Bachelor's Puzzle (38 page)

Maggie chuckled in spite of herself. She just couldn’t be that dense.

“What’s so funny?” Zack asked.

“We are all just a bunch of ninnies,” Maggie replied, still smiling. “I’m impulsive, Ellie’s confused, and you’re afraid. And if we don’t watch it, Mabel Parker is gonna do what her mother did with my mother and move right in and blindside us all.”

“I thought your mother stole Mrs. Parker’s beau.”

“Well,I don’t know exactly what happened, but if so, that would mean that Dad and Mrs. Parker had once been sweethearts, and I just can’t see that.”

“Maybe there was someone completely different, and after the two girls fought over him, he went off and married someone else.”

Maggie arched a brow at this new twist on the old tale. “I suppose we don’t always end up with the one we think we’ll end up with.”

“I always figured I would never marry at all because that would mean settling down,” Zack said. “And I sure never knew any gals I wanted to settle down with. Most of the girls I knew were the saloon-gal type.”

“You knew saloon gals?” Maggie’s eyes nearly popped. She had guessed Zack was a man of the world, but this was almost more than she could imagine. Not only had she never been in a saloon, but when they walked by the ones in St. Helens, her mother always made them walk on the opposite side of the street.

“I’m not proud of it,” he said. “But now look at me.I’m’m milking cows, I got a steady job, and I’m’m in debt up to my armpits—just like a regular family man.”

“Except you ain’t married.” Maggie realized she was talking to Zack just as she would talk to a friend. She liked that so much better than that earlier nonsense behind the barn.

“I’ve not known many decent women, not until I came here,” Zack said. “AndI’m not sure I deserve one.”

“Is that why you are afraid . . . ah . . . of Ellie?”

His lips twitched in a reluctant smile. “Are you playing matchmaker, Maggie?”

“I’m just trying to get everything back on track.”

More earnestly he replied, “Everything that happened before is in the past. All has changed, hasn’t it?”

“Not Ellie’s feelings.”

“What!” he exclaimed, unconsciously taking a hard tug on the cow, who responded by giving her hindquarters a corresponding hard swing, right in Zack’s face, nearly knocking him off the stool.

Maggie grabbed the bucket to keep it from toppling over.

“It had to be said,” she added, a bit defensively.

“Do you know this for certain?” He eyed her keenly. The milking was forgotten now.

“Maybe not for certain, but don’t you think you ought to find out?”

“You are right about me being afraid,” he said. “I’ve hurt too many folks around here.I care far too much about her—” He stopped, flustered.

It was enough, however, for Maggie to know she might be more perceptive than she gave herself credit for. “You’re afraid of hurting her, and she’s afraid of hurting you.” Maggie scratched her head trying to think of something. Finally it came to her, a word she’d learned in a spelling bee at school. “This is a regular conundrum.”

“William L ocklin would know what that word means but not me,” Zack said.

“It means, you dolt, that someone better get off his . . . uh . . . milking stool and talk to someone else before you both end up an old maid and an old bachelor.”

The next day was sunny and warm, but there was a crispness in the air that hinted summer was drawing to a close. Ellie saw merit in all the seasons, but the winters in these parts could be awfully long and gloomy, the sun an infrequent visitor, rain far more frequent. But winter did mean more time to devote to quilting, so that was something.

Still, it was hot and lazy now, as summer should be.I t was certainly too hot to be indoors, especially with bread baking and the house almost unbearably hot. Mama had let Ellie escape outside for a few minutes and had even let her take her sewing with her, probably hoping that she would get to the mending. She found a spot on the porch where the willow branches lent a nice shade and dragged a chair there. She had a half hour or so before it would be time to fix lunch and then start the afternoon chores.

