To Have and To Hold (15 page)

Dave shut the door and walked over to the bed. He hesitated but then sat next to her. Placing

his hand on her back, he whispered, “Won’t you talk to me?”

This only made her cry harder. Sighing, he brought her into his arms and let her cry for as long

as she needed to. When her sobs final y died down, she remained in his arms, grateful he

didn’t press her to talk because the last thing she wanted to tel him was what her mother said.

When someone knocked at the door, she stiffened and pul ed away from him. “I don’t want to

see anyone right now,” she whispered.

He nodded and stood up so he could open the door.

“I came to tel you breakfast is ready,” Grace said.

When he glanced her way, Mary shook her head. The last thing she wanted to do was eat in

this house.

“Not this morning,” he told Grace.

“Is Mary feeling alright?”

He looked at Mary again, so she nodded. Grace didn’t need to be brought into this mess. In

fact, she didn’t want anyone to know. She didn’t want anyone to know her mother had

compared her to a woman of il repute.

Dave turned back to Grace. “She’s fine. Just tired is al .”

“Alright,” Grace replied. “Tel her she can talk to me if she needs to?”

“I wil .”

She thanked him and left, so he closed the door and returned to Mary. “What happened with

your mother?”

“Please, Dave, I don’t want to think about it.”

For a moment, she thought he was going to let the matter drop since he didn’t say anything, but

then he drummed his fingers on the bed and let out a long sigh. “I don’t like this. Whatever

your mother said, it has something to do with me, and as far as I’m concerned, that means I

have a right to know.”

“No. It doesn’t have anything to do with you.” And real y it didn’t. He wasn’t the one “whoring”

himself.

“Yes, it does have something to do with me. I was out on that porch with you, and I saw the

look she gave us.”

Her stomach clenched in protest. “It doesn’t matter. Let’s just forget it. Maybe my pa’s up. I

should see him.”

He reached out and stopped her before she could get off the bed. “Why do you do this?”

Surprised by the question, she settled back next to him, mindful of his hand that was firm, but

gentle, on her arm. “Why do I do what?”

“Whenever something unpleasant happens and I try to talk to you about it, you say you don’t

want to talk about it and then you run off to do something else.”

“Wel , I’d rather not discuss something you won’t like. I don’t want to fight with you.”

“You say that, too.”

Her eyebrows furrowed. “I don’t remember saying it.”

“You haven’t recently, not since you lost your memory, and granted, you don’t do it often, but

there have been times in the past when you’ve done it. Like when Cassie kept asking you to

make her clothes, and even though you didn’t want to do it, you did. I’d ask you what you were

doing, and you refused to answer my question, saying you didn’t want to fight with me.”

If she knew who Cassie was or why it mattered, his comparison to this moment would’ve made

sense to her, but as it was, she had no idea why making clothes would be something she’d

wish to hide. Her mother’s words were far worse.

With a frustrated sigh, Dave added, “I’m your husband. When people hurt you, they hurt me.

We’re in this together, Mary. I want to know what she said.”

“But I don’t want you to argue with her. We only have to be here for two weeks, and then we’l

go back and never return again.”

He waited for her to continue, but she didn’t. “I wish I knew what was in those letters she

wrote you because I might have an idea of what happened in the kitchen just now.”

She was certain there was no connection between the letters and her mother finding her on the

porch kissing Dave. Whatever her mother wrote had to be different, but she didn’t feel like

saying that in case he kept pressing her on the matter. As it was, she detected that he was

backing off from the situation and that’s what she wanted most.

He released her arm and shook his head. “It must be real y bad if you won’t say anything.

Alright. I can’t force you to say it.”

Biting her lower lip, she wondered if he was disappointed in her. He stood up and headed for

the door. She thought he might say something before he left, but he didn’t. He softly opened

the door and shut it, leaving her alone in the room. And for some reason, his silence bothered

her more than anything he might have said.

Chapter Thirteen

Dave had a mind to walk right into the dining room and confront his mother-in-law. He didn’t

take kindly to anyone upsetting his wife, regardless of their relationship with her. As he neared

the bottom of the steps, he heard Mary’s mother say something to Grace, and from the sound

of the woman’s carefree tone, one would never know she just said something to make her

youngest daughter cry.

He clenched the banister and tried to decide what the best course of action was. From what

his father-in-law told him, Mary and her mother got along because they had to, or rather, Mary

got along with her mother because
she
had to. Her mother had been used to getting Mary to

do whatever she wanted. As long as Mary complied, her mother was happy and life was

easier for Mary.

Grace replied to her mother’s comment, and her mother offered a polite chuckle. Dave gritted

his teeth. How could her mother act as if nothing was wrong? It was enough to make him

want to go right up to her and tel her exactly what he thought of her. The only thing stopping

him was the horrified look on Mary’s face. She’d be upset if he confronted her mother, and the

last thing she needed was someone else causing her grief, so he did the only thing he could

safely do: he left the house.

As he headed down the porch steps, he saw one of Mary’s twin sisters heading up the

sidewalk in his direction. She held a couple of neatly folded bed sheets in her arms and didn’t

look his way until he made it to the bottom step.

She stopped when she saw him and smiled. “Good morning. I’m Katie. Most people don’t

know if I’m Katie or Leah until I tel them. Anyway, w e didn’t get a chance to know you yet.

