Chapter 7

Class is dismissed.” She grinned when her pupils whooped as they retrieved their dinner pails and the rest of their belongings. She was so glad it was Friday evening and the first two weeks of school were officially over. She’d spent the afternoon teaching the children arithmetic by splitting them into groups for a game. Each group took their turn at the chalkboard, and the one in the group who figured out the answer to the question first won the round. Then the winners from each group competed against each other. It had proven to be a great way to spend a Friday afternoon with her pupils. They’d been restless, anxious for the weekend break.

She’d also encouraged them to start studying plants, if they wished. She had some old canning jars on the windowsill. She’d filled the jars with water, and the children could bring in any plants they thought were interesting. She would then find the names of the plants in her botany book. It would be good for the children to know the names of the different plants that grew around their town.

“Are you ready?” Timothy entered her classroom and gave her a warm smile.

She smiled back at him. “Yes, just give me a minute to gather my things.”

“Hi, Daddy.” Lily hugged her father.

Over the last couple of weeks, Lily had been shy but was slowly making friends. So far, she seemed to get along well with Abigail, and that was refreshing. Deborah had been worried about her when she’d initially started school, but now she seemed to be settling in quite well.

“Hello, Lily.” He kissed his daughter’s cheek before approaching Deborah at the desk. Oh, how she wished he’d kiss her on the cheek, or the lips for that matter.

She tried to calm the fluttery feeling in the pit of her stomach. “I brought the wagon with me, just as you asked me to.” He gestured behind her desk. “You received a lot of pumpkins from your students.”

She eyed the pumpkins that had been given to her over the past week. Some of the farmers grew pumpkins on their farms, and each year they gave her some of the bounty. She and Ma would be canning pumpkins and making pumpkin pies this weekend. Just thinking about eating the pumpkin treats made her mouth water. She made the best pumpkin pie, and she longed to share one with Timothy and Lily.

“Yes, thank you. I’m grateful that my students give me pumpkins, since Pa doesn’t grow them on the farm.”

He chuckled. Oh, how she loved to hear Timothy laugh. They’d been studying every night for two weeks and had gotten into a slow, easy routine of studying. She’d found that having him help her really did prove beneficial to her learning. They’d been steadily making their way through the study manual, and come exam time, she’d be more than ready to take the exam, Lord willing. “Why are you laughing?”

“Because I have more pumpkins back at your house. I gave them to your ma this morning.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Really?”

“Yes. Folks have been paying me for my medical skills with pumpkins and other squashes.”

In their town, a lot of the folks didn’t always have money to pay the doctor. She recalled that Doc Smith used to accept payment in the form of livestock, fruit, and vegetables.

After they’d loaded the pumpkins into the wagon and she and Lily had gotten settled in for the short ride home, she thought about all that had occurred since she finally agreed to let Timothy help her study for the entrance exam. Her ma continued complaining about her plans to attend college, but Deborah had learned not to focus too much on her ma’s negative words. Her pa, usually quiet and reserved, had actually given her his blessing. And then Ma had gotten mad at Pa for encouraging Deborah. Even though her decision caused disharmony between her parents, she still felt that the Lord wanted her to attend college.

Deborah’s home life had been very different since Timothy and Lily came to town. Seeing Timothy every day for meals with her family while she bonded with her niece had added some joy to her life.

As Timothy guided the horses, she thought about other things that had happened over the last two weeks. The first evening she’d studied with Timothy in the room next to the barn, with her cat Susie as company, her ma had had a conniption. “It just isn’t right for you to be alone with him for so long in the evening. If you’re really going to pursue this foolish notion, then you and Timothy need to do your studying right here in the house, at this kitchen table.”

Deborah had been hurt that her ma referred to her college degree as a “foolish notion.” However, she agreed. She needed to study with Timothy at the kitchen table. Since her aspirations were no longer a secret, she didn’t have to hide out in the barn to study.

As Timothy steered the wagon toward her home, he cleared his throat. “Unless a patient needs to see me, I should be able to accompany you and your parents to church this Sunday.” For the last couple of Sundays Timothy had been treating patients and had been unable to attend church.

“That sounds nice. We have a wonderful pastor. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the sermon.” She’d attended church with Pa, Ma, and Lily over the last couple of weeks. The thought of attending church with Timothy excited her.

Eve shoved the dishes into the tub of hot, soapy water. She shook her head, her movements quick with anger as she washed the dishes. “How could you be smitten with Deborah? My sister doesn’t want to marry. Besides, if it weren’t for your incompetence, I’d be alive right now. It’s your fault that I’m dead, Timothy.” Her loud voice exploded in the kitchen right before she pushed the tub of water toward him. “Get away from me.” Her dark eyes sparked with anger and she stomped out of the room.

Timothy jerked awake. He pushed off the sweaty, tangled mass of sheets and rolled out of bed. Groaning, he poured a cup of water from the pitcher. The cool liquid slid down his parched throat. He’d had the dream … again. It was the same as always, except this time Eve had mentioned Deborah. Just hearing her accusations, her pain, sliced right to the core of his heart. Lord, are You trying to tell me something? Why would I dream about this now? In his dream, Eve had looked just as she always looked whenever they had an argument. They’d done a lot of arguing during their tumultuous marriage. Her angry words had been hurled at him like the stone that David had slung toward Goliath.

He lamented about the terrible dream as he donned his clothes for church. He pulled his recently polished shoes onto his feet. “Are you ready, Lily?” His daughter got dressed herself, but Mama June and Deborah would usually check to make sure her hair looked presentable before she left for school or church.

Deborah. She’d been dominating his mind lately. And now his dream about Eve … He didn’t know if he should give the dream further thought, but it was hard to forget Eve’s cold, cruel anger in the dream.

