“Why doesn’t he attend church?” And why hadn’t Kaitlyn Reagan pulled him up to the front row to sit with her?
“Because he’s an Indian, Daisy. You know certain ‘Christians’ in town would frown on him sitting beside them.”
“Oh good gravy! This is the 1880s for heaven’s sake!” Then it dawned on Daisy that her sister-in-law may be looked down upon by others too.
“Has Holly had problems because of her heritage?” Holly’s father was a white man, but her mother had been a Cheyenne. Daisy glanced between Iva Mae and Mary.
“She did at first, although part of the problem was she didn’t stand up for herself. But Kaitlyn took over and built up her self-esteem.” Mary conceded.
“I hope she plays her violin tomorrow. She accompanies the men’s quartet. I just love watching Gabe sing.”
“Ho, ho, ho...and how does Gabriel Shepard’s singing have anything to do with Holly?” Daisy teased Iva Mae.
Iva Mae’s face turned bright pink, revealing her feelings for the saddle maker. Guess that was one crush which hadn’t stopped since the three of them were school girls.
“All right! Yes, I still love the man and he still ignores me!”
They laughed like young girls again, happy to be together like old times.
“So, what’s your plan to get him to the altar before you’re a wrinkled old maid?” Daisy teased again.
“I’m not sure,” Iva Mae said, suddenly somber. “If he doesn’t show any interest by a certain time frame...I just might move away. I can teach anywhere, or work in a hotel for that matter.” Her face had turned pale again as she stared into her coffee cup.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Iva Mae. I didn’t mean to upset you.” Iva Mae waved her hand meaning not to worry, but there was a sheen of tears in her eyes.
“Well aren’t we a trio? Well I say, we three women can survive just fine without men in our lives because we have family and careers to fulfill us.” Mary raised her cup and waited for her and Iva Mae to do the same.
“Hear, hear! Although you already had one man,” Iva Mae smirked at Mary. Daisy wondered what that remark was about.
“Although he wasn’t much good...but I still got two children and a pile of money out of him,” Mary choked out before she started snickering behind her hand.
“What?” Daisy couldn’t believe they were talking like this...about men.
“Let’s just say he wasn’t the prize I thought he’d be,” Mary tried to say with a straight face, and failed as she started to grin again.
“Wasn’t Abram good to you?” Daisy couldn’t figure out what they were laughing about.
“Oh, Abram was fine, just not the dashing hero type like Nolan or Angus, or any frontier man we dreamed about as young girls. He was a sissy about so many things, a weak man…and wasn’t that good of a kisser and all….if you know what I mean.”
Now it was Daisy’s turn to turn red in the face, realizing what Mary meant. She still remembered kissing Angus years ago and knew he’d be the dashing hero type, not unmanly like Abram apparently was.
“So here we sit, three independent women, who can take care of ourselves without men,” Mary raised her cup to the others as a salute.
“But I sure wish I was marrying Gabe,” sighed Iva Mae. “We could buy the old Johnston home and fix it up.”
“Are you wanting the man or the house?” Mary laughed as she questioned Iva Mae.
“Well, both. I’ve lived in hotels my whole life, and I want a home of my own...well with a husband included.”
“And I’d love for Kiowa to move in with me. I think he’d be a great father to Burdette and Nolan.”
Mary and Iva Mae turned to Daisy, waiting for her to comment on what she’d like as far as the man she’d like to be married to?
“I moved back to Clear Creek because I missed my family and the community. The fact that Angus is temporarily here doesn’t change my opening of the pharmacy. Who knows if he’ll stick around?”
“Well, Angus could take the depot agent job, if he wanted it,” Mary pointed out.
“That’s just it. Angus has always traveled for his jobs, and I think he’s not sure if he’d be happy stuck in one place.”
“Then we need to get your apartment furnished and the pharmacy opened,” Iva Mae declared. “Let’s go over to the hotel after we’re done here. There’s a closet full of older towels and bedding I know Momma would love for you to use. I assume you can borrow a set of dinnerware and a few cooking utensils from the Clancy Café.”
