Miss Jane by Brad Watson

Author:Brad Watson
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

THE NEXT DAY a buckboard with an older man and a younger man came rattling by the house on its way down to the Temple cabin. In a little while it came back up, with Lacey sitting on the seat beside the older man, in full bonnet, and the younger man in the back with Lon Temple’s body still under the same counterpane.

Her father stepped off their porch and approached the wagon, which stopped and waited on him. She saw him speaking to Lacey, who would not look at him. The younger man in back was looking at her father with his mouth half open, as if he was thinking of something he might say but couldn’t come up with it. The older man looked at her father briefly, then turned his eyes straight ahead again. Then her father held a brown envelope up to Lacey, who sat very still for a moment. Then she took it from his hand, tucked it into her lap. The older man tapped the reins against his horse’s backside and the buckboard continued on up their drive and out of sight. Her father watched them go, then came back to the house. He didn’t say anything to Jane, and went inside.

In the kitchen he was telling her mother that he planned to let the Swede, a bulky older neighbor who’d given up farming his own small place but still looked strong as a horse, take over half of Temple’s place on half shares, and let Harris take the other forty acres, if he felt they could do it. Otherwise, she and Jane would have to help him finish it out if they could. Might have to hire a hand.

“Did you give her all the money, Papa?” Jane said. She set a plate before her father. He gave her a puzzled look.

“I borrowed against that policy to give her something,” he said. “The payment won’t come right away, takes a while.”

He picked up his knife and fork.

“I wouldn’t give her all of it, in any case.” He looked directly at her. “I would not have bought the policy just for that. Don’t you see that doesn’t make any sense?”

“What are you going to do with the rest?”

She had no idea how much it might be.

Her father ate a forkful of peas and speared a cut of ham.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Not like there’s anything you can call extra cash these days.”

Then he said, “You might need it someday.”

“Me?”

He looked at her.

“You might not want to end up spending your whole life on this place, girl.”

“Where would I go?”

Her father didn’t answer right away. He left off the cold peas and ate the ham with a chunk of cornbread, washed it down with tea.

Then he said, “That would be entirely up to you, now, wouldn’t it?”

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