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  “Good afternoon, Mr. Adams. It’s so good to see you again,” she said as she forced a smile and hoped she didn’t look as flustered as she felt. To say that Jacob made her nervous was putting it mildly. The man terrified her. Well, not the actual man, but what he represented terrified her absolutely. He represented possibility—the possibility that she’d forsake all that she believed in and actually marry him. Never once since she’d come of age had she been tempted to do such a thing. No man had ever been up to the task of changing her mind. But Jacob Adams was obviously no ordinary man, especially not when it came to her senses.

  She’d gone out of her way to avoid him since that embarrassing encounter last week, even delaying checking on the table she’d ordered and had been anxiously awaiting, to keep from seeing him. Finally she’d realized that no matter how brazen (or daft) the man was, he would not importune her in front of his father and brother, so she’d come down to their shop, only to discover that Jacob was there alone. Of all times for Caleb Adams to go pick up a delivery at the lumberyard.

  Caleb looked down at her from his impressive height. “Good afternoon, Miss Day. Did you come by to see the table we made for you?”

  “Yes, I did, Mr. Adams, if it’s convenient,” she said, nervously licking her lips. With Jacob standing behind her, she could feel his eyes on her as if they were breath against her skin. Heat rose up to her face as she recalled the way she’d acted in response to his kiss. Why, she’d acted like a female dog in heat. Thank God his father didn’t know. Or did he? She sneaked a peek up at Mr. Adams and saw him look over her head to frown at his son. But he reserved a smile for her before taking her arm to lead her over to the showroom area of their carpentry shop.

  When she’d inherited her parents’ general store and boardinghouse the previous year, she’d quickly remembered that her father had planned to expand their dining room for years. He hadn’t had an opportunity to do so before his early death. The meals made by her cook were so popular that it would be financial idiocy for her not to follow through with her father’s plans. And to do just that, she’d ordered two tables from the Adamses. She looked over the large oak table she’d commissioned. As she’d expected, the craftsmanship was second to none. She smoothed her hand over the silken finish that made the wood glow in the sunlight streaming into the shop’s window.

  Caleb nodded as though she’d spoken. “Jacob is the best carpenter in the state, bar none. I taught him, but he surpassed me long ago. He put six coats of linseed oil and beeswax on that table; it should stand up to anything your customers might throw at it.”

  At the mention of his name, Mary Katherine involuntarily glanced over at Jacob. Just as she’d suspected, he was still staring at her. His eyes were all but telegraphing his thoughts and left her even warmer than the hot summer day.

  “As you say, Mr. Adams, the craftsmanship is superb.”

  “We can deliver this one tomorrow and the other next week or early the following week.”

  “That’s perfect. The dining room should be ready by then.”

  They spent a few more minutes discussing the delivery time and making arrangements for payment, and then Mary Katherine departed. Only deeply ingrained manners and pride prevented her from running upon exiting the establishment.

  *

  Mary Katherine had barely made it out the door when Caleb Adams wheeled around to face his son. “What in thunderation is wrong with you, boy? You were looking at that poor girl like you wanted to eat her alive.”

  Jacob grinned wickedly and slowly stroked his chin. “Now there’s a thought.”

  Matthew Adams came out of the storeroom to join his father and brother. Long, dark, and lean, he couldn’t be mistaken for anything but an Adams. “Was that the lovely Miss Day?” he asked and whistled softly under his breath. “That is one fine piece of womanhood there,” he said while giving his brother a sly look. “I’m surprised she can walk upright with that impressive bosom, but I do enjoy watching her do so.”

  Jacob turned on his brother with a growl. Before he could put his upraised fist to good use, his father grabbed it and turned him back around to face him.

  “I’ll not have you two fighting in the shop again. Destroyed darned near every piece in here the last time you decided to take up fisticuffs.”

  “He should not be talking about Mary Katherine that way,” Jacob snarled.

  “I agree that what he said was improper,” Caleb said with a warning glance at his younger son. “But I’ve certainly heard you say worse.”

