by Annie Boone
“Can you find your way back to the hotel from here? I have a meeting in ten minutes.”
“I believe so.” Jewel replied. It would give her a chance to look at some of the shops, anyway.
“My mother wanted me to invite you to tea tomorrow at one. She wants to foist some of her friends on you.”
“Thanks for the warning.” Jewel said, eyebrows raised. “Will you be there?”
“No. But I’ll see you in the afternoon.” James had sat down behind his desk, losing himself in paperwork. Jewel watched him for a moment, then turned to head downstairs.
The clerks hardly glanced up when she crossed the room again, and Jewel stepped out onto the warm boardwalk in a good mood. Standoffish she could work with. He’d warm up to her eventually. She could make gentle suggestions and she was sure he would finally realize how to interact with people. With her, for goodness sake!
Jewel slowly strolled down the street, looking into the windows of milliners and dressmakers. After a moment, Jewel realized she recognized these stores. Mr. Pendleton had taken her down this street only the day before. He must have taken her right in front of James’ office on purpose. Jewel shook her head, amazed that a man who seemed so charming could be so conniving. She was beginning to understand James’ dislike of the man. She disliked him, too, now.
Chapter 14
Jewel arrived promptly at five minutes before one and was shown into the parlor. Mrs. Harland’s other guests were already there, two austere ladies of a similar age as her future mother-in-law. The young Miss Janice Harland was there as well, sitting upright in a manner that suggested her corsets were laced very, very tight. Jewel sat on the edge of her seat, feeling extremely underdressed.
“Ladies, this is Miss Jewel Wood, my soon-to-be daughter in-law.” Mrs. Harland said gravely. The other two ladies nodded.
“Well, Miss… Wood,” one of the ladies, wearing a ruffled blouse said, “I’m told you come from New York City. What did you do there?”
“I was a seamstress, ma’am.” Jewel said. There was a chorus of hmmms, and Jewel shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
“And what do your parents do?” the other lady, who had an elaborate and exquisite silk shawl asked.
“My father is a stable manager and my mother is a housemaid, ma’am.” A second chorus of hmmms.
Jewel stared at the floor. She found herself naturally slipping into the pattern of life in New York, where she was the servant and everyone she talked to was her better. Taking a deep breath, she lifted her head and looked defiantly out the window, instead.
The lunch conversation was stilted and condescending. Jewel was thankfully cut out of most of it. Someone else might have been disappointed to be ignored, but Jewel was thankful right then to not have to be directly looked down upon. Being disregarded meant that she could just eat her little sandwich and soup quietly and then leave.
When James finally showed up, she was relieved beyond measure. He might be prickly, but he didn’t think her background was lowly. She smiled brightly at him when he stuck his head into the drawing room. His quirky smile told her that he had been expecting this social event to be trying for her.
When at last they were able to leave James parents’ home, Jewel almost ran out the door and onto the boardwalk. She took a deep breath and then sighed heavily.
“I take it you had a wonderful time.” James said drily. Jewel couldn’t really come up with a response. She kicked at the dirt as they walked, coating the bottom of her skirts with an even thicker layer of red-brown dust. She tried to hold her skirts up respectably but there was no way to keep the bottom of her skirts clean.
When they arrived at the hotel, they found Mr. Pendleton standing outside.
“My, oh my, don’t you look glum,” he said, giving Jewel a compassionate look. “I can’t blame you, after having tea with his mother. Dreadful.”
Jewel’s eyes were round like saucers. How did he know everything that they were doing? James just took a deep breath, balling his fists.
“I don’t suppose I could interest you in a far more enjoyable meal this evening, Miss Wood?” Pendleton looked at her and tilted his head. He had a charming, innocent smile on his face, even though he was asking a woman to dinner in front of her intended husband. What nerve!
Jewel was about to refuse when James did it for her, rather loudly.
“If you think she’s going to spend so much as one second alone with you, you’re more than mistaken, you flea-bitten, son of a rat-eating--” James cut off abruptly when he saw the look on Jewel’s face.
