Moonlight on the Millpond (9 page)

You're an old fool. You're never going to get back down to your
store if you pull stunts like that.
The speech did not immediately slow his heart, but a few deep breaths and close to 30 minutes later, things seemed back to normal. Only then did strong emotion overtake him. A sob broke in Doyle Shephard's throat, and tears came to his eyes. For a moment there he thought he was going to die; he thought he'd been done for.

“I don't want that,” he whispered to the empty room, even as his heart yearned to be out of there and next door. “I don't want to die.”

Not willing to fight it anymore, Doyle let his eyes close, falling into blissful sleep. He never even heard Cathy when she checked on him a short time later.

It was not going as Jace had planned. He was supposed to have energy to go to town, but planting the fields was sapping all vigor from his body. Having decided on Sunday to marry Maddie Shephard, it was nothing short of maddening not to have time or physical strength even to see her until Thursday.

Now headed into town, Jace had all he could do not to whip the horse into greater action. He had deliberately waited until near closing, catching Cathy and Maddie in the last 30 minutes of store hours. As he had hoped, things were quiet.

“Well, Jace,” Cathy greeted him when he stepped inside.

“How are you, ladies?” Jace spread his smile to encompass both of them.

“Doing well,” Cathy replied, hands busy with a task at the counter.

“How is planting?” Maddie asked, having thought about Jace at odd times during the week.

“We've covered plenty of ground, but we're only about a quarter done.”

“How are your weeds?” Cathy asked.

“Not bad. Woody says we can attribute it to a dry spring.”

A customer came in, and very deliberately Jace moved to Maddie's counter.

“How was your week?” he asked.

“Busy. It's gone very fast.”

“It'll be Sunday before you know it.”

“A day of rest,” Maddie said with a smile, not aware of what that smile did to Jace's heart. “What can I get for you, Mr. Randall?”

“Madalyn,” Jace said, his voice low and serious.

Maddie stopped and looked at him, his tone and the use of her full name giving her no choice.

“Please call me Jace.”

“You keep telling me that, don't you?”

Jace nodded and smiled a little.

Maddie's gaze softened as she apologized. “I'm sorry. I promise I'll remember.”

“And may I call you Maddie?”

“Certainly.”

Jace grinned at her, putting every ounce of charm into that smile. Maddie smiled back before saying, “What can I get you, Jace?”

Jace pulled out his list, and the two of them worked until Cathy closed the doors.

“I'd better get going before you lock me in.”

“Stay for tea,” Cathy invited.

“I'd like that,” Jace said, unable to tell them how much, “but Woody is expecting me back. I'll just slip by the house and say hello to Doyle and be on my way. Thanks, Cathy. Thanks, Maddie.”

The women bid Jace goodbye, but Maddie stared after him for a long time. Cathy eventually noticed her expression but didn't comment, at least not then, and certainly not to her niece.

“I didn't expect you back so soon,” Woody told Jace when he arrived. “Didn't they invite you to tea?”

“They did, but I hadn't told you I was going to be gone into the evening.”

Woody's look was telling. “Jace, you're not some smooth-skinned lad who's still answering to his mother. You should have stayed.”

Jace shrugged, feeling irritated that he hadn't when Woody made it sound so simple. They took their own tea in near silence until Jace remembered he had a letter. Pulling it from his pocket, he read it, finding that it did nothing to improve his mood.

“Oh, no,” he mumbled, putting the paper aside.

“Bad news?”

“Eden's coming.” Jace's voice spoke volumes.

“How can she come when she has a boardinghouse to run?”

“One of her tenants already helps her with the cooking, so she just takes over for Eden if she's ever away.”

“You don't want her here,” Woody stated plainly.

“No.”

“Why?” Woody asked bluntly, irritated as well and not sure why.

“Eden thinks my life is her business. She says that because I'm not writing to say how I've been, she's coming to find out for herself.”

“That's what I'm talking about, Jace,” Woody reiterated, not angry now but wanting his nephew to get the point. “You're your own man, soon to be owner of this farm and the mill. If you don't want Eden to come, tell her. And if she asks things you don't want to answer, ignore her.”

