Unbroken Hearts (24 page)

    
Wear mine.

    
Sarah and Emily looked at each other. Even
if she had pretty party dresses, would they fit? Mama read their thoughts and
blinked again.

    
They can fit with some work. Try them.

    
The sisters traded a what-can-we-lose
glance, and they wheeled Mama down to their shared room and opened the
wardrobe. Mama helped them pick among her fancy dresses, approving with her
'yes' blink when they held the prettiest ones up for her inspection.
 

    
Emily and Sarah stripped down to their
camisoles and drawers. They fumbled with buttons and laces, giggling and
whirling about the room. Each piece was judged for color, fabric, fit, and, in
Emily's case, skirt fullness when she spun around on one heel.

    
Sarah liked the light green floral print,
but Mama insisted that she take the lavender gingham with lace at the collar
and sleeves, and tiny buttons up the back. The color complemented Sarah's hair
and eyes, and it would fit perfectly after she took it in. Mama's eyes filled
with memories, and she blinked to recount how she'd made it after Cal was born,
to wear to church.
 

    
Emily swam in the dresses, but then they
discovered a lovely blue skirt with a waistband which could be taken in, and of
course it had to be shortened. Sarah pulled a beautiful blue silk shawl from
the bottom of a drawer.
 
They
decided Em
 
could wear the skirt
and cover her blouse with the shawl.

    
"Thank you, Mama! Won't Cal and Roy
be surprised to see us dressed so fine?" Joy bubbled in Sarah's laugh and
shone in her green eyes. Her heart overflowed when she saw Emily hug and kiss
Mrs. Easton. Her sister had never known a real mother.

    
"We want you to come, too,
Mama." Emily looked wistfully at the woman confined to her chair. Fleeting
sadness ran across her brow.

     
I've been to plenty myself. You
go and tell me all about it.

    
Emily's grin was back. "You bet we
will! We'll tell you absolutely everything! It will be just as if you were
there." She'd taken Mama to her heart just as quickly as she'd attached
herself to Roy.

    
I love you, daughters.

    
Both girls shouted in unison. "Mama,
we love you, too!" Tears shone in their eyes.

    
Sarah was emboldened by newly awakened
hope, and in that moment she decided to live each day fully during her time at
the Eastons.

Chapter 22

    
Busy August days passed ahead of the social.
Cal and Roy worked the round up with Bailey and the hands, cutting cattle, road
branding those that would take the five-day drive north to the Missouri. At the
river they'd load the cattle onto corral steamboats for shipment to two
destinations downriver, the first of which was the trading post at the Fort
Peck Indian Agency. Cal explained to Sarah that any unmarked stray the cowboys
happened upon along the drive were fair pickings, and they'd be branded and
added to the herd. Strays were common, said Cal, at the least they'd find
Mineral Creek brand strays, lost on previous drives.

     
The Mineral Creek herd could then
travel far down the river on the boats.

    
Sarah and Emily altered their dresses when
they weren't busy cooking or caring for Mama. And more men were hired on. A
couple new men looked more like gunslingers than cowpunchers.
Rough-around-the-edges, they had to be reminded to curb their tongues around
ladies.
 

    
If Cal and Roy weren't in the saddle on
the range, they were in town. They never left without rifles and gun belts
shucked with six-shooters hanging low on hips. Sarah was glad to be occupied
inside the house because Ned scowled every time she and Emily walked out the
door, and heaven help them if they went past the barn. It was as though Ned had
built an invisible fence, and all heck would break loose if they tried to cross
it.

    
The day before the social five bundles
wrapped in brown paper magically appeared on the kitchen table. Cal came in
after morning chores, and Sarah asked him what she should do with them.

    
"For you and Emily," he growled
tersely, flushing from neck to hairline.

     
"What are they?" She
locked her hands together and stared at the packages.

    
"Uh, nothing much. Stuff you and
Emily might need." He waved a hand in the air. "Seeing as you work
for us, we ought provide you necessaries." Then he gave a quick nod and
backed away, toward the door.