Hopeful y, that wil change over the two weeks you’re here.”

At the moment, he didn’t care to know the people in Mary’s family, maybe except for Grace

and Calvin since Mary’s father said they had always been nice to Mary. It seemed as if no one

else cared enough to bother with her or they wanted to see what they could get out of her. No

wonder Mary let people take advantage of her when she moved to Nebraska. She didn’t know

any better.

Katie looked at him expectantly, so he figured he’d better say something before he headed off

for a walk through the town. “There’s plenty of time.” When he talked Mary into staying for two

weeks instead of one, it seemed like it was a short length of time, especial y since it’d be his

only chance to know her family and for her to see them again. But now, it seemed like it was

never going to end. “I’m sure we’l get a chance to talk later.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Katie said before he could step around her. “You’l be meeting al of Mary’s

brothers and sisters, and we’re a large group. Did she tel you how many of us there are?”

Not seeing her point, he shrugged. “Sure, eleven. Mary’s the twelfth.”

“So you can imagine how busy it is when everyone gets together.”

“Alright.”

“You’re not a talker, are you?”

“Wel , to be honest, I’m going for a walk through town.”

“Where’s Mary?” she asked, moving the bed sheets from one arm to another. “Doesn’t she

want to show you through town?”

He didn’t know why she felt it was any of her business, but he shrugged and said, “I don’t mind

doing it myself.”

“It wouldn’t be right for a stranger to have to show himself around town. If you want, I can

show you where everything is.”

“It’s not a big town. Besides, I saw most of it yesterday.” Why was he explaining this to her?

She didn’t need to know what he was doing or why. “Thank you, but I’l be fine.”

Before she could say anything else, he walked by her and headed for the street, glad for the

moment he had to be alone to think.

***

Mary wondered if she should find Dave. She didn’t like knowing she displeased him, but could

she real y bring herself to tel him the hurtful things her mother said? Maybe she didn’t have to

tel him exactly what she said. She could tel him her mother didn’t approve of what they were

doing on the porch and leave it at that. It might be enough to satisfy him.

Wiping the remaining tears from her eyes, she stood up and smoothed her dress. Breakfast

would be over, and even if her stomach was growling, she’d wait until lunch before eating

anything. She had to go to the dining room and eat with the family at some point. She couldn’t

stay in her bedroom until it was time to go home.

From downstairs, she could hear Grace talking. Good. At least her sister would be there to

help ease the tension. Taking a deep breath, Mary opened the bedroom door and peered

down the empty hal way. She wondered if she should check on her father. Would her mother

criticize her for not waiting until he asked to see her? Her hand clenched around the doorknob

of her bedroom door as she shut it. Perhaps it’d be better if she waited for her mother to tel

her she could see him.

She headed for the stairs, noting her slowing steps. Her heart beat faster than usual, and her

stomach tightened in protest. That wasn’t a surprise as much as the realization that she’d often

felt this way when she lived here. So this was nothing new. She just wondered how she

handled it back then.

Without any idea of how to best proceed, she trudged down the steps, surprised when she

heard the sound of someone else talking in the house. It was another one of her sisters. She

recognized the voice from yesterday, so it had to be either Katie or Leah. She wasn’t

particularly looking forward to seeing either one, but at least Grace was there, and for sure, it

was better than being alone with her mother. She thought she’d stil do wel to try to smooth

things over with her mother, but now wasn’t the time.

As she neared the bottom of the steps, she saw Grace, her other sister, and her mother talking

in the parlor. They seemed to be having a pleasant discussion. That would put her mother in a

good mood. At least, from the smile on her mother’s face, Mary assumed she was happy.

Forcing her steps forward, Mary walked into the parlor.

Grace and her other sister looked in her direction, but her mother seemed interested in

inspecting the bed sheets on her lap. Alright, so things with her mother would be awkward

even if others were around. She scanned the room and final y decided the chair by the window

—the one furthest from her mother—would be the best place to sit.

“Are you wel -rested?” Grace asked from where she sat, which was across from her.

“Yes, I am, thank you,” Mary replied as she sat down, grateful for the breeze that wafted into

the room. It was stil cool yet, but the way her other sister examined her made her break into a

sweat so the breeze provided a much needed reprieve.

“We missed you at breakfast,” Grace said. “You must be hungry. Would you like something to

eat? I could get something.”

Shifting in the chair, Mary shook her head. “No, thank you. I’l wait until lunch.”

From beside her, her other sister gave a slight chuckle under her breath, and Mary wondered

why her waiting until lunch to eat should be so amusing.

“I saw Dave as he went out for a walk,” her sister—either Katie or Leah—said.

“Oh.” Was that where he went? She thought he might be sitting on the porch and would come

into the house when he wasn’t upset anymore.

“Yes, he said he wanted to see the town.”

Mary nodded, not sure what the woman wanted her to say since she stared at her with raised

eyebrows. Clearing her throat, Mary ventured for a simple, “He’s not used to sitting inside the

house, Leah.”

“I’m not Leah. I’m Katie.”

Surprised since Katie hadn’t bothered to speak to her directly yesterday, she offered an

apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, Katie. I can’t tel you and Leah apart.” Except for who’d spoken to

her and who hadn’t. Why was Katie even talking to her today instead of using Grace or their