His Brother's Wife (25 page)

Chapter
Twenty-Two

Grace walked down the
sidewalk in town to Abigail's house, her gaze on the men working at
the end of the street. The new doctor's office was almost complete.
The walls were up, the roof in place and the glass panes for the
windows were being installed. It wouldn't be long now.

She glanced at Sarah and
said, "Is the new doctor in town yet?"

Sarah shook her head. "No.
He's expected any day now, though. I personally can't wait until
he's here. I haven't seen a doctor since moving to Willow Creek two
years ago."

Their conversation lasted
until they reached Abigail's door, where they were greeted by Mrs.
Jenkins. She smiled at Grace, nodding her head at her while her
cheeks turned pink. She was wearing one of the dresses Grace had
sold her.

"You look beautiful, Mrs.
Jenkins."

The woman blushed clean to
her hairline before looking away. "Thank you," she said, running a
hand down the green fabric. My Henry caught me admiring it and said
I should keep it. I've never owned anything so fancy before
though."

Grace smiled. "Well, it
looks like it was made for you."

They entered the parlor
where a petite blonde was setting a tray of small cakes and cookies
on a table near the windows. She turned, smiled, and looked
delighted to see them. "You brought her!"

"I told you I would,"
Sarah said. "I don't know why you doubted me."

The woman crossed the room
and reached for Grace's hand, taking it in hers and holding it
tightly. "It's so nice to meet you, Grace. I'm Abigail
Avery."

"And your husband is…"
Grace asked.

Abigail grinned. "Morgan.
The marshal here in town."

"I see," Grace said. "So
there's three Avery men?"

"No. There's four. Tristan
is the youngest. His wife, Emmaline, was supposed to be here but I
hear they have a little one that is sick so maybe you can meet her
next month, if you decide to join us again."

More ladies began to
filter in. Margaret Talbert and her teenage daughter, Miranda,
along with Flora Brighton, the hotel owners new wife.

When Laurel Avery, Willow
Creek's school teacher and wife to Holden Avery walked into the
room, everyone took a seat, their fabric swatches pulled from bags
and baskets and they spent the next ten minutes discussing the
plans for their new blanket.

Grace had never
participated in a sewing circle but knew enough about them to wish
she'd had extra material to contribute. She smiled at Sarah when
she handed her a few of her own swatches. She'd carefully trimmed
them to size and matched them with like colors.

The sewing was done while
the gossip circled the room. Grace realized Sarah had been right.
The way the women of the circle talked, their favorite past time
was speculating on those in the community.

Margaret Talbert leaned
forward, her voice pitched low as she said, "Fergus McDonald over
at the telegraph office said Edna and Bert Pierce got a telegraph
all the way from New York City. Seems their son may be headed back
this way."

Abigail looked up. "Morgan
will love to hear that. There's been bad blood between him and the
Pierces ever since Morgan got the appointment to be the marshal
instead of Layton." She glanced at Grace. "Layton is Edna and
Bert's son."

Grace nodded as Abigail
began to speak again but her words were cut short when a heavy-set
woman barged into the house. She stopped in the doorway, the straw
hat on her head covered in flowers and bows.

"You started without me?"
she accused. She gave Abigail a disapproving look and shook her
head. "Did Caleb not tell you I'd be here?"

Abigail smiled but Grace
could tell it was strained. "I'm sorry, but I haven't seen
him."

The woman was portly,
loud, and seemed to suck the air from the room. Grace stared at her
as she huffed out a breath while taking off her shawl and hat,
hanging it on a nearby coat tree.

"That boy can't be trusted
to do anything," she said. "Why Percy lets him handle things at the
livery stable alone is beyond my reckoning." She walked across the
room to the chair beside Grace's own but stopped before sitting.
She leaned her head to one side, staring at Grace as a sarcastic
smile lit her face. "So this is her, is it?"

Grace glanced at everyone
in the room before turning back to the woman towering over her.
"Grace Kingston," she said. "And you are?"

The woman raised an
eyebrow. "Edna Pierce." She straightened her spine and lifted her
head a fraction. "I'm a member of the Willow Creek town council and
know everyone in this town. You, I know nothing about other than
you came to be married and ended up living, unmarried, with Rafe
Samuels and his brother."

Grace felt her face heat
and didn't dare glance around the room. She knew every eye was on
her. She could feel their stares and cleared her throat before
straightening her own spine. "I'm very well aware of how the
situation appears, Mrs. Pierce…"

"Do you?" Edna blurted.
"Because the things I've heard." She made a "tsking" sound and
shook her head.

Grace could only imagine.
With Ben and his men catching her with Rafe the week before, she
didn't have to guess what Edna had heard. Rafe's fears were
probably a reality now. The town, or at least Edna, thought the
worst of her.

She owed none of them an
explanation but felt it was necessary. She would be spending her
life in this town, she hoped, and making friends with these women
would make life much easier.

Looking around the room,
she met the eye of every woman there before telling them the
circumstances leading to her arrival in Willow Creek. There were
sympathetic nods in her direction and a few laughs when she told
them of her excitement in seeing Rafe, her handsome bridegroom,
only to be told he wasn't to be her husband. That honor went to a
fourteen year old boy instead.

