An Inconvenient Match (10 page)

Wade’s mind traveled back five years. “The spring of my senior year—Abby’s junior year—she got beyond the feud and we got close. For weeks, we spent every moment we could together, talking, taking strolls in the park, sitting in Sunday school.” He glanced at Ted. “Always with Rachel as chaperone, but seeing each other wasn’t easy. Her family refused to let me come courting.”

“I can imagine.”

A lot had changed since they’d hung on each other’s words, Abby most of all. What had happened to the sweet, tenderhearted girl? His stomach lurched. He’d caused that change in her. “She cared about me and I tromped on her heart.”

“What did you do?”

“Sat in a different row in Sunday school, stopped meeting her and Rachel in the park, quit seeing her home from school.”

“Why did you pull away?”

Wade hadn’t had a choice. He’d ended the courtship to protect Abby, but he’d never tell her the reason. And he sure wouldn’t tell Ted. “My father insisted I attend Harvard that fall. To tie Abby to me when I’d be half a continent away didn’t seem fair.” He looked at his feet. “I was young and stupid.” He released a gust of air. “Now she sees me as trouble.”

“Trouble pretty well described me and Elizabeth in the first weeks of our marriage. Look at us now. Well, don’t look too closely. We have our spats. My wife has strong opinions and an iron will. A man doesn’t always know how to react to an independent female. But the Good Lord knew what He was doing when He brought Elizabeth into my life. She’s made me a very happy man.” He shot Wade a smile that revealed how much he loved his wife. “Take it from me. The right woman can be the last one you’d expect.” Ted chuckled. “Elizabeth wasn’t even the mail-order bride I sent for.”

Wade recalled the switch of brides that had had Ted reeling for weeks and the entire town in an uproar. “I don’t doubt God knew the perfect wife for you and sent Elizabeth. But I’m not meant to settle down.” His parents’ marriage and his mother’s abandonment had taught him plenty. He’d rather face a stampeding herd than risk falling in love.

“Don’t close yourself off from others. Not from this town. Not from that irritable father of yours. Not from the woman God has in mind for you.”

Wade believed closing himself off had saved his sanity. But saying as much would not please the pastor so he said nothing.

“No matter what you plan, Wade, God may not intend for you to go through life alone.”

“Are you saying God cares about the details of our lives?”

“Yes, I am.” His gaze locked with Wade’s. “Don’t transfer your dad’s aloofness onto the image of our Heavenly Father.”

Wade frowned. Had he done that?

“God cares about all of us, even those who don’t acknowledge Him. Even those we may feel don’t deserve His love. And He’s working in our lives. Talk to Him about everything, He wants to hear from you.”

With a brisk nod, Wade kept his gaze on the task, rubbing the cloth along the crevices of the buffet. The silence stretched as neither man spoke. “Abby’s upset with me for agreeing to teach Seth Collier cabinetmaking,” he found himself saying.

“Why? That boy could use a way to earn money.”

“She believes Seth should attend college, not apprentice with me.”

“Putting the two of you at odds.”

Wade huffed. “That’s stating it mildly.”

“I suspect that’s tied to the bad blood between your families. You know, Wade, the feud is contrary to Scripture. We’re to love others as Jesus did, no matter how difficult that may be. Or the faith we claim is just so much talk.”

A yearning to love and be loved twisted through Wade like a spiraling cyclone. How could he risk such a thing? His parents’ marriage proved happiness was unlikely if not impossible. When a marriage ended, children’s hearts were broken.

Through the years he’d seen there was more than one way, one path in this life. A man had to find the route he could walk in peace. Some like him were meant to walk that path alone.

He hadn’t fought for Abby. Even if he had, she would never accept who he was. He couldn’t spend his life with a woman who didn’t respect his dream, didn’t respect him.

Ted rose and laid a hand on Wade’s shoulder. “Never doubt God can change hearts and circumstances. But He expects us to know His word and obey His commands. If we don’t, He sometimes uses circumstances to get our attention.”

