Just This Side of Heaven

By Carol Corinne Morgan

The war was over, and the valiant South lay in ruins. The soldiers returned home, defeated but proud and unvanquished. Jesse Gunter returned briefly to Alabama to see his family before he headed out to his little homestead in East Texas. He fell in love with Julia Anjaline Wakefield at first sight. Amidst the terrible devastation of their war-torn land, Jesse and Anjaline married and, with their family, traveled to Texas. This is the story of the little community of High Cotton, of family, friends, and neighbors who survived the ravages of war and worked together through hardships and good times. With faith and love, they forged a new life in a beautiful place that truly was just this side of heaven.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 9, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984544155

Carol Corinne Morgan

Carol Corinne Morgan is a native Texan who grew up reveling in her familys history told to her by her grandmother and other family elders. This book is a work of fiction but is inspired by those old stories, some of which are interwoven with the fictional characters. Carols love of her Texas, her home, and her roots and family ties, is etched lovingly into every page of this book.

Book preview

PART ONE

CHAPTER ONE

I t was a common sight that summer, Rebel soldiers straggling along the road in the stifling heat. They were injured, sick, weary and worn. They had lost the War but they were unvanquished, and their eyes burned with defiance and bitterness. Julia Anjaline Wakefield understood how they felt. She had turned nineteen, a widow with a child, the same day news reached Jacaranda Grove that General Lee had surrendered at Appomattox. It was a day she would never forget. She had lost her husband at Gettysburg and her sister-in-law Geneva’s fiancé, Floyd McCormack, died at Fredericksburg. There was not a family in the county who hadn’t lost someone, and there was still no word of Benjamin’s brother Jared. She, Geneva, and Gideon and Reen, the two slaves who had stayed on after freedom came, worked from daylight to dark boiling and mashing and dishing up yams and stringy okra to feed hungry soldiers – all the damn yankees left when they came through the last time because they didn’t know to dig for yams and thought okra was some alien substance. Jared’s wife, Sarah Jane, sulked and whined and did nothing.

One evening in late July, Anjaline bathed Benjy and put him to bed, then sat on the verandah to get away from Sarah Jane’s whining. A pall of sadness lay over the land. Their world was in limbo, a world of memories now, for the present was one of bitterness and despair, and the future looked grim. Their hope for Jared’s return grew dimmer every day. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, letting the night breeze play over her. She heard a weary clip clop of hooves, and in the dying light, a horse and rider turned in from the road. The horse broke into a half-hearted canter as it neared the house. The man in the saddle carried someone slung across the back of the horse. She felt her heart skip a beat. It must be Jared! She hurried down the steps as the man dismounted.

Is this the Wakefield place? He did not wait for her answer but gestured to the unconscious man. I’ve brought Jared home.

Anjaline stared at her brother-in-law’s dirty, bearded face, his blond hair long and matted. He was so still! Is he …?

He’s alive. He could do with some nursing. I’ll carry him inside. He reached to hoist the man off the horse.

Oh, wait! Anjaline caught his arm. You’ll need some help. Let me get Gideon.

I don’t need any help. He slung Jared over his shoulder as easy as a sack of potatoes. Why don’t you draw some water and find whatever you can to make bandages. He grinned and his white teeth gleamed in his dirty face. Maybe you could rustle up a little something to eat while you’re at it?

The damn yankees didn’t leave much of anything!

Now is that any way for a lady to talk?

It’s too good for the likes of them! Her smoky green-gold eyes smoldered with anger. Who are you?

My name’s Jesse. He started up the verandah steps. Jesse Ulysses Gunter. And who are you?

Julia Anjaline Wakefield. Jared is my brother-in-law. Come on, get him in the house. She opened the door. Reen! Put some water on to boil … and heat up something to eat. Geneva, go fetch Sarah Jane! Jared’s home!

*****

Jesse carried Jared up the broad staircase to the bedroom Anjaline indicated and laid him on the bed. The young Negro woman brought water and bandages and scurried about under Anjaline’s directions, then she and Anjaline began to undress him.

You’ve still got people here?

Just Reen and Gideon. The others left a while back. Where is Sarah Jane? Anjaline asked Reen as she tugged Jared’s boots off.

She say she comin’. Reen removed Jared’s shirt. We gots to boil dese clothes. She held them away from her and wrinkled her nose. Lawd, he so thin and pale.

