Jace had to look away. They didn’t have great privacy tonight. Doyle and Cathy were in the parlor, but the door between the rooms was open. When Jace looked back, Maddie was watching him, her eyes shining with love and teasing.
“My opinion,” he whispered slowly, his eyes caressing her face, “is that you’re sweet and beautiful, and I think we’re sitting much too far apart.”
Maddie leaned toward him a little. “The door is open.”
“I noticed that.”
Maddie laughed softly, not because Jace had been funny, but with delight. Just being with Jace did that to her.
They looked at each other, able to hear the rustle of Doyle’s newspaper in the next room and the occasional comments the older couple made to each other. They didn’t kiss or do more than hold hands on the top of the table, but the longing was there, and they both knew it. They also knew there would be other times, and for those they could wait.
“I read the most astounding thing in my Bible this week,” Douglas Muldoon told his small congregation on Sunday morning. “Look with me at Genesis 5. I’ve read these verses before but not really thought about what was here.
“I’ll read starting in verse 21: ‘Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah. And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.’ Now this is the part I want you to catch—verses 23 and 24: ‘And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years, and Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.’
“My friends,” Douglas preached from the corner of the kitchen that allowed him to see into the parlor as well, because both rooms were full of worshipers. “We are called to faithfulness, are we not?
“Now, let’s see.” Douglas scanned the two rooms, his eyes lighting on one of the older men. “Doc MacKay,” Douglas began with a smile, “would you mind sharing with us how old you are?”
To the sound of some laughter, the kind doctor smiled and admitted, “I’m 52.”
“Did you hear that?” Douglas asked the group. “He’s off to a great start, but he still has 313 more years to walk with God.” There was more laughter as Douglas went on. “How about you, Alan, how old are you?”
“Almost 33.”
“Great! You have 332 years to go. I have 328 years, and my wife has—” Douglas stopped and smiled in her direction, his grin widening when she wagged a finger at him. He then waited for everyone to stop laughing before he continued.
“I hope, dear friends, that you have caught my point, and that Enoch amazes you as he does me. He’s a hero of the faith. I think I’m weary and can’t go on after 37 years, but I’m a novice, a pup. Enoch was a master. Enoch knew what it meant to walk with God, and he did this all the days of his life.”
Douglas went on and shared what it meant to him to have an example like Enoch. He explained that life was no easier or harder in the days of Enoch, but that man has always wrestled with sin, and God has always provided a way of salvation.
Alison listened to her husband and was filled with thankfulness for that man. He didn’t get up on Sunday morning and try to be someone that he wasn’t all week. She glanced at her children’s faces just then and prayed with all her heart. She prayed that they would walk in their father’s footsteps because he would lead them down the path that always led to God.
“Do you believe that the Bible is the Word of God?”
Sunday afternoon found Jace and Maddie on a walk. Maddie hadn’t asked any questions of Mr. Sullins, but as usual, being in the service got her to thinking.
“I don’t know,” Jace admitted. “I’ve never thought too much about it.”
“Can you think about it now?”
To please her, Jace did as she asked, but he wasn’t overly successful.
“I guess I don’t see it as all that important, Maddie. Why do you?”
“Well, only because if it is the Word of God, it should be taken seriously.”
“True,” Jace agreed with her and then shook his head. “Actually, I don’t feel that way. I think the Bible could be God’s Word, but it’s an old book. I’m not sure it relates to anything today.”
Maddie nodded, thinking about what he’d said. The problem with his statement, however, was that many things they already did were because of God’s Word. Maddie said as much.
“What do you mean?” Jace asked.
“Well, I think we all know it’s wrong to steal and kill, and that’s mostly because of the Ten Commandments. We accept those commands as being right, but is it okay just to pick and choose what we want to follow or obey?”
“So you would want to become a religious zealot?” Jace asked, not unkindly.
“No, but a little direction would be nice.”
“Direction for what?”
Maddie looked away. “You’ll only be irritated with me.”
“No, I won’t.”
But she still didn’t share. She had been asking about death and heaven for so long that she knew it angered people. Doyle had grown flustered with her on more than one occasion.
“You can tell me,” Jace encouraged, trying not to be distracted by the way her hair escaped in little curls from the braided bun she wore.
“I still have questions about heaven and death. I don’t know why I find those concepts unsettling, but I do.”
Jace stopped walking, and because they were holding hands, Maddie stopped as well.
“Do you fear death, Maddie?”
“Not death itself, but what happens afterward concerns me.”
Jace stepped back a little and looked at her. He was much more concerned with life, working hard, and having money to show for it. What happened after death was not something he thought about at all. He knew he was not perfect, but he didn’t think he deserved to be in hell. He didn’t know what more he had to worry about.
“Are you angry?” Maddie asked when he was silent for so long.
“No, just thinking. Just trying to understand why it’s so important to you.”
