Dinner at the St. James Page 6

  “What happened to cause her death?”

  He stared out toward the river. “I really don’t know how it started. I was sixteen, and I had gone into town to get some supplies she needed. I knew he was drinking before I left, and I tried to hurry back home. When I got there, I couldn’t understand why she didn’t come out to meet me.” A wistful smile curled his lips. “She always came running out when I’d get back from anywhere.”

  “But she didn’t that day?”

  He shook his head. “No. I had this awful feeling that something had happened. I didn’t even take the horses to the barn. I just jumped out of the wagon and ran inside. She was lying on the kitchen floor. She’d been shot.” He clenched his fists. “I knew he’d done it. I ran through the house looking for him. I grabbed the gun I used for hunting. The only thing on my mind was that I had to kill Frank.”

  Tave’s heart pounded. “Did you?”

  “No. He was lying in the barn with the shotgun beside him. He’d killed himself, too.”

  Tave wiped at a tear that rolled down her cheek. “How horrible. What did you do then?”

  “I got back in the wagon and rode to my uncle’s house and told him what I’d found. He went for the sheriff, and they took care of everything. The next day, we buried my mother, but I wouldn’t let them bury Frank next to her. As soon as we finished, I left, and I’ve been drifting ever since.”

  “And your heart is still grieving that horrible experience.”

  His eyes grew wide. “Grief? For my mother, yes. I only feel hate for Frank Jessup. Sometimes I wish I’d found him before he killed himself. At least I’d have the satisfaction of knowing I avenged my mother.”

  Tave frowned and shook her head. “You should be thankful you didn’t get a chance to kill him. You would have been executed, and for what? Vengeance? The Bible tells us that vengeance belongs to God, not to us.”

  “Yeah, I’ve heard that before, but it doesn’t do anything to make me feel better.” He clenched his fists at his sides. “Every time I think of Frank, it’s like a knife slices through my heart and leaves me feeling like I’ve been cut up in little pieces and left to die.”

  Tave reached over and placed her hand on his arm. “I’m so sorry you’ve had such bad things happen in your life, Daniel. I can’t even start to imagine what it’s been like for you.”

  He stood and raked his hand through his hair. He strode to the edge of the porch, stopped, and turned to face her. “I can barely remember my father before he left for the war. But there are moments when I recall things he said and did. He was such a good man, and my mother didn’t deserve to end up with Frank Jessup. If my father had lived, things would have been so different for us.”

  She rose and walked to where he stood. “Your father couldn’t help what happened to him. Your mother did what she thought was best at the time. All you can do is lean on another Father who’s waiting to help you.”

  He stared at her. “I’ve seen you reading the Bible, and I’ve tried that, too. I’ll read something that gives me some hope I can let go of all this anger I have, and then I remember how my mother’s body looked lying on that kitchen floor. I get so angry at God for letting that happen that I want to scream and ask why.” He clenched his fists and glared at her. “If your God is so loving, tell me why He let that happen.”

  She shook her head. “People for centuries have tried to figure out why God lets bad things happen to people who love Him. My mother died when I was so young that I barely remember her, but sometimes I miss her so much that I ache inside. I used to ask my father why God took my mother away.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He said that we aren’t supposed to understand God’s ways. We are just supposed to trust that He’ll comfort us when bad things happen in our lives. I found a passage of scripture a long time ago that helped me cope, and I memorized it. I have to say it quite often to remind myself that God is still in control.”

  “What is it?”

  Tave tilted her head and smiled up at Daniel. “It goes like this: ‘That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.’ ”

  “Those sound like a lot of fancy words to me. What does it mean?”

  “It reminds me that I can’t control what’s happening around me. Problems come, and I may be troubled for a while. But these things are necessary because they test my faith. Gold can’t survive fire, but our faith is more precious than gold. If we hold on to God, we can survive. When we put our trust in God, He fills us with a peace that can endure forever. So no matter what happens in my life, God is still there, and I have to give it over to Him.”