The medical care in a Yankee prison camp was almost worthless, but what he needs most is something nourishing to eat.

You and Jared were prisoners? Geneva hurried into the room. Her raven hair was braided and coiled around her head and her chocolate brown eyes widened with horror. We heard that Confederate prisoners were starving or being fed dead rats and other dreadful things.

I was at Point Lookout, Maryland, Jared mumbled.

You’re home now. We’ll get you well again, Geneva smoothed his hair off his forehead and turned back to Jesse. And you?

I was wounded in June of ’62 in the battle at Gaine’s Mill, on the Chickahominy River in Virginia. I was lucky, I came away with a bullet through my shoulder.

Yes, you were very lucky.

Me and Jared met up in North Carolina after surrender. I was at Appomattox with Hood’s Brigade. He was holding up well enough, and we traveled on together since I had a horse, but he finally collapsed. I brought him on home.

Just then another young woman appeared in the doorway. When she saw Jared, her hand flew to her mouth to stifle a cry. Her gaze scanned the room and rested for a moment on Jesse, puzzled, then went back to the still form of her husband on the bed. Geneva was bathing Jared’s face with a warm wet cloth. He groaned and opened his eyes.

Sarah Jane?

Yes, Jared. She crossed the room and stood beside him, hesitant to take the hand he weakly extended to her.

Jesse watched the women fuss over him, noted the listless way his wife regarded him. She was pretty enough, he supposed – red gold curls, blue eyes and milky white skin. Jared said that he had vied with a dozen other men for her hand. Jesse’s lips quirked in a smile. He much preferred Anjaline who wore the dyed black mourning dress of a widow with the buttons open at the throat and sleeves pushed up above her elbows to alleviate the heat. With her tawny gold hair coming loose from a careless knot and the pale gold kiss of the sun on her skin – now she was a beauty.

Anjaline felt his gaze and looked away. He needn’t look at her like that. She was a widow and a mother and had moved beyond such things. As soon as news about Fort Sumter reached them, the county had been awhirl with hasty war weddings, and Julia Anjaline Richardson, three months before her sixteenth birthday, married Benjamin Aaron Wakefield. He took his bride home for their wedding night, then left to join his troop three days later. In May of ’63, Benjamin came home on a three-day furlough. He was killed at Gettysburg in June, and in February of 1864 Benjamin Aaron Wakefield, Jr. was born.

And Sarah Jane, she thought contemptuously, was casting oblique glances at Mr. Gunter. Ever the belle, she could never bear to be less than the center of male attention, even with her husband lying there sick!

Sarah Jane felt Anjaline’s withering gaze, averted her eyes from Jesse. Things hadn’t turned out at all like they should have, she thought. When the news of Fort Sumter reached them, she laid her hand on the arm of her nearest beau who happened to be Jared, and accepted his proposal. Theirs had been just one of the county’s hurried war weddings. Within a month after he was gone, Sarah Jane was bored and miserable, bemoaning that there were no longer any parties or young men to flirt with. Then when Benjamin was killed, they donned black mourning dresses. She’d mewled and moaned for days about the ugly black garments devoid of any trim. The county had no social life and the work never ended. Mending, cleaning, tending to the vegetable garden and the chickens and milking the cows after the Negroes began to leave. Sarah Jane never turned a hand to help. Finally, the war was over and Jared had come home, but there was no gladness in her heart. She was bewildered and disappointed that he was not a returning hero but rather a wounded soldier, dirty and hungry and lice-infested, coming home in defeat.

Mr. Gunter, Anjaline said, perhaps you ought to go out to the kitchen and have Gideon heat more water for a bath, and there’s a bit of yams and okra and some cornbread left over from supper.

Cornbread? He uttered a sardonic chuckle. Sounds like a banquet to me.

Gideon manages to scavenge odds and ends for us.

What about the rest of the family?

Jared’s folks are dead. Geneva’s his sister. Her fiancé, Floyd McCormack, was with General Longstreet. He was killed at Fredericksburg.

I was there too. And your husband? He nodded toward the gleam of the gold band on her finger.

Benjamin died at Gettysburg, she said softly. We had begun to think we’d lost Jared too. Thank you for bringing him home.

