Cottonwood Whispers Read Free Page B

“If you don’t look a perfect lady, I don’t know who does.” He glanced at my daddy. “You must be mighty proud havin’ a pretty lady like that under your roof.”
    “Sure enough, I am. Problem is, I’m gettin’ worried about all them boys my pretty lady might start attractin’. I ain’t cut out for seein’ boys lined up at my door.”
    “That ain’t gonna happen,” I said adamantly.
    “And why not?” Momma asked. “Matter of fact, Buddy Pernell was askin’ about you just the other day when I was gettin’ my groceries. Think he’s maybe a little sweet on you.”
    “Ain’t no boys who need to get sweet on me,” I said. “I won’t pay them any mind, anyhow.”
    “Oh, you’re just sayin’ that now,” Momma said. “Come on and eat, everybody, before the supper cools.”
    Gemma and I hung back behind the rest, and I exchanged a glance with her.
    “Ain’t no boys for me,” I reiterated.
    “I know, Jessie,” she said. “Ain’t nobody but Luke.”
    I smiled and took her hand. She understood me better than I understood myself, and I loved her for it.
    After supper I opened my gifts, my hands still shaking as I undid Luke’s awkwardly wrapped package even though I knew what it was. A lifetime’s worth of worries couldn’t have wiped the smile off my face that evening, and it was stretched near to breaking point as I pulled the bow off. My cheeks were sore as could be.
    When I pulled that jewelry box out, Gemma and Momma made all sorts of exclamations about how pretty and fancy it was.
    “Ain’t that just the nicest thing you ever owned?” Momma asked me.
    “Luke made it,” I announced proudly.
    “Why, Luke Talley, you done outshined yourself. I didn’t know you could do such things.”
    Gemma ran her hand down the side of it and sighed. “It’s really somethin’, that it is. We’ll need to find a nice place for it in our room, Jessie. A right nice place.”
    Daddy, however . . . he didn’t say a word. He just stared at it and cleared his throat a few times. “That’s an awful grown-up gift,” he said when the excitement died down. “The kind of gift a real lady gets.”
    We all looked at him strangely, wondering about his meaning.
    “Sure enough it is,” Momma said. “Which makes it fittin’ for a girl of seventeen.” She tugged at one of the perfect curls Gemma had made on my head.
    Daddy nodded slowly and stared at that box.
    “What’ve you got to say about that craftsmanship, Harley?” Momma asked as she fingered one of the spindles. “Mighty fine piece of work, don’t you think?”
    Daddy paused before he spoke. “Sure enough. The boy knows how to handle a chisel.”
    Luke nodded at Daddy and said a nervous word of thanks, but he looked uncomfortable all the same, and I could feelthe good excitement just dripping away under Daddy’s hard stare. I saw Momma give him a little look of warning.
    “Well, I think it’s the best thing I ever seen,” I said in an attempt to break the tension.
    “You just need more jewelry now,” Momma said with a laugh. “You know, I got me a pearl necklace I been meaning to pass on to you since Daddy got me those fancy ones for our anniversary last year.”
    “Pearls, Momma?” I asked, clapping my hands together. “Real pearls?”
    “Near about as you can get, I guess. And now you’ll have a right nice place to put them, too.”
    “Now, who done said a thing about the girl wearin’ pearls?” Daddy asked suddenly. “One minute she’s gettin’ fancy gifts from boys, and now you’re talkin’ about her wearin’ fancy pearls.”
    “Harley,” Momma cautioned, “what in the world . . . ?”
    “I’m just wonderin’ when turnin’ seventeen meant a daddy ain’t got no say no more.”
    “No one said you ain’t got no say. We’re just talkin’ a little jewelry.”
    “Seems to me we’re talkin’ about the girl like she’s twenty-five and marryin’ age.”
    I stared at him with pleading eyes. “Daddy,