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ALICE SAT ON THE PORCH swing admiring the stars in the moonlight. She pushed off with her feet, gently rocking back and forth. The swing’s chains squeaked and scraped. The night breeze was sharp, and she shivered despite her wraps. Soon it would be winter. She ran her fingertips lightly over her mouth where Jack’s lips had been. She jumped when he appeared out of the darkness, interrupting her thoughts.
“You should go inside. This cold air can’t be good for your lungs.”
“Jack, you frightened me. I didn’t hear you coming.” Thank goodness it was too dark for him to see the way her cheeks burned with him nearby. She adjusted her lap rug and wrapped her shawl tighter around her shoulders.
“Sorry. I finished repairing the slow leak in your bicycle tire and was headed to my rooms when I saw you sitting here. Is everything all right?”
She avoided his gaze. “Yes, of course. Everything’s fine.”
In truth, everything was not fine. She should be happy, but nothing was as it should be. She should be planning her wedding. Her mother should be pinning and hemming her dress. Lizzie and her mother were to bake the most beautiful cake Pine Lake had ever seen, second only to the one they planned for Lizzie and Fin. Betty should be practicing her solo. Instead, Alice’s parents were gone, Mrs. Hudson, too. Lizzie lived, but she faced a long recovery ahead of her.
Then there was Harry. He changed, no longer the happy-go-lucky young man she fell in love with. His appearance always meant more to him than to her. But could she overlook his behavior? She thought he’d be pleased she was helping Doc. Instead, it made him angry. And the way he reacted every time he saw her with Jack—the way he squinted his eyes and tensed his jaw. She knew they weren’t close, but it was almost like he hated his brother.
Jack pointed to the empty side of the swing. “May I?”
Alice stood. “Be my guest. I was going in anyway.” She took a step toward the door. She couldn’t trust herself sitting so close to him when his kiss was still fresh on her mind, on her lips.
He reached for her. “Wait.” His fingers brushed her shoulder.
Her stomach fluttered, and a hot rush burned through her despite the cold night air. “I love Harry. We’re going to be married.” She should walk away, go inside and close the door, but she couldn’t. She faced him.
He lightly traced the path of a single tear down her cheek. Her heart pounded, her breath shallow and uneven. She forced herself to take each step back until her hand reached the door handle.
“Please,” she whispered, before fleeing to the safety of her room, leaving Jack standing alone on the porch.
She didn’t bother to light the lamp. She closed the door and curtains then lay on top of the bed. Oh, how she wanted to fall into Jack’s arms and never run from him again. She desperately wanted the taste of his kiss. There was a name for girls who professed to love one man, while spending time in another’s arms. She was not raised to be one of those girls.
She held the soft material of her shawl against her cheek where only moments ago Jack had touched her. Harry gave it to her as a remembrance gift before he left for the army. Think of me when you wear this, he had said. She promised she would, yet here she was thinking of his brother.
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING, ALICE woke more tired than when she’d gone to bed. Jack and Harry haunted her dreams, making sleep almost impossible, certainly not restful. The mirror told her she looked as awful as she felt. She filled her wash basin, wet a cloth, and held it to her face. The cold water shocked her into the moment.
She hadn’t taken her hair down the night before, either. She pulled out the pins. One by one they clinked against the pink flowered porcelain dish on her bureau. Her hair fell in a tangled mess. She carefully eased her brush through the snarls in sections, starting at the bottom and moving her way up, until her hair glistened in waves over her shoulder. Rather than taking the time to pin it up again, she tied it with a black satin ribbon.
Her clothes also suffered from her negligence. Though they were clean enough to wear again, they were far too wrinkled. She donned a fresh skirt and blouse from her wardrobe, stepped back, and checked herself in the mirror. Satisfied, she was ready to face the day.
Coffee was on the stove, still hot. Alice lifted the lid on the pot next to it. Oatmeal. Also, still hot. Jack had set her place at the table and cleared his breakfast dishes. Thankfully, she wouldn’t have to face him, but she would also miss their mealtime together. Was this how it would be going forward? Practically living under the same roof but never crossing paths? Then again, soon she wouldn’t be living there anymore.
It was never a consideration what to do with her parents’ home after she married. She would move to town with Harry, and her parents would still be on the farm with Jack to help. Now what was she to do? She certainly couldn’t have the brothers living so close together. And now, after the kiss—.
Kissing Harry was not at all like kissing Jack. Harry kissed her on the cheek. Quick and chaste, they made her blush. But Jack’s kiss . . . Even though it only lasted a moment, his lips on hers made Alice burn. Time stopped, pulling the breath from her lungs.
If the telephone hadn’t rung when it did, Alice knew she would have returned his kiss. If Harry hadn’t called to apologize . . . Harry.
She finished her oatmeal and drank the last swallow of coffee. She washed up, wiped down the table, and hung the towel to dry.
The kiss—
She knew in her heart she couldn’t live so close to Jack every day without dreaming of more. How long would it be before Harry suspected? And how would he react if he ever knew? He’d probably kill Jack, at least he’d try.
What a nest of snakes she’d opened when she’d let Jack kiss her. When she’d enjoyed his kiss. She’d have to avoid him at all costs until she figured out what to do next. She pinned on her hat, buttoned her coat, and prepared to sneak off to town unnoticed.
She peeked around the open barn door. Jack was mucking out the cows’ pens, his back to her. She tip-toed to where her bicycle leaned against the wall only a couple of feet away. She almost made it out the door when Jack appeared at her side.
“I promised Doc I’d drive you to and from town. You’re supposed to be taking it easy.”
