Heaven in a Wildflower (11 page)

Anjele allowed the mare full rein, galloping all the way home, hair flying in the breeze wildly, happily, in rhythm with her heart.

Chapter Six

Anjele awakened to the sound of her mother’s excited voice right outside her bedroom. Curious, she scrambled out of bed and went to stand by the door and listen.

“Elton, this is wonderful.” Her mother was exuberant. “We haven’t seen Delilah and Stephen in years. You know, he’s about the same age as the girls. A few months older, I think. I wonder if he turned into a handsome man. Unattractive little boys often do,” she added optimistically.

“You can never tell,” her father responded, “but what bothers me is whether you can be ready for them by tomorrow. Her letter took so long to get here. Knowing Delilah, she’ll be upset to find out she arrived almost unannounced.”

“We won’t tell her. What’s to be done, anyway? She can have the guest rooms on the west corner, and Stephen can have one of the
garconnières
.
Having them here a whole month is going to be wonderful. I’ll get started making plans right away.”

They went on down the stairs, and Anjele hugged herself with delight. House guests! And for a whole month! And, unless she missed her guess, Delilah Pardee’s motive in coming was to try and find a wife for Stephen. Even in a place as large as Atlanta, Anjele sadly supposed it would be difficult to find a girl interested in someone so homely, for she didn’t share her mother’s optimism that Stephen had drastically changed. Of course, if the Pardees had been rich, there wouldn’t be a problem, but they weren’t. Her father and Wilbur Pardee had known each other as boys and stayed in touch when the Pardees moved to Georgia. Wilbur had his own feed store there, but she’d heard her father say he made only a modest living.

But Anjele didn’t care why Miss Delilah was coming. Exultation came over knowing her mother would be busy, while Claudia, since she didn’t have a beau, would be expected to entertain Stephen.

Sure enough, no one noticed when Anjele quietly left the house just before lunch. Her mother was so busy making up menus and invitation lists she had a tray sent to her room, and Claudia joined her, also caught up in the whirl of planning.

Gator wasn’t there when Anjele arrived at the willow tree, and she felt a stab of disappointment, but a few moments later, he came walking up the bank from where he’d left his boat tied below.

“Okay,” he greeted her, “let’s see if you can fish any better than you can swim in quicksand.”

She wrinkled her nose in feigned annoyance and joined him to run into the warm summer day.

Soon, they were in the isolated cove, and Anjele surprised him by placing the squiggling worm on a hook herself. Seeing his look of astonishment, she laughed. “What’s the matter? Haven’t you ever seen a girl who wasn’t afraid of worms?”

Brett knew he’d never seen a girl like her, period, and damn well liked everything he saw. “No, I guess I haven’t, but frankly, I was starting to think you’re completely worthless.”

“Oh, I’m so glad,” she said with exaggerated pleasure. “I was really starting to worry about your opinion of me, kind sir, especially after you saved me not only from drowning but from quicksand as well.”

“You weren’t going to drown. Snakebite, maybe, or lose a leg to a hungry gator. And I’ve poked that quicksand bed. It’s not deep. You’d have been stuck till somebody, or
something
came along, but if you want to be eternally grateful, it’s okay by me.” His dark eyes shone, for he enjoyed the easy banter between them.

Anjele continued to astound. In a short while, she managed to haul several large catfish up and into the boat, while Brett sat glumly without so much as a nibble on his line. Still, he couldn’t remember a more enjoyable time. But all too soon, time slipped by, and reluctantly he said he had to get back to the field.

“Do you want these fish?” she offered, a bit embarrassed to have bested him. She needn’t have been, for although Anjele did not know it yet, Brett Cody was too sure of himself to ever feel threatened in any way, by anyone.

He accepted her offer and, even though it was a futile gesture, impulsively asked if she’d like to come to his pirogue later to share them.

