Wishes (Montgomery/Taggert 14)

Miss Emily stood blinking at him. “Why didn’t you tell Nellie?” she whispered.

Jace was sure everyone in this town was crazy. “Tell her? I’ve been writing to her since I left.” He pulled the packet of letters from inside his coat pocket, pink and yellow silk ribbons dangling from them. “Here are her letters to me, and”—he pulled a little box from his trouser pocket and opened it to reveal a ring with a big yellow diamond set in gold—“this is the engagement ring I plan to give to Nellie. It’s been in my family for years. Think she’ll like it?”

Miss Emily was trying to recover herself. A man whose family had a ring like that probably didn’t need a small business like Grayson Freight. “Oh, my goodness, what in the world is going on? Do you have engagement rings for the other young ladies of this town?”

Now Jace was sure the people were crazy. “No,” he said patiently. He hadn’t thought Miss Emily was senile, but he thought so now. “I only marry one woman at a time. Perhaps you have me confused with Bluebeard. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” He tipped his hat and turned away.

“Mr. Montgomery!” Miss Emily called, halting him. “You and I must talk.”

“We’ll talk later, I promise. Right now I want to see Nellie.”

Miss Emily firmly clasped her arm to his. “You and I have to talk first. Before you see Nellie. I think there are some things you need to know.” When he opened his mouth to protest, Miss Emily continued, “I’m not sure Nellie will see you.”

“See me? But Nellie has agreed to marry me.” He held up the letters.

“I don’t believe Nellie wrote those letters. Nellie believes, as does the whole town, that you jilted her.”

For a moment Jace couldn’t speak. He glanced down the street toward Nellie’s house. “Perhaps we should talk,” he said softly.

It was an hour later that Jace left Miss Emily’s house, and he was in a rage, a towering, furious rage.

“You’ll never guess who I saw today,” Johnny Bowen said to Terel. He was walking her home from her shopping expedition, carrying her packages.

“Who?” Terel asked, not really caring. She knew that Johnny was just walking her home in hopes of getting a glimpse of Nellie. Since the Harvest Ball, and especially since Nellie had lost weight, it seemed that every man in Chandler wanted to court her. As Miss Emily had laughingly said one day, “Nellie has everything: beauty, brains, a sweet temper, a rich father, and she can cook. She is every man’s dream.” And it seemed as though Miss Emily was right, because men seemed to swarm around Nellie. Not that Nellie paid any attention to them, but the more she ignored them, the more they tried to get her attention. Terel could no longer go anywhere or have anyone to her house for all the questions about Nellie.

“I saw that man, Jace Montgomery.”

Terel stopped in her tracks. “You saw him? When? Where?”

“Here in Chandler, about an hour ago. He and Miss Emily were talking. Actually, it looked almost as if they were having a quarrel, but I was across the street and couldn’t hear what they were saying. He didn’t look too happy.”

Terel quite suddenly didn’t feel very well; in fact, she felt quite frightened. She put her hand to her forehead and swooned against Johnny.

“Terel, are you all right?”

“I’m ill,” she whispered. “Take me inside.”

“Sure.” He put his arm around her shoulders and started to help her walk.

“Carry me, you fool,” she hissed.

“Oh, sure.” Johnny bent and picked her up. “You’re heavier than you look.” Struggling, he got her up the stairs, across the porch to the front door, then had to balance her on one knee to open the door. He was sweating, and his back was straining. “On the sofa?” he asked, his voice high with effort.

“Upstairs, you idiot, and call Nellie.”

Johnny leaned against the wall at the bottom of the stairwell and panted. “Nellie,” he said, little more than a whisper.

“She’ll never hear you if you don’t speak up.”

“Nellie!” Johnny yelled.

“Again.”

“Nellie!” His voice lowered. “Terel, what did you eat for breakfast? Rocks?”

She heard Nellie coming. “Get me upstairs, and slowly.”

“That’s the only way I can move.” Groaning, Johnny started up the stairs, his arms and back aching.