Courting Miss Hattie (32 page)

"These two brats are spying on you, Pa," Mary Nell said, appearing in the doorway. "You ought to take a switch to the both of them!"

Ada
started to cry, but
Cyl
jumped up and took off running.

"You come back here, you little she-devil!"
Ancil
yelled after her, but the girl kept running.

* * *

Reed and Harmon were on the levee, carefully raising the water level in Miss Hattie's rice field. The river was down from lack of rain, and Harm was operating the noisy pump to draw the water up into the field. The two men, whose relationship continued to be strained, worked quietly beside each other. They were polite, but there was none of the camaraderie of earlier times.

Both men were startled by the unexpected arrival of a young girl dressed in torn, too-big overalls. "Mr. Tyler! Mr. Tyler! You gotta do something quick!" she called as she ran toward them.

Reed and Harm exchanged worried glances before both hurried to meet her.

"What's happened?" Reed asked. He caught the youngster in his arms and kneeled down to get a look at her. "You're one of
Ancil
Drayton's girls," he said.

Cyl
, having run the better part of four miles, gasped for breath and could only nod.

"Is somebody hurt at your house? Somebody injured?"

She shook her head,
then
managed to catch her breath. "It's Miss Hattie. She—"

"Something's happened to Hattie!" Reed paled visibly, and his eyes widened with fear.

"No, mister,"
Cyl
assured him. "Ain't
nothin
' happened to her
exactly.
She's
havin
' a set-to with my daddy."

Reed's expression turned to puzzlement, then just as quickly to anger. "Has your father hit her?"

Cyl
was annoyed at the suggestion. "It ain't my daddy that hurt Miss Hattie. It's you and that Bessie Jane."

"Bessie Jane?"

"Yep."
Cyl
folded her arms across her chest. "That gal done
tole
Miss Hattie that Daddy is marrying up with her for the land and that you're getting gypped out of the deal."

His mouth falling open with disbelief, Reed stared at the girl for several seconds.
"Bessie Jane told Hattie that?"

"That's how Miss Hattie explained it to Daddy, and now they're sure enough gonna be busted up over it.
Marryin
' Miss Hattie is the best idea my daddy ever had. It's your gal that caused this trouble. I suspect you're the only one can fix it."

Reed was at a loss. Glancing back at Harm, he asked, "What can I do?"

Harmon shrugged. "You can talk to Miss Hattie. That's about all. Tell her about that place you might get next to your uncle. Think of something. Lie."

"Miss Hattie can ferret out a lie at twenty paces."

"Well, you'll have to do something," Harm said.

Reed agreed and taking
Cyl's
hand in his, started toward the Drayton farm.

Harm watched them walk away, his mind whirling over what Bessie Jane had done. Returning to the pump, he continued to observe the water level in the rice field. Finally, when the water level suited him, he shut off the pump, slammed his hat on his head, and turned determinedly toward town.

* * *

Bessie Jane was sitting under a shade tree doing embroidery when Harmon walked into the backyard. Startled, she jumped up so quickly, her chair tumbled behind her. "What are you doing here?" she asked in a panicked whisper as she glanced back at the house. "What if somebody sees you?"

Harmon's expression was not at all gentle, and his voice was significantly above a whisper. "Oh, they're going to see me, all right. They're even going to hear me today."

"Harmon!" She desperately tried to shush him.

"Did you tell Miss Hattie about Drayton only wanting her land?"

Bessie Jane raised her chin defiantly. "I only told her what
was the truth
."

"It may have been the truth, but that's not why you told it. You told it selfishly, trying to make sure that nothing interferes with your plans for marrying Reed."

There was no way for Bessie Jane to defend herself against the facts. With a prideful silence, she waited for him to finish.

"How many lives are you willing to ruin?" he asked her. "Already you've decided to destroy your own and mine. You added the unnecessarily honorable Reed Tyler to your plan. Now Miss Hattie and even poor old pitiful Drayton and his ragged kids. Are everybody's dreams at risk so you can try to please your selfish, short-sighted father?"

"I don't have to discuss this with you," Bessie Jane said with as much haughtiness as she could manage.

She turned to go, but Harm grabbed her arm, spinning her to face him. "It's crossed my mind more than once today to turn you over my knee and blister your fanny," he warned. "The only reason I don't do it is because I think it's high time someone treated you like a grown woman."

"Reed—" she began.

"Reed thinks you're a pretty child. And that's what you are as long as you let Daddy and Mama
make
all the decisions for you. I love you, and you love me. With that in mind, a
woman
would make the decision to marry me. Only a pretty child would do what Daddy says."

"He only wants what's best for me!"

"I only want what's best for
us."
He drew her into his arms, slowly, slowly bringing his lips down to meet hers as she whimpered in anticipation. Warm and proficient, his mouth promised bliss and recalled rapturous heights she had vowed to forget.

Bessie Jane melted against him. Memory and desire leading her, she kissed him as if she were starved for his touch, thirsting for his taste. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her bosom against his chest and clinging fiercely to him. Her tiny moans of desire convinced him more of her love than her previous denials of it had ever convinced him otherwise.

Harmon continued to kiss her, but allowed his hands to roam down her slender back. Rediscovering the gentle slope of her hips, his hands finally met at her buttocks where he clutched her and pulled her up hard against him.

With a tiny choked sob of desire, she whispered against his neck. "I love you."

"I know, sweet Bess," he answered as he reluctantly released her and stood back.

