Reverend Cooper beamed. “Thank you, young man. Sometimes it’s hard to know how to reach people today. So many choices pulling us in every direction.”
Marian wrapped her fingers around her father’s arm. “Now, Father, church is over. Mr. Robertson doesn’t need to hear about this anymore. After all, what could happen in Winston?”
Her father patted her fingers. “The devil is everywhere, Marian. You have to be on guard at all times.”
As he watched Marian, the slow rise and fall of her bodice, the slender ankles and calves he could see under the demure dress, Frank knew that her father was right. The thoughts spinning through his brain had nothing to do with the straight and narrow path.
He cleared his throat. “Well, I should be going, sir. Again, thank you for the warm welcome.”
He turned toward Marian, schooling his features into a neutral expression. “And I enjoyed meeting you, Miss Cooper.”
Her eyes widened, a beseeching look in their depths. He hesitated, unsure what she was asking. How could he see her again without prompting her father’s concern?
The movement was barely noticeable, just a flicker of her fingers. Her father frowned, then leaned his head toward her, his thick gray eyebrows raised in question. “Marian?”
She raised herself on tiptoe so she could whisper in her father’s ear. The soft cotton dress tightened around her slender form. Frank jammed his right hand into his pocket and flexed his fingers.
“Of course, my dear.” Reverend Cooper clapped Frank on the arm, his relationship to Marian now evident from the sparkle in his eyes. “My daughter has reminded me of my manners. If you’d honor us by coming to dinner, we’d be very pleased. I have to greet the rest of my congregation, but then we’ll take you home for some of my wife’s delicious cooking.”
Frank accepted the invitation and stood at the side of the steps, wondering if he’d caught some sort of summer madness. People stopped to greet him, their faces wreathed in welcoming smiles, and he answered them carefully, always aware of Marian only a few feet away. Several of the women were his former customers and he waited for one of them to denounce him as a traveling salesman, not worth the dirt under their feet.
But they didn’t see the door-to-door salesman today. Instead, they favored him with their most charming smiles, one daring young woman even rubbing her hip against his as she sauntered down the steps.
She tossed him a saucy look over her shoulder and he grinned. She had obviously paid scant attention to the reverend’s words that morning. Frank watched her sway down the walkway, her hips inviting him to spend some time with her. He had no doubt of her intentions.
“So, Mr. Robertson, are you ready?” The reverend tugged the church door to be sure it had locked securely. He joined Frank at the bottom of the steps.
With a last glance at the young woman, Frank made his decision. “ Yes, sir. You’re sure this won’t be an inconvenience for your wife?”
“Of course not. She always plans for some company each Sunday.”
The young woman stood poised at the gate, her hand resting on the latch. Frank shrugged, shaking his head at her smile. She spun around and stood toward the village, her black curls bouncing in the sun.
“I wonder what’s the matter with Flossie.” Reverend Cooper clicked the gate shut and turned toward his home.
“She’s not happy about something, ” Marian agreed, a smug inflection in her voice.
Startled, Frank looked at her but the reverend hid her from view. Was she as innocent as she seemed? She did know a lot about the birth of babies. Did she also know as much about how they came to be, what happened between a man and a woman?
His neck grew hot. Her father was talking about the run of warm weather they’d been enjoying and Frank immediately commented on how good the fields looked.
“And what line of work keeps you traveling so much?” Reverend Cooper asked as they neared the house.
Frank hesitated. Many of the people he met saw traveling salesmen as little more than hobos, slamming doors in their faces and ordering them off their property. The women at church hadn’t connected the dashing young salesman with the man they’d met on the church steps. Reverend Cooper professed to love all people, but would that love extend to the man walking next to him, even if he was wearing a new suit?
He couldn’t take the chance. “I’ve worked with my father in his store back in Iowa, ” he offered, staying close to the truth without betraying his current occupation. “I’ve always been good with words.”
A soft snort from the other side of the reverend almost proved his undoing. He could feel his cheeks flush and he stared at the ground. How could she turn him into this blithering fool in only a few short days?
Her father didn’t seem to notice anything amiss. He rubbed his chin with one gnarled hand, reminding Frank that this man had waited a long time for his child.
His footsteps lagged as they neared the house and then he straightened his shoulders. I might not live in a fine place, he thought, but I have as much right to walk into his home as anyone. His natural confidence returned; he greeted Marian’s mother with a smile and a low bow.
The older woman frowned and Frank realized his error. She bit her lip, glancing at her husband from under lowered lashes. When he introduced Frank to her, she shook his hand gravely, giving everyone the impression that she’d just met the young man.
Relieved that he wouldn’t be discovered yet and aware that he could be doing the minister a grave disservice, Frank followed Marian and her father into the parlor. Reverend Cooper excused himself at the door, murmuring that he needed to jot down an idea before it left him. Alone with Marian, Frank sank into the soft seat of a tapestry chair and clutched the brim of his hat, studying the carpet.
“That was nicely done, ” Marian said.
He lifted his head. “What do you mean?”
“My mother. I think you’ve charmed her. She sets a lot of store by the manners one has.”
“She recognized me.”
“Mother?” Marian shook her head. “No, you were a traveling salesman the other day. Today, you’re a handsome churchgoing young man.”
As Frank started to contradict her, Reverend Cooper hurried into the room, apologizing for his urgent departure. “But when an idea comes, I have to capture it as quickly as possible, else it leaves this feebled old brain of mine, ” he said with a half smile.
Marian sat in a corner of the room, the picture of demure womanhood. When Mrs. Cooper announced that dinner was ready, she let her father escort her into the dining room. Frank held her mother’s chair and Marian favored him with a warm look from under thick lashes before resuming her modest demeanor.
The food was simple but plentiful. He complimented Mrs. Cooper on her cooking and had the pleasure of seeing soft color flood her wrinkled cheeks. Reverend Cooper talked about the many advantages of their small village, punctuating each comment with a jab of his fork in the air. Marian ate with her head down, the flash of her dimple showing her humor at the conversation.
He’d begun to relax, even enjoy himself, when the reverend suddenly asked, “You don’t have a wife somewhere, do you?”
Chapter 2
Reverend Cooper’s question startled him, coming in the middle of a diatribe on city life, and he almost dropped the forkful of mashed potatoes that was halfway to his mouth. Seeing only curiosity on the man’s face, Frank relaxed and shook his head. “No, I’ve never felt much desire to settle down.”
“Ah, the arrogance of young manhood, ” Reverend Cooper said, his fork