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“I’m starved. Let’s grab a burger and talk this over. We’ll figure out something.”
The boy looked to Carrie. Her lips had thinned as if she was annoyed with Hayden for pushing. But pushing was how he’d gotten to where he was. No risk, no reward.
Soften a kid up with food and they’d tell you things. He knew about that, too.
“I guess I can do my homework later.” Brody jammed the English book back into the bag.
“You should do your homework first, Brody.” Carrie glared at Hayden with those soft eyes now glittering with annoyance.
Hayden held up both hands in surrender. “I guess you’re stuck, Brody. We don’t want to make Miss Carrie mad. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to need this library over the next couple of months.”
“Yeah. Me, too. Miss Carrie’s usually real nice.”
Teeth bared, Carrie flared her fingers like claws. “They don’t call me the dragon lady for nothing.”
Hayden offered his most charming smile, wanting back on her good side. “The dragon lady wins. Homework first, Brody, my man. We’ll hang around until closing time and feed Miss Carrie a burger, too. Maybe some ice cream. Sweeten her up.”
“The library doesn’t close until five,” she said.
“Which gives my pal and me time to wrestle out the English assignment. Then we can drive around Honey Ridge, and you can show me the sights.”
Carrie shook her head. The light caught the pearly luminescence of her earrings. “We already have breakfast on Thursday.”
“You only eat once a week?”
She huffed, amused. “I have books to drop off after closing. Shut-ins that live up on the ridge.”
“Mind if I tag along?”
She blinked, puzzled. “Why would you want to?”
Because you intrigue me. All buttoned up, neat and tidy, and fresh as a flower. When his curiosity was roused, he never backed off until it was satisfied.
If he was truthful, he felt a connection with Carrie, whether because of Brody or their obvious shared love of books or something else. He wanted to know her better.
“Research,” he lied, smooth as warm butter. “I need to get the lay of the countryside anyway.”
“Oh, right.” Her eyes twinkled. “A place to commit murder.”
His smile was intentionally diabolical. “Exactly.”
“In that case, you’re staying across the road from the creepiest place in Honey Ridge. You should check that out first.”
“Yeah.” Brody piped up. “The old gristmill. People say it’s haunted.”
“Haunted, is it?”
The South was full of supposedly haunted places. Hayden had never given the stories credence. But then the dream flashed in his head, the dream about a Yankee miller and the Portland Grist Mill.
8 (#ulink_c395e813-274e-5500-8de9-ad849d3d69d9)
Victory is an illusion of philosophers and fools.
—William Faulkner
1867
If the watch was an omen, Thaddeus faced a dismal future.
Late in the evening on the first hot, sticky day of walking, he’d reached inside his vest to check the time only to come away empty. A search of his carpetbag proved every bit as futile. His silver pocket watch was gone.
Distraught to lose this final link to Amelia and the past he never wanted to leave behind, Thad considered turning back to retrace his journey.
Sweat trickled between his shoulder blades as he contemplated a long, hungry walk that would likely turn up nothing. He didn’t even know where to look. The last he’d seen the timepiece was on the train before disembarking. A train bound for Chattanooga and beyond.
For an hour, he sat under an oak by the side of the dusty trail, head in his hands, and mourned. More than the loss of his timepiece, Thad mourned what the watch represented. Amelia. Their love. Their life together.
Gone. Everything that mattered gone.
He’d given up the familiar and his future in Ohio to come to this hostile state. Losing the pocket watch felt as if he was giving up the last vestige of who he’d been, of who he was. It felt like letting go of Amelia and Grace all over again.
He considered making camp for the night, but night was still hours away, so he finally roused himself and, weary now in a way he hadn’t been, trudged onward.
Without the watch, he kept time by the morning and evening of each day as God had done in Genesis, though he quaked to compare himself to the God who gave and took away.
Each night he lay his head beneath the oaks and willows, listened to their whispers, thankful he traveled in summer, though mosquitoes and chiggers feasted on his flesh until he had no place left that wasn’t covered in itchy bumps. Last night, he’d stolen an ear of corn from a farm and gnawed the raw kernels after river fishing proved unsuccessful. He’d found blackberries growing along the river’s edge, but too many berries pained a man and he’d learned to be careful.
