“The lady from the hotel. I saw her and Noah come out of the side door there. While you were talking to Mrs. Mullins, Mother.”
Noah gulped.
Tarnation. He’d done his best to impress Rosalie, and now that was all backfiring. Not only was she about to see he hadn’t cooked at all, but she was about to catch him in a lie.
Noah cleared his throat. No point in pretending. “Mrs. Highmore is her name.”
“And she helped you over at the hotel?” Rosalie asked. Her face was flat, her reaction unreadable.
“She, uh…” Noah cleared his throat again. “Here’s the thing. I did cook by myself… but, um, it burned. A lot. And so I ran over to the hotel last minute and begged for Mrs. Highmore’s help. She was kind enough to give me some of what she’d prepped for the hotel’s supper tonight.”
Rosalie tilted her head in interest, still not showing neither pleasure nor displeasure.
“So there you have it,” Noah continued. “I was hoping to impress you with my fine skills in the kitchen, but I messed up. I have the burnt sweet potatoes and dry chicken in the kitchen if you want to see how badly they turned out. I’m sorry I lied.”
He wanted to hang his head in shame. He felt so much like a little boy caught with his hands in the cookie jar. He half expected his pa to magically appear in the doorway and tell him to go and pick his switch from the tree.
There was a silence. It must have been brief, but it seemed to last eons. Then, suddenly, Rosalie began laughing.
She pressed her fingertips to her lips, her shoulders shaking as she giggled on and on. Jacob, too, was grinning.
“You aren’t angry?” Noah asked.
“Why would we be?” Rosalie asked.
“Because I made it sound like I’m all skilled at bachelorhood… and I guess I thought I was, but it turns out I’m not as good at it as I thought. And then I tried to hide that.”
“I find it amusing,” Rosalie said, dropping her hand. Her cheeks were pink, and her eyes danced with joy.
“So do I,” said Jacob. “Can we eat now?”
“Jacob,” Rosalie chastised. “Don’t be rude.”
But Noah was laughing himself, as relief washed through him.
“Let’s eat,” Noah agreed, taking the second plate and serving Jacob. “That Mrs. Highmore is a real swell cook. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.”
“I am sure we won’t,” Rosalie said, beaming from across the table.
Noah’s heart swelled, his face growing warm. He wanted to keep on laughing, and for no monumental reason at all. It was simply a nice day. He was in the company of a beautiful, understanding woman and a clever boy, and he just happened to feel better than he had in a long, long time.
“I can say Grace,” Noah said, interlacing his fingers. “I have a lot to be grateful for.”
Chapter 8
soar or sink
8. Rosalie
Chapter eight
“All right, everyone. Finish up your figures and put your books and slates away. I have an announcement to make.”
Rosalie stood from her desk, and all of the children followed her instructions right away. Stowing their slates, chalk, pens, and books on the floor beneath their seats, all eight young ones looked expectantly at their teacher.
It was the third day of school, less than a week since she’d arrived in town, and each morning had seemed to only get better. Back in Wisconsin, Rosalie had every kind of pupil, from attentive and pleasant to ornery and difficult. But here in Wyoming, all the students were simply grateful.
About half of them had not been to school in years--since before their families moved out west--and the other half had never been at all. As a consequence, they were all delighted to not only be formally learning, but to be somewhere other than their houses all day long.
Going to the front of her desk, Rosalie clasped her hands together. “First of all, I would like to say that, so far, I am very pleased with each of you. Every pupil here has been steadily applying themselves, and I have great faith in all of your futures.”
The children beamed, a few of them exchanging pleased smiles.
“As you all have proven to be so focused,” Rosalie continued, “I have decided that it would not be too much of a distraction if we planned a little event to celebrate the opening of our school.”
A little girl in the front gasped. “What kind of event?”
“Raise your hand, Amelia,” Rosalie reminded her.
Amelie’s hand shot up. “What kind of event, Miss Flinn?” she repeated.
“A play,” Rosalie answered, and she paused as excited murmurs filled the room.
“A play!” Amelie’s cousin Monty shouted. “I’ve never seen one of those!”
Rosalie raised her palms, asking for silence. “This comes with a stipulation. The planning for the play must not interfere with what is most important: our schoolwork. Is that understood?”
Everyone immediately nodded, Jacob included. Rosalie had taken him to see a play once in Chicago, and he had also seen traveling medicine shows perform. She knew that the theater held a special place in his heart.
“Good,” Rosalie said. “Now, we will have to assign tasks to everyone. We will need to pick what our play is about. We can do either a tragedy or a comedy. After that, we’ll need actors, a director, costume makers, and those who are good craftsmen to build the stage.”
