Sister's Choice (22 page)

She wiped it across her eyes, then blew her nose into it.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” he asked gently.

She was about to refuse. It was too humiliating to reveal to anyone. Then she realized that, of everyone she knew, Evan would be the one person to truly understand.

“Let’s find a place to talk,” he said.

He turned off the road, and she followed him down a broken path until they came to an oak tree in a pasture. This was still the Stoddards’ place, but Colby was nowhere around. They dismounted, tied their mounts to a low branch, and sat in the grass under the tree. Maggie used the handkerchief once more. Her tears were abating. She knew God had sent Evan along at the perfect time.

“I was just helping out at the Stoddards’,” she began. “I was alone with Tamara for a few minutes, and she told me something that made me angry. Mind you, I don’t think she was being malicious. She really thought it would be helpful. But it makes me so mad—” The emotion she thought had slowed now seized her again. A sob broke through her lips, and she covered her eyes with her hands.

“There, there,” he consoled.

She thought she would like him to comfort her with an embrace, as she had comforted Colby. In fact, she thought she would like it a lot, but he made no move toward her. Instead, he fumbled with his spectacles, and then, rather awkwardly, he reached out and patted her hand. She found she appreciated this gesture more than an embrace. Because of his shyness, even this was probably quite a stretch for him. She offered him a tentative smile in return.

Dabbing her eyes with Evan’s handkerchief, she went on, “Tamara was repeating gossip, that people are s-saying I-I’m in love with Tommy.”

“Who is saying such things?” he asked.

“Tamara said she didn’t know, but I think she just didn’t want to say. It doesn’t really matter, does it? I don’t know what is worse, that people are saying these things or that it angers me so. It isn’t the first time I’ve heard people joke about me and Tommy, but I was always able to ignore it. It isn’t true. You know that, don’t you?” she implored, realizing it meant a great deal to her that he believed her.

“Of course I know it.”

“What if Colby hears it? And just when I thought I might have a chance with him!”

“He probably has heard, Maggie.”

Evan’s hand had slipped around hers now and felt strong and comforting.

“But he should know better than to believe rumors, don’t you think? Can’t you just talk to him, make sure he knows the truth?”

“What would I say?” she probed. “ ‘Oh, Colby, I don’t like Tommy, so it’s okay for you to like me.’ That just sounds silly and forward. What if he just laughs in my face?”

“If he did that—” Evan stopped abruptly. The tenderness momentarily left his voice, and it became uncharacteristically hard-edged. After a swallow and another fiddle with his spectacles, he added, “Would you like for me to talk to him?”

“I don’t know . . . you wouldn’t tell him about my feelings toward him, would you? That would be so embarrassing.”

“I definitely would say nothing about that,” Evan replied firmly.

“You two aren’t the best of friends. I don’t know if it would work.”

“I’ll be sure to be casual about it. In fact, my mother mentioned taking supper over to them tomorrow. I’ll go along with her.”

“That’s so kind of you, Evan.”

“I told you I would help you.”

“I simply don’t feel right making denials myself,” she went on. “And I don’t think I could say anything without getting all emotional again. The worst of it, Evan, is that when I deny it, it always comes out in my mind as, ‘How could they think I’d love someone like Tommy?’ And that is an insult to Tommy and a betrayal of our friendship. It would hurt him, too. Yet I do think it—and I hate myself for it! It’s just as bad as actually saying it.”

“What you think and what you say are different,” he said. “And the fact that it tortures you so only proves the quality of your character.”

“Thank you for saying so.”

They were silent for a few moments. Then suddenly, as if he’d just realized he was still holding her hand when the need had passed, he quickly removed it. In that nervous way of his, he removed his spectacles and wiped them on a corner of his jacket.

Because she wasn’t ready to ride home, she said, “I appreciate your stopping to talk with me. It really helped. I hope I haven’t kept you from something important.”

“I was just returning from St. Helens,” he replied. “I went to see Tommy.”

“Oh, I thought I would be helping you.” She was a little hurt that he hadn’t asked her to accompany him, but mostly she was disappointed she had missed another trip with him. The last time had been so very enjoyable, despite the mishap with the carriage, perhaps even
because
of it.

