Tenderness (34 page)

“No. I’m going to walk uptown for a little bit. Stay with Jesse.” He looked at his pocket watch.

Susan followed him out into the hall. “You won’t be gone long, will you?”

“No, no,” he said absently. He took his hat from the hall rack and went out the door.

Susan watched him walk down the steps and head toward town, his hands in his pockets and his shoulders bowed. Somehow the
joy of being rid of the hated housekeeper faded and in its place was a deep, troubling worry about her father.

She turned back and walked slowly up the stairs to Jesse’s room. She opened the door quietly in case her sister was sleeping.
Jesse sat by the window, her head resting on the back of the rocker.

“You’ll never guess what happened, Jesse.” Susan came into the room and stood beside the rocking chair. “Ethan is a law man.
Did you know that? He came and took old Ghost-face away. Jesse, are you listening?”

Jesse’s cheeks were wet. She tried to avoid her sister’s eyes.

“Oh, Jess.” Susan squatted down beside the chair. “He isn’t worth crying over. The toad, the blackguard, the… hellion.” She
stood. “That’s what people call him and that’s what he is. I hate him,” she said on the way to the door.

Without conscious thought, Jesse heard what her sister had said. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. She had given a man all
the love she had to give, and he had left without even the decency to tell her to her face that he had changed his mind and
didn’t want to marry her. She supposed that she would get over it. People got over the death of a loved one. But this was
worse; he lived just ten miles away, and she was bound to run into him from time to time.

She got up from the chair and paced back and forth across the room. She had to get her strength back and do something or she
would lose her mind. What was it Susan had said about Ethan taking Louella away? Jesse wiped her eyes on her handkerchief,
vowing that there would be no more tears. She opened the door and went slowly down the stairs.

D
octor Forbes hadn’t decided exactly what he was going to say to Dusty Wright, but he knew that he had to confront him. He
remembered someone saying to him that when a person like Louella Lindstrom was cornered and didn’t get her way, she would
retaliate. She had done that all right. The woman had gone through Dora’s things and found the note. Had Dora kept it because
she treasured it? Hadn’t she been afraid he might find it? Or hadn’t she cared if he did? No. She trusted him and Jesse. The
younger ones would not have been interested in a scrap of paper with a few lines written on it.

He nodded to people who nodded and waved to those who waved. Edsel Harper came out of the bank and in the usual Harper fashion
nosed right in to see what he could find out.

“What’s going on with Mrs. Lindstrom? I saw her with—”

Without answering, Doctor Forbes strode on, leaving Edsel standing on the walk with his hands on his hips and a puzzled look
on his face. Rarely was he ignored by the town folk because most of them had money in his bank. Come to think of it, the doctor
had very little left in his account. He’d not been surprised when Miss Jesse had closed her account. She had been angry with
him, but she’d get over it. She’d see that Simmer was not for her. He was hill trash and she was quality.

What the doctor wanted to do was to punch Edsel in the nose. It was the first time they had come face to face since he and
Jesse had squared off in their parlor. Bastard! How dare he come into his home and question his daughter’s respectability
because she was seen walking with Wade Simmer. Simmer was ten times more man than Edsel would ever be.

The doctor crossed the street to avoid a woman who in the past had stopped him and talked a mile a minute about her ailments.
He passed the school teacher, Mr. Crane, the one the kids called Ichabod. The teacher, loaded with books from the school library,
paused as if to speak, but the doctor walked on.

The door and the windows of the marshal’s office were open to allow the breeze to circulate. June bugs buzzed around the hollyhocks
Dusty planted each year in front of and beside the building. A hummingbird hovered over the blossoms of a honeysuckle bush.
All went unnoticed by the doctor. He stepped into the office and stopped short at the door. Wade sat in the chair in front
of the desk.

“Come in, Doc,” Dusty invited. “Wade and I were just talking about you.”

“Yeah? What about?”

“Pull up a chair. We’re trying to work up a plan to catch the fellow who’s been going around looking at naked women.”

“What’s that got to do with me?” Doctor Forbes asked belligerently. He stood by the door with his shoulder hunched against
the wall.

