The Will of Time Page 19

  Leia wanted to believe that his intentions had been honorable, that he had done what he had for her, but it wasn't likely. "Jason, did you propose out of friendship at all, or just to gain control over my house? How much do you stand to gain by all this?" She spoke softly, but stood and began to pace the porch. She felt her face flush and her hands ball into fists at her side. Jason took a step back, indicating she'd achieved the effect she wanted.

  "Please, Leia. It's not like it sounds. When I told you I cared for you, I meant it," he said, raising his open palms to her.

  "You care for her?" Brant had been paying close attention. As he moved away from the railing, Hettie opened the back door.

  "Miz Leah, would you and Mista Brant be wantin' any breakfast?"

  Leia glanced at Brant, who shook his head. She certainly wasn't hungry. Actually, she felt a little queasy.

  "I have some questions for your friend," he said, nodding toward Jason.

  "I'd like a biscuit. I'll be right back," Leia announced. She followed Hettie inside, hoping Brant and Jason could interact civilly until she got back. Leaving them alone hadn't been the best idea, but her stomach was uneasy and needed something to settle it. Probably tension, she thought, and a dry biscuit sounded good.

  The family had scattered, and Leia found her snack in the kitchen. The tender top flaked off in her mouth, followed by a taste of melted butter imbedded in its layers.

  "This is wonderful, ladies." Leia moaned her appreciation to the woman. Sarny was working at the counter, and she flashed a grin of gratitude at Leia for the praise. Hettie was working at the other end of the kitchen and Leia moved to stand beside her.

  'Hettie," she said, so Sarny couldn't hear. She reached for a rag and wiped a shelf. "About Jason, his sudden appearance today, and his clothes."

  "Yes, Miz Leah?" Hettie kept working, knowing not to alert the younger maid.

  "Well, he's not from around here."

  Hettie stopped, turning then to face her friend. "I understand perfect, Miz Leah. Perfect. Now, I will go find him something decent for him to wear? Seems he might be with us a spell, and he'll be bumping into the family."

  Leia could only nod gratefully as she dropped her rag and pulled Hettie into a hug. She didn't know what or how much Hettie knew, but it didn't matter. She finally had a female ally in the McGarland house.

  Leia wasn't as grateful when she returned to the back porch. Loud, masculine voices were reverberating in an argument. A thwomp of wood on wood told her Brant was using his cane to make a point. At least he wasn't using it on Jason, she thought, pushing through the door onto the battleground. They were both Yankees, but from opposite sides of the time line.

  "You had no right," Brant was saying, standing only a foot from his foe. He stood impossibly erect, the cane positioned in front of him. His eyes flashed with anger, though his voice was calm.

  "And you have no rights, old man," Jason retorted. "In fact, where I come from, you're already dead."

  "Well, he's not dead now, is he?" She sat on the highest wooden step, her back to the men, and smoothed out her skirt around her. "And he has plenty of rights as far as I'm concerned."

  The silence settled on her shoulders like dewy mist, cold and lingering.

  "As I was saying," Brant went on, his voice unperturbed. "You had no right to try and marry her for her property. That's not what marriage is all about."

  Was he thinking of Margaret?

  Jason's voice was louder. "And I thought arranged marriages were all the rage back then...now. Perhaps that's true, but then, tell me, just why did you marry her, soldier man?"

  Leia rested her elbows on her knees, and her face in her hands. Jason couldn't know the circumstances surrounding her and Brant's hasty wedding, but his question had left Brant speechless. The sun began to beat on the porch, warming the planks and Leia's dark clothing.

  She felt the perspiration begin above her lip. "Jason," she said, "I have real feelings for Brant."

  "How can you know after so short a time? You've only known him a few weeks."

  "That's true. But I've known you nearly all my life...but then again I never really knew you at all, did I?" She twisted to look at him, and he had the grace to look at his feet.

  "I've always loved you," Jason said, slowly raising his eyes to her. "Ever since you and Sara set Tommy Hightower's hair on fire in the second grade."

  "That was an accident," she said, mostly for Brant's benefit. She didn't have to look at him to know his eyebrows were arched at her. "And you used to give us a hard time, all the time. Remember?"

