Tennessee Waltz Page 8

  "M . . . men like you don't k . . . kiss women like me for pleasure," Sarah sputtered.

  "Men like me? What's that supposed to mean?"

  She turned her head sideways to avoid his gaze and chewed on her bottom lip. Wyn continued to stare steadily at her, vowing to himself not to say another word until she explained her asinine statement. The silence stretched out, broken only by the ticking of an old family clock Dan had on his fireplace mantel and an ember popping in the grate.

  At one point she shifted on the bed, and the mattress springs protested the movement with another loud squeal. A hot blush covered her cheeks. Wyn chuckled, biting back the urge to make a comment on the noise.

  Finally she sat upright, pushing him back a step when her nose almost ended up in his belly button. Since he didn't particularly want her eyes on that portion of his body, he pulled one of the chairs close to the bed and sat. Crossing his arms, he leaned back once again and silently waited for her to speak.

  She cut him a glance, and her blush heightened. "All right!" she finally fumed. "I'll tell you what I meant, but then you've got to agree to answer a question or two for me!"

  "Agreed," Wyn said with a nod.

  She took a deep breath, her shoulders rising and falling with the movement. Gazing everywhere in the room except at Wyn, she said, "Men who are handsome like you don't need to kiss homely women like me. They can have their choice of the pretty women to kiss. So I don't understand at all why you kissed me."

  Wyn's mouth dropped in astonishment. "Homely? You consider yourself homely?"

  "I prefer the word plain, if you don't mind. And I'm well aware that I'll never be considered anything other than that. I've had enough people confirm my plainness to me over the years, including my own father."

  Wyn shook his head in disgust. "Your father must have been half blind and the rest of them vicious in their jealousy. And you evidently haven't looked into a mirror lately. You're about as homely as a dew-sprinkled bush of mountain laurel flowers with the sun shining on it."

  Sarah managed to get to her feet before he could stop her. "I don't know what your game is, Wyn, but I'm not interested. I'm going up to see if Sissy needs any help with Baby Sarah. Later today, I'll get packed in case Jeeter makes it up the mountain tomorrow."

  Wyn remained in his chair. "You said you had a couple questions for me," he reminded her.

  "I've . . . lost interest in the answers."

  She left the room, and Wyn stared at the empty doorway for a long time. He didn't understand his own reaction to her, so it was just as well she didn't pursue her questions. He hated to think of her going through the rest of her life, though, thinking she was homely — plain.

  Hell, and thinking he was handsome! He knew darned well that his nose was a little crooked from that time he fell out of the apple tree onto his face. And more than once his sisters had teased him about how wide his mouth was. He'd even felt hesitant when he kissed Rose sometimes, since his mouth completely swallowed hers, with lots of lip left over.

  Funny, it fit perfectly fine over Sarah Channing's mouth.

  He got to his feet and turned to the fireplace. Picking up the poker, he jabbed at the logs, sending sparks up the chimney.

  There was definitely no future for him and Sarah Channing. He knew that beyond a shadow of a doubt, after having once made the mistake of thinking he and a woman not from his mountains could make a life together. He was relieved Sarah hadn't asked her questions, because he had an idea what they might have been. She probably wanted him to admit he was just enjoying a brief flirtation with her, knowing she would be leaving fairly quickly.

  And he was, wasn't he? Shoot, he'd kissed the girls at the barn raisings and husking bees right along with the rest of the fellows. The girls had kissed their share of fellows, too, until they decided which one they wanted to take up with.

  Even after his split with Rose, he knew he would find another woman some day. It hurt like hell for a while, but looking back on it, some of the hurt came from his shame at misjudging the woman he'd allowed into his heart. Still, he had sense enough to know all women weren't like Rose. He just needed to get back out there and try again. He fully intended to spend his old age with a couple dozen grandchildren tugging at his white beard.

