Discernment, p.10
Discernment, page 10
Sean nodded and took my hand. “Take your time. Eliza won’t leave me, will she?”
I smiled. “I doubt it. I did have a breakthrough today at Barton Academy. Ask Althea to tell you. I’ll go home now—with the book.”
He squeezed my hand before letting go. “Come for supper on Saturday with Alvin. Bring his aunt if you must.”
I nodded and made my escape.
It was close to five before Alvin came home. He kissed me while I paused my knitting.
He looked around the room. “I want a chair here by yours. Shall we shop for one Saturday morning?”
“That sounds nice. We have a supper invitation that night to Sean’s house. He said we could invite Catherine if we wanted.”
“But you don’t, do you?” The jut of his chin was defiant, a lopsided smirk on his lips.
“Of course not, but if you think it would be best, we will.”
“I don’t think I could tolerate their quips all evening.”
“Let him know so he can arrange for another guest.”
“I’ll telephone him now.”
Alvin left the room without noticing the Kardec book on my side table. I set my knitting on top of it and walked the space between my chair and the bookcase on the far wall, imagining a small couch there.
“He’s going to see about getting one of the football players over.” Alvin hugged me. “Will you be bored with that?”
“You men have fun with whatever conversations strike your fancy.” I kissed him, lingering my lips on his as he pulled me closer. “As long as I’m with you, Alvin, I’m happy.”
At supper, Catherine was in a worse mood than usual. She was so upset, she didn’t speak—not even to Alvin—for the first ten minutes. She brooded in a yellow cocoon at her end of the table.
“I suppose,” she finally said, “that I’ll have to find something to entertain myself on Saturday since you’re not taking any meals with me.”
Eyes widening, I looked to Alvin.
He glanced from me to his aunt. “Deborah and I need a day together.”
A whole day! I smiled at Alvin as I placed my hand on his knee.
“I suppose you’re going to waste your money gallivanting around town on a wild spree.”
“It’s none of your worry,” he said as the color rose to his face, “but I’m not in the least concerned with Deborah’s spending habits, nor my own.”
“Oh, everything is ruined.” Her fork clattered to her plate. “Tessa! Tessa, I’m through. Take it all away!”
Tessa, Alvin, and I watched Catherine stalk from the room. Her heels clicked up the wood stairs and across the upper hall before her bedroom door slammed.
The cook gave a timid smile, to which I giggled.
“She’s had a difficult year,” Alvin murmured.
“And it’s probably all her doing,” Tessa declared before going back to the kitchen.
Alvin shrugged. “Now what do we do?”
“Enjoy a pleasant supper and dessert while you tell me all about our Saturday plans.”
Eleven
Saturday morning, Alvin and I took the streetcar downtown. We enjoyed breakfast at a restaurant inside the Cawthon Hotel—which Alvin informed me was good, but not better than my own cooking—and then went window shopping until we found stores selling furniture. After much discussion, we settled on a small, tufted, blue couch big enough for Alvin to sit and prop his feet on, or for me to snuggle beside him, which I looked forward to doing as the nights chilled. He paid with a bank check, and then had me lead the way to Mademoiselle Bisset’s shop.
“I want you to have another new dress or two, Deborah. You’re always pretty, but it’s nice to see you dressed up.”
“Am I to be your trophy at supper tonight?” I teased.
“I have no problem dining with bachelors with my lovely wife.”
Mademoiselle Bisset’s store was bustling with Saturday shoppers, but she recognized me at once.
“Welcome Mrs. Farley—and Mr. Farley! My dear, you are lucky to have brought this one to town after the nuptials and not before, for he would have been snatched up in no time.” She offered her hand to Alvin. “I am glad to meet you, Mr. Farley. May I trust that you found your wife the loveliest creature in the gown she purchased the other week and wish to buy her more?”
He adjusted his poke collar, looked around at the watchful eyes of shoppers and shop girls alike before smiling at Mademoiselle Bisset. “Yes, you’re exactly right.”