The weight of the pastor’s words rested on that gentle hand, nearly driving Wade to his knees. This feud was unacceptable to God. The grudge was sin.

Scriptures ran through his mind verifying he must try to heal the rift between the Cummingses and Wilsons. He may have played no part in starting the feud, but Wade wanted what God wanted. He wanted the enmity to end.

How could he impact the situation for good when Abby didn’t trust him? How could he make her understand he had Seth’s welfare at heart? That he’d had the same concern for her when he’d broken off their relationship.

Ted gave a gentle smile. “Prayer changes things.” He pushed away from the workbench. “Better head to the house to see George.”

“Tell him I’ll be in to prepare his breakfast as soon as I finish here.”

“Will do.” Ted strode off, a man on a mission. No doubt hoping he could soften Wade’s father. If anyone could do it, Ted Logan and his prayers could.

Hadn’t Ted just done much the same with him? In a few words, the pastor had planted a seed that had taken root in Wade’s mind. He’d do what he could to heal the feud.

Yet he couldn’t keep his support of Seth’s dream to himself. Wade had never had anyone to encourage him and had lived with the pain of indifference, even opposition. He would be there for Seth, even if that meant opposing Abby.

Ted had said prayer was the answer. Wade had prayed countless times for others, for his father’s health, Cora’s back, Joe’s healing—a long list. Yet for some reason he didn’t understand, he’d held himself aloof from God, not voicing his feelings, his innermost thoughts. Such foolishness when God already knew everything about him. Was he ashamed of needing God, seeing his dependence as weakness?

But the pastor’s insinuation that he and Abby might have a future—nothing could be more ludicrous.

She viewed his position with Seth as reason to continue and expand the feud. Odd she didn’t understand the boy couldn’t leave his father when she had stayed in New Harmony, as he had, out of steadfast loyalty toward family.

That loyalty both connected and divided them. Somehow he had to find a way to strengthen that connection and heal the rift. Though Wade suspected nothing he could do would heal the pain of the breakup.

Wade opened the can of varnish and found his best brush. He applied the last coat to the buffet, letting the finish flow from his brush as he swept it along the grain.

Pleased with the result, Wade hurried to the house. The time had gotten away from him. His father wouldn’t be happy to have to wait on breakfast.

For a moment when Ted had talked about Elizabeth and how unlikely their relationship had been, Wade had believed he could have Abby in his life. But the memory of his mother’s desertion cooled the flames of that fantasy like cold water drenched glowing embers, leaving behind cold, gray ashes.

He’d do all he could to mend the feud as long as the actions he took didn’t involve putting his heart at risk.

Surely God understood a man could only handle so much.

Chapter Seven

F
ace flushed from the heat of the stove, Ethel whirled toward Abigail, the spoon in her hand splattering oatmeal. “I forbid you to work for that family!”

Abigail grabbed a rag and stooped to wipe up the mess. “We need the money.”

“You’re always fretting about money. Money isn’t everything.”

“No, but it pays the bills.”

“I can’t let you do this. I’ll ask the Moore brothers if I can clean their house while Lois is recuperating.”

Ma needed less, not more work to do. Saying as much would hurt her pride. “The job at the Cummingses pays far better than Cecil and Oscar will. Besides, Lois needs help with the boys.”

“How can you forget what the Cummings did to your pa?” Ma asked, dishing oatmeal into two bowls.

Taking up every inch of space, Gary, Sam and Donnie lay on the floor coloring. Abigail lowered her voice. “I haven’t forgotten. Look at my wages as compensation for what he took from us.”

“A few dollars doesn’t balance losing our farm.” Ma’s mouth twisted. Blinking away tears, she quickly straightened her shoulders. Wilson women didn’t cry. “I can’t believe God wants you working for those people.”

“I felt the same at first, but now I think it’s fitting the Cummingses will help us handle our bills.” She motioned toward the table. A column of figures in his hand, Joe sat, head down and shoulders slumped, as if the weight of his debt crushed him.

