Chance Of A Lifetime (11 page)

“And I’ll have the cheese sliced and on a platter before you know it,” Hattie finished.

“Well, ladies.” Miz Willow beamed a gummy smile. “I’d say we’re ready for the onslaught.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Daisy and Hattie exclaimed in tandem before collapsing onto the benches. They’d stayed up through most of the night getting all the food ready for the barn raising, but it would be worth it.

Daisy closed her eyes for a moment before pulling herself up again. “I’d better go get Jamie. I hope he slept all right in the barn loft with Bryce.” She turned to Hattie. “It was good of Logan to spend the night up there with them, making it a boys’ night.”

“Yes.” Hattie smiled. “Almost makes me feel bad I didn’t make him a special breakfast!”

“I think he’ll live.” Daisy cast a glance around the food-filled cabin and shared a laugh with the other women before heading out to the barn.

She tapped hesitantly on the door. What if they weren’t up and dressed yet? She rubbed her eyes while waiting.

“Good morning!” Bryce flung open the door, striding out with Jamie in one arm and the eggs they’d gathered in the other.

“Morn’g!” Jamie echoed.

“Good to see you!” Daisy bit back a yawn and swung Jamie into her arms. “My!” She hefted him up and down until he giggled. “I think you’ve gone and grown since I saw you last.”

“Uh-huh!” Jamie grinned before planting a kiss on her cheek.

“Did you have fun with yore sleepover?” Daisy directed the question to Bryce.

“Yep.” Bryce nudged Jamie’s shoulder. “After working all day and tucking in to dinner last night, we all just fell into our beds and slept.”

“Sounds lovely.” Daisy stifled another yawn. “He wouldn’t have gotten much sleep in the cabin last night—we were making such a racket getting things ready.”

“Oh?” Bryce’s close scrutiny made Daisy want to scurry back inside to wash her face and brush her hair. “Didn’t you get to sleep at all last night?” His concern showed in an uncharacteristic frown.

“A bit.” Daisy lightened her tone and smiled. “We snatched a few minutes here and there in shifts. We made shore Miz Willow drifted off more often than she told us to let her.”

“Well.” Bryce smoothly took Jamie from her. “I’d say you should go catch a few minutes more. Folks won’t be showing up for another hour or so. I’ll watch Jamie, and I’m sure Miz Willow has things under control. Why don’t you and Hattie go to her room and snooze for a bit? I’ll knock on the door to wake you up when it’s time.”

“Thankee, Bryce.” Too tired to turn down the generous offer, Daisy smiled at him.

As she and Hattie snuggled into bed for a quick nap, Daisy thought of how natural Bryce looked with Jamie in his arms. It was the last image she remembered before drifting off into a sleep too deep for dreams.

Knock, knock, knock
. The pesky sound wouldn’t let up, no matter how deeply Daisy burrowed into the pillows.

It cain’t be time to rise yet! I jist shut my eyes!

“Daisy?” Bryce’s questioning rumble caused her to open one eye.

Ooh
. She swung her feet over the side of the bed and nudged Hattie.
Today’s the barn raisin’. I wouldn’t have had a wink of sleep iff ‘n it weren’t for Bryce ordering me to sneak in a nap
.

“We’re up!” Daisy called, reaching out for a deep stretch.

“All right.” She heard him walk away.

“C’mon, Hattie.” Daisy rubbed her friend’s shoulder. “People are comin’ for the barn raisin’.”

“What?” Hattie sat bolt upright. “Oh! We’d better get goin’!” She scrambled out of bed and tossed Daisy the only other dress she owned. They quickly donned the fresh clothes and splashed their faces with cold water.

“Mercy.” Daisy stared at her hair in horror. “Did I look like this before I went to fetch Jamie this mornin’?” she demanded of Hattie.

“Not quite,” Hattie responded loyally, swiftly plaiting her hair into one long braid down her back. “But jist ‘bout.”