“I really wish I could,” she said sincerely but explained that Raymond had been invited for dinner. To soothe his disappointment, even though he was acting as if it didn’t matter, she rushed to share the news of their expected houseguests and how she’d have more free time with her mother and Claudia so busy.

“Anjele, I can’t sneak out of the field very often,” he reminded her soberly, “but we’ve still got the evenings, if you can manage to get away.”

“But it’s hard for me to sneak out till after everyone’s gone to bed, and that can be terribly late sometimes, especially with all the entertainment Mother is planning for the next month.”

“Well, we’ll work it out.” He reached to squeeze her hand. “I said I’d show you a good time this summer, and I will. I don’t mind waiting at the willow, as long as I know you’ll try to be there.”

“I’ll do my best. I promise.”

Their eyes met and held. In that frozen instant, Brett was again waging an inner battle, for he desperately wanted to hold her, kiss her, while Anjele dared to wonder what it would be like if he did.

His line gave a jerk, but the wily catfish got away before he could yank him in. Still, Brett was grateful for the diversion, which allowed the tension to melt away.

Dinner-table conversation centered on the expected arrival of their guests the next morning. Even Claudia was caught up in the excitement and didn’t behave as she usually did when Raymond was present by hanging onto his every word while gazing at him adoringly. He seemed more relaxed and at ease and even volunteered to help entertain the Pardees by hosting a visit to a horse race when he returned from a planned trip to Kentucky.

“Is this a business trip?” Elton was quick to inquire. He was not impressed with the young man’s preoccupation with having a good time rather than establishing himself in some kind of respectable business. Elton held to the conviction that it didn’t matter how much money a man had, he needed to work at something productive.

Raymond didn’t notice Elton’s disapproving frown as he explained he was going to buy horses and would be away nearly a month. “There are several farms I plan to visit. It’s beautiful country up there, and this is a wonderful time to visit.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Elton remarked tightly. “I have to work.”

Raymond shrugged, unmoved by the barb. He was used to the planters looking down on him, and it didn’t bother him a bit.

Anjele surprised everyone by unexpectedly pointing out, “If you were willing to live here, Raymond, you could keep your horses here, instead of boarding them at the racetracks.”

“Mother would have a fit, and besides, I don’t want to
live
with my horses, for heaven’s sake. I just want to visit them once in a while. I’m afraid I’d never be happy anywhere but in the heart of a city.”

But it doesn’t matter how
I
feel, Anjele silently, sadly, cried.

She could feel her father looking at her and turned to see the sympathy mirrored on his face. He reached to pat her hand, and for an instant, she was reminded of how he always seemed to understand what she was feeling, and how very much she loved him for it.

The house was spotless, with vases of freshly picked flowers in every room. Twyla had instructed Anjele and Claudia to wear their Sunday best. Lemonade and fig cake were ready to be served. Even the household servants were wearing special uniforms.

It was nearly noon when Claudia, having kept a vigil at the front of the house since early morning, frantically called, “They’re here. I can see the carriage coming up the road.”

Anjele, reading in the parlor, grimaced as she glanced at the clock. If Gator had been able to get away for a little while that morning, no doubt he’d given up waiting for her to meet him. But she hadn’t dared duck out, knowing her presence was required for the arrival of their guests.

Little William, Kesia’s son, wearing a red velvet coat Anjele knew had to be terribly hot, stood obediently waiting to take the reins of the team of horses when they were handed to him for looping into the hitching-post ring.

Malcolm, the butler, also resplendent in velvet, opened the carriage door, while the accompanying footmen scrambled in readiness for any orders given.

Delilah Pardee, Anjele decided at once, was nearly three times larger than she remembered—in all directions. Her face was a mass of fleshy jowls, and when she waved at Twyla, who was waiting on the porch, her flabby arms jiggled from shoulder to wrist.

Behind her followed the young man Anjele had known as a child. The only change was that he’d grown taller. His ears were still large, and his nose was even more hooked, but he had a warm and friendly smile.

