Dinner at the St. James Read online

  Why would Matthew talk of marrying her if he didn’t love her? And what about Daniel? Was it possible he’d fallen in love with her?

  Tave clenched her fists and pounded her knees. “Why is it so hard sometimes to know what God’s will is for your life?”

  Savannah laughed. “I’ve often wondered that myself.” She pulled the horse to a stop at Tave’s house and turned in the seat to face her. “The important thing is for you to pray about it, and search your heart for the answer, Tave. Matthew has a lot of money, but it doesn’t mean a thing if you don’t love him. On the other hand, Daniel seems like a nice enough young man, but he doesn’t recognize the need for God in his life. Be careful. He could end up hurting you. You’re my friend, and I don’t want to see that happen.”

  Tave hugged Savannah and smiled. “Thank you. I’ll think about everything you’ve said, and I’ll pray about it. For all I know, there may be somebody else God has in mind for me. I’ll wait until the Lord reveals what He has planned for me.”

  “That sounds good to me. We’ll talk again. Maybe we’ll have a chance to do that Sunday at the picnic.”

  Tave climbed from the buggy and waved as the horse trotted down the street. When her friend was out of sight, she walked toward the small house where she and her father had lived since coming to Willow Bend.

  She stopped at the crepe myrtle bush outside the front door and broke off several branches to arrange in the cut-glass vase that had belonged to her grandmother. The deep pink blooms always added a festive touch to their dining table, and she wanted everything to look special for Daniel tonight.

  Her heart quickened at the memory of Savannah’s words. Did Daniel love her? She had to admit she harbored special feelings for him, but she hadn’t called it love. Not yet, anyway.

  ❧

  On Saturday night, Tave closed the cupboard and turned back to survey the clean kitchen. Every supper dish had been washed, dried, and put away. A burst of laughter came from the parlor, and she smiled. She knew that sound all too well. Poppa had just defeated Daniel in another game of checkers.

  She picked up the oil lamp from the kitchen table and walked into the parlor. Daniel gazed down at the checkerboard as if trying to determine which move had proved his undoing in the match. Her father leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and tapped his tented fingers together. A smile curled his lips.

  Tave set the lamp down on the table next to the rocker that had belonged to her mother and sat down. She plumped a pillow behind her back and sighed. “Don’t bother trying to recall the moves, Daniel. I’m sure if you ask Poppa, he can tell you where you made your mistake.”

  Daniel looked up, a puzzled expression on his face. “How do you know that?”

  “Because I’ve been watching him defeat every guest we’ve had ever since I can remember. It’s an obsession with him. Behind that kind face and loving personality lurks a fierce competitor who shows no mercy.”

  Her father laughed and pushed to his feet. “You’re speaking ill of your father, my dear. I would expect better from my daughter.”

  The bag that held items to be darned sat on the floor at her feet, and she reached for it. “You forget how well I know you, Poppa.” She pulled a sock from inside and cast a glance at Daniel. “I learned a long time ago that checkers is a scientific game, and Poppa plays it well. He’s not so concerned about his own moves as he is about waiting for the right moment when his opponent makes a mistake. Then he strikes swiftly.”

  Daniel rose and stuck his hands in his pockets. “Well, I have to say playing with him these past few weeks has been quite a learning experience.”

  Her father slapped Daniel on the back. “Keep practicing, son. Who knows? You just might be the one to beat me.”

  Daniel shook his head. “I doubt that, but I enjoyed the game.”

  Her father stifled a yawn. “Now if you two will excuse me, I have some work to do. I have a sick patient out at Winterville Plantation, the son of one of the tenant farmers, and I need to do some research about his condition. I’m going to my bedroom and see what I can find in that new medical book that came the other day.”

  Tave smiled at him. “Don’t nod off to sleep in your chair and forget to blow out the lamp.”

  “I’ll be careful.”

