Finally a Bride (4 page)

“Well, if Jacqueline doesn’t want Billy, you can have him. One of you has to marry him. I don’t want anyone else for a sister-in-law.”

Jack glanced at Penny and noticed her friend’s shudder. Penny wanted to marry Billy as little as she. Billy rarely helped his ma at the mercantile. He merely wanted to have fun. Only Tessa was blind to her brother’s lack of motivation where work was concerned, probably because she hated laboring just as much.

“I’m telling you both right now: I claim first rights on the reverend. I think I’d make the perfect minister’s wife.” Tessa fluffed her skirt and twirled back and forth, then lifted her brows when neither woman commented.

Jack worked hard to keep a straight face. Tessa was the most spoiled person she knew. She couldn’t imagine her lowering herself to tend the sick or take food to the poor like a minister’s wife would surely do. She just about had her amusement under control when a completely unladylike noise erupted from Penny. Tessa glared at her, and Jack’s giggle worked its way out.

“Really, Penny, you sound like a retching donkey.” Tessa tossed her curls over her shoulder again and scowled as she looked at Jack. “You’re laughing, too? Just what’s so funny?”

After being cooped up for days with nothing to amuse her, Jack couldn’t help letting her laughter break forth. Her head ached, but it was worth it. “Oh, Tessa, you’d be miserable as a pastor’s wife. You know they don’t make much money and have to serve the whole community. How would you get by without all your fripperies?”

“Well! I can see what you two think of me. I’m not nearly as shallow as you think.” Tessa spun around and stalked out the door, stopping in the hall to glare at them. “Some friends you two turned out to be.” She stomped off down the stairs.

Penny shook her head and wiped her eyes. “I didn’t mean to hurt Tessa’s feelings, but I couldn’t keep from laughing. She’s the last person I could ever see as a minister’s wife.”

Jack felt bad, even though she couldn’t rid her mind of the humorous picture of pampered Tessa serving beside the pastor. “I know. The thought is beyond absurd, but I do feel bad for hurting her feelings.”

A loud knock sounded downstairs. With her bed next to the window at the front of the house, Jack knew whenever a visitor arrived. She recognized the squeak of the front door that her ma had been hounding Luke to grease, and the word
reverend
drifted up.

He was here!

She hadn’t thought about it earlier, but why wouldn’t he be staying at the parsonage? And until Penny had mentioned him being young, she hadn’t thought much about the man’s arrival.

A sharp screech echoed from the hall, footsteps pounded up the stairs, and Tessa flew back into the room. “He’s here! Right in your entryway.”

“How do you know it’s him?” Penny asked, her eyes dancing.

“Because he’s the tallest man I’ve ever seen, and he’s young, and he has black hair.”

Penny nodded. “That does sound like him.” She tiptoed to the door and looked out. “Did he see you galloping up the stairs?”

“I did not gallop, and no, he didn’t see me. At least I don’t think he did.” Tessa skirted Penny, standing just outside the door. Jack wished she could get up and sneak a peek.

“Why do you suppose he stopped at the boardinghouse?” Penny asked.

Tessa glanced over her shoulder and lifted her index finger to her lips. “Shh! I can’t hear,” she whispered loudly.

Jack crossed her arms and scowled at Tessa’s back. Penny suddenly sucked in a breath and backed up. Tessa let out an “eek!” and scurried back to Jack’s bedside.

“They’re coming upstairs.” Penny pinched her cheeks, turning them a rosy red. “Maybe your ma asked him to pray for you.”

“Actually, he’s staying here.” Jack’s insides twisted as she glanced down at the pale blue bed jacket covering her nightgown. She pushed herself up straighter. “He can’t see me like this. Quick, close the door.”

Tessa scorched her with a narrow-eyed glare. “He’s staying here?” She frowned and ambled across the room, seemingly in no hurry. Jack flipped the sheet over her legs and pulled it all the way up to her neck.

She heard her mother’s voice as she came up the stairs. Three heads jerked toward the doorway.

“Hurry, Tessa!” Jack’s heart pounded, as if something monumental was about to happen, but what was so special about meeting a new pastor? She didn’t want a new one. She liked Reverend Taylor’s thought-provoking messages, and his wife was one of the kindest women she knew.