“Sit down, Doc. You’re sweatin’ like a preacher in a whorehouse.” Dusty got up and moved a chair near the window to catch
what breeze there was. “Here’s a fan. Sit and cool off.”

Dusty went back to the chair he had sat in for so many years that it was shaped to fit his husky body. The way his long-time
friend stood beside the door staring at him made him uneasy.

Even Wade was aware of something different about the doctor. Immediately he thought of Jesse.

“Is Jesse all right, Doc?” Wade held his breath while he waited for an answer.

“Other than crying her eyes out, she’s fine. She was up and around this morning,”

Wade’s shoulders tensed. The doctor had something serious on his mind. Thank God it wasn’t about Jesse.

“As I said, Doc, we’re trying to hatch up a plan to catch The Looker,” Dusty repeated. Hollis continued to stare at Dusty,
remembering how he had looked twelve years ago and wondering if his good looks were what had attracted his Dora to him.

“Well, what do you say, Doc?” Wade asked uneasily. “Got any ideas? I want to see this fellow caught so folks will get off
my tail. I get hard looks everywhere I go—even from people who used to be half-way friendly.”

“Leave it to Ethan Bredlow. He’ll come up with something.”

There was a prolonged silence while Dusty’s face turned a dull red.

“It’s my job, Hollis. I’ll be the one to make the arrest.”

“Ethan can make the arrest. He’s a federal marshal.”

“It’s still my place—” Dusty insisted.

“Then do it, damn you!” Doctor Forbes blurted angrily.

Wade’s eyes caught Dusty’s and what he saw was surprise and bewilderment. Whatever was bugging the doctor was between him
and Dusty.

“I’ve got to be getting on home.” Without a farewell to either man, Wade walked to the door and stepped out into the sunshine.

As soon as Wade left, Doctor Forbes pulled the note from his pocket. After smoothing it out, he tossed it on Dusty’s desk.

“Explain that, you deceitful son of a bitch.”

Dusty, taken aback by the words and the venom in the doctor’s voice, glanced down at the paper. He read it through, then read
it again.

“Jesus, Hollis, Dora never wanted you to know about this.”

“That’s obvious. Just how many times did you sneak into my house to visit my wife?”

“Oh, hell! What’s got into you? You think we were lovers? Climb off your high-horse, Hollis. It was nothing like that. If
you’re in the mood to listen I’ll tell you what this is about. If not, to hell with you. Dora sweated blood to keep you from
knowing that her twin brother was about to be hanged for a murder. If that’s not enough for you, get the hell out of my office.”

“Dora had no brother. No family.”

“That’s what she wanted you to think because she was ashamed and afraid you’d not love her if you knew. Godamighty, I never
dreamed you’d accuse me of having an affair with Dora. She worshiped the ground you walked on, you stupid fool.”

“Then explain that.” Doctor Forbes pointed to the note still on Dusty’s desk.

“All right, I will. But sit down and be civil.” Dusty’s breathing was ragged and his hands shook. “Mind you, I promised Dora
I’d never tell you this. She was a good, decent woman and trusted me. It goes against the grain to break my promise, but what
the hell! Dora’s gone and I don’t want you to be my enemy.” When the doctor was seated, Dusty continued. “Dora didn’t want
you or her children to know that her father and two of her brothers were in prison. Her folks were a wild bunch. They were
run out of Knoxville more than once. They considered it easier, Dora said, to rob and steal than to work. After her mother
died, Dora worked her way up to a supervisory job in a glove factory and saved enough to break away from them. She came here
to Harpersville. She met you and fell in love with you. Finally she had respectability and someone who loved her.

“Donald, her twin, was not quite so wild as his father and brother. Dora kept in touch with him and hoped that he would settle
down. But he got mixed up with a bunch in Pittsburgh and a whore ended up dead. He wrote to Dora from the Pittsburgh jail,
begging for help, telling her that he was innocent and one of the men with him had done the killing. She came to me to ask
what she could do to help her twin without you finding out she was the daughter and sister of criminals.

