Sister's Choice (19 page)

Mama walked to the back door, then paused. “By the way, who is going with you on this picnic?”

“Oh, just Tamara, Colby, and Evan,” she replied casually.

“Hmm.” Mama nodded thoughtfully and went outside without another word.

“That’s a nice thing to do with your friends,” Grandma said as she rummaged about the kitchen for breakfast preparations.

“I had hoped it would be just me and Colby,” Maggie said. “But the others ended up tagging along.”

“It would have been unseemly for you and Colby to go alone. Your parents would not have permitted it, so you should be thankful the others are coming, as well.”

Scraping the cake batter into the pan, Maggie sighed. “I guess so. I do wish things with Colby could move along faster.”

“I may be old-fashioned in these matters, but taking time to get to know a beau can never hurt.” Grandma cleared a space on the table where she could peel potatoes.

“I’ve known Colby all my life. Isn’t that enough?”

“How have you known him, Maggie? He was your older brother’s friend, then your sister’s beau. Have you really had a chance to know him? What kinds of things do you talk with him about?”

“Talk?”

“Yes. What do you talk about after church or at parties and such?”

Maggie shrugged. “Things,” she said vaguely. “Grandma, can you tell if the oven is ready?” she asked, glad for a diversion from the uncomfortable direction of her grandmother’s questioning.

Grandma checked the oven and nodded for Maggie to go ahead and put the cake in. “Maggie, I know this is hard to hear, but don’t rush things. Try to get to know Colby.”

“How do I do that? I hardly ever see him.”

“You are going to see him today. It doesn’t matter if Evan and Tamara are there. Engage Colby in conversation. Learn his interests and your mutual interests. This is one of the responsibilities of the new way of things. In the olden days when marriages were arranged, this burden was lifted. No one cared much if they had anything in common. But now, if you wish to marry for love, it comes with certain strings attached. And one of those strings is discerning true love from infatuation.”

“Is that what you think?” Maggie asked defensively. “That I am just infatuated with Colby?”

“I don’t know, dear. But isn’t it something you’d want to know before you marry?”

That did infuriate Maggie about Grandma. She never railed and insisted, like Mama sometimes did. Rather, she put things in the form of reasonable questions. So instead of getting mad at her, Maggie was forced to think about what Grandma said. But she didn’t want to think too much about things—it took the fun out of it.

Or was she simply afraid to think too deeply about her feelings for Colby?

She recalled something that happened at the party last night that had disturbed her. It was during the first and only waltz of the evening. She had made sure Colby asked her, mostly by covertly urging Evan to ask Tamara before Colby could.

She thought she would simply melt with happiness at being so close to Colby. Instead, she found her attention wandering from him, searching the dancing couples until she found Tamara and Evan. Maggie watched them nearly the entire time. She told herself it was because she was worried Evan would mess up the dance steps. But a tiny little part of her just didn’t like Tamara—beautiful, charming, beguiling Tamara—holding Evan in such a familiar way.

It was only that she didn’t want to lose a friend to Tamara any more than she wanted to lose Colby to her. That’s all it was.

SEVENTEEN

Sunday turned into a crisp fall day with a pale sky stippled with clouds. Not as perfect as the previous day, but certainly not a day to discourage hearty Oregonians. The picnickers wore their Sunday clothes so as not to waste time going home to change. They also had coats and plenty of quilts.

Maggie had packed a hamper with thick slices of ham, a couple of loaves of bread, the apple cake, of course, fresh apples, and plenty of cider to drink. Tamara brought a basket, as well, with a jar of Mrs. Stoddard’s pickles, some muffins, and a few hard-cooked eggs. Maggie noted there was nothing in Tamara’s basket that was made specially by her, which made the fact that her cake had turned out well even better.

They rode in the Parkers’ rockaway, now repaired, out to a favorite meadow near the Baxter place and along Dart Creek. The road only went so far, and they had to hike in about a half mile. Their destination was little more than a clearing in the middle of a thick stand of timber but a nice covering of grass gave them a soft floor on which to spread a quilt.

“I’m starved. Let’s eat!” Colby said, hardly giving them a chance to alight from the carriage.