“This is our second story.” Her ma’s voice drifted into the bedroom. “Our children have rooms on this floor, and if we have any women boarding with us, they reside here. There’s a third story where you’ll be staying, as well as any other men who arrive.”

Tessa gave the door a half-hearted push, then spun around, walking back to the bed. “You’re such a lucky dog. I’d be jealous if you hadn’t said you don’t plan to marry.”

Ever so slowly, the door drifted open. Jack saw the back of her mother’s dress. The door drifted back toward the wall and made a soft thud. Jack’s heart pummeled her chest. All three women seemed to hold their breath in unison.

A surprisingly tall man with black hair glanced in as he passed the entrance to the room. He held his hat in one hand and a satchel in the other. His dark brows lifted as he noticed the trio of females staring at him. His eyes widened for a second, then he yanked his gaze away. Suddenly, it flew back to Jack, setting her heart pounding as if she’d run a long race. His steps slowed, and for the briefest of moments, she felt as if they alone were connected. She swallowed hard.

A tiny smile lifted the corners of his lips; then he jerked his head forward again and strode out of sight.

Penny glided over to Abby’s bed and dropped down. “Oh my. He’s so handsome.”

Tessa flopped down and bumped Penny’s shoulder. “Heavens to Betsy, I think I’m in love.”

“Get in line.” Penny stared at the door as if she could conjure up the man again.

Shaking her head, Tessa frowned. “I already claimed him for myself.”

Penny gazed at Jack with a knowing look. Heat raced to Jack’s cheeks, and she broke her friend’s gaze. Had Penny noticed the way the man stared at her? Downright scandalous behavior for a minister, if someone asked for her opinion.

Jack laid her head back, feeling exhausted but also exhilarated. Irritated but intrigued. Why should one look from a handsome man set her heart to throbbing? Perhaps she’d simply had too much excitement today.

On second thought, the investigator in her went on alert. She had the oddest feeling that she’d seen the man before.

Tessa preened again. “Did you see how he had to take a second glance at me?”

Penny’s gaze shot across the room to Jack’s. “Yes, he couldn’t take his eyes off of you.”

Heat scorched Jack’s cheeks, irritating her even more. She never blushed.

“I don’t suppose you’ll be able to attend the social this Saturday, what with your leg hurt and all,” Tessa said. “I’ll make sure to greet the new minister and welcome him to Lookout. Who would have thought he’d be our age?”

“I don’t think he’s our age. He looks a bit older—in his mid-twenties maybe, and I’m not going if you aren’t, Jack.” Penny smiled at her. “In fact, I’ll come and keep you company since you’ll probably be all alone if your family goes.”

“Ma will stay home, and Papa will stay with her unless there’s some kind of problem in town. Besides, I should be able to leave my bed by then.”

“But you won’t be able to leave the house yet.” Tessa stood, straightened her skirt, and flounced to the door. “I’m going to the dressmaker’s shop. I’ll need something extra special to attract that man.”

After Tessa left, Penny shook her head and giggled. “I declare, that girl and her high ideas. If she was the parson’s wife—well, I can’t even imagine that.”

Jack grinned. “Tessa is one of a kind, that’s for certain. But she’s a good friend.”

Penny lifted her brows. “Hmm … I saw the way that man looked at you. He didn’t even notice Tessa and me. He must like redheads.”

Jack squealed and tossed a pillow at her friend. Penny dodged it, giggling. “I do not have red hair. It’s auburn.”

“Don’t matter what color it is—that minister couldn’t take his eyes off you.”

Jack fingered the edge of the sheet, remembering how she used to cower in the corner whenever her first father went on a drunken rampage. She never wanted to feel afraid like that again. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not interested in gaining a man’s attention. I don’t ever plan to marry.”

Penny gasped and hugged the pillow. “Stop saying that. One of these days, you’ll meet some man who’ll sweep you off your feet, and you’ll regret those words. I don’t know why you feel that way, anyhow.”

“Nope, I won’t.” Jack shook her head. “You don’t know how things were when I was little and my first pa was alive. He was just plain mean and a liar to boot.”

