by Patty Devlin
“I don’t reckon so,” Abel responded, driving the horses through the middle of town.
“You can let me off where you picked me up, Abel,” Sunny tried again. “I can walk home from there.”
Although it was only a mile more to the Taggarts’, Abel had no intention of allowing Sunny to walk home.
“Abel! Where are you going?” she finally asked, her voice uneven.
“To the Taggarts’. I told you I would take you home.”
“But, you can’t! I can’t be seen with you. You know that. Mother will be spitting mad.”
“You should have thought of that before you roped me into this debacle. No, we’ll be honest and take what gets dished out.”
“Please, Abel,” Sunny begged. “Please don’t do this. You don’t know my mother.”
“I’ll get to know her in time.”
“Oh, you are cruel.”
“And you are dishonest. I reckon we’ll solve that problem first.”
It looked for a moment like Sunny was going to try to leap from the buggy. She moved her skirts around, gripped her parasol and reticule more firmly and poised herself on the seat. Abel took her wrist and held it. She was not going to risk life and limb to get out of telling the truth. Not while he was around.
Eventually, they reached the Taggarts’.
One of the Taggart children, who’d been playing in the yard, looked up at them and then lit out for the house, the screen door slamming behind him as he hurried inside. “She’s home! She’s home! Aunt Lila, Sunny’s home!”
Abel set the parking brake on the buggy and hopped down, going around to help Sunny to the ground. She stood there, white-faced, as there was a big commotion in the house. Within seconds, Lila Winslow came bustling out of the house, wiping her hands on her apron, a look somewhere between relief and anger on her face.
“Sunny! Where have you been? Dani said you went to church this morning and then you disappeared. You didn’t come home! Where have you been, you difficult girl?” Lila’s relief had turned to fury as she saw that Sunny was whole and unharmed. But soon, her look turned to Abel. “What are you doing here, Mr. Armstrong? If you’ve been some assistance to Sunny, I thank you.” She took Sunny by the upper arms and gave the girl a shake. “Tell me what’s gone on!”
“I…uh…I did go to church, Mother. Then I…well, I wanted to…I mean, I thought that…”
“There was some sort of misunderstandin’, Mrs. Winslow,” Abel said. “Sunny thought it would be acceptable to go a-courtin’ with me for a picnic today. I thought you knew, so I didn’t tell her no.”
“I never gave permission for this. In fact, Mr. Armstrong, I specifically told you that you may not court Sunny.”
“I told him you’d changed your mind, Mother,” Sunny said in a small voice.
Without warning, Sunny’s mother raised her hand and slapped Sunny full force across the face. “You deceitful girl! How dare you!”
Abel took a step forward, intent upon giving Lila Winslow what for, for hitting her daughter across the face, ignoring her human dignity. Martha’s hand on his upper arm stopped him.
“Abel,” she said, “leave it be. This is betwixt Sunny and her mother.”
Abel growled and shook off Martha’s restraining hand. Sunny looked astonished, slowly raising her gloved hand to her reddening cheek.
“And who are you?” Lila Winslow asked Martha, a look of utter revulsion on her face.
“I’m Martha Diggins, Mrs. Winslow. We met at a church social a few weeks ago. You might not remember me. I was Abel and Sunny’s chaperone today.”
“You? This is outrageous.”
“It was perfectly proper, ma’am,” Martha said.
Lila ignored that comment and turned back to her stunned daughter. “Get in the house, you dreadful child! Go to our room, and you stay there until tomorrow. I don’t want to see or hear from you until I come to bed tonight, at which time you will say nothing to me. You disgust me. I only hope no one saw you about with the blacksmith. The blacksmith! Oh, how could you, Sunny! Have you no shame?”
If Sunny was going to answer, she didn’t get a chance. Lila gave her a shove toward the house. “Go. Get out of my sight.”
Sunny sobbed once and gave Abel a watery look before she ran off to the house in tears.
“Mrs. Winslow, I reckon you’re bein’ too hard on your daughter,” Abel ground out, barely keeping his temper in check. The woman was a harpy. How could such a vicious woman ever have raised such a cheerful and bright girl? Abel wondered briefly about Sunny’s dead father and his influence on Sunny.