In Ellie’s sewing basket the mending was on top: a pair of Georgie’s trousers with a tear, a couple of socks with holes in the heel, and Dad’s work shirt with a rip in the sleeve. Under these were Ellie’s patchwork projects. She should do the mending, because it had a way of piling up, but it had been days since she had been able to do any stitching for enjoyment, not since she had finished the welcome quilt. Mama was keeping everyone busy with preparations for Boyd and Kendra’s wedding, planned for October, only a little over a month away. They had decided to have a double wedding with Claudia Briggs and her fiancé. The Methodist circuit rider said he would come and perform the ceremony, which, it was decided, would be held at the Newcomb home. The Brethren of Christ denominational headquarters in Boston had been notified of the demise of WilliamL ocklin. Dad and Zack had stopped by the grave on their way to Portland to pay the money owed the man Cutter. Zack had also notified the L ocklin family, writing them a long letter, as if from a friend, which, in fact, he felt he was to the departed minister.

But the church headquarters had no more available ministers to send at this time, so the Columbia County folks were in the same position they had been before Zack had come along. Zack had actually been a pretty good minister, and there were some among his heartiest supporters, like the Cook family, who had suggested he remain their minister. Many of the folks could remember a time when any man with a “call” could be a preacher. But Zack had shrugged off these comments. Dad said Zack had developed a deep respect for the office of minister and insisted he wasn’t worthy.

Ellie had reserved judgment on this matter. She did not care if he was a minister or not. She just wanted to talk to him again. She wanted to get to know the real person he was. But she was not as bold as Maggie. She had told Ellie about her visit with Zack and said she had told him she really hadn’t meant her marriage proposal and was sorry for the trouble it had caused. Maggie had a kind of gleam in her eye that indicated she was holding something back. Why she would choose now to be reticent, Ellie didn’t know, but it was frustrating.

Ellie pushed aside her mending and withdrew her hexagon diamonds from the basket. I t always soothed her frustrations when she worked on them. What would she do if she ever finished this quilt?

She was laying one of the basted hexagons on another so as to whip-stitch them together when she heard a horse approach. She looked up, and a thrill surged through her when she saw it was Zack. She never expected to see him now. She thought he would be working at the sawmill.

“Hi, Ellie,” he said, dismounting. He tied the reins to a post and strode to the porch.

“Hello . . . Zack.” The name still had a strange feel on her tongue.

“Mind if I come up?”

“Of course not.”

He strode up the steps, but just then Mama came to the door, wiping a towel over her brow. Obviously the heat in the house was getting to her.

“Oh, hello, Zack,” she said, surprised to see him there.

“Hello, Mrs. Newcomb.I hoped it would be okay for me to come uninvited.”

“You are always welcome here,” Mama said. “We’ve missed having you around.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

Mama’s eyes flickered from Ellie and back to Zack. “Well, I best check that bread. You’ll stay for lunch, won’t you?”

“I’d like that, Mrs. Newcomb, but I don’t have much time. I got off work early from the sawmill because it’s time to cut Mrs. Donnelly’s hay.”

“You plan to do that by yourself?” Mama asked.

“There are four farms ready, including yours. We will all share the work.”

“Calvin mentioned he might be off early today.I’m’m glad you will be in the co-op. Hay cutting is grueling work. Well, I best get lunch on, then.” Mama ducked back into the house.

Zack came and stood before Ellie. “I won’t stay for lunch if you don’t want me to.”

“Mama said you are welcome here.” Though she had been wanting nothing more than to talk to him, now that he was here before her, she was unsure of herself.

He said, “I need to talk to you.”

“You could have talked to me at any time,” she said. Was it her fear that made her suddenly defensive?

He paced for a moment and then turned to face her. “Ellie, I was so ashamed. I t was hard enough facing everyone else. But you . . . after what you said . . . after me running off and leaving those words just hanging. I would have rather faced a hundred angry congregations.”

“But you must have known I wasn’t angry—”

“How could I have known? You never said anything.”

“I tried to smile—”

“It’s not your fault. I t was up to me to speak. And I did sense you weren’t angry, but I didn’t feel I deserved your forgiveness.”

