by Kit Morgan
Summer laughed. “You never know when it might come in handy around here. It might be fun to pull a few pranks on Clayton and Spencer.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that …” Elle began.
“Don’t worry, we’ll wait until after you and Spencer are married.”
Elle said nothing in response. Would they ever get married? She honestly didn’t know. But, on the chance they did …
“Tell me about him,” Elle asked. “About Spencer.”
“You didn’t get a letter from him?”
“No, only a short note he added when he answered the advertisement.”
Summer turned from her and took a couple of dishrags from the worktable. “Oh, that. Yes, well …”
“If he did send along another letter I never got it. Mrs. Ridgley told me she contacted Mrs. Teeters about Mr. Riley’s application the same day she received it. When Mrs. Teeters told me about it, she said I could have a little time to decide what I wanted to do. I liked what he wrote in his short note and the very next day Mrs. Teeters insisted I come out west. So, I figured if it was good enough for you then it was good enough for me. I wrote Mr. Riley a letter telling him about myself and then Mrs. Ridgley sent it off with the contract. Now here I am.”
Summer closed her eyes and gripped the back of one of the kitchen chairs. “Things are worse than when I left.”
“Mrs. Teeters didn’t even give me a chance to find a job.”
Summer turned to her. “That’s because she knows there are none to be found,” she said then grabbed Elle to her in a fierce hug. “Thank the Lord Spencer was the only one to answer the advertisement! If he hadn’t and there were other men who did, God only knows where you might have ended up!”
“And we never would have seen each other again…” Elle said, her voice trailing off with the thought. In fact, the more she thought about everything, even with what happened when she left, finding Summer again was a pure miracle!
“I shall thank the Lord daily for this!” she whispered in Summer’s ear, hugged her, then backed out of her dear friend’s embrace.
“As will I,” Summer said as she wiped a tear from her eye. “Now, let’s see to dinner. The men will be hungry when they return home.”
“Isn’t Clayton already home?”
“No. Spencer left shortly after you laid down to rest. I’ve not seen either one of them since. Mother should be down soon. She’s upstairs writing letters.”
“Still?”
“Well, this is big news. She did the same thing when I arrived only I didn’t realize it. I was too busy trying to figure out how to walk.”
“Oh, yes, your foot. How did that happen?”
Summer laughed. “Clayton shot me right after I got off the stage.”
“Oh good Lord!”
Summer laughed again as she reached again for the folded dishrags and opened the oven. “Yes, it’s quite funny now, but it wasn’t at the time.” She took out the biscuits and set the pan on the nearby worktable. “Suffice to say, if Clayton hadn’t shot me, I might not be here.”
Elle could only smile. “Oh I can’t wait to hear this.”
“I’ll tell you all about when we have more time. I’m sure you’ll be beside yourself with laughter when you hear the story. In the mean time, help me with the potatoes will you?”
Elle helped Summer finish preparing the evening meal. She worried the men wouldn’t be home in time to eat while the food was hot, but no sooner did they have everything ready, Spencer and Clayton came through the front door. And they weren’t alone.
“Oh what a delightful surprise!” Mrs. Riley exclaimed as she came down the stairs. “Mr. Turner!”
Thomas Turner smiled at her and removed his hat. “Evening, ma’am.”
“We thought Mr. Turner could do with a home cooked meal. We’ve arranged for him to stay out at Billy’s place until he gets a place of his own,” Spencer told her.
Summer and Elle came down the hall to greet them. Elle almost flinched at the pinch of envy she felt when Clayton took Summer into his arms, kissed her on the cheek, and whispered in her ear. She stole a glance at Spencer but he was busy hanging up his coat. Just as well, she might never know what it would be like to be embraced so warmly and kissed, nor have a handsome man whisper secrets in her ear. But, she was the one with the secret, not Spencer. She could just imagine the look in his face were she to whisper her secret lovingly into his ear!
