A Bride for Tom (4 page)

How Tom hated living at home!
That’s it.
I’m getting my own place before the year is up!

Chapter Five

“You did what?” Margaret asked, her eyes
nearly popping out of her head.

Jessica pulled the needle through the cloth
she held. “I think you heard me the first time.”

Margaret stood up from her chair and paced in
Jessica’s parlor. “No, I couldn’t have because after he ruined your
hair, there’s no reason you would need to voluntarily see him
again.”

“I never said I wasn’t going to see him
again.”

She stopped at the window and rolled her
eyes. “What do you want him to do next? Burn your dress?”

Jessica laughed. “Don’t be silly. He’s not
that clumsy.” Then she recalled the vase. If her mother hadn’t
caught it, it would have shattered all over the floor. Not that it
was his fault, but who could tell if he’d trip on something else?
Well, that was simple enough. “I’ll remove all the breakable items
from this room and since it’ll be day, there won’t be any candles
or kerosene lamps burning.” She smiled, proud of her ingenuity.
“That solves that problem. Nothing will break or catch on
fire.”

“I don’t like this. I don’t like it one
bit.”

“Then don’t come over when he’s here.”

She grunted and glanced out the window. “What
are you going to tell Peter?”

“I already told him when he stopped by last
evening to give me the design he wants sewn onto my veil.” Jessica
motioned to the fabric in her lap.

Margaret shook her head and crossed her arms.
“Why does he care what your veil looks like?”

“He doesn’t but his mother does.”

“Why? It’s not her wedding.”

“Someone ought to tell her that.” Jessica
inspected the white rose on the edge of the veil. “There. I think
that will do. All done.”

“You’re much too nice to people,
Jessica.”

“I don’t want to cause problems.”

“People take advantage of you.”

She stood up and collected her sewing
kit.

“Did you hear me?”

“Yes,” she snapped. She took a deep breath
and faced her friend. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get short with
you. Weddings are stressful.”

“I wouldn’t know. First Monica. Then Wendy.
And now you.”

“Your time will come.”

“That’s easy for you to say. You already have
your man.”

“Is it really that bad?”

She raised an eyebrow. “I don’t go to those
barn dances because I like to dance or because I like to be around
a lot of people.”

Jessica grinned. “Maybe you should get a
mail-order husband.”

She gasped.

“Well, why not? Men get mail-order brides all
the time. Why not reverse it?”

“Because there are men available in this
town.”

“Maybe they’re all the wrong ones.”

“Nice try, Jessica, but it won’t work.”

Jessica carried the sewing kit and veil and
walked to her bedroom. “What won’t work?”

Margaret followed her. “You’re trying to
avoid the issue. What did Peter say when you told him you’re going
to have Tom over for dancing lessons?”

She set the items on her dresser and frowned.
“He laughed.”

“And?”

“And that’s it.” She picked up the hat Tom
had given her and placed it on her head. “Isn’t this a lovely
hat?”

“Jessica.”

She couldn’t ignore the warning in her
friend’s voice. She groaned. “Fine. He laughed and said that Tom
was a hopeless cause.”

“So he doesn’t care that you’re with another
man?”

“It doesn’t seem that way, does it?” And that
bothered Jessica, though she decided not to say it aloud. “His
exact words were that I was wasting my time but he couldn’t blame
me for wanting to rush in and try to help someone. He thinks it’s
‘adorable’.”

Margaret followed her out of her room and
down the hallway. “Hmm...”

“Hmm what?”

“I notice you’re not wearing the hat Peter
gave you. You’re wearing Tom’s.”

“I like Tom’s better. Peter got that horrible
green color his mother likes. I swear, it’s like wearing
vomit.”

“It is atrocious.” Her eyes lit up, and she
stopped her at the front door. Leaning forward, she whispered,
“Wear Peter’s hat when Tom is here and maybe he’ll destroy it.”

Despite herself, Jessica chuckled. “Oh
Margaret, give Tom more credit than that. I think he’s just
nervous.”

“You’re probably right,” she relented. “I
guess I shouldn’t be so critical of him.”

