As Love Blooms (33 page)

“Don’t apologize for the truth. If that’s how you really feel, then you don’t have to apologize or give me gifts.” Tears filled her hazel eyes. “Sometimes things don’t work out the way we think they will. Sometimes a person is more of a handful than we bargained for.”

“A person like you?” His voice was tender.

“That’s right.” She swallowed and pushed the tin in his direction. “I know I get too excited and too carried away. I know that as soon as I have an audience, I tend to put on a show, but not with you, Reese. Not ever.”

“Tessa, I don’t like what happened to me today.” Staring straight ahead, he gripped the steering wheel. “Yesterday I got a letter that said my parents were coming for a visit.”

“You did?”

He nodded. “After I learned they’d be coming, I started looking at you from their eyes.”

She glanced at him. “And you knew I’d never meet with their approval either. I understand.”

He whipped around to face her. “No, you don’t. For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted my dad to give me his seal of approval.”

“I get it, Reese. You don’t have to explain. As soon as we’re done with the garden, you won’t have to—”

“No!” He clenched his fist. “That’s not what I want. I’m not good at this, I know, but I’m trying to tell you that I’m sorry. I love you the way you are, and they’ll have to learn to love you too. Just because I made a mistake once doesn’t mean I’m making it again.”

She bit her lip. “Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been more certain. What do you say we go see how your sister is doing?”

“You’re coming with me?”

“Unless you’d rather I not go.” He came around the car and opened her door.

She set the tin of Oreos on the seat and took his hand. “It’s up to you, but if you think getting your dad’s approval is hard, wait till you try to get hers.”

“And if she disapproves?”

“I’m used to it.” She slipped her hand in the crook of his arm. “She doesn’t approve of most of my choices.”

That was his Tessa. And if he had his way, with or without his parents’ approval, she’d be his forever. All the more reason he had to get that park promotion.

Two things had surprised Reese when he arrived at Como Park this morning. First, Mr. Nussbaumer told him the conservatory project would be put to a vote tonight, and he asked him to pray about it. Second, he asked Reese to go check on Indian Mounds Park, one of the parks in Saint Paul’s system. The head gardener there had been ill for over a week, but Nels had been assigned to cover for him, a fact that made Reese wonder if Nels was the front-runner for the Como position.

The drive to Dayton’s Bluff didn’t take long, and his Model T managed the incline easily. Tessa, who’d never been to Indian Mounds Park, hopped out of the car as soon as they reached the
Hoffman Avenue entrance. An ornamental flower display with a collection of vivid yellows and reds greeted them.

“This looks to be in fine shape.” She pressed a finger to the soil. “What was Mr. Nussbaumer worried about?”

Reese scratched his forehead. “The only thing he said was he wouldn’t abide by his employees lying to him.”

“How odd. Do you think he was referring to the current head gardener or Nels?”

“I’m not sure it’s either one.” Reese bent and pulled a dandelion from the edge of the planter. “I’ve never heard a bad word about either man, and as much as Nels irritates me personally, he’s usually a good worker.” He circled the planter, and once he was satisfied all was in order, he motioned to the Model T. “I’ll give you a tour while we’re giving the place a once-over.”

They followed the paths until they reached the north edge of the park. Young trees dotted the landscape. He’d not yet been employed by the park service when trees and shrubs were planted in this park, but he’d spent many a day watering them.

He slowed on Thorn Street and stopped in front of an expansive three-story building. “That’s the Mounds Park Sanitarium. It takes patients with both physical and mental problems.”

Tessa glanced around. “What a beautiful place to recuperate. Look! You can see the park and the river from here.” She leaned out the window. “Are those the burial mounds?”

“Yes. You look surprised.”

“I don’t know what I was expecting, but they look like little hills.”

He chuckled. “Or mounds?”

“Point taken.”

He headed toward them. “At one time, thirty-seven Hopewell and Dakota burial mounds dotted this area. Some are said to be nearly two thousand years old. There were at least nineteen mounds around here, and more around Carver’s Cave. Some were
excavated in the 1800s. More were destroyed when the rail yard was widened, and additional ones when the park commission bought the land.”

“They destroyed the sites?”

“The park was bought for the view of the river more than for protecting the mounds.” He released a long breath. “Some of the mounds blocked the view.”

Tessa grabbed Reese’s arm. “What are those people doing?”

“Collecting.” His stomach roiled. “They’re looking for pieces of pottery, mussel shells, arrowheads, and even bones—whatever treasure they can find.”

“But these are graves. Can’t you stop them?”

“I wish I could, but it’s not illegal.”

“I can’t pick flowers in Como Park, but visitors here can desecrate graves?” She touched her fingers to her mouth. “It feels so wrong.”

“You’re right.” He swung the Model T around one of the mounds. “Mr. Nussbaumer has forbidden his employees from participating in any collecting.”