  "Yeah, I had to, if I wanted to get your attention. Then you both grew up and turned into hot looking babes."

  Brant cleared his throat.

  "Sorry, old man."

  Leia faced the yard again, propping her chin on her fists. "Jason, you've changed too much. Maybe Sara doesn't realize it, or wouldn't admit it. But that's all in the past now. Then again, so are we." She stood up and walked to her husband, who still leaned against the wood railings.

  Leaning back against his chest, facing Jason, she was glad when Brant's arms came around her waist. "Doesn't Sara mean anything to you? She loves you, or did. You were her first love Jason."

  Brant's grip tightened her to him. "He and your best friend were lovers?"

  "Yeah, I loved her too. She was a good girl, but not like our Leia here. Leia was immaculate."

  Leia gasped. How could Jason say stuff like that? Would Brant understand the implication?

  "You sound as if that was unusual, or undesirable," Brant said, but Leia had already told him she was not the typical 1990's teenager.

  "It was, for our time." Jason stuffed his hands into the pockets of his shorts. Looking Brant square in the eye, he asked, "Was she worth waiting for?"

  "Without a doubt." Brant answered easily, as if he'd been asked if she was a good wife, not if she'd been a virgin on her wedding night.

  "Oh, God," she murmured, face back in her hands, rubbing her eyes. Brant kissed the back of her neck as the door opened onto the porch.

  "Miz Leah," Hettie said, popping her head outside. "Let's git your friend into some work clothes."

  "Good idea," Leia said. "Jason, would you please go up with Hettie? You can use the back stairs. Trust me, it'll be safer for you, if you, um, look the part."

  Without a word, just a look tossed her way she couldn't interpret, Jason followed Hettie into the house. Leia felt the tension melt from her shoulders and leaned back with more of her weight onto her husband. "End of round one."

  Brant didn't ask what she meant, because his tongue was in her ear.

  Hettie worked her good magic on Jason, turning him into a typical man of the sixties, the 1860's. He was introduced to the family as a friend of Brant's. Leia thought it too dangerous to pretend he was anyone else.

  Brant took him into the library after a brief house tour, and pointed out some of the older books, and newer ones, to confirm the year. A dated copy of the Carroll County Times, fresh and crisp, was the clincher.

  Leia told Jason how she'd initially believed him to be behind her time travel, as some scheming mastermind, and that it had taken a trip off McGarland property to convince her otherwise.

  "Thanks for the compliment, but I really couldn't have arranged all this. Those bottles," he said, pointing to several pieces of glassware. "Whose are those?"

  "Mine. I've had to start my collection from scratch a few times. When better than in 1863?"

  "Uh-huh," Jason said, "that makes sense." He scratched his head and moved around the room, drinking in the unique objects, fascinated. Dollar signs seemed to light his eyes.

  "Bet you're wishing you could take this whole room, just as it is, to the antique auction, right?"

  "Leia, your friend needs a brandy," Brant said from his seat at the desk. "He's actually blushing."

  To her amazement, Brant moved to the cabinet and filled a glass. Leia knew they'd both figured Jason out pretty well, and tha
t Brant probably figured he didn't need to be jealous anymore. When Jason took the drink, Brant was grinning.

  Jason remained quiet during dinner, his white knuckles reflecting off the shiny fork. Leia watched him closely. His manners were impeccable, and she was relieved enough to relax her own tightly gripped fork. The McGarlands seemed to sense Jason's anxiety, and avoided their usual social guest grilling. luckily for them all.

  "This salad is wonderful," MaryKatherine said, finishing her small plate of greens and tomatoes. "Wherever did you find the recipe, Hettie?"

  The maid smiled and turned toward the sideboard. She stirred the contents of the oval soup tureen, preparing to serve the main dish of pork and rice. Under Leia's advisement, Hettie had served the salad as an appetizer and was saving the pork for the entree. Finally, Hettie served steaming ears of silver queen corn, setting each on a plate like a lone set of pearly white teeth.

  "This tastes so much better than cut corn," Martha admitted, spreading fresh butter on her ear as Leia suggested. "Even if it's not fashionable."

