“No, of course not.”
The Gardner home was one of the largest in Cowboy Creek. Daniel ushered them in and hung their coats. Leah unwrapped the baby. “She’s going to need to be fed right away, so make yourself comfortable in the parlor, and I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“Of course.” Marlys admired the carpets and furnishings. A photograph of Leah and Daniel in their wedding attire sat on the mantel. Her lace dress was exquisite. Leah had been a stunning bride.
Voices came from the entryway as Daniel greeted more guests.
“Thanks for having us. We haven’t had a home-cooked meal since we’ve been here.”
At the familiar voice, she turned.
Sam and August entered the room. August took in his surroundings, acknowledged her with a nod and settled on an ottoman. Daniel invited her into the conversation.
“Is this your first home-cooked meal since Philadelphia, Dr. Boyd?”
“I’ve enjoyed Aunt Mae’s cooking at the boardinghouse,” she answered. “Also, the elk or antelope or whatever it was we ate with the Cheyenne was home cooked, so we can’t discount that.”
“You’re right. I’d forgotten.”
“How are you, August?”
“Just fine, miss.”
“Are you enjoying school now that you’ve been here a few weeks?”
“Yes, miss.”
“What’s your favorite subject?”
“I like them all, but I like history the best.”
“What’s your current study?”
“The travels of Marco Polo.”
“He’s a very interesting historical figure.”
Judging from the enthusiastic smile on August’s face, he clearly agreed. “When he was little, his father left him for nine years to go exploring.”
“That’s a long time.”
“But the next time he got to go along. He was seventeen then.”
“And traveled to China, didn’t they?”
August’s brows rose and he nodded. “There were elephants there. And paper money. No one had ever seen paper money before then.”
Marlys smiled. “And Kubla Kahn traded with coal, which we use for fuel. I’m sure Marco found that puzzling.”
After giving her an appreciative grin, August chattered on about Marco Polo’s story and about the book he’d written of his life, which no one believed.
“Until the facts were proven true by other explorers years later,” she agreed.
“How do you know so much about Marco Polo?” August asked.
“I’ve studied history, art and languages since I was your age.”
“You did?”
She nodded. “My father indulged me by sending me to boarding school.”
August frowned. “Weren’t you lonely away from home?”
A normal child would have been, but she wasn’t like other children. After her mother’s death, she had nannies and tutors, and one instructor was much like another. Her father devoted little time to her whether she was home or not. Boarding school was structured, had purpose, and she felt accomplished and worthwhile when she was learning. She looked into his curious chocolate-brown eyes. “I wasn’t lonely. I was happy when I was learning.”
“Papa’s reading The Life of Benjamin Franklin to me every night,” he told her.
“Another interesting and very smart man,” she replied with a nod.
August gave her a look of admiration. “You must know a whole lot if you’re a doctor, too.”
“And she speaks more languages than I can keep track of,” Sam added.
She glanced at him and noted his relaxed expression. He had seated himself on a divan.
“You do?” August asked, his face bright with interest. “You know other languages? What are they?”
She ticked through the list, and then added, “And a little Cheyenne, thanks to James Johnson.”
“Could you teach me Chinese?” August asked.
“I’ve never taught anyone, but I suppose I could. I have some texts.”
August looked to his father. “Can Dr. Boyd teach me?”
* * *
Sam exchanged a look with Marlys. He hadn’t seen August this interested about anything or anyone before. Their quick connection wounded him slightly, but he cast away the twinge of jealousy. He loved his son dearly. He didn’t begrudge him anything, not even this particular friend.
“If Dr. Boyd is willing to teach you, and it’s something you want, I don’t see why not.”
Will Canfield and his pretty redheaded wife, Tomasina, arrived, thus ending their private conversation. Will helped her remove her coat, bringing into view the girth of her belly. Mrs. Canfield looked to be expecting very soon.
“Make yourselves comfortable,” Daniel said.
“No such thing,” Tomasina replied and stood with a hand at the small of her back. “I’ll just stand for now, and that way I won’t have to get back up to go to dinner.”
“Well, you don’t have long,” Leah told her. “Valentine is bringing out the food now.”
When Leah led them into the dining room and showed them to their seats, he noticed that he and August and Marlys were seated in a row, with Marlys at his side. She obviously noticed, too, because she darted him an uncomfortable glance.
A white wicker bassinet on wheels sat on a side wall in the dining room, and Leah checked on the baby sleeping there before taking her own seat.
“Your china is beautiful,” Tomasina commented.
Beside him Marlys touched the edge of the sparkling ivory plates double-edged in gold with a circle pattern of lilies of the valley around the outside.
“Thank you. They were my wedding gift from Daniel. He remembered my mother had dishes just like them when we were young, and he somehow found a whole set.”
“Leah, you said you grew up with Will and Daniel, didn’t you?” Marlys asked.
“Our parents were close friends, and we were inseparable as children,” Leah replied.
“Leah was a tomboy,” Daniel added.
“I wouldn’t have guessed it,” Marlys said.