Elle unconsciously cleared her throat at the thought and turned back to the kitchen. She had to stay calm and keep herself from thinking the worst unless the facts of the matter called for it. And right now, she was blind to those facts. In the mean time, she might as well enjoy her time with Summer and get to know her future husband. At least a little, just in case …
In case what? She thought as Spencer pulled a chair out for her at the dining room table. In case she was to marry him? Or in case she couldn’t? Which was it going to be? Until she heard from Mrs. Ridgley she had no idea. However, getting to know Spencer Riley “a little” would serve either way. If she was to marry him she had a head start on getting to know him. If, on the other hand, he arrested her and threw her in a jail cell, she wouldn’t be stuck with the shame of that spectacle and a broken heart!
Logical. Yes, that’s what it was. Logical. And logical is how she would remain until she heard from Mrs. Ridgley.
But sometimes, the best plans often go awry.
* * *
“Well, what do you think?” Clayton asked as they fed their horses after supper.
Spencer tossed hay into his horse’s stall. “She was pretty quiet tonight. Paid more attention to Summer than to me.”
“She knows Summer, they were in the orphanage together. It’s only natural she’d be excited to see her and get reacquainted.”
“She didn’t come all the way out here to marry Summer. She came out here to marry me.”
“You worry too much little brother.”
“That’s because I have something to worry about. I envisioned all sorts of things I might find wrong with her that would give me an excuse to send her back, especially since I’m not the one that sent for her in the first place. I didn’t count on the possibility … OK, so maybe I thought on it, but didn’t count on the possibility that I might be a disappointment to her.”
“What?” Clayton exclaimed as he plunged the pitchfork he was using into a pile of hay. “Spence, what are you saying?”
Spencer sighed. “I don’t think she’s too impressed with me.”
“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard! Of course she’s impressed with you. Why else would she have travelled all this way?”
“Because she had to?”
“Spencer, you’re imagining things. Give her some time. I’m sure that as soon as Miss Barstow and Summer have had a chance to reconnect, she’ll have her eye on you.”
“I don’t know about that, she seemed more interested in our new deputy Tom Turner than in me at supper. In fact she hardly said two words to me, but listened to everything he had to say…”
“Everyone was listening to what he had to say. Any story out of Clear Creek is … well … different. But that’s beside the point. I’m sure you’re more interesting to Miss Barstow than stories of Dukes and Princesses and whatever else goes on in Uncle Harlan’s town.”
Spencer tossed his pitchfork into the hay pile next to Clayton’s. “I guess you’re right. I can’t expect her to fawn all over me the first day.” He turned to his brother. “I’ll give her until tomorrow to do it.”
Clayton laughed, slapped him on the back, and putting his arm around him, walked his brother out of the barn and back to the house. Perhaps all Spencer needed was a little shove when it came to wooing the fair maid of the mail.
* * *
The next day Summer showed Elle around the farm. Or in this case, the house and the barnyard. Elle helped her feed the chickens, water the cows, or rather break the ice in their troughs, and var
ious other daily duties that needed to be tended to. The heavier work Clayton would see to, some of which Spencer would also help with whenever he had time.
“Do you like it here?” Elle asked.
“Oh yes, I love it!” Summer said. “The fresh air, the fields and orchards. I can’t wait to see what it looks like in the spring when the apple blossoms are out.”
“I’m sure it will be quite beautiful,” Elle said as she twisted a piece of hay in her fingers.
“What’s the matter? I know that look.”
Elle looked up at her friend. “I … oh nothing’s the matter. I’m feeling overwhelmed I guess. It’s a lot to take in.”
“You … you do like Spencer don’t you?”
Elle tried to remain neutral in any feelings she may have, which unfortunately did exist. How could they not? Every time she looked at Spencer Riley her heart did a flip. Did the man have to be so handsome? Last night at supper she did her best to avoid becoming too entranced with him, and so focused all her attention on Mr. Turner. His stories were intriguing though a bit far-fetched and she wasn’t sure she believed half of what he said about his hometown of Clear Creek. But at least his tall tales kept her from staring all moon-eyed at Spencer Riley for half the night!
“You’ll like Spencer once you get to know him.” Summer said, pulling from her thoughts.
“Oh, I’m sure I will.”
“Elle, what’s wrong? I know something’s bothering you. You’re not the same.”
