Would-Be Mistletoe Wife

“And the girl thought the worst.”

“I’m afraid so. Mrs. Smythe explained the situation, but the girl didn’t look like she believed it.” Jesse gathered his courage. “I need to know if Singapore’s the kind of town that would hold something like that against a lady’s reputation.”

Blackthorn shook his head. “Not likely to cause even a ripple. Unless Mabel Calloway gets ahold of it.”

“Mabel Calloway?”

“Runs the boardinghouse. Louise Smythe used to stay there, so they’re well-acquainted. Ain’t never seen a bigger matchmaker in my life.”

Jesse’s heart sank. “Surely coming to a woman’s aid isn’t a crime.”

Blackthorn chuckled. “Mabel Calloway saw three women married this year. You can be sure she’s set her mind to marrying off Louise Smythe. Seems to me, you’re the most likely candidate, even if you hadn’t caught her during a fall.”

“Then I need to break off all contact.”

Blackthorn positioned the funnel in the lamp. “Or you could court her.”

“I’m not courting her. I have no interest in Mrs. Smythe.”

“Don’t care for the lady, eh?”

Jesse recalled the feeling of her in his arms, the softness of her skin when his lips had accidentally brushed across her forehead. He did care, and that was the problem. She was entirely unsuitable, just like his mother hadn’t been suited to the harshness of life without servants. Jesse had learned one truth well. The people you cared about most always left you. His mother. Fellow soldiers. Even Clarice, the only woman he’d seriously courted. That’s why a mail-order marriage was the perfect solution.

“Not my type,” he answered simply. “I sent an advertisement for a wife to the Chicago newspapers.”

“You don’t say.” Blackthorn scratched his jaw. “Better a woman you’ve never seen than one you’ve met?”

“Yes. But in case Mrs. Smythe gets any ideas, I need to stay away. It’ll help squash any rumors too.” This was the moment of truth. “That means not giving that lecture on the weather. Would you be willing to do it?”

Blackthorn stared. “Speak to a bunch of girls?”

“You did say you should have been asked.”

The keeper muttered something about fools, laced with a little colorful language.

“You’ll do it then?” Jesse said as confidently as he could.

“Too busy for such nonsense.” Blackthorn pointed a finger at him. “You got yourself into this. A true lighthouse keeper don’t go back on his promises.”

Jesse stifled a groan. If Mrs. Evans didn’t let him out of the lecture, he was stuck spending more time with Louise Smythe. That was a definite problem.

* * *

The afternoon’s class had left Louise exhausted.

For a change of pace, she had brought her favorite novel, Pride and Prejudice, and asked each girl to read a page aloud. Dinah burst into tears when it was her turn. That led Priscilla to comment that “someone” clearly couldn’t read, followed by snickers from her cohorts.

Louise had been livid and made Priscilla stay in the classroom after the remainder of the class was dismissed.

Now she faced the girl, who gazed steadily at her without a trace of remorse.

“I expect you to encourage those who haven’t had the same privileges as you,” Louise began, growing more and more uncomfortable under Priscilla’s unblinking stare. “Do you understand?”

The girl tilted her head slightly, her lips pinched into a smirk. “Of course I understand. I am not illiterate.”

Louise gritted her teeth. Every instinct prompted her to chide the girl, but Fiona’s advice came to mind. Encourage and praise her. Impossible. The girl did nothing worthy of either praise or encouragement. If anything, she’d been even more troublesome after seeing Louise in Jesse Hammond’s arms. That smirk was intended to convey that if Louise threatened to punish her, she would tell tales destined to end Louise’s employment.

A cold chill shook her. She had nowhere else to go, but she would not let a spoiled girl dictate her life. Not this time.

“You were fortunate enough to be born to wealth,” Louise said slowly. “Few are.”

“That’s the way God ordained it should be.”

The girl’s answer raised Louise’s hackles. Compassion, not privilege, was a cornerstone of Christian life. Though a retort rose to her lips, she took a deep breath and offered a silent prayer for restraint and understanding. Christ acted in truth and love. Louise must attempt to emulate that. Only then did she realize that Priscilla’s words sounded too pat, as if she was just repeating what her mother had told her. That gave Louise an idea.

