Tenderness (18 page)

Jody did not utter one word until they had almost finished the meal. “We got a pet deer,” he said suddenly.

Both Susan and Todd looked at him with astonishment.

“Ah… you don’t,” Susan scoffed.

“We do too.”

“If Jody s-says he’s g-got a pet deer, he’s g-got one. S-so shut-up, S-Susan.”

“I won’t believe it till I see it.” Susan reached for a cookie. “I never heard of such a thing.”

“It comes and licks salt.” Jody glared across the table at Susan. “Ya don’t know nothin” bout deer,
white girl..”

Jesse glanced quickly at Wade. He didn’t seem to be perturbed. His green eyes went from one to the other. Jesse could almost
read his thoughts.
This exchange with the Forbes children was good for Jody.

“At least I know enough not to run down the middle of Main Street and thumb my nose at the marshal… smart-mouth.”

Jody lifted his chin proudly. “Yeah, I did that. I’ll do it again.”

Susan giggled. “Everyone in town laughed about it. Old Man Harper had a fit and fell in it. He wanted to have you arrested.”

“How’d ya know that?”

“I get around. I hear things. Now about this pet deer—”

“It ain’t a real pet like Delilah.” Jody admitted. “Wade says if we tame it, it’ll not be scared of folks ‘n’ they’ll kill
it. But we got a pet coon.”

“That’s more like it. When can I see it?”

“D-Don’t s-show her, Jody. She’s just a-a s-silly g-girl.”

Wade burst out laughing. “I guess I’m out of touch with the younger generation. Miss Anthony, is this what goes on in your
classroom?”

“Some of the time. The rest of the time I’m cracking the whip.” She saw the startled look on Jody’s face and said quickly,
“What I mean is, I assign them so much work they don’t have time for getting into mischief.”

“Ya think ya can learn me?” Jody asked.

“No. But I can teach you if you want to learn.”

“I gonna be like Wade. I gonna be smart ‘n’ read ever’ book in dis world.”

“Oh, Lord.” Wade shook his head. “That’s not a very high goal to set for yourself. You’ll have to learn a lot more than I
know in order to get into a good school.”

“I’ll write to the colored colleges and ask about the entry exams and what classes are offered,” Pauline said. “We’ll have
to plan a course of study for Jody.”

“I’ll help you with your homework.” Susan rolled her eyes upward. “Miss Anthony pours on the homework.”

“I ain’t needin’ no help from you. I ain’t no dumb nigga!”

“Maybe not, but right now you’re actin’ like one.”

Jesse stood. “Pauline, if you want to change your mind about staying with us this summer, I’ll not blame you.”

Pauline laughed. “Not on your life. It would make Mrs. Lindstrom too happy.” She took the teakettle from the stove and poured
hot water into the dishpan.

“You can see what you’re in for. Three smart-mouthed kids.”

“I’ve handled twenty smart-mouthed kids. I can certainly handle these three.”

“Lou… el… la—” Susan drew out the housekeeper’s name dramatically—“won’t let her dress tail touch her hind end until she tells
Mrs. Harper the goin’s on in the doctor’s house.”

“My word, Susan!” Jesse glanced at Wade. He was trying to keep the grin off his face. “Papa talked to Mrs. Lindstrom and he
assured me that she understood the situation and would say nothing about it.”

“She’d say anything to keep on Papa’s good side. She’s got her eye on him. If he marries that bossy, dried-up old prune, I’ll
run away from home.”

“I swan to goodness, Susan—”

Hiding behind a casual attitude because she knew her sister would lecture her on the way home, Susan reached for another cookie.
Her hand collided with her brother’s.

“J-Jody hasn’t h-had hardly any. You’re a p-p-pig!”

“Go on, Jesse.” Pauline carried dishes to the pan of hot water. “Susan and I will clean up.”

“What about Todd and Jody?” Susan complained. “They ate too, and a heck of a lot more than I did.”

“W-We got work o-outside, ain’t we, J-Jody?”

“Ain’t? You said, ain’t?” Pauline exclaimed. “If you were in my class, Todd Forbes, you would write ‘we don’t say ain’t’ on
the blackboard a hundred times.”

“B-But we ain’t… we’re not in s-school.” Todd giggled and grabbed the last of the cookies from the plate. “Come on, Jody.
Let’s g-get out of here. Can you s-spit through your t-teeth, Jody? Will you s-show me how?”