“There is no better compliment than a happy husband, Mr. Farley. Now, what will your wife need today?”
“Whatever she wishes, so long as it includes at least one evening gown and an outfit appropriate for Sundays.”
We left an hour later. The dresses, sleepwear, and undergarments would be delivered to the house that afternoon.
“We have time to eat dinner before the couch and clothing are delivered,” Alvin said. “Does seafood sound good?”
I agreed and we headed east, seeking a restaurant near the river Sean had recommended.
Once at a corner table away from the bustle of the kitchen noises, we sipped iced tea.
I took Alvin’s hand. “Why are you spending so much money today?”
“Because you deserve to be spoiled, Deb.” His thumb caressed the side of my palm. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed the way you rise early to cook my breakfast, not to mention those tasty desserts and my lunches. You’ve been patient with our living arrangement and the dearest thing to me these past weeks. But please don’t worry about money.”
“Was that deposit receipt balance correct?”
He nodded.
“I love you no matter what’s in your account, but why didn’t you tell me, Alvin?”
He dropped my hand when the waiter delivered our food, then thanked him. “Eat while it’s fresh, Deborah.”
The unspoken words festered between us, but I couldn’t be upset with him when I was sitting on the truth of what I now knew was mediumship. If he told me about his money, I would tell him about my gift—sometime.
The softshell crab dipped in melted butter was excellent, the cornbread and greens as well. We ate without speaking, but we looked often to each other. Alvin ordered himself another crab when the waiter stopped to check on us, but I declined anything more.
“Uncle Jerald,” he told me, “was in insurance and had his life insured for fifty thousand dollars. I received eighty percent of it when he died.”
“Shouldn’t the majority have gone to Catherine?”
“Or to their children, but in over five years of marriage, he and Catherine never had any, much to his disappointment. Cathy received ten thousand, but the original plan was for her to get it all. Uncle Jerald changed it last winter, and I don’t think he told her because she was upset when his lawyer went over the papers before her, my mother, and me after the funeral. Maybe Uncle Jerald wanted it left to the next generation. I was his only nephew and named after him—Jerald Alvin Snodgrass.”
“Or maybe he didn’t love her anymore. She is rather difficult to live with.”
“Deb.” Alvin shook his head.
His second crab arrived, and he ate without looking at me.
“Alvin, I’m just trying to understand.”
“There’s nothing to understand. He changed the main beneficiary, and we’ll never know why because Uncle Jerald is dead.”
“But I could try—” I stopped before blurting my idea of seeking a connection with Uncle Jerald’s spirit.
“You’re doing more than enough at home, Deborah, and I appreciate it.”
Guilt crept in because I wasn’t doing all I could—at least not where Catherine was concerned. It was too difficult to play nice with her. “But why are we living with Aunt Catherine when you have the means of securing our own home?”
“Are you so unhappy there?”
The sadness in his eyes was palpable, and I couldn’t drive the knife deeper when he had shared the truth with me. “You come home to me every day, and we’re together each night. That’s what I need, not a fancy house—just a room or two to call our own. And we have that, Alvin.”
“I’m glad to hear that, Deb. The house is mine, but it doesn’t feel right to kick Cathy out while she’s in mourning.”
“Then why does she act like I’m trying to take over her house when it doesn’t belong to her?”
“She’s still trying to work through her grief. I’ll encourage her to look for a fresh start next spring.”
“Next spring?” Anger threatened to boil over. “I’m supposed to put up with her pointed remarks another six months?”
Alvin shrugged. “I don’t want to push her out when she’s already lost Uncle Jerald.”
“Why didn’t you tell me all this before we came?”
His lips pressed into a straight line for a moment. “I didn’t tell you about the inheritance because when I was in college…there was a girl.”
“Yes?” I took his hand as gently as I said the word.
