Shadow of Shame: Book 1 of the Shadow series by Barbara Goss Page B

cold. He put his jacket over her shoulders, and pointed his buggy toward her house. “Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked as they neared the Jeffries’ home.
    She nodded. “I think so.”
    Quinn pulled up in front of Ivy’s house and touched her on the arm. “Ivy, will you let me explain what Boyd said about Jonas?”
    “Is it true?” she asked, wide-eyed.
    “Some of it, is,” Quinn said. “But he’s completely turned his life around since then. All three of us were wild five years ago. It all started when we began to hang around with Boyd. He was a bad influence on us, but we still should have known better. I behaved every bit as badly as Jonas and Boyd. We did a lot of womanizing, but after what happened to Jonas, I learned my lesson. So did Jonas. But, Boyd never stopped his drinking and womanizing.”
    “How did Jonas end up married? And how did his wife die?” Ivy asked.
    “She was pregnant—”
    “Oh, no!” Ivy exclaimed. She started to get out of the buggy.
    “Wait, Ivy.” Quinn gently grabbed her arm to keep her in the buggy. “Since I’ve told you this much, I have to tell you all of it. It isn’t fair to Jonas to give you only half of the story.”
    “I’m not sure I want to hear it, Quinn.” She removed his jacket from around her shoulders and handed it to him.
    “Peggy told me you had a crush of sorts on Jonas,” he said. “Tell me something, Ivy. Before tonight, how did you feel about him?”
    “I thought he was the kindest and most generous man I’d ever met.”
    “And now?”
    “And now I have doubts. Who wouldn’t?”
    “Yes, he married Minnie, and yes she was with child,” Quinn said. “He admitted that he could have been the baby’s father, but he also knew, as well as everyone else, that the baby could have been almost anyone’s. Minnie was a bit—shall we say, free with her charms? Yet despite her other lovers, she pointed her finger at Jonas. We think she heard he was building a new home, and thought he had money.”
    “So he k-killed her?” Ivy asked.
    “Good heavens, no!” Quinn said. “Jonas wouldn’t hurt anyone, even in his wildest days. Minnie died during childbirth. Jonas was never mean to her. He just ignored her because he felt she’d ruined his life. He had to marry Minnie when he was just eighteen. As it turned out, the baby wasn’t his after all.”
    “How do you know that?”
    “The baby is colored. She was probably Samson’s. He was an African man who worked at the blacksmith's shop. He left town shortly after Minnie got married. Personally, I think he really cared for her.”
    “I’m telling you all this because I don’t want Jonas to get hurt again. I don’t want this story to get out all over the town, and I don’t want you thinking badly of him. Jonas has punished himself enough over the past five years. He was asked to leave Grace Church at a time when he probably needed it the most. He went over to Trinity Church, and gave his life to God. He hasn’t been with any women or had a drop to drink from the day he gave his life to God, but he still punishes himself.
    “As his best friend, I’m begging you to not mention this to anyone, including my sister. I’m thinking most people have forgotten that incident, and I’ve been trying to get him out to enjoy life again. He’s been almost like a recluse all these years. He hasn’t been anywhere socially, but he came to the dance tonight because he was worried about you .”
    Ivy bit her lip. “I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”
     
    “And,” Quinn continued, “he needs friends like you and me.”
    “Oh, I don’t know, Quinn. If my father should hear—”
    “Exactly. Your father doesn’t need to know. Unless…well, for now at least, he doesn’t need to know.”
    Ivy rubbed her face with her hands, “Oh, Quinn, I think I hurt Jonas tonight when I refused to let him take me home. He looked so stunned and hurt by my rejection.”
    “Don’t worry about it. You can