Maddie looked almost embarrassed. She glanced away, wishing she’d kept her mouth shut. Jace’s hand to her cheek brought her face back to him.
“I’m not angry.”
“I know.”
“Then why do you look upset?”
“I just wish I could talk to someone who understood why it’s so important to me. In all these years there’s only been one person who has.”
“Who was that?”
“Mr. Muldoon.”
“Who is that?”
“He’s the other pastor in town. I think I told you about him.”
“Yes, you did. Why don’t you talk to him again?” Jace urged.
“He doesn’t come into the store that often. In fact, I’ve only seen him once.”
“You can’t go to his house or meetinghouse?”
Maddie remembered that he had invited her to do that.
“I might do that,” she said at last.
Jace began walking again, this time drawing Maddie’s arm through his to have her closer. He fingered the bracelet at her wrist, pleased that she was wearing it every time he saw her.
“What are you thinking about?”
Jace’s thought had strayed to an impure place, so he hesitated. Maddie misread this and stopped.
“You were touching the bracelet,” she said, her voice quiet. “You want it back, don’t you.”
“No,” Jace protested, trying to take her hand. “I just like the fact that you wear it.”
“But you don’t want to tell me what you were thinking?”
“It was nothing,” he said, thinking she looked vulnerable.
He wasn’t sure that sharing his intimate thoughts of her was a wise idea. “Nothing’s wrong, I assure you.”
Maddie nodded, telling herself she was being foolish. Jace leaned down and kissed her gently—not the least bit worried about privacy but only glad to see her smile at him.
“Shall we go back or walk on
?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Maddie told him, thinking that as long as he was with her, she didn’t care where they were.
Jace tucked her close to him again and resumed the walk. He too was thinking that their location was only a detail. The company was everything.
Jace woke in the night to a dark and silent house. The days were long enough to keep him asleep all night, but tonight was an exception. Tonight he felt achy and sore, and as soon as his body woke, his mind came awake.
Not strangely, his first thoughts were of Maddie. He was ready to have her beside him all the time. He was ready to marry her. He knew they had things to work out, but he was confident their love would see them through anything.
It was in the midst of Jace’s thoughts about Maddie that he noticed the quiet. The walls of the farmhouse were not so thick that noise was never heard, and it wasn’t at all unusual to hear Woody snoring. Jace now listened for it but heard nothing.
Jace slipped quietly out of bed and into the hall. He didn’t want to wake or alert his uncle, but it was too quiet for comfort. He was almost to Woody’s bedroom door before soft snoring met his ears. Relief filling him, he returned to his room and slipped into bed, his mind now fully on Woody’s health.
For the first time he could remember, he thought about Woody and the afterlife. Woody wasn’t a religious man, but there were men much worse. He was moral, and a fair businessman and farmer. Was God more particular than that? Did God exact more from His children than to do their best with the few years they had? How often did He look down on Sunday and count heads in the meetinghouse, or was life weighed in the day-to-day grind and dealings with others?
Jace nearly laughed out loud. Maddie was rubbing off on him. A subject to which he’d given almost no thought now had him wondering in the night. And with no answers! This was why Maddie kept asking. This was what kept her unsettled. For answers about the newspaper you went to the printer. For information on dry goods, there was the general store. But when one had questioned the reverend about a biblical issue and gained no knowledge, to whom did one turn next?
Sleep didn’t come for a long time. Jace was just drifting off when Clara let herself in the kitchen door.
I forgot to ask you about something before I left, Eden had ended her letter to Jace. Woody had actually wanted to head into town midweek and had brought home the mail. Has Maddie talked to you about David? I guess he was a man she loved before. His name came up while we did the dishes, and I sensed some regret on her part. Is she all right now?
Jace frowned down at the words. Was David the man from Boston? Jace was surprised to know that Maddie had discussed him with Eden, but then he knew from firsthand knowledge that Eden had a way of getting words out of a person. It took separation from her to learn what to avoid. Maddie would have been unaware.
At the same time his sister’s words did make him wonder. Why had Maddie never spoken to him about David? A woman he’d been involved with in Pine River now came to mind. Jace had genuinely cared for her and had been hurt when she’d broken off with him. He’d not trusted women for a long time, at least not with his heart. He’d spent time with other women, but he’d not actually given his heart away until Maddie.
Jace all but shook his head because he was just now realizing that. And had he been wise? Yes, Maddie was the sweetest woman he’d ever known, and when he was with her, he could think of little else, but how much did he really know about her?
Jace made himself put Eden’s letter and his wild thoughts aside. Maddie was the girl for him; he was sure of that. He was just tired and letting his imagination stray.
When Woody came looking for him a few minutes later, wanting help in the barn, Jace was very ready to get his mind onto farm and field work.
Twelve
“What are you doing?” Maddie asked her uncle, having come home from the store and caught him in the act.
“What do you mean?” Doyle tried for an innocent face, but Maddie wasn’t buying it.
