The Man, The Moon And The Marriage Vow Page 6

  A few minutes ago, he’d been positive that nothing could bother him today. But he’d been wrong. His pride jabbed him at the thought that she’d go and lower her prices because of him.

  “Dad, are we buy in’ these things or not?” Pete moaned.

  The day didn’t seem so damn bright anymore. Erik realized that he probably shouldn’t have gotten himself into this. But what could he do at this point? To back out now would only make things worse.

  “Sure.” He looked at Evie again. She was still smiling, but he knew that she knew something had gone wrong.

  Still, she gamely suggested, “Why don’t you decide what you’d like to try on? And then I’ll get to work measuring some feet.”

  Evie was quick and helpful. She treated him and the kids like they were her only customers, all the while managing to be polite and welcoming to other shoppers who came in while she was waiting on them. Twenty minutes after he’d entered the shop, Erik was standing at the cash register writing out a check while Evie bagged up a pair of shoes for each of his kids.

  Then Jenny, who’d been surprisingly quiet through the whole process, suddenly asked Evie, “Where’s the snow globe that was here before? The one with the fairy princess. Did you sell it already?”

  “No, I didn’t sell it.”

  Erik could feel Evie’s eyes on him. He met her gaze. The memory of that other day rose, a memory that was magical to him—though he couldn’t exactly say why.

  “Well, where is it, then?” Jenny wanted to know.

  Evie took the check from Erik and put it in the cash register. “I’m afraid it’s been broken.”

  “Oh, no. How?”

  “It fell. From the counter.”

  “And you threw it away?”

  “Well, yes. Most of it, anyway.”

  Jenny’s eyes grew brighter with hope. “You kept the princess. That’s what you mean, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Where is she? Could I see her?”

  “She’s upstairs. In my bedroom, on my dresser.”

  “Dad…” Pete was rolling his eyes and groaning again. “Can we get going, puhleeze?”

  Erik started to reprimand him, then changed his mind. “We’re done here,” he said. “Head on home if you want to.”

  “Great. See ya.” Pete was at the door in a flash. He stopped just before he went out. “Oh. If you need me, I’m at Mark’s.”

  “I figured,” Erik said, but he doubted Pete heard him, since the boy was already gone.

  “I really would like to see that princess.” Jenny was looking up at Evie with beseeching eyes.

  “All right, follow me,” Evie said, then she handed Erik his receipt and the big bag with the shoes in it. “Would you keep an eye on things down here, just for a minute?”

  “Sure.” He watched them go, Jenny following Evie, and then he looked around for Becca, who had suddenly disappeared.

  His younger daughter hadn’t gone far. He found her in a corner, sitting on a miniature bed amid a mountain of stuffed animals and dolls. She saw her father looking at her, and shyly held out what looked like a stuffed chipmunk.

  “I like this one. It’s my fav’rit.” She gave him the same beseeching look Jenny had just given Evie.

  There had been a time when he would have bought the toy for Becca without thinking twice about it. It was small, after all, and probably wouldn’t cost much more than a few dollars.

  But now, every dollar really did count. A few days ago, he’d spent more than a week’s grocery money on a pen and pencil set. And these shoes he’d just bought, even with twenty percent taken off, were more expensive than the shoes he would have otherwise picked up at a discount store in Grass Valley, had he not been looking for a way to hang around Evie Jones again.

  Hell. He was a fool. An outright idiot. This wasn’t going to work, this thing with Evie. He couldn’t afford it. He couldn’t afford jack diddly right now. He had to keep his mind on his children, on paying the rent and getting on his feet again.

  This…friendship he was hoping for with Evie would only get in the way, distract him. Like today. He could have put in another couple of hours before he knocked off. He could have finished up that job over at the Tibbitses’ place. But instead he’d come here. And now the job was still waiting. He’d have to go over there Monday and wrap up before he could start on the Daylin place out at the end of Bullfinch Lane.

  “Daddy?” Becca said, still begging him with those sweet blue eyes of hers.

