Just Above a Whisper (36 page)

“We’ll just see about that.”

“Do you know what I just found out?” Reese was the one to change the subject this time.

“What?”

“Douglas wrote to your brother about my situation with the bank.”

“You didn’t know that?”

“Not until today when your brother mentioned it.” Reese suddenly smiled. “You and Troy and Douglas were all in trouble when he realized you hadn’t told me.”

“Let me guess.” Conner was smiling hugely. “He did a lot of talking to us when we weren’t in the room.”

“You know him very well.”

“Yes, I do.”

“I also found out today that you have four sisters, all of whom are quite tall.”

“My, my, Dalton did do a lot of talking. Did he also tell you that you’re taller than all of them?”

“Yes, he did. He seemed to think I would be pleased.”

“Were you?”

Reese shrugged. “It doesn’t make any difference to me. I don’t know a woman as tall as I am, but I wouldn’t mind.”

“Would you have been afraid of me at first if I hadn’t been so big?”

“No.” Reese knew it to be true.

“Why did it matter?”

Reese weighed her words and came up with what she felt was a reasonable answer.

“I’m used to being able to protect myself. Had you been a different kind of man, I wouldn’t have been able to do that.”

“How did you come to Christ?” Conner asked.

“One day I talked with Douglas and Alison. After listening to what they said, I believed,” Reese said, careful not to add more.

Conner watched the way her face sobered and her eyes went to the wood at their feet.

“Maybe someday I can hear the whole story,” Conner ventured.

“Maybe,” Reese echoed, her eyes on a faraway spot. “How about you? Did you grow up in a believing home?”

“I did, yes. I remember praying with my father one night, and he asked me how I knew my prayers were being heard by God. I didn’t have a good answer, so he got his Bible out and showed me how I could have God’s Spirit living inside of me, as His child, and if I was His child, then my righteous prayers would always be heard by Him.

“That night I told God I believed in Him and needed Him to save me. I was only about six at the time, but I know it was real. When hard things came into my life after that point, I would be tempted to doubt God’s love for me, but that night was always the memory that came to mind.”

“At the risk of sounding insulting, you don’t seem like someone who’s ever known hard things,” Reese theorized, even as she wondered what he was like as a child.

“I can see why it might seem that way. Someday I’ll have to tell you about it. Maybe when you tell me your whole story.”

Reese nodded, thinking the future a good idea. She certainly didn’t want to discuss it tonight, not here and now.

“I’d better let you go,” Conner said when the breeze picked up and he realized Reese was not wearing a sweater or coat.

“I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Goodnight, Reese.”

“Goodnight.”

Conner waited until she was inside before replacing his hat and walking home very slowly.

Reese had her hands full on Saturday, but she was up to the challenge. She had done laundry earlier in the week, so plenty of linens were fresh. She took extra care with the dining room table once the men had had dinner and gone on their way. She knew they would want their tea but was also fairly certain they would leave things in good order for the guests.

Reese counted people in her mind before counting places at the table. Including herself, she needed ten chairs. The table was comfortable for twelve, so Reese knew that if the Kingsley men each wanted to take an end, they would have elbow room to spare.

Not until Reese went outside to shake a rug did she become distracted from her mission. She had just finished, knowing her hair had taken the lion’s share of dust, when she looked up to see Gerald walking her way.

“Hello,” Reese greeted him kindly, not nearly so cross to see him this time.

“Hey,” he said when he neared, and Reese thought he seemed down.

“What are you doing today?”

“Nothing,” he said, his look going south. “All you ever do is work.”

“I like to work,” Reese felt a need to tell him, biting her tongue from saying he could use a job himself.

“I don’t like the man you work for,” Gerald suddenly said.

“Do you know the man I work for?” Reese asked, when what she really wanted to do was defend Conner Kingsley.

“He sent my father away,” Gerald retorted, sounding as sulky as he felt.

Again Reese wanted to jump to Conner’s defense but controlled herself.

“Maybe you should talk to Mr. Kingsley or Mr. Thaden and ask one of them about it,” Reese suggested, realizing she didn’t know all the details.

“They would just treat me like they treated my father!” Gerald sounded belligerent now, and Reese knew there would be no reasoning with him.

When silence settled around them for a moment, Reese was on the verge of excusing herself, but Gerald spoke, his tone softened.

