Calico Bride (18 page)
Authors: Jillian Hart
Chapter Eighteen
"W
hatcha doin', Earlee?"
"Nothing that would interest you." She tapped the excess ink off the pen on the side of the bottle. She'd left the bread dough to rise in two big bowls on the table beside her, covered with light cloths. The yeasty scent already made the kitchen end of the living room smell homey.
"I was hopin' you could come play fort with me." Edward folded his forearms against the table and leaned in. "Everyone's workin'. I'm bored."
"Enjoy it while you can. Next year you will be old enough to help with some of the farmwork." She set the pen on the paper and marked the date, August 30, 1884. "Tell you what. After I walk back from seeing my friends in town, I'll take you down to the creek."
"Honest?" That lit him up. "I sure do like the creek. I wanna watch the crawdads again. Can we have a picnic supper there? Oh, boy. I'm gonna go tell Ma!"
Edward's bare feet slapped across the floorboards. Already he was calling out to their mother, who was resting comfortably in the shady backyard.
She smiled as her brother leaped out the door, all little boy energy. The day ahead held so much promise. An afternoon spent with her best friends, supper by the cool shady creek and while the children played she would start penning her new story. She itched to get her idea down on paper and there was nothing more pleasant than sitting in the whispering grasses with the sounds of her family all around her while she imagined up a fictional adventure.
But first, her letter. With her pen loaded, she set it on the page to write.
Finn,
I know you are concerned for me and feel associating with you might not be in my best interests. I appreciate your concern. It tells me you are still the McKaslin boy I remember, kind to all, liked by everyone before you started spending time with people who weren't good for you. I am certain that part of you is still there, for good is never truly lost. So you will simply have to endure my friendship, as I like to write letters and you are too far away to stop me.
She drew a smiling face so he knew she was smiling as she wrote. She chronicled the changes on the farm since she'd last written.
The fluffy yellow chicks have tripled in size and are gangling instead of cute, the way they used to be, but always funny. Pa built a summer enclosure for them to scratch in and chase after bugs. They dash around after a prize bug, so focused they run into the screen fencing and each other, bounce off and keep going. The baby calves have grown, too, adorable with their big brown eyes and curiosity. The kittens have taken over the barn, sliding down the remains of last harvest's haystacks like otters at play.
She added a few anecdotes from Edward's latest exploits and the news of the Range Riders in town and the sheriff's arrest. Lila's pa's horses and delivery wagon were returned. Some of Lorenzo's cattle were recovered. Several townspeople who'd been threatened and intimidated by Dobbs had come forward. Good news, all in all.
She signed the letter with a flourish, addressed the envelope and went to dig for her stash of pennies hidden in the room she shared with her sisters. She would stop by the post office on her way to Lila's. That way the letter could go out on the afternoon train.
"The bread is ready." Her sister Beatrice sailed into the shanty. "Don't worry, I'll get the dough kneaded and in the oven. You go have a great time with your friends."
"Thanks." She went in search of her Sunday calico and her shoes. Hopefulness filled her heart. Her and Finn's story wasn't over yet.
"
Lila waited for the dust from the teamster's wagon to clear before she stepped off the boardwalk and crossed the busy Friday afternoon street. It had been three weeks, almost four, since the sheriff's arrest. Dobbs had been replaced by Clint Kramer, who had been sheriff before he'd lost the rigged election. The Range Riders had hunted down the remnants of Slim and Olly's gang, two of which had fled when Cheevers had been shot and the others had been out setting up to rob the nearby logging company's considerable payroll. Peace and order had returned to Angel Falls. The only thing missing was the gigantic piece of her heart Burke had taken with him.
"Lila, how's the new job?"
She stepped up onto the boardwalk and glanced around. Recognizing the older man seated on a cart pulled by a donkey, she broke into a grin. "Perfectly, Mr. Grummel. How's Mrs. Grummel?"