  He shook his head. “You make it sound easy, but I don’t know if I could ever do that.”

  “God has given you great trials, Daniel, but I believe He’s been preparing you for something greater in your life. If you can trust Him and come out of the fire, you’re going to find that God will give you the greatest peace you’ve ever known. And when you do that, He’s going to reveal the plan He has for you.”

  Daniel’s eyes bored into hers. “No one has ever cared enough to talk to me like you have, Tave. You almost make me feel like I’m destined for some great mission in life.”

  Her gaze didn’t waver from his face. “Maybe you are.” Then she cleared her throat, glanced around for her basket, and picked it up. “Now, I have to get to Mr. Perkins’s store. You’re to come to supper with Poppa tonight. Don’t disappoint me.”

  “I won’t.”

  Tave walked down the steps and headed toward the store. When she stopped at the store’s front door, she looked back toward her father’s office. Daniel still stood where she’d left him. He lifted his hand and waved.

  ❧

  Daniel watched as Tave disappeared into the store. He turned back to the chair and sat down to ponder what he and Tave had discussed. He closed his eyes for a moment and thought about what she’d said.

  For the last seven years, he’d moved from place to place in an effort to run away from the memory of what he’d seen the day he found his mother’s body. Hatred had burned in his heart for the man who’d destroyed the last person Daniel had in his life, and he didn’t know if he could ever let go of the past.

  Tave’s words returned to him, and he remembered how she looked when she gazed at him. In her eyes, he saw genuine concern for him. She wanted his soul to be at peace, and her words almost persuaded him he could be. His feelings for her made him want to do what she asked, but something still held him back.

  When he’d first seen Tave, an emotion he hadn’t experienced in years had grabbed his heart. Over the past few weeks as he’d gotten to know her, it had only deepened. There was no doubt about it. He was in love with her. It didn’t matter, though. He could never speak of it. He wasn’t the kind of man she’d described as the husband she wanted. She deserved so much more than a penniless wanderer haunted by a memory that controlled his life.

  He’d never had trouble leaving any other place behind, and when the time came, he’d leave Tave, too. She needed someone like Matthew Chandler, a man with money and family connections. He could make all her wishes come true.

  A discreet cough at the edge of the porch caught his attention, and he glanced up to see Martha Thompson standing there. He’d spoken with her several times when she’d brought food to the doctor’s office for them.

  He had discovered as soon as he met her that she knew everything about all the residents of Willow Bend. He wondered what gossip she was pedaling today. Stifling an inward groan, he stood and smiled. “Mrs. Thompson, imagine seeing you today.”

  She grinned at him. “I was just on my way back from the store, and I saw you sittin’ out here all alone. I thought I’d check on you and see how you’re doing.”

  “I’m fine. And you?”

  “Just tolerable, Mr. Luckett. Just tolerable.” She frow
ned and twisted her shoulders. “Been havin’ some trouble with my back lately. Walking back and forth to town sure does cause my rheumatism to act up.”

  His hope that this was going to be a quick greeting vanished. He pointed to the chair where Tave had sat. “Would you like to rest for a while?”

  Martha shook her head. “I don’t want to bother you none.”

  Guilt at wishing he’d slipped inside Dr. Spencer’s office before Martha saw him niggled at the back of his mind. After all, she had fed him while he was sick. “How could you bother me? Especially after all the good food you’ve fed me.”

  She giggled. “Now ain’t you a smooth talker? I was just doing my Christian duty to help out folks in need.”

  “And I appreciate it.”

  She eased up onto the porch and plopped down in one of the chairs. She exhaled and set the basket beside her. “It sure is a hot day. I reckon I could stand to sit a spell before I take that long walk back home.” She glanced at him. “Mr. Perkins tells me you gonna start working for him next week.”

  Daniel nodded and dropped into the chair next to her. “I am. I need to earn some money so I can get on up to Montgomery.”

  She tilted her head to one side. “You got family up that way?”

  “No. My family’s all dead.

  “You don’t have a wife?”

