Beneath the Honeysuckle Vine (41 page)

He nodded.
“
Yep.
Jeannie
,
she
’
s the oldest
. T
hen comes me.
Then there
’
s Oakley and Carthal
,
and my baby sister is Ruby.
”

Vivianna smiled.
“
And your parents?
”

“
My mama
’
s name is
Adelaide
, and Daddy
’
s
Preston
.
”

Vivianna sighed.
She liked the names owned by the members of Johnny
’
s family
,
and she told him.
“
I like their names!
Every one of them.
”

Johnny chuckled.
“
Well, I
’
m glad.
”

“
Now tell me about yourself, Johnny Tabor,
”
she said.

“
There ain
’
t much to tell,
”
came his response.
As Vivianna moved the box of Justin
’
s letters from
one arm to
the other, he said,
“
Let me tote that for ya.
”

She didn
’
t pause.
Handing the box to him
,
she said,
“
Well, I
’
m sure there is much to tell.
Tell me about yourself.
”

Johnny chuckled
and
shrugged his broad shoulders.
“
I don
’
t know what I can say that might be interestin
’
to ya, Vivi.
I
’
m just a regular feller who grew up in
Texas
.
”

“
Oh, there
’
s more to you than that,
”
she said.
Yet her curiosity increased suddenly
,
and she asked,
“
Did ya have
a
girl when ya left for the war?
”
She frowned
,
disturbed by her next thought.
“
Do ya still have a girl?
”

Johnny chuckled
,
shook his head
,
and said,
“
No, ma
’
am!
I did not leave a girl behind me when I left.
”

She looked to him.
“
I find that rather hard to believe.
”

“
Why?
”
he asked
,
his brow puckering with puzzlement.

“
Because you
’
r
e
so…
”
Vivianna began.
Yet she stopped herself short—just short of telling him how charming and desirable he was.

“
Because I
’
m so what?
”
he prodded
,
however.

“
Well, you know,
”
she stammered.
“
You…you
’
re so…so very nice.
”
It was a weak explanation at best.

Johnny laughed—wholeheartedly laughed for a moment.

“
What
’
s so amusin
’
?
’’
she asked.
She giggled for the mere fact that his laughter was contagious.
“
You are nice, Johnny!
Look what you
’
ve done for Justin…for Savannah Turner
,
for Nate and Willy.
”
She paused
and
felt a blush brush her cheeks as she added,
“
Look how nice ya are to me.
”

“
I ain
’
t so nice as ya might think, Vivi,
”
he told her.
“
First off, I owed Justin a great debt…a debt I have yet to repay.
Second
,
Savannah
needed help.
The barn and all were near to fallin
’
into a heap of rubble.
Nate and Willy…well
,
they
’
re just boys.
How could a body not play awhile with them two?
”
He looked to her
,
his smile fading.
“
As for you…to be honest
,
I ain
’
t sure in this moment that I didn
’
t do ya more harm than good by bringin
’
Justin home to ya.
”

Vivianna glanced to him.
“
First off, I wasn
’
t even thinkin
’
of you bringin
’
Justin home when I said it.
I was thinkin
’
more on things ya do for me…things like this.
Ya didn
’
t have to come with me this mornin
’
.
I
’
m sure there are a heap of other things ya
’
d rather be doin
’
.
”

He looked at her
,
quirked one eyebrow
,
and said,
“
Do ya really think I
’
d rather be muckin
’
out stalls or haulin
’
water to the garden than walkin
’
to town with a pretty girl?
”

Vivianna shrugged—though she smiled at the fact he
’
d implied she was pretty.
“
Maybe.
”
He shook his head in disbelief at her insinuation
,
and she giggled.
She thought then of something they
’
d discussed previously and asked,
“
So ya didn
’
t have a girl when ya left for the fightin
’
?
”

“
Nope.
”

“
How about before ya left for the fightin
’
?
Did ya ever have a girl?
”
she asked.

