A Windswept Promise

by Brandi Boddie

  Sophie looked appropriately shamefaced. “He thought to warn me in case you did look for other work.”

  “Trying to make me look dishonest is more like it. You know I wouldn’t do that to Mr. Charlton. I’ve always given advance notice to my employers if I was going to leave, but I’m not going anywhere.”

  She sighed. “That’s good to hear because you’re a hard worker. My father would hate to lose you.”

  “Would you?” he dared to ask.

  Two splotches of apricot appeared on her cheeks to match her shawl. Was she being bashful at having been asked a bold question, or was that an unspoken admittance of the truth?

  “Why else do you think I’d come out here to catch you before you left for church?”

  That didn’t quite give him the answer he was looking for.

  “I don’t know. Maybe to brag about how Chad took you out on the promenade yesterday.”

  Her eyes rounded. “How did you know that?”

  “Just something I heard, is all.” Despite being angry over Chad’s blabber-mouthing, he took a moment to savor the look on Sophie’s face as he teased her. If she could only see the cute wrinkle in her nose when she scrunched her features together.

  “Just for that, I’m going back into the house. But you should know that Chad intends to ask Daddy’s permission to court me.”

  Dusty’s moment of hilarity deflated. “Sophie, don’t you think that’s unwise? He’s a liar and a manipulator. Look what he tried to do to get me in trouble with your family. You sure you want to be courted by someone like that?”

  His strong words made her clamp her jaw tight. “You don’t need to resort to name-calling. I know you two are not fond of each other, but I don’t believe that Chad is malicious.”

  “He sure seems to believe in cutting down his fellow man just fine. You’d think he was worried about me being competition.”

  “I’ve assured him that there is no other suitor.”

  Sophie’s words stung but he couldn’t let it show. After all, he never ventured to court her properly. Perhaps it was time to stop acting the part of a schoolboy and make his intentions known. “Where I come from, a man that constantly needs to be assured and coddled has the maturity of a child.”

  “And where do you come from, Dusty? You hardly ever talk about your family. How can you expect to court me if you don’t tell me the truth about yourself?”

  The side door of the house pushed open and Sophie’s father strode out to get the wagon ready. Their talk was going to have to cease.

  “It was hard on my family to lose that ranch. That’s why I don’t talk about it much.”

  Sophie saw her father, too, and hurried to say her final words. “You should have. It would have made a difference.”

  “Why? Would you have let me court you knowing I wasn’t always a hired hand?”

  Sophie moved her lips as though she were about to speak, but as her father approached she retreated to the house.

  “Why are you out here so early?” Mr. Charlton asked his daughter. “Your mother’s looking for you to help set Rosemarie’s hair.”

  “I was just having a word with Dusty.”

  Dusty suffered the brunt of Mr. Charlton’s probing stare. Sophie’s father didn’t earn his success by being a fool. He knew something was stirring in the pot. “Well, get back in the house. We don’t want to be late for service.”

  Sophie trotted away. Mr. Charlton swept a keen eye over Dusty and the barn behind him. “What’s going on? Why does my daughter need to have a word with you before breakfast?”

  Dusty remained still under his employer’s scrutiny, not wanting any shifting movements to give the wrong impression that he was hiding something. “Sophie was wondering about my days of ranching. She thought I wanted to go back to doing that, but I told her I planned to keep working on the farm.”

  It wasn’t a very tidy explanation. Mr. Charlton shook his head. “What gave her cause to think you wouldn’t?”

  “I went to the bank to invest my earnings. Rumors started that I was doing that for reasons other than to save money.” Dusty disliked having to tell all his business, but in this instance, it was necessary.

  His boss tsk-tsked. “Rumors. You’d think folks in this town would have learned by now to worry about the dirt littering their own front porch. Is Sophie gossiping again? I disciplined her for that before.”

  “No, sir. She was only concerned about your farm.”

  Mr. Charlton stepped inside the barn to get the horses for the wagon. He led a mare outside with a rope bridle. “I know about that new ranch opening outside town, Dusty. Would this business have anything to do with it?”

  Of course he would find out about the Zephyr Ranch. Sophie’s father was a prominent citizen and made it a point to keep himself up to date on Assurance’s progress. Dusty rubbed the sunburn on his neck that had begun to itch. “No, sir. I never set foot on that place.”

  “You said you were at the bank to invest. Do you need more pay?”

  “I do well with what I earn, but if you feel like I deserve it, I won’t turn it down.”

  He chuckled. “Don’t ever be too modest when someone offers to give you money. I make it a habit to treat my workers fairly, especially the hard-working ones. You let me know if there’s anything you need. Understand?”

  “Yes, Mr. Charlton.” Dusty took hold of the mare’s bridle while Sophie’s father went to get a second horse.