“I was in love with her. She came to every home game and we studied together. We’d meet wherever we could for a little alone time, and…well, I wanted to marry her. The day before I planned to propose, she found out I was at the university on scholarship and demanded to know what my father did. When she learned he worked in a Sloss furnace, she dropped me.”
I watched his chin quiver as he fought back his emotions a moment.
“You mentioned to me about losing my uncle, and I still don’t know how you found out because I only told the school I had a family emergency when I came down for the funeral. I was worried you somehow knew I’d come into money and your increased attentions were a young lady looking to keep her easy lifestyle.”
“Alvin, I hope you realize I’m not like that.”
“I came to understand you better when we started taking those walks this summer, but I was still nervous.”
“It pains me that your heart was broken.”
“You’ve healed it, Deb.” Alvin’s hand was on my cheek before his mouth went to mine in a quick—but public—kiss.
***
At six o’clock that evening, Alvin lounged on the new sofa while I dressed for supper in the bedroom. My sapphire gown from Mademoiselle Bisset’s was silk and the orange sash a bold contrast to show off a perfect hourglass shape I didn’t realize I had until acquiring the French shapewear.
Once my hair was piled on top of my head and the dangling crystal earrings hung from my lobes, I opened the door to the sitting room. Alvin set down the book he was reading and smiled with complete devotion as he crossed to me.
“Are you truly mine, Deb?” He kissed my throat and down toward the square neckline of the gown.
“Completely yours, Alvin Farley.”
He started us in a box step, to which I followed his lead. “I’m claiming the first dance now so Sean or his guest can’t take that from me.”
“No matter who dances with me, it’s you I love.”
His smile and the mischievous twinkle in his eyes helped me see the young man he must have been in college with all his dreams within reach, from career to love. Hopefully he knew he had all that now, even if I wasn’t part of his original plan.
Alvin excused himself to change into the tuxedo that had been delivered that afternoon. He had stopped after work the other day to have one fitted as a surprise. Not having seen him in a tuxedo before, I anxiously waited until he returned to the room.
“You’re handsomer than ever, Alvin.” My hands skimmed his jewel-toned blue bowtie he’d purchased from Mademoiselle Bisset, then over his shoulders. “The fit is perfection. I’d be happy staying here and looking at you all evening.”
“I want to do more than look at you, Deb.” The fire in his eyes and the sensual rumble of his voice had my arms about him in a second.
As our kiss continued, I caressed over the fine weave of his clothes, feeling the man within in a new light.
Cling to Alvin, for she will try to kill him.
The masculine voice was loud in my head, causing me to jerk back from Alvin’s loving embrace. A shimmer flicked near the closed door, tall and sturdy like a man. Then it was gone.
“What is it, Deb?” The concern on Alvin’s face combined with the thought of losing him nearly brought tears to my eyes.
“A flight of fancy, I suppose.” I mustered a smile and took his hand. “When do we leave?”
We descended to the first floor. Catherine stared at Alvin from her chair in the parlor as she always did—with lust.
“What do you think, Cathy?” he asked with complete confidence.
“You’ve outdone yourself with all the purchases this week. Deborah is beautiful, and you’re handsome beside her, Alvin. Would you like a drink before you go? I brewed tea that’s been chilling.”
She’ll make you a widow, too.
I clung to Alvin’s hand. Thinking I was urging him to leave, he said goodbye to his aunt and we went down the front steps, freeing us from potential harm.
As we approached Sean’s house, the strains of a ragtime piano tune floated out the open windows with more clarity than a typical recording. Alvin’s pace quickened to the front door where he knocked loudly to be heard over the music. The sound stopped abruptly.
Sean answered the door, utterly dashing in a tuxedo with a white bowtie. “Come in, my favorite new friends.”
“Thank you, Sean,” Alvin said as he motioned me ahead of him through the narrow entry.
The door closed and when I turned to our host, he was taking in the sight of us under his electric chandelier.
