Loving Eliza (9 page)

So this is wh
at he typically ran into.  It
was no wonder why he protested coming to church today.  Her initial impression had been so wrong
.  When Frank
and Addy had spoken well of John, they were the exception to the mentality of this town.  She had no idea.  But John knew.  No wonder he was in a hurry to leave town and didn’t think Daphne would be coming for him.

Eliza looked the marshal square in the eye.  “I assure you that John is as normal as any grown male.”

He folded his arms and stared right back
at her
.  “So you’re saying that you’ve been sharing a bed with him?”

“No.  I’m saying he acts like a grown man.  He doesn’t act like a child.”

“Then you are
naïve
about men.”

Eliza almost laughed.  That showed how little he knew, but she could never tell him that.  So that was why no one thought anything of her staying on John’s property.  No one thought he was capable of sexual desire.  They thought he had the mentality of a child.  Except Charity and Bethany didn’t know him at all, so they assumed the worst.

She glanced at John
who was sitting
with
Frank and Addy
who were
talking to him.  Did they think he was like a child too?  Or did they realize that even though he did think and feel like a man, he had enough self
-control to restrain his urges?
  She knew that John held back.  She knew what the looks he gave her meant, exc
ept there was a tenderness
that was new to her.  He’d never take advantage of her.  He was a gentleman.

Eliza returned her attention to Charity and Bethany.  “I assure you that I wouldn’t engage in that type of behavior.  I’m sorry that our time in the stagecoach gave you such a poor impression of me.  If you’ll excuse me, I’ll leave you to yourselves.”

Without waiting for them to respond, she joined John.

Frank looked up at her.  “Oh, hello there, Miss Sweet.  I heard you already met my wife, Addy.”

Forcing aside her irritation with the people she’d just been talking to, she smiled.  “I didn’t realize that, but it’s certainly nice to see you again.”

“We were asking John if you two would like to come to our ho
me for lunch after the service,” Frank offered.

Addy smiled at her.  “We’d love to have you both over.”

Eliza glanced at John.  She couldn’t tell what he was thinking but decided that she’d had enough of people for the time being.  “Maybe next time.  I already set out the ingredients I’m going to use for lunch.”

Addy looked disappointed but nodded.  “Next time then.”

“It looks like everyone’s sitting.  I guess I should follow suit.”

“Do you mind if we sit with you?”

“No.”

She stepped past John whose expres
sion remained unreadable and sat
next to him, making sure she left enough space between them so people wouldn’t get the wrong idea...if that was possible.  If everyone assumed he had no
romantic inclinations at all, then they probably likened her to sitting with a little boy.  The whole thing was absurd.

“You would have liked Melissa,” Addy said.
 
“
She always
spoke of her cousin, the preacher
.  She was excited about meeting you.”

“I looked forward to coming here and meeting her too.
”

And she had looked forward to arriving to this place.  A chance at a new start.  And while it was true she got a new start, she also discovered that things were not going to be as pleasant as she’d hoped.  Well, things didn’t always go according to plan.  She’d have to bend and
adjust as she had in the past.

Addy talked a little more about Melissa before everyone stood up to sing a couple of hymns.  Eliza didn’t know the words since she wasn’t familiar with them.  Beside her
,
John kept his hands folded in front of him while Addy sang loud enough for all of them.  She had a nice voice too.

After the sermon, they sang another hymn and
left
the building.

Frank shook John’s hand.  “It was good to see you.  I hope you’ll come on back, and we mean it about having you and Eliza for lunch next time.”

Eliza watched the scene.  That meant that Frank considered John an equal, didn’t it?  He wouldn’t be directing that invitation to John if he thought of John as a child.  At least, she wouldn’t think so.

Addy gave her a hug.  “Now if you need anything, you let us know.  Anyone who knows a relative of Melissa’s is a friend of ours.”

“Thank you,” Eliza replied.

“Miss Sweet,” someone called out.

The voice sounded familiar.  She turned and saw one of John’s brothers making his way toward them.

“I just wanted
to say you look lovely today,” he said.

She noted that John stiffened next to her but kept her gaze on the man.  “You’re Guy, right?”

“Troy,” he corrected.

Blushing, she said, “Forgive me, Troy.  I’ve met so many people that it’s hard to remember names and faces, and to be honest, all you brothers look so much alike.  Well, except for the facial hair, but I can’t remember who has a mustache or a beard.  John’s easy to remember.  He doesn’t have either one.”

Troy smiled.  “There’
s nothing to forgive.  I’m sure we overwhelmed you by showing up at the same time.”

Addy chuckled.  “The five of them together is an impressive sight.”

Frank nodded.  “They ar
e the only Evans in town, and they’re
all men too.”

“A force to be reckoned with then,” Eliza chi
med in, slowly feeling better.

“You could say that,” Frank joked.

John nudged her in the side.

She turned to him.

He pointed in the direction of his wagon.

“I guess we should get back,” she said.

“But I didn’t get a chance to talk to you,” Troy argued.