Daisy loved watching her friends talk about where they could find things to furnish her home. Even if she and Angus never married, Daisy’s friends would always be a part of her life here in Clear Creek, and she’d just have to be content with that.
***
“Hey, about time you got here. Where’s Da?” Mack greeted him as Angus walked over to the table where Mack and Cullen were seated in the café. Cullen nodded his greeting as he sipped his coffee.
“Said he’d eat breakfast with ma today so ‘us boys’ could talk. I didn’t know you three met here every Saturday for breakfast.”
“Yep. Ever since Cullen and I moved to our own places. Tully comes along too when he is home.”
Angus looked around the café, listening to the drone of voices and clinking of silverware against china plates. Was Daisy helping this morning?
“No, she’s not here,” Mack answered his question. Did I ask out loud?
“Who?” Angus asked innocently.
Cullen snorted, saying without speaking that he and Mack knew Angus was thinking about Daisy.
“Nolan said she was through here earlier to pick up some cinnamon rolls. She was meeting Iva Mae at Mary’s apartment for an early breakfast,” Mack filled him in.
“Good morning to the Reagan boys,” a heavy hand slapped Angus back just as he was about to take a sip of coffee. So much for my clean shirt.
“Mr. Clancy,” Angus turned around in his chair, then stuck out his hand to meet the other’ man’s hand. “Good to see you back in your café, sir.”
“Thank you, Angus. I have to check on Nolan and Holly now and then, you know,” Mr. Clancy nodded while looking around at the filled café.
“The place looks good, busy,” Angus answered politely. The café was closed for a while until Nolan moved back to Clear Creek. It got to be too much for Mr. and Mrs. Clancy to run the place by themselves at their age.
“Yep, glad the next generation is taking care of things in Clear Creek—now that I’m too old to keep up anymore.”
Angus watched Mack and Cullen smile listening to the man. Was this a weekly Saturday morning conversation?
“I assume you’re taking over for Harvey Daniels now that you’re back home?” Mr. Clancy asked in a tone that wasn’t really a question.
Mack’s and Cullen’s grins widened. They knew where this conversation with Mr. Clancy was going as soon as the old man walked over to their table.
“Uh, don’t know for sure my plans yet, Mr. Clancy,” Angus truthfully answered.
“Well you need a full-time job before you ask for my permission to marry my granddaughter, Daisy.”
Angus choked on his coffee. Why did he bother trying to take a sip while the man was at their table?
“Gramps! Could you come into the kitchen for a minute?” Nolan called loudly from the serving window between the kitchen and dining room. Angus looked up and saw Nolan wave, like he knew his grandfather was overstaying his time at their table.
“So that’s the conversation around town since I’m home visiting?”
“Daisy’s home...you’re home...so yeah,” Cullen finally said a few words, but not what Angus wanted to hear.
Angus was sick of this subject so he changed it before it continued.
“What new buildings are you working on now, Mack?”
The three of them sat back a minute as the waitress set their plates of steaming food in front of each of them. Mack picked up the pepper s
haker and liberally covered his gravy and biscuits before answering.
“Right now I’m finishing the interior of the pharmacy, and the other half, which hasn’t been claimed yet. Then I’m ready to frame the next building on Main Street. Don’t know if you’ve been up to Daisy’s apartment yet, but I’ve been building the staircase starting from the street, instead of the back of the buildings. One staircase serves both halves of the building, with a landing at the top, where the apartment doors are located.”
“Nope, haven’t been up there yet as Daisy is still staying at her grandparents.”
“Well the next building’s layout will be identical to Daisy’s. Maybe you can help me with the framing since you have nothing else to do,” Mack pointed his forkful of biscuit dripping with gravy at Angus.
“My hired man left town so I could hire you. I want to get the building enclosed before winter hits, then I can finish the insides during the cold months.”
