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Riley looked up at her, studying her kind face for a long while. “Sam and me…we never did anything, except he kissed me a few times. Marryin’ a black man ain’t legal and Sam is the kind of man that would seek recognition of that marriage. But I think deep down he just don’t think the lines can be crossed even though he has sister that married a white man. That man was Lee Nelson, a special man in Sam’s eyes.”
“Really?” Miss Tilda asked. “I would think that bein’ raised with a black and white situation he would be more for it.”
“Sam seems to define things as black and white with no gray areas in the middle. He is a just and true man. But I’d never chase him again, or go with him unless he wanted it.”
“And…did you like his kisses?” she kept probing.
“Oh yeah…of course I did. Sam is so gentle, so…well, I ain’t never met another like him. Probably never will either,” Riley admitted. “But even though his kisses were heaven, it was when he sat up all night in the pouring rain with Nodog by his side, watchin’ after me because storms scare me, that impressed me more than anything. I knew I loved him then…”
“But he never touched you?” Miss Tilda’s brows knitted.
“No…”
“And did Sam like those kisses?” Miss Tilda asked, pulling her robe tighter.
“I think so…why?”
“Because if he liked them, and he didn’t take the advantage of you, then he must have thought a lot of you, Riley.”
“That don’t make much sense, Miss Tilda.”
“Oh yes it does, Riley. And when you are older and wiser, you’ll see why. Oh yes it does.”
Riley peeled the mustache off her face and pulled her jacket off and laid it nicely on the bed. “I’ll probably never see Sam again, and it’s best if I try to wipe him out of my mind. ‘Course I can’t really do that, just push him to a small dark corner of my mind is all.”
“Maybe…maybe not. He certainly could have had his choice of women here the night he came about. He didn’t take any offers though. He wasn’t even interested; I could tell.”
“Sam was preoccupied keepin’ me safe all the time. He didn’t have time for nothin’ else. He’s a very decent man. Wouldn’t allow thinking that he could fall for a white girl. But for some reason I didn’t have a bit of trouble dreamin’ about him…” Riley blushed. “There will never be another for
me…”
“Just from what you’re tellin’ me, I think Sam was in love with you. Really in love.”
Riley looked down at herself then at Miss Tilda. “Why on earth would he? Half the time we were together I was supposed to be a boy or a man. I never had pretty clothes like you, Miss Tilda. And Pa always said I was plain to look at. Once I proved myself as a ranch hand, he never treated me like a girl again. And Sam…he just has such a soft heart for anyone in trouble. No, now that I think on it, I’m sure he just felt sorry for me…”
Miss Tilda shook her head. “Love isn’t measured by clothes or looks, Riley. It’s measured by your own heart and what you feel about a person. You’re wrong Riley, and I hope someday I can show you…”
“Goodnight, Miss Tilda…” Riley called to her as she was leaving.
“Night, Riley…”
***
“You’re in love, aren’t you Sam?” Hattie smiled at him as he stared into the campfire.
“What? What are you talking about?” Sam asked as frustration climbed his back.
“You can’t hide it, you know.” Hattie came closer and sat by the fire and Sam. “I should know. I tried very hard to hide my feelings for Lee when we first met. I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about me falling in love with a white man, especially after how we were raised.”
Sam glanced at her. “The looks you two were sparkin’ off, anyone could tell.” Sam chuckled as he nudged his sister’s shoulder and laughed.
“Tell me about her…” Hattie encouraged.
“How could I start? Riley was this very unusual girl that appeared out of nowhere one day when I least expected it.” Sam smiled in reflection. “She wasn’t some knock out beauty, and yet there was a purity, an angelic look on her face all the time. Like you couldn’t look at her and not see it. Maybe it was the innocence I saw in her eyes. I don’t know. But she appealed to me almost from the moment I laid eyes on her. She was child-like in some ways, terrified of storms, and yet she could be hard as nails too. She was little and I don’t know…vulnerable. You felt like you just had to wrap your arms around her and hold her. Hard-headed as a bull though.”
“Then your Riley was no ordinary young woman,” Hattie concluded.
“No…there was nothing ordinary about her. Even Nodog took to her.”
