Audrey lifted her eyes to the sky, hoping to see a thinning of the clouds hovering over Thunder Ridge, but the dark haze was just as black and ominous as ever. Turning, she went inside the judge’s house, pausing long enough to remove her wet cape before she entered the kitchen.
The cozy room smelled of baking bread. Copper sat at the kitchen table, hand propped on her chin, perusing a book. “Was that Eli with you? Why didn’t he come in?”
Audrey smiled. Why indeed? Not that she hadn’t thought to ask, but after his previous refusal, she didn’t want to be turned down again.
“Well,” Copper mused. “If you married him you wouldn’t have to teach school.”
Audrey hung her cape to dry. “I don’t recall his asking me.”
Copper shrugged. “Perhaps you should work on that.”
Audrey mussed the top of her friend’s hair as she walked by. “I’m not husband hunting.” She had absolutely no intention of telling Copper her plan. It was a most scandalous undertaking, and the dark, hurting man who refused to look her way was totally naive of her objective. No point putting ideas in Copper’s nosy head. Eli deliberately avoided women, and she had no intention of allowing Copper to embarrass the man by hurrying Audrey’s strategy along.
Willow entered the kitchen, frowning. “I just checked the attic and the roof’s leaking like a sieve. I’m taking some pans and buckets up there to catch the drips.”
“I’ll help. You won’t have to make so many trips if we share the work.”
Copper abandoned the book and began to gather an armload of pans, while Audrey hooked the bails on several buckets. “How many do we need?”
“As many as Abraham’s descendants.” Willow pulled more pans from the cupboards. “I can’t believe how many drips there are. As soon as it dries out we’ll have to see about patching the holes.”
The women carried as many pans and buckets as they could hold on the first trip, setting them under the leaks. Raindrops plinked the metal containers.
Audrey descended the narrow stairway to get a couple of mops. She and Copper wiped up puddles deeply pooled on the attic floor.
Copper peered up at the ceiling. “I think we’ve covered them all.”
A new trickle formed as they watched. Copper jumped aside as a second drop followed the first. “Drats. There’s another one. Do we have any more pans?”
“I’ll go look.” Audrey returned to the kitchen and rummaged through the pantry and storage room closet, retrieving a couple of extra chamber pots.
Willow was on her knees, wiping up water when she returned. “What’s that you have?”
Audrey held up the containers. “It’s all I could find. We barely have enough pans left for cooking use. These will work.”
“How disgusting, Audrey.” Cringing, Copper reached for a pot and set it under the newest leak.
“Disgusting or not, I’ll leave the extra one up here. No doubt we’ll need it too before we’re finished.”
Willow straightened, pressing a hand to the small of her back. “That’s all we can do right now. Don’t breathe a word of this to Uncle Wallace. He doesn’t need to be worrying about a roof. I’ll take care of the crisis, some way.”
They returned to the kitchen and started chores.
Audrey was starting to realize that every day in Thunder Ridge brought new problems. Most likely half the town had leaky roofs. Many of the residents wouldn’t have bothered keeping their roofs in good repair since the area had suffered drought for so many years, and others didn’t have the funds for needed repairs.
A knock sounded on the back door, and she turned to answer. Tate Gray stood in the doorway, holding a frog. She took a step back. The frog didn’t frighten her, but she couldn’t say she liked the slimy little creatures.
“Yes. Tate?” The boy was drenched from head to foot. She wondered if his grandmother knew he was out without a slicker.
“I got a present for you.” He handed Audrey the frog, bending a bit to peer between her and the doorsill. “You wouldn’t have any cookies, would you?”
“Oh…no, I’m sorry. We don’t.” She bit back a grin. “Have you had your supper?”
He nodded. “But I got this hankering for sweets, and Grandma didn’t feel like baking today.”
By now Willow and Copper had joined her at the doorway. Willow smiled. “I have some nice blackberry jam—would that do?—on a slice of bread.”
His face brightened. “That would do just fine, ma’am.”
Draping her arm around the lad, Willow led him to the table, and Audrey closed the door. She glanced at Willow and smiled. When Willow and Tucker married, the child would be family, a nice thought on a cold, rainy day.
Later that evening Willow sank into a chair and sighed. “What a day. The only good thing that’s happened is Tate’s visit. I’ll have to make sure the cookie tin is filled from now on.”
Copper reached for a spoon. “Now that you’re all going to be family, you’ll have a lot of baking to do.”
Leaning back, Willow closed her eyes. “I can barely wait.”
Audrey was surprised to feel the prick of envy. She was prepared to wait for Eli, but seeing Willow so happy and content made her want to speed up the process. But love didn’t happen overnight, and she wanted nothing less than Eli’s whole heart. She added a dollop of cream to her cup, thinking about the eligible prospects. There weren’t many in Thunder Ridge. She’d set her cap for Eli, but what about Copper? The three of them had been hoping for marriage for longer than she could remember, but what with the war taking away so many of the young men…“Copper, why don’t you pursue Caleb? He’s a wonderful marriage prospect.”