  “Haven’t you heard, Papa?” Matthew asked with undisguised glee. “Jake proposed to Miss Day.”

  “What? Is this true, Son? When did this happen?”

  Jacob shrugged. “I’ve been asking since the first day we met.”

  “Yes, she gave old Jake here the mitten,” Matthew said. “Turned him down flat.”

  Caleb looked back to Jacob. “Have you lost your mind?”

  “Curious how people keep asking me that,” Jacob said mildly.

  “Son, I know you’ve been gone for a long time, but here in Ohio, we generally go through a courtship before we ask a lady to marry us.”

  Jacob didn’t respond. Instead he walked back over to his worktable, where he was milling a piece of molding. He worked in silence for a long while, with both his father and brother staring at him in bemusement. Finally he looked up from his work and raised a brow in inquiry.

  “As my brother so crudely put it,” Jacob began, “Miss Day is a lovely woman, and she’s well past marrying age. Are all the men in this town blind, or is there some reason why she’s not married?”

  His father returned his stare and hesitated as though he was considering not answering Jacob’s question. Then he pursed his lips. “According to your sister, Miss Day has no desire to marry. She’s always believed that marriage is too restrictive for women, and now that she’s inherited such a fine business, that belief has strengthened twofold. She thinks she can run it herself without the aid of a man.”

  “Oh, does she now?” Jacob’s lips curved upward in a smile that somehow looked more predatory than amused. “Then I guess I’ll have to do what I can to change the lovely lady’s mind, won’t I?”

  Chapter Six

  “So, Mary Katherine, are you going to tell me what has precipitated your sudden interest in my oaf of a brother?”

  Startled, Mary Katherine bought herself some time by taking a drink from her cup of tea. She sat in the Adamses’ parlor, where she’d come to visit with her best friend. Finally he looked at Grace Adams, the only female and youngest person in the Adams household. At twenty-four, Grace was unmarried, mule-headed, outspoken, and oftentimes uncontrollable. And in Mary Katherine’s opinion, much too perceptive. Therefore, equivocating with Grace was not an easy thing to do. Mary Katherine believed that she was up to the challenge. “I don’t know what you mean,” she told her firmly, putting her cup back on the saucer with a snap.

  Grace only raised a brow. “Oh,” she said and took her time taking a sip from her own cup. “Don’t you?”

  “No. I don’t.”

  “Hmm. Strange,” Grace said softly with a frown, as if considering something quite complex. “I would think that having someone press his mouth so hard to yours would be something you’d have full knowledge of.”

  Mary Katherine grimaced and felt her cheeks heat. She threw her friend a chiding look, her lips twitching when the fiend had the nerve to look unflinchingly back at her. She had no doubt that Grace had seen Jacob and her kissing; she just didn’t know when. Jacob had kissed her so often since that night in her house that Grace’s sighting of them could have been any number of times. Mary Katherine had known that she was taking a risk every time she accepted and participated in his kisses, but well, she’d done it anyway. She liked it—a lot.

  She was a thirty-year-old, unmarried woman who wasn’t a widow, nor was she affianced. That alone was enough to get her the occasional raised eyebrow and sidelong look. Add to
that the fact that she had the temerity to want to take care of herself by running a business. The result was a woman who couldn’t make one wrong move without the possibility of a negative judgment from the town that could ultimately lead to financial ruin.

  If word got out that she had been so wanton with Jacob, Mary Katherine knew it could spell disaster for her. She knew it and thought about it every time she saw him, but when he took her into his arms, she seemed to lose all her common sense. His kisses were like the most tempting morsels of chocolate, and chocolate was the one vice she allowed herself. Or at least it had been. Always honest with herself, she added Jacob to that list—a list that hadn’t really existed before him. Not only that, but he was clearly first on that list, routing chocolate without even the hint of a battle.

