PluckingthePearl (20 page)

“Pearl, honey,” he said, reaching for her hand. “This ring
means—”

Tears splashed her cheeks as she shook her head harder.
“Please don’t, Caleb. I don’t want that ring.”

He was so shocked he nearly dropped it. “What the hell do
you mean you don’t want it?”

She put her hand to her mouth, which twisted with emotion.
“It wasn’t worth it. Those men said such awful things about us and the jeweler
didn’t want my black skin touching his precious merchandise. As if I’m dirty or
something. I was so humiliated!”

The sick anger returned when he pictured Murdock’s mocking
face and those signs on the hardware store she hadn’t even seen.

“So was I but we can’t let them ruin this.” He reached for
her hand again. “Just wear it.”

“What’s the use?” She snatched her hand out of reach. “So we
can have some meaningless, pretend marriage? That ring isn’t going to make all
the hate go away.”

She ran upstairs and slammed the door of the small guest
room. The sound of it hit him like a blow to his chest. Nearly blind with
fury—at himself for putting her through such humiliation and at this lousy
town—he squeezed the metal circle in his hand and then threw it against the
wall as hard as he could.

* * * * *

On Sadie’s wedding day two days later, Pearl fixed her hair
in the round guest room mirror, trying to think of an excuse to avoid attending.
She certainly felt ill enough. After their argument about the ring, Caleb
hadn’t even come home to sleep. She’d avoided his empty bedroom too, preferring
this small, simple room decorated in wallpaper patterned with violets.

She looked down at the ring she now wore day and night,
tracing her finger over the pearly tip. Finding it on the floor downstairs had
cracked her heart into pieces. She’d knelt over it and cried, realizing how
badly she must have hurt Caleb with her refusal to wear it.

He’d been about to make his deepest commitment to her yet
and she’d cheated them both out of that precious moment. So what if it would be
a mock marriage? The love they shared was more than most people had.

The front door opened, and predictably her body came to life
with quick breaths and tingles. Fixing her hair for the last time, she put on
her hat and headed down the stairs. Caleb’s face looked drawn and sick as it
had before. Wherever he’d been, he hadn’t enjoyed himself.

He looked up at her from the bottom. “Where are you going
all dressed up like that?”

The guarded expression on his face told her he noticed the
fact she’d worn her original Sunday-best dress instead of the one he’d given
her.

She stopped mid-stair and gripped the smooth banister. “It’s
Sadie’s wedding day, remember? Leroy is meeting me with the boat.”

“Right. I’d forgotten.”

Hesitantly, she walked down the remaining stairs and held
out her left hand, which trembled. “I want you to know I never take it off.”

Caleb hooked a finger under her hand to inspect it. “I
wouldn’t have given it to you if I’d known how much pain it would cause.”

“I’m sorry, Caleb,” she whispered. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”

“I’m not hurt.”

Then why did his voice sound so dead? “But you didn’t come
home for days. I worried about you.”

Realizing he wasn’t going to say much, she held him instead.
The strength of his arms as they pressed her hard against him communicated what
his words couldn’t.

“I want to take you to the wedding,” he said.

That was the last thing she expected. “But it’s just my
family. You—”

“Wouldn’t belong? Wouldn’t feel comfortable?” he asked. “I
don’t care. If we’re going to be a couple, we need to be part of each other’s
families.”

Pearl touched his face lightly in wonder. “Are we taking
your boat?”

“No, I’ll ride with you in Leroy’s boat since he came all
this way.”

She blinked, unable to believe her ears. “Aren’t you worried
about what people will think if they see you with us in a little rowboat?”

“I don’t give a damn what people will think.” He winked at her.
“Besides, after what I put you through the other day, it’s the least I can do.
Just give me a minute to change.”

Caleb went into his bedroom and emerged wearing a black
three-piece suit with a blue silk tie. Heat raced across Pearl’s chest, making
it difficult to breathe. He looked so wonderful in that suit she wanted to drag
him back into the bedroom and rip it off.

