Deborah Camp (33 page)

“I do, too.”

“Name one,” Bitsy challenged.

“Uh … Jebidiah!” Regina beamed. “I trust Jebidiah.”

Lu chuckled.

“What are you laughing at?” Regina demanded.

“Regina, we all think of Jebidiah as a sweet child. He’s not the kind of man Bitsy was talking about.”

“Right. Trusting Jebidiah is the same as saying you trust Annie,” Bitsy agreed. “What about a man our age? A grown but younger man.”

Regina bent over the quilt and executed a few stitches. A name came to her immediately, but she didn’t know if she should share it with the others. Finally, it came down to wanting to prove them wrong more than keeping his identity her own special secret.

“Well? Stumped?” Bitsy goaded.

Regina lifted her head. “Theodore Dane. I trust him.” She mirrored Bitsy’s shocked expression. “What’s wrong? He’s a grown man our age, isn’t he?”

“Yes, but I thought you two were about as friendly as two banty roosters.”

“No, Bitsy,” Lu said. “It’s more like he’s a banty rooster and she’s a skittish pullet.”

“Ohhh,” Bitsy said, comprehending with a wide
grin. “I’m seeing it clear now.” She stood and propped her hands at her waist. “Hey, girl, you need to stop your squawking and let him catch you.”

“I knew I should have kept my mouth shut,” Regina grumbled.

“Bitsy has a point,” Lu said. “If you trust him and you like being around him, why not show him that?”

“I did, but he wasn’t all that interested.”

“What?” Bitsy fell into the chair again. “I don’t believe that. Why, he’s been sniffing after you since the day you two met. The man made his intentions clear at the picnic, didn’t he?”

“Did you two fight because he didn’t tell you about his mother being Teddy Bea?” Lu asked.

Regina shook her head. “It seems we just don’t want the same thing at the same time.”

“Don’t give up,” Bitsy said.

“Don’t worry. I absolutely refuse to be crushed by all this courting nonsense,” Regina vowed. “I have more important things in my life.” She gasped and looked toward the windows, where twilight bled through. “What time is it?”

“Seven or so,” Lu guessed. “When is that meeting?”

“Eight. I should go upstairs and get ready.”

“What meeting?” Bitsy asked.

Regina glanced confidingly at Lu before she turned back to Bitsy. “I don’t want Mrs. Nation to get wind of this, so promise you won’t let it slip.”

“I promise.” Bitsy crossed her heart.

“There is a secret meeting tonight to discuss Mrs. Nation. A few people still want to make her leave town. I’m going there to talk sense to them—or try, at least.”

“Why don’t you want Mrs. Nation to know anything about it?”

“Regina is afraid she’d make things worse for herself,” Lu explained. “They don’t like her, so they won’t want to listen to her. But they might sit still for Regina.”

Bitsy nodded. “Yeah, and I bet the Hampfs are the ringleaders.”

“That’s a safe bet,” Regina agreed, pushing back from the quilting frame. “Wish me luck.”

“Good luck, honey,” Lu said, opening her arms to embrace Regina. “You’ll do us all proud.”

Bitsy hugged her, too. “You tell ’em, Regina. Just remember that they’re nothing but a bunch of dried-up souls and nothing to be afraid of. They’re cowards for holding such a meeting in the first place.”

“That they are, but cowards can be much more dangerous than heroes,” Regina said, then went upstairs to dress for the meeting.

She selected a modest buckskin-colored dress with a tight bodice and waist and a slim, back-pleated skirt. Mrs. Nation didn’t approve of the gauzy sleeves or scooped neckline, so Regina wore it only where Mrs. Nation was unlikely to be. She left her hair loose and wore her straw bonnet with its circlet of silk flowers on the crown. As she tied the ribbons into a bow under her chin, she thought of the other bonnet Theo had returned earlier that day, eschewing any chance of seeing her.

Thoughts of him were her constant companions. Hardly an hour went by that she didn’t remember, fantasize, and agonize over him. He invaded her, titillated her, changed her. When he had asked if she loved any man, the answer that had burst forth inside her like a great star of truth, burning away the darkness, had been his name and she had very nearly confessed. Now she was glad she had kept it to herself, especially after his rejection.

Why, he’d hustled her across the threshold, spouting all that gibberish about her soiled reputation—who did he think she was? She knew why he’d suddenly gotten cold feet. When she’d convinced him that she had left behind that smiling, empty singer back at the Gold Star, he had lost all interest in her. He liked his women loose and easy and accommodating.

