Joe's Wife

“Morning, Telford ladies,” the shop owner called, addressing the trio. “What can I do for you today?”

“We’re shopping for Forrest’s birthday celebration,” Edwina said with pride.

“How old is the little fellow?”

The woman had reached the front counter, and Edwina skirted Tye as though he were a barrel of rat poison. Her powdery verbena scent made him want to sneeze. “My grandson will be four tomorrow. His father is surprising him with the pony he’s been asking for. Harley went to great pains to find a well-trained Shetland.”

“The little guy will like that, won’t he? He must be glad to finally have his daddy home from the war.” Emery spoke conversationally, as though Tye weren’t standing there.

Gwynn, too, stepped deliberately past Tye and replied, “We’re all grateful to have Harley home safe.”

Meg reached the spot where Tye stood, but instead of pretending he didn’t exist, she nodded and gave him a hesitant smile. “Morning, Tye.”

Her use of his first name caught him by surprise, but he held securely to his nonchalant expression. A knot of humiliation burned in his gut, and he resented feeling it. No reason why this woman seeing him spurned should make any difference. “Morning,” he returned.

Meg received a scathing look from her mother-in-law and hurried to join her.

Tye studied her straight back in the plain black dress and remembered her in vivid colors, remembered her dancing with Joe at socials, remembered her as a young and smiling girl. She still had the curviest figure in town. And though her hair was bound in a knot shaped like a figure eight, he recalled the rich tresses the color of dark honey that had flowed down her back in her school days.

The women gave their list to Emery and chattered among themselves.

Tye replaced his hat after tipping it to the ladies. “Nice chattin’ with ya.”

Meg smiled apologetically, embarrassed for him and for her rude in-laws who didn’t acknowledge he’d spoken.

Emery looked up from the list with a scowl.

With a discernible limp, Tye sauntered from. the store.

“Of all the impertinent men,” Edwina huffed, pressing her hankie to her nose as if she could keep Tye Hatcher’s taint from entering her bloodstream through her nostrils.

“Been in here ever’ week askin’ for a job,” Emery said. “Think he’d take the hint by now that nobody wants him in town and head out.”

Meg studied their disapproving faces, then glanced at the door Tye’s tall form had disappeared through. Why had he come back? Surely the rude treatment he received had discouraged him long before now. Even in school the kids had snubbed him because of their parents’ attitudes toward his illegitimacy and his mother’s questionable vocation.

He was regarded as a troublemaker; whenever there’d been a brawl in one of the saloons, he’d reportedly been present. In Meg’s company he’d always been reserved and mannerly, so she had a difficult time relating the solemn-faced young man with the haunted eyes to those tales of carousing and drinking.

Edwina was going over the list of things they’d need for baking that afternoon. Meg’s attention wavered to the jars of hard candy lined across the counter, and an acute ache stabbed through her chest. She would never come in here without remembering her Joe’s fondness for peppermint sticks.

It had been nearly a year since she’d received news of his death at the battle of the Potomac. But the reality of him never coming home hit her afresh at every turn. Why him? Why her Joe?

She steadied herself against a rough barrel exuding the sharp smell of salted meat and tried not to wonder what was going to become of her without him. It was the same quandary she faced every day. Even her well-meaning in-laws and her own family added to her dilemma with their constant insistence that she sell the ranch and move in with them.

“Meg? Are you all right, dear?”

At Gwynn’s gentle touch on her sleeve, Meg blinked away her oppressive thoughts and conjured up a smile. “I’m fine.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure.” She busied herself with looking at skeins of colorful yarn in a nearby bin. I’m fine. Just fine. I’ve never been so fine. A tear fell on the back of her hand, and quickly she brushed it away. “I just need some air. I’ll be outside.”

Not caring what her in-laws might think, she hurried out the door, the bell clanging behind her.

The rustle of clothing and a scrape on the wooden floorboards alerted her to someone’s presence. She turned, just as Tye Hatcher flicked a cigarette butt end over end into the dusty street. The mellow smell of tobacco drifted to her.

His dark gaze met hers. “Ma’am,” he said politely, thumbing his iron gray hat back on his head. He took an awkward step forward. “I never had a chance to tell you how sorry I was to hear about Joe. He was a good man.”

Silence stretched between them. A buggy clattered past on the deeply rutted street.

“I’m sure you saw a lot of good men die,” she said softly.

His dark gaze revealed no emotion. “Yes, I did, ma’am. On both sides.”

For some reason it sounded odd to hear him call her ma’am. She’d known him since she could remember. She hadn’t known him well, but he’d always been there, always been a part of Aspen Grove. “We had to send for his body after the war, you know.”

“I know.” He looked out across the expanse of the street, offering her the opportunity to study his face, his smoothly shaven square jaw. His brows and sideburns were as black as the waves that curled over his collar. He was a man now; a handsome one, regardless of the unsmiling slash of his full lips. The sadness she sensed had always been there. But now it was more, more than just the disillusionment of a young boy.

Would Joe have looked that much older, too? Would the war have etched similar years on his face?

“I’ve always wondered if we really got the right one,” she blurted. “If the man we buried was Joe.” She hadn’t expressed that doubt to anyone before, and she wondered why she’d revealed it now. She looked away, but she felt him swing his gaze back to her face.

She realized then she had no reason to feel embarrassed in front of this man. Somehow she knew he understood her apprehension. She raised her chin and met his eyes. She could have sworn she recognized a measure of vicarious emotion this time.

“They tagged ’em the best they could,” he said. “Long as the body was identifiable and someone knew him, they should have been certain. Did you get his things, too? I mean the things he had on him. His saddlebags?”

She nodded.

“You can be certain, then.”

Meg closed her eyelids briefly, a considerable flame of comfort warming her at his words. “Thank you.” Even if it was a lie, thank you.

The bell clanged a warning and Edwina plowed her way across the boardwalk, Gwynn behind her. “Meg! What are you doing out here?”

“I needed a little air, Mother Telford. I feel much better now.” She glanced up at Tye. His deep blue gaze held their secret, and a touch of appreciation. “Much better.”

“You shouldn’t stand out here alone. The riffraff is lurking along the streets, even in broad daylight.” She handed Meg a paper-wrapped package and towed her away.

Tye tugged his hat brim back over his eyes and watched them cross the street. Meg lifted her hem and delicately traversed the riveted road. She followed her in-laws into the post office.

No doubt she’d marry again. Damned shame Joe Telford had died and left her a widow. A woman like that deserved happiness. A husband. Children. She was too young and pretty to spend her life grieving. Some lucky fellow would snap her up before much longer.

He tried to think of any young unmarried men in town or on the surrounding ranches, but he couldn’t come up with one who’d make a suitable husband for Meg Telford. The war had pared the possibilities down to nothing.

He discarded the thoughts and headed to the livery for his horse. A good ride would clear his head and prepare him for a long night in the smoke- and perfume-filled saloon. He needed a lot more money than he made there in order to carry out his plans.

The land office had nothing he could afford until he multiplied his meager savings. And Aspen Grove was makin’ that possibility difficult.

The birthday boy, Forrest, and his older sister, Lilly, had eaten their fill of cake and now led the Shetland pony around the newly green rosebushes in the dooryard. Harley Telford and his younger sister, Wilsie, had spent hours supervising rides on the pony Forrest had named Cinnamon, and now engaged in a bickering game of checkers. After washing and drying the Sunday china, Meg, Edwina and Gwynn joined them on the shaded porch Edwina called a veranda.