Her decision to go home
with them was understood and no one blamed her for it. No one but
Edna, that is. The woman still stood in front of her with a
disapproving look in her face.

"That's the problem with
you young women nowadays," Edna said. "You get these idea's into
your heads, take off into territory's alone, and think you can be
master of your own destiny." She finally sat, huffing out a breath
as she did. "You're always looking for something different. An
adventure," she said, rolling her eyes. "Why can't you just settle
down with a nice boy where you live and have some babies. Be
content in life."

Grace looked Edna in the
eye and folded her hands into her lap. "You may be happy with
settling in life, Mrs. Pierce, but I'll not stand by and take what
others think I should have. I'll carve out my own future, thank you
very much."

The silence that followed
was deafening. Edna looked as if she wanted to be offended, but her
gaze swept over the room quickly before landing on Grace again.
"There's no talking to the younger generation. I'm not even sure
why I try." She shook her head and dragged her fabric swatches from
the basket she'd set by her feet and looked back up at everyone in
the room. "Now, what gossip did I miss?"

As if Edna hadn't appeared
and disrupted the tranquility, Mrs. Talbert rushed out the next bit
of gossip she'd heard, the "oohs" and "aahs" filled with quiet
chatter. They stopped an hour later and had tea served in china
that rivaled the gold accented set Grace herself had sold in Boston
before traveling across country.

Holding a plate of small
sandwiches and cookies, Grace surveyed the room until the three
Avery women approached her, smiles curving their lips.

"That was very well done,
Grace."

Abigail nodded her head,
agreeing with Sarah. "It was. It takes a special kind of person to
take on Edna and win."

They giggled, glanced over
their shoulder to make sure Edna wasn't within hearing range and
continued. "I think she means well," Laurel said, "But she's very
straight forward about things…"

"Don't forget nosy,"
Abigail chimed in.

Laurel grinned and
finished with, "And it just comes off as rude most of the time.
Don't ever let her back you into a wall. I did once and she thought
she had a hold over me. Just stand your ground with
her."

Grace smiled. "I've known
women who make Edna look like a scurrying mouse running for
shelter." She looked over the women's shoulder at Edna. "She
doesn't intimidate me in the least."

"Good," Abigail said.
"You'll get along just fine in Willow Creek with that
attitude."

They paused, all four of
them sipping their tea for a few minutes before Sarah cleared her
throat and looked at the others. "So, what's going on with you and
Rafe? I noticed the look he gave you back at the house and I just
thought… well, is there something going on there or are you going
to marry Jesse?"

Grace's eyes widened in
horror. "I can't marry Jesse. Why would you even think a thing?
He's just a child."

Sarah grinned. "I didn't
think you'd actually marry him but I had to ask." She took a sip of
her tea before saying, "Has Rafe asked for your hand?"

Grace sighed. "No. I don't
think he wants to marry me. Every time it comes up in conversation,
he either changes the subject or says Jesse would never allow it."
She stared down into her cup.

Silence descended over the
little group and it was Abigail who shook her head and said, "How
much do you know about Rafe?"

Grace shrugged her
shoulder. "Enough, I guess."

"You know about Maggie and
Katie, then?"

Maggie?
Tilting her
head to one side, Grace stared at Abigail. "I've never heard of,
Maggie? Who is she?"

Silent stares passed
between the Avery women. Grace didn't like the look on their faces.
"Maggie is Holden's dead wife."

"Oh." Grace glanced at
Laurel before turning to look at Abigail again. "What does she have
to do with Rafe?"

"Well, at one time, Rafe
was pretty sweet on Maggie and from what Morgan's told me, he
bought a ring and made plans to marry him."

Grace knew where this
story was going before Abigail even finished telling it. She also
knew why Katie leaving him seemed to affect Rafe so greatly. Not
only had his first love left him for his friend, his wife abandoned
him for a complete stranger.

No wonder the prospect of
marriage didn't appeal to him.

And with that bit of
knowledge, Grace knew a future with Rafe was out of the question.
He may want her, and want to bed her, but he'll never marry
her.

The realization tore a
piece from her heart. Regardless of how much she wanted a future
with him, she'd never be his wife.

"Morgan went to see him
once he came home," Abigail was saying. "But he said the
conversation was strained. There was still a lot of hurt feelings
there but it's not so bad now. Morgan can get Rafe to talk to him
but he said their conversations aren't as easy as they once were.
Those men had been best of friends at one time and
now..."

"They can barely be in the
same room together." That odd look on Rafe's face when he'd come
into the house to tell her he was leaving made sense now. He didn't
want to be anywhere near the Avery men. With everything she'd just
learned, she understood his animosity.

She couldn't say she
blamed Rafe for it. She knew nothing about the Avery's but could
only imagine how it would feel to have the girl you love run off
with a man who was supposed to be your friend. She imagined it
still stung and seeing Holden, having him inside his house, was
probably killing him.

Grace listened to them
talk for the next half hour before they were sewing again. Talk of
the new doctor arriving in a few weeks had everyone looking toward
Grace. If she was looking for a husband, why not the new
doctor?

Why not indeed.

Chapter
Twenty-Three