“I’m feeling much better. Really. And it’s such a beautiful day.”
The smell of fresh hay on his clothes, coupled with his tousled hair, made her heart race. She wanted to reach up and finger-comb the stray strands into place, pluck the bit of hay caught in his sandy curls. She pushed her bicycle out into the yard, in a hurry to get as far from the temptation of Jack and this new power he seemed to hold over her.
“I promise to call you should I need a ride home.” She pedaled away before he could insist. A ride into town with Jack sitting so close, his arm brushing against hers, was not a good idea right then.
* * *
ALICE STOOD IN THE middle of the school gymnasium and stared at all the deserted beds around her. Addy Gunderson swept while her son Gustof folded the cots and stacked them against the wall with Tommy’s help. Could it be true?
Doc untied his apron and slipped it off. “I sent the last patients home first thing this morning.”
“I can hardly believe it.”
“Believe it, my dear. I made my recommendation to the mayor that the town quarantine be lifted.”
“That means—”
“—you and Harry can be married now.” He put on his jacket.
The wedding was all she’d thought about since the day she’d said yes to his proposal. But now, how could she marry one brother while the memory, the excitement, of the other brother’s kiss still lingered on her lips, in her dreams?
Doc placed a hand on her shoulder. “Before you start your wedding plans, I suggest we finish cleaning up this mess so the children can return to school. I’ve asked Mayor Iverson to spread the word we need a few more willing helpers. He said he’d start with his wife.”
Alice laughed. “I assure you, it’s not going to be the likes of Anna Iverson, or Margaret Barnes, walking through the door. It will be more women like Addy Gunderson.” As if to prove her right, Olga Erikson and her daughter Lucy appeared, hair tied up and covered in kerchiefs, aprons donned and ready to get to work. Running a store was no end to hard work. More than one evening after closing, Alice walked past to see Lucy mopping the floor while her mother went over the accounts and her father and brother restocked shelves.
“Where do you need us to start, Doc?” Olga and Lucy set down their mop buckets and rolled up their sleeves.
“Why don’t you follow behind Addy and the boys.” He pointed to them steadily working their way down the rapidly disappearing rows of cots. “Alice, I could use a hand returning my records and instruments to my surgery.”
“Of course.” She went to his desk and began with the logbooks while Doc collected his instruments and returned each to his bag.
“We’ll stop at the stables on the way and ask Seth and his man to bring a wagon to collect the cots.”
Word of the quarantine lifting spread fast. Window shades once drawn in fear, were now thrown open. Johnnie stood outside Erikson’s talking to the neighboring business owners. The men were actually laughing, calling out greetings to those who passed, a sound Alice hadn’t heard in such a long time.
Johnnie waved. “Morning, Doc, Alice.”
They joined him. “Good morning, Johnnie.” Alice smiled. “I saw your mother and sister at the school. We appreciate their help when I’m certain you have a lot to do with the store reopening.”
“Dad said the sooner we get the school up and running again, the sooner we get Lucy out of our hair. She hasn’t been happy cooped up in the house all these weeks.”
Doc squeezed his shoulder. “No one has, son. Glad to see your family came through this all right.”
“Yes, sir. Right as rain, just a little sick of each other’s company.”
They said their good-byes and continued on to Doc’s surgery. He unlocked the door and held it open for Alice to pass. The rooms were dark and musty from being closed up for so long. He’d spent all his free time at the school, saw all his patients there or in their homes. Alice set the logbooks on a side table and opened curtains and windows to let in fresh air.
“Have a seat.” Doc pointed to a straight-backed chair in front of his desk. “I wanted to thank you. I couldn’t have accomplished near as much, seen or saved near as many of our residents, without you.”
“I was happy to help.” She sat and smoothed her skirts. “The work kept me busy, helped me get through the most difficult time I’ve ever had to face. I should be thanking you.”
“It was obvious to me from day one, you have a real knack for nursing. Have you ever considered professional training?”
“You mean be a real nurse?” She had to admit the idea appealed to her. Jack suggested the same thing, but she was going to marry Harry, be a wife and mother. That’s the future she’d always envisioned for herself. The only women she knew who held actual jobs outside their homes were those with a family business, like the Eriksons or the Finleys. Iris worked the telephone switchboard, but she was a spinster and worked from her own front parlor.
“Yes, a real nurse in a hospital, or with a small-town doctor like me. I’d be willing to train you myself, but it wouldn’t be the same as a professional training. I could recommend you to a nursing school in Duluth if you like. It’s a three-year program, though, and they don’t take married women.”
“Three years—I couldn’t possibly—Harry and I are getting married as soon as possible now that the quarantine has been lifted.”
“As I expected. I just wanted to let you know your options. As I said, I’d be willing to train a smart, hard-working girl like you to do about anything Pine Lake needed. And it wouldn’t matter to me if you were married. Think about it.”
“Thank you.” Alice stood. “I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. I’m not. I owe you everything right now.”
“Did you enjoy nursing?”
“Oh, yes. Being able to help those people, my friends and neighbors, get well again— I’ve never felt so fulfilled before. It was a blessing. It truly was. But I couldn’t.”
“The offer stays open. Anytime you want to lend me a hand, you’re welcome. I’ll teach you everything you need to know.”
“Thank you, again, but I better go see how the cleaning crew is doing. If we don’t get Lucy Erikson back in school soon, there’s no telling what her brother might do to her.” Doc’s laughter rang behind her as the door closed.
Nursing. The idea excited her, but she’d never convince Harry to agree. She promised him she’d quit as soon as the quarantine was lifted. And now it was.