*Author's Note*
Thank you for the reviews, faves, and follows.
Novella's gonna get tired of Tolbert's shit in this chapter. Oooo dinner's gonna be interesting…Pass the peas!
1878 Thanksgiving
Novella POV:
Thanksgiving Thursday had finally fallen and like every year Uncle Perry brought us over to the McCoy's shortly after dawn. As always, we were spending the entire day with them. My brother Moses was hangin' 'round Billy today, but that wasn't a shock to me since they've become as thick as thieves ever since my brother's arrival in Pikeville. Of course, Uncle Perry was talkin' and visitin' with Ole Rand'l out on the porch, as they did for every holiday. The younger chil'ren just played and stuck near the house while the older ones had farm chores to do before they could relax for the day. I was helpin' Aunt Sally, Roseanna, and Alifair in the kitchen with cookin', just like I did ever since I could remember.
"Ya know Tolbert's out on the land with Pharmer settin' up framework for ya'll's cabin." Aunt Sally told me in a sweet, but enlightenin' way as we kneaded dough for bread at rolls.
"I assumed he was." I knew he wanted to get married soon, to do that he'd have to get the cabin built.
Both Roseanna and Alifiar sat at the table quietly while huskin' all the corn needed today for bread, puddin', and creamed corn. "My boy'll make you a fine husband. He has a temper that needs put in check, but he truly loves ya." Aunt Sally told me, dustin' more flour on the table for kneadin' dough. "Like all men, Tolbert has his faults but overlook 'em cause if not you'll never find the love he holds for ya." Easier said then done. The ginger haired fool seemed to have more faults then attributes as of late. Aunt Sally's hands worked the dough effortlessly as she remarked, "He'll provide good for ya'lls. His shine brings in a good profit, managed wisely it'll stretch."
"Reckon so." I simply replied as my arms and hand grew tired from the hard work I was doin' kneadin'.
"So, have you put any thought in a weddin' dress?" Sally asked with a soft smile.
"No, I haven't." I answered as I began to pinch the dough to make rolls out of it.
"You should have Perry take you to the city, get a dress made soon cause soon Tolbert'll have the cabin for ya'll finished." Sally told me as she too started to pinch rolls out of her dough. Roseanna and Alifair continued to husk corn silently. "Perhaps a light silver or ivory dress would suit ya. You'd be able to wear it out in church and formal occasions, get most use outta it rather than a white one."
Tolbert POV:
I've been up since dawn finishin' placin' the framework beams for my cabin up with the help of Pharmer. I've got no idea what time it was right now, but the sun was in the sky shinin' down some heat on this chill-bitten fall day.
"Ya think yer gon'be married to Novella soon?" My brother asked me as we dragged a beam from the pile near the makeshift barn. It was more of a frame with a roof on it, just somethin' to stick my horse in for the time bein'. I'd fix it better, make a proper barn once the cabin was done.
"Yea cause my cabin's gonna be ready soon 'nough." It would be too. Since I was gettin' help from my brothers.
"Ya love her, but does she love ya back yet?" Pharmer asked, takin' me by surprise. Why's he gotta be snoopin' 'bout that?
I narrowed my eyes at him as we reached the front porch with the large beam. "Where ya gettin' at, Pharmer?"
"She don't semm t'be in love with ya yet." He told me before chewin' on his lip.
"Shut yer fat ass up, Pharmer. She loves me just fine 'nough t'get married." I barked as we drug the beam to the direction my ladder was at.
"If ya say so, but I think she needs more wooin' t'really love ya." I'm wooin' her just fine. If I do anymore I'm gonna become a ballless sap. She knows how I feel, don't gotta act like Shakespeare and profess it every hour after hour t'her. Ella just needs t'let me in more's all, admit that she's gotta be close to lovin' me now.
"Pharmer, if you don't shut up I'm gonna beat yer head in with my hammer." I threatened him as I walked up the ladder, leavin' him to hold the beam himself. I shook my head with grumblin', "Help me god, yer pissin' me off."
