Page 14 of Brian and Cora (The Bachelors of Three Bend Lake #2)

Neither mentioned the specter of death that always hovered over a laboring mother. Dr. Cameron probably has seen too many of his patients die and must fear for his wife.

“I want to hire a nanny. But in Sweetwater Springs, available women are few and far between. I’ve written to my family in Scotland to send over a lass, who hopefully will arrive in the next month or so.”

Is he asking me to fill in until then? Cora’s hopes sank. She did not want to be a nanny.

“If I could have someone to relieve Alice of her nursing duties, that would be helpful, indeed. I don’t know how…

with you living at the Bellaires’, having to summon you if there’s a crisis…

. I don’t know if that will work. But give me a few days until things settle down, and our minds have recovered from all the worrying we’ve been doing. Then we’ll talk some more.”

“Thank you, doctor. I’ll look forward to that.” She sent a longing glance at the open journal on his desk and turned to leave.

“Come back tomorrow. I have some journals Angus and I have already read. I’ll dig them out, and you can borrow them.”

“Oh, how lovely! I’ll see you tomorrow, Dr. Cameron.” Cora walked back down the hall with mixed feelings. While grateful the doctor hadn’t dismissed her out of hand, he hadn’t welcomed her with open arms like she’d hoped. But, at least he’ll allow me to read his journals.

Right now, all I can do is wait while he thinks.

So far, Cora loved almost everything about her new life in Sweetwater Springs.

Residing in the elegant Bellaire-Norton mansion made the rest of the town seem quaint, rather than primitive.

She was excited for the tea party today held by Delia to introduce them, well, mainly Aunt Rose, their future librarian, and looked forward to meeting and conversing with some of the ladies of Sweetwater Springs.

What she hoped for was a friend near her age—not to replace Ivy, of course. But she could already tell that without a friend to confide in and share activities with, she’d feel like something was missing in her life.

Donning her new seafoam-green day dress felt so indulgent.

She ran a finger over the lace and green ribbon trim before picking up a matching length to thread through her chignon.

After fluffing the fringe of bangs across her forehead and fastening on her locket, she couldn’t help twirling in front of the mirror to admire her appearance.

How marvelous to wear a new outfit instead of shabby clothes in ugly colors!

With one final glance in the mirror, Cora almost dance-stepped out the door and down the hallway to the staircase. At the bottom in the entryway, she saw Rose and Delia talking while waiting for her to join them in greeting their guests.

Delia shone in a basque and skirt of molten gold with jewelry to match, and she looked up and beamed approval at Cora.

Such a kind and elegant lady’s regard made Cora’s heart warm and gave her more confidence.

Rose, too, wore a new gown in a smoky-blue color, which brightened her gray eyes, and a pearl necklace.

Watching Cora descend, for the first time since her brother’s death, her aunt displayed a genuine smile, one which lit up her expression and made her appear much younger. “Oh, my, how pretty you look.”

Cora grinned back at Rose and Delia. “I think we all do Sweetwater Springs proud.”

The clink of china made Cora turn to look through the square opening into the parlor. Tilda and her daughters set out platters of fancy sandwiches, cookies, and tiny cakes on the buffet and also on small tables scattered throughout the large room.

A knock sounded on the door, and Cora’s stomach jumped.

Rufus went to answer, bowing in a flow of women, starting with the owner of the mercantile, Hortense Cobb.

Delia had warned Rose and Cora that the woman could be unpleasant, and Mrs. Cobb proved the warning to be true, when she immediately complained to Rose that a library and reading was a waste of time and promoted idleness.

Not at all inclined to talk to the shopkeeper for fear of losing her temper, Cora sidled out of the conversation and glanced down the line to a pretty girl near her age, younger, perhaps, with big brown eyes, a snub nose, and a guileless smile.

Thinking this must be the dressmaker’s assistant, she slid around the crowd waiting to greet Delia and her aunt and pounced on the young woman. “Are you Elsie Bailey?”

Looking startled, the girl nodded, running her hands nervously down the skirt of her pink dress.

“I’m Cora Collier, and I’m desperately in need of a new friend. I left my best friend behind in New York.” She gestured toward their hostess. “Delia is lovely, and I’m sure we’ll become close. It’s just that she’s so busy being a minister’s wife, as well as managing the household and her family.”

Widening her eyes, Elsie giggled and took Cora’s hand in greeting.

