by Jill Maguire
“Help yourself to some cake if you’d like,” Delia offered when she had served all the guests. “I don’t make cake every day, ingredients are too extravagant. Just once a week or when new boarders come in. Go ahead, help yourself.” Delia’s tone led Adam to believe that he might find a severe punishment if he did not partake of the proffered cake. He chuckled silently to himself again.
The next morning breakfast played out just like dinner had the evening before. Adam ate only after the guests had been served and once Delia had taken her own breakfast outside to a little porch off the kitchen. Her absence left Adam with the opportunity to watch the beautiful woman through the slightly open doorway. She was just as striking in the light of dawn as she had been the evening before.
When breakfast was over Delia insisted on giving Adam a new list of repairs to tend to before he could offer to do the dishes again. Adam looked down at the list. At first glance he figured it would keep him busy for days but he was pleased to see that a few things needed attention upstairs. Perhaps he would run into the woman again, with Delia safely out of the way.
There were several things that needed to be picked up in town before Adam could begin some of the repairs and he decided to make all his purchases before starting in on any project. Adam walked the few blocks to the general store and took his time looking around. Adam was interested to see what kinds of things were in demand in a town like this.
Adam saw a lot of farming equipment and a good inventory of things needed for cattle ranchers. He noticed that there was a much smaller section of fabrics and supplies that women would need for hobbies than there had been back home. In general, everything was simple, more rustic and functional. He wouldn’t have thought of things back home as extravagant, but the utilitarian things here certainly made it seem that way.
Adam collected the items he could and approached the wide wooden counter to ask about the other things Delia required. A very tall broad man was standing against the counter talking with the shop owner.
Adam waited behind the large man and in a moment heard Faith’s name in the conversation. On second glance Adam thought the man could very well be the blacksmith, Faith’s husband. His skin was blackened with soot and his arms were large and muscular. Next to him the shop owner, who was rather tall and lanky himself, was dwarfed.
“Can I help you sir?” the shop owner addressed Adam. The large man turned toward Adam to include him in the small circle.
“Yes, I’d like to take these things and I need a few others. Everything goes on Delia Snow’s tab.” Adam placed his paper on the counter. “Can you get these things for me?” Adam motioned toward the handwritten list.
“Let’s see what we can do for you,” the shopkeeper said kindly.
“Thank you.”
“Delia’s place huh?” The burly man’s deep voice boomed through the shop. He sized Adam up. “You must be the man my wife was talking about. I’m Hayes Morgan.”
“You must be Faith’s husband then. I’m Adam DeLane.” Adam shook the man’s hand and wasn’t surprised that Hayes nearly crushed his own.
“This here is Mr. Garber,” Hayes motioned to the shopkeeper who had his back to them as he looked for Adam’s requests behind the counter. Mr. Garber turned and nodded to Adam as he set some things down.
“Faith told me she invited you for a meal with us. How about some lunch on this fine day?” Hayes offered.
“That sounds fine,” Adam replied, somewhat shocked by the sudden invitation.
Mr. Garber offered to keep Adam’s purchases at the store until he was headed back after his meal with the Morgan’s.
“Thank you, much obliged Mr. Garber,” Adam nodded.
Adam followed Hayes down the street into the blacksmith’s shop to a door hidden in the back. The door opened into a hallway which led into an open kitchen and living room space. Adam found it quite sparsely furnished, but cozy with obvious womanly touches here and there. Again, almost everything here was practical and functional.
“Mr. DeLane! What a nice surprise!” Faith exclaimed when she saw Adam.
“Please, call me Adam. It’s nice to see you again so soon,” Adam beamed and took Faith’s hand for a moment.
They sat around the table together and Adam was grateful to partake of Faith’s delicious cooking again. He told them of his work at the boarding house, and in turn heard about Hayes’s blacksmithing. All the while, Adam thought of the woman living upstairs at the boardinghouse and wondered over and over when he would get to see her again.
