Chapter 15

“Tina?” Jonas ran one hand over his red curls. But it was no use. Missy’s fingers had clearly left a trail.

Missy blushed to the roots of her dark hair and clutched her hands together in front of her. She would have put those hands to better use covering her lips, swollen from kissing Jonas.

Tina’s brother kissing Vince’s sister.

They’d only just met.

“I . . . I didn’t mean to . . . to . . .” Tina was speechless. And that certainly never happened. “I’ll just . . . that is . . . Mrs. Yates should—”

Tina spun away and almost ran out of the room, her head full of confused images. Her brother had been holding a woman close whom he barely knew.

And where had Mrs. Yates gone to? As she rushed away, Tina’s temper began to build. Jonas shouldn’t be kissing a stranger. Why, Tina had known Vince for months now, and when they’d kissed she’d been astounded by it, not ready for it at all. And anyway, these two were supposed to be watching Mrs. Yates. Where was she?

“Tina, wait!” Jonas came running after her and caught her just as she was ready to go check Mrs. Yates’s room. “What you saw back there was . . . was . . .”

The front door opened, and Vince stepped in. He looked right into Tina’s eyes and there was a flash of memory between them. Then Vince’s brow furrowed, and Tina wondered what in the world she must look like. Vince looked past Tina. His eyes locked on something. Tina looked back to see Jonas, lapsed into silence.

“What’s going on here?” Vince asked, sounding like the crack of doom.

Missy peeked out of the doorway but stayed back. Vince’s sharp eyes went past Jonas to his sister, then back to Tina. He arched a brow at her.

Which helped her to regain her speech.

“It was what, Jonas?” Tina thought she sounded rather steady. Calm, in fact. Cool and unruffled. “You were about to say what I saw was . . . ?” Tina let the word hang.

“It was Missy agreeing to . . .” Jonas’s always ruddy skin turned a vivid red. He swallowed hard, looked at Vince, then squared his shoulders as if someone had ordered him to stand at attention. “Missy was agreeing that I could court her.”

“She what?” Vince exploded.

It was such an unexpected answer, Tina’s knees sagged, and even though she was gripping the banister, she sat down hard on the second step. If that step hadn’t been there, right under her backside, she’d have slumped all the way to the floor.

Vince seemed like the type to catch a collapsing woman, but he didn’t even notice.

“You just met her!” Tina hadn’t meant to shriek exactly, but that was how it came out.

And one completely selfish stab of jealousy told Tina she was no longer going to be as important to her brother. In fact, if Jonas and Missy married, Tina was most likely going to be asked to move out. And if they were too kind to ask her to leave, she’d still know they would look on her as unwelcome. A feeling she’d had most of her life.

Jonas shrugged and scrubbed both hands through his hair, then turned and reached one hand out for Missy. She came forward with a shy but steady smile and took his hand.

“You’re courting?” Vince sounded somewhat like a screeching bird. He had the nickname Invincible Vince, but he must’ve had too many things happen too fast, because this situation had gotten the better of him.

“I know this seems sudden.” Jonas pulled Missy close.

Tina studied Missy. They really knew nothing about her. There could be little doubt she was Julius Yates’s daughter, but how had she really lived these last few years? Was she an honest woman? Maybe she was looking for a home and grabbed the most gullible man she could find. Maybe Jonas meant nothing to her. Maybe she’d been overly generous with her favors, allowing a man to kiss her. Tina caught herself on that when memories of being in Vince’s arms subdued her growing moral outrage.

“It doesn’t seem sudden. It is sudden.” Tina really didn’t know what to say. And that never happened. Tina always knew exactly what to say.

“Where’s my mother?” Vince sounded cold as the grave. “You were supposed to be watching her, but it looks to me like you got distracted.”

Melissa gasped, gave Jonas a worried glance, then whipped around him and threaded between Tina and Vince to run upstairs.

When she was gone, Tina exchanged a long look with her beloved brother. Vince stood silent.

