Tad was livid. He lurched from the rocker, bounded down the few steps and stalked up and down in front of the porch holding his head and swearing. Olivia came to the screen door. “What on earth is going on out here, Tad? We can hear you roaring all the way to the back of the house.”
He stopped and took a deep breath. “Sorry, Mother, just letting off a little steam.” He cast his gaze toward Ethan, eyes narrowed. For a minute Birdie was afraid he’d let some off by pummeling the detective. She glanced at Ethan. He sat ramrod straight, his body ready for the attack if it came. The two men would be evenly matched. Though Tad was taller, Ethan had more brawn. It wouldn’t take Tad long to cool off. He was quick to anger but quick to let it go.
“Well, hold it down, please, or you’re going to wake Nathan.” She stuck her head out the door. Her earlier frown grew into a smile. “Hello, Detective Ethan. It’s been a while since we’ve seen you. Will you stay to dinner?”
He finished his coffee and stood. “No, ma’am, but thank you. I have to get back.”
“Come back again when you can stay longer.”
“I’ll do that, ma’am.”
Olivia turned and went back in the house. Birdie walked down the steps with Ethan and joined Tad by his horse.
“I’m sorry as heck about this, Tad. You too, Birdie. I never dreamed Detective Jenkins would have to appear in court.”
“It’s not your doing, Lloyd.” Birdie took Tad’s arm and squeezed close to his side. “Tad, love, it’s really not Ethan’s fault. It was that darn old glue. I’d have escaped notice if it hadn’t been for that moustache coming loose.”
A muscle in Tad’s jaw jerked. He bit out. “I know that but it doesn’t make the news any less disturbing. Next they’ll be printing your name in the paper. It won’t take people long to realize who B. L. is.”
“They can speculate all they want, but they’ll never be sure,” said Lloyd. “How do you want to handle this?”
“I’d just as soon admit to being Jenkins and get it over with. It’s not like my participation can have any impact on the case.”
“You’ll do no such thing.” Tad looked to Ethan for support. “Don’t you agree?”
“For now, yes. We just continue as if nothing is out of the ordinary.”
* * *
Birdie rode by the construction site on her way to meet Mattie at the warehouse they called their studio. She snickered. Studio indeed. Maybe in time they’d have some money to put into it and spruce it up.
She was surprised to see so much activity going on at Birdie’s Nest. Men were everywhere doing one job or another. A man hollered, waved his hat and headed her way. It was Mr. Teague, the architect. Stunned at the amount of work they’d done, she dismounted and let Strawberry drag the reins and munch on the grass as she walked toward the man. Fortunately, they’d leveled the ground for the drive and she didn’t have to worry about where she put her feet in the overgrown vegetation.
He whipped off his hat. “Hello, Mrs. Lockhart.” He wave toward all the construction. “What do you think?”
“I’m amazed.” She couldn’t believe how much they’d gotten done. The cellar looked almost finished and they’d started some framing. Where had the money come from? “Mr. Teague. I don’t have enough money for this. Surely you didn’t buy this on credit.”
“No, ma’am. Your husband came by the office earlier in the week. He’d opened an account at the bank for me to draw funds from as needed.”
Birdie’s chin quivered and she cleared her throat to keep from crying. Darned hormones. Mr. Teague didn’t seem to notice. He continued to update her on the work they’d done. “I’ve put in an order for the brick, but you might want to go by the brickyard in the next day or two and decide on the color.”
She threw her arms around the astounded man’s neck, almost knocking him to the ground. “Thank you, thank you, Mr. Teague. I surely will.”
Mr. Teague patted her on the back. “Now, now, ma’am, don’t be thanking me. Thank that husband of yours.”
She pulled back and wiped at the tears on her face. “You can bet I will.”
“Good, good.” He pulled a paper from his suit coat pocket and handed it to her. “This is a list of some things you’ll need to decide on soon so I can order in supplies.”
Birdie glanced at the sheet, the writing covering almost the entire page listed items from wood for paneling and floors, to wall paper choices. She hugged it to her heart. At last, it was really happening. They were building Birdie’s Nest. “I’ll see to it, Mr. Teague.”
She sang all the way to the warehouse. When she arrived, she found Mattie sitting at the desk. Unable to contain herself, she rushed the woman from behind and hugged her around the neck.
“What on earth, child?”
Birdie removed her arms, scooted paper out of the way and sat on the desk. “They’re actually building Birdie’s Nest. You need to ride by and take a look.”
