Cottonwood Whispers Read Free Page A

and I didn’t want him thinking of me as just some girl. The rage in my voice made that point loud and clear.
    “Girl! Don’t you dare call me a girl.”
    Luke raised an eyebrow and said with a clenched jaw, “If I’m talkin’ to a girl, I call her a girl. You want me callin’ you a boy?”
    “I’m a woman!”
    He tossed his screwdriver onto the table with a clatter and took a few steps. “Now, Jessie, don’t get started with all that again. Every time I say the word girl , you go gettin’ angry. It ain’t like I’m callin’ you a baby or nothin’.”
    “You may as well have,” I cried. “Callin’ me a girl! I’m seventeen today, case you didn’t know it, and I ain’t no girl.”
    “I know all about you bein’ seventeen,” he yelled. “You’re gettin’ sore over nothin’.”
    “Well, I ain’t no little girl.”
    “I never said you was. You think I’d go through all the trouble to make a fancy jewelry box for some little girl? No sir!”
    I stood ramrod straight, ready to fire back, but his wordssuddenly took root in my brain. “For me?” I squeaked out. “You didn’t tell me that was for me.”
    His cheeks started to take on that red flush again, and he studied the ground. “Well, what’d you think I was hidin’ it for?”
    “I thought you just didn’t want me knowin’ you did it, like you were embarrassed to let me see.”
    “I didn’t want the surprise ruined, is all. I was runnin’ late with it, anyhow, and now all this arguin’ set me back even more.”
    I walked slowly back over to the intricate box. Nobody had ever made anything like that for me in my life, and to have it come from Luke was like a dream come true. I studied its every curve and swoop, running my hand lightly across the grain of the wood.
    Luke came to stand beside me and watched my face with a mixture of embarrassment and satisfaction. “Now that the cat’s out of the bag,” he said at length, “d’you like it?”
    “Do I like it?” I murmured. Filled with that surge of anxious emotion that could come over me when I was with Luke, I stumbled for words.
    “Well, do you?”
    “I . . . I . . . ,” I stuttered, taking short, wobbly steps backward away from him. “I . . . love it, Luke,” I finally managed to say. “It’s the prettiest thing anybody ever gave me.”
    He swallowed hard. “I ain’t no good at givin’ presents to young ladies ,” he said, putting emphasis on his new title for me. “I wasn’t sure what you’d be thinkin’.”
    “Well . . . I like it. Are you bringin’ it by tonight?”
    “I’ve been invited for cake, ain’t I?”
    “You’ve been invited for the whole supper.”
    “So I’ll bring it with me then.”
    I stumbled backward a little more, said, “Guess I’d better be gettin’ home,” and ran off with shaky legs.
    I was fairly bursting with pride when I got home, but I wasn’t about to tell anyone. The way I figured it, no one would think Luke’s gift as special as I did, and I wanted to enjoy every bit of it without someone putting a damper on my enthusiasm. They could just see it tonight at my birthday dinner.
    I took extra care at making myself look pretty for that evening, but I was a poor hand at dressing my hair. I was just starting to lose my patience when Gemma came up behind me, taking the iron from my hand to make perfect ringlets.
    “You should wear it up today. It’s the way a woman should wear it for a special occasion.”
    I could always depend on Gemma.
    A dozen hairpins later, Luke arrived, the sound of his voice making my toes tingle.
    “He’s here!”
    Gemma added one more hairpin and stepped back to admire her work. “There! You look like a real lady.”
    I kissed her cheek, scurried out into the hall, and then skidded to a stop before reaching the top of the steps. That was where I straightened my skirt and took a deep breath so I could descend the stairs as casually as possible.
    Luke greeted me with a low whistle.