by Ali Olson
Mary pushed aside her thoughts and, with an effort, put all her attention on Daisy. “I’m sorry, Daisy. It has been a strange day. I don’t think I am going to be able to follow the usual schedule tonight. I cannot seem to concentrate in this crowd.”
Daisy pursed her lips slightly, then gave Mary a half-smile. “Well, I guess it’s good that you came down a little late. Fred is here. I told him he would need to wait a while, but I’m sure he will be pleased to hear you are available. Wait here.”
Daisy rushed away, searching through the crowd of men for the red-haired miner that came in nearly every Saturday. Mary stood, waiting. Why did she feel so out of sorts? It was a shock to see Jimmy, of course, but that should not have been enough to cause this reaction. She should simply be happy that they would talk the next day, and nothing more. Continue with her evening like she would have otherwise. As it was, she felt apprehensive about going upstairs with a near-stranger, something she had wrestled with during the first few weeks of her employment, but she had long since suppressed.
Still, she was a professional. She would just grit her teeth, smile, and go through with her evening. As she took Fred’s proffered arm and allowed him to escort her upstairs, she quelled the rebellion in her heart. She could not, however, do anything about the picture of Jimmy that floated in her mind, causing both guilt and pleasure to course through her.
Jimmy sat at the dining table of his boarding house, a large, rough-hewn slab of wood attached to four posts with benches on either end. It was imperfect for playing poker, but had worn down enough from innumerable meals that at least the men were only rarely catching splinters from it. The six of them—Jimmy, his acquaintance Jack, and four other men staying at the boarding house—sat at one end of the table. They dealt cards, drank from the bottle of whiskey they had purchased, and ate an apple pie the boarding-house keeper, Mrs. Jessup, had made them while they were out to dinner.
It had been a strange couple of hours since Jimmy had seen Maria. As soon as he had gotten back to his group at Lee’s, the curious men immediately wanted to learn more about the girl he had talked to.
“Is that the one you were talking about finding tomorrow? The old friend of yours?”
“Couldn’t really see her; is she pretty?”
“I didn’t, either. You should have brought her over here so we could see more than a pretty dress in a crowd of people. It’s not every day we get to see a fine woman, and based on your expression, I’d wager she was mighty pretty, indeed.”
“He’s right, Jimmy. Did you know you look like someone who was kicked in the head by a horse as a child when you smile like that?”
Jimmy had just wanted the moment to be over. “That was my old friend. She’s just a friend from a long time ago. Now, I thought we were going to play some poker, not stand here gawking.”
Thankfully, they took the hint and the men had filed out of the busy establishment, but the expressions on their faces told him that their thoughts hadn’t yet turned completely away from the pretty girl in the corner they could hardly see.
He had no idea what he’d expected to find when he came to Shasta to search for Maria, but it had not been the beautiful, sophisticated woman he met that afternoon. Now that he had seen and talked to her, though, he realized that she had always been beautiful, even when covered in mud from their romps. He simply had no opportunity to realize it before he had left the camps as a child.
He always planned on looking for her, but he was in shock from the actual reality of it nonetheless. He had long wondered where his friend was, and knew someday he would make his way back to Shasta, but the time had never been right until now. After all the waiting, to find her so quickly had been more than he could have expected, and he still felt bewildered.
Since he was seventeen, he had been living in San Francisco, working at Tallent and Wilde bank and improving his position with the company. He enjoyed his employment, which had started with separating out the myriad of coins that made their way into California, as well as the gold from the miners. That eventually culminated in his managing position, where he oversaw dozens of employees. It was a far cry from panning for gold, which he’d done for years before moving on to the bank.
He would be more than happy if he never stood in an ice-cold creek searching for those specks of gold dust again. The menial labor and lack of success he found in panning had beaten any enjoyment he might have had for it out of him. How his father could stand it all those years was beyond his reckoning. And then, after his mother’s death…well, Jimmy would never allow himself to live that kind of life.
After all those years of gritty existence in the mining camps, the job at the bank was a Godsend. He would make something of himself, a good respectable life far from the ugliness of those days. Perhaps one day he’d have enough money and skill to start out on his own, build up his own company. It was far in the future, but with effort, he could do it.
There had been one big drawback to his job in San Francisco; it had kept him away from Maria so much longer than he’d wanted. Since he had left Shasta so many years before, he had worried over her, hoping to get the opportunity to search for her. First he needed to care for his mother, and then he was working so hard to move up at Tallent and Wilde. But he never forgot her, never lost that need to find her again if he could.
A young girl, as close to a sister as he had, was left alone with nobody to protect her but her near-drunk of a father. Of course he fretted about her.
Not that his pa was much better, but Jimmy was able to fend for himself. Her father loved her, of course, but his dedication to whiskey had nagged at Jimmy for years, and it kept him from assuming she was safe and happy.
But Shasta had been hundreds of miles away, and there was no time or money to up and leave San Francisco on the vague hope he could find her. Not before he was settled in his position and was absolutely free from panning forever.
