Chapter 6 Tabitha
Georgetown, South Carolina
April 1915
Tabitha looked at herself in the mirror.
“The dress is nice,” Dot said.
Tabitha agreed. She’d used seven whole dollars for it. She raised a hand to her chest. The gloss from her manicured fingernails caught the light in the mirror. Her nails were pretty and so was her makeup—rouge and lipstick. Dot helped with that.
“I’m going to wait right here until you come back,” Dot said, stretching out on Tabitha’s bed with one of Tabitha’s novels.
“I can’t believe you talked me into this.” Tabitha walked by Dot and smacked the bottom of her foot. “You best be here praying no one sees me.” She had never been so nervous in her life.
Tabitha hadn’t had to ask Papa for permission, and Joseph didn’t wait for it. She found herself lucky that Papa and Mama went to Columbia to pick up Retha. Her husband had gone to Atlanta for a week for some training for his job. Scared from a young age, Retha didn’t like to be alone, so she was going to stay with them. Tabitha didn’t go because she had to work at the store. With Dot’s urging, Tabitha decided to meet with Joseph.
Dot swung her legs over the side of the bed. “Nobody gonna see you. Besides, your Mama and Papa don’t talk to nobody no way.”
Tabitha considered that, but it wasn’t true. You didn’t have to be friendly with people to learn something bad about your child. Folks were more than happy to carry that kind of conversation. “I’m dressed. I’m going to go,” she said, picking up the small handbag she was using for her lipstick and compact. She didn’t even know how to use a compact, but Dot made her buy one.
Dot stood and gave her a hug. “You’re gonna have the best time ever. You’ll see.”
Tabitha rode the bicycle to the diner Joseph had selected for them. She rode slowly, grateful for the little breeze the drop in temperature gifted her. She didn’t want to be sweaty when she met him. The restaurant was all the way on the other side of Georgetown. Still, she was afraid someone would see her and tell Mama.
Joseph’s carriage was parked outside. She stepped off the bike. Once Tabitha’s feet were on the gravel lot, she felt unsteady for a bit. The shoes were new and tall for her. She didn’t like high heels, but Dot said she couldn’t wear plain shoes.
Joseph’s driver tipped his hat. “Good evening, ma’am.”
Tabitha greeted him back.
“He’s inside,” the driver said. “I’ll look after your bike.”
Tabitha leaned it against the side of the carriage. “Thank you.” She turned and hobbled to the door. Once inside, she fidgeted, wringing her hands.
“There she is.” Joseph’s smooth voice warmed her entire torso. He extended a hand toward her, and she stepped, nearly falling. She’d forgotten the height of her shoes.
“Are you all right?” Joseph looked concerned about her footing.
Attempting to excuse her clumsiness, she lied. “I’m fine. I only wear shoes like this to church.” She didn’t wear these kinds of shoes to church either.
“You look fine in them.”
Heat filled Tabitha’s face, and she forgot her little toe was pinched. They entered the part of the diner where the tables were. A woman walked toward them with annoyance filling her face. Tabitha reckoned Joseph ate here often and the woman was jealous. She couldn’t think of any other reason she’d be so pinch-faced. A man came from the kitchen, and he and Joseph exchanged a hearty greeting and a hug before the man noticed Tabitha.
“You have a dining companion this evening.”
“This here is Miss Tabitha.”
“Nice to meet you, Miss Tabitha. Welcome to my place.” He instructed the young woman to seat them. She relaxed her face and escorted them to a table near the back windows. It was a little darker in their corner, and there were candles on the table. Candles weren’t on the tables in the front. Tabitha looked up to see if there was overhead lighting, and she could see there was, but the whole area was filled with large candles instead.
Reading her mind, Joseph said, “He puts courting folks back here. It’s more romantic and private.”
Tabitha blushed again and was glad for the dim light that might hide it, although with her dark skin, he probably wouldn’t see it anyway.
Joseph picked up the paper menu. “Order whatever you like.”