Leah gestured to Tomasina. “Tomasina there was raised by her father, riding along with cattle drives. She used to have a rodeo show that she ran under the name of Texas Tom. She’s a sharpshooter and can ride and rope as well as any man.”
Marlys stared at the pretty redhead. “You can?”
Her surprise amused Sam. Seeing Tomasina heavy with child, dressed in a rust-colored jacket with white piping and a feminine white blouse underneath, it was hard to imagine her roping a steer, but he’d already heard the stories of her show-stopping arrival in town and her rodeo show performances.
“Well, I won’t be doing it anytime soon, but yes, I can,” Tomasina said with a wry smile.
The Gardners’ housekeeper, Valentine Ewing, served succulent roast beef with vegetables and warm bread. Even August ate with more enthusiasm than Sam had seen from him for a long time.
After the meal was cleared away, she carried in a baking dish, and Leah served them hot rice pudding. The pleasant texture and cinnamon flavor was a treat unlike anything he and August had eaten since his mother had last cooked for them. August ate all of his and glanced at Sam’s dish. Sam was prepared to give it to him, when Leah said, “August, growing boys always get seconds when they’ve cleaned their plates.”
He grinned. “Thank you, ma’am.”
She served him another helping, and the adults shared a grin.
When coffee was served, they retired to the library and seated themselves on the comfortable overstuffed furniture. Will helped Tomasina lower herself on to an upholstered chair and brought an ottoman for her feet.
Daniel moved the bassinet holding the sleeping baby
into the room. He’d built a large home, and he and his wife had filled it with heavy pieces of furniture and attractive carpets and draperies. Sam couldn’t see himself with a house as massive or as well-furnished, but he wanted to have a suitable home for August.
His son stood before the rows of shelves and studied the spines of the books.
Daniel joined him. “Are you a reader, young man?”
“Yes, sir. My teacher lets me bring home her own books to read. I take care with them and return them after I’ve read them.”
“That’s not surprising since your father is a writer.” Daniel glanced over his shoulder. “It’s crossed my mind a few times that Cowboy Creek needs a library.”
“Perhaps we could hold a fund-raiser,” Tomasina suggested. “Like a Wild West show, come spring.”
“Of course you’d think of that,” Will told her with a smile.
“You’re welcome to read any of the books,” Daniel told August. Within minutes the boy had chosen one and made himself comfortable on the rug before the fire.
“Thank you for inviting us,” Sam told Leah and Daniel. “This is a treat for August. And for me, as well. We haven’t eaten a meal like that or enjoyed a relaxing afternoon with pleasant company for a long while.”
Marlys sat perched on a velvet divan. “You’re kind to include me, too,” she added.
Tomasina studied her. “James Johnson and I drove cattle for my father’s outfit for years,” she said. “I think of him as a brother. He told me about your visit to the Cheyenne camp. He was pretty impressed that you treated a sick child, and she improved right off. Most people don’t care about the Indians, or they want to run them off. What made you go to them?”
“Part of the reason I came here was to learn about the plains tribes. I believe we have a lot to learn from them.”
“You didn’t mention that in your piece on Dr. Boyd, Sam,” Will brought up. “Did you deliberately avoid the topic?”
“To be honest, yes,” he answered. “I’d hoped to appeal to the broadest audience possible with the first article. And then later fill in information that might be considered controversial. The way news travels in this town, I may have made the wrong decision. An interview with Marlys herself is probably the best way to present her.”
Marlys gave him her full attention, and he gave her an apologetic glance.
“Dr. Boyd tends to come on full throttle, and people either appreciate her approach or they don’t,” he added.
She raised her eyebrows and leveled her gold-flecked gaze on him.
“Would anyone like their coffee refilled?” Leah asked. Everyone declined.
“Who is in charge of the planning committee for the day of thanks?” Marlys asked.
“That would be Grace Burgess,” Will told her. “Tom and Leah are on the committee, too, along with Pippa and one or two townsmen.”
“We required them to have a couple of men so the party wouldn’t be too heavily weighted toward the ladies,” Daniel added with a grin. “Are you interested in helping? There’s only about a week and a half left, but I’m sure they would appreciate another person. It’s going to be a banquet at the Cattleman Hotel.”
“It’s going to be a grand time,” Leah told her. “I’m looking forward to it.”
“Definitely,” Tomasina seconded. “We’re having a meeting tomorrow evening at our home, as a matter of fact. Please, join us.”
Marlys tilted her head. “Thank you.”
The baby woke, and Leah took her upstairs, returning after she’d been changed and fed. Daniel reached for the fair-haired infant and cradled her in the crook of one arm. “Isn’t she the prettiest thing you’ve ever seen?”
“Indeed she is,” Tomasina replied and shared a glance with Will. He gave her a look of such warm affection that Sam had to turn away. August had never had a doting mother, though his grandmother had been his caregiver and loved him as her own. August had grown attached to her, and Sam understood why the recent separation had been difficult.
The afternoon stretched out late before the Gardners’ guests excused themselves, with fond appreciation.