    
Sarah stepped up to the table, reached
across to the top package, and carefully tore the paper. She unfolded linen and
lace. A pair of drawers were revealed, rather fancy ones at that. Now it was
her turn to blush. She opened another package. Inside were camisoles and new
nightgowns, small ones for Emily and larger articles for her. The next package
held fabric, even some delaine, a wool cloth from which the best dresses could
be made, and needles and thread and buttons. Another package held bars of
honeysuckle-scented soap.
 

    
Sarah's eyes were wide, her hands shaking,
and she swallowed a lump in her throat. Cal must have noticed she had only two
dresses, but she'd planned to spend her first month's pay on such things. An
employer wasn't obliged to take care of such basic needs, and certainly not so
abundantly, she thought.

    
"Thank you," she whispered.
Sarah turned her eyes away from his. "Well, we did need a few
things," she muttered. Then Sarah looked straight into his dark eyes.
"Please take it from our pay."

   
Cal was carefully watching her, framed in the doorway, half-ready to
jump outside. Now, oddly, Cal looked to be as overwhelmed as Sarah.
 

    
"You can thank Mama," he bit off
hoarsely.
 

    
Indeed, Mama was the one who'd noted the
appalling condition of their underclothes, and the woman had wasted no time
complaining to Cal about it. Her blinked reprimand had chafed him raw as a
leather blister. As if he would have inspected their underclothes! And he knew
Sarah would fight him if he tried to take them to town to buy necessities. In
the end he settled on hiring a very surprised and amused saloon girl over at
the Copper Strike to make the purchases. But he'd selected the dress fabric
himself over at Watkins.

    
"Mama!" she laughed. "Oh,
of course." So Cal had marched to orders from the highest command. She
giggled inwardly as she pictured Cal purchasing women's drawers. Maybe he'd
sent Roy on that particular errand. "I'll be sure to thank her."
Sarah smiled and colored prettily.

   
Cal escaped out the back door.

                                                  
*
    
*
    
*

 
   
The next day was crazy. It
seemed all of Mineral Creek Ranch was going to the social. After all, chances
for bachelor cowboys to mingle with young daughters of merchants and ranchers
weren't common. Sarah and Emily cooked to cover for all the men attending from
the ranch. Sara baked five cakes and a small mountain of biscuits, but Ned
looked at it and said it wasn't enough. Sarah was ready to throw up her hands
when he reminded her they had a chuck wagon cook. The man turned out to be a
miracle worker, churning out beef-filled biscuits, fancy enough for the
womenfolk and hearty enough for hungry cowboys.

    
The kitchen chores done, the girls
hurriedly made last minute fixes to their dresses. They washed and brushed their
hair a thousand strokes, all while discussing ways to style it, settling on
elegant French braids. Sarah tucked the silver combs in place at the nape of
her neck.
 

    
Beaming, they pulled on the new drawers
and camisoles. Emily worked the buttons on the back of Sarah's dress, and Sarah
fastened Emily's shawl with a pretty brooch.

    
When Sarah stepped out of the room Cal
caught a glimpse of her in the downstairs hall and beamed.

    
"You're beautiful." His dark
eyes penetrated the length of her. He remembered his mother wearing the
lavender dress years past, when he was just a boy, but of course he'd been too
young to appreciate womanly curves.

    
"Don't look so bad yourself."
Sarah admired back at wavy dark hair touching his best shirt collar.

    
Cal offered his arm. Sarah shyly moved her
hand to the inside of his elbow. Roy pulled up in a livery-rented carriage as
Cal guided her out the door. He put his arms around her slim waist he lifted
her into the buggy. Next he turned to help Emily, who'd fluttered out like a
butterfly and hovered behind them. Mama and Nettie waved and blinked goodbyes
from the porch.
 

    
The carriage was joined by two more wagons
loaded with men and food, and behind rode a string of cow hands, magically
transformed from bare rough cowhides into young gentlemen, newly shaved and
wearing clean clothes. They were barely recognizable, and even Cal and Roy had
to look twice to put names to scrubbed faces.
 

    
The town was a larger parade of buggies
and wagons and riders. Others came on foot, and what a wonderful sight they
made, all dressed in finery, all strolling to the social.

     
Cal helped the women climb down at
the hall. The men hoisted food from the wagons and carried it inside where
women arranged it on long tables. Townfolk patiently waited their turn to be
introduced to a spinster woman with black hair pulled severely into a bun at
the nape of her neck.

