by Eliana West
“Taylor, wake up.” She gently shook his shoulder.
Jo climbed in next to him and pulled him into her arms when he let out another low moan.
He shuddered and whispered, “I’ll keep you safe.”
Her heart softened. She ran her fingers over his forehead, trying to smooth away the furrows. She gave him a firmer shake.
“Taylor, wake up,” she said more firmly this time.
He squeezed his eyes tighter for a moment before they popped open.
“Jo?” He looked at her in confusion.
“You were having a bad dream.”
“I saw…I… It was terrible—what he asked her to do.”
“It’s okay, Taylor.”
He shook his head. “No, it’s not.” He grabbed her hand that had been stroking his forehead and held it in his. “You’re not her,” he breathed out.
“Who?”
“I was engaged before and I found out she wasn’t being honest with me. When I saw the report from the private investigator I thought history was repeating.” He sucked in a breath. “You’re not her and you’re not Ada Mae. I don’t want to live in the past, I want to be in the present with you.”
There was a note of longing in his voice that her heart couldn’t ignore. Taylor had been hurt by someone he loved in a similar way she had been. Knowing this stripped away any lingering resentment she felt toward him.
“It’s late. Go to sleep and we’ll talk in the morning.”
He tightened his hold on her hand when she tried to get out of his bed. “Will you stay with me?”
She nodded and climbed back in and laid her head on his shoulder. He reached for her hand. Holding it on his chest, he exhaled and his body relaxed.
*
The next morning he handed Jo a cup of coffee. He joined her on the step leading out to the garden, holding his own cup between his hands. He watched the steam mingle with his breath in the brisk morning air for a moment before he spoke.
“I was engaged before. It turned out that Alyssa was selling information to the tabloids. I…I thought we were in love but I learned…” He shook his head. “It wasn’t real, none of it was, even the feelings I felt for her. They weren’t anything close to the way I feel about you. When I saw the private investigator’s report I just…I was angry because I thought I’d made the same mistake.”
Jo’s eyes grew wide at his admission. She set her cup down and turned to face him.
“We’ve both been betrayed by people we thought we loved.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m not. Sometimes I think I had to lose everything so I could find this,” she said sweeping her hand over the garden. “Before I came here everything was about work, and saying the right things, wearing the right clothes.” She sighed. “I was constantly trying to impress people whose opinion of me I thought mattered. Then I came to Colton and learned how to like myself again.”
There was a hint of desire in Taylor’s eyes when he leaned forward slightly and asked, “Do you think you could learn to like me…again?”
Jo couldn’t fight the smile that tugged at her lips. “Maybe…” She pinched her thumb and forefinger together. “But just a little bit.”
*
There was a tenderness that came from the understanding between them over days that followed. There was less kissing but a lot more talking. They often sought each other out during the day, just to check in or share something funny that happened.
Unfortunately, those moments came at a cost. Tessa became more and more hostile as the days passed. Nasty looks escalated into nasty comments. At one point Tessa even suggested that Jo had been stealing food from catering. She’s asked Jo to take care of Taylor’s laundry and suggested Jo could be paid by the production company as a maid. Every day there was a new comment or snide remark and each time Taylor came up with an excuse for Tessa’s behavior. Jo witnessed Tessa’s abusive behavior to the crew with growing concern. She often treated the crew in ways that in any other company would have resulted in a meeting with Human Resources but no one stood up to her for fear of losing their job. She often made demeaning and outright cruel comments when the crew wasn’t around. Her attraction to Taylor was tempered with frustration about his refusal to acknowledge Tessa’s behavior.
Callie, Dax, and everyone else in town were bending over backward to be nice to her after hearing about the private investigator’s report. She appreciated the support but it only made her feel worse. The only person who wasn’t looking at her with a sad expression was Tillie and that’s why she found herself sitting at the counter at the Catfish for the third time that week.
Tillie swapped the cold bowl of chili for a fresh one. “Come on, Jo, you need to eat.”
Jo picked up the spoon and then set it down again. “I’m sorry, Tillie, I’m just not hungry.”
“Starving yourself isn’t going to do you any good. I’m not letting you leave here until you’ve eaten at least half that bowl.”
Tillie went to take care of her other customers, coming back to check on her every few minutes. When the last customer left for the night Tillie came and sat next to Jo.
“What’s going on, honey?”
Jo filled her in on the behavior she’d witnessed from Tessa and all of the little digs she’d gotten in over the past week.
“I’m so frustrated,” she confessed. “I like the time Taylor and I spend together but I don’t like the way he either doesn’t see Tessa’s behavior or is choosing to ignore it. Either way I don’t see how a relationship between us can work if he won’t… I’m not asking him to take sides but I need to know that he…”
“A person wants a partner who they know will have their back. The attraction might be there but it sounds to me like the trust is missing.”
Jo nodded.
“I’m sorry, honey, I wish I had some words of wisdom for you but I’ve been without my Fred for so long now I can barely remember what it feels like to be attracted to someone.”
Tillie had shared how she married her high school sweetheart Fred the day after graduation. They’d worked side by side for eighteen years until cancer took away the love of her life.