"Wishing she didn't live next door to that stepmother of yours." He hollered over the clatter of another teamster's loaded wagon rumbling by. "Do you know what business is going in across the street? I heard the storefront was rented but not by who."
"I have no idea." Lila shifted the bakery box she carried to her other hand. "I didn't even know it was rented."
"These days everything changes." Mr. Grummel shook his head. "Nothing stays the same. People come, people go. Oy."
"Have a good afternoon!" She called before the donkey took him out of talking range. Mr. Grummel's hat tipped in answer and his cart rolled away.
She spun on her heels to face the mercantile. The harvest window display Eunice had set up was quite effective. Canning jars and lids, big kettles and drying screens, knives and peelers and a pretty assortment of kitchenware.
Her hand hesitated on the door handle. On the other side of the glass midway through the store she caught sight of her father. Eunice fussed with his hat, tugging as if at a stray thread, perhaps talking about the steps necessary to mend it, a look of adoration plain on her face. A look of contentment on his.
Lila turned the knob, the bell chimed and she crossed the threshold into the store.
"Lila!" Lark bolted out from behind the counter, arms wide and leaped into a quick hug. She rocked back on her heels, bursting with pleasure and flicked a braid behind her shoulders. "Lila, I'm doing real well taking your place. Eunice is letting me post all the sales to the accounts."
"Good job." The store looked the same, but different. Better, brighter and she could still picture her mother at the fabric counter, chatting with customers as she cheerfully measured out bolts of colorful fabrics.
"There's my girl." Pa came over, pride showing. "Cora Sims was just in telling us what fine work you are doing for her."
"Yes," Eunice agreed. "I told her it was the way you were raised. Hard work, lots of discipline. You've made yourself a fine reputation, Lila, but remember, you can come back anytime."
"Thank you." She was content with her decisions. She was her own woman. With a start, she remembered the time. "I'm in a rush. I need to pick up some berries for my sewing circle this afternoon."
"I'll get them." Eunice paraded over to the buckets of fresh blueberries and chose the nicest one.
"I'll put it on your account!" Lark rushed to pick up a pen and ink it.
"I've got deliveries to make," Pa said, giving her nose a tweak. "Don't forget to visit your old man more often."
"How about I come over for Sunday sup per?"
"That would be just fine." Pa nodded, cleared his throat and ambled away.
"I'll make pot roast," Eunice decided, "and my sourdough biscuits you like so well."
"I'll forward to it." Lila took the pail of berries, waved goodbye and pushed out onto the street. She was late, late, late. Her friends would be arriving any minute.
As she hurried down the blocks and neared Cora's dress shop, a pretty little buggy pulled to a stop. She recognized the mare, Miss Bradshaw, being tied to the hitching post.
"It's Meredith!" Lila squealed as she spotted her dear friend, lifted her skirts with her free hand and raced in a very unladylike manner, weaving around perfectly innocent pedestrians on the boardwalk. Oh, how she'd missed her friend!
"Surprise!" The willowy blonde in a fashionable cotton print dress pushed away from the post and came running. The jaunty tilt of her hat brim flapped slightly with her gait as she flung her arms wide. "It's so
good
to see you!"
Lila set the box and pail on the bench outside the dress shop so her arms were free. They met in the middle of the boardwalk, hugged and hopped up and down in their excitement. They caught hold of hands, the way they used to do when they were little schoolgirls. "You look wonderful, Meredith. You're positively glowing."
"I'm happy." Joy lit her up, making her lovelier than ever. An engagement ring sparkled on her finger, a beautiful diamond and emerald setting which suited her perfectly. "I blame Shane for it. My happiness is entirely his fault."
"Is he still training your father's horses?"
"Yes. Pa is pleased with his work, and you know my mother. She can't stop fawning over poor Shane. I think he drives out to visit me on the weekends just to escape her flattery." Meredith laughed, her bliss contagious. "I don't see an engagement ring, so Burke hasn't returned to town to propose?"
