PluckingthePearl (14 page)

“I don’t need watching over,” she insisted.

He winked at her then cast a worried look at the horizon
where the buildings of Oyster Island were now coming into view.

When he put his hat on, her hands flew to her hair, which
hung around her face in wild, tangled locks.

“Caleb, my hairpins. Where are they?”

He reached into his shirt pocket and shrugged. “They must
have fallen out on the island.”

“I can’t go back looking this way. Not wearing a hat to
church is scandalous enough. How about a piece of string?”

“Now that I have.” He reached into his pants pocket and
pulled out a piece. “You deserve a better gift from me than this.”

“You’ve already given me so much,” she replied.

He tapped the wheel with his fist. “Damn but I wish things
could be different.”

She took the string and headed to the stern where she sat
down and braided her hair. If things were different, she’d be standing next to
him as they pulled into port. They’d be married.

Now that she wasn’t going to marry Jimmy and her affair with
Caleb was over, she had nothing. Nothing but the memory of their love. It would
have to be enough.

Pearl’s heart raced as they approached the inlet to Crab
Creek. The small white church with neat black shutters looked the same as it
always had with the morning sun shining on it but she couldn’t be more
different.

“Good luck,” he told her as he helped her onto the grassy
bank.

“Goodbye, Caleb,” she said over her shoulder.

She only made it a few steps before she had to turn back and
look at him. He held his hand up in farewell and shot her a sad smile that
twisted her heart in half. New tears slipped down her cheeks and her knees felt
so weak on land she could barely walk.

Wiping the tears away with both hands, she forced her gaze
from Caleb’s retreating boat to the church. Luckily the booming sound of the
reverend’s voice pouring from the open windows told her the service was already
underway.

Like a mouse, she crept in through the back door and found a
spot on a pew in the back. Being bareheaded among the sea of hats made her feel
naked. Despite her efforts to be quiet, several heads turned to see who’d been
rude enough to arrive so late. Among them were Jimmy’s and those of her family.
When she saw Leroy squeeze his eyes closed and expel a big breath of relief,
guilt clawed at her for putting him through so much worry.

“Fornication is evil!” Reverend Palmer exclaimed and then
paused for emphasis. “It is…a…sin.”

Pearl’s face went cold. Her heart pounded so hard she was
sure it echoed off the plain wooden walls loud enough for the entire congregation
to hear it. Was this the subject of today’s sermon? Couldn’t the reverend talk
about something—anything—else?

“Those who marry are joined and blessed by God,” the
reverend went on, even louder. “Those who are chaste are bound for heaven. And
where do those who fornicate outside of marriage go?”

“Hell!” an older woman near the front supplied.

Reverend Palmer slapped a fist into his open hand. “That’s
right, sister. They go to hell! And what happens there?”

“They burn,” the same woman replied.

“Yes,” the reverend agreed. “The heat of their passions
barbecues them for eternity.”

Pearl jumped in her seat, sure someone had just lit a fire
under her behind. She rubbed a hand over her face as she remembered running
around naked on that island and spreading her legs for Caleb. Not only that,
she’d gotten the wild idea to get on top of him. Such an act would probably be
shameful even for a married woman. She couldn’t blame it on him and claim he’d
forced or even seduced her.

But how could making love to him be so wrong when it felt so
beautiful? According to Reverend Palmer, she was a whore and a sinner. Thank
goodness her affair with Caleb was finally over.

Her hands clenched the back of the wooden pew in front of
her, making it creak. As her gaze drifted to the back of Jimmy’s head, she
realized she could still marry him and redeem herself. No, that would make her
an even worse sinner.

The air pressed around her, making it hard to breathe. As if
to escape, she looked up at the ceiling and it reminded her of attending church
with her mother as a little girl. Too young to understand the sermons, she used
to stare at the ceiling.

Oh, Mama. I need you now! I’ve done a terrible thing.

She remembered an occasion several years ago, confessing to
Mama that she’d accidentally broken their employer’s expensive vase.

You can’t undo what you did yesterday, child. It’s what
you do about it today that counts.

That’s when Mama had confessed the biggest sin of her life.
She’d explained she’d been punished for it and eventually recovered. Being good
from then on had rewarded her with a good job and secure life.

“Promise me, child,” Mama had said. “Promise me you’ll
always be a good girl so life will be gentle with you.”

“I promise,” she replied, never realizing how impossible it would
be to keep. Never imagining, either, she’d break it. Well, so she had but there
was always tomorrow.

“I promise,” she whispered.

