Sequins and Spurs

“Can they wait?”

His dismissal was even more abrupt than previously. The visit with Claire and Joel had clearly set him on edge. Ruby nodded and glanced toward the stables. “Who cooks for the hands?”

“We cook outdoors. In the bunkhouse if the weather’s poor.”

“I wouldn’t mind cooking for all of you. Might make things easier if you didn’t have to do it yourselves.”

His expression was unreadable. “You can get our supper then. Most days there are three of us.”

She might have said something else, but he’d already turned away and headed for the stables. After taking the glasses inside, she finished hanging her clothes on the line. The sheets were dry by then, so she made up the beds. She tried to put herself in Nash’s place and imagine how difficult the past few years had been. When she looked at herself the way he’d seen her, she couldn’t blame him for holding her absence against her.

Resigned to leaving her old room to Claire, Ruby opened the windows in her mother’s room, mopped the plank wood floors and shook the rag rugs. An upholstered chair with long fringe covering the legs sat between the two corner windows. Beside it a basket held skeins of yarn and knitting needles. Underneath them she found squares of fabric.

Ruby picked up the unfinished piece on top and looked at the white rectangle looped on the needles. She didn’t remember her mother knitting, but back then Laura had been busy with feeding and clothing two children and caring for a house. Perhaps this had filled her time after she’d become sick.

Next, Ruby cleaned and polished the furniture, which consisted of an old armoire with calico curtains on the doors and two small drawers at the bottom, a wood chest at the foot of the bed, a dressing table and chair, and the bureau.

Before placing the ivory comb back on top, she ran her thumbnail across the teeth once more. She could never get the tiny teeth through her curly tresses, but she liked looking at the comb her mother had used for many years.

Ruby got a fresh pail of water and tackled the coal stove in the other corner. Her mother had always set a vase of wildflowers atop it in the summer. Maybe Ruby would look for some spring flowers later.

In the bottom of the armoire she found the quilt that had always been on Laura’s bed, shook it out the window and spread it over the mattress. Grandma McWhirter had made it for Mama as a wedding gift. Daddy hadn’t stuck around any longer than it took to sire two daughters, but the quilt had been here for as long as Ruby could remember.

A resounding slam echoed up the stairway.

“Ruby!”

She straightened and hurried out into the hallway.

Nash stood at the bottom of the stairs, glaring up. “What in blazes are you thinking, woman?”

“About what?”

“About flapping your drawers for all the world to see!”

She came down two steps. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the clothesline. A rancher from Hope Valley came out to look over one of my mares, and your nether wear is hanging in plain sight. It’s indecent.”

“What am I supposed to do with my underwear to get it dry?”

Obviously exasperated, he took a breath and expelled it. “Be discreet, of course. Tuck it in between the sheets and towels. That’s what Pearl did.”

Ruby set down the pail she held and flounced down the stairs. “Well, forgive me for doing my laundry. I had no idea my drawers would get you all in a dither.”

His complexion reddened and it wasn’t from embarrassment. “I’m not in a dither. I’m a businessman trying to conduct a sale with a respectable gentleman who doesn’t care to see your drawers.”

“Then do your business and leave me to mine.” She moved past him and hurried along the hall toward the back door. The front door slammed again.

Chapter Five (#ulink_070297e4-5cdf-5405-92c1-d66ede036fc1)

After pausing to wash her hands in the kitchen, she carried a basket out of doors and unclipped her clothing from the line, quickly folding and stacking. From the corner of her eye she caught movement as a man climbed to his wagon seat and shook the reins over his horses’ backs. He turned his head and adjusted his hat, but it was plain he’d been taking a gander.

She waved in a friendly fashion and went back to her task.

A minute later, when she glanced over again, the wagon was rolling up dust along the road and Nash had headed back toward the stables. She plucked a wooden clothespin from the bag and threw it as far as she could. It dropped in the grass with unsatisfactory silence.