“May I give you a ride home?” Daniel asked Marlys.
“We’ll walk her home,” Sam offered. “She’s only around the corner from us.”
“Thank you,” Marlys told him.
They said their goodbyes and headed out into the brisk air. The day was sunny, but a cold wind had picked up since that morning.
“I had a good time,” August said. “I like their house and especially Mr. Gardner’s library.”
“It is an especially nice home,” Marlys agreed. She draped her red scarf over her head, and covering her hair made it seem as though someone had dimmed the sun.
August ran ahead and kicked at clumps of snow along the street.
“Made me think I shouldn’t wait to buy a house for August and me. He seemed quite at home there, didn’t he? Maybe it reminded him of being at my mother’s.”
The chill wind caught her scarf, sending a shiver down Marlys’s spine. The day had grown continually colder, and patches of ice glistened on the bricks. She lost her balance on a slick spot, and Sam instinctively reached for her, holding her up with an arm around her.
She glanced up, and their faces were only inches apart. Her heart did an unexpected shimmy in her chest, and the sensation wasn’t caused by the near fall. His eyes were a deep sapphire, his lashes black and thick, and his gaze bore into hers. The vapor of their breaths mingled in the air.
Chapter Eight
She closed her eyes against the intensity in his. Her heart beat impossibly fast. “I’m all right,” she whispered.
He released her waist but held her arm until he was sure she’d found her footing. They moved away from each other and followed August, who hadn’t noticed.
A few flakes fell from the sky, increasing in volume as they reached Second Street. Marlys unlocked the door to her office and stepped inside. It was barely light enough to see the interior. “Thanks for walking with me.”
“Our pleasure. Have a good evening.”
She locked the door after them and lowered the shades, then made her way to the back, where she lit two lamps and hung up her coat, setting her boots to dry. She added kindling to her small stove and warmed the room while heating water to wash.
She took a book off the stack beside her narrow bed and got comfortable with a soft afghan. She admired the blanket on her bed that She Knows had given to her. Every night she folded it carefully and set it aside. She had received only a few gifts in her lifetime, and the blanket held deep meaning. She was determined to take good care of it.
She’d never had aspirations for a big house or nice dishes or furniture. She still didn’t. Her needs were met, she had earned the freedom to do as she pleased, and she’d found what she’d believed was contentment. But that elusive something she’d begun to wonder about, that glimpse into the impossible concept of “more” had begun to take on shape and substance.
She’d had no concept of wedlock when her father had demanded she marry. There had never been an example in her life, no standard. If he’d loved her mother, if she’d loved him—Marlys had no idea. Reacquainting with Sam had made her uncomfortably curious. Seeing Opal with her baby had been like looking at life through a foggy window. Watching Leah and Daniel, observing Will and Tomasina had made the mystery clearer.
She was an outsider. An anomaly of nature. She had no one to blame but herself—and she didn’t want to be a different person. She liked Dr. Marlys Boyd. She took pride in her accomplishments, so she was confused by the feeling that something was missing.
She picked up the book in her lap and opened it. She was strong. She would shake this off and move forward, satisfied with her choices. If she let herself have regrets and started doubting
herself, she would lose a part of her identity, and she couldn’t let that happen.
* * *
The women in Cowboy Creek were respected and honored—and deservedly so. Unlike the society debutantes she’d grown up with back in Philadelphia, women in Kansas served on committees, advised their husbands, ran businesses, planned events. They were not window dressing. But they were feminine in a way she had never bothered with, wearing their hair mysteriously curled and upswept, dressing in pretty, fashionable clothes.
She’d always thought it didn’t matter if she adhered to fashion. She was a doctor. People came to doctors for help, not to admire their clothing. But not many people were coming to her, anyway. She was smart enough to change tactics. A little more attention to her hair and clothing might improve her chances of appealing more to potential patients.
On Tuesday morning Hannah welcomed Marlys into her spacious shop. It smelled of new fabrics and lavender sachets. Two headless mannequins wore elaborate dresses, trimmed in ribbons and lace. Nerves fluttered in Marlys’s stomach. She knew nothing of these womanly things.
“Your face is white, Dr. Boyd,” Hannah said. “Come sit for a moment, and I’ll make you a cup of tea. We’ll chat.”
Marlys took a seat on a wooden folding chair at a small round table. Hannah scurried about, boiling water in a kettle on her tiny stove, pouring it over leaves and letting it steep. “I even have a few cookies Aunt Mae sent.”
She poured their tea into matching china cups painted with tiny sprigs of violets and sat across from Marlys.
“I’m so glad you’ve come to me to help you brighten up your wardrobe. Choosing clothing to highlight your beauty will be easy. You have such lovely hair and skin. The color of your hair and eyes are striking.”
Marlys touched a tendril self-consciously. Leah had paid her a similar compliment. “Thank you.”
“You must look marvelous in golds and greens. Probably blues, as well.”
“I have mostly gray and brown skirts. I do have a blue one. The dark colors are practical.”
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