“How could you let me step foot outside lookin’ a fright,” Daisy wailed, hastily pulling the pins from her tresses.

“I look ‘bout the same.” A sly grin spread across Hattie’s face. “Who’re you tryin’ to impress? Cain’t be me, Miz Willow, Jamie, or Logan.” She intentionally left out the only other person on the property that morning.

“Hobble yore mouth, Hattie!” Daisy raked her fingers through the worst of the snarls. “It ain’t that I have anyone to impress. It’s a matter of being ladylike!”
Though I don’t want Bryce seein’ me all disheveled
.

“Shore.” Hattie drew out the word as she handed her friend the brush. “Well, whatever it is, you better hurry. I hear some folks startin’ to arrive.”

“No!” Daisy gasped, staring at her reflection in dismay. She finished brushing her hair and made a quick decision. She didn’t have time to do anything but one long braid like Hattie’s.
I cain get the snarls out, but how am I ever gonna get that man out of my hair?

Within a matter of minutes, the homestead went from empty to teaming with neighbors. Bryce stood alongside Logan and greeted everybody who pulled up, taking the horses over to the hitching posts they’d put up just for the day.

“Good to see you, Bryce.” Asa Pleasant slapped him on the shoulder. “Glad to see you haven’t left us just yet.”

“I wouldn’t miss this,” Bryce answered. Asa was a good man—uncle—to Eunice and Lois, two of the MacPhersons’ brides. But that was a story in and of itself. For now, Bryce was glad to see such a talented worker here to help raise the barn. Asa was one of the local carvers whose work Logan sold to a dealer in Charleston. Asa Pleasant’s swan-neck wall hooks and hand-carved nativity sets were nothing less than works of art.

“Hey, Bryce!” Ted Trevor stood before him.

“Hello, Ted.” Bryce looked around for Ted’s twin brother. “Where’s Fred?”

“He’s around here somewhere.” Ted shrugged. “Listen, we’ve whatcha call a minor disagreement you cain settle for us.”

“Oh?” The comment piqued Bryce’s interest.

“Most folks we’ve grown up with cain’t tell the two of us apart, but you don’t seem to have no trouble.” Ted grinned. “I say it’s ‘cuz you noticed that I’m taller, but Fred is of the opinion that he’s the handsome one. What’s the reason?”

“Wait a minute!” Fred came dashing up alongside his brother. “You cain’t ask him less’n we’re both in front of him.” He puffed out his chest, and Ted stood up as straight as he could and craned his neck. “All right. We’re ready.”

“Sorry, fellas,” Bryce apologized. “But you’re like two peas in a pod. Neither one is taller or shorter or more handsome.”

“But I’ve only had my nose broke once!” Fred scowled at Bryce.

“Only on account of you bein’ too lily-livered to climb that rockfall,” Ted retorted.

“You mean havin’ the good sense not to!” Fred shot back before they both looked at Bryce again. “So how cain you tell?”

“Fred has a scar on his right hand that you don’t, Ted.” Bryce watched both their faces crumple in identical disappointment. “But listen, I’ve got five brothers, and Logan’s the one who looks least like me. People get us mixed up all the time back home. Don’t mean a thing unless you let it.”

“Right. So I’m the brave one,” Ted crowed.

“And I’m the one with more sense than God gave a goat,” Fred added. The two brothers shared a grin.

“Good enough.” They spoke in tandem. “Thanks, Bryce!”

He watched as the two scampered off to get into some new mischief. The Trevor twins were three years younger than Logan, and Bryce had five on the pair of ‘em. They were a rambunctious set but had their hearts in the right place.

“Bryce!” Ed Trevor, father to the twins, headed his way. “Jist the man I wanted to see!”

“How are you, Ed?” Bryce liked the good-natured hound-dog breeder.

“Wondered if you could see yore way clear to comin’ down after church tomorrow. One of my older dogs whelped unexpected, and the litter came late, too. One of the dog’s a runt, too scrawny to make it through winter as is.”