Relief and strength settled over her like a calming embrace.
As long as she stayed chaste from now on, she would be all right. Despite the
reverend’s continued blustering, she lifted her chin with dignity.

When the service finally ended, she went outside and waited
for her family to come out. She clenched her cold, sweaty hands behind her back
for strength. Jimmy got to her first and scooped her into his arms. The feel of
him was so foreign to her now she knew she’d made the right decision not to
marry him. Unfortunately she would have to tell him that today.

“Oh, Pearl. Are you all right?” he exclaimed. “We were so
worried about you.”

She turned her head when he tried to kiss her. “I’m fine.
Here’s my family. I’ll tell all of you at once what happened.”

Aunt Wilma hugged her and then gripped her shoulders too
hard. “Girl, where in God’s name have you been? You had us worried sick.”

After taking a fortifying breath, Pearl told the story she
and Caleb had planned. “The storm was so frightening.”

Wilma crossed her arms and glared at her as if she didn’t
believe her but she didn’t say anything.

Jimmy put his arm around her. “I imagine you want to go home
now and get some rest. May I call on you this evening?”

Pearl felt as if a giant rock had just landed on her. She
had to tell him she couldn’t marry him and didn’t want to wait a minute longer.

“Can I talk to you for a moment?”

“We’ll be waiting at the boat,” Leroy told her.

She led Jimmy to a bench in a shady part of the church
grounds and took his hand.

“You’re a wonderful man,” she told him. “You would make such
a good husband.”

The smile on his face faded, degree by degree. “You’re not
going to marry me, are you?”

She shook her head. “I’m so sorry.”

His head lurched as if she’d struck him physically. “Are you
sweet on someone else?”

All the blood dropped to her feet. Did he know about Caleb?
She didn’t see how but the fact she loved another man must be stamped more
clearly on her face than she realized.

“I-I don’t have the feelings I should, the ones you deserve
in a wife.”

“Are you sure? You’ve just been through such an ordeal.
Maybe you shouldn’t make up your mind until after you’ve had some rest.”

“My mind is made up,” she insisted.

He nodded and expelled a heavy sigh. “Well, I’m glad you’re
tellin’ me now instead of standing me up at the altar. I guess I always had a
feeling things weren’t quite right between us.”

She squeezed his hand and stood up. “Thank you for
understanding.”

It felt strange to get back into the family rowboat, which
was so much smaller than Caleb’s.

“Where’ve you
really
been?” Aunt Wilma asked her.

“I told you what happened,” Pearl said.

The older woman leaned forward in her seat, across from
Pearl, and pointed a finger at her. “I saw you out the church window, gettin’
off Caleb Rockfield’s boat.”

Her movements made the old boat creak and rock with
sickening lurches. Leroy stopped rowing for a moment and shrugged as if to tell
her he’d done the best he could to keep her secret. Sadie just looked at her
with interest while Uncle Charlie dozed.

“Like I told you,” Pearl insisted, “he found me and rescued
me.”

“And spent the night with you, most likely,” Wilma replied.
“You better hope Jimmy is as stupid as you think the rest of us are.”

Pearl stared at the brackish creek water streaming by,
wishing she could jump off this boat and away from her aunt. The reality of her
life pressed around her like the marshy scent, making her memories of Caleb’s
island so distant she wondered if they’d even happened.

She dug her nails into her palms, knowing she was about to
make Aunt Wilma even angrier than she already was but decided to wait until
they reached the cottage. After everyone stepped out of the boat, she tried to
draw strength from the solid ground beneath her feet.

“Aunt Wilma, I’m not marrying Jimmy. I gave him the news
just now at church.”

The woman rose up on her heels and back down again, making
her hat wobble. “You what? I don’t believe I heard you right.”

“I don’t love him,” Pearl said.

While Leroy lashed the boat to a tree, Charlie shuffled into
the cottage and Sadie stood there listening.

“What’s love got to do with anything? Jimmy’s got money and
security.” Wilma crossed her arms and looked at her with such hatred Pearl felt
as if the force of it might sink her into the sandy soil.

“You little fool. You slept with that white man and now you
think you love him. Well, you’d better clean for him real good so you keep
gettin’ that extra money.”

Pearl clasped her hands behind her back, realizing she
couldn’t have made her aunt angrier if she’d tried. “I don’t have that job
anymore, just shucking.”

Wilma shook her head. “Now that he’s had you, he’s tired of
you already. Didn’t I warn you? Now you got nothing.”

It wasn’t like that. Caleb loved her but she didn’t dare say
it.

