Vivid

  Jeremiah had taken over in the kitchen and proved to be a surprisingly good cook. The meal-dusted fish he fried was tender enough to melt in the mouth. Vivid had just begun to tell him that her father would pay excellent wages to a man with Jeremiah's abilities, but she was interrupted by Noah, who was standing by the window. "Nate Grayson's riding up, Pa. He looks mad."

  A couple of the brothers went to the window and echoed Noah's observation. "He's mad about something."

  Mr. Crowley went to the door to greet the visitor. "Nate, how are you this evening, son?"

  "Fine, Adam," Nate answered. "Have you seen the damned doctor in the last couple days? I seem to have lost her."

  Adam stepped aside to let Nate enter.

  The "damned doctor" in question stood in the center of the front room, hands on hips. "I'm right here, Mr. Grayson," Vivid said.

  She thought she saw relief fill his eyes, but that expression quickly vanished when he asked quietly, "Where the hell have you been?"

  "Here. Mr. Crowley's daughter has been ill."

  "Do you know I have been searching the Grove for two whole days? I didn't know if you'd been shanghaied by a lumber beast or were lying dead in a ditch somewhere."

  Vivid was touched by his concern. "What is a lumber beast?" she asked gently, hiding her smile.

  One of the Crowley sons supplied the explanation. “You probably know them as lumberjacks, Dr. Lancaster. Here, some folks call them beasts because of the way they carry on when they come into town with their pay."

  She turned back to Nate. "I didn't mean to worry you, Mr. Grayson."

  "Next time leave a note."

  Adam Crowley spoke up then. "It was my fault, Nate. I was so worried about Jewel, I had one of the boys fetch Dr. Lancaster in the middle of the night."

  Nate continued to stare into Vivid's eyes as he asked Adam Crowley, "How's Jewel doing?"

  Vivid held his gaze.

  "The doctor says she'll be fine with a little rest," Mr. Crowley replied. Then Vivid heard him say, "I'm hoping the doc's going to marry up with one of my sons."

  Nate smiled, saying, "But Dr. Lancaster isn't going to marry anyone, are you, Viveca?"

  Hearing him address her by her given name for the first time sent her senses spinning.

  "No, I'm not marrying anyone," she answered in a voice far softer than she'd intended. She tore away from the undertow in Nate Grayson's eyes. "I...should go check on my patient," she said and quickly headed for the stairs.

  Nate's voice made her stop. "Viveca?"

  She turned.

  "When you're done, I'll take you home."

  She nodded nervously and fled.

  Upstairs, Vivid found Jewel up and dressed and gathering laundry in the hallway.

  "What in Jessy are you doing, Jewel Crowley?" Vivid asked. Up close Vivid could see the perspiration beaded on the young girl's brow. "Back to bed. Now."

  "But—"

  "Now, miss, or I'll call your father."

  They had a standoff for a moment, then Jewel dropped the sheets, trudged back to her room, and climbed under the sheets. "Now I expect you to spend the next few days in bed. You need rest if you are to recover."

  "There's too much to do."

  "Then let your father and brothers help."

  "And spend all the day undoing what they've done? It's easier to do it myself."

  Vivid said softly, "They are a lot more competent than you know, Jewel, and believe me, they were very worried about you when you fell ill. Let them help so this doesn't happen again."

  "You don't understand," Jewel replied sadly. "I promised my mother."

  "Promised her what?"

  "On her deathbed she made me promise I would take care of Pa and the boys."

  "How old were you?"

  "Almost twelve summers."

  Vivid thought back to when she was twelve and how devastated she would have been had her mother died. "Did you love your mother, Jewel?"

  In answer, Jewel turned her head on the pillow, and Vivid could see the sadness in her eyes. “Very much. I still miss her."

  "Then think about this. Would she have wanted you to work yourself to death? When she made you promise to take care of your father and brothers, I don't believe she meant to the detriment of your health. There are six strong men in this house. Please let them show you how much they love you by letting them help out."

  Jewel lay with her head on the pillow, looking at the ceiling. Vivid asked her, "Will you at least consider it?"