  She watched as her father walked from the room and entered his bedroom before she glanced back at Daniel, who stared at her. He jerked his gaze away from her face and turned back to the chair where he’d sat.

  They sat in silence as she began to mend her father’s sock. After a time, Daniel stood and walked over to the mantel. He picked up a daguerreotype and stared at it. He glanced over his shoulder at her. “Your mother?”

  She nodded. “Yes, it was made while my parents were on their wedding trip to New York. Poppa’s often told me how excited she was that day and how she fussed with her hair. She had trouble picking out which of the embossed leather cases she wanted. She told my father she hoped the likeness would show him how happy she was to be his wife. It’s the only picture I have of her, and of course it’s my father’s greatest treasure.”

  “She was very beautiful.”

  “Thank you, Daniel, for saying that.” She rose, crossed the room to stand beside him at the mantel, and gazed at the picture of her mother. “That’s her wedding dress. I still have it. It’s a cream-colored silk-satin dress. My grandmother hand sewed the appliquéd lace you see on the skirt and at the end of the sleeves. Poppa says she looked like a queen when she walked into the church.”

  Daniel replaced the shiny image to the mantel and turned to Tave. “You look just like her, you know.”

  Tave shook her head. “No, she was much prettier than I am.”

  He glanced at the likeness one more time. “Your hair is the same, and so is your smile. I think you’re wrong about this picture being your father’s greatest treasure.”

  “Why?”

  He took a deep breath. “I think you are his greatest treasure because he sees her in you every day.”

  Tave started to protest, but she remembered how she would often catch her father staring at her, tears in his eyes. He would look away quickly. She wondered if he might be thinking of her mother and the happy times they shared. She turned to face him. “I do look like her, don’t I?”

  He trailed his fingertips down the side of her cheek. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life. I wish I could tell you. . .”

  Tave frowned at Daniel’s hesitation. “Tell me what?”

  He pulled his hand away from her face and let his arm fall to his side. His eyes that had ignited her heart with the fire she saw in them a few moments before looked as if they were blocks of ice. He backed away from her.

  “How much I enjoyed my supper. Now I think I’d better go.”

  Tave frowned and took a step toward him, but he turned and headed for the front door. It only took her a moment before she reacted. She rushed across the floor and stepped in front of him, blocking his exit from the room. “I think you were going to tell me something else. What is it?”

  He licked his lips. “I—I was going to say. . .” He gritted his teeth and raked his hand through his hair. He exhaled and shook his head. “It was nothing important, Tave.”

  His hand trembled, and she touched his arm. “Daniel, please, if it’s something I can help you with. . .”

  His eyes grew wide, and he jerked away from her. “It’s nothing for you to be concerned about.” He pushed past her. “Now I need to leave. I’ll be here in the morning to go to church with you and your father. Have a good night.”

  He’d hardly finished saying the words before the door slammed behind him. Tave stood in the parlor unsure what had just occurred. One minute, Daniel had reached out to her in a way that could only mean he had some feelings for her. Then he’d shattered the mood with his hasty departure.

  She had the impression that his leaving so abruptly meant he wanted to distance himself from her in more ways th
an one. The reality of what she’d tried to deny hit her. The feelings she had for Daniel weren’t caused by how she’d taken care of him when he was near death. What she felt could only mean one thing: She had come to love Daniel Luckett.

  Eight

  Daniel leaned against the hitching post outside the Spencer home, closed his eyes, and lifted his face to the warm Sunday morning sun. He wondered if Tave would be glad to see him after the way he’d rushed out of the house last night. He had to leave, though, because he was on the verge of making a terrible mistake.

  When he’d seen how much she looked like the beautiful woman in the picture, he’d been overcome with a longing to let her know how much she’d come to mean to him. Now in the light of day, he thought he’d put that moment of weakness behind him. He wouldn’t think of her that way anymore. From now on, he would think of her as a dear friend, one he was going to attend church with today.

