Rainbow Hammock Read online

  When the two of them lost their balance and landed in a tangled heap, Lilah said, “Jeremy, I haven’t been invited to the ball.”

  He stood up and stamped one sleek-booted foot. “If you don’t beat all! Of course you’re invited. You’re one of us, Lilah. What the hell do you want? One of those fancy, engraved invitations Mama had made up in Savannah?”

  Amalee eyed Lilah’s prettily flushed cheeks with more than a hint of animosity, and said, “Jeremy, don’t pester her so. Maybe Lilah doesn’t want to come to the ball.”

  “Of course, I want to come, Amalee. It’s only that—”

  “Then it’s all settled,” Jeremy cut in. He flopped down in a rocking chair next to Amalee’s and patted the one beside it, signaling Lilah to join them.

  Jeremy poured two tall glasses of cider, then pulled a silver flask from inside his shirt, and spiked his with a healthy shot of whiskey.

  “Ah-h-h,” he sighed. “Nothing makes a man feel better than a good drink and a pretty woman beside him.”

  Elizabeth Patrick had viewed Jeremy and Lilah’s terpsichorean display from just inside the wide entrance hall. Now her anger boiled as she watched her younger son reach over and pat Lilah’s hand affectionately. She stood by… listening… waiting.

  “I don’t even have a decent gown to wear, Jeremy,” Lilah protested truthfully.

  “Ah, hell, Amalee’s got a hundred! She’ll let you wear one of hers.”

  Amalee drew up, affronted by her brother’s casual offer of her belongings.

  “Most of the guests come in costume, Lilah honey. You could always wear that old patched calico you have on now and come as white trash,” Amalee drawled sarcastically. “Or, better yet, blacken your face and tie your hair up in a tignon and come as one of Papa’s nigger wenches!”

  “Shut up, Amalee!” Jeremy growled, the whiskey turning him mean as it always did.

  While Lilah sat aching inside from Amalee’s cruel words, and trying to control her own temper, Elizabeth Patrick swished onto the veranda, her gray silk rustling and her brown eyes stone-hard.

  “Lilah, if you’ve finished here, I have some mending inside that you can take home for your mother to do for me.”

  Lilah stood up. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Come with me, then,” Elizabeth commanded.

  Elizabeth Patrick moved so swiftly through the hallway that by the time Lilah caught up with her in the parlor, the mistress of Fortune’s Fancy already stood angrily fingering the gold fringe of the burgundy velvet drapes that framed the four large windows.

  For several moments Lilah stood uncomfortably, waiting for Elizabeth Patrick to turn and speak. Something warned her that the last thing on the woman’s mind at the moment was mending. Lilah could see Mrs. Patrick’s shoulders heaving, betraying some strong, emotional struggle.

  “Come here, Lilah,” Elizabeth Patrick said without turning. “There’s something I want you to see.”

  Lilah moved to the window obediently.

  “Look across the lawn, the road, the first field. What do you see?”

  Lilah, unable to guess what answer was expected of her, replied, “Why, Rainbow Hammock—for as far as the eye can reach.”

  “Just as I thought,” Elizabeth said in a cold tone. “You see the forest but not the trees. You see what you want to see rather than the true facts. It’s time I opened your eyes to a few things!”

  Lilah stared at Elizabeth Patrick, confused.

  Pointing, Mrs. Patrick continued, “The overseer’s cabin… that’s what I want you to see! Take a good look at it, Lilah Fitzpatrick! That’s your home—that poor tabby shack and the worked-out piece of ground it sits on. You don’t belong at Fortune’s Fancy. You don’t even belong on Rainbow Hammock, at least not any part except the few acres your family owns.”

  “But I don’t understand, ma’am.”

  “Exactly! You don’t understand; you never have. It was my husband’s foolish idea to treat you as a cousin to our own children, to school you with the twins since you’re their age. But I never approved… never! And now it’s come to this! I heard your conversation with Jeremy and Amalee just now. Can you imagine what our friends would say if you showed up at the All Hallows’ Eve ball? The overseer’s niece? It’s unthinkable!”

