Mayor Melbourne waited beside the table, holding his bowler hat to his chest. “You ladies are a vision in this dusty town. I trust you are recovered from your journey.” He helped Rebecca with her chair while Mr. Austin helped Maggie.
“Much recovered,” Rebecca said, bestowing her prettiest smile on him. “And looking forward to the festivities tomorrow.”
He grinned back and cleared his throat self-consciously. “I’ve asked the men to hold off until then for introductions, although I can’t very well stop them from looking.” He said the last and his gaze drew back to Rebecca.
Anna giggled, and then quickly covered her mouth with her hand.
The cook looked a bit harried as she served them a dinner of fried chicken, potatoes and green beans. “Not real fancy but it’ll stick. There’ll be apple cobbler comin’ too.”
Maggie had never had such a feast. Her mouth watered at the heavenly aromas.
Mayor Melbourne excused himself. Men at the other tables glanced furtively over at Maggie and the other women as they ate. She felt as though she was in a courtroom again, the way they were all staring at her. When Sadie dropped her napkin, no less than three men came close to blows trying to be the one to pick it up for her. And when the four of them rose to return to their rooms, wood screeched on wood as at least ten men jumped from their seats and rushed in to pull back their chairs.
It all felt strange.
She followed the other three brides to the lobby, feeling the stares of the men on her back. As she started up the stairs, something tugged at her skirt. She stopped.
“Miss?” A man who had just entered the lobby from the street whipped off his flat cap. Quickly he strode toward her. “Wait.”
From the third stair, she looked down into the most arresting eyes she had ever seen. They were the color of moss with a dark lash fringe, and gave him a quiet, self-possessed appearance. Rich brown hair that had not recently benefited from barber shears, a straight nose and a strong chin came together in a remarkably pleasing countenance.
“Aren’t you forgetting the rules that the mayor stipulated?” She meant to say it smartly, but only managed to sound amused. Considering that she usually ignored boundaries placed on her it was amusing to her. A bit like the pot calling the kettle black.
Then she noticed his attire. He wore work clothes—brown trousers with suspenders and a coarse cotton shirt. She frowned. Not exactly his Sunday best for trying to make a good first impression. “I thought all cowboys wore Stetsons.”
He rubbed the short whiskers that shadowed his chin, obviously unperturbed at the criticism. “You’re caught up.”
“Caught up?” she echoed.
He pointed to her hem. “Your dress.”
She twisted slightly. Her skirt had brushed against a rung on the unfinished staircase and caught on a protruding sliver of wood. “Oh, fairy dust and flapjacks!” she mumbled under her breath. So he hadn’t been trying to flirt with her. He’d only been trying to help. She gave the skirt an ever so gentle tug. It remained stuck fast.
“I’ll get it.” He crouched on the stairs and set to work, trying to extricate the material.
Heat crept up her face as she waited. She studied the back of his head, the waves in his hair that swept his collar, the broad shoulders set off even more by the crisscross of his suspenders. Inadvertently, he bumped against her, his broad shoulder pressing against her thigh. Her leg tingled at the point of contact. Disturbed, she inched away.
This was embarrassing—him kneeling at her feet. She glanced up to see the rest of the men watching from the dining room with interest. This was not how she envisioned being the center of attention.
Sadie, Rebecca and Anna waited for her at the top of the stairs. By Rebecca’s exasperated expression, it appeared she suspected Maggie had maneuvered this delay on purpose.
Maggie pursed her lips. Would he not hurry up? “It’s all right. Please don’t bother anymore. I’ll take care of it.”
She twisted farther, trying to see better what he was doing, and heard a loud rip.
His shoulders tensed.
“Oh, no!” Of all three of her dresses, not this one!
He rose to his full height—which since he stood a step below her put him at eye level. “Looks like you’re free now.”
She examined her hem. Six inches of tattered petticoat and blue material now dragged the floor. “Just look at my skirt!” She could have done a better job herself. “The least you could do is apologize.”
He tilted his head slightly. “Apologize?” He drew out the word.
She placed her hands on her hips, her temper simmering. Sultry eyes or not, he could at least try to act the gentleman instead of standing much too close and challenging her with his attitude.
“Ah, Miss McCary. Margaret McCary?”
At the deep voice, she glanced over to the entry. A man with a tarnished brass badge on his chest stood there.
“Sheriff Baniff, miss.”
She swallowed. What could he want? She hadn’t been here long enough to cause any rift with the law. She mustered up her most gracious smile. “It’s Maggie McCary, Sheriff. How nice to meet you.”
At her pointed look, the green-eyed man moved out of the way and let her pass. He followed her to the lobby.
The two men standing there together were the same height—like bookends—one sandy blond and the other dark. Did Oak Grove grow only tall men? The sheriff, although handsome, couldn’t hold a candle to the moody-looking man at his side.
“Mayor Melbourne asked me to look into your sister’s whereabouts. I’m sorry to report that I haven’t found her. I’m tempted to think she continued west on the train.”
“She wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t leave me.”
“Town’s not that big that she could just disappear, yet no one admits to seeing her. And the only thing that suggests she got off the train are those marks where something was dragged in the dirt. It’s not much to go on.”