  He chuckled at the thought of him in church. If someone had told him two months ago he’d be excited about attending church, he would have denied it. But now that he was about to do it, he knew it was time. He longed to put the past behind him, but every time it almost seemed possible, Frank Jessup’s face would flash in his memory. Then the hatred would overflow again.

  He’d spent hours reading Tave’s Bible in the past few weeks. The scriptures she’d given him, as well as others he’d found on his own, had spoken to his heart. One he’d read last night still lingered in his mind: “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

  That’s what he needed—to be free of the past.

  A creaking sound caught his attention, and he straightened to see Dr. Spencer leading his horse, hitched to a buggy, around the side of the house. Daniel had watched Dr. Spencer leave in the buggy to visit a sick person many times since he’d been staying at his office. Nothing kept the dedicated doctor from going where he was needed. Just last week, he’d watched Dr. Spencer huddle under the buggy’s top as he guided his horse out of town in the midst of a driving rainstorm.

  This morning, the overhead covering of the buggy lay folded to the rear of the backseat. Dr. Spencer raised a hand in greeting as he approached. “Morning, Daniel. You didn’t have to walk over here. I would have stopped to get you at the office.”

  Daniel inhaled. “I know, but it’s such a nice day I wanted to walk.”

  “It’s good to see you’ve recovered enough that you can walk.”

  Daniel grinned and thumped his chest. “I’ve got my strength back just in time to begin my new job tomorrow.”

  Dr. Spencer looped the horse’s reins over the hitching post and walked around to pat the horse’s flank. “Ah yes. You’re going to start helping Mr. Perkins tomorrow, but be careful. I don’t want you overdoing it.”

  “I will be.”

  Dr. Spencer pulled out his pocket watch, glanced at the time, and frowned. “Where is that girl? We’re going to be late if she doesn’t hurry.” He cupped his hands around his mouth. “Tave! Aren’t you ready yet?”

  The front door of the house opened, and Tave stepped onto the porch. She held a basket in one hand as she reached back to close the door. “I’m coming, Poppa.”

  Dr. Spencer’s eyebrows arched, and he sighed. “Daniel, there’s something about women you need to find out while you’re still single. They’re never ready on time. They’ll keep a man waiting just to see him squirm.”

  Tave laughed and glided down the flagstone walkway toward them. “Don’t believe a word of what he says, Daniel.” She arched an eyebrow. “That is, if you expect to get any of my fried chicken at the picnic today.”

  Her father laughed, took the basket, and set it in the backseat. “Maybe I’d better rephrase my observation about women, Daniel. The appearance of a beautiful woman can always make you forget your annoyance over her being late.” His eyes twinkled. “Especially when she arrives with fried chicken.”

  Daniel heard the exchange between the two, but his tongue felt glued to the roof of his mouth. All he could do was gape at Tave like a schoolboy. He’d never seen her more beautiful than she was today. The lavender and white dress she wore had rows of ruffles draped down the skirt-back, and it swished with every step she took. Her auburn hair pinned on top of her head sparkled in the sun. As she brushed past him, the scent of lilacs filled his nostrils.

  As if she could read his thoughts, she lowered her eyelids and smiled. “I’m glad you wanted to come today, Daniel. You’ll get to meet all our friends. I hope Dante gets to come with Savannah and the children. I think you’d really like him.”

  “I hope so, too. I enjoyed meeting Savannah.”

  She lifted the hem of her dress with one hand to climb into the buggy, and he grasped her other arm to assist. His skin burned from the touch. He bit down on his lip in an effort to keep from revealing the emotions whirling through him.

  Once she was seated, she spread her full skirt out and glanced at him. “Thank you, Daniel.”

  He mumbled something, he had no idea what, and climbed in behind them. He settled against the leather backseat of the buggy and watched Dr. Spencer turn the horse and guide it along the road toward the Willow Bend Church. The gentle pressure the doctor used to prod the animal gave evidence of how well the horse and handler understood each other, a knowledge that had most likely been acquired by spending untold hours traveling from farm to farm around Willow Bend.

