Rachel nodded. “Of course I’m right! Now, Addie told me that you were going to start working for her tomorrow.” After Patience nodded her head, she continued, “Well, I’m going to get sewing on that new dress you wanted, and we’re also going to get to working on you!”
Patience felt a little dizzy. “Me?”
“Yes, you. I didn’t say that God didn’t give us the good sense to work with what we have. Sometimes we just need to do a little polishing!”
“Okay,” she answered, though she hadn’t a clue as to what Rachel was talking about.
“Be at my house right after you get off of work, and I’ll tell you what we’re going to do!” Rachel all but ordered.
“Okay,” Patience answered again.
Rachel smiled broadly. “Well, then! I’ll let you get on back home! You be careful!” And with that, Mrs. Rachel Stone sashayed back into the house, leaving Patience bewildered and excited all at the same time.
“You look worried, Lee,” Susannah said from behind him. He was standing at her window and watching as Patience rode away.
Lee turned and schooled his features to a pleasant expression. He didn’t want her getting the idea that he had feelings for Patience. Not when he needed to get onto the business of courting her!
“I just feel bad for hurting her feelings. I didn’t mean to laugh at her. Patience and I have become friends, and I didn’t think she would mind,” he said with a shrug.
Susannah wrung her hands. “I do hope she is all right.”
Lee looked back to the window. “Patience is a good sport. She’ll be okay.” He had to believe that. He could not dwell on her anymore. He had to get down to the business at hand.
Courting business.
“Uh … Susannah, I wanted to ask you something.” He turned once again to face her.
Susannah smiled and linked her arm through his, leading him back to the dining room. “Ask away, Sheriff!”
He took a deep breath. “Would you like to take a stroll with me down by the stream tomorrow?”
Susannah twirled around, facing him, and laid a hand on his arm. “Oh, that would be delightful, Sheriff! What time shall we go?”
“Around noon? I’ll drop by and pick you up.”
Patience was halfway home when her wagon wheel broke. Stunned, she looked over the flickering ears of her horses, then bent to peer over the side.
Broken.
Patience blew out a frustrated breath as she straightened and looked around in the moonlight, trying to get her bearings.
She was by the Aaron brothers’ sawmill. Good. The brothers lived in a big house beside the mill. Surely they could help her.
She was climbing out of the wagon when she remembered something she’d heard at the party. Daniel and Tommy were out of town and Billy was still at Susannah’s. She couldn’t remember what had been said about Bobby Joe. She hoped that he was home.
The wind was getting colder, and Patience’s thin wrap wasn’t enough protection from the biting weather. Carefully, she stepped onto the dirt road and searched through the darkness for the cutoff that led to their house.
She found it and also found something else—the row of shacks that housed a lot of the workers from the mill.
Instantly, Patience became frightened. Most were decent, but she’d heard tell that they liked to drink at night. Mama had always warned her that men did bad things when they were drunk.
She’d just have to be quiet as she passed them. And hurry. She must hurry.
As she made her way down the narrow road, she could hear the laughter coming from some of the shacks. One man was singing at the top of his lungs, but they were all inside. Thank God.
But when she’d just passed the last house, her luck ran out. Suddenly the door flew open and out came three huge, burly men.
And they were all staring at Patience.
“Would you loo’ at this, men!” one of them drunkenly exclaimed.
The one in the middle, whose hair was redder than any hair Patience had ever seen, walked toward her. “Are you looking for me, darlin’?” he growled.
Patience screamed and turned to run. But her feet failed her for the second time that night. She tripped over the hem of her dress and went sprawling in the dirt.
Suddenly they were all kneeling around her, pulling at her. “No, no … Please … Leave me alone! Please …,” she cried, as she tried to fight them off. Oh God, please, God. Don’t let them hurt me. Please, help me, oh God! she prayed fervently.
Then God sent a miracle.
The click of the gun cocking was what stopped them, but the voice was what sent them running. “Let her go and get back to your houses.”
Patience looked at the owner of that hard, commanding voice and saw the uncompromising face of Bobby Joe Aaron.
“Oh Bobby Joe …,” she wept. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
He knelt down beside her and gently helped her up. “What in the world are you doing out here, Patience? Don’t you have more sense than this?”
She stood with his help and looked down at her soiled dress. Her hands were skinned and her hair was cascading all about her shoulders, having completely fallen from its knot. “My wagon broke down and I was trying to find you. I’ve been at Susannah Butler’s house,” she explained and looked up at him.
He opened his mouth to say something, but then stopped and stared at her.
She stared back warily. “What’s the matter?”
Bobby Joe shook his head, bemused. “You. You look … different.” He reached out as if to touch her hair but, at the last minute, caught himself and drew his hand back. His face, once again, became unreadable.
Patience just stared at him, not quite knowing how to take that comment. She’d known Bobby Joe all her life, though their families rarely socialized. And since he was almost ten years older than she was, Patience could count on one hand the number of times that she’d actually spoken to him.
His words seemed to hang awkwardly between them. “Well, let’s get you back to the house. I’ll send some men down to see about your wagon.”
