Page 13

Before Matt even got the wagon turned around and the horses headed back down the street, Beulah arrived with a basket in her hands. “I brought coffee with some heavy cream and sugar in it, and the two pies y’all asked for. Looks like y’all just about bought out Elijah’s stock.”

Lily sat down in one of the chairs and looked around at the crates. “We would have bought more, but we figured we’d better save a little back to tide us over until business picks up.”

“Looking for one of these?” Beulah brought two forks out of the pocket of her apron.

Daisy reached for one and dug into the blackberry pie. “Thank you. We’ve got some dishes and kitchen stuff coming on the next load.”

Beulah parked herself on the end of the blue velvet sofa. “Matt and Claude must be in town for the celebration tomorrow. They’re both a rare breed.”

“I would suppose that’s high praise, right?” Daisy asked.

Lily used the edge of her fork to cut a slice out of the lemon pie. “What does ‘rare breed’ mean?”

“It means that they are both good men—but then, Elijah and his brothers were all good people. Though there’s only him and the other two still living,” Beulah answered and pulled a third fork from her pocket. “We can share the coffee from the quart jar, too, since I don’t see any glasses.”

“That works for me,” Daisy said. “Help yourself. Now, tell us more about that family. Claude made it sound like there are a whole bunch out on the ranch.”

“Oh, there are—the younger generation. It speaks volumes to their character that they don’t fuss when their women come to town and visit with me.

Their husbands are a friendly sort, and they treat their women with respect.

I’ve never heard any of them talk down to their wives,” Beulah said, and then lowered her voice.

“The cattlemen in this area don’t like them because they are sheep herders. ”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Lily asked.

Beulah shrugged. “Back when Texas had open range, the cattlemen said that the sheep grazed too much land, leaving the cattle with too little. And according to them, the sheep polluted the water sources. It’s only been a couple of years since the barbed wire fences went up around here.

The Maguires have fences, but they’ve always kept their sheep out away from the cattle ranches close to Autrie.

But folks still tend to look down on them—even though they’re probably richer than any of the ranchers in these parts.

Elijah is tolerated because he has the wagon yard, but most folks kind of shun Matt and his cousins. ”

“That’s as bad in its own way as us women having to fight for our rights,” Lily declared.

Beulah took another bite of the blackberry pie and then stood up. “That’s the way I see it, too. See y’all at noon for lunch.” She crossed the floor and waved over her shoulder before she went outside.

“Thanks for everything, Beulah,” Daisy called out before the door closed behind her.

“I do believe that Claude was flirting with you,” Lily teased when they were alone.

“Maybe so, but he’d turn tail and run if he knew what I’d done for a living the past five years. But while we are talking about flirting, seems to me that Matt is showing up around you pretty often,” Daisy said.

A couple of big, burly men with full beards and round faces came through the door, each carrying a chest on their shoulder. “Are you Daisy and Lily?”

“We are,” Lily answered.

They set the chests on the floor with a thump, and the one doing the talking said, “Frank said this concludes your business.”

“Thank you, and we are glad that it does,” Lily told them.

Lightning flashed in long streaks, and within seconds thunder rolled as the men left without another word and didn’t even look back.

“That’s an anticlimactic end to our stay at the hotel. I hope we’re not in for a storm in our lives beyond the actual one that’s coming on fast,” Daisy said.

“We are about to start fighting an uphill battle,” Lily told her. “As women, we have been treated like possessions for so long—and in some cases, worse than cattle or even hogs—that change won’t come easy for menfolk.”

“I’ll fire the first cannon shot, so to speak,” Daisy said and glanced out the window. “I hope Matt and Claude get the rest of our things delivered before it starts raining.”

“Matt had said they’d wanted to, but it’s definitely too late. Look at what it’s doing to our clean windows.” Lily pointed across the room. The wind had picked up dust from the street, added it to huge raindrops, and blew mud balls against the windows.

“Maybe it will pass while they are getting the rest of our things loaded down at the wagon yard. Right now, we’ve got plenty to get organized while we wait,” Daisy said.

“Like we talked about yesterday, those shelves will be great for stacking fabric on. If we throw a tablecloth over a couple of empty crates, they could be used for tables at the end of the sofa.”

“And a doily on top of the tablecloths to make it fancy.” Lily had to raise her voice to be heard over the raging storm.

“Yes,” Daisy agreed. “We can get started by unloading all the fabric and then turning over the empty crates for tables.”

Lily stood back and studied the shelving. “Let’s arrange things by what we will use for undergarments—calico on the bottom shelves and then the fancy stuff like brocades and silk toward the top.”

Daisy picked up a bolt of brocade and handed it to Lily. “You are tall enough to reach without having to crawl up on a chair.”

Like most storms in Texas, this one lasted just long enough to muddy up the street out front again and to make a mess out of the windows and the wooden walk.

In less than half an hour, the clouds had parted and sunshine appeared.

By that time, Lily and Daisy had unloaded four crates, set one on each end of the sofa, and put two of the same height and width together to make a longer table in front of it.

They were busy draping tablecloths over their handiwork when Matt and Claude arrived to bring in more stuff.

“Sorry about the mud,” Matt said. “The roads are a mess when it rains, even when all we get is short showers.”

“No complaints from either of us,” Lily said with a smile. “We’re just glad that our things aren’t soaked.”

“Hopefully, the roads will be dried out tomorrow and folks won’t track too much more mud into your store. Maybe we’ll even get to see you ladies sometime during the day?” Claude asked.

“We will look forward to it,” Daisy answered. “As of yet, we don’t know many people in town. Just Frank Calvin and the judge, both of whom we would as soon not know—and Beulah, who has become our good friend.”

“Understandable on all counts.” Matt nodded and went back out to help Claude bring in the sewing machine and then the stove for the kitchen.

“Beulah can put you in touch with whoever she buys her wood from. You’ll only need enough to cook with during these hot months, but in the winter, you’ll need more to keep the store and your living quarters warm. ”

“Thanks for that,” Lily told him.

“Of course, I didn’t mean to say that you didn’t know how to order wood,” Matt blurted out.

“I didn’t think so, and I appreciate your kindness,” Lily said with a smile. “But Daisy and I have been taking care of ourselves for quite a while.”

Matt stared into Lily’s eyes. “An independent, strong woman is ...” He blushed and looked away.

“A good thing,” Claude finished for him.

“Yes, it is,” Matt said. “Hope to see you tomorrow sometime in town.”

I cannot encourage whatever this is between us, Lily thought.

“We’ll be right here,” Daisy said with what Lily could swear was a genuine flutter of her lashes.

You shouldn’t be flirting, either, Lily silently scolded.

“Anything else we can help you with before we leave?” Claude asked.

“Not a thing, but thank you for all that you have done,” Daisy answered.

“Then we’ll get on back down to the wagon yard. Uncle Elijah has another delivery for us to make after we have a bite of dinner at the little café on the other end of town. They have good home cookin’, if you ever want to try it,” Claude said and headed for the door.

When they were gone, Daisy shook her finger at Lily. “Not a word.”

“What did I say?” Lily said in a fake whiny voice.