She looked confused for a moment,
then
caught sight of her father's house only twenty yards away. "I forgot where we were," she said breathlessly. She reached for his hand. "No one can see us down by the pond." She turned and started off. When he didn't move, she looked back, startled. "Let's hurry."

He shook his head. His breathing was still labored, and his blood still surged through his body, but he was determined. "No more for me, sweet Bess," he said evenly. "No more green grass, hidden bowers, or deserted buildings. I want nice clean sheets and curtains on the windows. I want a marriage bed with a woman of my very own."

"Harmon, I…"

"No more excuses. You are my woman, and I want you openly and honestly. And I intend to have you, make no mistake."

"I've tried to explain—"

"Yes, you've tried to explain, but explanations mean nothing. The truth—isn't that what you mentioned earlier? I'm a great believer in the truth. You used the truth with Miss Hattie, so perhaps I should use it with Reed. I bet he doesn't have
an inkling
that he wasn't the first."

She slapped him. With a cry of horror, she watched the bright red imprint of her hand appear on the side of his face.

"What's going on
here!
" Arthur Turpin was striding toward them, his expression dangerous.

"Hurry! You must leave," Bessie Jane told Harmon, gently touching the cheek she had treated so harshly. "I'll calm him down and meet you later, and we'll talk."

"There is no more need for talk," he said, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips. "I would never tell Reed, I'm sure you know that. You are going to be my wife, and your reputation is mine also."

"Get your hands off my daughter,
Leege
!" Turpin ordered as he reached them.

Harm looked the older man in the eye,
then
brushed another light kiss on the back of Bessie Jane's hand.

"Go pack your things, Bess," he said calmly. "I'll tell your father all about our plans."

"'Pack'
? '
Plans'? What are you up to, Junkman?" Turning to his daughter, he added, "Little girl, don't you move a muscle until I get to the bottom of this."

Bessie Jane was frozen in place, frightened for herself but more terrified for Harmon. Her father's words crystallized in her brain. He ordered; she obeyed. Harmon was right. She was a woman, but if she stayed with her daddy, she would always be a little girl. "I'll be ready in fifteen minutes." She spoke quietly, looking directly into Harmon's eyes. "I just need to get a few things and say good-bye to Mama."

Harm nodded, and Bessie Jane turned and walked to the
house.

"Now wait a minute—" Turpin began, but Harmon stopped him from following his daughter by laying a hand on his arm.

The older man glared at him, his face black with anger. "Keep your hands off me, you filthy little bastard, or I'll tear you apart."

Harmon was unmoved. "You've wanted to tear me apart for a lot of years, Turpin. You should have done it when you still could."

"Why, you—" Turpin jerked his arm away and assumed a fighter's stance. "I ain't
lettin
' you have my baby," he said through clenched teeth. "I'll fight you if I have to, to keep you from ruining her life."

"It's not her life you're concerned about," Harmon said calmly. "I've known all along what this is really about."

Turpin's look grew wary, but he kept his fists up.

"You know what has finally brought your daughter and
I
together today?" Harm asked. "The truth."

The old man hesitated. "What truth?"

"Just the truth, between us. Are you worried, old man? What truth are
you
thinking of?"

"I ain't thinking of nothing," Turpin said, but he swallowed hard and watched Harm carefully.

"The truth is," Harm said, "that you don't want Bessie Jane to love me. But not for the reasons you've told her. Oh, you're
right,
I don't own my own land. I can't support her in fine fashion. My family isn't the cream of society. That's all the truth. But it's also the truth about Reed Tyler. Even Bessie Jane could see that and couldn't understand it."

"What lies have you told Bessie Jane?" There was a note of desperation in Turpin's voice. "She'll never take your word over mine."

Harmon hesitated for a moment, choosing his words. "You've always wondered if I knew, haven't you? You saw me that day at the dock when the two of you were making your plans. You've always wondered if I overheard."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Turpin's voice was hoarse with bluster, but he had paled at Harmon's words.

"I'm talking about when my mother left us. You were going to
Memphis
on business, or so you told your wife. But you told my mother you would take her to
St. Louis
. You told her you loved her, that you wanted a life with her far away from your spouse and children."

Turpin was sweating now. "It was a craziness that just overtook us. We didn't mean to hurt anyone. It was just that what we had was so powerful, so unexpected, we had no control over it.

"I was a respected member of the community. I had a prosperous business, a pretty wife, and a wonderful little girl. Can you imagine how much I loved your mother to give all that up?"

Harmon stared at him for a moment, the old childhood pain warring with adult understanding. "But you didn't give it up," he said quietly.

"No." Turpin stood before his inquisitor with no defenses left. For him, too, it seemed the truth was the only recourse. "The bliss lasted about a week before the guilt took over entirely. We spent two more weeks trying to talk it out, trying to find a way that we could have it all, before we decided that we just flat didn't deserve happiness."

Turpin chuckled, but there was no humor in the sound. "I came back, but your mother wouldn't. She said she'd betrayed your father, and even though she was sure he'd forgive her, she'd never forgive herself. It was probably best that she didn't come back. Living so close and not being able to touch, it might have been more of a temptation than either of us could stand."

Pausing in his narrative as if to sift through the past and wonder if there had been another solution he could have tried, Turpin looked at Harm. "I know my wife suspected something, but she never said a word. I was completely safe. It was like what I'd done had never been, except for you. I did see you that day at the dock. I wondered what you
heard,
how much you understood, and when you might be able to put it together
…
put it together and hurt me, hurt my daughter. That's what you've finally done, isn't it?"