Courting Miss Hattie (40 page)
Reed accepted the handshake,
then
threw his arms around his father for the hug that felt more natural.
"We'd best go tell your brothers," Clive said. "They're all about to bust from curiosity." The two men laughed, knowing the truthfulness of that statement.
By the time Mary Tyler had dinner on the table, the
Tyler
's felt relaxed and almost at home with the newlyweds. When Reed walked up behind Hattie, wrapped his arms around her waist, and planted a kiss on her neck, she squealed more from surprise than embarrassment. It endeared her to the family.
She was seated next him, and Reed took her hand as Clive said grace. The "
amens
" were barely said before the teasing began.
"Reed, pass the potatoes," Mary said.
Before he could reach for the bowl,
The hazing went fast and furious throughout the meal. Hattie's cheeks blazed, but Reed managed to parry it all. He was grateful for the good humor.
When the meal finally concluded, Hattie assisted with the dishes while the men helped Reed load his possessions in the buggy. Without the gentling influence of the women, the jests became nothing less than bawdy. Reed's face heated to bright red more than once.
"Reed!" his mother called from the back door. "Come here. I want you to get something for me in the cellar."
"I'll do it," Andy answered. He was his mother's usual errand boy, and he thought to spare his brother fetching duty on his last day at the
Tyler
farm.
"I
want Reed!" Mary said.
Raising an eyebrow, Reed followed his mother down the cellar steps to the musty interior. Shelves covered all four walls and were lined with jars and bins. Barrels of foodstuff took up most of the floor space.
"Take some of this pickled okra," Mary said, indicating the top shelf on the left. "Nobody in this family likes it like you do, and I suspect Miss Hattie didn't put up much of it."
Reed began unloading a few jars from the high shelf. "I'm not taking all of this, Mama. Hattie's already put up enough food for an army, and I suspect she knows what I like."
"The question is, young man, do you know what she likes?" His mother sounded so vexed, Reed immediately turned in surprise.
"I've heard all I want to hear about Miss Hattie's farm," Mary declared. "What I want to hear about are your feelings for Hattie. Marrying a woman for a piece of ground is about the biggest insult a man could make to a woman. If that's what you've done, then I'd say you've got a lifetime of making-up to do."
His mother's words made Reed blush more fiercely than any of his brother's jests. "It's not like that," he said. "There are other pieces of land. I'd already decided to go for that place down near Uncle Ed."
"Then you married her for love?" Mary asked with a hint of skepticism.
Reed lowered his gaze. "I care for Hattie. I always have, you know that. She's kind and hardworking and fun." He smiled, as if recalling a cherished memory. "She's really fun, Mama. Sometimes it's just like being a couple of kids on the farm." More seriously, he went on. "I know she's not pretty in the way you normally think of that, but she's got her own ways. It
wasn't so much wanting
her land. It was more that I didn't want Drayton to have it." With a look of puzzled realization on his face, he gazed at his mother, curious at his own thoughts. "I didn't want Drayton to have
her,"
he said quietly.
Mary watched the play of emotions on her son's face for a moment,
then
a tiny pleased smile crept across her mouth. "You take this pickled okra," she said. "Everything is going to be fine."
* * *
Making a last cursory glance around the barn to assure
himself
that he'd forgotten nothing, Reed hurried back to the house.
Hattie had a dinner of ham steaks and corn bread ready when he walked in the door. He'd taken the opportunity to wash up at the well and seated himself beside her in a clean shirt, smelling of her clove-scented soap.
To Reed's mind, Hattie was strangely quiet, and he worried she might be having second thoughts about their hasty nuptials. "What you thinking about?" he asked.
"About
Ancil
, actually," she answered. Seeing the shock on Reed's face, she hastened to explain. "I mean, I really should have gone to tell him about our marriage. I'd hate for him to hear it from somebody else."
"He already has," Reed said
,
his voice edged with a hint of coolness. "I asked Preacher Able to let him know, and he said he would."
"I still should have faced him," she said. "That's the only thing I faulted Bessie Jane on—not talking to you directly."
"It didn't make any difference hearing it from Bessie Jane or her father," Reed said. "And it won't make any difference for Drayton, hearing it from the preacher or you."
"You're right, I know. Still, it seems like the coward's way, and I am sorry about the children."
"The children?"
"They really need a mother, Reed. I feel so sorry for them."
Swallowing hard to dispel the knot of inexplicable anger that had settled in his throat, Reed controlled his voice carefully. "I'm sure they do need a mother, Hattie. And I'm sure Drayton will find one for them. But I'm very glad that it won't be you. I hope you feel the same way."