Damn him for attracting her, earning her trust, stoking the fire of her passion, and then changing his fickle mind!

She had shut herself away from the courting life to arrange her affairs, focus her energies, distance herself from her past. Theo had charmed his way into her inner sanctum until she had finally thrown wide the doors to her heart and invited him in. His refusal struck her a deep, painful blow.

As she left for the meeting, she heard the others laughing in the kitchen. Tension wasn’t as thick around the house since Teddy Bea’s visit and Mrs. Nation’s trial were over. It was good to hear their laughter and hear them trade whispered observances about Stu and Eric and Joy’s Deputy Ash.

Were they right about her thinking the worst of men? Even Theo had asked if she thought all men were devils. A part of her knew it was true, and a new determination surfaced within her to change that. It wasn’t fair of her, and that kind of thinking had dashed her earlier chances with Theodore. If she hadn’t listed to that bitter, disillusioned voice within her, she would have noticed his kindness sooner. Men had disappointed her, even hurt her, but she endeavored to trust again. Maybe her new attitude would change Theo’s mind about her. Maybe he’d see that she was more than a prohibitionist. She wanted good times and abiding love just as much as the next woman!

Her strides lengthened as she gained the road in
front of the house. The door to the cool cave hung ajar and she detoured to close it. Something clattered inside. Mice, she thought, frowning. They’d ruin everything in there! She decided to check the traps and make sure they were set. She opened the door and stepped inside the chilly interior.

A hand clamped around her wrist and flung her forward. A garbled cry escaped her as she bounced against the far wall, upsetting jugs and bottles. The man was backlit, his features obscured, but she knew his smell, his physique, his threatening presence.

“Jack,” she whispered, automatically raising a hand to shield her face from his fists. “Don’t hurt me.”

“I was hoping you’d be Lu. She comes in here sometimes. I’ve seen her.”

Regina slowly got to her feet. “How long have you been in here?” She tried to remember her last visit to the cave. Yesterday? The day before?

“Since last night. I was staying in a barn not far from here, but the farmer found me out and chased me off.” He held to the door, but didn’t shut it. Hazy light swam inside from the setting sun.

Feeling her hat slip, she pushed it back into place, her hands trembling, her insides shaking so badly that her voice shook, too. “Jack, I’m late for an appointment. I can’t talk now.”

“You can’t talk now?” he mimicked, making his voice high and whispery. “When do you ever have time to talk to me, little sister? You wish I was dead.”

“I don’t, Jack.” Horror struck a new chord within her when she acknowledged that a part of her did wish it. “I don’t, I don’t,” she repeated, trying to deny it. Tears stung her eyes and weariness engulfed her. “I just want you to leave, Jack.
Don’t cause any more trouble or p-pain.” She sniffed and kept her tears at bay. “You’ve made your choice and Lu’s made hers. Leave it at that.”

“If you’d keep your nose outta my business, she’d be back home with me.”

“That’s not true.”

“You’ve introduced her to that dandy lawyer and pushed her at him. She was always weak. She just follows along, and you’ve been leading her around by her damned nose.” He shook a fist. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’ve been up to, sister of mine. You never liked me. You don’t want anybody to love me.”

“Jack, please.” She took a deep breath and mentally measured the distance to the door. Six or seven feet. That was all. But it might as well be a mile with Jack standing squarely in front of it. “I’ve got to go. Move aside, please.”

He braced his legs apart, lifted his hands, and curled his fingers in a gesture of enticement. “Come on,” he encouraged, teeth flashing with his smile. “You want out? The door’s open.”

She wished for Mrs. Nation’s ringing voice, Bea Dane’s stature, and Joy Edwards’s strength. But she had only herself and her fear. Keeping her chin high and her gaze on him, she moved forward and tried to look confident. His whiskey-smelling breath reached her a moment before his hand clamped on her arm. She flinched, but didn’t fly into a frenzy, although her instincts demanded it.

“Jack, I’ll be back later and we can talk if you want.” It was a lie. She didn’t want to see him again or talk to him. In the fading light, she could see his eyes. She could see his disbelief and his evil intentions. She’d seen that before in his eyes … back home in the outhouse with the flies buzzing and Jack trying to touch her private places
while she tried to scream against his sweaty palm. “No, Jack.” A whimper. Hardly words at all.

“You’re remembering that day in the outhouse, huh, Ginny?”

She shook her head, no longer able to speak.