The other woman shook her finger again. “I knew you’d be
trouble from the day you came here. Pack your things, girl, and get on out of
here.”

Pearl almost fell to her knees. “What?”

“I said get out. You ain’t livin’ with us no more.”

Sadie’s eyes widened. “But, Mama, she’s kin.”

“Hush up, child, and get in the house.”

Pearl watched the women go into the cottage and then finally
sank to the ground. So many things were happening at once. Not only did she
have no man, she was now homeless too.

Shame scorched her from the inside out, making her feel as
charred as the marsh after a big fire. She pressed her hands to her face to
block out the world and prevent tears. Crying was for the righteous, not
sinners like her.

Leroy took her by the arm and pulled her up, guiding her to
sit on the edge of the boat.

She held up a hand. “Whatever you’re going to say, please
don’t. I can’t take any more.”

Instead of reproach, she saw admiration in his eyes under
his plaid cap. “Lettin’ Jimmy go was the smartest thing you done yet.”

“Thank you.”

He pointed up the creek. “The Binghams got a barn you can
stay in. I’ll take you.”

She nodded, beyond words.

“I’ll go fetch your things and some water and food.” Leroy
patted her hand. “Mama’s just out of her head right now. She’ll come back to
her right mind tomorrow.”

But Pearl didn’t think she could live here again. It seemed
she didn’t belong anywhere anymore. Even her memories of Caleb couldn’t help
her now.

It wouldn’t even surprise her if he fired her tomorrow, not
wanting to contend with the temptation of having her around. And if he’d gotten
her with child, she thought as her hand slid over her belly, she’d be in an
even worse fix than she was already.

She’d fornicated with a white man and was paying for it,
just as the reverend warned.

Caleb sat at his dining room table with his head in his
hands. Was his house always this big, empty and quiet or had he changed
overnight? He longed for the island shelter with its leaky roof and sandy floor
instead.

He’d only been away from Pearl for a few hours and he
already missed her terribly. Loneliness like he’d never felt before clawed at
his chest. How could he stand to see her every day without being with her?

It was a good thing fall was arriving. The busy oyster
season would keep his mind occupied.

When someone knocked on the door, he got up to answer it,
grateful for the interruption.

“Ida, I didn’t expect to see you on the Sabbath. Didn’t you
come yesterday?”

The gray-haired colored woman who cleaned for him every
Saturday nodded, making the feathers on her Sunday church hat bob.

“I came to tell you I can’t work for you no more, Mr.
Rockfield.”

When he invited her to sit in his parlor, her eyebrows
lifted in surprise. “Don’t trouble yourself, Mr. Rockfield. I’ll be brief. My
knees have been botherin’ me for some time. My sister got a place in the next
county and invited me to live with her.”

“Well, I wish you the best,” he told her. “I guess I’ll have
to find someone else.”

She waved a plump arm. “You got a big place here, Mr.
Rockfield. I ain’t been able to do justice to it with my creaky old bones once
a week. What you need is a full-time housekeeper.”

“A full-time housekeeper?” Caleb stared at her as if her
mind had gone as bad as her knees. He’d spent so little time at home since his
wife had died he’d hardly given it much thought. It was just a place to sleep
at night.

“If you pardon my sayin’ so, sir,” Ida said, “a man of your
stature should have a housekeeper. You could entertain and have someone answer
the door when persons of importance come a callin’.”

He scratched his head. “You do have a point. Can you
recommend— Never mind. I’ll be right back with the rest of your earnings.”

As he went into his study to put her final pay into an
envelope, electricity danced through his veins.

A live-in housekeeper. Of course! The situation couldn’t be
more perfect.

In fact, he didn’t think he’d realistically be able to keep
his distance from Pearl for very long anyway. This way, they could be together
legitimately in the eyes of society yet have complete privacy under his
roof…and in his bed. His cock hardened just thinking about seeing her shapely
limbs sprawled across his white sheets.

He couldn’t wait to tell her.

* * * * *

Pearl took her place at the shucking table at work the next
day feeling worse than she had on her first day here. At least then the burden
of shame hadn’t weighed down her shoulders. The storm had brought a cold front
with it, and her muscles ached from sleeping in the Binghams’ drafty barn.

She hadn’t announced her presence to them last night in fear
they’d somehow see what a sinner she was and kick her out too. This morning,
she’d only shown herself so she could ride in their boat to work. Her suitcase
was in the cloakroom.

This was her only home now.

When Aunt Wilma passed her on the way to her work station,
she didn’t speak. Sadie gave her one of the smiles she’d taught her, but didn’t
speak either. Even Leroy was quiet in front of the others. And having Jimmy
working beside her was so awkward she was glad he didn’t say anything either.
She gazed around the room but didn’t see any empty spots she could move to.