“I know it’s come from out of the blue,” Jonas said, “but from the moment I saw her, I felt like God was opening a door in my heart I never even knew was closed. I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life. If it were up to me, we’d be getting married this very day.”

“Today?” Vince croaked, and for a second Tina thought he was going to join her sitting on the steps. He looked none too steady.

A movement at the top of the stairs drew Tina’s attention, yet that wasn’t a surprise. She was eager to look away from the besotted expression in Jonas’s eyes. Melissa came out of the room with Mrs. Yates on her arm.

“I believe Missy is the woman God prepared for me,” Jonas went on. “I feel like I’ve found my other half.” He watched Melissa descend the stairs as if she were walking down an aisle with a bouquet of posies instead of an addled woman. Tina and Vince and Mrs. Yates might as well have melted into the floor, because Jonas and Melissa only had eyes for each other.

Finally, Melissa was near enough that Tina had to move or block the stairway for the two ladies. Tina struggled to her feet. Her knees wobbled. Vince caught her under the arm and kept her upright.

“I want you to trust me, Tina.” Jonas reached for her, but Tina stepped back, pressing against Vince, out of her brother’s reach. “I know the voice of God, and He’s telling me I’ve found my wife.”

Jonas wanted her to approve. He wanted her blessing. But right now that was too much to ask.

“I came over here to invite you all to the diner for coffee.” Her voice was frigid.

“Tina, I—”

Slashing a hand at her brother to shut him up, she pulled herself free of Vince’s grip. “We’ve locked up until it’s time to serve dinner. Ruthy is in town with Luke, and we wanted a chance to visit uninterrupted. I’ll head on back now. Come if you want.”

Tina dodged around Vince and left the house at a near run.

“Wait!” Jonas called out. “Tina, come back!”

Tina only moved faster. She needed someone, a witness, a buffer. She looked back and saw Vince’s broad shoulders blocking the doorway. Apparently he wanted a word with his friend.

As she rushed away, Tina wondered where she was even going. Back to the diner, where Jonas and Melissa would no doubt soon arrive?

Back to Jonas’s parsonage where, judging from Jonas’s determined look, Tina would soon be living on sufferance. Except the way she’d foisted herself on Jonas uninvited, that was all it’d been all along.

If she stayed, it would be as an unwanted intrusion. Only the fact that Jonas pitied her would keep her from being cast out . . . again. She was a fool to let that break her heart. After her parents left her. After years of Aunt Iphigenia’s coldness. After the awful new uncle who wanted Tina in a way that turned her stomach. She should have expected this.

Why had she come here?

Why had she let herself believe that Jonas would make a home for her?

Why hadn’t she just gotten on with her life, gotten a job somewhere and taken care of herself, instead of being a little fool who wanted home and family and love?

After all those years of hearing Aunt Iphigenia say a woman needed to know how to take care of herself, Tina had ignored that sound advice, tracked down her brother, and forced from him something he hadn’t wanted to give.

She rushed through the back door of the diner and was sorry she’d come. Now Jonas would catch her here and say all the painfully polite words about her always having a home with him. Jonas was kind, but he’d gone out West after the war without stopping in to see her. And she’d chased him practically to the ends of the earth and made it impossible for him to send her away.

Not like Melissa. Jonas had known her for only hours before asking to court her.

And meanwhile Tina had kissed Vince. It was hard to imagine that kiss was less passionate, less powerful than the one shared by Jonas and Melissa. And there’d been no request from Vince to court her—quite the opposite. He’d apologized, said it never should have happened.

Whatever word God had whispered to Jonas, He had withheld from Vince. Which meant Vince didn’t want her, either.

“You’re carrying on with my sister? My sister you just met?” Vince realized that the last day had worn him right down to the nub. Punching someone would suit him, and to his way of thinking, Jonas had just volunteered.

“I’m not carrying on.” Jonas tried to follow Tina, but Vince blocked the parson from leaving.

“Let me past. I need to talk to Tina. She’s upset.”

