Love Blooms in Winter (13 page)

He fished around in the cold water for a bottle and then withdrew one. “Morning, Mae.”

“Opener’s right there on the counter.” She saw him reach for it and then fix on Jake, who stood beside the mail cage. Mae quickly moved around the counter. “Have you two met?”

“I don’t believe so.” Jake extended a well-groomed hand. “Jake Mallory.”

Tom returned the handshake. “Tom Curtis.”

“Mr. Curtis. Pauline’s nephew?”

Tom took a drink and then lowered the bottle. “So I’m told.”

Jake clasped Tom’s shoulder. “You’re doing a fine thing, Curtis. Pauline’s a marvelous woman. You’ll enjoy her company.” His tone was warm but his eyes were distant. He turned to Mae. “I’ll see you later?”

Nodding, she walked him to the door, where they exchanged a few private words. When the screen closed behind him, a smiling Mae returned. “Enjoying the root beer?”

“Yes, ma’am. It’s real tasty.”

She stepped behind the wire cage again and began sorting letters.

He finished the drink and set the empty bottle on the counter. “Have you got a minute, Mae?”

She glanced up. “Certainly.”

He motioned toward the bench. “Maybe you need to sit down for this.”

His tone suggested trouble, something Mae wasn’t prepared to face. Was he going to tell her he was leaving? Would he just dump the whole situation back in her lap? Her pulse thrummed in her throat as she seated herself.

Sitting down beside her, he came right to the point. “I can’t find anywhere to place Pauline. I’ve looked, and I’ve offered a handsome wage, but nobody has room for an aging woman. Most already have parents they’re trying to care for or too many children. Or they plain don’t want her.”

Nodding, Mae bit her lower lip. “Perhaps if you tried—”

The frustration of the past week showed itself in the way he sprang from the bench and started to pace. “I’ve tried everywhere, Mae! Nobody wants an extra mouth to feed, and what do you think I’m supposed to do with all those dogs and cats?”

“We know that is a problem, but…” She’d tried everything she knew to find some of the animals good homes, but her efforts had proved dismal. Usually after she’d ask, Pauline would somehow acquire another one overnight, so she’d given up.

“Problem?” He shifted stances. “Problem? Do you know those dogs have ripped her couch cushions to shreds?”

“Oh, that.” She sighed. “That’s at least her fourth set of cushions this year. I’ll make new ones.”

“Look.” He sighed and sank back to the bench. “I’m sorry. Really I am, but I have a job waiting for me. I can’t stick around any longer.”

She bit back tears. He had every right to leave. She wasn’t sure if his going caused the tears or she had grown accustomed to seeing him around. Dwadlo simply didn’t attract new families. It had been years since anyone happened through town and lingered. Not since the railroad station was built. Tom brought a reminder that a whole world existed outside Dwadlo, one she’d never considered. Clearing her throat, she said, “I’m sorry that you must leave, Tom.”

“I’m sorry to go, and even sorrier that I have to leave Pauline here, but I’m at the end of my rope.”

“Well, may I respectfully mention that it was a rather short rope?”

“I wasn’t aware I had a particular length to this matter. I’m leaving on the morning train.”

Mae’s eyes shot up when what he said sank in. “Leave Pauline? Here?”

“I can’t take her with me.”

“Doesn’t the train carry more than one passenger?” She bit back a further sarcastic remark, aware that she was overstepping her bounds, but the crushing notion that he could just up and go, making Pauline her responsibility again, took her breath away. Though Jake had never said, she often wondered if her insistence to care for the aging woman was the thing that prevented him from proposing.

That, and the dogs and cats. Jake would never accept them into his comfortable, sophisticated life. That he had ever come back from that fine Philadelphia law school to practice in Dwadlo still amazed her.

Tom rubbed the back of his neck. “I understand your concerns, but I can’t take care of her myself. How am I supposed to look after a woman Pauline’s age in a one-room boardinghouse?”

“I suppose you would need to move—”

“Move! I can’t move, Mae. Besides, my job requires travel—a lot of it. Are you suggesting that I drag Pauline along on business trips?”

“I’m not suggesting how you should live your life, Tom, but I am suggesting that she’s your kin and therefore your responsibility!”

“Oh. So that’s how the wind blows.”

Crossing her arms, she met his flashing eyes. “That’s
exactly
how the wind blows.”

W
hen Tom wouldn’t budge on his decision, Mae turned her head and stared out the front window. She saw Jake’s top hat blow off and watched him hopping down Main Street trying to recapture it. She sighed.

“The wind ‘blows’ many ways, Tom. And I have done my part in caring for your aunt. She is a dear person, but I have plans too.”

“Oh, yes. Your impending engagement. I’ve heard about that.” His eyes also traveled to the comical sight taking place outside the window.

Her gaze slowly shifted back to meet his. “Who told you about Jake?”

“The relationship isn’t exactly a secret. Almost everyone in town has made it a point this week to tell me you’re expecting this man to propose. How long have you been waiting? Six years?”