CHAPTER TWO

T he next morning Jesse was gone when the rest of the household awoke. Anjaline was vexed and, though she was not sure why, vaguely disappointed. The heat was already ferocious as she and Geneva weeded the scraggly garden. She uttered a sigh and leaned on her hoe, watching Benjy on the verandah steps playing with a wooden toy that Gideon had carved for him.

Jared said Mr. Gunter was coming back, Geneva said.

We’ve got enough to do around here without another mouth to feed!

Well, anyway, he’s probably got a sweetheart crying her eyes out and wondering if he’ll come home alive.

A sweetheart! But he …! Anjaline scowled. Geneva Catherine, you are …! What are you grinning about?

Oh, alright, I’ll hush. I just thought since you seem so aggrieved this morning ….

They paused as they heard galloping hooves. A few moments later Jesse came around the side of the house. As he drew near, they saw that he had an indignant rooster and a squawking hen, their legs tied together, slung across his saddle. He came on at a sprightly canter and drew up.

He watched Anjaline leaning on the hoe, talking to Geneva. Lord, she was a beauty and didn’t even seem to realize it. He’d never seen a girl dolled up in silk and trussed up in stays who was as pretty as she was. She didn’t need all that folderol. He glanced at the little boy who grinned shyly at him. Benjy, with brown eyes and light brown hair, must look like his father.

Sarah Jane came to the back door, saw the chickens and flew down the verandah steps.

Finally, something good to eat!

No ma’am, we’re not killin’ these chickens. Gonna set ’em up housekeeping, get Miss Priscilla here, he gestured to the speckled hen, to lay us some eggs for eating and get some little chicks running around.

But I’m … we’re hungry! I’ve been pining away for something good to eat! Sarah Jane’s lower lip quivered. Some good rich chicken broth would do wonders for Jared!

He’s right, Sarah Jane. Anjaline had no patience with Sarah Jane’s airs and sulking. We need to get this place running again. One puny little hen wouldn’t make a mouthful a piece.

Sarah Jane glared at them balefully, then whirled and ran back to the house.

She’s something of a handful, Geneva smiled apologetically. Well, I’m going to take Benjy inside now. Reen’s got dinner almost ready … such as it is.

Okra and yams and cornbread again. Reen found a little patch of wild blackberries and picked them for dessert, Anjaline said. We’re blessed to have that!

Say, Gideon, Jesse called as the giant of a man came around the side of the barn with a yoke carrying two buckets of water across his broad shoulders, why don’t we put together some kind of chicken coop for our friends here.

We ain’t got lumber or nails to put up a chicken coop.

Take some out of the back verandah if you have to.

You might as well, Anjaline said when Gideon hesitated. There are more important considerations now than a few missing boards and nails.

She looked around in silence at the devastation. What had once been a thriving plantation lay in ruins. The Yankees had burned the barn the first time they came through. When Sherman and his troops came through, they cut a path of waste and destruction through the county, trampling the fields, ransacking the houses and carrying away willing slaves, food, valuables, sentimental items, everything they could scavenge. The house was shabby now, inside and out, fences needed mending, the garden where a world of vegetables had once flourished, and the fields that burgeoned with snowy cotton, were fallow now.

You can’t tell by looking that Jacaranda Grove was once a fine place.

Can’t tell by looking now that the South was once a fine place. Leastways, Jacaranda’s still standing.

The South’s still a fine place! It’s just …. it’ll take some work to bring it back!

That it will. What about your folks?

My daddy died in ’63, right after the Yankees burned our place to the ground. Mama went to Demopolis to live with my Aunt Sally. My sister Serena and her husband live in Marion County, Georgia. I don’t know if her husband has made it back or not.

I’m sorry to hear that. I lost two of my brothers early on. I don’t know about the rest of my family yet. I joined up in Texas and haven’t been back to Coffee County since.

Yes, well, I don’t expect there’s a family in the South who hasn’t lost loved ones. Anjaline stroked the hen’s feathers softly. So this is Miss Priscilla, huh? And what do you call her mate?

You can have the honor of naming him. Jesse untied their legs and set them down. He opened the burlap bag and scattered feed on the ground.

Well, she mused as the rooster puffed out his chest and set off at a strut, Mr. Smarty Pants, I guess, after his captor!

Jesse threw back his head and laughed.