Something in his voice captured Hattie's attention. Glancing up at him, she could see that Reed was displeased, but she couldn't imagine why. It occurred to her that he sounded almost jealous, but she dismissed that idea as too farfetched. Reed Tyler could never be jealous of
Ancil
Drayton. It was impossible. "Of course, I prefer being married to you," she said, finding it strange that clarification was necessary. "I did choose you after all."
"I seduced you," he reminded her quietly.
Hattie choked slightly and took a sip of water. "I'd already decided to accept you," she said, and was surprised to see an expression of stunned delight across his face.
"You'd already decided to marry me?" he asked, wanting to assure himself there was no misunderstanding.
"Yes. I'd made my decision before you came back."
Letting her words soak through him like spring rain on a parched afternoon, Reed was pleased with himself. He fought down the desire to crow like a victorious rooster and took a big bite of corn bread instead. "You are the best cook in this county, Hattie," he said cheerfully.
Her modest reply was almost inaudible.
"The cotton is coming along real well," he went on.
"I suspect the pickers will be getting close to a hundred bales if the blight
don't
get us."
"Do you really think so?" Hattie was astounded. "It would be the biggest crop ever brought in on Colfax Farm."
Reed smiled slightly. Something unusual in his expression struck her, and she recalled her own words. "Oh!" she whispered as if realizing a terrible social blunder. "I forgot it's not the Colfax farm anymore. It's the
Tyler
farm."
Reed watched her consider this additional change in her life. She didn't appear upset or resistant. "It sounds funny," he said after a moment.
"I suspect we'll get used to it," she answered. Her smile was unconcerned, and it pleased him.
"It's our farm, Hattie, no matter what we call it."
"I know.
"
Her smile broadened. "Your
family really made me feel
at home today, Reed. I don't mind calling it Tyler Farm because I already feel like a
Tyler
."
His grin wide and open, Reed surprised her by leaning over to plant a peck on her throat. "I'm thinking, Hattie," he said as he lazily pushed his plate aside, "that people will always think of it as Colfax Farm and if we call it Tyler, folks will just get confused about it and my daddy's place."
She nodded. "Why don't we just be the
Tylers
of Colfax Farm?"
"Fine. So you like being one of the
Tyler
women?" he asked as she stood to take his plate.
"Yes, I think I do," she answered with a slight blush. "Do you want some dessert?"
He took the dishes out of her hands and set them back on the table. "There are a few rules that
Tyler
women have to follow," he told her, snaking an arm around her hips to pull her closer.
"'Rules'?"
"Yes. One of the rules for
Tyler
women is that frequently they forget dessert and leave the supper dishes to go to bed early with their husbands."
CHAPTER
21
H
attie raised her eyebrows in an expression of pure skepticism. "What I heard today in church were vows, Plowboy, not rules," she said. Grabbing up the dishes again, she headed to the sink. His eyes alight with
devilment,
Reed was right behind her, bringing a handful of his own.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"An extra pair of hands will make short work of this little bit of dishes," he replied, scraping the leftovers into the slop dish for the hogs.
"You're going to help me in the kitchen?" Her voice was incredulous.
"If you're in the kitchen," he said, grinning, "then I want to be there too.
"
He leaned over and laid a noisy teasing kiss on her cheek.
She pulled away from him. "You're keeping me from my work," she protested. But as she finished clearing the table and mixed the hot water in the kettle with cooler water from the pump, Reed was everywhere, touching and teasing her, even though she constantly tried to avoid him.
Drying the dishes and hastily putting them away under Hattie's direction, Reed refused to let his wife linger over an already clean kitchen. Placing a hand on each of her hips, he hauled her up against him, then wrapped his arms around her and shared with her a sweet sultry peach.
He heard the little moan in her throat, yet she pulled away from him. "Hattie, what is it?" His voice was gentle with concern.
"I…
Well, I don't know."
"Are you frightened? I promise it won't hurt again like
it
did last night."
"It's not that, exactly. Last night was
…
so unplanned. It just happened. Tonight, it seems wicked to rush to that bedroom as if I couldn't wait for something to happen."
He smiled. "Is something going to happen, Hattie?" he asked, pressing his lips to her hair.
"It is if we go into the bedroom," she said with certainty.
"How about
if
we stay in the kitchen?" he asked, leaning down to kiss her. He held her tight against him so that she could feel his arousal.
Her shocked intake of breath indicated she was not totally unmoved by his naughty suggestion. "Maybe we
should
go to the bedroom," she said, attempting to move away from him.