Beneath the Honeysuckle Vine (40 page)

Caleb nodded.
He smiled—a sad sort of smile—and said,
“
Good.
Good.
Now ya better get on into bed.
It
’
s late.
”

“
You
’
re a good man, Caleb,
”
Vivianna said.
She raised herself on her toes and kissed his cheek.
“
Thank you.
Thank you for bein
’
so kind and patient with me.
”

“
Good night, Viv,
”
Caleb said.

“
Good night,
”
Vivianna said.

She left him then—quietly entered the house.
Once she
’
d changed her day clothes for a nightdress, Vivianna lay in bed listening to
Savannah
’
s soft snore.
It was odd that Caleb should be lingering on the porch so late
,
that Johnny was out near the honeysuckle vine at such an hour.
There must be something strange
in
the air keepin
’
folks from sleepin
’
easy
tonight
, she mused.

Closing her eyes, Vivianna began to drift to sleep.
Somehow she wasn
’
t so anxious over Justin
’
s letters anymore.
Somehow she had a notion that it might be easier than she thought to put them away in her family
’
s attic.
Though she
’
d shed a river of tears while reading her cherished letters one last time
,
she felt a renewed sense of freedom at thinking on giving them up.

She smiled as thoughts of Johnny entered her mind again.
She giggled slightly as sleep began to overtake her—a vision of Johnny Tabor covered in mud and frogs heralding her dreams.



Johnny closed the tin box—fixed the lock.
He should sink it in the river
;
he knew he should.
At the very least he should hide the box containing his secrets—the proof of the blackness of his soul.
He thought of Vivianna
’
s suggestion he hide the box in one of the trunks in her family
’
s home.
How sweet and kind she was
,
how thoughtful and innocent.

He hated Justin Turner in that moment
. Y
es
,
he hated his greatest friend!
In the least he hated the man who had once been his greatest friend.
He wasn
’
t certain exactly when Justin began to lose himself—sometime just before he
’
d saved Johnny
’
s life
,
he thought.
Still, part of Johnny—the greater part of him—was blissful in Vivianna
’
s seeming disenchantment and frustration with Justin.
Johnny had become more and more certain he would rather die than see Justin actually win Vivianna—actually wed her.
And now it seemed there was hope.

Justin
,
selfish fool he had become
,
had pushed Vivianna away.
Fine—then she wa
s free to love another!
Justin
himself had freed her.
After all Justin
’
s threats—after all Johnny
’
s plotting—in the end, Justin had freed Vivianna
,
and Johnny could feel free as well—free to pursue her for his own purpose.

He thought of the kiss they
’
d shared beneath the honeysuckle vine—of how thrice she had kissed him in offering her thanks.
It was many times he
’
d seen Vivianna offer her thanks to Caleb.
Yet she had not placed a kiss to Caleb
’
s mouth on any occasion of offering thanks.
Johnny
’
s entire body burned with fury as he thought of Justin
’
s having enjoyed her kiss
,
and he knew Justin had.
Still, he had no right to know such anger and jealousy.
It had been Johnny himself that had encouraged Justin to fulfill the promises of love to Vivianna.
What then had he expected?

He had expected—rather feared—that Justin may show his true weakness.
Though Johnny had initially hoped Justin would return to being the man he once was—that he would endeavor to be worthy of the love of such a woman as Vivianna—he was greatly relieved Justin had failed.
His relief only resulted
from
Vivianna
’
s apparent lack of utter heartache.
It seemed to Johnny that Vivianna truly loved Justin
’
s letters—loved the promise of what Justin might be
instead of the reality of what he was.

Johnny likewise knew Justin
’
s kiss had not affected Vivianna as his own had.
This knowledge caused him to smile.
He thought of her telling him she thought he might succeed in leading her astray if she had a mind to let him.
It was an honest confession—he knew it was—and it pleased him.
Still, as he gazed at the tin box in his lap—as he thought of its secret contents
,
the contents that would prove to anyone who opened it how truly sinful and corrupt Johnny Tabor was—he knew he should not hope to win her.
Yet hope was in him
;
he could not suppress it.

