A Time for Everything (19 page)

Harry cleared his throat loudly and
nudged Beau.

“
And you remember Harry,
I’m sure,” Beau grumbled.

Head tilted to one side, she batted
her eyes at his friend. “How could I forget that old
charmer?”

“
Miss Clemons, what a
pleasure to see you again.” Harry took a deep bow, kissed her hand,
and employed an Adonis-like smile.

She snatched her hand from him and
giggled. “Your charms no longer affect me, Mr. Franklin. Beau, did
you know that Harry used to bribe me with little gifts, like
oranges and hair ribbons? He’d go on and on about how he would wait
for me to be grown up so he could marry me, but the next time I’d
see him, he’d have another young lady on his arm.”

Harry grinned and winked, eliciting
more giggles from Lydia.

“
Nothing surprises me
about Harry,” Beau said. “Oh, you remember Bessie. She and Isaac
stayed on throughout the war, though their boys have since moved up
north. We lost a few more of our hired hands, but I’ve got some
temporaries here for the season. And we’ve just hired on Portia
McAllister as Jonny’s tutor.” He gestured toward her and added,
“She’s been a big help around here this week.”

Lydia lifted her head toward the
porch. With one eyebrow arched, she scanned Portia from head to
foot. Beau’s muscles tensed, his senses on alert like the final
seconds before the first shot of a battle. Before now, he hadn’t
given any thought about how a potential bride might react to a
young widow living in his house. To his relief, Lydia waved the
white flag with a smile that could rival the sun.

“
A pleasure to meet you,
Mrs. McAllister,” she said, sashaying toward her, gown rustling
across the ground. “I am
so
relieved to have another young lady to converse
with. My mother and aunt are pleasant enough, but they get tired of
me going on and on about the latest fashions and socials. I’m sure
we will get along splendidly.”

“
I’m sure,” Portia
said.

She smiled back, all right, but her
eyes told another story — one of uncertainty and maybe even…
jealousy?

Had anyone told
Portia that this woman’s feet never touched the
earth, she would have believed it. Lydia Clemons reminded her of a
peacock strutting around the barnyard in all its glory. No one
could deny her beauty, and it didn’t take much to see that
she’d
been denied nothing in
life.

Having turned her attention back to
Beau and the other men, Lydia floated away, leaving Portia to
notice the rest of the party. With the Clemons family came five
black servants — three men that drove the coach and carriages,
along with a woman and child. The woman ran onto the porch and
hugged Bessie tightly. Young and pretty, she had skin a shade
lighter than Bessie’s. Her gray cotton dress and matching bonnet
were plain but well-made. A little girl hid behind her
skirts.

“
Mrs. McAllister, this is
Lucy Jenkins,” Bessie said. “She’s my niece. My sister was owned by
the Clemonses until she passed on several years ago, and Lucy’s
stayed on with them. Been up in Philadelphia this whole time,
haven’t you?”

Lucy nodded and smiled. “Ain’t nobody
up there can make fried chicken like yours, Aunt Bessie. My mouth’s
waterin’ just thinkin’ about it.”

“
You’re in for a nice
surprise, then.”

Lucy reached behind her, tugging at
the little girl’s sleeve. “Sallie Mae, come here, child. Say hello
to your great-aunt.”

The girl stepped partway from behind
Lucy and waved her fingers at Bessie, who bent down to get a better
look at her.

“
Bless my soul, is this
Sallie Mae?” Bessie patted the little girl’s head, which was
covered with braids tipped with beads of different colors. “You was
just a baby last time I saw you, girl. Time sure does fly. Lucy,
this is Portia McAllister. She’s tutorin’ Jonny and helpin’ out
around here.”

Lucy curtsied. “A pleasure to meet
you, ma’am.”

“
Likewise,” Portia
said.

Bessie pointed toward the carriages.
“Tipp there is Lucy’s husband, and the other two are Saul and
Joseph. They work for Miss Amelie.”