“How handsome you look all dressed up,” she said.

He tugged uncomfortably at his collar. “Thank you but I
don’t wear this very often. Simple clothes suit me better.”

She arched a brow. “No fancy boat, car or clothes? I thought
you liked to keep up appearances.”

“To a point. If you think I have plain tastes, my brother is
even worse.” He swatted her bottom. “We’d better get to that wedding.”

At Oyster Harbor’s pier, Leroy looked surprised when Caleb
got into the boat but his eyes were filled with admiration and respect.

“Give me one of those oars,” Caleb said as he took his seat.
“I’ll help you paddle.”

Leroy shook his head vehemently. “No, sir. I don’t reckon
you should do that, Mr. Rockfield. My arms will get us there.”

Pearl was thankful Caleb’s hat and overcoat helped hide his
identity. They didn’t need more trouble like they’d experienced the other day.
When they neared the church, she frowned when she saw groups of people milling
around outside.

“Why aren’t they all in the church?” she asked. “It’s too
cold to be outside.”

Leroy pointed at the front lawn. “Could have somethin’ to do
with that.”

“Oh my God,” Pearl yelled when she saw the smoking black
cross.

Caleb stood, rocking the boat. “I don’t believe this.”

As soon as the boat hit land, Pearl scrambled out and ran
toward the figure in the white dress.

“Oh, Sadie, what happened?” she asked as she hugged her.

Sadie’s veil fluttered in the strong breeze as tears
streamed down her face. “I can’t believe the Klan is here. Why would they ruin
my wedding?”

Buck, the groom, hovered nearby, looking worried as he
conversed with other men in the wedding party.

Even Aunt Wilma looked shaken. “Some of our neighbors said
they saw it burning last night.”

“But why?” Pearl asked as the smell of damp, charred wood
burrowed into her head. “There’s been no trouble here, has there?”

“No,” Wilma replied, “and they didn’t touch the church
neither. It’s like a warnin’ or something.”

Reverend Palmer joined them and eyed Caleb with wariness and
suspicion. When Pearl looked at the guests, she realized they all shared his
expression. Caleb looked as out of place here as she had felt in that jewelry
store.

“Maybe this gentleman knows somethin’ about this,” Reverend
Palmer said. “We don’t want any trouble, sir.”

Everyone stared at Caleb, wanting answers. He shook his
head, looking even paler and sicker than he had the night she’d coaxed his cock
to get hard.

“I don’t know who could have done such a thing or why,” he
announced. “I just came to attend the wedding of my housekeeper’s cousin. If
I’m not welcome here, I can wait outside.”

The reverend’s eyebrows lifted and some of the suspicion
vanished. “Of course you’re welcome. Let’s all go inside now and get on with
the wedding.” He eyed the cross coldly. “We’ll clean this up later.”

While the others filed into the church, Pearl stayed behind
with Caleb who swallowed often.

“Caleb, you look too ill to even be here. What’s wrong?” she
asked but that familiar dread clawed her back again. “You know something.”

He took her arm. “Let’s go inside like the reverend said.”

“Is this the secret you’ve been keeping from me?” she asked.
“Is this why you’ve been so ill and worried lately?”

She stared at the cross and back at him as realization
pressed around her.

“Oh God.” She clapped a hand over her mouth, feeling sick
herself as something terrible occurred to her.

“Please tell me you’re not a member of the Klan,” she said.

When he looked away instead of answering, she fell to her
knees in horror.

Caleb rubbed his forehead. He’d never wanted to tell Pearl
about the Klan. With her cousin’s wedding about to start, there wasn’t much
time to explain. A burned cross was the last thing he expected to see here.
Good God. What was happening to this town?

He took her hand and pulled her up. “Let’s sit on that bench
over there and I’ll try to explain.”

With her hand still over her mouth, she shook her head as
she followed him through crunchy orange leaves that dotted the green grass.

“I’m
not
a member of the Klan,” he told her.
Yet.

She shivered from the cold, making her lips tremble. “But
you do know something?”

