"I assumed he was, of course, but part of our agreement had been that I would not inquire about his life away from me, and I never did. He was kind to me. It was all I cared about."
"What did his wife want?"
"It was one of the oddest experiences of my life. She'd come to tell me Mr. Pierce had died in a boating accident. It seemed he'd left me fifteen thousand dollars in his will and she wanted to meet me."
"Fifteen thousand?"
"Yes."
"But isn't it odd for a woman to search out her husband's paramour?"
"I thought so, too, but she wanted to meet me to thank me."
"What on earth for?"
"For giving her husband an outlet for what she termed his 'bestial male urges.' She thanked me, handed me a satchel with the fifteen thousand dollars inside, and told me never to set foot in the state of Illinois again."
"So is that when you came back here?"
"No, did some traveling on the continent for a few months, entertained a few lords and a few crown princes, and then came home to Grayson Grove and opened a whorehouse."
"That must have set a few tongues wagging."
"It certainly did. My father was one of the first people to come pounding on the door, screaming about hell and damnation. I had my doorman escort him out. Made him absolutely furious. The biddies were next."
"The biddies?"
"Yes, the Widow Moss and her ring of busybodies. They were harassing my customers pretty fierce, night after night. So one evening when business was slow I turned my dogs on them. Never seen a bunch of old crones run so fast in all my life."
Vivid couldn't suppress the smile on her face. Maddie then asked, "So how are you and Nate getting along?"
Vivid paused a moment in an effort to figure out where this conversation might be heading and replied, "Fine."
"Heard about you shooting his hat off his head."
"Seems as if everyone has."
"You know," Maddie said, looking Vivid straight in the eye, "Nate's the only man I've ever really loved."
Vivid didn't know what to say in response to that statement.
Maddie added, "By all rights I should resent you, but you've brought back the smile to his eyes, and that's good. I grew up with Nate and Eli. We hunted frogs together in the spring and built snow forts and played snow snake in the winter. We were so inseparable that during my ninth summer I cried for two days after Miss Abigail explained to me that it would be physically impossible for me to grow up and be a boy."
Vivid chuckled at how disappointed the nine-year-old Maddie must have been upon learning that news.
"But after the mess with Cecile and the war, he changed. He lost his father, his wife. He'd never had to face that much tragedy and pain before. Glad to hear he's courting you."
"Seems everyone has heard. Do you mind him courting me?'' Vivid asked.
"Of course I mind. I told you, he's the only man I've ever really loved, weren't you listening?" Then her voice and face became serious, "But Nate doesn't love me, at least not in the way I'd prefer. He sees me as a sibling or a cousin. I'm glad he's found someone."
"I haven't really said yes to him though."
"I am just going to assume that you have a rational explanation."
"I do." And Vivid explained the forces warring inside.
After Maddie heard Vivid's dilemma she said, "I agree, some men would demand you give up medicine. Not Nate. He isn't that way. Trust your heart, Viveca."
A short while later, Vivid rid Maddie's front room of the clutter that accompanied the stitching and washed up her dishes, much to Maddie's ire.
"Maddie, you need to stay off that foot as much as possible, remember? I'll have the Quilt Ladies bring your meals for the next couple days and check on you."
Maddie snorted. "The Quilt Ladies? They'd rather walk through town naked than visit the whore's house."
"Oh, they'll come, and when they do, I want your promise that you won't sic the hounds on them."
Silence.
Vivid leaned down. "Maddie?"
Vivid waited.
“Oh, all right, Viveca I'll promise, but only because I know they aren't going to come."
"And the men are putting up an addition to my house. When it's done, and your foot is healed, I expect you to come have dinner."
Maddie simply stared. "You're inviting me to your house for dinner?''
"Surely former whores eat."
Maddie laughed, then asked, "And if I refuse?"
"Expect to have your hat shot off, because I will come and get you and I will be packing a rifle."
Maddie shook her head and grinned. "No wonder Nate's in such a whirlwind. Are you always this way?"
"I have no idea what you mean."