The three women, along with Sallie,
who retreated behind Lucy’s skirts again, turned their attention to
the grand reunion of Stanfords and Clemonses. Portia tried not to
look at Beau, but it wouldn’t matter if she did. His eyes had never
left the beautiful peacock dressed in royal blue.

He woke from her spell long enough to
turn to the rest of the party. “Saul, how about you and Tipp start
unloading the luggage? Bessie can show you the rooms we have
prepared. We have plenty of storage space upstairs and in the
attic.”

“
Oh, Beau, I have
something for you,” Lydia said excitedly. She pulled him toward one
of the horses they had hitched to the last carriage. “Do you like
her?”

Beau shook his head in
confusion.

“
She’s yours, a
Standardbred from the line of the great Hambletonian
himself.”

Eyes wide, he stroked the horse’s
neck. “I don’t know what to say.”

The stunning specimen of a
horse was charcoal gray with a jet black mane and tail and
well-muscled with a shiny coat.
A very
lavish gift, but probably not beyond means for this
family.

“
Don’t say anything,”
Lydia said, slipping her arm through his. “Just put her out there
with Scout and enjoy her. We had Tipp buy her at a sale in
Nashville before we arrived. I’m glad she turned out so well. You
still have Scout, don’t you?”

“
Yes.”

“
Wonderful! I used to be
terrified of him. Do you remember?”

Beau laughed. “What I remember is you
squealing with terror when I rode past you. Claire accused me of
doing it on purpose. She was right.”

Having heard quite enough of this
reunion, Portia went inside with Bessie, Lucy, and Sallie Mae. She
didn’t like the way her cheeks had flamed and how images of her own
feast or fast life had flipped through her mind in an instant
comparison with the life Miss Clemons must have led. Jealousy was
something she had rarely entertained, and she didn’t want to be its
host. She dove right into lunch preparations, glad to have
something to keep her occupied for a while.

After serving the guests, Portia ate
her lunch standing at the work counter in the kitchen. The constant
chatter from the dining room and Lydia’s high-pitched laughter
blended with the conversation from Bessie’s family reunion and gave
her a headache.

“
Y’all gotta be careful
now.” Bessie’s happy voice had deepened into a serious warning
tone. “They found Clarence over near Cainsville, hanging from a
hickory tree. Burned so bad Fannie could hardly recognize him.
Don’t none of you go out alone, you hear me? Take Isaac or Harry
along and make sure one of you’s got a gun.”

Portia paused mid-bite, her appetite
giving way to a knot of fear in her gut.

“
What about Fannie and
Jim?” Lucy asked. “They all right?”

“
Yes, they’re fine. Isaac
took ’em up to Kentucky. He oughta be back tomorrow.”

Lucy blinked back tears and hugged
Sallie Mae close. “You and Uncle Isaac’s all we got, Aunt Bessie.
If somethin’ happened…”

Bessie reached across the small table
and took Lucy’s hand. “Don’t you worry. Isaac’s got Deputy Bandy
with him. He don’t like seein’ this kind of violence, no matter
white or black.”

Portia abandoned the rest of her lunch
and helped serve coffee and cookies to everyone in the parlor. Mr.
Clemons had new toys for Jonathan, who laid belly-down on the
parlor floor playing with each one in turn. Miss Clemons sat across
from Beau at a table by the window. Her girlish giggles punctuated
their conversation.

Harry took his cup and saucer from
Portia and brushed his thumb over hers. “Thank you,
darlin’.”

She saw a note of concern in his
eyes.

“
You all right?” he added
quietly.

“
I’m fine, thank
you.”

Harry caught her wrist lightly and
scooted to the edge of the settee. Drawing her down toward him, he
whispered, “How about you and me go for a walk in a little while?
You know, get some fresh air and all.”

Tempted to take him up on the offer,
she decided she would feel guilty about taking Harry away from the
guests. Being alone for a while would suit her mood better
anyway.