Elle turned from Summer so she couldn’t see her face while the heat of shame crept into her cheeks. She needed to get to town and send that message! “You haven’t seen me in awhile. Of course I’m not the same.”
“It hasn’t been that long, only a few months. You can’t have changed much in so little a time.”
Elle faced her again. “I keep thinking about the others, the ones left behind at the orphanage. Among other things …”
“I think about them too, but there’s nothing to be done about it now. No one has a birthday coming up do they?”
“Yes, Sequoia. Sequoia Rose, remember her?”
“Isn’t she the one that came from the other orphanage, the one that burned down?”
“Yes, the girl who never talks to anyone.”
“She’s a strange one, but a hard worker, and Mrs. Teeters adores her. I hope she and Mrs. Ridgley are able to find her a husband somewhere.”
Elle nodded sagely. All they could do for their fellow orphans was hope and pray they were as blessed as Summer had been. Elle couldn’t say she was blessed as yet. “I really ought to get word to Mrs. Ridgley that I’ve arrived safely. I’m sure she’ll want to know.”
“Yes, you’re right. We’ll tell Spencer tonight when he comes home. I’m sure Clayton wouldn’t mind taking us to town tomorrow. I need a few things from Quinn’s mercantile and Mrs. Quinn should have her new fabrics in. We need to hurry and make your wedding dress!”
Elle audibly gulped. “Oh yes, that.”
“Elle, try not to sound so excited,” Summer said sarcastically. “Tell me truly. Is Spencer not to your liking?”
“He answered Mrs. Ridgley’s advertisement and I accepted his proposal. I can’t very well back out.”
“You could if you really wanted to, but I … well I just can’t understand why you would.”
Elle again turned away from her friend. She swallowed back the lump in her throat. “Perhaps he isn’t so interested in me …”
“Of course he is!”
Yes, but maybe if she managed to avoid him until she found out what Mrs. Ridgley had to say, she wouldn’t risk losing her heart to him. She’d caught little glimpses of him the night before at supper. His smile, the way a dimple formed on his left cheek every time he laughed at something Mr. Turner had said. His dark eyes, and hair were all too wonderful. His voice was heaven, and several times she wanted to imagine what it would be like to have him whisper in her ear as she’d seen Clayton do with Summer. She wanted to work on her wedding dress, talk about flowers and wedding cake and punch and who was the local preacher, who would be coming, all the wonderful things one does when putting a wedding together.
But she couldn’t. She had to find out what happened first.
Elle swallowed hard, squared her shoulders and turned around to face Summer. “Well then, if you say he’s interested then I’ll take your word for it.”
Summer smiled. “At least he didn’t shoot you in the foot the moment you got off the stage.”
Both girls laughed at that. Summer had told her the entire story while Clayton and Spencer were in the barn doing some evening chores. It was hilarious, if not a little miraculous. Who would have thought an accident could have served to help bring two people together?
“Let’s go inside and bake some cookies,” Summer said as she turned and slowly walked back toward the house. “Besides, we might end up with visitors later.”
“Visitors?”
“Yes, by now the whole town knows you’re here. Someone’s bound to just happen to drop by and of course have to come say hello. Namely, Nellie Davis.”
“Who is Nellie Davis?”
“Oh trust me, you’ll find out soon enough!” Summer didn’t wait for Elle to respond. She instead made her way steadily to the house. Whoever Nellie Davis was, she at least would offer Elle some sort of a distraction that afternoon. If she wasn’t going to be able to get to town until the next day, she didn’t want to keep thinking about all the “what ifs” involved in her dilemma. What she really wanted to do was enjoy her day with Summer and then stare at a handsome Spencer Riley when he got home later. She would at least afford herself that one small luxury.
What Elle didn’t know however, was that thanks to a little prompting from Clayton, Spencer had more than staring at his future bride over the supper table in mind.
Five
As it turned out, Nellie Davis didn’t show up at the Riley farm with her daughter Charlotte in tow to inspect Spencer’s new bride. Nor did she show up the next day, nor the next. But that’s not what had Elle chewing her nails (a bad habit of hers when she was nervous) and Mrs. Riley in a dither. It was the fact neither Clayton nor Spencer had time to take the women to town so they could start getting what they needed for the wedding.