"Humble also. I like you, Viveca Lancaster. Hate to admit it, but I do."
"I like you, too, Maddie. Shall we agree to be friends?"
Maddie nodded and said softly, "Yes."
Maddie slowly accompanied Vivid out onto the porch, and then whistled for the dogs. “You need to meet them so they won't try and take a plug out of you next time."
The hounds bounded up and met their mistress happily, licking her hands and cavorting until all five of the animals had been stroked. Maddie then held up one finger and they all sat and became watchful and attentive. "This is Dr. Viveca Lancaster," Maddie said.
The dogs turned and looked her over.
Maddie then spoke to Viveca. "Place your hand down by your side and curl your fingers up."
Vivid complied.
“Now, I want you to let each dog sniff the back of your hand. They'll remember you next time."
Vivid walked slowly among the animals and gave each her scent. She rubbed a few backs, stroked a few ears, and scratched a rib here and there. Since none of them snapped or growled she assumed she'd been accepted.
"Very good," Maddie told her pets. "Now go play," she added affectionately. They ran off.
"Well, Maddie, I'm real pleased to know you."
"Pleased to know you, too, Viveca."
"The Quilt Ladies should be by sometime tomorrow."
Maddie snorted.
"You'll see." And with a departing wave she drove away.
Chapter 16
Mr. Crowley was right. The work to finish her new home took exactly seven days.
On the evening it was finished, Vivid walked around her new kitchen and ran her hands over the smooth wood face of the beautiful cabinets Paul Crowley had built and installed. She walked into the bedroom and marveled at the colorful rag rugs the Quilt Ladies had sent as gifts and the emerald-green curtains Abigail had made for the window. The bed taking up most of one side of the room had come as a gift, too, from Mr. Crowley. He'd made the four-poster a few years ago hoping to give it to one of his sons as a wedding gift, but, he told Vivid, as the men moved the bed into her bedroom, that since it didn't appear any of them would be tying the knot anytime soon, she might as well have it.
Because the bed had been built to hold a Crowley, it was large. She took the opportunity to lie atop it for the first time; the comforting cushion of the feather mattress enveloped her. She lay there imagining Nate lying beside her and how it might be to have her babies here. She missed him. Last night she'd dreamed of them making love and she had awakened damp and pulsing. She wished he'd hurry home.
The next morning, Vivid went out to inspect the small box she'd erected down on the road at the end of the drive. She'd installed it so folks could drop off notes and pick up their medicine if she wasn't around. When she found the box empty, she turned back and saw Magic coming her way carrying the chicken-wire cage housing Hector.
Hector was a baby bird Magic had recently found at the base of a tree in the heavily wooded area behind the Crowley place. Vivid remembered how Magic had come to her that day, running and shouting and cradling something in her hands.
"Dr. Lancaster, I found a baby bird!" she'd called with a mixture of elation and concern. "Pa says never
take the babies from the nest but this one must've fallen out. I found it on the ground."
The tiny gray form had been just big enough to fill Magic's small palm. It reminded Vivid of Sara's dead child.
"Do you think it's going to live?"
Vivid wanted to express doubt, but Magic's face held such hope, Vivid didn't have the heart. "Do you know anything about raising baby birds?"
Magic shook her head sadly.
"Neither do I."
Nate's voice interrupted the discussion. "What do you have there, Majestic?"
Vivid gave a sigh of relief. As Magic's parent he would be better able to handle such delicate subjects as life and death.
"A baby bird, Pa, and I didn't take it from the nest. It was on the ground. Do you think it'll live if I feed it?"
Nate looked doubtful. "It needs its mother, Majestic."
"But it doesn't have one, Pa. I think I'm going to name it Hector."
"Magic, maybe you ought to wait to see if it will live before you give it a name," Vivid said.
"If I give it a name it will live."