Now that he was here and knew she was well, a weight had been lifted. More than that, he felt like he had finally been put whole again. His closest friend was back. He felt deep inside that in many ways, things between them were the same as they had always been. In some other indefinable way, however, they were very different.
As he sat playing cards, he mulled over their conversation, trying to find the difference. It didn’t help his poker game to be so distracted, but he couldn’t stop himself.
After the other men had eaten the entire pie without him taking a taste, and after he lost more than he’d been willing to gamble, he realized the big difference, the thing that had not been there when he and Maria were little. There was a new thrill, a new press in his heart when he touched her.
They had been separated for too long for the attractions of her beautiful grown-up form, the feeling of her body against his as he hugged her, to not excite him. She had taken his breath away.
He thought about her dark skin, exotically beautiful, her small curved figure that seemed to ache for a man to hold her, and her blue eyes, so familiar, looking straight into his with happiness, devotion, and love. Sisterly love, he reminded himself. She just saw him as an old friend, nothing more. Didn’t she? Or was there more to it than that?
He stopped the train of thought. He knew it would only end in his mind running in pointless circles, recalling every tiny detail and tidbit of the two minutes they had spent together. It would only add to his confusion about the situation. He resolved to concentrate on the game.
Jimmy swept his mind clean as much as he could, but was unable to get a picture of her smiling face to go away. He did not want it to go away. As he began playing poker in earnest—though he glanced at his pocket watch every few minutes, hoping it was late enough to leave the game without being questioned—her image stayed with him.
Jimmy slept poorly that night, and by nine the next morning he had tidied his room and even helped downstairs where the poker players from the night before had left a mess, which he volunteered to do when Mrs. Jessup spied i
t and rolled her eyes in disapproval.
After his work met with a nod of acceptance, he explained to her that he would be meeting a friend in the sitting room and would like privacy; she didn’t ask questions, as all good boarding house owners knew was best in order to keep their customers happy.
He even went to the general store to pick up treats to have ready for her, only to find himself unsure what to purchase as he stood in front of the rows of goods.
As children, he and Maria had stared longingly at the array of candies, but they seemed childish, now. Tinned cookies seemed wrong, tea was too formal, and anything else would require cooking before she arrived. He had no intention of attempting to ply even the most basic cooking skills this morning. Anything he made would probably be forgotten and burnt to a crisp if he noticed a bit of dirt on his collar or started thinking about her smile again.
He finally settled on a few small tea cakes and left the shop with the package. He could not stop his pulse from racing as he walked down the street toward the boarding house. Feeling awkward and a little juvenile, he rushed home with his package.
When he arrived, it was nearly ten o’clock. Maria would be coming in another hour. He could think of nothing left to prepare. He shifted uncomfortably on a chair in the sitting room while he waited wait, attempting to read a book until she arrived.
Not five minutes later there was a knock on the door. Jimmy bounded over, telling himself that it was probably not her. Not to be disappointed if it wasn’t her. It was still early. He swung open the door, and there she was, smiling apologetically at him. It was her.
The anxiety that had been building since the night before drained out of him the moment he gazed upon her again. He soaked in her hair, her eyes, her smile, and the rest of her beautiful body, clothed in a green dress made out of some silky-looking material. Every other thought quieted as he took her in, as though she was an elixir healing all of his little worries and pains.
His grin widened as she threw herself into his arms for a long embrace. His arms fit perfectly around her slender body, entwining her, as if they were meant to surround her. Her arms felt thin and strong circled around his neck, and her head lay comfortably on his chest. Every inch of his body reacted to her presence and he felt his face flush. He did not try to comprehend his reaction, instead allowing himself to revel in it.
They lingered in the hug, then slowly pulled away and looked into each other’s face. Maria laughed, seemingly overcome with happiness. He laughed too and pulled her inside to the sitting room, one arm settling around her waist. He was unable to let go of her completely until she was seated in a chair. Even then, it was difficult for him to allow distance between them.
Her gaze found his, her eyes ardent and the rich blue he remembered so vividly. “I am far too early,” she apologized. “We said eleven, I know, but I was sitting ready to come here and see you. I tried to read, and I could not understand a word on the page. A minute never seemed so long in my life. I had to leave.”
She blushed, seemingly embarrassed, but Jimmy’s heart skipped with delight with her admission of impatience. He stared at her, his wide smile most likely making him look like an addled idiot, but he cared little and had no ability to stop.
“I’m glad you did,” he replied. “I have done nearly everything I possibly could this morning and had run out of ways to occupy myself. My two options for the next hour were sitting and staring at the clock or going out back and doing the wash before Mrs. Jessup could get to it, and I doubt she would appreciate my washing skills, or lack thereof.”
She chuckled, then silence fell between them, lingering but not uncomfortable, wrapping itself around them like a warm cloak. Jimmy felt happy, exhilarated even, looking at her. She was beside him, and everything was just right.
Then he realized that he had no plan as to how to proceed. The cakes seemed silly now that they were sitting together, but that was the only thing he had planned despite all the time he’d spent thinking about her arrival. As if she read his mind, she turned to him, her expression eager.
“We have the entire day together, do we not?”