"Okay, okay, I won't say n'more on ya'll." Pharmer told me as we set up a beam. I just nodded my head at him while trying to make sure the beam was leveled. My brother couldn't stay quiet tho cause as I pulled my hammer and some nails from my toolbelt he said, "Oh, did ya hear that Jefferson's been seein' Sarah Wolford since election day?"
"The mailman's sister?" I asked, nailin' the beam t'secure it.
"Yea, but she's the plainer one that has the rat face and dark hair." Pharmer told me over the bangin' sounds of my hammer and nails piercin' the air.
"Oh…her?" He's taken up with that, hope she's nicer then she looks. "He could do better."
"No he can't, you know our cousin's a useless drunk." Pharmer chuckled as I finished hammerin' in the last nail.
"Yea, he's always tryin' t'swindle free likker outta me." I scoffed, placin' my hammer into my tool belt before climbin' down the laddrer.
"Tryin', but ain't gettin'. Yer hard to get freebies from." My brother told me as my feet touched the floor.
"No pay no bottle, can't make a livin' off givin' shit 'way for free." I remarked as I began walkin' towards the porch stairs.
Pharmer followed right behind me while tellin' me, "Reckon that truer now than ever since yer gonna be startin' up a family wit' Novella soon."
Novella POV:
After hours of slavin' 'way in the kitchen dinner was finally on the table and everyone was seated in their spots. After Ole Ran'l said grace we passed platters 'round, placin' spoonfuls of various foods onto our plates. There was so many platters that the passin' seemed endless. As soon as I got rid of a platter I was recievin' one.
I had just passed Tolbert the bowl of cream corn, knowin' he loved the detestable stuff, whenever my Uncle Perry's slick voice spoke up with, "Novella, I talked to Ole Ran'l and we agreed that you'll be livin' here permanently 'til your marriage to Tolbert in order to learn more bout running a household from Aunt Sally."
I nearly dropped the sweet potato casserole in response to my uncle's words. Shit, now I had to live with Tolbert and his family. Just what I didn't want to do. Before I even knew what was happenin' my mouth opened and out slid, "No. I don't want to."
"Well, dear, it's not about what you want, but what you need. You need to get more experience with farm life. Running a city house and a farm are two very different things."
"I know what needs to be done. Can't I just visit and help out? Do I really gotta live here?" I protested while being passed a bowl of peas by Pharmer.
Uncle Perry tilted his head slightly, his eyes going firm, as his slick voice commanded, "No, you're not visiting and yes you're going to be living here starting tomorrow once your things are packed and brought over."
"But-" I began to protest only to be cut off by Tolbert's gruff command of, "Ella, stop fightin' with yer uncle. Yer stayin' here so just shut up and pass me the god damn food."
"Tolbert, don't curse at the supper table." Aunt Sally chided her son, her face lookin' a bit sour from hearin' his foul language.
"I'm so sick and tired of you, Tolbert." I spat, my hand clenchin' tightly around the bowl I was holdin' in both frustration and anger. "Here's your god damn food." I tossed the platter at him, causing it to splatter him with hot butter-soaked peas before bouncin' off him and rollin' onto the floor.
Tolbert's head snapped to the side, his stormy eyes turning pitch black with rage, as he spat out, "Hell, what'd ya do that for? Y'gone crazy?" His angry, but smooth, timbre rose with anger as he continued on with, "That was the damn food ya spent all day cookin', Ella."
"I'm tired of overlookin' all the nastiness and belittlin' from you, Tolbert." I spat, starin' him down with my irritated and frusterated cornflower eyes. I shook my head disgustedly at him. "Damnit, you're such a cruel asshole."
"Novella, dear, calm down." My uncle told me in a sweet, but tight and slick voice.
"Don't tell me to calm down, Uncle Perry. You're not the one stuck with him, I am." I snapped at my uncle, glaring at him, before turnin' my attention back to Tolbert. "If I had another offer of pursuit I wouldn't even be wit' your hostile ass." I sneered, making his red rage filled face turn whiter then a sheet.
