Moonlight on the Millpond (11 page)

Five

“Any regrets?” Cathy asked of Maddie after David Scales exited the store.

“No, I'm happy for him.”

Cathy smiled into Maddie's eyes when she saw how true it was.

David Scales had once cared for Maddie, but that had been after her disappointment, and Maddie had not let any man get close since that time. Kind and charming as David was, Maddie had not wanted his attention. Eventually Cathy's broken arm had healed, and Maddie had returned to Boston. David had met someone new and married. As far as Cathy knew, this was the first contact they'd had in several years.

“You have something on your mind,” Maddie commented.

“What makes you say that?”

“I can see it in your eyes.”

Cathy smiled a little, her eyes narrowing as she teased her niece.

“I'll have to work around here with my eyes closed from now on.”

“Why? What is it you're thinking that you don't want me to know?”

“I just want you to have someone, Maddie. I want you to be loved and cherished.”

Maddie was speechless. Her aunt and uncle had never even alluded to wanting such a thing for her, and now to hear Cathy state it plainly was something of a shock.

“I'm doing fine,” Maddie felt she should tell her. “Truly I am.” Maddie stared at the older woman for a moment. “You don't worry about it, do you, Cathy?”

“Not very often, but at times.”

Maddie reached to give her a hug, hearing the door in the process and knowing they were about to be interrupted. “Thank you,” she said quietly, releasing her aunt in order to go back to work.

Cathy wasn't sure what had just occurred, but she was glad that Maddie had not been upset by her words. Doyle would ask her if she'd seen or heard anything—he did every night—and usually she had nothing to report. Tonight would be different.

“It's not too far from the farm, is it?” Eden asked as the wagon neared the sawmill.

“No,” Jace agreed. “An easy walk if you need to.”

Parking the wagon outside, Jace gave his sister a hand and took her inside. He explained the workings of the mill in detail and showed her where logs and boards were stored.

“It's larger than I imagined,” Eden said, her head tipped back as she took in the rafters inside the mill. “And when do you run the mill?”

“The bulk of work is late winter into early spring.”

Eden was impressed. Tending toward the cynical side, she wasn't impressed by much, but this was excellent. She knew the farm work gave a man plenty to do, but there were some months when a farmer wasn't that busy. Having a sawmill on the side was ideal.

“Well, that's about all I have to show you,” Jace said. It was late on her second day, and she'd been all over the farm the day before. “We usually go to services at the Center Meetinghouse on Sunday morning. They start at 10:00.”

When Eden nodded, Jace felt himself relax. She hadn't pressed him to take her into town. They would be in town tomorrow, but all the businesses would be closed. Even if Shephards invited them to dinner, Jace thought that would be easier than trying to stand in the store and not look in Maddie's direction.

“How often do you get into town?”

“Probably once every week or two on business, but most weeks I go to the tavern at least once.”

“So you really don't have a girl, do you, Jace?”

She had tried to feel him out for two days but gotten nothing. She knew it was time to ask again.

“No, Eden, I don't.” Jace's voice was patient. “I would like to get to know someone, but all of this is very hard work, and there hasn't been a lot of time.”

“Do you have someone in mind?”

“As a matter of fact, I do,” he replied, opting for honesty, “but I'm not discussing it.”

There was no missing the hurt she felt over this statement, but Jace hardened his heart. He hadn't even told the girl how he felt, which meant he certainly wasn't going to speak to his sister about it!

“Why won't you tell me?”

“Because right now it's no one's business but my own. If something ever comes of it, then I'll tell you.”

Eden knew no end of frustration. She had begun to believe she could go home in peace, thinking he'd been working so hard that he'd not found anyone interesting at all. But obviously he wasn't blind, and Eden didn't know why she'd expected him to be.

“So she doesn't know how you feel?”

Jace turned and walked away, something he'd never done to his sister before. Eden stared after him, her mouth open a little, before following.

Jace stood by the wagon, ready to help her back into the seat. This was all done in complete silence until Jace pointed out another of Woody's property lines to his sister.

So that's the end of it,
Eden thought.
The matter is closed, and I
get no say. He's found someone, but I'm not to be privy to his
thoughts.