“
Thank you,” she said,
gently slipping from his grasp. “I’ll probably have a rest upstairs
instead. Maybe another time.”

Harry sighed and scooted back in the
seat. He plunged a cookie in his coffee then crammed it in his
mouth, staring straight ahead. She felt a little guilty turning him
down when he tried so hard to gain her attention, but… she hurried
back to the kitchen before she could change her mind.

Portia took on the task of
cleaning the dishes so Bessie could continue reminiscing with Lucy
and Tipp. Sallie Mae fell asleep on her mother’s lap. As wonderful
as these reunions were, Portia couldn’t help the nagging feeling of
being an outsider. And why had she taken such a sudden and terrible
dislike of Miss Clemons? Maybe some fresh air
would
be nice.

By the time she climbed the stairs to
her room, Portia had decided to take a walk, after all. The Clemons
ladies were all napping in their rooms, while the men remained in
the parlor enjoying those smelly cigars. She retrieved her shawl,
came back downstairs, and slipped outside. Following the path she
and Jonny had taken the other day, she strolled down to Barton
Creek. Pulling her shawl tighter around her, she shivered in the
chilly breeze, but it felt good on her face and eased her throbbing
headache. Up above, rain clouds hung heavy in the sky. They began
to release their burden drop by drop, and she watched each one hit
the creek’s surface, making gentle ripples before they joined the
current.

Backing up to a tall cedar at the edge
of the bank, she leaned against its wide, ragged-barked trunk. A
few minutes passed as she let her mind drift along over the rough
rocks of her memories. She had just remembered that she needed to
answer Ellen’s latest letter when something crunched the fallen
evergreen needles behind and to the right of her cedar
refuge.

She groaned. Harry must have spied her
leaving the house. Not feeling up to his company, she considered
slipping away on the opposite side of the tree when she saw Beau’s
familiar hat and his broad shoulders beneath an oilskin
duster.

He stopped down by the bank and didn’t
seem to notice her presence. Portia watched him rub his right
shoulder while he stared out across the creek. A prickly sensation
of awkwardness traveled down her spine. Was he there looking for
her? Or did he just need some fresh air, too? Either way, she could
think of nothing to talk about — nothing she ought to share with
her employer, anyway.

She pushed herself slowly away from
the tree and took a quiet step away from him.

“
Didn’t mean to intrude,”
he said.

Too late.

“
You didn’t intrude,” she
replied, trying to still the quiver in her voice. His presence
stirred up a longing she couldn’t afford to have. “I mean… it’s
only intruding if you know what you’ll find when you get
there.”

Beau chuckled. “I guess you’re right.
I thought you were upstairs napping, like the other ladies. Just
needed a little air. Stuffy in there. You?”

“
Same here.” Portia
abandoned her escape plan and returned to her post against the
cedar. “Guess it’s all the cooking — heated up the
house.”

“
Yes, I guess that’s it.”
He tossed a smile over his shoulder. “She’s pretty, isn’t
she?”

“
Probably the most
beautiful horse I’ve ever seen.”

He shook his head, laughing. “You know
who I mean.”

Of course she did, and she smiled in
return. She couldn’t help it. He’d left the door wide open for a
little verbal jab at his soon-to-be wife.

“
Then yes, she’s probably
the most beautiful
woman
I’ve ever seen.”

His smile faded, and he shifted his
weight from one boot to the other. “So much like
Claire.”

“
Really?”

“
In looks, anyway. She’s
different though.”

“
How so?”

“
Just…
different.”

“
That’s to be expected,
considering she
is
a different woman.”

He nodded. “At least they all seemed
pleased with lunch. Probably not as much as they’re used to eating,
but you and Bessie did good with what we have.”

“
Thank you.”

Still looking over the water, Beau
took on his even-toned employer’s voice. “I’d like you to join us
in the dining room for supper from now on.”

“
I thought perhaps you’d
rather have the uninterrupted time with your guests.”