Edge of the Wilderness - By Stephanie Grace Whitson Page 0,47
lying face up on the bed, fully clothed. He did not stir while Gen removed his shoes, then his socks. When she covered him with a lightweight blanket and tucked a pillow beneath his head, he sighed happily. It was not until she gently undid his tie and began to unbutton his top shirt button that he woke. Without opening his eyes, he took her hand and kissed it, whispering, “It seems that I do have a guardian angel, after all.” He opened his eyes and stared up at her. “I was dreaming about you, Miss LaCroix.”
Gen knelt beside the bed. She stroked the gray hair along his temple. “You’re completely worn out, Reverend Dane.”
He mumbled, “Guilty as charged.” He took a deep breath, obviously fighting the temptation to close his eyes.
“Sleep,” Gen whispered gently. She kissed his forehead before getting up. He was sound asleep before Gen got to the door.
“He’s resting,” Gen said when Elliot Leighton knocked at the kitchen door the next afternoon. She was sitting at the kitchen table, a box of apples on the floor beside her, a pile of peelings in a bowl in her lap. “If you wish,” she said without getting up, “I can send Aaron for you when Simon comes down.” She cut the apple in her hands in half, cored it, and began slicing it into the first of seven pie shells waiting on the table.
When Leighton did not reply, Gen looked up. “If you are waiting for an invitation to tea, Mr. Leighton, I’m afraid you’re to be disappointed. We should be civil to one another for the sake of the children. You needn’t pretend when no one else is here. Do you want me to send Aaron for you or not?”
“It’s very important that I see Simon right away,” Leighton insisted.
“Not as important as it is that he get some uninterrupted rest,” Gen shot back. She didn’t look away, but stared at him stubbornly. “Aaron just took Hope out for a walk. He should be back soon. As soon as his father is awake, I’ll send for you”—she shot him a wilting glance—“not in the servile sense, you understand.”
The front door slammed shut and Miss Jane came charging down the hall. She managed to get only halfway to the table when the handle on her market basket broke and everything dropped to the floor with a thud. “Mercy!” she exclaimed, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.
“Let me help,” Elliot said, kneeling down and beginning to pick things up and set them on the table.
“Oh, don’t!” Miss Jane exclaimed, scrambling to pick up a dozen small packages, wrapped in brown paper. “I can do it!”
Leighton shot back vehemently, “So can I—even with only one hand!”
Miss Jane retorted, “It has nothing to do with one hand, Elliot Leighton. It has to do with my embarrassment at being such a graceless ninny.” She snatched up the last package, clutching it to her as if it were a priceless treasure. Her cheeks were blazing red, her eyes crackling with a mixture of anger and embarrassment.
Gen looked on with a confused frown. Whatever was going on between those two?
“Will you stay for tea, Mr. Leighton?” Jane asked abruptly. “Thank you, Miss Williams.”
“Well, sit down then and let me get my bearings.” Still flustered, Miss Jane stared down at the pile of packages on the table. She pointed to each one, mumbling to herself, “Brown sugar, cinnamon, flour—ah—” She grabbed a small package and turned toward the stove. “Tea.”
Gen had finished peeling half the box of apples and filled all the pie shells with apple slices by the time Miss Jane had tea ready. “Care to join us?” Miss Jane asked Gen.
Gen shook her head. “I’ll just get the top crusts ready.” She turned away, rolled up her sleeves, and began rolling out the dough waiting on the wood counter against the wall. When the seven pies were ready for the oven, Gen washed and dried her hands, rolled her sleeves back down, and excused herself. “I promised Meg we’d finish the story we began at bedtime last night as soon as she came home from school.” She glanced up the back stairs and said to Miss Jane, “If Simon comes down—”
“—I’ll send him to the parlor,” Miss Jane said quickly.
“No, I wasn’t thinking that,” Gen said reluctantly. “Mr. Leighton came to talk to Simon. Actually, I just wanted you to let me know that he was up.”