“America is a land of opportunity. Everyone deserves a chance to make a new life.”

“Like you?” Priscilla asked without batting an eyelash.

Louise felt vulnerable. Just how much did the girl know about her? Though born to slightly less privilege than Priscilla, her past had its ugly chapters, with wounds that had just begun to heal. Priscilla couldn’t possibly know what had happened in New York. Even though the Benningtons ran in the same sphere as Warren’s parents, the Smythes were intensely private and protective. Anything they might have communicated would disparage Louise, not reveal the truth.

She took a shaky breath and redirected the conversation. “You have much to offer Dinah. Instead of pointing out her deficiencies, you could help her.”

Priscilla stared. “That’s what you’re supposed to do, isn’t it? You are the teacher.”

Louise wanted to wipe the smirk off the girl’s face, but that would only increase the animosity. No, to gain Priscilla’s confidence, she would have to give her a role that she would relish. She quickly went through the possibilities.

“Until next week, then.” The booming masculine voice in the hallway could only belong to Jesse Hammond. “Good evening, Mrs. Evans.”

Priscilla’s attention shifted to the doorway and its closed door. No doubt the girl would have sought out Jesse. He was by far the most handsome bachelor in Singapore. In spite of the difference in their ages, the girls clearly thought him attractive. It was a good thing she hadn’t begun reading Jane Austen’s Emma, which described just such a romance between a much younger woman and an experienced man.

Louise shook herself. Jealousy was not only wrong, it did no good for anyone. To show she could not be held in its bonds, Louise addressed her student.

“You are gifted in literature.” She hoped the compliment helped. “Are you willing to assist Dinah with her reading?”

Priscilla glanced at the closed door before blinking her impossibly long lashes. “Yes, Mrs. Smythe.”

Was it Louise’s imagination or had the girl stressed Mrs.?

“Very well, you may go then.”

Priscilla scrambled from her seat and rushed out the door.

Unwelcome disappointment flooded into Louise. To counter it, she whistled a cheerful tune, the first that came to her, the carol “We Three Kings.” She then began entering the day’s marks into her record book.

“Isn’t it a little early for Christmas carols?” Jesse’s deep voice knifed through her.

She didn’t dare look up, lest she lose her composure again. “It’s never too early to celebrate the Savior’s birth.”

Though distracted, she managed to place Adeline’s arithmetic score in the proper column.

“Mrs. Evans would like me to give the lecture next Monday,” he said. “If that’s all right with you, that is.”

Naturally it would be on Monday, her usual day for a class on the sciences. At least it would only be once.

“If she approved it, then it’s fine with me.” She began to place another score in the record book but forgot whose it was. “If you don’t mind, I am busy.”

“I can see that.”

Yet he didn’t leave.

Louise looked up, prepared to scold him. He cast a sheepish grin her way, and her irritation evaporated. She shook herself. This sympathy for him was dangerous. It had gotten her into all sorts of trouble. She resumed entering grades.

“She asked me to do five more lectures,” he said.

“Five!” Louise’s blood boiled. Five additional lectures would eliminate her science lessons for the entire month of October and half of November. By then, they would no longer be able to go outdoors to examine plant life.

“She insisted.”

Louise swallowed her anger. It wasn’t Jesse’s fault that Fiona was trying to match him to her, just as it wasn’t Priscilla’s fault that Louise had lingered too long in Jesse’s arms. Oh, dear. How was she going to manage six lectures with him?

“I didn’t realize there was that much information to reveal about the weather.”

He looked even more sheepish. “Mrs. Evans suggested I tell your students about the working of the lighthouse.”

Wonderful. Fiona thought science was too obscure for the girls. It had taken all of Louise’s persuasive abilities to convince her to allow a single class each week. Now she was throwing an entire period to Jesse, and for what? Talking about the lighthouse? What possible good would that do the students?

“I thought you didn’t want to lecture,” she pointed out. “You did offer to withdraw and let me do it.”

“Mrs. Evans has a way of persuading a person. She did say we wouldn’t have to work together. You can simply introduce me and monitor from the back of the classroom.”

Didn’t he know how difficult that would be? She could only get rid of these unwanted feelings by distancing herself from Jesse, not putting herself in his path each week.

