“Yeah, thanks.” Justin stretched his neck. “Anyway, I was just leaving.”
“Leaving? Why?”
“I’m not really welcome here.” He glanced over Bethany’s shoulder. “It’s a shame because I’d really like to spend some time with you. You should come see me at the cabin later.”
Bethany followed his line of sight to see what or who Justin was looking at while he spoke. She saw Everett scowl at Justin then glance briefly at her before he returned his attention to the guests around him. She looked back at Justin. “That would be inappropriate.”
“Inappropriate? Seriously?” Justin snickered faintly. “Why? Are you dating Everett now or something?”
“A couple of weeks ago he asked me to court, and I plan to give him my answer this evening. Besides, according to our custom a woman is not supposed to go to a man’s house alone.”
Justin glanced again in Everett’s direction then put his hand on Bethany’s shoulder. He lowered his chin and looked at her the same way he did on their last night in quarantine. “You shouldn’t care so much about what everyone else thinks. Forget the custom for a minute—what do you want to do?”
Bethany recognized his desire but she sensed nothing from him but disdain. She waited to see if she would feel the spark that she had felt with him in the cottage, but it never came and she was glad. She took a step back. “Thank you for the invitation, but I can’t.”
“Then maybe I’ll have to come see you.” Justin winked at her and walked away.
Bethany lingered in the open doorway of the barn. She watched Justin as he disappeared into the darkness toward the road. Then she looked at Everett. He too was watching Justin leave. Everett’s visage clearly portrayed his dissatisfaction with Justin. She thought of the duality she sensed in Justin. Now that she recognized the way he dissembled, his charm was less alluring. In the light of maturity, she appreciated Everett’s honest expressions. Though Bethany was flattered by having two men compete for her affection, she was relieved when Justin left the party.
As Bethany stepped into the barn, the song ended and Mandy set her violin in its case. Everett’s guitar was propped against the back of the stage. Though Samuel’s absence made the party feel different from those in previous years, if Mandy and Everett led the music, celebration had a chance of overcoming grief.
Roseanna whirled past the open doorway. She had a sweaty forehead and a beaming smile. “Everyone, come out and find a seat. Mr. Colburn is about to say the blessing.”
After dinner Bethany dropped her shawl on a bench in the barn and clapped to the beat as she joined other dancers in the center of the room. She loved the liveliness of the jig that Mandy was playing on a new wood violin. Smiling, Bethany danced while the robust notes filled the barn. Before the song ended, a young man took her hand and danced beside her. Though he was one of the men who wanted to court her, she danced with him out of politeness. Mandy began the polka next, and the young man stayed beside her. When he looked away, Bethany took a few steps back. He glanced at the empty space where she had been and his smile vanished until he spotted her. His toothy grin returned as he stepped back beside her and took her hand again.
Skirts twirled as the couples moved in quick chasse steps around the dance floor. Bethany laughed, enjoying the comedy provided by her partner’s lanky inelegance. She applauded the musicians when the music ended and then wiped her sweaty cheek with her sleeve. After thanking the young man for the dance, she began to walk to an empty bench but stopped when someone tapped her shoulder.
Another boy from school held out his hand. “May I have the next dance?”
The fresh air blowing through the doorway beckoned her, but if she were seen only dancing with one man, it may give the wrong impression. She fanned her face with her hand and mustered a courteous smile. “Yes, you may.”
During the dance the two young men eyed each other with jealous glares. Bethany hoped her willingness to dance had not given the impression she was interested in courting either one. When the song ended, Mandy set her violin in its case and left the stage. Bethany swirled her hair into a twist and let the air hit her neck as she stepped away from the dancers. Everett rushed into the barn and onto the platform. He strapped his guitar over his shoulder and gave its tuning a quick check then said something to the other musicians. They nodded and began to play.
