“Just musing on your many facets.”
“My facets,” she echoed skeptically.
“Yes. You have a generous side and a side that shoots.”
“I see. Then I’ll make sure I keep the latter hidden while we’re with Hicks. No sense in dazzling him with my scintillating personality.”
He grinned. “You know, you’re going to make some man a fine wife one day.”
“And you say that, because?”
“You’ve a great wit. You run an efficient household and you’re not bad to look at.”
Amused she turned to the passing landscape. “That’s quite the compliment coming from you.”
“I’m serious.”
“I’m sure you are, but considering your way with the ladies, any woman with half a brain would never take you seriously.”
“You wound me again.”
“And you undoubtedly flirt in your sleep.”
The famous Grayson smile split his dark features. “You think I’m flirting with you?”
“With me? No.”
Her cynical-sounding reply gave him pause, and for the first time in his life Eli evaluated her the way he would had he indeed been flirting. He’d already alluded to her beauty, but why hadn’t he noticed the alluring ripeness of her mouth before, and when had her body become so curvaceous? He put those distracting thoughts aside. If Adam Crowley got even a hint that he might be assessing Jewel the way a man would a woman, the old lumber beast would come looking for him armed and loaded for bear.
When they reached the Quilt Ladies’ establishment, the large number of vehicles parked outside attested to the many diners inside. “You think all these folks are here to get a gander at Hicks?” Jewel asked.
“We small-towners take our amusements where we can.”
He came around to her side of the buggy and offered up a hand. She paused, eyed him, then remembering her role let him assist her down without making a fuss. She was glad she’d worn gloves, though, because they shielded her hand against the unsettling warmth of his touch. She took a moment to smooth her skirt. When she felt capable of facing him again, she looked him in the eyes. “You’re certain you want to go through with this?”
“I am.”
“Then I’ll do my best not to foul the plan.”
“See? Your generous side.”
His vivid eyes were one of his most powerful weapons, she found herself thinking. Shaking herself back to reality, she covered her lapse by saying dismissively, “Let’s just go in. The sooner we’re done the sooner I can return home.”
Amused by all that she was, Eli walked her to the door and decided that if she ever did find a beau, he’d have to be a very special man indeed.
Upon entering the Quilt Ladies’ small but tastefully decorated establishment, they saw that all eight tables in the main room were occupied and that every eye was turned their way. Jewel tried not to squirm under the casual scrutiny and nodded greetings. Kicking herself for agreeing to this, she prayed the evening would go quickly.
Caroline Ross, wearing a mint green gown with tiny yellow bows on the hooped skirt swayed over and greeted them warmly, “Eli, hello again. Mr. Hicks is waiting for you in the back room. Jewel, I’m afraid finding you a seat may take some time.”
Eli cleared his throat. “She’s with me.”
“Really?”
Jewel explained hastily, “He thought I might like to meet Mr. Hicks. I, uh, have some ideas for the Gazette. A ladies’ column.” She summoned up what she hoped passed for a genuine smile.
“Ah,” Caroline voiced but studied Jewel long enough to give her a repeat case of the squirms. “This way.”
She led them through the room. The packed-in diners viewed their passing with unabashed interest. A few even whispered, “Good luck, Eli.”
When she showed them into the small private room, Hicks was seated at the lone white-clothed table. He’d changed to a brown suit and at their approach rose to his feet.
Eli turned to Caroline, “Thank you.”
It was easy to see she wanted to hover, but Eli didn’t want her eavesdropping when he introduced Jewel as his wife. “Miss Ross, can you bring us something cold to drink. We’re parched from the drive.”
“Oh. Of course. Excuse me. I’ll send someone right in.” She exited and closed the door softly behind her.
By then Hicks was looking between Eli and Jewel with an expectancy that couldn’t be ignored, so Eli plunged in. “G. W. Hicks, this is my wife, Jewel Grayson.”
His smile was kind. “Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Grayson.”
“Thank you. I’m pleased as well. The Grove is very honored to host such an esteemed visitor.”
Hicks gestured to the chairs. “Please. Join me.”
After they were settled, Hicks gave Jewel a polite glance and said to Eli, “Grayson, you didn’t tell me your wife was so lovely.”
Jewel kept her face composed.
Eli eyed her fondly. “She’s lovely, intelligent, and witty as well. Marrying her was the best thing I’ve ever done.”
Jewel almost rolled her eyes but remembered her role, and said with a feigned shyness, “Thank you, Eli. That was very sweet.”
He reached over and covered her hand with his. Instinct made her want to pull back, but the subtle pressure of his hand kept hers immobile.
Hicks seemed to be pleased by the show of affection. “How long have you been married?”
“A couple of years,” they both answered.
“Children?”
“No.” Again in unison.
“I’m sure that will come with time.”
Jewel smiled falsely.
The waiter entered with a pitcher of iced tea, sparing her any further talk of babies. He poured some of the amber liquid into their glass tumblers, and once done, said, “I’ll be back with your meals.”
He departed and closed the door. Hicks again had his attention on Jewel. “Are you a Grove native, Mrs. Grayson?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What do you think of your husband’s newspaper?”
