Page 50 of Magnolia Summer

Celia leaned a forearm against Old Sallie and rubbed her temple where it had started to ache.What would happen to them without money? Celia didn’t want Harley and Tempie to grow up without proper clothing, shoes, and food. She didn’t want Will and Lizzie to have few or no prospects for the future, too poor for any sort of private education.

Her heart heavy, Celia mounted the horse and started through town.

A piece of paper nailed to a hitching post caught her eye. It was a wanted poster, rustling in a hot gust of wind. The reward especially drew her attention—$500. That was enough money to hire someone to take care of her siblingsandget Celia back to Nashville, even if they weren’t able to sell their farm.

She drew closer to the piece of paper and saw that the reward was for “the hooded man” who had “thwarted justice” in Madison County. The $500 was for anyone who could give information as to the identity of the black-hooded horseman who had fired his gun at a lawman.

Five hundred dollars was the largest reward Celia had ever seen for a local criminal, an enormous sum for someone who hadn’t committed murder. What had the hooded man done to draw such a reward? Celia had heard that he had prevented the sheriff from arresting a black man, Truett’s friend, James Burwell. But it was also rumored that this Mr. Burwell was innocent and that Sheriff Suggs had attempted to hang him without a trial. But would a sheriff blatantly defy the law by lynching a man who hadn’t been tried?

Either way, Celia would like to have the reward. She should let the authorities take care of it, since it was none of her affair, but five hundred dollars! That would answer all her prayers, for herself as well as her family. But of course, she didn’t know who the hooded horseman was, or anything about him.

As she passed Truett’s office, she couldn’t help glancing his way. Was he inside? What did he think of her now, after she refused to let him court her? After all he’d done for her and her family, he probably thought her cold and heartless. She certainly wouldn’t fault him for it if he did. He couldn’t know how heavy her heart felt every time she thought of how she’d treated him.

She looked away from the doctor’s office window. What was done was done. Besides, she couldn’t have reacted any other way. It was either hurt him now or break both their hearts when she had to leave and go back to Nashville.

Besides, when he learned all about her “manly ambitions,” he couldn’t possibly want her for a wife.

* * *

Truett watchedCelia through his office window as she tore open first one letter then the other. Her hair was pulled back in that severe way of hers, not a wisp hanging free. But she was still pretty, especially her eyes . . . Would he ever be able to look at her again without thinking about their kiss?

But she had been adamant about not wanting him to court her. He shouldn’t think about her at all.

Celia stared at the letter, then wadded it in her fist. The way her mouth went slack and her shoulders wilted, it must be bad news.

Truett stepped back from the window so she wouldn’t see him.

Would she look his way? Could she be that cold, to come to town and not even think about him or even turn her eyes toward his office?

She stood beside her horse, holding both letters in her clenched fist. She rubbed her forehead as though trying to gather her thoughts. Pursing her lips together, she mounted, then swung the mare toward home.

She paused to look at something—the wanted poster.Hiswanted posted.

Finally, she continued down the road. As she passed his office, she bent her head and covertly turned her gaze toward his office. His heart stopped. Had she changed her mind about him? After a moment, she focused her eyes on the road ahead and urged her horse into a trot.

Truett let out the breath he was holding. So it was to be this way. Perhaps it was for the best.

He watched Sheriff Suggs talking with Aubrey Pettibone earlier as they stood on the sidewalk. Then Suggs had looked all around, to see if anyone was watching them, and the two had gone inside Pettibone’s store. Something was afoot, and he had a feeling it had to do with the new store a black man had opened a few miles from town. The store was only a few miles on the other side of the Wilcox place, near Killingsworth Cove, and would surely take away business from Aubrey Pettibone’s general store.

A farmer interrupted his musings, coming into his office to get the stitches out of the gash Truett had sewed up the week before.

Truett went to work on the stitches, but he was still wondering how he could find out what Suggs and Pettibone were up to—without raising suspicion.

Anything was worth doing if it kept his mind off Celia.

* * *

Celia ruminatedon their money problems on the way home. Her mother clearly had no plans to provide for them. It was up to Celia to figure out what to do and how to provide for her family.

She drew near the last bend in the road before they reached home when Old Sallie began limping. Celia dismounted and finally coaxed the horse into lifting her back leg. Sure enough, she’d lost a shoe.

Celia heaved a sigh. Taking the reins, she set out on foot, leading the horse down the dusty red road. At least they were almost home.

A voice drifted to her, coming from somewhere down the road, singing.

A little girl appeared around the bend. Her hair hung in several black braids that were tied with red ribbon, a bow by each ear. Her skin was smooth and dark brown. The basket on her arm swung gently back and forth as she walked. Her face broke into a wide grin when she saw Celia. “Morning, ma’am.”

Celia opened her mouth to say “Good morning” back, but her eye at that moment caught sight of a brown diamond-patterned rattlesnake, coiled in the middle of the road, facing the little girl.