Delighted to see Everett take the stage, Bethany slipped away from the dance floor and scanned the room for a less crowded place where she could sit and watch him in peace. She heard a scuffle behind her and looked back to see her two dance partners fighting each other.
As one young man planted his fist into the other’s jaw, Bethany gasped. “No!” she shouted. Levi brushed past her as he parted the crowd. When he reached them, he yanked the young men apart. With one fistful of a man’s shirt and one hand around the other man’s neck, Levi forcibly removed them from the dance floor.
Bethany’s mouth hung open as she watched her brother haul the squabbling young men out of the barn. She took a calming breath, and then looked back at the stage. Everett gave her a wink, stomped a beat, and continued playing the song. The dancing villagers quickly filled the vacant space on the floor.
Mandy stepped beside Bethany and tugged on her elbow. “Come with me. I need some air and I think you do too.”
“Thank you,” Bethany shouted over the sound of the music and the clapping as Mandy hurried her to the side door of the barn. She slowed her pace once they were outside and pointed to a picnic table on the outskirts of the party.
“What do you think Levi did with those boys?” Bethany asked as she sat on the tabletop and rested her feet on the bench below.
“He probably dropped them in the dirt by the road and told them to go home.” Mandy chuckled. Her laugh sounded like music. “I’m not sure which of us had the bigger thrill: me watching my husband effortlessly haul two brawling men out of the barn or you watching the two men fight over you.”
Bethany laughed with Mandy then shook her head. “It was not a thrill for me. I didn’t want their attention in the first place.”
“Then that is where we differ. When I was your age, I loved having men compete over me.” Mandy sat on the table beside Bethany and drew a long curl of her auburn hair into her fingertips. “How about the other two men who have been vying for your attention? Do you find that flattering?”
“Oh, thank goodness you said something!” Bethany let out an exaggerated sigh and shifted her body toward Mandy. “I haven’t had anyone to talk to about it. When I mention it at home, it either causes hurt feelings or ends in a vehement lecture about the value of tradition.”
Mandy tilted her head. “You can always talk to me. I will keep your secrets, but I can’t promise not to give unbiased advice—it is my brother who has declared his love for you and is waiting kindly but anxiously for your answer.”
“I know.” Bethany looked across the paddock behind the noisy barn at the animals that would normally be in their stalls enjoying the quiet this time of night. A colt stood near its mother on the other side of the fence. Bethany thought of her own mother. She glanced back at Mandy. “I can sense things in people; I feel what they are feeling. My father always says it’s a gift and that I’m just like my mother. It doesn’t always feel like a gift. Like when I play cards with you and Levi and Connor… Levi always tells me I have to learn how to discern the other players’ motives, but I just get confused when a person feels one way but acts another. I can’t call anyone’s bluff and it just feels unfair. At first, I was intrigued with Justin—what’s not to like? He’s charming and smart and comes from a world I can only imagine. When we were alone in the cottage, he would look at me and say the most alluring things.” Bethany waved a hand. “Not that we did anything regrettable. We didn’t. After I was back in the house, I thought about how I’d never met a man like Justin before. But when the feeling faded, I realized that even though I enjoyed his flattery, I never felt love from him. His attract
ion lacked affection and I’d never experienced that before.”
Mandy nodded then leaned her palms on the table behind her. “Bethany, you were raised surrounded by men of integrity, so you probably assumed all men possessed that trait. But believe me, it is rare. Integrity is difficult to develop but easy to fake—at least for a while. It’s the kind of pretense that cannot be sustained. Take the time to get to know a man not by what he says but by what he does, and not only when he knows he is being watched or when it benefits him. Watch what a man chooses when doing the right thing will put him at risk.”
“Like when Everett saved me during the attack last year?”
“Yes, like that.” Mandy took her hands off the table and brushed her palms together. “But Justin is a warrior and Connor has said their profession put them at personal risk every day, so that might not be the best example. Watch how a man behaves in less heroic moments. For example, how many times since you and Everett were teenagers have you been at our house or he at yours late at night playing cards or talking alone?”
