Mountain Rose

by Cheryl St. John

  Emily wore a shade of blue that reminded him of the bluebells he’d seen in Texas, and he told her so.

  She thanked him politely. “Will you stay beside me in church?”

  “Of course.” He reached for her hand.

  She looked at their clasped hands in surprise and then offered him a shy smile. “I won’t know anyone there.”

  “You’ll make friends.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

  “Why not?”

  “I’m not from around here like they are. And besides, Miss Rose says I’m leaving to attend another school. I don’t want to make friends and then leave.” Remorse stabbed his conscience. He pushed it away by telling himself that sending Emily away was the right thing to do.

  Yet in spite of his reassurances, Olivia’s prayer the previous night still hadn’t left his thoughts. And now I’m trusting Jules to do the right thing.

  She had more faith in him than he had in himself.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Emily’s practical reasoning about avoiding new friendships rubbed him wrong all through the drive to town. A child shouldn’t plan to hold herself in check. A little girl should just…be a child. But that was another argument for sending her away, wasn’t it? No child would be safe all alone in his cabin every day. He wasn’t going to feel guilty about looking out for her best interests.

  His presence at the First United Fellowship of Christ Church was an oddity in itself, but arriving with two unfamiliar females in tow caused a stir that morning. The women gathered around, eager to learn about his guests and introduce themselves.

  Emily participated in the singing with enthusiasm, while Olivia held herself more in reserve. Both showed interest in Reverend Vaughn’s sermon, and both placed a coin in the offering basket as it passed. After the service, it appeared as though Lee Crandall’s prediction might be correct. Half a dozen single men—cowhands, ranchers and the barber’s son—all asked for introductions.

  Obviously embarrassed by the attention, Olivia offered polite greetings, but it was plain she only wanted to escape the building and their interest. She was more vulnerable than he’d first thought, and his inconvenient need to protect her grew each day. Jules couldn’t help recalling the sounds of her soft crying the night before or her voice as she turned a psalm into her heartfelt prayer for comfort. He’d overheard something so intimate that it embarrassed him to have eavesdropped.

  A slender woman who hadn’t been among the throng of fancily dressed churchgoers who first greeted them approached, carrying a baby on her hip. “Hello, Miss Rose. I’m Tanis Roland. My husband is one of Jules’s hands. We live in the wagon and tent down by the pasture. You’ve probably seen it.”

  Two small children clung to her skirt. “This here’s Abner,” she said, referring to the baby she held. “And the older ones are Charlie and Noreen.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Olivia said with a warm smile. “This is Emily Sadler, Mr. Parrish’s niece.”

  “Except for your dark eyes, you look like him around the eyes and mouth,” Tanis told Emily. “I could’ve picked you from a crowd.”

  Emily’s pleasure at the remark touched Olivia. The woman had no idea how gratifying her words had been to a child who’d never had a family connection. Olivia studied the youngsters, fascinated by their resemblance to their mother. Their eyes, however, were brown while hers were pale green.

  A man no taller than Tanis came up beside her and offered Olivia his hand. “Will Roland, miss.”

  The children had his warm brown eyes.

  “Do you already have plans for dinner?” Tanis asked.

  Jules glanced at his niece. “Emily wants to have a picnic, so we’re picking up a meal on our way out of town. You’re welcome to join us.”

  Tanis and her husband exchanged a look. He nodded.

  “We’d like that,” Tanis said with a smile. “I don’t have anything fancy, but we’ll share what we have. Where?”

  “Let’s combine our dinners and eat whatever shows up,” Jules told her. “You can follow us.”

  Jules led his two guests outdoors and across the lawn to where the wagons and buggies waited. At the café, he purchased a crateful of food, along with wrapped jars of milk and lemonade, and stored them securely in the wagon bed.

  They stopped by the ranch first so the Rolands could pack supplies, and then the family followed as Jules directed the horses. This time, he navigated along the river, so they approached the location from below, rather than above, and had the shade of the trees along the bank in which to leave the wagons and set up their picnic area.

  He had planned ahead, packing tarps and blankets. Will helped him create a shelter with canvas and poles. Then Jules spread the blankets on the ground, while Will took the baby from his wife so she could unpack food and dishes.

  Olivia assisted her, enjoying all the new experiences and the company of another young woman.

  Once everything was arranged, they sat in a circle on the blankets, and Tanis nodded at Will.

  He doffed his hat, and Jules did the same. “We’re almighty grateful for this food, Lord,” Will prayed. “And the company. We’d be obliged if You’d bless it now and watch over us this fine day. Amen.”

  “Amen,” the children chorused.

  Tanis gave her husband a smile so warm, a person would think he’d just recited the most eloquent prayer in history. He placed the baby on the blanket, where the little guy sat up on his own, stuck one finger in his mouth and blinked at the strangers.

  “That fried chicken sure smells good,” Will remarked.

  “I got plenty,” Jules told him.

  Tanis had sliced ham and cheese and bread. “How did you bake bread?” Olivia asked, wondering how the other woman managed, living out of a wagon.

  “Will bought me a stove,” the woman replied. “It sits out of doors until we have a place, but it works fine, all the same.”

