Lone Star Romance Collection

by Cathy Marie Hake

  Addie Hayes folded her arms about her middle and gave Prudence a direct look. “Patience would only be helping me out in the afternoons. There’d be plenty of time to get her chores done around here.”

  Prudence turned her shrewd gaze toward her daughter. “And why do you want this job? What are you up to, girl?”

  Patience forced herself not to cringe from her mother’s tone. She bravely stood her ground. “I would like to have my own money, Mama. I’m twenty-one years old, and it doesn’t look like I’ll be getting married. Not yet, anyway. So I want to do this for myself.” She braced herself for her mother’s harsh words, which she knew would probably come.

  “All you’re going to do is cause folks around here to talk and to speculate about why you have a job! They will think we’re hurtin’ for money. Is that what you want to do, girl? Bring shame to this house?”

  “No. You know that I don’t want that, Mama. I just want to make a little money on my own.”

  “Selfishness! That’s all it is!” Then Prudence sharpened her gaze on Addie. “And you! You’re sticking your nose where it don’t belong! Well, I wash my hands of it!” With that, she got up from her chair and walked out of the room.

  Embarrassed at her mother’s rudeness, Patience hastened to explain. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Hayes. I don’t know what’s wrong with Mama lately. She’s acting awfully strange. I …”

  Addie waved her words aside. “Oh, you don’t have to explain your mama to me. Rachel told me she’s going through a lot of things on the inside. You just keep praying for her; she’ll be all right.”

  Patience reached up and smoothed a stray strand of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. “I just wish I knew what’s wrong with her. I mentioned my father the other day, and she acted like I’d just asked about the devil himself!”

  Addie shook her head, confusion marring her brow. “I don’t know about that. Never knew your father. Prudence was already widowed when she came to Springton.”

  “I know. But other than telling me that he’d died before I was born, she’s never mentioned him. I guess I’m just curious about who he was.” She shrugged. “But I don’t reckon that I’ll ever know.”

  Addie reached out and patted Patience on the hand. “Well, don’t worry yourself sick over it. Maybe working at the store will get your mind off it. You are old enough to make this decision for yourself, Patience, whether your mama likes it or not.”

  Patience was thoughtful for a moment. She’d never openly defied her mother before, but she could see the truth in Mrs. Hayes’s words. She was a grown-up. It was something her mama would have to learn to accept. She looked up into Addie’s eyes and brightened. “I’m really excited about working for you, Mrs. Hayes. I do so want to be able to purchase pretty cloth for new dresses. I’ve got to do something to attract the sheriff, or I’m afraid that I’m going to end up an old maid!” she wailed.

  Addie practically crowed. “Oh ho! So that’s how the wind blows, does it? Well, you just leave it to Rachel and me. We’ll get you all prettied up! You just wait and see.”

  “Oh Mrs. Hayes. Do you really think you can?”

  Addie smiled and arose from her chair. “Yes, I do. Now, let me go so you can go on in and get your beauty rest.”

  Patience giggled excitedly as she got up and walked her to the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Addie waved. “Just be there around nine. That will be fine.”

  “Okay,” Patience answered. “Oh, and Mrs. Hayes?” she called out.

  Addie turned and looked back at Patience.

  “Thank you.”

  Addie just smiled and climbed into her buggy.

  The boards creaked softly as Lee stepped out onto his little porch and eased his lanky body into the swing. The crickets were out and singing in full chorus; their song had a peaceful effect on Lee as he nudged the swing into a gentle sway.

  He’d gotten Billy Aaron to bunk at the jail for the night to keep watch over their prisoner. He really hoped they caught Otis Powell soon. It was hard finding men to volunteer for things like taking the night watch. Lee knew that he’d probably end of up doing most of it himself. He just wished he’d get all his strength back so he’d be up to it when his time came.

  But even the singing of the crickets could not wipe away the nagging guilt he was feeling for snubbing Patience today at the office.