Bethany thought back and then shook her head. “I have no idea how many times… countless.”
“During any of those times alone did Everett try anything inappropriate with you?”
“No. Never.”
“See—integrity.” Mandy winked. “I warned you my advice might be biased.”
“You’re right.” She chuckled at Mandy. “But my mind was already made up.”
“Oh?”
“After the quarantine, I didn’t see Justin again …until tonight. I knew he was working here for Everett every day, but my father wouldn’t invite him over even for dinner. And Connor didn’t seem to care. He goes to Justin’s cabin in the evenings, but Justin never comes to our house. I wondered if my father and Connor and Everett were in on it together, though that didn’t account for why Justin doesn’t go to church. Anyway, I realized that whatever I felt for him must have been a result of what I went through in quarantine. I nearly died and then I was locked up with him for days. I didn’t feel anything when I saw him tonight. Those feelings of intrigue were gone.”
Mandy smiled. “I’m glad to hear that, but don’t feel bad for feeling the way you did during the quarantine. You went through a lot—something none of us have ever been through. Blame the boredom. Blame human nature. Blame his deceitful charm and your inexperience. Just don’t blame your father and Connor and Everett for how they’ve handled it. Those men love you and they want to protect you.”
When Mandy nudged her, she smiled. “I know. I just wish I had been prepared when Everett told me he loved me. I love him too and I would be honored to court. I wish I’d said yes.”
“It doesn’t hurt a man to make him wait a little.”
Bethany looked at the barn when the side door opened. Everett stepped outside and started walking toward the table. He began whistling a familiar melody. She grinned and leaned close to Mandy. “Well, his wait is over.”
“Good,” Mandy whispered. “I was afraid you had given a thief the keys to your heart.”
“One more day in quarantine and I might have.” Bethany smiled at Everett as he walked toward them.
A half-grin curved Everett’s lips. He glanced back and forth between Bethany and Mandy. “Don’t you girls look full of secrets, whispering and grinning in the dark?”
“Never mind that,” Mandy said while she removed herself from the splintery tabletop with as much feminine grace as a woman could in a floor-length dress. “Where is my husband?” When Everett pointed at the barn, Mandy brushed the back of her skirt. “What did he do with the louts?”
“He sent them home.” Everett spoke to his sister but his eyes were fixed on Bethany. “Are you all right, Beth?” he asked as Mandy tiptoed through the dewy grass and slipped back into the side door of the barn.
“I’m fine.” She glanced at the light that spilled from the barn and it momentarily ruined her vision. She focused on Everett as her eyes readjusted to the dark. “Mandy and I were getting some fresh air.”
“Yes, the cold air feels good after being stuffed in the barn with two hundred dancing villagers.” Everett loosened his cravat and let it hang unopened around his neck. He lifted his foot to the bench of the picnic table and leaned his forearms upon his knee. “Have you given any thought to my request?”
“Any thought?” She murmured a chuckle. “I have spent the past two weeks thinking of little else.”
He leaned an inch closer. “Have you considered me?”
“Yes.”
“Him too?”
“Yes, Justin too.”
Everett heaved a breath. It puffed into a little cloud then dissipated. He pushed away from the table and took a few steps toward the paddock. One of the horses started walking to the fence. Everett sank his hands into his pockets then walked back and planted his feet close to the table. “I saw him talking to you earlier and—” He clenched his jaw and looked away.
As much as it delighted Bethany to see Everett’s willingness to fight for her, once his aggression was stirred it took hours for his pleasant demeanor to return. She preferred him pleasant. Bethany lifted a hand. “Justin has no place in my future.”
“Are you sure?” Everett’s expression lightened. He boosted himself onto the tabletop and sat beside her where Mandy had been. “Do you feel anything for him?”
Bethany shook her head. “Only concern.” When he stared at her with a crease in his brow, she felt the need to expound. “I can tell he is lonely. He doesn’t feel welcome here.”