Patience nodded and wondered if the rest of the time in his company was going to be as strange as this had been.
Chapter 10
The Aaron house was massive. All three stories of it stood tall among the beautiful pines that surrounded the home. It was the only house in Springton that was made of brick. Jeremiah Aaron, Bobby Joe’s great-grandfather, had hauled them in all the way from Chicago. There were three tiers of porches and balconies that were supported by six huge, white pillars.
It was the first time that Patience had ever been in the house. She was more than a little intimidated as she stepped over the threshold and onto the shiny marble floor.
Bobby Joe closed the door behind him and offered to take her shawl. She turned her back to him, and he took the garment and threw it and his own jacket over the hat tree standing by the door.
“Why don’t we go into the library?” Bobby Joe suggested as he gestured toward an open door off the hallway. “There should be a fire in there so you can warm yourself.”
She nodded, but her mind raced. A library? People actually had libraries in their houses? Goodness!
Patience had never seen so many books in her life. Being a book lover, she yearned to pore over the titles to see what she could discover.
Instead, she followed Bobby Joe to the hearth, and together they held their hands out to the warmth of the crackling fire. She turned to thank him for his hospitality; but when she looked at him, she noticed that he was already looking at her. And probably had been looking at her the whole time.
Was there something on her face? Self-consciously she put a hand up to her cheek but felt nothing but her clean, chilled skin.
Why had he been staring? Her face must have reflected her confusion, because he suddenly blushed and quickly looked away.
Patience looked away also, more confused than ever.
“Well,” Bobby Jo
e said after they stood there in an awkward silence. “I’ll go tell my men to see about your wagon.” And with a polite nod, he walked out of the room.
She opened her mouth to say something, but he was already gone. Bobby Joe is a strange man, she thought for the umpteenth time that night. With a shrug, Patience turned back to the shelves of worded treasures and smiled. She really hoped that he wouldn’t rush. And without another thought for her rescuer, she grabbed a couple of books and began to read.
Fortunately, they were able to fix the wagon wheel. Patience, her arms loaded with books that Bobby Joe had gallantly lent her, readied herself for her ride home.
She laid the books carefully in the back of the wagon, then turned to Bobby Joe, who was standing quietly by.
“Thank you, Mr. Aaron, for all your help.” She paused and glanced toward the back of her wagon with a smile. “And for the books.”
He actually smiled. Patience couldn’t help but marvel at what a handsome man he was when he allowed himself to relax. “It was nothing.”
He looked down at his feet as he shuffled the toe of his boot in the dirt. “Look,” he began, “I know it’s none of my business, but a pretty girl like you don’t need to be riding around unescorted. Next time, someone may not be there to rescue you.”
Patience’s mouth fell open in shock, and she stared at his nonchalant expression as he looked everywhere but at her. It was almost as if he was embarrassed saying it.
Then she realized something. Gruff old Bobby Joe Aaron was really a nice guy—he just didn’t want anyone to know it!
And he thought she was pretty?
Blinking a couple of times in amazement, she looked away from him. “I’ll be careful, Mr. Aaron. I don’t ever want to be caught alone again. I thought they were going to …” Her voice faltered.
“But they didn’t,” he interjected firmly.
She nodded her head and looked at him. “Thanks to you.”
He waved off her praise. “Here. Let me help you up.”
He took her hand as she stepped into the wagon. Patience straightened her skirts, then picked up the reins.
Looking at him, she asked, “You’ll be right behind me?”
He nodded and put his hat on. “I’ll be behind you all the way. Don’t worry.”
She watched as he mounted his horse and realized that with him watching, she wouldn’t need to worry.
Patience’s mother met her at the door and she didn’t look happy.
“Where—have—you—been!” Prudence demanded, emphasizing each and every word. She was dressed in her plain, white nightgown that buttoned high on her throat. Her hair was still in its severe knot at the base of her neck. Patience thought fleetingly that she’d never once seen her mother with her hair down.
Patience looked away and brushed past her mother to step into the room. “The wagon wheel broke,” she said shortly. She was so emotionally drained, she didn’t want to be having this discussion now.
Prudence closed the door behind her and stood, back stiff, with her arms folded tightly at her middle. “It didn’t seem to be broken when you rode up!”
Patience took a deep breath and sank down into a chair. There was no way her mother would let her go easily; she would have to explain the whole thing. “I was coming home from Susannah’s house, when my wheel broke. I was right by the Aaron brothers’ sawmill when it happened. Mr. Aaron invited me in and then got some of his men to fix it for me, then he followed me home on his horse,” she explained, deliberately leaving out the part of the attack.
Patience watched as a red, angry flush spread across her mother’s face. “What if someone had seen you with that man? Don’t you realize what would have happened to your reputation?”
Patience shoved her hair out of her face. “Mama, I didn’t know what else to do, I—”
“I’ll tell you what you don’t do, Patience Anne—you don’t go into a young man’s home at this time of night! You should have waited outside!” Prudence raged.
“Mama, you don’t understand the situation.”
