Page 12

M y entire body aches,” Lily groaned when she awoke. “Who would have ever thought an empty store could get so dirty?”

Daisy threw back the thin sheet and sat up in the hotel bed.

“Or that cleaning it up would use every muscle in our bodies. Twenty buckets of water carried from the pump behind Beulah’s place is a testimony to how hard we worked, and we still have to do the windows today.

But with any luck, we will be moved in by tonight, and we won’t have to endure that awful hotel manager’s self-righteous remarks anymore. ”

Lily sat up with another groan. “I wonder if he sneaks off and spends some time at the saloons with the women who work there.”

“I doubt it. He thinks that he’s too important to be seen with one of the saloon girls, but I’ll bet that he dreams about them.” Daisy stood up and crossed the room. She picked up her brush from off the vanity and ran it through her hair.

Lily got out of bed and went to the washstand.

The water was cold, but as hot as the day already was, she didn’t mind it being less than warm.

“I agree—but then again, if he visited those women, he wouldn’t be so sour and judgmental.

He might even crack a smile or stop twirling that thin mustache he’s got. ”

Daisy twisted her hair up into the usual thick bun at the base of her neck and handed off Lily’s brush to her. “Absolutely.”

Lily usually braided her red hair before she went to bed, but she’d been too tired the night before.

Now she had to suffer through brushing the tangles out before she could style it.

“Do you think women will ever be able to wear short hair and perhaps discard all the underwear that we have to wear?”

“I hope so,” Daisy said. “I would gladly cut mine off up to my shoulders and wear it down every day.”

Lily thought of Alma and what she had to endure at the hands of her husband, and shivered at the thought of what Preacher Jones would do if his wife went to church without a hat and wearing her hair flowing freely.

Daisy slipped a petticoat over her pantaloons and tied it at her slim waist. “You can’t be cold in this heat.”

Lily told her what notion had crossed her mind, and Daisy nodded. “That would send a chill dancing down any woman’s spine. Poor Alma. Seems like she’s doomed to be miserable.”

“Unless she takes a stand,” Lily said. “Breakfast here, or should we go by Beulah’s and buy a pie to split between us?”

“I’ve had about all of that insufferable Frank Calvin that I can stand,” Daisy answered. “Let’s get our things packed and tell him to deliver our trunks to the store this morning.”

“Yes!” Lily exclaimed. “And we never have to come back here again.”

“We won’t have a choice about returning to this place. We won’t be welcome back here, remember?” Daisy said.

“I’d guess that holds true for Preacher Jones’s church, too, but I’m fine with either or both of those.” She finished dressing and then arranged all her things in her rolltop steamer trunk. When she had closed the lid, she opened the door out into the hallway. “Goodbye to this hotel.”

“One leg of the journey is over, and another one begins today.” Daisy stepped out and started down the stairs. The dining room was full, and Frank was hustling about between tables. He looked up, and any semblance of a greeting like they’d had the first couple of days had completely disappeared.

“Pancakes and coffee?” he almost growled.

“Not this morning,” Lily said. “We need to settle up our bill—we wouldn’t want it said that we didn’t pay what we owe.”

“You are leaving early, so we’ll just call it even,” he said, and then lowered his voice. “But I was serious about you not coming back in the hotel. This is a respectable place, and you’ve already caused trouble.”

“Does that cover taking our trunks to our new store, or do we owe for that?” Lily asked.

“We are even,” Frank grumbled. “Your trunks will be delivered between breakfast and lunch today.”

“Well, then, I suppose you have our word that we will stay away,” Lily said and marched outside.

Beulah was in front of her store sweeping the wooden sidewalk, and she waved when they were still several feet away. “I heard y’all were moving into your own place today. Need some help?”

“I think we’ve got it covered, but we could use a pie for breakfast,” Lily answered.

“Come on in,” Beulah said. “I’ve got a pot of coffee that’s still hot. I’ll share a cup while y’all eat. I don’t know why I feel the need to come out here and sweep my part of the sidewalk every morning. By noon, the dust and dirt from the street has it covered again.”

“It looks nice for a little while,” Lily said.

Beulah stepped back to let them go in first. “That’s what my dad always said.

I also heard that Frank was being a real horse’s ass about y’all drinking coffee instead of tea.