Her fingers fumbled with each oyster today. Now that the
pressure was on her to make a living shucking, she couldn’t seem to do it
properly. She even accidentally nicked herself with the knife. When the floor
man dumped another load of oysters on her table, she felt like sweeping them
all onto the floor.

Could she do this the rest of her life? She had to find a
way without taking Caleb’s charity money or telling Jimmy she’d changed her
mind about marriage.

Maybe she should run out to the dock crying again as she had
that first day. This time Caleb wouldn’t come by to offer her a hanky. She felt
even more alone now than she had the day her mother passed on.

Get through the day
, she told herself.
And then
the day after
. She could do this.

Halfway through the morning, something rolled on her table. Assuming
it was a pebble, she reached out to sweep it out of her way but stopped when
she noticed how round it was.

Forgetting about her work, she cleaned off the mud clinging
to the white orb, which was about half the size of a pea.

“It’s a pearl! I found a pearl!” she yelled.

The steady thumping of knives on oyster blocks around her
came to a halt. “Somebody fetch Mr. Rockfield,” Leroy called out. “We got a
pearl.”

Pearl’s excitement from her unexpected find turned to dread
at the thought of seeing Caleb face-to-face. Now she wished someone else had
found it. After all, her life wasn’t the least bit pearly now.

“A pearl for Pearl,” Jimmy commented as he peered at her
hand to get a closer look. “How about that. Do you know with all the oysters
I’ve shucked, I never once got me a pearl?”

She avoided his gaze as her rejection hung unspoken between
them.

Moments later, she heard familiar footsteps that sent such
an unexpected thrill through her body she had to look down.

“Miss Wilson, I understand you found a pearl?”

Seeing Caleb’s face reminded her of the unshed tears she’d
seen in his eyes when they’d said goodbye on his boat. It reminded her, too, of
the passion that had contorted it when she’d lowered her pussy so slowly onto
his cock. The remaining soreness there vanished behind a sudden flame of heat.

“Caleb, look!” She held the pearl out to him. “I just found
it.”

His pale gaze froze and she soon realized her mistake.
“Forgive me, Mr. Rockfield.”

He smiled politely. “Well, I can’t fault you for being excited
but according to company policy, that pearl belongs to me.”

“Yes, sir.”

She used all her concentration to transfer the pearl from
her hand to his without dropping it and without touching him. Her hand shook so
much she failed at both, having to grab his hand with both of hers to keep the
pearl from falling. The touch of his warm, familiar skin nearly undid her. She
needed those hands on her face, her breasts and between her legs where liquid
warmth trickled inside her panties.

His fingers closed around the pearl and he brought his hand
to his chest while his eyes glittered with everything they’d meant to each
other.

“I-I’ll put this away for safekeeping,” he said. “Thank you
for giving it to me.”

So this was the second pearl she’d given him.

After he left, she found Jimmy staring at her with a look of
disbelief in his eyes. He must have noticed when she’d called Caleb by his
first name. Had her love and desire shown on her face too? The hurt in Jimmy’s
eyes told her it had.

“Jimmy, are you all right?” she asked. “Would you like to go
somewhere and talk?”

His jaw worked as he shook his head. “No, Pearl. I already
know everything I need to know.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

* * * * *

Later that afternoon, Pearl entered Caleb’s office after the
floor supervisor had summoned her there.

“You wanted to see me, Cal—Mr. Rockfield?”

“Close the door and have a seat,” he told her.

“You aren’t— It’s the middle of the day,” she said, “and we
agreed—”

He shot her a warm smile that melted her inside as he leaned
back in his chair. “We’re just going to talk.”

She watched as he opened his hand face-up on the desk,
revealing the small pearl resting on his palm.

“Do you know why oysters make pearls?” he asked.

“They begin as grains of sand, don’t they?”

He nodded. “They come from adversity. The sand irritates the
oyster and it responds by coating it with these beautiful, lustrous layers.
Isn’t that something?”

Pearl found it difficult to breathe as she watched his
fingertip stroke the round object. Her nipples throbbed, longing to be in its
place. Why had he summoned her to discuss oysters and pearls?

She gripped the arms of her chair, about to stand up. “I
should get back to work.”

He pinned her with his pale stare. “I have a new job for you
that will turn your sand into a pearl. Mine too.”

“I told you I won’t accept charity,” she insisted.

