“Everyone seems to be very proud of this Jessie Tucker,” Leah said.
Linnet smiled. “Jessie would inspire pride in the people around him no matter what he did. How many of the Starks have you met?”
“Quite a few,” Leah said with a laugh. “How many are there?”
“New ones every year. Gaylon Jr. went to Boston last year to attend school. He’s a very intelligent young man and we all hope he’ll become governor or even president.”
As they walked through the town, stopping in stores and meeting people, Leah became aware of the strong sense of community. In Virginia, no matter how many times she reminded herself that she had become a Stanford, she still thought of herself as a Simmons. The swamp seemed to pull her toward it, and Regan and Nicole, for all their kindness, always seemed as if they’d been created in another world that was far removed from Leah’s.
But here in this little town with all the people wearing clothes of homespun cotton or wool, often patched garments, she began to feel as if she belonged. In spite of what Wesley had accused her of, of wanting Stanford Plantation, Leah had never wanted to be rich. Her dreams had been about safety, a place where she was sure she wasn’t going to be beaten. Stanford Plantation had been safe, but the delicate dishes, the silk clothes that made her constantly worry about tearing them, the manners she had to memorize, all the things that came naturally to Regan and Nicole, all made Leah nervous.
This town was safe and it wasn’t formal. Most of the people she met slurred their words and made no pretense at talking in the way Nicole had taught Leah, a way that was sometimes difficult for Leah to remember. Linnet, for all her plain cotton dress, seemed to exude a ladylike air that reminded Leah of Nicole.
Linnet’s daughter Georgina soon lost her shyness when she saw an older woman walking beside twin girls, and Georgina ran ahead to meet them.
“That’s Justin and Oliver’s mother, Esther,” Linnet said with some sadness in her voice as they approached the woman. “Doll’s nearly worn her out with having so many children. The twins are her granddaughters. Their mother, Lissie, died in childbirth.”
Leah was introduced to Esther Stark and the six-year-old twins, and afterward Linnet led Leah to the Macalister store. “It’s grown some in the last few years,” Linnet explained, “and now I do the bookkeeping so Devon has more time off. It’s all worked out quite well,” she said in a dreamy way that seemed private to Leah.
Before the empty fireplace sat an old, thin man, idly whittling on a stick.
“This here the new one?” the man asked.
“Allow me to introduce Doll Stark,” Linnet said. “This is Mrs. Leah Stanford.”
Leah nodded to the man, all the while remembering everything Justin had said about his father.
Doll looked at Leah for a long moment and seemed to sense her dislike of him. “I think I’ll go see to some things,” he said, rising.
When they were alone in the store, surrounded by shelves of merchandise, Linnet spoke, a small frown on her face. “He’s a very lonely man now since Phetna and old Gaylon died.” At the puzzled look on Leah’s face, she explained. “After Devon and I were married, Doll used to sit in here with his friends, Gaylon and Phetna, but when they died, most of the life went out of Doll. Devon has been trying to find someone to sit in here with Doll but no one nowadays seems to have quite such a capacity for inactivity. Perhaps it’s all the travelers passing through here. Everything seems so much faster now.”
Leah could hear all the love in Linnet’s voice and it was the same as hearing another side to the story. Justin despised his father for his laziness while others loved Doll for it.
It was while they were inside the store that they heard a woman’s screams outside.
“That’s Miranda,” Linnet said with a gasp and started running.
Outside, tearing down the main street, was a runaway team of horses pulling a wagon that lurched drunkenly from one side to the other. On the seat, trying her best to hold on, was a pretty young girl with wild, frightened eyes, hair flying about her face.
“Devon!” Linnet screamed as the wild wagon ran past Leah and her. The next moment the two women started running after the wagon, Linnet’s face a mask of terror.
Neither Mac nor Wesley was in the street to see the wagon, but Bud and Cal were. It was amazing that men so big could act so quickly. As if they’d planned their actions together, Bud ran to the back of the wagon while Cal spurted ahead to the front.
Bud jumped on the back of the wagon and agilely made his way to the seat and the frightened girl. With one hand he caught her about the waist while steadying himself with his powerful legs wide apart.
Miranda, with a little scream when Bud first touched her, turned and clung to him, instinctively trusting him with her life.
Meanwhile Cal ran in front of the horses, grabbed the harness, and used his big body to create resistance. For a few seconds he was pulled under, his heels tearing into the dirt, then the horses began to slow and Cal gained control.
Mac and Wesley walked out of the feed store to see Bud standing in the back of the wagon, Miranda clinging to him with all her might, while Cal gathered the loose reins and secured the horses.
“Miranda,” Mac said breathlessly, and in one step was at the foot of the wagon. “Come here, princess.” He held up his arms to her.
Miranda, obviously shaken and still frightened, looked from her father to Bud, who still held her; she closed her eyes and remained where she was.
“What—?” Mac began, but Linnet put her hand on her husband’s arm as Bud walked to the edge of the wagon.
Cal put up his arms for Miranda.