The Brides of Chance Collection (46 page)

“Not bad,” Alisa said approvingly as she plopped the butter into the bowl for the next washing. “I’ll have another load of butter done this morning. We should leave one in the springhouse since we’ll be wanting to do some baking and one more for the oatmeal this morning. Delilah, how does that add up?”

“Nineteen for town.” They didn’t have much time left, so everyone buckled down. Delilah just started pressing the final brick of butter when the men began trickling in. First came Gideon, with a smile and a peck on the cheek for Miriam. Logan and Bryce came in next. Logan looked suspiciously at the pot on the stove.

“What’s that?”

“Oatmeal,” Delilah answered. Logan groaned and grumped about for the remainder of breakfast. Not only was he stuck at home while Paul and the women got to go to town, but he couldn’t look forward to the standard three feasts a day. Delilah thought the oatmeal deserved more credit. Miriam added generous amounts of sugar during the cooking, and the butter and preserves on the table let everybody doctor theirs as little or as much as they liked.

During breakfast, the women handed out last-minute instructions. Dan would watch Ginny Mae and Polly. Miriam set out bread and meat for them to make sandwiches for lunch. As soon as the meal ended, the men loaded half of the steer they’d butchered yesterday into the buckboard, along with the eggs Miriam packed while the other women did the dishes.

Usually one of the men would drive, but since Paul had a broken arm, the responsibility fell to the most competent woman. Alisa took the reins because Miriam’s delicate condition excluded her from taking on any strenuous activities.

Paul insisted Miriam sit beside Alisa rather than ride in the back with half of a dead steer, which left Delilah to share the cramped space with him. She took care to sit on his right side so she wouldn’t bump his injured arm. Still, it didn’t do much good if he was as uncomfortable as she felt. Her arm pressed against his, and they hunched so close, even their legs touched. As usual, sitting next to him made her feel almost petite, but the crowded seating arrangement wasn’t to her liking.
Why did I ever put on this shawl?
Delilah wondered. The morning was nothing if not overly warm.

Usually Paul opted to ride Speck rather than pile into the wagon, but for once, he didn’t mind being packed in like a sardine. Despite the butchered steer sharing the space, he relished Delilah’s company. Noticing how she took special care to sit on his right gave him an idea. He casually moved a crate of eggs between him and the side of the wagon, pretending to rest his arm on it. Hopefully, she’d never suspect he did it intentionally so they’d have less room.

It worked. The length of her leg pressed against his, her arm against his, and he could catch the scent of violets in her hair. He bit back a grin and leaned back to enjoy the next hour as they rode to town. Yep, he reckoned breaking his arm was probably the smartest thing he’d ever done.

They reached Reliable far too soon to his way of thinking. Miriam and Alisa hitched the horses while he jumped out of the wagon and swept Delilah down with his good arm. The men on the street jabbed each other and gawked at her. If he could, he’d have held on for a lot longer, but he needed to help Miriam. By the time they reached the back of the general store, a horde of bachelors straggled in behind them. Paul glared at each and every one of them, wishing he could make them all leave.

Reba White bustled out to the counter, beaming from ear to ear. “Miriam! Alisa! It’s so good to see you again. How’ve y’all been?” She caught sight of Delilah. “And who’s this pretty young thing?”

That let loose a torrent of remarks from the rabble behind them. “Yeah! Who’s she?”

“Where’d she come from?”

“Marry me!”

“No, me!”

Paul stepped in front of the women and spoke in a low voice. His tone served as a warning. “This here is a guest at the Chance Ranch. If anybody wants to speak to the lady, they’ll have to act like a gentleman. If you can’t behave yourselves, you’ll have more trouble than you can handle.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Delilah stood in front of Miriam, her hands in her pockets.

“Aw, you Chance boys have all the luck.”

“It’s not fair. There weren’t no decent women in the town but Reba and Priscilla when Miriam came,” another interrupted.

“And Gideon got her, and Titus snatched Alisa. You Chance men can’t go round taking all the women to be found. Ain’t neighborly.”

General mutters of agreement rumbled as the throng moved closer. “Ya oughta introduce us proper-like.”

Gus White came out from behind the curtain in the back of the store, brandishing a broom.

“Get out, you lazy good-fer-nothin’s. You can’t stick around hasslin’ my customers.”

“But Gus, we just wanna—Hey!”

Gus thwapped the dirty ruffian on the head with the broom. Paul didn’t remember the last time he’d felt so much brotherly love for any soul as he felt for Gus at that moment.

“I said git!” Gus punctuated his words with a well-placed prod to another man’s backside as the crowd beat a hasty retreat.

“All right, all right. We’re goin’. We didn’t mean nothin’.”

As soon as they left, Gus turned, his scowl replaced by a genial smile. “Hello, Mrs. Miriam, Mrs. Alisa. Ma’am. Howdy, Titus. What’dya do to your arm?”

“This un’s Paul, Gus.” Reba shook her head, then spoke to the women. “I declare, if there really were more women around here, he’d probably forget my name, too. Well, seems to me you’ve got some news to tell.” She waited expectantly.

“Paul broke his arm, Reba, and this is my cousin, Delilah,” Miriam quickly explained.

Reba gave Delilah an assessing once-over. “I’m right glad to see you, Miss Delilah. Don’t worry none about that bunch—they’re lonely, and you’ll probably get more decent offers than indecent, if you take my meaning.” She straightened her shoulders. “I’m afraid Doc Morris is out of town, Paul. Will you be all right?”

“Miriam already set the break, and it hasn’t been troubling me too much. My arm’ll be fine, Mrs. Reba. And how’ve you been?”

“Can’t complain,” Gus remarked. “What can we do for you folks today?”