Besides being hungry, he was probably glad they had arrived and he no longer needed to converse with Evan. Maggie and Tamara had sat in the backseat of the carriage and had chatted about this and that, mostly their sewing progress. But Colby and Evan had seemed uncomfortably quiet in the front. At first Evan had tried to engage Colby in conversation, but Colby’s responses were brief, not as if he were mad, but rather as though he weren’t interested.

“How was your harvest?” Evan had asked.

“Good,” Colby replied curtly.

“My father says the price for potatoes is holding steady this year.”

“Uh-huh,” Colby grunted.

“Dad is happy to have the farmers return to the mill now that harvest is over,” Evan said. “They should be busy all fall.”

“That’s good.”

Finally Evan fell silent. Maggie couldn’t understand what was wrong with Colby. He had no reason to be upset about anything. She realized she’d never heard Colby have a lengthy conversation. Mostly he joked, made wisecracks, or when with girls, he flirted.

Well, a man didn’t have to talk, did he? Colby had many other good attributes. Why did she feel she had to defend him anyway, especially in her own mind? It was Grandma’s words still bouncing about in Maggie’s head that made her notice Colby’s behavior today. Why didn’t Grandma just yell and insist on her way, instead of asking sensible questions?

Reclining on one of Mama’s old quilts, they ate their dinner. Maggie received raves for her spice cake, which she modestly said was a little dry. Still, she hoped that either Colby or Tamara would go home and mention to Mrs. Stoddard what a good baker Maggie was.

Conversation among the foursome was a bit stilted. Finally, shortly after finishing the meal, Evan rose, stretching his legs.

“I’d like to do a bit of exploring,” he said.

“Oh, that sounds lovely,” Tamara said, rising also.

Maggie waited a couple of heartbeats to see what Colby would do.

“I’m feeling lazy,” he said. “I’ve been working hard all week.”

“I’ll keep you company,” Maggie said politely, though inside, her heart was racing. Some time alone with Colby at last!

Evan and Tamara trooped off toward the woods. Evan cast one backward glance at Maggie, as if to give her one last chance to join him. What was wrong with him? Didn’t he realize this was a chance for him to be alone with Tamara?

Maggie gave him a “You can do it!” nod, though in a way she would have preferred a hike to sitting sedately on a blanket.

After Evan and Tamara disappeared among the trees, Maggie fussed for a few moments, packing up the picnic things.

“Do you want some more cake before I put it away?” she asked Colby.

“Don’t know where I’d put it,” he replied with a contented pat on his belly.

She wrapped the cake and placed it in the hamper. When the job was done, she started to feel restless. Colby had stretched out on the quilt. Not wanting him to fall asleep and ruin this wonderful opportunity to get to know each other, Maggie began talking.

“What did you think of the church service today?” She had tried to talk about this before when all four of them were there, but the topic hadn’t developed because Evan and Tamara, being newcomers, had little opinion of the little Maintown controversy.

“It was okay,” Colby murmured, still lying back, eyes closed.

“Do you think we will really change over to the Methodists?”

“Six of one, half dozen of the other.”

“Maybe, but there must be some differences for there to have been two denominations in the first place. But the thing is, we have always been Brethren of Christ. You and I were born in that denomination.”

“Uh-huh.”

Seeing that he wasn’t much interested in that topic, she tried a different tack. Maybe she could get him to talk about himself. Men seemed to love that.

“Colby, is everything okay with you? You’ve been kind of quiet today.”

“Really? I hadn’t noticed.”

“I almost thought you were miffed at Evan.” She laughed dismissively. “But how could that be? You hardly know him.”

“Don’t need to know him to know that spending all that time in the big city has gone to his head,” Colby said.

“What?” This truly astounded Maggie, for she’d felt the exact opposite about him. She knew no man more modest than Evan. “He seems rather humble, if you ask me, considering all his education and experiences and family affluence.”

“Not from where I’m looking. He’s all the time using those big fancy words and wearing those expensive suits.”

Maggie simply could not believe what she was hearing. “What do you want, Colby, for him to talk gibberish and be unclothed?”

“Sounds like you’re defending him.” Colby rolled onto his side and, propping his head with his hand, focused a challenging gaze at Maggie.

