French Silk(136)

His wandering lips ceased their exploration of her neck. His head snapped up. "What?"

"Didn't you hear me?"

Nervously she pulled her lower lip through her teeth, not wanting to repeat the words. For weeks she had anguished over the possibility. After her second missed period, coupled with morning nausea and a constant shortness of breath, there could be little doubt.

She lived in fear of her parents' noticing her swelling breasts and thickening waistline. She'd told no one. Months ago she'd forsaken her friends in favor of Jack's company, and she didn't feel she could go to them now with a problem of this magnitude. Besides, girls who got into trouble were scorned and shunned by everyone, including best friends. Even if Lisbet and Alice chose to remain her friends, their parents would never have permitted it.

She had made her confession at a church outside her own parish. While whispering to the disembodied voice behind the screen, her cheeks had flamed and her words had faltered when she admitted to the lustful things she and Jack had done together. Confessing them to a real person, face to face, would be too mortifying to consider. So she'd borne the guilty burden alone.

Now, she lay in stark terror of Jack's reaction.

He got up and stood at the side of the bed, looking down at her but saying nothing. His glibness seemed to have deserted him.

"Are you angry?" she asked in a feeble voice.

"Uh, no." Then stronger, "No." He sat down and took her damp, cold hand between his. "Did you think I'd be angry?"

Her relief was so vast, she could barely speak. Hot, salty tears flowed from her eyes. "Oh, Jack. I didn't know what you'd think. I didn't know what to do."

"Have you told your folks yet?" She shook her head. "Well, that's good. This is our baby. I don't want anybody horning in on our joy until it's time."

"Oh, Jack, I love you so much." She threw her arms around his neck and kissed his face ecstatically.

He indulged her, laughing, then set her away from him. "You know what this means, don't you?"

"What?"

"We've got to get married."

She clasped her hands beneath her chin. Her eyes were radiant and glowing. "I was hoping you'd say that. Oh, Jack, Jack, no one's ever been this happy."

They made love, then spent hours entangled beneath the covers, planning their future. "I've been wanting to leave New Orleans for several months, Mary Catherine. I haven't left before now because of you." He stroked her tummy. "But with the little one coming, I've got to consider our future in doing the Lord's work."

He outlined his plans for augmenting the ministry. "Maybe I can find somebody to play an instrument and sing hymns. Some preachers have several people working for them. These helpers go into the towns first and set things up, like the disciples used to do for Jesus. By the time the preacher gets there, they've got folks hyped up about him. That's what I want. I wasn't meant to preach for pennies on street corners. Someday I might even get on the radio. And then TV. Now wouldn't that be something?"

Mary Catherine was touched by the evangelical zeal that burned in his eyes. "I'll do whatever I can to help, Jack. You know that."

"Well, the kind of help I need right now … never mind."

"What?" She sat up and shook his shoulder. "Tell me." He looked downcast. "I don't know what I'll do for money, especially now that I'll have two extra mouths to feed. I suppose my mission will have to be put on hold while I get a regular job."

"No! I won't hear of that. You must continue preaching, no matter what."

"I don't see how I can."

"Leave that to me. I've got some money."

Looking close to tears, he pulled her down onto his chest and held her tight. "I don't deserve you. You're a saint. Look at this crappy place. I've got to find better lodging in the next city." He gave the shabby room a look of rank disgust. "This place was all right for me. John the Baptist ate locusts and lived in the desert. But I can't ask my wife to make that kind of sacrifice."

The next day, she brought him twenty one-hundred-dollar bills. "I took them out of my account at the bank. It's Christmas and birthday money that I've been saving for years."

"It's too much. I can't accept this, Mary Catherine."

"Of course you can," she said, pressing the bills back into his hands when he tried to return them. "I'm going to be your wife. What's mine is yours. It's for us. For our baby. For God's ministry."

They planned their elopement to take place three nights from then. "Why so long? Why not tomorrow?"

"I've got to make arrangements," he explained. "You don't get married without a bunch of red tape, you know."

"Oh," she said with disappointment. She hadn't known that. "Well, I'll leave all the legalities to you, Jack."

They kissed good-night, lingering over it, dreading the hours of separation. Mary Catherine went home, locked herself in her room, and wrote several pages in her diary. Later, unable to sleep due to a slight case of indigestion brought on by pregnancy and excitement, she went to her closet and planned what she would wear when she went to meet her groom.