Jace nodded, but deep in his heart he knew it wasn't that easy. Eden had all but raised him; she was much more a parent than a sister. And she was subtle. She could gain answers when you were barely aware that you'd been asked a question. And in all fairness to Eden, Jace did love her. Outside of Woody, she was all the family he had.

“Do you mind if she comes?” Jace asked finally.

“Not at all. And if she gets here and runs your life, I'll not say a word. But she won't run mine. And if you're smart, you'll make it very plain in the first five minutes that you no longer need a mother.”

Jace's look must have shown skepticism because Woody went on.

“You'll be 25 on your next birthday, Jace, and I've watched you now for months. You're doing fine, and you're going to continue to do so. Eden needs to see that you have grown up.”

Jace watched Woody's head go back over his plate and knew that he would hear no more on the matter. It was Jace's first choice to write and tell Eden to stay away, but he thought better of it. Having her come to Tucker Mills might be the best thing. That way she could see that he was fine and not worry—not worry and stay in Pine River. He suspected that her visit was for herself and not her younger brother.

“I have to talk to you,” Cathy said that night in the privacy of their bedroom. “Don't turn the light down yet.”

Doyle stopped his hand from heading that way and looked with concern at his wife. She'd been whispering.

“What's the matter?”

“Nothing is the matter, but I saw something today.”

Doyle waited.

“Jace came in.”

“He came to see me,” Doyle reminded her.

“Oh, that's right, but this happened before he came over here.”

Again Doyle waited.

“I think Jace likes Maddie.”

Doyle smiled and reached for the lantern, but Cathy read the look with ease before the room was covered in darkness.

“Doyle Shephard, what do you know?”

“I know what my eyes tell me.”

“What have you seen?”

“What you've seen—Jace's interest.”

Cathy sighed, a sigh Doyle couldn't place.

“Is this upsetting to you?” he asked.

“I don't know. I watched her with him today, and I think she might have noticed him too, but I don't think she'll let her heart get involved.”

“Well, we might have to help with that somewhere down the line.”

Cathy's voice told him she was surprised by this answer. “Doyle, she's a grown woman, almost two years older than Jace.”

“I'm well aware of everyone's age, Cathleen.” Doyle's voice was patient. “We know more about Jace than Maddie does. We know he can be trusted. If we can see that the only thing holding her back is fear, then we need to step in.”

Cathy wasn't sure she followed his line of reasoning, but suddenly she was tired. With another sigh, she lay down against the pillow.

“Are you going to worry all night?”

“No, I'm too tired for that.”

“Just watch them for now,” Doyle advised, “and don't say anything. It will probably all take care of itself.”

Again, Cathy wasn't sure this would work, but she didn't argue. Getting a little more comfortable and telling her husband goodnight, she willed herself to fall asleep.

They were spending Sunday together again. With things looking much as they had the week before, Cathy now knew why Doyle had invited Woody and Jace to join them for dinner. And what was more, Cathy suspected that Woody was in the know as well.

“Are you reading your Bible?” Jace asked of Maddie. They were once again on their own in the parlor.

“Not actually reading, but looking for a verse that Mr. Sullins used today.”

“Which one?”

“It said something about heaven.”

“And you had a question about that?” Jace asked, not wanting to admit that he hadn't heard a word of the sermon for looking at the back of her neck and the intricate coils of braids in her hair.

“I just didn't understand what he meant. It sounded like heaven was only in the apostle Paul's mind, and that makes me wonder if it's a real place or not.”

“I wish I could help you, Maddie,” Jace apologized, “but I'm not sure I heard that part.”

“I didn't hear anything after that,” Maddie admitted. “I was too busy trying to figure it out.”

“Did you attend church in Boston?”

“If the missus wanted the children to go.” Maddie sighed after she said this. “No one there could ever answer my questions.”

“What kind of questions?”

“Oh, about death and heaven.”

Jace tried not to think about death too often so he knew he couldn't be of any help to her. He had some beliefs, but they were his own, and he was satisfied with that.

“Did you cut your wrist?” Jace suddenly asked.

Maddie looked down at her lap and studied the back of her left wrist. “Yes, I caught it on a wire yesterday. It was clumsy of me.”

“I think you're not actually cut out for store work.”

Maddie smiled, not in the least offended. “I was over there every day for the first 17 years of my life.”