Read Online The Touch of Sage by Marcia Lynn McClure - Free Book Online

table , and Reverend Tippetts offered up a blessing before passing the food around.
    “ I hear that new baby of Primrose Gilbert ’ s is just a tub of lard and cute as a bee ’ s bonnet, ” Rose said.
    “Oh yes! ” Scarlett exclaimed. “ That little boy is just the sweetest thing you ever did see. Whipper and I were out to the Gilbert place just this mornin ’ . Isn ’ t that right, Whipper? ”
    “ Yes, indeed, ” Reverend Tippetts said. “ That ’ s a darlin ’ little bundle they got out there. ”
    “ And how ’ s your heifer doin ’ , Mr. Winnery ? ” Eugenia asked. Everyone in town knew one of Joss Winnery’ s favorite heifers had taken ill. “ I hear she was bloatin ’ somethin ’ awful. ”
    “ Yep, but she ’ s fine now, ” came his answer. “ Thank ya fer askin ’ . ”
    “ Mmmm! Mmm! Mm! ” Reb hummed, suddenly. Everyone looked over at him as he said, “ Sage Willows…this here ’ s the best stuffin ’ I ever tasted! ” Sage felt herself blush with delight.
    “ Thank you, Reb, ” she said.
    “ No…I mean it! ” Reb continued, “ It really is the best stuffin ’ I ever tasted…in my entire life! ”
    “ Well, Sage has a way with…with sage! ” Livie said. “ Haven ’ t you noticed that big barrel out by the back door, Reb? ”
    “ Never come in by way of the back door, ” Reb said.
    “ Well, that barrel is just ready to bust apart it ’ s so full of sage, ” Livie explained. “ And let me tell you, all of us sitting around this table are mighty glad. Aren ’ t we? ” Sage felt her blush intensify as everyone nodded.
    “ Miss Sage Willows, ” Reb said. “ I have half a mind to drag ya back to the ranch house with me. This is a fine meal! ”
    Sage blushed vermillion, jumping as she felt Scarlett kick her shin under the table. “ I told you, ” the woman whispered. Sage kicked Scarlett back, afraid Reb would hear her.
    Still the knowledge he was pleased with her cooking, that she had found a way to get his attention, elated Sage. As much as she tried to argue otherwise, she was overjoyed at the attention from him.
     
    Eugenia looked from Sage to her nephew and back again. Normally Sage only made her cornbread and sage stuffing on very special occasions. Reverend Tippetts and Scarlett were no special occasion , and neither was Mr. Winnery, and she smiled. Reb had caught her young friend ’ s eye! No. It was more than that. He had captured Sage ’ s attention , and nothing had captured Sage ’ s attention for a very long time.
    Yet she fretted. Reb ’s past, his pain— would it interfere more than she already worried it would? Still, Reb ’s delight— his genuine compliment to Sage ’s cooking— it was rare. Not that he had been rude or behaved horrendously before. Not that he hadn ’ t been a polite child. But his pain had hardened him— taken awa y his ability to accept people— to trust them. Though he was always kind, Eugenia knew many times it was forced and false. His compliment to Sage, however— it was deeply sincere, and Eugenia smiled.
    
    After supper, Rose and Livie helped stack the dishes in the kitchen sink before everyone retired to the parlor. Sage never allowed herself, or anyone else, to hop up and do the dishes immediately after supper. She felt a meal should be enjoyed long after it had been eaten. Cleaning up could wait. And besides, parlor time with the widows and her other guests was just about the only true moments of happiness Sage had known in the past few years.
    She sat on the sofa next to Scarlett and smiled as Reverend Tippetts told everyone about Winnery’s bloated heifer. He was such a dear man and the kind of preacher who didn’t own an air of self-righteous arrogan ce. She admired that about him—his humility— his ability to be true to God by being true to himself.
    Sage glanced to Reb. He sat across the room in the big chair by the fireplace . S he was embarrassed when he caught her looking at him and winked