“Me, too. You’ve kept me away from my wife, so it’s only right that I get my pleasure someplace else. It’s your fault, Ginny. If you hadn’t kept Lu under lock and key, I wouldn’t be coming here to you. We’re only half-kin, so it’s not that bad. The other half of us might like it.” He laughed and wrapped an arm around her waist.

Terror flooded through her and she twisted away from his mouth and tried to wriggle from his grasp.

“No!” Her scream bounced off the rock walls and startled Jack long enough for her to wrench free. She bolted for the door, but he grabbed her shoulder and hauled her back against the wall. His mouth landed on her cheek, leaving a wet trail as he sought her lips.

Her terror gave way to fury and she was repulsed at being his victim again. But she wasn’t a little girl this time.
Fight him
, a voice urged.
Don’t let him do this to you! At least make him hurt a little!

Regina kicked him hard on the shin and brought her hands up to twist his ears. Somehow she managed to sink her teeth into his nose and he howled in pain.

“You bitch!”

He aimed a fist at her face and Regina ducked. She heard his knuckles crack when they made contact with the rock wall.

“What’s goin’ on in there?” Jebidiah’s wobbly voice sounded like a chorus of angels to Regina.

“Get the rifle and make sure it’s loaded!” Regina called to him.

Jack’s breathing was labored and he cradled his
broken hand against his chest. “I’ll kill you before he can bring that rifle.”

“He’ll shoot you dead. You’d better go before he gets back.”

He stuck his face close to her. “This isn’t over.”

She faced him, suddenly calm and strangely dead inside. “It is for me.”

Whirling, he shuffled out of the cave.

“Who that?” Jebidiah asked. “Is that Miz Lu’s husband?”

“Get outta my way, you old black crow,” Jack growled.

Regina hurried out to protect Jebidiah from Jack, but Jack was already running uphill toward the thick woods. She lost sight of him before turning toward Jebidiah.

“You hurt, Miz Rose?”

“No.” She brushed her hands down the front of her dress. “I have to go to a meeting.”

“Now? You can’t go now, Miz Rose. You look pale. Paler than any white woman oughtta look. You best go in and lay yourself down for a spell.”

“No, no. I can’t. I was going to walk, but now I’ll be late if I do. Hitch up Gardenia and take me into town. And Jebidiah,” she called when he started to jog toward the house, “don’t say a word to anyone about Jack being here.”

“Not even Miz Lu or Miz Nation?”

“Especially them. I’ll tell them myself when I get back tonight.” She motioned for him to go on, then she went back inside the cave.

While she waited for Jebidiah to bring around the buggy, she righted the bottles and jugs she’d knocked over. She found some silk flowers on the floor and realized they’d been ripped from her hat. She removed it and examined the damage, but decided it wasn’t worth going inside and
changing. Lu might see her and ask questions Regina wasn’t ready to answer.

She still felt so strange, so numb. She wasn’t shaking anymore, but she didn’t feel steady either. Closing her eyes, she dealt with a seizure of anger toward Jack. She wouldn’t live like this anymore, she told herself. And she wouldn’t let Jack make her afraid of every man. He had been a specter in her life long enough. She had to exorcise him or he’d put her in an early grave—or worse, make her too afraid to experience the life she had left.

When Regina entered the meeting in the Good Shepherd Church, where the Reverend Hampf droned behind the pulpit on Sundays, Theo thought something was different about her, but he couldn’t pinpoint it. Reverend Hampf had already called the meeting to order when Regina slipped onto one of the back benches, making hardly a ripple in the thick tension in the room.

Theo had a good view of her from his vantage point in a far corner of the room. A support beam shielded him from her peripheral vision, so he studied her uninhibited. She seemed nervous, but that was to be expected, he mused. His gaze moved slowly from her lovely face to her perky straw hat with its crown of flowers—but wait … the circle of blooms was broken. Some of the flowers were missing. He frowned, thinking it so unlike her to wear an old, tattered bonnet in public. That’s the kind of hat she’d garden in, but why wear it to an important meeting? He scanned the rest of her outfit and was alarmed to see a streak of dirt on her skirt. His gaze bounced back to her face and he tried to read the nuances there. Had she been told about this meeting at the last minute, when there had been no time to dress for it? He dismissed that, noting that her dress was too
fine for a house dress. It was one of her “town” outfits. But dirty. And the hat torn. He wanted to go to her and ask her what had happened, but he knew this meeting was more important. He’d talk to her after this storm had blown over.