  Sighing to herself, Leia remembered sultry summer evenings munching sweet white corn with Grandfather. Just like Hettie, Martin had resisted serving the entire ear, wanting to chop the kernels off into neat little piles. The memory made her smile, just as the ear-eating escapades of the McGarlands did now. Patrick refused to hold the ears when they burned his fingers, but later would complain the corn was cold. MaryKatherine ate her corn in a disorderly pattern, digging in here and there and missing a good many kernels. Martha tried to be dainty, failing as a pat of butter was spotted clinging to her chin.

  Leia enjoyed this intimate moment with a family, even it wasn't really her family. With a longing look that swept the entire dining room, Leia began to gather dishes. Approaching voices and the clopping of horses stopped her in alarm.

  Patrick and Brant were out of their chairs and through the hall before Leia could think. Jason followed, slowly as if unsure of direction. The four women kept quiet and glanced at each other's taut, white faces. The comfortable dinner atmosphere was lost in a moment.

  The tension lasted less than a minute. Pleasant voices drifted in from the front hall, both male and female. Into the dining room strode Torin, two black men and Belle Boyd.

  "Torin," Martha said, wiping her chin. "How nice to see you again. You are the portrait of health. And not at all wounded." Martha and MaryKatherine began to hover around Brant's little brother, checking for injuries as if he were a child hiding a skinned knee.

  "Please, ladies," he laughed, putting hands up in mock surrender. "I'm fine, just passing through heading south. I wanted to see my brother and his lovely wife."

  Leia could have sworn she saw Belle smirk at that statement, but perhaps she was the one feeling jealous. Why was Belle here this time?

  The other men hovered in the hallway, not taking part in the greetings. That is, until Hettie caught sight of them. She threw her arms around both men, almost simultaneously, greeting what must be long lost friends. Leia saw true feelings of happiness on her friend's face.

  MaryKatherine leaned toward Leia to explain. "They were friends, years ago, with Hettie and her brother. Then these two were sold to a plantation owner in North Carolina."

  Hettie didn't bother introducing her friends, but showed them into the kitchen.

  Brant introduced Torin to Jason, and Leia felt the two took an instant liking to each other. She watched as they clasped hands with a hearty motion.

  "So, you've known Brant for a good while?" Torin asked of Jason.

  "Actually, I..."

  Martha interrupted with typical timing. "Torin, Belle, are you hungry?"

  "Well, something does smell heavenly," Belle said, "May I trouble you?"

  "I'll get something for you," Brant offered, and left for the kitchen before anyone could argue.

  Leia was surprised at his action. Did he want to follow Hettie's friends, she wondered, or did he want to take care of Belle? Mentally, Leia slapped herself for the ridiculous thought.

  "Enough," she said.

  "What's that dear?" Martha asked.

  "Oh, we do have enough food for all of our guests," she murmured, glancing at Belle. The woman had already seated herself at the long table, chattering vivaciously to MaryKatherine about new fashions in Godey's Lady's Book.

  Torin stood in the doorway, turning toward Leia. "So my brother has recovered?" he asked, smiling. He looked a bit older than the last time they'd met, but the fine lines looked good on Torin's strong face. His hair was still brown and tousled looking, like his brother's.

  "Almost fully. He may need that cane for a while, though. That thigh wound was nasty." Leia pulled Torin's elbow, spinning him so he could follow her to the hall.

  "Torin," she said, settling her skirts around her on the stairs. It seemed all her important conversations took place on steps. "Thank you for not asking too many questions of Jason. You see, you won't remember him because he's actually an old friend of mine, not Brant's."

  "An old beau?" Torin grinned, showing straight white teeth.

  "Something like that. But it was easier to tell the McGarlands he was Brant's friend." Leia thought Torin's boyish smile would burst from his head, as if he was imagining all kinds of things.

  "No problem, Sister dear," he said, leaning down to pat her hand.

  "Torin, do you know why Belle's here?" Leia asked. Since Torin was being so cooperative, Leia decided to push her luck.