“Oh, I think I do understand! You just don’t think, girl! Are you hoping that Bobby Joe Aaron will want to marry you, now? If you are, you are—”
“I was nearly raped!” Patience all but screamed at her mother. Tears of frustration pooled in her eyes. “I was trying to find the Aaron house when some of his men attacked me. If it wasn’t for Mr. Aaron, I can only imagine what would have happened to me.”
Prudence’s face paled. “Patience, I …”
“He took me into the house to get me away from them and to make me feel safe. Which was the same reason he followed me home tonight. Because he was worried about me.” Silent tears were flowing down her cheeks. Her eyes pled for her mother to understand, to offer her comfort.
Prudence stood up and walked to where her daughter sat. Her hand reached forward, and for a moment, Patience thought she was going to hug her. But then she pulled it back and stepped away. “Well, it seems you’ve had a rough night. You’d best get on to bed.”
Patience watched her mother leave the room. A familiar sadness swept over her, urging more tears to fall. But she had cried enough. Determinedly, she wiped her face with the back of her hand and stood to walk to her room.
She passed her small mirror that was perched on her dresser, then on impulse she stopped and looked into it.
Hesitantly, she reached up and touched the curls that surrounded her face. She’d always hated her curls; her mother had told her that they were unbecoming and she must wear her hair tightly knotted to hide them.
But Bobby Joe Aaron had remarked that she looked different, even … pretty! No one had ever called her pretty before.
She sighed, pushing her hair away from her face in a frustrated gesture. “If only Lee thought I was pretty,” she said aloud to her reflection.
But maybe with Rachel’s help, he would.
The next morning, before Patience left the house for her new job, a message was sent to them. “A message from the sheriff,” Billy said as he handed the note to Patience.
For a day so full of promises, it was amazing how one little note could darken it so fast. Lee didn’t want her to bring food around to him anymore. Said he was feeling well enough to eat at the inn once again.
The truth was, he did not want to see her anymore. He didn’t want her bothering him. Especially after she made such a fool of herself last night. It was just as well, she thought, remembering her resolve to stay away from him. This would just make it easier to keep her promise to herself.
The real truth was that Lee was having conflicting feelings about Patience, and it was getting in the way of his courtship of Susannah. He could not allow himself to see Patience anymore. He’d felt so terrible about laughing at her. She pulled at his emotions like no other woman ever had, and he didn’t want her to. She wasn’t right for him. Susannah was the woman he needed.
He’d decided not to have her bring his lunches in an effort to push her away. He hoped she wouldn’t be too hurt by his rejection.
He shook his head, trying to shake off his guilty feelings. Today was a new day, he told himself. Besides, he had a date with Susannah to eat a picnic lunch and nothing was going to stand in his way.
Especially not Patience Primrose.
By lunchtime, Patience knew she’d never worked so hard, but had so much fun. Adelaide Hayes was a tiny woman who had more energy than anyone Patience had ever encountered. Together they stacked canned goods, folded material, and restocked the dry-goods shelves.
Mrs. Hayes and her friend Mattie Mae Higgins were now dusting the books at the back of the store. Patience had offered her help, but the ladies insisted that they could do it by themselves. With a shrug, Patience donned her shawl and grabbed the basket of food that she’d packed for herself. Since it was such an unusually warm day, Addie had suggested that she take her lunch by the stream situated just behind the mercantile.
Humming softly to herself, Patience enjoy
ed the cool breeze blowing gently on her face as she walked. The water was surrounded by shade trees, but Patience decided to walk a little farther to find a nice place in the sun. It was still too cool for shade.
A small strand of hair came loose from her knot and blew across her face. Patience started to tuck it back, but stopped. Discreetly, she took a quick peek at her surroundings, then reached up and took the pins from her hair. Her scalp tingled as she shook her curly strands loose. She was prudent enough to pin the sides up. She didn’t want to look like a ragamuffin!
She’d just walked around a clump of willow trees; and when she saw what was on the other side, she froze.
To her dismay, there sitting on a beautiful blanket of blue and white lace was Susannah and sitting with her was …
Lee.
Chapter 11
Turn around and pretend that you didn’t see them! was the first thing that ran through Patience’s mind. She didn’t want to see this. She didn’t want to see the man she loved cozying up to someone else.
But that idea blew away like feathers in the wind. For at that very moment, Susannah looked up and saw her.
“Patience! Why isn’t this just a pleasant surprise! Look yonder, Lee! It’s Patience!” She tugged at Lee’s arm. But he was already looking at her, though he didn’t say anything.
Susannah apparently didn’t notice his reaction because she hopped up and went to Patience. “And just look at your hair!” Susannah exclaimed, clasping her hands together in delight.
Patience reached up to her wind-tossed hair with a sinking feeling. She’d forgotten about her hair. Hurriedly, she tried to explain. “I was just …”
“It’s absolutely de–lightful! Patience Primrose, you stinker! You have the most beautiful hair I believe I’ve ever seen! Don’t you agree, Lee?” she asked without looking at him for an answer.
That was a good thing; because when Patience glanced at Lee, he was still staring at her strangely. As a matter of fact, he was looking at her just like … Bobby Joe Aaron had the night before.
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