“You know exactly what I mean. You’re working on something and not resting. Now, what are you up to?”
Doyle glanced around, his mind scrambling even as he continued to look innocent. Maddie put a hand to her mouth because she had an overwhelming urge to laugh. It was at that moment that Maddie thought she smelled paint. She came around to where he was standing in the kitchen and peered into the buttery. Her eyes widened when she found it empty and partially painted.
“Did you do this all this morning?” Maddie asked.
“I had to. It’s the first time you and Cathy have left me alone for ages.”
Maddie covered her mouth again, but it didn’t work. This time she laughed out loud. He had sounded like a small, aggrieved child. And she knew that his confinement had been a long trial.
“You know she’ll smell this,” Maddie said, having composed herself, “as soon as she walks in the door.”
“But it will be done by then,” Doyle reasoned.
“She’ll be angry,” Maddie tried.
“That’s okay. Her heart isn’t in trouble.”
Maddie’s shoulders shook with mirth as she moved toward the door.
“I’ve got to get out of here. She’s going to ask how you are, and I can’t know too much or I’ll be in as much trouble as you’re going to be in.”
“Just keep her in the store until closing.”
Maddie could only roll her eyes, not about to give any guarantees. Keeping Cathy in the store and away from Doyle that many hours was quite probably impossible.
Douglas stood at the edge of the kitchen and watched his wife out the window. She didn’t like anyone around when she was sick, but his heart was so hurt by the sight that he couldn’t move.
And she was growing thin. The nausea had not lasted this long before. Nearly every meal came back, and Douglas was growing concerned. At first the main topic of conversation was whether she would carry the baby full term. Now it was about how long the sickness would last. It seemed that the pregnancy was a strong one, but that didn’t change the fact that she had to find a way to survive it.
Douglas watched her come toward the door, and he went to pour her some water, greeting her with a cool glass and asking her to sit down.
“I’m fine, Douglas.”
“But I’m not,” he said, and Alison looked at him with compassion.
Douglas put a hand to her cheek.
“You’re getting thin.”
“I’m not very hungry these days.”
Martin came looking for Alison just then and saw the glass of water.
“Mama, did you burp?” he asked, his word for something far worse.
“I’m afraid so.”
“Does the baby know that she makes you sick?”
Alison laughed and put her arms around him, wondering at the way he always said “she.”
“It might be a boy,” she felt a need to remind him.
“But we want a girl,” Douglas put in.
“Are you the one giving him ideas?” Alison asked, earning a huge smile.
Alison pulled Martin into her lap to talk to him, knowing that Douglas would figure out that it was all for him.
“Does God have a plan for everything, Marty?”
“He does.”
“Yes, even when a woman has a baby, God knows just what He wants that baby to be.”
Alison glanced up to find Douglas fighting laughter.
“So we will be thankful,” Martin finished.
Alison hugged him closer. “It’s good to know, Marty, that your father hasn’t completely ruined you.”
The little boy frowned up at her in confusion, which only intensified when both husband and wife began to laugh.
Maddie helped David Scales load some of the building supplies she’d been holding for him into the back of his wagon. He had parked at the side of the building, and Maddie had carried the lighter items.
“How will you get your wife out of the house for the surprise?”
“She left on the morning train. She’s headed to Worcester to see her cousin’s new baby. She’ll be gone a week.”
Maddie smiled. “You’ve planned this very well.”
“I hope so. I’m just afraid that I won’t get it done before she gets back.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“Why is that?”
“She’ll see what you started and be surprised anyhow. My guess is she’ll be delighted.”
David stared at her. “Do all women think alike?”
“Not all, I guess, but probably most.”
“I can’t thank you enough, Maddie. Katie will be so surprised over this larger kitchen. She has so little space right now.”
“I hope it’s wonderful.”
“I think it will be, and I couldn’t have done it without you. I feel I should give you a hug.”
“Of course you can give me a hug,” Maddie told him warmly, and David bent down to give her a tight squeeze.
Maddie smiled and waved as he left, hoping the surprise would work, and hoping beyond that, that David’s wife knew what a special guy she had married.
Jace could hardly believe Eden was standing on the doorstep just as he and Woody finished dinner on Friday at midday. He’d read her letter only two days before, and she’d visited just two weeks back, but she was there again—no mistake about that.
“Well, Eden,” he said, welcoming her in a decidedly lukewarm manner.
“Hello, Jace. How are you?”
“Fine.” Jace stepped back to let her in, just holding his tongue from asking why she had come. “Are you hungry?” he asked instead. “Dinner’s still on the table.”
“Thank you.” She smiled as though nothing was amiss.
Jace led the way, able to watch Woody’s face when Eden came through the door. The older man did not looked pleased.
“Eden’s here,” Jace announced unnecessarily.
“Well, Eden,” Woody said, sounding just like Jace.
Eden was aware that they were not glad to see her, but she ignored their faces. She was here to do a job, and already things were going very well.