So, how did you manage to get Miss Priscilla and Mr. Smarty Pants and that bag of feed?

Same way Gideon gets cornmeal, I reckon. But that’s something a lady don’t need to know.

They all knew that Gideon went out foraging at night and returned with a few ears of corn or a bag of cornmeal or dried peas. There wasn’t a lot to be pilfered anywhere these days.

It’d nice to have milk for Benjy … although being a lady, I wouldn’t need to know how we could manage that.

CHAPTER THREE

N ow that the War’s over, what are you going to do? Geneva asked Jesse at the supper table that evening. A cooling breeze swept through the open windows carrying the scent of rain, and thunder rumbled in the distance.

I’m going back to Texas.

I thought you were from around here, she said.

My folks’ place is over in Coffee County. But I got me a hundred acres of the prettiest land God ever created in East Texas. I’d have to say it’s just this side of Heaven. There’s a little house sitting on it, not much, just a rough little two room cabin with a loft, but ….

Did any of your people stay on when that horrible ape Lincoln set all the darkies free? Sarah Jane asked.

My daddy’s got a small farm, we never owned any slaves. I didn’t own any in Texas either.

Oh! Sarah Jane looked disappointed. Is it true what they say about Texas?

Just about anything they say about Texas is true … only bigger and better.

Are there really Comanche Indians?

There are, but I’ve got no quarrel with ’em.

I’ve got a notion to pack up and head out to Texas, Jared said.

Oh, Jared, no! Sarah Jane cried. You can’t take me out to some wilderness where there’s nothing!" She hated life without the refinements of polite society, and to her way of thinking, things were already as bad as they could get. But … Texas???

Anjaline stared at her brother-in-law. She hoped that the idea of going to Texas was nothing more than a notion. The thought of her and Benjy forced to live in Demopolis with her mother’s whining and Aunt Sally’s silly vapors, was more than she could bear. Yet it was obvious that Jared admired, even envied Jesse who was strong, tough and cynical and ready to forge ahead into an unknown future after bitter defeat. The world as they knew it was gone but he seemed defiant, undaunted.

Why did you go to Texas in the first place, Jesse? Geneva asked.

My cousin Billy was a restless sort, and he took a notion to go out there. Uncle George had gone out there and fought in the Mexican War then settled down there. I was kinda restless myself ….

And eager to escape the amorous clutches of Fannie Barstow, Jared chuckled, cutting his eyes toward Anjaline. He knew she had loved Benjamin, but life was going on, whether any of them liked it or not, and she was too young to remain a widow. She and Benjy and Geneva were all the family he had left, and he was determined to go with Jesse to Texas!

Anjaline’s cheeks flushed hotly. She had been pretending no interest in the conversation, but she did want to know if he had a wife or sweetheart back in Texas, although she wasn’t sure why she cared. It was just kind of strange that he lingered on at Jacaranda Grove, she had explained to Geneva who only smirked back at her and retorted, I believe I’m looking at why.

I realized Texas was the place I wanted to call home so I got me that hundred acres. The next January, Alabama seceded, then Texas seceded in March. We knew there’d be war so we joined up. I was with Hood’s Brigade. My regiment was at Appomattox.

Well, but what about Fannie Barstow? Sarah Jane queried. It seemed to her a sweetheart waiting back home was more important than joining up to fight in a war.

Oh, she’s probably married somebody else by now. He did not add that he hoped that was the case. He planned to go back to Coffee County for a visit with his folks before heading to Texas, even hoped he might convince his daddy and mama to go with him, but he sure didn’t want to find Fannie still waiting for him. He pushed back his chair and stood up. I think me and Gideon need to take care of a little business this evening.

Wish I was well enough to go with you. Jared was eager to do his share around the place.

You’ll get stronger every day. In a few weeks ….

In a few weeks there still won’t be any slaves to do the work, and there still won’t be any new clothes or parties! Sarah Jane huffed. There’s just nothing left!

No, Jared gazed at her contemplatively, if you look at it that way, there’s sure not.

*****

Anjaline sat on the front verandah steps with Benjy in her lap. She could smell the rain in the air and the coolness was a welcome relief.

What do you think they’re going to do? Geneva asked.

They’re probably going to steal a cow … if there are any left in the county.

