Moonlight on the Millpond (26 page)

For the first time he could remember, he thought about Woody and the afterlife. Woody wasn't a religious man, but there were men much worse. He was moral, and a fair businessman and farmer. Was God more particular than that? Did God exact more from His children than to do their best with the few years they had? How often did He look down on Sunday and count heads in the meetinghouse, or was life weighed in the day-to-day grind and dealings with others?

Jace nearly laughed out loud. Maddie was rubbing off on him. A subject to which he'd given almost no thought now had him wondering in the night. And with no answers! This was why Maddie kept asking. This was what kept her unsettled. For answers about the newspaper you went to the printer. For information on dry goods, there was the general store. But when one had questioned the reverend about a biblical issue and gained no knowledge, to whom did one turn next?

Sleep didn't come for a long time. Jace was just drifting off when Clara let herself in the kitchen door.

I forgot to ask you about something before I left,
Eden had ended her letter to Jace. Woody had actually wanted to head into town midweek and had brought home the mail.
Has Maddie talked to
you about David? I guess he was a man she loved before. His name
came up while we did the dishes, and I sensed some regret on her part. Is she all right now?

Jace frowned down at the words. Was David the man from Boston? Jace was surprised to know that Maddie had discussed him with Eden, but then he knew from firsthand knowledge that Eden had a way of getting words out of a person. It took separation from her to learn what to avoid. Maddie would have been unaware.

At the same time his sister's words did make him wonder. Why had Maddie never spoken to him about David? A woman he'd been involved with in Pine River now came to mind. Jace had genuinely cared for her and had been hurt when she'd broken off with him. He'd not trusted women for a long time, at least not with his heart. He'd spent time with other women, but he'd not actually given his heart away until Maddie.

Jace all but shook his head because he was just now realizing that. And had he been wise? Yes, Maddie was the sweetest woman he'd ever known, and when he was with her, he could think of little else, but how much did he really know about her?

Jace made himself put Eden's letter and his wild thoughts aside. Maddie was the girl for him; he was sure of that. He was just tired and letting his imagination stray.

When Woody came looking for him a few minutes later, wanting help in the barn, Jace was very ready to get his mind onto farm and field work.

Twelve

“What are you doing?” Maddie asked her uncle, having come home from the store and caught him in the act.

“What do you mean?” Doyle tried for an innocent face, but Maddie wasn't buying it.

“You know exactly what I mean. You're working on something and not resting. Now, what are you up to?”

Doyle glanced around, his mind scrambling even as he continued to look innocent. Maddie put a hand to her mouth because she had an overwhelming urge to laugh. It was at that moment that Maddie thought she smelled paint. She came around to where he was standing in the kitchen and peered into the buttery. Her eyes widened when she found it empty and partially painted.

“Did you do this all this morning?” Maddie asked.

“I had to. It's the first time you and Cathy have left me alone for ages.”

Maddie covered her mouth again, but it didn't work. This time she laughed out loud. He had sounded like a small, aggrieved child. And she knew that his confinement had been a long trial.

“You know she'll smell this,” Maddie said, having composed herself, “as soon as she walks in the door.”

“But it will be done by then,” Doyle reasoned.

“She'll be angry,” Maddie tried.

“That's okay. Her heart isn't in trouble.”

Maddie's shoulders shook with mirth as she moved toward the door.

“I've got to get out of here. She's going to ask how you are, and I can't know too much or I'll be in as much trouble as you're going to be in.”

“Just keep her in the store until closing.”

Maddie could only roll her eyes, not about to give any guarantees. Keeping Cathy in the store and away from Doyle that many hours was quite probably impossible.

Douglas stood at the edge of the kitchen and watched his wife out the window. She didn't like anyone around when she was sick, but his heart was so hurt by the sight that he couldn't move.

And she was growing thin. The nausea had not lasted this long before. Nearly every meal came back, and Douglas was growing concerned. At first the main topic of conversation was whether she would carry the baby full term. Now it was about how long the sickness would last. It seemed that the pregnancy was a strong one, but that didn't change the fact that she had to find a way to survive it.

Douglas watched her come toward the door, and he went to pour her some water, greeting her with a cool glass and asking her to sit down.

“I'm fine, Douglas.”

“But I'm not,” he said, and Alison looked at him with compassion.

Douglas put a hand to her cheek.

“You're getting thin.”

“I'm not very hungry these days.”

Martin came looking for Alison just then and saw the glass of water.

“Mama, did you burp?” he asked, his word for something far worse.

“I'm afraid so.”

“Does the baby know that she makes you sick?”

Alison laughed and put her arms around him, wondering at the way he always said “she.”

“It might be a boy,” she felt a need to remind him.

“But we want a girl,” Douglas put in.

“Are you the one giving him ideas?” Alison asked, earning a huge smile.

Alison pulled Martin into her lap to talk to him, knowing that Douglas would figure out that it was all for him.

“Does God have a plan for everything, Marty?”

“He does.”

“Yes, even when a woman has a baby, God knows just what He wants that baby to be.”

Alison glanced up to find Douglas fighting laughter.

“So we will be thankful,” Martin finished.

Alison hugged him closer. “It's good to know, Marty, that your father hasn't completely ruined you.”

The little boy frowned up at her in confusion, which only intensified when both husband and wife began to laugh.

Maddie helped David Scales load some of the building supplies she'd been holding for him into the back of his wagon. He had parked at the side of the building, and Maddie had carried the lighter items.

“How will you get your wife out of the house for the surprise?”

“She left on the morning train. She's headed to Worcester to see her cousin's new baby. She'll be gone a week.”

Maddie smiled. “You've planned this very well.”

“I hope so. I'm just afraid that I won't get it done before she gets back.”

“That doesn't matter.”

“Why is that?”

“She'll see what you started and be surprised anyhow. My guess is she'll be delighted.”

David stared at her. “Do all women think alike?”

“Not all, I guess, but probably most.”

“I can't thank you enough, Maddie. Katie will be so surprised over this larger kitchen. She has so little space right now.”

“I hope it's wonderful.”

“I think it will be, and I couldn't have done it without you. I feel I should give you a hug.”

“Of course you can give me a hug,” Maddie told him warmly, and David bent down to give her a tight squeeze.

Maddie smiled and waved as he left, hoping the surprise would work, and hoping beyond that, that David's wife knew what a special guy she had married.

Jace could hardly believe Eden was standing on the doorstep just as he and Woody finished dinner on Friday at midday. He'd read her letter only two days before, and she'd visited just two weeks back, but she was there again—no mistake about that.

“Well, Eden,” he said, welcoming her in a decidedly lukewarm manner.

“Hello, Jace. How are you?”

“Fine.” Jace stepped back to let her in, just holding his tongue from asking why she had come. “Are you hungry?” he asked instead. “Dinner's still on the table.”

“Thank you.” She smiled as though nothing was amiss.

Jace led the way, able to watch Woody's face when Eden came through the door. The older man did not looked pleased.

“Eden's here,” Jace announced unnecessarily.

“Well, Eden,” Woody said, sounding just like Jace.

Eden was aware that they were not glad to see her, but she ignored their faces. She was here to do a job, and already things were going very well.

“Is Clara around?” Eden asked conversationally after a few bites. “I've got to tell her how good this cheese souffle is.”

“In the kitchen,” Woody said, some of the few words he had uttered since Eden's arrival.