Maddie watched him leave, not sure how she felt about all of this. She reached for a bit of pork on her plate and proceeded to swallow it wrong. Working to dislodge the bit of meat, she reached for the small brown flask that Jace had put next to the tea and took a sip. It didn’t help clear the pork away, but she felt almost instantly warmer. Coughing a little, she took another sip, enjoying how swiftly the coolness of the day melted away.
The third time she tipped the flask, she took a healthy swig, feeling heat course through her even as she found it a little hard on the throat. She was coughing when Jace returned.
“Swallow wrong?” he asked, setting the coat on her shoulders.
Maddie replied in a hoarse voice as Jace went back to his plate. He’d only taken a few bites when he looked to find Maddie smiling at him. Jace smiled in return.
“Warmer?” he asked.
“Much,” Maddie answered, her smile softening.
Jace’s heart did a flip in his chest. Had he known the jacket would do that for her, he’d have given it to her when they started out.
“Would you like more food?” Jace offered, gaining another smile for his efforts.
“I like your hair,” Maddie said, and Jace reached in time to keep her plate from sliding off her lap.
Maddie never even noticed. She was still smiling at Jace, whose heart had begun to freeze inside of him. His mind raced with several questions. Could he have been that wrong? Could she have fooled everyone? Was the sweet, shy Maddie Shephard not as shy as she pretended to be? Jace put both plates aside, suddenly not hungry at all. As he did this, he noticed Maddie reaching for the flask.
“Maddie.” His voice stopped her. “Have you been drinking that?”
“I think it’s strong tea,” she told him. “It makes my insides all warm.” This said, Maddie smiled at him and asked, “Is your hair soft?”
“Oh, no,” Jace whispered, not having to question any longer. He took the flask from Maddie’s grasp and held her hands with his own.
“Listen to me, Maddie,” Jace commanded. “Do you feel all right?”
“I like you, Jace,” she said in return. “You’re so sweet and handsome.”
If it hadn’t been so scary, Jace might have laughed.
“Do you know what we need to do?” Jace asked, coming to his feet. “We need to take a little walk. Can you get up, Maddie? Come on. Get to your feet.”
Maddie did as he asked, but she didn’t feel very steady. She fell against Jace once she was on her feet, hands going to his chest as she looked up into his eyes. Maddie smiled and reached up to brush her fingers through the hair that always hung on his brow.
“Oh, mercy,” Jace muttered. “Come on, Maddie. Let’s walk a bit. Can you do that?”
It was slow going, but Jace managed to keep her on her feet. He thought he’d give much for a pot of coffee right now, but the best he could do was to keep her active in order to drive back into town. If she was grinning and falling all over him when they returned to the house, her reputation would be shot.
“Look at the trees, Maddie,” Jace said to her, trying to distract the way she wanted to smile at him. “Why don’t we go over to that small group of trees and look at the leaves.”
Maddie only giggled and tried to keep step with him. Jace managed to get her to the trees and had her lean against one. He took a step back, making sure she was steady, and then moved away.
“Why are you over there?” Maddie asked.
“It’s better this way,” Jace said, but she only pushed away from the tree and tried to come toward him. Her feet tangled, and she nearly fell before Jace caught her. Again, her head tipped back and she smiled at him. Feeling her body against him, Jace looked down into her beautiful face and gave up. He lowered his head and kissed her the way he’d wanted to do for weeks.
Maddie was completely relaxed in his arms. Her own arms came up to encircle his neck, and she fell completely against him. Jace’s senses swam until he remembered she was not herself. He tried to break the kiss, but Maddie was holding on tight. He eventually had to remove her arms and put her away from him.
She was still smiling when he tried to march her back out to the field, wondering what he had hoped to accomplish by heading into the privacy of the trees. For the next hour they walked around the field until Jace could see that she was standing well on her own. He eventually led her back to the blanket and talked her into having some more food.
“I’m tired,” Maddie said at one point. “I probably haven’t been very good company today.”
Nothing could be further from the truth, Jace could have said, but he kept silent and gave her some tea to drink.
When Maddie began to yawn, Jace knew he needed to get her back. She was still wearing his coat, which he took back, and the coolness returning seemed to wake her up a little more.
“I think we’ll head back now, Maddie,” Jace said, not sure if he was disappointed about the afternoon. To his surprise Maddie seemed to smile at him with complete lucidity.
“Thank you for the picnic, Jace. I enjoyed it.”
The trip back was not as silent as the trip out, but Jace wished he knew whether this was the real Maddie or not. Had she finally relaxed with him, or was there still enough alcohol in her system to impair judgment?
Jace honestly couldn’t tell. He returned her to the house, walked her up the front path, and even spoke to Cathy and Doyle for a few minutes. Maddie wore a faint smile all the way home. Jace wanted to be excited by the smile, but something held him back. He left Shephards before deciding if he should tell Cathy and Doyle about the incident.
“Drunk?” Woody asked for the third time. “She was drunk?”
“Yes, you heard me right. I couldn’t believe it.”
“And what kind of drunk was she?”
“The smiling kind.”
“Amorous,” Woody interpreted correctly.