Imagine that. Doesn’t it seem strange … there was a time we’d have been horrified that someone we know would steal … or that we would be glad of it. But now ….

People have to do whatever they can. I never imagined you and I would be picking cotton or toiling over a vegetable garden, or any of the things we’ve had to do to survive.

They stole from us and burned just about everything except the house, and I don’t know why they left that. If we hadn’t managed to hide Mama’s jewelry and silver in the woods ….

If they hadn’t burnt the last of our cotton ….

What good would cotton do us anyway? Sarah Jane interrupted, studying a mended spot on her sleeve with a frown.

Now that the War is over, we’ll manage to get some corn and cotton seed. Next year ….

Oh, next year! There isn’t going to be any next year! Not like we knew before! And now Jared’s talking serious about going to Texas!

Anjaline glanced at Geneva. After supper they had heard Jared and Sarah Jane quarreling behind their closed bedroom door, then Sarah Jane had stormed out of the house and plunked herself down beside Geneva.

What else has he said about that?

Oh, I don’t know! That Jesse Gunter is always going on about new opportunities and lots of land to be had and what a wonderful place Texas is! And Jared’s just like a regular old parrot, repeating everything he says until I could just scream!

So, Jared has actually said he’s going? Geneva asked quietly although her heart was thumping rapidly. If he did, she would have to go too, or end up married to some widower with half a dozen unruly children, and Anjaline and Benjy would be forced to live with her mother and Aunt Sally in Demopolis. She wasn’t sure which was worse.

Not exactly, but … he just keeps saying how it would be a brand new start! I just wish that Mr. Gunter would go away and never come back!

Anjaline rose with the sleeping child in her arms. I imagine he’ll do just that pretty soon, with or without Jared. Jesse had said from the beginning that he was going back to Texas, so why did the thought disturb her so? They got by before he came, they would manage when he was gone!

*****

Jesse and Gideon came home late, leading a cow with a swollen udder and carrying two scrawny hens. Jesse looked up at the windows of Anjaline’s room and thought he saw a movement beyond the curtains. He had hoped she would be sitting on the verandah so he could talk to her.

He untied the hens’ legs and set them inside the chicken coop. We’d better get the cow milked, he told Gideon, before she starts to bellow and wakes the whole house.

Gideon saw him glancing at Anjaline’s windows. If dis heah cow was to set up a ruckus, Miz Anjaline liable to come down and give us what for.

You reckon?

I does. Gideon grinned.

What’s she like, Gideon?

Ole Beulah, she a good milkin’ cow.

Now you know I wasn’t talking about this cow!

Miz Anjaline a mighty good lady. Jes’ a lil slip of a gal when Mista Benjamin wedded her den rode off to war. Next time he come home, he left her wid chile, den got hisself killed. She got gumption, her and Miss Geneva, dey’s kept dis place goin’ Gideon chuckled, and only de Lawd know how dey keeps from pullin’ Miz Sarah Jane’s hair out by de roots.

Only He knows, Jesse chuckled. Thank you for staying with the womenfolks.

De Yankees took evahthing dey could carry off and de otha slaves started leavin’, but me and Reen didn’t wanta leave de womenfolks alone. We wanta be free too, but seems like nobody thought of wheah we go or what we gonna do when we get dere.

No, they sure didn’t. Jesse took the rope from Gideon and slapped the end of it sharply against the cow’s rump and she let out a bellow. Gideon grinned and led the cow away.

Jesse didn’t see Anjaline in the doorway until he walked up on the verandah. She was still wearing her black dress but her hair swung in a thick braid down to her waist and loose tendrils curled softly around her face. She stood with her arms folded, regarding him sternly.

I’m sorry if we woke you, he said.

It’s kind of hard to sleep with that cow bellowing. She sat down on the top verandah step. That looks like Beulah.

As a matter of fact, it is. Or so Gideon tells me. He leaned against a column and lit a rolled cigarette. So, are you on a first name basis with the few cows left in this neck of the woods?

With this one, yes. Beulah belonged to us first. She disappeared one night. We figured Quince Odom took her. He’s not above such trifling behavior.

Who is he?

He was the overseer at Lone Pine. Stark Jackson was killed at Second Manassas, and Henrietta, his wife, went to her folks in Mississippi. Quince Odom took over Lone Pine and a few slaves that stayed. When the Yankees came back, he kowtowed to them shamelessly. So they left him alone.

