A Bride for Tom (8 page)

And that meant her decision was made. She
just hoped she wouldn’t regret it.

***

When Jessica returned home, she was surprised
to see Tom sitting on the porch swing. She climbed the steps
slowly, unsure of what to say.

As soon as he saw her, he jumped up and
knocked something off the swing. “Sorry.” He picked it up and held
it out to her.

She took the small box. “Did you come bearing
gifts again?” she asked, grinning.

“Oh. It’s not from me, not this time.” He
cleared his throat and motioned to it. “Jenny thought you might
like it.”

“Jenny?” She glanced around. “Is she
here?”

“No. She had to stay at the farm and help
with the cooking and... Well...you got to see how it is out
there.”

She nodded and lifted the lid of the box. She
smiled. “Did she make this herself?” She took out the cameo in the
shape of a butterfly.

“She stayed up late.” He took off his hat and
ran his fingers through his hair. “It looks like you two got along
great yesterday.”

“Yes. I like her. Tell her thanks for me,
will you?” She put the cameo back into the box and set the lid back
on it.

“I’ll be sure to do that.”

“Would you like to come in?”

He fiddled with his hat. “I-I don’t
know.”

“I promise that Peter and Margaret aren’t
hiding in there,” she teased.

He blushed. “Yes, well, about that,
um...”

She couldn’t believe this was the same Tom
Larson who had kissed her or lassoed cattle. “Are you sure you
won’t have something to eat before you go back home? My mother and
I can even tie you to the chair and feed you in case you get the
shakes.”

Laughing, he put his hat back on and put his
hands into his pockets. “Right. I forgot about that.”

“Well, I guess I can’t blame you for
suspecting that something was up. But I’m going to see Peter
tonight.”

“Oh?”

“Yes.” She decided she might as well tell him
the truth and see if anything would come of it. “I’ve decided I’m
not marrying him.”

“Oh?”

She thought she caught a spark of interest,
so she pressed further. “I thought about it and I don’t think that
we suit each other. So I’m just going to let him know.”

He took a step forward and tripped.

She managed to catch him before he fell face
first on the porch. She stumbled back until he stood up.

“Oh gosh. I’m sorry.” He reached out and took
the dented box from her. “Here. Let me fix that.”

As soon as she remembered that the cameo had
a pin stuck to the back of it, she said, “No. It’s just a box.” She
took it back and opened it. Sure enough the pin was sticking out.
All she needed was for him to jab himself with it. She adjusted the
cameo so that the pin was safely out of the way. As she did, she
saw a note. She glanced up at Tom who was straightening his hat.
“Will you have a seat in the parlor? I’ll put this away in my
bedroom and then be right out to see you.”

He nodded and followed her into the
house.

She expected him to trip over the threshold
but he didn’t. Instead he turned to shut the door and ended up
walking into the hat rack. She hid her laughter by covering it up
with a cough. It was a good thing he didn’t bump into things when
he was doing his job. “I’ll be right back.”

He steadied the hat rack and set his hat on
it.

“Jessica? Is that you?” her mother called
from the kitchen.

“Yes,” she replied. “We have company.”

“Really? Who?”

“Tom Larson,” she quickly answered before she
hurried to her room.

She knew what was coming even before she
heard the footsteps coming her way. She set the box on her dresser
and took out the note. It was from Jenny, just as she
suspected.

Tom would kill me if he knew I wrote this,
but he’s sweet on you. Won’t you consider him instead of Peter?
It’d be nice to have you for a sister-in-law.

Jenny

She hid the note before her mother appeared
in her doorway.

“Jessica, what is that boy doing back
here?”

“I invited him for dinner.” Jessica took off
her bonnet and brushed her hair. She couldn’t believe she was
actually trembling with excitement. She’d never felt this flustered
over Peter.

Her mother shook her head. “With things all
up in the air about Peter, do you think this is wise?”

“Oh, I spoke with Margaret today and we
agreed that Peter would be much better off if he married his
mother.”

“You didn’t say those words!” she hissed and
glanced over her shoulder as if afraid Tom could hear them. She
quickly entered the room and shut the door.