“I enjoyed it. I took issue with his editorials at times, but that’s to be expected, him being a Democrat and all.”
Hicks grinned. “If women had the vote, which party would you prefer?”
“That’s between me and the ballot box. No?”
That sat him back.
Eli inwardly cringed.
Jewel took a small sip of tea.
Hicks observed her for a silent moment more, then looked impressed. “Grayson, you said the women here were unique. You were not wrong.” He raised his glass in salute. “To you, Mrs. Grayson, and intelligent women everywhere.”
Jewel raised hers in response and hoped the food would arrive soon.
For the next hour, they ate their meals of roast duck and vegetables and discussed the political issues of the day. The state of Tennessee had recently enacted a new Jim Crow law that was being roundly denounced by Black newspapers from Boston to Los Angeles. The statute, which endorsed the segregation of railroad coaches, had employed the new term separate but equal.
Eli cracked bitterly, “Separate, yes. Equal, no.”
Hicks agreed. “There’s nothing equal about riding in a cattle car. The race is heading down a slippery slope with this legislation because Tennessee has given other states the phrase they need to further distance us from our rights.”
Jewel silently agreed as well. The country seemed less and less interested in applying the freedoms promised in the Constitution to its darker citizens. Reconstruction had been dead for years and the Redemptionists in the South were murdering Black men and women separately and equally.
“And that is why the race’s newspapers are so vital,” Eli said, leaning forward to make his point. “No one else is going to bang our drum. The Chicago Tribune said we Blacks are going to disappear from national politics, and they may be correct, but as long as there is one Black editor left standing we will not go silently.”
/> “Hear, hear,” Hicks voiced, pleased. “Which is exactly one of the reasons why I’m choosing you and your paper, Grayson. You won’t go silently.”
He eyed the two of them and then rose to his feet. “Will you come with me, please?”
She and Eli shared a look but followed him out to the main dining room.
He called out in a loud voice, “Ladies and gentlemen of the Grove, may I have your attention.”
Feeling uneasy under the scrutiny of the diners, Jewel wondered what he was going to say.
When it was quiet, he continued, “I’d like to welcome into my newspaper family the newly appointed editor of the Gazette, Eli Grayson. Let’s give him and his lovely wife, Jewel, a hand.”
Every mouth in the place dropped, and in the silence, Jewel wished she knew how to faint because that was what she wanted to do.
As if they’d needed a moment to recover from the startling announcement, the diners began to applaud enthusiastically while staring at each other in surprise and shock.
Eli knew this wasn’t good. Seeing the storm gathering in Jewel’s face, he bowed to the cheering crowd, and said out of the side of his mouth, “Smile darling.”
So she did, but she whispered furiously, “Is this what you meant when you said nothing was going to happen?” Short of telling the truth and opening up an even larger can of worms, there was no way out, at least for the moment. The news of their marriage would spread so quickly that by the time the moon rose, people all over the county would be asking each other, “Did you hear about Eli Grayson and Jewel Crowley?” She wanted to shoot somebody. Preferably Eli.
Eli knew that he and Jewel needed to leave the diner before one of their neighbors came over to offer congratulations and began asking questions neither of them was prepared to answer. His hastily conceived plan had gotten away from him as quickly as a toboggan on a hill of fresh snow, so once the applause died and they were again seated in the private room, he said, “Mr. Hicks, I am honored by your faith in me, and you won’t be sorry you tapped me. However, Jewel hasn’t been feeling well, and I promised her I’d get her home early so she could lie down.”
“Oh, of course, why didn’t you say something before?”
Eli asked, “Can you and I meet sometime tomorrow?”
“Certainly. How about here around nine?”
“Perfect.” He turned to Jewel. “Are you ready, sweetheart?”
She kicked him beneath the table. Enjoying his muffled groan of pain, she responded quietly, “Yes, dear. Mr. Hicks, it was a pleasure meeting you.”
“I hope you feel better. I’m looking forward to dining with you and your husband again, soon.”
Jewel nodded politely and let Eli lead her from the dining room, all the while trying to ignore the diners looking after them with wide-eyed wonder.
Chapter 3
Outside, they walked over to the buggy. Jewel had steam pouring out of her ears. When he politely offered a hand to assist her up, she promptly slapped it away and got in under her own power.
“Did you have to kick me so hard?”
“I told you this was a harebrained plan.”
“That you agreed to.”
“I’m not speaking to you.”
With her arms clamped over her chest she looked like a female version of her father. He held on to his grin. “Jewel—”
She snarled, “If you don’t get this buggy moving, I swear I’ll drive off and leave you right here.”
Knowing this was not the best place to have this argument, he climbed up onto the seat and drove the buggy out of town. He waited until they reached the countryside before saying, “I didn’t know he was going to stand up and say what he did. When he leaves town, we’ll tell folks it was a mistake.”
“Yes, my mistake for saying yes. Good women do not go around pretending to be married when they aren’t.”
“I think you’re getting more riled up about this than necessary.”
“I’m not speaking to you,” she said again.
