Irene Brand - A Groom to Come Home To

Last night, she had determined to forget the past, but as Clark drove quietly out of the parking lot and accessed Interstate 64 heading east, Beth’s thoughts turned to the tumultuous incidents that had taken her away from Warner Hollow.

After the Christmas when Clark had declared his love for her, eastern Kentucky had been plunged into two months of inclement weather that closed the schools for weeks, and when they reopened, Beth was marooned at her home in Warner Hollow for an additional two weeks.

Consequently, she fell behind in her studies and her grades weren’t nearly as good as they had been the first semester. She rarely saw Clark. They exchanged a few words on the school bus and passed an occasional note, but there was no opportunity to discuss what had happened between them on Christmas Eve.

When spring came, Clark signed up for the softball team, and he practiced after school and played on Saturdays. He took his father’s car to school so he could have transportation home after ball practice, so he didn’t often ride the bus.

One Friday afternoon in late April, however, Clark boarded the bus, and he sat beside Beth and slipped a note into her hand. She secreted the note in the pocket of her jacket, but she went to her bedroom as soon as she could and read his words: “Meet me at the tree stand, Sunday afternoon.”

Beth was excited to have the opportunity to see Clark again, and she thought about it constantly until it was time to meet him. She hurried up the mountain, and she was panting when she reached their rendezvous, disappointed to find that she was there ahead of Clark.

He came before too long, apologizing. “We were late getting home from church this morning, and we have another meeting tonight, so I can’t stay long.” He drew her into his arms. “I’ve missed you.”

“Same here. I thought the winter would never end.”

They climbed the ladder and sat on the platform. The sun shining through the tree branches showing the first signs of foliage was warm and relaxing.

“Looks as if the squirrels used our place as a kitchen table this winter,” Clark said as he brushed acorn hulls and hickory-nut shells from the wide boards.

He sat beside her, with his arm around her shoulder, and Beth leaned against him.

“Beth, will you go to the prom with me?”

She drew a quick breath. “Oh, I wouldn’t dare. It might start the feud again.”

“Who’s left to fight? Hardly any Randolphs live around here except my family, and we aren’t going to be involved in a feud.”

“My half brothers would pick a fight with anyone. As you may have gathered, I’m not very proud of my relatives. My sister, Luellen, doesn’t like me, and the two boys are always in some kind of trouble. They would sue you in a minute if they thought they could make any money off you.”

“We don’t have any money, so I’ll risk it. Will you go with me?”

“Let me think about it.”

Wanting very much to attend the prom, Beth asked her mother for her permission, omitting the fact that freshmen couldn’t go unless they went with an upperclassman.

“You’d need a new dress, I reckon.”

Her heart lightening, Beth said, “I can send a letter to Pam, and she could pick out something suitable at that secondhand store. I’ve gotten through this year with the clothes she helped me to buy. She’ll know what I need, and it won’t cost much.”

Beth felt guilty deceiving her parents, but she didn’t once lie to them—she just didn’t tell them everything. She’d told her grandmother, though, that she wanted to go to the prom with Clark Randolph, and Ella had replied, “Why not? Why should you be punished for what happened more than a hundred years ago? Besides, I know the Randolphs—they’re good people and their son is a fine boy. Go and enjoy yourself.”

Pam mailed Beth an ankle-length white chiffon party dress, decorated with pearls on the bodice and neckline. It looked like new, as if it hadn’t been worn more than once. Beth’s mother was not demonstrative about her affection, but Beth knew that she was proud of her daughter’s looks, and she insisted that Beth have a new pair of shoes. So Beth bought a pair of white low-heeled sling pumps, and she was pleased with her appearance as she dressed for the prom.

When Clark came to pick her up, he brought her a corsage of pink carnations. He was dressed in a new blue suit, white shirt, and tie, and Beth admired his sturdy and finely made body, both wiry and strong. She had never seen him in dress clothes before, and she thought what a pity that he wouldn’t choose a profession in which he could appear so dashing all the time.

Neither Beth nor Clark knew how to dance, but they enjoyed listening to the music and watching the others. She had a good time, and it was an evening to remember, but when the prom was over, instead of driving back to her grandmother’s house, Clark drove along the highway for several miles. When he turned onto a secondary road, Beth gave him a quick look.

“Where are you going?”

“Beth, I won’t keep you out late, but I want to talk to you.”

After he parked the car, he put his arms around Beth, and he didn’t keep her in doubt about his intentions.

“I’ve told you that I love you, and now I want to propose. I want to marry you, Beth. I’m going to work in the mines next month, and I’ll be making good money. I can support a wife, as well as help out my family.”

Beth’s heart beat like a drum. The thought of marriage to Clark seemed like a happy dream. A dream that could actually come true. But she was determined that her mind, rather than her heart, would rule her. She moved away from him.

“Clark, I don’t want to get married. I’ve finally gotten my parents to agree to send me to high school, and I want to go to college if I can find a way. Besides, I’m only sixteen.”

“Lots of girls marry at sixteen, and you could still go to school,” he insisted. “We can live with my parents.”

“Live with your parents! What kind of life would that be?”

“I’ll need to help support my family, and it will be easier if we’re all under the same roof. Besides, if you’re going to school, you wouldn’t have time to take care of a house, and Mother wouldn’t mind.”

She put her hand over his mouth to stop his words, and he nibbled her fingers.

Steeling herself to ignore his caress, she said, “Clark, listen to me…. I don’t want to hurt you, but I tried to tell you once before. I’m not interested in marrying anyone right now, but when I do marry, it won’t be to a coal miner. I want to marry someone who will take me away from that kind of life—the fear of cave-ins like the one that disabled your father, the danger of diseases caused by being underground so much, the dread of losing your husband in a mine disaster. It’s a hard life.”

Beth hadn’t noticed any stubbornness in Clark before, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer this time.

“If you loved me, you’d be willing to accept my way of life.”

“That’s another way we differ. Most people I know believe it’s a woman’s duty to sacrifice every personal aspiration for the man in her life. I’m not willing to do that. My mother asked me once why I couldn’t be like the other girls in our neighborhood, and I told her I didn’t know. I still don’t know why I’m different, but I am. And you know how much I want to have a profession of my own. Besides,” she continued, “I haven’t told you that I love you.”

“But you do, don’t you?”

“I probably do,” she admitted quietly. His brown eyes gazing into her own shone with a hopeful light. But it was quickly extinguished when she added, “But I don’t see that loving you changes anything for me, Clark. I’m sorry.”