Tenderness (7 page)

Wade finished eating, moved his chair back from the table, and carried his plate to the dishpan in the sink. Jesse quickly
followed.

“I’ll wash these before we go.”

“No. We’d better not take the time.” Wade stacked the dishes in the pan and covered them with water from the teakettle. “Jody,
take Nurse Forbes’s bundle over to Granny Lester and tell her the nurse will be spending the night there. Tomorrow night she’ll
go to the Baileys. We can’t be playing favorites.”

“Favorites? What do you mean?”

“To these folk it’s an honor to have the nurse in their homes. It’s only fair to pass you around.”

“My… goodness.”

And you, Wade?
Jesse wanted to say,
are you glad I’m here? You act as if you can’t get me out of here fast enough.

“I’ll go saddle up Samson.”

“Oh, Mr. Simmer… I’ve had very little experience riding horseback.”

“You won’t ride alone. You’ll ride in front of me. We can make the rounds in half the time.” Wade plucked a wool shirt jacket
from a peg and slipped into it. “Jody, I didn’t see Delilah when I came in.”

“She was layin’ by the chicken house. Think she’s gone off to have her pups?”

“It’s about time.” At the door, Wade spoke to Jody again. “Get Nurse Forbes a shawl out of Granny’s chest.”

“Please… don’t bother. I’ll be all right.”

“You’ll be cold. It’s chilly up here at night, even in the summertime.” With that, he was out the door.

Granny Simmer had been the only person in the world ever to be close to Wade. Since her death he had constantly guarded against
letting anyone, even Jody, get too close. He had controlled every aspect of his adult life, closing his mind to what had happened
in the past. After years of drifting first into one job and then another, he had returned to the place of his birth. The decision
had been made suddenly after fate had stepped in and placed him at the right place at the right time.

He had been standing on the wharf looking at the Statue of Liberty in the Upper Bay of New York Harbor, marveling at the colossal
figure that had been a gift of the people of France. It was dusk and the wharf was deserted, or so he thought. But suddenly
he heard a muffled cry and turned to seek out its source. With a shout he ran toward two men who, with clubs raised, were
ready to strike again the couple they had knocked to the rough boards of the wharf.

Wade had brawled in the coal mines, aboard merchant ships, and in the roughest dives that lined the seaports of the world.
The two toughs didn’t stand a chance against him, even though they were armed with heavy clubs. He kicked one in the groin,
broke the arm of the other, and tossed the two of them into the cold water of the bay.

The couple he rescued were elderly. As he helped them to their feet, making sure they had come to no serious harm, a big man
in the uniform of a servant ran up to them.

“Oh, Lord! I shouldn’t’ve left ya.”

“We’re all right,” the man said shakily, reaching to straighten his wife’s hat. “This young man saved our lives.”

After thanking Wade profusely, the feeble old man escorted his wife to the waiting carriage.

The incident and the surprising event that occurred the following morning were turning points in Wade’s life. For the first
time he accepted himself as he really was. The realization made him feel oddly secure and able to face all the hideous details
of his birth and childhood. A few days later he began the journey back to the hills of Tennessee, back home to the place where
he was born.

Wade had been fairly content—until now.

He groaned inwardly as he saddled the horse. He had once thought of himself as invulnerable. Now he wasn’t sure he could get
Jesse Forbes or the empty, lonely years that stretched ahead out of his mind. He was certain that waiting for Jesse beside
the road, getting to know her, bringing her to his home, was a mistake.

When she came out of his house, Wade was glad to see she was not wearing the nurse’s cap and that she had one of his granny’s
shawls wrapped around her shoulders. He moved the horse up close to the porch where it would be easier for her to mount.

“Do you have chores to do before we go?” she asked.

“None that won’t keep until I get back.” Wade hung her nurse’s bag over the saddlehom and stepped into the saddle. “Put your
foot on mine and I’ll boost you up.”

She hesitated and gestured to where lightning flickered in the sky. “It looks like it’s going to rain.”

“I have a slicker.” He held out his hand.

“I… don’t know about this—”

“Don’t tell me a woman who will go alone into the woods with a strange man—even come to his home—is afraid of riding a horse.”