Tabitha picked up her menu and read all the choices before settling on barbecued chicken. Joseph chose the ribs. The gal took their order, left, and returned with sweet tea.
Tabitha was already having a really good time. Joseph was nice. He explained things to her in a way that didn’t make her feel dumb or country. He’d traveled all over, even New York City once. He operated a business and had even buried a wife.
“You might not want to be with me. I seem to be unlucky for women.”
Tabitha pinned him with a serious look. It was easy to do that when she had something sure to say. “I don’t believe in luck.”
He cocked an eyebrow.
“The good Lord giveth and taketh away.” She placed her hand on the table and pulled on a thin piece of the lace that frayed on the edge. Concentrating on her pain enough to be empathetic, she said, “My brother Hank was killed in a wagon accident. It wasn’t even that bad of an accident, but he died anyway.”
Joseph covered her hand. The heat of his touch soaked into Tabitha, ran up her arm, down her back, and pushed into her heart. She liked him. She liked his eyes. “We all lose people. It doesn’t make us unlucky,” she said.
His eyes pressed into hers, causing her stomach to flutter again. “I want to take up with you, Tabitha.”
She frowned through her question. “You don’t think I’m too young for you?”
“Most women my age are already married. The ones who aren’t are sorrowful for one reason or another. I have my own demons to fight. I don’t have the inclination to fight someone else’s.”
“I’m not going to college.” Tabitha thought it was best to be honest with him.
He laughed. “Is that a requirement for a wife? The new standard for people of the race?”
Tabitha smiled again. He squeezed her hand again. “Tell me, Tabitha, what do you want to do with your life?”
She withdrew her hand. Her pulse was racing so fast she thought he’d feel it. Tabitha was unsure of herself. Was it okay to tell him what she really wanted? He might think of her as country. She hesitated to answer.
“Tell me the truth. I like the truth, whatever it is.”
She pushed her silly fears out of her head and reached for her tea to take a sip before answering. “I want to own a small farm with a restaurant at the front. I can grow my own food to cook.”
Joseph looked at her curiously. He frowned, and she knew right away, he didn’t want a farm girl. She pulled her hands down into her lap. Shame enveloped her. Why couldn’t she just want to be like other women? The uncomfortably slick feeling of her painted nails reminded her that attempts to be feminine were wasted on her.
“My grandmother had a gift with herbs,” Joseph said.
Tabitha’s heart quickened with new interest. “Really?”
“She learned it from her mother. She sold herbs and tonics in Atlanta.”
A little relief washed over Tabitha.
Joseph pushed his back against the wood frame of the chair. “A restaurant, huh? Well, I know you can cook what you serve on weekends at the store. Can you cook other things?”
“I can cook most anything I try. Everybody likes my rice and chicken. I make a good stew from vegetables and whatever meat we have. I do most of the cooking in our house and at the church for functions. I have since I was twelve.”
Joseph grunted like he wasn’t sure about that. “You are so skinny, it’s hard to believe you eat.”
Tabitha raised her hand to her hair and felt her face warm. She was not skinny. Nobody ever said that. “I eat fine.”
Joseph smiled. It was a nice easy smile that disarmed her. “I want to keep company with you.”
“You said that already.”
“I mean it.”
He was good-looking. He had class or sophistication—maybe they were the same. They were words Tabitha had read in books about white women in England having romances with dukes and earls. In addition to his looks, he had a business that afforded him a carriage and driver. She did not understand his attraction to her. “Why do you like me?”
His eyes sank into hers again. Not that they’d ever really left her, but he had a way of making her feel caught in a web. He shook his head. “Why do we like anyone?” He cocked his head. “You’re pretty enough. Smart enough. Tall enough.”
Tabitha pursed her lips. “Tall?”
“I’m a tall man. I like a tall woman. Always have.” Joseph placed his open hand on the table.
Tabitha pulled her fingers apart and raised one of her hands from her lap and placed it in his. Joseph smiled again. Her heart smiled back. God had sent her a man who liked a giant.