Free Jewel by Beverly Jenkins Page B

might affect him and Jewel. Deciding he had enough to worry about at the moment, he let it lie.
    Reaching the store, he stepped inside, and as all eyes turned his way, he knew what he had to do. Taking a deep breath he announced, “Yes, Jewel and I are married. Have been for a while.”
    Applause erupted, smiles appeared on many faces. Losers of bets paid up while smug-looking winners collected.
    “So when’s the celebration?” Vernon asked.
    “What celebration?”
    “The one you’re having to announce the marriage. You and Jewel are two of our own. You have to have something so folks can come by and offer congratulations.”
    Eli supposed it was a good idea; not one he particularly liked, nor would Jewel, but the saving grace of it was that once it was over, the Grove could go back to being a sleepy little township, and folks could focus their attention elsewhere. “I’ll talk to Jewel and let you know. I want to finish up this business with Hicks, first.”
    They all nodded understandingly and returned to what they’d been doing.
    Miss Edna handed him the mail and said forhis ears only, “You did an honorable thing offering her your name. She’ll come around.”
    Eli shuffled through the small stack of envelopes. “But will it happen before the turn of the century?” He gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for the mail.”
    She smiled and watched him slip out the door.
     
    “So, do you think I was right to agree to this marriage business?”
    Maddie looked Jewel’s way. They were digging holes in Maddie’s front yard to hold the new rose bushes. “Take it from an old whore, when folks hiss at you in church, or cross the street when they see you approach, it hurts your heart, even though you tell yourself it doesn’t.” Maddie was a Grove native and had grown up with Eli and his cousin Nate. Years ago, she’d owned the Emporium, the town’s only whorehouse, and had suffered all manner of meanness from the good people in the area.
    “So your answer is yes?”
    “Much as I hate to see you railroaded this way, that is my answer. It could be worse, you know, at least Eli is smart, clean, and easy on the eyes.”
    Thinking about how she and Eli parted last night, she offered emotionlessly, “We didn’t have a wedding night.”
    Maddie stopped digging. “He probably knows you’re an innocent and wants to give you time to adjust.”
    “No, it was me. I didn’t want it.”
    “And your reason? If I may be so nosy to ask?”
    “Because it’s Eli,” she said as if the answer was clearly obvious. “I don’t want to be compared to all the other women he’s had.”
    “Who said you would be?”
    “But I don’t know anything, Maddie.” Her embarrassment was plain. “Not about that.”
    “You don’t have to. He knows enough for half the state and that’s to your advantage.”
    “Why?”
    “Because the last thing you need on a wedding night is two people who don’t know what the hell they’re doing. With the right man, relations can be earth shattering.”
    “I don’t want earth shattering.”
    “Yes, you do.”
    “I do?”
    Maddie grinned. “Trust me. You do.”
    Jewel couldn’t hold back a smile. “Lord.”
    “It will be okay. If and when the times comes just let him lead until you learn the ins and outs. There’s probably a reason the women call him the Colored Casanova of Cass County.” Maddie caught a glimpse of Jewel’s face. “Am I embarrassing you?”
    “Yes.”
    “Not trying to. Just giving you facts. Having a man who knows how to make a woman’s body sing puts you head and shoulders above a good portion of the women in the world, so count your blessings.”
    “But I don’t want to be married to him.”
    “I understand that, but you are married to him, so until the divorce you can either keep eating sour lemons or take them and make lemonade.”
    Jewel forced the shovel into the dirt. “I hate it when you’re wise, Maddie Loomis.”
    Smiling, Maddie nodded. “I