“Hell, I didn’t know what to do. I’m just a hick-town marshal. Because she was so torn up, I agreed to go to Pittsburgh and
see what I could find out. When I got there the bunch Donald was with had broken up and one of the men had pointed a finger
at the killer. The man was tried for the crime and hanged before I got there. When Donald was set free, he went straight to
the docks where he sailed out on the first ship that would take him on. I doubt if Dora ever heard from him again. The news
that Donald had escaped the hangman was my reason for going to see Dora that day. Knowing how upset she was when she came
to me, I didn’t want to keep her in suspense any longer than necessary.

“Now, Hollis, you can believe this or you can go to Pittsburgh and check the records. I really don’t give a damn what you
do.” Dusty propped his feet up on the desk and leaned back in his chair. To his surprise, the doctor took a handkerchief from
his pocket and wiped his eyes.

“I’m sorry, Dusty. I appreciate what you did for her. I only wish she had come to me. It wouldn’t have mattered to me if her
family had been disciples of the devil. She filled my life with more joy than I had ever known or thought possible. Now all
I have are my memories, and the thought of their being… sullied was almost more than I could endure.”

“She probably stuck this note in a drawer, Hollis, and forgot about it.” Dusty handed over the paper.

“She probably did.” The doctor put the note in his pocket and headed for the door. “I’m sorry about accusing you, Dusty, and
thanks again for what you did for Dora.”

Doctor Forbes stepped out the door feeling as if the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders. His dear Dora
had been worried he wouldn’t love her if he found out about her family. She had forgotten how important she was to him and
how much he loved her. It would not have made a speck of difference to him what kind of family she had come from and it wouldn’t
have mattered to Susan and Todd. But she had taken such pains to keep it from them, and now for her sake they would never
be told.

Ethan was standing in the doorway of the newspaper office when Doctor Forbes reached it. He stepped out and walked alongside
him.

“Well, Doc, your housekeeper and her cohort are on their way to Buffalo to be questioned as possible co-conspirators in the
assassination of President McKinley. We are sure that they had at least a minor part in sheltering the assassin. It was our
job to bring them in.”

“How come you’re still here?”

“Didn’t I tell you? I’ve resigned from the Bureau. I want to stay here for a while and then go to a town this size and start
a newspaper.”

“I suppose Pauline has nothing to do with your decision?”

“She has everything to do with it,” Ethan admitted with a grin.

“Come to supper. I don’t know what we’ll have, but Pauline and Susan will scrape up something.”

“I’ll take you up on that invite, Doc. I was on my way to call on Pauline if she’s finished with tutoring for the day.”

By July the Fourth Jesse had regained most of her strength and was able to use her right arm a little. Mrs. Klein, the washer
woman, was as happy as everyone else that they had seen the last of Louella Lindstrom. She came to work at the doctor’s house
the day after Louella left.

Independence Day was a big day in Harpersville. Church circles, along with quilting and social clubs, set up stands around
the edge of the town park where they sold lemonade, food, fancy needlework, and more practical things such as handmade brooms
and leather goods. The usual number of patent medicine salesmen would be there with their brightly painted wagons and an attraction
such as a monkey or a chained bear to draw the crowds.

After the flag was raised, gunshots would sound announcing the beginning of the festivities, then the speaker of the day,
usually Boyd Harper or his son Edsel, would hold forth with patriotic platitudes. Once the town had had a former senator,
but the best speaker they ever had had was Mr. Crane, the schoolteacher. He had been so good and had received so much praise
that he had stirred jealousy in the Harpers and had not been asked to do it again.

Jesse generally enjoyed the celebrations, but this year she had no desire to mingle with the crowd around the town square.
Tears were always close behind her lids. Nothing would ever be the same again. She greeted each day with a heavy heart.

Pauline helped Jesse dress. Her bright blue eyes were shining and her mouth was turned up in a perpetual smile.

“Have you and Ethan come to an understanding?” Jesse couldn’t help asking.

Pauline blushed. “I guess you’d call it that. He resigned from his job and is going to try to start a newspaper somewhere.
We’ve talked about getting married.”

“Pauline, that’s wonderful. I liked him right from the start. Wade said”—Jesse paused to take a deep, hurtful breath—“that
Ethan was real hickory beneath that devil-may-care attitude he puts on.”