  He had come to a decision about her, and he was trying his best to carry it through. He’d decided to act cool so that she would stop getting her hopes up about them having any kind of relationship. He saw the expression on her face, the attraction for him that was written in her every look. She was much too sweet a girl to be hurt by his rejection. He had to do it now, before it was too late.

  He laid his head back on the swing and stared up at the blue ceiling of his porch. He’d just finished painting it that color because one of the women from church had said that it would stop dirt-daubers from building nests in his eaves. They would see the blue and mistake it for the sky. That’s what he was told anyway. He supposed he wouldn’t find out till spring.

  Spring … Would he be married at that time? He figured that he’d go to this party, and afterward, he’d invite Susannah on a picnic the next day. From there they would start dating frequently. Everybody would see them together and start acknowledging them as a couple. At Christmas he could present her with a ring, and by March they could be married.

  Lee smiled. It sounded like a good plan to him.

  Except … Oh, he shouldn’t be thinking it. He shouldn’t let doubts creep in! Yet he couldn’t help but be, well, bored when she started talking on and on, as she tended to do. That was just her vivacious personality, he supposed. But could he live with that for the rest of his life? Why couldn’t she just have a normal conversation with him like … Patience.

  He closed his eyes and grimaced. He wasn’t going to think about her anymore! He especially wasn’t going to compare her with Susannah.

  Patience was his friend. So he guessed it would be okay to think of her that way. It didn’t mean anything. It didn’t mean that she meant anything to him!

  He blew out a breath. Why was everything so confusing? He’d been so clear about everything before he ended up in Patience’s care. So sure of what he wanted.

  Now … he wasn’t sure about anything.

  Patience drove up to Susannah’s house at a quarter past six. By the wagons and buggies lined up in Susannah’s small yard, Patience could see that most everybody was there. From inside the house came a hum of chatter, peppered with a dash of laughter here and there.

  Lee’s horse was tied to the only tree in the yard.

  He’s here.

  Patience closed her eyes for a moment, gathering needed strength. She opened them and, with a fortified breath, stepped down from the wagon. Carefully she smoothed the pleats of her best dress and tucked the curly stray strands of her hair back into place.

  Her dress was made of a dark blue material that would have been quite attractive … on a brunette. On her, it merely made her look paler than usual. And the neck of it was so tall, she felt like she was choking at times. But it was better than anything else she owned. It would simply have to do until she could purchase the green silk.

  She walked the few steps to the house and knocked on the door.

  Susannah opened it after a few moments and smiled broadly upon seeing her new friend. “Patience! I was just beside myself when six o’clock came and went and you weren’t here yet. Please, come on in! I was just about to set supper on the table.”

  She took Patience’s hand and pulled her into the parlor, where the rest of the guests were gathered.

  “Looky, you all! Patience did make it, after all!” she announced to the whole room. Then she turned to Patience. “You know Reverend Stone and his wife, of course, and Billy Aaron—his brother didn’t come—and over there is Lee.”

  Patience looked over to where the sheriff stood, conversing with Brother
Caleb. But when Susannah said his first name, he lifted his head and his gaze clashed with Patience’s.

  Lee had been merely curious at hearing his name spoken, but he froze when he saw Patience standing there. He’d heard someone else come in, but he’d been interested in something the preacher was saying and hadn’t looked up.

  He didn’t know that she would be here.

  Was there anywhere he could go that Patience Primrose wasn’t?

  Very politely he nodded to her and turned his gaze back to the preacher, only the preacher was no longer paying attention to him. He was looking at Patience, too. And before Lee could open his mouth to stop him, Caleb was already talking. “Miss Patience! We’re glad you’re here. Now everything is even. Billy can sit beside Miss Susannah and Lee, here, can escort you to the table.”

  Lee glared at him and whispered under his breath, “I’ll get you for this, Preacher.”

  Caleb continued to smile as Patience made her way over to where they were.