    
Sarah's gaze swept around and lit upon Mr.
Jack Dullen. Frowning, she turned back to the door, where people were flowing
in and laughing.

    
They steered to the end of the teacher
receiving line. Edward Watkins and his sister Eve were standing just ahead. Ned
ambled over to join the party, and Sarah mentioned how handsome he was all
dressed up. She'd never tried to guess Ned's age, but right now he didn't look
but a few years past thirty. Baldness had a way of advancing a man, she
supposed.

    
Meanwhile men who rode for the Mineral
Creek took up positions around the room. A pair stood outside the door, lazily
rolling cigarettes as they watched the town assemble. Others stood in corners
talking and smiling.

When it was the Easton's turn to meet the
buttercup-skirted teacher the acting school committee chairman, Jake Farrel,
made the introductions.

  
  
"Miss Grayson, this is Cal
Easton and Roy Easton. They own the Mineral Creek Ranch. And this is Miss Sarah
Anders and her young sister, Emily." Jake wiped his brow.

    
"Pleased to make your
acquaintance." Miss Grayson shook hands with each. Her jaw dropped
slightly at the sight of Ned. And Ned looked at the schoolmarm as if he was
seeing an angel fallen from the sky.

    
Farrell gawked at the blushing glow
creeping up the spinster teacher's cheeks and caught himself. "Oh, and
this is Mr. Ned Kingman," he added. "He works at the Easton's
place."

    
Ned puffed up and took her small hand,
gently enclosing it in his own large one.

    
Roy, Cal, and Sarah had never seen Ned so
obviously smitten. And the woman was most definitely on the shelf, why she must
have been at least thirty years old. Oh, she was nice enough, fine really. But
something about the woman nagged and Sarah couldn't quite say what.

    
"Please, call me Geneva," Miss
Grayson cooed. She hadn't released her hand from Ned's. "That's short for
Genevieve. But nobody calls me that." Her cheeks took on a glow, and her
voice ran smooth as silk.

    
Meanwhile Emily was impatiently hopping
from one foot to the other, full skirt swishing. Just when Sarah was beginning
to wonder if she needed to get her to the privvy, Emily decided to butt in.
"Miss Grayson, I went to school in Illinois. I'm in the fifth reader. I
had the best penmanship at my school with the most flourishes! And I never,
ever got the hickory stick." Emily beamed, hoping she'd impressed the
woman.

     
"Wonderful. I'll see you in my
class then?" Miss Grayson replied, but she didn't take her eyes off
Kingman.

    
Ned responded before Emily could open her
mouth. "Oh, you will. I'll make sure Emily gets to learning every day.
Why, she's just like a daughter to me. Of course I've never been married, so I
don't have any young 'uns of my own," he ran on as he tried to make the
most of the brief introduction.

    
Ned would have been happy to stand there
all evening, staring at the little spinster teacher. People waiting in the line
behind them started to get edgy. Cal cleared his throat, gave Ned a nudge, and
they moved away.
 

    
Then Sarah realized what made Miss Geneva
Grayson unique. It was her eyes. The left was brown and the right was green.
She wondered if Ned had noticed.

    
The group moved further down the line,
nodding to the school committee members as they introduced themselves. Last was
Jack Dullen.
 

    
"Well, well, it's the Easton
clan," Dullen sneered low. "Brought your fancy ladies too."

    
Sarah vowed inwardly that the man wasn't
going to spoil her evening.

   
Cal's hands turned to fists. Roy stepped in front of his brother.
"Dullen, I see you're still an ass. That's no surprise."
 

    
At that moment Sam Owens and the preacher
slipped up behind the Eastons. Dullen spied them and smartly locked down his
tongue. "Miss Anders," he crooned. "Perhaps you'll give me the
pleasure of a dance tonight."

    
Sarah's answer was an icy glare.
 

   
 
Roy saw the preacher and
decided he didn't care.

   
"Yah, she never danced with a four-footer before. Say Cal, when you
gonna have kids to send to the new school?"

    
Cal grinned at his baiting brother.
"Heck Roy, you know I'm workin' on it."