“I did stop by your house to see if you wanted to come, but your mother said you had gone to the Stoddards’. There really isn’t a need for you to come every time I see Tommy. In fact, it is probably a good idea for me to see him alone occasionally so that he can build trust in me.”

“I can understand that. How is he?”

“He’s growing very restless. We talked for quite a while this time, and he opened up more to me. He began to tell me some things about his father—I never realized what a scoundrel that Tom Donnelly was. I believe if I can gather enough witnesses to Donnelly’s bad character and to his physical abuse of Tommy, I can build a substantial case for self-defense.”

“There’ll be plenty of folks around here who can attest to Mr. Donnelly’s lack of character,” Maggie affirmed.

“I wonder if there are any, besides Mrs. Donnelly, who actually saw the man beat Tommy.”

“I saw him backhand Tommy once.”

“I don’t want to put you on the stand. I don’t know how much of our last conversation that deputy heard, but if any of it got back to the prosecutor, his cross-examination of you could be very damaging.”

“That’s too bad, because I could be a very good witness for Tommy.”

“We’ll find a way around it.” He paused, then added with more optimism, “I did find out that Earl Cranston will be representing the county as prosecutor. I think he feigned illness before, simply not wanting to defend Tommy. I believe it is an open-and-shut case to him, and he didn’t like the idea of losing.”

“
Humph!
” Maggie grunted disdainfully. “He is still going to lose. But it’s also good news that Mr. Cranston is the prosecutor, because he is the worst lawyer around.”

“It would be a mistake to underestimate him. He may spend an inordinate amount of time in the taverns, but he will likely be sober for the trial. And he has tried a criminal case or two, while I have never litigated a real case. My previous experiences in courtrooms have been . . . well, not spectacular.”

“Oh, you’ll do cartwheels around him.” A giggle slipped out from Maggie’s lips.

“What?” He frowned, perhaps thinking she was making fun of him.

“I’m not laughing at you, Evan. But I did just get a picture in my mind of you doing just that. Old drunk Cranston standing there gaping as you turn one cartwheel after another.”

He laughed with her. “So you think I’d look funny doing a cartwheel?” he said with mock offense.

“You are not exactly the cartwheel kind of person.”

“I can do a jim-dandy cartwheel, I’ll have you know.”

“You cannot!”

“We’ll see about that!” He jumped up, stripped off his jacket, and removed his spectacles, laying them on the coat.

He spread out his arms, leaped forward and, as she looked on in astonishment, flipped on his hands, propelling his body into a quite perfect cartwheel. Then, without a pause, he launched into another and another.

Maggie threw back her head and howled with laughter.

Breathless, he dropped back to the ground beside her. With a smug smirk on his face, he said, “So there!”

“I wouldn’t have believed it without seeing it,” she said. “Did you learn that at Harvard?”

His smugness turned sheepish. “No . . . I . . . uh . . . didn’t really know I could do one until just a minute ago.”

She laughed harder. “You are amazing, Evan!”

“It was worth it to see that smile on your face.”

“You have made me feel so much better!” She paused. “And you know what? I am now more certain than ever that you will soundly defeat Mr. Cranston.”

“Just because I did a cartwheel?”

“Because you were willing to.” She gazed at him as a moment of silence descended upon them. A jumble of thoughts flitted through her mind. She tried to shake them away because they were things she wasn’t prepared to deal with, things like: How could Tamara have rejected this wonderful man? How could anyone have ever ridiculed this smart, bright, witty person? And, would Colby have done a cartwheel just to see her smile?

Now she wished she had spectacles to fumble with. She was suddenly very nervous. Perhaps he saw, though it embarrassed her that he might have.

Suddenly he jumped back to his feet. “I told my mother I’d be home for dinner,” he said.

She also rose to her feet. “Yes, I should be on my way, too. Thank you, Evan.” It would have been so natural just then to give him a friendly, appreciative hug, but she restrained herself, not knowing exactly why.

They walked to their horses and before mounting, Evan said, “I’d like to speak with your parents about testifying for Tommy. Perhaps one evening when your father is home I could come by.”

“Any evening would be fine. They are almost always home.”

“Good, then I’ll do that. The trial should be starting soon. I will be interviewing several potential witnesses.”