  “Hi, Brother Caleb,” she greeted first. She then looked at Lee with a wary expression that made him feel like a complete heel. “And how are you, Sheriff?” she asked, sounding tentative.

  Lee made himself relax and squelched his irritations. “Hi, Patience. That lunch you fixed today was mighty tasty.” Actually he hadn’t really tasted it. He’d felt so horrible for treating her coolly that he hadn’t felt like eating.

  Patience’s face lit up prettily. “Oh thank you, Sheriff! It was my pleasure!” she gushed. The wary look was gone, replaced by a dreamy sort of look.

  He’d done it, again. He’d gotten her hopes up.

  “Okay, you all! The food’s ready, if you all would follow Billy and me into the dining room!” Susannah announced, taking Billy’s arm.

  Lee watched Susannah precede him into the dining room. The preacher and Rachel were next. That left him and Patience.

  Cautiously, he looked sideways at her and saw that she was watching everyone leave the room. She seemed to be waiting for something.

  With a sigh, he held out his arm to her. She blushed and carefully reached up and put her arm through his.

  Lee felt that touch all the way to his toes.

  Shocked, he looked down at her hand, then up to her eyes. She was a tall girl, so it wasn’t hard to look directly into her eyes.

  She was wearing the same expression he was. She quickly looked away, and her blush blossomed to a deep red hue.

  Taking a breath, Lee tried to rationalize why her touch would, once again, make him feel this way, why Susannah, his dream girl, could touch him and he felt no different. But one tiny little touch from Patience sent his senses reeling.

  There had to be an explanation. A logical reason for this.

  Chapter 9

  He ignored her all the way through dinner. Oh, he’d answer her when she asked him a question; but other than one-syllable answers with a less than halfhearted effort, he ignored her.

  It was what happened after dinner that Patience would forever remember as the “dessert disaster.”

  It all started when Susannah announced that she was serving dessert. Patience remembered a passage from Miss Emma Hadley’s book about the eloquence of serving: “A young man’s head is easily turned when presented with a young woman who shows elegance and refinement in the way she serves a table.”

  So Patience hopped up immediately and offered her assistance. It was going so well. She first served Billy, carefully pouring his coffee and then gracefully setting his plate of chocolate cake in front of him.

  Then she got to Lee. Once she’d served his coffee and cake, she felt so proud of herself that she’d looked at him and smiled.

  Her eyes met his. She smiled brighter. He, staring at her as if mesmerized, smiled back. And then.. . it happened.

  She fell flat on her back!

  She’d liked to think that there had been a reason for her to trip. But, in fact, it had been nothing but clumsiness. She’d been so overwhelmed that he’d smiled at her, that she’d stepped back. The heel of her shoe had gotten caught in the hem of her dress. And the next thing she knew, she was on the floor, staring at the ceiling.

  She sat up, and that was when she noticed everybody’s reaction. Susannah gasped and came right over to her. Billy looked shock. The preacher stood up, looking concerned. Rachel put her hand over her own heart and asked if Patience was all right.

  But it was the sheriff’s reaction that really upset her.

  He laughed.

  And he laughed. In fact, the nitwit couldn’t stop laughing!

  Susannah helped her up and began fussing over her dress. “Oh, you poor thang! I am so sorry that something like this has happened. I should have insisted on getting the dessert myself. I just feel plumb awful, is what I feel! I …”

  Patience put her hand out. “It’s all right, Susannah,” she interrupted. “Really, I’m fine.”

  At once, everybody started gathering around her, helping her to her chair and picking up the few utensils she’d dropped. But the laughter coming from the chair beside her could not be ignored.

  Rachel, ever mindful of others’ feelings, spoke up. “Really, Sheriff. It’s not very nice to laugh at her. Patience could have been really hurt.”

  Lee made a show of trying to stop, but failed. “I’m sorry, Patience, I really am. It’s …,” he laughed again, “that I …,” another outburst of the rude sound, “can’t seem to stop!”