  “And if my daughter comes pestering you with questions again, send her to me. She knows I don’t stand for that conduct.”

  Sophie could never be a pest to him. He would regret it if he caused her to get in trouble. “Don’t scold her on my account. She said nothing uncivil.”

  Mr. Charlton gave him the reins of the second horse while he began fastening the harnesses. “Help me with this, and then go have some breakfast. Lucretia’s making eggs this morning. After that, we’ll see you in church.”

  They would be seeing Chad Hooper, too. Dusty wished he could intervene to stop that man from asking to court Sophie. If only he had the money, the right standing to approach her father and get permission to court her first. He would have been able to do it once, when his family owned six hundred head of longhorns and a ranch spanning almost three thousand acres. Why did God allow them to lose all they worked so hard for?

  As the sun rose higher in the sky, the last of the morning chill carried on the wind. God’s got you in a low place now. Might as well sit in it.

  Dusty attempted to shrug off the bothersome faint voice. It wouldn’t do to go to church thinking ill thoughts about the Lord and bemoaning his station. Still, it was getting harder to ignore the fact that he was stuck in a rut.

  After hitching the horses, he straightened his shoulders before meeting the Charltons for breakfast. No matter what, he had to make Sophie see that he was just as worthy to pursue her as any politician’s son.

  Sophie twisted in the pew at church to see where Chad was seated. Due to the town’s growth over the year, the sanctuary filled up every Sunday with new faces. She had to search the crowded rows. The mayor and his family usually sat
near the front. They were going to be late today. The service was to start in a few minutes.

  Her father said nothing on the way to church about her talking to Dusty. She was relieved, as she knew her behavior could be regarded as unseemly if Dusty wasn’t known for his truthful nature.

  She swiveled in her seat again, this time to look for Dusty. He sat toward the middle pews. He normally sat close to her family. It had to be because of what they talked about that morning. His words still rang clear in her head. Would you have let me court you knowing I wasn’t always a hired hand?

  She grappled with her reaction. Dusty was different from the type of man she had been groomed to favor. A man like Chad came from good stock, was wealthy, educated, and schooled in the proper customs. Dusty was rough-hewn like the rope he used for a lasso, and his ways were as homespun as a colorblock quilt. No amount of money and upward station could change that about him and, oddly enough, she liked that.

  “What has gotten into you, Sophie?” Her mother laid a hand on her arm. “You’re as jumpy as your little sister, and she’s more composed than you today.”

  Sophie regarded Rosemarie, who was quite calm, seated beside their mother wearing a new dress of floral calico. Her sister gave her a superior smile.

  “Tell me what you’re anxious about,” her mother pressed. “Is it about Chad?”

  She nodded, glad for the distraction. “I think he’s going to ask Daddy for permission to court me.”

  The news pleased her mother. “Wonderful. I understand now why you can’t sit still, but do try.”

  Sophie faced the front of the church. As the organist played, she heard footsteps and a rustle of fabric brushed her arm.

  “May I sit here?” Marissa Pierce—Mrs. Marissa Winford, Sophie had to remind herself—stood in the aisle, waiting for her answer. As uncomfortable as the situation was to sit beside a reformed saloon girl, she couldn’t deny the Reverend’s wife a seat close to the altar. She moved over and signaled for her mother and Rosemarie to do the same.

  “Thank you.” Marissa offered her a quiet smile and settled into the pew. She faced forward to watch the choir as they began to sing a welcome hymn. The congregation rose to its feet.

  Sophie felt like a stump when she stood next to Marissa. Undoubtedly other members of the congregation knew about their past strife and were commenting on the sight of them standing beside each other. The newly married and the still unspoken for. She tried concentrating on singing the hymn, but maintaining pitch was never her strong suit. She mouthed the words instead while she searched the sea of faces in the sanctuary. Was Chad going to be present or not?

  CHAPTER 11

  T O SOPHIE’S RELIEF, Chad and his father came striding down the left aisle during the second verse of the hymn. Immediately, two rows of people shifted to make room for them. They moved into the third pew from the front. Chad found her gaze and acknowledged her with a nod. Her mood lifted. He dressed as he always did in his tailored suits. The mark of a gentleman. Every day was his Sunday best.

  The choir led the church through two more songs before the congregation returned to their seats. Reverend Winford came up to the altar to deliver the sermon. Sophie picked up her Bible and turned to the corresponding book and chapter. For the next half hour she put aside the distractions of Chad and Dusty.

  When service ended she got a tap on her shoulder. She craned her neck to look into Marissa’s face.

  “Sophie, we haven’t spoken for a while. How have you been?”