The excitement rose in the room as Rosalie assigned tasks, picking the two oldest boys there to build a small stage. It was decided that a comedy would be preferable, and roles would be cast once the full script was written.
Armed with something new to work for, the children all rushed outside for their lunch break. Rosalie almost stopped Jacob, who lagged behind them all but decided to hold her tongue.
She’d been observing him carefully that first week and had noted he did not play with the other children. He ate lunch alone, and, after that, read underneath a tree while the others played ball or jump rope.
He had always been a loner, but a part of Rosalie could not help but hope things would be different for him in Wyoming. Was he truly happy always doing things on his own? Or was it too hard for him to make friends, and that was why he always opted to be alone rather than even try?
A knock on the open front door made Rosalie look over. At the sight of Noah, her breath hitched in her throat.
“Good afternoon, Miss Flynn,” he said, taking a slow step into the quiet schoolhouse. He wore no hat this time, and an apron was haphazardly stuffed in his back pocket. It appeared he’d come over from the saloon. In one hand, he clutched a bouquet of white, blue, and purple flowers. A smile stretched across Rosalie’s face. Were those for her?
“Good afternoon, Mr. Hahn. How are you doing?”
“Great. I had a real nice Sunday dinner.”
“So did I,” she said. “And I believe Jacob did, as well.”
“I brought you these.” Stepping forward, Noah handed her the flowers. Rosalie immediately brought them to her face and inhaled their delicious scent.
At the same time, her heart danced. He had brought her flowers!
Certainly, that meant he was interested in her in more than a neighborly way.
“I wanted to ask if you would like to have a picnic with me this weekend,” Noah said. “On Saturday.”
Rosalie wanted to sing with joy, but she kept herself in check. “That sounds wonderful. I would be pleased to accept your invitation. Thank you.”
Noah shone as he smiled. “Wonderful.”
Rosalie turned and set the flowers gently on her desk, biting her lip in pleasure. Noah Hahn had asked her to a picnic. Just the two of them.
All the doubt she’d had about courting when they first met had vanished. It had been far too long for Rosalie, and meeting Noah made her realize how ready she was. She wanted to find a husband, to find a father for Jacob. Her deserting husband had been one of a kind, and, God willing, she would never become involved with th
at type of man again.
“School is going well?” Noah asked.
“It’s wonderful,” Rosalie sighed, turning back to him. “The children are all so thrilled to be learning, and we have a play planned.”
“A play?” Noah’s eyebrows rose in delight. “I didn’t know Whiteridge was home to the theater.”
Rosalie laughed. “It will be a simple one. The children will be writing it themselves, after we read a bit of Shakespeare and gather some inspiration.”
“That sounds phenomenal. Am I invited?”
“The whole town is,” Rosalie answered, then, realizing she’d missed an opportunity, added, “but you will most certainly receive a special invitation.”
“Now that’s what I want to hear.” Noah winked, making Rosalie blush.
“I should get back to the saloon,” Noah said.
Rosalie nodded. She wished he didn’t have to go, but they both had work to return to, and they would see one other again… although the weekend did feel awfully far away.
“Is noon all right on Saturday?” Noah asked.
“Yes,” Rosalie answered, suddenly wondering about Jacob. He would be fine by himself for a few hours, but she did not want him growing lonely. Perhaps she could find someone for him to spend the time with.
She followed Noah out to the front steps, where they said their goodbye and he departed across the yard. Turning to go back inside, Rosalie caught sight of Jacob.
As expected, he sat under a tree, his lunch pail next to him and an open book in his lap. Instead of reading, though, he watched his mother intently.
Rosalie waved him over, a knot forming in her stomach. She did not know how to tell Jacob she would be spending time with a man in a… friendly way. Except the one farmer she briefly entertained a courtship with back in Wisconsin, Rosalie’s relationships with men had been virtually nonexistent.
Jacob joined her on the porch. He’d brought his book with him but left his lunch under the tree.
“What did Mr. Hahn want?” he asked.
Rosalie folded her arms, deciding she might as well just blurt it out. “He asked me to go on a picnic with him on Saturday. Will you be all right alone for a while? Perhaps you can visit one of our new neighbors.”
Jacob blinked rapidly, and she could tell he was busy thinking hard. “This is a romantic picnic, Mother?”
Rosalie cleared her throat, feeling uneasy. “Well, I would not go so far as to say it is romantic, but…”
Jacob’s eyes moved past her, and she turned to find he looked at the flowers on her desk.
“You favor him?” Jacob asked.
