The Pepper In The Gumbo: A Cane River Romance (31 page)

Whoever says

To a loyal woman, "Love and work
with me,"

Will get fair answers, if the work and
love

Being good themselves, are good for
her–the best

She was born for

I, too, have my vocation, –work to do,

The heavens and earth have set me,
―

Most serious work, most necessary work,

As any of the economists'.'"

―
Aurora
Leigh
,
Elizabeth Barrett Browning

            “I
don’t see why I have to dress up. I think a hat and a jacket are enough.” Alice
frowned at Charlie as the girl fussed with Alice’s hair.

            “I
want to get some pictures and I want you to look cute,” Charlie said. She
caught Alice’s look. “Cuter, I mean.”

            “You
have tons of photos of me.” Alice sighed. “I love the Christmas light festival,
but I was really hoping Paul could be here.” She held up a hand. “I know he’s
busy running a big company. That fact doesn’t escape me.”

            “Well,
there’s always next year,” Charlie said. “And doesn’t New York have some great
parades? You guys can go see something up there.”

            Alice
nodded, unconvinced. It seemed everybody loved New York City but her. It was so
crowded, so noisy. “It’s the festival’s eighty-seventh year, and I just thought
it would be so romantic. It took Bix and me all day Friday to put up our
lights. I think our building is the nicest.”

            Charlie
finished Alice’s French chignon and stepped back to admire her work. “You’re
ready.” She put her hands together and Alice was alarmed to see tears in her
eyes.

            “Are
you okay?” She stood up from the chair. “Did something happen? I know I’ve been
preoccupied with Paul and then I left for that week last month. Is it school?
Are you worried about starting college?”

            “No,
no!” Charlie shook her head. “None of that. And we’re going to be late. Bix and
Ruby are holding our seats for the parade.”

            Alice
frowned as Charlie bolted from the bathroom. She’d been acting strange all week
and Alice was worried. Maybe she should reach out to Charlie’s parents and see
if they knew anything.

            A
few minutes later they were headed down the boardwalk. The river reflected the
bright colors that draped the buildings all along the waterfront. Long boats
floated lazily up and down, their sides and beams strung with twinkle lights.
Alice inhaled the chill air of a December in Cane River and she smiled. It was
almost perfect. If only Paul― No. She was going to enjoy this night and focus
on the people here with her at the moment. She put a hand to her necklace,
feeling the warmth of the rings against her palm.

            “There
they are,” Charlie said, pointing out a familiar straw hat and army-green coat.
Bix waved from a chair near the end of the block. Ruby beamed beside him.

            “
Donne
moi un p'tit bec
.” Ruby stood up and planted a kiss on her cheek.

            Alice
started to reply but Charlie stepped in and wiped the lipstick from her cheek.
Alice shot her a confused look.

            “Pictures,”
Charlie said, waving her camera.

            “How’s
your new grandbaby doing, Ruby? How old is he now?” Alice asked.

            “Oh,
he’s real fine. And let’s see. He’s not old enough to eat Popeye’s but he can
suck on a biscuit.”

            She
grinned. She could see why Bix got such a kick out of Ruby. They were one of
those couples that reminded you true love existed. Her mind went back to Paul
and she tried not to sigh. She was as bad as Charlie had been the year she’d
been struck with unrequited love for the school quarterback. Paul certainly
loved her back, but he wasn’t here. Christmas was a time for family, and she
missed him so much she ached with it.

            “
Bonswe
,
Alice.”

            For
a moment, she thought she’d imagined that voice. She turned, eyes opening wide.
The next moment she’d launched herself into Paul’s arms.

            He
hugged her tight, laughing into her hair. “Surprise!”

            She
leaned back and socked him a few times in the shoulder. “I hate surprises.”

            “Even
this one?” he asked, and knelt down.

            Alice
felt the world stop around her. Charlie had her camera up, trying to take shots
while wiping her eyes.

            “I
love you, Alice, probably from the moment you asked me about the books on my
shelf. Definitely from the moment you refused to sell me a book even though you
had a whole store of them.” His voice was rough. He held out a small box, a
ring glinted in the darkness. “Love and work with me, Alice?”

            She
looked from him to the ring and back. His words slowly filtered through the
shock and she laughed out loud. “Oh, you couldn’t just ask me to marry you the
normal way, could you? And Aurora Leigh turns Romney down in that poem, you
know.”

             “Elizabeth
Barrett Browning always says it better. And I figured I’d take my chances.” He
was grinning. He knew her answer before she spoke.

             “Yes,”
she whispered, trying hard to make herself heard. “I’ll love and work with
you.”

            Bix
and Ruby let out a cheer, and Charlie almost dropped her camera as she clapped.
The tourists around them turned to look and soon they were surrounded by a
crowd of well-wishers. Alice didn’t recognize a single face, but they were all
celebrating with the two of them as they stepped out in faith.