The only good news in the whole of it was Summer’s limp was nearly gone and she was walking quite well now. Of course Elle was happy for her friend, especially after hearing how hard it was to get around on crutches for days on end. But despite the good news, Elle still had a problem. She still had to find out what happened to Jethro and the man she’d shot back in New Orleans. The only way to do that of course was to ask Mrs. Ridgley and the only way to do that was …
“Elle! Didn’t you hear me?”
Elle about jumped out of her chair at the suddenness of the question. She looked up at Summer who sat in a chair opposite hers in the parlor. They were doing the mending together. Once again Elle had been sucked into her own thoughts and all the “what ifs” of her tangled situation. “I’m sorry, I was doing a bit of wool gathering.”
“A bit? I’d say more like a wheelbarrow full! What is it that has you so out of sorts today?”
She set the shirt she’d been mending in her lap. It was one of Spencer’s and that simple fact didn’t help the situation any either. He’d been most attentive the last two nights after he got home and was becoming harder for Elle to resist. “I was hoping to get into town today.”
“Me too!” Mrs. Riley exclaimed as she came into the parlor. “And thank Heaven, Clayton has finally agreed to take us! I’d say lets go ourselves but with Summer not quite ready, I just don’t want to risk it. If something were to happen and we had to walk to town or back home, your poor foot would give out, I’m sure.”
Summer visibly cringed. “The thought of having to use crutches again doesn’t hold much appeal at this point,” she agreed.
Clayton stepped into the parlor. “Ladies, if we’re going to town, then let�
�s hurry. I’ve got work to do later this afternoon and Mr. Johnson needs some help over at his place too. If you want to have a decent amount of time to do your shopping, we need to go now.”
“Isn’t his grandson coming home soon?” Mrs. Riley asked. “You’d think he’d want to take over the farm for his grandfather.”
“He’ll be done with that fancy schooling of his this spring,” Clayton told her. “I hear Matthew Quinn is coming home early though. He’s so far ahead of his class, he plumb graduated already. Mrs. Quinn says he’ll be home in a couple of weeks.”
The corners of Mrs. Riley’s mouth curved up into a tiny smile. “Yes, dear. I already know.” She turned on her heel and left the parlor to get her coat.
Clayton frowned as he watched her go, pushed his hat off his forehead, then put his hands on his hips.
“What’s wrong?” asked Summer.
“She’s up to something. I know that look,” he said in a low voice.
Elle turned to the front hall. She couldn’t see her future mother-in-law but could hear her humming a merry little tune. “Up to something?”
“Oh yes, trust me,” Clayton began. “You’ll soon learn Miss Barstow that my mother is not all she appears. She’s got something cooking and it’s not in the kitchen!”
“Clayton,” Summer began, her voice just above a whisper. “How do you know? She’s been here with us since Elle arrived, no one has come or gone from the farm expect you and Spencer. How can you think your mother’s …”
“Because I know my mother!” he quickly pushed out. “Now let’s go.”
Elle and Summer glanced at each other and shrugged. They obviously weren’t going to find out what it was Mrs. Riley had “cooking” as Clayton called it, any time soon. So they put on their coats, bonnets and gloves, and together the four of them left for town. Elle was excited to finally go! What a relief to be able to send word to Mrs. Ridgley and be one step closer to finding out what happened! Which meant that in the mean time, she’d only have to avoid Spencer Riley a week more at the most! But the task was becoming harder by the minute and who knows what today would bring while they were in town. Last night he hardly took his eyes from her and it made her entire body break out in gooseflesh! If he kept looking at her like that she might crack under the pressure and not be able to look away. After supper he offered to help her with the dishes. Standing in the kitchen next to him was pure Heaven! But she didn’t dare allow herself the giddy sensation standing so close to him caused, nor how the feel of his arm against her shoulder warmed her entire being. How could this be happening? She didn’t even know the man yet and was doing her darned best to keep from falling for him! At least until she heard from Mrs. Ridgley.