At the third daybreak, after a night on ground soppy with southern dew, he ate a handful of those same berries, then dipped in the river, the cold water soothing his insulted, itchy skin. Then he hiked up and over a long, wooded ridge, confident that a township wasn’t far away. Yesterday, the number of farms had increased, and he’d stopped to ask directions. The cautious-eyed occupants had mercifully obliged, though not one single Southern soul had offered the Northern wayfarer a meal or shelter.
Now with the sun blistering his neck and his belly snarling around the berries, he entered the edge of a town that according to William’s map must be Honey Ridge, Tennessee.
Outside a tidy cottage a pair of chickens pecked. Thaddeus fought the urge to wring a neck in the name of survival as he had done during the war even though thou shalt not steal was as ingrained in him as his belief that all men were created equal. The cottage owner, no doubt, needed the birds every bit as much, and they were not his to take. Not since the war ended. He and the Union might be the victors, but the vanquished foes would soon be his neighbors and his employers. He’d best not steal their chickens.
As he hurried on, a young widow, evidenced by her black-dyed dress and veil, tossed a dishpan of water out her front door, barely missing him. She looked up and smiled an apology, her face tired already this morning. He touched the brim of his hat, aching a little as he suspected she was a war widow and wondering if he or Will or someone he knew had taken the life of her man.
A wagon rumbled past, drawn by a single mule. Horses were in short supply, seized by the armies and never replaced. Like towns and cities everywhere across the war-torn regions, Honey Ridge had seen better days. Only a handful of businesses had survived the lean times, others were boarded up, and the charred remains of a large building scarred the town square.
A melancholy hung over the South as thick and oppressive as humidity.
Beneath the shady porch of the mercantile, an aproned man swept the boardwalk. Hoisting his bag, Thaddeus approached.
“Good morning, sir.”
The merchant stopped sweeping to stare at him, his squinted gaze taking in Thad’s unshaven face, rumpled clothes and carpetbag.
“Morning.”
“Is this Honey Ridge?”
“What’s left of her.” The man, eyes cautious beneath a wrinkled brow, his brown beard salted with gray, leaned his broom against the wall. “Looks like you’ve been traveling.”
“Yes, sir.” Thad rested a boot on the edge of the boardwalk. “Name’s Thaddeus Eriksson. I’ve come to work at the Portland Grist Mill.”
“Jess Merriman. This is my store.” He jerked a thumb toward the dark entryway behind him. “Gadsden mentioned a cousin millwright.”
“That would be me.”
“From up North?”
Thad tensed. “Yes, sir. Ohio.”
“Well, son, you’re either brave or a fool. The war’s not over to some, but you’ll find welcome at my store. The wife has kin in Pennsylvania.”
Tension seeped out. Thad’s shoulders relaxed. “I’m obliged.”
On the opposite side of the road, a woman exited a milliner’s shop, a basket in hand, and started across in a jaunty, purposeful stride, her head held high, hair as bright as a copper penny gleaming in the sunlight.
He watched her, mesmerized by her energy and hair. She was color to the town’s tired drab, a slender redbird on a bland canvas of dust and unpainted buildings. Even the dull gray of her dress couldn’t hide her vibrancy. Her skin was pale peaches and cream, and her bright hair, though tucked up on the sides, sprang loose in headstrong ringlets along her cheeks and neck.
She was, in short, a stunning beauty.
At that moment, a wagon, going much too rapidly, sped down the dirt thoroughfare. The woman, halfway across, looked up in alarm, too late to get out of the way.
The mules kicked up a dust devil, and the woman cried out. The wagon barreled on past, the driver yelling at the out-of-control mules. Thad dropped his carpetbag and rushed to the woman’s side. She was on the ground, struggling to sit upright.
Thaddeus went to his knees beside her. “Ma’am, are you injured?”
Her chest rose and fell in breathy gasps. Her peach cheeks had turned as red as summer roses. She shook her head. Her bonnet was askew, her ribbons untied.
“I don’t think so. I am, however,” she said with a jut of her chin, “quite furious.”
A smile tugged at Thad’s lips. There was fire beneath that red hair.
“Allow me to assist you.” Without waiting for her reply, he slid both hands around a very narrow waist and easily lifted her to her feet.