He nodded and looked down at his feet. “That meeting with
the mayor wasn’t about seagulls. It was about bringing the Klan to Oyster
Island.”

Realization appeared in her eyes. “So that’s why you’ve been
acting so strange lately. Why didn’t you tell me the truth?”

He squeezed the cold hand in her lap. “I didn’t want to
worry you but I wish now I had.”

She pointed to her pearl ring. “If we’re really committed,
we’re supposed to share everything with each other.”

“I know and I’m sorry.” He looked at the ugly cross. “This
was a hell of a way for you to find out.”

She looked at it too. “But why did they do it? There hasn’t
been any trouble.”

“I believe it’s a preventive warning for the blacks and
propaganda for the whites,” Caleb said.

Her hand clawed at his. “Caleb, I’m scared.”

“This activity will die down eventually.” He covered her
hand with both of his and looked into her frightened eyes. “I’m not going to
let anything happen to you or your family. I promise.”

He hoped it was a promise he could keep.

She looked at the church where soft strains of organ music
poured outside. “We’d better get inside or we’ll miss the ceremony.”

Caleb felt chilled from his gut to his toes as he walked
into the church with her. Not only had he lied to her once about the Klan, he’d
just lied again. She still had no idea about the initiation.

In one mere week, he’d have to choose which side he was
really on, a decision that would change their lives forever.

* * * * *

Pearl and Caleb sat in the back of the church. With her
emotions already in an uproar from the burned cross, her eyes burned with tears
when she watched Sadie walk down the aisle in her white dress. Leroy escorted
her since Uncle Charlie was too ill to attend.

What Pearl wouldn’t give to be in her cousin’s shoes. How
ironic that Sadie used to be so jealous of her. Now it was the other way around.
Sadie got to marry the man she loved in front of friends and family. She and
Caleb, on the other hand, had to sneak around in private. It wasn’t fair.

As Sadie and Buck recited their vows to each other, tears
ran down Pearl’s cheeks. She never should have come. For some reason, she
couldn’t endure this ceremony. Her muscles twitched, aching to run out of the
church.

She gasped when soft cloth brushed her face. Warmth
dissolved in her chest under Caleb’s kind blue gaze and smile as he dabbed her
cheeks with a handkerchief. It reminded her of the day they’d met.

Without a word, he touched the pearl on her ring, as if
pointing out they had a commitment just as strong as marriage. Then he held her
hand, something they wouldn’t dare do in the white community.

If they married, she knew they would face a lot more than a
burned cross.

After the wedding, Pearl and Caleb went to the cottage to
visit Uncle Charlie. It felt strange to be there again after she’d been gone
for so long. The tiny house couldn’t be more different than Caleb’s spacious
one.

Wilma rushed around the cottage, straightening things up.
“Mr. Rockfield, it sure is an honor to have you visit us.”

Caleb took off his hat with a flourish of respect. “I
thought it was about time I got to know Pearl’s family better.”

When Pearl helped Wilma pour water into cups, the woman
pointed to her left hand.

“Girl, what you got on your hand?” She bent closer and
squinted at it. “That’s the biggest pearl I ever see’d.”

When Pearl exchanged a look with Caleb, he nodded. They were
safe here.

“Caleb gave it to me,” she said proudly.

Wilma grinned knowingly. “Well, you must have done somethin’
right.”

Pearl’s cheeks prickled with embarrassment. Now she wished
she’d taken the ring off before coming here. Her aunt probably thought she’d
earned that ring in bed. Maybe she had.

“I love her,” Caleb declared as he put his arm around Pearl.
“If circumstances were different, I’d marry her too.”

Wilma dropped the cup she was holding, spilling water all
over the floor. Pearl looked at Caleb, stunned by what he’d just said in front
of her family. She couldn’t believe he’d taken such a risk. He knew how Aunt
Wilma’s innuendoes made her feel and he’d finally ended them.

She’d never loved him more than she did at that moment.

“Of course, I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that our
private business stays private,” Caleb added.