Surprisingly, Hector made it through the first few days. Vivid donated an old mortar and pestle to the cause and Magic used them to grind up worms and fish scraps. Judging by the size and shape of his beak, Nate determined Hector to be a type of hawk. Magic fed Hector from a small spoon and gave him water with a tiny dropper. Despite the grim expectations of the adults, Hector began to thrive. He had grown fat under Magic's care, and soft ivory and black speckled feathers were now covering the previously gray skin. The bigger he grew, the more demanding he became. Soon the ground worms were no longer sufficient, it seemed. The more Magic fed him the hungrier he seemed to be.
Vivid came back to the present as Magic held up the cage for Vivid to see, "I think he needs real worms, Dr. Lancaster. What do you think?"
Hector was now as fat as a small melon.
"You could be right, Magic. What would you suggest?"
"Well, we could hunt worms tonight after it gets dark. That's what Pa and me do sometimes before we go fishing. You ever hunt worms?"
"No, Magic, can't say as I have. But I'll help if you need me."
"Good," the nine-year-old said, smiling. "Of course, I'll have to check with Aunt Gail to make sure I can stay up late."
"Of course."
Abigail gave her permission, so that evening around dusk, Vivid and Magic began hauling buckets of water from the pump. Then Magic set about teaching Vivid how to hunt worms.
"First thing we have to do is get the ground sopping wet."
Following Magic's lead, Vivid poured the buckets of water into small areas of the vast grass in back of the Grayson house. It hadn't rained in over a week and the ground was very dry. Vivid slapped at the mosquitoes trying to make a meal out of her exposed neck and arms and began to have serious doubts about worm hunting.
When the last bucket had been emptied into the earth, Magic said, "Now we wait until the moon comes up."
The moon came up less than an hour later. Aided by its light and that of the two lanterns, Vivid and Magic returned to their soggy patch of ground.
"We have to be very quiet," Magic explained. "If the worms hear us they won't come out."
Too bad worms don't eat mosquitoes, Vivid thought testily as she swatted herself on the back of the neck.
"Shhh!" Magic cautioned harshly.
A contrite Vivid quieted as Magic whispered, "Now watch, Dr. Lancaster."
Magic used her lantern to illuminate a small area of the grass. Any worm not fast enough to slip back into the earth was snatched up by her lightning-quick little brown hands and tossed into her earth-filled bucket. She would then move to a patch of fresh ground and repeat the process. All in all it appeared fairly simple to Vivid. Shine the light, grab a worm, and toss it into the bucket. In practice it proved to be a lot more difficult. Vivid's hands weren't fast enough. She'd see the worm and grab at it but kept coming away with nothing but wet grass and earth. It became very frustrating, especially watching Magic going about the task with such ease.
"It takes practice, Dr. Lancaster. Keep trying, you'll get it."
Vivid kept trying but she didn't get it. She felt as though she'd pulled up every blade of grass in the yard with nothing to show for her efforts. The lack of success coupled with the unrelenting attack of the blood-seeking mosquitoes had her ready to throw in the towel when Nate's voice, dark as the night, caressed her from behind. "Good evening, Lancaster."
She turned and found him standing only a few feet away. The silent forces between them washed over her with such power that for a moment she couldn't find voice to greet him.
"Hi, Pa," Magic said, popping up out of the dark.
Nate picked her up and spun her around until she was giggling with delight. "Hi yourself. Aunt Gail says you're hunting worms for Hector?"
Once again on her feet, Magic replied, “Yep. Pa, you should see how fat he's gotten. The ground-up worms don't fill him up anymore. I thought real worms might be what he needs. Dr. Lancaster's offered to help, but she's having a hard time getting the hang of it."
Vivid confessed truthfully, "I have to admit worm hunting is much more difficult than it looks."
"You ought to let Pa teach you, Dr. Lancaster," Magic suggested. "Pa is a champion worm hunter."
Vivid sought to nip that idea in the bud. “Magic, your father has just returned from a long trip. I'm sure he'd much prefer to go in and relax."
"Oh, I think I have enough strength still to teach you some things before I head off to bed," he remarked easily.
His words rippled through her.
"Good," Magic pronounced and slipped away to resume her hunt.
