’d be devastated.

  “I’m sorry,” Louisa said after they’d left Nancy explaining to her mother why she’d arrived home forty-five minutes after she was supposed to. “I didn’t realise she had a curfew.”

  “Oh, don’t worry about that. Malinda’s used to her coming home late. If Nancy was ever on time we’d think something was really wrong.”

  “I think it’s nice Nancy can do that. Not that she’s always late, but that she feels that freedom to not worry about it. I never would have dared come home late when I was young.”

  “Your parents are strict?”

  “Not strict, exactly.” She looked up into the sky, her gaze unfocused. “I simply would never have even thought of not obeying them. It’s just how it is for my sisters and me.” She lowered her gaze to him, a smile on her lips. “How about you? Were you an obedient child?”

  “Oh yes,” he said immediately, “I was the perfect son. Never put a foot wrong. Always did everything I was told, never got into any trouble, just a joy all round. Never gave my pa or Malinda an ounce of worry at all.”

  She burst into laughter. “How convincing.”

  He grinned and admitted nothing.

  “Maybe I’ll ask Malinda one day,” she said. “I’m sure she has some tales to tell.”

  Smile vanishing, he hung his head and groaned. “Could you at least wait until after you’ve made a decision about marrying me? I wouldn’t want my past swaying you one way or the other.”

  Her eyebrows rose. “That bad? Now I can’t wait to hear all about your childhood.”

  “Just remember, in my defence I was young and determined I wouldn’t miss out on anything.”

  “I’m glad you didn’t,” she said, touching his shoulder.

  He gazed into her eyes, wondering if she’d object if he took her hand, but then she looked down, pulling it away.

  Next time he’d have to be quicker.

  “So how was your day?” she said. “Anything exciting happen at the bank?”

  At the mention of his job his happiness faded. For a while there, he’d forgotten.

  “What’s wrong?” she said, worry creeping onto her face.

  He berated himself for being so transparent. They’d only known each other three days. He had no right to lay his worries onto her. “It’s nothing. Everything’s fine.”

  She stepped in front of him, forcing him to an abrupt halt. “It’s not fine, I can see it in your face. If you don’t want to tell me, that’s okay, just say I’m being nosey and I won’t ask again. But you promised you wouldn’t lie to me, so don’t tell me it’s fine when it isn’t.”

  Her earnest little speech took him aback. Evidently his withholding of the truth about his condition had affected her more than he’d thought. He couldn’t blame her for that.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to lie to you. I promise I’ll do my best to not do that again.”

  She nodded and smiled. “So am I being nosey?”

  “No, not at all. I just don’t want to burden you with my problems. It may not even be a problem. But if it is, it’s not yours.”

  She moved from in front of him and started walking again. “I don’t mind. Maybe talking about it could help.”

  He didn’t reply immediately. Did he really want to involve her, for her to know that he was probably suspecting a colleague of he didn’t even know what with very little reason? But then again, another point of view could help him put things into perspective.

  He looked around them to check he wouldn’t be overheard, but they were in a quiet street and there was no one else around.

  “There’s probably nothing to it, I know, but a customer came in this morning...”

  Chapter 10

  The following morning Jesse waited until business hours were well underway and he was sure Mr Vernon was firmly ensconced in his office before he made another attempt to see the previous month’s ledger.

  Mr Ransom was at his desk forming an impregnable wall outside Mr Vernon’s office, as always.

  Jesse took a deep breath and wheeled up to him. “Is Mr Vernon in?” He knew he was, but he didn’t want to sound too eager to get in there.

  Ransom paused for a moment, possibly to give him time to think up an excuse. Or maybe he simply needed to quietly clear his throat. Jesse was becoming paranoid.

  “He is,” Ransom said, “but he’s very busy today.”

  Jesse pasted on his most easygoing smile. “I just want to get the ledgers so I can check them. Won’t take me more than half a minute.”

  Another pause. “Oh, there’s no need to do that. I checked Mr Foster’s loan amount in the ledger and it’s exactly as it should be. You can set your mind at rest.”

  Fat chance there was of that now. Jesse often used the previous months’ ledgers when working. This was the first time Ransom had made any attempt to stop him from getting to them.

  He had two choices - insist on seeing the ledger for himself thus raising suspicion and giving Ransom the chance to cover his tracks, or return to his office and wait for the opportunity to get in while Ransom was away from his desk, which would also raise suspicion but at least he’d get to see the ledger. He could also abandon all pretence and barge past and grab the ledger before anyone could stop him, but he decided to call that a last resort.

  “Good,” Jesse said, his smile feeling more strained by the second. “As long as it all adds up.”

  “It does.”

  He held Ransom’s gaze, waiting for him to redeem himself and allow him in.

  He didn’t.

  “Well, I’ll get back to work.” He turned his back on Ransom and released the smile that was now feeling more like a grimace.

  He’d get the ledger later. Ransom couldn’t stay at his desk forever.