  Tears filled Patience’s eyes, though she tried very hard to keep them at bay. “Um … I think that I will go now. It is getting late,” she said, quickly standing up. She deliberately turned her back to Lee, not wanting him to see her tears.

  Susannah looked crestfallen. “Oh Patience. Please don’t cry. Did you hurt yourself, after all?” she asked innocently; but Patience wished she could have just been quiet.

  “I really need to go,” she answered and walked briskly to the parlor to get her shawl. That was when she made her decision. She’d taken enough teasing in her life to know when something was pointless. And a relationship with Leander Cutler was just that. She was going to leave the man alone.

  Patience’s leaving and Susannah’s mentioning the girl’s tears put an abrupt stop to Lee’s laughter. He honestly didn’t know what had happened to him to make him laugh. He supposed that it was that he and Patience had become such good friends that he treated her as he would have if it had been any of his friends who’d ended up all sprawled on the floor. He laughed.

  But now he knew that he’d been wrong. Terribly wrong. He’d made her cry. He felt like such a heel.

  He got up to go to her, but Rachel stopped him.

  “I know that you didn’t mean to, Lee, but you’ve hurt her feelings. I think you are the last person she needs to see right now,” Rachel told him.

  Lee felt the sting of her words all the way to his gut. Now more than ever he wanted to make things right with her. But he nodded reluctantly. “All right, Rachel. But please tell her I’m as sorry as I can be.”

  Rachel told him she would and hurried from the room.

  She caught up with Patience just as she was climbing onto her wagon.

  “Patience, wait!”

  Patience gripped the hard wood rail on the wagon and closed her eyes. Why couldn’t she have been faster? She didn’t want to talk to Rachel, or anyone, for that matter. She just wanted to be left alone to find a quiet spot to have a good cry.

  But Rachel could not be ignored. For one, she was the pastor’s wife. Two, she was too nice; and Patience knew that she was just trying to help.

  So, she quickly dried her tears and slowly turned and stepped back off of the wagon. “I’m okay, Rachel,” she told her, trying, but failing, to sound brave.

  Rachel walked up to her, her eyes shining with compassion. “No. You’re not okay, Patience. I know that Lee hurt your feelings in there.” Patience started to disagree, but Rachel went on. “And I know how much you like him.”

  Patience looked at her w
ith dismay. “You do? Oh great!” She threw up her hands. “I suppose the whole town knows that I am making a fool of myself over him.”

  Rachel reached out and took her hand. “I know because Caleb told me. He saw how you looked at Lee at his office the other day. He’s seen that same look on my face, Patience. That’s all.”

  Patience looked down at her hands and thought fleetingly that she had never had a friend to talk to, a friend who would offer her comfort. But here Rachel was, offering just that. Patience slowly raised her eyes to the pretty woman. “I don’t know what I’m going to do, Rachel. When it started, I just figured he’d make a good husband. But now … now it’s different. I can’t explain it,” she said with a frustrated shake of her head.

  Rachel squeezed her hand. “You don’t have to. I know what it’s like to love a man you think you could never have. Even to want a life that seems impossible.”

  A tear rolled down Patience’s pale cheek. “But look at you, Rachel. You are so beautiful, and Brother Caleb loved you from the beginning. And now look at me.” She let go of Rachel’s hand and held her arms out on either side of her. “Sheriff Cutler won’t even consider that I’m courtin’ material! He looks right past my plain face and latches on to Susannah’s pretty one. Why couldn’t I just be someone else? Someone who he could love,” she wailed and slumped against her wagon, burying her head in her hands.

  “That’s the biggest bunch of self-pity I’ve heard in a long time!”

  “What?” Patience’s head snapped up at Rachel’s scornful tone.

  Rachel put her hands on her hips and made a tsking noise. “I’ll admit, I said the same thing plenty of times after I was molested and after the church rejected me. But to wish that you were someone other than what God created you to be is just like telling God that He made a mistake when He made you!”

  Patience blinked. “But … well I …,” she started and stopped. Then she sighed. “You’re right.”