“Thank you, James. Your chivalry is endearing. However, I’d like to have the honor to add my thoughts. If you don’t mind, that is,” she said stiffly. James glared at Pendleton and nodded.
The man stood there with a sick look on his face. He wasn’t looking forward to what was coming next.
“As for you,” Jewel said, turning to Mr. Pendleton and pointing her finger at him, “I’m not having dinner with you. Not tonight, and not any other night. If you so much as look sideways at me again, I’ll make you regret it. I come from New York City and I learned at a young age how to take care of myself on the streets. Keep that in mind.”
James smiled brightly at her and tipped his hat. She returned his smile. With that she turned and walked into the hotel lobby.
Chapter 15
Jewel had entered the lobby serenely, but that was just for show. She was angry. She stormed up the stairs to her room as soon as she knew she was out of sight. She slammed into her room where she startled Maria, the maid. The young woman had been in the midst of changing the sheets when Jewel burst through the door, looking as mad as a nest of hornets.
“I’ll, I’ll just, um, finish up in here, ma’am,” she stuttered, hurriedly cramming a pillow into its case. Jewel just sighed and sat down. Suddenly, she was exhausted.
Maria finished her duties and made to leave, giving Jewel a small curtsey.
“Please don’t go,” Jewel said suddenly. She gave the maid a pleading look. “I desperately need someone to talk to. A friend.”
Maria paused.
“I’m sure you don’t want to talk to the likes of me, ma’am,” she said, averting her eyes.
“What are you talking about? I’m not some kind of heiress.” Jewel stood and crossed her arms. Then she started pacing back and forth across the small room.
“You’re a high-born lady, ma’am. Your type doesn’t talk to servants like me,” Maria said. Jewel stared at her.
“Oh, Maria. I’m not a high-born lady. I’m a seamstress.” Maria looked up, totally surprised. “My father’s a stable manager and my mother is a housemaid. I’m no more high-born than you are.”
“Jiminy. Then why’re you here to marry Mr. Harland?” Maria asked, still disbelieving.
“I’m not sure myself. He put an advertisement in The Matrimonial Times and I answered it. At the time, I felt like it was God’s will that I come here,” Jewel grumbled. “And he knew full well what I was from the beginning. I don’t know why he’s acting so childish. He asked me to come out here in the first place.”
“That’s just Mr. Harland. He’s famous around here for being as soft as a porcupine,” Maria said dismissively. She had gone from subservient maid to gossiping girl in moments. “What with you walking around town with Mr. Pendleton, it’s no surprise he’s all upset.”
“Is there something between those two?” Jewel asked. “James, I mean, Mr. Harland has been at Mr. Pendleton’s throat since I arrived. And Pendleton’s been trying to needle his way in.”
“Oh, yes. Those two hate each other. They’re both after the same thing, you see. Both of ‘em want to run for mayor.”
“Mayor?” Jewel’s eyebrows flew up. This was the first she’d heard of that.
“Surely. Poor Mr. Harland hasn’t got a chance, but Mr. Pendleton won’t leave him be. Anything Mr. Harland tries to do, Mr. Pendleton will try to interfere.” Ma
ria glanced around the room before leaning in to Jewel’s ear. “Between you and me, Mr. Pendleton just ain’t scrupulous.” she whispered. “He probably thinks he can charm you away from Mr. Harland and ruin his marriage, too.”
“Goodness.” Jewel was too shocked to think of anything more to say. Unscrupulous, indeed.
“Mind you, he’s sure got more charm than Mr. Harland. And more money.”
“I don’t know if charm and money can make up for that kind of character,” Jewel said weakly. “Besides, why doesn’t Mr. Harland have a chance at mayor? Surely he doesn’t go around sabotaging people.”
“No, he just goes around being rude. Folks say he’s a fine lawyer, but you can get away with being tart in a courtroom. Doesn’t work so much when you want to sweet talk people into voting for you,” Maria said.