“Don’t get any ideas.”
“So you didn’t take advantage at all?”
“I did a little.”
“And you feel guilty.”
“Completely.”
If Woody had wondered if Jace’s feelings were real, he wondered no more. A man felt no guilt when he was able to kiss or hold a woman he didn’t care about. Jace looked miserable.
“You’ll have to go this week and see her. See how she is and how she responds to you.”
Jace nodded, trying to think it through, and then something struck him.
“How do you know so much about women when you haven’t been married?”
“They’re not that hard to figure out.”
Jace’s mouth swung open. “You must be the only man in creation to feel that way.”
Woody only laughed, completely sure of himself. Jace shook his head, wondering yet again how he got into these conversations with his uncle. Woody was always completely forthright with his questions, which tended to disarm Jace and gain honest answers. If Jace was candid, however, he always felt better for having spoken of it. As to whether or not he agreed with Woody’s opinion, that was another matter entirely.
“I haven’t seen you out and about, Doyle,” Douglas explained when both Doyle and Cathy made him welcome. “I wondered how you were doing.”
“I’m taking it slow these days,” Doyle was able to say, still surprised at himself that he wasn’t more frustrated with the fact. “Old Doc MacKay says it’s my heart, and taking it easy might do the trick.”
“Have you been in quite a bit of pain?”
“Off and on.”
Douglas nodded. “Alison tells me she’s seen your niece in the store.”
“Maddie is the only reason he’s able to stay so calm,” Cathy put in.
Douglas smiled, but he was thinking how hard it must be to be cooped up all day.
“Are you getting more reading done?” Douglas asked.
“No.” Even Doyle seemed surprised by his own answer. “I spend much of my time by the parlor window.” He grinned a littl
e. “I can tell you that Turtle Bates comes past here every day about 10:00, even on days he doesn’t need to shop. And the Canton boys come by closer to noon. They never look angelic enough for my taste, but I never witness the things I hear about.”
Douglas laughed.
“How have you been, Mr. Muldoon?” Cathy asked.
“I’m doing well. I’ve been thinking about you folks a lot. Is there anything you’d like for me to pray about?”
Without missing a beat, Doyle said, “And I think Alice Houston and that Bluel fellow are sweet on each other.”
Douglas nodded and smiled in his direction, knowing he had his answer. There was no hunger in Doyle Shephard for the spiritual things Douglas would love to introduce to him. Douglas didn’t rush away, and although Doyle had no requests, Douglas still prayed.
Cathy didn’t try to ask any more questions of him, and Douglas listened for an hour as Doyle shared, but by the time the pastor took his leave, he sensed that God had answered his prayer. He had asked God to put hunger in Doyle’s life and Cathy’s too. And now he asked God to help him keep the friendship alive.
“Well, hello, Hillary,” Maddie greeted when that girl came in the front door.
“Hello, Miss Shephard. How are you?”
“I’m very well. How about yourself?”
“I’m fine. My father is visiting with Mr. Shephard, so I came with him to fill a list for my mother.”
Maddie smiled, now understanding her serious face. She was on a mission.
“Put your basket here, Hillary,” Maddie invited, “and tell me what you need.”
“Lemon oil and lard,” Hillary began, and Maddie started to put things on the counter. They worked together for about 20 minutes before Hillary said they’d covered the list.
“It was kind of your father to visit Doyle,” Maddie mentioned, helping Hillary arrange the things in her basket.
“He likes your uncle. We all do.”
Maddie smiled, pleased but not very surprised. Everyone in town liked Doyle Shephard.
“Is he feeling better?” Hillary asked.
“Well, he’s taking it slow, and that might help in time.”
Hillary nodded, not willing to intrude but also not willing to admit that she didn’t know what was wrong with Doyle Shephard.
“Why didn’t you visit him too?” Maddie asked.
“Well, sometimes folks like to talk about spiritual things with my father, and that can be private.”
“What type of things do they discuss with him?” Maddie asked, suddenly very interested—not for Doyle but for herself.
Hillary answered artlessly, which was her way. “Oh, they ask about life, death, heaven, and hell—those types of things.”
Maddie knew no end of frustration when they were joined by another customer. She wanted to ask Hillary more on those very subjects but couldn’t.
“Feel free to browse, Hillary,” Maddie directed, hoping the younger girl would stay for a while.
“Thank you.”
Hillary left her basket on the end of the counter and did look around. She had never been in on her own before and found it to be a wonderful treat. There wasn’t enough time, however. Her father showed up long before she’d seen it all, saying he was ready to go. Maddie was still working with a customer.
“How was your visit?” Hillary asked her father.
“It was enlightening,” he said thoughtfully. “Did you have a good time in the store?”
“Yes,” Hillary told him, thinking about the browsing she had done, the dishes and fabric she’d seen. It never even occurred to her to mention her conversation with Maddie. She hadn’t noticed anything unusual or important.
Little did the Muldoons know that Maddie finished with her customer just after they left the store and walked all the way out on the road, only to find them too far down the green.
Maddie was thoughtful as she went back inside. She had thought she’d spoken with all the pastors she knew. She’d completely forgotten Douglas Muldoon.