  "No, I don't," he said, and sat beside her on the wide step. He unbuttoned his uniform jacket. "She was just there, on Carroll Manor Road, when I looked up from a sack of hard tack. I got the strangest feeling that she'd been watching me." He shook his head. "But that is ridiculous."

  "No more ridiculous than me thinking she's interested in Brant."

  "Perhaps we are both becoming cynical as we age, Mrs. Douglas," Torin said, looking straight ahead toward the front door. "It certainly seemed that way in Gettysburg."

  "What do you mean?" Leia was startled by this change in subject and mood.

  Torin turned to look at his sister-in-law, allowing her to see the deeper change in his face as well. The boyish quality she had admired had disappeared, replaced by grim lines of reality and a harsh glare in his eyes. He aged ten years in that moment.

  "I'll only say our plans went awry," he said, and picked up Leia's hand. "I only want to see life now, no more death. I've seen too much death, Leah."

  She gave his unmanicured hand a squeeze. "I don't know what all you've seen, Torin, or what you've had to do. But I'm glad you're back and so is Brant. In fact, I wish you could meet one of my other friends," she told him, anxious to reinstate his good mood.

  "Is she as pretty as you?"

  "Sara's a lot prettier than I am. She has flaming red hair, smooth white skin and blue eyes like little ponds. And, she's tall! In fact, with her coloring she resembles Jason."

  Torin began laughing.

  "I've been trying to cheer you up, I'll admit, but what on Earth did I say that was so funny?"

  "I just pictured Jason in skirts," he said, laughing again.

  Leia smiled. "Maybe I'd better rephrase that."

  "Tell me about Jason," Brant asked, pulling Leia close to him on the bed. He had wanted her again since this morning when she'd leaned against him so trustingly.

  "There's not too much to tell, really. I've known both Jason and his fiancee, Sara, since I was six years old. Everything he said earlier is true. When I moved into Grandfather's house, I found that they lived nearby. Sara became my best friend, and Jason, whom I had dated a few times, eventually fell for her. But we're all really good friends. At least, I thought we were." Leia twirled a piece of her hair, then tickled Brant's nose with the blonde tips.

  "Just friends? Did he not propose marriage to you this morning?" Brant turned Leia's chin so that she faced him, met his eyes.

  "Well, in a way. You see, he found out about Grandfather's will. And he thought we could marry
, so I could keep the house."

  "There are two possibilities. Perhaps he wants the house very much, for some reason? Or, he uses the house as an excuse to pursue you. What is Jason's occupation?" Brant released her face, and dropped his hand to her shoulder. He pushed the cotton sleeve down, and traced small circles on her white skin. Determined to understand this Jason, and be sure of his place in Leia's life, Brant was willing to slowly draw the information from his wife.

  "I'm not sure about his reason, Brant, except that as I said, he was a good friend. Before I told her about his proposal, Sara wanted me to meet Jason's brother, telling me what a great pair we'd make. But I didn't want to, because there's nothing about Jason I find attractive. If I'm not attracted to Jason, it's not likely his brother ..actually, I guess I should say his half brother. ...would have much appeal either. As to his occupation, Jason is a commercial Realtor and developer. He buys and sells property. And by the way, I am attracted to you that way."

  Brant relaxed a bit, letting some of the tension in his stomach go. Her direction of speech had worried him at first, but even now, she hadn't revealed everything he wanted to know. "Leia, you told me that things were very, relaxed, in your time. How relaxed were you with the men you dated?"

  She sat up. "Brant, you know I was a virgin on our wedding night."

  He nodded. "That's true, my widow surprised me," he said, pulling her by the shoulders back to a supine position. "You most certainly were. I am trying to ask if Jason, or anyone, touched you, on those dates." He didn't like himself for pressing the issue, but felt like he needed to know.

  "Why are you asking me all this?" she questioned, turning onto her stomach and resting both palms on his chest. "Are you jealous?"

  He reached for her bottom, and cupped a cheek in his hand. "Well, if he had touched you here, I might have to deal more severely with him." He rubbed circles on her lower back.

  "Ohh, that feels so good," she moaned. "Brant, Jason never touched my butt or anything else for you to be concerned about."

  "Good," he said, moving his lips to her neck.