  “Put it down, Bec. Get off the bed.”

  “But, Daddy—”

  “I said, put it down.”

  Tears welled up, but Becca did as her father instructed.

  A moment later, when Jenny came bouncing down the stairs with Evie behind her, Erik and Becca were waiting for her at the door.

  “Look, Dad.” Jenny held up the tiny figurine that had once been inside the snow globe. “She said I could keep it.”

  Beside him, he heard his younger daughter suck in an indignant breath. He knew what would be coming out of her mouth next: If Jenny gets that, why can’t I have the chipmunk? And he just wasn’t going to let it get started.

  “Jenny, you can’t keep that. Give it back,” he told his older daughter.

  Jenny’s face, glowing a moment ago, now flushed a dull red. “But, Dad…”

  Erik felt like a total jerk. But what else could he do? If he let Jenny have the princess, then Becca would be slighted. Unless he bought her the damn stuffed animal. Which he simply wasn’t going to do. “Give it back. Now.”

  “Erik, it’s only—” Evie began.

  “Please don’t,” he told her quietly.

  She bit her lip and said no more. Slowly Jenny turned and handed back the princess from the broken snow globe.

  Erik opened the door. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go home now.” The afternoon light outside was blindingly bright. The day was warm.

  But Erik didn’t feel the warmth anymore and the beauty of the late-summer day was wasted on him now. He grimly put one foot in front of the other and took his silent daughters home.

  Evie felt terrible all the rest of that day and through the night. She hardly slept, she was so disgusted with herself.

  What could she have been thinking? she kept asking herself, as she tossed and turned in her bed.

  She knew about Erik’s pride where money was concerned. But still, she’d discounted her shoes and not given a thought to how he might feel about that, after he’d told her expressly that he’d be coming in to purchase three pair.

  And then the princess. Evie wasn’t quite sure what had gone wrong concerning the tiny figurine. It had all happened so fast.

  But in hindsight, she knew she should have at least asked Erik before she’d told Jenny she could have the figurine. Unfortunately it had been just like the pen set. Evie had seen Jenny’s pleasure when the girl looked at the little fairy princess with the bent wing. And she’d thought, Why not give it to her?

  After all, the figurine, unlike the pen set, was worth nothing in terms of dollars and cents. In reality, it was a piece of a broken snow globe and nothing more. Evie had only kept it because…well, because it represented that strange and wonderful moment when she and Erik had truly touched.

  It had seemed fitting, perfect, that she should give it to the man’s daughter when the girl admired it so.

  But Erik hadn’t understood. He’d made Jenny give the princess back and then walked right out the door.

  Oh, she’d made a mess of the whole thing. She really had. If she wanted to be Erik’s friend, she was going to have to do better than this.

  She was going to have to find out more about him, so she wouldn’t make such dreadful mistakes in the future.

  The forbidden thought rose in her mind: Let down the wall. Who knows what you’ll pick up?

  Evie groaned and sat straight up in bed, deeply ashamed of herself. She had made a solemn vow, fifteen years ago, that she would never go seeking t
he secrets of another in that particular way again.

  So that meant she was going to have to ask somebody, someone she could trust. Someone who might be likely to know about Erik and what he’d been through in his life.

  Several people came to mind. North Magdalene was a small town, after all. Regina Jones, her cousin Patrick’s wife, might know. And certainly Amy, Erik’s sister and Cousin Brendan’s wife.

  But there was an even better choice, Evie knew. There was someone who knew everything about everyone in North Magdalene.

  She would call her uncle Oggie after church tomorrow, and ask him over for lunch coffee.

  Evie lay back down again and snuggled up with her feather pillow. She felt better already, just knowing what she was going to do next.

  Before she drifted off to sleep, she remembered she was out of sugar. That wouldn’t do at all. She sighed and closed her eyes and made a mental note to stop in at the grocery store on her way home from church.

  Chapter Five

  Evie watched with great fondness as her uncle Oggie spooned sugar into his coffee. When he’d ladled in enough to put a diabetic into a coma, he gave the coffee one quick swipe with his spoon, lifted the mug to his mouth and drank long and deep.