“Are there already businesses planned for these two places?”
“Fergus wants one for his photography studio and home...whenever he decides to come home. He’ll take the one connected to Daisy’s pharmacy if no one else claims it, or wait and take the next available downtown building.
“Doc says he’s going to retire in the next year so the town council is already looking for his replacement. Plans to ‘sweeten the pot’ with the offer of a brand-new office and apartment for a doctor right out of medical school.”
So, there’d be another young man in town—besides his brothers—who could be interested in Daisy.
“I also need to remodel a few homes in town. I promised the Clancys I’d add a couple rooms to the back of their house. Dagmar Hamner wants me to plan a barn raising on the Bar E Ranch next spring, so I’ve been working on those plans at night.”
Angus looked down at Mack’s plate to see it empty, even though Mack had been talking the whole time. His brother had always had a bottomless pit for a stomach.
“So, what are you doing at the post office, Cullen?” Angus tried to draw his other brother into the conversation.
“Sorting mail.”
“And ignoring all the pretty women coming in to buy one stamp at a time just to look at the pretty postmaster,” Mack chided, before bracing for Cullen’s fist to collide with his thick shoulder muscles.
“Shut up, Mack. One of these days there’s going to be a mailbag of bricks flying toward your head.”
This is what Angus had missed while traveling on his jobs. The comradery of his brothers. They might sound tough and gruff to each other, but they always had each other’s backs.
“So you game to stick around for a while? You can help me and volunteer for other things.”
“Volunteer for what?” Angus figured something else was going on the way Mack and Cullen were glancing at each other.
“Anything Ma or Da thinks up, so we get a break from their projects.”
Angus spent his youth helping others, be it bringing food to shut-ins or digging graves.
“Whose turn is it to dust the pews and hymnals this week?” Angus jokingly asked. With six of them, they only had to do it every six weeks when they were younger.
“Yours!” both Mack and Cullen said at once while pointing their index fingers at Angus.
“Hasn’t Ma moved on to a younger set of children in town for that? Like the younger Paulson girls?”
Cullen and Mack looked at each other before looking away, both blushing, giving Angus his answer.
“Ma still has you cleaning the church?” Angus couldn’t believe his grown brothers were dusting the interior of the building.
“Hey, it’s our duty as the preacher’s family, so you’re taking your turn...starting today,” Mack pointed his finger at Angus again.
“Fine. I can handle that. I have plenty of time today.”
“Be sure to check the candle wicks.” Cullen reminded Angus.
“Be sure old man Hagen’s spit can is cleaned out and ready too.” Mack added.
“You’re joking. He spits tobacco juice during church? And Ma lets him do that?”
“Ma got fed up cleaning his spit off the floor and presented him with a can to use.” Mack shrugged his shoulders, meaning Ma’s law worked with others besides her sons.
In some ways Angus was amazed that so many things with his family had stayed the same while he was gone. His family was in a rut of routine. But yet, wasn’t that part of life Angus had missed by being gone?
When he was a young man, every grave he’d dug and filled back up with soil had been for someone he’d known growing up. The person had made an impression, good or bad, in Angus’ formative years. He’d listened intently as his father stood by the grave, describing the person’s life, his or her good deeds and how it affected their family and their community. When Angus had filled the hole, he’d always spread his right hand wide and pressed it in the soil over the person’s heart as a way of saying goodbye and thank you.
Children were the hardest to bury, their grieving parents crying in despair and sometimes anger. His parents were constant companions to these families during their mourning. Angus knew he was in charge of his brother’s during the first weeks of a family’s grief. But that was the life of a preacher’s son.
Angus looked up, realizing his brothers were watching him.
Mack cleared his throat. “Life is good here, Angus, and I wish you’d consider settling down in Clear Creek.”
“Especially since Daisy has moved back.” Cullen added.
“What does Daisy have to do with staying in Clear Creek?” Angus challenged Cullen.
