Beneath the Honeysuckle Vine (26 page)

Justin nodded, smiling.
“
We sure did.
”
He paused
,
seeming thoughtful for a moment.
“
The day Caleb and me left for the war…I thought for a moment it seemed like we were still playing pirates over you.
Didn
’
t it?
”

“
It did,
”
she said.
“
At first.
”

Vivianna gazed at him—studied him.
She remembered that day, over two years ago, when Caleb had owned her young heart—when Justin had begun to steal it.
She
’
d known that day
,
the moment Justin had kissed her
;
she
’
d known that Caleb hadn
’
t truly loved her—not the way she wanted to be loved.
Vivianna wanted to be loved possessively
,
wanted her lover to be passionate in his love for her.
Caleb had seemed only mildly vexed when Justin had kissed her.
In truth, Vivianna had wondered if Justin had merely kissed her to prove a point to his brother—or to crow over him somehow.
Yet as Justin
’
s letters began to arrive
,
as he eventually began to confess his love for her—his professed obsessive love for her—she realized Justin had kissed her that day to prove it was he who loved her most
,
not simply to best his brother in wooing a young woman.

She smiled at Justin and continued,
“
But then you began to write…and slowly your letters spoke to my heart…and I knew you weren
’
t simply playin
’
at pirates with Caleb.
”

Justin smiled, shook his head
,
and chuckled.
“
It
’
s those letters,
”
he began,
“
isn
’
t it?
If I hadn
’
t written them letters
,
I mighta come home to find ya married to Caleb.
Isn
’
t that right?
”

Vivianna shrugged.
Vivianna didn
’
t want to talk about Caleb or what might have been.
The fact was Justin had written those letters
,
and she hadn
’
t married Caleb.
Again she thought of Caleb—of his kind manner
,
his calm character.
He was a great man
,
but he knew no passion.
It seemed nothing pierced his heart to the core
;
nothing moved him to great emotion.
Vivianna herself owned great emotion.
True
,
she
’
d hidden it for long years.
True
,
it was not often she displayed it.
More often it was that she guarded her emotions quite desperately.
Yet she did own deep, passionate emotion—emotions she would have had to guard her entire life had she married Caleb.
In that moment, she feared she may have smothered—may have died from having had to keep herself always so calm in appearance had she
’
d chosen dear Caleb.

Vivianna was suddenly distracted
,
as was Justin.
Laughter was the distraction—the mirthful laughter of Nate and Willy.

“
What are they up to now?
”
Justin asked.
“
That kind of laughin
’
can only mean the
y’re
up to no good.
”

“
Oh, I
’
m sure of it,
”
Vivianna sighed.

It was true
. I
f Nate and Willy were laughing so freely
,
it was certain that mischief was at the heart of their merriment.
Nate and Willy were always up to no good, it seemed.
Especially of late—especially since their summer days were now spent hunting for any kind of dead animal that might provide a bone or two for their growing bone collection.
If Vivianna had learned one thing during her stay with
Savannah
and the young Turner boys, it was that laughter and other sounds of amusement more often than not meant naughtiness.
Thus, she knew she and Justin best look in on Nate and Willy
,
whether or not it was still early morning.

Justin looked to her
,
his eyes bright with mirth.
“
Well, we certainly can
’
t let that go without lookin
’
into…now can we?
”

Vivianna shook her head
,
disappointed that their walk had been interrupted.
Still, she knew it would be unwise not to see what was so thoroughly amusing to the young boys.
A quick vision of weeks ago
,
of a pigeon dousing Johnny Tabor with his droppings
,
traveled through her mind
,
and she giggled.
Perhaps it was nothing so naughty causing the boys to laugh after all.
Perhaps it was simply something as silly as the antics of another mean-spirited pigeon.

“
They
’
re over there…near the puddle where they keep their frogs,
”
Justin said.

Still holding Vivianna
’
s hand, he led her through the flowering vines and bushes east of the house and toward the large puddle where Nate and Willy had been delighted to find a load of pollywogs and several new clutches of frog eggs weeks before.
Many of the pollywogs had begun to transform to frogs
,
and the boys delighted in watching them play in the puddle each morning and evening.
Vivianna enjoyed the pollywogs as well.
It was often she had accompanied the boys to their pollywog hole over the past few weeks to watch Mother Nature work her wonder.
Soon the tiny
pollywogs would lose their tails
, develop stronger legs
,
and leave Nate and Willy
’
s beloved puddle.
But for now, the quick-swimming pollywogs provided hours and hours of amusement for the young Turner boys.