“I’ll see what I can do, Ed.” Depended on how strong the critter was. “What makes you think it’ll be such a bad winter?”

“Spring came early this year, so the winter’ll be rough. ‘Sides, dogs’ coats are comin’ in extry thick. Gearin’ up for the cold. God takes care of critters like that.”

“Good thing we’re getting this done today.” Bryce spotted Otis Nye struggling to walk with his cane while carrying a sack. He quickly took the sack from the old man. “Where does this go?”

“To wherever yore puttin’ the vittles.” Otis thumped his cane for emphasis. “That’s a ham.”

“I’ll take it to the kitchen for the women to decide where it goes,” Bryce offered.

Otis nodded as he plunked himself down on a bench. “Good thing you and that brother of yourn didn’t wait any longer for this barn. Gonna be a rough winter—I cain feel it in my bones. What’re you waitin’ for, boy?” Otis waved Bryce off. “Get goin’!”

Bryce pushed toward the cabin through what he thought of as a veritable herd of women.
No, wait a minute. I can’t talk about women like that
, Bryce reminded himself,
even if they are all gathered in one nearly impenetrable mass, jabbering on and getting in my way. Would “flock” be any better? They do chatter and cluck like birds. No, I don’t think they’d appreciate that, either
.

Bryce shook his head as he waded through the plumage—really, one of the women had droopy feathers on her hat that tickled his nose when he walked by. Women stumped him. If only all of them were as easy to be around as—

“Daisy!” He called her name as he saw her making her way into the cabin.

“Yes, Bryce?” She stopped. He loved to hear the sound of his name on her lips. She said it soft and careful, not short and clipped like so many others.

“Otis brought a ham.” Bryce lifted the sack. “Where do you want me to put it?”

“I’ll take it.” Daisy reached out, and he slid it into her arms, his fingertips tingling as they brushed against hers.

Daisy carried the sack inside, winding her way through the crush of people.

“I done brought you two roast chickens.” Silk Trevor pointed to where she’d laid them out on the table. “Nice thang is, they cain be jist as good et cold.”

“Thankee, Silk.” Miz Willow rocked contentedly in her chair.

“We brung salad filled with vegetables we grew!” Young Lark Cleary plunked the bowl down.

“I cain’t think on another thing we ain’t got already,” Hattie mused. “Look at that spread!”

“One more thing.” Daisy grunted as she slid the bag onto the table bench. “Otis Nye sent this here ham.”

“We’d best get to carvin’ it then.” Hattie handed Daisy a big, shiny new knife. “The barn raisin’ll begin any minute now, and we don’t want to miss it!”

I ain’t so shore about that
, Daisy disagreed.
The last time I attended a barn raisin’, Peter worked alongside these men. His blond hair won’t catch my eye in the crowd today. I won’t have a man to take water to and smile with
. She bowed her head for a moment.
These women all around either don’t know me or feel sorry for me. I cain’t spend the day jabbering with them. I hate when Jamie and me don’t have a place at big get-togethers. So many others don’t know how to treat Jamie. When they talk at him like he’s a baby, it cuts him deep. I know they don’t understand that his mind’s as sharp as this knife even though his words come out garbled, but that don’t make it hurt any less
.

Daisy took a deep breath, relieved that the women had left the cabin. People would be pressing in on her, around her, all day. Normally that didn’t get her goat, but since she didn’t feel able to join in the conversation, it made her feel insignificant.
Invisible
. She’d rather be alone in the cabin working than with ten other women and just standing there with nothing to say or do.

“None of that now.” Miz Willow’s order cracked Daisy’s thoughts.

“What? Am I doing this wrong?” She looked down at the platter of ham she hadn’t been paying close enough attention to, but it seemed fine to her.

“Yore doin’ somethin’ wrong, child. But it ain’t the ham.” Miz Willow came close to stand beside her. “Yore cutting yoreself off from others before the day’s begun.”