A Bride in Store (28 page)

How could she have thought he’d intentionally hurt her?

She’d stormed in and bitten his head off without giving him a chance to explain about the coupon—though he hadn’t known he needed to explain, since she hadn’t seen fit to tell him she was opening a store. He shook his head. He wasn’t sure what hurt more: that she’d kept such an accomplishment to herself or that she’d thought he’d set out to harm her.

Why hadn’t she told him? Still, he wasn’t comfortable with how they’d left things.

A customer slid her purchases toward him, and he started adding the prices without bothering to chat. Too many people in line to slow down his math with small talk.

Did Eliza truly not care about him enough to share her big news? Or maybe she’d felt bad about making a decision that would affect him negatively, despite it making sense for her to do so.

And if she couldn’t trust him with such a huge accomplishment, if she thought he’d somehow purposely ruin her business, maybe he didn’t know her well at all.

Regardless, he should let Eliza know he was happy for her, but the business he’d gained with the coupons kept him swamped during work hours, and people were scheduling him for after-hours medical exams already.

When a very pregnant woman plopped down tack and a handful of other things onto the counter, Will pressed a hand against his abdomen to attempt to silence a rumble. He had to eat no matter how unprofessional chewing looked while transacting business. He forced a tight smile. “Did you find what you need?”

Her husband shoved a lantern and a watch onto the counter. “As long as this equals fifteen dollars, I’d say yes.”

Will sighed. Considering he probably could have charged this couple between ten and twenty-five dollars to deliver their baby, the money he’d pocket from this twenty-dollar purchase wouldn’t pay for his time.

Will ripped off a hunk of jerky with his teeth and started adding. “That’s $22.25.”

“All right.” The woman fished in her reticule as Will signed her coupon.

He rubbed the heel of his hand across his brow, where a pounding ache had started an hour ago. “I guess I’ll be seeing you in a few weeks?”

She smiled at her husband and sheepishly nodded. She knew how much he was losing on this deal.

Mrs. Leddbetter approached the counter with nothing in her hands, though she’d bought a set of andirons and tongs yesterday.

“Can I help you?”

“When can you check on Granny?”

He blinked and pulled out the datebook he’d started using. “How about Thursday at . . . No, I’m way over at Fossil Creek. How about Friday around dinnertime?”

“That’s three days away.”

Her whine irritated his headache. If he wasn’t careful, he might join in with her bellyaching. He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “That’s the soonest I have.”

“Fine.”

He wrote down her name, then motioned for the next customer in line to come forward, despite the woman beside him tapping her foot impatiently on the other side of the counter. What did she need his help finding, or grabbing, or ordering to get her fifteen dollars’ worth?

No need to have a nightmare tonight; he was living one. If he didn’t get help soon, he’d collapse. Attending never-ending customers had to be worse than Axel abandoning him to rob a train, hearing Eliza say I do to someone else, Axel’s mouth smothering hers . . .

No, he’d choose unrelenting business over watching the woman he cared for nearly marry another man. . . . Cared for? Did he only
care
for her?

No, it was more than that. A whole lot of good that did him since the woman valued property more than a man.

“What’s the matter, Will?” Young Clarity Faith leaned her elbows on the counter, her strawberry-blonde head tilted in concern, her bright blue eyes staring up at him rather intently. “You don’t look very happy.”

He searched the counter to find his beef jerky again and tore off another bite. “I’m just hungry.”

“Do you want us to go to the hotel and get a sandwich for you?”

Mrs. Autry came up behind her granddaughter and squeezed her shoulder. “What are you offering to give somebody now?”

“Good advice—that’s what she is offering.” Why was he playing the martyr anyway? “Thanks for the offer, Clarity Faith, but I’ll go get one myself, since I know what I like.” He walked around the corner of his counter and smacked the bell above the door enough times that most of his customers quit shopping and looked to the front.

“If I could have everyone’s attention.” He waited until a few people from the back moseyed up. “I have to get some lunch. I know it’s four o’clock, but I’ve not eaten and am about to pass out.” And possibly strangle some people. “So if you have purchases, please find a place to set them, and when I reopen tomorrow, you can pick up where you left off. I’m sorry, but I’ve got no help and I need some food.”

