Zeke trudged up the steps of the high front
stoop and rapped with the brass knocker. Squaring his shoulders, he
stepped back, his uncertainty of welcome only betrayed by the way
he fingered the brim of his hat.
When the door swung wide, he shrank from the
flood of light and warmth spilling across the threshold. He hadn't
been prepared to have his sister Caroline herself answer his
summons.
Caddie stood wiping her hands on a dishcloth,
brushing back the straggling ends of her dark hair, which was now a
little flecked with gray. She was still pretty, although she had
grown a little plump after the bearing of three children. It both
disconcerted Zeke and touched a poignant chord of memory within
him. How much his sister looked like Sadie, the resemblance only
growing more marked with the passage of time.
For a moment, Caddie stared at Zeke. But then
her open¬mouthed astonishment gave way to a tremulous smile.
"Oh,my! Johnnie!"
"'Evening Caddie," Zeke said sheepishly. He
shuffled his feet on the mat, uncertain what to do next. But he was
not left to debate the matter for long, as his sister dragged him
across the threshold and enveloped him in a fierce hug.
"Oh, Johnnie." Tears sparkled in her eyes.
"What a wonderful surprise."
"I was just passing through the Village. I
thought I would call upon you for a moment."
He made it sound as casual as he could,
despite the fact it had been nearly two years since he had crossed
her threshold. Caddie's clear brown eyes gave him a penetrating
look that made him squirm, one of those uncanny soul-seeing glances
that also reminded him too much of Sadie. But all she said was "I'm
so glad you came."
Placing his hat on the hall table, she led
him into her parlor, a cozy nook of overstuffed furniture and the
vases of flowers that had always been Caroline's passion. Still
clinging to Zeke's arm, she called out to a man ensconced in a
wing-backed chair, reading before the fire.
"Arthur, look who's here. My brother,
John."
Zeke awkwardly thrust out his hand as his
brother-in-law ambled forward to greet him. Arthur Dawes was an
amiable man who forever seemed to have paint flecks on his clothes
and a faraway expression as though his mind were off elsewhere,
putting the finishing strokes on some canvas.
It never ceased to amaze Zeke that someone
could make a decent living for his family out of anything as
improbable as painting pictures. But he had to admit the fellow had
done well by Caddie. He was almost worthy of her.
Arthur greeted Zeke in a friendly fashion, as
though it had been only yesterday that he had seen him. Which,
considering the absentminded way Arthur kept track of time, he
probably believed it had been.
Zeke found it far more difficult to face
Caddie's children, especially without any presents in his hands.
They regarded him shyly at first, two curly-headed boys with
missing teeth, hanging on the skirts of their sister, Lucy, who had
almost grown as tall as her mother.
But it was not long before Zeke found himself
surrounded, barraged on all sides with earnest chatter.
"Thank you for the cloak you sent for my
birthday, Uncle John," Lucy said with a pretty blush and coy
glance. "You're the only one who seems to realize I am quite grown
up."
"Hey, Uncle John." One of the boys tugged at
his sleeve. “Remember you said once if you ever came to visit, you
would teach me how to fight."
"Me too." The littlest one was already
doubling up his fists.
Zeke didn't exactly recall having made such a
promise, but he feared he might have.
"I think I only promised to do so if your
mother approved." He cast a guilty glance at Caddie, who only
beamed and shook her head at him.
"You may as well. They are always at the
fisticuffs anyway. Just like someone else I remember."
Their eyes met over the children's heads,
hers half-scolding, but alight with tender amusement. Zeke grinned
back, feeling glad that he had come, until a shadow fell across the
parlor.
He heard the rustle of stiff silk skirts and
looked around, his smile fading as he met the one face that held no
warmth of welcome for him. The severity of her black gown was only
matched by Tessa's expression, her features pinched white with
disapproval, her eyes as ever dark with accusation.
The bright laughter of the children stilled,
as even they seemed to sense the change in the atmosphere. Only
Caddie managed to retain a determined smile.
"Tessa, my dear. Isn't it the most fortunate
thing? John has just dropped by in time for supper. We must
persuade him to dine with us."
