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“Don’t you know that the whole state of Texas is the Wild West?” Daisy asked with half a chuckle, and stepped back from the window.

She unfastened all the buttons on her shirtwaist and tossed it over the back of a rocking chair in the corner.

Then she did the same with her skirt. “I’m going to try to get a nap, but not in all these clothes.

My hair will be a mess when I wake up. Will you help me put it to rights before we go to supper? ”

“If you will return the favor,” Lily agreed. “But don’t dress mine too high. I feel like a giant already.”

Daisy lay down on the opposite side of the bed and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’ll take your height and red hair, if you are giving it away.”

“I would give you as much as you want if it was possible, and I’ll take a dose of your spunk as payment,” Lily said.

“If we could make a deal like that, I’d shake on it,” Daisy said.

Lily’s eyes grew heavier and heavier, and she finally drifted off to sleep. When she awoke, Daisy was pouring water from the pitcher into a bowl on the washstand. “A lady brought this up to us a little while ago. It’s the perfect temperature now.”

Lily sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “I need a washing-up. I feel as grimy as if I’d worked in the garden all day. I’ve missed our bathtubs at the Paradise.”

Daisy finished and moved over to the vanity with the big round mirror above it. “I don’t miss having to clean those big tubs every morning.”

“At least Jems dumped all the water from them for us,” Lily reminded her. “I’m glad that Miz Raven took him to England with her. She might need a bodyguard.”

“Do you feel like this is all a dream?” Daisy brushed the tangles from her hair.

“Yes, I do.” Lily got out of bed and dumped the water in the basin into the slop jar under the washstand before she refilled the bowl.

“But I’m always glad to wake up and know that it is real.

I’m beholden to Miz Raven for all that she and the rest of the girls in the business taught me about pleasing men, and for the lessons about life, but I’m glad to be done with . ..” She paused.

“Being a soiled dove or a shady lady?” Daisy asked.

Lily shrugged. “Either one or both.”

“Me too,” Daisy told her as she pulled a white shirtwaist with mutton sleeves and a high collar from her trunk.

“This should make everyone in the dining room think we are as pure as the driven snow. The men will respect two ladies in white, and the women will love the new style we are wearing, and will soon flock to our store to have dresses made or to try on the ones that are already made and ready to buy.”

“From your lips to God’s ears.” Lily opened her trunk and removed a shirtwaist similar to Daisy’s. “My hair is going to have to be taken down and redone, too. Ugh. I just knew a nap would do that!”

“Twist mine up into a bun at the nape of my neck. That way my hat will fit well. I’ll do the same with yours.” Daisy handed Lily her brush. “Do you really think we’re so far away from the Paradise that no one will ever show up that we knew from Spanish Fort?”

“We might still be in Texas, but it took us two weeks to get here. The chances of anyone traveling as far as we have is slim.”

“Right,” Daisy agreed. “We are seamstresses, and that’s not a lie. We did a lot of sewing at the Paradise.”

A soft giggle escaped Lily, and then it turned into full-fledged laughter. Soon, both women were holding their sides and guffawing.

“Miz Raven would fuss at us ...” Daisy hiccupped. “For behavior unbecoming to a lady.”

“We are not at the Paradise anymore, cousin!” Lily said.

That brought on a whole new round of laughter. Finally, Lily got control and said, “We have to stop or I’m going to break one of the ribs in my corset.”

Daisy held her side and took a deep breath. “Corset? Hell, I feel like I might break one of my own ribs.”

Lily sucked in a lungful of air. “That let out some of my nerves, but there’s plenty left in me to dread walking into that dining room.”

“Me, too, but we won’t let anyone know that,” Daisy assured her.

“How did you get to be such a spitfire?” Lily asked.

“I’ve never been a tall person, so I had to stand my ground. If I’d had your height and that evil look you get when you are angry, no one would have messed with me.”

Lily sat down on the vanity stool and handed her hairbrush to Daisy. “I didn’t know I had an evil look.”

“Oh, honey, you could make a freight train take a dirt road when you look at a person with your Don’t cross me expression,” Daisy said as she brushed out Lily’s long, red hair.

Once she had Lily’s hair done up neatly, she said, “There you go. Once you redo my hair, we’ll be ready. I’m hungry. How about you?”