  “I’m afraid not.”

  “Then what’s in Montgomery?”

  “I have a job waiting for me there.”

  “Doin’ what?”

  “Working on the docks.”

  The questions had been fired at him with the rapid precision of a Gatling gun. It took Daniel only a minute to figure out that Martha had accomplished her mission. She’d found out what she wanted to know about him.

  Martha narrowed her eyes and nodded. “You don’t say. On the docks, huh? I know Doc and Tave are gonna miss you. They appear to be quite taken with you.”

  “I am with them, too. After all, they saved my life.”

  Martha shifted in her chair and gazed at him, starting at his toes and ending at his head. “You sure look different than you did that day they brought you up that bluff. Me and the other ladies thought you was a goner for sure. Now that you’re feeling better, all of us in the Ladies Auxiliary hope you’ll come to church.”

  “Dr. Spencer mentioned to me how kind all of you were by bringing clothes for me and of course the food you brought. I’d love to meet everyone.”

  Martha’s face lit up. “Now that’d just be wonderful. I want to make sure you meet my daughter Esther. She cooked a lot of that food I brought over here, and she’s just dying to meet you.”

  Daniel gulped and forced a smile to his face. “I’ll be happy to meet Esther and thank her.”

  Martha pushed to her feet, placed her hands in the small of her back, and rubbed. “That little rest helped a lot.” She bent down and picked up her basket. “I guess I can make it home now. Maybe we’ll see you Sunday.”

  “Maybe so.”

  He watched Martha as she waddled down the street, then turned his attention back to Mr. Perkins’s store. Tave stepped onto the street, a blond woman behind her. They chatted as they strolled down the street toward Dr. Spencer’s office.

  When they reached it, they stepped onto the porch, and Tave pointed to the woman with her. “Daniel, this is my friend Savannah Rinaldi. She and her husband own Cottonwood Plantation.”

  Daniel had heard Tave and her father talk about the Rinaldis before, but he hadn’t had the opportunity to meet either of them. “Captain Hawkins pointed out your home to me once when we passed going upriver. He told me you and your husband rebuilt the house to what it was like before it burned.”

  Savannah smiled. “Well, almost to what it was like. It’s somewhat smaller, but we like it fine. I’m sorry my husband isn’t with me today. I know he’d like to meet you.” Her eyes lit up as if she’d just been struck with an idea. “Tave, why don’t you bring Daniel to the picnic after church on Sunday?”

  A shy smile pulled at Tave’s lips, and she tightened her grip on the basket’s handle. “I was going to ask you if you felt up to doing that. What do you think?”

  He hadn’t wanted to go to church in years, but he wanted to be wherever Tave was. If that meant going to church, he’d do it. His plans might call for him to leave Willow Bend, but until he did, he intended to spend every minute he could with her.

  “I’d love to go.”

  Seven

  Tave and Savannah walked toward the livery stable that sat at the end of the main street. Tave walked past there often on her way back and forth to her father’s office and always stopped to look at the horses in the corral at the side of the building. As she and Savannah approached the fence, a chestnut mare with a white star on her head trotted over and whinnied at them.

  Tave stopped and stared at the beautiful creature. The mare stuck her head over the fence, and Tave patted her. “Where did you come from, girl? I haven’t seen you before.”

  Savannah stepped up beside Tave. “Dante said Mr. Jensen bought some new horses at the sale in Selma last week. She must be one of them.”

  Tave took in the sleek lines of the mare. “Whoever gets her is going to be a lucky person.” She gave the horse one last pat, and she and Savannah walked on toward the front of the livery stable. Tave darted a glance at her friend. “I’m glad you invited Daniel to church. I wanted to, but I wasn’t sure he’d come.”

  Savannah stopped and stared at her. “Why would you think that?”

  Tave longed to discuss her conversation with Daniel, but she didn’t want to reveal anything about his background that he wanted to keep private. “Daniel has had some problems in his past, and I’ve tried to give him some scriptures to help him. I thought he might think I was pushing him too much. It was much better coming from you.”

