Jewel Page 7

  “I might. Who do I see about the properties?”

  “Adam Crowley has a few plots out by his place. Miss Edna over at the store has some land for sale as well.”

  “Where can I find Crowley?”

  “Right now, he and his sons are over in Niles. Adam owns a house-building business. Used to be a lumber beast.”

  Hicks looked confused.

  “Back east they’re called lumberjacks.”

  “Ah.”

  “He’s my father-in-law.”

  Hicks surprise was plain.

  “And because he and my widowed mother married a few years back, he’s also my stepfather.”

  Hicks’s lips lifted in a smile. “So your wife is his daughter, which also makes her your stepsister?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Nothing like small towns.”

  Eli agreed.

  “When can I meet Crowley?”

  “This evening after he’s done working soon enough?”

  “Perfect. In the meantime, is there a telegraph office in town?”

  “No, but the one over in Calvin Center is close. That’s a township just a few miles away.”

  “Can I pay someone to take me?”

  “I’ll drive you. Won’t take more than a hour there and back.”

  “I’ll get my papers.”

  “I have to see if there’s any mail, so how about we meet at the store?”

  Their agreement made, the men parted ways.

  Eli walked up the street to the store, all the while wondering if Hicks would really settle in the Grove, and how that might affect him and Jewel. Deciding he had enough to worry about at the moment, he let it lie.

  Reaching the store, he stepped inside, and as all eyes turned his way, he knew what he had to do. Taking a deep breath he announced, “Yes, Jewel and I are married. Have been for a while.”

  Applause erupted, smiles appeared on many faces. Losers of bets paid up while smug-looking winners collected.

  “So when’s the celebration?” Vernon asked.

  “What celebration?”

  “The one you’re having to announce the marriage. You and Jewel are two of our own. You have to have something so folks can come by and offer congratulations.”

  Eli supposed it was a good idea; not one he particularly liked, nor would Jewel, but the saving grace of it was that once it was over, the Grove could go back to being a sleepy little township, and folks could focus their attention elsewhere. “I’ll talk to Jewel and let you know. I want to finish up this business with Hicks, first.”

  They all nodded understandingly and returned to what they’d been doing.

  Miss Edna handed him the mail and said for his ears only, “You did an honorable thing offering her your name. She’ll come around.”

  Eli shuffled through the small stack of envelopes. “But will it happen before the turn of the century?” He gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for the mail.”

  She smiled and watched him slip out the door.

  “So, do you think I was right to agree to this marriage business?”

  Maddie looked Jewel’s way. They were digging holes in Maddie’s front yard to hold the new rose bushes. “Take it from an old whore, when folks hiss at you in church, or cross the street when they see you approach, it hurts your heart, even though you tell yourself it doesn’t.” Maddie was a Grove native and had grown up with Eli and his cousin Nate. Years ago, she’d owned the Emporium, the town’s only whorehouse, and had suffered all manner of meanness from the good people in the area.

  “So your answer is yes?”

  “Much as I hate to see you railroaded this way, that is my answer. It could be worse, you know, at least Eli is smart, clean, and easy on the eyes.”

  Thinking about how she and Eli parted last night, she offered emotionlessly, “We didn’t have a wedding night.”

  Maddie stopped digging. “He probably knows you’re an innocent and wants to give you time to adjust.”

  “No, it was me. I didn’t want it.”

  “And your reason? If I may be so nosy to ask?”

  “Because it’s Eli,” she said as if the answer was clearly obvious. “I don’t want to be compared to all the other women he’s had.”

  “Who said you would be?”

  “But I don’t know anything, Maddie.” Her embarrassment was plain. “Not about that.”

  “You don’t have to. He knows enough for half the state and that’s to your advantage.”

  “Why?”

  “Because the last thing you need on a wedding night is two people who don’t know what the hell they’re doing. With the right man, relations can be earth shattering.”

  “I don’t want earth shattering.”

  “Yes, you do.”

  “I do?”

  Maddie grinned. “Trust me. You do.”

  Jewel couldn’t hold back a smile. “Lord.”

  “It will be okay. If and when the times comes just let him lead until you learn the ins and outs. There’s probably a reason the women call him the Colored Casanova of Cass County.” Maddie caught a glimpse of Jewel’s face. “Am I embarrassing you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Not trying to. Just giving you facts. Having a man who knows how to make a woman’s body sing puts you head and shoulders above a good portion of the women in the world, so count your blessings.”

  “But I don’t want to be married to him.”

  “I understand that, but you are married to him, so until the divorce you can either keep eating sour lemons or take them and make lemonade.”

  Jewel forced the shovel into the dirt. “I hate it when you’re wise, Maddie Loomis.”

  Smiling, Maddie nodded. “I know.”

  Chapter 5

  Once all the holes were dug, Maddie headed off to open the library for the day while Jewel stayed behind to put in the roses. Adding manure to the holes from the pile in the yard courtesy of one of the local dairy farmers, she mixed it in with the clean topsoil, mounded it into a cone and set a plant atop each. She then filled in the sides of the hole with more dirt, making sure to keep the crown at the base of the plant exposed, then firmed up the soil. By the time she got all ten plants in, it was early afternoon and she was a muddy, manure-smelling mess. Taking a moment to admire her handiwork, she visually inspected the spacing and decided that when the plants bloomed, they would be a beautiful accent to Maddie’s front porch.