  “Ah,” he said, when he lowered the cup. “That’s heaven. Believe it. Gives the old ticker a real kick start, if you know what I mean.”

  Evie, who was drinking lemonade herself, granted her uncle an indulgent smile and took a nice, refreshing sip.

  Oggie plunked his mug on the table and pushed his plate away. “That was one fine lunch, gal.” He stretched a little, and ran his thumbs under his frayed red suspenders. “Now. Down to business.”

  Evie sent him a sharp glance. When she’d invited him over, he’d said nothing about any business that she could recall.

  “I got a sense you got something on your mind,” he said, as if in reply to a remark she hadn’t actually made. “Am I right?”

  Instead of answering, Evie pushed her own plate away and rubbed at a watermark on the table. Now that the moment had come to talk about Erik, Evie found she had no idea how to begin. She felt foolish and awkward and much younger than her years.

  Oggie reached across and put his wrinkled hand over hers. “Come on. What is it? You still worried about Gideon?”

  Evie pulled away and folded her hands in her lap. She’d hardly thought of her father in the past couple of days. Her whole world had centered down to Erik and all these wonderful new feelings she had for him.

  Oggie was still watching her, his beetled brows drawn together. “Did something happen, then? Have you gotten somethin’ suspicious in the mail? ‘Cause I ain’t heard nothin’ else beyond that postcard I showed you.”

  Evie shook her head. “No. Nothing. Nothing at all.”

  “Well, then. What is it?”

  Evie looked away.

  Oggie refused to give up. “You can tell me. Come on. Look at me, gal. Tell me what’s going on in that mind of yours.”

  Evie made herself face him. She gazed into his beady little eyes and knew that he was right. She could tell him.

  “I’ve…made a friend.” The words were out of her mouth before she really knew she would say them. They sounded urgent and breathless. And they made her feel ridiculous— someone so backward and socially inept that she fell all over herself, just confessing she had a friend.

  Oggie inquired, “And who is this friend?”

  “Oh, Uncle Oggie…”

  “Come on. Who?”

  “Well, he’s not really a friend. Not yet.”

  Oggie picked up on the operative word. “It’s a he.”

  “Yes. And I do feel that we could be friends. But I don’t really know him that well. That is, Ifeel as if I know him. And I’d like to really know him.”

  “Who is he?”

  Evie cast her uncle a pleading glance. “This is so hard.”

  “You’re doin’fine.”

  “I…oh, how can I explain? I feel this natural… closeness to him. Just in a friendly way, of course. Because we’ll never be more than that.”

  “More than what?”

  “Friends.”

  Oggie emitted a snorting kind of noise. “Look, Evie. Just tell me his name, okay?”

  “Oh, Uncle Oggie…”

  “Come on. Say it.”

  Evie gulped.

  “Say it. Who is this guy?”

  Somehow, she managed to murmur, “Erik.”

  “Eh? Speak up.”

  “Erik.”

  “You said Erik.”

  “Yes.”

  “Erik who?”

  “Riggins.”

  Oggie had been leaning across the table. Now he sat back in his chair and folded his hands over his slight paunch. “Ah,” he said.

  Evie wasn’t sure she liked the way he said that. “What does that mean, ah?”

  “Nothin’, gal. It’s just an expression. Ah. Like in I see. Like in I understand.”

  “Oh. Well. All right.”

  “And what do you mean, you’ll never be more than friends with him?”

  “Well, he told me.”

  “Told you what?”

  “That he has his kids to raise and he doesn’t have any time for women right now.”

  Oggie pondered that information, then he asked, “And what about you?”

  “Me?”

  “Ain’t no one else here, gal. Just you and me. How do you feel about just bein’ friends?”

  “Well, I feel as he does. Friendship is all I’m looking for. I’ll never become…romantically involved with anyone.”

  Nothing ever offended Oggie Jones, but he looked offended now. “You mean not ever? Not in your entire life?”