Hayes and Faith relayed the story of how they met and Adam observed the warmth of their shared glances and the way Hayes touched his wife’s hand affectionately. Inwardly, Adam yearned for such a companion and he found their story gave him hope.
“But we must be keeping you from your work, Adam,” Faith said finally. “I know how Delia is about things, you’d better head back.”
“Thank you for another delicious meal Mrs. Morgan.” Adam stood along with Hayes and followed him back into the blacksmith shop.
Chapter 5
When Adam had finally made his way back to the boarding house, he found it eerily quiet and Delia was nowhere to be found. Adam found a shed in the back and stored his supplies in it, spotting a few yard tools that were so old and crusty they looked like they might fall apart at his touch.
Grabbing the box of tools from the back kitchen closet, Adam made his way upstairs. He had noticed earlier that the windows in all of the rooms upstairs were in need of some attention, but they weren’t on Adam’s list. Despite hearing Delia’s warning in the back of his mind, he walked to the end of the hall and took a deep breath. He knocked tentatively on the door.
“Oh, hello.” The woman seemed surprised to see Adam standing outside her door.
“Good afternoon, ma’am,” Adam tipped his hat to her. “My name is Adam. I tend to repairs here and I noticed that your window was awful drafty. May I come in and fix it for you?”
“Oh, yes, please do.” The woman moved back to let Adam through but offered no more information.
Adam tinkered at the window for a bit, stealing secret glances at the young woman as she busied herself at her small desk, writing feverishly on a tiny note. She was so beautiful, sitting in her chair, the afternoon sunlight shining full on her face. Then Adam noticed that her eyes were a little red and she held a handkerchief in her hand. She had been crying.
“So, what is your name, if you don’t mind my asking?” Adam tried.
“Charity,” the woman said in a tone so quiet that Adam almost didn’t hear her. Yes, Charity was her name, her name couldn’t be anything else, Adam thought.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you Charity.”
“You as well,” Charity said absently, not meeting Adam’s gaze. Adam figured her mind was somewhere else entirely so he stood and picked up his tools, placing them back into the box. This woman did not need a nosy stranger intruding into her life. She needed a friend, not a suitor.
“Well, Miss Charity, welcome to Whistle Stop.” Adam paused in the doorway. “Please let me know if you need anything. Anything at all.” Charity looked up and graced Adam with a small, grateful smile making Adam’s heart thump a little faster as he made his way back downstairs.
“Okay, alright ma’am. Right away,” Delia backed into the kitchen, her arms burdened with dirty dishes. Adam caught a dish as it slipped from her hand and Delia made a sound very near a growl. “That new boarder is so demanding; who does she think she is?” Delia hissed.
“Which one?” Adam asked curiously. Surely not Charity.
“Oh I can’t remember her name, the rosy plump one,” Delia whispered exasperated. No, certainly not Charity, Adam mused. While Charity was obviously with child, she could never be described as plump. She was lithe and graceful.
It had been a few days since Adam had found out Charity’s name and he had been polite in giving her space, but often he caught her eye through the kitchen door, or walked past her
in the hallway. Each time they passed, Charity had looked up at him with a shy smile before dropping her eyes again, her long lashes brushing her soft, pink cheeks.
With no other friends to speak of in Whistle Stop, Adam spent many evenings with Faith and Hayes and upon one meal, felt brave enough to share his feelings for the shy boarder.
“I think it’s a good idea to give her some space right now, Adam,” Faith had said, “who knows what the poor thing has gone through.”
“But that is the hardest part for me, Faith,” Adam struggled. “I wish I did know, I wish I knew everything about her. I want nothing more than to help her.”
Hayes sat shaking his head. “I’m afraid I can’t agree with my beautiful wife on this one,” Hayes had admitted. “Be persistent Adam, pursue her. Yes, she needs a friend, but why can’t that friend be you?”
Adam nodded, staring at his plate pensively. Hayes had a good point. There was no reason he couldn’t be Charity’s friend with the intention of showing her what he had to offer as a potential husband. Hayes’ idea had set Adam’s mind spinning.
