Page 27

SADIE

Dressinglike a lady was not Sadie’s preferred choice, but with heaps of company from Washington coming, she felt obliged. While she couldn’t deny feeling hurt that the idea of playing the role of her fiancé grated at Wally, she forced herself to be understanding. They had just met, and he didn’t know a thing about her except that she was a widow with a child in tow. Most men would be put off by that. Regardless, she vowed to do her best to hold up her part of the bargain. And if showing some cleavage happened to work to her advantage, she wouldn’t turn her nose up.

“These things are moving cages,” she grumbled after trying to stand. With the whale bones hugging her ribcage, Sadie had to perform a kind of wiggle slide and use the edge of her headboard to get herself upright. She hadn’t gone a step and was already out of breath.

“Hey, Ma,” Teddy said, bursting in the bedroom. “What time is Wal— What the heck are you wearing? You look like the painting in Mrs. Winter’s living room.”

Sadie grimaced. “You remember Harriet’s living room?”

Teddy shrugged and swiped at his nose. “Yeah, I used to stare at the people on that painting instead of listening to her.”

“Can’t say’s I blame you.” Sadie took his hand and escorted him back to the main room of the house. “I thought I told you to clean up the table, Teddy. We’re having company.”

“I know, but I want to show Wally what I done with the clock.”

Sadie sighed, which came out far too dramatic because of the pressure on her lungs. “What I did with the clock,” she corrected. “And that’s fine, but you need to put all the other knickknacks away. I’m gonna be puttin’ out biscuits and coffee.”

When James was alive and they had visited Harriet and others for Sunday dinner, Sadie’d always been amazed at the spread of fancy casseroles, stews, and tiny, decorated baked goods. It wasn’t that she couldn’t cook, but she saw no point in wasting her time shaping things into something they weren’t. Her idea of a fancy dinner consisted of meat, potatoes, and blueberry pie.

Teddy cleared a good two thirds of his mess before Wally came knocking with the first group. Tugging at her top, she pasted on a smile before opening the door.

Wally stood in front. His mouth gaped as if he’d been about to say something, but instead, his gaze fell right down the alleyway between her propped-up breasts. Her smile got bigger.

“Howdy, Wally,” she said in her friendliest voice. “Hello, everybody, come on in!”

She stepped back to let the group through. Murmuring among themselves, they gathered around her dining table. Her heart stuttered at the curious looks of such a big bunch of people. They’d agreed to divide his hundred into groups of ten, but seeing them in her home, even that number felt like too many. And they were all so different looking, all manner of body types, skin colors, and even hair. One exotic looking lady wore what had to be a wig, colored a violent shade of purple. Sadie couldn’t stop staring.

“So, what do you all think about being in the southwest?” Sadie asked, clapping her hands together to try and rub away some of the sweat that had accumulated on her palms.

The man next to the woman with the purple hair said, “It’s kind of boring to be honest. I was expecting more gunfights and train robberies.”

So that’s what they think of us in Washington?“Well, we do carry weapons ‘round here, but it’s mostly for protection.”

“Is that one real?” A young man, maybe five years Teddy’s senior asked, pointing at Sadie’s shotgun, propped up against the wall near the metal stove.

“It’s real all right.” Sadie went to retrieve it, her skirt swishing with the sudden movement. She needed to slow down or she’d pass out from lack of oxygen, the damn corset squeezed so tight. She wasn’t about to let anyone else touch the loaded shotgun, though.

Several people backed away when she picked it up, even though she pointed it carefully at the ground. Wally stepped casually between her and the people, looking nervous.

“I’m not fixin’ to shoot anyone, Wally.” This got several giggles and snickers from the group, which turned her face hot. “Help yourselves to biscuits and coffee right there on the table,” she said, waving a hand in the direction where she’d set it all out.

A young man raised a hand in the air. “Do you have horses?”

“I have a horse out back in the barn. I also have a mule.”

Excited murmurs broke out among the group, and Sadie caught the word ‘extinct’. That struck her as rather odd. Surely things weren’t all that different in Washington.

“Y’all want to meet Darcy? She’s as stubborn as they come but smart as a whip and sweet as honey.”

Sadie led the way out the back door and over to the barn. Everyone gathered round her mule. For Darcy’s part, she chewed a mouthful of hay, glaring warily at the crowd. Teddy took her out of the pen and paraded her around, doing his best to make sure she behaved. Sadie had plenty of sugar cubes on hand for people to feed her to guarantee she did. She figured she’d have to find a healthier treat for future groups, though, or she’d have a grumpy mule and a mess to clean up come morning.

Soon enough, Sadie relaxed and found herself laughing at the strange things these Washington folk seemed interested in. One woman obsessed over her washboard until Wally had to tempt her away with the promise of checking out the old stove.

By the time the third group came through, Sadie was downright exhausted. Who knew keeping an eye on strangers would take so much energy? She caught hold of Wally’s arm and leaned her head against it. The scent of mint and that foreign something she couldn’t quite identify seeped into her bones, and she relaxed all over with a sigh.

“You doing okay?” he asked, eyeing a couple examining the chicken feed near the shed.

“It’s been a day, hasn’t it?” she asked, glancing up at him.