            He
stood up, gathering her close. She felt her parents’ rings against her chest,
warmed between them, a connection that was broken and then repaired by grace
and generosity.

            Paul
leaned back, took the ring from the box and reached for her hand. “The heavens
and the earth have set you a most serious work, a most necessary work,” he
said, quoting another line of the poem. Alice nodded, her throat tightening
with the words. Aurora Leigh believed she had work to do and Alice believed it,
too. Keeping By the Book open to the people of Cane River was important and
Paul saw it as clearly as Alice did.

            “But
the real question is whether you’re willing to share shelf space. You know our
books might not get along,” he said, his mouthing tilting up.

            Alice
looked down at the round ruby inset into gold, and smiled as he slid it onto
her finger. “I think the answer might be separate book cases.” She leaned back,
looking him in the eye. “Paul, are you really sure? We’ve had such a rocky
start.”

             “You
put the pepper in the gumbo, Alice. I wouldn’t give you up for anything in the
world,” he said, laughing. He kissed her cheeks, her eyes, her hair.

            She
closed her eyes, reveling in that perfect moment. Paul whispered something in
her ear, familiar words from the language of her childhood, words that she
didn’t quite catch but that her heart understood all the same. It seemed
impossible that his love had been waiting for her all those years, and one day
she’d woken up, and he was there, the way it was always meant to be.

 
I’d like to give special thanks to people who generously offered their
expertise in several areas. All errors are my own, especially any confusion
caused by Paul’s grand prize that I created just for the story line. Special
thanks to John Abramowitz for gaming terminology and etiquette, and legal
terminology.
To Janelle Leonard for
reading the first chapter when it was just a dim idea of a plot.  To Michael J.
Frazier for gaming and technology information. To Dennis Carmichael for insight
into business and programming, including the dynamic of boards and appointed
officers. To Jessica L. Baldwin for cosplay terminology. To Christalee Scott
May for her advice on Southern food and culture, for helping me decide whether
Converse was ever plural, for pointing out that my heroine’s eyes changed color
every few chapters and for cheerfully suffering through several very rough
drafts of this book. To my daughters Isabel and Ana for being the beta readers
who never gave up, helping me bring this book to completion. And to all my
children, for reminding me that moments spent running around the park or
watching a few episodes of
Arrow
are good for the writerly brain.

             Thank
you for reading the first book in my new series,
Cane
River Romance
. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much
as I enjoyed writing it!

            Every
writer finds herself penning a story that involves a bit of wish fulfillment
and this is that book for me. I’ve always wanted to run a rare book store, have
a whole herd of cats, and live without technology interfering in my daily life.
I also adore anything from the nineteen-forties and fifties, wish I had the
tiny waist to wear those shirtdresses and the ankles to walk in high heels. It
was pure fun to write this character.

            If
you enjoyed this story, be sure to leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads. I
love visiting with readers on my author page of
Pride,
Prejudice and Cheese Grits
, or on my blog at
The Things That
Last
!

Mary
Jane Hathaway is an award-nominated writer of Christian fiction and a home
schooling mom of six young children who rarely wear shoes. She holds degrees in
Linguistics and Religious Studies from the University of Oregon and lives with
her habanero-eating husband, Crusberto, who is her polar opposite in all things
except faith. They've learned to speak in short-hand code and look forward to
the day they can actually finish a sentence. In the meantime, she thanks God
for the laughter and abundance of hugs that fill her day as she plots her next
book. She also writes under the pen name of Virginia Carmichael.

OTHER TITLES
by Mary Jane Hathaway

Pride,
Prejudice and Cheese Grits

Emma,
Mr. Knightley and Chili-Slaw Dogs

Persuasion,
Captain Wentworth and Cracklin’ Cornbread

OTHER TITLES
by Virginia Carmichael

All
The Blue of Heaven

Purple
Like the West

Leaving
Liberty

Season
of Joy

Season
of Hope

A
Home for her Family

Indeed,
there is an Arthur Rackham illustrated portfolio of
Peter
Pan in Kensington Gardens
that  can be had for
the low, low sum of sixty thousand dollars. Most of the books mentioned(
Mother
Carey’s Chickens, The Dukes’ Secret, Tom the Telephone Boy, Beau Geste, Pride
and Prejudice, North and South
, and
Jane
Eyre
) are books I read in childhood and
which occupy a spot on my shelf today. The poets (George MacDonald, Alexander
Pope, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Sara Teasdale,
Christina Rossetti, and Percy Bysshe Shelley) are some of my favorites. I
return to them again and again throughout the year, marking the seasons with
treasured lines.

Sometimes
Paul and Alice refer to their favorite poets by their initials and EBB in the
story is Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Movie references
     

You’ve Got Mail
,
with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks

Casablanca

Breakfast at Tiffany’s