  Lilah felt as if she were shrinking inside her clothes. Elizabeth Patrick’s words made her feel like a bad person, but she wasn’t sure why. She ached to turn and run… to hide somewhere so that she’d never have to face another living soul. But there was no escape.

  “I don’t want you around my children anymore. I say, children, but you aren’t children now. Both Amalee and Jeremy will marry soon and bring their families here to Fortune’s Fancy to live. How do you think it would look for the overseer’s niece to have the run of the place? Why, we’d be the laughingstock of coastal society! You were wise to tell Jeremy that you haven’t been invited to the ball. Believe me, you are not welcome!”

  Suddenly, all the hurt Elizabeth Patrick had inflicted welled up in Lilah and she wanted to strike back, no matter how slight a blow.

  “I’ll stay away from your house, from Amalee with pleasure, and from Jeremy, Mrs. Patrick. But you’re wrong about the ball. I have been invited. Brandon asked me to come the morning you sent him away. If Brandon keeps his promise to me, he’ll be here to escort me to the ball. Short of dishonoring your son in front of your friends, I don’t see how you can keep me from coming! Now, if you will excuse me, ma’am.”

  Lilah whirled about to leave, but ran headlong into Ames Patrick.

  The big, sandy-haired man smiled down at her, and said, “Blast it all, missy, if you don’t get prettier every day!”

  Lilah burst into tears, pulled away from Ames Patrick, and ran from the room.

  “And just what was all that about?” he asked his wife. “Did you take a whip to the girl? God knows, you’ve threatened to often enough!”

  “The ball,” Elizabeth answered glacially. “Just what do you plan to do about this problem?”

  Ames walked over to the window and put an arm about her shoulders, feeling somewhat in awe that her stiff, unyielding body could still arouse him.

  “Darling, you always work yourself and everyone on the place into an absolute fidget over this damned party, and it’s never failed to be the success of the social season. Take it easy. We still have plenty of time to get everything done.”

  She pushed away from him when his big hand cupped one silk-covered breast. Her husband’s advances repelled her. She’d abided his touch long enough to be impregnated six times and give him three healthy children, but no more. Standing safely out of his reach, she touched the smooth, blue-black chignon at the nape of her neck and gave him a frigid look.

  “You have plenty of time to settle this problem, Ames Patrick! I’ve tried and failed apparently.”

  “What problem, Elizabeth?” The master of Fortune’s Fancy studied his wife’s face more closely. What he saw alarmed him—the predatory fire in her dark eyes, the resolute set of her patrician jaw.

  “Lilah Fitzpatrick!” She spat the name out as if it tasted vile in her mouth. “I found out that she’s planning to come to my ball! I won’t have it, Ames, and I told her so! But she defied me. This is all your fault—the way you’ve pampered her all these years. Why, the girl actually considers herself part of this family!”

  “Elizabeth, calm yourself! You know as well as I do that she’s been good for all of us. She’s taken the place of the little girl we lost. The twins certainly enjoy her company. And we both know how Brandon feels about her.”

  Ames realized his mistake before the words were out of his mouth.

  Elizabeth attacked with angry tears and harsh words. “I know all too well how Brandon feels about her! You don’t have to remind me. It broke my heart to have to send him off to Savannah last year. But it was the only way. Thank God, things have worked out for him. But now Jeremy is looking at her through
a man’s eyes. Am I going to have to go through the same thing with him? No! I can’t and I won’t!”

  “For heaven’s sake, Elizabeth, take it easy! It’s only a party. What harm could her being there possibly do?”

  “What harm?” she shrilled. “You’re as bad as Brandon and Jeremy where Lilah Fitzpatrick is concerned. A pretty face and a satin tongue do not a lady make! And what about poor Amalee? Your own daughter feels that you’ve always placed her second to the overseer’s niece! How will she feel at her first ball, having to take a backseat to Lilah Fitzpatrick?”

  “Amalee’s pretty enough,” Ames replied. “She’ll have her share of young men dancing attendance. And as for my favoring Lilah, that simply isn’t true, Elizabeth, and you know it!”

  “Oh, do I?” she demanded. “I repeat, I will not have her at the ball or at Fortune’s Fancy any longer!”

  “What do you expect me to do about this situation, Elizabeth?” Ames growled.