A piercing scream sent Louise to her feet and Jesse into the hallway.

“One of the girls,” she cried, rushing past him.

He followed and soon ran past her. Then, when he reached the parlor, he halted. Right in the doorway. Louise skidded on the wood floor and nearly bumped into him. Only the door frame spared her from another embarrassing encounter.

Then she spotted Priscilla, who lay at the base of the staircase, moaning and grasping her ankle.

“Mr. Hammond,” Priscilla sobbed. “Help me.”

He hurried toward her and knelt.

Louise wrestled with unseemly thoughts—that Priscilla hadn’t fallen at all and that this was all a ruse to attract Jesse. The jealousy welling within was wrong.

Fiona pushed past Louise. “What happened?”

“I tripped and fell,” Priscilla cried. “My ankle.”

Fiona took charge. “Louise, fetch Mrs. Calloway. She’ll know whether or not to get the doctor from Saugatuck. Mr. Hammond, let’s get Priscilla to the sofa.”

Jesse didn’t need Fiona’s help. While Louise donned her hat, he scooped up Priscilla, who draped both arms around his neck and leaned her head against his shoulder. Whether or not Priscilla had really tripped and hurt her ankle, she was definitely taking advantage of the situation.

Louise yanked open the door and stepped outside. She would not battle an eighteen-year-old for the attentions of a man. She took a deep breath of the late afternoon air.

Louise Smythe was a teacher. She could stand on her own. No man was required.

Chapter Four

From the look on Louise’s face, Jesse had the distinct impression that he’d done something wrong. Yet he’d just gone to the aid of an injured student. Yes, it was the same girl who could make trouble for Louise, but he didn’t see how setting her on the sofa was a problem.

Even so, Louise had stormed out of the school. True, she’d gone for help, but that didn’t explain the look of fury she’d cast his way. It was a good thing she didn’t see him carry the girl upstairs to her bedroom under the guidance of Mrs. Evans. Though he’d retreated to the parlor at once, the sense that he’d done something wrong still gnawed at him. Trouble was, he couldn’t figure out exactly what that was.

True, the girl had given him the sort of coy smile that debutantes had cast his way before the war. Her thanks were overly profuse, and she’d hung on to his neck far too intimately, but she was just a girl. Louise knew that. Besides, she was gone for most of that. No, her irritation had begun while they were still in the classroom. She’d been somewhat cool but cordial until he’d mentioned the additional lectures.

He raked a hand through his hair. He must have offended her by agreeing not only to the lecture on the weather but to five more. Yet hadn’t Louise refused his offer to step down? It wasn’t as if he’d asked to give more lectures. Mrs. Evans had proposed them and then refused to accept his no. He’d only accepted when she agreed that Louise did not have to be involved in the lectures—and when he realized they gave him the perfect opportunity to get Blackthorn to show him the workings of the light. He’d been about to tell her that when the screams interrupted them.

The sound of footsteps on the staircase drew his gaze upward.

Mrs. Evans descended a few steps. “Thank you, Mr. Hammond, that will be all.”

Jesse gripped his hat between his hands. “Is she hurt badly?”

“I suspect it’s nothing more than a sprain. Mrs. Calloway will help me examine her.”

“The doctor is far?”

“Less than a mile upriver.”

Jesse hadn’t taken time to explore the area yet. “The town’s that close?” From what he’d seen, when two towns sprang up next to each other, they either merged into one or the smaller one died out. Fortunately, the lighthouse location wouldn’t change. It marked the entrance to a port that saw a decent amount of traffic, thanks to both the lumber trade and the produce that was still being shipped out this time of year.

“Peculiar, isn’t it, when Singapore holds the river mouth. Sawyer—that’s my husband—says all incoming ships stop here. That virtually ensures Singapore will outlast Saugatuck, even after the timber runs out.”

Jesse didn’t comment. His thoughts still ranged over Louise’s departure. “If a doctor is needed, I can fetch him. I assume there’s a road between the towns.”

“Of course, though you’ll need to walk it unless you have a mount.”

Jesse did not. It seemed virtually no one here did. He’d seen only the wagon horses at work on the wharf.

“I can walk. I’ll be at the lighthouse if needed.”