When he agreed, she continued, “Then I think we should go visit some of our old haunts. I haven’t seen some of them since you left, and it’s a nice day to walk around a bit, don’t you think?”
The thought of their secret hiding places, the quiet spots they had discovered after hours of searching, made his heart swell. Jimmy slapped his hands on his legs and rose from his seat. “That sounds perfect. Let’s go explore, Lady Maria.”
He held out his hands to her, which she grasped and hoisted herself out of the low chair, her body so close to his when she stood that he considered wrapping his arms around her in another hug. Instead, he turned toward the door, letting one hand fall, but keeping the other entwined with hers.
They stepped out into the bright summer morning and he paused, unsure where to turn. They could walk through the middle of the town and out to the river, or they could cross through side streets and make their way to a peaceful grove of trees. It was important to be seen in town, as the interim bank manager, but would it seem inappropriate to be holding hands with an unmarried woman? The protocol of the situation made him pause. He couldn’t let the discovery of his Maria—no matter how wonderful the discovery was—to jeopardize his advancement with the company, after all.
Maria made the decision for him, turning and walking away from the center of town, pulling him with her. After living here all her life, she would know what was best, so he trusted her choice. It was odd thinking of himself as a stranger, but in many ways he was.
She broke the silence as they threaded around buildings, quickly moving away from the busy areas of Shasta. “I always loved our forest; I hope it hasn’t changed too much.”
Jimmy followed her lead, and together they strolled through small dusty streets and out into the wild grass beyond the town. He could see the mining camp far to his right, butting against the town, but still separate. It looked dirty and hot and gray, and he was grateful he and Mary had managed to escape that place of desperate greed.
Their hideout, a small clump of thin trees Maria had always called “the forest,” stood tall and strong far ahead of them. Soon the tree trunks gained definition and separated, and he could see greater detail of the area, each object tugging at his heartstrings. Here was the tree he had taught her to climb and out of which she had promptly fallen. There was the clearing where they had held meetings of the highest importance and played blind man’s bluff. It was all so familiar.
Maria stopped walking to look at it, and Jimmy paused beside her. When she spoke, her breath was little more than a whisper. “Tell me about the magic.”
Jimmy hadn’t felt this calm and content for a very long time, and his voice deepened as he repeated the words he had said so often. “These trees aren’t just any trees, Maria. They are special. They’re our trees and nobody else’s, and they do hold magic for you and me. When we make wishes here, next to our trees, they hear us and gather up the wishes. Someday, they’ll let all the wishes go and everything we hope for will come true.”
His voice faded as he looked at the area around them. He didn’t know when he’d made up that thing about the wishes, but by the time he was nine, he had perfected the phrasing, and Maria always loved to hear him repeat it. Then she would make a wish to the trees before bounding off on another adventure.
Jimmy turned to her and saw that her eyes were shut tight, her lips pinched together, as if she was thinking with all the force she could muster. He was curious what she was doing, but waited. It seemed like whatever she was doing, it was important.
Although Mary knew the magic of the trees was one of Jimmy’s fantastic inventions, she centered all her thoughts into one wish, one hope, that she would never lose Jimmy again. She pictured telling him about what she did at Daisy’s and prayed he would understand.
She sent her wish into the trees, let out the breath she had been h
olding and looked up at Jimmy to find him watching her. She considered telling him the truth right at that moment, then dismissed the idea. It was too soon. She wasn’t ready.
She smiled up at him and tilted her head in the direction of the trees. “How ‘bout we keep moving and get out of the sun? Seems silly to stop out here in the blazing sun when the forest is so close.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “You still sound like a miner, did you know that? And it’s not a forest. I’m fairly certain I have told you that at least a hundred times.”
She shrugged and began walking again, glad he hadn’t asked what she had been up to when she was wishing. Getting out of explaining would have been difficult. It was easier to push that topic away for the time being and enjoy the day. The shade of the trees was cool and pleasant, and she leaned against one of her favorites with a sigh.
Jimmy’s voice broke through the quiet. “Is that the one you named Ralph or some such thing?”
Mary laughed, startled by the memory. She had forgotten about having named all the trees. Most of their names switched and morphed depending on the day, but a few had stayed consistent. Like Ralph. “Yessir, it is. How did you remember this tree was Ralph?”
Jimmy looked at her as if the answer was obvious. “You always liked leaning up against Ralph, just like that. I thought it was a ridiculous name for a tree, but now I see it. He is definitely a Ralph.”
The hours passed as they explored the area with old memories and new eyes. They laughed and reminisced about their capers and adventures, found old hideouts and replayed different memories. It was early afternoon when Maria turned to him abruptly and said, “Goodness, do you have the time?”
Jimmy looked at his pocket watch, startled by how quickly the hours had flown. “Do you think we have time for one more jaunt before you need to get back to town?”
Maria was hungry—they had completely skipped lunch—and wanted to see Emma before returning to Daisy’s by dusk, but the long summer days gave her plenty of time to do it all. At her nod of agreement, Jimmy began walking out of the grove and even further from town, Maria’s hand still nestled in his.