“You two were inseparable before you left. You always reminded me of Ma and Da, a good combination of love and respect and—”
“Spunk. Daisy has Ma’s spunk.” Mack finished Cullen’s train of thought.
Angus nodded to concede to their thoughts. Could he be happy staying in one place now? Could he step into the role of husband and father like his own father had done so well?
Something to think about while he was dusting the hymnals today.
Chapter 7
Angus glanced at his father, patiently standing in front of the altar, waiting for his mother to walk down the aisle and sit down. This routine happened between his parents every Sunday. She’d be in the back of the church talking to someone until his father cleared his throat—loudly—to start the service.
Angus leaned over to whisper to Mack. “Why are we still sitting in the front row?” His mother would sit down in the pew next to the aisle as always, with her “boys” lined up beside her in age.
“Because we always have. Why else?” Mack whispered back.
“Because we’re grown men. You’re about six foot, four and as wide as a barn. Nobody can see over or around you. We should be sitting in the back of the church.”
“Nope. That’s reserved for families with small children.”
Angus glanced over his shoulder at the congregation. People still sat in the same spot since the church first opened its doors. Some benches like Dagmar and Cora Hamner’s pew were stuffed with kids. Angus wondered if they’d reached Cora’s planned dozen yet. Dagmar’s parents, Oskar and Annalina Hamner were crammed in the pew too, both holding children in their laps. Then there was the Brenner’s pew with eight children, with Isaac and Cate Connely squeezed in. The Paulson’s family of girls, with Ethan’s parents sitting with them.
He looked for the “Clancy pew”, searching for Daisy and was met with her smile. She’d probably been looking over the congregation just as Angus had, amazed how the congregation had grown over the past decade.
Sitting with the Clancys was Nolan’s friend, Elof Lundahl and his wife Linnea. The former soldiers were stationed together at Fort Ellis where Nolan and Holly had originally met, and the couple moved to Clear Creek to be with their friends. Elof was a farrier and horse veterinarian and Linnea worked in the café.
Would the congregation build a new church one of these days? Loo
ked like they could double the pew capacity, if nothing else than to make it comfortable for the people packed in the existing pews.
“We’d like to start the service, Kaitlyn,” his father loudly pronounced since she’d ignored his other hints. She floated up the aisle, smiling at her husband then took her seat.
“Good morning, everyone.” His father waited for the congregation to echo his greeting before continuing. “We’ll start this morning’s service, by singing hymn number thirty-four. Please arise if you are able.”
Angus stood in unison with his mother and brothers, and then glanced back at the old couple still sitting behind Mack and Seth. No way could they see anything besides his brothers’ backs, but they still sat in their same spot, holding the hymnal between them, ready to sing. Angus remembered when the couple was taller than his family when everyone stood up years ago.
So, was he ready to move to the back of the church, to jockey a position with a wife and new family? Angus glanced back at Daisy. There was room in their pew. Maybe he’d move back there next Sunday.
“Uff.” His mother’s well-placed stab in his side meant he needed to turn around and pay attention to the song they were singing. He couldn’t help but smile down at her, thinking of his mother keeping the six of them in line growing up.
He glanced back at Daisy, who grinned, knowing his mother had motioned him to pay attention. Angus could imagine Daisy doing the same thing to their children. Yes, he could and it warmed his heart, and his face too since Mack jabbed him on his other side. Angus shook his head. They really needed to be in the back of the church if they were going to act like kids again.
“Shall we gather at the river,
Where bright angel feet have trod,
With its crystal tide forever
Flowing by the throne of God?”
Gabe and Tully’s tenor voices blended in with Mack and Seth’s bass voices as they tenderly sang the hymn. Holly Clancy’s sweet violin music added a special touch that the piano just couldn’t. No wonder Ma raved about Holly’s playing.
“Yes, we’ll gather at the river,
Grooms with Honor Series, Books 1-3 Page 6