“You shouldn’t. He’s actually a very sweet
person.” She pushed the screen door open and walked down the porch
steps.

Her friend joined her, and they strolled down
the sidewalk. “Are you sure though? I mean, you are engaged.”

“I’m not hiding anything. I’ve told Peter. My
mother will be in the house when Tom comes over. I don’t see why
everyone is concerned.”

“Everyone but Peter?” she commented in a
sympathetic tone.

Jessica hated that Margaret could read her
mind. “You can’t tell anyone else what I’m about to say.” Jessica
paused and turned to her friend. “You promise?”

If there was one thing Margaret was, it was
loyal to her word, which was why Jessica even ventured to reveal
what she’d been carefully concealing for the past month.

“Of course, I promise.”

Jessica nodded. “Sometimes I wonder if
Peter’s marrying me because his mother approves of me.”

“No. That can’t be right.”

“Can’t it? You know how picky Connie James
is. I think she has a tight leash on him.” Jessica stepped forward
to resume their walk.

“Well...” She walked forward. “I grant that
they are close. But...” She winced. “It’s not that bad, is it?”

“I don’t know. I mean, she and I get along
wonderfully, but sometimes I wonder if she told him to propose to
me.”

“If that’s the case, then why did you say
yes?”

“I didn’t think his mother pushed him to
propose when he asked. It’s just something that’s been on my mind
for awhile now.”

“And does this whole thing with Tom make you
wonder even more?”

“Shouldn’t it bother Peter, even a little,
that I’m with another man?”

“Yes. It should.” She picked a leaf from a
tree lining the road and asked, “So, what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to teach Tom how to dance.”

Chapter Six

Tom stood in front of Jessica’s house and
quickly ran through his plan. He wasn’t sure it was going to work,
but he had to do something. If Jessica and her friend and fiancé
thought he was a fool, he’d oblige them...for awhile.

Taking a deep breath, he straightened his tie
and knocked on the front door. It opened and for a moment, he lost
heart. But only for a moment. It didn’t matter how pretty she was
or that she wore one of the ribbons he had given her. The fact
remained that she had brought him here for her amusement.

Jessica smiled at him and waved him inside.
“I’m glad you could make it. I think we’ll have a good time.”

He smiled back.
I’m sure we will.
He
scanned the hallway and parlor. Very clever. It seemed as if they
were alone. But they couldn’t be. That Margaret friend of hers and
Peter had to be hovering nearby. The closet by the front door was
open a crack. Maybe they were hiding in there? His gaze turned to
the parlor. The couch was against the wall but not right up against
it. Maybe they were behind it. He mentally calculated all the
places they might possibly be.

“My mother is upstairs, but she’ll be down in
a few minutes,” Jessica explained as she entered the parlor. “I was
thinking we’d do some dancing after lunch. Would you like to sit
and talk for a bit?”

Convenient that her mother should be out of
hearing range. Obviously, her mother wouldn’t approve if she knew
her daughter planned to make fun of him. Well, he supposed the girl
had to cover all of her bases. He took another deep breath. If a
show was what she and her friends wanted, then he’d give them all a
good one.

“I don’t mind learning how to dance a little
bit before lunch,” he said. “It’d be good to warm up, don’t you
think?”
Then we can see how badly I can really dance.

“Oh. I suppose you’re right.”

He stepped into the parlor and glanced at the
table by the chair. “Where’s the vase?” He took off his hat and
placed it on the hat rack.

“The what?” she asked, turning around to face
him.

“The vase. The one I almost broke last time I
was here.” Might as well get this whole thing started by reminding
them how obnoxious he could be when he was nervous.

She looked startled. “Oh. That.
Um...Well...”

“Didn’t want me to almost break it again,
huh?”

Her face grew red, notifying him that he was
right. “No.” She gave an awkward laugh. “My mother wanted to have
it in her bedroom.”

She was a horrible liar. But he’d let her
believe that he didn’t pick up on that. Too bad for her he was
better at lying. Deciding to play along, he said, “That’s actually
a good thing. You know, that she took it out of here. I remember
the time when I broke my mother’s entire china set. Boy, I never
saw anyone scream like that. My family won’t let me near anything
that can break.” He laughed. “You know what they do when I’m inside
the house? They tie me to the chair so I can’t go anywhere.”