Jesse stepped toward the front door at the moment it burst open. Louise flew inside, almost running into him. She hopped aside at the last minute.

“Oh! Excuse me.” She then focused on Mrs. Evans. “Is Priscilla any worse? I checked everywhere, but no one has any ice left.”

An older woman bustled in after Louise. “Too late in the season.” She tugged a bonnet off and headed for the staircase. “I assume she’s upstairs?”

“Of course.” Mrs. Evans extended a hand. “I’m glad you came, Mrs. Calloway. I’ll tell you what happened the best I can.”

The two ladies ascended the staircase, talking the entire way. That left him with Louise.

“Well, I suppose that’s that,” she said.

For a woman of words, that statement was unusually vague, but Jesse was more drawn by the flush of her cheeks and brightness of her gray eyes. At this hour, they ought to be dark, but they sparkled with life and drew him irresistibly toward her.

“I hope she’s not injured badly,” he said softly.

“I doubt it.” The uncharacteristic statement sent another flush of red to her cheeks. “I’m sorry, that was uncalled for.”

Jesse couldn’t help but come to her defense, even though the only battle she fought was with herself. “I suspect you’re right. A break would have caused a great deal more pain.”

Louise gave him a grateful smile, just for a moment. Then the wall went back up between them. “Well, I should check in on the patient. Good evening, Mr. Hammond.”

“Mister? Maybe we should move beyond formality if we are working together.”

Her lips moved, as if she was about to say his given name and then thought better of it. “I must go upstairs. Good night.”

“Good night.”

But she hadn’t waited for his answer. She hurried up the stairs, her gaze averted. A moment later, Jesse stood alone in the parlor. Any hint of affection died in the coolness of her response.

Best concentrate on the opportunity set before him. Tonight he would convince Blackthorn to show him how to work the light. Thanks to Mrs. Evans, he had the perfect reason.

* * *

Naturally nothing was wrong with Priscilla. Louise lingered outside the girl’s room long enough to learn that. Under the crowded supervision of Fiona and the other four students, Mrs. Calloway had declared there was no swelling or bruising. Priscilla would be up and about by Monday. However, she would miss tonight’s church supper.

Louise and Fiona stood in the parlor after Mrs. Calloway departed and the girls returned to their rooms to freshen up before walking to the church.

“I will stay with Priscilla,” Louise volunteered.

As combative as her relationship was with the girl, she preferred an evening with Priscilla to the gossip and matchmaking that took place at all community functions. Her position as a widow who’d arrived in town hoping to marry opened the gate for constant suggestions of a suitable match. Not a one of them came close to the type of husband she craved. That included the latest resident, Jesse Hammond. Yes, his handsome features and the way he looked at her made her blush, but that was purely a biological reaction without one iota of sense, common or otherwise.

Naturally, Fiona objected to Louise’s offer. “You go to the supper. I will stay with Priscilla.”

“Nonsense. You need to be with your family. This school consumes too much of your time. This is a chance for you all to do something together.” She added the crowning blow. “I’m sure Mary Clare would love to go.”

Fiona looked like she was going to protest, but the thought of pleasing her niece, whom she was raising, ended the matchmaking effort. A sigh of resignation issued from her lips.

Louise took advantage. “I insist.”

At that moment, the four girls descended the staircase, giving Louise the opportunity she needed. She hurried upstairs before Fiona could summon a protest.

Priscilla’s bedroom door was closed. Though the rest of the girls doubled up in a room, the Benningtons had insisted on a private room for their daughter. At the time, Louise had viewed that request as arrogant, but perhaps it was intended to protect the other girls from Priscilla’s manipulations. Perhaps her parents had tired of retrieving their daughter from school after school. Then again, at eighteen—even though just barely that age—Priscilla ought to be receiving suitors at home. Louise could not imagine why her parents insisted on sending their daughter to a ladies’ school against her wishes.

Louise rapped lightly on the door, not wanting to wake Priscilla if she was dozing. Mrs. Calloway had insisted on giving the girl a dose of laudanum. Louise didn’t think that wise, especially before supper, but Mrs. Calloway brushed away her objections.

When Priscilla did not answer, Louise quietly turned the door handle.

“Mr. Hammond?” The somewhat slurred words trailed off.