She had expected as much. Her sister was a master at hiding. Maggie hadn’t been more than five when Mary taught her to fend for herself and how to slip in and out of shadows. “Thank you for trying, Sheriff.”
“It’s too dark to see anything now. I’ll search again in the morning. I don’t suppose you have any idea why she ran off?”
Because she refuses to lose her independence.
“You will have to ask her that when you find her.”
“I intend to.”
She turned away from his penetrating gaze and gathered up her torn skirt. “If you’ll excuse me.” A few steps up the stairs and the back of her neck tingled. She gripped the banister and stopped.
It made no sense to look back. No sense at all, but those green eyes drew her.
The sheriff was heading into the restaurant. Amid a low hum of conversation and the clinking of forks on plates, the men there had returned to their meals. Yet the man who had freed her skirt stood in the same place near the door. He stared at her, seeming to scrutinize her very existence. What was he thinking to look at her that way?
A low thrumming sensation started in her chest—the same sensation as when he’d brushed up against her leg.
Quickly she turned and hurried up the stairs to her room.
Chapter Three
Late the next morning while they were each putting the finishing touches on their pies for that afternoon’s party, Rebecca received a box of candy from the mayor and a book of sonnets from the banker. Men were already lining up for a chance to court her. Maggie wouldn’t be surprised if Anna and Sadie had to settle for Rebecca’s leftovers—a situation that irked Maggie no small amount. At least she didn’t have to concern herself with deciding on a husband.
Now, with only minutes to go until the party started, she laced up her shoe, try
ing hard not to compare her clothes to Rebecca’s. Where her roommate wore a pretty cream-colored dress with dark pink edging and yards of ruffles descending from her bustle, Maggie wore the same dress she’d had on yesterday—the sky-blue one with the torn piece of hem secured by a small straight pin. She hadn’t the needle or thread to repair it.
A small flutter of trepidation formed in her gut. It was time to meet the men of this town and figure out which ones she could count on in a pinch and which ones—besides that Rader cowboy—to stay away from. As annoyed as Rebecca made her, she was glad to have her nearby at this moment. Anna and Sadie too. “Better to go to a hullaballoo together,” Da would say when he had to face a judge or jury. He’d drag her and Mary right along with him. Like then, Mary should be with her now.
Inside, her heart hardened a wee bit toward her sibling. She and Mary had made a pact. They would look out for each other—no matter what. But Mary wasn’t here.
She gave herself a cursory once-over in the mirror as she adjusted the bow over her small bustle. Then she pinched her cheeks to add a little color, grabbed her shawl and followed Miss Perfect out the door.
Rebecca stopped down the hall at Anna and Sadie’s room and knocked. The door cracked open and Sadie peeked out timidly. When she realized it was Maggie and Rebecca her shoulders relaxed and she stepped into the hall. She wore a green-and-white-striped dress with a wide white collar. It did her justice, setting off her auburn hair and dark amber eyes.
From what Maggie had learned, the sweet girl had worked as a parlor maid for a family of financiers. When the son had shown too much interest in her, the matriarch insisted that she leave their employment. “Just as well” Sadie had said during their journey to Kansas. “I’d rather cook and clean for one man than an entire family of five.” However, Maggie could see when Sadie wasn’t looking, how sad she was. Maggie didn’t know any man that was worth such melancholy.
Anna followed, a wide smile on her face as she stepped out into the hall and shut the door. Her brown eyes sparkled with merriment. “I mean to enjoy myself for as long as I can before I settle down to one beau. Working at the Bend in the Road Tavern did have its advantages.”
Rebecca rolled her eyes. “And it’s not hard to imagine what those might be.”
“For your information, Miss Simpson, I learned to dance. But I’ve never been the belle of the ball. I’m hoping that changes this evening for all of us. We are all belles tonight.”
“Make sure you don’t trip on your enthusiasm. A suitable match demands more than the man be a good dancer.” With her nose hitched slightly higher in the air, Rebecca turned toward the stairs.
Maggie pressed her mouth tightly together to keep from retorting immediately. What made Rebecca so very different than the rest of them? They were all here for the same purpose. Well, except for herself. She turned to Anna and Sadie. “And this from a lady who needed our help to bake a pie this very morning!”
By the tightening of her frame, Rebecca had heard her, but she continued down the stairs as if their words didn’t matter.
Sadie shook her head. She’d been an unwilling accomplice in the kitchen when they adapted the pie recipe particularly for Rebecca. Her protest had fallen on deaf ears.
Anna grinned. “Oh, don’t be a spoilsport. We didn’t hurt anything. Just had a little fun.”
Sadie could use a little of that in her life, Maggie thought. “Come on, ladies. There’s a party starting and I intend to eat my fill of desserts.” Her smile widened as she linked arms with the two. “Just not Rebecca’s.”
Mr. Austin met them at the base of the stairs. He tucked Rebecca’s gloved hand into the crook of his arm to walk her outside. The other three followed together. Maggie noticed, a bit piqued at the thought that they had all straightened to copy Rebecca’s graceful air.