A few out-of-towners grumbled, but most turned sheepish, as if they’d purposely stolen his time. He nodded to each as they filed out and winked at Clarity Faith. “Thank you for coming in.” When the last man exited, Will turned over the sign to Closed.

Somehow his mother forged through the retreating flock of people.

He held the door open for her, but the second her skirts cleared the threshold, he locked them in.

“Why’s everyone leaving?” She frowned at the people outside the window. “I haven’t seen such a crowd in here, well . . . since ever.”

“I’ve had crowds that big for two days.”

“Good for you.” She glanced at his Closed sign still swinging against the glass. “But did you just send them away?”

“I haven’t eaten lunch the last two days either.”

His mother tsked. “That’s not good for a growing boy.”

“I don’t think I’m growing much anymore, Ma.”

“Right.” She hefted her basket.

Thank you, God
. Hopefully, the hamper contained the usual assortment of food, though he’d welcome double the amount at the moment.

He nearly groaned, his mouth salivating before Ma placed any food on the counter.

As she pulled off the tablecloth cover, a paper fluttered, skittering across the counter and toward the floor. She tried to grab it but missed.

He snatched a biscuit before bending over to pick up the little white slip. “What’s this?”

A fancy border decorated the paper, and the title,
Five
and Dime
, grabbed his attention.

FIVE AND DIME

Grand Opening

With $4 purchase, get a free starter place setting

for
that fine china set you’ve always wanted.

Offer ends
May 31, 1881, or as long as supplies last.

Why hadn’t he thought of an expiration date? He smacked his crumb-covered hand against his pant leg. How many of his coupons had Oliver distributed? Could he get any back, or would he be doctoring for free until he died?

Rachel slipped the fancy little paper out of his hand. “Why didn’t you tell me Eliza has her own store now? I bought a whole set of towels there this morning and each of the girls found something for a nickel. But I didn’t get one of these flyers until I met up with your father at the lumber mill. Since your grandmother refuses to ship my china to me, I shouldn’t pass up a free setting.” His mother’s face glowed like Nettie’s when he produced some saltwater taffy from his pockets. “She’s got three patterns to choose from, all surprisingly inexpensive. I’ll have to budget for the rest, but no reason not to get started.”

Free china.
He didn’t stand a chance of surviving in this town with Dr. Benning and Eliza as competition. He looked at his Closed sign, then let his eyes slide shut. If only he could leave it flipped over permanently.

He grabbed another biscuit and dug into the basket for the salt-cured ham sure to be tucked away inside. He unscrewed a canteen of tea and sat down on the countertop. “I’m glad you came by. Though I’m nearly starved, I don’t think I could have stomached another can of beans for supper.”

His mother’s glare raked the length of him. “Don’t tell me you’ve been eating nothing but canned beans.”

He took another huge bite of ham and biscuit rather than answer. He couldn’t afford the hotel diner every day . . . though surely he could tonight.
Thank you, Lord, for some money flowing my way.

“I’ll return for the basket.” Ma patted his arm. “I’ll go back to Eliza’s store while you eat.”

She was going to Eliza’s now? He forced down his mouthful and grabbed another slice of ham. “I’ll join you. I haven’t yet seen the inside.”

Following his mother out, he almost stumbled over his sister Emma sitting on the stair. “How’d you avoid getting trampled out here?”

Her fierce frown turned comical when she added a glare.

“Emma.” Ma’s face matched her oldest daughter’s. “Your attitude is frightfully close to getting you into more trouble. Watch your tongue and come along.”

Will followed them down the street. Emma and Ma butted heads all the time now that the eight-year-old had decided they were equals.

At Eliza’s Five and Dime, he stepped in front of his mother and sister to catch the swinging beveled-glass door. Several ladies exited, carrying paper-wrapped items and heavy bags. From where he stood, the interior appeared more suited for a fancy hotel. The rough wood walls of his tiny store looked like a railroad shanty in comparison.