Johnny nodded.
“
Two or three.
”

Vivianna felt oddly irritated—jealous
,
in fact.
“
What were their names?
”
she asked.

Johnny chuckled.
“
Well, I don
’
t see what difference that makes.
”

“
I
’
m just curious.
I like the names of all your family members so well…it just puts me to thinkin
’
on names,
”
she lied.

“
Well, all right,
”
he relented.
“
I was sweet on a girl named Jenny for a long while when I was about sixteen.
She was a might older than me
. ‘A
little too friendly
’
was the way my mama thought of her.
”

“
She was flirtatious?
”

“
That would be the kindest way to say it, yes,
”
he admitted.
“
Then Molly Brandenburg moved to town and caught my eye for a
while.
But she wasn
’
t much fun…just pretty.
I suppose it was Melba Rathbone after that.
”

“
Did ya kiss every one of them?
”
Vivianna asked.
She didn
’
t know why she
’
d asked it—just that she felt angry inside and that the annoyance had spurred the question.

“
Maybe I did and maybe I didn
’
t,
”
he answered, smiling suspiciously at her.
“
How many boys were you sweet on before Justin?
”
he asked.

“
Only Caleb,
”
Vivianna told him honestly.

“
Caleb
’
s a good man,
”
he said.

“
Yes, he is,
”
she agreed.
He nodded his further approval of Caleb, and she was thankful he was not as discourteous as she had been—that he did not press her for details of who
m
she had or had not kissed.

“
Do you like Christmas, Johnny?
”
she asked.

Johnny stopped
and
looked to her with an expression of utter bewilderment.
“
Do I like Christmas?
”
he repeated.
He chuckled
.
“
Forgive me, Miss Bartholomew…but it utterly escapes my understandin
’
of how we went from you pickin
’
over the girls I left behind me…to whether or not I like Christmas.
”

Vivianna shrugged.
“
I was just wonderin
’
.
Do ya?
”

“
Well, of course I like Christmas,
”
he laughed.
“
What kind of a question is that?
Do I seem so hard and mean that I wouldn
’
t like Christmas?
”

Vivianna smiled.
“
Of course not!
I…I was just wonderin
’
.
So…if ya like it so much
,
what
’
s your favorite thing about it?
”

He sighed
,
his brow puckering as he seemed to seriously ponder her question.
Finally, he answered,
“
Besides the actual reason for it in the first place…I
’
d have to say the Christmas tree and the way my mama would gussy up our house with extra candles, holly
,
and pine boughs.
And of course, old Saint Nick always brung us an orange and a little bag of pecans and chestnuts.
Most years he left us a little toy…usually a cloth doll for the girls or some sort of animal carved out of wood.
”
He paused and smiled.
“
I remember the year Daddy taught me to whittle real well.
Our old mule had stomped on Daddy
’
s hand
,
and it hurt for him to do the carvin
’
.
So he taught me to do it
so that I could carve out somethin
’
for Oakley and Carthal to get from Saint Nicholas.
I whittled and carved out a horse for Oakley and a wolf for Carthal.
”
He chuckled
,
his eyes warm with delighting in the memory.
“
I remember Carthal thought the wolf I carved was a dog.
I was somewhat offended…so I spent the whole of the comin
’
year whittlin
’
out the best big-antlered buck ya ever did see.
”
He glanced at her and winked.
“
When Carthal saw that buck the next Christmas mornin
’
, he said,
‘
Mama!
Saint Nick musta spent a month of Sundays carvin
’
this buck out for me!
Just for me, Mama!
’
I was pretty pleased and proud of myself
’
cause Daddy trusted me to do all of Saint Nick
’
s carvin
’
after that.
”
He paused a moment
and
then added,
“
At least
’
til I left to enlist.
”
He shrugged.
“
I suppose it was all right I left
. B
y then Oakley and Carthal were old enough to understand just who St. Nick
’
s master whittler really was.
”