  Awkwardness settled upon her person. She hadn’t said anything to Marissa since she attended the woman’s wedding last autumn, and then it had been mandatory to at least congratulate her and Reverend Winford on their nuptials. She always found a way to avoid Marissa since. It wasn’t going to be easy to escape a brief conversation with her today.

  “I’ve been well. How about yourself?” With Chad waiting outside to speak with her father, Sophie wasn’t in the mood for social niceties, least of all with someone she considered a former rival.

  “Very good. It’s been a happy season for Rowe and me. We’ve been married for over half a year now.”

  Sophie knew that she spoke without an ounce of spite or ill will that Marissa was simply blissful in her marriage, but it still made her uncomfortable. Must she be reminded of her past follies? She mustered up her decorum. “Yes, you have. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to stand at the door.”

  Marissa raised her hand in greeting to Sophie’s family before parting ways to go stand beside her husband and shake hands with the congregation as they left the church.

  “Your time will come too, my dear,” Sophie’s mother spoke low. “And perhaps in the near future, if what you say about Chad is true.”

  Sophie filed out of the pew along with her family. Margaret and Linda chatted together, waving when she walked by. They followed her out of the church. Once Sophie’s mother found herself in conversation with Mrs. Euell, Sophie fell in step with her friends.

  “We heard that Chad took you on the promenade yesterday. How was the walk?” Linda asked.

  Margaret also expressed interest. “Did he hold your hand?”

  Sophie felt better instantly. “He offered me his arm. It took almost an hour to walk around the lake. Afterward, he drove me home in his new buggy. Well, I should say it looked new.”

  Linda clasped her hands together in excitement. “He sounds like the hero in The Adventures of Lady Whitecastle.”

  Margaret rolled her eyes. “You and your dime novels. I should think you had better things to do than read that drivel.”

  “It’s not drivel,” Linda defended. “Those stories are very engaging. Sophie reads them.”

  Margaret turned to her. “That isn’t true, is it?”

  Sophie chuckled. “They are entertaining, Margaret. You really should try reading one. I have several stories that you may borrow.”

  “No thank you.”

  “Sophie, your father is talking to Chad.” Linda indicated to the two men standing near the tethering post.

  Sophie’s pulse increased as she witnessed Chad make true on his word. “Chad’s asking my father for permission to court me.”

  “I knew he would. He’s quite smitten with you,” Margaret said. “I could tell at the Founders Day Festival.”

  Sophie studied her friend. “But how could you know, Margaret? You were sharing a picnic with Dusty.”

  “I could hardly eat a thing, I was so insulted. That Texan didn’t like my Hoppin’ John.”

  It was hard to suppress a giggle, but Sophie succeeded. “Never you mind Dusty. He didn’t mean anything by it.”

  Linda agreed. “You can try a different recipe next year.”

  Margaret shook her shiny dark curls. “I don’t intend on being unspoken for next year. I will have a suitor, I assure you.”

  “As will I.” Sophie saw her father and Chad shake hands before departing from the other. “I’m twenty-one years old, after all. And eligible.”

  Upon saying good-bye to her friends, she traversed the steps leading from church to return to her family’s wagon. Dusty was at the tethering post, talk
ing to that tanner Wes Browman. They smiled and laughed. She liked when Dusty smiled. Grinned, was a better word. Her father told her that life wasn’t easy for some people living on the plains, and more than a few men barely managed a smirk, but that never stopped Dusty from being good-humored and genuine.

  Except when you make him mad, a little voice inside her head reminded. You’ve been doing that frequently in recent days, haven’t you?

  She turned her back on Dusty and Wes as the wagon drove off. No use in harping over old events. If Dusty was going to get upset because Chad was courting her, there was nothing to do about it. He was her father’s employee. How did he expect to call on her if he was out working in the fields from sunup to sundown every day?

  She banished the thought from her mind. To entertain the idea of him as a beau was laughable, at least her mother would say so. Ladies did not accept the attentions of those beneath their station. Social rules were meant to be adhered to.

  “Sophie, I spoke with Chad concerning you.” Her father brought up the subject of the day as they drove from town. “I think you already know what he asked. I gave him my permission to court you so long as his intentions are honorable.”

  “And, of course, we can expect nothing but propriety from the young man,” her mother added.

  Sophie’s three siblings crowded the wagon with her. “So you’re gonna marry the mayor’s son?” Bernard asked. David yawned and Rosemarie folded her Sunday school lesson into the back pages of her Bible.

  “That’s moving rather fast, Bernard. Your sister and Mr. Hooper will have to go on an acceptable number of outings first to make their courtship known.” Her mother recited the well-known practice. “Perhaps by the end of summer you may ask that question again.” She patted Sophie’s hand. “I’m so proud of you.”