  “Yes. That’s what I mean.”

  He slapped a hand on the table and snorted in disgust, “Why the hell not?”

  Evie didn’t answer. She was not going to explain that. Not even to Oggie. To explain that, she’d have to talk about her gifts, which she would never do.

  She wanted to forget her gifts and go on with this nice, normal life she’d found in North Magdalene. That was all she wanted, really. A normal life.

  A normal life and one thing more, a soft voice whispered inside her head, to have Erik Riggins for a friend…

  “Well? I’m still waitin’ for an answer here,” Oggie prompted.

  Evie picked up her lemonade glass, looked into it and set it back down. “I’m just not ever going to fall in love. That’s all. It’s…something I’ve always known.”

  “But why?”

  “It’s just the way I am, Uncle Oggie. Please. Let it go.”

  “But lovin’ between a man and a woman is God’s greatest gift. If you’ve had true love, you’ve had it all. A man can live through hell on earth, if he’s known real love with a good woman. And for a woman, it’s the same.”

  All unexpected, Evie felt tears at the back of her throat. Could that be true? Could love—lasting, committed lovebetween two people really make all the difference in life?

  She brought herself up short. What did it matter if it was true? She was never going to know love like that with a man. And getting all misty-eyed about it was self-indulgence, plain and simple.

  Evie gulped down the useless tears. “I understand, Uncle Oggie,” she said quietly. “But some people never have what you’re talking about. And they get by. I’m one of those people. I know it. So please. Just let the subject go.”

  Oggie looked at her sideways across the table. Then he let out a long sigh. He lifted his empty mug. “How ‘bout another cup?”

  Evie pushed herself to her feet and gave him more coffee, which he loaded up with sugar just as before. After he’d taken a good, long drink and she’d returned to her chair, Oggie spoke again.

  “All right. So you just want to be friends with Erik Riggins.”

  “Yes. I do.”

  “Good enough. And how can I help you to make that happen?”

  Evie felt a smile bloom on he
r face. “I love you, Uncle Oggie.”

  Oggie shifted around in his chair. “Don’t get sappy on me, gal. I’m an old man. I can’t take too much affection comin’ at me at one time. What can I do? Come on, I’m here to help.”

  “Well, I was hoping you might tell me…”

  “What?”

  “A little about him. About his life, I mean. And his family. And about the woman he was married to. Things like that. So I could get to understand him better. It’s important, I think, to understand your friends.”

  “You want a little history lesson, is that it? You want the history of Erik Riggins?”

  “Yes,” Evie said. “That’s exactly what I want.”

  “That could take a while.”

  “It’s Sunday. My shop is closed. I have all day.”

  A crafty look came into the little black eyes. “I’m gonna need a good cigar, to tell it all. Mind if I smoke?”

  “Uncle Oggie, you’re impossible.”

  “No argument.” He pulled out a cigar. “Can I smoke?”

  Evie rose and opened both of the kitchen windows, then found an ashtray at the back of a cupboard. She set it before him.

  He cackled and beamed up at her. “You’re a jewel, Evie Jones. A queen among women.”

  She sat down opposite him. “Just tell me about Erik.”

  And he did, smoke curling up from his cigar, his chair tipped back and his eyes full of memories of the way things once were.

  “Erik is a Riggins. That’s the first thing you gotta understand,” Oggie told Evie. “And you gotta understand that there’ve been Rigginses in North Magdalene even before there were Rileys—the Rileys bein’ my sainted Bathsheba’s people, in case you don’t recall my tellin’ you before. The Rigginses are good people. Salt of the earth. Workin’ people, if you get my drift.”

  “Yes.”

  “Tradespeople and laborers,” Oggie elaborated. “And some of them are just a little wild and crazy. Erik’s older brother, Jacob, comes to mind when I say wild. But not that wild. Probably not as wild as my own boys have been in their time.”

  Evie made a sound of understanding. Since she’d moved to North Magdalene, she’d heard no end of tales about the wild Jones boys.