elbow
to help me into the buggy, it was just the second time
he’d ever touched me. I braced myself, waiting for the
proposal. “Well, I’ll be leaving tomorrow. I sure have
enjoyed knowing you, Maude. If I ever get back over
this way, I hope I have your permission to call again.”
I just nodded a little and pulled my hand away
from his. He smiled that warm smile of his and turned
to go. I watched his back as he walked away and
climbed up in the buggy. I stood there without moving
a muscle. Mom Connor, who’d been leaning against
her back door listening for the sound of the buggy
driving off, popped out the door. She met me on the
pathway and gave me a questioning look. I looked up
at her with the saddest eyes she could have ever seen
and just shook my head. Mom Connor gasped. She
asked me to go over every word that was said, and I
told her there wasn’t anything to be gone over but talk
about the weather and such.
Mom Connor pinched her lips together. “I’m not
one to interfere, and you know that, but I have to do
something about an intolerable situation.” She turned
around with more energy than I’d seen in her for years,
went back in the house, and let the door slam behind
her. She loved me too dearly to see me hurt, even if I
had done something wrong when I should have known
better.
But how could I have known? My mother would
have taught me the customs of courting a man if she’d
lived, but she didn’t live. I never really had the
opportunity to be courted by anyone. Our families had
arranged my marriage to James before I was old
enough to think seriously about what it meant.
After about an hour, she came back and found
me in the yard, hanging up clothes. She said, “Sit
down, Maude. Let me tell you what I saw.” We went
up on my porch and sat down.
“I marched right over to Bessie’s as fast as these
old knees would let me. The front door was propped
open, and I could see Bessie moving about in the
kitchen. I didn’t knock on the screen door, but called
out loud enough for her to hear me, ‘Bessie, you and
me got to have a woman-to-woman talk.’”
I sucked in a breath. “Did the neighbors hear
you?”
“No neighbors around that I could see. Bessie
smiled at me that way she has that makes you feel
happy, wiped her hands on her apron, and hugged me.
‘Come on in,’ she said. ‘We’ll sit a spell and have
something to drink. We can talk about the wedding.’”
“I was flabbergasted she didn’t know. I told her,
‘I’m not in a sitting frame of mind, and there doesn’t
seem to be any wedding coming up. Is George back
here yet?’”
“She said, ‘I heard him ride up. He’ll be out in
the barn. I guess he’s putting the horse away.’ She
caught the way I was upset and asked me, ‘Did Maude
turn him down?’
“I told her he left without asking, so you couldn’t
have turned him down if you wanted. Bessie’s face
turned white. She’d talked to the other women and
knew what would happen if her brother left town
without marrying you. She said, ‘He didn’t even ask
her?’
“Not a word about it. Matter-of-fact, he told her
pretty-as-you-please that he was leaving tomorrow
and asked if he could call again should he ever get
back here.
“You should have seen her face! She looked like
she was about to bring down the wrath of God on
George’s head. I almost felt sorry for him. Her face
turned beet-red, and she pressed her lips together, put
her hands on her hips, and nodded her head up and
down while she glared out in the direction of the barn.
She said, ‘Don’t you worry about it, Sister Connor,
George isn’t leaving tomorrow. He’ll be back over to
see Maude in the morning.’
Mom Connor patted my hand. She told me, “You
rest easy, girl. Bessie and I will see to it that this turns
out the right way.”
I was surprised by the mean look on Mom’s face,
like one of those tigers in picture books, and at the
same time it made me feel better. If Mom said it would
be all right,
to help me into the buggy, it was just the second time
he’d ever touched me. I braced myself, waiting for the
proposal. “Well, I’ll be leaving tomorrow. I sure have
enjoyed knowing you, Maude. If I ever get back over
this way, I hope I have your permission to call again.”
I just nodded a little and pulled my hand away
from his. He smiled that warm smile of his and turned
to go. I watched his back as he walked away and
climbed up in the buggy. I stood there without moving
a muscle. Mom Connor, who’d been leaning against
her back door listening for the sound of the buggy
driving off, popped out the door. She met me on the
pathway and gave me a questioning look. I looked up
at her with the saddest eyes she could have ever seen
and just shook my head. Mom Connor gasped. She
asked me to go over every word that was said, and I
told her there wasn’t anything to be gone over but talk
about the weather and such.
Mom Connor pinched her lips together. “I’m not
one to interfere, and you know that, but I have to do
something about an intolerable situation.” She turned
around with more energy than I’d seen in her for years,
went back in the house, and let the door slam behind
her. She loved me too dearly to see me hurt, even if I
had done something wrong when I should have known
better.
But how could I have known? My mother would
have taught me the customs of courting a man if she’d
lived, but she didn’t live. I never really had the
opportunity to be courted by anyone. Our families had
arranged my marriage to James before I was old
enough to think seriously about what it meant.
After about an hour, she came back and found
me in the yard, hanging up clothes. She said, “Sit
down, Maude. Let me tell you what I saw.” We went
up on my porch and sat down.
“I marched right over to Bessie’s as fast as these
old knees would let me. The front door was propped
open, and I could see Bessie moving about in the
kitchen. I didn’t knock on the screen door, but called
out loud enough for her to hear me, ‘Bessie, you and
me got to have a woman-to-woman talk.’”
I sucked in a breath. “Did the neighbors hear
you?”
“No neighbors around that I could see. Bessie
smiled at me that way she has that makes you feel
happy, wiped her hands on her apron, and hugged me.
‘Come on in,’ she said. ‘We’ll sit a spell and have
something to drink. We can talk about the wedding.’”
“I was flabbergasted she didn’t know. I told her,
‘I’m not in a sitting frame of mind, and there doesn’t
seem to be any wedding coming up. Is George back
here yet?’”
“She said, ‘I heard him ride up. He’ll be out in
the barn. I guess he’s putting the horse away.’ She
caught the way I was upset and asked me, ‘Did Maude
turn him down?’
“I told her he left without asking, so you couldn’t
have turned him down if you wanted. Bessie’s face
turned white. She’d talked to the other women and
knew what would happen if her brother left town
without marrying you. She said, ‘He didn’t even ask
her?’
“Not a word about it. Matter-of-fact, he told her
pretty-as-you-please that he was leaving tomorrow
and asked if he could call again should he ever get
back here.
“You should have seen her face! She looked like
she was about to bring down the wrath of God on
George’s head. I almost felt sorry for him. Her face
turned beet-red, and she pressed her lips together, put
her hands on her hips, and nodded her head up and
down while she glared out in the direction of the barn.
She said, ‘Don’t you worry about it, Sister Connor,
George isn’t leaving tomorrow. He’ll be back over to
see Maude in the morning.’
Mom Connor patted my hand. She told me, “You
rest easy, girl. Bessie and I will see to it that this turns
out the right way.”
I was surprised by the mean look on Mom’s face,
like one of those tigers in picture books, and at the
same time it made me feel better. If Mom said it would
be all right,
Similar Books
