Loving Eliza (15 page)

He shook his head and pointed to
himself.

“No.  It’s mine,” she whispered and kissed the top of his head.

As soon as she realized what she was doing, she excused herself and left.  She made her way to the well and gathered a fresh pail of water.  Once she shut the door of her home, she poured the water into the basin.  She had hoped he’d kiss her again.  That’s why she lingered by him like she had.  What was wrong with her?  She’d been granted a reprieve and all s
he could do was tempt fate
.

What was wrong with her? 
You love him.

She washed her face, willing the
nagging thought from her mind.  She was a prostitute for goodness’ sakes!  She had no right to marry anyone.

You
were
a prostitute.  You aren’t one now.  You’ve been rescued from that life.

She slowly dried her face with a to
wel.  Did he have to know?  It wasn’t
like the past could be undone.  Telling him wouldn’t change anything.  And since Daphne decided not to show up...Did it make any sense that they should spend their lives alone?

She set the towel down on the nightstand and changed her clothes.  She didn’t have to make a decision right now.  It could wait.  What she needed to do was get ready so they could go to town.  She’d think about it later.

E
liza turned her gaze
to the church.  The memory of the ring made her finger tingle.  Maybe she should marry John righ
t now.  Her heart pounded frantically
in her chest as she quickly thought over the implications
of such a
decision.  She
spent the entire ride into town thinking through all the consequences of marrying him.  She recalled his kisses...the one by the creek...and the one
last night.  Both had been so wonderful.  She wanted to be kissed like that for the rest of her life.

As she and John strolled
down the road and neared the white building, her steps slowed.  John held two bag
s of food
, and despite the fact that his arms were full, he pointed at the church and gave her a pleading look.

She didn’t say no this time.  Instead, she stopped and glanced at him.  He loved her.  She could tell that in the way he looked at her.  She’d seen other men give women the same adoring look and never thought someone might look at her that way.  But John was looking at her that way now, and it made her stomach do crazy flip flops.  Yes.  She’d marry him.  The past was the past and it could stay there.  It was time to truly enjoy her
life.  After all, hadn’t Preacher
Peters told her that God could give her a new life and it’d be like the past never happened?  Maybe this was her new start, a chance to erase all that had occurred.

Just as she was about to say yes, someone called out that the stagecoach had just arrived.  She turned her attention to the group of people gathering to see who was coming.

This time it was only one person.  A young woman.  From the looks
of
it, she was younger than Eliza.  She was probab
ly Charity’s age
.  Eliza could tell from the way she held herself that she was a respectable lady, just like Charity. 
An uneasy feeling unsettled her nerves.  She had a nagging sensation that everything in her newfound world was about to change.  And not for the better.

The young woman spoke with the mayor who pointed at John.

Eliza closed her eyes and sighed.  This whole time she’d hoped that Daphne would show up, and now that she had, Eliza wished she hadn’t.  Taking a deep breath, she turned to John and opened her eyes.

He hadn’t been watching Daphne.  He’d been watching her.

“She’s here,” Eliza whispered.  “You should meet her.”

John blinked, as if not understanding, but when someone called his name, he finally turned his attention to the woman and the mayor as they made their way to them.

Eliza stepped aside so the mayor and the young woman stood before John.  The woman wore a pretty yellow dress with a matching hat.  She had
silky brown hair that rested softly against her shoulders.  She even offered a polite smile to Eliza who forced a smile in return.

“You’ll never guess who finally showed,” Chandler Davis told John.  He laughed.  “Go ahead and guess.”

John glanced at the mayor and then
to
the woman and then to Eliza.

Eliza quickly looked away.  It was hard enough to go through this without seeing the unspoken question in his eyes.  What were they to do now?  Well, the answer was simple.  He’d marry the bride he sent for.

Chandler laughed again and patted John on the back.  “He can’t speak, so it’s not fair to make him guess.  John, this is Daphne O’Conner.  You know, the mail-order bride you sent for.”

“I know he can’t talk,”
Daphne
told the mayor.  She turned and
gave
John
a soft smile.  “It’s nice to meet you, John.  I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to write and tell you I’d be coming in later than we agreed.  You see, I ran into some problems with the first stagecoach I took.  Then I had to wait for another one to come.  Between all of that, I had to stay in a small town and wait. 
I wanted to write but I lost your
PO Box address.”

“What an unfortunate thing to happen,” the mayor said, shaking his head.  “It’s good you made it.”

“I still haven’t gotten my luggage though.  That is still on its way.  I believe Mr. Bow
er said it will be
here in
two weeks
.”

“Oh, how unfortunate.  I’m sure we can arrange for you to get another dress and anything you may need until then.  I’ll send you on over to Addy Garrison.  She does most of the sewing in town, and her husband owns the general store.  They’ll get you set up, so you don’t have anything to worry about.”

“Thank you.  That’s very nice of you.”

Grinning widely, he shrugged.  “Think nothing of it.  You’re a part of this community now, and if there’s one thing we believe in here, it’s the importance of helping each other out.”