Her eyes grew wide. “That’s terrible.”

“No. Really, it’s not. I keep destroying
things. I don’t know why. It’s like I attract trouble.” He spread
his arms out and knocked the plant off the table, pretending it was
an accident. “Oh no!” He quickly knelt down and purposely dug out
some of the soil in the pot and rubbed it on his hands. Then he
picked up the plant and set it back on the table. “There. All
better.” He ran his hands through his hair.

“Uh...Tom...”

He ruffled his hair again before he wiped his
hands on his pants. “What?”

She looked as if she didn’t know what to
say.

“Are you ready to dance?”

Her eyes drifted to his hands.

He held them up and inspected them. “Oh. Of
course. The dirt from the plant.” He pulled out the handkerchief
from his pocket and wiped them clean. “Better? If you want, I could
wash them. Though you might want to wash them for me. I can’t wash
my hands at home ever since the rotting floor incident.”

“The rotting floor incident?”

He hid his amusement at the mixture of
curiosity and horror on her face. “I had pumped the water into the
sink, but the water didn’t stop coming out so the kitchen
flooded.”

“Surely, that’s not possible.”

“I didn’t think so either until it happened.
It’s amazing how fast water can cover the whole floor. It took my
pa and brothers and me all of a half hour to stop it. Apparently, I
yanked the handle too hard. I just don’t know my own strength
sometimes. And that’s why they have to feed me, too.”

“But... But you ate fine here the other
day.”

“And that took a lot of self-control.”
Inspired, he twitched his shoulders. “Sometimes I get the
shakes.”

She took a step back. “The...the shakes?”

“Yep. Really bad at times, too. One time I
got them so bad I ended up throwing food all over the place—and
don’t even get me started on what I did with the utensils.”

She shook her head. “You can’t be serious.
You’re pulling my leg.” Then she chuckled, but it sounded as if she
was only half-sure of her analysis.

He shrugged and let his hands slightly shake.
“Alright.”

Her laughter died completely.

“So...what will we do for music?”

She cleared her throat. “Oh. Yes. Dancing.
Right.” She clapped her hands together and then motioned to the
center of the room. “I thought I’d just hum a tune.”

“That’s a strange way of doing things, but
since there’s no one else around here...” He leaned forward so he
could check behind the couch. Odd. No one was there. Looking back
at her, he smiled. “Let’s get to it.”

Then he barreled in her direction. He
expected her to move out of his way when he purposely tumbled
forward, but she didn’t so he had to roll to the side and ended up
hitting his head on the side of the couch.

“Are you alright?” she asked as she knelt
next to him.

He rubbed his aching temple. That wasn’t
supposed to happen. Oh well. He might as well play along. “The
shakes. I told you it comes and goes without warning.”

She reached for his hand and helped him up.
“I should get something for you to put on your head.”

“Nah. This happens all the time. I’m just
lucky it did no real damage like that time when I got hurt
somewhere important.”

“Where would that be?”

He covered his face, as if ashamed, but what
he really needed to do was focus so he wouldn’t laugh at her
stunned expression. “I don’t wish to impose on the sensibilities of
a lady.” When he settled down the urge to giggle, he held his hands
out to her. “Are you ready to dance?”

She looked hesitant but nodded and joined him
in the center of the room.

He had to admit that she could play along
pretty well. He wondered how long it would take before she called
in her friends...or how long it would take them to magically show
up. Apparently, he needed to go with a new tactic. He pulled her
close to him, thinking for sure that Peter ought to be rushing into
the room at full speed. But he didn’t.

“You can’t hold a woman this close,” she
said, her face bright red. “It’s not appropriate.” She stepped back
and set one hand on his shoulder and the other in his hand. “There.
That’s better.”

Not really. He rather fancied the other way
better but knew that she was right. Still, that should have had a
fiancé seething. Just how far were they going to let him take
this?

“Follow my lead,” she instructed. She began
to hum and stepped to the side.