  “I don’t think you’d have a problem getting him to do anything you wanted.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  Savannah laughed and stared at Tave with a look of disbelief. “What’s the matter with you? Are you blind?”

  Tave’s mouth gaped open. “Blind about what?”

  Savannah pursed her lips and studied Tave. “You can’t see that he’s in love with you, can you?”

  Tave pressed her hand to her chest and took a step back. “In love with me? What makes you think that?”

  “It’s the way he looks at you, Tave. I can see it in his eyes.”

  Tave could hardly believe what she was hearing. She knew Daniel had developed an attachment to her. But love? No, that couldn’t be. Tave shook her head. “You’re wrong. I’d know it if that were true.”

  Savannah looped her arm through Tave’s, and they moved toward Savannah’s buggy that sat outside the livery stable. “Not necessarily. I remember Mamie telling me that Dante loved me, and I didn’t believe it. Later, I didn’t know how I’d missed all the signals he’d been sending me.”

  Tave’s stomach churned, and her knees felt weak. “B–but what should I do?”

  Savannah stopped at her buggy and placed her basket inside. “Nothing, I suppose. That is, unless you want to encourage him.” Savannah turned to face Tave, and her eyes grew wide. “You’re in love with him, too, aren’t you?”

  The question stunned Tave. She reached out and clutched the side of the buggy for support. “I—I don’t know. I like him, and I feel very protective of him. I thought that was because I’d taken care of him when he was so sick.”

  Savannah nodded in the direction of the livery stable. “I need to go pay Mr. Jensen what I owe him. You get in the buggy, and I’ll take you home. I think we need to talk about this more.”

  Tave climbed in and settled on the seat. Savannah’s words whirled in her mind as she waited for her friend to return. Was it possible Daniel was in love with her? And what about her feelings? She put her fingers on her temples and rubbed. This was too much to comprehend.

  Savannah returned in a few minutes and untied the rei
ns from the hitching post. When she was settled in the buggy, she turned the horse in the direction of Tave’s house.

  They rode in silence for a minute until Tave’s curiosity got the best of her. She turned to Savannah. “How did you know when you fell in love with Dante?”

  Savannah arched her eyebrows and flicked the reins across the horse’s back. “It’s hard to put into words. I think it began with respect. I saw what a good man he was even though he’d had some bad things happen to him in the past. I recognized his strength of character because he was able to survive some terrible experiences, but it hadn’t hardened his heart.”

  Tave nodded. “Daniel’s had some horrible things happen to him. He hasn’t been able to put some of it behind him yet. I don’t know if he ever will.” She glanced at Savannah. “He’s carrying a lot of anger inside him, but I know he’s a good man. He risked his life to save another man’s life. Someone who does that has to be brave. Captain Hawkins said he’s a fine young man, too.”

  “Then you can be assured he is. I’ve known Captain Hawkins since I was a child, and he’s a good judge of character. But Tave, you know as well as I do that there are many people who look good in the eyes of the world, but they don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus.” They rode in silence for a while before Savannah spoke again. “What about Matthew? How do you feel about him?”

  With a start, Tave realized she’d hardly thought about Matthew since he’d been away. She bit down on her lip, then glanced at Savannah. “I haven’t told you what Matthew said before he left with his mother.”

  When she finished telling Savannah of Matthew’s visit, Savannah shook her head. “He talked about marriage, but he never said he loved you?”

  Tave gasped. “You’re right. I just now realized that.”

  Savannah grabbed the reins with one hand and reached over to pat Tave’s arm. “I’m sure he must, or he wouldn’t want to marry you.”

  Tave nodded, but she wasn’t so sure. The first time she’d seen Matthew after coming to Willow Bend she had thought him the most handsome man she’d ever seen, but he’d never noticed her until a year ago. Since that time, she’d often dreamed of what it would be like to be married to the heir of one of the biggest plantations in Alabama. Now she realized she’d ceased having those thoughts some time ago, and she hadn’t questioned why.