“Well Adam, I guess you’ll have to clear your day. The windows of this place are an abomination and I need for them to be washed inside and out,” Delia’s voice was thick with resentment. Adam looked at her in amazement. This was his chance to visit Charity, ordered by Delia herself. And he had to agree, the windows were an abomination. A good washing would vastly improve the look of the whole house.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Delia admonished. “It’s a beautiful day; you may as well work outside.” Adam formed his expression into a clever smile as Delia let out a huff of air. Adam thought she was really starting to warm up to him.
“Alright, well, I’ll start with the inside and by the time I get to the outside it will be a bit warmer out there.” Adam hurried to assemble the cleaning supplies and headed up the stairs, making his way eagerly to room number three, Charity’s room. Adam once again took a deep breath and knocked on her door. Charity opened the door and this time greeted him with a smile of pleasant surprise.
“Ma’am,” Adam tipped his hat to her. “I am here to wash your window. I’m washing all the windows of the boarding house today.”
“Come in,” Charity invited. “I want to thank you for fixing the window the other day. I have been much warmer at night,” Charity said in her quiet tone.
“I’m glad to hear it,” Adam said as his heart swelled. He hoped his face didn’t give away too much of his feelings for her.
He slowly began washing the window, intending to take his time on this particular one. “So, what brings you to Whistle Stop?” He asked after a moment’s silence. He turned to face her and found her eyes clouded with sorrow once again.
“Well, I suppose I came here because I answered Mrs. Snow’s ad for a room. I - I really had no other choice, nowhere to go,” Charity hesitated and looked into her lap. Adam wanted her to go on, but didn’t want to scare her by prodding too much. Adam watched her intently until she looked up and spoke again.
Chapter 6
Charity eyed Adam shyly and continued her story.
“We were headed to Oregon country in a wagon, me with my husband and my parents. There was an accident. My husband and both my parents were killed.” Charity’s voice broke and she took a deep steadying breath. “We weren’t far from the next outpost and I made it there in just a little time on foot.”
“I’m terribly sorry Charity. You must have been so frightened to be out on the trail alone, and in your condition.”
Charity’s eyes welled with tears.
“What choice did I have?” she asked with a slight desperation in her tone. “I wasn’t going to stay out there to waste away, or worse, to be found by natives. I made it to the outpost and found Delia’s advertisement almost upon my arrival. I had no one, I had nowhere to go. It seemed like the best and only option that I had.” Charity had taken on a defensive tone, as if she had to convince Adam of the soundness of her choice. Or maybe she was actually trying to convince herself, Adam thought.
“Charity, Charity,” Adam said, soothingly. “You’re just fine, you’re going to be just fine. You’re doing your best to provide for yourself and your child.”
Charity put a handkerchief to her eyes and silently sobbed.
Adam sighed, his heart longing to go to her, to wrap her in his arms. Now knowing her story, Adam found that he yearned for this woman even more than he would have expected.
Suddenly, she looked up at Adam and stood slowly.
“Thank you, Adam. I haven’t been able to talk to anyone since it happened, and I have been praying for a friend, for someone to share my grief with. You are an answer to my prayer, truly. To speak of my husband feels like I am keeping his memory alive. He was such a wonderful man, and he was so looking forward to the baby.” Charity placed a hand on her belly and looked off into some long gone day.
“And now, you’re promised to another?” Adam asked curiously. He wasn’t completely clear of the arrangements Delia made with her boarders, but he needed to know if she was already planning to remarry. Charity confirmed his fears with a nod.
“Yes, that was part of the agreement. Delia assures me she will find a good man who will be a good father to my child.” Charity’s voice faltered and she looked down as pity for her filled Adam’s soul. He knew that she had no other choice but to trust her future and the future of her unborn child to Delia but the prospect twisted his heart.
“Well, please let me know if there is anything I can do for you.” It sounded heartless but Adam didn’t know what else to say, or what else he could do.