Jesse knew her friend well enough to know that she was comfortable here, that she had accepted Wade and Jody without the slightest
qualm.

“It shouldn’t take us more than three hours, Pauline. We’ll be back so we can start home before sundown.”

“Don’t worry about us. Have a good time.” She lifted her brows and laughed when Jesse’s pink cheeks told her she had caught
her meaning.

“Oh… you!” Jesse said as she went out the door.

Wade was hitching a lively young mare to the buggy. She was a beautiful golden color with a white mane and tail.

“She needs a good workout,” he explained.

“What’s her name?”

“You won’t believe it. I let Jody name her.”

“Tell me. I’ve got to call her something.”

“Christmas. Jody couldn’t decide so I suggested something he liked. I should have kept my mouth shut.”

“Christmas. I must admit that it is an unusual name for a horse. She’s pretty though.”

“So are you,” he said softly and helped her into the buggy.

The young mare was frisky and wanted to run. Wade held her to a fast trot and the buggy rolled smoothly down the road toward
the trail that would take them to the Gordons’.

Now that she was alone with him, Jesse could think of nothing to say. Wade was silent also. He drove with one foot on the
footboard, both hands on the reins.

“Papa has always encouraged my brother and sister to say what’s on their minds,” Jesse finally said. “They did a good job
of it today. I hope you don’t think they’re brats. They’re really good kids.”

He turned to look at her. “They accepted Jody. That’s what’s important to me. He accepted them, but not quite so much. It
will take time.”

“Susan is a freethinker. That’s what Papa calls her. If Jody is her friend, she’ll look out for him.” Jesse laughed into his
eyes and almost forgot what she was going to say. “Just the other day, our new housekeeper said some unkind things to the
woman who comes to do the wash. Susan was furious. I held my breath for fear she would kick Mrs. Lindstrom’s shins.”

“She’s Old Ghost-face?” Wade chuckled. “It fits. I saw her the couple times I went in to talk to the doc.”

“Papa hired her while I was up here. Susan named her because she puts buttermilk on her face to bleach her skin.” Jesse’s
laugh rang out. “It’s a habit of Susan’s to tack nicknames on people. She swears she caught her putting egg white on her face,
and later she sneaked around to see what it was like when it dried.”

“And?”

“The way Susan described it, her face looked as if it was all drawn up tight and if she smiled it would crack.”

“She could have named her Old Egg-face.”

They laughed together, then smiled into each other’s eyes. Soon the smile left Wade’s mouth and eyes, and a look of pure longing
took its place. He turned his attention back to the mare and pulled her over into a stand of oak trees. He loosened the reins
so the mare could lower her head and crop the grass, then wound them around the brake handle. It was cool and quiet in the
woods except for an occasional birdsong.

When he turned sideways in the seat and opened his arms, Jesse went to him willingly. He gathered her to him gently, carefully,
as if she were the most fragile thing in the world. A warm protective feeling slowly filled him. He felt her hand on his face
and his body became one silent groan of pleasure. He longed to crush her to him, plunder her mouth with his own. Instead when
she turned her face for his kiss, it was, in a way, an innocent kiss—soft, generous, uninhibited and incredibly sweet.

Wade closed his eyes and whispered, “Jesse.” His lips touched hers as he whispered again. “Sweet Jesse.”

Whatever it was that had happened when he first saw her over a year ago had been growing steadily. Now it almost consumed
him. She was so open, so giving, as unrestrained as a summer breeze when she responded to his kiss. Her mouth parted beneath
his, yielding and vulnerable to the invasion of his lips and gentle tongue.

Wade had saved his love, stored it away, sharing it only with his granny and, to a certain extent, with Jody. Now all the
love he had to give was hers; this wonderful, beautiful angel of a woman who had come into his life and turned it upside down.
His heart was drumming so hard that he could hardly breathe; his love for her was choking him. He burrowed his face deep into
the fragrance of her hair and felt his whole self harden and tremble.

Jesse abandoned herself to the heavenly feeling of being in his arms. Her fingers touched his hair and his nape and felt along
the hard line of his jawbone. A low moan escaped from her lips when they were freed, and she clung to him as if she could
merge with his body.

“Wade… I didn’t know… kisses were like this.”