  Dr. Spencer chuckled and glanced over his shoulder. “You might as well get ready, Daniel. I expect you’re going to be swamped with mothers trying to introduce their unmarried daughters to you. It’s not often we get eligible bachelors in Willow Bend, and you’ve been the topic of conversation ever since you got here.”

  Daniel’s face grew warm, and he squinted up at the sun. “Aw, they won’t care about a man like me.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Just that I’m a drifter, never have settled down anywhere. As soon as I feel like it, I guess I’ll be moving on.”

  His stomach churned at the words he’d spoken. It was true he’d never been interested in settling in one spot before, not until he met Tave, but that didn’t do him any good. A woman like her needed someone who could give her a better life than he could.

  Dr. Spencer nodded. “Well that’s up to you, but we’d like to see you stay around if you’d like to.”

  “Thanks, Dr. Spencer.”

  Daniel stared at Tave to see how his words had affected her, but she didn’t move or speak. Her rigid back seemed to convey the message that she didn’t care whether he stayed or left. With a sigh, he directed his attention back to the road ahead.

  The church that Dr. Spencer told him had been built in the early part of the century came into view. Buggies and some farm wagons dotted the area around the front of the building, which sat well back from the road leading out of town. On one side of the church, tombstones marked the graves of past worshippers, and a stand of water oaks fanned across the field on the opposite side. Tables had been set underneath the trees in preparation for the picnic that would follow services.

  Daniel hopped from the buggy and helped Tave down. Without looking at him, she held out her hand and grasped his. Once on the ground, she pointed to the basket. “We’ll take that inside. I don’t want it to sit outside in the heat.”

  He nodded and reached for the basket. Dr. Spencer walked around the front of the buggy from where he’d tied the horse and put his hands in his pockets. “Well, are you ready to meet all the good folks of Willow Bend, Daniel?”

  His stomach churned, and Daniel glanced down at his clothes. Even though they were the best he had, he supposed everybody would be better dressed today than he was. He swallowed and looked up at Dr. Spencer. “Am I dressed all right?”

  For the first time, Tave looked at him and smiled. “We don’t judge a man by how he’s dressed, Daniel.” She studied him with a critical gaze before she nodded as if satisfied. “You
look very handsome. Now why don’t you escort me inside? I’m sure Martha Thompson would love something to talk about tomorrow at Mr. Perkins’s store.”

  He stared down at her small hand resting on his arm, and he thought his heart would burst with love. At that moment, he didn’t want to be anywhere else besides right here with Tave. He straightened to his full height and crooked his arm. “I’d consider myself the luckiest man in the world to take you into church.”

  She looped her arm through his and moved closer to him. “Then let’s go hear what message Reverend Somers has for us today.”

  Daniel’s feet felt like they barely touched the ground as they walked to the church and entered. Once inside, Tave pointed to a small room at the side of the entrance where other baskets sat, and he deposited hers inside before they joined the already-gathered congregation.

  During the walk down the aisle and as they stepped into a pew near the front, Daniel felt all eyes staring at him. He sat down between Tave and Dr. Spencer and jumped when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to see Savannah Rinaldi behind him. “I want to introduce you to my husband. Dante, this is Daniel Luckett, the young man who saved Captain Hawkins’s life.”

  A broad-shouldered, dark-complexioned man leaned forward, his hand outstretched. “Glad to meet you, Daniel. Captain Hawkins is a friend of our family. Thank you for what you did.”

  Daniel stared into the darkest eyes he thought he’d ever seen. He grasped Dante’s hand. “Anybody else would have done the same.”

  Dante shook his head. “I doubt that.” Dante glanced toward the front of the church where Reverend Somers was about to take his place at the pulpit and whispered to Daniel. “There’s something we need to talk about, but we’ll do that later at the picnic. Glad to have you here today.”