He mused
that perhaps such a woman as Vivianna could forgive him his evil deeds—see beyond his wicked, deceptive nature.
Perhaps she could find something in him to love.
Yet he shook his head, knowing it would take a miracle for
t
he
a
ngel Vivianna to love a devil like Johnny Tabor.

He rose from the swing, raised his lantern
,
and headed back to the house.
He
’
d promised to accompany her to her parents
’
home in the morning—promised to be her escort as she traveled a road to ridding herself of Justin
’
s letters.
It was true he was weary.
It was true any of the residents
in
Florence
they might encounter would most likely not be welcoming to him.
Still, nothing could interfere with his keeping his promise to her.
After all, shouldn
’
t someone keep one small promise made to Vivianna Bartholomew?

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“
Johnny says to tell ya he
’
s waitin
’
on the front porch for ya, Viv,
”
Nate said.
The boy frowned as
Savannah
snipped the hair around his ears with a pair of scissors.
“
Be careful, Mama!
”

“
Oh, quit your fussin
’
, Nate,
”
Savannah
scolded.
“
I swear!
A body would think you
’
d had your ear cut off before the way you carry on when I
’
m tryin
’
to shine ya up a bit.
”

Vivianna giggled as she watched Nate purse his lower lip in a pout and firmly fold his arms across his chest.

“
Thank you, Nate,
”
she said, quickly kissing him on the forehead.

“
Where y
’
all goin
’
anyhow, Viv?
”
Willy asked.

“
I
’
ve gotta put somethin
’
in the old house,
”
she answered, tucking the small box containing Justin
’
s letters under her arm.

“
Do ya want me to come with ya?
”
Willy asked.
“
I could come with ya!
I
’
d be more
’
n willin
’
!
”

“
I
’
m sure ya would, Willy,
”
Savannah
said.
“
But you need your hair looked after today too.
Neither one of you boys is leavin
’
this house.
You both look like you
’
ve been livin
’
in a cave.
”

Vivianna
’
s smile broadened as both Willy
’
s and Nate
’
s eyes widened—as they looked at each other with sudden and delighted inspiration.

“
A cave!
”
they simultaneously exclaimed.

“
Now there
’
s somethin
’
I
’
d like to do…live in a cave!
”
Nate said.

“
Me too!
”
Willy agreed.

Savannah
rolled her eyes with exasperation.
Shaking her head, she looked to Vivianna and sighed,
“
I swear…if it weren
’
t for you
,
Viv
,
I don
’
t know what I
’
d do with only men for company.
”

Vivianna forced a smile and nodded.
Yet inside she was filled with guilt and a heavy burden of obligation weighing on her.
She knew she
’
d never marry Caleb
,
and she was coming to the certain realization that she may never marry Justin.
What would
Savannah
do if Vivianna left her?

Still, she wouldn
’
t think on it now.
She had to take Justin
’
s letters to her parents
’
home.
She needed to release them so her thoughts and emotions could find a clearer path to follow.

“
I
’
ll be back as soon as I can, Miss Savanna
h
,
”
Vivianna said.
“
I
’
m just runnin
’
on over to the old house for a time.
”

Savannah
smiled and nodded
,
though her gaze lingered a moment on the wooden box tucked under Vivianna
’
s arm.
“
All right, darlin
’
,
”
Savannah
said.
“
But ya make sure you don
’
t go further on into town without Johnny.
Do ya hear me?
Caleb says there are all sorts of strangers wanderin
’
about in
Florence
.
Ya keep Johnny close.
”

“
I will,
”
Vivianna said.
She kissed Willy
’
s cheek as she headed for the door.
“
You boys have fun gettin
’
your hair trimmed up now, ya hear?
”

Both boys wrinkled their noses and sneered.

Vivianna heard Nate mumble as she left the house—heard
Savannah
scold him.
She smiled
,
delighted by the comfortable familiarity of the goings
-
on in the Turner home.

Johnny was indeed waiting on the porch.
He sat in an old chair
,
leaning back against the house
,
whittling on a piece of wood.