“Where’d you get the money?”
“Tad. He’s paying for it.” Birdie teared up again. She swiped at the moisture on her cheeks. “Isn’t he a sweetheart?”
“Well, he sure is, but why the tears?”
“I’m so happy, Mattie.” She grabbed one of the older woman’s hands and squeezed. “We’re also going to have a baby.”
“A baby?” Mattie’s face lit and then she broke into tears. “I’m so happy for you.”
Birdie had never seen the older woman cry, even when she was overcome with joy. “Mattie, are you all right?”
She sniffed and smiled through her tears. “I think Joseph and I are going to become parents too.” She dropped her head to her hands. “I’d given up on ever having a child. I’ve been making excuses for my symptoms for weeks.”
“Oh, my goodness!” Birdie pulled Mattie from her chair and danced her around the room. Suddenly the room swayed a bit and Birdie held a hand to her head. “Whoa, we better sit down.”
Mattie shoved her into the chair and took Birdie’s perch on the desktop.
“Mattie, how old are you and Joseph?”
“I’m thirty-eight. Joseph is almost fifty.”
Birdie nodded. Lots of women in this day and time had babies up into their forties. Mattie’s should be fine. When they’d first met, Birdie believed Mattie to be middle-aged. Since she’d lost weight and toned up, she looked younger and healthier. “Well, you need to get to the doctor for a checkup right now.”
“No, not until I’m much farther along.”
“Now, today or tomorrow. Believe me, early medical care is very important for the child’s health as well as yours.”
Face radiant with happiness, Mattie conceded. “I will. Promise.”
It suddenly registered with Birdie that Mattie should have been in the middle of a class. Her mood sank like a sack of rocks in the Brazos. “Where are your students?”
“No one showed today. Can’t imagine why.”
“Really? Didn’t you see the newspaper article about Detective Jenkins?”
“Yeah, I did but didn’t think it would have that much affect on the school.”
“I’m sorry, Mattie. I never dreamed it would hurt the school and you.”
“Don’t worry about it. The situation will soon blow over and things will go back to normal.” Mattie shrugged. “If not, we’ll have other things to occupy our minds.”
Birdie was just now learning about motherhood. She wasn’t sure she could just stay home and be a wife and mother. Not that she wasn’t excited. She was, though she was a little frightened too. Not about giving birth, but the responsibility involved. Nathan was darn good training. Oh, how she loved the little bugger. He was so sweet. At least she had Olivia, Bethany, and Sarah to help out.
They waited until the next class was due to arrive. When no one showed, they tacked a sign to the door that read, CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
* * *
Tad chased after Nathan as he crawled across the parlor rug. He was fast and squealed like a greased pig when he knew Tad was after him. Laughing, Tad scooped him up and tossed him over his head. Birdie came in the room wearing a pretty blue suit dress with a frilly white blouse. She grinned and quipped, “Better be careful or you’ll be wearing his breakfast.”
Oh, yeah. He settled the boy on his hip and looked at his knees. They seemed to be relatively bare of dirt. His job was to keep him clean before they left for church. The more active Nathan became, the harder it was. He approached his wife and fingered the lace on the throat of her blouse. “Why don’t you ever wear your brooch? It would look nice with this dress.”
She bit her lower lip and leaned close. “I’m sorry, Tad, but after thinking back, I’m afraid it had something to do with my time travel and that if I put it on I’ll disappear.”
Disappear? Fear welled in his stomach. Could it be? “Well, let’s get rid of the thing.”
“No. For some reason I know we’re supposed to have the brooch.” She shrugged. “I guess that reason will become clear at some time during our life.”
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. Put it up somewhere safe in case Bethany decides to try it on or heaven forbid, our baby, if it’s a girl.”
She laughed. “Little boys try on jewelry too, love.”
“Egad! That cinches it. Maybe we should have Mr. Smith put in his vault at the bank.”
“Not a bad idea, at all. I’ll see to it next time I’m in town.”
Tad leaned close and placed a kiss on her lips. “Brooch or not, you are lovely this morning, love.”
“Thank you. May I say you are especially handsome, quite the rake with Nathan on your hip.”
“Hmm, yes, ma’am, you may. If I’d known women were so attracted to babies, I’d have borrowed one a few years ago to aid my pursuit of the fairer sex.” He leaned in and placed a kiss on her lips.
She snorted. “Only women interested in marriage would be drawn to a man holding a child, Tad.”