Ruby carried her clothing into the house and to her mother’s room, where she sorted it on the bed. Traveling with the troupe, the girls had hung their clean garments anywhere they could—most often in their hotel rooms. Ruby felt foolish for not having the foresight to realize it wasn’t polite to hang her things where someone might see them, but the sheets had already been dry by the time she got around to hanging her chemises and drawers. She wouldn’t have the beds made now if she’d waited.

It irked her that Nash had pointed out her mistake, and it irked her more that he’d told her what Pearl would have done. Of course her sister had known how to do everything properly. She’d probably never even said words like drawers or underpinnings in front of her husband.

Ruby didn’t like feeling foolish, and she wasn’t going to let her sister’s cranky husband make her feel bad. There were nice ways to say things, and he hadn’t been very nice about anything yet.

Yanking open drawers in the bureau, she took out all her mother’s stockings and cotton clothing, and unfolded and refolded each piece. Ruby didn’t own much everyday wear, so she’d be able to use most of the items herself. Mama would have liked her practical thinking.

At the bottom of a drawer she found a rectangle wrapped in a scarf and uncovered it, revealing her parents’ wedding portrait. Her mother looked so young and lovely, with a sweet girlish expression. Ruby ran a finger over the image, noting Laura’s simple clothing and the plain veil she’d worn over her hair. Around her neck was the gold locket she’d always worn. Seeing it stirred up more memories for Ruby.

Her father stood straight and tall in his three-piece suit. He was fair, with a thick mustache and curly hair Ruby remembered well. Seeing his likeness brought an ache to her chest.

One morning he simply hadn’t been at the breakfast table.

“Where’s Daddy?” Pearl had asked.

“I don’t think we’ll be seeing him again.” It wasn’t until years later that Ruby had considered how controlled her mother’s voice and actions had been as she’d hidden her panic and fear from her daughters. “He took the big brown suitcase and his clothes.”

“But he didn’t say goodbye!” Ruby had cried. “He must be coming back.”

“I don’t think so,” her mother had said, ineffectively dousing hope. “You girls had best set your minds to the fact that your daddy’s gone for good.”

Pearl had cried, and their mother had wiped her tears and hugged her.

“He’ll come back,” Ruby had stated emphatically, sure of it. Certain he wouldn’t just leave them without a word of explanation.

When her mother had reached to comfort her, she’d angrily slid from her chair and run out the back door. People didn’t just give up on the ones they loved. But with every day and week and month that had passed, her hope had faded.

She’d never stopped wishing. Wishing he’d return with hugs and gifts and assurance that he loved her. Wishing life wasn’t so hard for her mother, for all of them. But Ruby had also grown determined. She would not spend her life here, lonely and fading like dry flowers in the heat—like her mother. She was going to see places, meet people, live life without boundaries.

Obviously, the sight of the portrait had been too painful for her mother, so she’d hidden it away. Ruby set it on the bureau beside pictures of herself and Pearl as May Day fairies, with flowers in their hair, winding streamers around the maypole. She tested how she felt with the wedding picture in plain view.

Her father hadn’t married Laura with the intent of leaving. He’d obviously loved her and planned a life together. What had pulled him away?

Maybe his leaving hadn’t reflected on her or her sister. Maybe it hadn’t been her mother’s fault. Maybe he’d simply had a wandering spirit, and nothing could have tied him to this land.

Ruby discovered she liked the happy memories of her and her sister as children and her parents young and in love. The portrait reminded her she had been a part of a family once. They were all gone now, and her only relations were Nash and Pearl’s two children. She was going to have to learn to get along with him—and somehow prove herself to him. She would look at the faces of her parents and sister in the morning and at night to remember the good times and remind herself what was important.

A glance at the clock told her it was time to prepare supper, so she put away the clothing and cleaning supplies.

Her lack of foresight had left her with few choices for a meal. Tomorrow she would go into Crosby and buy supplies.