"Pro-pose?" she sputtered at the notion. Her happiness at seeing her friend evaporated. The misery of losing Burke and the anguish of missing him through the past three, almost four weeks seized her again. In truth, she did not even know if he lived. She tried to smile, tried to keep her heartbreak hidden. "No, Burke was never serious about me. I told you that in my letters."
"Yes, but the heart follows its own path." Meredith gently squeezed Lila's hand, her understanding and support unshakable.
"Meredith! It's Meredith!" Fiona leaped from the wagon seat while it was still creeping up to the boardwalk, leaving her grandmother and her husband behind with a wave. The horses sped along again as she squealed up the step. "You came! You're really here!"
"I couldn't stay away. I missed you all so much!" Meredith laughed, and Lila did, too, as Fiona set down her sewing basket and caught them both. They circled into a three-person hug, skirts swishing together, arms tangling right along with their peals of laughter.
"Let me in!" Kate bounded up, dropped her sewing basket and joined in the squealing and the hugging. "Meredith, this is the best surprise ever. Are you staying in town over the weekend?"
"Yes. I have to squeeze in all the time I can with my friends while I'm here. Letters are great, but they aren't the same as being here with you. Kate, what is going on with you? You haven't written me hardly at all."
"I have a letter right here. I finally got to town to mail it, but now you're here so you may as well take it with you." Kate pulled an envelope from her skirt pocket and her gaze landed on someone else hurrying up the boardwalk toward them.
Lila glanced over her shoulder. "Scarlet!"
"Ooh! I had hoped you would be here, Meredith!" Her red curls bounced as she set her sewing basket alongside the others. "I loved your last letter about all your little students. They are so funny."
"And fun. I love being a teacher, but I've missed my friends." Meredith reached out to bring Scarlet into the hugging circle. "My next job must not be so far away."
"It's fine to be your own woman," Lila spoke up, "but life is better when you are close to your friends."
"Exactly." They all harmonized, glad to be all together again.
"Hey, is there room for me?" A shy, soft-noted voice asked.
"Ruby." Lila let go of Meredith, breaking apart the circle to make a space. "There's always plenty of room for you."
"Always," everyone chimed.
Ruby flushed prettily, not used to so much attention, and joined them. She was such a pretty person no one noticed the careful patches on the elbows and skirt of her red calico dress. "And to think I almost didn't come. Meredith, I would have been terribly upset to have missed seeing you."
"Is there a problem at home?" Scarlet asked.
"Only of the wild animal kind. I've been run ragged trying to keep the jackrabbits out of the garden," Ruby explained with good humor. "If I don't keep an eye out, they are nibbling on my carrots. Pa took pity on me and agreed to pay the neighbor girl to chase away the bunnies while I'm gone."
Across the street, Lorenzo Davis caught the gentle sound, stopped in his tracks and turned toward them. His gaze landed on Ruby and only on Ruby. His wide shoulders straightened and his chiseled face became dreamy. No one else noticed, just Lila. She wondered if a romance between the two of them was in the future.
"We have rabbit problems, too!" Earlee squeezed into the circle, shaking Lila from her thoughts.
"Hey, you aren't even late," Fiona said in her gentle manner. "For once. I'm shocked."
"No one is more shocked than me." Earlee's gold curls glinted in the sunshine. "Lately I have been so busy with the house and the farm, I don't know if I'm coming or going."
"You should have been named "Late' instead of "Earlee,"" Kate quipped and they all laughed together, just like old times, like the schoolgirls they used to be.
So much in life changed. Little girls grew up, they became young ladies who found jobs, married or helped support their families. They were all finding their way in the world, but she knew the best things in life stayed the same. Their friendship was stitched together with the thread of love, a bond too strong to break.
"Come inside," she said. "I don't want to waste a single moment of our time together."
The sun brightened, as if even God agreed. They broke apart and gathered up their sewing baskets. Their merry chatter rose like lark song as Lila retrieved the cookies and blueberries and led the way.