  She was gathering up the shovels and hand tools to return them to Maddie’s barn when Eli rode up on his horse. He was still not anyone she wanted to see, but remembering Maddie’s advice about lemonade, she bested her irritation as he walked up and forced herself to be pleasant, or as pleasant as she could manage. “Eli.”

  “Jewel,” he said in response to her greeting. “How are you?”

  “Fine. You?”

  “I’m fine, too.”

  He was wearing a nice brown suit and he certainly looked fine even to her cynical eyes. “Got Maddie’s roses in.”

  “I see. They look pretty scrawny.”

  She didn’t take offense because he was right. The dark brown plants looked like twigs. “They do, but they’ll be fat and green before long.”

  “I’m sure Maddie will be pleased.”

  They were making small talk and they both knew it.

  He asked, “Will you have dinner with me?”

  That caught her off guard, that, and his tone. “I, um, promised Miss Edna I’d see about putting in roses for her when I was done here.”

  “It’s pretty late in the day. I’m sure she won’t mind waiting until tomorrow.”

  Jewel found herself looking everywhere but into his eyes. “I suppose you’re right.” Only then did she look directly at him and into the eyes that had been affecting her equilibrium since he’d waltzed with her at her fourteenth birthday party. “I need to clean up, first.”

  He surveyed her muddy denims, shirt, and brogans. “I can wait.”

&nbs
p; The timbre of his voice made it sound as if he were referring to something else entirely and she got the shakes. She cleared her throat. “Meet me at the house in about an hour.”

  He nodded, held her gaze just long enough to make her remember Maddie’s talk about earth shattering, then she grabbed up the tools, placed them in the wheelbarrow, and pushed it toward the barn. When she hazarded a look back over her shoulder, he was still standing there watching. She turned around quickly, her lips tight.

  Only a few houses in the Grove had plumbing indoors, and because the Crowleys were in the home-building business theirs was one. It had been installed two years ago and Jewel thought the shower the greatest invention since the washing machine. With her hair tied up in a bandanna to keep it dry, she stood beneath the heated water and let it wash away the soil and stink. Even a woman as no-nonsense as she had a fondness for scented soap, so when she finished washing and wrapped herself in a big drying sheet, she was clean and smelled of roses.

  The brazier heating her curling iron was ready when she returned to her room, so she combed out her bangs, curled them, then braided the rest of her hair into a long plait that she circled and pinned low on her neck. Choosing a simple black skirt and white blouse, she dressed, then stuck her black-stockinged feet into a pair of leather slippers. Her accessories were simple. Around her neck was the gold heart-shaped locket her father had given her for Christmas a few years back, and in her ears the silver filigree hoops she’d purchased in Chicago last summer. All in all, she thought she looked presentable. Eli was probably accustomed to a woman with more dash, but that couldn’t be helped.

  Her brothers didn’t balk about having to oversee their own dinner when she told them earlier of her plans with Eli, so when she came downstairs dressed and ready to go, they were in the kitchen putting the last touches to their meal of rabbit and vegetables. Jeremiah had cooking skills second only to Jewel’s, so he was in charge. “Smells good,” she told him.

  “You look nice,” he said, setting the pan with the done rabbits on the stove top. The rest of her brothers agreed.

  Smiling her thanks, she said, “I need to ask a favor.”

  “And it is?” Paul asked

  “Will you all build me a house?”

  They stared.

  “As soon as possible.”

  “Why a house?” Abe asked.

  “Because since I can’t get out of this marriage right away, I’m going to take Maddie’s advice and make lemonade out the lemons I’ve been dealt, which means Eli and I need someplace to stay. Together. And his cabin is too small.”

  “Told you she’d come to her senses,” Zeke reminded everyone with pride in his voice.

  The look she shot him would have made another man wish he’d kept his mouth shut, but because he was her brother he simply grinned.

  The smiling Noah asked, “How many bedrooms?”

  “Just two.”

  He shrugged. “Okay. We can always add more if you need more rooms later.”

  “I don’t think that’ll be necessary. After the divorce and Eli moves on, I want to have a place to call my own.”

  The brothers shared a look.

  “What?” she asked.

  They all shook their heads. “Nothing,” Jeremiah replied on everyone’s behalf. “Have you talked to Pa about this?”

  “No, not yet.”

  “Well do, and we’ll get started soon as he says the word. You want it on your land?”

  “Yes.” Each of the siblings had a designated thirty-acre plot given to them at birth. The only restriction on its use was that it couldn’t be sold outside of the family. Adam Crowley was convinced that in the future land would be at a premium and he was determined that theirs remain under Crowley control.

  The chime of the door pull sounded in the kitchen. “That must be Eli,” she said, hoping her sudden case of nerves didn’t show.

  It did.

  “Have a good time,” Paul offered up.

  Jewel had no idea what kind of time she was going to have, but replied, “Thanks,” and went to answer the door.