He hooked a footstool with his boot, pulled it over by her, and dropped down upon it.

She didn’t like the sense that he was kneeling at her feet, but she had a feeling he had done it purposefully, as better than towering over her.

Finally he went on. “Ellie, yesterday Maggie came to see me, and she told me how mistaken she was in her proposal. After that it was so much better between us. So I knew I had to come and give you that same chance. Then maybe we can be friends . . . at least.”

“Are you saying it will never be all right between us until I take back what I said?”

He shrugged, confusion creasing his brow. “Well . . .I . . .” He paused, appearing to ponder his words.

Ellie was quiet, letting him have all the time he needed.

At last he said, “Ellie, when I ran out of here, you were a big part of the reason why I only got as far as Veronia, why I didn’t clear out completely.I couldn’t stand the thought of never seeing you again.” He glanced at her hands, then reached over and picked up the half-sewn hexagon diamond she was holding. He smiled. “I BachelorsPuzzle. realized I wanted to settle down.I was sick of the wandering life. But I knew it wasn’t going to be easy.I needed someone at my side, someone who could spend ten years carefully and tenderly piecing together scraps of cloth with never a desire to quit, because she could envision that the end product would be worth it.”

She wrapped her hands around his, crushing the diamond between them.

“I am that kind of person,I know,” she said. “That’s why I couldn’t get real angry at you or hate you for what you did. When Dad told us how you confessed to him and how terrible you felt, I realized you might take some time.” She smiled coyly. “You can’t love patchwork if you don’t love the prospect of taking scraps and putting them together into a beautiful whole design. But Zack, don’t get me wrong. I do that with cloth. Only God can do it with people.”

“Maybe He will use you as His needle?”

“I like that. The ‘needle’ of God. There’s a sermon topic.”

“Ellie, I won’t be preaching any more sermons.”

“I know that, and don’t ever think it matters to me.” As she spoke the words, she knew more than ever how true they were.

At one time she had thought she wanted a minister because she wanted someone perfect. Zack had made her realize she wouldn’t have enjoyed that at all, not that she could have found perfection even in a minister. “It only matters what is in your heart, Zack, be you minister, farmer, mill worker, or whatever.”

“That’s good, because the love in my heart is all I can offer you!”

“Love?” she said breathlessly.

“Yes,” he said and quickly added, “but I don’t expect you to speak those words to me again right away. You’ve got to have time to get to know the real me, to see how you feel then.”

“That’s wise. But—”

Just then Dad rode into the yard. He dismounted and tied his horse to the post next to Zack’s. Coming up the porch steps, he said, “Hi, Zack, Ellie.”

Though Zack had quickly dropped Ellie’s hands before Dad dismounted, Dad still gave them a peculiar glance. Well, Zack was seated at her feet.I t did indeed look strange. What would Dad think if he knew Zack had just declared his love for her? Somehow she didn’t think he’d be surprised.

“We still going to work on the hay this afternoon?” Dad asked Zack.

“Yes, Mr. Newcomb.”

“You staying for lunch?”

“Yes, sir. Mrs. Newcomb invited me.”

When Zack was their minister, he had called Ellie’s father Calvin. Now he was addressing him as “sir” and “Mr. Newcomb,” giving the proper respect a suitor gives to a girl’s father. Suddenly she had no doubt that Zack was indeed her suitor and they would eventually marry, because even though she ought to get to know him first, she could not deny what was in her heart.

B
ACHELOR’S
P
UZZLE
P
ATTERN

Ada Newcomb and her sewing circle friends would have used templates to make this block and would have hand pieced it with several tricky Y seams. But I am convinced that if these ladies had a rotary cutter and today’s quick-piecing methods, they would have happily embraced them. Here is the quick way to make this block in a 12” finished size.

Fabrics: background (BG), light (L), medium (M), dark(D)

Cutting: From background

Two 3
⁷
/
₈
" squares, each cut once on diagonal

One 4
³
/
₄
" square

From light