  ~ ~ ~

  Louisa moved the cake-filled basket into her left hand and knocked on the door. There was no answer.

  She was a little earlier than their agreed time to meet, but she was eager to know how things had gone at the bank and if Jesse had been able to see the ledger and find out more about the loans. She felt sure he must be home from work by now.

  She’d been praying for him all day, in between praying for a great many other things in her life. She hadn’t truly spoken to God in a long time and it was as if He was inviting her into His presence. It felt good to be talking to Him again, as if she’d found an old friend.

  No, it was more than that. She was rediscovering her place in the arms of a Saviour who loved her with a love that surpassed knowledge, as it said in Ephesians. She’d read the whole book again this morning. That was one of her favourite parts.

  She tried Jesse’s door and found it unlocked. Slipping inside, she called his name, but there was no reply. The parlour was empty so she walked past into the kitchen, set her basket on the table, and continued out the open back door.

  And stopped dead in her tracks.

  Her mouth dropped open. She automatically covered it with her hand.

  Beneath the tree in the centre of the yard Jesse sat in his wheelchair. His eyes were closed and in each hand he held a strangely shaped metal object, narrow in the middle where his hand wrapped around it and bulbous on either end. He was slowly flexing his arms to raise and lower them, the
movement causing the muscles in his upper arms to bulge with the effort.

  Louisa could see just how much his muscles were bulging because he had taken his shirt off. It was draped over the back of one of the chairs at the table.

  Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew she should look away, but her rebellious eyes refused the command as they travelled slowly over the planes of muscle sculpting his torso, lingering over the highlights and shadows rippling his smooth, taut skin.

  She seemed to have forgotten how to blink.

  The sound of a throat clearing snapped her gaze from a particularly arresting arrangement of ridges on his abdomen to his face. He was watching her, a smile playing on his lips.

  Gasping, she whirled away to face the house.

  “Good afternoon, Louisa.” His rich cream voice sent a shiver down her spine.

  She opened her mouth to respond, but all that emerged was a squeak. Straightening her shoulders, she tried again. “Good afternoon, Jesse.”

  “Enjoy the view?”

  Indignation born of mortification turned her back to him. He was smiling. And still very, very shirtless.

  She spun away again. “Stop looking at me like that!”

  “Like what?”

  She glanced at him for a split second. “Like that. You’re smirking.”

  “Am I?” His amusement was clear, even without looking at him.

  “Yes. So stop it.”

  When he spoke again the smile had mostly gone from his voice. “How long were you watching me?”

  “Not long. I mean I wasn’t watching. I-I just happened to see... I mean... I didn’t know you were... were...”

  “Exercising?”

  “Half naked!”

  He began to chuckle, stopping abruptly when she spun round to glare at him.

  “I promise I intended to be fully clothed by the time you arrived,” he said, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender. The movement caused interesting things to happen to his broad shoulders. “You’re early.”

  “Well, if I’d known you were going to be... be...” Her eyes strayed down to his chest. She’d never realised that area on a man could be so... developed.

  “Half naked?” He was smiling again.

  She rapidly turned away. “...I would have come later.” To her horror, she wanted to keep looking at him. More than that, she wanted to stare at him and drink in the magnificent sight of all those muscles. She was fairly sure that was wrong, although at that moment she wasn’t entirely clear on why. “Could you please put a shirt on?”

  “If that’s what you truly want,” he said, his voice teasing.

  She had to stop herself from smiling. “It is.” It wasn’t, but she wasn’t about to admit that.

  “All right then.” She heard his wheelchair move and after ten seconds or so he said, “You can turn round now. It’s safe.”

  She looked back to see him fastening the last couple of buttons on his shirt. Her eyes still managed to pick out the lines of muscle shaping the fabric so she shifted her gaze to the bulbous metal bars he’d been lifting. There were three pairs of different sizes, all lined up on the ground.

  “What are they?” she said, walking over to examine them.

  “They’re called dumbbells. My pa made them for me so I could get strong. Makes it easier for me to do everything.”

  She bent to pick one of the largest up, almost falling over when it didn’t leave the ground. “Oh! How heavy are they?” She tried again, using both hands this time, and managed to lift it.

  “That one’s the heaviest. It’s about thirty pounds.”

  She straightened her arm, holding the dumbbell in just her right hand with her palm facing forward as she’d seen him do, and tried to raise it. It moved up a pitiful inch before she had to give up. She lowered it carefully to the ground before she hurt something.

  And Jesse had been lifting it with one hand without even appearing to strain.

  “You must be very strong.”

  “Pretty strong, I guess. My pa’s stronger than me.”

  “But his job makes him strong. You work hard at it. It’s admirable.”

  “I don’t know if I deserve that, but thank you.”

  She stared down at the dumbbells. “I do admire you, you know. The way you’ve overcome so many obstacles to get where you are. That you never gave up.” She sighed and shifted her gaze to the far end of the garden. “I’m ashamed to admit it, but if you had told me in your letters about being unable to walk, I don’t know if I would have come. I’m sorry for that.”