Vivid still found herself more than a bit tongue-tied. It didn't help matters when he said, "Seven days is a long time to be away from you, Lancaster."
Every inch of her body called out to him in longing.
"I dreamed of you," she confessed before she could catch herself.
"We'd better hunt worms. I'd hate to have my daughter come back and find us rolling in the grass. Follow me."
Under Nate's tutelage, Vivid had a modicum of success. He taught her the importance of patience. "Let the worm think he's in no danger, give him a moment to breathe, then pounce."
The strategy worked. A few minutes later, Vivid caught her first worm. As she crowed with delight, Nate ran to retrieve the bucket from his daughter. When he returned moments later, a very dejected and empty-handed Vivid faced him.
"What happened?" he asked.
“After all that work, I opened my hand and dropped the thing, and it got away."
Nate shook his head and chuckled, "That's a cardinal rule, Lancaster. Never open your hand. You want to try again?''
"Yes. I am not going inside until I get at least one."
And one was all she caught.
All in all, though, it was a successful hunt. Magic and Nate caught enough worms to keep Hector fed for at least a few days, or so they all hoped.
That night, Vivid took a short sponge bath, braided her hair, and slipped into a thin sleeveless gown. As much as she craved Nate's company, she knew not to set her heart on seeing him again until morning. He would probably put Magic to bed, then seek his own bed after the long, tiring drive home.
She walked through the cabin and doused the lights. The night breeze lifted the curtains and cooled the rooms. After the heat and near-stifling humidity of the past few days, the change felt wonderful.
She slipped outside just in time to hear the rumble of thunder far off in the distance. She looked up into the sky and saw fat dark clouds racing across the moon until they devoured it on another booming note. The trees were rustling softly in answer to the far-off storm, caressing the night with their sounds. Vivid could now appreciate Magic's fascination with storms; the air seemed charged, fresh, and vital, making one feel alive with the anticipation of what would come.
Nate's footstep on the porch was such a familiar s
ound that she didn't even have to turn to verify his presence with her eyes. She stood there, her back to him, and waited silently. The warmth of him singed her as he came behind her and eased his arms around her waist. His lips met the side of her neck as he pulled her back to fit himself more closely against her hips. She shivered in response to his kiss of welcome.
When she turned to greet him with a kiss of her own, he stayed her with a gentle squeeze of his hands on her waist and whispered thickly against her ear, "No, stay just as you are, I want to hold you like this for a little while..."
His lips traveled up the side of her throat while his hands slowly roamed her body. She arched in invitation to his hand as it began traveling brazenly over her thighs, her belly, then over the tight buds of her breasts, bringing with it heat, passion, and the sweet opening strains of desire.
Thunder boomed a bit closer and the wind picked up as he turned her and slowly undid the small ribbons on the bodice of her gown. He eased the halves aside, then flicked his tongue across one straining nipple, then the other.
"You're so beautiful..." he said softly.
Her head thrown back, Vivid shuddered as he feasted.
It became harder and harder for her to maintain her stance and he took sweet advantage. His hands and lips loved her everywhere. While he continued to pleasure her breasts, he lazily rubbed her loose-fitting gown over the sensitive flesh of her hips, raising it higher, inch by sensual inch until he bared her, thigh to waist. His hand traveled up and down her length, squeezing her possessively, circling her passionately as he gently suckled each nipple in turn. He rubbed gently at the damp warmth anchoring her dark thighs, then slid a caress over the citadel. She arched to the sensations, wanting to experience even more.
Nate gave her more. He leaned down and kissed her a long moment, then eased away. While their eyes held, he picked her up into his arms and took her over to the swing.
She sat on his lap and he kissed her again, deeply. He teased her nipples until she arched her body. His big hand cupped her behind as he supported her, squeezing the flesh lovingly as he took his time to make sure her breasts would never call for any other man's devotions but his. He feasted as if she were made of chocolate. Her nipples were sweet and ripe as summer blueberries, her hips lush as blooms in May. He wanted her here and now, while the thunder echoed and the wind spoke loudly. He wanted to ease her back and ease himself into paradise.