  She heard Grace delicately clear her throat and brought her thoughts back into focus. Her friend was looking expectantly at her, patiently awaiting her answer. Mary Katherine found herself unable to tell even Grace the truth. She directed her gaze to a painting behind Grace’s head. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “I see,” Grace said contemplatively. She stared at Mary Katherine for a few silent beats.

  Fighting the desire to squirm under the penetrating gaze that was so much like Jacob’s, Mary Katherine lifted her brow in inquiry.

  Grace mimicked her motion, except she also cocked her head and twisted her mouth, as if asking, Do you really think I’m going to fall for that?

  Mary Katherine didn’t blink. That’s my story, and I shan’t waver from it.

  Grace stared.

  Mary Katherine stared and watched as, finally, disappointed resignation flickered across the other woman’s face. Stalemate.

  Grace sighed before saying, “I saw that new gingham cloth you’ve got at your store. Is it very expensive? Papa is insisting I make myself a new dress.”

  Mary Katherine’s relief at the change of subject was well hidden as she smiled at Grace’s shudder of disgust. “Whatever the cost, I’m sure your father will be willing to pay it, considering how much he prefers to see his only daughter in dresses rather than the inappropriate trousers you prefer.”

  Grace shrugged, a frown on her face. “Trousers are less constricting. Any woman with a lick of sense would prefer them over all of those cumbersome skirts. And besides, you of all people should understand how I feel. My father’s desires should not take precedence over my own, particularly as it’s my life. But of course they do, and it’s simply because he’s male.”

  Mary Katherine nodded. They’d had this discussion many times before. It was about more than being told what to wear; that was just one result of an unbalanced system. She and Grace both chafed at the bonds placed on them as women. Grace was under her father’s protection, and it would not only be unusual, but also frowned upon if she took it in her head to leave his house without first getting married.

  Her father could only be described as traditional in thinking when it came to how he saw women. In his mind, women were made for cooking, cleaning, raising children, and answering to the men in their lives, whether they were fathers, husbands, or brothers. For an independent woman like Grace, this was almost an untenable situation, and to make matters worse, she had the added burden of two brothers who also thought because they were men they could run her life.

  Mary Katherine had sympathy for her and thanked God almost daily that she did not have such constraints. She ran her own life, and while that didn’t mean she could do whatever she liked, it did mean that she had more independence than most women. Paradoxically, while she did not envy Grace her lifestyle, she could not help but envy her her family. Not a day went by that Mary Katherine didn’t think about her parents, and she often found herself weeping out of sheer want of them.

  Mary Katherine studied her friend. Like all the Adamses, Grace was tall, dark, and beautiful. Men were irresistibly drawn to her, and Mary Katherine knew that Mr. Adams had had many offers for her hand. Grace, of course, found even the idea of marriage revolting. Mary Katherine smiled. She couldn’t blame her. “So,” she began, “why the sudden need for a new dress?”

  Grace looked at her with serious eyes for a moment before saying, “I seem to become especially clumsy while wearing dresses, and most all that I own have met with unfortunate mishaps: a rip here, a stain there. Why, one even mysteriously got scorched—right in the middle of the skirt.” She blinked. “Of course, repairs are not an option.”

  Mary Katherine looked doubtfully at the other woman, who was the least clumsy person she knew. In fact, her given name was amazingly apropos. “Grace, I can’t believe that all of your dresses are in ru—”

  Grace suddenly reached out and grabbed her hand, looking at her with wide, innocent eyes filled with apology. “You can’t know how guilty I felt about the expense—”

  “Oh, I’m sure I could,” Mary Katherine muttered wryly. She considered her friend in admiration. My God, she should be onstage.

  But Grace continued as if she hadn’t said a word. “And I told Papa that I’d only be too happy to wear some of Matthew’s old trousers, so as to save him the cost of new dresses.” Her eyes were still wide, and they still held regret.

  Mary Katherine just looked at her before patting her hand. “I’m impressed. Does that look usually work on your father?”