“It should be criminal to look as well as you do together.” Sean lifted my hand to his lips. “You grow lovelier each time I see you, Deborah. Marriage to Alvin is maturing you impeccably, and Alvin is wearing his joy like a peacock with that dash of color at his throat and the smile of a satisfied man.”
We grinned and blushed as we followed him into the parlor where Eliza materialized enough to glare at me from the corner with the piano.
This could have been my life.
“Was that you playing when we knocked?” I asked Sean, ignoring Eliza.
“It was. Do either of you sing?”
“Only in a large congregation when no one can hear me,” I replied.
Alvin shook his head. “We weren’t much of a church-going family.”
Sean turned on him. “And yet you turned out well. How is that? If I didn’t attend Mass and the confessional regularly, I’d be in Hell by now.”
“So you’d still believe even if you didn’t attend?” Alvin countered.
“Believe it or not, there’s a force greater than you and me up there, and spirits are all around us.”
Sean’s pointed remark startled me, but I knew he was testing if I’d shared my gift with Alvin. I shook my head, and he frowned.
“Do you believe in angels or ghost?” Sean asked Alvin.
“Only the angel I was fortunate enough to marry.” He kissed my cheek.
Sean’s huge grin revealed both his chipped tooth and the fact he’d forgiven me for staying silent with Alvin. He answered the front door and returned with Chuck Brady—the young man with long sideburns who had brought Sean to the cathedral when I was weak. Chuck was boisterous and fun, but I could tell he was getting on Alvin’s nerves from his constant attempts to engage me with banter over the pre-supper drinks.
“Chuck,” Sean said in a tone to get the younger man’s attention, “if you don’t stop flirting with Deborah, her husband will make sure you’re on the other football team as an excuse to smash your face into the ground.”
“He’s too nice a guy to do something like that,” Chuck declared.
Alvin slung back a whisky. Then he threw Chuck over his shoulder with one arm before setting him roughly back on his feet. “Don’t test me.”
As soon as Althea struck the supper gong, Sean was at my side to escort me. Alvin and I were on the long sides of the table and Sean and Chuck at the head and foot. Althea brought in the first platter as soon as Sean had prayed.
The men kept up a steady conversation about the football game next Saturday, while Eliza, faded to a near-shapeless shadow, hovered near the sideboard.
When she brought in the cheesecake, Althea gave each of the men a stare. “Y’all be kind to Miss Deborah and allow her to choose the topic over dessert. It’s been one football story after another in here. I don’t see how she’s tolerated it.”
“You should have invited a few debs, Spunner,” Chuck said.
“I’m too old to be acquainted with all the debutants.”
“I could have helped you. Sadie Marley is on the next block and would have been easy enough to engage, you being friends with her sister’s husband and all.”
“I’d never hear the end of it from John if I invited his sister-in-law to supper. He teases me enough as it is when his wife tries to match me with her at their parties.” Sean poured fresh champagne. “What do you wish to speak of, Deborah?”
“The infernal obsession men have with football,” I replied with a straight face.
They all laughed, and Alvin stretched his arm across the table to me. I offered my hand, and he entwined our fingers a few moments.
“Are you coming to cheer us on next week?” Chuck asked me.
“I wouldn’t miss seeing Alvin play for anything.”
We finished dessert and moved into the library. Sean lit a pipe and offered cigars to the others. I settled on the chaise and watched Alvin prepare the chessboard.
“Who is going to play me?” he asked.
“I’ll give it a go,” Chuck took the seat opposite, giving Sean the opening to join me on the chaise.
Sean lowered his pipe. “Are you enjoying yourself?”
“Very much, except for the fact that Eliza is often manifesting herself to make sure I can see her giving me the evil eye.”
His head went back with his laugh, turning the others’ attentions.
“And how is cozying up to Deborah any better than what you got onto me about before supper?” Chuck asked Sean.
“It’s my job as host to pay each guest special attention.”