  After several silent moments passed, Jewel finally gave a small nod of affirmation.

  "Good," Vivid said, smiling.

  "But what if they make a mess?"

  "Then show them how to do what you want without making a mess. They'll listen, I promise. Every one of them is scared to death of raising your ire. They'll behave."

  Jewel appeared to mull over the suggestions, then said, "Well, I suppose it won't hurt to give it a try."

  For the first time Vivid saw her smile. Beneath all the thinness and exhaustion, Jewel was a very beautiful young woman.

  "Good," Vivid replied genuinely.

  "Thank you, Dr. Lancaster."

  Vivid smiled. "You're welcome. And now that you're on the road to recovery, I need to get on the road home."

  Jewel turned her head on the pillow and asked, "Was that Nate's voice I heard downstairs?"

  "Yes."

  "Are you in love with him, yet?"

  "Jewel Crowley!" Vivid said with a laugh.

  "I'm only asking because every woman in town has been sweet on him at one time or another. The girls in the choir can hardly sing sometimes for looking at him sitting in the front pew. Then there was Miss Edna's daughter who came up from South Bend, last August first. And Maddie's been in love with Nate since they were Magic's age. Have you met Maddie yet?"

  "No."

  "Some folks don't like her because of the type of place she used to run, but she grew up here. Nate and Eli never let anybody talk mean about her when she comes to town."

  Vivid wondered if this woman was the same Maddie who ran the Emporium, the brothel she had heard about.

  A knock on Jewel's door interrupted Vivid's thoughts.

  "How's my baby girl?" Adam Crowley asked as he walked in.

  "Come on in and see for yourself," Vivid said.

  As father and daughter smiled at each other, Vivid slipped out, leaving them alone.

  Downstairs, the brothers surrounded her for news of Jewel. When Vivid related their sister's promise to accept their help, they threw their hats to the ceiling and filled the house with sounds of joy.

  The sun had begun to set when Nate and Vivid started for home. Beside him on the seat, Vivid sat silently, thinking about the way he'd addressed by her Christian name earlier. The shock of the moment had been akin to touching a hot stove. She'd tried not to dwell on her reaction but her efforts were futile. She glanced over at him and thought he'd become more handsome in the days she'd spent with the Crowleys. She hastily looked away and chastised herself for her thoughts. It must be fatigue again, she rationalized. After all, she'd worked hard the past few days, even Adam Crowley had attested to that fact, so it was only natural that she would be a bit more vulnerable to Nate Grayson's overpowering masculinity.

  However, the attraction she'd admitted to harboring the other day had surfaced like an emerging spring bulb. Despite the complications sure to arise, the shoots continued to grow. Vivid could see no other alternative but to hope for a good hard frost.

  The sky-high trees growing on both sides of the road sheltered their passage beneath a canopy of green. The beauty of a brilliant Michigan sunset filled Vivid's senses and served to uplift her pensive mood.

  Marveling at the trees and the beautiful splashes of color provided by the wildflowers, she asked, "Will I ever become accustomed to this?" without realizing she had spoken out loud.

  "I never have, and I've been here most of my life," Nate replied. "Wait until autumn,
now that's spectacular."

  Vivid had seen autumn in the East, but her studies had been so tiring and all-consuming that she'd had little time to enjoy the metamorphoses of the seasons. "I can see why your grandfather decided to settle here. Is the rest of this state as beautiful?"

  "Pretty much. The lumber beasts are clearing a lot of the forests north and east of here, though. They brag about cutting down every tree on both peninsulas."

  "That's not possible, is it?"

  "If the lumber barons smell profit, anything is possible."

  Suddenly, a white-tailed deer darted across the road. Nate pulled hard on the reins to avoid a collision, then fought to keep the buggy upright. The abruptness tossed Vivid across the seat and almost into Nate's lap. A blink of an eye later, calm returned and she found herself staring up into his too close features. "Are you all right?" he asked.

  She was near enough to feel the heat coming off his chest and see the rise and fall of his measured breathing. "Yes, I believe so," she said, but she seemed unable to move back to her spot across the seat.

