That Certain Spark (15 page)

Fifteen

M
ama got enraged last night,” Heidi blurted the moment Taylor opened the door to Edna Mae.

Taylor strove to keep from laughing as Edna Mae Cutter patted Heidi on the head. “You mean engaged, dearie.” She then barged past Taylor and threw her arms around Enoch. “You darling boy! It’s about time someone made that girl happy.”

Stunned, Enoch tried to disentangle himself. “How did you know?”

“It’s not a wedding without music, you know. Well, Daisy Smith lives too far out of town for anyone to go get her, especially since you’re just having a small wedding at the parsonage, so when the parson went to get the county declaration forms for weddings, my husband suggested I play the piano. We’re so happy to help you celebrate the pinnacle of your lives!” She beamed.

“Oh! And don’t forget to invite Old Mrs. Whitsley,” Mrs. Cutter called out as she left. “It’s a tradition for her to ask a blessing over the bride since she’s Gooding’s eldest woman.”

“That’s a sweet tradition,” Taylor said.
But a very small parsonage.
Currently the guests included the Van der Vorts and the Clark family, since Heidi had asked if she could invite Fiona and Audrey, the Clarks’ adopted daughters.
But unless we hang guests from coat pegs, we won’t be able to take even a couple more surprises.

“Yoo-hoo!” Hope Stauffer called as she came in through the Bestmans’ back door. “Lord have mercy! Is everything all right?”

Taylor smiled. “Enoch and Mercy are getting married today.”

“Ain’t that the most wonderfulest thing you heard in a long time? Phineas is a-workin’ on my sister-in-law, Annie. She’s still a-scairt. Her husband—he beat the stuffin’ outta her. Sins of that man still reach out of his grave and haunt the poor girl, but we’re doin’ our best to show her how good men can be tender and strong all at the same time. If’n all ya’ll don’t mind us a-comin’, we’d be honored; but if there ain’t room, could you mayhap squeeze in Annie and Phineas just so’s we can help Phineas make her catch the marryin’ fever?”

“Of course we’d love to have you all,” Enoch said. Once Hope left, Enoch mentioned he’d gone to the barn and invited Lloyd and Ozzie since they were employees. He shrugged. “Having Hope’s family won’t matter since we’ll need to move the wedding to the boardinghouse.”

Taylor gaped at him. “How can you be so blithe? Mercy is going to be in a dither. It’s her wedding day. She doesn’t have time to fix up the place or see to details. I can just imagine what Mercy will say when she hears about this. Heidi’s words were prophetic. Her mother’s gotten enraged!”

He picked up an apple and started shining it on his sleeve. “Things’ll work out. Love always finds a way.”

“In this case, it won’t. You can’t see her before the wedding to talk to her about it.”

“You’ll do it for me, Sis. I know you will.”

Not bothering to hide the irritation she felt, Taylor snapped, “What makes you so certain?”

“It’s your job.”

“My job is to either certify you as insane or to beat sense into you. I’m not sure which would be the kinder thing to do for Mercy.”

“Go be my emissary. I trust you. You’re my best man.” He winked. “Your name recommends you, and the primary requirement is that the individual in question is to be the groom’s best friend. No one else will do.”

Her nose tingled and tears burned as she flung her arms around him. “I’m honored, and I love you. And yes, I’ll even go do your dirty work.”

He held her tight and kissed her cheek. “I love you, too. Thanks . . . for everything.” As they parted, he handed her the apple. “Give this to Mercy and tell her she’s the apple of my eye.”

“I’ll take it, but I’ll give her permission to pelt you with it if she’s so inclined.”

She turned to Heidi. “Come on, dear. Let’s go talk to your mama.”

Thirty minutes later, Taylor returned home. Shutting the door, she called out, “Enoch, the wedding’s been moved.”

He came out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee. “I told you Mercy would be okay with it.”

“Mercy can’t have it at her place.”

Coffee splashed in an arc as he swung the cup over to thump it onto the nearest surface. “It’s not getting moved to a different day!”

“No. Now settle down. It’s just that her boarders all invited themselves, and Clicky did, too. Then she asked me to be her maid of honor.”

“She can’t have you. You’re already my best man.”

“I told her that. So she decided on Sydney since Sydney was the one who pried her out of her black widow’s weeds and made her stop living in the past. But you need to go get her while I speak with the pastor. We’ll still get you married today.”

“I lied. You’re not getting married today,” Taylor told her brother without looking up from the exam table as he came into the surgery. Metal found metal. “There.” She slid the long-handled tweezers in next to the probe and removed the bullet.

“With my help, we’ll get this done in no time.” Enoch sounded determined. “What happened?”

“Equal parts stupidity and spirits.”

“Heard a bunch of knotheads traded lead at the Nugget,” Velma said as she entered the house. “Reckon we’re gonna have to patch you boys up outta the goodness of our hearts because you’re just too plain stupid to stay out of trouble.”

The man waiting for the doctor looked a bit embarrassed.

“It’s a crying shame, too. Doc Enoch here’s getting hitched and invited the whole town to the shindig. Only he’s not having a bunch of soused cowboys ruinin’ his weddin’ day.” Velma
tsk
ed. “Think of all the good food and dancing you boys cut yourselves out of.”