"If he stays, I go," Tessa said.
"Theresa—," Caddie began.
But Zeke was already preparing to leave.
"That's all right, Caddie," he said quietly. "I didn't come here to
cause any more discord." He stepped into the hall, reaching for his
hat with a weary gesture. He should have known what a mistake this
would be.
But Tessa came hard after him. "You needn't
make any noble gestures on my behalf," she spat out. "I know how
long Caddie has been waiting to kill the fatted calf for you." She
snatched her own shawl off the hall peg.
Behind him, Zeke was aware of Caddie shooing
her husband and children toward the kitchen. Zeke felt angry with
himself, and Tessa as well, for disrupting the harmony of their
evening.
"Stay where you are, Tessa," he snapped. "I
said I'd go."
Tessa glared at him as she draped her shawl
over her head. "I wouldn't dream of—"
"Just stop it. Both of you."
The harsh command from Caddie startled them.
She approached them, blocking the doorway, her hands on her hips,
her gentle face flushed. "After two years, I have endured quite
enough of this nonsense."
Tessa stiffened. "But Caroline, he—"
"Be quiet, Tessa! Now I want both of you to
turn right around and march back into the parlor."
When neither of them moved, Caddie actually
took a menacing step forward. Zeke's flash of anger dissolved as
his sister's stern expression put him in mind of Sadie those times
she had been induced to lose her temper. The incidents had been so
rare that even he, ever the defiant one, had scuttled to obey.
After she had them both securely inside,
Caddie announced, "Now neither one of you is coming out again until
you have put an end to this silly quarrel."
Before either could guess her intent, she
closed the parlor door and locked it. Zeke registered one mild
protest, but Tessa rattled the knob, bellowing her sister's
name.
"You might as well have done, Tess," Zeke
said. "I think Caddie means it."
Tessa shot him a seething look, but she
abandoned her efforts with the door. She stomped over to the sofa
and plopped down, lapsing into a stony silence. After a brief
hesitation Zeke perched himself on the opposite end of the
divan.
The situation certainly was not funny, but he
couldn't prevent a chuckle from escaping him. He said, "This
reminds me of those times when we were kids and Sadie would make us
sit out on the stoop until we had patched up our spat. You were so
stubborn, I was always afraid we were going to starve to
death."
"Me!" Tessa cried. "It was always you—" She
choked off and then averted her face from him.
Zeke inched closer. He managed to get
possession of her hand. "Tessa, look at me."
When she wouldn't, he caught her chin, gently
turning her head around. Bitter tears sparkled in her eyes, but he
forced himself to stare directly into them.
"I'm sorry.
Her lips trembled.
"I know now I shouldn't have done what I did,
interfered with your marriage plans in that high-handed way. At
least, I should have made you understand why I did it."
She squirmed to get away from him. "You did
it to be mean. To get back at me for all the nasty things I said to
you about being adopted."
"You know that isn't so." He hesitated,
groping for the right thing to say, to make her understand. "I know
you never wanted me, but I was trying to be your brother anyway,
the best that I knew how.
"I broke up your engagement because-." He
swallowed, the words forming a hard lump in his throat. He didn't
think he'd be able to get them out, but somehow he managed.
"Because I cared too much about you to see you wed some fellow who
wasn't fit to lick the sole of your shoes."
Her eyes widened as though stunned by the
emotion in his voice. It was as unexpected to him as it was to her.
He thought perhaps he had said too much, because she stiffened. But
suddenly she dissolved into tears. He watched her in awkward
silence for a moment, and then draped one arm about her. She tried
to twist away from him, but he persisted, drawing her against the
lee of his shoulder. With a great sob, she gave way at last,
collapsing in his arms, crying down the front of his waistcoat.
"B-but Johnnie," she wept. "It was so awful.
You can't know. When you paid Marco to go away, we were supposed to
run off the next day. He left me waiting at the door of the
church."
"The bastard," Zeke said, stroking her hair.
"If I had him here now, I would break his head."
"If he was here, I would let you."