  Grace smiled without an ounce of guilt before pulling back. She pushed a wayward strand of hair back into her single braid. “Yes, it does,” she said with pride. “And it would have worked this time, t, too if that oafish lout Jacob hadn’t come in and told Papa that it would be disgraceful to allow me to wear trousers and that I should just get new dresses, never mind the expense!”

  Mary Katherine laughed out loud. “I take it your father agreed and wouldn’t hear of your making such a sacrifice as wearing trousers.”

  Grace’s mouth twisted in disappointment. “I’m sitting here asking you about the blasted cost of gingham, aren’t I? In fact, thanks to that interfering brother of mine, I’m to contribute to the cost with my own pocket money. I have to pay a quarter of the bill! Imagine! Not only am I being forced to conform, but I am being forced to pay for my own loss of individuality! Is that not intolerable?”

  Mary Katherine, seeing how upset Grace was, bit her lip to keep herself from laughing even more. “Was your father terribly angry, then?”

  Grace frowned. “Not so much angry as perplexed, as if he couldn’t understand why, as a female, I do not, as he sees it, act like one.” She shrugged. “Perplexity is the expression you will most often see on my father’s face when he’s confronted with me. You might say that I am his own personal sphinx.”

  There was a lot of pain behind that light statement, but Mary Katherine didn’t comment on it. She’d learned not to press, because Grace never responded. Instead, before she thought about it, she said, “Any offers this week?” She immediately wanted to bite her tongue. Of course Grace knew about Jacob’s proposing to her, and now she’d just opened up the subject of him again. Muttonhead, she silently scolded herself.

  Grace grinned, causing Mary Katherine to blink. It was a rare occasion to see the intense young woman smile, and this grin was almost an exact replica of Jacob’s. Mary Katherine gave her head a quick shake. She had to stop thinking about the man! She tuned in to what Grace was saying.

  “No, none, thank God. I think Papa has just about had it with me and is ready to throw me to the first man who smiles pretty, completely discounting my feelings in the process. What about you?”

  As single women considered well past marrying age, they found themselves almost inundated with proposals, especially Mary Katherine. She figured most of them came from men who were really just interested in her business, which they thought would automatically become theirs if they married her. Hoping Grace wouldn’t bring up Jacob, she lied and said, “No, not a single one.”

  “Oh, then I guess we’ve both been lucky. Last week when Jack Turner approached Papa, I thought life as I knew it was over,
because Papa just loves Jack. Thank goodness he asked my opinion before giving him an answer, though.”

  “Let me guess. You told him the same thing you always tell him: you can’t bear to leave him and your brothers, because if you did, there wouldn’t be a woman in the house to take care of them.”

  “Yes, of course. I told him I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving until I knew he was in good hands, which means he’d have to get married before I did. As usual, that closed the subject. You see, he’s caught in a trap of his own making. He insists that women are needed only to take care of the men in their lives, yet my marrying would leave the men in my life—my only reason for existing apparently—alone. And the last thing my father wants to do is get married.”

  Mary Katherine shook her head in wonderment. “I swear, Grace, you are the most complicated of thinkers. What will you do if your papa tells you he will get married, thereby releasing you from your obligation to your family and leaving no obstacles to your getting married?”

  “I’ve thought of that, of course. If that should happen, then it’s the suitor who will have to be dissuaded.”

  “Oh,” Mary Katherine said challengingly, “and how will you do that?”

  Grace looked at her solemnly and said, “I have my ways,” leaving Mary Katherine with little doubt that she did.

  Endeavoring to bring a little lightness back into the conversation, Mary Katherine said, “The next time your father drags home a suitor for you, you ought to pull out the Declaration of Sentiments from Seneca Falls!”

  Grace burst out laughing. “Oh that’s an excellent idea! After showing them to him, I could ask him if he could guarantee that any man I married wouldn’t commit any of the transgressions on the list. Oh! Even better, I’d ask him to get the man to sign them as truth and then promise not to commit them!”