“Maybe. Let’s don’t worry about that,” Lee said, happy with his idea. “Tomorrow I’ll go up to the house…She don’t have to like me, just hire me…Besides, Violet called me her hero, I can’t see her not hirin’ me under the circumstances.”
“You win Miss Violet over, you done somethin’ pretty good. She looks after her Ma, let me tell you. But it’s Daisy you gotta win over. That girl is not an easy one. Yes sir,” Joe grunted.
“She took all those girls in?” Lee shook his head.
“Yes sir, and they love her just like a Ma. She said you taught her to love everyone, no matter what color they are.”
Lee smiled.
“Mind if I ask why you’re so happy about it?”
Lee chuckled. “Well Joe, I got a woman cooking for me, keeping my house, and helping in the fields. She’s beautiful, I can look at her as much as I want. I don’t have to pay her one cent for that. As long as things go smoothly, there won’t be a bit of trouble. And things just might get done around here. And I can look at her every day I live. It might be enough.”
Joe shook his head. “But Mr. Luke, there’s gonna be trouble. There already is, when you love a woman that much, there’s gonna be trouble.”
Lee nodded. “We’ll handle it as it comes up. Quit frettin’.”
“Yes sir, I better be getting back to the house, she might wonder why I’m not taking my meals with her anymore.”
Lee nodded. “Remember, Luke Sayers.”
“Yes sir.”
Chapter Four
The next day, Luke Sayers walked up to the front door and knocked.
He looked about the house, feeling euphoria surrounding him. The house had stood up well through the years, except where they tried to burn her down. But all that was fixable. And as soon as he straightened things out, he’d take care of it. He remembered how he and Dil had painted it the last time they’d been together. He wondered about Dil and the way he died. He missed him. Like a void in his side. He purposely swallowed a lump in his throat.
He expected either a child or Hattie to answer the door in a lovely dress and maybe an apron. But to his surprise the woman who opened the door was wearing men’s britches and a long sleeve cotton shirt, with a big wide brimmed hat on her head. The shirt was tight against her breasts, and her nipples protruded hard against the material, making round circles. He couldn’t stop his staring. She was so beautiful standing there with indignation on her face. It was nearly impossible not to stare. His mouth watered. She seemed totally unaware of how provocative she looked. He almost smiled. His thoughts were lustful and he tried to squash them, but it was pure pleasure looking at her in britches.
Her long hair was braided smoothly down her back. When she looked up and into his eyes, Lee’s mouth hung open.
She stared at him and her expression changed. Her eyes drifted up and down him lazily, stopping only once at the missing arm.
For a long lingering moment, he simply stared. “Somethin’ wrong, ma’am?”
“No, of course not. It’s just, you look remarkably like someone I once knew.” Her voice was soft but almost hostile. “But that’s impossible, he’s dead, I put the stone up myself.. It just gave me a fright to see you standing there. Somethin’ about your expression. Almost ghost-like. I’m being silly. What can I do for you?” Her face went pale and her eyes shone with tears.
He didn’t want to make her cry. His heart went out to her. He hadn’t counted on Hattie too have feelings for him, but it sure looked as though she did. Maybe she always had! He could still remember those kisses they shared. Could she?
The urge to protect and take care of her was still there after all this time.
He looked into those eyes again and his heart flipped. He liked pretty eyes, because he believed in looking at people right in the eye. Hattie had the prettiest he’d ever seen.
“Take your eyes off me, mister. I don’t like people starin’.” She licked her lips suddenly, her voice rising along with the shotgun to eye level, her brown eyes narrowing on him suspiciously.
The shotgun got his attention and he shook himself.
“Uh, yes ma’am. I only stared ‘cause I haven’t seen a pretty woman in a while. The name is Luke Sayers, ma’am. Ole Joe sent me up to ask for a job.” His glance slid over her once more.
“Don’t waste your time flattering me, mister. There’s a line, and you are tryin’ to cross it. You are white, and I am black, and you gotta be some kind of man to cross that line. Now, first, you rescue me and my girls, and now you know my farm hand. You get around, don’t you?” She almost smiled. “But don’t be calling me pretty, because I know how I look, and lying won’t get you hired, that’s for sure. Just because I’m black don’t mean I am a sucker for the first white man that comes along. I been flattered before.”
“I am sure you have, ma’am. Excuse me, but, I wasn’t lying. Nor even trying to be too forward. I don’t see color like some. Maybe I should, but I don’t. Could get me in a heap of trouble, I know. But I never have. I just see the person. And as a person, you are beautiful. Sorry, I haven’t been home long, lost my manners. No man should stare, even if you are the prettiest woman I’ve seen in a while.”
She stared with her mouth open for a full minute, unable to figure him out. She staggered backwards for a moment.
“Somethin’ wrong, ma’am?” he asked with genuine concern.