  “Simply make sure she understands that she’s not welcome!”

  Ames Patrick stared at his wife in disbelief. “And just how am I supposed to explain this sudden change to our children? They’ve accepted Lilah as one of them all their lives.”

  “Your fault again, dear Ames, and your problem! How you explain is no concern of mine. Simply make sure they all understand!”

  Elizabeth Patrick whirled away from him and out of the room. Ames stared after her, the noon sun picking out the gray strands in his reddish hair. His broad shoulders sagged visibly.

  “Blast the woman!” he said aloud, slamming his fist down so hard on the marble top of a Belter table that the late roses jumped in their silver vase. “She has ice water for blood and granite for a heart!”

  He gazed up at a portrait of his grandfather Simon’s sister-in-law, Maureen. With her pale hair, hypnotic blue eyes, and sweet expression, she could have been her great-great-granddaughter, Lilah Fitzpatrick.

  Ames laughed bitterly. Perhaps Lilah was really Maureen, come back to haunt him for what old Simon did to her family.

  Gazing out the window, he saw Lilah running down the shell road toward the avenue of oaks.

  He paced back and forth, following the intricate, patterned border of the rug. He stopped in front of the piano he’d ordered from R. and W. Nunns of New York—the instrument Lilah played as if she’d been born with her delicate fingertips poised on the ivory, but which still confounded his daughter, Amalee.

  He traced the gadroon beading of the upright case with one finger. He touched the rayed silk that finished the front of the fine instrument, its rich rose folds held in place by a passion flower medallion.

  His hand stopped on the cool metal blossom and he smiled. Yes, his idea might work! He could have it both ways! Elizabeth would never suspect a thing!

  Ames Patrick moved swiftly for a large man. In seconds he was out of the house, heading for the oaks to find Lilah.

  Lilah sat huddled against the rough bark of the oldest live oak on Rainbow Hammock. Legend had it that the sprawling giant, with its low, thick trunk and meandering branches, grew out of the grave of an Indian maiden who died of a broken heart when her lover drowned.

  The oak had been Lilah’s secret place all her life. She often climbed its leafy branches and perched on a broad limb to tell the long-dead Indian girl of her troubles, her happiness, her sorrows, and her dreams. Today she came to hide. Only embraced by the familiar arms of this ancient friend could she deal with the pain Elizabeth Patrick had inflicted.

  “I’m not different!” she said aloud. “I’m as good as Amalee Patrick—better at most things. I refuse to be treated like common white trash! People may sneer at us, but the Fitzpatricks come of proud stock. Why do they treat us this way?”

  A rush of angry, hurt tears stopped her words. She hugged a wide branch and sobbed until her head throbbed and her chest ached.

  “Lilah,” Ames Patrick called. “Lilah, where are you?”

  She didn’t answer, but her crying had given her away.

  “What are you doing up there, child?” he asked when he caught a glimpse of her through the foliage. “Come down here and talk to me. I’m sorry my wife was so brusque with you, but I smoothed things over.” He paused. “Lilah, did you hear what I said?”

  Her sobs subsided. Ames Patrick had treated her well all her life—as well as her own father might have, if he’d lived. Some of the ache eased. She slipped down through the branches to where he could see her plainly.

  “Tell me why you’re crying, child,” Ames said with true concern. “Come down here to me.” He held out his arms to help her. “It’s the ball, isn’t it?” he continued. “You’ve been looking forward to your first party as much as Amalee.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” she managed, fighting back the tears.

  Ames smiled broadly at her. “Don’t try to fool me, young lady. I know how much this thing means to you girls. And you have my assurance that you’ll be at the ball and no one will try to embarrass you or send you away. Now give me a smile.”

  Lilah looked gratefully at Ames Patrick. Brandon is like his father, she thought. They’re both such kind, loving men. She smiled weakly.

  “There. That’s better,” he said. “Now, I want you to keep this a secret from everyone but your family. It’s all right if you tell your mama and Granny. But let’s just let it be a surprise to all the others.” He laughed softly. “Agreed?”

  Lilah nodded, hugged Ames Patrick impulsively, then ran down the lane to the overseer’s shack, her heart much lighter.