“Why don’t we do something together sometime?”

“That’s not a good idea, Gerald. I’m complimented that you would want to do something with me, but you and I have very little in common.”

“My mother says you’re too old for me and not good enough, but she’s wrong.”

“Your mother just wants to protect you,” Reese replied, not allowing herself to be offended. “And she doesn’t know me well enough to know if I’d be good for you. It’s natural that she’d feel that way.”

Gerald looked at her, his heart aching inside of him. He knew he didn’t stand a chance. Even though she was only a servant in town, there was something special about her, something he was drawn to.

“Just say you’ll go with me, even on a walk,” Gerald tried again, not surprised to see Reese shaking her head no.

“I’ve got to get back to work, Gerald. Thanks for stopping to see me.”

“But you don’t want me to stop in anymore, do you?”

“If it’s only going to give you ideas about us, then you’d better not.”

Gerald left without another word, and Reese prayed but also asked herself what she could have said differently. She hated this attachment he’d developed to her, but never did she want to see him hurt.

Without warning, Reese felt the hair pick up on the back of her neck. She glanced around, feeling as though she was being watched. She even went around the edge of the house to look for Gerald and spotted him down the green. Going back to the door she’d used to come outside, Reese took a moment to look around.

The feeling was lessening, but something wasn’t right. Had she not just seen Gerald on the green, she would swear he’d hidden in order to watch her. Reese finally went back inside, her heart a little worried.

Conner’s mind registered concern the moment he walked in to find Reese waiting for them in the hall. The last time she’d done this, Gerald Jenness had visited.

“Has something happened?” he asked as soon as he was close enough. Reese explained Gerald’s visit, not being overly specific but telling Conner, Troy, and Dalton about her sense of being watched.

“I don’t want you outside in the back by yourself,” Conner immediately began. “If you can’t do something out front, don’t worry about it unless we’re here.”

“I’m not the issue,” Reese took no time in saying. “If Mr. Jenness is lurking about, he doesn’t care about me. You’re the reason he left his job—at least that’s what his son thinks. I only stayed to warn you. I’m not in danger.”

Troy and Dalton had stayed quiet, fascinated with the way Reese spoke up to Conner. Conner, on the other hand, had more to say.

“You will do as I ask. I don’t want you outside where no one can see you.”

“And you’re not listening,” Reese emphasized. “I’m not the issue, and even if I was, it’s only Mr. Jenness.”

“What does that mean?” Conner asked, his face registering confusion.

“I’m much bigger than he is.”

Dalton’s hand came to his upper lip, and Troy turned a laugh into a cough. Conner and Reese, however, were not laughing.

“I have to get home,” Reese said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“And we’ll talk again on Monday” were Conner’s parting words.

Reese only eyed him before heading to the door. When she was gone, both Dalton and Troy took one look at Conner’s face and decided to leave their comments for another time.

Sixteen

Reese had never tried to figure out why, but she always sat in the rear pew. She didn’t hurry away when the service ended, nor did she want to avoid people, but the back pew somehow fit her needs.

She had noticed on past Sundays that Troy and Conner also seemed the most comfortable in that row. And on this Sunday, with Dalton accompanying them, it became something of a tight squeeze. In fact, Conner ended up sitting on the side of Reese’s skirt. She didn’t notice at first. It took her wanting to shift a bit to realize she couldn’t move. She was just about to say something to him when he leaned toward her.

“Vesta?”

“No,” Reese said, wanting to laugh.

“Why don’t you just tell me?”

“What’s your middle name?” Reese suddenly asked.

“James.”

“You see?” she whispered. “It’s normal. Mine is not.”

Conner looked down at her. Reese looked up at him.

“By the way,” she said, having almost forgotten, “you’re on my skirt.”

To her utter astonishment he didn’t shift over but smiled at her.

“I’m comfortable.”

Reese bit her lip and turned away to keep from laughing. Conner, almost in laughter himself, shifted enough to let her pull the fabric closer to her side.

The action made Conner more aware of her than ever before. He’d flirted with her just now, something he’d not even attempted in more years than he could remember, and even as the sermon got underway, he knew why.

Reese Thackery was the most intriguing woman he’d ever met. Conner didn’t live in a small town, so knowing folks well was more difficult. He was close to the people in his church family, but there were no women his age who were also unmarried.