Aunt Wilma attacked the wet floor with a rag. “That goes
without sayin’, Mr. Rockfield. We won’t say a word.”

Uncle Charlie stirred in his chair by the fire.

“He’s wakin’ up now,” Wilma told them quietly. “He tires
quickly, though.”

Pearl and Caleb went to his side.

“How you doin’, child?” Charlie’s voice sounded extra rusty
because he’d been asleep. “Come closer so I can get a good look at you.”

Pearl bent and kissed her uncle’s cheek, shocked at how
gaunt he looked.

“Do you remember working for me a couple of years ago?”
Caleb asked him.

Charlie looked lost but only for a moment. “Mr. Rockfield?
You came all the way to see a sick old man?”

Caleb smiled and looked at Wilma who stood protectively
close to her husband. “Do you all have everything you need?” he asked. “Are you
warm enough?”

She nodded. “Them new building materials really helped out.
They was from you, weren’t they?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied. “If you need anything
else—anything at all—let me know.”

“You’re a fine man, Mr. Rockfield,” Wilma said, “even if you
are white.”

Everyone laughed, including Charlie.

Leroy emerged from his room. “Are you all ready for me to
take you back now?”

Pearl nodded, forgetting her earlier jealousy of Sadie’s
wedding. She’d never dreamed she’d stand in this cottage in front of her family
openly declaring her relationship with Caleb. The warm acceptance that
surrounded them made her chest so full it nearly burst.

It was as if they
were
married. This day had turned
out so wonderfully she’d even briefly forgotten about the Klan.

* * * * *

A few evenings later, Pearl bustled around the kitchen,
preparing oyster stew and delicate pastries. Although the tasks filled her
mind, she still couldn’t stop thinking about how wonderful Caleb had been with
her family. It was almost as if they’d married that day instead of Sadie.

If only the miserable cloud of the Klan didn’t hang over the
house like the rain outside. Caleb still acted distracted as if he hadn’t told
her everything.

He came into the kitchen and grabbed her arms as she rushed
from the counter to the oven.

“Slow down,” he said. “You’re going to get so exhausted
you’ll fall asleep in your plate.”

“This evening has to be perfect,” she replied. “I still
can’t believe you invited your brother to dinner.”

“I thought it was time you met each other. Henry is the only
family I’ve got left.”

Pearl stirred the thick, buttery stew, satisfied it was
ready. Her pulse raced a hundred miles an hour and she realized the thick dress
Caleb had given her wasn’t suitable for the heat of cooking.

This wasn’t her family, it was his. A strange white man
would sit at the table and probably judge her. She hoped he wouldn’t be as bad
as the Abbotts.

“I hope he likes me,” she said.

Caleb bent over the pot and sniffed the stew. “He’ll adore
you. You two are the most important people in my life.”

Pearl set down the spoon. “What does he know about us?”

“Everything.”

That made her pulse beat even faster. Much of the time Caleb
had been out of the house she knew he’d spent with his brother. They must have
discussed her. It felt strange to finally see the other piece of Caleb’s life.
Pride filled her chest. He must think highly of her to share it.

She gasped with shock and pleasure when two strong hands
cupped her backside.

“I love the way your sweet little ass looks in this dress.
Remember the fun we had when I bent you over the oven?”

“You wouldn’t dare,” she exclaimed as flames of desire came
to life in her abdomen.

He stroked her hip. “I’m looking forward to helping you
clean up after he leaves.”

So was she but she kicked the thought out of her mind. His
brother mustn’t suspect the wildness in her.

When Henry knocked on the door, Pearl answered it. She
realized she’d seen him around the plant before, thinking he was just one of
the watermen. Wearing a worn canvas jacket and khaki trousers, he looked as if
he’d just stepped off a boat.

“Good evening, Mr. Rockfield,” she said.

“Call me Henry,” he replied.

Caleb hugged him and looked him over. “I see I wore a tie
for nothing.”

Henry punched him in the arm. “You know I hate to dress up.”