  “Come winter, I think you should take the cabin,” Jules said as they ate.

  “But that’s your place,” Will replied.

  “Can’t have your children sleepin’ in a wagon during a Montana winter,” Jules argued. “I can stay in the bunkhouse, same as the other men.”

  “Or we could get your house built this summer, like Lee suggested.”

  Jules didn’t reply, nor did he look to see if Olivia or Emily glanced at him. He gave Will a silencing glare, and the other man grinned and looked away.

  Tanis poured drinks into jars. “Where are you from back East, Miss Rose?”

  Her question and the attention caught Olivia off guard. She gave Tanis and her husband a self-conscious glance. “Pennsylvania.”

  “Did you grow up there?”

  She nodded. “Yes.”

  “Will’s family is in Illinois,” the woman told her. “We met a year or so after he came West. I’ve been in Montana my whole life. Never seen an eastern city. My pa runs a stage station to the north. I grew up mucking stalls and trimming hooves.”

  “Tanis knows how to cure what ails a horse,” Jules added. “Her doctoring has come in handy more than once.”

  “I don’t know anything about horses,” Olivia said.

  “You’re a teacher, is that right?” Tanis asked. At Olivia’s confirmation, she glanced at her husband. “My kids are going to learn to read and figure,” she said and blushed. “I can barely sign my name.”

  Olivia sensed her embarrassment. “If I’m here long enough, I’ll be glad to teach you to read and write.”

  The other woman got tears in her eyes. “You would? You would really do that for me? I’d be grateful, miss. Then my younguns wouldn’t have to be ashamed of their ma.”

  “They don’t have reason to be ashamed of you now,” Olivia assured her. “But, yes, of course I will.”

  “I can’t pay you much,” Tanis added.

  “I couldn’t take anything. It would be—”

  “A gift?” Emily asked.

  Oliv
ia glanced at her. “Yes, I guess so. A gift.”

  “Miss Rose and I got gifts from Uncle Jules.” Emily raised her hand to touch the ornament in her dark hair. “He gave me these hair combs, and Miss Rose got a hand mirror.”

  “I noticed your combs,” Tanis said. “They’re so pretty.”

  “I never got a gift when it wasn’t Christmas or my birthday,” Emily added.

  “When is your birthday?” Jules asked.

  Emily told him the date in October, and he nodded.

  If her uncle had his way, Olivia would be gone by then, as would Emily. She would think of a gift to leave with Emily before they had to part.

  Leaving her anywhere, whether it was at a new school or even here with her uncle, would break Olivia’s heart. If she had her wish they would remain together. But wishes weren’t for people like Olivia. She had to think practically and without sentimentality, because dreaming did no good. This was the life she’d been given, and she had to make the best of it. She trusted that when the time came, God would heal her broken heart. As long as Emily was safe and happy, Olivia would find a way to be content.

  Thank You, Lord, for this time with Emily. Let me be a blessing to her and make a difference in making her life better.

  They finished eating, and Jules shooed Tanis away to play with the children while he and Olivia cleaned up. She carried their plates and forks to the river’s edge to swish them in the cool clear water. A swarm of tiny fish darted away, startling her. As the children ran along the bank, frogs leaped from hiding places in the long grasses into the river.

  Olivia had never been this close to a river or seen frogs or live fish. She discovered all her new surroundings with acute fascination.

  Turning, she found Emily and Noreen, hand in hand, wading through the orange field of poppies. The ocean of flowers swallowed Noreen all the way to her midriff, but she laughed with Emily.

  Previously, Olivia had observed that Emily was good with younger children. Had she stayed at the academy, she would have made a good teacher one day. She still might choose that path. Secretly, however, Emily hoped she would find a man to love and raise a family of her own.

  Arresting her thoughts before they took her on another road to their parting days, she finished rinsing the dishes and set them out to dry. Jules had stretched out on the blanket and lay with his hat over his face, his hands folded on his chest. She seated herself, careful not to disturb his rest, and watched the Rolands playing with their two younger children.

  She wondered what it was like to be a wife and a mother, how it would feel to have people who were your family, your flesh and blood. Will and Tanis had a history—with their parents, with each other, and were creating future stories for their offspring.

  “Kind of you to offer to teach Tanis.”

  She’d thought Jules was sleeping, so his remark surprised her. “It’s something I can do.”

  He reached to remove his hat and set it away. “Checked with the town council, but we don’t need a teacher in Corbin’s Bend.”

  “I’m sure I’ll find a position.” She had no other skills, so she had to utilize her education. “Someone will need a teacher.”

  A moment later, he sat up and glanced absently toward the river. She wondered what he thought when he looked out across the landscape. He probably didn’t feel as small and alone as she did. He seemed confident with himself and his abilities. Confident about the future that lay ahead of him. She admired his ambition and drive. What must it be like to take control over one’s own life and manage situations?

  People looked up to him and respected him. The hands listened to him direct their tasks and often came to him with questions and concerns about the way a job should be done. She’d seen the way he’d been welcomed by community members at church that morning.