  Bet those long, slender fingers of Sarah's would thread through a full beard on his chin quite nicely.

  ~~~~

  Rather than continue straight up the stairs to check on Sissy — the intent she had indicated to Wyn — Sarah sat down halfway up the stairwell. Bending forward, she propped her elbows on her knees and clasped all ten fingers across her lips. Staring through the dimness, she tried to see Dan's bedroom door from her vantage point, but it was too far away. She stayed quiet as a mouse, straining to hear in case Wyn left the room, so she could scamper on up the stairs if necessary. But she heard no movement.

  Adamantly she ordered her thoughts to steer away from what had happened in the last few minutes, but they disobediently focused on exactly what she was trying to avoid thinking about. Over and over again she relived the feeling of being in Wyn's arms — of his kisses.

  She'd never, ever felt like that in Stephen's arms — and definitely not when he kissed her. Had she made a horrible mistake by finally deciding to buy herself a husband? Could she have possibly found a man who would make her feel more like Wyn did, if she'd only waited a while longer?

  No doubt about it, she'd settled for Stephen instead of having the opportunity to chose him from among an entire pool of candidates, as had most of the other single females she knew. She overlooked Stephen's moodiness at times, and his supercilious attitude. Overlooked catching him staring at other women, too, accepting the fact that a man with normal urges wouldn't be satisfied with a plain woman on his arm. That their relationship was an agreement, not a love match.

  Oh, there was definitely no future for her and Wyn, either. She didn't fit into his world at all, and she couldn't imagine him giving up his life here to come to New York. Within a minute after meeting him, she'd known how strong his ties were to his family.

  As she rose to her feet, her shoulders slumped in acceptance. It was nothing but a little flirtation between her and Wyn. They were a man and woman of an age to eye each other and be curious enough to take advantage of the opportunities to explore each other's response. She couldn't really blame Wyn for that. Land sakes, she'd done her own little bit of experimentation.

  And his telling her that she wasn't plain, wasn't homely, was just part of the game. A short game that would be over very soon, but a game all the same.

  Something tipped over in the storeroom, and Sarah paused as she started on up the stairwell. It was probably Gray Boy, since she'd seen the cat prowling around earlier. She started to call him, then changed her mind. If he was after a mouse, Dan would appreciate the cat getting rid of it.

  Chapter 6

  "Whew!" Mairi wiped her brow and carefully stepped out from behind a barrel of flour as Miss Sarah climbed on up the stairwell. She probably shouldn't have hidden, but she'd done it anyway. And after she did, she didn't know how to come out again without making Cousin Wyn and Miss Sarah sort of mad at her for hiding in the first place. They'd think she'd been spying on them for sure, and make her explain why she wasn't over there in school.

  But Miss Elliot wasn't even teaching at all today. Since it was Mairi's first day back in the mountain school, she'd been excited about showing all her friends how much she learned from Miss Sarah. After over two hours of Miss Elliot only stirring herself to glare and pick up her ruler when the children got too loud, then going back to reading her book, Mairi had had enough. As soon as Miss Elliot turned a page and buried her face in the book again, Mairi slipped into the cloakroom at the rear of the school, then on outside.

  Uncle Dan hadn't seemed surprised to see her at the store a few minutes ago. She told him she was worried about Miss Sarah leaving without saying good-bye. That wasn't a real lie, since she really had forgotten to ask
for Miss Sarah's promise not to do that, although she'd been intending to ever since they arrived in Sawback Mountain. It was just that there was so much else to do — so many things to talk to her cousin Pris about, since they hadn't seen each other in close to two whole years. Why, they barely remembered each other.

  Uncle Dan told her that Miss Sarah was in his room talking to Cousin Wyn. He also said for her to go on back there if she wanted. And she did want to, so she went. But at the bedroom door, she stopped so quick that Gray Boy, who was following her, ran his nose right into the back of her leg.

  She'd grabbed the kitten up.

  "Shhhhh, Gray Boy," she whispered very, very quietly. "Look. Look at that."

  Pointing Gray Boy's head in the same direction she was looking, they both watched Cousin Wyn kiss Miss Sarah like Mairi had seen her mama and papa kiss each other when they thought nobody was a'watching. And an idea leaped straight into Mairi's mind, all full blown and ready to go without her having to chew on it at all before it made sense.

  Wouldn't it be great if Cousin Wyn and Miss Sarah got married? Then Miss Sarah could stay here in the mountains with them, and Mairi could see her anytime she wanted to! More than once her mother said it was her duty to follow her papa wherever he went, 'cause the Bible said something about "whither thou's husband went, a wife went too." Mama and Papa had been talking about moving away from the mountains and going to the big city so Papa could look for work that time. And one thing Mairi knew for sure was that her mother meant what she said. Mama went with Papa without once crying over it.

  That seemed to be the way of things too. When older sisters of her friends got hitched up with a feller, they mostly always moved into the house everyone helped the feller build at a cabin raising before the wedding. Mairi had gotten real fond of Miss Sarah — sort of really loved her, too — and would miss her a lot if she left. So, she thought logically, if Cousin Wyn and Miss Sarah get married, Miss Sarah will stay in the mountains with her husband.