“Yes,” Rosalie admitted. She didn’t want to lie or mislead him. He was old enough for her to be honest with him. She paused. “You like him, don’t you?”
Jacob shrugged, avoiding her eyes.
Rosalie felt as if a fist had closed over her heart. Why was he being this way?
“Jacob. I thought you were impressed with Mr. Hahn. You went on and on about what a great tracker he is.”
“He’s not that great.”
Rosalie’s shoulders tensed. “That is not what you said the other day.”
A scowl contorted Jacob’s face, and he abruptly turned away, stomping back down the steps.
“Jacob.”
He looked over his shoulder at her, the sound of the other children’s shouts filling the air. Rosalie suddenly felt incredibly far away from her child. When it came down to it, he was all she had, really. Without Jacob, what was there to live for?
“Does this anger you?” she asked.
He shrugged.
Checking a sigh, Rosalie walked to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. “Mr. Hahn is a very nice man, Jacob. I thought you liked him and that you were be pleased to hear I’m spending time with him.”
“Do you want to marry him?” Jacob muttered, not looking at her.
“I…” Rosalie cleared her throat. “It is far too early to even think of something like that. I only just met him. But I know we have never talked about my marrying. What do you… what do you think of that?”
Rosalie held her breath, praying he would give a direct answer and not brush her off yet again.
“We’re fine the way we are,” Jacob said. “You’ve never needed a husband in the past.”
Rosalie’s heart ached with an unprecedented pain. Jacob knew nothing about the endless nights Rosalie had sat up long after he went to bed, first cursing Jeb for leaving her in the position she had, and then doing her best to convince herself she and her son were better off on their own.
She had wanted to protect Jacob from that pain. She had wanted him to see the positive side of their situation, to grow stronger from it.
Maybe, she saw now, he’d come to rely on their isolation a bit too much. He didn’t like the idea of it changing.
“I need to finish my lunch,” Jacob said.
He walked away, and Rosalie turned and went into the schoolhouse, her heart not knowing whether to soar or sink.
Chapter 9
honey, apples, and fresh air
9. Noah
Chapter nine
The birds around Rosalie’s little house seemed to sing with extra enthusiasm. Noah led his two horses into the shade of a tree and tied them up there. Removing his hat, he ran his fingers quickly through his hair.
He’d barely been able to sleep the night before, excited as he was. All week long, he’d waited for Saturday, and it was finally here. Hiring a second bartender at Outpost meant Noah was able to slip away for a few hours.
Luckily, he had the perfect plans to fill that precious free time with.
Before he could knock on the open door, Rosalie appeared.
“Good afternoon,” Noah said, his voice trembling a bit.
“Good afternoon.” Rosalie’s gaze quickly swept across him. “Would you like to come in for a moment? To cool down?”
“I’m used to the heat,” he answered. “I’m ready to go if you are.” He carefully peeked past her shoulder, into the house. “Is Jacob about?”
“He went down to the stream to read,” she answered.
“Ah.” Noah nodded. He liked Jacob immensely, and wished the boy was there to say hello to.
“Shall I bring anything?” Rosalie asked.
“Naw. I packed everything we should need, and don’t worry. I didn’t burn anything this time.”
Rosalie closed the door behind her. “Even if you did, I would eat it. It’s that much of a treat to be cooked for.”
Noah chuckled. “I would never make you do that.”
He offered her his arm, and she accepted it, allowing herself to be guided to the horses.
“These are both yours?” Rosalie asked.
“Yep. Tiny and McGruff. I bought them both off a miner this past winter.” Noah helped her into the saddle of the closest horse, then hauled himself up into the other one, which had the picnic basket tied to it.
Rosalie took the reins in her hands. “They are very nice.”
“I think so.” Noah leaned forward in the saddle and patted Tiny’s neck.
“Where are we headed?”
“Have you been down to the creek south of town yet?”
“No,” she answered.
“Well how about we change that right now?”
Leading the way, Noah took them down the road, through town, and across a clearing. They were still more than halfway up the mountain, but this part was leveled out some, with a babbling creek that eventually ended up in the river.
The spot Noah had already picked was familiar to him. Not only did it have an ample amount of shade, but there were smooth, large rocks and a bed of soft moss.
“How beautiful,” Rosalie said as they approached the spot.
“You think so?” Noah looked over at where she still sat in the saddle.
“Yes. I’m half expecting to see a fairy ring, that’s how magical this spot seems.”
“I love coming here.” Sliding from his
saddle, Noah made haste helping Rosalie to the ground.
“Let me just tie up the horses,” he said, taking both their reins.
Her Silent Burden (Seeing Ranch series) (A Western Historical Romance Book) Page 29
