Chapter Six

"The world only goes round

by misunderstanding."

~Charles Baudelaire

That evening, Jack and his mother had joined Abigail and Elizabeth for supper at the café. Abigail had prepared a simple supper of soup and sandwiches. As they finished their supper, they sat around the table enjoying each other's company and conversation.

"Abigail, that was a nice supper. Thank you for inviting us," Ann said warmly.

"Thank you for coming," Abigail replied. "It was a very simple supper. We've been so busy preparing for the Town Social and I'm sure tomorrow will be even busier."

"Elizabeth told me about the social," Ann remarked as she glanced at Elizabeth. "Apparently, the students have been very busy making decorations for it."

Elizabeth smiled, but her eyes revealed she was a bit nervous since Ann had seemed displeased about that earlier. Abigail interjected, "I'm so glad she agreed! They did such a wonderful job decorating for the Miners' Dance. So, of course we had to ask them to do the same for this."

Ann nodded as she added, "Well, Elizabeth told me that the students enjoy it very much. I'm sure they do! I imagine they feel it's much more fun than doing arithmetic or spelling words."

Elizabeth's eyes widened, unsure of how to take Ann's last remark. Abigail's gaze slid back and forth between Elizabeth and Ann. Suddenly, it felt like there was palpable tension in the room. Abigail cleared her throat and changed the subject, "That's a lovely cameo, Ann." She smiled as she admired Ann's pin.

Ann reached up and fingered the pin. "Oh, thank you!" she replied, smiling at Abigail. "Jack's father gave it to me. It's one of my favorite pieces of jewelry." Then, she abruptly turned to Elizabeth and inquired, "How was your tutoring session last evening?"

The question caught Elizabeth off guard. She fumbled to find words for a moment.

"I told Ma that you were tutoring a student last night," Jack offered.

Elizabeth nodded. "Oh, it went well," she answered. "He's just having some trouble with long division and his mother asked if I could give him a little more help after school."

Ann nodded. "Do you always tutor at your students' homes?"

Elizabeth shrugged. "Well.." she began to answer but she was interrupted by Ann. "You see, I always tutored at the school. I never went to my students' homes," Ann informed her.

Though Ann's tone was light, Elizabeth felt like she had just been reprimanded. "Well, I can't really tutor at the saloon after school hours," she explained.

"Of course," Ann concurred, though Elizabeth still had a nagging feeling that Ann did not approve. "Jack showed me the new school and church this morning. It looks like it will be quite nice. Perhaps that will help the situation."

A frown pulled at the corners of Elizabeth's mouth. She didn't know what Ann meant by "the situation," but she was now sure of Ann's disapproval. She looked over at Jack to see his reaction, but he seemed oblivious as he was enjoying his last bite of sandwich. She inhaled with mild frustration.

Abigail watched the exchange between Elizabeth and Ann and noticed the frown on Elizabeth's face. She decided it was time to, again, change the subject. "So, Ann," she called, "are you ready for the social tomorrow evening? You are joining us?"

Ann nodded and replied, "I believe so."

This got Jack's attention. "Yes," he said to Abigail. "Ma and I talked about the social this afternoon." He glanced at Elizabeth, who was smirking at him as she remembered their conversation from the day before and knew what he was about to do.

Jack quickly looked back to Abigail as he continued, "Actually, we were thinking that Ma could perhaps attend with you, Abigail." He flashed Abigail a very charming smile. "It would be nice if you could introduce Ma to some of the ladies in town. This would be a great opportunity to do that." His eyes wandered back to Elizabeth, who was still smirking but now her eyes revealed that she was immensely enjoying watching Jack charm Abigail.

Abigail looked at Jack and gave him a knowing smile. She plainly saw Jack's motive for wanting his mother to attend the social with her. "Of course, Jack," she told him very sweetly. "I'd love to introduce your mother to the ladies in town. And, you know," she said as she met his gaze, "it will be an opportunity for many things, I'm sure." That last statement let Jack know that she knew exactly what he was doing.

Jack looked away from Abigail, realizing that he'd been caught, and he appeared to be mildly embarrassed. In fact, a little color showed on his cheeks.

A satisfied smile filled Abigail's face as she continued the conversation about the social. "It should be a lovely time! I'm especially looking forward to the music. Cat Montgomery does such a fine job assembling the musicians," Abigail gushed.

"Oh, so there will be music and dancing?" Ann asked.

"Yes, of course," Abigail replied. "It wouldn't be a Coal Valley Social if we didn't have a two-step or a waltz."

"I'm looking forward to that," Jack, who was now fully recovered from his embarrassment, said around a laugh as he met Elizabeth's gaze. She replied with a smile and a shake of her head as a little color filled her cheeks.

Ann's eyes widened with surprise. "Oh, so you like dancing now, Jack?"

Jack turned to his mother. "Oh, yes ma'am," he told her. He looked back to Elizabeth and smiled, teasing her with his eyes.

The color in Elizabeth's cheeks deepened. "You didn't like dancing before?" she asked him.

"Well," he started but his mother interrupted him. "He certainly didn't care for it when he was younger," she informed them. Then she turned to Jack and said, "If you remember, Rosemary had to force you to dance with her."

Everyone at the table shot astonished looks at Ann at the mention of Rosemary Leveaux, Jack's ex-fiancee. Of course, they were all too familiar with Rosemary's wily ways, attempting to win Jack back, as she had left Coal Valley for good just a couple of weeks ago.

"Ma!" Jack said loudly as he reached over to place his hand on his mother's arm. He lowered his voice a bit before continuing, "That was a long time ago and I was young. I had no idea how much I could enjoy dancing." He turned back to Elizabeth, and pronounced, "But I do now."

Elizabeth smiled and Jack grinned back at her. Abigail noted the exchange between her young friends and a pleased smile filled her face.

Ann inhaled deeply, confused as to why Jack had reacted so strongly to her mention of Rosemary. She wondered if he hadn't told Elizabeth about his former fiancée, yet. She frowned with confusion and picked up her coffee cup to take a sip.

"It should be a lovely evening. And, Ann," Abigail said, breaking the tension and prompting Ann to look up from her coffee. "It'll be a great time for me to introduce you to all our friends."

Ann nodded but did not say anything. She took a sip of her coffee and set the cup back down on the table. She looked down as she straightened the napkin in her lap.

Abigail was confused by Ann's lukewarm reaction to her offer. She was having difficulty understanding Jack's mother. She resolved to learn more about her in the coming days. In the meantime, she decided to move on to what she fervently hoped would, at last, be a safe subject. "Can I interest anyone in some warm apple pie?"