Family Stories

“Of course not. She always plans for some company each Sunday.”

The young woman stood poised at the gate, her hand resting on the latch. Frank shrugged, shaking his head at her smile. She spun around and stood toward the village, her black curls bouncing in the sun.

“I wonder what’s the matter with Flossie.” Reverend Cooper clicked the gate shut and turned toward his home.

“She’s not happy about something, ” Marian agreed, a smug inflection in her voice.

Startled, Frank looked at her but the reverend hid her from view. Was she as innocent as she seemed? She did know a lot about the birth of babies. Did she also know as much about how they came to be, what happened between a man and a woman?

His neck grew hot. Her father was talking about the run of warm weather they’d been enjoying and Frank immediately commented on how good the fields looked.

“And what line of work keeps you traveling so much?” Reverend Cooper asked as they neared the house.

Frank hesitated. Many of the people he met saw traveling salesmen as little more than hobos, slamming doors in their faces and ordering them off their property. The women at church hadn’t connected the dashing young salesman with the man they’d met on the church steps. Reverend Cooper professed to love all people, but would that love extend to the man walking next to him, even if he was wearing a new suit?

He couldn’t take the chance. “I’ve worked with my father in his store back in Iowa, ” he offered, staying close to the truth without betraying his current occupation. “I’ve always been good with words.”

A soft snort from the other side of the reverend almost proved his undoing. He could feel his cheeks flush and he stared at the ground. How could she turn him into this blithering fool in only a few short days?

Her father didn’t seem to notice anything amiss. He rubbed his chin with one gnarled hand, reminding Frank that this man had waited a long time for his child.

His footsteps lagged as they neared the house and then he straightened his shoulders. I might not live in a fine place, he thought, but I have as much right to walk into his home as anyone. His natural confidence returned; he greeted Marian’s mother with a smile and a low bow.

The older woman frowned and Frank realized his error. She bit her lip, glancing at her husband from under lowered lashes. When he introduced Frank to her, she shook his hand gravely, giving everyone the impression that she’d just met the young man.

Relieved that he wouldn’t be discovered yet and aware that he could be doing the minister a grave disservice, Frank followed Marian and her father into the parlor. Reverend Cooper excused himself at the door, murmuring that he needed to jot down an idea before it left him. Alone with Marian, Frank sank into the soft seat of a tapestry chair and clutched the brim of his hat, studying the carpet.

“That was nicely done, ” Marian said.

He lifted his head. “What do you mean?”

“My mother. I think you’ve charmed her. She sets a lot of store by the manners one has.”

“She recognized me.”

“Mother?” Marian shook her head. “No, you were a traveling salesman the other day. Today, you’re a handsome churchgoing young man.”

As Frank started to contradict her, Reverend Cooper hurried into the room, apologizing for his urgent departure. “But when an idea comes, I have to capture it as quickly as possible, else it leaves this feebled old brain of mine, ” he said with a half smile.

Marian sat in a corner of the room, the picture of demure womanhood. When Mrs. Cooper announced that dinner was ready, she let her father escort her into the dining room. Frank held her mother’s chair and Marian favored him with a warm look from under thick lashes before resuming her modest demeanor.

The food was simple but plentiful. He complimented Mrs. Cooper on her cooking and had the pleasure of seeing soft color flood her wrinkled cheeks. Reverend Cooper talked about the many advantages of their small village, punctuating each comment with a jab of his fork in the air. Marian ate with her head down, the flash of her dimple showing her humor at the conversation.

He’d begun to relax, even enjoy himself, when the reverend suddenly asked, “You don’t have a wife somewhere, do you?”

Chapter 2

Reverend Cooper’s question startled him, coming in the middle of a diatribe on city life, and he almost dropped the forkful of mashed potatoes that was halfway to his mouth. Seeing only curiosity on the man’s face, Frank relaxed and shook his head. “No, I’ve never felt much desire to settle down.”