With the air warmer than yesterday and the sun shining down from a cloudless blue sky, Mr. Austin accompanied them away from the train tracks and to the opposite end of town, where the endless tall prairie grass waved under a hazy azure sky. Wide boards, suspended between upended barrels made several makeshift tables. Chairs had been carried from the restaurant and were set up around a fire pit. A few wagons had been pulled off to one side with men and two women unloading the dishes and pots to the tables.
Farther out in the meadow, several children played a game along with two barking dogs. Other men—several who had met them at the train station—played a noisy game of horseshoes, the dust flying high into the air and the shoes clanking loudly against the metal spike. Other people milled around, chatting and watching.
All in all, Maggie couldn’t understand what made Rebecca, Sadie and Anna willing to stay in this uninspiring place. How could they marry and live here? How? Maggie had never missed the lush green hills and trees of eastern Ohio more than she did at that moment. Thank goodness that, unlike the others, she had a choice. Thank goodness Mary had a plan.
They stopped before a large square dance platform where a man bent over hammering the last few nails into place. Suspenders crisscrossed the center of his back and he wore a battered cap. Familiar—the shoulders, the back, the shirt. Buzzing started up in her belly, so much so that she put her hand there, holding tightly to herself.
“Ladies—” a man stepped forward and cleared his throat “—Mayor Melbourne was called away on business this morning and hasn’t returned, so it falls to me to get this event started. I’m Theodore White, the owner of the Oak Grove Gazette—”
“Now, hold on, Teddy,” Mayor Melbourne called out as he strode swiftly up to the gathering. His face was red with exertion. “I made it back. I’ll take over.”
There was a polite round of applause. Maggie glanced over her shoulder and realized the carpenter had straightened and now wiped his hands on a red rag. He scanned the crowd and met her gaze briefly, then he focused on the mayor as he stuffed the rag in his back pocket.
“I’d like to welcome you ladies and introduce you to the men who first brought you here. We formed the Oak Grove Betterment Committee because we believe in this town. With the stockyards and with the train, we are set to grow. But for that to happen we need men and women willing to put down roots, willing to do their part and contribute their talent to a growing community. May I be the first to thank you personally for responding to this call?”
It all sounded so grand, the way he put it, but his words didn’t pertain to Mary or herself. They had sold Da’s horse to pay their passage and didn’t owe the committee a thing. It was only the matter of voiding the contract they had signed, which the sheriff in Bridgeport had assured them would be a simple fix.
“The terms of the contract are...” He paused for emphasis and looked over the gathered men and women. “Ladies...you have one month to get to know the men of this town and make your choice. At the end of that period, if you cannot decide on a suitable groom, a lottery will commence among the bachelors with one of their names to be drawn for the reluctant lady or ladies. Today, Friday, marks the official start of the contract period. Four weeks from tomorrow, we will all meet at the church for a wedding to beat anything you’ve ever seen before.”
Maggie pressed her lips together. Four weeks. Such a short time. She understood that it was practical. The committee could only afford to house and feed them for so long. At least it would be nice to have free room and board without worrying where her next meal would come from. She and Mary would be sure to be long gone before the last week was fully upon them.
“Men?” the mayor continued. “You know who you are. Form a line. The ladies will stand on the platform and you can walk by and speak to each one for a moment. That’ll keep everything cordial. We don’t want to overwhelm the potential brides now, do we?”
There was a crude joke by someone—Maggie couldn’t tell who—but then the men hustled across the grass toward the platform. A fair share of jostling, backs
lapping and one-line quips commenced as they found a place in the line. The show of camaraderie was most likely to cover up the embarrassment of the situation—or the excitement. She was relieved that she didn’t see the outspoken cowboy who had pestered her yesterday.
The mayor took Sadie’s arm and helped her up to the dance platform. Mr. Austin did the same with Rebecca. Then Mr. White tipped his hat and offered his arm to Anna.
“Miss?” Sheriff Baniff held out his arm.
She caught herself before she flinched away. Her escort would be the sheriff. “I thought you’d be out looking for my sister.”
“She’s safe. I’ll explain after the introductions here.”
She wasn’t happy about waiting, but glancing at the eager line of men who watched, she also didn’t want them all privy to her conversation with the sheriff. She took his arm and he helped her up to the platform.
The first man in line started with Sadie, giving her his name and occupation, then moving on to Rebecca and then Anna and then her. The first six men she kept straight, but after that, all the names and faces melded together in a hopeless muddle. She would never remember every detail.
“Brett Blackwell here is the last bachelor that contributed to the committee,” Sheriff Baniff said.
“Vilcome to Oak Grove.”
The large dark-haired man grabbed her hand enthusiastically and pumped it. Along with his size, his strong Swedish accent and deep voice set him apart from the rest of the men. She tried to extract her hand from his crushing grip, but he seemed oblivious to the fact that he still held on to her. The man didn’t know his own strength. “And what is your occupation, Mr. Blackwell?”
“He owns the feed store along with serving as the town’s blacksmith,” Sheriff Baniff said.
Mail-Order Brides of Oak Grove Page 14