“I can’t disagree with you about that,” Jewel winced as she thought of James’ usual style of conversation. Maria looked at her curiously.
“Are you actually gonna marry him?” she asked. Jewel paused before answering.
“I don’t know,” she said honestly. “I’m certainly not going to marry Mr. Pendleton, I can swear to that.”
Chapter 16
Jewel didn’t see James until dinner the next day. It made her nervous, but in a way she was relieved to have some time to review the confrontation from the day before. She’d appreciated that James took up for her, but she wished he didn’t act as if she were his possession.
So she took advantage of the time to write some letters, now long overdue. She wrote to her parents, but also to many of her friends as well. Eva, Sarah, and Angie from Bible study were waiting to hear from her. Even Mrs. Grant had begged her to send a message back. It took Jewel all morning to write to everyone, using up half of the writing paper she’d bought the previous day.
The walk to the post office took up a little more time, after which Jewel went to the general store and bought more paper, as well as a new writing pad. At least she had something interesting to write about in her journal, now.
James barely said a word when he arrived to take her to dinner. The meal was similarly quiet, Jewel’s future in-laws coolly discussing the events of the day while James glowered and Julia watched Jewel with open fascination. Jewel had to stop herself from running out the door when James offered to take her back to the hotel before it got late.
For the first time, Jewel was starting to think she might have made the wrong decision in coming here. James didn’t seem to want to talk to her at all, much less get married. She loved the part of the town she’d seen. She’d even met some friendly people. It was so different than New York, and she thought that was good. But James. This just may not work out.
It could be very lonely under that vast western sky. She felt that loneliness now. The odd thing was that she wasn’t homesick, she just wanted things to be better where she was.
She’d expected that she and James would discuss the altercation with Mr. Pendleton, but the event was never mentioned. Jewel didn’t understand why James was behaving this way. It just didn’t make sense to her at all. She was going to have to discuss it with him. Soon. They were going to have to discuss all of it.
She was praying for guidance through this difficulty. She knew that God had sent her away from New York City, but she was struggling to see his direction here.
***
Jewel was disturbed the next morning by a knock on the door. It was a quarter after eight, too early for anyone who actually had consideration for other people. She wasn’t sure who to expect but when she opened the door she saw James standing in the hallway.
“Good morning,” she said, leaning softly against the doorframe.
“Would you like to go for a drive?” James said bluntly. Jewel nodded, grabbed her hat, and followed him outside. She was getting used to his abruptness. She didn’t like it but it didn’t make her angry like it had at first.
A buggy was waiting, hitched to a single brown horse with white splashed haphazardly across him. James offered Jewel his hand for her to step into the buggy and relieved the hotel boy of the reins.
Jewel looked around while the horse worked up to a trotting speed. She’d never been in anything other than a streetcar or the rare taxi cab. Even riding in a little buggy in the middle of nowhere felt like a rare treat.
“You look happy.” James said, observing the wide grin on her face.
“I’m riding a buggy.” James snorted. “Servants don’t ride buggies. They ride the streetcar. You have to have money to have a horse.” Jewel continued, ignoring his reaction.
James paused, staring ahead as he guided the horse out of town.
“Even if we had streetcars, you wouldn’t have to ride them.” he said. Jewel didn’t reply, but she looked over at him and smiled.
The buggy wound its way past the outermost shacks of Laramie, to where train tracks were the only thing that interrupted the open scrub. The buggy top was folded down, and Jewel found herself just staring up at the sky, marveling at sheer vastness blueness of it. There had never been this much sky in New York.
“Someday I’ll take you out here at night.” James said suddenly. “The stars aren’t bad to look at.”
“You must see a lot of them out here.” Jewel said. “The lights are always lit in New York.”
James reigned in the horse atop a small rise, and they sat there, looking out over mountains.
“You know, James, you never have told me what you think of me. Now that you’ve had a chance to spend time with me, I’d like to know.” Jewel said after a little while.