Suddenly he thought he heard a noise in the hallway. He stood upright from where he had been leaning against the window frame. He didn’t want to leave Charity now, but he knew he had to move on. Perhaps Delia had already caught him lingering in room number three.
“Your window is nice and clean ma’am. I must get moving on to the next chore.” Adam bowed slightly and saw by the look Charity gave him that she understood they might have been overheard. Adam collected his things and entered the hallway again, looking toward the staircase to see Delia’s back hurrying down the steps.
During lunch, Delia was strangely quiet and gloomy, even for her. Adam decided to give her space and refrained from any of his usual teasing. He was suspicious of her behavior though. He knew that she must have overheard at least part of his conversation with Charity and it wasn’t in her nature to keep quiet about such things, normally she spoke her mind and didn’t care two-bits about what anyone thought, nor about probing into matters that hardly concerned her.
The day had warmed beautifully and Adam left his jacket in the kitchen as he prepared to work on cleaning the outside windows. He retrieved a ladder and a bucket from the shed in the backyard and decided to begin with the second-story windows. As Adam was securing his ladder, he saw Charity slip out the front door and head toward town. They exchanged a brief, but warm smile and with just that one gift of a glance, Adam felt that he could float to the windows on elation alone.
Adam hummed as he worked away the afternoon. He worked quickly and by the time the sun was lowering on the horizon, he had finished cleaning all the windows, even the ones unseen from the road. Adam put the ladder and cleaning supplies away and stood to survey his work. The house gleamed as he had never seen it before. The recent repairs he had done to the shutters and the front door were now beautifully complemented by the sparkling windows.
“It looks beautiful,” came a soft voice at his elbow. Adam turned to see Charity, studying the house with a keen eye. “It looks like a right respectable place to live now. You’ve improved all our lives with your work, Mr. DeLane.” Charity smiled generously at him.
“Please, call me Adam,” he said softly. She was so close, so beautiful. “I’m very glad that you’re pleased.” Charity graced him with a soft caress of his arm and continued her walk to the front door. Adam watched her climb the newly-repaired steps and
disappear inside.
“Excuse me, Mr. DeLane?” an authoritative voice behind him snapped Adam out of his reverie. Adam slowly turned and faced the sheriff who had taken Mercy’s husband, Cole, to jail the night Adam had arrived in Whistle Stop. “Mr. DeLane, could I have a word with you?” Sheriff McCabe eyed Adam warily.
“Certainly, Sheriff McCabe. I’m at your service,” Adam said in a friendly manner. What could the sheriff possibly have to say to him? Could it have anything to do with Charity? Or Mercy and Cole?
“Come with me,” Sheriff McCabe motioned with two fingers and led Adam into the kitchen through the back door. When they had gained the kitchen, they found Delia standing next to Adam’s coat hanging on a chair by the counter. One hand sat securely on her hip and the other she held out to the sheriff. A fine-looking cameo necklace sat in Delia’s large, meaty hand. It looked very out of place in the grungy kitchen.
Chapter 7
“Adam DeLane, Mrs. Snow says she found this necklace in your coat pocket.” Sheriff McCabe pointed to Delia’s outstretched hand and looked at Adam for an explanation. Adam met his gaze with complete confusion written on his face.
“This necklace is known to belong to the boarder in room number three,” Sheriff McCabe continued. “You were in her room today, were you not?”
“Yes, I was, I was cleaning the windows as Mrs. Snow had advised.” Adam immediately went on the defensive, unable to believe this was happening. How had this happened? Adam hadn’t touched a thing in Charity’s room. He swiveled to face Delia. A smirk was fighting its way across Delia’s face but she tried to keep her smile in check.
“Mr. DeLane, you’re under arrest for theft. You’re coming to the jailhouse with me,” Sheriff McCabe stated in a monotone voice. Before Adam knew what was happening, handcuffs were being cinched uncomfortably around his wrists.