  She might not even go to the ball now, but at least she’d been invited. She’d won her small battle!

  Chapter 2

  That same bright golden afternoon Lilah Fitzpatrick knelt beside Kingdom as they worked in the kitchen garden outside the cabin.

  Lilah rocked back on her heels, wiped her hands on the long apron that covered her frock, then brushed away beads of perspiration from her brow.

  “Sure is hot for this late in October, Kingdom.” She gazed up at the sky, an expanse of uninterrupted blue. “Do you think it will rain soon?”

  “Don’t know, Miss Lilah.” The big slave in his early twenties kept working as he answered. “But old Maum Tassie swears by her rheumatism that we’s in for a late storm this year.”

  Lilah sighed deeply, her thoughts not on Kingdom’s reply. She gazed across the fields and lawn toward Fortune’s Fancy. With her eyes she traveled the shell road to the curving drive in front of the big house. She watched Jeremy leap off his sorrel horse, Juniper, and toss the reins to the waiting groom. He bounded up the stairs to the broad veranda, his step light, his auburn curls tossing back reflections to the sun. Ames Patrick met his son at the front door and they exchanged a few words. Lilah thought about Mr. Patrick’s kindness to her that morning. How could she throw his invitation back in his face?

  She frowned and heaved another heavy sigh.

  “Miss Lilah, seems like you been off your feed for a good spell now, and getting worse all the time. What’s worrying you so?” Kingdom asked, a frown creasing his smooth brow.

  Lilah pulled off her straw bonnet and tossed it aside. She shook her head vigorously to catch any hint of a breeze that might cool her.

  “A lady’s allowed to have her spells, Kingdom. You know that.” She tried to laugh. “Right now, of all things. I’m upset about that silly ball! Mr. Patrick invited me to come, but I’m not sure I should. I want to go, and last year Brandon asked me before he left for Savannah, but—” She left the statement as unfinished as her own thoughts on the matter.

  Kingdom grinned up at her and shook his head. “Women!” he laughed. “I won’t never understand a one of them to my dyin’ day! You take my Rhea. She just like you. I ask her somethin’ right out plainlike, and she come back at me with a ‘Well, maybe, Kingdom, but then again, maybe not.’ Got to run her clean around a bramble bush and back again ‘fore she’ll ever come right out and give m
e a for-sure answer. You playin’ one of them female games with Master Ames, Miss Lilah?” He paused, but she didn’t answer him. “You knows you wants to go to that there fancy ball, same as a catfish wants fryin’!”

  He hid his own doubts behind a broad smile.

  Kingdom, who had been bought at auction in Charleston and brought to Rainbow Hammock as a boy, rather than having been born on the island like most of the other slaves, had attached himself to Lilah early in life. Ames Patrick allowed him the freedom of his spare time when he wasn’t on boat duty, and Kingdom chose to spend it helping Lilah with her chores. Somehow this pale-haired, violet-eyed woman seemed something akin to him.

  She didn’t belong here, digging in the black earth. But as the overseer’s niece, neither did she have a real place at Fortune’s Fancy. To Kingdom it seemed that the Patricks used her as a sort of white slave to their children and always had. As he had served the young master at the plantation in Virginia where he had been born, so Lilah Fitzpatrick served the offspring of Ames and Elizabeth Patrick.

  The sad part, he thought, is she don’t know who or what she is—or even where she belongs.

  “I can tell you something that’ll sure-fire make your mind up for you, Miss Lilah. A secret!”

  He waited for her to press him for his privileged information. Lilah obliged, complaining that servants on Rainbow Hammock always knew things before anyone else, and it wasn’t fair.

  Kingdom’s grin broadened to occupy his whole face, and he whispered, “Mister Brandon’s coming home from Savannah for the ball!”

  Lilah gave a little cry of joy. “You’re sure, Kingdom?”

  “Sure as rain!” He pointed overhead at a moisture-laden cloud that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

  “Oh, Kingdom I could hug you!” Lilah was laughing and crying at the same time.

  He shot a wary glance toward the tabby cabin. “You best not even talk thata way, Miss Lilah, ‘less you want your uncle to skin the thick hide offen me!” He rolled his eyes in imitation of a terrified darky.