Tessa McDermid - Family Stories by Tessa McDermid Read Free Book Online

clean shirt, he went down to the kitchen, hoping his dinner would fil the suddenly painful hol ow in his stomach.
    Chapter 3
    He soon adjusted to the easy pace of the vil age. Every Sunday, he dressed careful y in his new suit and marched down the road to the white church. While his sole interest in attending lay with the minister's daughter, he found himself paying more attention to her father's sermons every week.
    After the service, Marian and her father greeted the congregation while her mother disappeared, presumably to fix the noonday meal. Frank didn't receive another invitation to the house but he didn't mind. He often ate his Sunday meal with his boss and family; it was easier to relax under the roof of the boisterous Bates family.
    He'd just started his second week in the vil age when Marian came into the store with her father. "How are things going?" Reverend Cooper asked.
    "Fine, sir." Frank didn't glance toward Marian, afraid that his emotions would show in his eyes. His heart pounded under the canvas apron he wore and he swal owed to relieve the pressure in his throat.
    Satisfied that his good deed was stil producing positive results, Reverend Cooper sat down on a stool near the front of the store. Mr. Bates took a stool opposite him and soon they were engaged in a lively discussion of politics, the weather and the state of the country.
    Dismissed, Frank returned to his work, stacking bags of grain near the back wall. He almost dropped one when he heard Marian's soft voice behind him. "I've missed you."
    He swung around, the bag clutched in his hands. "Marian, what are you doing?"
    He peered quickly around. Tal sacks of grain separated them from the two men, and he could hear their animated conversation, but it was only a matter of time before her father started looking for her.
    "I miss you, Frank."
    Her forlorn voice pul ed at him. Setting the bag down between them, he framed her face with his hands and tilted it up until he could see her eyes. "I've missed you, too," he whispered. "But we can't meet here."
    "Then where? You never come to the house and I can't go to the widow Bardett's by myself." She sniffed loudly, then let her breath out in a long sigh.
    When he chuckled, her eyes flashed. "You think it's funny that we can't meet?"
    He bent down and kissed her on the lips. "No, I think your playacting is funny." At the mutinous look in her eyes, he kissed her again, a hard kiss that left them both breathless.
    "Frank, what are we going to do?"

    When her shining face tipped toward his, he knew he was lost. He wouldn't cal it love but he couldn't imagine living without her.
    "I don't know yet, but I'll come up with something, Marian. "At the scraping sound that signaled the stools were being pushed aside, he nudged her toward the front of the store. "Until then, trust me."
    The tremulous look she gave him was ful of trust. No one had ever regarded him that way before. His chest swelling with pride, he flung a bag to the top of the pile, her tempting smile urging him on.
    That night, he wrote to his mother and told her about his new job and the vil age. He made only a passing mention of the Coopers, including them in a list of families who'd invited him into their homes. The letter sealed, he lay back on his bed. For the first time since he'd gone on the road, he felt a burning desire to return home, to try again with his father, to see his mother and ask her about his feelings for Marian.
    The next Sunday, he saw Marian at the church. When Frank would've walked down the steps, she laid a gloved hand on his arm. He paused, his eyes going from her somber face to that of her father. Reverend Cooper didn't hesitate to offer him an invitation to dinner.
    "I appreciate it, sir, but 1 couldn't impose—"
    "Nonsense," Reverend Cooper interrupted with a wave of his hand. "We've been remiss in our duty to you, young man. Only the other day, Mrs. Cooper asked how you were getting on. Come to dinner and set her mind at