“Is that something you sensed or something he said?”
“Both.” As Bethany said it she realized it was the only thing Justin had said to her that did coincide with the emotions she sensed from him. “I’m not in love with him, but I do care about him.”
“Of course you do, Beth. Your sensitivity makes you compassionate, and that’s something I love about you. It’s sweet of you to care, but use caution. You should stay away from him.” He took her hand and curled her fingers onto his palm. “So you have sorted out your feelings for him, but have you come to a decision about us?”
“I have.” She studied his features in the faint light coming from the barn. Her gaze traced the stubble along the line of his jaw to the shadow beneath his lower lip. “I’m sorry to make you wait for my reply. When I came out of quarantine, I was not myself. I had been through a lot. I felt such distance between us and I wasn’t prepared for your request. It has taken this long for me to absorb all that you said—especially that part about loving me and waiting these past two years to ask me to court.”
He lifted her hand to his lips. “I do love you. And I will wait another two years if you need me to. No matter how it pains me, I will wait. I never want to rush you.”
“No, I am ready now—to court, I mean.”
A slow smile curved his mouth. “Then I will shower you with love—not to lure you into spending your life with me but as a foretaste of what a life with me would be like. And I will lead us slowly because when we are ready to join our lives, I want you to be able to look back at our courtship without a single regret. Just promise me one thing, Beth.”
“What?”
“Promise me you will stay away from Justin Mercer.”
Chapter Ten
Everett drank the last hot sip from his coffee mug while he leaned against the kitchen counter. Roseanna took the empty mug with her sudsy hand. She dunked it in the dishwater and as she wiped it with a wet rag, she glanced at Everett. “Nicholas’ sister had her baby. It’s a boy.” She set the clean mug in the dish rack.
Everett yawned and looked out the kitchen window at the early frost gleaming across the paddock. “I need to get the flock into the shelter today; bad weather is coming.”
Roseanna wrung out her rag and laid it over the sink’s edge. “The traveler from Woodland brought word about the baby on Saturday, but Nicholas only told me last night during the dance.”
Everett nodded as he stepped to the
coatrack by the back door. He understood Nicholas’ disinclination to share personal information—and appreciated it. As he shrugged into his coat, he felt its pocket for his gloves. The pockets were empty. “Have you seen my work gloves? The brown ones?”
“No, son. Maybe you left them in the barn last night after the dance.” Roseanna pulled the plug in the sink and the water gurgled as it swirled down the drain. “You’ll probably misplace a lot of things with all that’s on your mind: handling the flock, elder meetings, waiting for Bethany’s answer…”
“She gave me her answer,” Everett mumbled as he searched the pockets of the other coats on the rack. He could not remember where his gloves were because he was still half asleep. Joy over Bethany’s acceptance had kept him awake most of the night.
Roseanna tilted her head. “Oh, I’m sorry, son.”
“Why? She said yes.”
Roseanna clutched both hands to her heart and squealed with delight. “That’s wonderful! Well, you should be happy this morning instead of scowling at the frost. She is a sweet one, that Bethany—just like her mother. Oh, I’m happy for you, son! For you and her both.”
Everett felt his gloves inside another coat’s pocket. He held them up. “Found them. Bye, Mother.” As he left the porch, he glanced back at the kitchen window and saw Roseanna’s beaming smile. He flashed a grin, then he slid his hands into his gloves and jogged across the frosted grass to the side door of the barn. His flock of over four hundred ewes filled the air with a cacophony of bleats as they waited in the paddock. Everett loved the sound.
He stepped through the barn’s side door. Nicholas had already taken down the lanterns, removed the stage, and set up the feeders, and he was shoveling grass hay into the last empty feeder. Though Nicholas had come to the property as a farm hand, he’d quickly proven his worth.
Uncharted Inheritance (The Uncharted Series Book 3) Page 13