  He reached out and for a long, drawn-out moment, lightly traced the surface of her bottom lip. "I worried when I couldn't find you, Viveca..."

  He lowered his mouth to hers, and Vivid shuddered. The sweet intensity proved far more wonderful than she would ever have imagined. He put his hands on her arms and pulled her close, then closer still. Under the passionate coaxing of his mouth, she forgot everything—her name, her profession, the fact that they were on opposing sides. When he brushed his mouth across her lips, then slowly nibbled the parted corners, Vivid melted like wax.

  He left her mouth tingling and slowly moved down to explore the skin beneath her jaw, then the sensitive shell of her ear. Vivid reeled from the heated trails he blazed, and from the lingering, passionate way in which his mouth reclaimed hers.

  He let her go finally, reluctantly, and she sat with eyes closed, swaying. When she opened her eyes, he was watching her, his face unreadable.

  "Let's get you back," he said.

  Vivid reclaimed her seat beside him, feeling hazy from his kiss.

  He picked up the reins and their journey resumed.

  From his bedroom window later that night, Nate looked down on Vivid's cabin. He'd never meant to kiss her. One moment he'd been dodging the white-tailed deer and the next...The next moment she was in his arms and he hadn't wanted to let her go. Her virgin's mouth had been just that, virginal, ripe. Even now, hours later, he could still feel the taste of her on his lips. Women rarely affected him in such a manner. Since Cecile he'd limited himself to playful dalliances with a lusty widow or two, but he'd never let himself be so moved by a woman that he wanted to take her right there on the seat of the buggy, as he had with Lancaster. He could offer no rational explanation. He'd been frantic when he couldn't find her Sunday morning. Abigail assured him there was no need to worry, especially since her medical bag couldn't be located either, but anxiety had consumed him for the balance of the day. His concerns multiplied when she didn't return the next night, so he'd gone out to search. Finding her at Adam's had filled him with such relief, he'd almost pulled her into his arms then and there.

  Nate moved away from the window and stretched out on his big bed, trying to make sense of his growing attraction to Viveca Lancaster. Considering the potential for battle whenever they came near each other, he couldn't understand what made him muse over the warmth of her throat beneath his kisses, the feel of her hips against his palms, the scents she wore between her breasts. By all rights, he shouldn't be thinking about her at all unless it related to how long she'd stay before she headed off to a place more in line with her upbringing. And she would leave, he was certain. With that in mind, he'd be better off devising a plan for a replacement physician instead of remembering how passionately she responded to his embrace.

  But as Nate drifted off to sleep, his last thoughts were of her lips.

  Chapter 9

  By the following Sunday, Vivid was in terrible need of a Sabbath rest because of all the sweeping, hauling, and scrubbing she'd been doing to get her office ready. With Eli and Vernon's help, the holes in the foundation and roof had been patched and tarred, and the Crowley sons had begun installing her new truncheon floor. The cobwebs were finally banished from the back room via the flames of a torch. On Thursday, an older man of Adam Crowley's age and stature entered the office. He introduced himself as Hiram Farley and announced that he'd come to encircle the base of the outside foundation with a screening wire.

  Vivid followed him outside, puzzled by this announcement. She'd never heard of such a thing.

  He was unrolling the wire mesh like a bolt of fabric as he explained what he'd come to do. "Edna says the squirrels got in."

  "Yes, sir, they did."

  "Well, after we nail this around the foundation they won't be able to gnaw through. Rodents like familiar places and they're probably gonna want to bed down in your place next winter, but this time, tell them their boardinghouse is closed."

  Vivid smiled. "How much do I owe you, Mr. Farley?"

  "Not a cent, little girl. This is me and Adam Crowley's way of saying welcome to the Grove, Dr. Lancaster."

  Vivid stilled. Had her visit to Adam Crowley turned him into a supporter?

  Hiram chuckled. "You impressed that old lumber beast."

  She was surprised by that bit of information. "Mr. Crowley is a lumberjack?"

  "In his youth he cut trees from here to Superior. He didn't tell you, I take it?"

