Beneath the Honeysuckle Vine (27 page)

“
Don
’
t you be tellin
’
Johnny what to do, Justin!
”
Nate growled.
“
He
’
s done more around here and more for Mama than you
’
ve done in your life!
”

“
Now, Nate
,
”
Johnny began, tousling the boy
’
s hair,
“
that ain
’
t true.
And you know it ain
’
t.
Justin
’
s right
.
I gotta earn my keep.
”

“
Justin don
’
t earn his keep,
”
Willy mumbled.

“
Willy!
”
Vivianna scolded in a whisper.

“
No…no
,
he
’
s right,
”
Justin said.
“
I
’
m sorry, Johnny.
I…I don
’
t know what come over me.
”

Vivianna looked to Johnny.
It was obvious he was furious
. Y
et he merely nodded in acceptance of Justin
’
s apology.

“
I guess I best get washed up and back to work,
”
Johnny said.

“
Oh no
,
Johnny!
Not yet!
I wanted one more race,
”
Nate whined.

“
Maybe this evenin
’
,
”
Johnny said.
“
I
’
ll haul that water from the pond for you boys first though.
”
He forced a smile and tousled Nate
’
s hair.
“
We wouldn
’
t want your pollywog hole to dry up before we have our chance to beat Willy, now do we?
”

Nate shook his head and smiled.
Willy
,
however
,
did not.

Glaring at Justin, Willy said,
“
You
’
ve changed
,
Justin.
Caleb didn
’
t change as much as you have.
”
Willy took hold of Nate
’
s arm and, still glaring at Justin
,
said,
“
Come on, Nate.
Let
’
s go boil the skin off that possum head Johnny found for us.
”

“
I guess I
’
ll be about my business too,
”
Johnny said.
His gaze lingered on Vivianna as he nodded to her—causing a strange, fearful trembling to rise in her.
“
You have a nice mornin
’
, Miss Vivianna.
”

“
Thank you,
”
Vivianna said.

“
You too, Justin,
”
Johnny grumbled—though his eyebrows puckered in a slight frown as he looked to his friend.

“
I
’
m sorry, Johnny,
”
Justin said.
“
I don
’
t know what came over me.
”

Again Johnny
’
s unsettling gaze lingered on Vivianna a moment.
“
I do,
”
he mumbled as he strode away.

“
I
’
m sure you plum vexed him, Justin,
”
Vivianna said as Justin took her hand and started toward the arbor once more.

Justin shook his head.
“
I
’
m sure I did,
”
Justin admitted.
“
And I don
’
t know what I was thinkin
’
.
If there
’
s one thing I know…it
’
s nobody oughta be ignorant enough to tangle with Johnny Tabor.
Not if ya want to keep your head hooked onto your shoulders.
”

Vivianna frowned.
“
Why is he still here anyway?
”
Vivianna asked.
“
He unsettles me so.
It seems he
’
s well enough to move on to
Texas
.
He has family there
. W
hy is he lingerin
’
here with us?
”

“
You and Mama nursed him back to a man,
”
Justin said.
“
I suspect he knows he wouldn
’
t have lived another day if Mama hadn
’
t taken him in.
If I know Johnny
—
and I do
—
he
’
ll stay until he feels he
’
s repaid Mama a debt.
”
Justin shrugged and added,
“
I think he still feels behold
e
n to me too…for savin
’
him that time I did.
”

Vivianna frowned as they walked into the arbor.
“
How did ya save him, Justin?
”
she asked.
“
Ya still haven
’
t told me.
”

Justin sighed
,
smiled
,
and took Vivianna into his arms.
“
Oh, I don
’
t want to talk about all that, pretty Viv,
”
he said, smiling at her.
“
Not when you
’
re standin
’
here with me.
I
’
d much rather steal a kiss or two from you than talk about the war or ol
’
Johnny Tabor.
”

Vivianna smiled.
“
I
’
ve been waitin
’
a long time to give my kisses to you, Justin Turner.
You don
’
t have to steal them from me,
”
she whispered.