“I’ve never had a best friend, or any friend, really.

I grew up on the prairie, and there were no girls near my age for miles.

Well, a neighbor girl a few years younger.

But the Smiths barely condescended to acknowledge our family unless it was harvest time or they needed something from us. ”

Cora couldn’t imagine such an isolated life, as different from hers as could be.

“Here in town, I have Miss Taylor, of course…” Elsie nodded at the attractive blonde in a fashionable silk gown of forest green, who spoke with an older lady, and let out a happy sigh. “She’s wonderful. Sort of like a friend, but not quite. We live together in the Gordon Building.”

“Luckily, here I am,” Cora teased. “Your new friend. Let’s go sit over there.” She tilted her head to indicate one of the wide couches.

“But shouldn’t you stay and greet everyone?”

“This tea party is really for Aunt Rose. She’s to be the new librarian. At some point soon, she and Mr. Bellaire will be soliciting donations and books. I’ll move around later and introduce myself to the ladies.”

“I’m so looking forward to the library. I can’t even imagine rooms full of books.” Elsie tilted her head toward a bookshelf against a wall. “There are more books here than I’ve ever seen.”

“You should have seen my grandfather’s library. Even Mr. Bellaire’s can’t match it. Maybe later I can show you his. But first, food and drink.”

Cora waved toward a buffet that held trays of small, triangular sandwiches made with white bread, the crusts removed.

More trays held tiny tarts and scones next to petite bowls of different jams and clotted cream and, Cora’s favorite, petit fours.

On a marble-topped oval table rested teacups and saucers, a teapot, a stack of plates, and small pots of cream and sugar.

Elsie glanced around, an uncertain look on her face. “Shouldn’t we wait for the other ladies to go first? I don’t want to be impolite or appear greedy.”

“I peeked into the kitchen earlier. You wouldn’t believe how much food was prepared. There’s no need to worry about running out, and I’m sure Delia and Rose will be standing to greet everyone for a while.”

Even as she spoke, Mrs. Cobb bustled over to the buffet, picked up a plate, and proceeded to crowd as much of the dainties onto the surface as would fit.

“See!” Cora whispered. She locked elbows with Elsie and towed her away from the crowd toward the buffet, where she turned her loose so they could fill their plates, but not, of course, to the extent Mrs. Cobb had. Then they moved to one of the wide velvet sofas and settled in the corner.

By this time, the parlor became crowded with guests, helping themselves to food and drinks, and taking a seat on one of the balloon-backed chairs scattered around the room, the wingchairs in front of the fire, or the sofas.

Cora and Elsie drank their tea, ate the scrumptious food, and began a tentative question and answer, which increased to chattering away as they became more comfortable with each other.

In the background, the grandfather clock ticked. The sound of soft ladies’ voices filled the air.

Pausing with the teacup, Elsie half closed her eyes and inhaled. “Smells so exotic. We had tea a few times at the Smiths’, but Miss Taylor drinks some every day. Sometimes, just holding a beautiful, fragile cup and smelling the fragrance brings me such a feeling of gratitude.” She sipped.

The more Elsie revealed about her life, the more Cora liked her.

“I guess I’ve always taken tea for granted.” She nodded at Elsie’s cup. “Although, Mr. Bellaire imports far more expensive leaves than my family used.”

“How lucky you are to live with Mr. Bellaire.” Elsie gazed around in obvious admiration. “Isn’t he a darling man? Such a charmer.”

Cora looked up in time to see her aunt’s disapproving expression.

She must have overheard us. Perfect. She tossed her head and looked back at Elsie.

“He’s so much fun. I adore him.” She didn’t dare look at Rose again but hoped she’d stirred in her aunt another proprietary feeling about Mr. Bellaire.

Elsie sipped her tea. “How did you come to move to Sweetwater Springs?”

“Mr. Bellaire was a dear friend of my grandfather.” Although Cora made her story short and matter of fact, she couldn’t help tears pricking her eyes in recounting her grandfather’s death. But the sympathy in her new friend’s big brown eyes made her forge on, recounting the rest.

“I envy that you were able to see your grandfather anytime you wanted.” Elsie sent a wistful glance at Rose before looking at Cora.

“And being close to an aunt. We never had grandparents and aunts and uncles. Well, we did. But out here, it was just my parents, brother and sister, and me. Why, we’d go for weeks without seeing another human soul. ”