The whole thing was so absurd and she was so furious, he couldn’t stop the smile.
“This is not funny, Eli.”
“No it isn’t, sweetheart.”
“And don’t call me sweetheart.”
He hid his humor behind a cool tone. “My sincerest apology.”
“I don’t want an apology, I just want to be who I was when I got out of bed this morning. Jewel Crowley, spinster—not Jewel Crowley, supposedly married to the Colored Casanova of Cass County.”
He laughed. He couldn’t help himself. “Is that what folks call me?”
She didn’t respond.
“You could do worse, you know. In fact, I’d pick me over being a spinster any day of the week.”
A less self-assured man would have cringed under the glare she gave him, but he simply turned his attention back to his driving. He supposed the only way to make this right was to do what he should have done from the beginning, which was to tell Hicks the truth and let the consequences fall where they may. Reopening the Gazette had been a dream he desperately wanted to see realized, but not at her expense. “I’ll tell Hicks the truth in the morning.”
“That would be best,” she replied tightly. Too late by far, but best.
“If he doesn’t want the Gazette in his syndicate, I’ll come up with another way to catch the brass ring.”
Jewel knew losing Hicks’s support would deflate all of Eli’s plans, but she didn’t offer any sympathies because it was going to take a month of Sundays to convince folks that she and Eli hadn’t secretly run off to become man and wife, if they could be convinced at all. In reality, convincing shouldn’t be necessary. Anybody with half a brain would know the two of them weren’t married, but as he stated earlier, small-town folks took their amusement where they could find it. The speculation and spectacle surrounding this debacle would be like finding gold.
“This will all be ironed out. I promise.”
She didn’t respond.
He looked her way. “Still not talking to me?’
“No.”
His chuckle softly rippled the silence. “Okay. Let’s leave that for a moment and go back to another subject. You’d really prefer spinsterhood over marriage to me?”
“Yes, because I like my life the way it is. I have my family, my committee work, and my roses. I don’t wish to be married to someone who has to look up monogamy in Mr. Webster’s dictionary.”
“Ouch, Jewel. I’d be monogamous with the right woman. Just haven’t met her yet.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Such disbelief.”
“Such balderdash.”
“Such truth.”
He met her eyes and the power in them seemed to reach out and stroke her. Unnerved, she looked away.
“Jewel?” he called softly.
She turned.
“I am sorry.”
“I know, Eli. Just take me home.”
When he brought the buggy to a halt in front of the Crowley home, she didn’t wait for him to help her down. As soon as he stopped, she hopped down and ran up the walk to the door. Regretting the mess he’d gotten her into, he waited to make sure she went inside before driving away.
Paul was in the parlor reading when Jewel came in. He took one look at her face and asked, “Did it go that badly?”
She pulled off her gloves and related the story.
His eyes widened. “Hicks told everyone you two were married?”
“Yes.”
“What did Eli say?”
“Nothing, and neither did I. We were so astonished, there wasn’t much we could say.”
“Is he going to tell Hicks the truth?”
“In the morning.”
“Let’s hope that will be the end of it. Poor Eli. There goes his hope for the Gazette.”
“Poor Eli? What about me? They applauded, Paul. Everyone in town is going to believe I’m his wife.”
“Could be worse.”
She glared. br />
He grinned. “Fixing this may be like trying to shove a bear into a mouse hole, but let things settle a bit. They may not go as badly as you believe.”
“Pa’s going to throw a fit.”
“There is that. He’s not going to like you being gossiped about.”
She pressed her hands to her head. “Nor that I brought it on myself. I think I’ll just kill myself now and save him the trouble.”
He smiled. Of all her brothers she loved Paul the best. Growing up, he’d stood up for her, and when the other four tortured her he’d come to her rescue. He was a good ten years older than she, but always had time to listen. Like now. “I’m going to change out of these clothes. Where’s everyone else?”
“Turkey hunting. Should be back before dark.” He looked at the misery in his baby sister’s face and said, “Don’t worry Jewel. I’m betting everyone will understand and it’ll just blow over.”
Tight-lipped, she hoped he was right, and left him to his reading.
Later, wearing her denims and brogans, Jewel went out to the barn to sort through the rose plants she’d been trying to get to all day. Roses were her passion. In another month the Grove’s roses would begin blooming everywhere, and she was responsible for planting and caring for most of them. Her reputation with the thorny beauties was so well known around the county that wealthy White homes and churches also employed her services. Harrison’s Yellows were her favorites. They were showy, usually the first roses to bloom and were long lasting. They were also easily divided by a hatchet, which made them not as costly as other varieties to replace.
Jewel was in the process of making sure all the roots of the bare canes she planned to put in for Maddie Loomis in the morning were still nice and damp in the buckets she had them resting in when Abigail walked in leaning on her cane. “Evening, Jewel.”
“How are you?” Jewel loved her stepmother. Many of Abigail’s friends called her Gail. She’d been one of the many Grove women who’d helped raise Jewel after the death of her mother, and when Abigail finally relented and married Jewel’s father a few years back, no one had been happier.