He rocked her gently until the worst of her
grief was spent. She surfaced at last from his shoulder and drew
back, sniffing. "I guess I always knew what a bounder Marco was,
but he was all I had. He was the only man who would ever have
wanted to marry me."
"Idiot!" Zeke used his handkerchief to help
her wipe her eyes. "Lots of fellows would have been proud to have
you. You were always a clever girl, Tessa. The cleverest one of
us."
"Clever isn't pretty."
"You were pretty, too. You still are—except
when you've been crying. Then you look like hell."
She hiccuped, the sound halfway between a
laugh and a sob.
"Toad!" she said.
"Shrew!" he shot back.
"Brat!"
They were just completing this tender
exchange when the parlor door inched open and Caddie peered
cautiously inside. She heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank God. It had
gone so quiet in here, I thought you two surely must have killed
each other this time."
Zeke stood up quickly, shielding Tessa and
giving her time to compose herself. "We are half-dead- from
hunger."
Caddie smiled until she dimpled. "The old
starvation method. Mama was right. It works every time. Supper is
ready if you are.” Her gaze tracked uncertainly from Zeke to
Tessa.
Tessa heaved herself to her feet, smoothing
out her skirts with an air of wounded dignity. "Then what are we
waiting for? I can't recall either one of you ever asking my
permission to go and eat."
Zeke grinned and made her a mock bow.
"Ladies, permit me to escort you to the dining room." Caddie was
quick to take his arm, and after a brief hesitation, Tessa did so
as well.
It was a strange feeling to Zeke to be seated
back in the midst of a family gathering round a supper table.
Caddie was doing her best to set him at his ease, pretend that
nothing extraordinary was happening.
But she couldn't quite dim the glow in her
eyes nor suppress the tiny catch in her voice as she led them in
the prayer. "Bless us, O Lord, for these thy gifts." She glanced
straight at Zeke, and he was obliged to look away, his own heart
suddenly too full.
He barely tasted the excellent roast beef
dinner; he was too unaccustomed to entertaining so many emotions to
feel quite comfortable. One couldn't do away with all the hurts and
the barriers of years, not in the space of one evening. Although
Tessa no longer sniped at him, she still refused to meet his eyes
or say much to him.
After supper, she retired with the children
as though eager to escape his company. Although disappointed, Zeke
tried to understand. When Arthur also retreated, up to his artist's
studio, Zeke was left alone with Caddie.
As with Sadie, there was something about his
eldest sister that induced one to open up to her. Zeke found
himself telling her all about Rory, the entire mess he had made of
their relationship.
"So what are you going to do about it?"
Caddie asked.
Zeke heaved a deep sigh. "I don't know."
"Yes, you do. You're going to go find that
lovely girl, tell her how sorry you are and tell her how much you
love her."
Zeke tensed at the suggestion. Observing him,
Caddie smiled. "You said as much to Tessa and discovered it didn't
kill you."
Zeke gave a reluctant grin. But it had been
easier with Tessa. The reconciliation had been important to him,
but not as it would be with Rory, putting his entire heart and soul
on the line.
But there was no arguing with Caddie. As she
saw him to the door and handed him his hat, she said, "When you've
made it up with her, bring Aurora Rose round to see me. I want to
welcome her to the family."
Zeke only nodded, the vision Caddie's words
conjured far too agreeable to dwell upon. As he turned to go out
the door, Caddie rested her hand upon his arm. Her parting smile
was a little wistful.
"Whatever happens, John, don't be such a
stranger, all right?"
For answer he deposited a brusque kiss on her
cheek before he strode down the steps. He heard her delighted gasp
of surprise, then she slowly closed the door, leaving him alone on
the darkened street.
Alone? No. It was strange. There wasn't
another soul out on the pavement, but he didn't feel alone. A soft
smile played about his lips as he glanced back at his sister's
townhouse, the welcoming light shining past the lace curtains and
making him feel as if he had brought some of that warmth away with
him.
Whistling a tuneless song, he leaned up
against one of the gas street lamps and wondered if he should
return to Rory's flat, if he had enough courage left to do any more
soul-baring tonight. He was thinking of summoning a cab when the
door to Caddie's townhouse suddenly swung back open.