Eliza inwardly groaned.  Not another Evan’s brother being more interested in her than he ought to be.  The trouble with this town was that there were more men than women, and apparently, being single had made her an
easy target.  Why didn’t Preacher
Peters warn her of this?  She might have considered another location...like somewhere out in the middle of nowhere so she could spend the rest of her life alone.

“We’ll see you soon I hope,” Addy stated.  “I’ll have the curtains ready for you this Thursday.”

“Really?” Eliza did want to hang up those curtains.  She looked at John.  “Can we come back then and get them?”

John’s gaze shifted to Troy and despite his obvious uncertainty, he nodded.

“We’ll be by then,” she said.

Addy waved good-bye before she left with Frank.

“I could take the curtains out there,” Troy offered.

“That might be a good idea,” Eliza reflected.

John quickly motioned to her and shook his head.  Then he pointed to himself.

She shrugged.  “John must have some business he needs to do that day.  I’ll come in with him.” She suspected that wasn’t really the case, but she didn’t feel like dwelling on John’s feelings for her.

“Well, then I’ll have to keep an eye out for you,” Troy said.  “It would be rude if I didn’t make you feel welcome.  Good day.”

She caught the warning look Troy gave John before he passe
d them to walk down the boardwalk
.

Great.  Just what she needed.  Two men, brothers no doubt, vying for her attention.  This was getting much more complicated than it needed to be.  Daphne would be the solution to John’s interest in her, but if Troy was as persistent as John, then she might have to end up leaving town altogether.  She hoped it wouldn’t come to that.  She had nowhere else to go...except back to Omaha, and she didn’t relish t
hat, though she might ask Preacher
P
eters for another place to go
.

J
ohn was working on the last chair for the table he’d made when Aar
on stopped by.  He glanced out
of
the small window and saw that Aaron carried something.  John wondered what his brother wanted.  He set the chair down on the floor and leaned forward so he could see if anyone came with him.  He breathed a sigh of relief.  Aaron was alone, which meant Troy was safely out of sight.

Eliza said she had gone to do some washing at the creek.  He had wanted to join her.  Not because he liked to wash clothes but because it meant he could be near her and hear her talk.  But she’d protested, saying he needed to finish the chair so he could deliver the complete dining room set to the Chapmans.  He also realized his money was getting low, and there hadn’t been any house repairs to take care of for over a month.
  So he stayed in his shed and worked.

Now he left the shed to see what Aaron wanted.

“Good afternoon, John,” Aaron greeted.

John motioned to his house.

“I could use a cup of coffee.  Alright.”

John led him into the kitchen and pumped water into a coffee pot.  After he set the pot on the cookstove, he listened to Aaron.

“I haven’t seen anything at the post office for you.  It’s been three weeks and Daphne hasn’t showed up.  Maybe you should look into another mail-order bride.  I brought a paper to look at.”

As soon as he was done getting the coffee ready,
John glanced over his shoulder and saw Aaron open the paper up.

“I think the school tea
cher might be a good one.  She’s
a little older than average.
  That might work to our advantage though.  I mean, she won’t be as picky as someone who’
s younger.”

John snatched the paper off the table and shook his head.

“I’m sorry, John.  I’m not trying to be mean.  I know you’re as smart as I am.”

John shook his head again.  That’s not what he meant.  He picked u
p a piece of paper and wrote
‘E
liza
’ on it and th
en pointed to Eliza’s little cabin
.

Aaron frowned.  “You aren’t sleeping with Eliza, are you?  You know that goes against our values.  You can’t do that until you’re married.”

John waved his hand in a way that indicated he wasn’t sleeping wi
t
h her
.

“Good.” His brother looked relieved.  “I don’t care what others say.  I know you’re fully capable of doing it.”

For some reason, that made John feel good ab
out himself. 
Aaron saw him as an equal.

Then Aaron raised an eyebrow.  “Do you want to marry Eliza?  Is that what you’re saying?”

John nodded.

“T
roy’s not going to like
that, you know.”

He scowled.  What did he care what Troy thought?  He picked up the paper full of the mail-order bride ads and wrote a ‘T’ on it before he handed it to Aaron.

Aaron chuckled.  “
I don’t think Troy’s going to seek a mail-order bride.  He’s too interested in Eliza.  He talks about her a lot.  The only reason he hasn’t been out here is because his boss has been working him overtime on the farm.”

Well, good.  John didn’t become a farmhand for that very reason.  They could work long and rough hours.  He much preferred the idea of setting his own hours and working with things that didn’t depend on the weather to grow.

“There is that town social
coming up.  I suspect Troy will ask her to go with him if you don’t give her the invitation first.”

He grimaced.  That meant he’d have to be around people.  He wondered if Eliza would say yes if Troy asked her.  The only reason he’d even go was to stop Troy from taking her, and apparently, Aaron knew it or else he wouldn’t have brought it up.

Aaron shrugged.  “I don’t know what to tell you.  A pretty woman like Eliza isn’t going to be single for long.  Even that Old Willy and Buck Stanley are keeping a lookout for her.”