Jo took Tillie’s hands in hers. “We’re strong independent women who deserve to have good men in our lives. And if we can’t find them we’ll have just as much fun living our lives without them.”
She tried to sound more convincing than she felt.
Tillie gave her hands a squeeze. “Damn straight. You hold your head up high when you get back to Halcyon. Taylor’s a fool. I just hope he figures it out before it’s too late.”
When she got back to the house Taylor was sitting at the makeshift kitchen table with a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. She gave him a brief nod and started unloading the food Tillie had insisted she bring home with her.
He waited for her to finish before he asked, “Is something wrong?”
She leaned against the countertop in the butler’s pantry and folded her arms.
“This isn’t working, Taylor.”
“What do you mean? What isn’t working?”
“I can’t…” She swallowed. “I like you and I’m attracted to you.” She felt the heat rise in her cheeks. “But our relationship isn’t going to go anywhere as long as you refuse to do anything about Tessa’s behavior.”
Taylor drew back and placed his hands on his hips. “What are you talking about?”
Jo took a few steadying breaths, willing herself to ignore the belligerent tone in his voice.
“She’s more and more hostile to me every day and she’s abusive to your crew. I don’t know how you don’t see it.”
Taylor started to speak when she noticed the cabinet samples stacked against the wall in the kitchen out of the corner of her eye. She went over and picked up one of the samples.
“What are these for?”
“We have a lot of sponsors interested in the show, Jo. There are several cabinet companies that want to participate so T
essa and I thought—”
“No.”
“Jo, this is business.”
“No, this is Halcyon. We agreed that it would be a good idea to use local trades. Jacob Winters is going to build the cabinets.”
Taylor’s blue eyes locked with hers and she refused to blink. She realized she had fisted her hands so tightly they were beginning to tingle. But she couldn’t let go. If she did she might fall apart. She held her breath and waited to see what kind of excuse Taylor would use.
“Jo, it wasn’t easy to get the network to agree to commit to an entire season on one project. I’m under a lot of pressure to make sure this is a success.”
“I’m sorry, Taylor. I’m sorry that you are under so much pressure that you’re willing to put the needs of your show before what’s best for the house. I’m not.”
“You’re being unreasonable.”
She shook her head, backing away. “I didn’t think you would do this.”
Taylor threw his hands up. “What am I doing?”
“I didn’t think you would go back on your word.”
“That’s not what I’m doing, I’m just…”
She held her hand up. “It’s okay, Taylor. I’m not going to ask you to choose between your partnership and me.”
She walked away from Taylor, leaving him with a thunderous expression on his face. Jo waited until she reached her room before she took a deep shuddering breath, fighting to breathe through her disappointment.
*
When she got into bed that night she whispered in the darkness, “Ada Mae, I need your help. Please. I’m trying to do the right thing and make you proud but I need you to show me the way.”
She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping sleep would take her worries away. She heard the rustle of skirts before she heard the voice. Jo knew the young woman beckoning her to follow was Ada Mae. Her pale blue skirts swished around her as she led Jo through the house into the small parlor.
“She knew, she knew the first time she laid eyes on me. I felt sorry for her. She came to Halcyon, her head held high so prideful to be the wife of the master and the mistress of the plantation. He made her wait two years before he could bring himself to marry her. His daddy wanted it—it was business and not love. That was fine by her. She just wanted to be a grand lady. She knew he’d take a mistress and she didn’t care if he took one of us. She didn’t know he’d insist on havin’ me in the house or that it would be my name he would whisper in the dark.
“I didn’t want to be there and she didn’t want me there. It was never gonna end in anything but pain and sorrow. I begged Absolem to set me free or to let me work with my brothers and sisters in the field but he refused. He always thought he could have everything he wanted just like a spoiled child.”
She turned in a slow circle around the room. “He asked me what my favorite color was. When I told him yellow he decorated this room for me. I hated it as much as I loved it. I would have always chosen my freedom over his love.”
The sconces and the fireplace flared to life, illuminating the room in a soft golden glow. Jo looked down to see a yellow rug bordered with pink and blue flowers at her feet. The walls were covered in a pale yellow damask stripe and the furniture in a yellow brocade. Everything had a floral motif, making the whole room appear as if it were a bouquet of yellow roses.
“My brother carved the mantel. Absolem was always getting offers to buy Henry, his skill was so great. But he refused to even loan him out.” Ada Mae shook her head and a tear slipped down her cheek. “He carved a map to freedom that he never got to see. Miss Julia had him whipped to death when she didn’t like the jewelry box she ordered him to make. Absolem had been away and that’s why. She knew she couldn’t touch me but she could hurt the ones I loved.”
Jo listened in horror. “Why did you want me to come here if there is only pain in this house?”
Ada Mae took Jo by the hand and led her over to the French doors. They flew open and Jo saw the garden as it once was. Yellow roses were in bloom surrounded by the tiny white flowers that she didn’t recognize. The garden was framed by a high brick wall with a small arched doorway in one corner.