  She knew about Cousin Wyn's girlfriend in Washington, D.C., from her cousin Pris, and that Cousin Wyn left her back there. Rose, she remembered her name was — Cousin Wyn left Rose when she refused to come to the mountains to live. Cousin Wyn would never live anywhere but the mountains for very long, Pris said. He told them how much he missed the mountains while he was gone.

  Mairi didn't blame Cousin Wyn at all. Miss Sarah's house was about the fanciest thing she could imagine. When she'd told Pris about it, her cousin said it was probably even fancier than some of those houses in Uncle Dan's books, which Pris listened to Carrie read aloud to them sometimes. Yet Mairi would choose to live in Uncle Dan's happy house here in the mountains over that sad, beautiful house Miss Sarah called Channing Place any time.

  Although she knew it wasn't true, she could almost believe she hadn't even breathed for real until she came back to the mountains. Even Mama and Papa had been ready to give up trying to live in that terrible city and come home. But they got sick instead.

  She didn't understand much of what Cousin Wyn and Miss Sarah talked about after their kissing was over and done with. For one thing, she wasn't sure how soon one of them would come out of the room and catch her there, so she'd ducked behind the flour barrel. She couldn't hear a whole lot from there.

  She felt just a tiny bit guilty and knew what she was doing wasn't exactly proper.

  "But how can I start puttin' my plan to work if I don't get some idea first whether or not it's the right thing to do?" she whispered to Gray Boy. "After all, I wouldn't want Cousin Wyn and Miss Sarah to get married up to each other lessen they was really in love. So I gotta listen and see what they're a sayin', don't I?"

  Gray Boy only blinked his eyes at her, purring loudly as she stroked his back.

  Turning her attention back to the goings on in Uncle Dan's room, heard Cousin Wyn say something about Miss Sarah and those pretty mountain laurel flowers Mairi loved to pick and bring into the house in the springtime. And Miss Sarah said at one point Cousin Wyn was handsome, so that meant she was taken by him. Carrie said that was the first step toward a feller and a gal getting together — them eyeing each other and being pleased with what they saw. Carrie oughta know, since she was old enough to be looking for a feller of her own.

  She'd met that there Stephen feller who hung around Miss Sarah back in New York, but she didn't think much of him. Fact is, she never even gotten close enough to him to see if there was anything at all about him to even like. He kept his distance from her, sort of wrinkling up his nose when he did forget and look at her. For the most part, though, he pretended like she wasn't even there.

  Cousin Wyn would be a much better husband for Miss Sarah, far as Mairi was concerned.

  After all her heavy thinking, Mairi cuddled Gray Boy in her arms and wandered toward the front of the store again. She didn't bother glancing in Uncle Dan's room to see what Cousin Wyn was doing, since it was really Miss Sarah she'd come to talk to. And now she'd have to wait a while. If she went up there to talk to Miss Sarah, she didn't think Cousin Sissy would be as easy on her for skipping school as her Uncle Dan had been. Pris said Sissy took it real serious about being the one to mother them now that their real mama, Mairi's Aunt Marie, was dead.

  Finding her Uncle Dan busy talking to a customer who had traveled through the snow to the store, Mairi went on out to the porch. Hitched to a sled, the customer's mule was tied to a post beside the steps. There was a wooden box built on the sled to carry whatever the customer bought home with him.

  About the same time Mairi came out the door, someone else walked around the side of the porch toward the steps.

  "Miz Leery!" Mairi called excitedly.

  Every child in the mountains loved Miz Leery, Mairi included. When Mairi had roamed the blackberry patches or traveled around searching for mushrooms after a spring rain with her MacIntyre cousins, they'd always stopped by Leery's cabin if they came close. Miz Leery kept molasses cookies and striped candy on hand for them, and the children shared their berries and mushrooms with her.

  With Sissy birthing the baby, Mairi hadn't had much time yesterday to say more than howdy to Miz Leery. The woman the older folks called the mountain healer had, however, hugged her tightly and told her that her mama and papa missed her but still loved her. She believed Miz Leery. Everyone on the mountain knew Miz Leery could see things the rest of them couldn't — and that Miz Leery could even talk to people after they died sometimes. It wasn't scary at all, 'cause Miz Leery said it wasn't.

  "Why, howdy, little Mairi," Miz Leery said. "How's Baby Sarah and her mama today?"

  "Fine, Miz Leery," Mairi said. "Sissy's a stayin' in bed like you told her to, and Miss Sarah went up there a while ago to check on her."

  Leery nodded her gray-haired head and peered closely at Mairi. "You 'pear to have somethin' on your mind, child. You want to talk to me about it? If you do, spit it on out, now. Hear?"

  Mairi screwed up her mouth and furrowed her brow in concentration. After a good long reflection that must have lasted at least a full half minute, she nodded her head.

  "I needs your help, Miz Leery. I needs me a love potion."

  Leery cocked her head and studied Mairi without laughing, as Mairi had been a tad afraid she might.

  "Ain't you a mite young to be a thinkin' 'bout trying to get some rascal to follow you 'round with moo eyes, child?" Miz Leery asked. "I'd think you'd wanna wait at least another year or two for that."

  "Oh, it's not for me, Miz Leery. Can you keep a secret?"

  "Kept bunches of them over the years, honey. Bunches and bunches of them."

  "Then listen . . ."