That pompous little fool is going to reap what he’s sown one of these days.

He tried to court Alma when we were young, but her folks didn’t like him.

Of course, they didn’t have the sense God gave a gnat or they wouldn’t have forced her to marry Joshua Jones, either.

But that’s enough of my ranting. We should be celebrating your move. ”

“How did you hear that we were leaving the hotel today?” Lily asked.

“A couple of women—the kind that drink tea—were just leaving when you came down this morning. They heard it all, though most were shocked that that little Frank Calvin was so rude,” she explained. “What kind of pie do y’all want?”

“Blackberry,” Daisy said.

“Lemon,” Lily added. “And we’ll take what we don’t eat to the store for a snack in the middle of the day.”

“I’ll bring over some sandwiches at noon to go with whatever is left of the pie,” Beulah said. “And some of my sweet tea with a little kick, to give you enough energy to get through the rest of the day.”

“You’ve done so much already ...,” Lily started.

Beulah held up both palms. “That’s what friends are for, and I’ve been lonely these past few months.

Folks come in to buy supplies, but if there was another general store, the men wouldn’t let their women do business with me.

’Course not, since I couldn’t hang on to a good man like Orville.

‘Good man’?” Beulah laughed. “With y’all, I can visit without fear of whoever you are married to throwing a fit.

Look ...” She pointed out the window. “There’s the first load of your stuff coming down the street.

I’ll get those pies ready to go and bring them and the coffee in a little while. ”

Dark clouds shifted back and forth over the sun as Daisy and Lily passed the saloon, a saddle-making shop, and a bakery that smelled like fresh bread.

Lily had just opened the door to their new shop when the two men driving the wagon hopped down from the buckboard and hurried around to the back side.

“Looks like it could rain, so we brought anything that shouldn’t get wet first,” Matt said. “Miz Lily and Miz Daisy, this is my helper and cousin, Claude Maguire. Claude, these are the ladies I told you about.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Lily and Daisy said at the same time.

Heat that had nothing to do with the weather shot through Lily’s whole body.

She wasn’t sure how to even think about feelings like these—she had never had them before.

Her fiancé had been horrible to her, and the men she’d entertained at the Paradise were just customers.

Was this what women talked about when they said they were attracted to a man?

“Same here,” Claude said and hoisted a huge box of fabric onto his broad shoulders.

His thick, blond hair curled around the collar of his chambray work shirt, and his light blue eyes seemed to take in everything at once.

He was built a lot like Matt—all muscle and very little extra weight.

But that was as far as the resemblance went.

Matt had dark hair and brown eyes and was a good bit taller than his cousin.

“I wasn’t expecting you to make the delivery.” Lily focused on Matt as he picked up another crate.

“Uncle Elijah knew we were coming into town for the big day tomorrow and asked us to take care of this delivery,” Matt explained.

“Who’s minding the sheep?” she asked in a teasing tone.

“The hired hands will do fine for two days and one night,” Matt answered as he headed inside the store. “Some of my family will be here tomorrow morning. I imagine my sister Abigail is chomping at the bit to get everyone to promise to leave the ranch before the crack of dawn.”

“Just how big is your ranch?” Lily asked.

“A couple thousand acres,” Claude answered, but his eyes were on Daisy. “You should come out next spring in shearing time and see how it all goes. We have a big feast afterwards. You could ride out with Uncle Elijah.”

“Does Elijah have sons working at the ranch?” Daisy asked.

Claude shook his head and carried the crate inside the store.

“There’s several family members who work at the ranch.

Uncle Elijah didn’t have young’uns of his own, but he came from a big family with lots of brothers.

He and our fathers are the only ones left of that generation, so we’re stepping up to fill in where we can.

Okay if I just sit this on the floor? We’ve got another wagonload, and we hope to get it all inside before it rains. ”

“Thank you, just put everything wherever you can find a place,” Daisy answered. “Lily and I will figure out where we want it later.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Claude said and set the crate against a far wall.

Matt did the same, and they hurried back outside to carry in a sofa, two chairs, and two bed frames, along with springs and mattresses. “Sure you don’t want us to set these up for you?”

“We can manage,” Lily said, but it was hard to get the words out when her heart was doing double time.

“Okay, then, we’ll go get the rest of the order and be back soon.” Matt tipped his hat toward her as he left.