“It’s not. My cleaning lady just quit and convinced me I’m
so important I need a full-time housekeeper.”

Hearing the name of her mama’s profession made her lean
forward in her chair. “Really?”

“I think it would be the perfect
solution
, don’t
you?”

She put her hands to her face. “Do I? It does sound perfect.
I slept in a barn last night.”

Caleb’s chair jerked forward with a wrenching squeak. “You
what?”

“Aunt Wilma threw me out when she heard I wasn’t going to
marry Jimmy.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Now I really refuse to take no for
an answer.”

“Yes. I can…move in this evening.” Pearl could hardly
believe the words she was saying. After resigning herself to only seeing Caleb
occasionally at a distance, she was about to live in his house.

He grasped the pearl and extended his arm across the desk.
“I believe this belongs to you.”

She held out her hand. “I thought it was yours.”

“It’s ours.”

Pearl slipped the small orb into her dress pocket as she walked
out of his office, smiling for the first time since she’d left the private
island. She would have a roof over her head again and honest work that she was
good at while spending time with the man she adored. It
was
perfect. It
was a dream.

The only thing that worried her was how tempting it would be
to have Caleb so close in such private quarters. Despite what she’d already
done, she wasn’t about to succumb to fornication again.

* * * * *

Caleb’s heart beat a mile a minute when he parked in front
of his home and helped Pearl out of the car. As he looked at his two-story
Victorian house, he wondered if the green shutters and white pillars looked too
pretentious. Would it be the day she’d seen him on the mayor’s yacht all over
again?

Instead of objecting, she walked over to touch the trunk of
his big oak tree and smell his rosebushes. After climbing the porch steps, he
opened the door and showed her inside. If circumstances were different, he’d
carry her over the threshold as his wife. He wasn’t complaining. This
arrangement would be almost as good.

Her earthy scent tantalized him as she walked past, making
his cock harden with anticipation. She still wore her hair in a long braid he
longed to play with.

“Caleb, it’s all so
grand
,” she said as she walked
around the big parlor.

Just as he had on the island, he saw everything for the
first time through her eyes. He’d never thought of his white clapboard house on
the waterfront as grand but after living in the Johnson shack, it must look
like a palace to her.

“Gertrude, my late wife, decorated it,” he said. “It’s too
formal for me but I never bothered to change it.”

When Pearl ran her hand down the floor-length damask drapes,
the look of wonder on her face flooded his chest with warmth. It was a big
improvement from the dead expression in her eyes today at work. She’d looked as
broken as a crushed oyster shell. If only he could have hugged and comforted
her in front of everyone as he’d longed to do.

He’d suspected her homecoming would be difficult but the
last thing he expected to hear was that she’d spent the night in a barn. It
crushed him even more to realize he’d been the cause of her misery.

At least now he could give her the life she deserved.

“It almost reminds me of…Annapolis.” She lifted the blue
drapery tassel and ran her fingers through the fringe. “Of home.”

He put his arm around her. “Then this is where you belong,
honey. At least you won’t be freezing this winter on Crab Creek.”

Looking at his fireplace, he pictured them in front of it
making love. Pearl would be anything but cold this winter…

She turned and put her hand to her chest as she crossed the
parlor. “You have a piano.”

“That was my wife’s too,” he admitted, following her. “A man
comes to tune it once a year. All you have to do is dust it.”

As she ran her hand over the wooden flap covering the keys
and nodded, he wished there weren’t so many reminders of Gertrude. Pearl
deserved a house she could decorate as her own. All in due time, he thought.
Their life together was just now getting started.

“It needs cleaning and polishing too,” she added. “The dust
is ground in around the hinges.”

“Ida only cleaned once a week and she was getting on in
years,” he said, “so things have gotten a bit neglected.”

She shot him a smile that went straight to his balls. “Don’t
worry. I’m going to make this house spotless.”

“Well, you don’t have to wear yourself out.” Caleb didn’t
want her to be too tired to make love.

“You hired me to be your housekeeper.” She raised her chin.
“I intend to earn my keep. I can even clean your car.”

He looked out the window where she pointed to it. “That
won’t be necessary.”

“I still can’t believe you drive an old Model T,” she added.
“I expected the
king
of Oyster Island to have something fancier.”

“I’m not a fancy man,” he replied with a shrug. “The island
is so small I walk most everywhere anyway except to work.”

She turned from the window. “Show me the rest.”

Caleb couldn’t help smiling as he took her arm and led her
toward the kitchen. He’d finally met someone who worked as hard as he did.

“Wait. What’s this?” she asked, stopping in front of the
dark room next to it.