James paused before answering. He didn’t look at her, but said. “I think you’re fairly pretty.”
Jewel laughed, blushing. If the milky way itself wasn’t bad to look at, fairly pretty was high praise indeed. James sat quietly beside her, seeming to stew in his suit. She hoped her laughter hadn’t hurt his feelings.
“I’m not good at talking.” he said abruptly.
“An odd admission for a lawyer.” Jewel said, gently. James scowled at her. She reached out and took his hand. She knew this was forward, but her awkward Mr. Harland might need some help. Before she wrote him off, she wanted to give him a chance. Well, another chance.
“I’m sure you noticed that my parents are, well, I guess their cordial to each other at best.” he said, a grimace flashing across his face. “I don’t really know how to talk to people. Especially someone I like.”
“So you like me, then.” Jewel said as she nodded. She laughed again. He looked a little hurt. She’d have to give him more time to catch up, she realized.
“Well, you’re talking to me now,” she said quickly. “And you’re doing quite well. I’m enjoying talking to you, James.”
James snorted. “You’re probably the only woman in Laramie who’s ever said that. I’ve gravely insulted every female I’ve ever had a conversation with, according to them. A great number of the men, too, to be honest.”
“You didn’t mean to, did you? You weren’t being intentionally rude, were you?” Jewel asked. James might have been a little rough around the edges, but he certainly wasn’t malicious. Or slimy. she thought, Mr. Pendleton rising in her memory.
“No. I don’t want to be rude to anybody. It just sort of happens.” James crossed his arms, leaning back in his seat and looking up at the expansive sky.
“Your letters were lovely,” Jewel blushed a little as she spoke. “I have to admit I was a little surprised when I got here and you were so stoic. But I really could see a lovely soul in your letters. You were reserved, but sweet. I loved your letters, obviously, or I wouldn’t be here.”
“It’s a lot easier to talk to someone on paper than in person. I can rewrite a letter as many times as I need to until it comes out right.” James shook his head. “That’s probably why you’re the only woman who doesn’t think I’m a scoundrel.”
“It was still you who thought up all those words,” Jewel pointe
d out. “You’re a good man, under the cactus spines. And I’ve grown quite fond of you.” Jewel smiled at him again. She was trying to remain as positive as possible. She felt like James needed it and she knew she did.
James grimaced, looking guilty.
“That just makes me feel terrible. I’ve not been completely honest with you. I only need a wife for practicality’s sake. I wasn’t looking for someone I’d get along with.” James said.
Jewel gave him a gentle swat on the arm. “There, now. It’s speeches like that that make all the ladies hate you.” she said jokingly. She knew she was about to hear news that could be upsetting. Since she was already here and she knew that James wasn’t a typical man, she decided to wait and hear the whole story before she made a decision on how to feel about it. She wouldn’t let a crook in the road stop her from getting her dream if she actually had a chance to get it.
“But it’s true. I need a wife to improve my political standing and make my parents happy. Not to mention I’ll be needing a son to carry on the law firm.”
“A son I can probably manage, but I don’t think I’ll fit either of your other requirements. If anything, marrying a seamstress would make things worse.” Jewel said. James raised an eyebrow at her.
“Jewel, this isn’t New York. Nobody out here cares what you used to do. As long as you present yourself well now, that’s all that matters.”
“What about your parents? I’m sure they don’t want you to marry someone of my station.” Jewel said quietly. Her tone had grown serious, and she twisted her gloves in her hands. “I’m not just a seamstress, I’m a catalogue woman.”
To her confusion, James began to laugh. “It was all their idea in the first place. They’ve given up on finding a local girl who won’t flounce off the moment I open my mouth.”
Jewel stared at him, eyes and mouth opened wide in surprise. This part of his story was truly a surprise.
“Really? But they’re so, um, upstanding.” she said, fishing for words that weren’t rude. She’d wanted to call them snooty.