“
Good mornin
’
, Johnny,
”
Vivianna greeted.
She smiled
and
felt her heart flutter madly in her bosom as he looked up to her and smiled in return.

“
Mornin
’
, Vivi,
”
he said.
His eyes were bright
,
his soft brown hair rather tousled
,
as if he
’
d been raking his fingers through it.
It was obvious he hadn
’
t shaved that morning
,
and Vivianna liked the rugged look a day
’
s growth of whiskers gave his chiseled jaw and chin.
He was wildly attractive—unfairly handsome!
Vivianna thought for a moment that Johnny
’
s overall appearance was unrivaled by any other man she
’
d ever met.
She scolded herself for thinking that even Justin or Caleb could not match Johnny
’
s distinctive allure.
She inwardly determined there was indeed something wrong with her.
How could she so be so easily affected by Johnny?
She
’
d known Caleb and Justin all her life—loved them all her life!
How could she allow a stranger to cause such thoughts and feelings to overwhelm her?

She thought of the letters she carried
,
and again she was impressed that she must release them.
She would not be able to make sense of her emotions
,
would not be able to think clearly
,
as long as they were near.
They distracted her—kept her mind and heart chained to the past.

“
Are ya still willin
’
to go with me, Johnny?
”
she asked.
“
Because I wouldn
’
t want to press ya…or inconvenience ya in any way.
”

Johnny stood and placed the piece of wood he
’
d been whittling on the window ledge nearby.
He tucked the knife he
’
d been using in
h
is boot and
smiled at Vivianna.
“
It ain
’
t no inconvenience at all,
”
he told her.
“
I could use a good walk to town.
It ain
’
t good for me to
sit around doin
’
nothin
’
all day long.
”

“
You never do nothin
’
all day long, Johnny Tabor,
”
Vivianna said.
“
You work circles around the rest of us.
”

“
I don
’
t know about that,
”
he said as he stepped off the porch.

Vivianna stepped down from the porch as well.
“
Are ya ready?
”
she asked.

“
Yes, ma
’
am,
”
Johnny said.

“
All right then.
Let
’
s get to town.
”

As they walked down the road to town, Vivianna knew Johnny
’
s pace was slow by way of what his stride normally was.
She took two or three steps to every one of his
,
and she knew he was attempting to keep his pace measured for her sake.

It was a beautiful day!
It was early
;
therefore the heat was not too miserable yet.
The morning birds were busy trilling and pulling worms and bugs from the ground and grass.
Everything smelled green and fresh
,
and Vivianna was rejuvenated.

“
I really should walk to town more often,
”
she said aloud.

Johnny frowned.
“
I can
’
t say I
’
ve known ya to go to town since I
’
ve been here.
Not once.
”

Vivianna shrugged.
“
I…I just haven
’
t wanted to go.
I don
’
t quite know why.
”
A small hint of a shiver traveled down Vivianna
’
s spine.
She began to think that perhaps the reason she avoided town was because
Florence
always ignited memories of her family.
Still, she pushed such thoughts aside.

“
Tell me about
Texas
, Johnny,
”
she said—desperate, as always, to keep from thinking of her family.
“
Is it a pretty place?
”

“
I think so,
”
he said.
“
It
’
s warm but dry.
Where my family lives now, a body can see for miles and miles.
I think that
’
s why I
’
m always feelin
’
as if I
’
m livin
’
in a hole here.
I thought I
’
d be driven mad in
Georgia
.
Trees and trees and more trees was all there was most of the time.
Still, on occasion, we
’
d ride up over a hill and I could see for a space…but it was nothin
’
like
Texas
.
”
He paused
and
smiled with obvious reflection.
“
Ain
’
t nothin
’
like wakin
’
up in the mornin
’
, steppin
’
out on the porch to see the cattle sprinkled over the hillside
,
and inhalin
’
that fresh mornin
’
air.
”

Vivianna smiled.
It was obvious Johnny loved his home
,
and the visions he described made her wish she could see
Texas
one day.

“
Tell me about your family,
”
she said.
“
You said you have brothers and sisters. Two of each?
”