“Yes, Daddy, I’m ready.” Lily’s voice interrupted his thoughts. His daughter grinned, showing a gap where she’d recently lost a tooth. After they ate some cold biscuits, they exited the house. As they walked toward Deborah’s home, he thought about how his life had changed over the last couple of weeks.

He’d been studying every night with Deborah. He’d also seen Mama June’s open disapproval regarding her daughter’s educational goal. He’d wanted to try to reason with Mama June, but he sensed that Deborah didn’t want him to interfere in her relationship with her parents. It bothered him whenever she frowned, upset about her ma’s disapproval. He sighed as he continued walking toward Deborah’s house. With startling clarity, he realized that he enjoyed spending time with Deborah. They’d developed an easy camaraderie while they worked together. She always smelled nice too. Sometimes she smelled like peppermint. Other times she smelled of basil or wildflowers. Whenever she was concentrating, trying to figure out an answer, she’d bite her lower lip and scrunch her eyebrows together.

Heaven help him, whenever she came up with the correct answer or got excited about learning something new, the urge to kiss her consumed him. He liked working with her, but he also felt guilty. Eve had been dead for a year. Was it wrong for him to have feelings for her twin sister? Was Eve looking down from heaven right now, frowning because he was falling for Deborah?

“Hi, Timothy.” Deborah greeted him from the door, giving him a smile as warm as sunshine. She looked fetching in her yellow bonnet and brown dress. He resisted the urge to take her hand and hold her in his arms.

“Good morning.”

She frowned. “What’s wrong? You look upset.”

Was it so obvious? He mentally sighed. No way could he let her know that the dream he’d had the previous night was haunting him. “Just had trouble sleeping last night. Are all of you ready to go to church?”

“Yes, we’re ready.” After he, Lily, Mama June, Papa Daniel, and Deborah had settled in the wagon, he flicked the reins to steer the horses toward the school building. The town was so small that the schoolhouse doubled as the church. As they got out of the wagon and made their way toward the steps, he again resisted the urge to hold Deborah’s hand. She walked beside him, her gentle peppermint scent wafting toward him.

“Excuse me, Doctor?” a loud voice called from behind him. He turned around and spotted one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen in his entire life. Her long dark hair curled and shimmered in the sunlight, and her light brown eyes were fringed with long lashes. She wore a fancy brown dress and carried a parasol. He couldn’t imagine why she’d need a parasol on this cool autumn morning.

“Yes?” Before focusing on the beautiful lady again, he quickly glanced behind him and realized that Deborah, her parents, and Lily had already gone into the school.

“I’m Clara Blue, and this is my ma, Mildred Blue.” He then noticed the short, becoming woman standing beside Clara. He shook both of their hands and dipped his head. “Pleased to make your acquaintance. I’m Timothy Washington.”

Clara giggled and fingered his shirt. “Oh, we know who you are, Doctor. I haven’t seen you at church since you came to town. I was wondering why you hadn’t yet shown up to serve the Lord.” The slight disapproval in her voice made him pause. Taken aback by the comment, he didn’t respond.

“My daughter is eighteen, Doctor, and is still learning how to converse well with others. I’m afraid she sometimes forgets her manners.”

No harm done. He really needed to get inside the church. “Again, I’m pleased to meet both of you. I need to go into the church to sit with my family.”

“Oh Doctor,” Clara whined. “Why don’t you sit with me and my ma? We’d love to have you sit with us, and maybe you can come over for dinner afterward. We’re having fried chicken, apple pie, and buttermilk biscuits.”

Fried chicken and apple pie sounded nice, but he honestly didn’t think he could stomach sitting beside Clara for an entire afternoon and hearing her whiny voice. Plus, she smelled like a perfume bath. The smell proved almost too much for him to handle. She didn’t have the nice gentle smell of peppermint and wildflowers like Deborah. He mentally shook his head. Now why did he have to go and compare Clara to Deborah?

Well, he had to be a gentleman. He escorted Clara and her ma into the school. He glanced around the crowded room. Deborah and her parents and Lily sat on a bench near the front—no empty seat for him. He frowned. Why didn’t Deborah save him a seat?

“Doctor, come sit with us.” Clara issued the command before patting the empty spot on the bench beside her. Well, it appeared he didn’t have a choice. He sat beside Clara and her ma while the pastor began the service.

After the congregation sang a few hymns, he struggled to listen to the pastor as he preached about Christian charity. He mentioned that Stephen advocated for the widows and children, making sure they had enough food. Timothy enjoyed the pastor’s message. He’d not yet formally met the preacher, so he needed to be sure to do so after the service was over.

In spite of the preacher’s eloquent message, he eagerly waited for the sermon to end. He felt sick. It was Clara’s strong perfume, he was sure of it. The pungent smell was making him ill, and the urge to get away from her consumed him. After the sermon and prayer, Clara tugged on his sleeve. “Doctor, I have a headache. Could you please come this afternoon?” She then told him how to get to her home.

“Clara.” Stark disapproval tinged her ma’s voice. Why was her ma so upset?

Taken aback, speechless, he looked directly at Clara. Now he understood why her ma sounded so angry. Clara’s eyes sparkled with good health, and he highly doubted she had a headache. No way was he falling for this woman’s shenanigans. “Perhaps you should lie down when you arrive home.”

Clara sniffed as if she had a runny nose. “Please, Doctor?”

“Clara.” Mildred Blue glared at her daughter.

What could he do? He’d just met Clara. What if she really was ill? He squeezed his eyes shut. Lord, please help me. Folks were slowly filtering out of the church. He overheard them talking about rushing home to eat their Sunday dinner. He figured Deborah and the rest of the family would be waiting for him at the wagon. He focused on Mildred Blue. Somehow, that seemed like the safest thing to do. “I have to go and get my bag. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”