Was that Bella in the schoolyard, talking to Mrs. Clovis? Adam’s chest puffed out. No doubt she was hearing how miraculous his contraption was. No doubt she was awonder at his amazing machine. But as he approached the two ladies, he could tell something was wrong. Was Bella concerned about the wager with her father? Sure, Mr. Eden stood to have his pride hurt, but nothing beyond that. Dr. Paulson was so generous that the townspeople would gain even if they lost the contest.
As he drew near, Bella put her head down and angled away. She swung a wide arc around him before taking to the road that led back to her farm. He slid his hands into his pockets as he watched her walk past. He’d been looking forward to speaking to her again, but it was Mrs. Clovis who felt friendly.
“I didn’t think it would bother her, this wager between you and her pa, but she lit out like her house was on fire when she saw you coming.” Mrs. Clovis blinked her watery eyes. “I wonder what’s amiss. I thought she’d be happy that we might get another teacher.”
He looked at the empty schoolhouse, its door shut tight. What was wrong? Old Miss Hoyt would probably rejoice if they found a replacement for her.
“I don’t understand,” he said, but there was a better way to find out. Go to the source—especially if the source was Bella. “Excuse me, ma’am.” He tipped his hat to Mrs. Clovis, then took out up the road. Bella might not be tickled to talk to him again, but in a town the size of Oak Springs, they could hardly avoid each other.
She chugged up the hill toward the giant oak tree, her skirts swishing beneath her trim waist. He thought of calling out but feared that might speed her steps. Instead he ran until he was at her side and could match her stride.
She lit into him right off the bat. “Why are you here? Haven’t you done enough?”
“The wager with your pa wasn’t my idea. He suggested it. And I thought Dr. Paulson’s offer was most generous.”
“Very generous indeed!” Her cheeks were flushed with anger.
Adam understood why she’d been mad at him for the Jimmy Blaggart incident, but he didn’t deserve her ire over this. “I don’t see how it matters. Even if your pa loses, he’s not required to make any sort of payment. The whole town will benefit if Dr. Paulson brings in someone to replace Miss Hoyt.”
Bella stopped. The way she stared made him feel that he’d left some breakfast stuck on his face.
“You don’t know, do you?” she asked.
“Know what?”
An eyebrow arched. “Miss Hoyt retired. She doesn’t teach anymore.”
“Not that she did any teaching when we were in school.” He grinned. “Who’d they get to replace her?”
Bella’s hand went to her hip, and she tapped her foot. “Someone who was looking for work when an injury made her chosen profession impossible. Someone who never took her teacher’s exam because she’s a known failure at tests. Someone who was only a mediocre student but has found that she enjoys teaching.”
Whoever this woman was, Bella was hopping mad on her account. An injured woman who was a mediocre student . . . ?
Adam’s gut twisted like it had gone through a wringer. “Bella,” he groaned. All the anguish he’d felt when he’d seen her in pain, all the shame he’d carried as he waited for her wrist to heal, came flooding back. “You’re the teacher? What about your sewing?”
“Sewing?” She scoffed. “Try making those tiny stitches when your hand doesn’t work as it should. Try to make a living when you can only hold a needle for half an hour before the ache becomes unbearable.”
“It was an accident.” He swallowed hard. That was why she didn’t want the thread he’d brought.
“And now you’re going to push me from another job,” she continued. “Is that what you want, Adam? For me to stay out at the farm, trying to come up with work so I’m not a burden on Ma and Pa?”
While the wager with her father hadn’t been his idea, he’d be blamed, sure as the world.
“I’ll tell Dr. Paulson that there’s no need for the teacher. If you’re doing a good job and are willing to get your exam . . . ?”
She winced. Flinging her hand through the air, she turned to go up the road, parting the tall grass on either side of the wagon ruts.
Adam pursued. “I’m trying to make amends,” he said. “I tried three years ago to help you, and I’ll try again now.”
“Your help brings great harm.”
“If you have your certificate, then there’s no reason for Dr. Paulson to bring a new teacher. The school board can easily refuse his offer.”
“But I don’t have it, and I can’t get it.”
“Why not? Aren’t you healed enough to hold a pen now?”
“It’s not about my injury. It’s about the tests. I can’t pass that exam. Any exam I’ve ever passed was only passed by the skin of my teeth. You wouldn’t understand how nervous I get. It makes me sick just thinking—” She clutched at the bow on her collar. “Seamstresses don’t have to take tests, but I’m not a seamstress, and thanks to you, I won’t be a teacher either. The only way out of this is if Pa wins, and maybe he will.”
“He won’t.” Now Adam knew what a doctor felt when telling a patient their dire diagnosis. “There’s no way he can win, and even if he could, it wouldn’t be good. If I lose, I can never come back to Oak Springs. I could never see—” His eyes flashed to her clear, honest face. “I couldn’t see anyone from here again. No one, Bella. Besides, I need the work. The next payment on my machine is due in a few weeks. I don’t have time to try another town. I need to start harvesting now.”
“Then you
