Karen Kirst - The Bachelor's Homecoming

Chapter Three

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Hot, overwhelmed and running on an empty stomach—the tin of beans and handful of jerky they’d had for lunch long gone—Tom’s question came out more sharply than he’d intended. He’d come upon Jane and Clara at the creek with what looked to be the entire inventory of his kitchen laid out across the grass.

Bent over the water, Jane sat back, the cup in her hand dripping a trail of dark splotches on her navy skirt. “Clara and I are helping you.” With a significant glance at his niece, who was carefully drying a saucer, her tone carried a hint of reproof.

Slipping off his gloves and shoving them in his pocket, he removed his hat and fluffed his sweat-dampened locks. He motioned her farther down the line of shade trees. “Can I speak with you for a minute?”

She came hesitantly. He smoothed his expression. No matter his current mood, the near despair that had set in as he’d inventoried the seemingly endless list of repairs, he wouldn’t take it out on her. She’d endured the worst kind of humiliation yesterday, and he wasn’t about to add to her distress.

“I didn’t expect you to work while you’re here,” he said. “This is my problem. My responsibility.”

“You can’t do it all yourself.” Standing in a patch of light, she squinted, doing a slow inspection of the undulating fields and blue-toned mountain peaks rising to the sky. “How are you going to manage with Clara?”

Focusing on his niece, the familiar drive to provide for her settled in his chest. “I’ve no idea.” Life had delivered more than her fair share of harsh blows. She deserved a bit of happiness, deserved better than trailing him around the farm day and night while he worked. “Suppose I’ll have to find someone to watch her during the day.”

Jane stared at the ground, teeth worrying her lower lip. Sunlight glinted in her glossy locks pinned into a simple twist with short strands about her ears. Dainty pearl earbobs matched the line of pearl buttons on her bodice. A pleasing mint green, her blouse was crafted of the softest cotton, the hue a perfect foil for her flame-colored tresses, expressive eyes and sun-kissed skin.

This close, he could make out the faint smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose and the crest of her cheeks. In the past, he’d taken great pleasure in teasing her about those freckles. Now he experienced the strange urge to trace them with his fingers.

Tom shook off the unsettling thought. This was Jane, after all, the baby sister he’d never had.

“Thanks for befriending Clara.”

“She’s a delightful child.” Her smile was there and gone too quickly. “I’m still wondering how she was able to recognize me.”

“I don’t have any trouble.” Their eyes and mannerisms set them apart. Jane’s were soft, dreamy. Innocent. Jess’s contained a boldness, a yearning for adventure. And Jane’s voice was huskier than Jessica’s.

“That’s because you’ve known us your entire life.” One cinnamon brow inched up. “And we haven’t attempted to trick you.”

He kicked up a shoulder, fully confident. “You could try, but you’d fail. I’d know you anywhere, Janie girl.”

Something akin to anguish passed over her face, and he wondered what he’d said to cause it. Then it dawned on him. Here he was teasing her as if she wasn’t suffering from a broken heart, as if the man she was supposed to marry hadn’t deceived her in the most horrific way.

Taking her fine-boned hand in his larger one, he skimmed a thumb across her knuckles. “How are you holding up?”

Head bent, she seemed engrossed by their linked hands. “I’m fine.”

“You never did tell me who you were supposed to marry.”

“No one you know. He moved here last summer.”

She sounded lost. Dejected. Anger sparked and simmered in Tom’s gut. How could anyone willingly wound her like that?

Jane gestured toward the pile of dishes. “I should return to Clara before her interest wanes and she wanders away.”

His niece had indeed abandoned her task and was tossing pebbles into the water.

“You two have already made friends.” Jane was sensible and sweet natured. She’d treat Clara with kindness. The more he considered this potential solution to his dilemma, the more he warmed to it. “Would you be willing to be her caretaker?”

Her jaw sagged. “Me?”

“Yes, you.” He smiled at her astonishment. “You’re wonderful with her. And besides, I trust you wholeheartedly. I wouldn’t worry about her if she was with you.”

Her expression shuttered. “I can’t.”

Surprised by her vehement refusal and the lack of forthcoming reasons, he said, “It’s a paid position.”

“I wish that I could help you, but Jessica and I bake in the afternoons. The café owner, Mrs. Greene, has been ill and has cut back her hours. She hired us to provide the desserts.”

Something wasn’t right. Her words of regret didn’t ring true. The fact he couldn’t interpret her true state of mind drove home the fact she’d grown up. Changed.

“Are you still angry with me?” In the old days, he would’ve slung his arm about her shoulders and cajoled her out of the doldrums. He didn’t feel comfortable doing that now. He hated that his insensitivity had created this distance between them. Couldn’t have guessed his departure, and the cowardly way he’d gone about it, would trouble her to this extent. Oh, he’d surmised she’d be miffed at him for a month or so. But two years?

“I truly am sorry, Jane.”

* * *

Tom was holding her hand.

The soft-as-a-feather scrape of his thumb across her skin mesmerized her. Hot tingles arrowed up her arm and into her midsection. He was standing so near, wide shoulders filling her vision, his brilliant green eyes earnest.

“I...I’m not angry anymore.”

“But you’re disappointed.”

She couldn’t lie. “Yes.”

“And hurt.”

“That, too.”

This close, his lips looked firm yet yielding. If Tom tried to kiss her, she wouldn’t shy away. She’d welcome his embrace. It hit her then that marrying Roy wouldn’t have accomplished anything. Laura’s arrival had saved her from a catastrophic mistake.

Pulling free, she adopted a casual air that was difficult to pull off. “Not sure why I expected you to write to me. I was just a silly kid with a bad case of hero worship.”

His forehead creased. “That’s not how I remember it. We were friends. I—”

“Uncle Tom?” Clara twisted her hem in both hands. “I’m hungry.”

Tom continued to stare at Jane, obviously conflicted. After a moment, he slowly nodded. “I am, too. Guess it’s time for a bite to eat.”

Glad for the interruption, Jane held out her hand to her. “My ma packed lots of goodies. Why don’t we go and see what all there is to choose from? We can finish the dishes when we’re done.”

Clara’s hand in hers was small and warm, her expression trusting but with a hint of sadness and uncertainty. Jane found herself pondering how to elicit a smile from Tom’s charge.

Her hope that he would busy himself with another chore fell flat when he stacked the already washed plates in his arms and followed them to the cabin. He even joined them in riffling through the foodstuffs, his excitement matching Clara’s over the jars of apple butter and assorted jams. They decided to appease their hunger with thick slices of bread smeared with butter and blackberry preserves. Jane insisted on scrubbing the tabletop beforehand, so while she tended that task, Tom readied the food.

A giggle caught her attention. Twisting, she saw them standing together at the long counter beside the cookstove. His hair was a shade darker than hers, but the family resemblance was strong. He dipped his finger in the jar and swiped a tiny bit of sweet jam on the tip of Clara’s nose. He grinned. “Try and lick it off.”