"Perry, Novella's outburst is all yer fault an' doin'. You spoilt that girl, brung her up with fancy books and unco'vention'ly that now she's showin' out at the dinner table wit' my hot-head son." Ole Ran'l firmly told my uncle, a look of disapproval in his eye. The McCoy patriarch looked at me with hard-set eyes while tellin' me, "An' you, young lady, will show my son r'spect under my roof. Throwin' peas on him, wastin' good food, is insolent an' childish. If y'wanna act like a child maybe ya should get belted like one."
My eyes went wide at his remark. Did he really mean that? Shit, I think he did since everyone at the table just stopped eatin', holdin' their forks in mid-air. My brother's eyes even bulged from his head as he gave me a sympathetic look.
"Now ya gone an' done it. Poppy's threatenin' ya wit' a belt. Take it from me, darlin', ya don't want whacked wit' his folded belt." Tolbert told me under his breath. "Just mind yer place, please." He pleaded so only I could hear. I just answered him by keepin' my mouth shut.
My uncle, trying to calm down the situation, turned to Ole Ran'l and expressed remorsefully in his slick tone, "Ole Ran'l I do apologize for Novella growing up a bit spirited. Being a lawyer, I had her in the office helping out when she should've been around a woman's influence." Ole Ran'l just nodded his head. "Let's all just calm down and salvage this delicious meal Aunt Sally made." Uncle Perry said a bit tightly as he gestured to all the food litterin' the table.
Ole Ran'l leaned an elbow on the table and pointed to me. "Novella, no more arguein', you're stayin' under my roof to help out Sally 'til ya marry my son. I expect you to talk to Tolbert, mend whatever's gone wrong 'tween ya'll while stayin' here."
I just nodded my head to show that I understood. Looks like I lost the battle, I was stuck livin' with the McCoys til it was time to marry Tolbert.
After dinner I got stuck cleanin' up the floor where the peas fell along with helpin' Aunt Sally do the dishes. Alifair tended to the smaller children, which was a feat in its own, while Roseanna was given the luxury of being excused from any cleanup or after dinner chores. Ole Ran'l said that she didn't have to do anythin' and instead I'd be doin' her share as punishment for my outburst.
"Sweetheart, I know all of this is new for ya and Tolbert can be overbearin', but you can't just snap out the way ya did at dinner." Aunt Sally told me while elbow deep in the dishwater.
"I know, Aunt Sally. I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me." I apologized, feelin' a bit foolish now for my behavior. I'd embarrassed the entire family by lettin' my frustrations over Tolbert bubble to the surface.
Sally looked at me with kowin' eyes that seemed to pierce right thru me. "I do. You felt closed up, stuck in a corner with everythin'."
"Yea." I nodded, takin' the wet dish from her water wrinkled hands.
"Novella, our life as women's hard. We must love our men and swallow our pride to let them be the head of the family, led us. Many times, we must do things we don't want to for the better good of our family." Sally told me with slight pity and understanding in her voice as I dried a freshly washed dish she had handed me. While I placed the dish in the cabinet I heard her tell me "Love grows on the heart the more time you spend with your man. You livin' here's gonna make the love take root and grow 'tween you and Tolbert since you'll be 'round him every day." I just nodded my head which made her go on and on more about how I need to give her son a chance and more time along with softenin' my rough edges.
Whenever she finally handed me the very last clean dish to dry and put away she told me, "Sweetheart, go to Tolbert an' talk to him 'fore you have to go home and pack."
I found Tolbert sittin' on a hay bale in the barn, drinkin' his homemade brew from a flask. I wasn't sure how he was goin' to react to me so I hesitantly approached him. "Tolbert…" I let his name linger in the air as I reached his side.
"Ya here to tell me ya hate me; yell at me some more?" He asked, not makin' eye contact with me, as he popped the cork in his flask and slid it into his chest pocket.