“Ah, the arrogance of young manhood, ” Reverend Cooper said, his fork again waving in the air as he talked. “Well, let me warn you. Before you know it, you’ll be an old man like me, your life almost over. You need to start planning now, so you don’t miss any of the important things.” He plunked the end of the fork down on the table with a loud clang.

“Now, Father.” Marian lightly touched his hand, her head bent toward his graying one. “You mustn’t say such things. You’re not that old and life definitely hasn’t passed you by. You’ll give Mr. Robertson an entirely wrong picture of you.”

He patted her hand. “You’re kind, Marian, always have been. But you’re like this young man. Mustn’t wait too long or you’ll find yourself sitting by the roadside wondering when you got left behind.”

Frank could see that her father was in the throes of another sermon. Without conscious thought, only knowing that he had to divert the older man, he blurted, “From everything you’ve said and what I’ve seen so far, Winston seems like a good place for a man to settle down. What else can you tell me about the town?”

Marian sent him a startled look, Mrs. Cooper a grateful one. How many times did the reverend spoil a pleasant meal with his moribund conversation? Frank had little time to think about it before Reverend Cooper chuckled. “You decide to stay here, young man, and you’ll have all the mothers of single daughters after you. We don’t have many bachelors around. They’ll see you as an answer to prayer.”

Frank laughed, and the reverend began a story about a young man who came to town one day last summer, expressing a desire to settle in Winston. Once the matchmaking mamas and single women discovered his presence, his life ceased to be his own.

“And then he just up and disappeared, ” the reverend said, sipping at the cup of coffee his wife had poured for him. “We never heard what happened to him, did we, Mother?”

Mrs. Cooper stood up and stacked the dishes. “I suppose he went searching for another quiet town.” She added the empty potato dish to her load. “Marian, will you help, please?”

Marian picked up her own dishes, then leaned over Frank’s shoulder for his empty plate. The soft curve of her breast brushed against him and his insides coiled with desire. She scooped up several more dishes before following her mother into the kitchen.

He wiped his hands on his pants and raised his head to find Reverend Cooper watching him closely. He pressed his lips together and hoped his feelings weren’t reflected in his eyes.

“Mr. Bates, perhaps.”

Frank blinked. “I’m sorry, sir, what?” Did the entire family jump from topic to topic without warning?

“Adam Bates, over at the feed store. He was saying the other day that he needed another hand. His son married a girl he met on the east coast and they’re moving back there to be with her family. Can’t say I blame them. It’s hard on a young woman to be away from her family. But it leaves Adam in a bind.”

Reverend Cooper nodded several times. “Yes, Adam Bates. You stay the night and I’ll take you over to see him first thing in the morning.”

Marian paused in the doorway, a flicker of alarm in her eyes. “Who’s going where, Father?”

“I was saying that Adam Bates needs another hand. Young Frank, here, might be just the man.” He dug into the piece of pie she set before him with the same intensity he’d given to his sermon. “I invited Frank to stay the night, Mother.”

The thought of sleeping in the same house with Marian only a few feet away was almost more than he could take. The apple pie tasted like sawdust and he couldn’t look at any of them as he mechanically chewed and swallowed the flaky pastry, his eyes on his plate.

After dinner, he accompanied Reverend Cooper to the parlor while the women finished clearing the table. The older man withdrew behind his Bible. Frank sat on the edge of the sofa, his fingers silently drumming on the armrest. Did he want a permanent job working in a feed store? Wouldn’t have to be forever, he told himself. There was nothing to tie him to this town.

When the women came into the room, Mrs. Cooper brought out some sewing and settled in a corner. Marian wandered over to the narrow window. She pulled back the heavy drapes.

“Mother is famous for her garden, ” Marian said.

Her father lowered his Bible. “Mother does work wonders with her flowers. Marian, take Frank for a turn around the garden.”

They walked out of the parlor and down the back hall. Once outside, he took a deep breath.

“They’re not that bad, ” Marian said.

“I felt like I was sitting on pins and needles all through dinner, ” he confessed.

“You were nervous?”