“Well, rats.” He grinned. “There’s only one woman I’m interested in attracting.” He wiggled his eyebrows and lowered his voice. “The one who kept me awake making love half the night.”
“Are we ready to go?” Olivia entered the room with Bethany on her heels.
“Yes we are, Mother.” He walked to open the front door. “Your carriage awaits, madams and mam’selle.”
Bethany giggled as Tad handed her up into the surrey. “You’re so much more fun since you got married, Tad. Not nearly as stuffy.”
“A happy marriage does that to a man, child,” Birdie said, sounding much like his mother.
Tad glanced at Birdie and winked. “And I am one happy man.” After he’d handed Nathan in to Sarah, Birdie poked him in the rear with her parasol. He jumped and shot her a mock scowl. She’d have to stay on her toes or he’d be paying her back. To keep him from squeezing a handful of her butt, she turned sideways for him to help her in. He leaned close. “Spoil sport.”
Olivia and Bethany led the way down the aisle at church. Birdie held Nathan, struggling to keep him from snatching feathers off her hat as Tad, hand at her waist, guided her along after his mother and sister.
Sarah saw her dilemma and whispered, “Let me take him, ma’am.” Birdie handed him over. Before Sarah could move down the aisle, Nathan howled and lunged from Sarah’s grasp. Birdie caught him, pulled a feather from her hat and handed it to him.
Several women around them chuckled and when Birdie looked up, they nodded in greeting. Even Mrs. Smith, the banker’s wife who’d been so snooty a year ago, smiled and dipped her head. Well, will wonders never cease? Maybe the women in town didn’t take note of the initials in the article, didn’t put two and two together or just didn’t care. Hmm, interesting.
Mr. Smith pulled his wife back around and whispered, much too loudly, “Turn around. Ignore that woman.” He sniffed as if there were a bad odor in the church. “Dressing up in men’s clothes, indeed.” He glanced back and hissed at Birdie. “Hussy.”
His wife gasped and pinched his arm. “Shush! People are staring.”
Birdie stiffened and quickly glanced to see if Tad had heard. She relaxed. Tad was engaged in conversation with the man across the aisle. She scanned those in the congregation. Several men stared at her with contempt. She lifted her chin and glared at them until they lowered their gaze. Oh, boy. Finally the women were easing up on her. Now the men were against her. They probably thought she’d have their wives and daughters wearing pants. She snorted.
Tad looked at her, furrowed his brow and mouthed
what?
She smiled and shook her head. Nathan dropped the wet feather and lunged for Tad. He cuddled him close and the baby laid his head on his shoulder and yawned. Tad gently rubbed his back and soon Nathan was asleep.
When the service was over, Birdie ignored the rude stares of a couple of the men, Mr. Smith included. Just outside, Tad handed Nathan to Sarah and stalked after Mr. Smith. “Raymond Smith, I want to talk to you.”
The man stopped and turned. “What do you want, Tad?”
He shrugged out of his coat and tossed it to Birdie. “You called my wife a name in the church.”
Birdie grabbed Tad’s arm. “It’s not really important, Tad. Come on. Let it go.”
“No, sweetheart. Move back out of the way. This is my fight.”
Mr. Smith puffed out his chest. “Yes, sir. I did. You need to keep a firmer hand on the woman.”
His wife tugged on his arm. “Apologize to Mrs. Lockhart and let’s go.”
He shook her hand off. “I’ll do no such thing. She’s a disgrace to womanhood.”
Tad’s jaw was rigid as he spoke through his teeth. “No man shows disrespect to my wife. I want an apology.”
Mr. Smith shrugged out of his jacket. “Well, you’re not getting it from me.”
The man turned around and grinned. Before he could move, Tad landed a blow to his chin. He went down like a felled tree and didn’t get up. Tad made eye contact with the men in the crowd that had gathered. “No man calls my wife names or is disrespectful to her.” He nodded to Mrs. Smith. “Remind your husband that I expect Birdie to receive an apology from him by tomorrow or we’ll be having another talk.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Tad, that wasn’t necessary. I’m not some little woman who needs protecting.”
“Don’t nag at me about it, Birdie. You are my wife. I’ll not allow any man to talk to you or any woman in my family in that manner.”
Olivia tapped him on the shoulder with her parasol. “Never thought I’d see the day when I’d be glad to see you fighting, but that man deserved it. I’m proud of you, son.”