“It’s none of your business, Mr. Armstrong,” Lila said, her nose in the air.
“I’m makin’ it my business. She doesn’t deserve to be treated so harshly. She was naughty, that’s true. But she’s been punished enough. I saw to that myself once I found out about her lies.”
“You what? What do you mean?”
“I took her in hand, madam. Spanked her good for her bad behavior. That ought to be enough.”
“How dare you! You actually touched my daughter? Have you no decency?”
“I did what needed to be done. I reckon it was appropriate.”
“Did anyone see you?”
“No.”
She sneered at Martha. “Some chaperone you turned out to be. Who knows what went on behind your back?”
Martha growled but held back. Abel was grateful for her restraint.
“Nothin’ untoward happened, Mrs. Winslow,” Abel told her.
“What is wrong with you, Mr. Armstrong? Why, you’re old enough to be Sunny’s father-”
“Not quite, ma’am,” he interrupted.
“Don’t insult my intelligence. If you want a young, impressionable woman to press yourself upon, find someone else. My daughter is off limits to you. Get off this property and don’t come back. If you do, I’ll set the sheriff on you.”
“If you hurt that girl, Mrs. Winslow, sheriff or not, you’ll be hearin’ from me.”
Lila gave him a disdainful sniff and walked stiffly back to the house.
Abel stood there for a minute, finally turning and getting back up in the buggy while Martha remounted.
“Well, that went well,” she said sarcastically.
“She’ll regret makin’ a hard limit like that. A teenager faced with that kind of hurdle will only try that much harder to overcome it.” Abel wondered how he could help Sunny and what exactly his own motivations were. It was true that he was technically old enough to be her father, but he thought that was an overstatement. Judging by Lila Winslow’s appearance, and presuming her husband was older, Sunny’s father had to be at least five years older than Abel. It gave him a bit of peace to acknowledge that to himself.
He felt closer to Sunny after their picnic, spanking included, but Abel was unsure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. There was a very big mountain to climb if he wanted to pursue the girl. Her mother was going to be a formidable impediment.
Chapter 4
Scheming
After a few hours of lying on her bed, crying miserably, Sunny answered a knock on the door.
“Yes?”
The door opened a bit, and Dani popped her head in. “Can I come in?”
“I suppose so. Mother didn’t say I couldn’t see anyone.” She sat up and tried to dry her sore eyes on her third handkerchief.
Dani came in and sat on the bed next to Sunny. “I heard what happened. We all heard.”
Sunny felt her wet cheeks go hot. “I’ve never seen Mother that mad. Obviously, I made a big mistake.”
“I told you so.”
Sunny sniffled. “Yes, you did. I want what I want, though.”
“Why would you do it, cousin? He’s just one man. There are a number to choose from. You could have anyone.” She thought about that for a few seconds. “Anyone but Alan Peebles. He’s mine.”
Grinning weakly, Sunny patted Dani’s hand. “You can have him, Dani. He’s a nice ma
n. You’ll be very happy with him.”
“He hasn’t asked me yet,” she pointed out with a slight pout. “He’s all too slow.”
“It will happen.”
“You, too,” Dani said. “Just not with Mr. Armstrong.”
Sunny’s chest got tight. “But I want Abel Armstrong,” she said stubbornly.
“Why? What’s so special about him?”
“He reminds me of my father in a few ways…”
“Ew.”
“It’s not like that, Dani,” Sunny chided. “He’s good-natured. I like his jokes. He’s big and warm and strong. No one can deny that he makes a good living and has a steady life.”
“I never thought of him in those terms.”
“And he’s handsome. I love his hands.”
“He’s too old for you, Sunny.”
“No, he’s not!”
Dani sighed. “Aunt Lila has other plans.”
“I know. I hate that. I don’t know what to do.”
“I don’t know either. Are you really, truly sure you want a tradesman?”
Sunny nodded definitively.