Copper dropped her fork on the saucer and propped her elbows on the table. “Pursue Caleb? No, he’s nice enough, handsome, and perfectly charming. He has the prettiest eyes, and he’s enjoyable to be around, but there just aren’t any sparks between us.”
“Ladies.” Willow cautioned. “Sparks are nice, but I’m with Audrey. I’d rather hoped that you—or one of you—would fall in love with Caleb and settle in Thunder Ridge. I don’t want us to be separated again.”
Audrey glanced up to find both women’s gazes pinned on her. Please don’t let them mention Eli. She couldn’t lie, and she wasn’t adept at misleading, but she certainly didn’t want to tell them about her developing feelings for the man.
“Caleb would make a fine husband,” Willow said, her gaze now focused on both young women. “You could do worse.”
Copper pursed her lips. “Listen to her, Audrey. The two of you would get along famously together. You make a striking couple.”
“Please. Caleb isn’t romantically interested in me. Someday, when the right woman comes along, he’ll marry quickly. What about Meredith Johnson? Now that Tucker’s engaged to you, Willow, Meredith will surely set her cap for either Caleb or Eli.” Audrey paused. She hadn’t considered that possibility. Perhaps she would have to be more aggressive than she liked.
“Meredith Johnson is too flighty for either Caleb or Eli,” Willow objected with a frown.
“You’re just jealous because Tucker courted her.” Copper smirked. “She’s actually very pretty.”
Audrey didn’t think so. She’d seen the young woman from Blackberry Hill at social functions during her last visit, and she agreed with Willow. Caleb needed a more mature mate.
Audrey shook her head. “All right, enough with the matchmaking. Willow, how’s Wallace this evening?” Her visits to the judge had been brief. He was always asleep, or if his eyes were open he didn’t seem to recognize her.
Willow lifted thin shoulders. “He’s not interested in anything. Tucker’s been so busy trying to mop up at the mill that he hasn’t been able to stop by for their daily visit and Bible reading. The judge misses those sessions.”
Audrey drained her cup. “I’ll be happy to read the Bible to the judge anytime he wants.”
“I’d be delighted to do the same,” Copper offered.
“You’re so kind. My biggest concern is that I don’t have enough money to fix the roof. I don’t want to bother Tucker about it, because there’s nothing he can do at the moment, and it would just be another bill facing him.” She sighed. “Maybe it would have been better if Silas hadn’t agreed to pay off the mortgage. That way the bank could just have this big old leaky barn.”
“Never let your uncle hear you say that. He’s a man of his word, and he gave his word he would repay the loan. Did he ever know about the foreclosure threat?” Copper asked.
“No, and I don’t intend to ever tell him. He loves this old relic. He and Claudine were so happy here together. While we all agree it’s a decidedly inconvenient place to live, and that horrible shade of green is enough to make a body ill, he thinks it’s a slice of heaven.”
“It’s sad,” Audrey agreed. “I’m as poor as a church mouse, or I would help. Perhaps if I get the parlor job…”
“If you decided to sell the house once the judge passes, where would you and Tucker live?” Audrey brushed crumbs off the tablecloth. More to the point, what would she do? She couldn’t expect Tucker and Willow to provide for her, but unless the Burying Parlor took her on, she’d have little choice.
Willow reached to take her hand. “Don’t worry. Tucker will provide for all three of us, if necessary.”
“Does he have a spacious home?”
Willow hesitated. “Well, no. Actually, it’s a one-room cabin, but we’ll manage. Eli has a wonderful house, fairly spacious, but his mother and Tate live with him. Mrs. Gray is sixty-five and ailing. She has her hands full with Tate. But don’t worry, we may not have a mansion, but we’ll manage.”
Audrey would settle for a dry roof over her head. Lord, don’t think I’m not grateful. I am, and if taking the funeral parlor position will keep me independent, I do so heartily.
Alone in her bedroom later, Audrey turned down the bed and laid out her nightgown before she blew out the candle and stood at the window watching the violent display of barbed lightning streak an angry sky. The flood held one ray of blessing: If lightning struck anything, every building in town would be too wet to burn.
She sank to her knees, propping her arms on the window-sill. What would she do if Willow and Tucker couldn’t afford to keep this house, and she didn’t get the parlor position? Tucker had heavy financial responsibilities with the mill. The payroll and new equipment to keep the business running would be expensive. Could he scrape together enough manpower and discarded shingles to put a new roof on this old relic?
So many questions and so few answers. At this point, Audrey wasn’t sure she’d have a roof over her head much longer. Willow would take care of her as long as she could, but the time might come that she couldn’t. Then where would Audrey go?