Ma’s gaze darted to her son-in-law. “All right, but if that man does one thing to upset you, promise you’ll quit.”

No point in sharing George Cummings’s cranky disposition. Her mother, a woman who didn’t mince words, wouldn’t hesitate to march into that house and have it out with the man. “I promise.”

Bowls in hand, she and Ma joined Joe at the table.

Joe’s dark eyes clouded with misery. “This is my fault.”

Abigail shook her head. “We’re family. That means we’re in this together.”

Ma sprinkled sugar over her oatmeal. “You held two jobs before the fire, Joe. You’ll do what you can once you heal.”

“It’s what I did in the past that brought this on.” Joe fiddled with the pencil in his hands, twirling it between his fingers, staring at the paper in front of him. “I know God will help me find a way to pay these debts, but right now I can’t see how.”

Knowing Joe’s resolve, he’d figure out a solution. Still, a farmhand didn’t bring in much money. If he and Lois had furthered their educations, they’d make a better wage. But with a strong back and an even stronger work ethic, he’d do his best. No one could ask more. Abigail would help all she could.

Her attitude toward her brother-in-law had not always been positive. For seven years, she’d alternated between praying for and resenting Joe. His addiction to gambling had mired his family in debt and deprivation, forcing Lois to take in washing and ironing, to clean the Moore brothers’ house, to do every job she could to feed and clothe four growing boys.

Yet as hard as she’d worked, Lois hadn’t been too occupied to hear the gossip. Folks didn’t blame her for Joe’s conduct, but nevertheless Lois had lived with the humiliation of Joe’s gambling. Abigail knew how much that had hurt her.

Eleven months ago, Joe repented. From that moment on, as if God Himself had reached down and plucked the desire to gamble from Joe’s body, her brother-in-law was a new man.

Joe and Lois not only had survived, their marriage had thrived. Joe had made headway toward paying off his gambling debts when a bolt of lightning had destroyed everything the Lessmans had, including Joe’s ability to work.

Why had God allowed this tragedy so soon after Joe had returned to Him and walked a new path?

The only explanation Abigail had came from the book of Job. Life wasn’t easy, never had been, not for Job, not for the Wilsons. She didn’t know what God had in store for her sister’s family. But Abigail dared not question God.

As discouraged as Joe appeared, she feared he’d be tempted to return to gambling. Was this latest calamity some kind of a test? If so, she hoped he’d pass.

Abigail scooped up the last bit of oatmeal then pushed back her chair to rise.

Her mother took her hand. “I’ll pray for you today.”

“I appreciate that, Ma.”

Buoyed by how well Ethel had taken the announcement, Abigail gave her mother a kiss and hurried to the door before she changed her mind and tried to stop her. As she took hold of the knob, her sister entered the kitchen, carrying Billy with Peter at her heels.

“Where are you off to this early, Ab?”

“She’s taken a job looking after George Cummings,” Joe said.

“What?” A frown puckering her forehead, Lois edged closer. “Does this have something to do with Wade buying your box lunch?”

Why bring that up? “Well, yes. I refused to talk to him. So he had to win the bid to get me to listen to his offer.”

“I remember the summer Wade hung around you like a bee in a flower garden.” Lois’s eyes narrowed. “Is something going on between you two?”

“No! I’m working in that house to help with expenses.”

“Are you sure?” Joe frowned. “If I thought for one minute that taking that job could get you hurt—”

“Abigail Wilson, what are you hiding?” Ethel fisted blue-veined hands on her hips. “Your pa forbade Wade to come courting. Did you sneak behind our backs?”

When had Lois become a tattletale? “We sat together in Sunday school. Strolled in the park—nothing that even came close to courting. Rachel was always along.”

“Did he kiss you?”

Heat flooded Abigail’s cheeks. “Ma!”

“I want to know. Did he kiss you?”

After Lois and Joe’s marriage floundered, her parents had increased their control until Abigail felt suffocated. “I’m twenty-two years old. Yet I can’t breathe around here without someone questioning me.”