Of course that depends on whether or not you’re mute.
  Eliza bit her tongue so she wouldn’t
say the words that screamed in her head
.

“This is a wonderful place,” Daphne agreed, nodding.  “I am looking forward to spending my life here.  John, I hope you don’t mind waiting until my luggage comes in before we wed.  I put my wedding dress in there, and since I spent two months making it, I do want to wear it.”

Oh, why do
n’t they just get married now and get it over with?
  Eliza willed her thoughts to calm down.  It was hard enough to go through this without a prolonged engagement.  She didn’t realize she’d been gripping her purse until one of her fingernails ripped the fabric.  She immediately loosened her hold.  She ventured a look at John and saw him shaking his head.

“The boy is anxious to make you his wife,” Chandler remarked, obviously amused.
He turned to John.
“I realize it’s hard to wait, but you don’t want Miss O’Conner to miss out on the chance to wear the dress she made, do you?  That wouldn’t be fair to her.”

“I’m sorry, John,” Daphne said in her gentle voice.  “It is important to me, but if you really do want to marry today, I’ll certainly do so.”

John shook his head again.

The mayor looked satisfied.  “Oh well, there.  That’s good.
  He’s willing to wait.  Two weeks
isn’t a long time. 
Actually, neither is two months.  Why, it was two
month
s
ago that Miss Sweet here came to town.”

Eliza almost jumped back at the menti
on of her made-up last name.  “Two
month
s
ago?”

The m
ayor chuckled.  “You came here two
month
s
ago, remember?”

She nodded.  “Yes.  I did,” she told Daphne.

“She came to work for Melissa Peters, but the poor thing had a terrible fall and had to be buried.”

Daphne brought her hand to her heart.  “No!”

“Yes.  It was tragic.  She was a good woman too. 
Since that happened, Miss Sweet had nowhere to work, so John here decided to employ her.  She’s been painting up his house and doing things a maid does.  Now,
she stays in the small cabin
on his property, so there’s nothing immoral going on between them.”

“No, there isn’t,” Eliza assured Daphne.  “I have my own little house.”

Daphne took her hand in hers.  “
I’m glad that you found someone to give you a place to sleep and food to eat.  I believe in people helping each other.” She turned to John.  “What a beautiful thing you did for her.” Then she returned
her attention
to Eliza.  “I will make sure that you keep working out there.  I certainly don’t want anyone to go hungry.”

Eliza swallowed the bitter lump in her throat.  Stay there?  And watch the two of them together?

Daphne released her hand and asked, “
Where did you come from?”

Startled by the
change in topic
, she hesitated before answering.  “I came from Omaha.”

“That’s a long way from here.  I came from Ohio.”

“You had a longer journey than I did.”

“Part of it was by train.  That’s where my luggage is.”

“I hope it comes in soon.”

How easy the lie came out
, Eliza thought
.  She chastised herself for wishing the wedding dress would never get here, for if it didn’t, Daphne w
ouldn’t marry John.  Then maybe
she’d go back to Ohio and E
liza could have John
again.  Not that he was ever hers to begin with.  He had belonged to Daphne as soon as she agreed to marry him.

Daphne directed her attention to the mayor.  “I must stay in town until I’m married.”

Yes, Daphne O’Conner is every bit the lady.
  She was polite, kind, and pure.  She probably wouldn’t even hurt a fly.  She would do the right thing and be blessed because of it. 
As
Eliza wat
ched the mayor and
Daphne
discuss where she could stay, she
couldn’t help but think
of
how much she hated Daphne.  Daphne represented everything that Eliza wanted to be but couldn’t. 
She also had what Eliza couldn’t. 
Eliza glanced at John who was staring at her.  She quickly averted her gaze to Daphne and the mayor.

I refuse to hate her.  She’s done nothing wrong.  She doesn’t deserve to be hated.
  Eliza
didn’t know what to do with her whirling emotions except to force them back into the place where she put all of her unwanted feelings.  She’d pretend that everything was fine.  The method had worked in the past.  If she could think of something—anything—that she’d count
as
a blessing right now, it’d help.  She ran through the things she was grateful for.  A place to eat, a place to sleep, a woman who was no longer a prostitute, the chance to be a lady, having received a kiss from a man who wanted more than a quick rump in the bed...  No.  She wouldn’t go there.  She wouldn’t think of John.

“I appreciate the help, Mr. Davis,” Daphne said, breaking Eliza from her thoughts.  “I’ll go see Mrs. Custer at once.”

Eliza decided that she
’d start being friendly and this
was a good time to do so.
  “Charity just arrived here two
month
s
ago too.  In fact, I came on the same stagecoach she did.  I think you two will get along very well.  You have so much in common.”
Like being proper young women.

“Then I must meet her.  Thank you, Miss Sweet.”

Eliza returned her smile.

The mayor looked at John.  “You want to come along and spend a little time with your intended?”