"No an' you know I don't hate you. I'm just tired of ya." I honestly told him as I took a seat next to him on a hay bale.
"Shouldn't be tired of me. We're gettin' married soon, Ella."
"So, the cabin's nearly finished?"
"Mhm." He nodded his head before tellin' me, "Me and Pharmer did the remainin' framework today. Gonna be puttin' up walls wit' my brothers next few days. After that the roof."
"Oh…" My flowin' voice trailed off as I stared down at my boots pokin' out from under my plum skirt.
"Did ya mean it when ya said if somebody else wanted yer hand that we wouldn't be togetha?"
"I don't know, Tolbert. I mean we both know I'm stuck wit' ya so I don't become an old maid."
"Is that how ya feel? Me or bein' alone?" I just bit my lip and downcast my eyes while noddin' slowly. Tolbert let out a sigh before liftin' my chin up gently with his thumb and finger. Lookin' straight into my eyes he asked, "Is there a chance ya maybe love me?"
"Tolbert, I do have some feelin's for ya, but yer temper and viewpoint is overwhelmin' to me."
He gently rubbed my cheek, the one he accidently struck when drunk, while tellin' me smoothly, "Darlin', y'know I've been workin' on that."
"Yea, I know you've been tryin' to keep yourself in check." I retorted as his hand fell from my face, trailin' down my neck and past my shoulder to wrap 'round my upper arm.
"So, why did y'tell yer uncle no to livin' here? Don't ya like it here?" Tolbert asked while tuckin' me into his side, wrappin' his arm 'round me both firmly, but gently.
I rested my head on his chest while answerin', "Honestly, I don't think I need to live here to learn housekeepin'."
"Reckon not, but yer uncle and my poppy seem to think so. It might do use some good too bein' 'round each other more then a couple days a week."
"I hope so cause right now we're not happy." I sighed against his chest, feelin' the rise and fall of it from every breath he took.
Tolbert's usually gruff velvety timbre deflated a bit as he remarked, "No, yer the one's not happy. I'm happy wit'cha, but yer holdin' back from feelin' anythin' deeper for me."
Before I could think better of it my outh opened and out tumbled my honest feelin's. "It's hard to Tolbert when you're unpredictable. One minute you're moody as sin and the next you're pleasant 'nough. I can't gauge you and that frightens me."
I was lookin' at the horse stalls across the ways from us while Tolbert's voice filled the barn with, "I ain't been mean t'ya in a long time, darlin'. Don't go tossin' that shit excuse out on me." He gently rubbed circles into my arm with his calloused thumb as he told me, "Yer just 'fraid's all."
"I'm not." I protested quickly.
"Yes, yer 'fraid of givin' me yer heart." Tolbert answered in a firm sigh. "No reason tho cause I love ya, I'll treat ya good an' do my best to give ya a good life."
"I just need some more to time work everthin' on out." And I did since I felt so confused. Tolbert was an enigma. Cruel, but tender. Hard, but soft. He didn't make sense to me. Trustin' and lovin' a man that's hard to figure out's not easy. I'm glad that he's loved me for a while, but this is all new for me. Since I didn't want to talk anymore on such a heavy subject I pulled myself from him and got down from the hay bale while sayin' "I better go, Uncle Perry'll wanna go soon and I have t'pack my things."
Silently I walked away from him and out of the barn. We both knew I'd be back tomorrow mornin'. We also both knew that we were gonna be together for better or worse. Hopefully things get better cause I can't handle if they get worse.
AN:
I read in an article about wedding dresses in the 1800s that poorer people would opt to go with a color close to white like ivory, beige, silver, light grey, etc, so they could use the dress over again. Wealthier people would buy a white dress since they essentially had money to waste. Ideally Perry Cline being a lawyer and having some money from other investments would order Novella a white dress, but since Novella's marrying Tolbert who's a poor shiner/farmer Sally's trying to ease the idea of multipurpose use clothing into the girl's head.
Wow that Thanksgiving was something huh.