Half-laughing, he locked his arms around her more tightly. He smoothed her rumpled hair and traced along the side of her face
with his lips and gently kissed her trembling mouth. His whispered words came against her lips.

“Neither did I, love.” His lips moved to her hair. “I’ve been crazy about you for a long time,” he said with a touch of desperation.
“The feel of you in my arms is like no other feeling in the world. I’m so damn scared that I’ll lose you and we’ll never get
to know how wonderful our lives together could have been.”

Jesse pulled back and cradled his face with her hands. “I understand what you mean. I was scared to come up here again, afraid
I had read too much in the kiss we shared and would be disappointed. We have the power to hurt each other, Wade, simply because
we care about each other.” She felt the tremors rippling through his body. “We must wait and see if what we feel is just mutual
attraction or something more.”

As he looked into her blue-gray eyes, soft with caring, the fear went out of him, and strength flowed in to fill the hollows
that fear of losing her had dug. Seeing her smile and the flash of a dimple in her cheek made Wade feel as if he could take
on the whole world. A surge of love for her flowed through him like a river. How was it possible that this woman, and only
this woman, with her soft smile and calm words could make him feel like this?

“Right now we’d better get on up to the Gordons’.” Her mouth curved into a wanton little smile that grew into low, throated
laughter.

He kissed her with lusty delight. “Yes, ma’am.” His eyes, shining green between a hedge of thick lashes, danced over her face.
“Your cheeks are pink,” he teased. “Everyone will know it was my rough whiskers that scratched your soft skin.”

“Oh, no!” She put her hand on his cheek. It was dark, but not rough. “You lied, Wade Simmer. You lied to scare me.”

“I don’t care if the whole world knows I kissed you.” He turned the buggy out from under the trees and once again they were
on the road.

For the first time in years Wade asked God for something.
Please, God, make me worthy of this woman.

T
hey made two stops before they reached the Gordons’. Wade turned off down a lane to the Prestons’, then to the Fosters’ so
Jesse could tell them about the inoculations coming up in two weeks.

“The vaccine is being furnished by the Public Health Department,” she explained. “By vaccinating everyone the world’s health
organizations are hoping to eradicate the disease that kills millions of people each year. A sore will appear on the arm where
the serum has been rubbed into the skin. My father will explain the treatment it will require. Spread the word to your friends
and neighbors.”

Before she left, Jesse passed out stick candy to the children and promised another when they came to get their smallpox vaccinations.

The Gordon home was as neat as Jesse remembered it. The children playing on a swing in the yard stopped to stare at the buggy
as it approached. One ran to the house yelling, “Maw.”

Wade helped Jesse from the buggy. She smiled into his eyes and squeezed his hand. Happiness sang in her heart like the lark
they had heard the day of the picnic by the creek. He stood beside the buggy while she went to the house.

Mrs. Gordon was on the porch. A small shy girl hid behind her skirts.

“Howdy.” Mrs. Gordon held out her hand. Jesse shook it, returned the greeting, and then placed her hand on the head of the
little girl.

“Hello, Madaline. Remember me? I had on my nurse’s uniform the day I was here. You’re not sick anymore. You look fit as a
fiddle now.”

“Yes’m, she’s doin’ tolerable. Don’t have no lustre yet, but perkin’ up ever’day. We don’t know how we kin ever thank ya—”

“No thanks are necessary, Mrs. Gordon. Just seeing Madaline well is thanks enough. Have you heard of any new cases of scarlet
fever?”

“No, ma’am. Now school’s out we don’t get much news. Hello, Mr. Simmer,” she called. “Won’t you and the lady step in for a
cool drink of water? I’ll get one of the boys to draw a fresh bucket.”

“Thank you. And I’ll gladly fetch the water.”

“Bucket’s there on the shelf. Watch that pulley. It don’t take to the rope like it ort to no more. Come in outta the sun,
ma’am.”

The half hour they spent with the Gordons was pleasant. Jesse explained about the smallpox inoculations. Mrs. Gordon asked
sensible questions and promised to send the older children to homesteads farther back in the woods to spread the news. Jesse
passed out the stick candy and spoke to each of the children. They responded politely while their mother smiled with unconcealed
pride in her brood.

As soon as they were away from the house, Wade grabbed Jesse’s hand and held it tightly.

“I’m proud of you, sweetheart. I’m so proud of you I could burst.”