The poor girl was dreaming. She must be. Jesse wouldn’t have promised to return that evening. Surely he had duties to perform at the lighthouse. Dusk was the crucial hour when the light began its daily vigil. Then again, perhaps he intended to go to the church supper after the light was lit. Between Mr. Blackthorn and Jesse, they could take turns tending the light. That would explain Fiona’s insistence that Louise attend but not Priscilla calling out Jesse’s name.

Louise gently pushed open the door to the girl’s room. The hinges creaked slightly, something that a little oil would remedy. She must tell Fiona’s husband, Sawyer, the next time she saw him.

Priscilla lay atop the bed, the bedclothes disheveled, as if she had tossed and turned through a night of terrors, yet she could have slept but a few minutes. The girl’s eyes were closed, and her face was flushed.

Louise caught her breath. Something truly was wrong with Priscilla. She crossed the room and placed a hand on the girl’s forehead. It was warm but not overly hot. Still, something had caused this thrashing about. Louise poured water from the pitcher into the basin on the washstand and then dipped a cloth in it. A cool compress wouldn’t hurt. After wringing out the excess water, she placed it on Priscilla’s forehead. The girl moved her head from side to side and murmured something unintelligible, but she didn’t wake.

Louise then took the chair from the table that had been intended as a writing desk but had been transformed into a vanity. She set it beside the bed and sat down. Priscilla’s uneaten supper lay on a table opposite. Her glass of water was also untouched. Louise watched the girl intently, but she did not thrash about again. Perhaps the compress was helping. The delirium might be caused by the laudanum, or it might be the beginning of a fever. Either way, someone must watch Priscilla carefully.

She would hold vigil tonight and as long as necessary.

Outside, dusk had settled into the early gloom of night. A beam of light flooded the room. The lighthouse! Louise hadn’t realized the light’s beam reached these windows. Her room faced opposite. The other girls had rooms that faced toward the river. Only Priscilla’s room had this vantage.

Louise hurried to close the blinds. The room ought to have shutters. She grasped the thick velvet curtains, ready to pull them shut, when she noticed a figure on the dune opposite, the dune where she’d first encountered Jesse. From the size of this figure, it must be the assistant lighthouse keeper. Mr. Blackthorn was considerably smaller. Pearl Decker said Jesse had been in town nearly a week. Priscilla might have seen him many times before their encounter on the dune. That was more than enough time for a lonely girl to fantasize about a handsome man walking across the dune outside her window.

Jesse headed downhill toward the hotel side of the building that housed both the school and the hotel. Priscilla’s delirious mutterings echoed in Louise’s mind. Had she expected Jesse to return? Was that the reason for the fall or feigned fall? That awful twinge of jealousy returned. What was wrong with her? She had no interest in Jesse beyond the professional. One way or another, she must gain control of her emotions.

So she began to close the drapes. Then she spotted Jesse moving past the hotel in the direction of the church. He must be going to the supper. Late, certainly, but there would still be food. There was always more than enough. Nothing else was located in that direction—except the saloons.

She drew in a sharp breath and pushed the curtain open again.

What if he frequented drinking establishments? The terrible thought gave her pause. Jesse didn’t seem like that sort, but what did she truly know of him? She had only seen him on the dune and in school. He hadn’t attended the worship service last Sunday. He might well be a drinking man. Many in town were.

She shifted so she could watch his progress. He would not see her, since she had not lit a lamp in the room, and the door was closed. In the light from the waxing half-moon, she could make him out. He stepped onto the boardwalk beyond the hotel. From there he could cross the street to the saloon or walk up Oak Street to go to the church building. Granted, he could also get to the church by staying on Cedar, but it was less direct. If he crossed at the intersection, it would prove he wasn’t going to a saloon.

She held her breath.

He looked toward the wharf and then crossed the street right where the saloon was located.

She let the curtains drop even as memories of Warren crashed into her mind. The drunken binges. The inevitable fights. The torrent of painful blows to face and body. The terror that he would go too far.

It wasn’t fair to put Jesse in that category. He might have had a perfectly good reason to cross at that particular point. Maybe someone called out to him. He might be going elsewhere, though the store would be closed and he had no business at the boardinghouse that she knew about. No, try as she might, she could find no reason he would head in that direction.