  Eli thought she looked lovely. Even though her attire was plain, it made her appear soft and feminine. The man in him found this version of her a marked improvement over the manure-wearing woman she’d been earlier in the day. She smelled better, too, he noted as he drove the buggy away from the Crowley house, but he kept the compliments unspoken for now. “Where would you like to eat?”

  “Anywhere but the Quilt Ladies’.” Having to deal with Caroline Ross was not Jewel’s idea of a good time.

  “Hoping you’d say that.”

  “Why? Do you have another place in mind?”

  “Yep, but it’s a surprise.”

  “And you’re not going to tell me,” she stated.

  “Then it wouldn’t be a surprise.” Glancing over he took in the crossness in her face and posture. “When was the last time you did something just for the sheer fun of it?”

  The question was met with silence.

  “Can’t answer that, can you?”

  Jewel sent him a leveling look, which he of course ignored.

  “You need more fun in your life, Jewel Grayson.”

  “Really?” Her tone was somewhere between sarcasm and irritation. Hearing herself addressed by her new name didn’t improve her mood.

  “Yes, you do. So in celebration of our first day of married life, we’re going to have some fun.”

  Jewel wondered why the fates had placed him of all people in her life, but because she had no answer, she sat back and waited to see what this fun would turn out to be.

  They were traveling through one of the Grove’s most beautiful meadows. On each side of the two-track road they were bumping along, oxeye daisies bloomed, alongside red clover and the fading petals of white trillium. In response to the breezy day, the vast expanse of wildflowers rippled like the multicolored waves of an exotic sea. “This has to be the loveliest place on earth in the spring,” Jewel said in a voice laden with reverence.

  Eli noted the genuine feeling in her tone. “Then let’s find a place to stop.”

  “What for?”

  “Our picnic.”

  Her jaw dropped.

  He liked making her speechless, he realized, and wondered how many other ways it could be accomplished. Pleased with himself, he drove a few more feet, then pulled off the road and stopped. “How’s this?”

  She was still staring his way.

  “What?” he asked easily.

  “A picnic?”

  He shrugged, “Why not? I have food and everything.” Setting the brake, he stepped down then came around to her side. “Care to join me?”

  She studied him and decided once again that he was far too handsome for his own good. From the cut of his jaw to the playful, smoke gray eyes, a mere woman didn’t stand a chance. So she surrendered, took his hand, and let him assist her down. The touch was brief, but long enough for her fingers to feel singed, even after the contact ended. Needing to take her mind off of him and collect herself, she scanned the beautiful setting for a moment before slowly turning his way. “Maddie said I should make lemonade out the lemons in my life.”

  Eli wasn’t sure what she was referencing, so he said simply, “Smart woman, that Maddie. So what are you going to do with the advice?”

  “Have Pa and the boys build me a house.”

  “Really?” he asked studying her. “Why?”

  “So when the divorce is over I can have a place of my own.”

  “Ah. When are you having them build this house of yours?” Arms crossed over his chest, he waited.

  Jewel sensed that maybe now hadn’t been the right time to have this conversation. “As soon as possible.”

  “You can’t have your divorce right away, Jewel.”

  “I know, but I’d like to move into the place as soon as it’s finished.”

  “And I’ll be, where?”

  “In the house, too.”

  “I see.”
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  She held his probing gaze then had to look away.

  “So we’re going to live as man and wife?” he asked.

  “On the outside, yes.”

  “And on the inside?”

  Unable to decipher his mood, she nervously turned her attention back to the flowers spread out around them. “I’ll have one room and you’ll have the other.”

  “Ah,” he uttered again.

  “It’s the best I can do. For now,” she added softly, although she hadn’t meant to, at least not out loud.

  Eli’s eyebrow rose and he wondered if she knew how interesting he found her last two words. “If you want us to have separate rooms, for now, that’s what we’ll have. I’ve never forced a woman in my life so have no worries on that count.”

  The quiet emphasis he’d placed on for now, made her wish she’d chosen her words more cautiously, especially when the memory of Maddie’s talk about earth shattering and all that it entailed suddenly rose unbidden. Not wanting to visit that for any amount of coin, she hastily sent the memory back to wherever it had come from.

  Eli knew she was a virgin, but he wondered if she’d ever been kissed. He couldn’t remember her being courted by anyone, but with Adam and her brothers guarding her so ferociously, he supposed potential suitors hadn’t the nerve to come calling. Having charmed his share of women in the past, he wondered how she’d react were he to pay attention to her in the way a man does with a woman he’s interested in. Would her kisses be as volatile and lightning charged as she? He knew he should be directing his thoughts elsewhere, but he was finding that the more he was around her, the more intriguing she seemed to be. “I announced our marriage at the store this morning. Vernon wants us to throw a party so folks can congratulate us.”

  Jewel’s first thought was to say no, but she supposed a wingding would be expected now that their supposedly secret marriage was exposed. “When do you want to have it?”

  “I’d like to wait until Hicks leaves town. If he ever does.”

  “What’s that mean?”

  He filled her in on G.W.’s inquiries about land for sale.

  “He wants to settle here?” She was appalled. She would be expected to be sweetness and light all the time if he were to build a home in the Grove.