  Vivid shook her head no as he took out some tin snips and tools from the belt around his waist and knelt near the rolled-out wire.

  Hiram stated, "Adam spent the whole time quizzing you, I'll bet."

  Vivid grinned. "As a matter of fact, he did."

  Farley nodded and smiled. "Well, you go on back and do what you were doing and let an old man get to work."

  Vivid smiled and complied.

  In addition to Mr. Farley, Vivid had other visitors during the week. The Quilt Ladies stopped in, as did Miss Edna, curious farmers on their way to and from the mill, and the Patterson twins. Vivid noticed that Aaron Patterson's jaw continued to plague him, but he refused to let Vivid examine him.

  The only person Vivid did not see was Nate Grayson. He'd gone up to Kalamazoo for some business, Abigail informed her the morning after Vivid returned from the Crowleys.

  She didn't see Nate again until Sunday morning. She stepped onto her porch and noticed him seated atop the buggy ready to take them all to church. She shouldn't have expected any more than the impersonal nod of greeting he gave her, but she was upset by his cool manner nonetheless. Obviously, the kiss they'd shared had meant very little to him. In retaliation, Vivid remained quiet and impassive all the way to church.

  "Our church started out as a tent," Abigail explained to Vivid as they toured the interior of the stone and wood structure before the service began. Unlike the two large A.M.E. churches Vivid and her father attended, this church was small. However, Vivid had never seen a more beautifully carved choir box. Every beam, railing, and pew in the sanctuary gleamed from the care it obviously received.

  "This is where we hold all our meetings." Abigail gestured as Vivid followed her into a fairly large room down the hall. Vivid looked around and smiled at the children's Sunday school pictures proudly nailed up on a portion of the wall. There were shelves of books and in one corner a lectern made of dark wood. A plaque near the doorway listed the scheduled dates and times for a book reading group, a historical society, the Men's Association, the Women's Club, the Quilt Ladies, and the Bible class, which met every Wednesday at seven. "I never thought there would be so many gatherings here," Vivid said, impressed.

  "We're small but we try and keep up with the rest of the country. Between my son's newspaper and my historical society, there isn't a lot we miss."

  "You head the historical society?" Vivid asked, surprised.

  "Yes, I'm compiling a history of the race. I'll show y
ou my work sometime."

  "I'd be honored."

  On the way out Vivid stopped to look at the items displayed on the shelves of a doorless highboy. There were various plaques honoring past and current reverends and a large, beautifully patterned quilt.

  Abigail came up next to her and explained, "The Quilt Ladies took first place at last year's fair with that quilt."

  "It's beautiful," Vivid noted, running her eyes over the delicate stitching and patterns. "But what in the world are those?'' she asked, picking up the odd-looking items. They appeared to be small balls fashioned out of burned wood.

  "Lacrosse balls."

  Before Abigail could explain further, organ music filled the air. Vivid placed the balls back on the shelf. The service was about to begin.

  Vivid took her seat next to Abigail in the Grayson pew at the front of the church. Nate and Magic were already seated. His eyes held hers for a brief moment as she passed by, but they were the same distant eyes he'd turned on her that morning, so she decided to put him and his kisses out of her mind. As the choir came in, she concentrated on singing the processional hymn instead.

  Vivid's mother, Francesca, had been raised in the Catholic faith, but Vivid and her sisters were, like their father, members of the A.M.E., or African Methodist Episcopal faith. One of the first Sunday school lessons she and her sisters learned had been the story of how the A.M.E. church came into existence.

  Prior to the mid-eighteenth century, most free Blacks in the North worshipped in White Christian churches. Mainstream denominations such as the Baptists, Methodists, and Episcopalians welcomed Blacks into their flocks but rarely allowed them to pray with the main congregation. Instead, Blacks were relegated to uncomfortable benches placed in the back of the church marked B.M., for "Black Members," or forced to sit in balconies and galleries that bore such names as “African Corner" or the more denigrating "Nigger Heaven." Even the Quakers, who until 1830 stood at the forefront of the abolitionist movement, did not allow its Black and White members to pray side by side.