Gideon said Quince Odom’s buying up all the land he can get for back taxes.

I suppose he’ll want our place too. Well, it’s no good worrying about it. There’s some silver and jewelry hidden in the woods, but it won’t bring enough to pay taxes and tide us over another year. And there’ll be still more changes coming. Anjaline rose. I should go inside.

Anjaline, wait. Jesse caught her arm and turned her to face him. She looked up at him, startled. Her lips were parted slightly, full and ripe and totally kissable. Don’t go inside yet.

His lips brushed hers and he felt her yield for a moment before she wrenched away.

How dare you! Her cheeks flamed scarlet and her eyes blazed. I am not ….

I know you’re not that kind of woman, but ….

But what?

I’m just sorry I didn’t take it slower, he grinned. I got the feeling you started liking it.

Oh! You are horrible, Mr. Gunter! Insufferable and arrogant and …!

And a very good kisser, he bowed slightly, his lips twitched with a hint of a smile, or so I’ve been told.

CHAPTER FOUR

A ugust came and not a drop of rain in sight. Jared was up and around and able to work, growing lean and tan as he and Jesse and Gideon worked around the farm. But as Anjaline had predicted, more changes were coming.

Sarah Jane was lying down with a cool cloth on her forehead when she heard Jared ride in from town. Anjaline and Geneva were toiling in the vegetable garden. She heard Jared’s footsteps on the stairs and knew he would chastise her again for not helping them. She turned on her side, closing her eyes.

He came into the room and closed the door. Sarah Jane feigned sleep. After a few moments, when he didn’t move or speak, she opened her eyes and looked up at him.

I’ve got a headache, she moaned, pressing the damp cloth to her forehead again. It’s so horribly hot today, and I just couldn’t ….

I saw Quince Odom in town a while ago. He sat down in a chair by the window. We can’t pay the taxes on Jacaranda. He’s gonna buy the place. We’ll be leaving.

But we can’t leave! We’ve nowhere to go. She stared at him suspiciously. I hope you’re not ….

We’re going to Texas.

Sarah Jane leaped up off the bed and stared at him incredulously. He was well now, strong and tanned and able, and she hated his new attitude! You’ve been listening to that Jesse Gunter and all his talk again!

That’s right.

Don’t be silly, Jared. We’ve got your mother’s silver and jewelry! We can sell it and pay the taxes!

There’s not enough to pay the taxes and tide us over til next year, and I know Geneva will want to keep a few of Mama’s things.

Think of something else then! They won’t want to go to Texas either!

Maybe not, but Geneva will go, like it or not. I haven’t talked to Anjaline yet.

She stamped her foot furiously. I won’t go! You’ll just have to change your plans!

Jared stared at her curiously, wondering now why he had ever fancied himself in love with her. His lips twisted in a rueful smile. That was it, of course. He never had been. She wasn’t even all that pretty, but her teasing manner and bit of boldness that hinted at more, caused the young men to flock about her. Without the risque mien, she was just plain common.

I’m going to Texas ….

But we could go to Macon County. My sister Martha and her husband ….

… with or without you, he continued as if she hadn’t spoken. Their marriage had been a mistake. He could start over again, build a new life. A divorce was legal. The right or wrong of it didn’t matter to him anymore. With that decision made, he felt a weight off his chest. You can go on to Macon County if you want. I’m going to Texas.

You’d abandon me? Sarah Jane gaped at him. He braced himself for a barrage of tears but they did not come. Their marriage had been a few nights of wifely duty that was certainly more fun for him than for her, then years of loneliness and deprivation, and now that he was back, he seemed a stranger. You’d send me to Macon County and … and go to Texas without me?

I’ll take you to Macon County. You can get a bill of divorcement if you wish.

A bill of divorcement? But how …?

Just say I abandoned you. Hell, I don’t care what you say, Sarah Jane. We married in haste, but I’m damned if I’m gonna repent at leisure. I don’t imagine you want to either.

She regarded him curiously for a long moment. No, I don’t reckon I do either.

*****

Well, I told Sarah Jane, but I haven’t had a chance to tell Geneva and Anjaline yet. I’m dreading that. Jared and Jesse sprawled on the front verandah seeking any breath of air to relieve the stifling heat.

What did she say?