“No, we didn’t use those exact words, but you
have to admit that he doesn’t love me, not the way he should.”

Her mother sighed. “I admit that he seems a
little too devoted to his mother.”

“A little? He won’t sneeze without her
permission.” Jessica examined the ribbons Tom had given her. She
finally picked one and put it in her hair.

“Marriage can seem long with a man attached
to his mother’s apron strings. Perhaps Peter isn’t ready to get
married yet.”

“I agree, he isn’t.”

“And are you sure that Tom is ready?”

“Well, he is itching to get his own place,
and that place happens to be a good distance from his parents.
Jenny told me all about it. She said that he’s even started plans
on making a house out there.”

“I have to get to know this boy. You can’t be
rushing for the altar yet, young lady.”

Jessica pinched her cheeks to make them a
rosy color.

“I insist that you court for a year.”

She stopped and looked at her mother. “A
year? But he’ll be doing next year’s harvest by then.”

“Well, you’re not marrying him this winter.
You have to get to know him first. You have to make sure he’s the
right one.”

That was true. “Let’s see. What about June?
The planting will be done by then.”

“What about next winter?”

She groaned. “That’s a long time.”

“Only to a young woman. Time goes faster as
you get older. The year will pass before I have time to blink.”

“What about early September? Right before the
harvest?”

The woman crossed her arms. “I suppose that’s
close enough to a full year. Alright.”

She smiled and got ready to leave the
bedroom.

Her mother stepped in front of the door.
“This conversation is hypothetical. You haven’t even called off
your engagement to Peter.”

“I’ll do that after dinner.”

“And you don’t know that things will work out
with Tom. Sure, he’s a good boy, but you have to get to know
him.”

“That’s what this next year is for.”

“And,” she continued as Jessica reached for
the doorknob, “you have to wait and see if he wants to marry you.
Don’t go putting the cart before the horse.”

Jessica paused. Her mother was right. She
couldn’t be sure what he wanted until he told her. “Then I’ll have
to find out.”

“Make sure you do.” She stepped aside. “Now,
you go pay attention to him while I finish up with dinner. But in
the future if he comes over, you will have to be sure that he
arrives when you’re done helping me in the kitchen.”

“I didn’t ask him to come by. He just showed
up.”

“I know, but you need to do some cooking to
show him that you’ll be a good wife. The way to a man’s heart is
through his stomach. That’s how I got your father to marry me.”

“Your point is noted.”

“Good. There will be plenty of time to visit
with him after the meal.”

“Is that all?”

Her mother seemed to think it over before she
nodded. “Yes.”

Jessica opened the door and left the room,
only having a vague notion of how to proceed. She found Tom looking
out the window. She stepped forward and cleared her throat.

He turned his head in her direction and
almost bumped into the rocking chair beside him.

“You know, we’re going to have to do
something about your anxiety,” she said as she walked up to him. “I
promise I’m not scary.”

He laughed. “I’m not scared of you.”

She shot a questioning look at the way he
gripped the chair. His knuckles were turning white.

“Alright. Maybe I am...a little bit,” he
admitted.

“You weren’t scared the last time you kissed
me. Of course, that was when you thought I had Margaret and Peter
hiding in this house.”

He chuckled. “That is silly, isn’t it? I
don’t know what I was thinking.”

She grinned. “Is that the only way I can get
you to kiss me?”

“W-What do you mean?”

“Well, you never did answer my question.”

“Y-Yes, I did.”

“Not really. I asked you if I wasn’t engaged,
would you have kiss me? All you said was that I was engaged so it
was pointless to answer the question. Now I’m not engaged. So...”
She took a step closer to him so that they were almost touching.
“Would you have kissed me that day if I hadn’t been engaged?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know.” Clearing his
throat, he took a step back. “I guess it would have depended on how
things went.”

She forced aside her irritation and took
another step forward. “Let’s say things went well. Let’s say you
had a lovely meal and we had a wonderful conversation. What
then?”

He backed up again and this time his back hit
the wall.

At least she had him cornered. She approached
him. “You’re hard to nail down, Tom. All I asked was a simple
question.”