Lily stood up and Daisy sat down. “I’m starving. I hope they have decent food here in the lobby. Besides the bathtub, I miss having our lunch with Miz Raven and the other girls every day.”

“Me too,” Daisy agreed. “Good luck trying to tame my hair after I’ve slept on it. I barely get one section tamed before another one sneaks past me.”

“Anyone who wants curly hair should have to deal with it for a whole week,” Lily said.

“Just do the best you can, and I’ll keep it out of my eyes with my hat,” Daisy suggested.

When Lily had finished, she crossed the room and opened the door. “This is a little like the hallway in the bordello, except that we had those lovely red velvet chairs beside our doors.”

“Shhh ...,” Daisy scolded as she led the way to the top of the stairs and lifted her skirt just enough to prevent getting tangled up in the hem as she started down to the dining room.

“We don’t need anyone knowing our past—and even if this town is bigger than Spanish Fort, you can bet there are gossiping ears around every corner. ”

When they had both stepped away from the wide staircase, everything went so quiet that Lily figured if a feather had fallen from the ceiling, it would have made a thunderous noise when it hit the wooden floor.

A little girl sitting at a nearby table squealed and clapped her hands. “Daddy, look! Angels are coming down from heaven!”

“No, silly little sister,” an older one said with a long sigh. “That’s two brides on their way to the courthouse to get married.”

“‘Silly,’ yes,” their father said in a booming voice. “But not ‘brides,’ and you are both being rude. If there was one wedding—much less two—going on today, I would know about it.”

“I guess the preacher would know,” Daisy said out the corner of her mouth.

“How do you know he’s a minister?” Lily whispered.

“The collar,” Daisy mumbled. “Looks like there’s only one table left, and it’s next to him and his family. We’ll have to be on our best behavior.”

When they were seated, the preacher caught Lily’s eye and said, “I do not mean to intrude, but are you ladies waiting for your husbands?”

“No, sir,” Daisy said with half a smile. “We aren’t married. We are cousins.” She fought back a nervous giggle. “We are new in town and are looking for a place to put in a seamstress-and-millinery shop.”

“Well, then ...” He visibly puffed out his chest. “I am Preacher Joshua Jones, and I would like to invite you to my church at the west end of the street here in Autrie,” he said.

“Maybe we can find each of you a good husband and then you won’t need to put in that shop.

You can do what the good Lord intended for women to do: love and obey their husbands, keep a clean home, and raise a family. ”

“Thank you for the invitation,” Lily said and hoped that her tone didn’t say something very different. No use in starting an argument about women’s rights in the middle of the hotel–dining room on their first day in town.

“We’ll hope to see you on Sunday morning at ten o’clock,” Preacher Jones said.

“You are pretty,” the smallest little girl said.

“Abbie!” the preacher scolded. “Pretty is as pretty does. What’s on the outside isn’t as important as having a good heart and a saved soul. Now, let’s pay our bill and go home.”

“But you said we could have dessert if we ate all our supper. It’s my birthday,” the other little girl argued.

“Elsie!” he barked.

The child dropped her head and said, “I’m sorry.”

“What else do you say?” the woman, evidently the wife, asked.

“Thank you, Father, for the lovely birthday supper.”

“That’s a much better attitude,” Preacher Jones said and then tilted his chin up a notch when he looked over at Lily and Daisy. “Forgive my daughters for their bad manners. They will be punished. Now, Alma, you and the girls go on outside and wait for me.”

The mother stood up and whispered just loud enough for Lily to hear, “If you don’t want a life of misery, don’t ever get married.”

“Alma, don’t dawdle,” he hissed. “That’s a bad example for the children.”

Lily fought the sudden urge to stand up and slap some sense into that man, even if he was a preacher.

She was sure that God wouldn’t lay that charge to her long list of sins, but she gritted her teeth and told herself that the time was coming when men like him would have to eat crow.

And she planned to be right there to hand them a rusty fork to take the first bite with.

Not even the fiancé whom her parents had chosen for her—the man who’d told her she would be turning over her entire life to him, quoted Bible scriptures about women being submissive after he’d raped her—had been that rude to her in public.

“Can you believe that?” Daisy asked.

Lily nodded. “Yes, I can. I’ve told you my story. I had to run to escape a man just like that fool. Thank goodness Miz Raven was in Spanish Fort the day I landed there with no money and nowhere to go.”