Penny crossed the room and placed the pillow behind Jack. She rested her hand on Jack’s shoulder. “I’m sorry you had to live through that, but my pa was the kindest man on earth, just like Luke is. You’ve lived with a good man for a pa for a long while. You need to bury your past, so that it doesn’t affect your future.”

Jack crossed her arms and stared at the dust motes floating on a ray of sunshine that had crept into her room. How could anyone who hadn’t lived through what she had empathize with her deep-set fear? Not even having a kindhearted stepfather had driven it totally away. She was afraid to believe it was possible to have a marriage like her ma and Luke had. What if the dream never came true? “You don’t understand.”

Penny smiled gently. “I know, but I’m praying that God will help you. I’d better head home. Mama will be wanting my help with the chores.”

Jack watched her friend leave. Penny was sweet, but she didn’t understand the scars an abusive father could leave on a child.

She laid her head back, thinking of the handsome pastor. He was young. And why had he stared at her? Had her ma told him about her injury, making him curious?

The investigator in her sensed there was more to him than one glance could take in. But one thing was for certain: If Tessa wanted him, she could have him.

Jack had no desire to chase after a man. As long as she never married, a man couldn’t hurt her.

Chapter 3

N
oah followed Mrs. Davis into the tidy room.

“I hope you’ll be … comfortable here, Reverend … Jeffers.” Her chest rose and fell as she struggled to catch her breath. Leaning against the door, she supported her large stomach with one hand while the other was splayed across her chest. She looked as if she could give birth any moment.

Noah felt a warm flush creep up his neck at the thought. “Would you care to sit down for a moment?”

“No, but thank you. Those stairs get steeper every day.” She smiled and glanced away as if embarrassed to hint at her condition. “My eldest daughter has been tending these rooms lately, but her injury has her in bed all week. My husband and I are delighted to have you staying with us.”

“This is far more than I expected, Mrs. Davis.” His gaze scanned the two-room suite. The walls were painted a light blue, and white curtains with small navy flowers fluttered at the open window. A dark blue sofa rested along one wall, with a nice-sized walnut desk against another, and a table with two chairs beside the third wall. He could see one corner of a bed covered with a colorful quilt through the doorway of the other room. “I’m not sure I’ve ever stayed anywhere this fine, ma’am.”

Mrs. Davis beamed. She’d aged some in the years he’d been gone from town, but she was still a pretty woman. “I’m glad you like it. I serve breakfast at seven, dinner at noon, and supper at six. Be sure to let me know if you have an aversion to any particular foods and if you get hungry and would like a snack. I like to satisfy my guests.”

He smiled and set his satchel on the sofa. “Do you need help getting downstairs, ma’am?”

She swiveled her hand in the air, then laid it on her chest again. “Thank you, but I hobble up and down these steps all day. I do need to get back downstairs, though. I don’t dare leave my son, Alan, watching his sisters for long. That’s a recipe for disaster.”

She ambled out the door, and he followed. “Might I ask a question before you go?”

She stopped and nodded, her pale blue eyes kind but assessing.

He needed to think how to word things without letting her know just how much he knew about her family. His heart hammered in his chest. He hated deception, but he wasn’t yet ready to reveal his true identity. He’d recognized Jacqueline the moment his eyes had connected with hers. She was no longer the ornery child he remembered, but a beautiful young lady who’d sent his pulse soaring. He prayed nothing was seriously wrong with her. “I … uh … happened to notice a woman in her bed on the second floor when the door blew open as I was passing.” He warmed his face to admit he’d looked in the room, but he hadn’t expected anyone to be in there, much less three young women. “I’m assuming that was your … uh … daughter. Could I inquire if her injury was serious?”

“Yes, you may.” Mrs. Davis nodded, but her gaze held a gentle scolding. “That’s my oldest daughter, Jacqueline. She fell off—” A rosy hue colored her cheeks, and she looked away for a moment. “I suppose I should just tell you, because you’re sure to hear from someone else—or read about it in the newspaper. My eldest daughter is … umm … rather … lively. She’s a reporter for our town newspaper, and for some reason, she was on a rooftop, trying to get a story, when she fell off.” She rushed out the words as if they were difficult for her to admit.