  ~~~~

  Sarah folded another underskirt and placed it in her satchel. Within five minutes after Leery had arrived to check on Sissy and Baby Sarah, the old woman had announced that her son, Jeeter, would be coming up the mountain that afternoon instead of tomorrow. She said the snow wasn't nearly as deep on down the mountain between Sawback Mountain and Razor Gully, and it wa
s Jeeter's birthday today. He'd want to see his mother on this day and get the present she had for him.

  Just in case the woman was right, Sarah immediately went to her room to begin packing.

  Land sakes, it hadn't seemed nearly as much work to pack for the trip here, she grumbled to herself as the next underskirt she picked up from the dresser drawer slipped from her fingers and fell. She grabbed it from the floor and started folding it again. Well, she'd had her maid, Rachelle, to do most of the packing for the other trip, she admitted. Rachelle had even packed Mairi's bags, and had wanted to come with Sarah.

  And although Rachelle had been invaluable in helping care for Mairi when she was so ill, Sarah had left her maid behind. She didn't know how she herself would be accepted in what might be a backwoods mountain town, let alone how they would treat her if she brought a maid with her. Mairi's awe of her luxurious surroundings at first had told Sarah that mountain women probably had only heard of having maids in books.

  The underskirt slithered to one side in the lopsided pile of clothing in the satchel, and Sarah gave up, shoving it into a corner. Rachelle would have the housekeeper wash and iron everything anyway when she arrived home, whether or not the clothing had been worn.

  She heard loud shouts from outside and walked over to her window. The schoolhouse door was open and children burst through it, whooping in glee. Someone had evidently also told Prudence Elliot that Jeeter would arrive today, and the schoolteacher had dismissed school to do her own packing. From her vantage point on the second floor of the boardinghouse, Sarah could see Prudence hurrying out the back door of the schoolhouse and down the path to her own small cabin.

  Some of the older children disappeared around the back of the store to Dan's stable, where Sarah knew they had left the mules they'd ridden to school that morning. In fact, she'd stood in this same spot this morning, watching them arrive. She'd wondered how they would travel through the snow, smiling to herself when she saw sometimes three children on the back of one bony mule.