Vince’s fist tightened. In a flash he remembered he was Invincible Vince Yates. His Regulator friends had given him that name when he’d found a knack for solving problems in Andersonville. If they needed supplies, Vince found them. If bad men were planning trouble, Vince got wind of it and gathered the Regulators together in time to head things off. If the Confederate guards were in one of their sadistic moods, Vince had a talent for dodging them or calming them down or turning them against each other.

Nothing much got the better of him.

So his father turning up, his mother being abandoned, a sister materializing, a new house being landed on his head, a feisty little lady coaxing a kiss out of him, and now this. It had all seemed to be more than Invincible Vince could handle.

In a distant way, Vince realized this was nothing compared to cannonballs and starvation and a prison with thirty thousand men, about half of whom thought sticking a knife in his back was the will of God. But it was still beyond him.

And punching the latest bearer of bad news would make him feel a whole lot better.

“Now, Vince,” Melissa said calmly, “there’s no call to—”

“Get out,” Vince snapped.

“Vince,” Melissa said, her lips forming a tight line, “I do not answer to you.”

“Take Mother over to the diner for coffee and let me have a little talk with Jonas.”

“Go on.” Jonas ran a hand up Melissa’s back, and that stopped her from whatever she’d been planning to say. “Take Virginia Belle with you. I need to talk to your brother alone.”

Melissa’s eyes, a perfect match for Vince’s, flickered between Jonas, Vince, and Vince’s fist. “I’ll go.” She glared at Vince. “But you have no say in this.”

The snap of her voice was even like Vince’s. He’d met a female version of himself and wondered, for all her quiet ways, if Melissa might not be invincible, too. If she was, Jonas was going to have his hands full.

“Come along, Virginia Belle. We’re going to have our morning tea.” Melissa walked straight for Vince, who got out of her way, not so sure he wouldn’t have gotten run over.

“Good morning, Julius.” Mother rested one of her gentle hands on his arm. “Will you be joining us?”

“I’ll be right along.” Speaking civilly to Mother had a calming effect on Vince. It was hard to be so careful with her while contemplating slugging somebody.

Vince watched the ladies leave. The door clicked shut, and the minute it closed, Vince whirled back to face Jonas, only to see him sinking onto the stair step. Right where Tina had been when Vince had come in. This whole thing seemed to be having an ill effect on the ability of everyone to stand upright.

“I’m out of my mind.” Jonas buried his face in his hands. He didn’t seem to be having one second of worry that Vince might throw a fist.

“If you’re this confused, why in the world are you talking about getting married?” Vince felt a tug of sympathy, maybe even pity, for his friend. Leaning back against the door with his arms crossed, he stood guard like always. He was waiting for Jonas to make sense.

Jonas scrubbed his face with both hands, then ran his fingers deep into his hair, making the red curls run riot. Finally, dragging his hands down, Jonas’s eyes emerged from between his fingers and his whole face appeared. He shook his head and looked Vince square in the eye. Jonas wasn’t one to shirk from taking responsibility for his decisions.

“I don’t even know what happened. We’ve talked a bit the last couple days. From the first word, from my first look at her, I was so drawn to her.” Jonas gripped the banister like he was going to stand, and then he just gave up and stayed on the step. “This morning I think all Missy needed was someone to stay with your ma while she ran to the privy. I came in, Missy thanked me and stepped out while I visited with your ma. Then Missy came back, and Virginia Belle said she was tired and she lay back down. Missy was worrying about how things were going to work out here, and we started talking. I was being a parson. I was trying to encourage her and cheer her up and help her see God’s hand in all of this.”

“Even though none of us have a single idea what God has in mind?”

Jonas jerked one shoulder in a shrug. “It was the most wonderful talk. She’s so sweet and . . .” Jonas shrugged again. “We just ended up in each other’s arms. It was the simplest, truest thing that’s ever happened to me. Like she belonged there. Like I’ve been waiting for her all my life.”