When Caleb formally introduced Pearl, his brother took her
hand and smiled at her with warm, dark blue eyes that crinkled at the corners.
He had brown, unruly hair—lighter than Caleb’s—and his face was less serious.

“I’ve heard so much about you,” he said.

She looked at Caleb with alarm but he winked at her. When
the men sat down to eat, she remained standing, unsure if she should act like a
housekeeper or Caleb’s wife. Although she’d used a recipe to make the oyster
stew, mixed relationships had no rulebooks whatsoever.

“Sit and join us,” Caleb told her.

“This is the best oyster stew I’ve ever tasted,” Henry
declared. “It’s even better than what they serve at the Sapphire Crab.”

Caleb nodded. “I never get tired of eating Rockfield
oysters.”

“But you’ve barely touched it,” Pearl pointed out. “In fact,
you haven’t been eating well at all lately.”

“I’ve just been a little under the weather.”

Although Pearl suspected there was more to it than that, now
was not the time to pursue the issue. They laughed through the rest of dinner,
entertained by Henry’s boating stories. Pearl couldn’t help smiling as she
looked at the two of them, so different and yet so similar.

“Do you remember the time Daddy got lost at sea during that
storm?” Henry asked.

Caleb’s eyes got a faraway look as he nodded. “We thought
he’d never make it home.”

From then on, they talked about their father and how he’d
built the oyster plant. Pearl listened with rapt attention, wanting to know
everything she could about her man. Clearly, their father was an idol to both
of them. If only she could have met him too.

When they’d finished eating, Caleb suggested she play the
piano. “Play us some of those songs you’ve been learning from the radio.”

She waved. “Oh, I’m sure Henry doesn’t want to hear that.”

“You play the piano?” he asked with surprise. “I’d love to
hear it.”

Henry stood to her left and Caleb sat with her on the bench
in front of the piano. Although being nervous affected her playing at first,
the music soon took over. Her hands flew across the keys with a will of their
own. When both men joined in the singing while a cozy fire burned in the
hearth, family warmth wrapped itself around her as it had at the Johnson
cottage.

“Someone can’t carry a tune,” Caleb teased.

Henry chuckled. “I’m a sailor, not a singer.”

Pearl laughed too, thankful Henry was a much nicer guest
than Elizabeth Abbott.

Caleb scratched his chin. “It’s a shame to keep all that
talent hidden inside these walls.”

“My church already has an organist,” she replied quickly.
There certainly wasn’t anywhere else her playing would be welcome.

As if realizing the same thing, he cleared his throat and
the three of them fell into an awkward silence.

Henry bent down and pointed at her left hand. “Say, that’s a
beautiful ring. Did you get that for her, Caleb?”

Caleb nodded. “You have no idea what we had to go through to
get it.”

A worried look crossed Henry’s face.

“How about some coffee?” Caleb asked.

“I’d like to get better acquainted with Pearl, if you don’t
mind,” Henry said seriously.

The warmth surrounding Pearl dissipated, leaving something
cold and uncertain in its place. Caleb’s face looked more serious as well.

“You two can have coffee in the dining room,” he told his
brother. “I’ll take a cup into my study.”

When Pearl sat down with Henry in the dining room, she
wished the evening were over. The room seemed eerily quiet after the boisterous
piano playing. Why did he want a private conversation with her? It couldn’t be
good.

While Henry stirred cream and sugar into his coffee, Pearl
sipped hers.

“You and Caleb seem very happy together,” he said.

“We are,” she replied. “Caleb is a wonderful man.”

“He is, indeed.” He took a gulp of coffee and winced when it
burned him. The man must be just as nervous as she was.

“Henry, is there something on your mind?” she asked gently.

“You’re a big improvement over his past wife, that’s for
sure. That woman was stiffer than cardboard.”

Remembering the day she’d found Caleb’s wedding photograph,
Pearl couldn’t help smiling at the compliment.

“Caleb needed a woman too. The man lived like a monk for
years.” The tips of his ears turned red as he toyed with his spoon.