To make a long story short, I’m gonna sell some of Mama’s jewelry and silver, buy a horse and wagon, and take her to her sister in Macon County. She’ll get a bill of divorcement.

Jesse raised his eyebrows in astonishment. Are you sure that’s what you want?

Ah, hell, Jesse, I know folks don’t approve, but the thing is … I feel like a weight’s been lifted off me. You know what she said? He didn’t wait for Jesse’s reply. I said we married in haste and I didn’t want to repent at leisure. And she said, no, she didn’t reckon she did either.

You got out of that one slicker than owl shit. But what about Geneva and Anjaline? Are they gonna kick up a fuss?

I was hoping to wait til after supper when they’re relaxed and in a good mood.

What if Sarah Jane tells them first?

She won’t go near them and have to help with the cooking.

Just then they saw a mule turn into the drive, plodding wearily toward the house.

Looks like company, Jesse said. I didn’t know you had any neighbors nearby.

There’s the Hales on the next farm over. Jared watched as the mule slogged through the red dust. That looks like Melissa Hale. There’s just her and her pa now, and a bevy of little brothers and sisters. Goshen Hale wore out three wives, laid the last one to rest last winter. Her brother Winthrop was killed along with Benjamin at Gettysburg.

Through the open window upstairs Jesse heard Anjaline’s laughter as she bathed Benjy. A smile touched his lips. By all rights he should have gone on over to Coffee County by now, but Anjaline’s sultry beauty held him here.

I was practically engaged to Melissa until I let that little vixen upstairs beguile me.

Any regrets there?

No, I wasn’t in love with her either.

The mule drew up to the hitching post and a young woman alighted. Jesse and Jared rose to their feet. She greeted Jared with a kiss on the cheek and gazed curiously at Jesse, unable to resist fluffing her blonde hair.

Melissa, this is Jesse Gunter. Jesse, meet Melissa Hale.

Pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Hale, Jesse said.

I’m real happy to meet you, Mr. Gunter. Her dimples deepened.

So, what brings you this way? Jared asked. Is there something we can do for you?

I haven’t been visiting in months. Gracious, Sarah Jane is lucky to have you home. She flashed Jesse a brilliant smile. What about you, Mr. Gunter? Have you a wife or sweetheart waiting for you?

Anjaline heard Melissa’s voice from the window upstairs and hurried down to the verandah.

How nice to see you, Melissa. You’ll stay to supper, won’t you?

I don’t want to impose. She tossed her hair and flashed Jesse another smile.

It’s not an imposition. Jared saw the flare of resentment in Anjaline’s eyes. Anjaline, honey, why don’t you go tell Geneva and Reen we’ve got company for supper?

Anjaline saw the glint of mischief in his eyes. I’ll do that. And while I’m at it, I’ll tell Sarah Jane to come downstairs! She cast a quick glance at Jesse who seemed engrossed in Melissa’s prattling. I hope you don’t mind okra, yams and cornbread, Melissa.

Oh, that sounds like heaven! We haven’t had anything but a few field peas and dandelion greens …. She looked abashed that she had revealed how really bad things were at home.

Anjaline knew how bad things were. Goshen Hale was at a loss since their slaves left and his last wife died, and he hadn’t the ingenuity or the drive to bend his back to work. We’ll send some things home with you for the children. Little ones have such ravenous appetites.

Oh, no, I didn’t mean ….

We’ve been real lucky, Anjaline said, we’ve got our cow, a rooster and a few laying hens, and plenty of yams and okra. There no sense in letting things go to waste.

How nice to see you, Melissa. Geneva came outside then. How is everybody at home?

Oh, well, you know Pa. He’s not the same since Marguerite died.

Geneva shook her head sorrowfully. We’ll send some milk with you for the babies. Jared can see you home after supper.

*****

This is real nice, Melissa said, glancing around the table. Her stomach was full now for the first time in months.

We’ve been blessed with enough to eat. Jared’s laughter rang bitter. Who ever thought before the War …. Well, it’s over now and we’ve got to rebuild our lives.

Yes, we do … somehow. Lord, that Jesse Gunter is handsome, she thought. Most important of all, he’s not married or engaged, so there’s no competition. Geneva’s an old maid of twenty, and anyway, her heart’s in the grave with Floyd, and Anjaline’s a widow with a child. Used goods, so to speak. So, tell me, she turned a beaming smile on Jesse, what’s Texas like?