“Did you see it?” Jace asked for the second time.

“Did I see what?”

“I was just showing you where that far field borders.”

“I don't think I did.”

Jace pulled the wagon to a halt. They were about halfway back to the farm.

“Are you going to be angry at me about this? Are you going to leave angry?”

“I just don't understand,” Eden began, but Jace cut her off.

“You don't have to understand. You just have to accept my decision on this.”

Eden could only stare at him. “How could you have changed so much in six months?”

“I don't know, but did you really think after the things you said to me that I would share anything with you?”

Eden looked completely lost. “What did I say?”

“That I'd have a wife and half a dozen kids before I knew what hit me.”

Eden looked away. She was in the habit of making pronouncements, but she'd never imagined he'd take this one so much to heart.

“Well, it hasn't happened,” Jace said. “You never admit that you're wrong, but I don't have a wife, not even close.” Jace slapped the reins and sent the team into motion.

“I might have exaggerated the facts, but I
was
right,” Eden felt a need to tell him. “You
are
interested in someone, and it's been only six months.”

“Eden, I'm a 24-year-old man. What do you expect of me?”

“I don't expect anything, but just so you know, I was right.”

“If that makes you feel better, Eden, you go right ahead and believe that.”

They arrived at the farmhouse, and Eden could not have been angrier. She allowed Jace to help her down, but as soon as her feet touched the ground, she turned to him in rage.

“And is this what else you've learned here, to disrespect your sister?”

“Is it disrespectful to say what I've been wanting to say for years?”

“I don't believe it.”

“Well, you need to,” Jace said bluntly. “In the past I've just shut my mouth and let you think you're right, but this time I'm telling you different.”

The two glared at each other for a time. When Jace could see she was not going to relent, he turned to take the team inside and settle them for the night. He'd not had them out long, but the other stock had to be fed as well.

Eden could not move for the shock she felt. Jace had always bowed to her wishes, never completely refusing her the way he did today. They'd had words certainly, but he'd eventually done as she instructed. She stood for a long time and felt the shock give way to anger, anger directed not at Jace, but at whoever this woman might be. Eden's thoughts became unreasonable, but she wasn't able to see this.

It's this woman. She's had some sort of changing, wicked influence
on Jace.
Eden's breathing quickened as her high emotional state began to rage completely out of control.
I might not know today,
but someday I'll know who she is. And when I meet her, she'll be sorry
she ever met Jace Randall.

The uneasy truce that had formed between Jace and his sister helped him keep his gaze wholly centered on the pastor Sunday morning. But even at that, Jace was able to observe Maddie as she headed directly to the front of the meetinghouse when the service was over to approach Mr. Sullins. He hoped that man would answer her questions about death and heaven.

His thoughts never far from the incident with his sister, he also found himself hoping it would be at least six more months before his sister came back to Tucker Mills.

“How do we know there is a heaven, Mr. Sullins?” was Maddie's first question. “How do we know we don't just lie in the ground?”

“Heaven is a mystery of God, but we can be reasonably certain it's there,” Mr. Sullins explained.

“Why doesn't God tell us for sure?”

“It's not something we need to worry about. Don't forget that He is a benevolent God who gave His Son to love us. You shouldn't worry about heaven being there or not. You should not see God as waiting to pounce on imperfect people.

“Just do your best, Maddie. Do good, make a difference— like you're doing coming to help your aunt and uncle—attend services regularly, and our respectable God will reward you with life in heaven.”

“But how can we know?”

“We're as sure as we can be, Maddie,” Mr. Sullins responded, his voice sounding so firm that Maddie was afraid to ask anything else.

“Thank you, Mr. Sullins,” Maddie said, working to hide her disappointment.

Her effort at covering her discouragement must have worked because the pastor only smiled, patted her shoulder, and moved on his way. Maddie joined her aunt and uncle where they waited outside, pleased that they were alone. She wasn't up to company today, not even Woody and Jace. She felt tired and disappointed, and all she wanted to do was rest.

“I'm sorry we didn't get to meet your sister, Jace,” Cathy said to him when he stopped by the store and explained that she'd been there.