As soon as the words left his mouth he wished he could take them back. Now he’d stepped in it. He had no call to make the statement sound so…insulting. She slowly rose to her full five feet and met his stare head-on.

“For your information, Jake was in law school and then started his practice. Furthermore, Mr. Curtis, my
private
life is none of your concern.”

He stood and met her eye to eye. “Well, listen to you, Miss Wilkey. You had no problem getting involved in my
private
life when you roped me into something I knew nothing about!”

“Roped you?” A flush crept up her neck. “Roped you! If…oh, if you were half the man Jake is, there would be no need to
rope you
into taking care of your own kin!”

He broke eye contact. “You’re just testy because you can’t rope Jake into proposing.”

Sizzling now, she tightened her stance. “How dare you!”

“How dare you ask me to make the trip cross-county to assume the care of a woman I’ve never laid eyes on?”

“Shame. Shame!” She shook her finger at him. “Denying your own flesh.”

“I don’t think she is my flesh. I haven’t heard a thing this week that convinces me otherwise.”

“Ohhhh.” Pushing past him, she returned to the cage, trying to swallow her anger by silently reciting last night’s Bible reading: “The Lord is faithful, who shall establish you, and keep you from evil.”

In her heart she knew Tom wasn’t evil, but how could one man infuriate her so much? Reaching for a stack of flyers, she shoved one into a slot. On top of his obstinacy, the train was late again this morning, which meant she’d be late getting the mail sorted and into the boxes.

Tom appeared at the cage. “I’m leaving—”

“Have a nice trip.”

She ignored his deep sigh.

“Look, Mae…”

Keeping an eye on her work, she pretended to not have heard the plea in his voice. How could he just waltz off and leave Pauline’s care to strangers? True, the town was his aunt’s extended family, and she wasn’t a stranger but a close neighbor, but a decent, God-fearing man would never allow others to look after his kin.

Mae fought to ignore the prick of conscience that suddenly nagged her.
Why are you so angry? What if Pauline isn’t his family? Haven’t you also tried and failed to find someone to assume her care? If you, an area resident since birth, couldn’t find help, then how do you expect this man to work a miracle in a few short days?
She closed her eyes and took a calming breath.

“If there were a solution to this dilemma, I’d have found it,” he said.

She noted the tiredness in his tone.

“But there comes a time when you have to admit you have done all you can. I have a job, Mae, and I need to be back at my desk. It’s purely business.”

She let him explain away. Whatever he said couldn’t account for this crushing sense of disappointment. Had he tried hard enough? The answer came quickly. She’d seen him out early and late searching for a solution.

And, truthfully, Dale couldn’t be easy to live with. He was a good man with quaint ways, but he had lived with his mother, Saline, for fifty years. She was a woman who had spoiled him shamelessly, and he had to be stepping on Tom’s nerves. She should have thought of a different sleeping arrangement. Even Jeremy couldn’t adjust to the change. Maybe it wasn’t too late. She turned to face him.

“Is it Dale?”

“Pardon?”

She turned away from him again and shoved another flyer in a box, her ear tuned for the train whistle. “Is Dale the reason why you’re giving up so soon?”

“I’m leaving because I have a job that’s going unattended.” He frowned. “Wait. You know Dale is…eccentric?”

“Of course I know. I’ve worked with him all of my life. His mother…um…shall we say spoiled him a bit?”

“Well, yes. Let’s say that.”

Inwardly groaning, Mae realized she hadn’t drawn an easy breath the last few days. She had wondered if Tom might leave even sooner because of Dale’s eccentricities, but her prayers had held. Until now.

Outside an explosion rattled the windowpanes. The floor shook beneath their feet and the whole building quivered. Stunned, Mae paused to peer out the front window. “What was that?” She noted Tom’s puzzled expression.

“Sounded like dynamite. Anyone blasting in the area?”

“Not to my knowledge.” Coming out from behind the cage, her heart pounded.

“Are you sure?”

She racked her mind to recall any work like that going on nearby, but she was sure there was none. “Positive.”

He walked toward her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Well, something out of the ordinary’s happened. You stay here.”

The warmth of his touch and the strength in his hands should have comforted her, but the concern in his eyes made her even more uneasy. She met his intense gaze and simply nodded. No words would form.

Tom dropped his hands and started toward the door. “I’m going to investigate.”

Before he reached the door, however, it burst open and a boy ran inside. The look of terror on the child’s face told them what they already knew, that something was terribly wrong.

“Train wreck!”

“What?” Tom paused in front of the boy.

“The train…it done jumped track up the road a piece. A few people are hurt, but most appear to just have bruises and scratches. Doc Swede says bring all the camphor bottles, balsam, and lint you got!”

Mae quickly stripped off her apron and watched Tom follow the boy outside, the door slamming behind them. Train derailment. Her chest heaved from the heavy thumps inside it. A train wreck.

Dwadlo had never experienced the likes.

Mae grabbed a basket and filled it with the requested items while watching out the window. Buckboards and wagons began to assemble outside the store. The situation quickly became confusing when all available manpower in the area started to arrive to help.