“
What
’
s goin
’
on here?
”
Justin asked as they approached the pollywog hole to find Nate and Willy were indeed lingering beside it.

Johnny Tabor was with them.
He looked up and offered a friendly smile to Vivianna.
She smiled and nodded to him in return.
As always, she was unsettled by the strange nervousness that rose within her whenever she was near to him.

“
We
’
re racin
’
pollywogs!
”
Willy exclaimed.
“
Johnny showed us how
.
Mine won last time!
”
Willy jumped up and ran to Vivianna
,
his hands cupped and holding a slippery pollywog and a minimal amount of water that immediately began dripping through his small, muddy fingers.
“
See, Viv?
”
he laughed.
“
This here
’
s Hubert!
And he beat Nate
’
s pollywog twice runnin
’
!
”

Vivianna smiled as she looked at the large, squirming pollywog in Willy
’
s hands.
“
Ooo!
He does look fast,
”
she said, tousling his hair.
“
But ya better get him a drink
. Y
a wouldn
’
t want him to dry out and lose his place as the winner.
”

Willy nodded, dashed back to the puddle
,
and released the pollywog.

Releasing Justin
’
s hand, Vivianna moved closer to the puddle, leaned down
,
and peered into the water.
Oh, how she delighted in pollywogs!
She always had
,
ever since she
’
d been a little girl
.
To look into a puddle and see them wildly swimming about—to feel them tickle her ankles and toes when she took off her shoes and sunk them in the muddy water—it was
a
true gladness.

“
You boys better add a couple of buckets of water from the pond to your puddle today,
”
she said.
“
It
’
s lookin
’
a little low.
”

“
That
’
s what Johnny told us,
”
Nate said.
“
He said he
’
d help us haul it over from the pond in a while.
”

Vivianna glanced up to Johnny.
She couldn
’
t help but smile as she watched him drop his own pollywog back into the puddle.

“
Johnny says when they
’
re done turnin
’
into frogs
,
we can really have some fun racin
’
!
”
Willy exclaimed.
“
He says he
’
s got a real special bone he
’
s been savin
’
,
and if one of us gets a frog that
’
ll beat his
,
we can have it for our collection!
”

Vivianna giggled.
“
Ooo!
A new bone!
Isn
’
t that excitin
’
?
”

“
You bet it is, Viv!
”
Nate said.

“
Well, seems to me that Johnny oughta be worryin
’
a bit less about frogs and a bit more about seein
’
to fixin
’
that broken board in the loft of the barn,
”
Justin said.

Vivianna dropped her gaze from Johnny Tabor—felt her cheeks go red with humiliation.
She wasn
’
t quite sure she
’
d heard Justin correctly.
Surely Justin wasn
’
t scolding Johnny for playing with the younger boys
.
Surely she hadn
’
t just heard him imply that his friend should be working instead of enjoying a moment of carefree delight—not when Justin had yet to lift a hand to help with anything.
Still, she reminded herself that Justin had been weak
;
he had needed time to recover
. H
e
’
d been unable to help
Savannah
around the place or Caleb in running things or earning a wage.
Yet even this knowledge did not ease the discomfort she felt over Justin
’
s blatant lack of gratitude.

“
I
’
ll get to the loft when I
’
m ready, Justin,
”
Johnny nearly growled.
“
That broken board will still be there come a week or two…but pollywogs aren
’
t so lingerin
’
.
Ya gotta enjoy
’
em while ya can.
”

“
Pollywogs are for children, Johnny,
”
Justin said.
“
Men got responsibilities.
”

Vivianna watched as Johnny stood.
His dark eyes were narrowed as he glared at Justin.
He was much taller than Justin
,
his shoulders much broader.
Furthermore, he was much, much stronger.
This was all too apparent.
Johnny had removed his shirt—no doubt to keep from soiling it while playing in the puddle with the boys and the pollywogs—revealing a strong torso built of hard work.
His chest, arms, shoulders
,
and stomach boasted chiseled muscles the like Vivianna had never seen before.
She worried that if Justin provoked Johnny Tabor much further—well, then, Justin
’
s recovery might be set back some.