“No. But maybe you just need to get to know him better.”

“He always acted too good for the rest of us.”

“Is that why you made fun of him?” Maggie rejoined sharply.

“Had to do something to put him in his place.”

“Colby, I must say I am shocked at what you are saying.”

Colby studied her a moment. “Sounds like you might be sweet on him. And here I thought your heart belonged to Tommy Donnelly.” His tone mocked her.

Now she was furious, not only at his words but because he was ruining what was supposed to be their time alone, her time to woo him.

“I am not sweet on Tommy or Evan or anyone!” she railed. “But at least neither of them would belittle another person, not like you’ve done to both of them. Colby, I never thought you were a malicious person, but now I must wonder.”

“Aw, I was just having fun with them,” he defended himself. “Like I said, Evan asked for it, and Tommy . . . well, you know Tommy.”

“But you hurt them both.”

“I didn’t know that.” He paused, then added with a sincere tone, “Guess I’m sorry I hurt their feelings. But I was a kid and didn’t know better.”

“Maybe you should apologize to both of them.”

He arched a brow as if she was asking for a million dollars. “Maybe so,” he replied, with little enthusiasm.

They were quiet for a couple of minutes. Maggie tried to cool off. She wished Colby had been a little more emphatic about making an apology, but he might come around with time.

Finally Colby asked, “Hey, Maggie, did you mean it when you said you weren’t sweet on anyone?”

She knew she’d been given another opportunity, and Colby might even be fishing for some encouragement. But she surprised even herself when she replied, “Maybe not.”

“Not a single person in this whole county?” he prompted.

She shook her head.

“You mad at me for what I said about Evan?” Colby asked.

“A little.”

“What could I do so you won’t be mad at me?”

“Does how I feel about you truly matter to you, Colby?”

“Kinda does.”

She was about to make a concession and try to get back on a better footing when sounds of laughter drew her attention to the tree line. A moment later Evan and Tamara burst into the clearing.

“I thought we would be lost forever!” Tamara said through her giggles.

“I figured we couldn’t be too far from our party.” Still chuckling, Evan swiped a sleeve across his damp brow.

“You were worried for a minute,” Tamara taunted good-naturedly.

“Don’t tell me you two got lost a couple of feet from the clearing?” Colby said, perhaps unaware of how derisive he sounded.

“Well, out there all those trees look alike.” Evan laughed.

“That’s what happens when you send two city folks into the woods,” Colby said.

“One of us should have gone with you,” Maggie offered, now, after the fiasco with Colby, wishing more than ever that she had.

Tamara laughed. “What? And miss our little adventure? When I looked up and saw Evan staring around, trying to pick out one tree from another—”

“I must say, I did panic for just the smallest moment,” Evan admitted, and the two laughed again.

Maggie listened, not with amusement but with—what was it? It struck her like an anvil when she realized she was jealous. Now Evan and Tamara had a funny adventure to share, like her own muddy adventure with Evan. They had a private moment to share a laugh over that only they knew about. And it irked Maggie.

“Getting lost for a moment in the woods is nothing compared to what happened to Evan and me the other day,” Maggie found herself saying. “Did you tell her about the mud, Evan?” She laughed. “My goodness! The carriage broke down, and we slipped into the mud.” Maggie threw back her head and howled.

Evan chuckled. “Yes, it was quite a mess. That is one trip to St. Helens I will never forget.”

“You two went to St. Helens?” Colby asked.

“Yes, to visit Tommy,” Evan replied.

Maggie put in, “Evan is going to be Tommy’s lawyer.” She couldn’t help the pride in her tone.

“You sure you want to get mixed up with that one?” queried Colby. “He was always a bad seed, but now that he’s a murderer, you’ll want to steer clear of him.”

“Every man is entitled to a defense under the law,” Evan said, growing more serious.

“But he has admitted to murdering his father.”

“He is innocent until proven guilty,” Evan rejoined.

“But he ain’t innocent.”

“I can’t discuss the particulars of the case, but one must keep in mind extenuating circumstances.”

Colby looked at Maggie. “There’s what I said about them highfalutin words.” He made sure, as he spoke, that he sounded more like a country bumpkin than he ever really did.