“You know he’s been divorced, Sunny. It was a huge scandal. I thought, for a while, that he would leave Carrollton, but he is a stubborn man and chose to stay. His wife was a…well, a trollop. She ran off with an actor or an acrobat or somethin’ like that.” Dani’s voice dropped to a whisper. “They say she was free with the whole troupe. Can you imagine?” Her cheeks were pink when she finished.
“Oh, my, poor Abel. He must have been heartbroken.”
“He was stoic. Kind of resigned, I think.”
“Well, I respect him for doing the right thing. If she was a tart, she deserved to be divorced. It’ll tarnish her for the rest of her life.”
“Yes. But it’s tarnished Mr. Armstrong, too.”
Sunny hung her head. Convincing mother was going to be impossible, but Sunny was determined, and that determination had to mean something. “I don’t care. Please, can’t you help me?”
“I’ll think about it. Maybe we can talk your mother into takin’ your heart into consideration.”
“Mother will never understand. She married father for his position in society.”
“Will you be punished more?”
“I have no idea. This is the worst she’s ever treated me. She’s a bit of a bully, but she’s never hit me before. Besides, I’ve been punished for telling lies already.”
“Bein’ sent to your room?”
Sunny bit her lower lip, unsure of whether to tell her cousin the whole truth. Dani was more than a cousin, though. Since coming to Carrollton, Sunny had found Dani to be a good, true friend. It had been such a relief to start out with that advantage. Best friends could tell each other some secrets. “Abel…uh…spanked me.”
“You’re kiddin’.”
“No. He really did.”
“My goodness!”
“It surprised me, too.”
“I’ll bet!”
“I’ve never been spanked before. Scolded, yes, but never spanked.”
“Did it hurt?”
Sunny nodded.
“I can’t imagine. My daddy has spanked me a few times but not in the last five years or so. You’re a grown woman. What did you do?”
“What could I do? I cried some. He wasn’t mean about it.”
“And you still want to court him?”
“Yes. Does that make me very stupid?”
Dani appeared to think about that for a minute. “Not exactly. You did deserve punishment for tellin’ lies.”
“I know. And I’m sorry I lied to you, Dani.” Sunny took her cousin’s hand and squeezed it. “I hope you’ll forgive me.”
“Of course I will. I hope you don’t do it again, though.”
“No. I won’t. Honestly.”
Dani’s name was called from somewhere in the house. “I’ve got to go. Try not to take it so hard. Mr. Armstrong isn’t the only fish in the sea. You’ll find someone better.”
There was no answer for that. To Sunny, no one was as good as Abel Armstrong.
Dani left, and Sunny went back to despondently trying to think about what she might do to get what she wanted.
* * *
Mother gave her dirty looks for about a week and scolded her at every opportunity. Sunny tried to accept it, but it made her chafe. It seemed so much harsher than it ever had. She missed her father more and more.
She and Mother made frequent trips into town, calling upon ladies her mother intended to ingratiate herself with. They were boring social calls, but Mother insisted upon the visits, and Sunny’s presence at them. The worst of them was the third they made after the incident with Abel. They went to visit Mrs. Hornsby, the mayor’s wife, and after a few minutes of being made to wait in the ornate foyer, they were shown into the front parlor. There, Mrs. Hornsby was holding court, her blue Indian print dress spread out elegantly on a fancy white and yellow chair. A matching yellow-striped settee sat perpendicular to the chair, and sitting there were two other women, Dani’s potential future mother-in-law, Mrs. Peebles, and her daughter, Lisa-Anne. Lisa-Anne had looked down her nose at Sunny from their first introduction.
“I’m so glad you came to call, Mrs. Winslow,” Mrs. Hornsby said, clearly curious about the town’s newcomers. “Once we met at church, I hoped we would become better acquainted.”
Mother smiled, arranging her dress properly on the settee opposite the Peebles. “It was good of you to invite us to your beautiful home.”
“And your daughter,” Mrs. Hornsby said, though her eyes twinkled with something Sunny couldn’t quite define. “She’s of an age with Lisa-Anne, I understand.”