  “And now?” he said quietly. “Are you glad you came?”

  She looked back at him. “Very. But...”

  “That doesn’t mean you’re staying,” he finished for her, smiling.

  With the way he was looking at her, she was vaguely surprised the beating of her heart didn’t scare the birds from the trees.

  She glanced back at the kitchen door. “I brought lemon cake, if you’re hungry after your exercise.”

  “I’m not particularly, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to say no to lemon cake.” He picked up two of the dumbbells, set them in his lap, and rolled across the flagstones to follow her inside.

  “Where are your plates?” she said, looking around the kitchen at the many cupboards, none higher than he could reach.

  He pointed to a cabinet as he wheeled to a wooden box by the door and placed the dumbbells inside. “Did Mrs Jones make the cake?”

  She took three china plates and set them on the table. “I did. I thought since I’ve tasted your cooking you’d like to sample mine. You do like lemon, don’t you?”

  “On a cake I like more or less anything.” He moved to the table and lifted the cloth on the basket.

  “It’s cake,” she said. “How wrong could it be?”

  He grinned. “Exactly.”

  She took the individual cakes from the basket and arranged them onto a larger plate.

  “You made these for me?” He picked up a cake and drew in a deep breath of its aroma. “If this tastes as good as it smells your cooking will rival Mrs Goodwin’s.”

  “I doubt that.” She took a seat at the table. “I wanted to do something nice for you. You’ve been so nice to me.”

  “You just being here is more than enough, but I’m not discouraging the cake at all.” He smiled and held his hand out to her. “Would you like to say the blessing, or shall I?”

  She placed her hand in his, feeling the now familiar tingle at the contact. “You do it.” In truth, her thoughts tended to flee when he touched her so she wasn’t at all sure she could produce a coherent sounding prayer anyway.

  When he closed his eyes her gaze was drawn to the way his long lashes grazed his cheeks and she had to remind herself to close her own eyes when he spoke.

  “Father, I thank You for Your provision and that we have everything we need. Thank You for these delicious cakes Louisa has made. And thank You for her, Lord, and for bringing her into my life, for however long she’s here. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

  He squeezed her hand gently before letting go and moved two of the cakes onto his plate. Louisa took only one. It wouldn’t look quite so bad if she had another later.

  “How did your day go?” she said. “Were you able to see the ledger?”

  He sighed, his fingers slowly rotating one of the cakes on his plate. “No. When I asked, Mr Ransom said he’d checked it and it was fine. I didn’t want him to think I was suspicious so I waited for him to leave his desk so I could get in without him seeing, but he didn’t move the entire day, that I saw. Man must have a bladder of iron.” He winced. “Sorry, that was crass. I’m almost sure he’s trying to keep me from seeing it.” His eyes widened as he took a bite of cake. “This is delicious, so light and fluffy and lemony. You’ll have to teach me how to make them.”

  “I’d love to.” She had no objections to anything that gave her more time with Jesse. “So what are you going to do? Can you talk to Mr Vernon outside t
he bank and tell him your suspicions?”

  He stared at his plate for a few seconds before shaking his head. “I have no proof and I may be completely wrong. Right now I’m just guessing, and Ransom has worked at the bank for seventeen years. He’s Vernon’s right hand man. I can’t go and make unfounded accusations with no proof. I need that ledger and the bank’s copies of the loan agreements and I need to get them without Ransom knowing. If he is doing something and he suspects I suspect him, he could cover any evidence. If there is any.” Slumping back in his chair, he rubbed one hand across his jaw. “I don’t want to believe he would steal from the bank. He’s a snob and has no sense of humour whatsoever, but it’s hard to believe he’s a thief, especially having been there for so long.”

  An urge to take his hand and comfort him came over her, but she wasn’t sure it would be appropriate. Then he sighed and she decided she didn’t care whether it was or not. Reaching across the table, she gently laid her hand over his. He seemed surprised, staring at where they touched, then he turned his hand over and wrapped his fingers around hers.

  “So what are you going to do?” she said, hoping her voice wasn’t trembling.

  He gazed at their hands lying together on the surface of the table. Was he thinking about the bank? Or about the way her hand fit so perfectly into his?

  “The only thing I can think of to do is somehow get into the bank after hours and take the ledgers, but I’m not sure how to do that. Only Mr Vernon and Ransom have keys, so the only way is for me to leave a window unlatched and go back after dark.” He smiled a little. “Problem is, climbing in through windows isn’t so easy for me.”

  “I could do it.” It was only after she’d spoken that she realised what she’d said.

  His eyes opened wide and he sat upright, letting go of her hand. “What? No! I wasn’t suggesting that at all.”

  “I know. I just... I want to help. I want to do it.” And, to her surprise, she truly did.

  He raised his hands, shaking his head and laughing as if the mere idea was ridiculous. “Absolutely not. I am not having you breaking into banks for me! I can ask someone else. Adam would probably do it. Especially now.”