Me and my cousin went out there on a lark, and I fell in love for the first time in my life.

Except for Fannie Barstow, Jared jibed playfully.

Who’s Fannie Barstow? Melissa’s brows drew together in a frown.

It’s who she isn’t that matters, Geneva said, glancing obliquely at Anjaline who regarded Melissa and Jesse with turbulent eyes.

That’s true, Jesse said. And she isn’t. It was Texas I fell in love with. Like I said before, I’ve got a little cabin and a hundred acres of land in East Texas. My Uncle George ….

Well, if you all will excuse me, Sarah Jane rose abruptly, I’ve got a headache. As you can see, Melissa, all they ever talk about is Texas! Give my love to your family.

Melissa was miffed that Jesse and Jared had begun waxing ecstatic over some heathen land full of Mexicans and Comanches, and she still wasn’t sure who Fannie Barstow was … or wasn’t! She glanced out the window into the gloaming. Oh dear, I didn’t realize how late it’s getting. I really must go. Pa will be worried sick.

Of course, Jared said. Jesse, you mind if I borrow Forrest to escort Melissa home?

Jared, I do hate to take you away from your lovely bride, and you just home and all. Perhaps you’d allow Mr. Gunter to escort me home. She laid her hand on Jesse’s arm with a flutter of eyelashes that would have made her mother and two stepmothers proud.

The room fell silent and everyone seemed to be trying not to look at Anjaline whose lips were set in a disapproving line. I’ll go tell Gideon to saddle up Forrest, she said.

Jesse watched the swishing of her skirt as she left the room. So much for attempting to court Anjaline in the moonlight on the verandah. He saw Jared’s amused look and snorted.

Come along then, Miss Hale, and I’ll accompany you home.

Men, I vow it’s a wonder any of them can see their own hand in front of their faces! Geneva took their plates out to the kitchen where Anjaline was rattling and clattering pans, helping Reen clean up. And you, Anjaline, you can’t see your hand before your face either!

I never saw such obvious fawning and flirting in my life! Though I suppose, given her circumstances, Melissa is desperate for a husband … any husband she can drum up!

Well, of course. Goshen Hale is running her ragged raising his kids and doing all the work around their farm and all the fields gone fallow ….

If Mr. Gunter’s so taken with Melissa Anne Hale, who am I to stand in her way!

Who indeed? I think there’s a lot of misunderstanding going on around this farm. That’s all I’m saying.

CHAPTER FIVE

A njaline gazed at her reflection in the cracked cheval glass. It was one of the few luxuries the Yankees had not stolen or destroyed, probably because of the crack! She wore a mended lavender dimity dress, one of her pre-war afternoon dresses that they hadn’t dyed black.

Wearing mourning was pointless. Benjamin was not coming back. Of course she was proud of his service to the Confederacy, and she adored their son, but it was growing harder to remember the sound of his voice or to see his face clearly in her mind. Their few days of married life had left her untouched by any deep emotion or … passion. Not that she was supposed to be touched by passion, or even had a clear idea what it meant! Mama had instilled in her the creed that no lady gained pleasure from her wifely duty. It was a repulsive act to be borne in tight-lipped silence. She hadn’t felt repulsed exactly but it had left her … disappointed? Maybe the right word was unaffected.

Why does it matter anyway? I’m a widow with a child, certainly not in the market for a husband!

Why does what matter? Geneva came in with clean diapers for Benjy. You look real pretty this morning.

That’s all I meant! Why does it matter what I look like? I’m a widow, got a child to raise, and no time to worry about ….

About Melissa Anne Hale and Jesse Gunter’s moonlight ride last night?

Don’t be a sly puss, Geneva! I’ve got a headache.

I looked in on you last night. You fell asleep in the chair by the window. Was he very late returning?

I wasn’t waiting up to see! I was just …. He cheeks bloomed red. I’m certainly not interested in his catting around the county til all hours!

She was surely setting her cap for him, wasn’t she? Geneva picked up a hair brush, scooped up a handful of Anjaline’s tawny gold hair and began to brush ringlets around her finger. But I don’t think it did her any good, her flirting and carrying on like that.

"Well, he’s certainly in a good mood this morning, out on