Justin chuckled.
“
But ain
’
t it a lot more fun that way?
”

Vivianna bit her lip—shyly glanced away a moment.
Still, as Justin took her chin in hand
and
turned her face toward his
,
as his lips pressed hers softly
,
Vivianna was astonished when the visions in her mind were not those of Justin
’
s kiss—of his handsome face and her love for him.
Rather, she frowned as she thought of Justin
’
s haughty remarks to his friend.
He
’
d been unkind to Johnny—to the man who had seen him safely all the way home.

Yet she buried the thoughts.
Justin was still healing
,
and war left scars on a man—scars that the eye could not see.
Justin was home
,
and that was what mattered.

He kissed her softly
,
tenderly caressing her cheek with the back of his hand as he did so.
Vivianna tried to ignore the sense of dissatisfaction that began to rise in her each time Justin kissed her.
She worried it was because, like the younger Turner boys, she
’
d once seen Benjamin Sidney kissing Tilly Winder behind the old Libby place.
She worried that Justin would never take her breath away—never lead her down a path of passion the like she
’
d witnessed Tilly Winder wandering.
Oh, certainly Tilly and Benjamin were scandalous in their behavior.
Still, Vivianna often mused that Justin
’
s letters still caused more emotion and delight to rise in her than his actual presence did.

No!
Justin was wonderful!
He was only being careful of her
,
not wanting to show her any disrespect or lead her astray in any way.
His kisses would increase in passion
;
she was sure they would!
One day he would thrill her the way his letters had—the way he
’
d promised to!
One day he would be wholly healed
,
and then all her doubts would vanish.

Her mind wandered to Johnny Tabor.
Somehow she could not force the vision of his hurt expression from her mind.
Oh, certainly he
’
d been angry—even furious at Justin
’
s condescending manner.
Yet it was the expression of betrayal in his dark, smoldering eyes—of hurt at the hand of a friend—that rather haunted her.

Pressing her hands to Justin
’
s chest, she sighed when their lips parted at her prodding.

Justin
’
s brow slightly puckered with a puzzled frown.
“
What
’
s the matter?
”
he asked.

Vivianna smiled at him.
“
Oh, nothin
’
,
”
she said.
“
I was just wonderin
’
when the last time was you enjoyed a bit of honeysuckle nectar.
”

Justin smiled
and
brushed a strand of stray hair from her cheek.
“
Not since the summer before me and Caleb left,
”
he answered.
“
Not in three long years.
”

Vivianna smiled, took his hand
,
and led him to sit in the swing.
“
Then I think you better be about it, Justin Turner,
”
she said.
“
My mama always told me that honeysuckle nectar was somethin
’
to be enjoyed with each breath of summer.
”
She reached up and plucked two large honeysuckle blossoms.
Handing one to Justin, she smiled as she gently tugged at the blossom, tightly holding the small green bulb at the end.
Slowly she pulled the flower until the long white style revealed a drop of sweet nectar.
Carefully, she placed the drop of nectar to the tip of her tongue.
“
Mmm!
”
she sighed.
“
You
’
ve forgotten the simple pleasures of life, Justin.
One tiny drop of honeysuckle sugar should help you to remember.
”

Justin chuckled and carefully revealed the droplet of honeysuckle
nectar
from
his own flower.
He smiled as the sweet nectar of the honeysuckle touched his tongue.

“
It reminds me of when I was Nate and Willy
’
s age,
”
he admitted.

“
When life was fun…and pollywogs were the most important thing in the world,
”
Vivianna added.

Justin nodded.
He reached up and plucked another blossom from the vine.

“
We used to do this for hours…remember?
”
he asked.

“
I do,
”
she said.

Vivianna chose a large pink blossom and gently pulled it from the vine.
As she watched Justin struggling to discover the nectar in his blossom
,
she paused—wondered if Johnny Tabor had forgotten the simple pleasures of life—wondered if he
’
d ever lingered in the shade of a honeysuckle vine sipping nectar.