“It isn’t that. It’s just that I’m not dressed—”

Wade leaned from the saddle and placed his hands on her waist, and before she could even think of what he was doing, she was
sitting on his lap.

“Swing your leg over. You’ll be more comfortable without the saddlehom poking you in the side.”

“But… my skirt—”

“—Will come up and show your legs. Who’ll see them out here, but me? I’ve already seen every color, shape and size of female
legs. Yours won’t excite me one bit,” he added in a bored tone.

“In that case—what the heck!” she snapped and swung her leg over the horse’s neck.

The skirt of her dress was full enough to cover her knees. As she tugged on it, she was aware that her bottom was nestled
snugly against the V made by his spread thighs. She could feel the warmth of him through her clothing and his. He adjusted
the shawl around her shoulders, then his arms were around her, pulling her back against him. The horse tossed his head. Wade
spoke sternly and the animal stood motionless again.

“Relax. I’ll not let you fall.” His voice was a low rumble close to her ear.

The nearness of Wade’s hard body was something Jesse hadn’t anticipated. His arms pressed her close to his chest, her thighs
lay alongside his. Lord help her! The intimacy was wildly exciting, and she prayed he couldn’t hear the pounding of her heart.

“Ready?” Warm breath fanned her ear.

Jesse nodded uncertainly, for she was trying desperately to cope not only with the unaccustomed experience of being on horseback,
but also his physical nearness, the way in which he held her and the fact that every nerve in her body was aware of the lean
hardness of his.

Wade put his heels to the flanks of their mount. The animal responded and they moved out away from the house. Jesse looked
straight ahead, not daring to look down and see how far she was from the ground.

“Relax,” Wade said again. “You’re stiff as a board. You’ll be worn out by the time we get to the Prestons’.”

“We’re going there first?” She felt the need to say something.

“We’ll reverse the trip we made today.”

“The Gordon girl was the sickest.”

“We’ll be there in an hour unless you have to spend extra time at Prestons’ and Fosters’.”

“Why were you walking when I met you today?”

“I was strolling around—seeing the sights.”

“In the woods?”

“Lots of interesting things to see in the woods.” When she had nothing more to say, he said, “I’ll draw you a map tomorrow
so you can see where each family lives.”

He’d draw her a map so he wouldn’t have to bother with her again.
That was fine with her!

Jesse shook herself mentally. She was here to do a job and should be grateful for his help, but she wasn’t. She wished the
help would have come from anyone but him.

The horse’s movements brought her into rhythmic contact with his body from his chest to his knees. There was no way she could
escape his closeness. It would never do to let him know that being in his encircling arms made her heartbeat accelerate and
her silly brain stop functioning. No wonder, she told herself. Being alone in the dark woods with this strange wild man was
enough to give a person heart failure. The horse moved carefully down an incline, crossed a dry creekbed and scrambled up
the steep bank on the other side.

Jesse’s hand grasped Wade’s wrist in sudden fright.

“Don’t be afraid,” he murmured. “Samson has good night vision. He can see better than we can.”

“Thank heavens! I can hardly see my hand in front of me.” She laughed. “Are you sure you know where we’re going?”

“Sure as shootin’.” A chuckle escaped him. His voice was low and soft, and she had felt the vibration in his chest when he
laughed.

Conscious of a loud and determined thumping between them, she wondered whether it was his heart or hers. She did not have
time to consider the question. Something swished in front of them. The horse shied and danced in place.

“Whoa!” Wade commanded. “It was only an owl.”

“My goodness!” Jesse exclaimed. “It’s scary in the woods at night.”

“Not as scary as in a big city or even in a town the size of Harpersville. Two-legged animals can be far more dangerous than
four-legged ones.”

“You’ve been to a lot of big cities?”

“A few.”

“I’ve never been to a
big
city.”

“You haven’t missed anything.”

They came into a clearing. A backlash of lightning showed momentarily against the overhead blackness, followed by a low rumble
of thunder.

Jesse’s mouth curved at the thought of what her friend, Pauline, would say if she could see her now—in the dark woods, astraddle
a horse, with the man the whole town believed was The Looker.

