Jezebel by Jacquelin Thomas Read Free Book Online

Ma.”
    â€œWell, you thought wrong. You’re beautiful, gal. Use your looks and not your body. Just the promise of something more is enough for most men,” Anabeth advised.
    â€œI remember how the butcher would give you extra meat from time to time or that Deacon Jones used to give you more fabric than you asked for.”
    â€œAnd I never had to defile my marriage bed. Remember that . I let them assume whatever they wanted to—had nothing to do with me.”
    â€œI will,” Jessie Belle vowed. “I won’t forget it.”
    â€œI gotta get busy on the hem. You getting married tomorrow—we don’t have a minute to waste.”
    â€œMa, I don’t love Traynor,” Jessie Belle confessed.
    â€œYou’ll learn to love him. You can’t help but love a man who puts your needs before his own.”

    â€œDo you take this woman to be your wife….?” Jessie Belle’s father said.
    When it was his cue to respond, Traynor answered, “I do.”
    Jessie Belle couldn’t stop smiling. Her dream of becoming a fine lady was finally coming true. She’d studied Jacqueline Kennedy—her role model—and fantasized about dressing like her, talking like her and being rich like her. In a few minutes she would be a first lady just like Jacqueline—only she would help her husband lead his church and not a country.
    She was so caught up in her thoughts that Jessie Belle almost missed her father’s question.
    â€œI do,” she stated. “I do.”
    Jessie Belle was not at all pleased with the simple wedding band Traynor placed on her finger, but he promised to buy her a diamond soon.
    His daddy could’ve given me the one he’d given his late wife. Traynor told her that his father kept it in her jewelry box. The woman was dead—she wouldn’t be needing any of her jewelry, so why was he being so stingy with it? That ring would’ve been a nice wedding present.
    For the past couple of days, Jessie Belle had tried being friendly to her father-in-law, but while he was polite, she had a strong suspicion that he didn’t care much for her.
    Traynor’s aunt threw away all pretenses. She couldn’t stand Jessie Belle and didn’t bother to hide her dislike.
    After the ceremony, Jessie Belle walked over to Eleanor Deveraux-Barrett and said, “I’m so happy to be married to Traynor. We’re family now.”
    Traynor’s aunt walked off without a response.
    â€œYour aunt hates me,” Jessie Belle later confided in Traynor while they were seated at the head table, waiting to be served.
    â€œAunt Eleanor doesn’t hate you,” he stated. “She’s still in a little bit of a shock over the news of our getting married. It happened rather quickly. I came to Mayville to preach in place of my father, and now I have a wife. They’re just worried that we’re moving too fast. Give them some time to get used to the idea of us being married.”
    â€œDo you have any regrets?”
    Traynor shook his head no. “I’ve never been this happy before, Jessie Belle.”
    â€œNeither have I,” she replied. Her heart danced with excitement. She was Mrs. Traynor Deveraux.
    Her gaze traveled the room, eyeing the expressions on some of the girls’ faces. Jessie Belle gloried in their heartache and disappointment.
    She’d won.
    When her mother could get her alone, Anabeth pulled Jessie Belle into one of the tiny rooms in the back of the church hall.
    â€œHere, take this,” she said, handing Jessie Belle a tiny pack of blood. “Now, remember what I said.”
    Skeptical, Jessie Belle questioned, “You really think this is gonna fool Traynor?”
    She nodded. “Mamie Ella did it for her daughter when she married Saul Tinsdale. He never knew a thing. Traynor will think he married a virgin. Now, remember to cry a little and for goodness’ sake, don’t act