  “When’s your birthday?” he asked.

  That wound still raw, she hesitated. “I’m not sure.”

  He glanced at her with a question in his expression.

  Olivia raised her chin and studied the sun sparkling on the rippling river. “I always believed it was in May, but recently I learned that one of the teachers selected that date because the academy had no idea when I was born. Seems one day a delivery boy just showed up with me at the door. He turned over money, but no note or names or dates. The same teacher who chose my birthday gave me a name.”

  Jules didn’t say anything for a moment. Finally, he said, “She picked a good name. Suits you.”

  She turned to catch him studying her, his expression soft, like the way he looked at Emily sometimes. “Miss Porter said I had a mouth like a rosebud.”

  She hadn’t intended to seat herself so close to him, and he’d inched even closer. His eyes were vivid against his tanned skin and the backdrop of blue sky.

  Being close to him flustered her, but when his gaze dropped to her lips, her stomach filled with butterflies. This definitely wasn’t the same look he gave Emily.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The moment stretched out. The sounds of the river and the children faded into the distant background. Olivia’s vision blurred around the edges and then came into focus again. She’d never experienced anything like this. His riveted gaze and her reaction confused her.

  Attention of any sort was out of her experience, and his was doubly startling. Not because she didn’t like it—but because she did.

  He leaned toward her. She moved, as well, unintentionally, but forward all the same, until their faces were mere inches apart.

  She had a life-altering moment, in which she realized what was going to happen. The anticipation caught her by surprise.

  He kissed her then, closing his eyes and touching his lips to hers in a tentative greeting. Caught up in the idyllic moment, Olivia let her eyelids drift shut. Nothing had prepared her for his kiss, for this moment or the experience.

  Mrs. Hugh had taught them deportment, manners and etiquette, but the subject of kissing had been omitted from her education. Had anyone told her it would happen to her, she might have been interested. Had anyone told her she would like it, she would have been doubtful.

  But she enjoyed Jules Parrish’s kiss more than was likely proper. Without a doubt, she could grow overly fond of kissing him.

  He moved back, and she opened her eyes.

  “I didn’t mean to do that.” He looked away.

  Should she be embarrassed? Ashamed? Olivia didn’t know how to react. His attention was flattering. The kiss had taken her breath away. But then he’d ended it.

  Perhaps he found her lacking.

  She straightened and gathered her wits. A man like Jules wasn’t looking for a nobody like her. She lacked the attributes a man wanted in a wife. She didn’t have a good background or family connections—or a dowry.

  Emily and Noreen joined them then, each holding out a fistful of wildflowers. Olivia peeled her attention from Jules and her thoughts from what had just transpired to take the blooms and thank the girls. Noreen backed right into Olivia’s lap and sat, turning up her liquid brown gaze and a bashful smile.

  Olivia couldn’t resist grinning back at her, while appreciating the beauty of the child’s confidence in her welcome and her lack of inhibition in seeking affection. Noreen knew she was loved and wanted. She had no reason to believe anyone would turn her aside. By the time Tanis and Will returned, Noreen was sound asleep in Olivia’s arms and Emily had plopped down on a blanket to rest.

  Tanis separated from the rest of them to sit apart and nurse Abner in private, while Jules and Will spoke in low voices and the children napped. Olivia had never overheard a conversation between two men, and their talk fascinated her. They were absorbed in their topic—something about horse breeds—and the rise and fall of their deep voices mesmerized her.

  Olivia tucked every beautiful moment of this incredible day into her memory.

  Attending church on a Sunday that wasn’t a holiday had been a treat. Adding her voice to those of all the worshippers and singing the words
to hymns had been pure, heartfelt joy. In some ways she felt as though she’d been released from a cage and given her freedom for the first time. Everything was more clear and brighter. Smiles and sunshine and ordinary conversation held new meaning.

  In the months and years to come, she would take out these moments and savor their perfection and splendor. And she would always remember that she’d spent a liberating day under the wide Montana sky, sharing food and smiles and the wonder of life. She would never forget that a handsome man had kissed her.

  Even once she was far from here, she would always have the memories.

  * * *

  The following day, Olivia set to work peeling and slicing apples. By midmorning, half a dozen pies cooled on the worn tabletop.

  She changed her clothing and brushed her hair, checking it in her hand mirror. Emily sat on a chair with a book in hand. “Are we having class now?”

  “Since it’s not too hot today, let’s venture over to Mrs. Roland’s and see if she wants to start her lessons.”

  As they passed, Judd waved to them from the corner of the corral where he was mending the lodgepole fence. “I was up at the barn, Mizz Rose. Smelled something mighty good comin’ from that cabin.”

  “You’ll have your apple pie for supper,” she called back.

  He grinned and went back to his task.

  Tanis was delighted to see them. She had just made noodles, and they hung drying on a line strung inside their wagon.

  She and Olivia set chairs and a table under the shade of a canvas tarp and set to their task.

  The youngsters played quietly with their wooden horses while Olivia taught the other woman the first few letters of the alphabet. Glad she’d saved and packed not only primers, but slates and chalk, Olivia used the aids for instruction.