How much had this cost her? Where had she gotten the money?
When he was a child, his parents had never taken him inside the jeweler’s, and he’d never been curious enough to peer through the windows, but he never imagined a store like this in Salt Flatts.

Emma and his mother bustled inside between customers, leaving him to hold the door for several more ladies. When he found his ma again, she was standing in front of a table of the advertised china with a finger against her mouth.

How smart of Eliza. If a woman started a collection, she’d finish, down to every last matching piece. Her coupon enticed customers to return without any promise of more free items.

He fingered a teacup. The sign in the middle of the table read
Five Cents
. Taking in the little signs on the various tables, he calculated the cost of a set. Eliza would lose thirty-five cents out of a four-dollar expenditure.

He’d given away five to a possible fifteen or more dollars of services for an equivalent purchase, with no enticement to return.

Should he groan over his stupidity or chuckle at Eliza’s genius?

Where was she? Hadn’t she always harped on him to greet customers at the threshold? He looked around. Behind the crowd at the main counter, Eliza was wrapping china with a flourish, the brightest smile he’d ever seen plastered on her face.

“Hold this.” Ma handed him a painfully delicate white plate bordered with a simple string of blue leaves along the outer edge. Not the fanciest pattern, but then, what did people expect for a dime?

“Now, what to buy for four dollars? There’s really nothing I need.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t tell your father that.”

Will widened his eyes, pretending innocence. “No, ma’am.” He scanned the tables of toys, household items, and clothing accessories. “Don’t suppose she has food in here.”

Emma tugged on his sleeve, making him grip the china harder. He quickly relaxed his hold, lest he crack the plates.

“She has candy.”

Candy wouldn’t settle his stomach.

“And taffy and gumdrops and stuff I’ve never seen before!”

Will grimaced. The candy bins wouldn’t thrill the confectioner next door.

“All penny candy.”

His mother drew up, hands on her hips. “We’re not buying four dollars’ worth of penny candy. We’d have to eat a piece a day to finish them before half the year—”

“One a day?” Emma’s blue eyes lit.

“Not going to happen, young lady. Go pick out ten pieces for yourself and for each of your brothers and sisters.”

Emma scurried off, and his mother turned her frown back on the china set in his arms. “Maybe I shouldn’t buy this. I’m only wasting money on things I don’t need—like candy.” She ran a finger along the slightly fluted edge of the teacup.

“Ma, you don’t have to use the coupon.” Eliza might want to throttle him for pointing this out, but his mother wasn’t thinking clearly. Who knew china could turn an intelligent woman’s brain into mush? “You can buy the set later. Pa knows you’ve regretted leaving your china behind when you moved out here, but you were a mite distracted if I recall the story.”

Her eyes twinkled and her frown disappeared. “Yes, packing within an hour to run after a wagon train so the preacher could marry us before nightfall made me forget more than just dinnerware.”

“A few more months without fancy dishes won’t feel like the twenty some years you’ve gone without.”

“Twenty-three.” With a little sigh, she collected the dishes from his arms, then slowly replaced them one by one as if saying good-bye to each piece.

He read Eliza’s flyer again. “Besides, you’ve got until the end of the month. If you need something for four dollars before then, you can still use your coupon.”

“Only if supplies last, and I like this pattern.” She set the plate down and another woman swiped it off the stack.

“I bet Eliza will stock enough of each pattern so she won’t miss a sale. But if your pattern isn’t here, there’s nothing wrong with supporting her by buying at full cost when she restocks.”

“Right.” She patted his cheek. “Always thinking about what’s best for others.”

“I got the candy, Ma.” Emma held out a paper bag.

His mother’s upper lip twitched, making him want to laugh. She’d agreed to buy more candy than he recalled ever having in a year.

Eliza certainly understood what drove customers. He sighed. If only he’d asked her advice about the coupon, he might not be booked until Christmas fixing ingrown toenails and popping boils on the backs of old bachelors.

Will peered into the candy bag full of black gumdrops. “I don’t think John likes these.”

“Everyone likes black gumdrops.”

“No. I’m pretty sure he hates them.”