Widow O’Toole descended the stairs. “The ones who have to stay are already in bed. Velma can bandage that one up, and I’ll stay and clean up the mess. You two go on to the wedding!”

Enoch and Taylor ran to the church. Karl was pacing away from them, then turned and rushed toward her. “I’ll seat you. Everyone is waiting.”

“No. That won’t be necessary,” Taylor said as she clasped hands with Enoch.

Looking grim, Karl said nothing. He stepped out of the way, and Mrs. Cutter started plinking on the piano. Taylor looked at her brother. “Here goes nothing.”

“No. Here goes something.”

They got to the front of the church, and Taylor stood beside her brother as any best man would. A minute later, Karl was standing beside her. He gave her an odd look and jerked his head toward the pews. She ignored him.

With flowers being scarce and having had no time in advance to ship any in, Heidi came down the aisle sprinkling leaves along the way. Sydney Creighton waddled in, looking as radiant as any expectant mother could. Big Tim escorted her, then sat on the front pew once they reached the altar. As Mrs. Cutter started banging “Wedding March” with more gusto than skill, Mr. Michaelson escorted Mercy down the aisle. Enoch sucked in a deep breath. Taylor wondered if he even recognized his bride was wearing their mother’s gown.

“Go sit down,” Karl murmured. “You don’t belong here.”

Irksome man. What was he doing, butting in to her family’s business? Taylor figured she’d tell him and get rid of him. “I’m a best man.”

“Yes, you are a Bestman, but today, Mercy becomes a Bestman, too, and she is the woman who belongs by Enoch’s side.”

Tim tromped up and stood by Sydney. In a loud whisper he said, “If Enoch gets two people to stand up with him, then Mercy gets a pair, too.”

Taylor caught the look her brother and his bride exchanged. As long as they were amused, that was all that mattered. She reached out and took hold of Heidi’s hand, then lifted her up a step so she could see better.

The wedding proceeded according to the
Book of Common Prayer
and the couple exchanged vows. Hope and Annie sang a duet Taylor hadn’t ever heard. As Parson Bradle said the closing prayer, Heidi started getting antsy, then exclaimed in a loud whisper, “I’m bleeding!”

Taylor bent down. “You’ve lost a tooth!” Reaching for her chatelaine, Taylor realized she didn’t have it on.

Enoch took the handkerchief from his pocket, squatted down, and rolled it up. “Here. Bite on this.” He kissed Heidi’s forehead and rose.

Her eyes widened. “Daddy’s married to me! He kissed me!”

“I’m proud to be your daddy,” Enoch said as he stroked her cheek.

The pastor cleared his throat. “You may now kiss your bride.”

Enoch did so with great exuberance. At that moment, Taylor knew she’d never regret coming to Texas.

“You’ll have plenty to eat, ja?”

“Ja!” Piet nodded appreciatively. “Go now. Do not delay.”

Karl didn’t need his brother to urge him. He’d been champing at the bit to get over to the surgery for the past half hour. With folks still dropping things off and milling around, it hadn’t been necessary. But now that everyone was gone—well, it was different.

Walking up to the front door felt odd, but it was only right. He did so and knocked. Dr. Bestman opened it almost immediately. “Karl! What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong is that you open the door, and you don’t know who is there.”

“Doctors often treat strangers. What do you need?”

He pushed his way in, took off his coat, and hung it on the hall tree. “I need to talk sense into you. You have men here still?”

“I have patients.”

“Men. The patients are men—ones who got drunk and violent today. Safety and decency dictate that you not be alone with men.” He looked around. “Where are they?”

“In the patient room, upstairs.”

“Woman—they could kill you in your sleep.”

“Impossible.” She smiled. “I never did put talcum powder in the cracks of the floor, so it still creaks, and my door locks. Furthermore, Karl, they’re not in the pink of health.”

“You know nothing about men. I’ll pump some water and carry it upstairs. You will stay down here.”

As he topped off their water glasses, Karl noticed all of the patients were fast asleep; but what difference did that make? They could awaken at any time. Every last one of them was a troublemaker. That did it. No matter what she said, he was staying until these three were long gone.

He found Taylor in her surgery, intently looking at something. Karl peered over her shoulder. “That is not right.”

She let out a breathless shriek and whirled around. “What are you doing there?”

“Looking at that mess, same as you were.”

Smashing into the drawer backward so it would slam shut, she pretended to give a careless shrug. “One of the men who had too much to drink probably got into things while we were treating one of his buddies.”

“Now. They are all leaving now.”

“I haven’t discharged them.”

“Yet.” Harsh as could be, the word curled in the back of his throat. He set her off to the side and yanked open the drawer. “You have surgical instruments in here, ja? Many sharp ones, for to cut. Three men, they are dangerous, and you have weapons on hand for them to take and use. And then you think you would be safe all alone at night? Nee.”

“It could be a child’s prank, too.”

Karl snorted. “A childish prank, perhaps. More likely a dangerous one. Men who like to scare women—they are men who go on to find scaring them is not sufficient. Cruelty is that way. Darkness always grows darker.”