She recognized Claudia’s wide grin as what it was—forced and artificial. No doubt, she’d been telling herself, after all these years Stephen would’ve changed from ugly duckling to swan and her own Prince Charming would be stepping out of the carriage. But at least she was going to put up a front, and Anjele silently commended her. It would have been just like her to groan in disgust and rudely turn away.

Spotting Anjele, Delilah gave a mock wail of disappointment and whined, “Oh, you had to go and get yourself engaged, you little dickens. Didn’t you know I’ve been saving Stephen just for you?”

“Now, now.” Twyla’s laugh was stilted. “You’ve always known Anjele was promised to Ida and Vinson’s boy, but we’ve still got our Claudia.”

Anjele bit back a sympathetic groan. Stephen, poor thing, didn’t deserve such a fate. No man did.

That night, with her parents engrossed in conversation with their guests, and Claudia surprisingly hovering around Stephen, no one seemed to mind when Anjele announced she had a headache and excused herself for the evening. She didn’t even have to crawl down the trellis, but simply walked out the front door and headed straight to the willow tree.

“You did make it.” Brett got to his feet, trying to keep the eagerness from his voice.

“Have you been waiting long?”

“No,” he lied, not about to admit he’d been there since before sundown.

“We…we have guests,” she reminded him, all of a sudden unnerved by his nearness.

“I know.” He wasn’t feeling too comfortable himself, as he thought of what he’d rather be doing besides making small talk. He also knew he had to get them out of there, and fast, for the temptation to hold her in his arms was needling. Suddenly, almost sharply, he asked, “Have you ever seen a raccoon?”

She laughed. “No, but I’ve heard—”

“Come on.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her along, and she ran with him, her long hair flowing as freely as her spirit on that warm, star-dazzled night.

He led her into the forest, picking his way along in the light of a full moon. “You’re going to have to be real quiet,” he said as they came up to a small pond edged with logs and cypress knees. “They’re used to me, but you’re a stranger.” He pointed to a large tree which had fallen to form a natural bridge over the water.

Anjele could not suppress her gasp of delight to see the brown, furry creatures perched in the middle. One of them turned at the sound, and she bit back yet another cry to see the black mask covering the upper part of his face.

They watched in silent fascination as the larger of the raccoons abruptly thrust his paw down into the water and came up with a small bream.

“Amazing,” she said breathlessly. “I can’t believe I’m really seeing this.”

“Come on. I’ve lots more to show you.”

Anjele lost all track of time, as he led her to his favorite observation points. She was thrilled to catch a glimpse of a doe, a red fox, and a mother possum with two babies clinging to her back.

“How do you find all these wonderful creatures?” she whispered in awe as a bobcat screamed from his perch high in a pine.

“I wander around a lot at night. I guess it’s because I view sleep as a waste of time. When my life is over, I don’t want to think I spent a third of it asleep. So instead I explore the world by night.”

“I envy you. I could never do things like this by myself, and I hope you know how much I appreciate your sharing it all with me.” Impulsively she added, “And I don’t care what Simona and Emalee say about everyone being afraid of you. I think you’re nice, Gator—or whatever your name is—and I like having you for my friend.”

He felt awkward, not used to having anyone talk to him in such a way. Finally, he mumbled that he liked being friends with her, too, then said what had been on his mind all evening. “Your fiancé wouldn’t like it. Neither would your parents.”

“They won’t find out,” she said with a determined lift of her chin. “It’s our secret.”

“Have you said anything to Simona and Emalee?”

She shook her head. “I haven’t seen them, but when I do, I won’t say anything, though I don’t think they’d tell. I just don’t want to get them involved. It’s none of their business.”

Unable to hold back the bitterness, Brett said, “Yeah, when you’re doing something you’re ashamed of,
I guess it’s best to keep it to yourself. After all, it sure wouldn’t do for folks to find out Elton Sinclair’s daughter is sneaking out at night to meet a
Cajun
.”