Mrs. Peebles spoke up to that, her smile quite stiff. “I believe they are. You’ve met Sunny, have you not, Lisa-Anne?”
“Yes, Mother.” It was a curt response, followed by a sip of tea and nothing else.
There was an awkward silence, but finally Mrs. Hornsby spoke up. “We see you around town so often, ladies. In fact, I saw Sunny only recently…I believe she was takin’ a buggy ride.”
Sunny did her best not to cringe. What could she say to that? Her mother spoke up, saving her the embarrassment of addressing it, though she felt her cheeks go warm.
“Yes. Wasn’t it sociable of Mr. Armstrong and Miss Diggins to take her about the town? And so stylishly, at that.”
“I do believe that’s the livery’s best buggy. Or so I’ve heard. We have our own Phaeton, of course.”
That was a bit of a set-down, pointing out that while the Winslows were not of so low station that they might be ignored, they were hardly wealthy. Mother, however, was nothing if not determined to make inroads among Carrollton’s most influential citizens. “Of course.” She turned to address the Peebles. “Perhaps Lisa-Anne and Sunny could take tea at the Rosewood Café sometime.”
Mrs. Peebles responded to that. “Lisa-Anne’s social schedule is so demandin’,” she said. “We’ll have to consult her calendar before we can make a commitment.”
Lisa-Anne’s smile was triumphant. “Mother’s right. There are teas and soirees aplenty. Surely, we’ll see you among the throng soon, Sunny.”
Sunny nodded. She sincerely doubted the clique of young ladies of Carrollton would accept a girl who’d been seen going about with a tradesman, a divorced tradesman at that. Even in a town as small as Carrollton, there were proprieties to be observed. Sunny would have to live the incident down, and only time and good comportment would take care of it.
Mother smiled tightly and delicately placed her teacup down on the cherry wood table—imported, no doubt, from somewhere east, where fine furniture was made. She steered the conversation onto the weather, then church matters, while Sunny sat mutely nearby, afraid of her mother’s censure if she said anything in her own defense. But, oh, how she wanted to toss her tea right into smug Lisa-Anne Peebles’ face! Eventually, Mrs. Hornsby made it clear that the interview was over, so Sunny and her mother left politely, agre
eing to spend more time with Mrs. Hornsby and her friends in the near future.
Mother was distinctly dyspeptic after leaving there. She didn’t talk to Sunny the rest of the day.
The second Sunday at the after-services church social, she did have a moment alone. Her mother was chatting with a young man, smiling and exchanging nods and some polite laughter. Sunny wiped her hands after helping to serve the food and walked away a bit. It was the first her mother had let her alone among company, since the incident with Abel.
There was a big shade tree apart from the gathering, and the shade looked so cool in comparison to the ambient Texas heat. She was sweltering, and unpleasant perspiration clung to her. It was as bad as a Kansas City summer. Putting her back to the tree, Sunny sank down to the ground. Her mother would chide her for getting dust on her bustle, but so be it. She got snapped at for everything else, so why not that, too?
She wasn’t alone long, and, in fact, she’d just closed her eyes, listening to the sweet twittering of the birds in the tree, when a deep, rich voice spoke from a few feet away.
“Sunny.”
It was Abel! Her eyes snapped open, and two emotions warred within her. She knew she’d be in deep trouble with her mother if she was seen with him, but, at the same time, she was so thrilled to be in his company once again. The latter overrode the former. “Abel! I’m so glad to see you.”
“Would you care to talk?” He offered his hand for her to stand.
It was awkward to sit while he stood, but she knew if they were discovered sitting next to one another, there would be hell to pay. She and her mother were not being shunned, but Sunny had been warned that under no circumstances was she to be alone with any of the men in Carrollton. According to Mother, Sunny’s reputation wouldn’t survive the incident.
She took Abel’s hand and rose from the ground, enjoying the feel of his strong fingers holding hers. The touch lingered for a moment, but they were soon properly separated.
“How have you been?” he asked, his brown eyes focused on her warmly.
“I’m well enough, thank you. And you?”
“Well enough. You know I-”
