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Miss Tilda saw her staring and chuckled. “Don’t mind them. Maria has no shame. She’d do it in the street if someone paid her for it.”
Miss Tilda took her hand and guided her into a big chair. “You just sit here and I’ll have you fixed up in no time.” She chuckled. “We’ll fix you up good. By the time you walk out of here, you’ll think you are a man.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“Now, tell me about your cousin. What does he do for a living?”
“He’s a doctor…”
The other girls giggled. “Always wanted to bed me a doctor. They are so physical.”
Everyone laughed, including Riley.
“I like your young man, he’s quite the gentleman and very handsome too.” Miss Tilda smiled at her. “Don’t blame you none for latchin’ onto him. He’s a good one, I’ll bet.”
“Good one?” Riley questioned.
“In bed.” She laughed.
“Oh well…” Riley started to refute it, but decided not to. Let them think Sam was taken.
“You give your man half of what Maria gives Henry once a week and he’ll never leave ya.” She chuckled again.
“Oh…he’s not really my young man. We’re just friends, that’s all. He’d never get mixed up with a white girl like me,” Riley explained.
Nanette handed Miss Tilda the scissors from a drawer and nodded as Riley tried to explain.
“Well dearie, if you want to keep him, you should certainly claim him as yours, or he might get taken up by another lady. And I would venture to guess that he’s well worth taking up. Don’t kid yourself, he didn’t have any trouble kissing me.” Miss Tilda winked at her. “And I had a feelin’ he was probably good at a lot more than just kissin’, if you know what I mean.”
Riley tried to smile. “I’ll remember that.”
Sam had kissed Miss Tilda? Of all the nerve.
Miss Tilda laughed out loud and began to cut her hair once more. When she was finished, Riley gazed into the mirror and saw herself. She hated looking like a man. Tears rolled down her cheek.
“What’s wrong, isn’t this what you wanted?” Miss Tilda asked.
“Yeah…it’s perfect,” Riley cried. “It’s just…I look like a man. I look just like a man, don’t I?” Riley turned to face her. “My daddy always said I was plain. This just proves it.”
“Well…isn’t that what you wanted?”
“I guess…”
Miss Tilda sensed her discomfort. “Don’t fret, it will grow out and you’ll be your old self soon, but desperate times calls fer desperate measures. You don’t want these thieves to win, do ya?”
“No, I guess not. Oh…sometimes I don’t know.” Riley broke down and cried.
Miss Tilda sat beside her and removed Riley’s hands from her face. “What are you really fretting about?”
The girls all gathered around her, instantly interested in her story.
Riley glanced at all of them, seeing they all had concern written on their faces. “It’s just hard. I never knew anything but my ranch until my father died. I never r
ealized how much I depended on my dad for my little world. When he died…I was alone. I had no one to comfort me, no one to care. Then Sam came into my life. And I knew right off he was a decent man. When I met him, he was burying a man that was hung. Oh…he didn’t hang him. But he buried him, and said words over him. Then he did the nicest thing: he gave me his horse and gun and told me to go get my money and stand up for what was mine. I never had anyone give me so much, other than my father. I was grateful. But now…when I think on it, I wonder. What will I do when I go back? A woman living in a man’s world don’t make many friends. Everyone in the territory would take it away from me if they could. Anyone would try to marry me to get it. My life seems to hinge on the ranch. Sam was the only one who ever cared about me, other than my father. But he’s black and we could never marry. So there is no future in loving him. But…I do.”
Then she cried openly. Through her tears, she admitted, “I don’t know why I’m telling you all this.”
The girls gathered around her.