Jonas looked up. “I promise you, Vince, there’s been no disrespectful treatment of your sister. I’m just sure she’s the woman God has set apart for me, and we’re supposed to be together. I know it’s unwise to rush into marriage, but right now I would gladly marry her. I’ll help her with your ma and support Melissa in whatever she needs to do. The reasonable side of me tells me we’re being rash. But everything in me who feels led by the voice of God tells me I’ve found my future, and I need to join my life with Missy’s without delay. I’m completely sure of it, and I don’t intend to refuse this gift the Lord is offering me.”

Jonas stood, his wobbly knees apparently restored now. Still, Jonas didn’t seem much interested in how upset Vince was. He was too focused on his own future. “I’m going after her. I don’t even like being separated from her for these few minutes.”

Heading for the door, Vince slapped a hand on Jonas’s shoulder to stop him.

Jonas frowned. “You’re not going to pretend like you have some say in Missy’s life, are you? I’ve known her every bit as long as you have, so don’t start acting like a protective big brother.”

“You’re right in saying that, but I think I’m more worried about you than Melissa. This isn’t like you to go off half-cocked, Jonas. You know nothing about her background. It sounds like her mother was no better than she ought to be, considering a lifelong affair with a married man—my father. Now Melissa found her way into the Yates family. It’s true, she treats my mother with kindness, but that’s also been her way to a comfortable home and money coming in.”

“Don’t you say a word against her.” Now Jonas’s fists were clenched.

Vince raised both hands, palms flat, like he was surrendering. “I’m not saying I know a thing against her. But the point is, I don’t know her and neither do you. And what’s more, that’s such a simple truth that you can’t possibly deny it.”

Jonas frowned, glaring at Vince. But no fight broke out. Finally, with a short, hard jerk of his chin, Jonas said, “I know you’re right. That is the simple truth.”

“So you’ll slow down and give this some more thought?”

Jonas drew in a breath so slow and deep his chest visibly rose and fell. At last he said, “Sure, but I won’t wait too long.” Jonas then stepped around Vince and pulled the door open, knocking Vince forward a few steps. He took off running, on his way to catch up with Melissa.

Vince stood at the door. Of his own house. A big house. A house with a mother living in it. A sister. Which raised the question: was Jonas going to live here, with Vince? He almost had to, because Vince couldn’t manage Mother without Melissa.

And if Jonas lived here, what about Tina?

Lifting his eyes to the top of the stairs, Vince looked at the row of four bedrooms. Melissa on the far left, with Jonas soon in residence, unless Melissa planned to abandon Vince to care for his mother alone.

Mother’s room was next, then Vince’s. He looked at that fourth door. Was Tina going to be moving into that bedroom?

Vince couldn’t let that happen, and yet, if Jonas moved in, then Tina would have to.

And if Vince wasn’t careful, before he knew it, there’d be another wedding, because Vince was mighty sure he couldn’t live next door to Tina Cahill and not end up doing something as crazy as marry her.

And speaking of crazy . . . if he married her, he’d end up with children, because those things just followed like summer followed spring. And then there would be little ones who might be cursed with a madman for a father—if Vince took after his mother’s family.

And that was the kind of fate Vince could never bestow on a wife, to have a husband to care for year after year with only the burden of it.

Vince couldn’t do that to a wife or a child. Surely God would consider such a thing as the worst kind of selfishness.

Or maybe they’d have a tyrant for a father—if Vince took after his father. If that happened, then he was destined to ruin his children’s lives and have them leave him as soon as they were able.

And yet Vince’s eyes went to that fourth door. He saw no escape from Tina and the almost unavoidable result of being so near to her.

It was all Vince could do not to run for the hills like his father had done. So which one of his parents was he most like? His cruel, hot-tempered, arrogant bully father who’d raised a son to always be on guard, or the madwoman he had for a mother?

Both were a cruel fate to anyone foolish enough to join her life with his. And Vince wasn’t selfish enough to let that happen.