O
tis Merfeld sat sprawled in a chair watching every move Jesse made. Aware of the gaze of the thin, wiry man with a head of
straw-colored hair, thick, loose lips and watery eyes, Jesse was glad that Wade was just a call away. She realized Otis was
drunk when he grabbed his eldest daughter, Flora, and tried to pull her down on his lap. When she hit him with her fist and
darted to the other side of the room, he laughed as if being struck by his daughter were the funniest thing in the world.

Jesse was giving Mrs. Merfeld instructions on how to administer the medicine her father had sent when a stunning crash of
thunder shook the house. It was still echoing when another roared in its wake. Otis staggered to his feet.

“Hit’s gettin’ ready to rain pitchforks and nigger babies. Ya’ll jist have to stay the night, missy. Flora,” he shouted to
be heard over the now constant rumble of thunder, “Fix up a pallet for the nurse.”

“Never mind, Flora. I’m expected at the Lesters’. Be sure to keep the children covered, Mrs. Merfeld—”

“Ain’t no need a’tall fer ya to go to old Granny’s. She ain’t—”

“I’m going, Mr. Merfeld,” Jesse said firmly. “But I thank you for your concern.”

“Ain’t decent ya goin’ off in the dead a night with that nigger-lover,” Otis mumbled and shouldered his way past his wife
to reach Jesse and grasp her arm. “Yore pa’d think me lax—”

“Let go of my arm,” Jesse said quietly.

“Otis!” Mrs. Merfeld whispered fearfully.

“Go sit, Pa,” Flora demanded. “Yo’re bein’ a jackass.”

“Watch yore mouth, girl,” Otis snarled and raised the hand he removed from Jesse’s arm in a threatening gesture.

“Ready, Nurse Forbes?” Wade’s voice came from the door leading to the porch.

“Just about. Mrs. Merfeld, I’ll caution you again about not allowing the children to get chilled. Don’t allow anyone in the
house who could carry the germs to another household. If you were in town you would be under quarantine.”

“Under what?” Otis pushed his face so close to Jesse’s that she backed away.

“Quarantine. A red sign would be put on your door and no one would be allowed in or out until the doctor declared the patient
no longer contagious.”

“Ain’t no sonofabitch puttin’ no sign on my door, by Gawd.”

“No one is planning to do that. I said—if you lived in town—”

“They’d not do it in town either.”

Knowing she was about to lose her temper, Jesse focused her mind on a motto that hung in her father’s surgery:
“Patience is a Virtue.”

“I’ll be back tomorrow, Mrs. Merfeld.” Jesse picked up her bag. “You’ve done a good job keeping the fever down. I don’t think
there’s much danger of you or Flora getting the disease, but you could carry it to other children. So stay close to home.”

“Yo’re just bound to go traipsin’ off in the night with Wade Simmer. Ain’t ya carin’ what folks’ll think? Yo’re shamin’ yore
pa is what yo’re doin’. Ya been offered a decent bed—”

“Otis… please—” Mrs. Merfeld followed Jesse to the porch. “Don’t pay him no mind, miss. He ain’t hisself when he’s drinkin’.”

“Don’t worry about it. Try to rest. Let Flora take a turn sitting with the children. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

Wade appeared out of the darkness and settled the shawl over her head and around her shoulders. She cupped her hands and he
poured a small amount of the disinfectant in them before capping the bottle and putting it in her bag.

The routine had been the same at each place they had stopped. He lifted her into the saddle, mounted behind her, then unfurled
the poncho slicker and settled it over their heads.

“Your feet will get wet, but there’s nothing we can do about that.”

Wade turned the horse away from the house and down the road. The first spattering of raindrops began to fall onto the poncho
that covered them like a tent. With her back pressed snugly against Wade’s big hard and curiously gentie body, his arms around
her, Jesse felt cozy and safe. There was no doubt in her mind now that he would see her safely to Granny Lester’s.

“Poor Mrs. Merfeld. I don’t see how she stands that… that lout of a husband!”

“She has no choice,” Wade said.

“He’d have to sleep sometime, and when he did I’d work him over with a stick of stove wood.” Jesse’s voice rose heatedly.

“I bet you would at that.” Wade chuckled. “I thought for a minute I’d have to barge in and rescue you. But you were holding
your own pretty good.”

“Only because I knew you were just outside the door.”