Tessa’s eyes narrowed. “Maybe that’s why he sent you here. One of the gardeners might be taking things even though Mr. Nussbaumer ruled against it.”

Reese moved the throttle upward. “You’re brilliant, Tessa Gregory. Do you know that?”

“Yes.” She grinned. “But I still like to hear it.”

When Sam entered the meeting place of the Minnesota Women’s Suffrage Association, she could tell the new leaflets had arrived, for the whole room smelled of printer’s ink.

She greeted a few of her fellow suffragists while waiting for the others to arrive. At last Clara stepped up to the podium. “Good morning, ladies.” She laid her hand on the stack. “We have our work cut out for us today—five hundred leaflets with which we
can blanket the city. After the successful Memorial Day parade, I think this will be a great follow-up. I hope you’re all ready to do some walking.”

A few of the young women moaned, making Sam smile. In her lifetime, how many miles had she walked for this cause? How many pamphlets had she passed out, and how many speeches had she given? How many times, like Sojourner Truth, had she shown up at ballot boxes only to be turned away?

Clara picked up a stack. “There are twenty-five of us present today, so if we each pass out twenty, we’ll be done in no time.”

The ladies fell into line, and Sam took her place with them. She accepted her pile of papers and read over the one on top. The leaflet listed ten reasons why women deserved suffrage, with each statement beginning with the word “because.” She especially liked two of the points: “Because women suffer from a bad form of government just as men do” and “Because women are citizens whose government is
of
the people,
by
the people, and
for
the people, and
women are
people
.”

She sighed. She’d heard all of the arguments listed on the paper before, but what would it take for other people to truly hear them? Sure, they’d made progress. Women were now allowed to keep their own wages, own land, and expect an education, but there was still much to do. Why couldn’t the politicians see that until women were treated like citizens, with all the rights and privileges due to them, they were not truly free?

Every night she would pray for the politicians, especially those in Minnesota, to have the courage to stand up for what was right. They needed someone willing to risk their career on a cause that was unpopular among many male voters. For years she’d prayed James would be that person, but now? She wasn’t sure anymore.

Heading for the stairs, she said a silent prayer, asking God to let her see the day when women and men could stand side by side and cast their vote. Gaining the right to vote for women was only
the first battle. Persuading women to use it would be the true test of victory.

Excitement fizzed inside Tessa as the entrance to Carver’s Cave yawned black before her. When she’d awoken this morning, exploring a cave was the last thing she expected to do.

Reese lit the lantern in his hand and held it aloft. “Ready?”

She nodded. They’d spoken to some of the park workers and asked about the mounds and the artifacts. Although none of the workers would give them a name, nearly all of them said they’d find what they were looking for inside this cave. Getting to the cave entrance, which was on a cliff face below the park, hadn’t been easy, and she’d been grateful for her masculine apparel.

Reese took her hand, and they started to follow the path along the wall. The cave entrance opened to a huge domed area carved out of the limestone, so large it seemed to swallow the light of their small lantern. Immediately the air temperature dropped several degrees.

Her footsteps sank in the white sand, and the lantern’s light glinted off the water of an interior lake.

She sucked in her breath. “Why haven’t I ever heard of Carver’s Cave? It’s amazing.”

“The railroad shaved off a big section of this place to widen the rail yard a long time ago.” He came to a stop. “Hold up. Here’s the boat.” He passed the lantern to her and shoved the rowboat into the water. Once Tessa was seated, she asked him to continue his explanation.

“A man named John Colwell was charged with finding the entrance again. He traced the spring of water leaking from the bluff to find it. The park system’s plans are to make it a lure for visitors.”

“Do you think that’s wise?” The steady sound of the oars slapping the water echoed in the massive chamber.

“Not really. Look at how people have treated the mounds.” The deeper they went into the cave, the quieter his voice became. “There are supposed to be some rooms at the back of the cave. That’s where we’re headed.”

About thirty feet into the cave, the dome began to slope downward until the limestone ceiling was only nine feet above them. The air was heavy with dampness, and Tessa’s pulse beat harder as they lost sight of the entrance.

“You okay?” Reese asked.

“Of course.” Her voice sounded tight.

“The Indians called this place
Waukon Teebee
, which means ‘house of the spirits.’”

“Really?”

“Any ordinary girl might be a little afraid.”

She cleared her throat. “Any ordinary girl might.”

He kept a steady flow of conversation going, explaining things like how the back of the cave was nearly fifty yards from the entrance. Swinging the boat toward the lake’s edge, he stilled the oars. “Hold the lantern up. Let’s see if we can find any of those rooms.”

Reese moved the boat slowly along the edge while Tessa peered into the darkness, hoping to catch a glimpse of something different than the limestone walls. “Reese, look.” She pointed to an even darker area a few feet above the lake. “A room?”