Jace timed his visit again near the end of the day. Maddie was alone—she’d been on her own most of the day—and working on the jewelry display that sat on the counter. She liked having quiet intervals to do small jobs but was also pleased to see Jace.
“Well, Mr. Randall.” She turned when she heard the door. “What brings you to town this evening?”
Jace thought her voice and face were open and friendly, but the question threw him a bit.
“I just happened by,” he improvised, hoping to keep that smile on her face. “Just passing through, you might say.”
Maddie smiled at him, and Jace relaxed. Maybe his uncle knew more about women than he realized.
“Have you had a busy day?”
“Not very,” Maddie told him, glad for the fact. Cathy had butchered a hog and wasn’t available. It was nice that things had been quiet. “How about your day?”
“Well, the rain always changes the schedule. Field work was out, and there’s only so much to be done at the barn and the mill right now.”
Maddie nodded, not seeming to be put out when Jace came close. He looked at the jewelry she was arranging and pointed to a bracelet.
“This one reminds me of one my mother had.”
“I think that’s the prettiest one,” Maddie said, smiling in pleasure and then turning to look at Jace. “Is your mother still alive?”
“No, she and my father died when I was young.”
“Who raised you?”
“My sister. She was in town a few weeks back, but I didn’t get a chance to introduce you.”
“Is she quite a bit older than you are?”
“Ten years.”
It wasn’t a romantic conversation in the least, but suddenly their eyes caught and held. Maddie had thought about him so much since Sunday. She had not enjoyed a man’s company for many years, and Jace had been such a gentleman.
Jace misunderstood the yearning he saw in her eyes. He looked at her for long moments before lowering his head. Maddie hesitated only a few seconds before moving her head away from him.
“What are you doing?”
“I was going to kiss you,” Jace admitted.
“Why would you do that?”
Jace looked surprised but still said, “You didn’t object on our picnic; I didn’t think you would object now.”
A thundercloud covered her face. It was swift and fierce.
“Jace Randall! We did no such thing!”
“What?” Jace’s mouth swung open in surprise.
“Is that what you tell people?” she attacked. “That I kissed you?”
“I do not talk to other people about us.” Jace’s voice had grown cold as his own anger mounted. “But we did kiss, and now you’re pretending we didn’t. What game are you playing, Maddie?”
“Me?” she all but screeched at him. “I ought to slap your face.”
“You’d better not slap me until you’re willing to explain to me what that was on Sunday if it wasn’t a kiss.”
“Get out” was all Maddie would say.
“Gladly,” Jace slapped the hat back on his head, turned on his heel, and stalked out.
Maddie had all she could do not to throw something at his back. She didn’t know the last time she’d been so angry. When Cathy checked on her an hour later, she was still slamming drawers and cupboard doors.
Jace couldn’t remember the last time he’d had such a headache. He felt betrayed and almost used. Why would Maddie play such childish games with him? It had been true that she wasn’t at her best, but to deny the whole thing seemed very juvenile to his mind.
He shook his head, but that only made it hurt more. Woody thought he understood women. Just go see her and see how she responds to you. Jace remembered the words with disgust. She had responded just fine until the games began.
It was all Jace could do not to turn around and remind her that men were supposed to be the ones who lied and cheated. He wondered how she would view
her own behavior. If that wasn’t lying and cheating, he didn’t know what was.
Jace suddenly stopped his horse. He’d been letting the animal find its own way home, barely even holding the reins.
“What if she doesn’t know?” he whispered, not paying any attention to who might be around listening to him talk to himself. “What if she can’t recall what we did?”
If Jace thought his head hurt before, he didn’t know what to think now. And suddenly he was thirsty. Changing the direction of his mount, he headed back to town and the Commons Tavern.
He needed to sit with a tall mug and think this through. He wouldn’t get drunk, even though it was tempting. He might just need to head back to the Shephards and confront Maddie again. And for that he certainly needed a clear head.
Eight
Two things were obvious to Doyle and Cathy: Maddie was upset about something, and she wasn’t ready to talk about it. Her demeanor was quiet and sober during tea, and her answers to their questions were nothing more than monosyllabic replies.
It had never been their policy to pressure her into talking, but tonight they were both tempted. The mystery began to unravel as they worked on the dishes. A knock on the door startled Maddie into suddenly throwing her dishtowel onto the table.
“If that’s Jace, I don’t want to see him.”
“Why not?” Doyle asked.
“Because he’s like all other men,” Maddie said, her face growing dark again.
Confused, Doyle and Cathy looked at each other before the knock sounded again. Cathy went to the door, and just as she dreaded, Jace was standing there.
“Good evening, Cathy,” Jace’s voice saying it was anything but. “I need to speak with Madalyn.”
“She doesn’t want to see you, Jace,” Cathy said, her voice quiet with regret.
“Is that right? Well, you may tell her that I’m not leaving until I’ve gotten some things off my chest.”
He looked so fierce—more handsome than ever—that Cathy almost smiled.
“Come in,” she invited him and watched him take a chair in the parlor. Before she could get out of the room, Maddie had joined them.