Alisa rattled off a list of goods—rice, beans, flour, meal, sugar, spices, apples, cocoa, maple syrup, canning jars, buttons, and vegetable seeds—then turned to Paul. He added tacks, ammunition, spring tonic, and a salt lick to the list.

“We slaughtered a steer yesterday, Gus. It’s out in the wagon.” The Chance family never bothered with store credit if they could avoid it.

“Fair enough.” Gus turned when he heard the door creak open. “I told everyone to get outta here.”

“We heard.” A wiry man made his way to the back of the store, followed by two others.

“Howdy, Paul,” one of them greeted. “We done heard you broke your arm and figgered ya’d need a hand with unloadin’ your wagon.”

“Perfect.” Gus ushered them back out the door and called to Paul, “That ought to be about even, after what you brought me last time,” before turning back to the ladies.

Delilah watched Paul leave with some regret. He’d been so strong when he stood up to that awful pack of men. True, they’d been more curious than dangerous, but there were some rough characters mingled in, and you never could tell when a crowd could turn into a mob. She knew how to take care of herself, but she’d never been up against a dozen men, and she couldn’t forget Miriam and Alisa. Paul had immediately placed himself between them and the townsmen; even with a broken arm, he’d had an air of power and control she could only admire.

Her reverie was interrupted by the sound of Miriam’s voice asking Gus for peppermint sticks and licorice for the girls. The whitewash she listed surprised everyone.

“You’re gonna whitewash your cabin, Miriam?” Reba asked, smiling. “You’ll be surprised at the difference.”

Miriam nodded. “I’ve been wanting to for a while now. That’s it for the Chance account, Reba, but there are a few other matters to settle. I’ve got some eggs and butter out in the wagon.”

“Butter? Nobody round here bothers to make it.” Gus’s voice betrayed his eagerness. “I can give you, say, twenty cents a pound, Miriam.”

“Oh, I’d say twenty-three is fairer. We both know you’ll sell it for more than that. Anyway, I’ve got ten bricks I can sell you, and I’ll take the other nine to Mr. Scudd at the restaurant.”

“I’ll give you twenty-five cents a brick if you sell it all to me.”

“Deal. You’ll make a tidy profit when you sell it to the restaurant, too.”

“We’ve also brought seven dozen eggs,” Alisa chimed in.

Gus nodded. “I can give you twenty cents a dozen for those. It’s a bit high, but nobody around here really raises chickens, and the ones as do eat their own eggs. There’s plenty who will pay for ’em. Let me see, that’s nineteen bricks of butter at two bits each, and seven dozen eggs at twenty cents a dozen—that’ll be six fifteen, total. Did you want cash?”

“I’ll tell you what, Mr. White. Why don’t you and Paul haul in the goods from the wagon while we women discuss what we’d like to do.”

“I need about five yards of flannel and six of the green gingham, Reba, and a special order for baby buttons.” Reba, busily writing down the order, broke her pencil.

“Did I hear that right? Did you say ‘baby buttons’ just as innocently as could be? You’re in the family way! So that’s why your cousin is here! Oh, this’ll be the first babe since your sister’s, God rest her soul. And you hiding it behind your cloak! You give old Reba a hug this minute!” She came around the counter and all but smothered Miriam in a jubilant embrace. She shared an amused glance with Alisa, but Delilah felt the same way Reba did. Miriam loved Hannah and Dan’s girls, but she had told Delilah in her letters how much she wanted children of her own.

Maybe someday I’ll finally have a family, too
.

“How far along are you? Are you feeling all right?”

“I’m doing just fine, and I expect the baby in about four months.”

“Oooh. ‘Four months,’ she says. That means you’re five along and haven’t told me. Shame on you! Oh, but it doesn’t matter, I’m that happy for you. Which pattern of flannel would you like?”

“The blue plaid, please.”

“You’ve already got an inkling that your babe will be a strapping boy, do you? Small wonder when your husband has five brothers. There you are. What else can I get you?”

Miriam turned to Alisa. “We earned about three dollars each, and I’ve spent mine. What would you like to spend your share on?”

“I brought back everything I needed from San Francisco, but it seems to me that Delilah did an awful lot of churning. You’ll need a good cape and skirt for the winter— it’s never too early to think about these things. I’d say we should get some good wool.”

“Wonderful idea. I thought the same thing.” Miriam laughed. “We’ll use most of the green gingham I’m buying for a work dress.”

“No. That’s your money. You should spend it on yourself, both of you.” Delilah didn’t want any handouts.

“ ‘The labourer is worthy of his hire,’ the Bible tells us. You’ve done a lot of work on the homestead, and you’ll need heavier clothing when it snows. Since the Lord blessed me with everything I need, I want you and Miriam to split it.” Alisa was rapidly becoming the most generous person Delilah had ever known. If she refused the gift, it would hurt Alisa’s feelings. Besides, they were telling her that they wanted her to stay through winter—that would mean a whole year here!

“All right.” Delilah gave in as graciously as she could. “What will I need?”

“I’d say three yards of the gray plaid with black and red shooting through it for a skirt and about four yards of black for a good warm cape. You’re tall but slender, so it will be enough,” Alisa decided.

“Wool’s the most expensive fabric for good reason. You’ll be nice and cozy in it,” Reba said with approval. “The seven yards comes to about two dollars’ worth. What else?”

Delilah looked to Miriam and Alisa. “I’d like a charcoal pencil for my drawing and a few packets of flower seeds to plant in front of the cabin, if that’s all right.”

“I’d forgotten you draw, Delilah. You’ll have to show me some of the pictures you’ve made when we get back,” Miriam exclaimed.