“Let me know how I can help.”

“Yes . . . I will.”

Maggie thought it odd that the conversation between them had suddenly become so stilted, forced. She had no idea what caused it, and that disturbed her because their friendship had come to mean a lot to her.

Feeling quite bold, brazen even, she laid her hand on his arm. “Thank you, again!”

He glanced down at her hand, then straightened his spectacles, which didn’t look crooked at all to her.

“I’m glad I was here for you.”

They mounted their horses, and when they got back to the road, they turned and went in opposite directions. Mulling over the day in her mind, Maggie remembered she hadn’t said anything to Evan about Colby’s kiss. Since he was trying to help her catch Colby, he might have liked to know their efforts were paying off. She realized she had purposely withheld that information. She didn’t want Evan to know about the kiss. How perfectly silly of her! He’d be happy about it. Perhaps that’s what worried her.

TWENTY

On Saturday Mabel Parker came to call. Maggie could not recall Mabel ever coming to visit. She’d only been to their house on rare occasions, such as the recent quilting bees.

As usual, she was dressed as if to meet the queen of England. Her frock was a mauve-and-purple print with a striped, pleated flounce at the bottom of the skirt. She wore a matching bonnet with a jaunty feather in it and white kid gloves. Maggie actually liked the dress quite a bit, for she was developing an eye and a taste for fashion despite the fact that she was, at the moment, wearing her old overalls. Well, she had just come in from cleaning out the horse stalls!

Mama, Grandma, and Ellie were working in the kitchen putting up apples, but they stopped their work when Mabel arrived. Mama hesitated just a moment before inviting Mabel to sit at the kitchen table. Perhaps she had been wondering if this was a “parlor” visit but decided in the end it wasn’t. In Mabel’s prissy way, just shy of brushing crumbs from the seat of the chair, she sat down. Maggie could not imagine two more different siblings than Mabel and Evan.

Mama and the others also took seats around the table.

“Let me fix some tea,” Mama offered, rising.

“How kind of you,” Mabel said while fastidiously removing her gloves.

Maggie exchanged a covert look with Ellie, who gave an ever-so-slight shrug. This was a visit that should have occurred in the parlor, but Maggie was glad Mama was trying to treat it as casual. Mabel may act as if she were special, but she was, after all, just one of the neighbors.

The women chatted politely for a few minutes. Mabel asked how Grandma was enjoying her visit, and the conversation turned to Deer Island and general county gossip. Maggie was never more thankful for Grandma’s presence. She took up the slack in the conversation. Maggie had a feeling this visit was more than merely a social one. But they drank their tea and conversed for nearly a half hour before Mabel made her real intent known.

“I was wondering, Maggie, if I might have a word with you in private?” she asked with great delicacy. She glanced at Mama. “You wouldn’t mind, would you, Mrs. Newcomb?”

“No, of course not,” Mama said in a perfunctory manner. She probably did mind but could hardly say so. “Why don’t you two use the parlor.”

Maggie rose and led the way, her mind in turmoil. The last and only time she and Mabel had had a real conversation had been at Evan’s welcome home party, where the seeds of the scheme to manipulate romantic events had been planted. Maggie was growing weary of the scheme and was wary of what new intrigue Mabel might have in mind.

After entering the parlor, Mabel paused and closed the door. They sat on the divan. Here, Maggie was more than ever aware of her overalls and felt terribly inferior to the prim and proper Mabel.

“Maggie, we must talk about the . . . um . . . situation we discussed at Evan’s welcome home party,” Mabel began without preamble.

“Yes?” Maggie prompted.

“It is not going at all as planned.”

“What do you mean?” Maggie, for the most part, agreed with Mabel’s assessment but wasn’t ready to make an admission. What she ought to admit, Maggie didn’t know, but the way Mabel spoke, it was apparent that Maggie was somehow at fault for the failure of the plan.

“It is making little or no progress,” Mabel replied. “Just the other day, I encouraged Evan to go with Mother to bring supper to the Stoddards. I practically had to push him out the door. Then, when he was there, he made no attempt at all to socialize with Tamara, according to Mother. Instead, he and Colby went outside, and before anyone knew it, they were having heated words.”