She landed with her hands gripping both his arms to steady herself, and he couldn’t help noticing how utterly feminine and fragile she seemed to his superior height. Closer now, her beauty struck him like a blow. He’d not noticed a woman other than Amelia since he was eighteen. Noticing this one disturbed him. He loosened his hold and stepped back. Her hands still rested on his arms, too close, close enough that her rose scent tickled his nose and sent a hot spiral of memory through his body.
“Thank you, sir,” she said, in a drawl as thick and sweet as honey. “You are too kind.”
“Glad to be of service. Looks like the wagon had a runaway.”
“Sterling Bridges couldn’t drive a wagon if his life depended on it, and the silly man doesn’t have the decency of a field rat. He should be flogged. But you, sir, are clearly a gentleman.” She pouted prettily, and Thad had the uncomfortable feeling that she was flirting.
“Your bonnet,” he said, with a pointed glance. The garment skewed toward her left ear, dislodging handfuls of copper hair. Thad battled an overwhelming and altogether undesirable urge to smooth the mesmerizing curls.
To his relief, she released her hold on his arms to straighten her bonnet.
“Oh, dear,” she murmured as she bent to dust her skirt. “Would you look at that?”
The basket she had carried now lay crumpled in the dirt, at least a half-dozen eggs broken and seeping yellow.
“A shame,” he said, though he was tempted to scoop up the raw yolks, dirt and all, and gulp them down. “Let’s see if we can salvage any.”
They crouched together and gingerly picked through the sticky mess. Thad removed his handkerchief. “Use this to wipe off the unbroken ones.”
“Oh, I couldn’t.” But she did, and another smile tugged at his mouth.
When at last they’d salvaged thirteen eggs, she said, “You’ve saved my morning, sir, and I don’t even know your name.”
“Thaddeus Eriksson, ma’am.” He handed her the damaged basket. “Just arrived in town. I’ve come to work with my cousin Will at the Portland Grist Mill. Perhaps you could direct me there.”
Her hand flew to her lips. She shrank back. “No!”
Puzzled at her violent reaction, he offered his best smile. “Yes, ma’am. My apologies for the way I must look. I’m a mite rusty around the edges from the long trip but eager to see my cousin again and be of service.”
As if the air had suddenly taken on a nasty smell, she tossed her nose up high. Thad resisted the urge to sniff his armpits.
“No one around here needs your services, Mr. Eriksson. Go back to Ohio.” Giving an insulted toss of her head, she stalked to a wagon parked in front of the milliner.
Thad stood in the middle of the main street with his mouth open and a furrowed brow. Had he mentioned Ohio to her? Had William changed his mind? Was Thad’s skill no longer needed at the mill? Who was she?
When the fiery woman slapped the reins and drove away, wagon rumbling like a distant storm, Thad heard laughter. Turning toward the sound, he saw the apron-clad merchant leaning on his broom, his salt-and-pepper mustache curled above a wide grin.
“Ran into a wildcat, didn’t you, son?”
Embarrassed, Thad dusted his cap against his britches. “What did I do?”
“’Sakes, man, you ought to know by now. It’s not what you did. It’s who you are. Nothing that woman hates more than a Yankee.”
Thad stifled a sigh. “Who is she?”
“That furious little firebrand is Miss Josephine Portland.”
“Portland?” Realization dawned and dread seeped into his tired, hungry body.
“Yes, sir.” Merriman chuckled again and pointed in the direction of the now distant wagon. “If you’re looking for the Portland Mill, just follow her trail of dust.”
9 (#ulink_749fddac-ae1a-5c00-a89f-2c1cfab2673e)
The Portland Mill operation was a handsome endeavor. Nestled in a thick green wood with vines growing up the sides of the white-mortared red brick and with the sound of clean creek water bubbling over the wheel, the mill stirred a passion in Thaddeus that nearly erased the hostile meeting with one Miss Josephine Portland.
The woman engendered any number of feelings in him, most of which he didn’t know what to do with. Amusement, annoyance and, though it made him feel disloyal, attraction.
Seeing her again at the farmhouse could prove...interesting. But for now, his focus was his cousin and the gristmill.
With Will grinning at his side and his belly filled with cold corn bread, he roamed through the mill works, pausing to smooth his hands over the fifteen-hundred-pound runner stone, immobile now as the wheel waited for his expertise.
“Who’s been running this place?” He turned to the second cousin on his father’s side who’d brought him here.