“No. No, it isn’t an easy question.”

“Sure it is. It’s a yes or no question.”

“But...I mean...there are too many ways you
can take that answer, and depending on how you take that answer,
things could be bad.”

“Bad? Bad for who?”

“For me.” He blinked. “Or you. Or Peter.
Or-”

“You know what I think?” she interrupted,
feeling like this had gone on long enough. Really, he’d let this
continue all night if he could, and she wanted her answer right
now.

“No.” He cleared his throat. “What do you
think?”

“I think you talk too much.” Then, in a bold
move that surprised her for she would never have done such a thing
with Peter, she closed the gap between them and kissed him.

She felt his shock before he relaxed and
finally returned her kiss.

She pulled back and asked, “Now, if I hadn’t
been engaged, would you have kissed me that day?”

A smile widened on his face. “You bet.” He
wrapped his arms around her and held her close. “And this is just
how I would’ve done it!”

She closed her eyes and enjoyed his kiss.

Chapter
Twelve

Jessica took a deep breath and knocked on
Connie James’ door. She already tried the apartment where Peter was
living, but since he wasn’t there, she thought he might be here.
And as soon as he opened the front door, she realized she was
right.

“Oh, good evening, Jessica,” he said. “I
didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Is that Jessica?” his mother called from
another room.

“Yes.”

“Good! Tell her to come right in!”

“Well, you heard Mother. Come on in.”

Jessica hesitated. “I don’t think so, Peter.
I need to speak with you alone. Maybe...” She didn’t want to take
him to her house where her mother would feel compelled to serve him
a drink or snack. She glanced at the rocking chairs on the porch.
“We should talk out here.”

“But it’s chilly out.”

“It’s not too bad. I’m only wearing a
shawl.”

He looked uneasy. “Yes, but you don’t catch
ill as easily as I do.”

She sighed. Maybe she should just tell him
here. It wasn’t like she had a long message for him. All she needed
to do was tell him that she was going to marry Tom Larson instead
of him. Really, the whole thing could be said in less than a
minute. Straightening her back, she said, “Never mind. What I have
to say won’t take long anyway. You see, I-”

His mother ran up to the door before Jessica
had a chance to continue. She reached out and grabbed Jessica by
the hand. “I’m so glad you’re here! I was ready to send Peter on a
search for you. Now come along. I have something very important to
discuss.”

“But-” Jessica began.

“This simply can’t wait. I’ve been at my
wits’ end trying to find the best solution. You have to help. Peter
keeps saying that it’s up to me, but I don’t know what to do. I’m a
complete mess, I tell you!”

Jessica glanced back at Peter who shut the
door.

Connie led her to the kitchen and showed her
two sets of napkins. “For our wedding reception, I don’t know which
pattern to go with. Which do you think would compliment my pink
dress better: the flower petals or the whole rose? You do know
which pink dress I’m talking about, don’t you? It has those little
white pearls along the neckline.”

She stared at the woman in disbelief. “I said
I wanted plain pink napkins.”

“These are pink.”

“But they have pictures sewn into them. The
plain ones were cheaper.”

Connie shrugged. “What do you care? I bought
them.”

“We already have patterns on the
tablecloths!”

“Which is why we need something on the
napkins as well. That Maureen had colorful leaves sewn onto her
daughter’s napkins, and I won’t let her show me up.”

“I don’t care how Maureen does things. This
is my wedding and-” She stopped. Wait. This wasn’t her wedding. Not
anymore. Calming down, she continued, “Actually, you know what? It
doesn’t matter. In fact, there’s not even going to be a
wedding.”

Peter’s eyes grew wide.

Connie pressed a hand to her heart. “I will
not allow you to elope.”

“Mother’s right. We need to do things the
right way.”

“Then feel free to do them however you wish,
but I am not getting married. I...” Now, this part wasn’t going to
be easy. “I have decided Peter—” she glanced at him—“I mean, you—”
she returned her gaze to Connie—“and I don’t make a good match. I
don’t believe this is a cordial arrangement.” There. She said
it.