There were people working in the garden. Their brown skin glowed in the afternoon sun. These were some of the enslaved people owned by Absolem. Ada Mae gently pulled Jo back from the doorway. One by one the slaves would work their way over toward the garden. They never stopped working but their eyes were trained on the mantel.
“Absolem insisted I learn to read and write but I didn’t dare teach anyone else. Miss Julia was always trying to trick us. I couldn’t risk it. But I could tell stories and Henry could carve. Absolem thought he was making this place for me. He was so blind. He gave me a place to teach. I made this house into a school and he didn’t even know. You’re here to make sure the past is remembered. You can make this house a place where people can build a better future.”
Ada Mae reached out and gently cupped Jo’s cheek.
“He’s stubborn, like Absolem, and you’re stubborn just like me. Don’t give up. Keep fighting.”
Jo woke up with a start to bright blue skies and the scent of eucalyptus.
She was on her way to work out in the garden later when she ran into Taylor in the front hall. He started to speak when there was a loud knock at the front door.
When Taylor opened it Mae’s mother and the three sisters known as the Jewels were standing on the doorstep with baskets of flowers and gardening tools.
“We’re not here to see you,” the oldest of the Jewels—Opal—said.
“We’re here for Miss Josephine,” said the middle sister Pearl.
Ruby, the youngest, saw Jo and came rushing over to envelop her in a hug.
Mae’s mother stepped forward until she was toe to toe with Taylor. “I am Mrs. Colton. I assume you are Mr. Colton.” She patted her sleek bob shot through with silver. Although she must have been in her sixties there wasn’t a single wrinkle on her dark brown skin. She oozed elegance and style. “I am here with the ladies from the Colton Gardening Club and we’ve come to offer assistance to Ms. Josephine Martin today,” she said, as if she were giving a formal address to the state assembly.
It was clear they were putting Taylor in his place. He stepped back and bowed with a sweeping gesture. “Please come in,” he said matching Mrs. Colton’s formality.
If he thought he could charm any of them he quickly learned that wasn’t going to be the case when all four sets of eyes gave him a withering stare. Ignoring his greeting they surrounded Jo, taking turns to say hello with hugs and kisses. Jo blinked back her tears and sent a silent word of thanks to Ada Mae. She’d asked her for help and she’d sent it in the form of the Colton Gardening Club.
As Jo led them through the small parlor to the garden, Opal’s footsteps faltered when she saw the fireplace mantel.
“Well, I’ll be,” Opal whispered. “I can’t believe it’s real.”
“What is it?” Pearl asked.
“Sister?” Ruby put her hand on Opal’s arm.
“What do you know about this mantel?” Jo asked.
“Our great-grandmother used to put me on her knee and tell me that there was a mantel in the big house at Halcyon that was a map to freedom. She said it was carved with birds—Halcyon birds and trees.” Opal frowned and shook her head. “There’s more but I can’t remember it.”
Jo thought about what Ada Mae said in her dream. She reached for Opal’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’d like it if we could sit down and you’d tell me what you can remember so we can make sure future generations know the story.”
She opened the doors out to the garden where sunlight streamed through the branches of an ancient oak. It was a beautiful fall day and the perfect temperature for working outside. Jo had already done enough weeding that a brick path was now visible between the four garden beds. She had found a rosebush that survived being smothered by a morning glory and she knew now that in the spring it would bloom yellow. The Jewels
and Ella Colton all oohed and aahed at how good the soil was. They planted purple asters and pansies in one of the beds they cleared to brighten up the garden for now. Ella and the Jewels came up with a plan for planting in the spring after Jo explained her vision for the garden.
Opal squinted up at the scraggly branches of an ancient crepe myrtle, or at least that’s what Ella insisted it was after a heated debate with Pearl. “I’m not sure if that one can be saved.”
“We should call an arborist,” Pearl suggested.
“There are a couple in Greenwood we can call,” Ruby added.
Jo smiled at the women. “I’m so happy you’re here to help. Thank you.”
Ella Colton patted her hand. “We’re happy to help your family.”
Opal was still staring at the tree. There was a bright flash of blue and a little bird just like the one Jo saw on her first visit to Colton darted into the sky. “A halcyon,” she murmured. Suddenly she stood up straighter and exclaimed, “I remember.”
“Remember what?” Pearl asked.
“I remember the story Great-Grandma told.”
“What is it?” Ruby asked.
Opal turned to Jo. “Have you been to the cabins yet?”
“What cabins?”
“Come on, honey.” Opal took Jo’s hand. “I want to tell you the story there.”
The women led her beyond the garden out into the cotton field to a small thicket of trees half covered in kudzu vines obscuring where three small brick buildings sat low to the ground.
Opal held fast to one hand while Pearl grasped the other. Ruby and Ella stood behind her with their hands on her shoulders.
“Most folks have forgotten these are here,” Opal said.
“Some work hard to forget,” Pearl added.
“And some don’t want us to remember,” Ruby said quietly.
“Great-Grandma told me about a woman kept trapped like a bird in a thicket.” Opal’s voice took on a dream-like quality. “Let me tell you child about a little bird who could not fly free.” Opal began to sing in a low mournful voice that echoed the voices of their ancestors who sang of their sorrows at the end of the day.